First prints, Cant get it to work consistantly at all..

Hey guys,

I have a printer from 3dstuffmaker.com, its the evolution..
I finally got the printed flashed its all operational, except i cant print any object..


I get the flow right i think, it does look like their are small bubbles or something weird happening,
but it does look very smooth and comes out quite easily,

So i line it all up, load the st file, convert it to gcode, Change settings as recommended by 3dstuffmaker,
extrusion speed is 1500, xy 2500 ... i think this is standard...


Anyway, b4 print i run extruded, then hit print so i have good flow,
it basically doesnt seem to want to stick to the board, its almost looks like dots because some sections stick, and others dont, and it builds up to be a mess...



The only luck so far i have had is by turning XY down to 500, and it takes for ever to print anything, 5 hours plus for anything,
and it comes out warped and most of the time it will eventually move from the print plate..


I will get some pics/videos soon, im going to do a skype call with 3d stuff maker,

But any suggestions you guys can thing of?

This is like a death in the family,
iv been locked away in my room for days trying a million different settings,
nothing is ever consistant and it just frustrates me, i wanna figure this machine out.


I saw videos of it b4 they shipped it working awesomely..
the extruded assemebly was broken and i had to glue it, they are sending me a new one,
so maybe my glue job is making it hard to tune how tight it grips the pla,
i seem to always get marks on the pla, hence the strange looking flow? or should it all melt and come out perfectly anyway?


If anyone can give me some steps to try and make a good quality print, i would be so grateful.
This has been the hardest thing to tune, i am shocked.

the best print iv been able to do,, others wont even make it this far

What surface are you printing on?
Do you have a heated bed?

Getting the first layer to stick is about having the rigtht temperature, extruding form the right height onto the right material.
There can be a lot of messing around to get there the first time.

Hello,

You need to use kapton tape

Normaly you set your nozel 0,1 mm off your heatbed.

www.facebook.com/Charlies3DCreations

have a look at the quality and if you have questions let me know

PLA or ABS?

I've seen quite a few posts from PLA printers who are using a wash of dilute Elmer's glue on the glass plate, heated to 60C, as an adherent

For ABS, the guys I know who do it are using a prewash of acetone on the glass plate, pre-heated to around 110-120C

Then there are those printing to painter's tape, kapton tape, or even biodegradeable plastic grocery bags stretched over the surface (for PLA) (although the last is dubious in my opinion, even if it worked for the OP who suggested it...I don't trust it without pre-gluing it to the bed, which sounds a bit too much of a pita for me to consider...I suspect I'll use the dilute Elmer's (PVA) glue.

Someone somewhere mentioned using hairspray on the surface. (keep forgetting to pick some up to try) Sounds feasible to me.

Hey, wow thanks for all he replys!!!

Its PLA
and its a non heated print bed, it has tape over the bed, the same kind that is on the nozzle,

its .4 mm nozzle.


I did the height calibration about 20 times haha, i used a folded piece of paper, but maybe i should do it without folding the piece of paper.


3d stuff maker said

.4 mm nozzle, use folded paper
.2 mm nozzle use a single piece of paper


Ill try realigning the print bed with the printer again now..

You're better off with blue painters tape than kapton for PLA on a cold bed.

Blue painters tape that i can get from a regular hardware store?
Use it in strips on the board?

I dont know if anyone would want to,

But would anyone want to do a skype call with me to diagnose my problems?

nechaus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Blue painters tape that i can get from a regular
> hardware store?
> Use it in strips on the board?


Yep.

I have just taken off the tape..

Should i try print on the bed bare?
its just the arcrylic....

i ordered new kepton tape, i actually was sold another print bed.

Ill try blue tape tomorrow.
Should i buy a heated print bed for pla?
Will it be better?

I print with PLA on blue painters tape all the time with my heat bed off... Also make sure your bed is level, even if its a little out it can affect the first layer sticking. Use 1 piece of paper and check all 4 corners, you should be able to feel a light drag on the paper when you do this. And make sure you level the bed with the Hot end at temperature.


Devon

You'll likely damage the acrylic if you print directly onto it. Having said that I know ABS will bond to acrylic, but I haven't tried it for PLA.
Glass is a, much better bed material I got two 8x8 sheets from my local hardware store for ~$3