Anet A8 3D Printer.

[carbon]

The turbo badge is 3d printed in pla but has been painted and was fitted 19th June last year and has been outside since then, seems to be surviving ok so far

 

[ukracer]

Thanks for giving me your advice lads .... I'll get some of the ABS pro & have a lot of play time .


Another question. some of you maybe able to help me with . I'm designing a parametric proper butt hinge both sides identical each side some 4 inches wide by 6 inches long & 8 mm thick , for securing the 8x 6 x 1 " thick wooden lids on our numerous home made bird boxes .

As I want to use the printed hinges outside , can anyone give me a clue as to how fast they will deteriorate if I use PTG or Pla outdoors ? Is it likely to be a few weeks , months , years or several years?

They don't sell the ABS Pro from Steadytech at the The box.co.uk any longer sadly.
Cant find anywhere else that stocks it now.

Petg should be fine outside PLA not so much. But it does depends what it's for.

 

[redlig]

Can anyone give me a hand please. I've got a grandson who is approaching his 13 th birthday soon and has a 3d printer at the top of his wish list. He is very computer savvy, well more than me anyway. and has always shown great interest in my workshop and tools etc as well as also seems to have a leaning towards maths. Are there any suggestions as to what to look at and what to avoid . As for the important "how much" question is sub £ 200 a reasonable starting point ? The idea ,I think, is to get something that is useable and see if it's a 9 min wonder or if he is really interested. sorry if this has already been covered but I've only just found this thread.

 

[Onoff]

Can anyone give me a hand please. I've got a grandson who is approaching his 13 th birthday soon and has a 3d printer at the top of his wish list. He is very computer savvy, well more than me anyway. and has always shown great interest in my workshop and tools etc as well as also seems to have a leaning towards maths. Are there any suggestions as to what to look at and what to avoid . As for the important "how much" question is sub £ 200 a reasonable starting point ? The idea ,I think, is to get something that is useable and see if it's a 9 min wonder or if he is really interested. sorry if this has already been covered but I've only just found this thread.

Have a read here:

Buying a 3D printer

Hi I was just wondering what you would need to get started with a 3D printer. What would be the best 3D printer for a reasonable price ( under 300 if possible ) and what else would I have to invest in to get it up and working, Thanks

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Bought my lad an Anycubic i3 Mega S direct from Anycubic. Prints straight from the box. Surprising what we find to print. There's the "toys" like figurines but really just practical stuff now from replacement petrol caps, fridge handles, PCB standoffs, the list is endless.

Anycubic i3 Mega S - Simple, Smart & High-Quality FDM 3D Printer

3 steps to set up the printer with fix 8 screws within minutes for an expert user and a beginner. Anycubic Ultrabase: Patented printing platform with excellent adhesion whilst printing and pop off like they were never attached to the bed once it cools down.

www.anycubic.com

 

[ukracer]

Buy an ender 3 . There is masses of help around.
Nice and cheap but print great.

 

[Onoff]

Buy an ender 3 . There is masses of help around.
Nice and cheap but print great.

Yes, buying again I'd have bought one rather than the Anycubic. For the support as much as anything.

Where's best to buy from?

 

[Newlands]

I bought an Ender 3 about 6 months ago. There’s a bit of assembly to do which shouldn’t be difficult for a 13 year old, as well as some adjustment to get the nozzle height correct (useful because it’s something worth checking every now and then).
As for where to buy from, search for sellers on eBay and Amazon, then google them to see if they have a website - it’s often cheaper to buy direct. May also be worth checking for 3D printer forums to see if that question has been answered for you.

 

[DAPPH]

There are a fair number of secondhand printers that need setting up where people have found it's not as easy as it looks & that it takes time to learn a reasonable 3D drawing package . So like a lot of people they give up & bung it on an auction site. Trouble is you won't know if it's a working machine that will give good prints till it's in your possession & set up.

Last year IIRC both Aldi & Lidl had a very low cost machine on sale for around £120 .. check their websites perhaps & ask them questions ? .

 

[DAPPH]

They don't sell the ABS Pro from Steadytech at the The box.co.uk any longer sadly.
Cant find anywhere else that stocks it now.

Petg should be fine outside PLA not so much. But it does depends what it's for.

I just put " ABS pro " into google and up came several places including RS ...... sensible prices around £30 plus P&P for one kilo.

 

[Onoff]

I just put " ABS pro " into google and up came several places including RS ...... sensible prices around £30 plus P&P for one kilo.

I buy PLA from RS and it's excellent quality.

 

[ukracer]

Yes, buying again I'd have bought one rather than the Anycubic. For the support as much as anything.

Where's best to buy from?

I have brought all my printers second hand. Mainly as they have been upgraded already for less than I would pay new. So I can't help on that one really.

 

[ukracer]

I just put " ABS pro " into google and up came several places including RS ...... sensible prices around £30 plus P&P for one kilo.

But not Steadytech. at 10 quid a roll.

 

[redlig]

Big thanks to all you guys who have given me a nudge in the right direction. I think what I need to do now is to get the lad to do some investigation himself and see how he deals with the details . Funny how the memory works with age as last night I realised that a very good friend has a grandson ( Tom Stanton) who has his own utube stream making " things" with a 3d printer and cad mill. I think I will have to take nipper to see what it's all about.

 

[DAPPH]

Well I've had a crack at making fine tuning work , I seem to understand it .. But ......... HELP!

This fine tune of Z when it's being adjusted into negative numbers from the original setting up setting .......does the print nozzle go down the the printbed or does it raise up from the original setting .Whatever it did I couldn't see any improvement .
The infilling made the printer sound laboured when it was doing any diagonal infilling at any setting despite bein set to quiet mode.


I got the basic shapes down onthe plate and three layers when a " back bone ridge appeared in the longest part of each print , then it started to catch on the printer nozzle . By the fourth pass the nozzle was clipping the ridge , some of the " ears "of the print had curled at the outer edge .. fifth & six pass ............... Wahhh .. prints torn off the printing plate . " "*%&$*£$'@ . "

Had a real good look using a magnifying glass the first run of the molten plastic at the front left of the print plate during 4 " setup test extrusion ( that clears the nozzle out (?) . It gave a lovely bead then after three inches thinned down to 1/3 or less of the first bit. Is this normal or do I need to play with flow or speed again ?

As the print got under way the second & third layer started to look like the stringing of a tennis racket but the infill does not fully reach the outer perimeter ( .3 mm short or less ) it's quit visible when the failed print is held up to the sky & this is why I think it's curling up as it's not attached to the perimeter. .Think it maybe to do with the slicing and the number of reference point the printer is supposed to go to whilst extruding molten ABS .
This time round I am going to redraw the part in Fusion , check I've got my machine flashed with the latest programme , check the slicer is updated .

Then cross my fingers, legs & eyes and see if it prints each of the 8 pieces on rafts ( rafts this time round ) .

One last thing .. I've re read my Moo (manual of operations ) several times yes I can use an ABS slurry on my steel coated print bed . Question . the slurry is made from ABS & Acetone .... I purchased some acetone but see it's called Acetone thinners . Is this acetone OK or do I need the real " pear drops" smelling acetone with nothing taken out or added ?

 

[PhillipM]

Slicer is probably set too fast for the infil, a lot of Prusa setups do that because they don't really care about infill quality. Problem is anything that's not decorative it has big effects on.

 

[DAPPH]

Thanks Phil, your post is noted and will be trialed in the next printing session . ( We've got some over due gardening time planned for both of us tomorrow )

Due to the failure of the prints I've had to use adhesive tape to take the place of the 6.4 mm tube clamps on the sixty or so misting spray heads running off three Hozelock water control clocks .

 

[carbon]

Sorry if I've missed it, what bed and extruder temps are you trying?

 

[ukracer]

Take a video and post it here.
As for baby stepping I find it weird. I know I want my nozzle lower but can't seem to force it so I use baby stepping negative usually around 500 is the figure I end up with.
Only do this on the first layer. And if I can just on the outer rim.

If your first layer looks like the extruded filament its going to take a lot of knob twirling to get enough squish......always (usually) more than you think you need.

 

[DAPPH]

Sorry if I've missed it, what bed and extruder temps are you trying?

Material Joe Prusa's own brand ..... ABS-T black .

Extruder temp upped from auto set 255 oC to 258
Bed temp upped from auto set 100 to 102 oC it seemed to stick till it caught on the " ridge "mentioned a few posts ago , but the infill was ropey to say the least .

 

[DAPPH]

Take a video and post it here.
As for baby stepping I find it weird. I know I want my nozzle lower but can't seem to force it so I use baby stepping negative usually around 500 is the figure I end up with.
Only do this on the first layer. And if I can just on the outer rim.

If your first layer looks like the extruded filament its going to take a lot of knob twirling to get enough squish......always (usually) more than you think you need.

Thanks for that,

Z axis was auto referenced and set automatically to a zero during initial setting up & gets rechecked a the start of each new print session .

I've tried all manner of mirco adjustments from Z zero in graduations of 40 to 50 through to minus 278 . That's why I asked if it raised the nozzle the more you went into the minus figures Prusa manual indicates the reading should not exceed - 2.000 mm but it gives minus 2.500 mm when I should move the "PINDA " height sensor up " slightly higher ". ( Would this then see the nozzle being raised during the new automatic initial calibration by the same amount ???? )

So I guess from what you've said a figure around the - 500 mark is worth considering for an indication of filament height ... still got time to play with it ( the printer ) tonight