My First Prints & Problems  

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Hi Gerg

That's great, thanks for updates and pics.

PLA - you should not use ABS juice - PLA will not stick to it. Just use glue stick (see Josef's video: and also this page: http://www.prusa3d.com/material-guides/

I find it best to pre-heat (especially the bed) and wait for 5 minutes before printing. The heat takes a while to get through the glass. You could also increase the bed temp by 5 to 10 degrees after print has started. PLA will stick better the higher the temps with a range of 40 to 70 degrees. The other option is blue tape which can be printed on without heat, but 30 to 50 degrees gives great results for me.

I think this page will take on up to 3 attachments.

Peter

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Thats odd that you say your bottle of ABS juice leaked,

Every printer that ive received (ive gotten 3) has had just the bottle with ABS filament in it , and you add your own acetone. Was this something new?

regarding the Marvin, If you bed isnt perfectly level it can sometimes be tough to have items with such a small footprint stay attached to the bed, You can compensate for this by printing them with a Raft.

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Every printer that ive received (ive gotten 3) has had just the bottle with ABS filament in it , and you add your own acetone. Was this something new?
I contacted support and they weren't surprised that the juice was in the bottle. They were surprised though that the bottle was just 'loose' in the (outermost) box, apparently it was supposed to be inside one of the smaller boxes. To be honest I had also expected to get just the bottle with the filament inside it (it's what's mentioned in the shop). Perhaps it depends on your location (Belgium) whether UPS wants to ships such items and they adapt it to that?

regarding the Marvin, If you bed isnt perfectly level it can sometimes be tough to have items with such a small footprint stay attached to the bed, You can compensate for this by printing them with a Raft.
Thanks for the tip. Would like to print it 'as is' but your tip allows me to at least do a proper print if all else fails. 😉

Re: My First Prints & Problems

20160227-2030 Fifth attempt to print Marvin via Pronterfacefrom (PLA_3DHubs_Marvin_100um_1H.gcode)
FAILURE: we came very close but the figure again detached itself from the printer bed just before finishing the keychain ring

20160228-0900 Sixth attempt to print Marvin via Pronterfacefrom (PLA_3DHubs_Marvin_100um_1H.gcode)
FAILURE: the figure again detached itself from the printer bed after printing about 5mm
=> This time I applied Peter's tips (no ABS juice and an increase in bed temp to 60°C) but it failed again... I'll keep trying. 😎

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Hi Erron

Liquids cannot be shipped by air. So outside the EU road transport system, you have to buy the acetone yourself (it is explained on the shop pages).

Peter

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Gerg

A while back we had a similar situation with users having failed prints with Adalinda (the dragon). I think what happened at that point was that they moved on to their own sliced prints which were fine; those who then came back to the dragon found that they could print it with no problems.

This was possibly because they had become more familiar with the printer and how to set it up.

Can I suggest you do the same? Go slice and print a few other models using the SD card at 0.2mm layers and then return to this one.

Peter

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Use Kapton tape if you REALLY want adhesion. That stuff with ABS juice on top will bond very well to both ABS and PLA, often times TOO well.

The only problem with this approach is that it's kind of a pain to apply the tape, but outweighed by the benefits if you can't figure out another solution.

I would definitely try using the brim feature, though, before going further. Put about 5 lines for your brim and that should do the trick. Just make sure that the bed is leveled appropriately and that those first layers are really bonded to the bed.

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Jack

I have Kapton tape (8" wide) on my clone which has an aluminium build plate. I simply use glue stick with PLA and it works almost identically to glass.

Applying the tape is not a problem if you have a mister with wet water in it; a light spray and squeegee after.

Personally I don't see any advantage of putting Kapton onto glass. Blue tape on the other hand is good on glass; also helps levelling.

Peter

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Peter,

I too only need glue applied to the glass bed for my PLA prints to stick. But, there is definitely better adhesion to the Kapton tape. Often times you will actually have difficulty getting the print off the tape, so it is the ultimate solution if you can't get it stick otherwise.

I haven't actually used the wet method. I use a roller to apply the tape but your way might be easier.

I use Kapton instead of blue tape with a heated bed because of its heat resistance properties. I don't know how painter's tape would do at the 100C you need for ABS, whereas Kapton works fine at all temps. But it's just a matter of preference I guess.

Jack

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Jack

Blue tape for PLA only not ABS.

Blue tape loses its stick at over about 50 degrees; it really is intended for non-heated beds and provides excellent adhesion for that purpose. But I am a bit of a miserly person. Why print at 60 degrees, when you can achieve the same results at 40 (or even 30) degrees. The heated bed is the single biggest power drain on the printer. Why not save a few pennies?

The wet Kapton tape application is so simple. Water (with 1 drop of washing up liquid/ dishwasher rinse aid) - light misting on the bed and the Kapton tape can be slid around. Squeegee with a credit card (or similar) and it sticks firm. Heat for a few minutes. Done.

As mentioned, I use glue stick on Kapton and glass, so I get the same adhesion to glue on both.

Peter

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Peter

I agree, it's probably best to print PLA at room temp with blue tape. I did that when I first started printing. It was an Ultimaker original without a heated bed and blue tape worked like a charm. It was when I tried printing ABS without a heated bed that I realized the need for heat.

Haven't really gone back to non-heated since then but I might consider it again.

And I'll give that squeegee trick a try.

Have you tried just using the ABS juice directly on the Kapton? I use the ABS juice on the Kapton for both ABS and PLA. It seems to work equally well for both.

Jack

Re: My First Prints & Problems

Jack

I only use the Kapton on the clone and in all honesty, I don't think that would stand up to printing at ABS temps.

In all honesty, it was a good starter printer for me; taught me a lot, but the quality is nowhere near to the i3. I have spare i3 frame, extruder etc, so I am thinking about rebuilding the clone as an enlarged original.

Peter