Which filament

The_Dark_Side · 9 May 2021 at 23:39

So, today I've taken the plunge and ordered a 3d printer from Creality. I know almost nothing about 3d printing, in fact I'm not even sure what I'm going to use it for, but I thought it time I dipped my toe in the water so yo speak. I dare say I'll be reading this forum intently, punctuating with the occasional stupid question so I'll ask in advance for your patience. For now I'm hoping you could recommend some filament to get me started.
Thanks in advance.

The_Dark_Side · 10 May 2021 at 19:41

I ordered the ender 3 max. The ender 3 series isn't the best but it has a huge community so, knowing less than nothing, I thought it a better option than something like a sidewinder. That and the extra build area can only be a bonus.

The_Dark_Side · 12 May 2021 at 12:57

deuse said:
Get Prusa slicer beta.
It has a profile for your printer. And will set everything up for you.

Just buy the cheapest pla to you get it all setup.
And don't forget that levelling the table is important.

I ordered a bl touch with the max as I didn't trust myself :-)

The_Dark_Side · 11 Jun 2021 at 22:15

Update. I ordered some amazon basics pla and its slowly dawning on me how little I know. Thus far I've only managed two successful prints and I have no idea how to correct my failures. I've levelled the bed using a feeler gauge to 0.1mm. What seems to be happening is one of two things. Either the first layer isn't sticking to the bed or I have mistakenly set something incorrectly causing the nozzle to dislodge the first layer as it makes its passes. I'm trying anything and everything I can read online with little or no luck.
Grr.

The_Dark_Side · 11 Jun 2021 at 23:28

1. The standard carbo glass bed that comes with the ender 3 max.
2. 210 nozzle 60 bed
3. Didnt realise there was a setting to do this.
4. I found, and tried, the settings I found in this article.
https://m.all3dp.com/2/prusaslicer-ender-3-best-profile/
5. I have no idea when, why and what to set z offset.
6. Prusa slicer as recommended earlier in this thread.

The_Dark_Side · 13 Jun 2021 at 12:02

First up, I really appreciate your advice. I'm rapidly losing patience with it (the printer, not your help. Lol). Only two successful prints so far, a whistle and a benchy. I ran the chep gcode to level the bed in 5 points and used a 0.1 feeler gauge.

Sometimes during heat up the filament coils up onto itself rather than extruding straight down.

It almost always strings when moving from the test line on the left of the bed to printing position for the object.

Prints almost always fail during the first layer although I printed a nut last night and that was going well for about 20 minutes before the print detached from the bed and was dragged around by the nozzle.

I'll try to upload pics of a few failed prints.
Thanks again for putting up with the newbie. So much conflicting advice online so it is much better to get tips from real people.

The_Dark_Side · 13 Jun 2021 at 12:29

Please delete

The_Dark_Side · 14 Jun 2021 at 22:45

Update update. Thanks to advice from you guys i managed to successfully print the nut and bolt test pieces. They're not 100% perfect but they're a good starting point. As per your advice I slowed print speed for the first layer to 15mm from 20 and upped the bed temp to 70 degrees. The filament I'm using suggests 40-55 degrees for the bed so I'm unsure why i needed to goto 70 to make it work.
Now for a few questions.

If I level my bed with a 0.1mm feeler gauge does that mean I have to set z offset to -0.1?

Am I correct that the printer itself contains no settings at all and all relevant values are contained in the gcode the slicer generates?

Should I manually heat up the bed and nozzle first or is it OK to just go power on then straight to print from tf card?