Getting a Perfect First Layer with ABS and ASA

An ABS first layer that goes down right can still fail an hour later — but one that goes down wrong dooms the print immediately. With high-shrink materials, layer one is where you bank the margin that the rest of the print will spend.

Heat soak: the step everyone skips

Set an ABS bed to 90 °C and the thermistor reads 90 within minutes — but the plate surface, especially its corners, lags well behind, and the air above it lags more. Give an enclosed printer 10–15 minutes of heat soak with the door shut before the first line goes down; machines with active chamber heating (Bambu’s profiles ask for 65 °C with ABS/ASA) handle this automatically by waiting for chamber temperature. A first layer laid on a cold-soaked plate bonds at the centre and fails at the corners.

The stock values

Bed: 90 °C for ABS, 100 °C for ASA on textured PEI/engineering plates. Cool Plate and SuperTack are marked unsupported (profile bed temperature 0) — those coatings die at ABS temperatures.

Nozzle: ABS starts slightly cool on layer one — 260 °C against 270 °C later — which reduces first-layer sag and edge curl; ASA runs 270 °C throughout.

Fan: off. No part cooling for the first 3 layers, auxiliary fan at 0 %, and the whole print capped inside 10–60 % for ABS. Any breeze on layer one of ABS is a self-inflicted wound.

Filament settings → Cooling

Technique

Reading an ABS/ASA first layer

Fresh ABS on a properly hot plate looks satin — neither glossy nor dry — with fully fused lines. Trouble signs: edges of the brim lifting while printing means the plate or chamber is cold (more soak, close the door, check drafts); lines that stay proud and rounded mean too little heat or squish; a first layer that bonds but the part cracks above it later is not a first-layer problem at all — that is shrinkage further up, handled in the ABS/ASA layer separation guide and the ABS warping guide. On open printers, accept that big ABS parts may be beyond saving — the first layer can be perfect and the part still tears itself off; the honest options are in the warping guide. General first-layer craft: the main guide.

Frequently asked questions

Why do my ABS first-layer corners lift even with the bed at 90 °C?

Usually because the plate never finished heating: the thermistor reads 90 °C within minutes, but the plate surface — especially the corners — lags well behind, and the air above it lags more. Give an enclosed printer 10–15 minutes of heat soak with the door shut before the first line goes down. A first layer laid on a cold-soaked plate bonds at the centre and fails at the corners.

What bed and nozzle temperatures do ABS and ASA need for the first layer?

Stock values: 90 °C bed for ABS and 100 °C for ASA on textured PEI or engineering plates — Cool Plate and SuperTack are marked unsupported because those coatings die at ABS temperatures. ABS starts layer one slightly cool at 260 °C against 270 °C later, which reduces sag and edge curl; ASA runs 270 °C throughout. Fan: off for the first 3 layers, auxiliary fan at 0 %.

Should I always use a brim with ABS and ASA?

Yes, by default: an outer brim of 8 mm. With ABS the brim is part of the first layer, not an afterthought — it moves the vulnerable corner bond outward into sacrificial material. Add a glue film for grip plus guaranteed release (with ASA on a 100 °C bed it also protects the PEI), slow the first layer to 20 mm/s and print on a soap-washed plate.

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