Buying a 3D printer

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GAP
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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by GAP » Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:18 am

philipy wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:06 am
GAP wrote: Thu Sep 23, 2021 10:15 pm
My other big mistake was I started printing immediately instead of letting the bed and nozzle temperatures stabilise, applying a bit of patience instead jumping in boots and all and things just started to work.


I did notice that when the print started a line was laid down on the extreme edge of the bed before the nozzle moved to the centre, I am guessing that this is to get the filament ready to print.
I'm surprised your m/c programming allows the print to start before the temps stabilise - I'm no expert but I wonder if your G Code is a bit corrupted?
With my m/c I press start and it does all sorts of moving to check/set the bed height and x & y zero's, etc, before the head moves to the front left corner for a couple of minutes and sits there with the filament slowly oozing as the nozzle temp increases, and at the same time the display shows the bed temp also increasing. Only when both are within operating limits does the head move back to the bed and then it first lays down a long line the full length and half a return length of the front edge of the bed before moving over to start actually printing.
Bit more experimenting today and you are correct the print will not start till the nozzle and the bed temperature have reached the operating point.

Another bit of trial and error resulted in me learning about how the Z axis offset worked (I think) the pictures below show the same file printed with the offset at 0.1, 0.13 and 0.00, I am surmising that a positive number moves the nozzle closer to the print so conversely a negative number will move it away.

The line down the side of the bed I think is a default before a print to ensure the nozzle is extruding correctly and bed adhesion is OK.

offset 0.1
P1060466.JPG
P1060466.JPG (104.26 KiB) Viewed 2132 times
offset 0.13
P1060467.JPG
P1060467.JPG (94.56 KiB) Viewed 2132 times
offset 0.00
P1060468.JPG
P1060468.JPG (81.89 KiB) Viewed 2132 times
Overall I am fairly please with how this is coming along, except for the fact the Creality Slicer that came with the printer will not open on my newer (hobby) laptop but will on my old one (used as a desk top), bit of a pain having to go back to the house every time I want to slice something that I have downloaded in the shed.
Cura on which the Creality one is based will not work as well I really like the Creality one as it so simple to use, maybe I will have to look at others in the future.
Graeme
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philipy
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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by philipy » Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:26 am

Looks like you're getting there. Well done for persevering.
Philip

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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by -steves- » Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:21 pm

Have a look on Thingiverse for test bed levelling and you will find some pretty handy things to see if the bed is actually level. This is the first one I found but there are many others, this one seems to be quite a favorite out there. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4642274

Also do away with the raft printing, it's so wasteful and gives a bad first layer. Go to brim or skirt printing. I always use skirt printing which just puts 3 lines around the print without touching it, just to ensure everything is printing as you expect for the first layer, then there is very little to remove and you know if your bed is level better, it also give a flatter, better looking first layer. This is what I expect to see from the very close up picture below, the dimples arew from my glass bed and super smooth, if it's all lines and rough, move the nozzle closer to the bed and keep trying. It is actually surprising just how close you need to be, the paper is a rough guide, but I find by the time I am finished I can barely get a bit of paper in there.


IMG_20210924_142716.jpg
IMG_20210924_142716.jpg (2.05 MiB) Viewed 2113 times


Support is sometimes required all over, sometimes from bed only and sometimes you're better off using none and just seeing what happens, it's surprising just how much it can support itself.

Just a massive hint this one, try some 3D LAC PLUS, like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/3DLAC-Printer- ... 4716917400. I swear by the stuff and buy it 5 bottles a time for just over £30, it's brilliant stuff.

P,.S. If that is the free PLA they give you, throw it in the bin and buy some proper stuff as the stuff they give you is pants, I only ever got there test files to print from it. Make sure you keep the PLA dry as it is exceptionally susceptible to damp / moisture from the air. I use one of the heated dispensers for my PLA so I know it's always dry. I once spent days trying to fix my printer only to find the PLA had got damp on the reel while it was printing. The first prints we great then they got worse and worse, especially if your printer is in a shed / garage, mine did this in the house.
The buck stops here .......

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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by GAP » Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:21 pm

The PLA is what came with the printer and it is now finished so I bought a roll from Jaycar

I used a raft because the bottom of the print has only a few dimples (to simulate bolt heads) so I thought a raft would give better adhesion because of the larger surface area.
I have yet to try the brim and I saw the skirt when I did the test print for the cat and dog.

Have just looked at the 3DLAC on evilbay, not available on Amazon Aust, and at $52 AUD a bottle ($26 for the bottle and $26 postage) I might give that a pass.
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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by philipy » Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:27 am

GAP wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:21 pm
I used a raft because the bottom of the print has only a few dimples (to simulate bolt heads) so I thought a raft would give better adhesion because of the larger surface area.
Am I understanding you correctly - that you are trying to print bolt head detail on the bottom (bed) face of a print?
If so, I don't think you'll ever get that to work satisfactorily. If you use a raft then the bolts will stick in it and you'll lose them when you separate it. A brim or a skirt will both have the effect of either the heads not sticking and simply not printing (most likely) or if they do stick, then the unsupported main face will end up very stringy and then collapse on to the bed. If you use enough supports to prevent that, you will massively increase both printing time and material cost, and also create a big cleanup problem.
IMO, if you need detail on multiple faces, the best way of dealing with it is to split the object along some convenient plane, then print flat on the bed as 2 halves and stick them togther in due course.
Philip

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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by GAP » Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:42 pm

philipy wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:27 am
GAP wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:21 pm
I used a raft because the bottom of the print has only a few dimples (to simulate bolt heads) so I thought a raft would give better adhesion because of the larger surface area.
Am I understanding you correctly - that you are trying to print bolt head detail on the bottom (bed) face of a print?
If so, I don't think you'll ever get that to work satisfactorily. If you use a raft then the bolts will stick in it and you'll lose them when you separate it. A brim or a skirt will both have the effect of either the heads not sticking and simply not printing (most likely) or if they do stick, then the unsupported main face will end up very stringy and then collapse on to the bed. If you use enough supports to prevent that, you will massively increase both printing time and material cost, and also create a big cleanup problem.
IMO, if you need detail on multiple faces, the best way of dealing with it is to split the object along some convenient plane, then print flat on the bed as 2 halves and stick them togther in due course.
I am not using that file again I have another that printed successfully with the object lying flat on its back on the plate.
The bolster with a hook tongue for the new bogie ended up a monumental fail because there was no support for the tongue and it just went all stringy till it rested on the plate then sort of printed OK.
So onto file number 3 and the I added supports and a brim and it worked well, then it was on to the side frame which is not printing properly. The printer lays a skirt OK but after the 3rd to 4th pass what is laid down sticks to the nozzle and is ripped up and ends up as a huge blob on the nozzle and nothing on the plate.
At this point I packed everything up and went inside for dinner, I shall attack it another day.

With the brim at the first go the edges curled up on 2 ends (it is T shaped) so I cleaned the bed and it stuck well. Another lesson learned.
Last edited by GAP on Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Buying a 3D printer

Post by GAP » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:28 am

I had a problem loading the creality slicer that came on the printer SD card onto my hobby laptop, so I contacted the supplier and they gave me a link to download which has successfully loaded.
Looking at the net it appears that on some updates to WIN10 the C++ distributable 2015 was not present and the slicer on the sd card does not load it unlike the one in the link.
So another hurdle has been jumped and on we go.
Graeme
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