BIQU PLA-HR is a high-resilience PLA filament engineered for printing flexible, impact-resistant parts — most notably the viral 3D printed airless basketball. Unlike standard PLA which is rigid and brittle, PLA-HR absorbs and returns impact energy, producing prints with genuine elasticity and bounce while maintaining structural integrity through rough handling and repeated use.

A basketball printed with PLA-HR weighs approximately 605–610g, with bounce and play response comparable to a regulation ball when printed with the recommended settings. But this filament isn’t just for basketballs — any project that needs flexibility, impact absorption, and durability benefits from PLA-HR.

Print the Airless Basketball

The BIQU airless basketball model is available on MakerWorld: Download the .3mf file here. We strongly recommend using the provided .3mf file rather than configuring settings manually — it’s pre-tuned for optimal bounce, durability, and print quality. One 1KG spool produces approximately one full-size basketball.

Beyond Basketballs

PLA-HR is suited to any application where standard PLA is too brittle and TPU is too soft. Common uses include airless balls and sports prototypes, flexible grips and handles, impact-absorbing bumpers and cases, grommets, gaskets, and vibration dampeners, fly swatter heads, flexible hinges and living joints, kids’ toys and durable play items, and any functional part that needs to flex without snapping.

How It Compares

Standard PLA is rigid and snaps under impact. TPU is highly flexible but can be difficult to print on bowden setups. PLA-HR sits between the two — it prints on standard FDM printers as easily as PLA but delivers elasticity and impact resistance that PLA can’t match. It’s a unique material category that opens up applications neither standard PLA nor TPU handles well.

Print Settings

Diameter: 1.75 mm ±0.03 mm
Drying: 50°C for 6+ hours before first use (recommended)
Compatible printers: Bambu Lab X1/P1/A1 series, Creality Ender 3/K1, Anycubic Kobra, Flashforge Adventurer 5M, and most FDM printers

For best results with the airless basketball, use the provided .3mf profile file rather than configuring manually.

Wide Printer Compatibility

The tight ±0.03 mm diameter tolerance ensures smooth feeding and consistent extrusion across all common FDM printers. PLA-HR works with both direct drive and bowden extruder setups — unlike TPU, which is often unreliable on bowden systems.

The post BIQU PLA-HR 3D Printer Filament 1KG – Flexible, Impact-Resistant PLA appeared first on 3D Radical Prints.