Prusa in PLA

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if any one has their prusa (or any printer for that matter) printed parts entirely in PLA and how do they hold up? I was going to donate a set of parts to a club on campus and I have a bunch of extra PLA, but I didn't want to give them something that would lead them down the wrong path.

Thanks everyone

I have a prusa made entirely from PLA and its holding up well.

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Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks sublime.

Mine is entirely PLA too. You just need a fan blowing over the extruder thermal break to keep the x-carriage and extruder block from heating up too much. Also make sure your motors don't get too hot. Other than that you should be fine.

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I have an original mendel all in PLA and it runs all day 5 days a week most weeks although I'm getting a small desk fan for the summer to blow on to it

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Thanks for the hints guys. I figured that the extruder body could be a problem. Maybe I'll look into some some wooden spacers as an added precaution, but i think with the fan that will be plenty to keep the plastic cool.

bdc

I also use a fan blowing across the thermal barrier. But I do it because it improves print quality a lot when printing in PLA.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2011 07:33PM by Sublime.

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My Prusa is also entirely PLA and i have been trying to figure out the best way to attach a fan to blow across the thermal barrier.... any tips? Where did people mount it? Anyone have any trouble with the airflow cooling down your nozzle temp at all? Mine has had trouble getting up to temp when the fan is blowing (even though it's not blowing directly on the nozzle). I was thinking of trying to make some sort of ducting system so it only cools the thermal barrier and the bottom of the x carriage, but haven't landed on the best way to design it yet. Thoughts?

daufhammer Wrote:
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> My Prusa is also entirely PLA and i have been
> trying to figure out the best way to attach a fan
> to blow across the thermal barrier.... any tips?
> Where did people mount it? Anyone have any trouble
> with the airflow cooling down your nozzle temp at
> all? Mine has had trouble getting up to temp when
> the fan is blowing (even though it's not blowing
> directly on the nozzle). I was thinking of trying
> to make some sort of ducting system so it only
> cools the thermal barrier and the bottom of the x
> carriage, but haven't landed on the best way to
> design it yet. Thoughts?

I use a 40mm fan with two long machine screws through the top two holes. The screws are then pushed into the holes in the side of the carriage opposite the belt clamps. I also have a small piece of sheet metal hot glued to the bottom of the fan that ducts the air across the thermal barrier and protects the nozzle from wind. As well as having the heater block insulated.

The easiest way to make the duct is to take a piece of sheet metal 20mm wider than your fan and bend a 10mm lip on each side of it. Glue/clamp/zapstrap the sheet metal to the bottom of the fan. Then cut a slot down the middle of the sheet metal for your heater barrel to fit through.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver