Random 3D printing chatter

Haggisman said:
Is it worth investing in a filament dryer (not only for this particular case, just in general)?
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Yes, definitely. If for no other reason than it gives you something to try! PLA supposedly doesn't get much of a problem with moisture absorption but PETG can and more exotic things (nylon, for example) even more so. I've just been having fun with some PETG-CF. Brand new roll, vacuum-packed to within an inch of its life...but utterly unusable before I dried it. The thing with a dryer is that you need it to be able to go hot enough for the filaments you use, have a fan so it actually achieves anything and be large enough to fit however many rolls you want to dry at a time. I started with a Sunlu Filadry S2 (which doesn't have a fan) and then grabbed an S4 (has fan and four roll capacity) when it came up on kickstarted. You can, on most/all of them use them as a sort of drybox to print directly out of too....if that's relevant to you. The food dehydrators that Scougar was mentioning seem to be something people swear by but I think last time I looked here, they were either too small or quite expensive.
Noise is something to consider too. The S2 doesn't have a fan and seemed to do ok if I kept turning the real and blowing out any moist air. The S4 has fan(s) and I tried to run it in the office....until my wife pointedly asked if it was going to be running for long! :rolleyes:
 
PETG is where most of my stuff is. Bit springy so good for things that flex and not so brittle it snaps. Pretty UV resistant. Good enough temp resistance that you can use it in the car apparently (I know you can't use PLA, it just droops). Doesn't have to have a fan so quiet if that's relevant. Generally quite well behaved once you get the right brand and settings for your printer. I've had good results with the Sunlu PETG in black, white and grey but maybe my printer is different to the one someone else said they were having grief with.
You might find that if you have a PEI bed, it could stick too well and peel the PEI off. Depends how good it is and if it's textured. I can recommend the Lightyear 3D garolite (G10) beds for working very nicely without need for glue. Haven't used any of the other plates that came with the printer since I got it.
 
Dup said:
Apologies for just dropping in out of nowhere.
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That's pretty much what this thread was for.
Dup said:
I've had a couple simple & small projects I've wanted to 3D print and I was just going to use a 3rd party printing service however I have just spotted this: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/794580275625523/

Would this be a good deal?
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Ah....depends? I've got an Ender 5 Pro and it's alright but it's definitely a gen old - maybe two. Out the box, it doesn't do auto levelling, hasn't got a great controller or extruder, or bed (bed is likely bowed and plate isn't great for sticking things to). It depends whether you want to pay little to start, get frustrated and then upgrade it until you're happy with it. It's a valid path but wasn't for me. The alternative is you get something like a Bambu A1 Mini (if lower price but smaller print volume 180x180x180mm is an attractive trade). It'll work out the box and you can sped your time printing stuff rather than swearing at it. They're about £230 and there are jumps up in models above that. I believe that Prusa is also good (but pricey) and some of the very new Creality printers are supposed to have been forced to get significantly better than they were at the time of the Ender 5.
Also, I've obviously got no idea on the state of a 2nd hand printer from Facebook. Not saying it's bad, just that there's probably no guarantee.
 
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If you're aiming for entirely hollow, that's your problem. Howabout something like Lightning infill that's designed to be almost not there and just provide minimum support?
The tail, I reckon you're right there with the minimum layer time or not enough cooling - the heat of the nozzle has melted previous layers. Perversely, it could be minimum layer time that's CAUSING the problem as one of the options (if I remember correctly) is rather than print layer, wait, print next layer, it will just slow down the extrude so that it takes at least the minium time to do the layer. That slow movement is what would be causing the re-melting. Worth a check of the timelapse that you're bound to have turned off on the one time it would be useful!
You might be on the right track with the separate item to soak up layer time but the downside would be that you'll get stringing to/from it instead....unless you've really nailed it with those retraction tweaks.
 
Yup, the XL. Seen it, drooled a bit. Worth checking into opinions (I mean, your friend should do!) as I've heard they can be a bit picky. Also heard that PETG can, perversely, need it's temp INCREASED to reduce ooze and stringing. Apparently it makes it a bit more fluid and let's the retract work.
 
Cool. Multi toolhead is definitely the better way for mixed materials. Less chance of jamming when you have different temps to deal with and also no chance of them being mixed when they shouldn't. For example, I tried to print a PETG part using PLA as non-stick support. Printed well but the parts that were supported just fell off as there was enough PLA mixed in later on that it wasn't cohesive. Maybe longer purge would have done it but not mixing them in the first place sounds better!
"investing...": Yup, definitely. At least in IT, it's usually someone else's money on the line! ;)
 
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I've not printed ABS yet for the reason you're about to get. Did it smell bad when you printed it? If so, it was ABS. You could wipe some acetone on some and if it starts dissolving, it's ABS.
 
On the storage aspect, I've been wondering if some 4l (tall, rectangular) food storage containers would fit a spool. Obviously cylindrical would be better but you're into 3D printing specific and therefore horrendously expensive. If anyone else has found something inexpensive that fits and does a decent job, I'd love to hear about it!
 
I've not tried any of the Elegoo printers so I've no idea what they're like. Looks good on paper though. Another option is that Bambu have just taken £100 off the A1 Mini (and others) bringing it down to £169....which is "around" your budget. :D
 
Saw that. Would need the AMS hub too though. I'm struggling for room as it is. Couldn't keep the X1C in my office as it was just too loud. Had to put it the other side of the partition wall in the workshop/shed side...on the floor as I'm out of bench space already. Maybe continue going vertically! Someone suggested I use the ceiling for additional storage....nope, seen it, used it, filled it! :D
 
IanAG said:
managed to dedicate a pretty big shelf for printing
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I had to 3D print my shelves. This is a competition, right?! ;-D

I went with The Smoothy 2:1 but yeah, the 4:1 would definitely be worth adding to an order for a fiver....be rude not to!

I'm contemplating getting an A1 Mini in the sale to put in the office to address those times a large print is ongoing and I want to be prototyping something else. It does tend to be a case of no prints or a desire to print two. If I do go that route I'd have an Ender 5 Pro, Pi4b Octopi and a bunch of upgrades (hotend and controller) I never got round to installing if anyone is keen enough to make me an offer to get me to P&P them :D
 
It is if you want to print multi-coloured prints. Alternatively it can be useful for running a support material. Bear in mind that filaments are supposed to be of at least similar melting points and there is quite a lot of purging at every swap at (usually) every layer. It's great to have a selection of filaments (either different colours or different types) available to print without having to wander over and changes spools (yeah, I'm lazy) and it's great for things like enclosures that need labelling (so long as the text isn't too tiny - otherwise a 0.2mm nozzle helps there but then it's a lot slower) or things like coasters that have a picture on the top. If what you want to print is going to involve swapping a hideous amount of times, you'd be better looking at a multi-head system something like the Prusa XL (although I'm sure there are smaller, cheaper versions).
 
I see, so you're trying to decide between an A1 Mini with AMS Lite NOW or an A1 without AMS Lite but with the possibility of upgrading in the future. I don't think either is going to disappoint you to be honest. I guess it depends if size or colour is most important to what you have in mind - and I'm painfully aware that you're quite likely to be in the situation of "I don't really know what I want to print yet"!
Whilst it's definitely a personal thing, I'd say I've probably used the colour-change more often than I have the extra build volume. I've printed control panels with text (swapped down to the 0.2mm nozzle to get the definition). I've got a smooth bed now so it may look better re-printed.



I have used the size both in height and X/Y as I've also printed some wall art for my BIL's kids....but I probably could have scaled those to fit a 180x180 bed instead.
I'd kind of hoped to come out to an obvious support for one or the other....but I fear I've simply muddied the waters. I don't think either is going to be 'wrong' but you may want to consider as well the footprint of both alone and both with AMS - although I believe you can mount it on the crossbar on the A1 if height isn't an issue.
Maybe others can chime in with their thoughts on which is more useful.
 
Ah, that's an easy one....you're here on OCUK, you're clearly not going to wait until September for a 4080 when you could have a 4080Ti NOW! :D
Once you get your printer, don't get into Home Assistant....for down that way lies Pi's and ESPs and smart light switches and a dozen other things your wife/gf/partner doesn't need to know the total price of :D ....but at least you'll be able to print nice enclosures for them! :D
 
@VeNT The key thing is being able to have the espresso machine turn on before I get up so that it's warmed up and ready to go....unlike me! Yes, you could do this with a mechanical timer switch (and I used to) but where's the fun in that?! Also good for turning off outdoor floodlights automatically after they've been left on accidentally. Endless uses once you scratch the surface.

@Jony27 Nice. I thought about the A1 but went for the Mini because the entire point (for me) was something small to supplement the X1.

Right, now I'd like to claim victory at 3D printing. For I have achieved the unthinkable. I have printed......something my wife likes and approves of! :eek:

She managed to smash the glass jar this solar lamp unit sits in so I whipped up a revolve in fusion and Voroni'd it:





This is the site I used to turn the solid into a Voroni mesh: https://www.voronator.com
Well worth a play.
It's a little rough in places as the pattern makes some hideous overhangs....but also disguised them in its lack of uniformity. There was auto tree support with critical only set and a 5mm outside-only brim to increase the bed surface area. I had to add and subtract some solids from the mesh to bring the mounting hole back to dimension. Took ages to calculate in Fusion because the Voroni part is in STL format. You might find this helpful if you want to play with STLs in Fusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtEWbNIaK9Q

There was a fair amount *cough* of deburring and tidying up to do. Especially where one of the supports failed.
 
Depends what you want to print tbh. Yeah, helpful, I know!
PLA is quite easy to print. Quite strong and stiff but brittle and droops if you put it in a car.
I'd say my go-to is PETG. It still prints nicely (when we're talking about direct drive extruder machines like the Bambu) but it's got more flex so things like snap-fits and hinges work better. It also bends rather than shatters. Drooping point is something like 80°C rather than PLA's 60 (both off the top of my head - check them if accuracy needed) so it survives a car and is a bit more UV resistant.
PLA is nominally compostable....but that's basically a lie.
PLA-CF prints very nicely (Ziro's brand - without drying) and has a rougher surface and maybe a bit more strength - you use it more for the look tbh. You must have a hardened nozzle to print it as it's abrasive...and these have come back in stock this morning.

ABS is smelly, warps, a pain to print and outdone on specs by various other filaments. Still haven't found a reason to print it.

ASA is better than ABS in most ways. Less bad in most ways but still a pain.

Personally I'd go with PETG but that's just me. Bambu's own spools are preconfigured in their slicer and if you're using a full AMS it picks up an RFID tag, recognises the type and colour and keeps track of how much on the spool. On the other hand they're more expensive. I'm not sure if the AMS lite has RFID, I suspect not.
For off-brand PETG, I've had good results with Sunlu straight off the spool (no need to dry).
 
No problem. You'll hear that this one is good and this one is bad and yada yada. The good one is the one that works for you, on your print, in your printer, at the price you want to pay.
Other than that, black and white are obvious staples and good fro contrast if your printing things like enclosures with text. The other one that's worth going for is a dark grey as, like black, it works for anything but doesn't blend into everything when you realise you're looking for a black part under a black desk against a black carpet....yeah, don't ask :D
 
Well, I've got.....a hotend and a cable, so who's winning this one....oh, it's you isn't it! ;)
The computer version will let you slice your own stuff rather than just things directly off Makerworld. You may also want to check out Printables and Thingiverse for models. There's a lot of duplication between them but sometimes one has what you're looking for that another doesn't. There's also [https://thangs.com]Thangs[/url] which I thought was just a search engine between them but seems I'm either wrong or it's evolved. GrabCad is another worth being aware of too. It often has models of the things you want to build an enclosure for, for example.
If you want to model your own stuff, one option is Fusion 360 which is free for personal use (with some limitations).
 
If you're doing gifts, you'll need these: https://www.printables.com/model/178035-cute-mini-octopus they go down really well....possibly too well.
and if you have more time, these: https://www.printables.com/model/413203-articulated-night-spirit-dragon they look really good in the tri-colour PLA you can get.
A lot of the 2D low-poly wall art goes down well too. White tack or other sticky to hang. Quite a variety on Thingiverse but this was a convenient link: https://www.printables.com/model/849511-hummingbird-low-poly-wall-art
 
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