Stringing of delicate print

[Tiger91 1]

I've been trying to print a version of the Eiffel Tower on my UM 3, and as you can see, there have been issues with stringing (even at 120% size)

(picture here:) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3BtcLye8-jzZXZ5QkNfSjRaWXM/view?usp=sharing

It looks pretty ugly, and I want to change that.

Does anyone know if it is possible to print a high-quality version of this on a UM3 using Cura?  I've read the manuals on how to reduce the stringing, but if someone could provide me with a ready-solution it would be great (and save me a lot of trial/error time).  Of course, if it's not possible to print this on the UM3, it would be nice to know that too.

Thanks

[tomnagel 126]

Yuk.

Which version of Cura did you use? Is it PLA? Which brand?

Did you make changes to the default profiles?

Recently I had a model which had a lot of retractions in a small area. The z-hop option is turned on by default in the PLA profiles, causing deterioration of print quality.

Turning z-hop off greatly improved pq for that model.

(Normally I advocate that the default profiles are really good, but there are exceptions)

[Tiger91 1]

Yuk.

Which version of Cura did you use? Is it PLA? Which brand?

Did you make changes to the default profiles?

Recently I had a model which had a lot of retractions in a small area. The z-hop option is turned on by default in the PLA profiles, causing deterioration of print quality.

Turning z-hop off greatly improved pq for that model.

(Normally I advocate that the default profiles are really good, but there are exceptions)

 

I'm using official ultimaker PLA. I'll try it with no hop, but I was wondering if there should be a reduction in temp/printing speed and if so how much?

[tomnagel 126]

My personal experience is that the default profiles are hard to beat.

It's impossible to optimize for all models out there, but for most models these profiles give excellent results.

The problem is that many variables belong together, it takes experience to turn all these knobs. For 99% of my prints, I don't even bother anymore.

[Tiger91 1]

My personal experience is that the default profiles are hard to beat.

It's impossible to optimize for all models out there, but for most models these profiles give excellent results.

The problem is that many variables belong together, it takes experience to turn all these knobs. For 99% of my prints, I don't even bother anymore.

 

I've tried a few different ways, but I'm never able to get it clean. Is it even possible to print this on a UM3 so it looks decent?

[tomnagel 126]

I've tried a few different ways, but I'm never able to get it clean.  Is it even possible to print this on a UM3 so it looks decent?

 

I think so. If you give me a link to the file, I'll give it a shot myself.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Guest

[Tiger91 1]

I've tried a few different ways, but I'm never able to get it clean.  Is it even possible to print this on a UM3 so it looks decent?

I think so. If you give me a link to the file, I'll give it a shot myself.

Try this:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1170674/#files

It seems like the lines are too small, but I hope I'm wrong.

[geert_2 558]

Could a factor be that the layers don't have enough time to cool down? Or that the nozzle is too hot, and then melts the previously printed tiny columns?

If I had to do that on an UM2 (I don't have an UM3), I would try to print it as cool as possible, and very slow. Maybe 180 to 190°C at 20mm/s? And I would probably print a dummy tower next to it for extra cooling time.

Maybe you could try various settings on a small section of this model?

[tomnagel 126]

I printed the eiffeltower from Thingiverse, on an UM3. It is a challenging print!

I changed 1 parameter: I disabled "Z hop when retracted" in the normal profile (0.1mm layerheight).

See the pictures for my result.

[tomnagel 126]

So I'm not sure this is what you are looking for. There is hardly any material extrusion between retractions, that what makes this print so challenging. Maybe a direct drive extruder would do better here. But it will be a challenging print for any FDM printer.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Guest

[geert_2 558]

I printed the eiffeltower from Thingiverse, on an UM3. It is a challenging print!

I changed 1 parameter: I disabled "Z hop when retracted" in the normal profile (0.1mm layerheight).

See the pictures for my result.

 

Has this been printed with support, or without? I guess it is PLA? I think you could still reduce stringing further by reducing temp and speed.

[tomnagel 126]

This was printed without support, with PLA.

[Tiger91 1]

So I'm not sure this is what you are looking for. There is hardly any material extrusion between retractions, that what makes this print so challenging. Maybe a direct drive extruder would do better here. But it will be a challenging print for any FDM printer.

 

I was just wondering since I'm planning on starting a 3D printing business, and wanted to test my UM3 to see how capable it is.