SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Asymmetrical print

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T23:30:38Z

Thanks (again) - would that small amount of backlash cause such significant distortion? I'm not really sweating it, as I am about to start printing carriage parts for the bearing upgrade. Just wanting to learn how to solve these problems.

Printing a taller cylinder first, I'll try to get a good picture of it..

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T21:55:49Z

IronMan has a point there - it could be dragging the previous layers around, causing distortion. I wouldn't know without watching it in action though. For starters you could try a thicker layer height and even scale the piece up (if appropriate).

Your cylinder does appear to be quite good, given the scale of that image - there's of course always still a touch of the typical symptoms of backlash (look at the kink in the bottom right and the flat bit in the top left) but you're machine is already doing very well; this certainly isn't to the scale you're seeing in the skull.

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T20:59:19Z

Did you try the test cylinder to roughly the same height as the skull?

Also, could the Skull be laying on the bed in such a way where it is moving during the print by having a very light support structure...it almost looks like it's melting! Also, for .1 you def should get a cooling fan for the print. Maybe try .15...

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T20:08:22Z

BTW, I checked out the circles thread posted in reply above, but my circles are nearly perfect (which is why I put the print over the screen to show how close it is - this is a 15" 2880x1800 (MacBook Retina) display. Those pixels are 1/192" wide!

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T19:57:28Z

So the cylinder comes out great but the skull still gets distorted. What else can I look for?

It's 20mm diameter, btw.

The black is the actual print, I put it on the screen over the model in object placement tab of RH (you can see the purple circle, top-down view of the cylinder).

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-28T00:30:45Z

Excellent, glad you tracked it down easily!

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-27T14:26:12Z

Well, that was easy! Test cylinder was awful (I killed it after a few layers) but when I looked down from above to take a pic, I realized my X carriage was crooked! The right-side belt was way loose, must have skipped a tooth!

Straightened it out and the cylinder is perfect, so I'll re-print that skull...

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-27T11:00:39Z

Thx! I'm upgrading my carriages and z-drive so I can go thru that process at the same time.

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-27T04:34:04Z

Looks like backlash in the x and or y axes. Your print is quite small so the error is showing up as relatively huge in proportion.

Just google search 'site:soliforum.com circles' and you'll see what needs to be done!
Step one: y-belt tension!
(Also this is great: http://www.soliforum.com/topic/4824/how … -for-ever/)

To confirm, I'd recommend printing a plain cylinder and seeing whether the circle was completely round.

Re: Asymmetrical print

2014-08-26T16:43:40Z

(just embedding some of the images to make it easier to review)

Asymmetrical print

2014-08-26T16:41:26Z

Printed this skull at .1 (with support, that has been removed), and I'm getting some assymetrical distortion. It was printed from the rear of the skull up. Notice the way the head appears to be "squished" and what's really interesting is how one side is almost perfect, but the other has vertical banding. The eyes are different shapes.

Any suggestions?