Random 3D printing chatter

What Andy said largely. PLA and PETG I doubt you'll detect any smell. ABS is a pain to print, really needs a enclosure (preferably heated) and wraps the moment you look away. Not honestly sure it offers a lot that can't be done easier with other materials. Correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect it's just that it used to be the pinnacle achievement of "If I could print ABS well, everything would be golden"...but now it's been made rather irrelevant by other materials.
ASA is supposed to be easier, better, less smelly ABS but it's still difficult and warpy.

@andy_mk3 I've used that stuff and got it done...but can't say I liked it. Dribbly no matter what I did. The Bambu Labs was a little better but I still needed to slow down the internal fill (first solid layer over the infill - forget the exact term) so it would stick. Brim to lose some of the initial dribble. Had much better results with the Tin Morry PETG-GF. (Glass fibre). Although I did find the outer layer was wet after I'd left it stored in an external box while my AMS was playing up. It's cheaper too.
 
@Bluecube I'll be honest, while I've done multicolour prints (inlays, labels for control panels etc) the majority of my stuff is single-colour....but not always the same colour, or even material. My printer sits in the next room, the other side of a stud wall for noise supression. The AMS means I can just hit print without having to wander over and hand-load a filament - there's four of them sitting there waiting to go. It's worth having an AMS for that alone!

Bambu will probably replace the blocked hotend - they're rather tricky to unblock - but hang on to the old one as you can canibalise it for parts. If you want to buy a hotend, they come as either hotend only or complete assembly. The latter is quite a bit more expensive. The hotend only requires you to transplant the heater element (white square) and the temperature sensor. I had problems on one with the temperature sensor being impossible to remove so I ordered...wait for it.....a three pack of heaters....obviously *facepalm* Not sure how I managed it but I ended up losing the cost of carriage twice to sort it out. Now have spares of both but worth hanging on to what you've got to make up new ones.
 
@b0rn2sk8 Be interested to know if you find any benefit in larger nozzles. The 0.2 is definitely useful for small text or maybe something that needs finer detail. Significantly slower though. I've tried a 0.6 and it makes no significant difference to speed - it squirts more plastic but moves slower. I wonder if the hotend just isn't capable of pmelting enough plastic fast enough to properly take advantage of the extra size. You can check times in the slicer by just telling it that it has different size nozzles.
 
@b0rn2sk8 I'll have a more determined play in a slicer when I get a sec. I left it at default settings for 0.6 but maybe improvements can be had.

@Tesla Stringing could be retraction settings or could be the filament is wet. Given you say an Ender 3, it's a bowden tube setup (at least out the box) so retraction is somewhat harder to get perfect. Y looks good. X has bulged rounded corners which might be the Pressure Advance is wrong...but I'm not sure an Ender 3 has settings for that. Z looks fairly good, it's not under-extruded, could even be a little over-extruded - it's difficult to tell how rough it is in the picture but the left corner looks rougher. You can use ironing but it's a mixed blessing as it tends to mean you get your nozzle caked in plastic that then fouls other parts - especially with PETG. Might be worth printing some extrusion test pieces at different rates and seeing if that can be tuned.
 
There's two things I'd say:
1. If you're planning to do lots of multi-colour prints like Cyclone above, an H2D (or for that matter a multi-head Prusa) would save you a lot of filament wastage. (Sorry Cyclone, I was trying not to say "Well if only you'd..." :) )
2. If you're planning to buy a filament dryer, you can offset the cost of the AMS 2 against that. Just bear in mind that it doesn't get to the higher temps needed by some filaments - that's what the single-roll dryer in the series is for.
 
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That's not bad to be fair. I'd not spotted too that there was a tool head so was assuming each tool had a full extruder in.... which may have up'd the cost just a smidge!
 
Frequently might be pushing it. If you're burning through brass nozzles it might be that you need a hardened steel nozzle. Last a lot longer, don't get immediately trashed by abrasive filaments...but you may have to raise the nozzle temp a few degrees because they don't conduct the heat quite so well as brass.
Personally I seem to manage to irreparably clog them well before I wear them out. Very frustrating!
 
Nope. STL's are the work of the devil. Pain in the backside to edit/modify and can even print blocky if they're too simplified.
Even STEP files, if they're available free on Printables/Thingiverse/MakerWorld/GrabCAD then great, otherwise I'll design my own....and even then I'll probably redesign my own anyway. Maybe I'm just tight though! :D
 
PLA isn't as bad as some other filaments for absorbing water. I believe for nylon (which, to be fair, I've never printed) a dryer is a must. PETG can benefit from one. I think one of my earlier rolls of PETG that kept snapping may have been that it just needed drying. The PETG-GF I've got currently seems to be able to absorb quite quickly and it's very noticeable when you print with it until the outer layers of the roll are used and then it's fine again.
So PLA maybe not and probably when you need it rather than preemptively. If you start printing other types of filament (or more expensive filament) you might want to get a decent dryer. When I say decent, in my head at least it needs a fan as well as a heater - and there are improvements to be had on top of that too.
 
Stovepipes said:
Found and printed this, not quite Gambody quality
Click to expand...

You say that....but it's not bad. Bear in mind that you're probably comparing a raw print with one that someone has spent hours finishing.
The faceting of the curved face that the louvred vent is on is a consequence of STL files (or an older 8-bit control board). You may find that if a STEP file is available, the slicer can fit smoother curves to it.
The slope of the cabin roof up to the body is pretty clean considering how shallow angles like that come out stair-stepped on top faces.
Difficult to tell but there may be some irregularity in the colour of the filament. I have some Sunlu PETG in a very similar grey and it's great to print but the colour isn't very regular. Not a problem for functional parts or if you intend to paint it though.
 
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