First ever print on my 3d printer design. I need to learn more about settings, work on adhesion, and I really need to get a cooling fan to cool the filament once it is on the bed. But, not bad for calibration piece first off the printer!
PLA I presume. That’s an amazing first print, an amazing print for that matter. Make sure your bed is cleaned with alcohol. Honestly, I’be noticed with prints with large bases, that printing onto cold bed with glue stick curls less than onto kapton covered heated bed. I’m not sure why. But I’ve definitely found that rafts help with parts that have large bases.you’ve had a printer before, right, otherwise, I’m astonished at that print quality
@Eric_Moy thank you for for the compliments. I have never owned or even run a 3d printer before. My friend has one and printed me a few parts for my printer. But I have only seen it in operation twice.
Yes it is Makers Toolworks silver 1.75 PLA.
I used hairspray this print. I will give the glue stick a go on my next print. I think it’s time for a bunch of calibration cubes to start dialing things in.
I’m not too familiar with PLA anymore, but I’m not sure if PLA and hairspray are considered to stick well together. I know that hairspray works really well for ABS though. Awesome work by the way. It took me a loooong time to get that kind of print quality.
PLA with hairspray does in fact work. I put the bed at 60C. I discovered this because i ran out of tape one day so i just tried it.
Congratulations ! Great build especially from one who has never had one before ! Well done ! You are using corexy ?
@William_Frick h-bot style. I may add two idlers and some spacers to convert to corexy later if racking proves to be an issue. But this was printed at 80 and seemed not to be an issue. It might as I speed things up.
Good job!
Try printing the first layer slower.
It is hard for me to gauge is my nozzle is too low, but you are supposed to be able to put it at 0 Z ontop of a piece of paper and pull it out without much friction. Do this test for each of your four corners and the middle.
Thanks to everyone for the support on my design journey, and all the kind words about my first print. I hope to be doing even better soon with practice and optimization.
One dramatic oversight I am finding in my design is my heated bed. 1/4" thick aluminum was a bad choice… I think. After 1 hour my 300x300 24v heater has only brought the glass temp to 70C. I will be insulating all unused heat transfer surfaces first. If that doesn’t work I may have to enlist my machine shop friend to take off some serious meat.
Is the aluminum itself heated? If so, perhaps a layer of wood and a layer of aluminum foil under that. 24v at how many AMPs? Glass on top? Try a sheet of aluminum foil and a cloth on top of the glass and keep an eye on it.
The aluminum is only bad because it is transferring heat quickly to the areas that are losing heat. If you insulate those sides, the aluminum will allow more even bed heating. I bought a sheet of that pink hard foam insulation… and it’s still in my, to do pile. Since I decided to redesign my bot, I’ve been neglecting the current design, especially since work has been keeping me far too busy. The glass is good since it has good heat capacity, but as you’ve mentioned, insulating to areas that aren’t used will help as well, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your hot end. I’m planning on stealing from @ThantiK 's design and using a 120 VAC pad with an ssr. Just be sure the pad is designed for this voltage. Add a gfc plug for safety in case of shorting, and it’s pretty safe. There were some threads about using a thermal cut off switch on the bed as well to prevent heater runoff over 120ish if your thermistor craps out. Those suckers generate lots of heat, so wouldn’t want to set any fires. I have a .125 thick sheet of aluminum that’s 10x8 inches so it wastes tons of heat underneath
PVA on the glass, best way to get PLA to stick I’ve come across.
Just make sure you let the bed completely cool to remove the object, made that mistake and removed a chunk of glass from the bed.
@Eclsnowman Your design looks like it would easily allow you to add plexiglass panels or some other clear material to the sides. Doing that would greatly increase your heat control. You would most likely wish to make the front panel as a door so you can open it. In fact, only having the back, left and right sides closed off will greatly increase your heat control. I only wish my delta style printer allowed for heat barriers as easily.
@Eclsnowman excellent first print, a testament to your thorough design and build process I think. Wrt to the heated bed, I recommend you get a square hole cut out of the aluminium plate that is slightly larger than the dimensions of your heat pad fix a thin sheet of ali over the hole and glue the heated pad to its underside. Then insulate the underside of the heated pad.