1 Topic by mdrVB6

  • mdrVB6
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Topic: Another quest for a better print thread

I was inspired by another user who recently posted so of his prints asking for feedback so I wanted to do the same.  After just over a year with my SD2 and about 10- 12 spools printed, I am finally getting (what I think is) pretty good results.  I am running an E3D hot end w/ 1/32 microstepping, all GT2 belts, direct drive Y and a full enclosure, and a RUMBA.  And glass bed, of course.  I print everything at the optimal layer heights from the Prusa calculator to avoid rounding errors on the Z axis steps per mm movement.  I am still running X, Y and Z at 1/16th microstepping.

Imgur album with big pics of prints and descriptions:  http://imgur.com/a/ZSnuG

I'm pretty happy with these prints but I would be interested in any suggestions for improvement. 

Pending mods include a 240 watt silicone bed heater (on hand) and an M3 rod upgrade to the Z axis.  I would like to put the silicone heater on but honestly it doesn't seem worth it to upgrade when my stock bed can hit 105 C just fine after upgrading the PSU and I get no warping with my glue sticks.  M3 rod on the Z axis will get done when it arrives and that is basically the prep work for the larger printer that I am building.  I want to do it at a smaller scale before I go big. 

So how I can do better?

SD4 w/ RUMBA, E3D Volcano, all bearings, glass bed

2 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Another quest for a better print thread

M3 rod will help significantly.

What slicer do you use?

SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
Filastruder
NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/

3 Reply by mdrVB6

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Re: Another quest for a better print thread

Using slic3r.  I dabbled in Cura this past weekend and it seems the start Gcode has some junk in it that I don't need, or is not relevant to solidoodle.  I'm not using the official solidoodle version of repetier, I downloaded the more recent version and manually set it up for my solidoodle.

I was thinking of making a new thread asking for Cura settings on solidoodle because I haven't found much by searching, but I'll keep looking for a little while.

Unfortunately, the M3 rod was back ordered 2 weeks on McMaster, but it should be shipping by the end of the week.  I didn't really want to roll the dice on an eBay rod for such a critical part, and it was actually not too expensive on McMaster for once.

SD4 w/ RUMBA, E3D Volcano, all bearings, glass bed

4 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Another quest for a better print thread

Try KISSlicer and you should see an immediate improvement in Print Quality. Slic3r has a place but my very best and most accurate prints have been done using KS.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/348/kisslicer/

SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
Filastruder
NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/

5 Reply by mdrVB6 (edited by mdrVB6 2015-02-03 17:35:21)

  • mdrVB6
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Re: Another quest for a better print thread

I'll give it a try at some point.  Actually, kisslicer is no longer included in the download pack with repetier, just slic3r and cura are there.  So I would have to import the G code.  I think it was in my old version, but I could be mistaken.  I wonder if there is a function or performance reason for removing it, or just personal preference or something. 

My main issue (and its fairly minor) is that my nylon prints are so much better than my ABS prints.  I've got some blobs on the sides of my ABS prints that are just not nearly as noticable when I print nylon.  These are usually, although not always, where it starts a new perimeter.  I'm confident that I am not over or under extruding since my single walled calibration cubes come out great and my perimeters neatly meat the infill without too much/ too little overlap.  I'm thinking perhaps I need to fine tune retraction lengths and speed better for ABS.  Does that seem possible?

It could also be that due to its viscosity, ABS is just more squirly than nylon and is more prone to blobbing.  Thoughts?

Edit: it was skienforge that was in the old version of repetier, not kisslicer, which I guess has never been inlcluded.

SD4 w/ RUMBA, E3D Volcano, all bearings, glass bed

6 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Another quest for a better print thread

mdrVB6 wrote:

.  I'm thinking perhaps I need to fine tune retraction lengths and speed better for ABS.  Does that seem possible?

It could also be that due to its viscosity, ABS is just more squirly than nylon and is more prone to blobbing.  Thoughts?

Retraction is super important. Especially with nylon. KISSlicer allows you to adjust both the retraction and the prime which I have found is one of the most important settings to getting accurate prints.

As for the blobbing I think it is a trait of your slicer. Try KISSlicer with similar settings as Slic3r and see if you still get blobs.

SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
Filastruder
NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/