Nobody seriously prints small ABS parts without a fan to avoid the lower layers staying too warm and melting, charring or warping.

you are correct, I don't "seriously" print small parts - in any material - without a fan.. because I simply don't print things that are that small very often. it is very rare that I print something under 50mm cubed.

and if making money with what I actually do have is "missing out", then so be it.. but I don't consider a single invoice of over $450 for roughly 30 pieces of plastic is missing out.

you do your thing, I will do mine, k?
No need to get all bent out of shape over what someone else does, or doesn't do.

Unless I'm missing something we all have been in this "hobby" (not sure if me solely printing prototypes for actual injection molded products we make is considered hobby) for at least 5 years. I think everything needing reconsidering has been considered long ago.

By the way those magnetic neodymium magnetic doors for the enclosures sound cool in the beginning but I ended up adding hinges to one side and magnets to the other for locking the door for good (like Solidoodle 4 I believe). Hinged doors are still more practical and faster to operate then just sticking and unsticking a window in place with magnets.

Not sure where you are getting your info but the door on my 4Max is hinged on the left side. The magnet just holds it closed on the right.

Real pic here, not some representation.

By the way those magnetic neodymium magnetic doors for the enclosures sound cool in the beginning but I ended up adding hinges to one side and magnets to the other for locking the door for good (like Solidoodle 4 I believe). Hinged doors are still more practical and faster to operate then just sticking and unsticking a window in place with magnets.

isnt PETG what plastic soda bottles etc are made of? if so that has very hazardous odorless off gassing making it an Industrial lab room type use material. NOT for in home use. as does Nylon like weed eater line.

Again your wisdom shows it's age.

MSDS for PETG says simply this.

Processing fumes may cause irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract, and in cases of severe overexposure, nausea and headache.

Standing outside can do that much.

I have used PETG since it was released and even let it print overnight in my bedroom and I have had no ill effects from it. PLA bothers me more than PETG. Something you have to understand about these polymers is that off gassing takes place at a higher temp than the melt temps that we use for printing. You almost have to be burning PETG for it to give off harmful gasses. You would need to heat it to the point the color would change.  Most cases of people having issues with fumes are becuase they are using to high of a temp in the first place. The idea is to use the very minimum temperature you can to accomplish your print job. You should never need to go over the MAX temp stated on the filament. If you do then your reported temp versus real temp are not accurate.

based on your concerns about machines, electronics, and materials I honestly have to say that you really need to think hard about this being your hobby or not. Honestly you are to concerned about things you should not be. Just go with what you want and build your machines how you want. Stop sweating things so much.

But you seriously need to reconsider this hobby if the things you voice concern over really concern you.

Okay, fair enough, but you are commenting about what is and is not a band-aid solution to posts discussing ABS printing. That's exactly my point, I don't think your guides are from places most people post their guides these days.

Anycubic 4Max looks like what Solidoodle 4 should have been. From my experience with the Anycubic with the Photon I'm sure it prints great, but not sure how much advantage it brings over something like Ender3 which uses the same aluminum profiles sans the cubic design but with plastic connectors.

The 4Max is enclosed with exception to the top and with a simple mod can be completely enclosed. The panels are actually a cool material. It's like a composite material sandwiched between two thin pieces of aluminum. They add a lot of weight to the machine. It weighs nearly 50 pounds fully assembled.

They use a dedicated version of the MKV variant by Trigorilla. But seems very stable. They use a special coated glass they call black diamond and it works very well. Sticks like glue when hot and the part lifts right off when cool. Just needs a quick wipe with alcohol after every few prints. I need to see if I can source a de-compiled version of the firmware so I can make a few changes I would like not accessible through LCD.

Anycubic 4Max looks like what Solidoodle 4 should have been. From my experience with the Anycubic with the Photon I'm sure it prints great, but not sure how much advantage it brings over something like Ender3 which uses the same aluminum profiles sans the cubic design but with plastic connectors.

No disrespect or insult is intended, but some of you guys are stuck in a bubble and echo chamber.

Nobody seriously prints small ABS parts without a fan to avoid the lower layers staying too warm and melting, charring or warping. Ironically in my original post I deleted I used the same phrase: you guys are the ones putting a "band-aid" to a probem by printing towers or whatever to allow the rest of the print to cool down. It's a waste of filament and time. A single fan draws few hundred milliamps tops and cost few dollars. if you're going to argue our reason for not wanting to waste filament is about money we can argue the same about you not wanting to buy and use a cooling fan. Neither is true.

Same goes to these "youtubers". Most of them are literally OG members of RepRap forums before Soliforum even existed. Their channel growth and public image standing depends on them giving accurate and honest tips and opinions. Same is true for any other education channel about any subject including programming, design, music production and engineering. They are not the clickbaiter prankster sensationaliser youtubers who belong to the entertainment section of youtube.

Same goes to the attitude towards chinese 3d printers. Anet is a modified Prusa. Even as-is without mods it's an order of magnitute better experienece and higher quality than stock Solidoodle 3 and 4 were. Just because you could modify the hell out of Solidoodle just to hopefully get it to print properly doesn't mean it was worth it for most and youtubers or others pointing out stuff like that means we should avoid their advice.
Ender is an all aluminum and injection molded parts printer. It's sturdy and parts come out very damn close to even Ultimaker. Yeah, I said it.

I left this forum years ago and came back having forgotten my old profile and email. But at the same time I joined other 3d printing communities on facebook, reddit, youtube channels and discord. Comparing the opinions and approaches used by people from those places and Soliforum it feels like some people here have been stuck on an island from 2011-2013.

Again, I mean no disrespect, but seriously consider looking at the larger ecosystem of 3d printer communities, you guys are seriously missing out and being left behind.

The stringing you mention will not be cured by a layer fan. That is caused by retraction being set wrong and printing at too high of a temperature. If a fan is improving it then it is simply a band-aid for POOR calibration and the REAL problem needs to be addressed.

fichito wrote:

Sure, nozzle fan is much more important for PLA but for ABS as well you need the layer being printed to cool before the next layer starts printing and the hot nozzle gets to the same area, otherwise you risk previous printed layers remaining warm and melting and warping. But this is mainly problem with tiny prints when nozzle stays in the same spot for longer than the plastic can handle.

i agree, it is more an issue with very small prints, but there are multiple ways of dealing with that issue without using a layer fan.

• slow print speeds down for layers under a specific time

• print more than one item at a time

• use a "sacrificial" piece that gets the nozzle away from the main print for a few seconds

i have used all 3 methods to run small pieces with no issue. Like i said, I don't even have layer fans installed on my printers.

as an example.. the regular "Marvin" was printed as part of a group of 3.. the "Advanced Marvin" used both reduced print speeds and a sacrificial tower to provide enough time for the layers of the loop to cool (note the penny for scale)

and yes, these were printed on my favorite machine - #1 SD4. At the time of printing, it was my only machine.

most of those tricks add time/material to prints which I try to avoid. I personally know of at least 3 more reasons I need a part cooling fan for My SD2 which use ABS (most youtubes use PLA BTW)

on large/long prints its hard to regulate temps from top to bottom of print so most tend to separate layers due to different cooling temps, also hollow/void areas like to spiderweb/string across center a bit which is very hard to cleanup and bridging droops if not cooled as it comes out. these and other reasons already mentioned are why I NEED part cooling fan enabled.

most people that had lots of issues with SD3/4 was due to the wider build plate/shafts not having proper added support causing twist resulting in imperfect circles etc. solutions for this are now available in archives on this forum and though a bit more extreme than other mods, are worth doing as Kevin stated. but I dont plan to ever do any 3D printing larger than my 6x6 SD2s can do in fact I do plan to get an Anycubic next fun funds I get as I do also NEED better quality tiny detailed prints as I mostly print N scale Model Railroad items. PLA is not in my future either but a couple other exotic materials are like flexible/rubber type & maybe Wood or T glass type some day down the road. but I have some customers wanting Rubbery material for Carb Gaskets and bumper stops etc.  for rare items parts no longer made for. so fume exhaust is also a factor included in all My 3D printing equipment.

There have been significant advances in build plate adhesion methods

gecko tekhttps://www.geckotek.co/

https://www.3dgloop.com/

As with any product read reviews do your home work before purchasing.

I do not think so even though I do not print with ABS at home  the local maker space has a u print ABS only machine that uses a heated chamber. so there are benefits of warm ambient temp .
the trick with enclosures is to keep the build area warm wile still keeping the electronics and 3d printed parts cool.

As far as you tube goes there are many levels of you tube there are many great channels and there are may wanna bees that are really not to great. ONE NEED TO SIFT THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF.
The bottom line if people want to be entertained, not educated. Get there attention entertain them then you have a chance of teaching them something. IMHO this is where this old tony shines he does just enough stunts to keep people on there toes and he does not take himself too seriously. you just can not believe everything you see on his channel.

Sure, nozzle fan is much more important for PLA but for ABS as well you need the layer being printed to cool before the next layer starts printing and the hot nozzle gets to the same area, otherwise you risk previous printed layers remaining warm and melting and warping. But this is mainly problem with tiny prints when nozzle stays in the same spot for longer than the plastic can handle.

i agree, it is more an issue with very small prints, but there are multiple ways of dealing with that issue without using a layer fan.

• slow print speeds down for layers under a specific time

• print more than one item at a time

• use a "sacrificial" piece that gets the nozzle away from the main print for a few seconds

i have used all 3 methods to run small pieces with no issue. Like i said, I don't even have layer fans installed on my printers.

as an example.. the regular "Marvin" was printed as part of a group of 3.. the "Advanced Marvin" used both reduced print speeds and a sacrificial tower to provide enough time for the layers of the loop to cool (note the penny for scale)

and yes, these were printed on my favorite machine - #1 SD4. At the time of printing, it was my only machine.