3D Printers/Printing CATCH ALL

Make sure your bed is super clean and free of any oils from your hands. Occasionally clean with 90% propyl alcohol, or acetone. Wipe with alcohol or windex before each print.

What's the bed made out of?

It's just a standard CR10 bed, so it's a big aluminum plate. It had glass on it, but nothing was sticking to that either. Had more success without the glass. I can't seem to heat the bed up higher than 66 celsius, either, and the heating seems to fail on the outer edges. I guess I can't print over my entire bed.

I'll have to google around for the hairspray trick while this cookie cutter finishes.

I used hairspray all the time until my last couple prints. I'm not sure if it was helping or not.

My Tornado doesn't have good heating near the edges, either. Even before putting the glass bed on. Check that aluminum plate to see if it's warped. I thought the CR-10 printers had the same issue as most of the Tornados where the bed wasn't flat. That's why I put glass on mine. Even with the glass, it's still not flat.

-BEP

Straight off of the (3D Printing) Press:

Half the worm mid-print. You can see where the bottom jaw came up a little. Same with the tongue. I'll have to fill it with green stuff or glue/baking soda or something. I like that the tongue didn't adhere well, it looks great bifurcated.

I didn't do any raft or brim on the worm halves. I used a raft on the base because it was curling up too much. I should re-print the base with no raft and use hairspray to see if it makes a difference. I'll do that, now.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ybta8o6.jpg)

The 2 halves glued together with the base printing in the background:
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/3BJXNhw.jpg)

Green (Purple) Worm assembled on base w/bar dude for scale:
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/gE9cFJm.jpg)

I printed this little guy a couple days ago to test if slowing down my prints would help with the ringing. I mistakingly had the brim setting turned on, but it was just a test, so it's not too bad. He's a cutie.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/Np65gC4.jpg)

-BEP

I always print with a raft so I never have any peeling problems. If you have a glass bed, heat it up and use aqua net hair spray on it. Nothing will peel then. Or use can use glue stick but you will definitely have to clean it cause the glue builds up layers.

The other problem I'm having is I can't print direct from USB. Using Cura 3.6, it heats my bed and nozzle to the desired temps (65 for the bed and 210 for the extruder) then just goes into cooldown and nothing prints. If I save to the SD card and print direct from there it works, but not via USB. Weird.

I'll try printing with a raft on the next sword piece. Thanks!

I did reprint the worm base with no brim or raft and I used hairspray like I used to. It worked perfectly with no curling, warping, etc.

@BigHoppa - that sucks. It may be a blessing in disguise, though... I used to print via USB and then my PC rebooted in the middle of the night with a long print going on that was then wasted. That's when I decided to go with OctoPi since I had a Raspberry Pi lying around.

I added CUPS to the Pi a while back and now it's also the print server for my old laser printer that doesn't have WiFi.

-BEP

bighoppa wrote:

The other problem I'm having is I can't print direct from USB. Using Cura 3.6, it heats my bed and nozzle to the desired temps (65 for the bed and 210 for the extruder) then just goes into cooldown and nothing prints. If I save to the SD card and print direct from there it works, but not via USB. Weird.

I'll try printing with a raft on the next sword piece. Thanks!

Have you tried Octoprint?
You'll need a Raspberry Pi, I think, but I've found it useful.

I highly recommend a Polyetherimide (PEI) sheet for your bed. Sometimes called Ultem (I think that's a brand name). Took away all my adhesion problems, and I no longer have to worry about trying to use glue sticks, hair spray, or painters tape. Just keep it clean.

Though if your bed isn't heating evenly, that's a big problem.

I've given up on the CR-10. I'm pretty sure the bed is warped or the wiring is defective somehow. Rather than continue to fiddle with it, I'm going to return it and upgrade to the Prusa Mk3. Fortunately I got it through Amazon, so it appears a return won't be a problem. I'll ship it back tomorrow and order my Prusa. Unfortunately the Prusas are on back order until the end of the month :(.

Yeah I have not had success with my 10S. I think I need to replace my z screws but not up to the task yet. I got mine from somewhere else so I'm stuck with it for now.

Heya! My big gift from my wife this year was a Prusa i3 MK3 and I'm in love!

How it arrived!
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/mM5qgAf.jpg)

Straight out of the box - my wife thought about getting the kit version, but I told her it was worth it to get the pre-assembled one. Literally sets up in a minute.
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/XP3swgH.jpg)

Printing one of our first test prints off the SD card
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/hfcitrc.jpg)

3rd thing we printed, gcode pre-sliced on the included SD card
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/IwTwAil.jpg)

"Yeah, can't find the tree topper. Guess we could print one?". Found on Thingiverse, and had to "cut" it in slic3r PE into two parts to fit the bed height.
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/qG5xyz6.jpg)
(This was a ~27 hour print, and we're at around halfway here. Then my wife bumped the table hard enough to crash the hotend)

So I used the unrecoverable pieces to test acetone gluing on PLA (it actually works, but is super aggressive)
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/J4S7UXk.jpg)

2nd print attempt, all done
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/0yH0KDL.jpg)

Assembled and in her glory
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/I1k2JML.jpg)

Next up - "hey, let's print this upsized LEGO wreath for the front door!"
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/G5Y1IQV.jpg)
Finally switched off the included Prusament PLA, this is done in Hatchbox green PLA and AmazonBasics red PETG

Ho Ho Ho, now I have an OctoPi. Scavanged an unused webcam (Logitech C920). Kept it here in this GorillaPod for two weeks and haven't been able to get it back in place
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/QEyCmzl.jpg)

Printing the Rocinante from The Expanse
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/4WSXZFY.jpg)
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/BA0qccP.jpg)

And because of the greeblies on the front of the Roci, I decided to see if I could tackle some of the oozing/stringing I was getting with tight columns.
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/9xAclay.jpg)
Left column is different retraction lengths, then stepping down hotend temps, and right column is different retraction speeds. Still not happy with any of it, and glad I'm almost done with this particular roll of filament (RepRapper PLA - orange)

Since unboxing, I've now acquired about a dozen different rolls of filament in PLA, PETG, and ABS. I've picked up a Raspberry Pi 3B+, loaded it with OctoPi, and added half a dozen plugins to make life easier. I've printed 3 different cases, none of which fit my overall desired end state for camera placement.

Some timelapses! The ones that are all over the place are from the stock OctoPrint Timelapse feature, the ones with a stabilized bed were when I started using the OctoLapse plugin, and had it set to move the hotend to "back left" before issuing snapshot commands.

TODO list

  • better lighting, bought an LED strip and plan to write custom Python to trigger lighting changes based on print state (printing, error, pause, etc)
  • switch to Pi camera from USB, mounted to X-axis stepper motor housing so it moves with the Z index
    enclosure
  • dial in that oozing
  • keep printing more stuff

That looks fantastic and way easier to work with than my CR-10 has been. Thanks for sharing, McIrish!

bighoppa wrote:

I've given up on the CR-10. I'm pretty sure the bed is warped or the wiring is defective somehow. Rather than continue to fiddle with it, I'm going to return it and upgrade to the Prusa Mk3. Fortunately I got it through Amazon, so it appears a return won't be a problem. I'll ship it back tomorrow and order my Prusa. Unfortunately the Prusas are on back order until the end of the month :(.

Did the same thing a year ago and it was a great decision

This Prusa has been my first dive into 3D printing, and it's been a dream to work with.

Another day, another Adafruit order placed for components to keep outfitting my rig.

The 200mm flat cable I got for the Pi Camera is laughably short, so hopefully the 457mm or even the 600mm ones work out better.

And while I'm at it, better get stuff to take my LED lighting control stuff off the breadboard and into a more semi-permanent solution.

Sorry to hear about the CR-10 woes, Karma and Hoppa.

Looking good there, McIrish. Thanks for the tip on acetone gluing for PLA. I had assumed acetone didn't affect PLA at all, but after reading what you said, I watched the below video and got some schooling.

I've printed a couple minis recently that came out OK.

I also picked up a cheap airbrush kit today. It's time to print some terrain...

-BEP

McIrish wrote:

Another day, another Adafruit order placed for components to keep outfitting my rig.

The 200mm flat cable I got for the Pi Camera is laughably short, so hopefully the 457mm or even the 600mm ones work out better.

And while I'm at it, better get stuff to take my LED lighting control stuff off the breadboard and into a more semi-permanent solution.

Do you mind taking a pic of your lighting and pi-cam setup you have running? I almost pulled the trigger on a camera last night, but can't decide between one of the logitechs or the Pi cam.

-BEP

Good on the MK3!

I got one recently as well, and it now sits next to my MK2! Love these machines.

I just got a long-enough RaspberryPi Camera flatcable last week, but was out for work travel and didn't get around to swapping over to it until last night.

So I did my first vase print with a camera mounted to the X-axis stepper motor!

This was my 2nd print attempt on this guy. Because it was printing vase style, it's pretty constantly changing Z axis, and I had OctoLapse set to take a snap on Z change. Switched that to the static Z-height setting, and it printed out perfectly.

I need to go through and tweak the camera settings, looks like OctoPi defaults to a super low resolution, and I should (in theory) be able to get 2k resolution for the timelapse snapshots and something lower for the live streaming.

As for lighting, I'm still working on it. Right now, I just have a single overhead CFL in a "warm white" color.

I bought a roll of switchable outdoor LED lights, and am following this guide for controlling them via GPIO from the RaspberryPi, and want to setup a series of Python scripts based on different conditions - off for nothing printing, a good white for printing, some kind of warning red rolling strobe for issues like cancelled print.

Once I get the electronics working, I have some 1x2 pine strapping that I plan to cut up into a square U shape to hang over my setup to attach the LED strips to, and maybe add in some diffusing material depending on how it all works out. Eventually, when I get an enclosure set up, I'll probably run the LEDs up the front sides and top of the enclosure.

So, isn't vase mode supposed to be one continuous motion as it spirals up to the top?

By putting that timelapse capture in where it moves the head out of the shot for each layer, you're essentially breaking that. Still a cool effect, but something to think about.

So, is some kind of enclosure mandatory, or at least a good idea? To keep heat in or for some other reason?

My Prusa MK3 arrives tomorrow! SQUEEE!

bighoppa wrote:

So, is some kind of enclosure mandatory, or at least a good idea? To keep heat in or for some other reason?

My Prusa MK3 arrives tomorrow! SQUEEE!

Enclosures are mainly for printing ABS or other slightly toxic filaments. Fans point at the melted filament as it leaves the extruder so it cools in place so heat escaping past that point is not a concern.

An enclosure can also help dampen noise.

If I do more vase prints, I'll swap the timelapse settings back to a set timer. I liked how well the 0.2mm snaps came out that I'm leaving it like that for regular prints as well. At 0.15mm layer height, I figure that works out to every other layer, instead of every layer.

As for my setup, here's a couple of snaps.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/e7pO571.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/jRy7TTF.jpg)

First one shows the RaspPi Camera arm, second one shows the RaspberryPi case mounted to the back where the Prusa MMU would mount in. I figure if I ever get it, I can worry about a different Pi Case at that point. I liked this Pi case because it's got a cutout for both the Pi Camera, as well as the full GPIO block.

Case on Thingiverse, Camera mount on Thingiverse

Still working on LED setup.

A very good friend of mine got the MMU 2.0 when it first came out. He has about half a dozen 3d printers and sells quite a bit of stuff on the Book of Facing as well as his own online store. He said the MMU is still not ready for prime time. Despite his experience he was only able to get about a 10% successful print rate from it in over 100 prints. YMMV, etc. Just thought I would share it since you were interested in the MMU, McIrish.

With the MMU, it's a passing interest. I've watched some reviews, and I'm not really cool with how much filament gets wasted into the purge block. If I were to get something, it'd probably be along the lines of the Moasic Palette, which does the color shifting in a separate unit and feeds a single continuous filament line to your hotend.

And oh boy, I just found a setting I didn't know I needed in Slic3r PE - the "snap face to platter" option. I've been sitting here rotating parts in X, Y, and Z by portions of a degree hoping to get the best facing, and there was a setting all along.

I also bit the bullet and paid for some cleaned STLs from Destiny off a guy on Etsy, and started printing out a Luna's Howl for a friend. Testing the handle for appropriate fit, and at 100% scaling it's a little too big. Just started a reprint at 90% scaling and seeing how this goes.

A buddy of mine recently ordered a MK3 with the MMU 2.0. We've joked for the 18 years I've known him about his patience - which is almost non-existent. I'm not seeing a good relationship brewing in the future for him and his incoming toy.

I look at the current MMU like I look at the latest VR stuff - it's "ok", but, it's just going to get better over the next few years. When I get my next 3D printer ( hey, future - I seeeeeee you, but you're sooooo farrrrrr awayyyyyyyyyyyy ), I'll just hope that these kinds of add-ons are ready for prime-time - or at least close enough that they produce good results almost all the time.

Thanks for the pics and links, McIrish.

-BEP

McIrish wrote:

And oh boy, I just found a setting I didn't know I needed in Slic3r PE - the "snap face to platter" option. I've been sitting here rotating parts in X, Y, and Z by portions of a degree hoping to get the best facing, and there was a setting all along.

...
click, click
Yes, I totally knew that was there... Didn't just find out about it as well, nope.