Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please

Ggabi

Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 26, 2013 01:28PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

Hi Community,

Have attached my print of Spocktopus Thing from thingiverse.

This is good example of what iam struggling to figure out.

My prints always start out quite well(i think). The infills good, walls.. but then towards the middle-top it will become botched. Sometimes even sticking back to extruder before forming clumps and back down the print. Also, you can see iam struggling with the finer details - the Spock hand, badge, eyes, brows and even the ears!

What should i try to do. I have tried tweaking many settings in CURA but this is the BEST print i have been able to do. Someone maybe can help me get GOOD quality prints?

I also attached my settings printing this so you can see.

Thanks fellas, hope theres a couple of good souls who can help me out

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jbernardis

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 26, 2013 01:46PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 1,320

Looks to me like you're extruding too much plastic. The effects of this can accumulate as the print rises.

Have you properly calibrated the E steps per millimeter? Also, do you have the correct filament diameter entered into your slicer?

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ShadowRam

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 26, 2013 02:57PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 265

Type of plastic and temperature?

It looks like you may be printing too hot as well.

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 26, 2013 10:58PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

My temp is at 210-220, any lower and the raft doesnt stick to the bed. This is what happens(picture( Is there a way to print lower and let it stick? PLA on painters tape.

I have correct E steps but cannot determine my filament diameter accurately. Now am playing around with 1.6-1.7 in cura settings/

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2013 11:19PM by Ggabi.

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Attachments:
open | download - IMG_0405.JPG (427.3 KB)

vegasloki

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 26, 2013 11:20PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 661

That's hot for PLA, I print PLA at 185*. Of course if varies between machines. When the you calibrate your machine one of the procedures is to see what the minimum temp you can use for a particular type of material.

It does look like too much material. How did you calibrate your extruder? It would be helpful to you to get an inexpensive set of calipers for measuring things like filament diameter. That's something that's going to need to happen with each batch of material you get.

Also, what calibration objects did you print to commission the printer? Using basic objects and tuning the printer use what you learn with those objects is the key to getting good prints.

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 27, 2013 12:34AM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

E steps per minute is accurate and precise to 100mm. used metric ruler to measure.

here is xyz calibration. some sides are perfect but some have holes, not connecting to perimeter. how to print better? (thats using 1.7 diameter, 50mm/s speed, infill speed 30mm, 15% density. minimal ayer time 1.5. temp 205 . overlap 12%

finished product have holes on top...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2013 12:44AM by Ggabi.

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Attachments:
open | download - IMG_0408.JPG (319.3 KB)
open | download - IMG_0409.JPG (521.7 KB)

Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 27, 2013 01:14PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

See my trouble?

Usually starts out quite well. first infills also but then becomes very blotchy.

Also struggle to print thin/pillar-like structures and details. How to correct?

Please help!

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JohnSL

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 27, 2013 01:29PM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 110

One thing I noticed in the IMG_0409.JPG picture is that the bed is not level. The bottom layer is really thin on one side, and a little thick on the other side. Getting the bed level relative to the print head is really important for a number of reasons, including getting the first layer to stick.

Another thing I noticed is the tape. Not all tapes perform the same way in terms of holding down the first layer. Most people use blue painters tape as this seems to work consistently well. I've tried three different brands of blue painters tape, and they're all a little different. The 3M brand seems to have a coating, and a quick wipe with alcohol on a towel helps the first layer stick better.

Also, slowing down the X/Y speed (federate) for the first layer helps a lot with keeping the ends from curling. Or setting a acceleration so that it doesn't jerk so much where it changes directions.

As to filament diameter, knowing the actual diameter helps a lot. Most people use calipers to measure the filament diameter. They're not very expensive, and they're very accurate. I very much recommend investing in calipers.

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jm44807

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 27, 2013 02:40PM

Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 53

for getting estep correct i get it close the way you did on first time. but to get i right you need to print single wall calibration piece. here are a couple guides. some say you should print this piece each time you change filament.

[forums.reprap.org]
[github.com]

the last pics it looks to hot and/or you need a fan blowing on printed piece. especially on the thin layers cause it goes even slower. try lower temp or try printing faster infill if perimeters are at 50 they look ok try infill at 50. i run infill faster than perimeters.

blue painters tape works great but make sure you wipe with acetone before first print

goodluck

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 27, 2013 10:38PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

Thanks for the alcohol tip. sticks well this time even without raft. I used brim for this one.

I think prints are getting better. you see first few layers always very good but when going further especially thinner portions, becomes incredibly botchy!

What can i do?

I've made tweaks to profile as per suggested, it improved but not a whole lot. Struggling with finer details printing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2013 10:39PM by Ggabi.

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JohnSL

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 28, 2013 12:09AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 110

Do you have a fan for cooling the part? For small parts like this, you need either a fan that will blow on the part, or you need to slow down the printing. Slic3r has a number of controls for cooling. You can also set a minimum time per layer. If the layer would print in less than that time, it will slow down the federate.

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Optimist

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 28, 2013 06:07AM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 76

I'm absolutely new to the printing things ( beg your pardon on posting here) - but ... how do you control height of the layers ... wouldn't tolerances add if z steps would be too small ... so if you deposit a 0.33 thick layer and proceed with 0.3mm z levelling the first layer may be ok the second there is an overheight of 0.06 third 0.09 until the nozzle is forced to move though the overheight of material what might cause the sticking material!

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nophead

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 28, 2013 07:16AM

Admin
Registered: 17 years ago
Posts: 7,879

Yes, both the Z steps per mm and the E steps per mm need to be accurate otherwise the amount of plastic will be too much or too little when doing solid layers.

In practice Z is calculated from screw pitch and will be very accurate. E is measured to within a few percent. As long as the flow rate is a little less than 100% it all works fine.

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 28, 2013 01:06PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

i tried minimum cooling time and it usually makes the prints worse! i dont know why. Iam actually printing without a fan. When i bought my extruder, i was told the extruder was a kind that didnt need a fan when printing pla.

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Optimist

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 28, 2013 01:16PM

Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 76

Is it always the same corner you rip off the built - ( check the alignment of xy axis plane and your building basement)

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 29, 2013 12:02AM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

Only when the prints go finer/thinner. Like details feathers, thin pillars. even support structures

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 29, 2013 12:56AM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

Having real trouble with the overhangs and fine details.

What to do to fix?

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Attachments:
open | download - IMG_0467.JPG (150 KB)
open | download - Vaderhead.ini (4.4 KB)

jm44807

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
July 29, 2013 10:23AM

Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 53

you may not need fan to cool hotend for pla but like me and others have said you need a fan on the piece you are printing. the layers dont have enough time to cool off before next layer is printed.

you can use any fan to test it if you have a house fan use it or take a computer fan hook it to a 9v battery and just hold it by hand so it blows on printed object. when it gets to the layers that mess up turn fan on it.

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Ggabi

Re: Help with prints...Maybe someone can point me to right direction Please
August 11, 2013 06:35AM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 37

What is a "normal" print speed setting?

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