3D Printer yet?

[Zucca]

Best change so far was Nozzle T from 200 to 210 and bed T from 50 to 60, print quality like night and day.

Still Fighting again strings guitar!

Retraction distance from 5 to 6 mm and 45 to 47 mm/s did not help too much, try to move slowly up.

PS:


Now SWMBO wants a Laser Cutter because "You can do so much more" 

[tautech]

Now SWMBO wants a Laser Cutter because "You can do so much more" 

FYI beanflying plays with them and was last seen building a 100W unit 
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/40w-300x200mm-laser-cutter-engraver-vollerun/

[Zucca]

We all TEA Brothers know it. 

First a need a bigger home and the I get at least 100W too.

[Zucca]

going up to 7mm retraction distance.

[JackJones]

7 mm sounds quite a lot, ever for a Bowden extruder. Stringing can also be affected by nozzle temp and flow rate. I'd try calibrating the extruder and flow rate.

[Zucca]

Thanks, I went back to 5mm and 45mm/s. But now I will try 95% FR.

[Zucca]

Thanks JackJones, not perfect but going in the right direction:



It's now 95%



I will try to go down to 93% or so. It's fun.

[JackJones]

You can calibrate it accurately by measuring it. For example in Cura, you load in a solid cube, set line width to 0.5mm, wall line count to 1, top layers 0, bottom layers 1 and infill 0. That prints a hollow cube without a top and single wall count. Then just measure it with calipers, your target is 0.48. No idea why it's not 0.5 like the line width is, but that is what all the guides say  .

The formula for new flow rate is (0.48 / measured thickness) * current flow rate.

It can get quite low, for example I have to set my flow rate to ~80%. In practice I have noticed that the calculated theoretical flow rate has always been a little bit too low, I can see that the top of my prints have had small gaps and I've needed to adjust it up a bit. Theoretical numbers are a good starting point, but the real adjustment should be done by observing the actual prints.

[Monkeh]

You can calibrate it accurately by measuring it. For example in Cura, you load in a solid cube, set line width to 0.5mm, wall line count to 1, top layers 0, bottom layers 1 and infill 0. That prints a hollow cube without a top and single wall count. Then just measure it with calipers, your target is 0.48. No idea why it's not 0.5 like the line width is, but that is what all the guides say  .

Because the default extrusion width is likely 0.48mm. If you set it to 0.5mm, you should expect to get 0.5.

[JackJones]

I'd expect to get 0.5mm when setting it at 0.5mm. But many guides tell to set it at 0.5mm but then calibrate it to give 0.48mm. 

For example here:

Set Wall Thickness - 0.5

Aim for 0.48mm thickness on Cube

I don't know if it's some compensation for swelling or something. For me it has led to under extrusion, so I'd just recommend aiming for 0.5mm.

[Monkeh]

They're.. wrong. They're instructing you to underextrude.

[mnementh]

 

[Bassman59]

going up to 7mm retraction distance. (Attachment Link)

Is your bed aligned?

I used this guy's instructions and file to do the job and I haven't had any issues with stringing. Again, Ender 3 Pro, with 200ºC extruder and 60ºC bed temperature. Hatchbox PLA filament.

[Zucca]

8 Hours print overnight and I got my first spaghetti incident.

I thing I need to go back and do the first homework I skipped: Calibration. I will google, research and come back.
Meanwhile if some else have a good link, like Bassman59, to point to I will appreciate it.

PPS: I have a brand new still air sealed (mint) PLA from 2013. I give it a try. Since it was not in contact with any humidity it should be fine.

[JackJones]

Teaching Tech released this quite recently: https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#intro

It goes through all the important calibration and tuning procedures. There is also this page for tuning retraction, etc.: http://prahjister.duckdns.org/

It gives a little more control over the parameters than the ones given in the first link.

[mnementh]

8 Hours print overnight and I got my first spaghetti incident.

I thing I need to go back and do the first homework I skipped: Calibration. I will google, research and come back.
Meanwhile if some else have a good link, like Bassman59, to point to I will appreciate it.

PPS: I have a brand new still air sealed (mint) PLA from 2013. I give it a try. Since it was not in contact with any humidity it should be fine.

7-8 year old filament? There's a world of chemical mischief could have gone on in that little sealed baggie with that much time left unsupervised. 

We look forward to the results of your experiment...

mnem
 

[Zucca]

8 Hours print overnight and I got my first spaghetti incident.

I own you a picture:



now forgive me my ignorance, but can a 3D build a bridge which is an arc in the XY plane?

PS: Printing the 8000mm³ calibration CUBE.

[xrunner]

now forgive me my ignorance, but can a 3D build a bridge which is an arc in the XY plane?

If I understand you correctly - yes it can ...

with supports. 

[Zucca]

So if I see a .STL with an arc in the XY plane without support is bad design. Thanks.
This partially explain my spaghetti incident.

[xrunner]

So if I see a .STL with an arc in the XY plane without support is bad design.

No not necessarily ... it's all a matter of perspective. If it's very small, it can bridge that without supports. But the longer it has to bridge in open air with no support underneath, the more it's likely to fail and droop (without support).

You are the one who has to decide when to tell the slicer to add supports, and if the model is worth the time to try and print. Like your decorative model, if it has to build supports all the way from the bottom to the top, it's going to add a hell of a lot of time and you may decide to not even try. Or you could cut the .stl in half, print both, and glue the halves together, or perhaps you might have a better idea.

 

[CatalinaWOW]

I would suggest that the model you got spaghetti on is printable without support.  This opinion depends partly on assumptions about what the top looks like.  And is followed by the caveat that it is not an easy print.

Overhangs can be printed, as demonstrated by the holes in the winding arms of your model and by any of the many challenging test prints seen in this thread.  But each has a chance of failure and the more chances of failure the less likelihood of success.  You can make overhangs easier to print with minor changes to the model like chamfers and support struts.  Support struts are support elements you add to the model intending to remove them after printing.  The slicer will build such materiel everywhere.

Another possible source of your failure is loss of bed adhesion.  Tall slender prints like yours test adhesion as the drag of the print head gains more and more leverage with height.  Printing a large raft, either using the option in the slicer, or by adding a large base to the model can help this.  Or resort to glue stick, hairspray and the other options you will find in adhesion discussions.

[mnementh]

I own you a picture:   

I think your sculpture perfectly captures the soul of "X-chromosome vs Y-chromosome".

Bravo!!! 

mnem
 

[Zucca]

So installed the 2013 PLA, 20mm XYZcube is done. I did 6 measurements of each face: one in the middle, one an the left edge one the right one; and then  the other 3 orthogonal to the previous ones.

X Average    19,96
Y Average    20,05
Z Average    20,14

not too bad, I will no take further actions unless you gang say so.

Details:



Now move on with a Benchy thing.

[HobGoblyn]

Bearing in mind I'm very new to electronics, I wanted to double check I'm right.

I'm in the process of assembling most of this (to get rid of box on the side)  https://3duk.co.uk/index.php?topic=74.0 and he says to add an earth to the printer frame.

As the frame is coated hence is non conductive, I don't see the point (or am I missing something).

thanks

[Zucca]

General Rule:
IF (frame made of metal) AND (Device connected to Main Voltage) THEN earth on frame

No matter if it is a 3D Printer, wash mashine or light on the celing.

Is the coating layer saving you from main voltage? Scary question to answer better be safe then sorry.

PS: I do not have access to the link you posted at work so I could be wrong somehow.