cloakfiend 996
Unless you need the temperature aspect of ABS, I really don't understand any other reasons to print with it? Good Brands of PLA look just as good (maybe not flat top surfaces but thats about it). There is no other reason to use it. Strength is the same if not better with PLA for me. So if you don't need to put it in direct sunlight all day or under a hot lamp, or some other high temperature situation, i wouldn't even bother with ABS at all. Also all regular Colorfabb PLA smooths wonderfully at high res better in acetone than ABS as well, so its the nail in the coffin for ABS as far as I'm concerned.
I used to be the other way round and hated PLA at the start, but now regarding ABS, I wouldn't even touch the stuff.
Edited by Guest
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gr5 2,224
You start out with a hypothesis about ABS versus PLA and then conclude something about layer heights? This is confusing.
What have you found ABS has trouble with more specifically? Bridging? Overhangs? Lifting Corners? Ugly surfaces? Clogging? Underextrusion? Uneven extrusion?
I haven't done much with ABS but 245C and zero fan has worked well for me so far. Bed at 110C. Hairspray on the glass. Use brim.
But to cover the front of a UM2 all you need is some plastic wrap. No permanent modification necessary and it only takes a few minutes. And to cover the top all you need is a box of the right size.
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Artiz 27
Not sure about that 110C Bed temp... seems that if you have your bed temp up to high all the time you get a lot of warping and curling if you are printing anything with a bit of detail... especially at the beginning of a print... "Horses for courses" as they say. A 260C nozzle (higher) temp does seem to be the most reliable in my experience too.
Same goes for fans too... if you are printing a detailed part having the fans at 100% are important for fixing & drying/cooling your initial supporting/foundation layers to the build plate (especially important if your print is going upwards)... you can always turn them off later.
Having said all of that I am a bit of a print fiddler/tuner which is usually a dangerous game to play... nothing worse than losing a print that you just didn't watch or didn't bother fiddling with though.
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Artiz 27
... there's a few build plate fixatives out there and as we all know that initial fix is 'key'
I use a Matt Clear Sealer (solvent) spray (Valspar @ B&Q in UK) which I also use to completely seal/bond my prints when cool. I'm making detailed working parts for spearguns so this sealer is essential for my end products.
This fixative works at lower temps for ABS so I reduce my initial build plate temp to 50C and spray it on a split second before the print starts... works every time.
I also start at 80% speed which gives a nice thick/fixed brim to hold everything down as well as a material flow of 120% for your initial foundational layers. Fans @ 100% reducing to zero depending on initial levels of detail.
After 30 mins I bring my speed up to 100%... my buildplate temp up to 90C and reduce my material flow to 110%... checking back every hour or less.
Nozzle temp @ 260C throughout... seems to work for me!
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