The main thing I have learnt from starting 3D printing is that it is a hobby in its own right and you have to be a bit obsessive and tenacious (stubborn) to get a decent result. I seem to have slipped on every banana skin and fallen down every rabbit hole between taking the printer out of the box and getting a passable (although not really acceptable) result. There seem to be lots of places to share the fine tuning of 3D printers but I have not found much help getting over the initial blunders that I made when starting printing. Perhaps I am alone and everyone else got it right straight away...
For Newbies - Share banana skins and rabbit holes
- Thread starter timbacct
- Start date
A few embarrassments
I'll start with a few:
I have a dual extruder printer. Not having the extruders perfectly level with each other caused mayhem and just turned filament into spaghetti wrapped round both nozzles.
I didn't pay enough attention to bed levelling so got prints that stuck well in one part and lifted off in others then spaghetti.
I managed to get the nozzle behind the bed which ripped the nozzle out of its mounting and covered the whole heat block and print assembly with PLA as well as writing off the nozzle and damaging the heat sensor.
I put the belt tensioner on the wrong way up so it caught occasionally on the print (car) and got caught in the drive mechanism.
There are many more but let's see what others have come up with before I share more embarrassment.
I'll start with a few:
I have a dual extruder printer. Not having the extruders perfectly level with each other caused mayhem and just turned filament into spaghetti wrapped round both nozzles.
I didn't pay enough attention to bed levelling so got prints that stuck well in one part and lifted off in others then spaghetti.
I managed to get the nozzle behind the bed which ripped the nozzle out of its mounting and covered the whole heat block and print assembly with PLA as well as writing off the nozzle and damaging the heat sensor.
I put the belt tensioner on the wrong way up so it caught occasionally on the print (car) and got caught in the drive mechanism.
There are many more but let's see what others have come up with before I share more embarrassment.
I've had filament get bound up on the roll so many times and jerk the print head up and around ruining prints.
I built a custom heated bed but didn't get the nichrome wire evenly spaced and had hot and cold spots that didn't stick well.
I've had lots of over-temp, over-extrusion configuration problems on outside walls causing big blobby formations and deformed shapes, especially on the corners of small parts.
I spent way too many hours wasting time with PLA and Blue Painters tape before switching to Aquanet to stop print peeling.
I built a custom heated bed but didn't get the nichrome wire evenly spaced and had hot and cold spots that didn't stick well.
I've had lots of over-temp, over-extrusion configuration problems on outside walls causing big blobby formations and deformed shapes, especially on the corners of small parts.
I spent way too many hours wasting time with PLA and Blue Painters tape before switching to Aquanet to stop print peeling.
My Anet A8 *just* arrived today, I'm excited for the adventure to come.
admittedly selfishly I was hoping for more here on ways to avoid the pitfalls. However Now I know where to post...
I was wondering if there is a temp Setting table or something as I've heard Black was 250°C for example, and the grey printed great at 260°, for example. or When I turned the bed temp up 5° more, I no longer have issues with stick-age.
admittedly selfishly I was hoping for more here on ways to avoid the pitfalls. However Now I know where to post...
I was wondering if there is a temp Setting table or something as I've heard Black was 250°C for example, and the grey printed great at 260°, for example. or When I turned the bed temp up 5° more, I no longer have issues with stick-age.
Hi FoamyDM,
Thanks for posting.
In the little experience I have had, you can use different temperatures to do different things. I printed a 3DLabPrint plane and I kept ignoring the temperature they advised (230C for PLA) as it was higher than the label on the filament said (190 - 210). I got really bad results until I tried 210 when I got an OK result. So I went for it and tried 230 and got a perfect result. The printed filament is beautifully bonded and translucent. As far as I have been able to work out, a lot of it is trial and error. It may be worth printing some things that have really good guidelines first to get a feel for your printer. Each model seems to be a bit different.
With my printer bed temperature is a must for any printing. Not just ABS. I find that about 60C is the sweetspot for most PLA. With the extruder temperature, I would try the mid-point of what it recommends on the filament, then try hotter and cooler if the results are not what you want.
I also found that enclosing the sides (but not the top) of the printer gave me the best results.
Thanks
Tim
Thanks for posting.
In the little experience I have had, you can use different temperatures to do different things. I printed a 3DLabPrint plane and I kept ignoring the temperature they advised (230C for PLA) as it was higher than the label on the filament said (190 - 210). I got really bad results until I tried 210 when I got an OK result. So I went for it and tried 230 and got a perfect result. The printed filament is beautifully bonded and translucent. As far as I have been able to work out, a lot of it is trial and error. It may be worth printing some things that have really good guidelines first to get a feel for your printer. Each model seems to be a bit different.
With my printer bed temperature is a must for any printing. Not just ABS. I find that about 60C is the sweetspot for most PLA. With the extruder temperature, I would try the mid-point of what it recommends on the filament, then try hotter and cooler if the results are not what you want.
I also found that enclosing the sides (but not the top) of the printer gave me the best results.
Thanks
Tim
OttoPilot
Member
My biggest issue has been laziness and not wanting to level my bed. Taking the extra 5 minutes and getting everything level makes all the difference.
An important thing to remember (given the nature of 3d printing), your first layer is the most important. If something (even something little) goes wrong there, I stop the print and figure out what I need to correct.
And yes, trial and error! Doubly so when trying out new filaments!
An important thing to remember (given the nature of 3d printing), your first layer is the most important. If something (even something little) goes wrong there, I stop the print and figure out what I need to correct.
And yes, trial and error! Doubly so when trying out new filaments!
I used Picture framing acrylic. What I find is the most important is keeping everything as controlled as possible. This includes the temperature. So by enclosing the sides and front, it stopped drafts having an effect and reduced the effect of room temperature. The printer could control the bed temperature and head temperature much more accurately and quickly get them to temperature or back to temperature. I have not noticed a difference in temperature requirement for wall thickness or infill but that may just be that my solution with enclosing it has reduced the heat shedding and made it more uniform.
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