Printing tall, heavy objects precisely
Full disclosure - I currently print on an Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro, but I'm considering buying an MK4, which is why I am asking my question in this forum.
I am trying to print a hexagonal cylinder that is 120mm wide at its base but is 20cm tall. Since much of this is filled, the object gets relatively heavy and while the first 10-12cm of height print fine, higher up, I start getting artifacts until the print quality degrades quite massively. Since I have ruled out a number of explanations, my theory is that the movement of the bed in the y axis induces some minuscule movement due to the tall, heavy nature of the object (vibrations, vacillation).
Now my question is - can the MK4 somehow (e.g., through its input shaping, even though the Kobra als has input shaping, I believe) rule out that problem? I would like to go for an MK4, but I'm a bit concerned that, e.g., some Bambulab printers where the bed only moves along the z axis might be the better choice.
Thanks for your thoughts!
RE: Printing tall, heavy objects precisely
I have no experience of the Prusa XL.
for information, The Zaribo ZLC has a bed that doesn't move at all... (Which is good because the build plate is Mains Powered.
might be worth a look! 300, 300, 300 build space.
Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Printing tall, heavy objects precisely
I'm guessing you have a "bed slinger" now, where the bed moves rapidly in the Y axis. As the inertia of the printed model increases, the influence on the print quality would naturally increase as well since it becomes more difficult to "sling" the object back and forth rapidly.
You can slow the printer down as it increases in height to try and mitigate the effects of all that inertia, as slowing it down will reduce it significantly.
The XL and other Core XY printers just move the bed in the Z direction, which eliminates all that inertia from moving the model around.
The MK4 is a bed slinger, so I don't see how using a similar type of printer is going to change the forces. The motors might be stronger on the MK4, and the firmware might take the inertia of the model into account. I've printed large, tall and heavy things on my MK3S+ without artifacts, so that might be the case.
RE:
i believe prusa slicer at the very least tells the MK4 how much mass has been added to the bed. idk if the printer actually does anything with that info, but it is there.
RE: Printing tall, heavy objects precisely
Thanks for your replies. I tried @eastmemhpis' suggestion and while I feel my printer is not applying the speed limits to all moves in the y-axis, most are slowed down and the model so far indeed looks much better. So this supports my conjecture that it was indeed the bed movement that caused the problem, and it gives me at least a partial solution, this is great! Many thanks, @eastmemphis!
So I've ruled out the MK4 for me and am looking into the XL now, even though the price tag is quite something.
RE: Printing tall, heavy objects precisely
I'm very new to printing, but I thought the input shaper was supposed to help with that?