help-with-3dprinting

[ember narwhal]

ahh, that was probably it then - impatience 😄

I did print a benchy and that turned out great, so yay there

[rough marlin]

Would making the hole a little bigger stop this problem?

[ember narwhal]

I feel really silly. I just realized my ender 5 pro comes with such a bed. Devil of a time getting it to align back on the magnetic base though.

[limpid trail]

Yeah putting it back on is the hardest part of 3D printing lmao

[empty sedge]

Not enough heat when installing?

[rough marlin]

oh i was drilling it in

that makes a lot more sense

🤦‍♂️

[unique pendant]

@rough marlin Pay particular attention to the plate-press technique. https://hackaday.com/2019/02/28/threading-3d-printed-parts-how-to-use-heat-set-inserts/

[ember narwhal]

Any recommendations for making PETG filament less stringy? I'm using the temperatures and speeds that eSun recommends for theirs, but the first few layers are still a bit stringy and end up ruining the finish on the transparent color I chose.

(245 extruder, 85 bed, 60mm/s speed)

I know part of it is just the nature of PETG but I'm hoping to minimize it at least

[empty sedge]

you probably need about 50% longer retract for PETG than PLA

prusa's profiles go from 0.8mm for PLA to 1.4mm for petg

[ornate raven]

@ember narwhal you probably need to adjust Z hop and retraction.

[ember narwhal]

Gotcha, will try those tips for my next print. Thanks!

[unique pendant]

@ember narwhal #1 cause of stringy PETG is wet filament. Do you have a filament dryer, or an oven that can go down to 140F/60C?

[ember narwhal]

it was brand new unsealed filament but I'm looking into building a filament box with a dryer etc

[unique pendant]

Brand new doesn’t guarantee that it’s dry. Especially all the way from China. I’ve had plenty of rolls that needed drying right out of the box. Now they all go right in the dryer before printing, and no more stringing.

[empty sedge]

I haven't seen strings from wet petg but I've certainly had wet sealed brand new esun petg. Before/after drying shown

[brave mica]

Going long on Stemma QT

(with PETG stringing!)

[ember narwhal]

That color is gorgeous. Which brand/hue is it?

Today I am so, so thankful for the Adafruit CAD files. Makes modeling things to fit soooo much easier.

Making a NovelKeys "big switch" case with a removable Feather M4+Airlift section below.

(super, super early in the process)

[placid zephyr]

QTPY Snap case print file made from the adafruit lego case and cad files. 😛 it fits nice and snug.

[sullen zinc]

I added a "silicone sock" to my nozzle. I wonder if it changes the thermal characteristics enough that I should pid-tune again

heatup curve seems fine, little overshoot, faster than the bed by a long shot.

a bit of ringing when stepping the temperature .. but keep in mind I didn't look at the "before".

[elder oxide]

Is the area your printer drafty at all?

[sullen zinc]

it's in a cold basement but not particularly drafty

[elder oxide]

colder environments might cause it to be a bit more iffy in maintaining the temperature

it's worth putting an enclosure around it to help trap some of the heat 🙂

[sullen zinc]

someday maybe

It's on a shelving unit.. I've considered shower curtain as a low cost but not particularly airtight attempt. But warping had not been a problem with petg or pla so far

and I have no particular wish to print abs/asa

[elder oxide]

ah okay

[empty sedge]

@sullen zinc On the i3 mk3 I've found a silicone sock causes the fan duct to melt because the duct presses on the sock

[sullen zinc]

I'll check for that, thanks @empty sedge -- this is an mk3s, I dunno if they've changed the fan shroud geometry yet again, but it seems to be something that is frequently changed. You mean the part cooling fan right?

[empty sedge]

yeah it's the same on the mk3s. the blower duct is close enough to the heater block that if you put a silicone sock on there they touch and the fan duct will sag over time as it melts

[sullen zinc]

Here's what I can see.. which is the area of concern? Also a bit surprised at the discoloration after <1 hour of printing

[empty sedge]

the part where the duct is directly touching heats up by conducting heat directly through the silicone

the duct is printed from ABS so it doesn't warp very quickly

[sullen zinc]

my intuition is failing me about whether more heat is transferred via atmosphere or via silicone. I would have predicted greater heating of the shroud with atmosphere. Live and learn. Or, watch carefully and be prepared to print a replacement. It sounds like it might be a consumable part in any case.

[autumn sedge]

Anyone suggest a 3d printer under $600? Able to print petg and abs?

[unique pendant]

@autumn sedge if you are in the USA, I would try to buy from Tiny Machines because they upgrade, test, and verify all the machines they sell, and it's at no extra cost. This one is in stock now: https://tiny-machines-3d.myshopify.com/collections/all-3d-printers/products/cr-6-se-3d-printer

ABS is tricky as it warps badly if you don't have an enclosure. Also, the fumes are toxic, if you can't vent, I wouldn't do it. Of course that adds a whole new level of expense and headache.

[autumn sedge]

Never looked into the 6se, looks pretty cool

Honestly I like petg more

[unique pendant]

You might also consider the Ender3 with the usual array of upgrades. Or a Prusa Mini+ would also be an excellent and reliable choice. https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/66-original-prusa-mini

I like PETG a lot. It's usually my go to filament.

[autumn sedge]

Ender 3 seems like one of the go to's. Ender 5 isn't quite a core xy so I guess the only difference is bigger print volume.

I had a cr10 a couple months ago

[unique pendant]

Nice thing about Ender3 is you can put a Microswiss direct drive on it.

[autumn sedge]

See I think I want direct drive.

I've heard different things though. I've heard direct drive is better for flexible filaments but bowden can be better when not because he added weight on the x axis

[unique pendant]

I prefer direct drive for everything, personally.

[elder oxide]

Printing a pi rack

[unique pendant]

Honestly, if I would have known then what I know now I would have got a genuine Prusa for my first printer. I would have saved way more money and had a much more reliable printer. Though I wouldn't have learned as much about the mechanics of a printer -- maybe. 6 with one, half a dozen with the other I think. Which is usually the conclusion here.

[autumn sedge]

Which printer is that skerr?

I think I'm gonna go with the ender 3 v2

[elder oxide]

Ender 3 pro

[unique pendant]

What's the difference between Pro and v2?

[elder oxide]

V2 came out later, has some upgrades related to the hot end and brains

This is explains the upgrades of the v2

https://creality3d.shop/blogs/choose-your-3d-printer/ender-3-vs-ender-3-pro-vs-ender-3-v2?gclid=Cj0KCQiA0MD_BRCTARIsADXoopas01_CzwjJ5oCnnJKOrS3Z06EmnNpZNkLorrZzGilbNh1Mmc-o9_oaApIjEALw_wcB

Just have to scroll to the bottom to get to it

[iron remnant]

I think they just need to give up on any sort of numbering system and give them all impressive 80s names like "Dazzle" and "Buzz" and "Rebel" and stuff

[brave mica]

Prusament Neon Green PETG!
https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/prusament/928-prusament-petg-neon-green-transparent-1kg.html

Super quick and inexpensive shipping for 1-2 rolls!

[ember narwhal]

Thanks!

[gusty mist]

Anyone see an issue if I were to use Molex Micro-Fit 3.0 connectors to make my hotend and thermistor easily removable (without needing to route wires)? Do I need to worry about wire gauge or amp rating?

[empty sedge]

yes you do but the connectors and pins were plenty large last I checked

[empty sedge]

for 50W at 12V that's 4A. you'll want 20AWG or larger wires

[autumn sedge]

worth getting hardened steel nozzles?

[empty sedge]

if you're printing carbon fiber filament, glow filament, or fiberglass-filled filament yes

[pearl tendon]

I have a couple of hardened steel nozzles. I really only use them when printing certain exotic filaments. Recently I have printed some green filament that glows, and absolutely tears up the nozzle hole if it isn't hardened steel. Plus I will run into certain filaments in the MakerBox that require hardened steel. But other than that I use brass nozzles because I will often change nozzle sizes.

[unique pendant]

Hardened steel nozzles generally run up to 10 degrees cooler than the heat block, and they are notorious for stringing, so you will probably have to adjust your slicer settings. I have been using the plated copper nozzles for months now and I like them MUCH more than the steel ones, however, I don't think they're intended for carbon fiber filament. I like Nozzle X as a close second, and definitely will stand up to anything.

(don't use ruby nozzles by the way, they fall apart, and they're "wear items" so will not be replaced as defective by the manufacturer.)

[signal finch]

well i like hardened steel because it's safer in terms of food quality, can attest to stringyness. I should do a hairy lion sometime

didn't know it was because of the nozzle, very interesting

[unique pendant]

If you're concerned about food quality, stainless steel is the top choice. Tho' in terms of FDM printing, food safety is low because of all the nooks bacteria can colonize.

[ember narwhal]

I'm looking for a decent clear filament, but it's hard to get a good picture of how the various options look. Ideally I'd like it to be clear enough to cover an OLED display and have the display still be readable. Anyone have a particular filament they'd recommend for this purpose?

[karmic brook]

If it's one of the really small OLED displays, you'll probably have to do some postprocessing to make the print more transparent.

[empty sedge]

https://taulman3d.com/t-glase-optics.html is a start
"clear" with FDM really depends on how you post-process your print and how you orient the places you want clear in your part, in addition to how solid your infill is

[empty sedge]

http://thrinter.com/10-transparent-filaments/

results like this take finding just the right extrusion percentage, and printing slow and fat beads, and maybe sanding and polishing

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2798956

another post on clear https://learn.colorfabb.com/lets-make-something-clear/

[ember narwhal]

Thanks! Really appreciate all the info.

Definitely prepared to post-process as needed, just wanted to get as close as possible before that.

[ember narwhal]

Yup, it's an SSD1306. As long as I can get text to be readable, it'll work for my needs.

[empty sedge]

regardless of post-processing making the print as thin and as close as possible to the display will be the first things to do

[unique pendant]

I went through that whole process with the colorFabb stuff and could never get it to work. It's super-advanced tuning. I ended up just paying someone to make resin prints. 😄

[short crag]

Hey I was thinking about 3d printing a iPad 8 gen case what material should I use that would work with the ender 3 pro

[torpid grove]

ender 3 can print a decent variety of materials. If you are wanting a hard plastic case I would recommend PLA it's one of the easiest materials to print, in my experience. If you want a case that is more flexible something like TPU may be good ninja flex is a good option for flexible filaments. If you give me more specifics about what you're going for I can give you some more options!

[wild steppe]

Hi, I'm feeling like I'm missing out :-), since I don't have a 3D printer, but would love to hear from other about hobbyist usage of third party printing houses. ( I'm in the Seattle area - so if anyone has used 'local' houses, your comments are especially appreciated )

[iron remnant]

I've been using Treatstock and it's reasonably fine.

[torpid grove]

Don't let the FOMO get to you, at least not to much. 😉 My personal opinion is you may be better off buying a cheap 3D printer than using a print house. Usually the cost of getting a few parts printed will end up being about the same as buying a cheap printer + a spool of filament. Also the turn around time for doing the prints yourself is much quicker. Another option is to check out your local makerspaces / libraries for 3D printing.

[iron remnant]

Yah, it depends. Like, I am primarily using TreatStock because I don't have room for a 3D printer in my geekroom.

OTOH, sending it out means that you don't spend a lot of time on printer maintenance.

Also, sending off 3D printing to Treatstock or any of the alternative services is great and all but sending off laser cutting to Ponoko or any of those alternatives is amazing. Laser cut acrylic doesn't have the issues with accuracy and repeatability that fillament-based 3D printing has.

[torpid grove]

Laser cutting with Ponoko is another good recommendation. Much more economical IMO and you can still do a ton with it

[karmic brook]

It's handy if you're cutting unusual stock too, as Ponoko will let you order stuff cut from stock they supplly.

[vernal spade]

Does anyone have recommendations for a decent hobby 3D printer? Ideally something with enough precision to build simple moving parts

Every time I start researching it I go into an infinite loop with all the options

[empty sedge]

@vernal spade if you scroll up the discussion goes like the following:
several people: i3 mk3s is great, worth the increased cost for increased reliability and automatic bed leveling and spring steel sheet and solid print profiles

but the ender 3 is popular and cheaper. you'll learn more (have more failures that you learn about) with the ender 3 but it's capable once you get over the bumps.

I'm solidly in the i3 mk3s/plus camp. my hackerspace has two and except for when people use the wrong filament or profile and the nozzle gets encased in plastic they've been workhorses not needing much maintenance for the last two years

[elder lintel]

Avoid the CR6-SE for now IMHO. Ender-3 v2 for cost, Prusa if you want support and well written, detailed instructions.

[boreal hearth]

Yep avoid the CR6 SE for now, I would personally recommend a Ender 3 with upgrades (bltouch and silent board)

The Ender 3 v2 is also great, but the screen firmware is hard to "hack" with, so not a great printer if you want to tinker with the firmware 🙂

Ow wait, that is @elder lintel, she knows everything about Creality printers 🙂

[elder lintel]

Completly agree- Ender-3 if you plan to mod, v2 if you don't😊

[vernal spade]

Thanks @empty sedge @elder lintel @boreal hearth

[gritty galleon]

Hey everyone! I wasn't sure where to put this so let me know if I need to move it. Essentially I have a comfort item that's FDM 3d printed in PLA. I tend to carry it around bassically everywhere so lately I've been worrying about it getting dirty from ware. Is there a way to clean PLA FDM prints?

[unique pendant]

Pretty much nothing dissolves PLA, not even acetone. You could use alcohol on it, then let it air dry.

(nothing available to consumers that is)

[gritty galleon]

Tysm!

[karmic brook]

I've read that MEK can dissolve PLA, but I haven't verified it, nor do I know how to procure MEK or what the safety risks are.

[unique pendant]

@gritty galleon You should only surface clean it tho' as FDM is not usually water-tight. If you immerse it, you're likely to get alcohol inside that won't be able to dry easily. Also could reprint if it gets too dirty/degraded over time. Maybe have a spare ready?

[gritty galleon]

@unique pendant good to know, yeah my concern was its being porous. Having a spare is probably going to be my best bet

[unique pendant]

FDM is definitely porous.

Which is actually a big advantage for sculptors and prop makers, etc. as the porous nature makes it a better holder for filler, paint, etc.

[gritty galleon]

I may have already submerged in water once (with anti bacterial soap) before to try to clean it 😬 I guess I should keep an eye out for fungus or things of the kind?

[unique pendant]

It's probably OK. If you shake it and don't hear water sloshing around, it's fine. It will eventually dry out, it just takes longer. Also, wiping it with alcohol will help.

[gritty galleon]

Good to know, thx for ur help ^^

[karmic brook]

Or pull a vacuum on it to boil out any remaining liquid

[gritty galleon]

Interesring idea! I'll have to give that a try!

[karmic brook]

It's not a common approach, but if you have the apparatus, it works well.

[ember narwhal]

any tips on slicer settings for making vertically-printed circles less oval-shaped (i.e. "squished")?

tried printing some LED holes on a vertical wall and they all deformed even with supports

[karmic brook]

I'd do a quick check to see if the layer height in the slicer matched the printed layer height (maybe print a thinwall calibration cube). Could be a mismatch in the printer configuration, skipped steps, slipping belt, or something like that.

[ember narwhal]

what's a thinwall calibration cube?

[karmic brook]

I use these: https://softsolder.com/2015/03/30/calibration-boxes-for-3d-printing/

[short crag]

im trying to find a ipad 8th gen 3d printable case because when i try mo make one in fusion input in the size but then the other size changes

[karmic brook]

Parametric engineering can be tricky and frustrating

[signal finch]

Looking to buy a printer for less than 1k. Currently using a borrowed prusa i3 mk3s

Also pre-ordered the xchange

[short crag]

cr-10

[signal finch]

Why

Just looking to understand

[short crag]

it is massave

[signal finch]

I was under the impression cr was harder to use than prusa

[short crag]

and you acn get a lot for under 1k

yes it is but it has trade ofs

ofs

[signal finch]

I do love big

[short crag]

the i3mk3 is easier to just print but if you upgrade the cr 10 then i can come close to it it all depends on what you are planing on using it for

[empty sedge]

"upgrade"

[signal finch]

I use mostly petg

[short crag]

i meant size wize

[signal finch]

Oh I don't like no short short 3dp

I'd get a shopbot if I could afford it

[short crag]

if you print big things then go with the cr 10 but if not i would go with the prusha

[empty sedge]

larger prints with the same nozzle size also take much longer

[short crag]

ya

thares a trade off

[signal finch]

How is the cr10 at large nozzles like .8

Does it need an upgraded heating block to accommodate like prusa?

I can print at .8 on prusa just slower than .6

I also dislike how the prusa extruder hangs and is not firmly connected to the x axis

[empty sedge]

"hangs"? the extruder has screws that go through the x-carriage. Do you mean the hotend groove-mount clamp is too loose? I shimmed that with electrical tape

[signal finch]

Hrm, I'll have to look to see. Maybe I was missing a screw

The reason is with the xchange I think I will want to try milling which requires a firmly mounted head

[empty sedge]

8mm rods aren't very stiff

[signal finch]

Ah

Ty

Ok, so what is the best creality ?

For size and reliability

[empty sedge]

someone else will have to answer that. I've only had experience with ender 3

[signal finch]

10s, 10s pro, 10 v3

@empty sedge much appreciated

[short crag]

i only have the ender 3 pro

[short crag]

im trying to find a ipad 8th gen 3d printable case because when i try mo make one in fusion input in the size but then the other size changes

[empty sedge]

@short crag you probably have a constraint linking the two dimensions together like an equality constraint or an angle constraint somewhere

[short crag]

how to use the boundry fill in fuion 360

[unique pendant]

@signal finch you might want to consider some other variables besides cost. For example, if you routinely print large, a larger printer is a good idea, but then your budget restricts you to lower quality parts that you'll have to replace/upgrade more frequently. I routinely print large. But since I routinely print large, I learned the hard way that I should have started with a higher quality printer and ended up going way over budget by buying cheaper at first. Also keep in mind that the Prusa MK3S+ is big enough to print like 95% of what most people print. And the Prusa Mini+ is big enough to print about like 90% of what people normally print.

Also consider what kind of print quality you want. I've found that to be the best guide for me.

[signal finch]

Well I'm used to the mk3s

That's what I learned on and have available right now

But I don't see the issue with print quality because I haven't ever gone beyond a .4mm nozzle either

The xchange is because I want to do multi extruders so it's easier to disassemble hotends and can do multi material

Who knows what other stuff will come out with it

I'm excited since the only other option appears to be e3d tool change

[ember narwhal]

Turns out the real problem was me all along. Was using a profile with the wrong support settings. Haaaaa.

[unique pendant]

What I mean by print quality is really about layer stacking. Are you doing work that needs extreme precision such as this?

If so, you'll probably never be satisfied with any bedflinger. This is a typical print from a RailCore.

If you don't need that level of quality then there are other options. Since you're interested in using the xchange, it seems like they've designed it with the Ender 3 in mind. They say they are working on a Prusa version, but there's a lot of ifs there. They haven't even released the xchange yet. I, personally, have sworn off doing any more kickstarter-like endeavors, as they have never lived up to the hype in the ones I participated in.

[signal yarrow]

What printers out there are comparable to the Prusa in terms of "just working". I am tired of calibrating my printer, letting it sit for a week, and then having to wrestle with it again. I tend to do mechanical components, etc. I just got myself a laser cutter so that's taken some of the load. I would get a Prusa but their shipping times right now are not looking too good.

[unique pendant]

The Ender 3 is a great machine, as is the Prusa. The Ender 3 will make you get more involved with the nitty gritty, and there's a lot of positives to that. The Prusa is made of excellent stuff, so it "just works".

[signal yarrow]

I have an ender 5 now

[unique pendant]

Funny you were asking that as I was just about to hit the send button.

The only printers I've ever used that just work and don't need fiddling are the RailCore II 300ZL and the Formbot Raptor 2 (from Tiny Machines as they do free upgrades and quality control before they send it to you).

[signal yarrow]

I don't want to tinker with my printer. I used to have a day job working with 3d printers. No fun

[unique pendant]

They are not cheap printers tho'. The Raptor 2+ is US$999 ( @signal finch that's just under your limit), and the RailCore is US$1700 and it's a kit.

[signal yarrow]

I'd be willing to do 1 - 2k. maybe 3k if it's reall nice.

[unique pendant]

RailCore. Period.

I used to use Stratasys printers and the Railcore beats all but their best stuff. The quality (as you can see above) is in the US$50K range but it's under $2K.

You can go crazy with fancy bling, but it's not necessary. Here's mine:

[signal finch]

Raptor 2 got reviewed badly

[unique pendant]

By Tom you mean? They have fixed all the things he had a problem with. I agree, they used the wrong wire under the bed, and they didn't have any safety cover on the AC, but that was a long time ago. They're already 2 generations beyond that.

Anyway, I'm in charge of 11 different printers and the only ones that just print and stay tuned where I left them are (in order of decreasing reliability) Railcore (top), Raptor 2, and Prusa. That's just my personal experience. I only know one other person with a Raptor 2 and he has the same experience. The rest are fiddly, but OK.

If you go with a Chinese printer, and you live in the USA, go with Tiny Machines because they will make sure you don't get a lemon. Their support never ends either. The other person I know with a Raptor got his there too. I'm sure Thom didn't get his from Tiny Machines.

[karmic brook]

I'm seriously tempted by the Railcore for my next printer.

I take it the Railcore is not a bedflinger?

[unique pendant]

Nope, it’s a coreXY.

[unique pendant]

Some things to consider... If you don't mind building a kit, the Railcore is the best choice I know of. Some people like Vorons, and they are also excellent printers, but the culture of owners/builders/designers is very different (I hear it's getting better tho'). If you truly need a larger build area than 300x x 300y x 300z (or 600z) you should look to the larger bedflingers such as the Gmax clones (e.g. CR10, Raptor2, or get a genuine Gmax if you have an extra $5K to spend). Keep in mind, the cost is related to the quality of components which is proportionally related to the time, effort, and money you will spend fiddling and upgrading.

It's possible to make a CoreXY that will print larger, but you cannot maintain the accuracy to 0.01mm (which was the goal of the Railcore designers) without beefing up everything (steppers, belts, etc.) which makes the cost skyrocket ludicrously. Also the cost of a flat aluminum bed at say 400x400 is astronomical because it has to be very thick. The math is all there, and it's really complex. I, personally, was very skeptical, but I've seen others build CoreXYs larger and it holds true.

If you don't want to build a kit, but want a Railcore, there is a printer called the Daedalus that just started shipping in November 2020. It's built by the people who used to sell fully built Railcores, but the fully built Railcores didn't ship well. So it's basically a redesign to withstand shipping and maintain the build volume and accuracy. I have a friend who bought one, but haven't heard back on any results.

[unique pendant]

I wouldn't recommend any of these as a first printer tho'. I think the group consensus earlier was spot on that the best first printers are Ender 3 or Prusa MK3+. Both print really well, and both will teach you a lot. You will be upgrading the Ender 3 (which should immediately get a MicroSwiss direct drive and hotend before you even start printing with it IMHO) and there's a lot of value in learning how to take things apart and put them back together. You'll still learn that stuff with the Prusa too, but not right away. With Prusa you'll be learning how to tune to get the best quality prints right away.

[karmic brook]

That's a really good writeup, thank you. My first printer was a Monoprice Mini Delta. It basically worked, but needed a lot of upgrades and tweaking, and had a tiny build volume. My current printer is a Prusa MK3S, it's a workhorse, I've only done a couple of mods to it (a stepless titanium heatbreak was the main one so far). But I keep running into situations where I need to print long heavy objects on their ends, and need to add brims and print with limited acceleration so they don't pop off the bed when they get top-heavy, so I was curious about nicer printers that didn't move the print around. The Railcore sounds like it's right in my sweet spot for that sort of use, so I'm going to go read up on it more.

[unique pendant]

This server doesn't allow invite links to other discords so I'll send you one for the Railcore discord. The people there are very nice and very responsive. The designers, vendors, and manufacturers hang out there regularly too. There's a lot of great info at railcore.org too.

[karmic brook]

Thanks!

[agile gorge]

Mmmm, railcore

With how much I spent building up a blv cube, probably should have gone straight for a railcore kit

[unique pendant]

BLV is really nice too. I looked at that for quite a while too before opting for Railcore, and I have a friend who built one, but the Railcore kit includes all extremely high quality parts from a real vendor who will make things right if anything is wrong/missing. My friend with the BLV is now upgrading to a 3-leadscrew bed and purchasing better quality components to upgrade what he got from the AliExpress kit vendor. What sold me on the Railcore was that picture of an example print I posted above because I print sculptures and when the layer stacking and precision is at that ludicrously excellent level, it saves me hours of post-processing work. It really prints that well, and I'm no tuning expert. It just works. The Raptor is not far behind in layer stacking, and I use the Raptor for prints larger than 300mm in X or Y unless I'm using the Railcore for something else.

[agile gorge]

I sourced blv parts individually, no kit, so no upgrading as a result

I will stick with a 2 z setup

Yeah, railcore kit is much nicer

[shy kelp]

@unique pendant so your saying essentially both printers can acheive the same level of print quality at the end of the day? the impression ive gotten is that an upgraded and properly calibrated creality will equal that of a prusa and cost the same at the end of the day, and the only difference is if you want to pay more upfront for a nicer printer (prusa) and do less work or go the diy route (creality) and pay less upfront but have to spend any saved money on upgrades and time spent calibrating the equipment?

im in the middle of deciding between getting an ender 3 v2 or saving up for a higher end creality like the CR-6 SE or just waiting and going straight for a MK3S and not having to worry about it (upgrades and time getting the quality up)

[unique pendant]

Do not get a CR-6 until further notice. That's straight from Naomi Wu earlier (Creality factory rep). I've seen some great prints from the Ender, but then you go back and do another, and the tuning needs to be redone, or one of the wheels came loose, set screw in the extruder, etc., and so on. Not so with the Prusa. It generally makes great prints over and over and over with very little tweaking. What's your time worth, waiting for parts, throwing away prints, fiddling? Personally I think the Prusa is a better choice when considering all that, but the Ender is much cheaper and you're not going to spend enough on upgrades to match the price of a Prusa.

[shy kelp]

Okay thanks for letting me know about that, im not very familiar with creality, was given a ender pro 3 for christmas but had them return it because it was sold at a huge markup. Im kind of eyeing the ender 3 v2 instead since it seems like an upgraded version, I like the prusa printers because thats what every project im trying to replicate seems like it was made on and id rather focus on learning 3d printing itself and less on how to build and maintain a printer due to low quality. I cant quite afford a mk3s unless theres a used market though so im open to suggestions, even it its just to wait and save up more money

I do have several things I need 3D printed at a reasonable quality to continue with certain projects but the prices to have those pieces printed online cost almost as much as a printer so i thought i should look into getting one now

[signal finch]

Thank you. Yes I have some time on the prusa and want to go bigger

Curious what your take on e3d toolchange is. Not sure where in production that is.

[unique pendant]

I know nothing about it, but there's a lot of talk in the Railcore Discord about toolchanging including the E3D toolchanger -- even has its own channel.

[lilac patio]

If you're interested in tool changing there's also Jubilee

[elder lintel]

I think an Ender-3 v2 is a great first printer- and it's a great spare printer. And you aren't out a lot of cash if it terms out it's not for you. But in terms of ultimate quality I'd agree the Railcore is looking phenomenal, but as a first printer, the community is a lot smaller to the learning curve is going to be steep.

[signal yarrow]

Curious - what's the reason for the steep learning curve? What does one get for paying more money for a Railcore?

[unique pendant]

It's a steep learning curve for someone who's never used a 3D printer for a few factors:

1. because it's Duet firmware (which is awesome) but if you aren't comfortable with coding, you will have to learn it
2. you have to build it yourself which involves a lot of non-intuitive steps
3. many kinds of hardware that assume you know what you're doing (for example, if you don't know how to check linear rails and clean/repack you have to learn, leadscrew checking, etc.)

That's just a few I can remember of stuff I had to deal with. That being said, there are a few people who have started with a Railcore that I know of, but it's a lot easier if you come to the build with a fair amount of knowledge of how things should be before you start.

What do you get for paying more money? Dependability/reliability, almost no downtime, ludicrously gorgeous prints every time, no fiddling, would be the top few.

[unique pendant]

tuning is just a little off, but this will give you an idea why as well

[knotty laurel]

That's gorgeous... 😍

[trail tulip]

not bad, not bad

[ember narwhal]

I keep thinking these are renders you're posting

nice stuff

[unique pendant]

Haha. Yeah. I thought the pictures of prints I was seeing off Railcores were renders too, until I started seeing the prints coming off mine! Blows me away every time. You get used to that tho' and forget what the standard high quality level is. I went to a convention in Chicago right before Covid, and was totally unimpressed with the prints coming off machines costing less than US$120,000. 😆

[iron remnant]

I guess it's the machine for people who want to rail against poor print quality

[pearl tendon]

Dangit, I've been following the thread and doing more research... Now I think I have to look at a Railcore next. That quality is just truly amazing!

[signal yarrow]

I look at that photo and go 🤷, I also print with a 0.8 nozzle. Am I a monster? 🤓😬

[karmic brook]

No, you're optimizing for different parameters: that's the essence of engineering.

[signal yarrow]

Optimizing for my impatience? Lol

[karmic brook]

Seems completely valid to me

[inland sage]

Looking for Recommendations for an easy way to split .stl files in half for printing a complex thin object.

[unique pendant]

I just put the half I don't want to print under the print plane in the slicer, make a note of the z-position, and then do the opposite for the other half.

You might be able to use Meshmixer to do that, but I find the interface difficult to figure out.

Yes, there is a plane cut tool in Meshmixer, but I'm not sure how to export the individual cut STLs from the original. I'm sure there's some directions on it on youtube or autodesk's website.

[signal yarrow]

You could import the STL into something like Fusion 360 and modify it there. Video incoming shortly

(Sorry about the music and clicking :D, just using my normal Twitch setup)

[empty sedge]

Prusa slicer can also split objects with a plane and keep both halves

[inland sage]

Thanks for the tips! I’ll have some things to try tonite!

[signal finch]

Prusa slicer allows you to cut objects

I am getting close to buying a raptor 2 from formbot. Any critiques?

[unique pendant]

If you are in the USA or nearby. Go with Tiny Machines. I do think they ship internationally, but you'd have to talk with them.

[signal finch]

I did call them but they didn't answer

[unique pendant]

It's only 2 guys and they're pretty swamped. Try sending them an email from their contact form. Usually takes them a day or so.

[signal finch]

Although I understand it's post Xmas

[unique pendant]

They must have just got their shipment in too because I checked not that long ago and they were out of stock, so they're even busier now!

[signal finch]

So I can't afford the railcore or trust my ability to build it

But the raptor looks significantly better than the cr 10 v3

[unique pendant]

That's OK. I'm totally shocked I was able to do it. 😂

[signal finch]

Haha

[unique pendant]

Yeah, the Raptor is loaded with quality parts.

[signal finch]

Yeah. It's a knock off of another printer right?

[unique pendant]

Gcreate Gmax

They just came out with a linear rail upgrade for the X axis (on the Raptor) that I put on. It's pretty nice.

[signal finch]

Thanks... That's 4x the price though

Wondering why one is so much more expensive

Btw thank you so much satre

[unique pendant]

Factory is in Brooklyn. Very expensive to run a business there.

[signal finch]

Ahhhhh

[unique pendant]

The problems I had with my Raptor after about 1000 hours of printing were

1. the bed heater wires broke because they weren't superflex silicone. Tiny Machines fixes that, not sure if the factory does.
2. never 100% happy with the cooling after trying many different mods to the blower. Ended up using the RailCore James Tongue shroud with a mount I designed. Most people do not have any problem with the stock blower tho'🤷‍♂️

[signal finch]

Anyone here have experience running a print farm?

[empty sedge]

Eh, only in the "printing thousand of face shields on 4 printers" sense

[dusk meadow]

hi everyone. can someone please tell me if it is possible to use a feather with octoprint? thx

[empty sedge]

You're going to have to be more specific. Octoprint won't run on any feather but that doesn't mean you couldn't build an octoprint plugin that talks to your feather to do something

[dusk meadow]

i’m just trying to find a pi alternative with something i may have on hand

the beaglebone black can be made to work with it but it’s proven to be more trouble than it’s worth

[empty sedge]

I haven't booted my beaglebone in a while. What kind of trouble?

otherwise, you can run octoprint on a normal computer

[dusk meadow]

a friend who knows coding better than me and has a pi and bbb like mine was guiding me but i keep running into issues. it may be mine is rev b and instructions are for rev c

i guess i want to use a dedicated device but if not necessary...

[signal finch]

Just ordered the raptor 2 from tiny machines. Thank you @unique pendant

[dusk meadow]

@empty sedge would my printer need direct access to the internet/my network in order to use whatever computer?

[empty sedge]

only to install octoprint, not to run it

[dusk meadow]

ok thx. i’ll have to look into how i go about it with my printer, which is ender 3 v2.

[empty sedge]

you can also use printrun/pronterface, but on mac it takes some tweaking to get it to keep running. If that's the approach you take it's more reliable to load the print onto SD card then start with printerface/printrun or the LCD

[dusk meadow]

ok and yea, i’m mac too so there’s that

[empty sedge]

"Disable App Nap" in get info is a start but doesn't seem to be enough

[plain dirge]

Hey, I'm an absolute noob when it comes to 3D printing and I'm looking into getting one. What would be the best option (and type) for under $500?
From what I've found so far, the filament printers seem to have larger printing volumes but don't have the highest quality prints. The resin fluid printers have smaller volume sizes and better prints, on the other hand. Which strong point is a better one to have?

[empty sedge]

resin parts often aren't durable enough to use for mechanical things where the filament-made ones are. Resin printers are also much messier and you'll want a ton of nitrile gloves, alcohol to clean your parts, and perhaps a respirator to deal with the smell of uncured resin

resin printers are better for figures and high detail though

uncured resin will kill fish if poured down the drain and isn't good on your skin

[unique pendant]

@tired tartan Ender 3 or save up some more and get a Prusa MK3S+. Scroll up in this channel and you'll see lots of discussion on pluses and minuses. Resin is a mess. Not for noobs.

[plain dirge]

OK, definitely something to keep in mind as I'll probably be building a ton of mechanical things with it.
How can I get a Prusa MK3S+ though? I can't find any in stock right now.

[ember narwhal]

Yeah they're all backordered. Very popular.

I was in a similar boat and ended up getting an Ender 5 Pro for ~$375

and have been loving it so far

minimal calibration needed out of the box, still has a nice kit feeling when assembling it

[plain dirge]

are these just about as good?

[ember narwhal]

MK3S+ is better than an Ender 5 iirc

[plain dirge]

ok. I looked at the price for it, and it apparently costs $800. Is that what it usually sells for?

[ember narwhal]

the MK3S+?

yeah, 700-800 I think

Prusa's stuff is REALLY solid though

you're paying for the great build quality and support

[plain dirge]

Oh, ok. I'm not sure I'll be able to put down $800 for it though.

[ember narwhal]

my decision between ender 3 and ender 5 ultimately came down to the 0.05 layer resolution on the 5 vs 0.1 on the 3, and the slightly larger Y space on the 5's bed

the hot end on the 5 is also better than the 3's default

bed springs are way better on the ender 5 too, so less re-leveling needed over time

[plain dirge]

OK. What pros does the Prusa I3 have over the ender 5, other than quality and support?

[ember narwhal]

one thing Ender 3s used to have over the 5s is more updated firmware, but that's no longer the case

[empty sedge]

Spring steel sheet for super easy print removal
Auto bed leveling means you don't need to mess with leveling screws. You just set the z-offset between the probe trigger height in the first layer calibration using the LCD once per spring steel sheet and that's it.
lost step detection & recovery. power loss recovery
direct drive extruder that drives the filament from both sides
and the default prusa slicer profiles work very well

[unique pendant]

Consider the Prusa mini

[empty sedge]

there's filament runout detection and recovery too, but that doesn't work when the filament jams

[ember narwhal]

ender 5 has power loss recovery now

one big advantage of the MK3S+ is that you can get the MMU upgrade

and Prusa has an amazing community

[empty sedge]

the ender 3 has a super common problem where the PTFE coupler on the hotend is supposed to hold the filament against the back side of the nozzle but it doesn't stay there and you end up with essentially a clog. Did they fix that on the 5?

[ember narwhal]

not sure but I've printed like 1kg of filament since getting mine running 3 weeks ago and haven't had a single clog

[plain dirge]

So the Prusa Mini+ is still better than the Ender 5, just with a smaller bed size?

[ember narwhal]

it's a different comparison really, but if you're willing to wait and don't want to have too many settings needing to be adjusted OOTB, the mini is fantastic

definitely more "beginner friendly" than an Ender, but not really enough to turn anyone off

the Prusa community can't be stated enough though

it's SUPER helpful

even if you don't have a Prusa even

[plain dirge]

Oh, ok. In general, The Prusa MK3S is alot better than the Ender 5 and Prusa Mini, both of which are better than the Ender 3?

[ember narwhal]

aww I liked the pre-edit code notation 😄

[plain dirge]

lmao

[ember narwhal]

but yeah I'd say that's accurate

Ender 3 can be REALLY good with upgrades

but it's basically required to upgrade as soon as you get it

so that was a turn off for me personally

[plain dirge]

in which case, you'd just buy the more expensive printer

[ember narwhal]

I wanted something that could do great prints before looking at upgrading it

[unique pendant]

Ender 3 can be awesome with the MicroSwiss direct drive upgrade.

[plain dirge]

OK. I'll keep that info in mind. Thanks everyone for all your suggestions!

[vernal spade]

I got the Ender 3 after reading all the suggestions on here. I'm intrigued by the RailCore though and might want to upgrade after I gain some experience.

[torpid grove]

Ender 3 is a great first printer! I have one myself and have been really happy with it. Not sure if anyone else suggested this to you already but adding a glass bed helped me a ton with mine. I also ended up upgrading to a metal filament feeder. The plastic one that came with the printer wore out after half a year.

[vernal spade]

Interesting, how does the glass bed help? Sorry if it's a naive question, total noob with 3d printing here

[torpid grove]

First of all that's a great question, second don't feel bad asking questions is what this discord is for. Anyway to answer your question glass beds can provide several advantages:

1. Prevent bed warping this was a big issue with enders at least when I bought mine.
2. More even heat distribution to prints.
3. Really high quality surface finish on any sides of the print touching the glass bed. This does require you to clean it after every use though.
4. Related to point 1, more level and even surface.

Might be more but I can't think of them right now.

It can be harder to get parts to stick to glass beds, but I've found Aquanet hair spray to be great for helping parts stick to the bed. Everything that makes it awful for hair makes it great for printing.

[vernal spade]

Ah I see, makes sense, all these things you don't even think about until you get printing, I see a lot of messed up attempts in my future 🙃

[torpid grove]

Yeah those are unavoidable on any printer, it's incredibly satisfying seeing a print come out great after spending the time to dial in a printers settings IMO.

[vernal spade]

Any kind of prototyping really. I would be almost boring if it worked first time

[signal finch]

Curious if the new prusa firmware improves the calibration noticeably

[unique pendant]

This printing surface is way better than glass. PLA and PETG stick when hot, and you can blow parts off with canned air when cool. I use Magigoo or VisionMiner Nano (expensive but a little goes a long way) if I'm making a critical print that must not fail. I attach these to the Ender 3 bed with double-sided Kapton tape -- no clips. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JFY2LPN

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HFN6E0K

https://www.printedsolid.com/products/visionminer-nano-polymer-adhesive?variant=32594874269781

https://snolabs.com/magigoo-pen-an-all-in-one-adhesive-for-3d-printing-gen-1/

Aquanet works great, but it's a mess, and my lungs got tired of it! 😄

[empty sedge]

Eh, I haven't needed adhesive for the past few years on the PEI coated spring steel sheets for prusa. Textured for PETG and smooth for PLA

[unique pendant]

Agreed! Those are great too. I hate replacing the PEI tho'. All my printers have FR4 now tho'.

[ember narwhal]

Anyone know what would be causing my slicer (Cura) to add this bulging line? The model itself is smooth with no breaks or change in sizes where that line is

it's the line slightly below the top rim that extends around the model

fusion 360 version:

[unique pendant]

Does it really print out that way?

[ember narwhal]

about to test it since it's only an 11m print, just seemed glaringly weird 😄

[empty sedge]

@ember narwhal does anything weird show up inside the model if you switch to the x-ray view in cura?

[ember narwhal]

nope, looks fine there:

the print itself doesn't have a bulge, but it does have a noticeable line where the bulge shows in the slicer :/

mesh in fusion 360 doesn't show any issues either

kinda wonder if it's due to the vertical wire cutouts somehow, will try a version without

yup, totally due to the cutouts - no bulge present when those are removed

[unique pendant]

Sometimes you can get a line like that on direction changes, but it would usually be at the height of the bottom of those vertical cutouts.

[ember narwhal]

hrm, that does seem to make sense when looking at the travel lines:

aaaaand figured it out

it was the "Seam Corner Preference" setting. Was set to Inside, bulge goes away when setting it to Smart Hiding

weird preference to cause that but w/e

thanks for the help! mentioning direction changes definitely sparked my brain enough to know where to look

[ember narwhal]

I'm a little stumped by PLA welding

my drill is fully charged and on the highest setting, but the PLA never gets hot enough to do anything

could it because I'm technically using PLA+

?

[unique pendant]

I'm not familiar with that. Everybody has always told me to use this, but I still just use 5 minute epoxy or Elmers if I'm gluing Matte Fiber PLA. https://www.matterhackers.com/s/store?q=gloop

[ember narwhal]

definitely have that on my shopping list 😄

this is PLA welding btw: https://all3dp.com/2/pla-welding-how-to-fuse-pla-seams-and-cracks/#:~:text=PLA welding is a way,against the 3D printed plastic.&text=The filament is then free,crack or weld plastic together.

[karmic brook]

Ah, like the old "Spinwelder" toy. That makes sense.

[vernal spade]

Just fired off my first test print on my ender3 (dog.gcode, that came on the card that came with it). I guess I'll attempt to get some work done now instead of watching the printer do its thing 🙂

[unique pendant]

I love watching printers do their thing. Hypnotic.

[tight cove]

What causes a hotend to leak?

I have made sure the Boden tube goes all the way down to the nozzle

Could it be the cooling fan? Or is there a gap between the nozzle and the metal guide above the nozzle?

[empty sedge]

@tight cove I can't tell anything from that photo. What hotend on what printer?

[tight cove]

ender 3 pro

[empty sedge]

I haven't worked on one of those but e3dv6 which has a similar both-threading-into-block requires the nozzle to seal against the heat break threaded into the block. the nozzle shouldn't bottom out on the block

then once you've fully assembled you torque the nozzle again a little when at max temperature

[tight cove]

do you thread in the heatbreak first or nozzle?

[karmic brook]

I normally thread the nozzle in first, stopping about 1mm from the heat block, then thread in the heatbreak to meet it.

[tight cove]

ok thanks

[elder oxide]

Two prints going strong

Also, fun thing about 200 year old houses is a lot of circuits are 2 wire. So no ground even on outlets that are “3 wire” in appearance

So I’m relying on a trusty heavy duty plug strip as the protection for these printers.

It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing

[karmic brook]

My house is like that too, I'm slowly upgrading the wiring to modern standards, but it's a big effort.

[elder oxide]

I wish I could do that here, it’s a rental and the landlord is kind a cheap. He’s a nice guy, but has very much of the “if it works, don’t mess with it” mentality

He’s a old finance guy

[karmic brook]

I rented a house like that for a while but the landlord was fine with me doing upgrades (it didn't cost him anything and raised the value of the property)

Now I'm my own landlord and rubber stamp approve all my proposals 🙂

[elder oxide]

We’ve done things to upgrade, but it’s a process. Honestly this house could be fixed by tearing it down and rebuilding it

24” second floor joist centers

Doors shake downstairs when you walk upstairs

Rooms tied together that shouldn’t be tied together

[karmic brook]

Yeah, it's a process

[elder oxide]

Cant run an electric heater in my office while someone has a crock pot plugged in the kitchen

Lol

[karmic brook]

Although running a 240V 20A circuit right next to the breaker box was quick and easy.

[elder oxide]

Oh nice

[karmic brook]

I, um, bought some industrial argon ion lasers for myself and they eat some watts

[elder oxide]

Main heat in this house is a massive wood stove that sticks out 5’ from the wall lol

[karmic brook]

It turns out argon lasers make nice heaters

[elder oxide]

Nice gate around so my kiddos don’t touch it

[karmic brook]

To keep this on topic for this channel, I needed an adjustable mount to use a helium neon laser to align the argon laser mirrors, so I designed and 3D printed one

[elder oxide]

Wow cool

[karmic brook]

Yeah, I wouldn't 3D print a kid guard for the stove

[elder oxide]

Very nice

Yeah, might get too meaty

[karmic brook]

Thank you!

[elder oxide]

Melty *

[karmic brook]

That and it would take forever to print, would have to be done in pieces on most printers, and eat a ridiculous amount of filament.

[elder oxide]

So true

[elder oxide]

This print seems to be going well

[ruby matrix]

I have a coworker who bought a house, and most of the stuff in it was so original/old, that some of the electric wires in the basement were still the original, bare ones, with porcelain posts.

[elder oxide]

Oh yikes

[magic bone]

See, when I was a kid, my dad didnt include that, gotta learn not to touch hot stuff at some point

Though to help your point, I touched the stove two years in a row on my birthday so maybe I should have been protected from myself

[iron remnant]

I'm glad that all of you seek to be well grounded individuals.

[short crag]

What’s a cheep 3d printer enclosure for a ender 3 with a carbon filter Preferably not diy

[unique pendant]

This one looks like you can hook a carbon filter up to it. You can always ask them. https://www.printedsolid.com/collections/enclosures/products/next-gen-safety-enclosure-for-prusa-style-printers

[elder ridge]

Just published a Jedi Holocron Pen Holder Model, here’s the link if you want to print it yourself! https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/51094-jedi-holocron-pen-holder

[marble scarab]

I just swapped out my monoprice mini's hotend for an e3d V6, and I'm not having much luck getting the temperatures for it to stay consistent:

[empty sedge]

@marble scarab you need to run PID tuning

[marble scarab]

It's about +/- 5ºC right now, and autotuning didn't seem to help

I ran M303 C15 S218 U1 and M500 afterwards, and M501 to verify those settings took, and it did change it from +/- 10ºC difference, but it's still not great.

I was going to start playing with the different P, I, and D variables and see if I could fix the overshoots, but I was curious if there's a good process for making those changes and testing. Can I just set a setpoint, send the M301 commands and see how it changes, or do I need to set it to 0 and back to the normal setpoint to see those changes reflected?

[empty sedge]

did you run the PID tune with the part fan on?

[marble scarab]

I did, I had it at 80% the first time, then 100% the second (the two suggestions from different articles I read)

[empty sedge]

your m303 line looks right to me.

only other guess I have is that you have the wrong heater cartridge. Is the power supply in that printer 24V?

[marble scarab]

I believe it's 12V, but I haven't directly measured it. I can definitely check that though.

[empty sedge]

it should be printed on the power supply.

[marble scarab]

oh yeah, sorry. I know the printer is 12V, but I didn't meter the heater block's resistance to verify it's the right type, I just trusted the listing

I also measured the block's temp. with a separate thermistor to make sure it was accurate, and it looked good.

[empty sedge]

using the 24V heater on 12V system won't get hot enough
using 12V heater on 24V system will be too hot

[marble scarab]

I'll disconnect the heater and measure it to make sure it's the right one, it'd be an easy fix it that's all it is. haha

[empty sedge]

I think the 12V heater should measure about 3.6 ohms
24V heater about 14.4 ohms

[marble scarab]

I'll test that and see, thank you for the assistance!

[empty sedge]

also it will take a while for 15 iterations on m303 and should print stuff while it's running. Did you put marlin on that printer?

I'm not sure if the stock firmware has m303

[marble scarab]

It was returning data in the temperatures it was reaching, and the different pid values along with some other variables I'm not sure about, Ku, and Tu.

the original heater reads out as 4ohms, the new one is reading as 4.7 or 4.8ohms

Their site shows that is right for the heater cartridge I have:

P\V 12v 24v
40w (Red Leads) 3.6Ω 14.4Ω
25w (Blue Leads) 5.76Ω 23.04Ω
30w (Blue Leads) 4.8Ω 19.2Ω

(From :https://wiki.e3d-online.com/E3D-v6_Assembly#Heater_Cartridge)

You can see most of the output of the PID autotune here: https://pastebin.com/D5uj54w0 It didn't have enough scrollback to grab the whole thing, but it's a good chunk. I can certainly re-run it if that would be helpful.

[marble scarab]

I found some PID values people used for the e3d and they seem to be working really well, It's definitely strange that autotune is so far off

The 2nd attempt with those supplied PID values look much better.

[ember narwhal]

Has anyone installed BL Touch with a recent Ender 5 Pro? I'm having an awful time getting it to work. Either the screen works, or the BL Touch does, not both. I've tried every possible orientation and configuration of the breakout board and screen cable, and various types of firmware and still can't get it to be recognized with the screen on and without the painful "wrong firmware" beep.

The instructions the BL Touch came with aren't super helpful either

Somehow during the process my bed stopped wanting to raise and it thinks home is the middle of the bed about 80mm below the nozzle :/

I can disable steppers and raise it manually, then lower it via stepper, but not raise it again

[empty sedge]

yeah, BLTouch manual and webpage isn't great but it does describe everything you need

I don't have an ender though so I'm not much help there

essentially: if you can compile and upload firmware, you command different bltouch things with different M280 P0 S-parameters

[which are servo angles that range from 0 to 180 degrees because the BLTouch is meant to replace having a limit switch on a servo arm]

[ember narwhal]

I think I figured it out. Human error, I installed the breakout board on the wrong end of the screen cable

[royal oracle]

has anyone given Prusaslicer 2.3 a try with Ender series? Ender 3-V2 in particular.

i tried it last night after seeing a few youtubers discuss it. results weren't great using the out-of-the-box config on draft mode. i'm wondering if it's worth tuning more or waiting for future updates.

[sullen zinc]

I wish I'd started learning FreeCAD a long time ago, I've made a number of useful 3d printable models now (previous experience: openscad, some 2D cad). The first 4 to 8 hours were rough, after that I started to get stuff done.

[magic bone]

I kept hearing people crap on FreeCAD, and when I opened it there wasnt much there and dismissed it, but recently Ive been seeing people make stuff with it and there is a lot to the software and need to spend time learning it because I really need new 3d cad software

Looks like if you know how to use it, it can be quite powerful for the low low price of free

[iron remnant]

I really like it even though I know it's also obnoxious to use sometimes.

My standard joke is that I use it to prove that Naomi Wu is right that TinkerCAD is probably fine.

There's some nice video tutorials on YouTube these days, which helps. Even though I deeply hate video tutorials.

[sullen zinc]

I watched a few video tutorials and spent more time on the online docs and just .. tinkered. I don't have experience with the free-to-use software many people have on windows (fusion?) so I can't really compare. But what I will say is, there's more there than it looks like at the start, because a lot of it is based on context and what "view" you are in -- you have to enter the "part design" view and then get into a context menu (maybe the wrong term) before you can start creating a sketch (that you'll extrude into a part), for instance..

but the ability to work with constraints & parameters is super powerful -- change a number in a spreadsheet and your model recomputes! amazing. Oh I needed a thicker wall on that side. Oh I had a placeholder number but now I measured and this is the dimension, etc.

(fusion does all these things too as I understand it)

(but I don't THINK that tinkercad does)

[iron remnant]

Yeah, it's far more capable than TinkerCAD.

My impression is that all of the real high-end stuff is similarly constrained and paramaterized.

[karmic brook]

I started with OpenSCAD, which is generally pretty parametric. I tried Fusion and got frustrated for a while until I realized most of the instructions on the web tried to pretend it wasn't parametric. Once I realized that it was, it went a lot more smoothly for me.

[knotty laurel]

Speaking of Fusion 360, they've got a 33%-off deal running until January 29. That also includes a full Eagle license.

[karmic brook]

"Only" $332/year?

[sullen zinc]

That seems to be more than I spent on filament in 2020, by about 50%. OTOH if I wasn't a staunch Windows avoider it looks like the free hobbyist subscription could work for me.

[karmic brook]

It runs on MacOS too.

[signal yarrow]

Solidworks is $40/year for hobby use

https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapters/chaptergram-articles/2016-09-new-eaa-member-benefit-free-solidworks

Of course if you decide to start doing startup/business stuff you're screwed.

Probably more details than needed but ... I ended up going with Fusion 360 with their startup program and get it for free. The application wasn't too hard. I also have SolidWorks and use that for any hobby work I'm doing. Since the majority of my work is PCB related, I decided to get off of Eagle and move over to KiCad - took about a weekend to make the transition.

[karmic brook]

I did not know EAA was a thing, and there's a chapter near here, so I joined, thanks!

[unique pendant]

I thought F360 was still doing the free Hobby license?

[karmic brook]

Yes, they still are (I'm currently using that and OpenSCAD, but I'm going to take a look at Solidworks now)

[signal yarrow]

F360 free always makes me nervous. Because from what I can gather, you can only keep original files in their cloud. And I just watched Flickr go from free to roughly "You can keep X photos in your account. If you have more than X photos, better get ready to pay or things are going to suck."

[torpid grove]

Thought I would mention that Solid Edge also has a community edition now. Lots of options for CAD right now, they all have some draw backs but at the moment it's kind of the nature of the software.

https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/plmapp/education/solid-edge/en_us/free-software/community

[karmic brook]

At least F360 will let you export the models locally if you want to, but there's no guarantee that there will always be a free version that can read them.

[torpid grove]

That is always a concern. The thing that really drives me nuts about Fusion is their insistence to process some things on the cloud (such as exporting certain file formats) just because you can cloud compute something doesn't mean you have to 😕

[signal finch]

I'm looking for cnc discord channels

[elder ridge]

https://thangs.com/model/10574

What would be the best way to print this FDM?

[empty sedge]

probably with support material on the parts you don't look at as much

so face and knees up and support material on the back side

[slow sail]

Hi, has anyone a idea of why this is happening on most of my prints? I've already tried to change nozzle and other things but nothing seemed to solve the problem

[empty sedge]

are you under extruding or over-extruding or neither?

is that a vertical surface or an overhang?

[slow sail]

i am underextruding, that surface is an overhang but it's really low it's like 80 degrees from the print bed

[empty sedge]

check on your extruder and nozzle, see if it's grinding your filament, having trouble turning the spool, and if the nozzle is clogged

I've also had that happen when printing too small of a layer height (0.05mm). I'm guessing in that case my nozzle temp was too high for the low flow rate but I didn't try again to find out

[slow sail]

this is a photo of a piece of filament, do you think the extruder is grinding in it? Sorry if I ask but I am fearly new to 3d printing. I changed the nozzle recently an I've already tried to unclog it. I am printing mostly at 0.2 mm and printing at 210 to 215 degrees

[empty sedge]

0.2mm layer height and 215C sounds about right for PLA

your filament looks fine too.

maybe you just need to print slower or hotter. What speed are you printing at?

[slow sail]

classic 60mm/s

perimeters are done at 40 mm/s

[empty sedge]

weird, that should be fine on most printers that I've used. You can try half that (or set feedrate override to 50%) and your part will probably be a lot better but still you should be able to extrude that quickly

typical 0.4mm nozzle, right?

[slow sail]

ya

on a geeetech a10

with marlin 2.0.x on it

[empty sedge]

maybe the bowden tube is too tight?

do you have another length of good tubing you can try?

[slow sail]

no unfortunately

i have another ptfe tubing that was included in the box but i thing that if it the one that i have on rn is bad it will be too

[empty sedge]

you can also try higher nozzle temperatures up to 230C for PLA if you don't leave it sitting too long

what does the plastic smell like when you're printing?

[slow sail]

also i had a bad luck today and my part cooling fan broke 😤

[empty sedge]

if you're printing something big enough, or enough small parts, you can do without one

[slow sail]

oh ,ok

thank you

[unique pendant]

@slow sail That looks like one of two things to me: 1. you don't have enough perimeters, or 2. cooling issue. Correct perimeter number depends on your nozzle size. To check if it's cooling that's the problem, rotate the part and print again to see if it happens on a different side. Of course, it could be a combination of both.

[shy kelp]

I am trying to use octolapse with my 3d printer. Octoprint works fine but when I use octolapse, I get the conformation screen but when I press the print button, octolapse freezes, and sends the printer a M112 shutdown command. I am using a Tronxy xy-2 pro printer with a Raspberry Pi 3b+. I am also using Marlin that has been modded for Tronxy printers. Can anyone tell me why it sends the M112 shutdown command?

Terminal also has this
"Changing monitoring state from "Error: Printer keeps requesting line 2 again and again, communication stuck" to "Offline (Error: Printer keeps requesting line 2 again and again, communication stuck)"
Connection closed, closing down monitor
Closing down send loop"

Line 2 is a M4010 command, used to visualise the gcode. I guess octoprint doesnt know this custon Tronxy command. What can I do?

[empty sedge]

you can fix octoprint I guess

or remove that line from your gcode

[empty sedge]

It sounds like your printer isn't expecting M4010 over serial so keeps rejecting it

[shy kelp]

Alright, thanks.

[cobalt quarry]

Can anyone recommend a nice 1.75 PLA in that's terracotta coloured?

[torpid grove]

I would recommend checking out hatchbox and protopasta they have a ton of brownish colors I've had good luck with pla filament from both of them.

I stumbled across this: https://www.amazon.com/Paramount-3D-1-75mm-Filament-BRRL30127591C/dp/B01N3SXIT6/ref=asc_df_B01N3SXIT6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241950654435&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12687053119809615610&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033357&hvtargid=pla-583647132616&psc=1

I've never used or heard of Paramount 3D but if you're willing to take a risk it might be just what you're looking for.

[unique pendant]

https://www.proto-pasta.com/collections/all/products/matte-fiber-htpla-mahogany-wood

[pallid steppe]

got a new filament, not having a hard time calibrating it.
This is at 200C / 50C (nozzle and bed)

Any advices? 🙂

[unique pendant]

Are you sure it's PLA? Looks like you're underextruding badly.

[pallid steppe]

Hmmm I'll confirm ;)

[pallid steppe]

@unique pendant ohhh just checked the order I did last year and it's actually PETG wow thanks

[ember narwhal]

Any ideas why a BLTouch would randomly stop extending its probe? I suspect it's possibly overheating somehow because it tends to happen more often when I'm preheating, but I'm not sure. Happens during leveling, self tests, initial power-on tests, right before a print, etc. Basically any time the probe engages it has a chance to fail somehow.

Using Marlin (TH3D fork), 2.17, v4.2.2 board on an Ender 5 Pro

[half dew]

No idea unfortunately. Maybe cable strain? How do you like the TH3d fork? I'm running the same printer but with a slightly customized vanilla marlin. Trying and regretting trying to print the right parts fit a here me gen 5 at the moment

[half dew]

It might be worth checking the continuity on both ends of the cable

[ember narwhal]

so far I'm liking the TH3D fork a lot

no cable strain or connection issues that I can see 😦

I'll keep tinkering

[unique pendant]

My BLTouch gets cotton candy up inside it sometimes. Inspect it closely and remove any debris that’s got up inside. Pull the pin down carefully to help draw out any gunk.

[ember narwhal]

Yep it's totally random wispy filament doing it. Which makes sense that it happens more when preheating. Manually pulling down the probe before running a self test seems to fix it most times.

What does everyone recommend for snap-fit connections that are strong yet can be easily removed? I've been designing a derivative of the "official" Feather cases and tried replicating the tab insert connections between battery holder and case, but I'm curious what else people use.

[thin breach]

^ Also quite interested. I did a bunch of reading and prototyped a two-sided clasp in PLA. (Not intended to be easily removed.) There were so many things to try I started to wonder if anyone had made some kind of "contact sheet" or series of test builds showing different connection mechanisms or variations of tabs at least (different shapes of the head)

[ember narwhal]

Yeah I'd love to see some form of compendium so I don't try to reinvent the failed wheel

[signal finch]

i don't need help but want to brag about my 3d printer on the way ( cc @unique pendant )

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKsGRnYrLi0/

tiny machines took pictures for me since i am impatient

[empty sedge]

same, copied adafruit snap-fit case snap. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3981754

[ember narwhal]

I really like the modification you made to it, will have to try something similar for mine.

[ember narwhal]

also, you rock for including the source file in your thingiverse post

I love seeing how people implement things in f3d

[unique lily]

I have a super simple question

I'm using Ultimaker Cura. I just want to know how to bind different slicer settings to different materials. I'm talking specifically SLICER settings. There are some basic "Print Settings", that can be configured under the material tabs, but that doesn't help me.

[signal yarrow]

It's grayed out but you can click "Create profile from current settings"

[unique lily]

sweet, i'll give that a shot

[signal yarrow]

You can also start by clicking the dropdown at the top and picking a material and then customizing from there

[unique lily]

thanks a ton.

[signal yarrow]

of course!

[unique lily]

one related question:

i set up, and am logged into an Ultimaker account. will these profiles be bound to my account, even on different computers?

[unique pendant]

If you need something professionally 3D printed... Groundhog day sale at jawstec.com 10%off. Promo Code: GroundHog

[silent veldt]

I'm on another server, and someone was asking for first 3D printer advice.

I pointed them at All3DP's January 2021 budget recommendations, and mentioned the Prusa Mini as well.

Is there other good advice?

Besides that resin is a hassle?

[half dew]

I usually just let interested people know that its still at the point where as a user they'll need to be ok with troubleshooting and maintaining the printer. The less of that they're ok with the more they should spend the extra money on a Prusa (preferably a preassembled mk3). Its also good to mention that Prusa lead times for their printers are long at the moment.

For resin - its toxic so I only recommend it if the user is clean, safety minded (even when its a hassle), and has an appropriate well ventilated space for the printer.

[unique pendant]

All3DP and other sites like them make their lists based on how much money the companies pay them. They are not reliable. However, I totally agree with @half dew. You really have to decide how much tinkering/fixing/upgrading you want to do. If you want to do a lot, you can go with Ender 3. It's OK, it's fun and you'll learn a lot too. Before you decide, though, you also have to figure out what build volume you're going to need and what print quality you're going to need and go from there. The Prusa MK3S+ will be enough build volume for just about everybody, and the mini has enough build volume for most. You can buy cheaper printers than the Prusa, but you'll pay the difference in downtime, hassle, repairs, and upgrades. My work requires a larger build volume and a very high print quality so I had to go with totally different printers, but I do run several other printers including Prusas and Ender 3s. Genuine Prusa has shown itself over and over to be the best choice in quality of the printer and quality of prints in its build volume class. It's not perfect, but it's worth the price.

[mighty locust]

What about JGAURORA A5S?

Also i am the guy in the other server.

[unique pendant]

Well, I've never heard of it before so I looked just now for a few minutes. There are lots of reviews that seem to say this is not a beginners printer. The reasoning is that it's not a good design for ease of use and it seems a fair amount of upgrading needs to be done. Just at a glance, mind you, but in 2 short minutes I saw talk about needing to upgrade the steppers, hotend, bed wiring, and bed leveling screws. This type of laundry list of needed upgrades is typical for any Chinese printer. For the price of the JGAurora, the Prusa MK3S+ is so superior in every way, I wouldn't even look further and go with the Prusa. A major requirement, by the way, especially for a first printer, is that you have a large community you can go to for help when you need it. Prusa meets this requrement. Ender 3 would be a good choice in this respect as well.

It's also weird that the company doesn't even seem to have its own web site, there are no pictures or specifications about the extruder/hotend, and the positive reviews are all from people who've only been using it a short time. The negative reviews start coming in after a month of use.

[mighty locust]

can Prusa handle any filament type? I thought I saw something about their own filament being needed for it

[half dew]

It looks like it supports all types of filaments. I'm sure they recommend their own brand but its definitely not required. The issue with different brands of filaments is that some brands quality control might not be as good (the filament might have extra moisture in it, might not be a consistent diameter, or have other inconsistencies that may effect print quality).

[mighty locust]

so what about open vs closed 3-D printers? Is that alll about temperature and moisture control? Should I invest in one that is enclosed / with a cover for one that is going to live largely in my garage?

[half dew]

Ahh, that actually comes back to filaments you want to print. The most common filament these days is PLA which is easy to print, doesn't require an enclosure, sticks to the build plate, and usually doesn't warp while cooling. The downside is it has a lower temperature before warping (aka if you leave it out in the sun or in your car) than some other filaments. ABS has a higher heat tolerance - but its prone to warping while cooling so usually if you want to print with it you need an enclosure to keep the temperature consistent while printing.

PLA is also safe compared to something like ABS which you definitely don't want to be breathing in while its printing (which shouldn't be an issue if its in your garage). A thing to note - you can buy enclosures to put the printer in after the fact.

[mighty locust]

got it.

[unique pendant]

I use PETG typically because it's hi-temp and no toxic fumes like ABS has. Also don't need an enclosure. Prusa will print any brand of filament just fine. Their quality control is excellent, but it's pretty expensive!

[torpid grove]

Would always recommend the Ender 3 to hobbyists who want to tinker with something. Like others have said, it's great for the price and you'll learn a ton from fixing / maintaining it. When I do 3D prints to prototype for my job I use a Dremel 3D printer, the things super reliable for PLA and I can churn out a bunch of prints quickly no fiddling required. That being said I've never had a successful print on the Dremel with anything besides PLA. The Ender 3 on the other hand can print just about anything from PLA, ABS, PETG angel hair pasta whatever you throw at it just as long as you're willing to spend the time dialing it in.

[mighty locust]

Yeah i was looking at the Dremel. My old company did some user interface work on that back in the day before it released.

[torpid grove]

If you want a printer that just works it's definitely a good pick. It does have some downsides that are worth being aware of though: Most standard filament spools won't fit into the printer, this is probably my biggest gripe about it. The slicer software seems to be a fork of Cura which is fine except it doesn't come with a support blocker feature like default cura. Lastly the price is a bit steep roughly 10x that of an ender 3 but if you want a printer that just works then that might be worth it for you.

[mighty locust]

which Dremel are you talking about? there appear to be 3 models, one at $800, one at $1200 and one at $2000

[torpid grove]

My work provided me with the 3D40, I was told at the time we bought it before I had been hired on it was around $2k. It may have since come down in price. I should also mention the 3D40 lacks a heated build plate which isn't a huge issue for me but might be for you, much harder to get high quality ABS prints without a heated build plate.

[coarse thistle]

I have a Creality CR-10S5 that I recently dug out of the shed from a long time ago that i cleaned and rewired, but I tried to auto home it and the Y axis will not move. I tried checking the wiring and even the microcontroller’s ports to see if anything disconnected but I can’t see anything wrong with it, is there something I should check instead?

[empty sedge]

@coarse thistle connect pronterface and run M119 and see if you get the correct results with the Y limit switch triggered vs not

[unique pendant]

Also make sure the order of your stepper wires is correct.

[coarse thistle]

I don’t have a cable long enough to reach from my pc to my printer

[coarse thistle]

I just replugged everything inside of the printer to no avail, same problem

[ornate raven]

Try disconnecting the Y axis home cable.?

[signal finch]

have an issue that i'm not sure how to address with the (right) z-axis wormgear (?)
i have a ticket with tiny machines, but if it's something i can fix myself, i'd love to understand

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-o3MZkWRcrxA51N7hvFvqECT2_xjScBo/view?usp=sharing

[unique pendant]

Hm. Never seen that. Does it always happen in the same place? It looks like the wheels or the carriage is catching on something on the right. Are the carriage tops parallel to your x rail? Are the z rails perfectly parallel? Have you asked the Raptor Facebook group?

[signal yarrow]

Any ideas why my top layer is coming out like this?

[unique pendant]

can you post a screenshot of the preview from your slicer?

[signal yarrow]

like so?

[unique pendant]

Yes, thanks. How many top layers do you have and what is your layer height?

[signal yarrow]

top layers is 4, layer height is 0.5mm for 0.8mm nozzle

[unique pendant]

That is odd. It looks like a clog, but the parts are identical. Are you sure you don't have an M104 somwhere turning the temp down on your hotend before the end? I dunno, just throwing wild ideas out there.

Cooling fan speed too high at the last layers?

[signal yarrow]

I found this person on reddit who suggested cranking the temp to 237C. Thus my Cura profile is "Crazy Reddit Guy" and maybe that's the issue lol?

I'll keep an eye on the temp plot in OctoPrint for this next test

[unique pendant]

For a 0.8 mm nozzle, 237 isn't such a bad idea if your speed isn't too slow.

It looks kind of like the top layer isn't sticking to the layer underneath, which would generally be from the fan speed being too high or the hotend temperature being too low.

[signal yarrow]

oh weird

I'll try and get a video for the last layers

[empty sedge]

looks to me like you're over extruding

the 3d printer extrusion process isn't super consistent unfortunately. As you raise temperature and reduce back-pressure you may end up extruding more filament because it slips less on the drive gears

[signal yarrow]

weee I love 3D printing. I changed one setting printed one time, reverted the setting and now I can't get build plate adhesion at all -_-

[unique pendant]

Well, you never should have slipping on the drive gears. If you do, you need to adjust temperature, speed, and/or layer height. If that doesn't help, then you need better hardware.

I guess that could be overextruding if it's sitting above the top layer. I thought that was the top layer, in which case, it would be underextruding.

[lucid apex]

@signal yarrow hot&slow 🙄

[empty sedge]

There's a slow transition behavior where the extruder doesn't grind the filament but still doesn't extrude the same length as it would normally. You can sometimes see this more easily if you pull the filament back out that the spacing between the teeth marks left by the extruder isn't constant

http://www.extrudable.me/2013/04/18/exploring-extrusion-variability-and-limits/

[unique pendant]

That is interesting. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but this article is about how extrusion rate just barely changes as pressure is being built up at the start of a fast extrusion. The pictures actually show very well that, even in this case, there is no slippage of the extruder gears. Anyway, it's well established that if your extruder gears are chewing on your filament, your settings are not correct for the hardware you have (this is why the Volcano and Magnum hotends were invented). Some extruders are better than others in this respect. For example, my Bondtech and Flexion extruders have never slipped in over 3 years of use on 3 different printers. However, my stock Gmax clone extruders occasionally slip if I have my flow rate too high for all the other parameters I mentioned above. I haven't seen any slippage/grind on my Prusa MK2S since putting Bondech gears in either, but there was with the stock setup. Of course, that's not a scientific investigation, purely empirical based on my experience. Either way, if your extruder is slipping, you should see problems in your prints. If you don't, then I guess it doesn't matter! 😄

[empty sedge]

the highlighted picture shows like a 35% difference in volume of plastic extruded

[unique pendant]

Yes, over a burst of 100mm of 2.85 mm filament. The wide teeth marks are at the beginning before pressure has built up in the assembly (he's using a Bowden setup too, which he admits introduces exaggeration). The closer together teeth marks are at steady state. It's not slipping, it's at a steady state from back pressure. I'm not really sure how this applies in the actual practice of 3D printing. You don't start underextruding mid-print. He's running a test of maximum throughput and finding the expected results. Every type of hotend has a maximum flow rate. You don't spend the whole print at a certain rate, and then suddenly (or gradually for that matter) find that your flow reduces. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but it seems like that's what you're saying -- that flow is variable through a print because of backflow pressure?

[empty sedge]

yes but you're overthinking this. The output plastic volume depends on the average commanded volumetric speed

the submitted photo shows large solid fill areas slightly under extruded

then the top surface which has infill that doesn't reach the
top speed and averages much lower, much over-extruded

[unique pendant]

Yes, you’re right. I must be over thinking it. The slicer is supposed to compensate extrusion depending on speed so that doesn’t happen. At least that’s what mine does. I never get variation in extrusion amount or line width, etc. during my prints, so that’s why I must be having trouble figuring this one out.

[empty sedge]

no, the slicer doesn't know about this

maybe linear advance does compensate in firmware, but it isn't aware of the temperature effects

hastily drawn chart

you could have an encoder on the filament that you use to meter the extruded filament amount instead of using the drive gear alone, but I've only seen stratasys and one other person do this

[and you might want linear advance for pressure compensation]

[unique pendant]

That’s all fine, but if this is true in practice, the prints shouldn’t look very good.

[empty sedge]

eh, if you stay on the left half of that chart there's plenty of ways to keep things in the happy place

[unique pendant]

I only use pressure advance to compensate for built up back pressure to prevent overextrusion at seams. There is never an underextrusion problem from back pressure (on my printers anyway).

[empty sedge]

it's nice to hear your extrusion rate set up in your slicer settings is suitable for your extruder setup

but the center infill on the print here looks to have gaps #help-with-3dprinting message

[unique pendant]

That picture from the paper is on the left of the chart, but he doesn’t say exactly where

One idea was that that’s actually overextrusion sitting on top of the top layer. Hard to tell for sure from the picture alone.

[empty sedge]

yes, that's what I said

[unique pendant]

But now you’re thinking it’s actually under extrusion?

[empty sedge]

no, I'm talking about two different parts on the same print

the topmost ring is clearly over extruded

the solid infill in the middle recessed area is clearly under-extruded

the over extrusion is because the nozzle is too hot and the printer isn't pushing plastic through at the expected rate because the nozzle is moving relatively too slow and it's oozing out

the under-extrusion is because the printer is reaching the limits of its extruder and hotend to keep up

[unique pendant]

Hm. Guess I’m just lucky.

[empty sedge]

you aren't exceeding the limits of your extruder

[unique pendant]

No, I don’t do that. That is true.

[empty sedge]

I'd post my latest benchy but it failed at about 5mm and the printer is NDAd

[unique pendant]

How can we help @signal yarrow then? Should he slow down?

[empty sedge]

lower temp, slower solid infill

probably should watch the CNC kitchen video about finding the volumetric extrusion limit of your extruder with that filament and enter that into your slicer. This will cap the volumetric rates so even if you enter 200 mm/sec print speed it will limit to say 12mm3/sec or whatever you enter

[unique pendant]

I’ve watched it. Did all the calculations for my profiles too.

[empty sedge]

eh, I'm having trouble with work printer getting PLA at 8mm3/sec... hopefully it's just a configuration issue I've overlooked

[unique pendant]

There’s a great online calculator that I thought I had bookmarked but I can’t find it now.

[signal yarrow]

hah I might just get a Prusa, with Prusa filament, with prusa nozzles and settings and all, and just go form there 😄

[empty sedge]

that's what ended up working best for my hackerspace too

oh, and I guess I turned my pre-official-prusa i3 into a MK2.5SPlus

[unique pendant]

Well, that is a drastic fix! I've been there tho'. Sometimes you spend so much time, effort, and money trying to fix a clone that you realize it would be better to just cut to the chase and get the quality item. 😄

Honestly, though, there are plenty of companies that make excellent filament that prints beautifully so you don't really have to go all Prusa! If you live in the USA, the best brands IMHO are Atomic, Snolabs, and ProtoPasta (not in any particular order). Plenty of great nozzles too. I'm all in for E3D now, but MicroSwiss is excellent too.

[sullen zinc]

Before I start designing it, someone should tell me why a 3d printed centrifuge holder for a household food processor is a bad idea.

there are even less-plausible ones on thingiverse 🙂 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2009478

problem 0 is of course if you make something that breaks while moving quickly, you have potential injuries. problem 1 is probably that the rotational speed is too low.

[karmic brook]

Reminds me of that episode of Scorpion where they used a salad spinner as a centrifuge.

[ruby matrix]

Reminds me of the 0.68$ malaria "kit" that folks at Stanford came up with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf-D1Upn-KU

Very likely totally unrelated purposes, but the engineering behind it is brilliant

[karmic brook]

I have a bunch of Foldscopes, they do work

[ember narwhal]

trying out vase mode for the first time in Cura, and noticed that it still has some minor travel moves on the first layer - is that normal?

[unique pendant]

Vase mode kicks in after bottom layers are over in case you want a base

[ember narwhal]

gotcha, that makes sense

[grand sleet]

Sorry if this isn't suitable for this channel, but does anyone have personal favorite brands for glow in the dark and translucent PLA filament? Thanks!

[empty sedge]

glow-in-the-dark PLA is usually abrasive like carbon fiber so I avoid printing it

If I want translucent I print clear petg instead. Clear PLA is typically has a yellow tint

[grand sleet]

Yeah I saw a few YT videos warning people about nozzle wear 😬 maybe I'm better off just rattle canning GitD spray paint instead! I saw Overture has a fantastic translucent PETG, you just need to be careful with the settings. I'm not too worried about yellowing since I'll be lighting it with RGB LEDs and I'm hoping that will hide discoloration 🤞

Thanks!

[empty sedge]

@grand sleet http://thrinter.com/10-transparent-filaments/

[grand sleet]

Brilliant, thanks!

It's so hard to find these direct comparison sorts of reviews ahaha

[split mural]

if i'm getting gaps between lines throughout the print, is it better to increase extrusion or reduce line width in cura?

[half dew]

Have you calibrated your extruder e-steps and retraction? If not - I'd do that first. https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#esteps It'll make sure that the extruder is pushing the amount of filament that the slicer thinks it is. If that looks good - when you say gaps - do you mean between the layers or on top layers? If your e-steps are calibrated correctly and you're still getting underextrusion, retraction may be too high, temperature could just be too low for the filament, you might need to up your flow rate, its possible there is a clog, line width I'd probably change last.

[split mural]

thanks - i'm going to try this

[split mural]

If I'm only getting gaps between lines on skirt or brim, should I adjust the skirt/brim line width, or increase skirt/brim flow rate?

[empty sedge]

or your z offset so your first layer is the right height?

[half dew]

I agreee with @empty sedge - that sounds like you're first layer isn't squishing enough

[split mural]

Thanks so much for the suggestion. z offset is the way to go.

[edgy steeple]

Even if you don;t speak French(I don't) this video shows how to print pla and make it a flexible @supple stratus @idle crest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX39qDHQYI8

[signal finch]

why are some extruders 200+ USD like this one https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/lulzbot-se-tool-head-05mm-single-extruder/sk/MDQKDZSS?rcode=GAT9HR&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4L2BBhCvARIsAO0SBdZ7qXQpZPg-25cgCd2oNRAqY5KQ-Voe3HSrkoqcmSN8M-SnSq47x08aAgNgEALw_wcB

[empty sedge]

Lulzbot is an american company and has margins large enough for them and matterhackers and also include official e3d parts

[empty sedge]

you can spend as much in another direction on a bondtech

of course there's the clones, sometimes of good quality for example trianglelab on aliexpress

[signal finch]

are there any designed specifically for high volume i should consider?

i was hoping the expensive ones were better tangibly

[empty sedge]

bondtech is great extruder
the e3d volcano heater blocks and nozzle give you a longer melt zone which helps pushing a lot of plastic. You'll also want a longer nozzle. The longer lever arm when you crash into the side of your bed and bend the heat break is a bummer though

I'd try the trianglelab dragon hotend with long melt zone if I were to try that again

also what kind of volume in mm3/sec are you getting now? I think a normal e3d with 0.4mm nozzle probably can do 12mm3/sec

[signal finch]

I am not sure what my speeds are currently.

[signal finch]

the mk3s with a 0.6 nozzle is 15mm3/s

[half dew]

I just upgraded to a Bondtech DD + Mosquito hot end. It was a lot more expensive than buying the clones - but the benefit is that the numbers they give you for calibration are correct. E-steps were accurate right out of the box, retraction just worked, etc. The mosquito is an expensive hot end but its super efficient, prints at super high temps, and best of all - you can change the nozzle cold.

[signal finch]

I was considering the mosquito clone at 65 but I also don't want to spend forever tuning it

[half dew]

One issue I had with mine is that the hotend fan in the ender 5 isn't adjustable and 100% is too strong for the mosquito and it would cause heating errors. I ended up having to print a spacer to reduce the output of the fan a bit.

[river cipher]

Accidentally bought 24v heater cartridges for my 12v system- I can't just.. use them, right? it'd damage something? they wouldnt just heat up slower?

[ruby matrix]

I couldn't answer you on that, but if someone could, you might be better off asking in #general-tech than this channel!

[empty sedge]

24V heater when using 12V: probably won't get hot enough for you to print. You cut the wattage by 4x

[formal relic]

how do I add code in Cura before g28?

[unique pendant]

Cura will let you add start code in machine settings. Tho' I haven't used Cura in a long time so things may have changed. My favorite gcode editor is notepad++ if you're on Windows, or just use TextEdit in text only mode if you're on Mac. Don't use native Windows text editors because they add formatting and will mess up your gcode.

[stark zodiac]

hi everyone , my final and last hope where to look for this is here: i am looking for a 3D model that i can print, its a small tool that you need for reparing hard drives. what it does, is that it keeps the heads and arms of the moving actuator arms, locked in a fixed place and you can do this quite simpel with a sort of fork tool, and when you have the heads back from the platters you just drop a kind of lock pin, so you can start removing the magnetic stuff... without that there is a canche that the heads starts running over your precious data... it all sounds very complicatated but actually is quite simpel and i am guessing its not made from metal , why cant i find any 3d model of it , its even difficult searching for it. i think the official term for it is: Ramp Set Head or Head Replacement Tool. if anybody got any tips, any thing is welcome 🙂

[unique pendant]

I believe you may be talking about Hard Drive Head Combs. Each brand uses a different shape and the parts are small enough that you're unlikely going to be able to 3D print it successfully. Something like this?: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153436983521

[stark zodiac]

yes indeed thats is it! , i had a whole box of 90 peaces or so, but lost them in a house burn.

they are not really order-able here in the netherlands

[limber wraith]

Hello. I have an ender 3 pro. It seems my prints arent sticking to the platform anymore. I cant seem to level it properly I think. its prints perfectly around the perimeter of the build plate. but when it gets to the center the pla doesnt stick anymore. nozzle temperature of 185, bed temperate 55

I have tried cleaning with acetone, soap and just water
I have tried slowing the print speed to about 25. that works better but it still doesnt stick entirely

I also tried leveling the bed several times. by putting a piece of paper under the nozzle. currently the friction feels is pretty high. I can move it with some force

[elder oxide]

Definitely suggest higher temps for PLA than 185. That’s kind of the minimum. I usually print at 215 end temp and 60 for the bed temp.

As for leveling, do you have a tempered glass bed on it?

[limber wraith]

glass bed with magnetic thing on it

[elder oxide]

Okay. Sometimes with the glass beds you need to use upgraded springs.

Other than that, you might turn the fan on for the base layers too. Depending on the type of PLA that might be necessary.

[limber wraith]

its the stock

Err: too far it tells me now

[elder oxide]

PLA+ is difficult to print with without some tuning

Standard PLA should print with ease, as long as the bed is level. The nozzle should just barely drag on a business card.

[limber wraith]

its printing the first picture fine

the second one is after I adjusted the z-level down

the brim is getting lose now

[elder oxide]

Hmmm

Try printing at a hotter temp and higher plate temp

210-215 for hot end, 60 for the plate

[limber wraith]

mmh increased it

I was printing on 185 yesterday just fine

I left the lid of my PLA box, could that explain it?

[elder oxide]

Possibly, PLA is usually more tolerant of temperature changes

[limber wraith]

I removed it after it started not sticking again

[elder oxide]

Hmm.. okay

Do you have other filament you can try?

[limber wraith]

no

very old test filament

well something is not right with the bed level. the higher temps do seem to help a bit

its printing acceptably now. nothing is dragging and its filling in the base of the model now

quality is questionable tho xD

[limber wraith]

Thats the bottom

Anyone have any idea what caused it?

The other side came out pretty good

[elder oxide]

Uneven extrusion

[empty sedge]

I think your first layer is too low
perimeters would end up looking okay because they get shifted by the previous lines only a little, but the infill shows buckling where the extrusion couldn't be placed in the right spot because there was already an extrusion there

you can also tell it's too low because of the "elephants foot" on the outer edge of your part

[limber wraith]

I did play with the z level a bit because it wasnt sticking. There is also a brim around the part

[empty sedge]

I think acetone is the wrong solvent to clean your bed with. I use either soap + water or isopropyl alcohol + water

[limber wraith]

Next print and it isnt sticking to bed again

[empty sedge]

are you sure it's PLA? what does it smell like when printing?

[limber wraith]

Its pla. I have printed succesfully before

Adjusting the z level 0.199 mm down improves results

Thats what i did with the other print. Then after the initial layer a I removed the offset

And it messed up

I am going to try printing away from the center. Its messing up good there

[limber wraith]

I am starting to think the pla got spoiled. 60% moisture in the air according to google and the temperature rose sharply here from around 0 to 17 degrees

slower printing with a brim works right now. but its a bit sad

[torpid grove]

Certainly possible, if you have other filament around might be worth trying. I'd personally be more inclined to agree with @empty sedge about your first layer I'd try re-leveling your bed. I'd also suggest adding a glass bed to your ender, it really helps with the surface quality of the first layer.

[limber wraith]

No I agree about the first layer. but no matter how good I try to level it. it never sticks unless I slow down the printing speed. as opposed to a few weeks ago it just printed without issue

I just bought some spray, a moisture sensor and some sillica gel

[torpid grove]

Sorry to hear you're having a time getting it to stick, if the spray you got still isn't doing it for you I'd recommend trying Aqua Net Hair spray. It's super cheap and everything that makes it terrible for your hair makes it fantastic for bed adhesion.

[ember narwhal]

If it wasn't for the fact that you're using a glass bed, I'd say the bed itself wore out. I have the same symptoms in the middle of the flexible bed with my Ender 5 Pro after a few dozen prints because the texture wears off.

Also try calibrating your extruder's steps/mm - that can help a lot with those symptoms

[edgy steeple]

argh... I have a CR10 V2. So my bed is not level. Even if I level the four corners it's still got like +-0.3mm I added a magnetic PEI flex bed.. I had issues putting the magnetic sheet down and when I checked for level it was even worse than before. I thought I could use post it notes to shim it.. but then started thinking that maybe I stretched the mag sheet when putting down so I took it off to use a new one and try again.. well it was really hard to come off and now my bed is even more warped. I'm starting to think that I should just get a new alum bed and start over.. but having a hard time finding them.

[half dew]

As an alternative - There are companies that sell replacement beds that are actually flat. I was using a glass bed and it worked great for PLA but it was horrible when I wanted to print PETG (I had a ton of adhesion issues and I'm not a fan of having to smear glue or tape on to my bed). I replaced mine with a nice flat machined aluminum bed, heater, and magnet - everything sticks amazingly and I don't see any bottom layer issues if I forget to clean the bed perfectly. (Those weird things on the bottom of your print could be underextrusion - but I also tend to see them in places I accidentally touched the bed and left an oily fingerprint)

[half dew]

You can shim the bed over the magnet with aluminum foil. I replaced my bed with a flat aluminum one and I highly recommend it

[edgy steeple]

where did you find a flat aluminum one?

[half dew]

I got mine off amazon. I think it was gulf coast robotics or something like that. It came with the heater, thermister, aluminum plate with holes for 3 or 4 point leveling, a magnetic sheet, and an official creality PEI

[edgy steeple]

oh wow, for what printer?

[half dew]

I have what used to be an Ender 5 Pro but really the only thing that is stock at this point is the frame and mainboard

[ember narwhal]

anyone happen to know of a design for like... a small bin that can clamp to a table? want to have something to toss random discarded bits of wire etc

[ember narwhal]

actually, got an answer elsewhere

gonna remix this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3479362

[signal finch]

heya- anyone here have a supervolcano and can tell me if they like using it? i know it's tall

[empty sedge]

I know a guy that skipped supervolcano and built his own pellet extruder

with volcano for me and 1.2mm nozzle part cooling became a serious problem for PLA. I could print like 0.9mm layers at 30mm/sec that I couldn't cool down fast enough with two 5015 blowers

I haven't tried that in a year though. the i3 mk3 ended up being reliable and big enough for everything I've needed to print

[signal finch]

Maybe two extruders like the Trex would be better for speed printing

Looking for speed printing communities btw

[empty sedge]

voron maybe?

[unique pendant]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Zcno4ouIIUE

[ember narwhal]

Is there any particular benefit to having a printer move the bed horizontally vs moving the extruder?

[empty sedge]

the extruder is probably lighter and doesn't tip over as your print gets taller

[unique pendant]

Correct. And somewhat related, bedflingers typically cannot layer stack with precision nor print ludicrously fast like coreXY-type printers can.

[hushed lotus]

how do you turn a flat plane that is covered in extra unecesary edges into a single plane

[unique pendant]

In F360?

[hushed lotus]

yeah

or meshmixer both work

like this kinda thing

[unique pendant]

In F360, right click on the model's name in the list to the left, choose "mesh to brep", then select sections on the plane you want to simplify and simply delete them (with the delete key) one by one. F360 will automatically average the shapes on the plane and simplify it.

[hushed lotus]

cool thanks

[unique pendant]

hint: right after you convert the mesh to brep, right click on the document settings at the top of the list on the left and go all the way to the bottom to choose to capture the design history. That way you can undo things nonlinearly.

Sorry I don't know how to do it in Meshmixer. That program never responds in the way I expect it to so I tend not to use it.

[mighty locust]

hey 3-D printing n00b here... any pro tips for getting print to stick to glass bed?

currently trying hairspray per something I saw on YouTube

[empty sedge]

If you're printing PLA I don't think you should print on bare glass. Use glue stick or hairspray or 10:1 diluted white glue or something so when it sticks too well you don't remove chunks out of your glass

[mighty locust]

I feel like I keep setting my bed to the proper height, a print starts perfect, gets X amount of time in and fails, either because it got loose from the bed, or if that doesn't happen, it gets a clog / some filament feeding issue so the print goes x high and just stops printing out so it moves up. I fix the clog and then my bed is off level and everything has to be reset again

[empty sedge]

@mighty locust yeah it's frustrating that heat changes the shape of your bed so you get different results printing from cold and from a previously-warmed bed

[mighty locust]

if I install an autoleveller does that take a lot of the headache out of this?

[empty sedge]

yeah, it turns it into a single adjustment: the offset from probe trigger to nozzle

[mighty locust]

sweet going to do order and do that upgrade before I keep continuing to burn through failed prints. keep this fun

[timid rock]

Heat your bed to the desired temp, and THEN have your auto-level do its thing btw. It does help 😄

[mighty locust]

cool.

[timid rock]

You'll want to manually level your bed and then auto level very rarely too. It depends on how much you print, but I do this monthly.

If things seem whack, try that though

[smoky drum]

would it be ok to make a case for my project out of just 2x4 planks? I'd want the case to be <1lb, but I'm not too sure of how good a material wood is for electronics projects

[unique pendant]

I'm not sure how this relates to 3D printing. Do you mean you want to make an enclosure for your printer with 2x4s?

[smoky drum]

i cant find a good channel for the topic so this seemed like the best one

[unique pendant]

Well, 1 lb of 2x4s is not very much. about a foot of 2x4 pine would weight around that. Maybe take a trip to a lumber store and have a look at molding. You could make a nice little case for an electronics project out of that. How big is your project?

You also might try the channel #help-with-projects

[smoky drum]

its about 4 1/3" x 7" by 2"
the casing could probably be a fraction as thick as a 2x4, as long as it can hold screws

[unique pendant]

Yeah, I would look at all the wonderful possibilities with molding. There's all kinds of possibilities ranging from simple to very fancy.

[smoky drum]

would molding be easy to paint if I wanted to?

[unique pendant]

Or, you could find a suitable 3D-printable enclosure on Thingiverse 😄

Yes, it's made for painting

[smoky drum]

sweet

yeah I'll look into it and see what I can find

[empty sedge]

@smoky drum or maybe use one of the available project enclosures to buy online.
looks like adafruit doesn't have something quite that size: https://www.adafruit.com/category/208

sparkfun has at least a couple options:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16743
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16744

[shrewd rose]

ngl I’m about to print a big one of this just as a fruits tray

[ruby matrix]

I might be hungry... It looks like either yogurt or white chocolate covered pretzels interlaced into a basket!

It does look really cool

[ember narwhal]

is there any way to restore the texture of a flexible PEI bed? have tried steel wool, acetone, with no real changes

[half dew]

How long have you had it? The PEI coating does wear off after a while but it tends to take a long time (the ones in the local maker space last years)

[ember narwhal]

It lasts about a month or two maybe

Of daily printing

[empty sedge]

I haven't had any trouble with the textured PEI coming off the prusa or layerlock sheets even after hundreds of face shields per printer last year

[ember narwhal]

Hrm, I wonder if it has anything to do with printing 99% of my stuff in PLA+

To clarify, it's not like the coating is coming off necessarily, it's just... getting smoothed out

This is with the official Creality Ender 5 bed (i.e. this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X3WBNPX/ ) - maybe it's not actually PEI and I misheard that?

[empty sedge]

yeah looks like a buildtak clone to me

priced like it too

I have these or the prusa official ones https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/powder-coated-pei-build-plate

but for PLA the smooth PEI works better

[ember narwhal]

okay yeah those seem much more professional looking

now I just need to find some nozzles that don't clog beyond usefulness within a dozen prints

(the batch I bought from amazon has been lackluster - the ones that came with the Ender 5 have been great)

[empty sedge]

is that really a nozzle problem?

[ember narwhal]

yeah, I can feel the nozzle cleaning tool get pushed to the side within the nozzle tip when I insert it (i.e. it's not straight)

on an unused nozzle

prolly bad milling quality for that brand or something

[empty sedge]

official e3d nozzles aren't that expensive. I'm not sure what the creality equivalent is

$8 each for a normal brass nozzle

[ember narwhal]

yeah this was just a multi-pack of different sizes before I realized I only really need 0.4mm for my use cases

even the 1mm nozzle holes I can see visible metal artifacts when holding them up to a light

inside the hole

thanks for the tips @empty sedge, gonna check out an actual PEI bed and some higher quality nozzles, maybe even a glass bed if I can wrap my head around the weirdness that is applying gluesticks/hairspray to it

also thanks @half dew

[lucid apex]

Hi! Anybody have idea about this? )=

[empty sedge]

ABS? How warm is your room?

[lucid apex]

SBS! It's warm enough. 25-27 °C

[short crow]

im planning on getting a new 3d printer since my old one can only use OEM filament, id assume the prusa i3 is a good one?

[empty sedge]

yeah, the official prusa i3 mk3s+ is great
the cheap clones are quite variable in quality. If you're looking to save money you're better off with a prusa mini or one of the popular creality machines because then people have already had and found fixes for problems you'll run into

[azure cave]

I'm using a regular adafruit case for my pi b+, https://www.adafruit.com/product/2258 can someone point me to a 3d model for the cover? I have a fun project that uses the pitft 2.2" no touch screen, but would like to keep it in the standard case

[muted cave]

ender line from creality is top notch, and cheap. the original E3 is only 167, and needs only spring upgrades ($6) and a metal extruder to replace the plastic set ($6) because the plastic ones wear out or crack frequently.
if you want silent printing, the new E3 V2 is now out, and on slae for $230 its a no brainer- the cost fo upgrading just the motherboard ($40) takes up almost all the difference, and the V2 has some other nice touches, like hidden power supply, color touch screen, etc

[unique pendant]

Yes, this conversation has been repeated/debated several times here and it always comes down to:
-Ender 3 if you don't mind upgrading, tinkering, and learning by fixing
-Prusa MK3S+ if you'd prefer to have a printer that just works when you want it to, don't want to install upgrades (because it doesn't need them), but you may sacrifice learning by fixing

[half dew]

Yup, one is a hobby (ender) and the other is a tool

[shy kelp]

This was printed in abs, is the room temperature is causing this? (it's like 65 degrees F (+ or - 5))

its probably cooling too fast right?

I think ill need to put it in a shroud in a warmer room

[empty sedge]

yes, low ambient temp, a breeze, and cooling fans causes cracks in ABS prints like that

[shy kelp]

any tips on either making a shoud or keeping the room warmer? what temp should room temp be?

[empty sedge]

I have my printer in my closet

warmer is better. The commercial stratasys machines have like 80C or hotter heated chambers, but that'd probably break your printer

[unique pendant]

You can also add a perimeter wall about 1cm away from your print, at least 2 perimeters thick and as high as your model. This will act as a small chamber around your print.

You should have settings for a skirt in your slicer. You can either use that, or add a thin wall 1 cm outside your model. It will build along with your model.

[brave maple]

Something I noticed is that my skirt seems to be really thin on 2 sides of all of my prints. I have an ender 3 with a bltouch and I’m not sure what would cause this. It doesn’t seem to cause issues but I wonder if it’s affecting my print quality

[unique pendant]

That’s usually from a warped build surface. Check it with a straight edge.

[brave maple]

Ok will do

Looks like that is probably it thanks!

[hard flax]

anyone know how to select all the edges on a plane at once to fillet them in 360? I swear I saw a noe video on it once forever ago about how it was hard or you needed to do something special to do it but I forget now

When I do a select filter to just Body Edges, it doesn't select everything and so the fillet fails

[hard flax]

the issue is that it selects all vertical edges instead of just the horizontal ones, despite not fully encompassing them in my selection tool

any way to filter out vertical edges?

asked another way, how can i have all the edges of a face fillet?

[shadow dagger]

I'm an inventor person and a novice, but for trivial faces does CTRL + Click work?

[hard flax]

it is not trivial face ^_^

the issue is that it's too many to click one by one

[shadow dagger]

Makes sense

[hard flax]

is it unreasonable to expect that I should be able to fillet/chamfer all the top layer edges?

or is that never going to work? I can't even get a few edges alone to fillet due to the curves and connections to other parts

[empty sedge]

if your fillet radius is equal to or less than your corner radius then it should fillet fine. Also, I'd expect you can select the single top face

[hard flax]

i can select the single top face, but faces don't fillet do they?

I need it a lot more than that corner radius. how do i get around that?

[empty sedge]

change your model, or use chamfer

[hard flax]

this is working off an svg from my artist. should I have them make all edges corners instead and round them myself in here isntead?

does chamfer work with a single face selected? I tried but couldnt get chamfer to work either

[empty sedge]

sounds like it's hitting the same problem

when you do fillet on a face it works on all edges of that face

you could try doing the same thing that you'd do in sketchup, do a sweep along the edge of the corner you're cutting away

but that'd probably have the same issues with certain corners

[hard flax]

if i started with all sharp points where I have rounded connections between areas would that be fillet-able?

[empty sedge]

I'm not sure

[hard flax]

ok thank you. after press/pulling some of those edges into corners, I see that it works appropriately

so ill revise the og design. thanks

[unique pendant]

Mine works fine. You shouldn't need to be using the selection filter at all. You have to choose the fillet tool first, then you select the face, then you enter your fillet value.

Maybe make sure your options match mine in the fillet dialog. Or perhaps I don't understand the problem?

[hard flax]

Yes but your face seems to have perfect square edges. Mine has beveled corners and such which I discovered are what is preventing the operation.

[unique pendant]

If you want to post the file, I can see if I can get it. If you're not comfortable posting it publicly, you can DM me.

[sullen zinc]

I have a 3D printer thought, and I wonder what y'all think about it. My printer has a height sensor, and it runs a height sensing routine before each print. It measures 9 points across the whole bed, but often my model is very small compared to the whole bed. Why not perform the height sensor checks just in the area the print is going to have contact with the bed, so that with the same number of measurements the mesh correction is better?

[torn lichen]

What could be causing these filament fibres to pull across like this?

[unique pendant]

You’re losing layer adhesion. You  either need a lower layer height, higher hotend temp, or lower cooling fan speed.

[unique pendant]

You don’t have to probe every single time. I probably probe only once every couple of months at most (unless I change/upgrade something).

[sullen zinc]

Yeah, it's just what the slicer tells it to do and I haven't touched it

[unique pendant]

Another possibility is that your printing speed is too high. Or a combination of all/some of the above

[unique pendant]

You can comment it out so you can easily add later if wanted

[torn lichen]

Good advice, thank you. I’m going to try changing layer height first. This print had a 0.3 height rather than 0.2 which I’ve used previously, so that seems like a really good place to start.

[small heron]

so i need to add screw tabs to something, i need some ideas on a good way to do that, they have to be external sadly.

I am reworking a doorbell cover btw

[unique pendant]

Maybe post a little drawing on what you're thinking?

[small heron]

my plan is to add screw tabs to the top and bottom make it harder to rip off a wall

[unique pendant]

Probably easiest just to use tiny L-brackets from the hardware store.

[small heron]

sadly cant

it would wrek the bell

but that was the shape I was considering

I would need to support it

[unique pendant]

I'm having a hard time visualizing the problem, so sorry.

[small heron]

it's a mod of this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4775705

even with out the spacers I would have to add a way to screw it down

[ember narwhal]

@small heron take a look at the source files for the Feather cases. They have a mounting tab variant that will probably do what you're asking if you look at it for inspiration. https://learn.adafruit.com/3d-printed-case-for-adafruit-feather

[small heron]

hany, ill take a look

is it bad that I sorta want to use hot snot or weather proof snotto make it even more of a pain to mess with?

[small heron]

I re worked this from another file\

[shy kelp]

@crystal ravine --- Enjoy the shows ... Y'all do a great job ... makes me want to jump into my own 3D printing but got severe budget/time constraints ... Question on your glasses frames ... R those led lights or small cameras in the upper corners of the lens areas ? ...

[shy kelp]

@supple stratus - noticed U have glasses frames similar to Pedro's in the face mask clips (from adafruit Daily) ... Urz R a little different from Pedro's ... R those frames safety Glasses ?

[junior storm]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a new printer. I've decided on an Ender, but I'm still waffling over which one (Ender-3, Ender-3 Pro, Ender-3 V2). I think I've built a preference, but I'd like to get some feedback before investing the money

I currently have an Elegoo Mars resin printer, bit I'm starting to see the limitation of that one

[signal finch]

@junior storm buy from tinymachines

@junior storm they are great imo

it's worth the extra 🧀

also they can help you decide on which one

http://tiny-machines-3d.myshopify.com/

i am not paid to endorse them

[junior storm]

Thanks. I'm looking at the site now

[signal finch]

if it says sold out, double check with them

i know my printer was listed as sold out but they got one to me anyway

[junior storm]

Good to know

[signal finch]

Help me please with my janky benchy

Look How sad it is 🥺

0.1mm, 210deg/65deg, 40mm/s on raptor 2+ with marlin and cura. bed leveled manually, then with bltouch (122 points)

[shy kelp]

I like the boat.

[unique pendant]

That looks more like 265 degrees. Maybe you need to PID tune? Is your cooling fan on?

[elder oxide]

200°/60°

[unique pendant]

@signal finch did you dry your filament?

Did you tune your e-steps?

[signal finch]

No but it was fresh from the bag and I haven't tuned my esteps yet, looks like too hot and flow too high

[unique pendant]

I’ve had plenty of wet filament right out of the bag. Tho’ it looks mostly like too hot or no cooling.

[torpid grove]

Something certainly seems a bit off with the filament possibly to wet as others have said. I would also check leveling again looking at the underside of benchy it seems like their might be some more adjusting to be done. Specifically your bed level may still be to high, my personal experience has been that fixing the first layer will at least improve most other aspects of the print. Try to shoot for what they have going on in the middle of this image https://ucarecdn.com/03426f33-4996-460a-afd3-21be58163f1e/-/format/auto/-/preview/3000x3000/-/quality/lighter/ Best of luck!

[elfin heath]

I’m looking at 3D printers. I’ve got three different people with three different sets of primary requirements: Figurines, molds (for making stuff out of non-printable materials), and light enclosures and other functional parts.

All three of us are pretty much 3D printing noobs, and while we’d love the detail of SLA, we’re wary of both the added complexity and cost overhead. We’d like cost to first print to land at about $500 or less.

Am I probably making a wise decision looking more at FDM printers in the $300-400 range?

[unique pendant]

This conversation has been repeated/debated several times here and it always comes down to:
-Ender 3 if you don't mind upgrading, tinkering, and learning by fixing. Monetarily, you'll shell out more for the upgrades, but you won't reach the cost of the Prusa, unless you count your time input 😉
-Prusa MK3S+ if you'd prefer to have a printer that just works when you want it to, don't want to install upgrades (because it doesn't need them), but you may sacrifice learning by fixing.

However, if you don't need to print larger than 18cm^3, the Prusa Mini is a great choice that will fit your budget. You'd be surprised how few prints you will want/need to do larger than that! Of course, how small are the figurines and how detailed? You may have to go to SLA anyway if they are tiny. Prusa MK3S+ is the way to go IMHO, but I don't like spending a lot of time/money upgrading, so there you go.

[elfin heath]

Tabletop miniature size, give or take, not big but large enough to be conveniently handled by an adult, not tiny Army Men type things. And they'll be painted so detail is "important" but somewhat fungible.

I've been looking at the MK3S+... it's tempting... may have to play with budget and/or wait a while longer...

Did you mean SLS or SLA? I was under the impression SLS printers were still all in the multi-thousand-dollar range.

[unique pendant]

SLA sorry. 😆

[elfin heath]

XD Maybe I'll make my long-term goal a hacked-together DIY SLS printer made with the help of one of the Prusa printers!

[empty sedge]

@elfin heath good resin printers that fit in that budget are available and will get you good model detail. I'm not a fan of the resin mess and safety equipment though: gloves, resparator, big tub of isopropyl to clean partially cured resin off prints

[elfin heath]

Yeah, that's the thing, I feel like we'd be spending a good chunk of the difference on cleanup/maintenance stuff, plus more of our own time doing things that aren't really Fun™️. And in my case, I'm an independent contractor, technically every minute I spend on it costs me money from Real Work, little insult to injury 😛

At this point I'm kinda hoping that by the time we feel like we need SLA (or anything other than FDM) rather than just "it would be nice", the ecosystem might have worked out more ways to increase convenience?

[empty sedge]

fancy $4000-ish formlabs machines come with the 2 stage cleaning stations but don't eliminate you needing gloves, removing the part from the build plate with a putty knife, and so-on.

[elfin heath]

nods I've seen other curing/cleaning stations too, just enough added cost to kinda make me go... maybe a really good FDM would be a better way to start

[empty sedge]

I think you should start with the prusa mini (filament printer) if possible. The default profiles should be 99% what you need and it should be a small workhorse. Get both textured and smooth PEI if you're planning to print both PLA (smooth) and PETG (textured).

[elfin heath]

Will it do ABS reliably? Or is PETG really good enough for mechanical parts?

[empty sedge]

90% of the printed parts on the prusa machines are PETG

the only ABS printed part on i3 mk3 is the part cooling fan duct

[elfin heath]

okay, that works then...

Huh, why that part? Just temperature extreme?

[empty sedge]

yeah, it's right next to the heater block so if PETG it'd get soft and droop

[elfin heath]

nods I'm more worried about mechanical strength than temp... I'd say any ABS parts I had to make for thermal tolerance would be pretty small. Mini does seem like a good idea.

[empty sedge]

they say you can print ABS on the prusa mini. Big parts might need you to keep it away from moving doors or other cold drafts or the ABS shrinkage might cause your parts to split apart or curl off the bed

[elfin heath]

We're basically going to dedicate a corner of the basement to the 3d printer, so we can do a bit of localized climate control, which should help

[empty sedge]

yeah, mine is in my closet

ABS failures

[elfin heath]

ouch

[empty sedge]

that was some exceptionally bad plastic. Usually ABS isn't that bad

[elfin heath]

Thanks to both of you for all your input, at this point I do think we're probably going to get a Prusa... something, just have to make a final call on budget. Honestly was semi-consciously pushing it down a little for fear of overrunning on SLA side-costs....

While we're 3d printing noobs, we're reasonably mechanically adept, and the assembly instructions for the kit versions look... involved but not actually difficult, so that actually makes the MK3S+ a bit more palatable too.

[void otter]

Hi guys 🙂 Newb here, both to 3Dprinting and to Adafruit. I found these mugs https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/12/10/split-cups-for-acrylic-paint-pouring-3dthursday-3dprinting/ , but I wonder if anyone could direct me to how I might manage to make them into five compartments? I have fusion 360 and mess around there, is that a software to edit this properly in?

[empty sedge]

@void otter the thingiverse link doesn't have the original files so you'd be about as well off making it from scratch in fusion 360

[void otter]

Ah, allright. Thank you 😊

[elder oxide]

My buddy made some wall brackets .STL files for. 3/8” dowel rod so I can put reels of components on. Came out nice.

15hrs with Hatchbox PLA, 0.4mm nozzle, 0.2mm layer height. 200°C/60°C nozzle/bed temps

[iron remnant]

Looks reel nice.

[elder oxide]

Making a programming jig for the bed of nails boot loader I have coming

bed of nails pressure jig

[muted shore]

Don't overlook possibly using a smaller bore nozzle to get better than default FDM detail. .25 nozzles and lower layer heights (and thus slower printing) can make a big difference.