What don't I know that I should know when using my Core One?
When once first receives their Core One printer (kit or pre-assembled), and they finally get through all of self checks, are there any recommended first prints (after you get done with making some boats or rabbits for kick's and giggles just because you're excited your new printer actually works!) that one should use to ensure your machine is calibrated, your gantry is square and the turbo reticulation hydro-pin valve isn't stuck in the open position? (I made that last one up, don't freak out if you can't find one on your printer!)
I've seen some discussions on calibration cubes (with opinions both ways), extrusion multipliers and special prints to make sure it's dialed in... and a few other things of the like and have not done any of these. Is this something I should spend some time working through?
Please note, I'd like to be able to make (print) things that fit together. I'd rather try to identify things that are wrong now before I kick off a 20+ hr print job, as I'm not a huge fan of finding out after 20hrs that things aren't quite right. I'm new to this machine, but I also realize that even the $40k Fortus at my last job had it's quirks that you had to work around. What don't I know that I should know before I really start leaning very hard on my Core One?
Right now I'm only printing on PLA, but I've plans to start using ASA to print things for outdoors activities - I'm looking into dryers... but let's just focus on the printer for now.
RE:
Move ahead in small steps. ASA isn't the easiest material - bed adhesion, warping, fumes. If the material picks up humidity, expect to waste weeks fighting issues that can't be fixed any other way (e.g. layers splitting) than by drying the filament. Just mentioning this, I've got the T-shirt somewhere. And expect to take filament from the sealed bag not in a "dried" condition as one would expect but with "controlled moisture content needed as plasticizer in the production process that is barely adequate for printing now but no more in a week".
For the top of your list regarding absolute accuracy: ASA shrinks so you need to calibrate XY shrinkage (to some lesser extent Z). Expect 0.4 %, give or take some.
Bed adhesion is another - in combination with draft it may cause a large print to come off the print bed, collide with the head, causing layer shift. Worst case, spaghetti monster / blob-of-doom (haven't experienced those but prints coming off the bed happens only too easily). Rather work your way up with the print size.
RE:
a detail: The back left corner tends to have the most stable temperature, front right (where the door opens) the worst. I usually put my room heater fan at half power (1.2 kW) into the door for a few minutes to speed up the heat soak process (which may be unnecessary for small parts but reduces stress in larger ones). You can comment it out in custom G-code for small "draft"-style prints, possibly drop other temperature control commands as well to speed up the print startup.
And, the printbed is hotter than optimal because it serves largely as chamber heater. Some elephant foot compensation becomes necessary if dimensional accuracy in the bottom layer matters.
RE: What don't I know that I should know when using my Core One?
Right now I'm only printing on PLA, but I've plans to start using ASA to print things for outdoors activities - I'm looking into dryers... but let's just focus on the printer for now.
If you only have PLA experience, for an outdoor print I would try PCTG instead of ASA. It's much easier to print and it's UV resistant.
RE:
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For the top of your list regarding absolute accuracy: ASA shrinks so you need to calibrate XY shrinkage (to some lesser extent Z). Expect 0.4 %, give or take some.
Bed adhesion is another - in combination with draft it may cause a large print to come off the print bed, collide with the head, causing layer shift. Worst case, spaghetti monster / blob-of-doom (haven't experienced those but prints coming off the bed happens only too easily). Rather work your way up with the print size.
Are there any good guides out there for calibrating XY shrinkage? Assuming no, is this where the calibration cubes come into play?
Here's one for XY shrinkage - Does that fit the bill? Shrinkage Calculator - Dimensional Calibration Tool v9 (Made by LuckyPants)
Do I need to drop $4 on this calibration tool? Vector 3D Califlower Mk2 – 3D Printer Calibration & Skew Fix
Or is this good enough: Calibration Bro ( CaliFlower Calilantern Calibration cross alternative) - Calibration shape + Calculator - Klipper & Marlin
Scratch this one, it's not for prusa slicer. And for the most complex option: Easy 3-axis Skew Calibration Tower with Spreadsheet by matthewlloyd | Download free STL model | Printables.com
As for the ASA, a buddy of mine gets some high quality stuff from where he works (left over from refilling Fortus cartridges) and gives it to me for free... that's hard to beat! I don't have any plans to print a 27hr long job from ASA, mostly small stuff... but thanks for the tips on the heating and such. If I get into this long enough, I can see myself plumbing in my wife's 😍 hair dryer 😏 into the box to provide additional heating to see if I can turn down the print bed temp to avoid the elephants foot, but that's a long way off from here!
... and I didn't even talk about extrusion multipliers yet!
RE:
If you get filament snippets, there are electrical tools for joining filament ... might be a good investment.
Printing ASA (ABS) do take ventilation seriously, don't print in inhabited rooms (even with filter).
Calibration, take some calipers. Create a box in the slicer that fits in (e.g. 8 mm deep 3 mm high, 150 mm long. Prusaslicer throws a 25x25x25 mm cube onto the plate but you can unlock x, y, z size and type in numbers).
Print it and measure the long dimension e.g. you measure 149.35 mm expect 150 mm so the XY scale is 149.35/150=99.57 % so put the gap to 100 % (0.43 %) as XY shrinkage.
But get a spool of PETG in case you get frustrated with ASA. It's stiffer (lacks the chemical "shock absorbers" in the composition - treading screws in ASA is more forgiving). And considerably cheaper (if you have to pay for it).
RE: What don't I know that I should know when using my Core One?
Just FYI, I've had a PETG weathervane (Prusa orange) banging around out in the weather for many months now. It shows no sign of deterioration, fading or anything else.
RE: What don't I know that I should know when using my Core One?
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For the top of your list regarding absolute accuracy: ASA shrinks so you need to calibrate XY shrinkage (to some lesser extent Z). Expect 0.4 %, give or take some.
Bed adhesion is another - in combination with draft it may cause a large print to come off the print bed, collide with the head, causing layer shift. Worst case, spaghetti monster / blob-of-doom (haven't experienced those but prints coming off the bed happens only too easily). Rather work your way up with the print size.
Are there any good guides out there for calibrating XY shrinkage? Assuming no, is this where the calibration cubes come into play?
Here's one for XY shrinkage - Does that fit the bill? Shrinkage Calculator - Dimensional Calibration Tool v9 (Made by LuckyPants)
Do I need to drop $4 on this calibration tool? Vector 3D Califlower Mk2 – 3D Printer Calibration & Skew Fix
Or is this good enough: Calibration Bro ( CaliFlower Calilantern Calibration cross alternative) - Calibration shape + Calculator - Klipper & Marlin
Scratch this one, it's not for prusa slicer. And for the most complex option: Easy 3-axis Skew Calibration Tower with Spreadsheet by matthewlloyd | Download free STL model | Printables.com
As for the ASA, a buddy of mine gets some high quality stuff from where he works (left over from refilling Fortus cartridges) and gives it to me for free... that's hard to beat! I don't have any plans to print a 27hr long job from ASA, mostly small stuff... but thanks for the tips on the heating and such. If I get into this long enough, I can see myself plumbing in my wife's 😍 hair dryer 😏 into the box to provide additional heating to see if I can turn down the print bed temp to avoid the elephants foot, but that's a long way off from here!
... and I didn't even talk about extrusion multipliers yet!
The Califlower mk2 is worth the $12. It's is very accurate. Not only does it measure XY shrinkage but it also measures XY skew.