3D Printers/Printing CATCH ALL

Dang Moggy you jinxed me. I got a hotend clog today

wish this had the option to just get the STLs and not the other PDFs and things: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/b...

Although still looks to be a pretty good deal at these prices considering the Vertibird alone is normally $26.99.

I really don't need most of the other stuff since I already have the game. But I can't turn down a vertibird.

I had to order a new PTFE tube for my MK3S. Got some filament stuck in it.

I thought I could remove the tube and clear it but the piece of filament is wedged in there and if I try anything to get it out it will just deform the tube which is baddy bad.

karmajay wrote:

I had to order a new PTFE tube for my MK3S. Got some filament stuck in it.

I thought I could remove the tube and clear it but the piece of filament is wedged in there and if I try anything to get it out it will just deform the tube which is baddy bad.

I had that issue but I was able to get it out by heating up the nozzle and then pushing an acupuncture needle up into it which let me push the filament fragment backwards and out of the hot end.

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

I had to open up the access panel with the idler wheel so I could grip the filament with a pair of needle-nose pliers as I pushed it out, but that worked!

Also, did you build your MK3S as a kit? Mine came with a spare PTFE tube in the bag of extra bits that they sent along. Maybe yours did too?

Yeah the needle did not work. I thought it would be easy to push out once I pulled the hot end but it is actually melted in a way that it can't be pushed out. I did not think I could apply direct heat to the tube now that I have it out.

Not sure if you guys have seen the Kickstarter for the Polysmoother or if it's even worth the money. I don't own a 3D printer but saw this and thought of you guys.

I got the shipping notification for my Prusa Mini+! It's about a week ahead of their projected shipping time.

So I guess it's time to order some more colors of filament. And actually write down the list of things I've been thinking "oh, I could print that".

Great to hear, Chaz. What kind of things are you going to be printing?

Chaz wrote:

So I guess it's time to order some more colors of filament. And actually write down the list of things I've been thinking "oh, I could print that".

I printed an extra set of dice for Mice and Mystics the other day in resin. They look GOOD. Gotta paint them, now. Will they be perfectly balanced? Nope! Do Kit and I care? Nope!

-BEP

So, anyone know how to paint translucent prints? In the past I've always put a coat of primer on anything that we painted and went from there, but with a translucent figure I'd want to keep that effect while adding some details. I should have probably thought this through before I printed this water elemental lol

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EvkOqI3VgAEoga7?format=jpg&name=large)

If you're using acrylics, buy some glazing medium to mix with the paint. Then experiment on a test piece to find the effect you want.

Edit: Looks like there's glazing medium for oils too. I wasn't sure, since I only work in acrylics (in my case on canvas).

I picked up an Anycubic Photon Mono about three weeks ago and I'm pretty hooked. I've done casting with Hirst Arts molds for terrain before, but nothing with 3D printing.

My biggest obstacle so far is being overwhelmed with options out there for amazing miniatures.

Does anyone know of any kind of directory that lists various STL producers, like who is on Patreon versus subscription services like Loot Studios versus regular creators who do Kickstarter? I need to plan out what files I can buy before I go crazy here. I know about the stuff on Shapeways from Miguel Zavala, it's awesome, but I keep stumbling over new studios so I feel like I'm missing out on some big picture stuff.

Also - resin, omg, resin. The choices are amazing and overwhelming! Using some Elegoo regular old grey, but I'm curious about the water washable. Anyone try it and see any difference? I'm not a fan of all the IPA to wash things in, it's a huge mess, I'd love to go down to just water for simplicity's sake. And yeah, I thought about one of the wash stations, but I think when I buy another machine for this hobby it will be a larger, filament printer for large pieces down the road first. Because....addiction?

LouZiffer wrote:

If you're using acrylics, buy some glazing medium to mix with the paint. Then experiment on a test piece to find the effect you want.

Edit: Looks like there's glazing medium for oils too. I wasn't sure, since I only work in acrylics (in my case on canvas).

Thanks!

I'm almost finished with a Fallout Vertibird from that collection a while back. Only the tail section to go.

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

OK. The tail section may take a bit longer...

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cI2nRtH.jpg)

Haha! Perfect.

I got my Prusa Mini+ last week! I set it up the other day, and spent yesterday off and on trying to get the z-offset calibrated. I eventually got it, but I was at -1.7 or something. I printed off two of the pre-sliced files they included on the memory stick, and they came out really well. But the high z-offset seemed weird, and I was pretty sure I hadn't done the PINDA height adjustment right. I re-did that before bed last night.

This morning, I downloaded a calibration file that was a single layer 3x3" square, sliced it using mostly default settings for the prusa PLA sample I was using yesterday, and tried it out. The square started printing okay, though the hotend was obviously too high. I got it sort of close, then started dropping it every few lines of the patch. I found where I thought it was right, and went down a tiny bit more. As expected, it started underextruding a little, so I raised it back up. It kept underextruding, so I stopped the print.

Cleaned the bed, started the print again at the setting I thought was right. It went okay for a bit, then stopped extruding completely. Uh-oh.

I did a few cold pulls, and those seemed to come out fine, and I was able to push filament through the nozzle cleanly. Then I tried loading filament through the extruder, and no joy. The gear would catch the filament initially, then just spin without moving the filament.

I popped open the inspection hatch and saw filament in all the teeth. I took a toothpick, needle, and canned air to it and cleaned all the teeth out. Went to load in filament, and same thing. Cleaned again, load again, same problem.

So at this point, I'm assuming the next step is to pull off the extruder, clean it out and check for clogs, check the bowden tube for clogs, and if it still doesn't work, I'll have to figure out what else I should try. Sound reasonable?

Vertibird is finished!

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

There is a minor gap I need to fill in, which was my fault because I was assembling pieces as they came off the printer instead of waiting until I had all of them and misaligned a piece, but it's recoverable. I need to fill that, then paint it.

That's from a resin printer correct?

No. Creality Ender 3 V2

Looking forward to seeing it painted!

Love the 'Bird!

-BEP

I've printed a bunch of things! I realized that on some of the cold pulls, I was seeing a kind of a ring on the pulled filament about 3/4" above the end. That made me suspect that there was a gap between the liner tube and the metal of the heat block. I took the fittings off and pulled the tube, and there was definitely some filament residue down there. I managed to get that out, re-seated the tube, and started getting nice prints out of it.

So far, I've only been using PLA. I just ordered two more rolls in different colors, and when they showed up, I realized that searching amazon for "green PLA" apparently starts turning up PETG results too, and I didn't realize I ordered one of those. So now I'm trying PETG!

I haven't been successful yet. I have the smooth PEI sheet that came with the printer. I know I'm supposed to use glue stick or something with that, so I put a layer of that down in the area the print was going, and ran a calibration cat at the PETG defaults from Prusa Slicer. Immediately, I was having adhesion problems with the nozzle at 230 and bed at 85. I tried again and manually bumped the nozzle temp up to 240. Seemed to stick a little better, but I still got lifting.

Before I go off in the wrong direction, what should I be looking at adjusting? I read a suggestion to wash the build surface with soap and water first, and then I figured bumping the nozzle to 250? I'm at that point where I've got a rough idea of the different variables, but not confident about which ones are most likely. And since I'm doing this while working, I'd love to cut down the iteration time if I can.

I've not had adhesion problems but I'd look at three things:

Is your build plate flat? I have a glass build plate, so it's going to be flat. Any slight dips in the plate could cause problems.

Do you have enough (but not too much) glue stick? My printer instructs to wipe the glue stick twice over the build plate. I have noticed that as the glue starts to thin, there's a little lifting (no tearing).

Is your build plate hot enough? I use PLA and have nozzle temp of 240 and a bed temp of 60.

It sounds like (to me) that you should try glue stick first - I use Dremel's glue stick which is a little more expensive but it goes on purple and goes clear when hot enough.

If that doesn't work, I'd think about replacing your build plate with a glass version.

AFAIK the bed is flat, and the printer has auto bed leveling, so theoretically it should be okay. I might have too much glue stick on there, but I'm not sure.

I think the real problem is that the filament's globbing. It seems like it's getting a blob at some point early on, then it just picks up a bunch on the nozzle, and then clogs up. I tried pushing it up to 250 with the fan off for the first five layers or so, but same problem. I read some posts that suggested trying a slightly lower temp?

I also bumped the retraction to .4mm (I think) and .5mm z-bounce(?), but still globbed.

I definitely would not bump the temp up too much higher then the settings suggestion.

On another printer where I used a gluestick I always put it on BEFORE heating the bed up. I don't think you should run a calibration after that also. The normal 9 point auto level should be fine I think. You could also try the blue painters tape trick instead of the glue.

The annoying thing is that the filament doesn't actually have a temp range on it anywhere. The Amazon page for it says 230-250 nozzle, 80-90 bed, which I was within.

It did come with a textured print surface with an adhesive back. I don't really want to actually stick that directly to the PEI surface I have, but any reason I couldn't just binder clip it on and try that? If that's a bad idea, and I wanted to try painter's tape, does that just go directly on the PEI sheet, and the heat won't mess with the adhesive?

Oh yeah I would just clip that on that should work fine.

Are you turning your fan off for the first layers or even for the whole print? I'm pretty sure I did that when I was doing some PETG.

I would go straight to 250* on the nozzle. That is what I printed at with no issue, but it will be brand dependent.

PETG is sticky stuff, I'm surprised it isn't sticking. I also use a glass bed and it stuck really well to it whether it was clean or if it had leftover hairspray residue. I never tried a glue stick, though.

EDIT: Sorry, I just saw your message about the fan. I started this message over 2 hours ago and just now got back to it.

-BEP

An update!

I've been a printing fool! Just look at all of these bits:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/u7txnPv.jpg)

I've not finished printing everything yet, but there's only a few more to go. Mainly the base and some more support frames.

I've color coded my bits:

Black - support and base
White - Moving frame and structural members
Grey - rotating gears and cams (the two white gears will be painted grey)
Blue - Humming Bird
Red/Yellow/Green - Flower

I'm going to clean up the prints by filing/sanding off the excess print - the first layer or two are printed one line wider to act as a stablizing base for the rest of the print. Those parts that needed to be printed in multiple parts and glued together have had their seams filled with epoxy resin and I'll paint to hide the fill.

Then there'll be assembly. There's a bunch of hardware (rods, tubes, bearings and the like) that need to be cut and trimmed to fit and I've yet to design the motor mount, but it's really coming together!

I've been messing around with support settings during this latest project and been having some issues. Finally found some guidance online and used these settings for the few prints and they have worked awesome! Was actually able to pull the majority of the support off with my bare hands with limited issues to the print.

These are PrusaSlicer settings -
0.25mm z distance.
75% xy distance.
3mm support spacing.
4 interface layers.
0.2mm interface layer spacing.