Whats the best material to withstand impact?

Hi, I have a small home job for my son who is autistic, who keeps smashing clocks etc. I am looking to protect the clocks and thought of printing a 3D box with cover, what would be the best material please? I have heard of PETg, PLA.

Please any suggestions? Thank you in advance. Graham

Try Makrolon Its a better version of perspex often used for machine guards and in layers for bulletproofing!

Between PETG and PLA, go with PETG for sure. It's seriously tough stuff!

It's easy to print on almost any printer, and I use it for almost everything. Anything much tougher than that will likely require higher than typical temperatures and an enclosure for the printer.

Edited By S K on 17/05/2023 17:56:13

A couple of points wrt PETG that have just been raised on the gaugeone3Dcircle is that as it prints at a hgher temp than PLA it can give problems with warping off the bed so an enclosure is to be recommended to keep it all warm. Then having solved the adhesion problem it can be too good, to the extent of being impossible to get off a glass bed.
So do some research.

If you are just after making a box then nothing beats wood.

Just FYI; I struggled with PETG not staying stuck to the bed, with an "open" printer, i.e. no box over the build space, until I tried raising the bed temperature from 60 to 80°C.

Worked fine then.

When the print is finished, switch off the printer and leave everything in place to cool down overnight, then the model will easily lift off the bed.

Most printers should have a profile for PETG. I have a Prusa, and the usual profile runs at 240C for the nozzle and 85C for the bed.

I use their textured coated spring-steel bed plate. It's awesome. Zero problems with adhesion, easy to pop the prints off, and it still looks like new after extended heavy use.

It's not only withstanding impact. it needs to protect the contents

So a tough flexible outer and a bubblewrap airbag inner sounds like the best route

Thing is, once you make something bombproof then the protagonist often gets bored and focuses on another vulnerable target that can be messed about, young dogs are bad for that behavior

Without wishing to intrude, does your son say why he smashes clocks? Do they irritate or annoy him with their ticking perhaps?

I know that autistic people find it hard to ignore or filter-out extraneous sounds, such as people talking outside a window; and perhaps ticking clocks are driving your son to distraction - like a Chinese water torture?