In the previous thread we discussed how to design a object in the digital world. I won't say I have mastered that, but I did figure out the basics.
Using Fusion 360, I designed a few things. Last night, the means to turn those designs into a physical object was dropped off by the Brown Santa. A 3d printer made its appearance in the form of a large brown box. Almost 80 pounds of brown box. I did a fair amount of research in the confusing world of 3D printers and finally just threw a dart at a board and picked one. Since I didn't want to outgrow in few weeks later, I wanted a large print volume. What I settled on was a Anycubic Predator with a 370mm x 370mm x 455mm volume. That's 14.5"x 14.5"x17.9" in freedom units.
The box contents were extremely well packed. I was very impressed. Everything was snuggly packed in it's own cutout.
There would be some assembly required, but only about 40 minutes worth. The only reason it took that long is I actually read the instructions.
What you end up with is this.
This is a delta printer rather than the standard cartesian printer. They are supposed to be a little faster and to be honest, I just thought it looked cooler.
The first step to set up is bed leveling, which it does almost automatically and then you print a nozzle height demo to set the nozzle correctly.
The first attempt was a failure due to the initial setting being too low. The second print went flawlessly.
More to come.
Very cool!!! I’ve always wanted a delta. What they lack in leint volume, they make up for in cool factor and speed. I’ll be interested in your takenon this in the coming months.
The next step was to print a calibration cube. I downloaded the design from Thingiverse. The small legs are supposed to be 10 mm square and 20 mm long, the central cube is 20 mm square. By printing it and measuring the dimensions, you can determine if the printer is working properly. I ended up within .1 mm on all dimensions, which is close enough for me.
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One interesting side note. I assumed 3D printed objects were solid but that is not the case. The calibration is only 25% solid. In the below video you can see it print the perimeter , and then print a cross hatch through the interior. Just enough to give it some structure. That is adjustable in the slicing software so you can make a object as dense as you want.
The printer won't recognize a file from the design software so you have to take the 3D design and convert it to g-code using a slicer program. I am using Cura. It takes the 3D design and slices it into layers. The above calibration block was sliced into 200 layers and then converted to the tool paths that the printer would follow to print the object. The project it is currently working on is 425 layers.
Next up was printing something I designed. It is what they call a makers coin. Most people make them round, but the one I chose to print was a square one. I figured it could be a key chain but this is where making the transition to the metric system bit me. It ended up more coaster sized. At that size it took about 5 hours to print. I left it running all night and was presented with a finished product this morning.
So far this is a awesome machine. It's now working on a case for an idea I have. Prototype Mk 1 in underway.
More to come as things happen.
Last night I set it up to do a just for fun print. I snagged a file off of Thingiverse of Michelangelo's Moses. It's pretty big at 10" tall and using the factory settings it would have taken about 28 hours to print, so I sped things up a bit. I increased the layer height from .2 mm to .3 mm, and increased the travel speeds from 60 mm/sec to 95 mm/sec. I also changed the infill settings from 25% to 10%. That reduced the print time to just over 12 hours. I uploaded it to the printer and left it to run all night.
The results didn't come out too bad.
At 95 mm/sec the printer is moving along pretty good. It's supposed to have a top speed of 150 mm/sec but the print quality falls off it you get it going that fast.
Video won't embed for some reason so you will have to follow the link below.
Moses at 95 mm/sec
Well, I had my first FUBAR last night. I set up another print to run overnight and came back to find this.
Not quite what I was looking for.
For some reason the parts warped and it looks like they got hit by the print head and knocked out of position.
Not sure why that happened. I've adjusted the bed temperature and hot end temps up some to see if that solves the problem.
I guess I'll find out in a few hours.
In reply to Toyman01 :
Are you using any bed adhesion? I normally print with a 5-8 line skirt with no offset, it seems to help hold the print down to the bed. Sharp corners like that can be problematic.
RacetruckRon said:
In reply to Toyman01 :
Are you using any bed adhesion? I normally print with a 5-8 line skirt with no offset, it seems to help hold the print down to the bed. Sharp corners like that can be problematic.
That print only had the bed heated. I assumed there would be enough surface area to hold it in place. The print that ran yesterday I printed a raft and the raft actually started to lift.
I think I have tracked the problem down to too much speed, not enough heat, and possibly the slicer program. I had switched from Cura to PrusaSlicer when the problem cropped up. I have gone back to Cura and adjusted some settings. The print that is currently running is slowed down by 30% and the layer height dropped from .2 to .15. As of this morning it was 80% done and not showing signs of lifting. I'll check it when I get home.
The only other thing that had changed is the filament. I had used up the roll that came with the machine and ordered some Hatchbox from Amazon. It looks like it needs higher temps to be happy.
In reply to Toyman01 :
Elmers washable glue stick has been my go to for extra bed adhesion for PLA and PETG. I have never been a fan of build plates like PEI or BuildTak, they seem to work great right up until you are 30 hours in on a 40 hour print.
I prefer printing on glass and using a chemical bed adhesion promoter. Glue stick for PLA/PETG, Acetone slurry for ABS and Wolfbite Nitro for Nylon.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Thanks for the info. I'll stop and pick up a glue stick on the way home.
Do you still heat the bed even when using the adhesive?
In reply to Toyman01 :
Yeah I use heated bed on everything. 50-60°C for PLA typically, 65-75°C for PETG and Nylon, and 90-110°C for ABS/ASA. It varies by machine and material brand so YMMV.
