FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination

[Dave Ward]

More learning - don't buy unbranded filament! I bought several 20m lengths of filament - and spent a couple of days cursing - brittle, failing to feed properly - wouldn't stick to the build plate. The whole lot went into the bin.
Another lesson - read the description of the models - I managed to print out two parts that I thought were micro sd card holders - I left them to print & they were standard size SD card holders.
and another - don't assume that all free models are correct. I printed one part out & a flange of it broke off, so I printed another & the same thing happened - a weakness in the design!
I've been experimenting by printing out 1/35 wooden crates etc. If you crank up the speed, then you lose all detail, if you print for detail, then that extends the print time to several hours for a 19mm X 9mm crate. - so you have to find a happy medium - enough detail, without stupid print times. There's only one way to do this & that's by trial and error.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

More lessons learned! I've been experimenting with scale, speed/quality, and come to a conclusion that slower is much much better, now I can leave the printer alone, it really doesn't matter how long things take to print.
For example a set of 9 oil drums partly covered with a tarp - on the left scaled to 1/48, and took the best part of 4 hours to print - on the right at 1/35 & taking just over 2 hours to print:

The 1/35 drums will be just about useable in the back of a lorry, with other stuff. Scaling does add to the printing time, but it's useful to be able to produce prints for all scales.
More 1/35 gear, drums, crates & piles of boxes

Drum not so useful there are loads of injection moulded oil drums available. The crates can be scaled up or down to suit space. The piles of boxes - good for truck loads. All of these printed slowly in blue filament & primed.
I printed out a small filament spool - I'm still amazed that the threads engage, without any clean up

These two parts took about 1 1/2 hours to print each.
I had a problem in a way I certainly didn't expect. With the printing at speed, the printer vibrates a lot, especially as the build plate ( Y axis ) goes backwards and forwards. I was printing OK, then the quality started to decline - I checked the bed levelling, changed the filament, but that didn't help. I realised that the vibration had loosened the nuts on the front plate. This had allowed the front plate to move back slightly - this reduced the Y-axis belt drive tension & introduced a load of backlash. This meant that the build plate was never in the correct place, at the correct time, not by much, but enough to ruin print quality. Tighten the nuts up again, belt tension restored - I must get some threadlock!
I can see why tinkering is the 3D printers' time consumer. I'm wondering if you have to do the same thing with the top of the range pre-built machines? A lot of patience, and a lot of common sense is essential.
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Great progress Dave.
I never had a loosening problem with my Ultimakers, but we did with the self assembly machines.
Not for the faint hearted or impatient, is it?

 

[Dave Ward]

Great progress Dave.
I never had a loosening problem with my Ultimakers, but we did with the self assembly machines.
Not for the faint hearted or impatient, is it?

I must admit that I look on ebay at the higher level machines & dream that I can get a similar bargain to my Anet, but it seems that everybody else has the same idea. Of course it's probably unrealistic of me, at the price level I'm prepared to pay! . I keep on looking at the spares/for repair lots, mechanical problems I can sort, but anything electronic - not a chance. - to replace the mainboard on my Anet would be £50+, so I imagine other makes are similar prices - hardly a bargain. Still I can but hope!
Dave

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

I must admit that I look on ebay at the higher level machines & dream that I can get a similar bargain to my Anet, but it seems that everybody else has the same idea. Of course it's probably unrealistic of me, at the price level I'm prepared to pay! . I keep on looking at the spares/for repair lots, mechanical problems I can sort, but anything electronic - not a chance. - to replace the mainboard on my Anet would be £50+, so I imagine other makes are similar prices - hardly a bargain. Still I can but hope!
Dave

personal opinion: If looking for a 3d printer for non-commercial usage, look at the Elegoo range.
That is my intention, but savings are about to take a hammering if the dog needs a vet visit.

fdm : elegoo neptune 3 @ https://www.3djake.uk/elegoo/neptune-3-pro ---- not easy to find , new model , older neptune 3 may be avail cheaper
resin : elegoo mars3 pro @ https://www.3djake.uk/elegoo/mars-3-pro or https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGOO-Purifier-Protector-Precision-5-62x3-5x6-8-Mars-3-Pro/dp/B0B4JN6KX4 ( I know you don't want a resin printer but others might )

 

[Dave Ward]

I know you don't want a resin printer but others might )

There's nothing I'd like more than a resin printer, but living in a mid-floor flat means the problems associated with the resin & post-printing treatment are too much...............
Dave

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Apols for the wording, i should have said '' I know you don't think a resin printer would not fit in with your present setup''

 

[Dave Ward]

The first major print - this is from Thingiverse, by user ' mkkvideo ' desert diorama base - I knew it would be a long one, so I levelled the bed very carefully - I didn't want any hiccups during the 10 3/4 hours it was going to take (!!)

This is 150mm x 150mm ( there are two holes for cacti bottom right, not yet printed ). I printed this at rather lower speed, for better quality.
In close up. the 'rocks' are a bit weird, but with a couple of coats of primer won't look too bad. The underside of the print shows that the careful levelling paid off - a uniform surface, showing overall contact with the bed plate


I have had quite a few failures - most of which have ended up with balls of extruded filament being dragged around the build plate - but this failure was most annoying. When I printed it, his back was towards me & it looked great...............

Took about 3 hours to print & when it finished, I found this..................
This is about 125mm high - I was almost tempted to print a 225mm high one, which would have taken 7 hours to print, I'm relieved I didn't!
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Desert base looks good. Apart from the obvious the "Easter Island" statue is nice. Can you simply fill where necessary?

 

[Dave Ward]

Desert base looks good. Apart from the obvious the "Easter Island" statue is nice. Can you simply fill where necessary?

The way the Maoi is printed is in what is called 'vase', or spiralise mode this is one continuous extruded filament from bottom to top - this means that the wall thickness all over is 0.4mm! it's too fragile to really do anything with, and to make things worse, there's no access to the inside ( solid base ). I'm afraid that will have to be written off as part of the learning curve!
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

The way the Maoi is printed is in what is called 'vase', or spiralise mode this is one continuous extruded filament from bottom to top - this means that the wall thickness all over is 0.4mm! it's too fragile to really do anything with, and to make things worse, there's no access to the inside ( solid base ). I'm afraid that will have to be written off as part of the learning curve!
Dave

I guess the clue is in the word 'vase' Dave- no tops on vases...

 

[Dave Ward]

A 6 hour print - a narrow road section - it looks a little odd, maybe a coat of primer will help

I primed the desert base I printed yesterday..............

There are also two cacti as part of this base, but they look like Mexican cacti! - I don't know if similar cacti are found in North Africa, but I'm leaving them off. I was a bit hasty in priming this, I realise that any model on this would need footprints/tracks left by it/them. Not sure about the best way to do that, but I think that heated metal will come into it..............
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

A lick of primer & the roadbase looks a lot better

It's called a Middle Eastern roadway - but it could be any street, anywhere
Dave

 

[langy71]

A lick of primer & the roadbase looks a lot better
View attachment 475832
It's called a Middle Eastern roadway - but it could be any street, anywhere
Dave

That would have been perfect for my toyota technical build .....
I take it you could sand down the road section to get a more uniform 'tarmac' effect ?

 

[Dave Ward]

You can sand down PLA, but it has a low melting point, so no dremel! Probably better to give it a skim of filler....................
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

It was bound to happen, sooner or later - my printer was happily muttering away to itself, about 5 minutes left of a 4 hour print............................when all the lights went out! ( this was at 21:25 ). Only a 10 second outage, but enough to shut down my computer, and the printer - a bit of a bummer - you can see what is missing on the top layers, but it's not that bad - some high end printers have protection against power cuts, mine doesn't - I'll put up some pictures tomorrow, 'cos it's quite an intriguing model. I've just about finished printing out all the bits for the Bailey Bridge, but one or two don't pass muster, so I'll have to print out a few replacements
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Looking forward to the pics Dave?

 

[Jim R]

As you say Dave it had to happen. Real bad luck. I hope the print can be used.

 

[Dave Ward]

. I hope the print can be used.

I'm still really in the experimental stage, finding out what can ( and can't ) be done with my printer, so some prints are just to see if they will work - a lot of the prints freely available are only suitable for resin printing, and it's not always obvious to me which they are ( at the moment )
This is from Thingiverse, by user ' kdausman ' - I wasn't sure it would print...............

I had the power blip, just as it was finishing the top layers...............

You can see the blob at the top right where the printer stopped. This was printed at a standard quality & speed - if I upped the quality, the printing time may have doubled. All in all it was pretty successful.
My next experiment will be with some 'metal' filament - this is rather pricy, so I'll try a few small prints first. I've selected a couple of the Lewis Chess Set as guinea pigs They will take about 4 hours printing for a 90mm piece
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I'm interested to see how you get on with the metal stuff Dave. I only ever tried the bronze filled and we had more failure than success...
I can't remember the specific issues to be of any help, sorry, but we did have some success.