3D printing (1 Viewer)

[tomwaits]

How many of you have a 3D printer and what models do you have?
Getting an Ender 3 for Christmas.

What are some cool things you have done with them?

 

[FullMonte]

How many of you have a 3D printer and what models do you have?
Getting an Ender 3 for Christmas.

What are some cool things you have done with them?

I bought an inexpensive Anet A8 a few years back, and toyed around with it. I've upgraded to a CR-10 (also a Creality printer, very similar to the Ender 3), and I've been using it more. The first thing I printed with it was a connector to connect my workshop's dust collector to a flexible hose, because the one that came with the dust collector got broken during a move.

Other than that I've printed a bunch of little tchotchkes, and I printed all of the components for a Mostly Printed CNC (MPCNC) machine. I'm working on the electronics now, and hope to have it up and running by the end of the year.

Some advice......
--Realize early on that it's not like buying a printer for your computer where you take it out of the box, plug it in, and start printing everything without doing any additional work. You'll need to get everything dialed in just right. Out of the box, you'll want to do the following: level the bed (you'll do this often), calibrate the extruder steps, and calibrate the x, y, and z steps. Thankfully, you'll only have to do that once unless something changes.
--Understand that every filament is different, so you'll need to tinker your settings each time you switch filaments (not necessarily if you switch from Brand A black filament to a new roll of Brand A black filament, but if you changed to Brand B black filament, or Brand A white filament, you'll need to toy with the settings). Different brands and colors have different temps and speeds that work. For each filament change, you'll want to calibrate the extrusion multiplier, the hot end temp, and the bed temp.
--Finally, understand that it's a slow process. I printed a set of brackets to hold little switches for my MPCNC. It was 4 pairs of parts, each about two inches wide and four inches long, and it took about four hours to print.

That's enough for now. If you have any other questions or suggestions, let me know.

 

[FullMonte]

Here's a pic of those brackets I mentioned, as well as my MPCNC in work.

 

[tomwaits]

Printed some stuff for my son, and working on a clamp for my Raspberry Pi Zero cam.

Here is a T-rex skull I printed.

 

[tomwaits]

If anyone gets one of these printers like the Ender 3, be sure to look at a lot of YouTube videos on assembly and adjustments.
There are some out there that have better assembly steps than the official documentation that comes with the printers.

I also upgraded my springs on the print bed so I won't have to level the bed as often. Easy cheap upgrade.
I upgraded the print bed to glass also and it helps with having your prints stick when printing, but releasing when cool.

 

[FullMonte]

I upgraded the print bed to glass also and it helps with having your prints stick when printing, but releasing when cool.

The CR-10 comes with a piece of glass. I bought a couple of extra pieces so that i can take the sheet off when a print finishes, and put another sheet on to start printing again while the first print cools. I also found that a little bit of super cheap Aquanet hairspray on the glass (and allowed to dry) makes prints adhere better.

 

[tomwaits]

The CR-10 comes with a piece of glass. I bought a couple of extra pieces so that i can take the sheet off when a print finishes, and put another sheet on to start printing again while the first print cools. I also found that a little bit of super cheap Aquanet hairspray on the glass (and allowed to dry) makes prints adhere better.

With the glass bed and the Ender's bed heating, I have not had any problems with the prints staying adhered to the bed when printing and then coming free when cooled.
I have only printed with eSun PLA+ so far, so this filament may not have issues where other types could.
What types of filament do you have issues with not adhering to the bed?

 

[FullMonte]

With the glass bed and the Ender's bed heating, I have not had any problems with the prints staying adhered to the bed when printing and then coming free when cooled.
I have only printed with eSun PLA+ so far, so this filament may not have issues where other types could.
What types of filament do you have issues with not adhering to the bed?

My first printer was an Anet A8, and I had issues with PLA sometimes coming loose. I've had a couple of issues with my CR-10 doing the same thing (but they were fairly rare). The 99 cent can of hairspray has eliminated that.

 

[tomwaits]

Second roll of filament I got was junk. Tons of stringing no matter what settings I tried and it seems like sometimes the printer was too hot for it and then sometimes not hot enough and it would clog. Replaced the print nozzle and put in a PTFE bowden tubs and still awful.

Replaced the nozzle again and used a different filament and prints fine.

Looking at filament reviews on Amazon, it seems you can just get bad rolls sometimes.

The filament I had trouble with was eSun cool white PLA+

 

[FullMonte]

Second roll of filament I got was junk. Tons of stringing no matter what settings I tried and it seems like sometimes the printer was too hot for it and then sometimes not hot enough and it would clog. Replaced the print nozzle and put in a PTFE bowden tubs and still awful.

Replaced the nozzle again and used a different filament and prints fine.

Looking at filament reviews on Amazon, it seems you can just get bad rolls sometimes.

The filament I had trouble with was eSun cool white PLA+

Good to know, I'll stay away from that. I've been using Hatchbox PLA, and I've had good luck with that. I just purchased a direct drive upgrade, can't wait to get it installed.

 

[tomwaits]

Good to know, I'll stay away from that. I've been using Hatchbox PLA, and I've had good luck with that. I just purchased a direct drive upgrade, can't wait to get it installed.

I just bought the Hatchbox PLA also and its working great.

 

[EvilMike]

I like Hatchbox as well, it's also the same price as everything else out there.

 

[tomwaits]

I bought Hatchbox ABS, but have not tried it yet. I have not printed with ABS before, but I hear its more tricky than PLA.

 

[ktulu909]

I bought Hatchbox ABS, but have not tried it yet. I have not printed with ABS before, but I hear its more tricky than PLA.

ABS is very different. I would suggest building an enclosure if you want to print with ABS regularly.

 

[tomwaits]

Installed Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi 4 and everything went well, but it won't connect to the Ender 3. Tried a new USB cable and still nothing.

I have seem multiple people have issues with the USB port on the Ender, so this may be it.

Would be nice to have remote upload ability.