The 3D Printer Thread
Discussion
jeremyc said:
Increasingly I'm of the opinion that 3D printing is much more about materials science than anything else.
If you are trying to create parts for a real application then materials selection is crucial.
It's also about understanding how strong or weak the material is, and designing parts to work within those limits.If you are trying to create parts for a real application then materials selection is crucial.
Simple example, I designed a bracket for something, the PLA filament I used would be weak in tension, so I designed a hole through the bracket which takes a threaded steel rod to provide the strength. The widget does the job.
The 'material' isn't just moderately weak plastic, what you print can be mostly air, a honeycomb structure of indifferent plastic becomes a light tough object.
I don't take a very 'purist' attitude, rather than refine my printer to print accurate threads for instance, I re-cut the threads with taps and dies.
I've also designed a few things which are more like adaptors to make bought in parts work better, instead of redesigning the bought in part that's 90p on ebay.
I also hammer and file things out of stainless and I've made a few things out of carbon/epoxy, so 3DP is not the material choice for every project.
OutInTheShed said:
It's also about understanding how strong or weak the material is, and designing parts to work within those limits.
Simple example, I designed a bracket for something, the PLA filament I used would be weak in tension, so I designed a hole through the bracket which takes a threaded steel rod to provide the strength. The widget does the job.
The 'material' isn't just moderately weak plastic, what you print can be mostly air, a honeycomb structure of indifferent plastic becomes a light tough object.
I don't take a very 'purist' attitude, rather than refine my printer to print accurate threads for instance, I re-cut the threads with taps and dies.
I've also designed a few things which are more like adaptors to make bought in parts work better, instead of redesigning the bought in part that's 90p on ebay.
I also hammer and file things out of stainless and I've made a few things out of carbon/epoxy, so 3DP is not the material choice for every project.
The lengths that people will go to print readily available and cheap stuff is bewildering to me. Standard fixings or hardware being the obvious one.Simple example, I designed a bracket for something, the PLA filament I used would be weak in tension, so I designed a hole through the bracket which takes a threaded steel rod to provide the strength. The widget does the job.
The 'material' isn't just moderately weak plastic, what you print can be mostly air, a honeycomb structure of indifferent plastic becomes a light tough object.
I don't take a very 'purist' attitude, rather than refine my printer to print accurate threads for instance, I re-cut the threads with taps and dies.
I've also designed a few things which are more like adaptors to make bought in parts work better, instead of redesigning the bought in part that's 90p on ebay.
I also hammer and file things out of stainless and I've made a few things out of carbon/epoxy, so 3DP is not the material choice for every project.
Like you, I prefer to use printing for the difficult custom bits in between bought in hardware where appropriate.
M1K3 said:
durbster said:
The Bambu Labs Anniversary sale is on right now if anyone was holding out for a good offer. My P1S+AMS is due to arrive sometime this week... 
Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
When buying my X1C, I convinced SWMBO I would be printing useful household objects. So far these useful objects have amounted to:Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
A hook to hang trainers in the cupboard.
3 x sunflower hue forge drink coasters
...
Please don't kid yourself that your machine is going to be the saviour in your household for useful items. We are men, our inner child is inescapable
durbster said:
M1K3 said:
durbster said:
The Bambu Labs Anniversary sale is on right now if anyone was holding out for a good offer. My P1S+AMS is due to arrive sometime this week...
Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
When buying my X1C, I convinced SWMBO I would be printing useful household objects. So far these useful objects have amounted to:Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
A hook to hang trainers in the cupboard.
3 x sunflower hue forge drink coasters
...
Please don't kid yourself that your machine is going to be the saviour in your household for useful items. We are men, our inner child is inescapable
Scabutz said:
durbster said:
M1K3 said:
durbster said:
The Bambu Labs Anniversary sale is on right now if anyone was holding out for a good offer. My P1S+AMS is due to arrive sometime this week...
Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
When buying my X1C, I convinced SWMBO I would be printing useful household objects. So far these useful objects have amounted to:Currently in the buyer's remorse phase given I ended up spending almost three times my original plan, so I'm frantically looking round the house to things I can print to justify the purchase
A hook to hang trainers in the cupboard.
3 x sunflower hue forge drink coasters
...
Please don't kid yourself that your machine is going to be the saviour in your household for useful items. We are men, our inner child is inescapable
OutInTheShed said:
I also hammer and file things out of stainless and I've made a few things out of carbon/epoxy, so 3DP is not the material choice for every project.
You know, that's a very good point. It occurs to me that I probably could have fabricated this fan mount out of angle aluminium (of which I have several lengths in stock), my pillar drill, my Dremel, and various hand tools. I never thought of that. Well, if this fan shroud that I have ordered to be printed is a disaster then at least I now have a Plan B.
My printer has found a new trick, it will now only print big blobs of PLA stuck to the hot end.
Pulled out the extruder, looks perfect to my eyes, gears turning smooth with zero notchiness. Pulled out the hot end assembly, put in a new one, still blobs…
I still have one new extruder so will swap it out tomorrow.
This is actually probably a good time to get all of the AMS hooked up and do some general cleaning and maintenance ahead of the lifesize sonic print.
Pulled out the extruder, looks perfect to my eyes, gears turning smooth with zero notchiness. Pulled out the hot end assembly, put in a new one, still blobs…
I still have one new extruder so will swap it out tomorrow.
This is actually probably a good time to get all of the AMS hooked up and do some general cleaning and maintenance ahead of the lifesize sonic print.
Clean up, maintenance, replace extruder, replace hotend, modify riser, hook up AMS been sat around for a while.
Biggest issue I have right now is filament not adhering to the plate. So annoyed with it at this point, cleaned so many times with soap/water/alcohol.
Annoying as printer has worked fine for the longest time.
Oh other issue is I have had zero success connecting it to the handy app or my laptop so it is still running the out of the box software. Even when I bought a wifi extender to make its own dedicated 2.4ghz network.
Just gave the plate one last wash before throwing the whole thing in the bin and seems it is now starting to behave again. Sanity restored hopefully...
Biggest issue I have right now is filament not adhering to the plate. So annoyed with it at this point, cleaned so many times with soap/water/alcohol.
Annoying as printer has worked fine for the longest time.
Oh other issue is I have had zero success connecting it to the handy app or my laptop so it is still running the out of the box software. Even when I bought a wifi extender to make its own dedicated 2.4ghz network.
Just gave the plate one last wash before throwing the whole thing in the bin and seems it is now starting to behave again. Sanity restored hopefully...
Without pictures and stuff of what it is doing its gonna be really hard to help. You need to baby sit a fresh print, leave the door open and watch every second the autolevel, the input shaping routine and then the purge lines and then the print start, does everything look normal etc. From there we can start to guide you on what the issue might be, there is also BL support for this stuff too. If you are cleaning the plate in water and dishsaop the water needs to be hotter than you can stand, use a non abrasive scrubber such as those white non scratch pads, dry it with a fresh lint free clothe and do nothing else, put it back in and see if thats ok.
After reading this thread (and feeling the wallet shake 
) and getting back into functional printing again, having dusted off my old Ender 3, I find myself looking at enclosed printers, and boy has the world moved on since I bought my Ender 3!
I’ve narrowed down my choice to Bambu P1s or the Creality K1c (not the k1j and from this thread I see a lot of people now running Bambu’s. Is there much difference between the 2, and most reviews seem to either fanboi 1 over the other or want to bash the other make.
I do see my future having to include Petg CF filament, so having to use a hardened steel nozzle, if that makes a difference (both printers mentioned have 1 available). I also don’t print stuff with small detail, so won’t need something capable of that, but quicker prints would be a nice upgrade.
) and getting back into functional printing again, having dusted off my old Ender 3, I find myself looking at enclosed printers, and boy has the world moved on since I bought my Ender 3!I’ve narrowed down my choice to Bambu P1s or the Creality K1c (not the k1j and from this thread I see a lot of people now running Bambu’s. Is there much difference between the 2, and most reviews seem to either fanboi 1 over the other or want to bash the other make.
I do see my future having to include Petg CF filament, so having to use a hardened steel nozzle, if that makes a difference (both printers mentioned have 1 available). I also don’t print stuff with small detail, so won’t need something capable of that, but quicker prints would be a nice upgrade.
Celtic Dragon said:
Petg CF filament,
Worth noting CF anything filament isnt actually any stronger than the non cf version (some of it is actually weaker) what it does do though is make the s
t bit of that filament much better, for example with PETG it helps with bridges and overhangs better. Also adds a superb finish to the filament which is nice, my PETG CF prints are amazing when I do use itI have had 3 x ender 3. and then 3 x ender 5's in my time. I use them for work making print jigs for mounting items in our UV printers.
I bit the bullet at the start of the year and got a bambu labs x1 carbon. Amazing how much things have improved. This prints at twice the speed using. standard settings and even faster if you dont need perfect quality. I can kinda understand why people would fanboi over the x1 carbon because it does just work. Sending files from my phone to the printer and checking the camera feed from home on my phone while leaving a 14 hr print going at work is cool.
this apple watch strap jig is PETG-CF and the others were PLA.
I bit the bullet at the start of the year and got a bambu labs x1 carbon. Amazing how much things have improved. This prints at twice the speed using. standard settings and even faster if you dont need perfect quality. I can kinda understand why people would fanboi over the x1 carbon because it does just work. Sending files from my phone to the printer and checking the camera feed from home on my phone while leaving a 14 hr print going at work is cool.
this apple watch strap jig is PETG-CF and the others were PLA.
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