Random 3D printing chatter

Got the itch to upgrade again... had a Prusa 3s for a good while, then last year got a Qidi Q1 pro which has been really good but wanted to play around with multi material printing so order a Bambu H2D which i think will be arriving tomorrow or Weds. Just need to sell the Qidi now in case it finds a reason to stay as I don't really have the space ;)
 
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
 
Rikk said:
Got the itch to upgrade again... had a Prusa 3s for a good while, then last year got a Qidi Q1 pro which has been really good but wanted to play around with multi material printing so order a Bambu H2D which i think will be arriving tomorrow or Weds. Just need to sell the Qidi now in case it finds a reason to stay as I don't really have the space ;)
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always good to have a backup
 
JUMPURS said:
Do people sub to any decent Patreon's etc. for good stl files?
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I need to start paying for mine. I accidentally stumbled onto dodgy free ones and at the time didn't realise they were stolen. If I ever have the patience I really want to do one of Gambodys Star Trek ships.
 
I could be tempted with some decent multiplate models, Trek, Expanse, B5 etc and wouldn't mind paying for them..
Havent looked though and wouldn't know where to start..
 
Trig said:
I could be tempted with some decent multiplate models, Trek, Expanse, B5 etc and wouldn't mind paying for them..
Havent looked though and wouldn't know where to start..
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I was just planning on doing what I thought was a simple Shuttle craft and watching their assembly videos this looks like hundreds of hours of printing, don't even want to think how long it'd take to print a bigger ship.
 
I get the 'geek' and accuracy brigade wanting to print all of the internal bits, but I just want the external bits, saves time and material :lol:
 
Trig said:
I get the 'geek' and accuracy brigade wanting to print all of the internal bits, but I just want the external bits, saves time and material :lol:
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Agreed I just wanted a nice big shuttle craft that I could fit on my print bed but if I were paying Gambody for it might as well do it as intended. I don't think I'll ever have the patience. I'm still printing the T800 bust , can't quite believe how many weekends that's eaten up.
 
I've done a few busts, nothing above 24h though at this point as it was single colour, and would have been less if I had ticked 'build plate only' on the supports section, took as long as it did to print to clean all of the supports out..
 
my OH is regularly hosting D&D now, so I'm dipping my toes back into resin printing for models / details terrain scatter (plus I can print some mods for pads and things my FDM printer does do quite so nice).

Ordered a Saturn 4 Ultra 16K + wash station to go in my vented cubby
 
I have been thinking about getting a 3d printer for a while now so I finally pre-ordered a Elegoo Centauri Carbon today. I chose this as it get's brilliant reviews plus it's fully enclosed so it will keep our cats out when printing. Dispatch isn't until the end of the month so I have plenty of time to go looking for things to make after I have done the bits I already have lined up. I can't wait!!

Do I need a dryer for PLA? There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on the subject.
 
I’ve had a 3D printer for five years and I’ve never dried my filament. It was kept in my study which was fairly warm all the time so that likely helps. If you’re storing your printer and/ or filament in a shed or garage then a dryer will likely be a necessity
 
Found and printed this, not quite Gambody quality but its nice little ship to start a collection, might be a bit big if I want to keep the scales sensible.
u0Es032.jpeg


pastymuncher said:
I have been thinking about getting a 3d printer for a while now so I finally pre-ordered a Elegoo Centauri Carbon today. I chose this as it get's brilliant reviews plus it's fully enclosed so it will keep our cats out when printing. Dispatch isn't until the end of the month so I have plenty of time to go looking for things to make after I have done the bits I already have lined up. I can't wait!!

Do I need a dryer for PLA? There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on the subject.
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I don't have anywhere near the experience to comment but from what I've learned the last few weeks of printing, the tiniest change can cause a print to fail and when it does I'll at least want be able to dry the filament and rule out that problem.
 
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
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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.
 
Cenedd said:
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.
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I've noticed that PLA+ kind or matte PLA are worse than standard PLA for getting damp.
ASA is a pain as well as it needs higher temps to clear up.
TPU is even worse because it needs a low temp and picks up moisture pretty much the second it touches air.
 
I think Orca is in the bin and I'm going to be going back to Cura. While I much prefer using Orca, and it's been giving me great prints overall any time I need to use supports it's a world of pain. Admittedly it probably just needs some tuning but this is one area that Cura just seems to get right.

Today was the final straw, the print in itself is fairly simple. Essentially two rectangles stacked, one 5mm smaller than the other with radiuses on the corners. The supports for the smaller rectangle give a diabolical surface finish and the radii are terrible. Same thing object sliced with Cura with out of the box settings for everything besides Speeds, temps and number of walls prints as good as perfect
 
What supports are you using? Since I started using organic support on Orca, I’ve not had any issues with quality over a wide variety of prints.
 
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