3-D Print General - Feeding Printers Filament

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Well I went over to a brick and mortar store that actually sold 3D printers to see if they had any idea on what the issue was and one of the employees working in said department boiled it down to a few issues.

The first issue he mentioned it could be (and is the most likely culprit) was the nozzle, he thinks part of it could be residue that’s been baked into the nozzle to a point where it’s too damned difficult to clean. He recommended getting a new nozzle off of Amazon since the store doesn’t stock Creality’s quick-change nozzles.

The second issue might be poor bed adhesion, he recommended switching back to glue sticks for PLA but told me to hold onto it since said other filaments react favorably to it.

The third issue he mentioned, and he admitted he was even guilty of, was not proper cleaning the print bed. Use dish soap and warm water to clean it off and then use isopropyl alcohol to deal with any smudges.

Oh, and my new nozzles should be arriving today.
 
Archeops said:
The third issue he mentioned, and he admitted he was even guilty of, was not proper cleaning the print bed. Use dish soap and warm water to clean it off and then use isopropyl alcohol to deal with any smudges.
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Ah, yeah that's pretty important. Any sort of oil can really throw a wrench in it.
 
I just got back home and my nozzles and cleaning kit arrived. I decided to test the "busted" nozzle opening with these little 0.4 mm needles that came with the cleaning kit to see if they'd clear the hole and sure enough it's blocked.

That solves part of the mystery. I installed the new nozzle brought back the PLA without issue. I ran a Benchy test with Elmer's washable school glue (the purple glue stick) as the bed adhesive and it went off without a hitch. Now I'm currently testing a carbon copy of the earlier Shadow Heartless slicer that's been slightly retooled and I'm crossing my fingers it goes well.

EDIT: And it's hopefully fixed now, the print went off without a hitch.
 
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Does anyone notice how the moderation on 3d printing sites is busted? Harmless stuff like tools and non copyright violating 40k models will go down with no recourse, but some glowfag will have "GLOCK FULL AUTO SWITCH" for SALE for like 3 dollars and you get no results from reporting them.

That said, does anybody have some ideas for models to print? In one of those ruts where everything I want to make is some big project and I just want some fun useful shit to print before I devote the time to making an electronics or crossbow project.
 
It's seems I'm cursed to never finish those 10+ hour-long prints I've been so enamored with, my Large Body Heartless print failed twice (the first failure was due to me testing out printing with PLA Silk and failing to change the support angles from 30° to 45° which caused one of the model's thumbs to break apart, the second was due to entangled filament).

On the plus side I love the shimmer effect on PLA Silk spools I bought off of Amazon, I printed one of those "print-in-place" dragons that are pretty common in the hobby and it really gives it a mystical look. My only complaint with the filament I picked up was not being "wowed" by the color transition being more layered than weaved but the pic in the listing was actually pretty close to the end result.
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As it stands I'm redoing the Omniwrench 8000 print, I've gotten over the autism associated with the bolt and I've picked up a nice silver filament to match.
 
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Ebay running a 20% off code with some printers included. Good refub deals if you don't mind them. $121 for an Anycubic M5s is pretty damn nice.
 
Well I completed my second Omniwrench print which somehow managed to break again after construction (this time it was located on a part that isn't easily glued back on). I guess I'll have to muck around with a higher infill percentage and number of wall layers since I was using the preset percentage and number for both prints.

The Large Body Heartless print finally succeeded during the print stage but on closer examination during the cleaning phase revealed that the finer details really didn't do well. I guess that, if I want to do more model printing in the future, is either pick and choose which models I decide to print or invest in a resin printer.
 
Archeops said:
Well I completed my second Omniwrench print which somehow managed to break again after construction (this time it was located on a part that isn't easily glued back on). I guess I'll have to muck around with a higher infill percentage and number of wall layers since I was using the preset percentage and number for both prints.

The Large Body Heartless print finally succeeded during the print stage but on closer examination during the cleaning phase revealed that the finer details really didn't do well. I guess that, if I want to do more model printing in the future, is either pick and choose which models I decide to print or invest in a resin printer.
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How many walls you using?
 
Just Some Other Guy said:
How many walls you using?
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I was running the preset that Orca gave me: 3 wall loops, 5 top shell layers, 3 bottom shell layers (although I've recently been making it it 5 layers in my recent prints, it fixes a noticeable issue I've had in past jobs), and a 15% sparse infill for all of my prints.

After doing some research I really should be bumping that up to a 30%-50% sparse infill for props. I think the number of wall loops should also be upped as well.
 
Archeops said:
I was running the preset that Orca gave me: 3 wall loops, 5 top shell layers, 3 bottom shell layers (although I've recently been making it it 5 layers in my recent prints, it fixes a noticeable issue I've had in past jobs), and a 15% sparse infill for all of my prints.

After doing some research I really should be bumping that up to a 30%-50% sparse infill for props. I think the number of wall loops should also be upped as well.
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50% infill and 5 walls should work. That's the usual for making frame parts for diy printers.
 
Catch The Rainbow said:

Polymaker is having a 40 percent off sale right now for certain colors. They're my favorite filament company due to high quality and low cost.
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Copped me 10kg polylite white for $108 shipped and taxed, barely any more than my last $99.99/10KG of Elegoo black. Never used anything besides Elegoo or Esun, so we'll see how the fancy stuff goes. Also see if by machine can handle 5kg spools....
 
So I think I figured out what the fuck is going on with my prints lately, specifically with certain spots (most notably those on top of support structures) looking stringy.

It's apparently an issue with the layer height, I'll have double-check the layer heights on my last few projects and see if I have to muck around with it.
Blasterisk said:
Max print speed 60mm/s on PLA?!

I can't handle that kind of glacial rate, does it just spontaneously combust at 61mm/s?
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From what I understand 60mm/s is more-or-less the standard for normal PLA but it can go as high as 100mm/s, it really depends on the project you're working with. Anything higher than that needs high-speed PLA due to its formulation allowing it to melt and cool at a faster rate.
 
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Archeops said:
From what I understand 60mm/s is more-or-less the standard for normal PLA but it can go as high as 100mm/s, it really depends on the project you're working with. Anything higher than that needs high-speed PLA due to its formulation allowing it to melt and cool at a faster rate.
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Depends on the printer. My KE can spit out pla at 40+ cubic mm/s. On my .6 mm nozzle and my width settings that can be as high as 300+ mm/s printer speed.

Hotends with larger melt zones and more powerful cooling can go much faster than 100mm.
 
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If there's one thing I don't like about the K1C is that I'm restricted to using one spool of filament at a time, if I want other colors on my models I'd have to paint them on. I guess I'll have to save up for a better printer if I

That said I've been printing some smaller things lately with other filaments. I tested out some glow-in-the-dark PLA from Inland and I was thoroughly impressed with the glow effect it provided. I should probably do some research on the official quick-swap nozzles I've been getting off of Amazon to see if using GITD PLA is safe but I'll keep a close eye on it just to add an extra layer of safety.

I also picked up a textured PEI plate off of Amazon, I found the smooth PEI plates to be a bit funky and after printing a model on the textured plate I don't think I could ever go back to a smooth plate.

Oh, and I "completed" a print project I started a while back. I decided that I'd make a prop Millennium 12 Omniwrench from Ratchet & Clank (the "current" one that's been in use since A Crack in Time) and after printing and testing a few parts I'm pretty happy with it. The only downside is that, since I tried to match the colors of the PLA I each part with to each color found on the in-game model, I can't use the usual sand-and-prime loop method used to smooth out PLA prints. To help get around this, I've been looking for a nice clear sealer I could use to help preserve the prop.

I've also come into a small issue with some parts leaving odd gaps where I'm meant to join the parts. I've been looking into whether or not a 3D pen could help fix that but I'm also hearing that a simple soldering iron and extra PLA does a better job.
 
Archeops said:
a simple soldering iron and extra PLA does a better job.
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If you can manage not to toast your fingers like so many tasty hotdogs, you can really do a lot with PLA welding once you get a little practice. I have even rewelded some BattleTech figures with a bent 9usd Weller "soldering iron", so it's a skill worth learning because you can salvage a lot of 'ruined' prints.
 
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