Thoughts on my first prints please!  

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Prusa whistle...

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Top of whistle...

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Sorry its only letting me upload one attachment image at a time - have a few views of benchy coming up....

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Benchy 2...

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Benchy 3....

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Benchy 4....

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Benchy 5....

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Benchy top....

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Benchy Front.....

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Benchy Rear....

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Sorry for all the posts - if a mod could merge into one that would be great - it only allows one attachment per post.

Anyways, I have some stringing but nothing major that doesn't easily clean up. Otherwise I'm happy with the first main print of the benchy model. However, I'm sure you guys will spot things I do not, and could maybe advise?

Thanking you in advance.

I would rate that print as good enough for the first month.

Every user builds their printer slightly differently and pre-built models are shaken up in transit so during the first few weeks of use the printer will run-in and settle its parts together; then you will have to go over the basic maintenance checks, lubricate and recalibrate. Even if you got everything dialled in perfectly today, it would all need re-doing.

Better to settle, temporarily, for a basic working printer and get some useful printing done, make your early mistakes, establish a routine and generally get used to the process. Then when you do your one month service you can take extra care knowing the new settings on your now stable printer are likely to last for several months.

Cheerio,

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Wow, I thought those prints were pretty good to be honest, but I haven't even got my kit yet so really not qualified to comment. 

Could someone who does understand the printers and what is achievable post up pictures of a well printed benchy, wistle etc, so that we beginners can see what is achievable so we have something to aim for.

I am really enjoying this forum  - knowledgeable people with a helpful, friendly attitude - fantastic!

Well done Ifti!

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

I agree those prints look pretty good for a newly assembled printer, printed by a new user. Well done.

Without going into a picture by picture deep dive, I’ll just suggest that you open each pic on a decent screen, not a phone, and look carefully at each one. 

If you look closely (zoom in and scroll around) you can see artifacts of some sort in pretty much all of them. Some are subtle and some are obvious.

In one pic of the benchy, you can clearly see the rear porthole has ragged edges and a lot of stringing. This is an obvious example.

If you look at the pics of the whistle, you’ll notice small irregularities in the inside curved sections of the vertical walls. On one side they look like tiny bumps, on the other side the layer lines are not neatly stacked on top of each other and wander a bit. This is a subtle example.

Look at the top surfaces of some of the prints and you’ll see small gaps, puckers, zits, and other oddities. None of this is unusual, particularly for a new printer and untuned prints. Take your time to really examine the pics and you’ll begin to see what I’m talking about.

To the OP, please don’t take any of my comments as criticism, it’s not. My first prints were horrid and would barely stick to the print bed. I would have been thrilled if I’d gotten one print 10% as nice as what you’ve managed so, bravo. I’m just trying to point out what to look for and what to work on.

As has been said in the new build thread that both of you are active in, a new printer takes time to ‘break-in’ and for all its parts to settle together and start working as a whole. This will take some hours of print time so just enjoy and keep at it.

If you printed those items from the SD card that came with the printer, good on you. Bear in mind that printing gcode generated by someone else is never the same as slicing the model yourself. You can download the sample prints from Prusa and slice them yourself to see how the changes you make in the slicer affect your output. But that’s a whole other topic for another time.

Cheers

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Thank for you your comments - constructive criticism is what I'm after! Just wanted to be sure I'm heading in the correct direction. I'll continue with a few more prints - have one running now which I have sliced etc myself this time 😉

Looking at the prints would you say my Z layer height is OK? - that was my main concern.....

Should I be looking to tweak anything else as i continue to print, or simply keep going for a while and let things bed in?

Thank you!

Don't obsess over perfection.  You presumably had some projects in mind when you bought your printer - begin printing them, starting with the simplest.   Unless you have a use for a benchy don't waste filament, they are test prints featuring most of the trickier aspects of FDM and useless for anything else; I've never printed one but I will, honest, as soon as I can think of a use for it.

Print yourself something functional, even bag clips, hat pegs and soap dishes are testing prints the first time you try but they give you something to show for the effort.

Cheerio,

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

Good advice! Thank you!!

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+1 - what @diem said. 

I’m holding my breath for his benchy… 😂

Cheers

RE: Thoughts on my first prints please!

These look good to me!  I'm about where you are in the hobby, and I've had good and bad prints.  Working through the issues is the secret sauce.  I hope you continue to make things that look this nice!