Anet A8 3D Printer.

[DAPPH]

Can you translate the verbal hieroglyphics into a simpletons language just for me Phil ?
My head is scrambled from a stroke , Covid 19 i 2019 , long term covid & a second milder case of Covid in Feb this year plus the after shocks of it.

Do you mean that either on your 3D design package or the slicer you set the type of filament being used and then fine tune the first layer of the actual print . Often scrapping any that are no good till you get a very good print going?

If so that's what I've been doing too.

 

[PhillipM]

No I set the z-offset in the slicer for every filament I use depending on how much it needs compressing on the first layer to get good bed adhesion, then save them all as filament profiles.
But yes I often tune the bed itself in just by on the first layer - you've basically got travelling plastiguage, seems a shame not to use it!

 

[DAPPH]

edited away

 

[DAPPH]

Just a heads up.. Bangood sent me an email this evening ...in it they are selling Chinese copies of the genuine original Prusa i3S with the latest modifications in kit form for about £275 basic cost , less the genuine Joseph Prusa print plates .

If I had the spare dosh right now I'd investigate further & perhaps take a chance on it as you can most likely get spares direct from Prusa, maybe use their on line manuals to assist with the construction if the Chinese manuals are totally useless.

 

[Onoff]

On the Anycubic i3 Mega S here my lad levelled the bed using the supplied sheet of paper.

It was ok but then I fine tuned it with feeler gauges. Just push the bed manually to all four corners and use the guage between bed and nozzle and the bed adjustment screws. No different to gapping a spark plug!

 

[DAPPH]

On the Anycubic i3 Mega S here my lad levelled the bed using the supplied sheet of paper.

It was ok but then I fine tuned it with feeler gauges. Just push the bed manually to all four corners and use the guage between bed and nozzle and the bed adjustment screws. No different to gapping a spark plug!

My Prusa i3S leveling is done automatically but you keep the paper in place during the initial setting up so as not to scratch the plate.

I've got a five & a half hour two part print running at present .
Made one earlier but for forgot to allow clearance values in assembling the metal tube & plastic cap.. ...everything done to precise sizes , almost home in place whilst assembling it , when Ping the ABS split. ( *$£@####'s ! )

Back to the drawing board late last night to do the redesigning ready for printing this morning , so far so good , it'll be printed by about 14.30 hrs. all being well & good.

One good thing is the frequent operations and correct key strokes are now starting to become memory muscle actions once more , I was beginning to think I'd lost a few too many brain cells to pick up the 3D designing & printing again.

 

[Bladevane]

@DAPPH - I have not been following this thread too closely but it seems you are struggling to get a decent print. I have a Prusa Mk3S and a Caribou Mk3S - both of which I consider to be "well" set up and reliable when printing with PLA or PETG and sliced with PrusaSlicer. I would be happy to give your print a go using either (or both) materials which might help you to diagnose where your problem lies, i.e. in the model, slicer, material, print settings etc. If you are interested you can send me the STL file and I'll give it a go.

 

[DAPPH]

@DAPPH - I have not been following this thread too closely but it seems you are struggling to get a decent print. I have a Prusa Mk3S and a Caribou Mk3S - both of which I consider to be "well" set up and reliable when printing with PLA or PETG and sliced with PrusaSlicer. I would be happy to give your print a go using either (or both) materials which might help you to diagnose where your problem lies, i.e. in the model, slicer, material, print settings etc. If you are interested you can send me the STL file and I'll give it a go.

Thanks very much, it appears I've got the basic problems sorted .. setting z to -0.600 from the initial calibration was the problem .

Joe Prusa's team were on the ball once they saw how my first layers were printing out , but it took a gal called Pavla to latch on to the enormous difference needed to set zero frommthe initial calibration for the first layers.

I've now got some fantastic prints where you can barely see the layers in ABS-T .

Had to smile at myself , I've mad a simple end cap to go over a 39.98 mm tube .. forgot to add 0.04 mm clearance ..result pushed it almost home then " Crack " it split . Re-did the drawing , it finished printing about 20 min ago ..it fits brilliantly .
BUT
The cap is made up of a cylinder that I push pulled the center out to give me a can with a 1.98 mm wall and a 5 mm thick bottom , that was introduced to an oblong that had the necessary curvature to fit snugly to the cylinder .. it looked great as it printed off.

One it had cooled I was about to take it off the plate when I noticed a very very fine line at the curved joint. I showed my wife the hairline crack asked her if she thought it was right the way through or just a surface mark , she chose right through on the basis I probably knew the answer & that's why I asked the question.
Yep ! ...... It came off the plate in two separate parts.

Obviously I need to push the parts a smidgeon closer so the drawing becomes one fused part rather than the two it was drawn as . Back to the drawing board Sam.

 

[daedalusminos]

It sounds like you need to change the way you model the part....something like that I would construct from a number of lines/curves sketched onto a plane then press/pull to construct the body

 

[PhillipM]

They should be combined into one body to start, rather than two parts close togeter.

 

[Bladevane]

setting z to -0.600 from the initial calibration was the problem

Quite. My z values vary from -0.500 to -1.180 depending on which machine, and therefore the height of the PINDA probe, and which plate (smooth, mildly textured or orange peel texture). Bear in mind the measured thickness of each plate will be different. Personally I feel time spent on achieving a good initial height is time well spent. I sorted mine a couple of months ago and have not adjusted them since. PLA and PETG work equally well on the same setting. Textured plates need a bigger negative z due to the filament being squished into the valleys in the texture.

 

[DAPPH]

It sounds like you need to change the way you model the part....something like that I would construct from a number of lines/curves sketched onto a plane then press/pull to construct the body

I've been playing for a few hours in solid & construction lines ..it looked good , could I turn the construction lines into outlines for push pull ....... I really must buy the second part of the course Think a revisit to some of Lars tube clips is needed

 

[DAPPH]

They should be combined into one body to start, rather than two parts close togeter.

That's where I messed up , I thought they had fused in to one single body ..the part I made a few days ago that split was perfect . In my minds eye ( just now ) I'd constructed a rectangle intruding in to a cylinder .

The latest cap was done in two drawn parts and moved towards each other then to push pull .... I'll play again tomorrow after I've removed all ten ( max allowed ) projects blocking the Fusion 360 freebie sessions .

 

[DAPPH]

Quite. My z values vary from -0.500 to -1.180 depending on which machine, and therefore the height of the PINDA probe, and which plate (smooth, mildly textured or orange peel texture). Bear in mind the measured thickness of each plate will be different. Personally I feel time spent on achieving a good initial height is time well spent. I sorted mine a couple of months ago and have not adjusted them since. PLA and PETG work equally well on the same setting. Textured plates need a bigger negative z due to the filament being squished into the valleys in the texture.

That makes sense.
I've popped a tiny spot of white snopaque on the edge of the spindles of any motor or fan face centre .. It was interesting to see the print stepper motor changing speeds to give the extra melt for filling holes in corners .

 

[DAPPH]

This morning when I removed two cold prints off the print plate I've noticed that the film covering the spring steel Pusa print plate has started to get microscopic bubbles in the corner places where the last set of 18 hr. prints were stuck to the plate . Anybody else got or had this happen ? if so what remedy did you need to resolve it?

 

[Bladevane]

The first thought that springs to mind is that the prints were overadherred (is that even a word?) to the plate. I use window cleaner spray to clean the textured plate before printing PETG and IPA then 3DLAC before printing with PLA. I then try to let the plate cool before attempting to remove the print. I've never printed with ABS though. My suggestion would be to contact Prusa and see if they will offer a replacement sheet.

 

[carbon]

On the printer I have the first time I printed any abs the bed covering blistered due to the heat. As it was second hand I just replaced the print bed surface with a printbite self adhesive sheet

 

[AndersK]

Anybody else got or had this happen

Quite normal to see on pei sheets, specially when printing petg.
No need to worry, keep printing til you notice poor adhesion or non acceptable bottom layer finnish.

Build surfaces are consumables so need replacement every now and then. Your milage will vary

 

[DAPPH]

Quite normal to see on pei sheets, specially when printing petg.
No need to worry, keep printing til you notice poor adhesion or non acceptable bottom layer finnish.

Build surfaces are consumables so need replacement every now and then. Your milage will vary

22 small prints & it's bubbled at 255 oC using ABS-T ( Prusa's own brand )

 

[ukracer]

I am back again struggling with fusion 360..

I need to extrude the two faces of this polo I have created leaving just 1mm skin for 5mm deep. A steel washer 78.8mm diameter will sit in there. (on both sides)
I then need 6 holes 10.4mm in diameter around the inside of the edge. Equal distance apart.


This what I am trying to recreate.