I personally would start with TPU(after PETG) - the different shore grades provide a large usability for a lot of things and it print comparably well once you find the right calibration. Especially with a A1 as you mentioned you have one.

To be honest I would skip ABS totally in an A1 unless you have an external enclosure with a good filtering and exhaust solution. Be aware of the noxious fumes ABS will produce that have a potential to intoxicate you and are suspected to cause cancer depending on the additives. (Among others ABS produces hydrogen cyanide when printed - which is often better known under it’s former German brand name: Zyklon B…)

ASA nowadays provides a far less problematic (but not unproblematic) solution and while it’s a little bit more complicated to print it’s still manageable depending on the filament manufacturer. But you will need a temperature stabilised enclosure for both anyway, while ASA is a bit more sensitivitie,it doesn’t really matter that much for me.

Within ASA I personally found a far larger bandwidth of printability between the manufacturers. The major manufacturers for PLA often suck - especially Bambu Lab ASA is hideous to print. If you are in Europe I cannot recommend the Black Forest Filament ASA enough, their stuff is not comparable to any other ASA I printed. Alternatively material4print. If you need a filament that is available worldwide Filamentum Apollo X is a solid choice, so is Polymaker,but both to a lesser extend.

In theory PMMA, PCTG and CPE are also worth a consideration, but besides CPE all of them are far more difficult to print.

BTW: All variants need to be printed very dry, ideally out of a warm dry box.

Adding to what others have said: You can print TPU with Bambulab A1. You just need to feed it directly to the extruder and not through AMS. The generic TPU settings in BambuStudio/Orca should be fine, but make sure to run some tests and slow it down if necessary. If you need supports and have trouble removing them try printing support not in tree mode, but the grid one. They should peel off easily. You should also give PCTG a go if it’s readily available where you live. It prints like PETG, but it’s stronger and more heat resistant (which you’ll need if you want to print a reusable spool)

I would set my goals to mastering PETG next. It’s easy to get and inexpensive in price. It offers more toughness, (do not confuse toughness with hardness), plus it’s more heat and UV resistant also, (though PLA has surprised me with several outdoor repair parts I have made) . But it can suffer from creep in assemblies. It can make durable car accessories like phone holders or a cup holder cheap and easy to design.

ABS/ASA really needs a heated enclosure to print reliably day in and day out. And the fumes they give off during the print process are dangerous to your health. And you must have proper ventilation to use them safely. I keep as spool around, but I very seldom find the need for ABS anymore.

TPU, while a fun material to play with, is pretty much a one trick pony. The vast majority of things you will print will seldom require TPU. I try to very hard not to print just one item in TPU because it’s not worth the effort. I try to line up several projects that need TPU to make it worth my while because there is hours of drying time involved before printing.

If you want branch with different materials, you will need to add a filament dryer. You can get a purpose designed unit that can quite spendy or you can get a cheap food dehydrator and get the same results in the same amount of time.

IMO having the ability to do TPU is way more versatile than going to another rigid structural filament.
ABS/ASA is just “pla but more impact resistant”.
TPU is “haha funny squishy wait this turns into a living hinge?” and opens up a TON of print opportunities.
I had a lot more fun trying out TPU (both high and low durometers) than switching to any other kind of filament. Whatever you print basically becomes shockproof l, is squishy/bendy, and you can chuck it across a room full-force with no problems. Super fun.

However, TPU is happiest with a direct drive extruder. High durometer (95a) TPU’s are fine, but not optimal, in bowden extruders, while low durometer (Ninjaflex) straight up won’t print right thru a bowden. So keep your type of printer in mind when shopping for spools of test filament.

No

I would try PETG. It doesn’t need an enclosure.

If you have an enclosure, I would say try out ASA. Similar to ABS, I’ve found it makes some really nice parts that are tough and UV resistant. Great for things you want to leave outdoors. Otherwise TPU is useful stuff too, and no heated chamber required. I was using it this weekend to print up seals and grommets for a trailer I’m rewiring. It’s nice being able to print up some parts I need rather than making a drive to the hardware store and hoping they’ll have something I can use.

TPU is a fun one. Touch, extremely flexible, but not stretchy.

Don’t try to feed it with a bowden tube; you need a direct drive extruder. Other than that, it’s incredibly easy to work with.

TPU is what I’d suggest. You don’t need a enclosure and it should work for what you want. It’s a finicky material though so be prepared to spend some time getting to know it, figuring out it’s temps and speeds is a must for good prints.

ABS needs an enclosure for anything above around 10 layers. Even a room closed with it warm and no one inside is not enough to save an ABS print. Just the air from the moving tool head and the bed are enough to disturb a print and cause layer separation. An IKEA Lack table and a garbage bag over it is enough of an enclosure to count and get most prints alright. It stinks though.

TPU will have holes and look terrible unless you print out of a filament drier. You can dry the stuff a lot and print for around 45 minutes with it in open air before it will absorb enough moisture to start expanding steam in the melt zone and blowing holes in your print layers.

I’d say TPU

It’s a lot less gnarly than ABS and depending on the hardness you get can it can be anything from a pain to a cakewalk to print.

Plus IMO it’s got more uses due to it’s durability.

It really depends on what you’re looking for. Are you just looking to learn how to print new materials, or do you have specific requirements for a project?

If it’s the former, I’d say the easiest thing to try is PETG. It prints pretty reasonably on most printers though has stringing issues. It has different mechanical properties that make it suitable for other applications (for example, better temperature resistance and impact strength). It’ll be much less frustrating than trying to dial in ABS for the first time.

ABS and TPU are both a pretty large step up in difficulty, but are quite good for functional parts. If you insist on learning one of these, pick whichever one fits with your projects better. For ABS you’ll want an enclosure and a well ventilated room (IMO I wouldn’t be in the same room as the printer) as it emits harmful chemicals during printing.

TPU really needs direct drive extruder to work well. ABS needs an enclosure, but you could just make one from an 8x4 sheet of foam insulation and tape for cheap.