Famous ball bearing not printing
Hi, I'm new to using my Prusa MK3S. I've had a go at printing this well known ball bearing gizmo which went well on a Tiertime printer, but strange things are happening using the Prusa. I obviously have some setting wrong. The photo shows the bottom side. I think I printed with some support material which came off easy enough. Why is it printing chords rather than following the circular shape? Why are the layers not fused together much more? It certainly did not look anything like this in PrusaSlicer. Could someone please give me some pointers?
Thanks a lot,
Oli
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
If this is the bottom of your part then you have two problems.
The first and biggest problem is that you have not successfully calibrated the first layer. The nozzle must be lowered quite a bit.
The other problem may be that the bed is not completely clean. Wash it with detergent and warm water, wipe with paper and then do not touch the print surface with your fingers.
So wash the bed first and then do a successful calibration of the Z level.
Bear MK3 with Bondtech extruder
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
Give us a link to the object you are printing.
You really can't print balls face down - first layer point of contact would be just a point.
Start here:
Print a calibration square from that link and post it. Lets get your Z right first.
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
@rhdreambox
Hi rhdreambox, thanks so much for jumping in with help.
I have been very careful to calibrate according to instructions and other prints I have done worked out just fine - amazingly good quality! This is the first one that is quite so dodgy.
I've also been careful to clean the plate with isopropyl alcohol and other prints stuck to the surface without trouble.
So I'm reasonably confident that those are not our problem. I get the feeling I should just try again to see if the problem is replicated. Perhaps it was just a glitch of sorts.
Thanks again, Oli
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
@robert-rmm200
Hi robert-rmm200, love your little test square - I'll have to try it when I get a chance.
This is a link to what I'm trying to print: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:51806
This is the Gcode I used:
Ball_Bearings_62_balls_0.2mm_raft_plate-support_only_PLA_MK3S_4h38m
As mentioned, seemed to work on another printer..
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
Well I won't be able to help with this one.
I downloaded the STL. PrusaSlicer reports 460 some errors in the model. I used 3D Builder to correct the model.
Now PrusaSlicer crashes every time while slicing, no matter what options I use.
Make sure you follow the directions - Raft and 30 degree supports.
Read the comments - you won't find many successes.
RE: Famous ball bearing not printing
@robert-rmm200
Hi robert-rmm200,
Ha! That figures - just my luck to pick an object that is buggy 🙄
Thanks so very much for checking this out for me. I would have continued to tear out what hair I have left trying to make this work.
I'll have a poke around online to see if there is a better version of it, but it may be a waste of time too.
Thanks again. Let's call this one unsolvable 😕
Oli