MJF Powder · Nylon 11 · Bio-Based

MJF PA 11 Gen2 Bio-Based Nylon 3D Printing (Impact-Tough)

Name: MJF PA 11 Gen2 Bio-Based Nylon 3D Printing
Brand: RYSE 3D

The impact-tough, bio-based MJF nylon — 52 MPa tensile with 35% elongation and 6.0 kJ/m² notched impact, nearly double PA 12. It takes the hit and bends without breaking. RYSE 3D prints PA 11 Gen2 on our Multi Jet Fusion platform in Shipston-on-Stour for production parts with living features: snap-fits, hinges and clips that survive real assembly and real use.

Quote in PA 11 Gen2 → All MJF materials MJF PA 11 Gen2 datasheet (PDF) ↓

Also known as nylon 11 · PA11 · polyamide 11 · bio-based nylon · castor oil nylon

Overview

The nylon that takes the hit

Snap-fits fail where materials are brittle. PA 11 Gen2 isn't — with 35% elongation and 6.0 kJ/m² notched impact it flexes, clips and springs back through repeated assembly, which is why it's the pick for living hinges and parts that get dropped, clipped and knocked in service. It is also the strongest of our MJF powders at 52 MPa, and ductile rather than brittle with it.

The difference shows up on the assembly bench rather than in a test report. A clip in a brittle nylon whitens on the first fit and cracks on the fifth; in PA 11 Gen2 it deflects and springs back, cycle after cycle. That is the whole reason to pay more per part than PA 12 — if your geometry has a living feature in it, this is the material the design actually needs.

It's also bio-based, derived from renewable castor oil rather than petrochemicals, with 80% powder reusability in the process — unfused powder goes back into the next build. Printed and finished in-house on our UK MJF platform, PA 11 Gen2 comes off the machine bead-blasted grey, then we through-dye it black or vapour smooth it to a sealed, semi-gloss skin, all under one roof.

Technical data

MJF PA 11 Gen2 material properties

Headline properties for our MJF PA 11 Gen2 nylon.

Reviewed by the RYSE 3D engineering team · August 2026. Download the full datasheet below, or have it confirmed with your instant quote. Values vary with geometry and orientation.

Property	Value
Impact, notched	6.0 kJ/m²
Ultimate tensile strength	52 MPa
Elongation at break	35%
Character	Impact-tough, bio-based
Powder reusability	80%
Build envelope	380 × 284 × 380 mm

Impact is quoted in kJ/m². Our SLS grades quote notched Izod to ASTM D256-10 in J/m, which is a different method on a different scale — the two cannot be ranked against each other. No heat deflection temperature is published for this grade; where sustained heat is the constraint, MJF PA 12 at 175 °C is the specified material.

Download MJF PA 11 Gen2 datasheet (PDF) ↓

Applications

What MJF PA 11 Gen2 is used for

Where production parts have to flex, clip and take a hit.

MJF PA 11 Gen2 bio-based nylon 3D printed lattice wearable brace that flexes in use

Lattice wearables & braces that flex in use

MJF PA 11 Gen2 bio-based nylon 3D printed handheld tool housing with clips and living features

Handheld tool housings with clips & living features

Clips & fastenersLiving hingesSnap-fit assembliesRepeated-assembly partsDrone & handheld partsSports & PPE prototypesDuctile end-use partsImpact-tolerant partsBio-based production parts

Price a snap-fit part now →

Why PA 11 Gen2

Why choose MJF PA 11 Gen2

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Nearly double the impact

6.0 kJ/m² notched impact against 3.5 for PA 12 — the nylon for parts that get hit, dropped and clipped.

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Snap-fits & living hinges

35% elongation means clips flex and spring back through repeated assembly instead of whitening and cracking.

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Strongest MJF nylon

52 MPa tensile — the highest tensile strength of our MJF powders, and ductile rather than brittle with it.

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Bio-based

Derived from renewable castor oil rather than petrochemicals — a lower-impact production nylon.

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80% powder reusability

Unfused powder goes back into the next build — efficient at production volume and less waste per batch.

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No supports, free geometry

The powder holds the part up — living hinges and clips print in their working orientation, with nothing to cut off.

Finishing

Most MJF parts arrive grey. Yours don't have to.

The same MJF part, three ways — every finish happens in our building, on our machines, with no third party in the chain and no extra week in the schedule.

MJF nylon part bead-blasted to a uniform matte grey finish at RYSE 3D — **Bead-blasted grey** — as standard. Uniform matte grey, clean detail, ready to fit.

MJF nylon part through-dyed black at RYSE 3D — **Dyed black** — through-dyed so it won't chip or flake, consistent across the batch.

MJF nylon part vapour smoothed to a sealed semi-gloss skin at RYSE 3D — **Vapour smoothed** — chemically sealed to a semi-gloss skin, easier to clean and genuinely sealable.

Design guidance

Designing for MJF PA 11 Gen2

Typical guidelines for MJF PA 11 Gen2 nylon. We'll confirm the specifics for your part with a free design-for-additive review at quote.

Design feature	Typical guideline
Build envelope (MJF)	380 × 284 × 380 mm
Turnaround	5–7 days, printed, finished & inspected
Supports	None — the powder supports the part, nothing to cut off and no witness marks
Living hinges & clips	Print in the working orientation with the powder supporting them. Radius the root of every clip generously — a sharp internal corner is where a snap-fit fails first, whatever the material
Nesting	Whole beds nested in 3D — cost per part falls as the bed fills, so batch quantities price far better than one-offs
Geometry	No draft angles needed and lattices print freely — but design an escape route for unfused powder in any enclosed void
Service temperature	No heat deflection temperature is published for this grade. Treat it as an ambient material and tell us at quote if heat is part of the duty cycle
Bigger than the bed?	Split, print, bond and inspect — or move to FDM for a one-piece part up to 900 mm
Finish	Bead-blasted grey as standard; dyed black or vapour smoothed in-house

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Honest limits

Where MJF PA 11 Gen2 is the wrong call

PA 11 Gen2 buys you toughness and ductility that PA 12 cannot match, and you pay for it. If your part has no living feature and never takes a knock, you are paying for a property you don't need. These are the cases where something else wins — told straight, so you don't find out after the first batch.

Rigid parts at the lowest cost

If nothing on the part flexes or gets hit, the toughness is wasted spend. MJF PA 12 is the cheaper production nylon and the right default for housings, ducting and brackets.

Sustained heat

No heat deflection temperature is published for this grade, so we won't specify it into a hot environment. MJF PA 12 is stable to 175 °C, and for genuinely hot service FDM PET-CF reaches 205 °C.

Anything that has to seal or stretch

Tough is not the same as flexible. 35% elongation is a ductile nylon, not an elastomer — seals, bellows, grips and cushioning want MJF TPU 01 at 291% elongation.

Carrying real load

52 MPa is the strongest MJF powder we run and still a production nylon figure, not an engineering one. For rigid, load-path brackets and mounts, FDM PA6-CF reaches 109 MPa.

A cosmetic surface as-printed

MJF comes off the machine matte grey with a fine grain. Dye or vapour smooth it, or for a genuinely smooth A-surface with fine detail move to SLA.

Parts over 380 mm

The MJF bed is 380 × 284 × 380 mm. Beyond that a part has to be split and bonded — and a bonded joint sits badly in a part chosen for its toughness. Our FDM range prints up to 900 mm in one piece.

Compare

MJF PA 11 Gen2 vs MJF PA 12 vs SLS PA 11

One question decides the first pair: does anything on the part flex, clip or take a knock? If yes, PA 11 Gen2. If not, MJF PA 12 does the same job cheaper and holds far more heat. We also run PA 11 on SLS — same bio-based nylon, different powder-bed process. Full range on all 3D printing materials.

Property	MJF PA 11 Gen2 (this page)	MJF PA 12	SLS PA 11
Process	MJF	MJF	SLS
Ultimate tensile strength	52 MPa	48 MPa	See SLS PA 11 page
Elongation at break	35%	20%	See SLS PA 11 page
Impact, notched	6.0 kJ/m²	3.5 kJ/m²	Quoted as Izod in J/m
Heat deflection	Not published	175 °C	46 °C at 1.8 MPa
Bio-based	Yes — castor oil	No	Yes — castor oil
Supports required	No	No	No
Cost per part at volume	Higher	Lowest we run	Higher
Best for	Snap-fits, hinges, impact-tolerant parts	Watertight housings, ducting, volume production	Ductile bio-based nylon parts

Note: MJF impact is quoted in kJ/m²; SLS impact is notched Izod to ASTM D256-10 in J/m. Those are different methods on different scales and cannot be ranked against each other, which is why the SLS cells point to that page rather than restating figures out of context.

MJF

All MJF Materials

PA 12, impact-tough PA 11 Gen2 and flexible TPU 01 compared.

See MJF materials → SLS

SLS PA 11

The same bio-based nylon on the other powder-bed process.

See SLS PA 11 → All

All 3D Printing Materials

Every material across SLS, MJF, FDM and SLA.

See all materials →

FAQ

MJF PA 11 Gen2 FAQ

What is MJF PA 11 Gen2 nylon?

PA 11 Gen2 is an impact-tough, bio-based production nylon (polyamide 11) printed on our MJF (Multi Jet Fusion) platform. It bends without breaking — 52 MPa tensile with 35% elongation and 6.0 kJ/m² notched impact — the pick for snap-fits, living hinges, clips and parts that take a hit.

How tough is PA 11 Gen2?

6.0 kJ/m² notched impact against 3.5 for PA 12 — nearly double — with 35% elongation at break instead of 20%. In practice that is the difference between a clip that springs back through repeated assembly and one that whitens on the first fit and cracks on the fifth.

What is the difference between PA 11 and PA 12?

Toughness versus heat and cost. PA 11 Gen2 is the tougher and more ductile of the two, and the stronger at 52 MPa against 48 — right for anything with a living feature. PA 12 is cheaper per part, watertight as standard and stable to a 175 °C heat deflection temperature, which PA 11 Gen2 does not publish. If the part flexes, choose PA 11; if it just has to exist in quantity, choose PA 12.

Can you 3D print snap-fits and living hinges?

Yes, and this is the material for it. The powder supports the part so clips and hinges print in their working orientation with nothing to cut off. Radius the root of every clip generously — a sharp internal corner is where a snap-fit fails first, whatever the material — and we'll flag anything marginal at the free design-for-additive review.

Is PA 11 Gen2 really bio-based?

Yes — the polymer is derived from renewable castor oil rather than petrochemicals. Alongside that, 80% of unfused powder goes back into the next build, so the waste per batch is low. It is a genuinely lower-impact production nylon, though we'd rather you chose it for the toughness and treated the bio-based origin as the bonus.

How heat resistant is PA 11 Gen2?

No heat deflection temperature is published for this grade, so we treat it as an ambient material and won't specify it into a hot environment. Where heat is the constraint, MJF PA 12 is stable to 175 °C. Tell us the duty cycle at quote and we'll pick the right powder.

What is PA 11 Gen2 used for?

Clips and fasteners, living hinges, snap-fit assemblies, repeated-assembly parts, drone and handheld parts, sports and PPE prototypes, lattice wearables and braces that flex in use, handheld tool housings with living features, and ductile impact-tolerant end-use parts.

How many PA 11 parts can you produce?

Our instant quote handles anything from one part to 100,000. MJF prices by the build rather than by the part, so the cost per part falls as the bed fills — a nested batch prices far better than the same parts ordered one at a time.

Where can I find PA 11 Gen2 material properties and a datasheet?

The key material properties are listed above, and you can download the full MJF PA 11 Gen2 datasheet (PDF) or have the figures confirmed with your instant online quote.

How do I order MJF PA 11 nylon parts in the UK?

Upload your CAD to our instant online quote and select MJF PA 11 Gen2. As a UK 3D printing service bureau we print, finish and inspect every part in-house in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, and ship UK-wide — from one snap-fit prototype to a hundred thousand production parts, in 5–7 days.

Get your PA 11 Gen2 parts priced in seconds.

Upload your CAD for an instant online quote in MJF PA 11 Gen2 nylon — from one snap-fit prototype to 100,000 production parts, priced by the build. Printed and finished in the UK.

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Printed and finished at our own ISO 9001 facility in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. Call us on 024 7736 0144.