Phaetus aeForce™ PAHT-CF

Phaetus aeForce PAHT-CF is a high-temperature nylon reinforced with 15% chopped carbon fiber. It is an engineering filament for functional parts that need to stay stiff and dimensionally stable when they get hot or take load — gears, brackets, mounts, tooling, drone and RC parts, end-use mechanical components. This is the high-temp grade: it runs hotter and resists more heat than the common PA12-based "PAHT-CF" you see at hobby prices.

What it prints well: rigid, low-warp parts with a matte carbon finish. The carbon fiber forms a mesh skeleton through the matrix, so prints come off the bed with good dimensional stability and minimal warpage for a nylon. The base resin is a modified high-temp nylon with low moisture sensitivity (saturated absorption ~1.37%, roughly a tenth of plain PA6), so mechanical properties hold up far better than standard nylon once parts are in service.

Hardware you need

• Hardened nozzle, non-negotiable. Carbon fiber is abrasive and will chew a brass nozzle in a few hundred grams. Run a hardened-steel, DLC-coated, tungsten-carbide, or ruby nozzle. Phaetus specs hardened steel or above, with a heating block of at least 12mm.
• High-temp all-metal hotend. Nozzle temperature is 300-320°C — above what many stock hotends and PTFE-lined setups can handle. Plan for an all-metal hotend rated to these temps.
• Enclosure recommended. Helps with warp control at these temperatures and contains fumes — print in a well-ventilated space.

Print settings (from Phaetus's TDS)

• Nozzle: 300-320°C
• Bed: 70-90°C, PEI sheet or a coat of PVP glue stick
• Part cooling fan: OFF
• Print speed: 30-120 mm/s
• Density 1.20 g/cm3; melt point 237°C

Drying — read this before you print

Nylon absorbs water from the air. Wet filament prints with stringing, popping/bubbling extrusion, and a rough surface. Dry the spool at 80-100°C for 4-6 hours and feed it straight from a dry box held below 15% RH. Reseal unused filament in its foil bag. Even though this grade is low-moisture for a nylon, it still needs dry handling for clean prints.

Optional: annealing

Annealing finished parts at 80-100°C for 4-8 hours (then cooling naturally) further raises strength and heat resistance — HDT climbs from ~82°C as-printed toward ~190°C annealed.

Spool: 1kg net, 1.75mm, black. Pairs with a hardened nozzle and a filament dryer/dry box — see related items.