Jump to content

cloakfiend

Ambassador
  • Posts

    2,015
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    68

Everything posted by cloakfiend

  1. I print with everything default even the fans and only change the layer height nozzle temp and, so i didn't check, probably 60 or something, but i found that the glue is way more important than the bed temp as people without heated beds can print with PLA no problem. I never used that weird blue tape neither as with my prittstik power i dont re-apply for up to 20-30 prints which is obviously better for lazy people like myself. Also the height at which the printer starts the first layer is the most important as that is when the glue stuff needs to work, then you walk away for a few hours and pray you dont get any jams... I always align the bed screws on the fly as that is the time when you know your good to leave it to print or not. Its a bit of a time rush thing, but get used to the way you need to turn the screws to tighten or loosen them againt the nozzle, and as soon as you start the print and it draws that outline thing, that is the time you need to calibrate the bed (make sure your nozzle is properly clean). Assuming you've put the glue on right and its the right glue (not the bumpy one), once it starts drawing after its little pile of extrusion at the start get ready to turn the screws. if you don't see it sticking them your nozzle is too far away so turn the nearest screw counter clockwise, then keep looking at the thickness of that first layer and make sure its as even as you can get it. you only need to do this every now and then, or in your case if its not sticking. i never recalibrate even after removing the entire glass tray and putting it back, but if you need to its just a few turns here and there. Its hard to explain how to apply the glue. ive heard people use hair spray, but i cant see that lasting nearly as long as glue, but i guess its up to you, there are no rules here. I just bought loads of glues until i found one that layed on smooth and not lumpy like the regular pritt stik and other paper glues. its all abount the right texture of the glue and an even application of it on the glass plate, not bumpy cos you dont want it going in your nozzle. Hope ive helped a bit, here are some random pics that may/may not be useful to you. dont be afraid to experiment. Ive taken my UM2 apart and dropped bits here and there and have had all sorts of issues due to messing around with it (which is why i got it originally) , but with a little TLC repairs and rebuilds its as good as new, and i havet replaced anything on it. imgurl image upload posted image
  2. Ok here is my 50mm Z axis head test. much like the smaller 30mm one in using the same settings, 210C temp 35mm speed 0.06 Z and UM Blue PLA, 1.2mm shell no infill. And the same 25s in acetone dip.(i.e. fully submerged) Here are the visuals of what goes on after you dip it so you see how lovely it smooths it. pay close attention to the shadows and curved areas as well as the smoothness of the flat areas, and remeber im deliberately not doing any sanding to show you how little is needed after the dip, if any. This entire process took around 15-20mins BTW. I think it slows down after and may settle a touch more, but nothing you will visibly notice. UM Blue at 0.06 + Acetone is awesome... image hoster free pic upload png photo sharing sites upload an image and some angled shots post img upload an image img host and the bottom looks like this... image host
  3. I regularly do 30-50 Hr prints, and my main problem used to be jams, but now that i do atomic pulls with white pla, i can see when my nozzle is truly clean as opposed to having the right shape when pulling it out of the nozzle. but my main problem is the plastic tangling itself on the reel, if its new then sometimes it relaxes too much after it first unwinds, and some of the plastic goes over itself and tightens and this leads to layers getting skipped or the classic printing nothing, and then printing in thin air. 1. make sure you have a clean nozzle, (really clean) 2. Try and measure out how much material you will need and either cut it off the reel, and arrange it nearby so it doenst get tangled, (but i never do this, i just cross my fingers and try to make sure the material is not getting tangled but theres much much you can do to stop this especially if you are not around when its getting jammed. Thats it. good luck. Ive never restarted a print, and wouldn't recommend it especially if you are a beginner. All you would really need is a resume from sd card option and the lower head to unfinished layer option, other than that the other stuff is irrelevant in my opinion. As you are generally gonna get a weird layer there unless the height and posinion is identical to where it left off. If you cant pull these long prints off, then i would just print things smaller or lower res. bitty prints are a real dirty fix.
  4. People are so stupid they deserve to waste their own money in vain searches of quick fixes...
  5. Ok spot which ones have been acetone dipped and which havent and which ones are printed in 0.1 and which 0.06.... gonna paint them with metallic paints next. imagen Will post one more UM blue 0.06 layer print acetone de-interlacing/smoothing test soon.
  6. I personally know i am not going to get 'perfect results' but from past experience have realised that its more the materials i use that change things like overhang quality, and things like that as well as temperature. Thats it. I NEVER dial in settings. And i find it truly fruitless printing test pieces. i use the same settings for EVERYTHING i print, and i have high standards, so if i can do it i find it puzzling that other people have so many issues? The only thing i cant seem to totally eliminate are the ringing lines, but i can minimise them in post, and are kind of bound to happen with fdm so i have slowly grown to live with them, but other than that and the occasional nozzle jam thats it. I truly see no reason at all for test pieces. I just adjust the temp and speed, usually on the fly during the first print, when i get to what i want ill just stop the print and start fresh after a few layers. Problem solved. I wish you the best with your issues, and hope i wont need any replacement parts anytime soon!!! I use cura btw and only use the basic settings page. like this. i play around with heat settings on the fly its a lot easier that way. upload pictures free
  7. Damn i never got weird stuff like that even with the bad curas, i guess it must be something to do with the infill speeds being different or something . even at 70mm/s i have clean prints? not sure. i just use mostly default settings and touchwod, ive neverr have many problems. I think the problems arise when you start messing with too many setting that you dont really know what the variables do. These are my settings at the mo for high rez stuff i dont touch anything else. image free hosting but i would manually set the temp to 230 during printing as 210 is too low for my pla to squeeze through at 0.2 upload image online upload pictures free I would also normally set the infill to 20 or 30. A lot of people mess with the setting obsessively but i found that there is no need, there are going to be lines, and it will not be perfect as you very well know, but as long as it looks like the printer has not seriously gone wrong during the print im happy. Those who seek perfection should look at post methods rather than endless fruitless tweaking they fool themselves into thinking they are actually making improvements. I speak of course for UM2 as that is what i have experience in. Temp and speed are the ONLY settings which you actually need to play with ignore everything else. Also remember the thickness of your nozzle being relative as well, i e. .4, .8, 1.2.... thats it. some appropriate glue as well (for pla that is), and a clean nozzle. lol. P.S. i preffer a 1.2 thicker wall as it generally makes the model MUCH sturdier and not to delicate feeling.
  8. OK here are the undercoated pics still no sanding whatsoever apart from the tiny top where the printer finished the top of the head, if im going to chrome it i will need to light sand with very fine sand paper. but obviously we are slowly losing detail due to the acetone and layers/ texture of paint( which is why its better to overdo the depth of detail during the modeling stages to compensate for the finishing process. But seeing as if you want something looking its best, you cant expect to just pull it of the plate and start painting unless you really dont care about quality. No good model painter will ever paint a model right out of the box. everything needs finessing even resin prints... Oh well here is the best my ultimaker 2 will do at a first test for the 30mm model, maybe colorfabb pla would keep more details, but bear in mind i will need to sand it regardsless to get a smooth surface as possilble, to even out any bumos in the paint and to eliminate any obvious ringing. post a picture image sharing sites you only see the true form of your object once you paint it. it always looks best untouched but you wont see the flaws until you put that first layer of paint on. I think here i may have overdone the spraying a touch!
  9. ok under closer inspection, the lines (more like slight gradients) are still visible but are so minor i really couldnt care so much. if i was making a model this small i would make the wrinkles deeper for them to be more visible after the acetone dip(or any post production of cleaning up). the smaller the object, the more visible the lines are going to be as when the details of the model become finer than the details of the layers then it all becomes a bit pointless. whilst the details of the wrinkles are still clearly visible, i wouldnt waste me time printing things this detailed this small, that is the lesson i have learned. ill try printing it twice the size and see what that looks like after a wash....
  10. no problem, only took an hour and a bit to print, and did a great job with no jams at all which was great, ill give it a quick under coat and spray it gold so you will see it as a 'finished' model.
  11. ill stick to just a scalple blade, not even heated up, lol.
  12. i pretty much only use colorfabb and ultimaker filament and use pretty much default settings for both. i print from 0.2 to the mich finer 0.06 with no issues apart from nozzle jams but after using my white colorfabb to atomic pull so i can see ANY carbonised partcles left on it. ever since i been doing that i have perfect prints. i use pritstik power for my glue but its a bit strong so i just put a bit and smear it about with water. i print at 210 for slow prints ie 35mm/s and 230c for everything around 50-70 mm/s.
  13. Heres a close up dip test on one of my trex skulls...just to show you how nice the surface becomes.... but im gonna post my acetone business on my thread as otherwise i repeat myself on other peoples threads. all printed at 0.06 umblue lets you go to maybe 0.1. but 0.06 is a must with colorfabb. imagehost
  14. After Acetone dip 25secs no sanding has been done at all btw. image upload no compression image hosting P.s. most of the lines you are seeing will not be visible after a light spray coating, in fact almost all of them with be invisible. its just the way PLA looks after it been printed. the acetone actually helps bring the detail out to some extent...eitherway i think it came out great. ready for a chrome finish...lol
  15. Ok heres the 0.06 untouched model 30mm on Z at 210C 35mm/s no infill just 1.2 shell. UM blue PLA. upload pic screenshot software image hosting site over 5mb Ill do the acetone dip and see how it look after..... Ok ill give it an hour and post the pics. still some lines, but still ok, some detail has been lost, but i guess you could just paint it without the dip, as its pretty detailed.
  16. Do the atomic pull. And use white, as then youll be able to see any crap left over from another time in the nozzle. I have exactly the same issues and it turns out i just didnt clean my nozzle out well enough. Pushing through colorfabb white pla a few times solved everything. I used to print at a higher 220 but now am back to the standard 210. Keep doing the pull until the nozzle is visibly clear and there are NO particles of black visible on the plastic you are pulling out of it. For pla i heat up the end to 260 then let it cool to about 85 and carefully rip it out. Its looks for the pics you are not letting it cool enough before whipping it out. Sometimes you can let it cool too much and you have to heat it up tp 260 again and start over. But the end should look like a pencil, not all wobbly like in the pic you posted. P.s. Dont worry about the blob , and in my opinion to do the atomic pull correctly, you have to keep pushing the filament into the nozzle even while it cools down so you visibly see it slowing down coming out of the nozzle due to the lower temps and, so that its tight against the inside of the nozzle when you pull it out. Just heating it up pushing it in and cooling it down and then wipping it out will not be enough from experience. Then the shape of the filament should be more like the inside of the nozzle.
  17. My ultimaker2 prints pretty damn perfect everytime i coudlnt reproduce those blobs even if i wanted to, ive just done some 0.2 layer height stuff and now am doing 0.06. I dont get any weird stuff people complain about. I now always do my shells at 1.2 used to do them at 0.8 but it meant they were a bit to fragile for my liking. And speeds i use are 35, 50, and 70. anytime i get errors, it means i need to clean the nozzle. Dont try to print too fast and expect great results. I also wouldnt waste my time printing tests, your better off trying out new settings on the thing you want to print, rather than some bunch of cubes and weird shapes meant to test the printers capabilities. Just my opinion. Also maybe try different filament. Ive have a great time with ultimaker blue pla and black colorfabb pla also. But i see you have an um1 whilst i have a 2. Not sure it matters though as ive heard great things about the um1 that beat eventhe results of the um2
  18. Just a touch of sanding and acetone and a touch more light sanding and undercoat then three to four light coats of metalic gold chrome. Didnt take too long. Might want to varnish or seal it after as the gold i used wore out a bit when i rubbed it. You can check my acetone smoothing pla thread for more pics.
  19. if you send the they live one i promise not to share it, and only print it as a comparison for you, i could do it tomorrow if you want. I just love that movie...
  20. Here is a close up of mario, also 4inches tall. 0.06 layer height using my acetone dip method, black colorfabb pla(which almost guarantees you wont lose too much detail) and printed at 35mm/s and 210 degrees i think i forget i would do it at 220 now, lol? screengrab
  21. As a note im not sure i mentioned this before, but regularly use my white colorfabb PLA to nozzle clean my machine as its the easiest to see any dirt, and highly recommend it as using coloured filaments prevents you from seeing the tiny carbonized particles that you cant miss on white, i've had no nozzle jams since and my printer prints as good as day one now, even with all the drama i've had with it in the past and the occasional failed print resulting in plastic just being melted everywhere around the print nozzle because i didnt put enough glue on the plate. also i use prit stik power, and one coat of that usually lasts for about 15-20 prints without re-aplication as its so damn strong, i just wipe it with a damp towel or tissue and its goo to go again, and again...and after its enough to just print on top without putting water on it, so i have found it to be very good.
  22. OK Ultimaker blue is my weapon of choice. at 0.06 it truly is the best quality i can hope to acheive with the ultimaker. In terms of reaction to acetone, i have found it to perform extremely well if not the best of all, however too much acetone will destroy it, unlike the colorfabb stuff which must contain less PHA or ABS in the PLA. Eitherway if you want smooth high quality print then get hold of some ultimaker blue, like in the video i posted above and print high res and dip it for like 25 seconds in pure acetone. i guarantee you will be impressed. My search is over, and im only going to use blue ultimaker PLA from now on, it also has a higher tolerance to heat so it doenst get jammed as much at lower temps and seems to perform well at overhangs and in general. I was told that the stuff they shipped with the printer was of lower quiality but im finding the opposite effect. Its the best!! Here is a little piture breakdown of my cannes project printed at 220-225degrees, i start at 230C to prevent nozzle jams and dial it down as it prints until i hear the clicks ( I usually aim not to hear them so stop around the 220 mark for ultimaker blue (as at 0.06 overhangs dont fair so well in high temps as opposed to the 0.1 edges), then ramp it up 10Degrees and back down 5. If im happy with the result at a higher temp ill just leave it print. then a touch of sanding to be sure (but this is at your discretion, not always essentional!) and soak it in acetone. Now i used a brush and many coatings of acetone as it reacted well to it and i didnt want to dip as the part had many very thin sections and i know it would just warp, so the brush on method eliminated this problem. The brush on method doesnt work for colorfabb PLA at all BTW the reaction time is just too long. gifs upload Ultimaker blue is the one!
  23. OK i needed a Gold Cannes logo for something, so..... capture screen image upload no ads screenshot program
  24. @mitchfx, if you're gonna go down the high rez printing route, then do it at 60 microns and dip it in acetone for like 45 seconds (black colorfabb pla and blue ultimaker PLA work great). It should smooth the tiny lines out and leave you with an almost perfeclty finished piece. I've learnt that i need to clean my nozzle out a little more than i thought i'd have to to avoid my dreaded cloggs and the stupid roll keeps tangling my damn PLA getting caught up on itself. I can show you some ultra close ups of those models and you wont easily be able to tell they've been printed on an 3dprinter.
  25. Im very safe, but to be honest after messing around with this stuff, (a lot of it) i found it pretty harmless, even when i practically bathed in it. I also did a ton of research on it, and its even harmless if you drink like 30ml of it, so im not too fussed anymore. It just stinks a bit. I keep it in a tupperware box in my garden and just go there to dip my models in. the whole dangers of igniting it with a spark are so improbable the way i do it, its safe as houses, i dont vapourise it at all so its fine. People just stress too much about safety with this stuff. I've switched back to ultimaker blue for my next model as that material smoothed real nice from experience, ill have to dip that after a touch of sanding for a smooth finish as i want to chrome it up afterwards in gold.
×
×
  • Create New...