In reply to Mr_Asa :
What type of build plate have you had success using with PETG? My GeckoTec build surface doesn't work at all even though it is advertised to. Blue painters tape seems to work well but then you have lines were the tape butts together.
In reply to Patientzero :
My normal printer bed surface worked decently, until it worked too well and I actually ripped the bed apart. I'll try and dig that picture up in a second, it is actually fairly interesting.
Heated glass, glue stick before if it doesn't stick. I keep hearing that hairspray works very well, but I have yet to try it.
This thread just became relevant to me, as Son-in-law gave me a FlashForge Finder. He outgrew it, and has something bigger, now, for work.
Mr_Asa said:In reply to Patientzero :
My normal printer bed surface worked decently, until it worked too well and I actually ripped the bed apart. I'll try and dig that picture up in a second, it is actually fairly interesting.
Heated glass, glue stick before if it doesn't stick. I keep hearing that hairspray works very well, but I have yet to try it.
My original print bed material failed after a bit, so I replaced it with a piece of glass stuck on the original heated bed and used a bit of hairspray on the glass.
No problems with adhesion unless there's a draft and it causes the print to curl.
I had to adjust the Z-stop with a printed part, but it was quick and easy to print and install.
I'm building an enclosure (this one) to help with the drafts and to keep the kids away from the printer while it in process.
79rex said:So for anyone printing stuff other than PLA. Are you using some type of filtration for fumes?
CorsePerVita has printed some parts for his Jalpa resto out of Carbon Fiber filament. He documented it on his build thread. I know he built a Prusa enclosure and I suspect he vents the fumes out the window, etc.
In reply to RealMiniNoMore :
They're a decent printer. A little too small for what I like to have available, but great for a beginner
The bed that got pulled up
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I've had that happen to every build plate I have tried, that even happens to my glass and mirror build plates every now and then. I bought a pack of 12" square tile mirrors from home depot and cut those down for my Ender3s or run them as is on my CR-10S.
Like others have said, the Ender3 is the best bang for buck starter printer you can buy today. I don't think any upgrade are necessary though. I have 2 of them, both with almost 1000 hours on them printing mostly ABS. The only thing I have changed is a few clogged nozzles and I swapped the stock build plate for a mirror, they don't do anything but make me money.
RacetruckRon has got me looking deep down the rabbit hole of 3D printing.
I bought an Ender 3 Pro with plans to set it up with RaspbPi running OctoPrint. Going to play around with PLA for the moment but move to ABS when I'm ready.
What is a good ABS filament for high detail parts?
For the filament you want to ensure that it has regular characteristics from batch to batch. So you're likely going to want a fairly well known brand with a good reputation. Unfortunately that usually means $$$, fortunately the difference between $ and $$$ is only $5-10 per roll of filament.
Detail comes more from the printer itself and how it is setup. Layer height, nozzle size, print speed, etc. Some of that is out of the box, some is stuff that can be dialed in, some is stuff that requires upgrades.
I'd recommend getting it, printing with it some and then seeing what you want to change.
In reply to engiekev :
Inland ABS has been my go to lately, I go through about a roll of black ABS a week. Esun ABS+ is pretty good too and used to be the only ABS I used until Hobbyking stopped stocking it in their US warehouse. You absolutely need an enclosure to reliably print ABS, anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool.
Get your printer dialed in with PLA before you try and get into ABS. It is not a very forgiving material.
RacetruckRon said:In reply to engiekev :
Inland ABS has been my go to lately, I go through about a roll of black ABS a week. Esun ABS+ is pretty good too and used to be the only ABS I used until Hobbyking stopped stocking it in their US warehouse. You absolutely need an enclosure to reliably print ABS, anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool.
Get your printer dialed in with PLA before you try and get into ABS. It is not a very forgiving material.
Also ABS works better with an enclosure (vented to help with fumes, especially if used indoors). Look up building one from a couple of IKEA Lack tables, some plexiglass and some printed parts.
Have you guys experimented with using acetone to "vapor smooth" parts to improve surface finish? Found a few examples of using an acetone container over the printer bed to heat it up, seems a bit risky in terms of safety (acetone vapor, combustible and toxic!).
I wonder if that measurably reduces the part size, such that it would affect fitment and tolerance.
Creality CR-10 Mini. I've had success printing on a clean mirror, no glue, tape, or anything. With PLA, PETG I use purple glue stick.
I have a Anycubic Predator and my son has a Ender 3. Both of them have been pretty flawless. The Predator has a huge build volume and watching the delta run is fascinating. The Ender isn't super fast but it has printed everything it's been asked to without a fuss.
I have printed a bunch of anti-ligature parts for a local psych hospital on the Predator. It has pretty much paid for the machine at this point.
This was a Christmas tree topper for a local company that uses a paper airplane in their logo.
Planter for the daughter in law.
Everything I have printed so far is PLA or wood. The machines don't seem to care. I have a roll of ABS to try but haven't really needed it so far.
I've also been toying with getting a 3d printer. The Ender 3 is very appealing, though if I figured out any decent designs, I think getting something that could do the carbon fiber reinforced stuff would be sweet.
My main question, is what is the best software to use?
Does the software required differ from printer to printer or is it fairly universal?
How hard is it to learn the software to make a design/print from scratch?
In reply to AWSX1686 :
For design, I use Fusion 360. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's pretty straight forward. It's also free for students and startups.
For producing G-Code for the machines, I use Cura for both machines. Just select the printer you will be using and Cura will save the proper G-Code. I assume the other slicers work the same. They are also mostly free.
In reply to engiekev :
I have. Works beautifully. I didn't even really heat the acetone either.
For the fit, I dunno, I only used it for cosmetic reasons. I would assume it would at least slightly, but 3D parts are never as close a tolerance as a machined part.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
That brought up an interesting thought, can you machine PLA or ABS 3D Printed parts? Is there a best filament for machining after the part is printed? I'm thinking of example like shifter bushings, which tradtionally you would machine out of Delrin, or something more complex, that does require a machined surface with good tolerance/accuracy.
I regularly tap threads in PLA and PETG prints. For light machining you probably could do it, but it would be more like surfacing or sanding than actual machining because the insides are hollow and you'd only have a small amount of solid surface before you got into the infill portion of it. When I do tap threads I ensure that there are additional layers to the outside shells so I have a good amount of meat and support.
Its easier to plan that the nice smooth surface you want for a seal will be on the glass plate of the build than to sand stuff down.
Not sure if anyone is aware, but the Smithsonian just released about 2.8 million 3D scanned images from their museums:
You can download them and turn them into items you can 3D print!
Enjoy.
I have a Monoprice Select Mini (actually a pair of them, but I digress).
They are a bit on the small side so there's a few things that Iv'e run into that I haven't been able to print. I'm modding the second one to have a larger printbed capability to solve some of that.
I bought them cheap off of Goodwill's auction site, otherwise I probably would have gone with something like an Ender3 or similar.
Stefan said:Not sure if anyone is aware, but the Smithsonian just released about 2.8 million 3D scanned images from their museums:
You can download them and turn them into items you can 3D print!
Enjoy.
NASA also has an online repository of cool stuff.
Got Ender 3 Pro setup with glass bed and printing away.
I had an extra Raspberry Pi and setup Octoprint, and setup direct print to octoprint via Cura. Just need to get the Cura add-in to work in Solidworks, then it should be a super fast process of model in SW, send to Cura, print in Cura.
Now just need to print the RaspPi enclosure for direct mount, get a RaspPi webcam, and I can stick the printer anywhere else in the house and remote print and view progress.
Auto bed leveling would nice too!
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