Heat bed is slightly warped - how can I split a model in two and rejoin?
This is more a general 3D-printing question, but I do have a Mk2S, so I figured I'd start here. The MK42 bed is slightly warped, like I think all beds are. Nothing serious, nothing more than .5mm. Stand-alone prints work fine, I have no problems with adhesion.
But I'm printing a complex model which needs a lot of supports if you print it in 1 piece. If I split it in half, I can print the two sides without supports at all. But the slight warping becomes apparent when I put the pieces together. The two sides are not flush, there are gaps.
I can't imagine how I can fix this without just trying to sand the models flat until they meet cleanly. Is this a problem 3D printer people know how to solve? For now, I'm going to print it with all the supports, but I'd love to be able to print 2 sides of a model and have them meet properly.
I'm pretty sure this is not a matter of uneven cooling or warping of the print after the fact. I can put the halves back on the print bed and feel them rock slightly on some areas but not others. I think it's just the slight unevenness of the print bed that translates to the slight unevenness of the model halves. (I did print with "bottom solid layer" set to zero, so both sides show the raw infill pattern where they should join. I don't think it will be better if I include the bottom solid layer, but I haven't tried.)
RE: Heat bed is slightly warped - how can I split a model in two and rejoin?
Hello Gunther, (MK2.5 owner here, with slightly warped bed)
MK2 does not have mesh bed leveling, because that would probably solve the issue. Anyway, I have put springs onto the heatbed to do pre-levelling (works fine). The MK2 must have something like that too.
That is not the answer to your question, just some remarks.
I see at least two options for your problem:
1. Place your pieces on top of a raft. You can use the one from the PrusaSlicer. If you use 1o layers or so, you shift the whole thing about 2 mm up. By layer 10, it will be leveled equal. You could maybe already make the raft in your CADD?
2. More easy = my solution 🙂
When you cut the pieces, cut them in an angle of 45 degrees and print them standing on the angle. Add supports paint them on, just a couple on 1/3 and 2/3 of the height is enough. (I print pieces of 20 cm long this way with only a support 1/2 way.
When cutting, you could add dowels. Choose the one with two holes and a cylinder dowel. This way you can print them in the angle.
NB NB I do not use the dowels for adjusting and gluing. From a great technician/inventor (good friend who passed away) I learned to make triangles with the same diameter (can be made fast in CADD), because they only touch on 3 small lines, they always fit (with a little pushing).
NB: You could add a brim, if you are afraid it will fall down.
We will do what we have always done. We will find hope in the impossible.