Does anyone here have experience with 3D Filkemp’s Graphite Black PLA Blend? It’s as tough as nails but this first test print of a bearing clamp looks like it’s been thrown out of a fire!
It’s got me thinking, it would be nice to have slicers output temperature deltas or indicators not absolute values so the same gcode file can be used with different filament types without having to reslice every time. It would be quite a big change to a lot of software though, both in the slicer and print host that would need to know the min and max temps for the filament in use and scale accordingly.
I can see such a solution in use in classrooms equipped with multiple printers where each child wants to print the same model but with the filament of their choice. Managing lots of different versions of gcode for the same model becomes a pain.
The temperature for the hot end is typically set once, at the beginning of the gcode file. You can edit it with any text editor.
Often there’ll be a second temperature set if your slicer uses a diffrent temperature for the first layer as it does on the rest of the print.
Editign the g-code also a handy trick if you want to do a ‘no-output’ print. Set the bed and hotend temp to zero and the printer’s cold-extrusion protection will kick in… letting it print away happily on thin air.
I’ve found that different filaments tend to not just require different temps. Also sometimes different speeds, layer heights, perimeters etc. That’s what printing profiles are for. G-code is disposable in my world.
What I would like a lot is some kind of hierarchical system for organizing profiles, so that the slicer doesn’t end up with a list of a zillion of them that are basically just variations on themes.
I sometimes adjust temp with Marlins LCD - an upgrade for printrbots… But as we discuss and work on a cloud service with cloud slicing, we could bite the billet and just store gcode for multiple filaments… Although I guess that would build itself over time without spending extra money up front. Several settings to change. It might even make sense to use filament manufacturer specific settings.
I’d probably only do that for printrbots since many variables are known quantities. Sounds like a dream though- pick a model and a material…, print.
Brook
The biggest factor in not using deltas of temps and general gcode files are the number of variations of machine and hotend combinations as well as the variations in the quality and extrusion properties of materials.
Commercial machines can do this due to having end to end control of the process. They know how the material behaves because they make it or spec it, they control the CAM and they control the hardware. Reprap or DIY printing is about as un-that as you can get. You’d need a multitude of combinations.
Using the 3DMF file format (or something similar) could streamline the operation but in terms of extrusion there is still a great deal of variance. For fused deposition the relationship between the material and the tool that changes the state of the material is key and with so many not only combinations but different implementations of the same technology getting something that is relatively consistent between different machines and different materials is going to be monumental.
Yes. If I know the material and machine well, I should be able to get good results by allowing people to select an the options for our material and machines
Your speed is set to high ! try to print whit 20 - 30 mm/s
@paul_wallich I wonder how much the need for a difference in layer height and speed you experienced could have been reduced with fine tuning of the temperature? Could some 3D Printing Einstein come up with a formula that takes all variables into account? Maybe not, but it would be nice to try. The first variable that springs to mind is flow rate out of the hotend. Which will be a combination of nozzle clearance, temperature and filament pressure, the pressure controlled by the initial charging and then continuous step rates. My settings in slicers have been found through lots of trial and error, it would be nice to understand the physics behind it more so that it’s a bit more predictable.
@Dennis_Vercauteren is it? Or is it a temperature thing? The same model with a different filament printed much better at the same speeds. How much of the problem is down to controlling viscosity not speed?
I am pretty sure it is.
The filament have to cool down before putting next layer on top.
So. I’ve printed some contructionprofiles (small long H shaped things) with a speed of 15mm/s
You can see clearly that the outside end of your parts are still melting. The middle is ok. The reason is that there is more time between the inner and the outer side of the part.
@Mark_MARKSE_Emery
It would be nice if temperature were everything, but it’s not, because temp affects adhesion and viscosity and cooling rate and so forth.
A couple real examples of how this tangles up: I have a bunch of profiles that work for my usual filaments: utility, fine detail, brims for things that don’t have enough bottom, supports, minimal infill for prototyping, extra infill for strong etc. But I have a roll of black PLA that is only happy extruding 5 degrees higher, but to keep the prints happy you have to extrude slower, and you also need to play with detail level and acceleration because otherwise it messes up corners. So now I have to duplicate every one of those generic profiles for Black Zen. And on the ABS side I have a roll of carbon-fiber-infused stuff from a friend. It likes to under-extrude. So I have to duplicate all my ABS profiles for that. And so forth.
It’s not really a big deal, and could mostly be handled by redoing the menu structure for selecting profiles in the slicer of your choice. But as things are, it’s one more piece of cognitive load.
Speed reduced massively, temperature dropped too and it’s looking much better but still far from perfect, if it doesn’t print better in the morning with another 5 degree drop I’ll try ramping up cooling. I’d use my 12v ducted model airplane fan for extreme cooling but it screams, time to bring out the office fan again.
