1 Topic by coleke

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Topic: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

Has any one tried printing with PLA on their Solidoodles yet? What temp settings work best? Anyone try printing from other filament types?

Grand Rapids, Michigan
SD2 with Sanguinololu board, glass bed mod, E3d_v5 bowden version hotend (currently direct drive), Lawsy Mk5 jigsaw replacement, octopi printserver, drv8825(tiny troubles)

2 Reply by iowajames

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

I am thinking of printing in PLA, but am unsure who has the most consistent diameter, best quality PLA filament, I mean, I can get it cheap or expensive, but not know how it extrudes on the SD. Anyone have experience they can offer?

No trees were harmed in the creation of this email, though some electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

3 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-04-19 15:09:55)

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

I've done a bit of PLA, purchased via BilbyCNC here in Oz but can't tell you the original origin.

Diameter is pretty consistent... averages 1.72 across the tests I've taken so far.. not huge deviation either

Temps vary based on which PLA I'm using; the Glow-Blue PLA I have used below seems to work best at 160-SolidoodleDegrees .. with a bed temp of 60oC using a ceramic tile with a touch of hairspray which works for about a dozen prints before needing a refresh... the PLA just 'falls off' once the bed cools to about 50oC...

Some Natural PLA I have works best at 150-SolidoodleDregrees, and a sample black I had wouldn't flow consistently till I used 190-SolidoodleDegrees.

My suggestion would be - try sample packs from places first, or at least get some that state the melt points etc their particular PLA wants - the BilbyCNC stuff has it nicely printed on the side of each spool and then I just normally pick 'in the middle' of the range and subtract 30oC to get the SolidoodleDegrees.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8243/8663458170_0b047c229d_z.jpg

4 Reply by iowajames

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

adrian wrote:

I've done a bit of PLA, purchased via BilbyCNC here in Oz but can't tell you the original origin.

Diameter is pretty consistent... averages 1.72 across the tests I've taken so far.. not huge deviation either

Temps vary based on which PLA I'm using; the Glow-Blue PLA I have used below seems to work best at 160-SolidoodleDegrees .. with a bed temp of 60oC using a ceramic tile with a touch of hairspray which works for about a dozen prints before needing a refresh... the PLA just 'falls off' once the bed cools to about 50oC...

Some Natural PLA I have works best at 150-SolidoodleDregrees, and a sample black I had wouldn't flow consistently till I used 190-SolidoodleDegrees.

My suggestion would be - try sample packs from places first, or at least get some that state the melt points etc their particular PLA wants - the BilbyCNC stuff has it nicely printed on the side of each spool and then I just normally pick 'in the middle' of the range and subtract 30oC to get the SolidoodleDegrees.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8243/8663458170_0b047c229d_z.jpg

Them some nice prints!

No trees were harmed in the creation of this email, though some electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

5 Reply by adrian

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

iowajames wrote:

Them some nice prints!

Cheers - But I can only thank the forum for giving me the info to have tuned the printer. But I've found the PLA is much better at hiding the layers if done at the right temp.

6 Reply by Ecarots

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

Has anyone tried the nylon that Octave has available?

http://www.octave.com/3D-Printer-Filame … index.html

7 Reply by elmoret

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

Ecarots wrote:

Has anyone tried the nylon that Octave has available?

http://www.octave.com/3D-Printer-Filame … index.html

third search result for nylon:

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

8 Reply by Necromant

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

I've accidentally tried PLA - those magic people from china shipped me PLA instead of ABS by mistake. Since PLA costs more than ABS I'm happy. Although at 200 degrees for ABS it stinks, and clogged my extruder above the hot zone.
After a few hours of jigsaw reassembly I got printing happily with PLA.
I settled down to print at 185 solidoodle degrees for extruder and bed at 60.
The bad thing, I can only print with top cover removed, and I had to rise the speed a little bit, otherwise the filament heats up and jams above the hot end.

Necromant's Website

9 Reply by DesignerFred

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

Has anyone printed PLA with the cover on? Or do we need to add a fan?

www.designerfred.fr      before: Solidoodle 2 + E3D v6 now: MeCreator II and OLO 3D

DesignerFred's Website

10 Reply by digiprint (edited by digiprint 2013-05-06 10:43:23)

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

I tried PLA and now hate myself. The PLA won't stick to any surface. Tried kapton with various temps. Calibrated the bed an so on. NO thx! I print with ABS and will have to accept the warping.
Can't imagine how some people get PLA sticking.... bought my PLA from JET.
With cover it's just impossible to print overhangs. With PLA you should use a fan on the printhead.

11 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-05-06 14:15:41)

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

digiprint wrote:

I tried PLA and now hate myself. The PLA won't stick to any surface. Tried kapton with various temps. Calibrated the bed an so on. NO thx! I print with ABS and will have to accept the warping.
Can't imagine how some people get PLA sticking.... bought my PLA from JET.
With cover it's just impossible to print overhangs. With PLA you should use a fan on the printhead.

60oC bed. Thats all it took for me to print the Lego Men above...

Its not actually that difficult to get to work.. and the fan isn't necessary, but it definitely helps when printing smaller layers (as in area, not height) as the PLA is less viscous as temp than ABS is. And thats also the reason removal of the enclosure helps, as PLA is often printed onto a cold bed in an ambient environment.

One reason perhaps for your issues with it is that PLA and Kapton don't generally get along, hence the use of Blue Painters Tape on a cold bed often or glass+hairspray+60°C .

But its not that hard to use.. and quite a few people on here use it with much success smile

12 Reply by DesignerFred

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Re: PLA or other Non-ABS plastic

Thanks ... smile


adrian wrote:
digiprint wrote:

I tried PLA and now hate myself. The PLA won't stick to any surface. Tried kapton with various temps. Calibrated the bed an so on. NO thx! I print with ABS and will have to accept the warping.
Can't imagine how some people get PLA sticking.... bought my PLA from JET.
With cover it's just impossible to print overhangs. With PLA you should use a fan on the printhead.

60oC bed. Thats all it took for me to print the Lego Men above...

Its not actually that difficult to get to work.. and the fan isn't necessary, but it definitely helps when printing smaller layers (as in area, not height) as the PLA is less viscous as temp than ABS is. And thats also the reason removal of the enclosure helps, as PLA is often printed onto a cold bed in an ambient environment.

One reason perhaps for your issues with it is that PLA and Kapton don't generally get along, hence the use of Blue Painters Tape on a cold bed often or glass+hairspray+60°C .

But its not that hard to use.. and quite a few people on here use it with much success smile

www.designerfred.fr      before: Solidoodle 2 + E3D v6 now: MeCreator II and OLO 3D

DesignerFred's Website