3D printing tips and trick.

[Insanity]

I want to compile any tips and trick everyone has to to share and help others with their 3D printing endeavors. I have wasted many a spool of filament learning on my own I am a trial by fire kind of guy and in doing so I have been able to learn a lot and then be able to help others more readily.

My first tip is more of a bandaid one and that is on a glass print bed if your print is not fully sticking use a Elermrs brand purple glue stick a even coat really can help a lot with it pulling up on one side.

My second tip is buy some feeler blades to assist you in leveling your print bed. I use a .002"/.051mm feeler blade I have found that the thinnest one is too thin to get a good feel. Also IMO if its thinner than your layer height I have found it to be good enough for most prints I do.

3rd I have found that a good retraction and Z hop reduces a lot of stringing. I retract 6mm and Z hop 2mm it isnt perfect but my string has all be went away.

I have found with my two preferred brands of filaments and across ABS, PLA and PETG that the hotter the better. I get better layer adhesion and resolution. That is at .2mm to .8mm layers.

ABS loves heat and dose best in a contained environment so a enclosure with no vents works great. ABS also stinks and some think it to be bad for your health to breathe the fumes. I don't know about that but I do know it dose stink. ABS is just like a lego brick its strong and durable.

PLA is the easiest to learn on it is very forgiving and generally cheaper than other filaments. It is not durable and doesn't like direct sunlight and isnt as durable as ABS.

PETG is as I can describe it a hybrid of ABS and PLA and that it is durable doesn't care about direct sunlight dose not stink and is some what forgiving on your settings. The most trouble with PETG I have had was stringing and retraction and Z hop greatly reduced that.

Cleanliness is next to 3D printing-ness you have to keep your nozzle and print bed clean. I have lost quite a few prints because I got lazy and didn't wipe off my print bed.

[travelbike]

I used to have problem with adhesion on the bed.  What works for me now is to use the painters blue tape. I use 2" blue tape and cover the printing area of the bed. I then scuff it up with sandpaper.

[T3PRanch]

I used glue sticks, blue painters tape and now my print bed (glass) is covered with polyimide tape otherwise known as Kapton. I then use regular unscented hair spray for excellent adhesion. I never have adhesion problems now but I mainly print with various petg formulations. A favorite is CF in PETG!

[oldpro]

 I like to change my nozzle often and I also wash my plastic off before i use it. Another thing I do Is I put a foam pad under my printer to absorbe the vibrations.When plastic gets brittle I soak it in near boiling water to sofen it up then let it cool to room temp this has saved me many spools. 

[a1rgunz]

Any time you switch brands or types of filament, take the time to do calibration prints before you try printing anything useful. These really help you dial in the settings to get the best finish and strength possible.

[Insanity]

I had done quite a lot of major changes to my Ender3 and I had been struggling to get a good base layer put down. Well after getting over my ego of I have done everything to the T to level my bed I changed my layer settings to default in Cura and then did a hot level while printing. All issues solved for about half of my print bed, I need to do the other half but it was good enough to get a better print for a customer. Some times our knowledge surpasses our common sense and we over look the obvious as we are just too smart to even consider that is a possibility.

I have a print to hot level the bed while printing and one for a cold level with a feeler blade. I got so stuck on just using the feeler blade that the print leveling was ignored. That had cost me over half a spool of filament with failed prints.

[NAIAD001]

Relatively new to 3D printing. 2 months under my belt. Loving it so far. Some things I've learned on this voyage:

1. As you have said, keep the bed clean. I use 50% Isopropyl Alcohol at least once every 2 days of printing.
2. After having little success with the Ender 5 Pro's default magnetic plate , I upgraded to the Creality ultrabase glass bed, which is awesome for $20 and helps with leveling as the metal base is prone to warping.
3. Using PLA mostly, I always have the bed at 60 Degrees, this helps a lot.
4. Ensure you are getting 100% extrusion. Do a test by marking the filament at the entry point of the extruder out to 100mm, 110mm and 120mm. Heat up your nozzle. Then extrude 100mm in your feed setting. This will  highlight if you are over/under extruding. In any case, adjust your ESTEP settings. Best video for this is here: Cant post the link, but the title on youtube is: Fix Under Extrusion With Extruder Calibration (Estep)
5. Purchase a dual drive extruder head. This will prevent any filament slips which also cause under extrusion.

With all of this said, I have never had to use anything to help with bed adhesion.


Andy

[luge007]

No idea how I missed this thread almost a year ago, but the site is getting SO BIG.


I agree with Andy on pretty much everything he said.  As a noob to 3D printing with only 40 or so successful prints, I have learned a lot (with quite a bit of help from Geo via PM)
I tried EVERY trick to get glass bed adhesion and nothing worked well for that first layer bond.  I THOUGHT I had it down, then about a half hour into the print, it would pop, lift, or curl up an edge.  Out of desperation and wanting to get a crank bait print done, I flipped the bed over to the plain glass side, cleaned it obsessively well with isopropyl alcohol and let her rip.  Combined with changing the bed temp to 61 degrees in the LCD screen helped too.  I found printing the PLA at 204 also helped with layer adhesion a lot, especially running at 100% speed. 


I too struggled with bed leveling for a bit, tried feeler gauges, different papers etc. and it sort of worked but the first layer was still not perfect.  Setting "level" with the bed at operating temperature turned out to be the key to a great first layer. 


Maybe not the right place to bring this up, BUT. are the temperatures listed on the filament spool and recommended online the 'set' temperature on the machine, or the ACTUAL temperature verified by an infrared thermometer?

[Insanity]

If I ever have a part that dose not stick well I do a brim to help keep it down.

[One-Shot]

Regarding the issue of bed leveling, and having the first layer print correctly, and sometimes it’s easier said than done with some printers, a simple solution is to change the orientation of the part by lifting one side by 3 degrees. A square part will essentially print the contact edge only, and not the whole face/surface. Back in 1995 when I owned my first 3D printer, this is how I built every part. Support material was my friend :-)
This also prevents the parts from warping by a considerable amount, because there isn’t as much stress being introduced into the material by trying to bind it to the table, and other variables in regards to temperatures and cooling
effects etc

[bduares]

I use a machinist dial gauge for leveling with a printed rail mount. Now I only level one corner with a sheet of paper and use the dial to do the rest.

[Baco]

i do use a script on klipper first clears bedmesh then z_tilt_adjust to level gantry then auto bed mesh

manual leveling is very tricky, silicone bushings help a lot

[Mr.P]

I have found pla + or pla pro to be a great material.   Much more durable than plain pla (close to ABS I think?) and does not stink.

I recently installed an auto bed leveler on the sV01 which has made a difference and was only $50 and quick to install.

After struggling with adhesion on an old glass print bed, I also added a sovol magnetic print bed last month with metal flexible print surface and so far have had perfect adhesion.

[Baco]

upgraded printer 2 board to use spreadcycle instantly got better prints, it is still moderately silent at 64 microsteps

[thumbs]

Just got a new Ender 3  2v today.  got it together but am stopped.   I am using a Mac.  Just not sure how to proceed.  Honestly I know not thing about this stuff but have been reading everything I can. I can find the files to download but have no idea what to ddoafter that.  My 3D printer has files but I need a slicer I am told I need Crui Where do I go to get the download?

thank

[Insanity]

...

[rsterne]

Here is a little trick I came up with for causing a bridge above a shouldered hole, where the diameter steps down and the OD of the new wall is smaller than the ID of the larger hole, so there would be no support for the wall of the smaller hole above the larger one.... I can't print it the other way up, so I made the "hole" for the shouldered (lower) part and the "hole" for the smaller (upper) part separate (instead of joining them into one object), and separated them vertically by 0.1mm.... I then joined them into one "object" that you can move to where you need it.... This means you can't "see through" the hole, and Cura prints a single layer bridge between the upper and lower holes, which you can easily drill through.... Here are the screenshots of the layers, in the order printed (bottom to top).... Layer "X" is the shouldered (lower) portion, in this case a hex recess for a nut, Layer "X+1" shows the bridge, and Layer "X+2" shows the first layer above the bridge....

Layer X



Layer X+1



Layer X+2



It worked a treat!....

Bob

[FastEddie]

Of course, Klipper. But other than Klipper, the next best thing to have is a nozzle cam. Here I have the 3DO Nozzle Cam installed in a Stealthburner hot end, but I have used inexpensive endoscope/snake cams on my previous printers (CR-10S, Anet A8). I am so lost without one...they are indispensable for troubleshooting print problems and dialing in a new filament, especially making changes to the z-offset on the fly. I am using ASA filament and it doesn't still well to my magnetic PEI sheet unless it is "squished" down correctly.

I have a screen grab on Imgur but can't figure out how to post it. Trust me on this, you need a nozzle cam.