Who's got what?

[WickedFog]

Hi WickedFog. It was a while ago now but I recall the prints coming out pretty messy and in some cases really brittle. At that point 3d printing was all pretty new to me and probably got lost in changing too many settings. To be honest I've not found the need for anything stronger at the minute and everything I have printed in PLA has held up just fine but if you have any tips or settings............

Sorry, been busy building a Ryft.

PETG is very stringy, but brittle? I made a video one time where I printed a flat piece like 4 or 5 layers thick. I used two pairs of pliers, trying to rip it apart, and had to twist it multiple times before it finally tore. I also have some 1" square tubes that printed 230mm tall. A friend's kid was using them as swords when I wasn't looking. It's really strong stuff.

I print it at 230° and the bed is at 70°. .2 layer height, and I crank up my retraction speed, as well as increase my wipe, and coast settings.

I also mostly print PLA. most of my parts are aesthetic, but they are designed to take into consideration the layer and print direction to be structurally stable.

If you decide to try PETG again, give me a holler in a PM and I can get ya my number if you need some help dialing it in.

 

[UpsidedownRC]

Sorry, been busy building a Ryft.

PETG is very stringy, but brittle? I made a video one time where I printed a flat piece like 4 or 5 layers thick. I used two pairs of pliers, trying to rip it apart, and had to twist it multiple times before it finally tore. I also have some 1" square tubes that printed 230mm tall. A friend's kid was using them as swords when I wasn't looking. It's really strong stuff.

I print it at 230° and the bed is at 70°. .2 layer height, and I crank up my retraction speed, as well as increase my wipe, and coast settings.

I also mostly print PLA. most of my parts are aesthetic, but they are designed to take into consideration the layer and print direction to be structurally stable.

If you decide to try PETG again, give me a holler in a PM and I can get ya my number if you need some help dialing it in.

Hey wickedfog, thanks for the great response. Strangely enough the bracket I was making for my Yota build was quite a chunk and when I printed using PETG it broke really easy when I twisted it with some force, but like I said before it was very early in my 3d printing journey. Could have been crap filament or just plain user error. I will definately hit you up if I need to delve back into PETG prints

 

[tk421reporting]

Ender 3, hooked up to the desktop, with a very outdated cura.
great little machine.

 

[KH3DP]

I've done some filament printing in the past, but lately I've been working with resin. Have had a Mars 2 Pro for a while, and just picked up a Photon Mono X 6K.

 

[WickedFog]

Hey wickedfog, thanks for the great response. Strangely enough the bracket I was making for my Yota build was quite a chunk and when I printed using PETG it broke really easy when I twisted it with some force, but like I said before it was very early in my 3d printing journey. Could have been crap filament or just plain user error. I will definately hit you up if I need to delve back into PETG prints

Yeah, you might give it another shot with the better experience now under your belt.

 

[zanthrax]

Started with a Malyan 200 aka Monoprice Select Mini. Wore that out completely in maybe 5 1KG spools of PLA.
Got a Prusa Mini from the first production run, setup was a breeze, it runs at leasts few hours each week and still kicks ass, just needs a new nozzle and some IPA to clean the PEI sheet every once in a while.
Ran a printing farm of 5 Ender3s at work for a few months, never got all 5 of them reliably printing at the same time, fun if you like tinkering, crap if you just want your prints to get done.

 

[WickedFog]

Started with a Malyan 200 aka Monoprice Select Mini. Wore that out completely in maybe 5 1KG spools of PLA.
Got a Prusa Mini from the first production run, setup was a breeze, it runs at leasts few hours each week and still kicks ass, just needs a new nozzle and some IPA to clean the PEI sheet every once in a while.
Ran a printing farm of 5 Ender3s at work for a few months, never got all 5 of them reliably printing at the same time, fun if you like tinkering, crap if you just want your prints to get done.

What was the problems with them?

 

[zanthrax]

What was the problems with them?

With the Enders?
Those things ran for roughly 16 hours a day, 5 days a week.
We used them to do low volume production for a few small parts, generally ~20 times the same part arranged on the bed for 8 to 12 hour prints.
We didn't get the time or budget to fine-tune and upgrade the damn things. We just needed them to work. When we expanded from 2 to 5 printers I asked for Prusas, but we got Enders because "you already know how to keep those running".
Every single day we'd have some problem, usually in the first few layers, easily restarted but a few times a week one would fail halfway through a print.

Problems in order of frequency:
- Melting of the small PTFE tube in the hot-end leading to clogged nozzles, I quickly got used to the clicking of a skipping extruder slowly eating through the filament.
- Adhesion problems, PLA with glue, I can't count how many times I levelled them.
- Bowden couplers letting go of the tube, I hated that. Cutting out the mess of filament is quick but wasteful, respooling it sucks. And the broken teeth would occasionally block a nozzle. Those things should not be a consumable.
- Worn nozzles, 2 or 3 each month. I don't know if they were cheap nozzle or if it was the filament we used or something else but they quickly developed burs.
- Snapped filament from the sharp angle where it enters the extruder.

Basically we were pushing the things too hard and they were stock, most problems we had happened on what are considered wear items but we had those issues popping up all the time.
Print quality on the Enders isn't bad, but I'm disappointed in their usability and reliability.
But I was more disappointed in that employer, they skimped on everything.

 

[WickedFog]

I consider the Creality entry level machines, but with a couple hundred in upgrades, they are pretty durable machines. I haven't bought an Ender yet because my S5 has just been chugging out parts for years. I had to replace the hotend because the liner had gotten so worn and melted after 30+ spools, so I decided to throw a Micro Swiss on it. Been solid ever since. I also threw a cheap dual gear extruder on it along with a Capricorn bowden tube while I was at it.

I never was a fan of using glue, or those silly textured or PEI build plates. Straight glass with no glue is all I use. But if I have tiny parts, I will use a little glue stick, but that's about the only time I will use it. This was done on straight glass in one program, with programmed filament color changes for the first 4 layers. It's kinda hard to do big parts like this, especially considering the filament changes. When you get them dialed in though, you can't touch the bed. Springs don't make for the best repeatable work surface, especially if you bump the bed. This is the glass pulled, and looking up at the bottom of the print.

 

[Caprinut]

I recently bought a secondhand Flashforge Finder 2.0 from my mate to test 3d printing.

Mine looks like this but with grey instead of red plastic.


I got it for cheap and it's already modified with microswiss all metal hotend and inclosed side panels and a 3d printed filament holder.
The glassplate is turned up side down so printing on glass instead of the bed material.

Bought this as the previous owner has printed over 1800 hours with virtually no proplems.
Main reason I got it so cheap was the nozzle was blocked and he did not bother to look at it as he has several printers.
New nozzle, one touch bed leveling + manual adjusting and away I was!

So far I have printed about 10 prints, and have yet a print fail on me.
Due the closed side panels, I can now print serveral types of filament, currently I print PETG at 220C with gluestick.
The gluestick holds really well.

So far I have printed Knight Customs 1.7" VW wheel covers, Fuchs M chassis wheels, Ansen 1.5" and 1.7" front wheel for Hornet and FAV, Tamiya Falcon battery strap and VW hub caps
Most are found on Thiniverse.
I tend to print on fine settings with 0.2mm layer.

Here are some examples




Those Fuchs wheels was modified to fit some old wheel barrels from Street Champ Fly Wheels


Knight Customs 1.7" wheel cover


Ansen 1.7" wheel with M chassis tire


1.5" Ansen with Hornet front tire



Due the small print bed volume at 14x14x14cm I can't print large stuff.
That is the downside.

I want a bigger printer in the future.

 

[SurlyBurly]

I got a Sovol SV03 a little while ago. It's cool but seems to lack some of the refinement and consistency of higher end printers. I kind of wish I'd just waited and gone with the Prusa. Oh well, it'll be good to learn on this one and I'll probably end up doing a deeper dive while learning how to get the most out of it. The print volume is absurd so I look forward to printing large pieces eventually. Right now I'm working on an enclosure and some other odds and ends. Does anyone know a good resource to learn about modifying and upgrading 3dprinters?

 

[Caprinut]

Here is a update with pictures of my printer.

Previous owner hot glued some hinges and door to the front and some side panels.
Not the most eye pleasing thing, but it works!
For higher demanding temp filament I can simply cover the top, like ABS etc.
Still have only printed PETG so far.





Todays print, Tamiya FAV center wheel thing that I cut in half to get them look good on both sides.
100% infill at 220 and standard setting.
Need to play with retraction next time to get rid of the burnt pieces.
Cheap gluestick work great on glass if washed every time.