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Topic: Another print question on speeding up a print

I've got an object to print that is for all intents a 5 inch long, 3inch wide, 3 inch tall hollow cube with an open bottom.  When I first started the print the estimate I got was 32 hours.  I changed the support material from hexagonial to rectilinear and it went down to 22 hours.  If I put an arch inside of the cube could I eliminate the support material and drop another 10 hours off the build?   Are there other things I could do to speed up the print and still get good results?

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Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

Are you printing at .1mm?  Those seem like insane times, otherwise.  You can hollow the print and put a 45 degree chamfer between the wall and the top.  It can handle the 45 degree overhang.  Make the chamfer deep enough that it only needs to bridge about 40-50mm across the middle when it gets to the top layers.  Make the top at least 5-10mm thick so there are enough layers after the bridging to make an even support for the top solid layers.

Update your firmware to the latest version from Github from https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-ma … /Marlin_v1

Set your external perimeters to 50, perimeters to 100, fill at 100 with line pattern, try solid fill at 80 or 100.  The printer can go that fast, but at high speeds tends to overshoot giving you a slight blob up the corners.  Keeping the external perimeters low will hopefully prevent that, and then let the inner loops run fast.  Using line file gives the printer a chance to get up to speed as well.  Go with 4 solid layers since the line fill doesn't provide as much support.  Also when you hollow the print, keep the sides at maybe 5mm thick so it isn't trying to draw fill that is only 1mm wide.

Additionally, if you are printing .1mm layers, set fill to every 3 layers.   Also run your temperature at 200-205 to help the ABS melt fast enough for extruding at high speed.  I've found that I can go 100 without the extruder skipping.  You might be able to push that to 150.  With the new firmware, the Solidoodle's speed is limited by the extruder, rather than its ability to move in X and Y.

3 (edited by roughtyper 2012-10-03 16:25:06)

Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

Open bottom?  Do you mean 5 sides of a box?

Could you print it with the open side up and eliminate all support material?

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Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

Yes, though it is easier if the top edges of the box are sharp.  If they are rounded, the overhang at the beginning of the curve might be too much.  You can print a fillet upside down if it isn't too wide.

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Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

The problem with printing the top on the bottom is that there is a fair amount of detail on that side that I'm afraid of loseing.  The shape is a british police call box (from that show you know) with the back side open.  The camfer idea that Ian mentioned is what I was trying to say with arch.

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Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

So you are printing a Tardis lying down?  Is the light going to be hanging out in midair?  You might nee some support for that.  Why not print it standing up?  If it is lying down, the detail on the doors on top will look different from the doors on the sides.  Their surfaces will be solid layer patterns, while the side door surfaces will be layers.

7 (edited by roughtyper 2012-10-03 17:55:51)

Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

Another idea if you want consistent texture would be to print it as 5 pieces.  Each piece could be printed with the detail on top, and it should cut down on your run time as well.  Glue it up at the end.

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Re: Another print question on speeding up a print

Ian, I had completely forgotten about the light.  You're right it will need support.

RoughTyper, I had thought of glueing idea too.  I wanted to avoid glue just because I wanted it to be all one piece but glue is probably the quickest way to do it.