Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.  

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

The flowery part is easy. Your nozzle is too low. Common issue with the Mk4S even though some people say they've never seen it. Long discussion on Github https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/issues/4254 . I have it with all my Mk4S's. Easiest solution is to manually adjust live Z by long pressing the knob as soon as the print starts to bring up the live z adjustment tool and modify it by +0.04. 

You have poor adhesion allowing the corners to lift and the whole part to warp - this distortion may be enough to cause the bad fit for the content especially if the lower part is also warping.  Thoroughly clean your print sheet, protect your printer from drafts and consider adding a brim.

@foxrun3d is right, your nozzle is a fraction low, following his procedure should improve the surface cosmetics.

You seem to have printed the black body filament first, the text will be neater if you print the text colours first making absolutely sure there is no initial placement string, slowing the first layer down will also help.

The colour shadowing can be fixed by inserting a layer of white between the orange and the black body to block the effect.

Cheerio,

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

Posted by: @yenway

I printed this box and ran into a few issues with the lid. 

The inside of the lid, where you're supposed to stick the tools, is way too tight. I actually broke off a chunk trying to push them in. I ended up having to take a roundabout method where I put them in upside-down. I wondered if I was just doing it wrong the first time, but every other photo I've seen of the box has them right-side up, no problem. I can't even get my pliers to fit into the pliers slot in the lower right.

 

Less worryingly, there are also some cosmetic issues with the lid. There's some weird flowery-looking pattern in the corners, and a fair bit of blobbiness in the letters. I can also see the stroke lines, but I'm guessing that's something that's just a limit to the technology we have right now.

 

The "MK4S" part is also kind of dark.  The latch and the "MK4S" were printed using the same filament, but I'm guessing there's nothing I can actually do about this, since there's the area right behind the "MK4S" is black and that's going to show through a thin layer of orange.

 

Anyway, the biggest concern is the tools just not fitting in properly. Does anyone have an idea about what might have caused that? I thought "Maybe I forgot to enable supports and that part got shaped weirdly", but the project file shows that I had supports enabled. 

I've attached the project file. 

 3d4999de-prusa_prusa-mk4-tools-box-lid.zip

I printed those same cases, the hex keys don't fit well.  It's a poor design. 

Did you use a purge tower?  That can help with the writing depending on what printed first.  I've also occasionally put a sacrificial part on the bed of it starts printing the text first.  The sacrificial part is there so it'll start printing that first.  Less likely to get distorted text that way.

RE:

Posted by: @brian-12

 I printed those same cases, the hex keys don't fit well.  It's a poor design. 

Did you use a purge tower?  That can help with the writing depending on what printed first.  I've also occasionally put a sacrificial part on the bed of it starts printing the text first.  The sacrificial part is there so it'll start printing that first.  Less likely to get distorted text that way.

Shame to hear that the case isn't actually that great. I guess it can keep things contained and look nice, even if the hex slots don't really work. Has anyone else here tried that case?

I have a wipe tower. It started peeling off of the sheet on its own, which was weird to me. Probably a bed adhesion issue. I think the letters were written first, but I don't really remember. Attaching the gcode over here.

Prusa_Prusa MK4 Tools Box Lid_0.4n_0.2mm_PLA,PLA,PLA,PLA_MK4SMMU3_4h57m

RE:

@foxrun3d, @diem - you're both very experienced 3d printers, so I defer to your expertise.  But I want to ask this question, since I have had good luck with an alternate solution.

These types of bottom layer problems are due to too much plastic for the "box" defined by the plate, the extruder, and the neighbouring extrusions.  Obviously, you can improve the situation by raising the extruder.

There are 2 other ways I can see - increase the extruded width, or decrease the flow.  Any of these should "solve" the problem.

I've had good results by decreasing the flow - with PETG I watch for ridges forming between the first layer lines, and decrease flow, usually to 90-93%.  Problem goes away, and the entire print looks great.  I have not noticed any negative effects from decreasing flow over the entire print.  PLA hasn't needed as much, usually 95%.

The reason I'm wondering about this, is that if there is over extrusion on all the layers, that could contribute to the tolerance issues the original poster is mentioning.  z-height would only help the first layer...

I'm wondering if many experienced people, coming from previous generations of printers (MK3 etc.), have been so laser-focused on z height in the past because it was definitely necessary, that this has become a bit overstated in the current generation of printers.

Not trying to criticize or diminish the reputation of anybody, I'm just hoping to have an honest discussion about whether this has merit or is completely off base...

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

Posted by: @foxrun3d

The flowery part is easy. Your nozzle is too low. Common issue with the Mk4S even though some people say they've never seen it. Long discussion on Github https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/issues/4254 . I have it with all my Mk4S's. Easiest solution is to manually adjust live Z by long pressing the knob as soon as the print starts to bring up the live z adjustment tool and modify it by +0.04. 

 

 

Posted by: @diem

You have poor adhesion allowing the corners to lift and the whole part to warp - this distortion may be enough to cause the bad fit for the content especially if the lower part is also warping.  Thoroughly clean your print sheet, protect your printer from drafts and consider adding a brim.

@foxrun3d is right, your nozzle is a fraction low, following his procedure should improve the surface cosmetics.

You seem to have printed the black body filament first, the text will be neater if you print the text colours first making absolutely sure there is no initial placement string, slowing the first layer down will also help.

The colour shadowing can be fixed by inserting a layer of white between the orange and the black body to block the effect.

Cheerio,

Thanks! I'll try to put on some gluestick or use a brim when there's printing with a fair bit of surface area in direct contact with the bed. I poked around to try to understand modifiers, but I think I figured out how to slow down the letters and add some white behind the orange. Does this look like I've done it properly?

I'm gonna hold off on doing another print for a couple days in case someone else says they had this same issue or says that their hex things fit just fine, but it'll be good to know if I've been able to correctly address other issues.

I'll try to put on some gluestick

Don't, glue is used to *reduce* adhesion.

or use a brim

This might help

when there's printing with a fair bit of surface area in direct contact with the bed

It's not the surface.  Warping happens when long print runs higher up (eg., your box sides) contract as they cool and generate a bending stress.

and add some white behind the orange. Does this look like I've done it properly?

Not as neat as it will be with practice but that should make a acceptable difference.

Cheerio,

There are 2 other ways I can see - increase the extruded width, or decrease the flow. Any of these should "solve" the problem.

RE:

Oops, misclicked.

There are 2 other ways I can see - increase the extruded width, or decrease the flow. Any of these should "solve" the problem.

Not really, the problem *might* be a miscalculated first layer height or miscalibrated Z sensor but the commonest cause is ooze due to moist filament interfering with the sensing routine.   Don't forget there must be the better part of a million Prusa printers in use around the world and only a few dozen users with issues on the forum at any one time.

z-height would only help the first layer...

First layer issues are often diagnosed from their effect on the top layer.

Cheerio,

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

Posted by: @diem

I'll try to put on some gluestick

Don't, glue is used to *reduce* adhesion.

or use a brim

This might help

when there's printing with a fair bit of surface area in direct contact with the bed

It's not the surface.  Warping happens when long print runs higher up (eg., your box sides) contract as they cool and generate a bending stress.

and add some white behind the orange. Does this look like I've done it properly?

Not as neat as it will be with practice but that should make a acceptable difference.

Cheerio,

Glue prevents things from being sticky... What a wild and wondrous world 3d printing is. I have so much to learn.

Thanks for the advice! The warping thing makes sense. 

RE:

Check out the GitHub thread—people have tried everything, adjusting live z, flow, extrusion width, etc, with varying success. Honestly, in the end I don't care. It's Prusa that's marketing the hell out of the "perfect first layer", and I shouldn't have to adjust flow etc with possible negative effects further up on the print. But as I said in that thread, I don't see any of these issues with my XL, only my Mk4's (and all of them), so I think it's something on the mechanical side of that printer, which hopefully the Core One will not display. 

And glue stick: of course glue stick is sticky, but with today's printers and sheets using its stickiness is no longer the requirement it was in the good old days, and as Diem said, today's it's mostly used a separating agent for stuff like PC-CF. Still, on a quick print I often just slap some Layerneer on, if I think that the model topology may result in some warping or I'm afraid of some fine details on a PETG first layer and don't feel like dealing with brims or fine-tuning my print. 

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

Posted by: @foxrun3d

And glue stick: of course glue stick is sticky, but with today's printers and sheets using its stickiness is no longer the requirement it was in the good old days, and as Diem said, today's it's mostly used a separating agent for stuff like PC-CF. Still, on a quick print I often just slap some Layerneer on, if I think that the model topology may result in some warping or I'm afraid of some fine details on a PETG first layer and don't feel like dealing with brims or fine-tuning my print. 

I think that might explain why I had that idea. I used to have a FlashForge Finder, but it was stolen in a break-in, so it's been several years since I've done anything with 3d printing.

RE: Printed case: Got blobby writing on the cover and some inside parts snapped off.

I have the same problem with the first layer when I changed the nozzle from HF to regular.I reduced the flow on the first layer to 85 and the height to 0.25. Is there a better way?