3D Printer Blog

[Vidar]

Beware of the 3D printer hyponotizing effects 

[Chako]

My next print is a fan bracket made for the Thermaltake P3 Case. The one thing I did not like about this case is that there is no direct air over the mosfets on the motherboard. This bracket will allow me to install a 120 or 140 mm fan to blow directly on the motherboard, It fits on the front tempered glass panel. Not sure if this will be to scale...but this is my first time slicing something using CURA. 

IMG_8443A by Chako, on Flickr

Vidar, I am thinking of maybe buying a Delta down the road to just stare at it will it does its thing. Yeah...

May I add that the tempered glass bed on this printer is sheer brilliance. My first print came off without a hitch after letting the bed cool down. i didn't even have to use a spatula. I also noticed that the base of the dog or raft was meant to come off. It did that rather nicely just now. When I did that, there was a hidden M written on the bottom of the model. Kinda like an Easter egg.

My next printer projects will be to improve the printer. I can see a filament arm to keep the angle nice, a fan cover for the main board area to prevent plastic from entering the fan hole, and a small plastic part to prevent the filament from rubbing against the Z axis screw. I should have 2 rolls of black PLA arriving this Friday. That was for the Ender 3 upgrade parts.

[Vidar]

Vidar, I am thinking of maybe buying a Delta down the road to just stare at it will it does its thing. Yeah...

That is surely reason / excuse enough to get a Delta?! 

I got a little VMC and that is quite hypnotic too. I guess there is something to be said for sitting around and watching machines work. (I think the word that covers it is "unproductive"...  Still, it is so hard to look away. )

[Chako]

Unproductive...I can dig that! 

Fan bracket now at 47%.

[Chako]

Ok...I saw a need for some direct lighting. I know they sell lighting kits, but I remembered I bought a pair of magnetic mounted LED lights for the ammo locker. I got lucky as everything is aluminium other than the metal fillament mount...which proves to be the perfect location for this. 4 LEDs in a removable bar that can be rotated to direct light where you need it. Works on AAA batteries. Not only works, but looks ok.

IMG_8448A by Chako, on Flickr

Mounting bracket now at 60% complete.

IMG_8447A by Chako, on Flickr

IMG_8449A by Chako, on Flickr

I looked on Amazon for a suitable fan and found something I didn't know they made. I think this will do the job nicely...and it works using a 4 pin fan header on the motherboard.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07YZ93LF3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Chako]

5 hours later...

IMG_8450A by Chako, on Flickr

IMG_8451A by Chako, on Flickr

I thought you had to sand this type of 3D printer work...but so far, I am more than satisfied with the results.

That glass plate is awesome. Once again, a gentle force and the work came off easily.

I now have the fan brackets for my case...sort of the gentle push for me to get into 3D printing. I thought it would be more difficult than this. Must be beginners luck.

[Vidar]

That glass plate is awesome. Once again, a gentle force and the work came off easily.

Seems like you're off to a good start. 

The levels of glass stickiness will vary with different materials - the most common materials are most common for a reason though.

The problem is often the other way around, with things coming off before they should.

[Chako]

This one has a rough surface to it...and appears to hold really good until I let it cool down, and then the prints just pop right off with minimal effort.

[Chako]

Got my first failure. I was printing something hours into it and the piece came loose off of the bed. The print was 3/4 finished when this happened. The bed was at 60 degrees Celsius, the print nozzle was at 200 degrees Celsius, and printing with the red PLA.

[Chako]

Mid way on a 9 hour print. I wanted to see if this will be a failure as well. I cleaned the glass plate with alcohol wipes to see if that will make any difference. If not. I will go out and buy glue sticks.

[Vidar]

It is all part of the deal with filament printers.

I've used just glass, glue sticks, painting tape, special add on surfaces, and even preprinted a surface with some other material first. Different materials have different preferences.

Sometimes a closed cabinet around or some controlled heating will help too - the issue with some materials is that the part bottom has the plate temperature while the layers higher up will cool to a lower temperature. And as most materials grow or shrink some with different temperatures that can cause distortive forces that might work to lift corners and so on.

Different infill patterns will work differently in distributing these forces, and thus might help some, but then often with a loss of some stiffness of the finished part too. (It is somewhat like welding at times, which make sense as it is basically a lot of welding).

And so on ad infinitum. Personally once I find settings and setups that work for a given materials I document those well, and stick with those happy paths. (Or I just use the resin printer instead - then I normally just have to find the shrinkage factor and orient the part sensibly).

[Chako]

Got it. 96% now with no issues. Looks like all I needed was a cleaner build plate....maybe.

Is it normal to feel like an expecting father when a long print nears the end? 

[Chako]

So much for my expectations. 9 hours print...1 hour to reveal the model from all the supports. I first looked at it and thought to myself...this is going to be fun. That soon went out the window when I realized I simply couldn't separate the model from its cocoon. Out came the tweezers, and then the X-acto knife. i quickly realized I would soon be a casualty so I put away the X-acto knife. Then came the mini pliers...and an hours hard labour. I am surprised at how well the model turned out...and that I somehow managed to not damage it at all.

There is a lesson learned here...I will have to figure out support and how to diminish it in a way where it won't affect the print and make it easier to remove.

.  IMG_8453A by Chako, on Flickr

[Chako]

Noticed something weird...when using CURA yesterday, I wanted to print upgrade parts for my printer, but ended up putting 2 files on the card...and got the model above named under the upgrade parts. I didn't mind and just rolled with it. I think I either made a mistake and named both files the same, or it is just best to deal with 1 file at a time. This morning, I am starting my upgrade parts. I noticed my travel speed was 50 and upped it to 60mm/s. That shaved a whole hour from production time. I think I may even be able to up the speed even more, but am curious to see the difference in print quality. based on my horror story above, I also changed support from grid to line. Curious to see if that will help any.

I forgot to say Vidar, I have a built in enclosure on its way from Amazon. Should be in any week now.

Anyhow, I found this curated batch of upgrades all in one print. In here are a set of tub retention clips, various other clips for wire management including the front LCD panel wire, and a retention clip to keep the extruder cabling away from the rear of the machine. Also found in here is the filament arm to reduce the acute entry angle into the filament feeder, a front fan cover to prevent filament from going into the main control box fan opening, and a set of shims to improve the alignment of the Z axis stepper motor. Not bad for an all in one print. Once this is done, I am thinking of printing a power supply fan quieter, and possibly a back for the LCD panel which is not protected at all. I looked at the long extensive list of upgrades available on Thingiverse, and found I can either print an LCD backing, or a complete separate box for the LCD housing. If I am going to put the printer in a built enclosure, I am thinking it might be advantageous to have the controls outside said enclosure. I also want to print a feeder knob, and a small device to keep the filament away from the Z axis screw. So many options...so many possibilities. 

IMG_8455A by Chako, on Flickr

IMG_8456A by Chako, on Flickr

[Chako]

44% done and all looks good so far. I think cleaning the heated bed with rubbing alcohol really helps the adhesion.

IMG_8458A by Chako, on Flickr

[Vidar]

Easy support removal, also in hard to reach places or inside parts, was the main reason I went for the Sigma printer back in the day. (Edit: The supports print in a different soluble material).

With supports in the same material it is manual fiddling for me too. Some materials print with brittle connections so they can be broken off fairly easily - others needs knife or pliers. There are some flat cutting electronic pliers that are quite nice for that.

There might be other options I don't know about too?

[derekmac]

We've always had pretty good bed adhesion, but if we're printing small parts without a raft or brim, we'll spray some hair spray on the glass bed. 

A lot of people seem to swear by using tree supports, but I've had mixed results with them.  I try and only use supports when absolutely necessary.

[Chako]

There is a lot to learn...and I am learning on the go. I have only check marked the support option in CURA. For example, this most current one is using supports for inside the fan shroud. I won't know for sure, but I might have some difficulty in removing them inside that small piece.As it prints, I am thinking...here we go again. 

[Chako]

Yes. The fan guard is unsalvageable. There is no way to remove those supports. I am going to try without any supports at a later time. 

[Dutch_Tooler]

Whoa, been off the forum for a week and I see you're making giant strides! The print quality seems very good too
I see you're getting an enclosure. Can I take it you're going to try printing ABS too?

[Chako]

No. I don't want any toxic fumes in my living room. I thought the enclosure might help with temperature settings and to keep the dust off of the printer.

Ok. I just had an ah ha moment with CURA. I did not know that if I clicked on the advanced tab, I have a whole lot of options. I played around with the infill settings and figured out that I don't have to stick with 60% infill. For some unknown reason, when I slice a model, I still cannot preview it. If I can see what the support looked like, I could have said hell no to this mornings fan guard disaster, or the figurine I printed yesterday.

Me thinks I should try to find an instruction manual for CURA 4.6, or at least look at some instructional videos.

Update on the fan guard...although it is a thing of beauty I cannot remove all that inside plastic. So I found a different model and am printing that with no support to see what that might turn out like.

[Chako]

I think I will eventually print something out to store the tools. So far this is my starter kit.

IMG_8463A by Chako, on Flickr

Here is the finished product I printed earlier. I struggled to clean the inside of that fan guard to no avail. It is unsalvageable as mentioned above. Too bad as it came out great. I am learning by trial and error the does and don'ts of support. CURA is one tricky program.

IMG_8466A by Chako, on Flickr

On the plus side, everything else came out good. I stored the little c clips away (always good to have more of those for the boden tube). I did manage to use the filament guide and the LCD cable clips to good use.

Here you can see the filament guide. In case you are wondering, my LED light is a Phillips Light Flute held there by its magnetic base.

IMG_8467A by Chako, on Flickr

And the LCD cable clips in use.

IMG_8469A by Chako, on Flickr

[Chako]

Now I know the difference between a raft, a brim, and a skirt. 

https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printing-raft-brim-and-skirt-all-you-need-to-know/

[Chako]

Ok...well that turned out very well without supports. Now my main board cooling fan is protected from any plastics raining down on it.

IMG_8474A by Chako, on Flickr

And I also printed this file at the same time. This little plastic bit that slides onto the metal plate will ensure that my filament will not be rubbing against the Z axis screw which is full of lubricant. I gather lubricant and filament are not a good mix.

IMG_8475A by Chako, on Flickr

The upgrade of my machine is well under way with all these little enhancements.

[Dutch_Tooler]

Nice! I think 3D printers are a first step to self-replicating Von Neumann machines (just need to add enough brains to form initiative haha).
 

[Whoey]

Nice! I think 3D printers are a first step to self-replicating Von Neumann machines (just need to add enough brains to form initiative haha).
 

Unfortunately, they currently are relying on the PEBKAC.

[Chako]

Any system is only as good as its weakest link. 

Ok, this fine morning, I am printing a Yoda extruder knob. For the first time, I am looking at adding a raft and a different type of support...one that only builds a tower to support overhangs as opposed to supporting everything everywhere,

Trial and error continues, possibly with a lot of PEBKAC in the process. 

EDIT: I can tell from my initial raft layers that my right side of the bed is slightly out of level. I should probably halt everything, level the bed, and restart, but because I am experimenting with a raft, I am curious to see how this will turn out. So the experiment continues.

[Chako]

Ok..so this was the result.

IMG_8477A by Chako, on Flickr

I think this part may need some painting down the road.

IMG_8478A by Chako, on Flickr

[Whoey]

red is horrible for photography.

Concert pics with red lights 

seems you defeated the pebkac this time in spite of the levelling issue?

[Chako]

I might paint it down the road.