Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ross77
Yes lots of failures but I guess its a learning curve. I had bed leveling issues and poor prints with layer shift, since found out that the 2 or the 3 screws holding the main x-y carriage where missing and the 3rd was loose.
Too bad... never the less, at that price I'd expect that something needs to be fixed. Glad you managed to fix those small and simple things. Levelling issues are not difficult to fix but depending on the results you expect and the instruments you have to help you, can take time. Anyway, regardless if it is a CNC or a 3D printer, I think that spending time on levelling is beneficial in the long terms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ross77
tightening them has solved the layer shift but Im still getting 1mm variation on the bed calibration. guys on the forum think it is the micro switch but it seems to work fine when I tested it with a meter.
Not good. On the other hand, 1mm variation should be easy to reduce considerably. If you have an instrument to measure than you could see if the problem is mechanical or electrical. The mechanical variation takes some time to remove or reduce, but normally should not be too difficult.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ross77
I think it will be a good machine but needs a few tweeks and lots of wear, the previous owners must have used it a lot.
biggest issues that i missed when researching are the bowden extruder and being stuck with the wanhao maker slicer program. (firm ware upgrades to 3d partry but not brave enough to try)
What do you mean is the issue with the bowden extruder? The printer I am planning to build is planned to have bowden type of extruder, so I'd be interested if there is an issue I did not think about.
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
A_Camera
How long did it take to print it? Which temperatures did you have on the table and the extruder?
I think the print was about an hour and 40 minutes, 0.4 nozzle, 0.2 layer, 60C bed 170C hot end.
It's in Taulman Bridge which is lovely to work with compared to standard Nylon 6 filaments.
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
magicniner
I think the print was about an hour and 40 minutes, 0.4 nozzle, 0.2 layer, 60C bed 170C hot end.
It's in Taulman Bridge which is lovely to work with compared to standard Nylon 6 filaments.
I found PLA a lot easier to print with than ABS I only recently changed my hot end to an E3d clone so can now print Nylon, etc. The only issue with PLA is it's absorbs water so make sure you store in with silica gel and if it has absorbed moisture an hour in the oven at 80c will sort it out.
I bought 10kg's of ABS when I first bought my printer so I make it work lol but my life would have ben much easier if I had bought 10kg of PLA instead ;)
I find ABS is strong than PLA but there's not a lot in it.
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Desertboy
The only issue with PLA is it's absorbs water so make sure you store in with silica gel and if it has absorbed moisture an hour in the oven at 80c will sort it out.
Nylon can absorb up to 20% of it's weight in water and can need 1 to 4 hours at 80C to dry a full reel to the core, PLA at 80C for 1 to 4 hours will yield a nice bit of modern art but no useful filament ;-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Desertboy
I find ABS is strong than PLA but there's not a lot in it.
Print a mount for your phone in PLA and leave it on the dash in a hot car on a sunny day, then tell me that :D
I'm interested in making functional plastic components and while PLA is OK for a few bits it's properties limit it's usefulness in any applications which require greater permanence.
- Nick
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
magicniner
Nylon can absorb up to 20% of it's weight in water and can need 1 to 4 hours at 80C to dry a full reel to the core, PLA at 80C for 1 to 4 hours will yield a nice bit of modern art but no useful filament ;-)
Print a mount for your phone in PLA and leave it on the dash in a hot car on a sunny day, then tell me that :D
I'm interested in making functional plastic components and while PLA is OK for a few bits it's properties limit it's usefulness in any applications which require greater permanence.
- Nick
I forgot the heat thing, I print everything in ABS apart from the first prints I did so never noticed it lol.
If you want to make injection mold strength parts maybe consider Nylon or Polyurethane casting especially if you want produce a lot of one part, you can use a router or 3d printer to make you master molds.
I definitely want to have a go at casting with polyurethane and also aluminium casting but need to make a furnace first. Vacuum former is the next project but cnc style lol.
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Bowden can be trickier to get the retraction settings dialled in properly, and rules out using flexible filaments as well.
You guys should certainly look at PETG filaments, as easy to print as PLA but as strong as ABS, doesn't absorb moisture either; some types can be stringy but good retraction settings handle that. I have been using "Real Filaments" (Check amazon) and they have been working very well for me, £15 - £20 a spool depending on colour.
Thanks
Alex
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AlexDoran
You guys should certainly look at PETG filaments
Thanks for the suggestion, I have some samples of PETG to try once I've got the Nylon parts in production.
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Too bad... never the less, at that price I'd expect that something needs to be fixed
Its always a risk buying secondhand but yes it was cheap enough. Having said that I've only replaced a few screws, oiled it and changed a few setting and the print quality is much better. (mainly slowed it down and dropped the hot end temp 15 degrees) At least in happy with it now. Still using the PLA that came with it so hopefully it will get better with better filments.
Quote:
What do you mean is the issue with the bowden extruder? The printer I am planning to build is planned to have bowden type of extruder, so I'd be interested if there is an issue I did not think about.
I was looking at the e3d aero which is more controllable and can be used for all materials, I think the main issue is that for this machine it is propriety so not easy to change. its really slow on the warm up which is bugging me already.
Having done some quick prototyping tonight I can definitely see the potential so may look at up grading all the electrics, The machine is rock solid so I tthink it will be a good base which will save me a lot of time.
Might even get the lathe finished this year... :0)
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Re: looking for a good 3d printer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AlexDoran
You guys should certainly look at PETG filaments, as easy to print as PLA but as strong as ABS, doesn't absorb moisture either; some types can be stringy but good retraction settings handle that. I have been using "Real Filaments" (Check amazon) and they have been working very well for me, £15 - £20 a spool depending on colour.
Thanks
Alex
I agree, I'm experimenting with a roll of PETG (coincidentally from real filaments!)
I have found it pretty easy to print with, although it can sometimes have small stringy artifacts, but these are easy to scrape off.
It is definately tougher than PLA, but i couldn't quantify by how much.
I think it will be my "go to" filament when strength is a factor, otherwise PLA . I haven't tried ABS yet as I've heard it's smelly and I'm enough trouble as it is!!
Pic of 16mm tube motor mount for my upcoming X8 copter printed in PETG
Cheers
Attachment 22571
Re: looking for a good 3d printer
ASA is another good option, it's basically got all the properties of ABS but significantly less warp, less odour when printing and better UV resistance. I've tried formfutura's ApolloX with pretty nice results once I added a fan at 30-40%
I've also been having very nice results with formfutura TitanX again with the fan. Basically a modified ABS that seems to have very minimal shrinkage and warping.
Carbonfil is still by some significant margin the most impressive filament I've used in terms of making accurate structural parts with very high strength and dimensional accuracy. Its still expensive and a pain though, so still looking for my ultimate filaments... Edge (PETG type material), Apollo X (ASA) and Titan X (modified ABS) are about as close to ideal as I have yet found.