New 3D Printer

[RustySocket]

That's awesome!

You should print a 3d Benchy and XYZ calibration cube.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1278865

The Benchy was the first thing I printed. Also a Grey PLA cube and a Black PETG cube. They are not perfect but both are consistent. I have not researched what is needed to get them perfectly square, or what tolerances to expect.

 

[CrazyFastFlying]

The Benchy was the first thing I printed. Also a Grey PLA cube and a Black PETG cube. They are not perfect but both are consistent. I have not researched what is needed to get them perfectly square, or what tolerances to expect.

View attachment 160039 View attachment 160040 View attachment 160041 View attachment 160042

Wow, those are nice!

What slicer settings did you use? What layer hight and what speed?

 

[RustySocket]

Wow, those are nice!

What slicer settings did you use? What layer hight and what speed?

The Benchy was printed from gcode that came on the sd card. Prusa's settings for PLA 150um layer.

 

[CrazyFastFlying]

The Benchy was printed from gcode that came on the sd card. Prusa's settings for PLA 150um layer.

Ok, cool!

Would you mind giving my the g-code file so I can play around with it?

 

[RustySocket]

Here you go.

 

[CrazyFastFlying]

Here you go.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[localfiend]

Why would someone choose to use a different slicer program?

Different slicers handle different types of files in different ways. Some are far more powerful than others when it comes to more complex things like batch printing, and changing settings for different types of prints. PrusaSlicer will work awesome for pretty much everything but most printed airplane files. The profiles they have are really dialed in, and consistency between Prusa printers is really good. That means you can get good prints with minimal tuning.

From your test prints, it looks like everything is functioning as it should. Any further tuning at this point would be wasted on an airplane, as airplanes tune differently than solid objects. You could probably squeeze out a little bit better solid object prints, but that takes time and experience.

I notice that while printing if I rotate the control knob it increases or decreases the print speed. I recall reading a bit about it in the assembly manual and that it wasn't recomended to exceed 200%, but I can't find the little bit I read. What are the tradeoffs when using that function.

The knob speeds up all the settings at once. It's just a convenience thing, mostly for slowing something down if you think it needs it, and don't want to restart the print, or mess with the slicer. You can also just crank up the speed a bit if you're in a hurry for some reason.

So far I have managed to remember to change to z offsets when changing sheets and so I haven't drove the nozzle into the print bed yet. I can see how that would be easy to forget to do. Do you just stick with 0.4 brass nozzles. Do you buy them somewhere other than Prusa.

The hot end on your printer is an e3d v6. So you can use any e3d v6 nozzle from whatever web store you want. I recommend genuine ones. Had poor luck with the clones. Hardened nozzles are needed for printing carbon fiber filled filaments, or other things that are rough on nozzles like glow in the dark stuff. Straight brass should do well enough for most things. The nickle plated copper ones are a bit easier to keep clean. There are also options for super high temp filaments, but for the majority of people, that's not really all that useful.

Anyway, I guess to next step is to find a plane, order more filament and give it a shot.

Any suggestions on a first plane to print, or any benchmarking or accuracy checks I should do?

Find a free plane. There are a bunch on thingiverse. I'd recommend the Northern Pike (If I'm allowed to recommend my own), as it already has G-codes calibrated for a prusa so you can start printing without any fiddling and see how it goes. Another free option, since you purchased a prusa, you can get the g-codes for the 3D LabPrint spitfire off the Prusa site. I have not flown that plane, but it is free.

Maybe try and find something that fits electronics you already have on hand. What motors do you have available?

 

[RustySocket]

Different slicers handle different types of files in different ways. Some are far more powerful than others when it comes to more complex things like batch printing, and changing settings for different types of prints. PrusaSlicer will work awesome for pretty much everything but most printed airplane files. The profiles they have are really dialed in, and consistency between Prusa printers is really good. That means you can get good prints with minimal tuning.

From your test prints, it looks like everything is functioning as it should. Any further tuning at this point would be wasted on an airplane, as airplanes tune differently than solid objects. You could probably squeeze out a little bit better solid object prints, but that takes time and experience.



The knob speeds up all the settings at once. It's just a convenience thing, mostly for slowing something down if you think it needs it, and don't want to restart the print, or mess with the slicer. You can also just crank up the speed a bit if you're in a hurry for some reason.




The hot end on your printer is an e3d v6. So you can use any e3d v6 nozzle from whatever web store you want. I recommend genuine ones. Had poor luck with the clones. Hardened nozzles are needed for printing carbon fiber filled filaments, or other things that are rough on nozzles like glow in the dark stuff. Straight brass should do well enough for most things. The nickle plated copper ones are a bit easier to keep clean. There are also options for super high temp filaments, but for the majority of people, that's not really all that useful.




Find a free plane. There are a bunch on thingiverse. I'd recommend the Northern Pike (If I'm allowed to recommend my own), as it already has G-codes calibrated for a prusa so you can start printing without any fiddling and see how it goes. Another free option, since you purchased a prusa, you can get the g-codes for the 3D LabPrint spitfire off the Prusa site. I have not flown that plane, but it is free.

Maybe try and find something that fits electronics you already have on hand. What motors do you have available?

I ordered some blue and red transparent PETG and plan on printing your Northern Pike in some colors. Since all I had on hand was some gray PLA I decided to go ahead and start printing the Spitfire. I wasn't aware but the gcode files were in the demo filesets for the MK2, all I had to do was check that box to get them when I installed prusaslicer. It is funny but as I look back on it some of my questions are so simple they are silly. But I have been learning a lot each day.

The gcode supplied by 3D labs for the spitfire (they do not give the stl files) were kind of confusing at first. The first time I tried to run one. It was as though the printer didn't want to do anything. I since learned a lot about gcode and how different slicers can make the printer behave differently. One of the things that happened was that the gcode for the spitfire doesn't initialize with the first print strip being outside of the normal print area, that kind of gets things going. Because of that I had an adhesion problem that I didn't catch and I had walked away only to come back to a mess. I got the hot-end cleaned up. But it is no longer nice shiny metal, but rather it looks like the end of a Flite Test hot glue gun that has seen better days.

I then learned why the code was different, why it turned off the fan, why it printed PLA at a higher temperature and how to add some gcode to get it to preheat both the hotend and the bedplate at the same time and to also print that little test strip to get things started. Some of the information was on reddit, some in the documentation from 3D labs but I am learning to pay attention and that this is really an art and not just clinical science.

I can see that I will probably want a spare hotend ready to go. I'm also not really ready to spend 150$ on a slicer program but it seems the paid slicer is what is being used for thin walls like airframes and that really is the direction I want to go. I'm also drudging my way through Fusion 360 and slowly but surely getting a Mooney 21 built, that maybe someday will turn into a reality.

It is ironic that i came to this site initially to build a foam board plane and got totally sidetracked into a completely different aspect of the hobby.

I think after I get the parts for the spitfire all printed out, I will need to disassemble the extruder and see if I can't clean up the hot-end. I guess from a functional standpoint it doesn't matter, and I suppose blobs are just part of this. But I like to keep things nice. I will just use good parts

 

[RustySocket]

I made some progress on printing the spitfire today, but I'm getting some holes in the sides of the fuselage and I'm wondering if someone can help me understand what is going on and how to possibly fix it.

I am using gcode to print this that was supplied by 3dlabs and is part of the demo files included with the Prusa I3. I don't have access to the stl files and I am not slicing these myself. I believe they use simplify3d to generate the gcode.

All of the holes are appearing in places where an internal structure is touching the outside skin of the fuselage. They are not just random holes.

I'm using this project as a learning experience and I will likely just patch the holes and use the parts but I do want to increase my skills and learn how to avoid these issues.

 

[localfiend]

Looked at the G-Code. Nothing you can do to stop those holes. Looks like an error in the CAD file (inner structure too close to the outer wall), or someone didn't set the correct print width when generating the g-codes. Or a combination of both. That spitfire was a really early 3D printed plane, and 3Dlabprint still had a lot of issues perfecting things at the time. A lot has been learned by everybody since.

Also, don't go overboard on cleaning. If you've gotten most of the filament off, and it's not dripping down and melting on your prints, leave it be. It will only happen again, and the more you fiddle with it, the more likely you are to damage or wear things out. It's a hot end, they get hot, get stuff on them, and change color.

 

[RustySocket]

Looked at the G-Code. Nothing you can do to stop those holes. Looks like an error in the CAD file (inner structure too close to the outer wall), or someone didn't set the correct print width when generating the g-codes. Or a combination of both. That spitfire was a really early 3D printed plane, and 3Dlabprint still had a lot of issues perfecting things at the time. A lot has been learned by everybody since.

Also, don't go overboard on cleaning. If you've gotten most of the filament off, and it's not dripping down and melting on your prints, leave it be. It will only happen again, and the more you fiddle with it, the more likely you are to damage or wear things out. It's a hot end, they get hot, get stuff on them, and change color.

I will do my best to keep my hands off the hotend. I understand what your saying,.... not broke, don't break it.

Is there software that converts gcode to a model so you can see the holes?

 

[localfiend]

I will do my best to keep my hands off the hotend. I understand what your saying,.... not broke, don't break it.

Is there software that converts gcode to a model so you can see the holes?

I use Simplify3d, it'l open g-code from pretty much any slicer and display it. There are probably free software programs out there that can do the same thing. Don't think prusa slicer does, cura might.

 

[RustySocket]

I use Simplify3d, it'l open g-code from pretty much any slicer and display it. There are probably free software programs out there that can do the same thing. Don't think prusa slicer does, cura might.

I was able to download Cura and view the gcode files. I see the problem areas now. I had some other issues with the right wing panels not wanting to adhere to the print bed so the root rib is warped a bit on two of the panels. I switched from the textured plate when printing the L wing panels and it adhered better and went fine. I have decided because of the issues that I'm not going to spend the money on electronics to fly the Spitfire, but rather I will assemble it and give it to an old client of mine as a static display model. He likes to assemble plastic kits and does lots of warbird dioramas.

My new blue transparent filament showed up but it was red.... looks like the Northern Pike will be Red with Black appendages. I have read through the build thread again completely. I do have Cura installed now. I'm not opposed to purchasing S3D if that is what I need to be successful, but like everybody I just have to budget for things. I'm in this pretty deep now and have no regrets other than I didn't start earlier in life.

I recalled reading in the Northern Pike build thread that there were some tedious work needing to be done in the CAD side of this. While the actual post I believe was regarding the scaling to the 27" version and is quite old at this point, I am willing to learn and will offer to do some of the menial tasks if your willing to teach me what to do. I'm retired and trying to keep my brain busy. If you have something I could do for you to help I am more than willing as I am actively trying to learn more about Fusion360.

I'm planning on starting on the Northern Pike soon. Is there a process you go through when you get a new type of filament to set up your printer for it. I've gotten the urge to just print something out of my system and now I really want to learn as much as I can to produce the best prints possible and be repeatable.

 

[Ryan O.]

So I have decided to get my feet wet in the 3D printing world and have an Anycubic i3 Mega on the way.

My primary intent is really just to learn with the added benefit of being able to make small parts for my models.

Any suggestions on filament choices and where to start?

I would use Prusament PLA. Correct me if I'm right, but I think your printer has a teflon lined hottend, so no matter what do not print above 235 because then teflon can release toxic fumes. PETG and ABS print above that temp, so if you need to use those materials after a while you can upgrade to an all metal hottend. I would double check if it is Teflon lined. I have a mk3s from Prusa and I got through PETG like its nothing. I would recomend that as a good high temp printer. You can even make an enclosure.

 

[RustySocket]

I would use Prusament PLA. Correct me if I'm right, but I think your printer has a teflon lined hottend, so no matter what do not print above 235 because then teflon can release toxic fumes. PETG and ABS print above that temp, so if you need to use those materials after a while you can upgrade to an all metal hottend. I would double check if it is Teflon lined. I have a mk3s from Prusa and I got through PETG like its nothing. I would recomend that as a good high temp printer. You can even make an enclosure.

Quite a bit has changed since I made that first post. I ended up getting a MK3s and built a lack enclosure for it as well. I was not aware of the temperature restrictions. The printer is in it's own room and if I do end up printing ABS it is located in a room with a spare dryer vent connection directly to the outside, so it would be easy enough to control fumes. I don't see the need for it at this point though. Next steps are to print up a frame brace and move the powersupply out of the enclosure.

 

[Ryan O.]

Quite a bit has changed since I made that first post. I ended up getting a MK3s and built a lack enclosure for it as well. I was not aware of the temperature restrictions. The printer is in it's own room and if I do end up printing ABS it is located in a room with a spare dryer vent connection directly to the outside, so it would be easy enough to control fumes. I don't see the need for it at this point though. Next steps are to print up a frame brace and move the powersupply out of the enclosure.

View attachment 160595

Nice. I used to have a Ender 3 with a teflon lining and didn't know that which led to me making an entire room smell and gave me a bad headache😅 Luckily the MK3 is good with that.

 

[RustySocket]

The last batch of prints I've been having some trouble getting the print started. I suspect that switching back and forth between PLA and PETG and just the use on the machine has left me with some debris in the extruder. I decided before doing much more I was going to try to clean it using a cold pull technique. I didn't have nylon filament and the manual suggested that PLA would likely work. I watched some youtube videos and I did the process three times.

I finished printing all of the parts for the Spitfire and began gluing it together today. Here are a couple of photos:

 

[TheWW1FlyingAce]

I would use Prusament PLA. Correct me if I'm right, but I think your printer has a teflon lined hottend, so no matter what do not print above 235 because then teflon can release toxic fumes. PETG and ABS print above that temp, so if you need to use those materials after a while you can upgrade to an all metal hottend.

This actually depends on the specific PETG. PETG is a whole family of materials some of which print at temperatures much closer to PLA temperatures. I use 3D Solutech PETG which prints just fine at 225C which is well within the capabilities of any teflon-lined hot end.

 

[Ryan O.]

This actually depends on the specific PETG. PETG is a whole family of materials some of which print at temperatures much closer to PLA temperatures. I use 3D Solutech PETG which prints just fine at 225C which is well within the capabilities of any teflon-lined hot end.

I print Prusament the standard temp for a few layers because if the print bed, but after .6mm I increase it to 270 to maximize layer adhesion.