Thin section questions
Hello everyone. Customer since August, first time poster (so go easy). I have a kit, build was flawless, although it did take longer than planned. I really love my MK2, no complaints, other than I might need another when this wears out!
I have about 150 hours of printing under my belt, mostly with PLA. Tried some PETG recently with okay results.
A few questions:
Any tricks for printing parts with thin vertical sections, say 3.5-4mm? Imagine a simple box with 3.5-4mm walls.
1) seems like the printer moves want to tear itself apart (from X-Y movements), especially on the .35 MM layer resolution... anything you've done to help? I considering slowing it down, but it was an 18 hour print to begin with.
2) getting the infill on sections that thin is tricky.. too much and it actually "overflow" the area for the infill causing the nozzle to collide with previous extra material that isn't flat, thoughts?
3) lastly I have noticed I am getting some lifting on prints that shouldn't (in the past).
a) does the heated bed after 150+ hours begin to not heat as effectively?
b) it could be filament related, have you noticed some filaments adhering better then others? (PLA) I bought some inexpensive Inland stuff and for the price and the fact it's locally sourced, its actually pretty good, but it did lift on 2 prints that I thought it shouldn't have.
Max
Re: Thin section questions
Michael
Never print layers greater than 80% of the nozzle diameter and never extrude wider than nozzle diameter + 25%. Understand that there is a limit to how much material the V6 hotend can melt sufficiently to print well (about 10mm^3) and that printing slower is often a very good solution to better quality prints that do not lift or warp.
If a print is going to take 18 hours, then another couple of hours won't make any difference. Better to spend that extra 2 hours than having to reprint the whole model.
Thinner-walled sections don't necessarily need infill, but you can easily print 4 loops @ 0.5mm rather than 3 loops @ 0.435mm + infill. When you model, consider your extrusion width. I will usually print at either 0.4mm or 0.5mm simply because those widths match wall thickness, and it is much easier to design a model with 2mm walls than with some odd fraction. If I need a good accurate finish then I will use 0.4mm width; when strength is required, I will use 0.5mm width.
I have been printing for many months without any reduction in adhesion, but you should always take environmental conditions into account and adjust the bed temp (and slicer) accordingly. You may also find that you need to calibrate your extrusion. Different filaments may be slightly different widths and/or hardness, and will therefore need adjustment within the slicer and/or steps.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…