First prints help needed for newb

[jackblack 0]

Hi All

Thanks for this great forum and any help in future.

These are a couple of early prints with a new UM2, the worst print as seen in the pictures was done at 0.10, the second print was made finer to 0.06, it was an improvement but still not great .

Any helpful comments would be appreciated, see link

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/gallery/image/6596-um2-early-prints-problem/

gr5 edit: embedded image.

 

[gr5 2,071]

What is it that is bothering you? Are the bottom 2 images of the bottom layer? If so you might want to check your leveling a little. You want the bottom layer to squish a little into the glass but not too much such that the plastic can't get out. Getting leveling accurate to 1/4 of the first layer is critical. So if first layer is .3mm (default) then you need accuracy around .05mm (1/2 of piece of paper). If first layer is .06 then you need accuracy of about .015mm (1/6 of piece of paper).

In top left picture there is a bump. If that is a problem you can try the "cool head lift" option or you can print 2 models at the same time so that one model has time to cool down while the other is printing.

 

[jackblack 0]

What is it that is bothering you? Are the bottom 2 images of the bottom layer? If so you might want to check your leveling a little. You want the bottom layer to squish a little into the glass but not too much such that the plastic can't get out. Getting leveling accurate to 1/4 of the first layer is critical. So if first layer is .3mm (default) then you need accuracy around .05mm (1/2 of piece of paper). If first layer is .06 then you need accuracy of about .015mm (1/6 of piece of paper).

In top left picture there is a bump. If that is a problem you can try the "cool head lift" option or you can print 2 models at the same time so that one model has time to cool down while the other is printing.

Thanks fo taking the time to reply GR5

The top two pictures are the first print at 0.01, the bottom two pics are a second attempt on a finer setting 0.06

The lump in the middle should be a curved raised bump, the link in the original post supplies a photo showing the zbrush smooth model, the whole thing is supposed to be smooth hard surface, but looks like chocolate cake.

 

[gr5 2,071]

but looks like chocolate cake.

 

:-P Sounds delicious.

All prints have layers if you zoom in enough. It's hard for me to imagine scale even though I assume these are glasses.

Also the pictures are a bit blurry. Maybe you should use a cell phone to take pictures? They tend to do macro photography very well.

I'm still not quite sure what is going on. If the top left picture is the same area as bottom right, and if top left is .06mm layers and bottom left is .1mm layers then there should be at least 1 or 2 "cake" layers on the bottom left picture.

So it's confusing.

Maybe the bottom left picture is of the bottom of the print? I'm not sure.

Is the bottom of your print designed to print flat on glass? I recommend experimenting with levelling. If the bottom left picture is the bottom of the print you should be able to improve that side and get it more smooth by printing with the nozzle slightly higher from the glass (maybe .02mm if bottom layer is .1, maybe .1mm if bottom layer is .3mm?). What is the thickness of your bottom layer? Cura defaults to .3mm.

Also you can get a smooth bottom layer by cleaning the glass well, and putting on a very small amount of glue stick and spreading the glue carefully with a wet finger or wet tissue.

The Brim feature in Cura will also help hold this print down.

Again, the bump in the top left picture is a bit of a mess - I assume that was the highest thing printed. I recommend adding two small towers that are a few mm taller than the glasses. Place one tower left of the glasses, one to the right so that the bump has time to cool. Or you can try "cool head lift" which isn't as good a solution. The towers should be about 1cm wide and can be square or round.

Please try again and answer some of my questions and try to take more pictures.

Also read about how you can smooth your finished prints. If you print with ABS you can use acetone vapor smoothing.

PLA requires a different chemical.

 

[gr5 2,071]

See post #1415 here:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/467-post-your-latest-print/?p=41757

 

[jackblack 0]

Hi GR5

Thanks for the input.

Yes they are glasses the whole front is around 135mm across and the bridge in the pictures is around 17mm

The pictures are from my uk guy who has the printer installed in his place, sorry about the quality.

I understand the layering issue and that is acceptable to me but the ridges on these first prints are very large and unacceptable as you may see in the link the test spec front is flat and smooth and basic, this is on purpose for printing test reasons.

I think they will get someone in from the distributor in london to give some training and setup the machine properly.

by the way zbrush is an amazing piece of software, the learning curve is steep but i found it easier than the more basic xyz 3d programs.