So ... 3d Printers....

[RandyT]

Nice parts!

I decided long ago that I would no longer consider a bed slinger machine to be viable without automated mesh leveling and a dual Z-axis.  Additionally, my Ender3 V2's all got upgraded filament feeders mounted directly above the hot-end assembly and that crazy Bowden tube was cut down to a couple of inches of filament guide tube.  This makes it a quasi-direct extruder.  Since doing this, prints have been much more uniform and reliable and I have only had to replace a nozzle once due to a severe clog, and that was probably due to overcooking the filament during prolonged pre-heat cycles (don't do that )  I've literally yet to have a failed print otherwise.  The modifications increase the cost of the printer pretty substantially, but IMHO, they are worth every penny.  Also, touch screens are over-rated for displays that small. They just limit the amount of information one can display or make it difficult to operate

Corners can be weird on a lot of automation processes.  Especially when higher speeds come into the equation.  With CNC cutters, it usually manifests as burning of the material, or rounding of the corner to account for the abrupt change in direction at speed.  It's all physics.  The heavier the head and the faster the change in direction, the more tricky this can be to overcome, as the travel must slow down.  As you found, it seems that in the case of 3D printing, the effect of the ramp down to the corners results in heavier extrusions/drool at those features.  Ramp speeds/acceleration/deceleration settings can be altered to give an acceptable result, but sometimes the design of the part is better altered a bit to avoid the problematic features if possible.

It's definitely nice that you got the filament change command to work.  But another way to do that for those parts would be to just have a black program and a green program.  It would require generating the g-code for the complete part and from that, creating separate files for each color through some manual editing, but it would negate the need for any babysitting of the machine.  Maybe something for others who want to do this type of thing to keep in mind if that capability isn't already present (or working properly) on their machines.

[lanman31337]

Over the holidays I upgraded my Ender 3 - Dual Z drive, direct drive, new allmetal hotend, printed a fan shroud. I bought an Ender 3 V3 SE, and purchased an HP 705 G4 to run multiple instances of Octoprint and cameras.

[pbj]

Over the holidays I upgraded my Ender 3 - Dual Z drive, direct drive, new allmetal hotend, printed a fan shroud. I bought an Ender 3 V3 SE, and purchased an HP 705 G4 to run multiple instances of Octoprint and cameras.

Can it print pirate figurines?

[05SRT4]

Can it print pirate figurines?

I need to dust off the ole resin printer, whatch ya need?

[lilshawn]

all you bambu owners with an A1

[pbj]

Screwed right in.

This part is unobtainium, other collectors I know are happy to see this come to fruition.  Found out one of my mosfets is blown on my $300 repro MPU.  But that’s another thread.

Well, well, well...

https://www.siegecraft.us/presta/index.php?id_product=79&controller=product&id_lang=1

[Ond]

Never thought I'd post in this thread. Stuff happens, things change. So I have a side hustle to my part time job  (I am an Access Technology Specialist) working in a electronics hobbyist shop generally one day a week. There we sell a large range of things, you name it, everything from Raspberry Pi stuff, Arduino, security cameras, retro gamer hardware and .. 3D printers.  To sell these things I at least had to learn something about them. We have variety of demo units including the Ender 3 V3 SE as well more expensive models, both filament and resin. Point is, I'm printing stuff off in the shop on the Ender 3 which just happen to be for my Vpin  .  I know quite a few folk use Fusion 360 for their design work but I prefer 3ds MAX just because I've been using it for so long.  Apparently the Creality Ender-3 V3 KE  is the sexy-go-to machine right now, I'll have a play with it and see...

[Ond]

Even on superfine mode filament printers are still coarse to my eye. But this print will be refined quite a bit for a project.

[Fursphere]

Even on superfine mode filament printers are still coarse to my eye. But this print will be refined quite a bit for a project.

Use a smaller nozzle, like a 0.25mm.   However, this makes print times increase dramatically on larger parts.  You can get down to 0.07mm layer heights, which is almost resin-like quality. 

[BadMouth]

https://ellis3dp.com/Print-Tuning-Guide/articles/index_tuning.html

3D printing is an endless progression of "could be better" and diminishing returns.

...and there are limits to how good an fdm print can look.

[Ond]

Even on superfine mode filament printers are still coarse to my eye. But this print will be refined quite a bit for a project.

Use a smaller nozzle, like a 0.25mm.   However, this makes print times increase dramatically on larger parts.  You can get down to 0.07mm layer heights, which is almost resin-like quality.

Thanks, yeah that print was done with a standard 0.4mm nozzle which is what our shop demos run. We have resin printers on display but work health safety rules mean they don't actually get to print anything.

https://ellis3dp.com/Print-Tuning-Guide/articles/index_tuning.html

3D printing is an endless progression of "could be better" and diminishing returns.

...and there are limits to how good an fdm print can look.

Ha hah, well filament printers have their uses I guess. By the time I'm finished with that print you wont think it came from one.

[lilshawn]

honestly, i don't really care what it looks like, as long as the part the comes out of the printer is functional.

i mean, yeah i print out decorative items once in a while, but for the most part i'm printing replacement parts for something broke, or a part to achieve a function. if it does that function, it's good enough for me.

my first layers could be better, my attention to preventing warping could be better, my corners could be square-er, my elephant's foot is very slight, but i trim the edges anyway... i occasionally get under extrusion on my outer layers...but also really, why waste the time and effort and filament testing out 2000 different fixes for stuff when it's "good enough" for what i need.

as long as my 3d print can hold up the rod, or hold the circuit board, or skim the scum, or drain the water... good 'nuf!

picrel... new output board adapter endplate for an amplifier. one that no one will ever see but me when i plug the stuff into it and then basically never again until it breaks... if it's ugly...who cares... if it's half ass structurally sound and it's holding the board... 

[RandyT]

It is possible to make pretty parts with FDM, but it involves printing with the loathsome ABS and finishing with chemical vapor.  I experimented with this a bit.  It's a fair amount of work and really only good for one-off "artistic" works, and that which does not involve fine details.  IMHO, resin printers are a better choice for pretty things, so long as they need not be too tough.

But for relatively strong and functional parts, it's hard to beat FDM.  I would venture a guess that today there are millions of little 3D-printed pieces of plastic in the world, doing jobs that otherwise would have been impossible for the amount they cost to produce.

[Ond]

Like I said, FDM printers have their uses.. We get some customers coming in that print simple functional parts for things and the only thing they care about is "how fast can the new model print". Those same customers are only printing in the toughest plastics as well.  A few of the guys in the shop have their own resin printers so I get them to print me the occasional "pretty" things when needed.

I just wanted to be able to understand the end-to-end process of design to print stages in 3D printing, at least enough to speak convincingly to customers anyway.  Finishing techniques for printed things like Randy mentioned interest me. Not just to smooth prints but paint them as well. Anyone got any examples of painted stuff that looks slick? For example, I see really nice resin printed figures but I never see any painted or detailed?

[nitrogen_widget]

had a watermain break in the basement last month.
Happy New Year.
printers survived but i had to fit a basements worth of crap into 3/4ths of the basement to make room for contractors.
all fixed.
cost more than i could of ever imagined.

so no printing for a while until i throw stuff out and make a real shop.
not going back to an old bench with a yoga mat on it and a cheap table top green house as an enclosure.

going to build more shelves and throw more stuff out so it looks less like a storage locker with a path and more like a shop.
lol.

[Ond]

I've not had a good week.  It doesn't really matter why.  *sigh* Anyway, I'm thinking of buying me my very own 3D printer!  I watched a Creality K1 working at speed in the shop the other day, very impressive!  A bit pricey though, so I think I'll get me a V3 KE.  They seem to be the best value for money. Has anyone got one?  Are they good? Alternatives?

[RandyT]

I've not had a good week.  It doesn't really matter why.  *sigh* Anyway, I'm thinking of buying me my very own 3D printer!  I watched a Creality K1 working at speed in the shop the other day, very impressive!  A bit pricey though, so I think I'll get me a V3 KE.  They seem to be the best value for money. Has anyone got one?  Are they good? Alternatives?

I don't own one, but the V3 KE seems decent considering the price.  The important bed-slinger upgrades, like auto-bed-leveling, direct extruder and dual-z-axis drive are already there.  Those alone represent over $100 in add-ons for one of their lower tier offerings.  There are other niceties, like Klipper out-of-the-box and the slide rails as well, although the value of those things depends on your usage profile.  Klipper can improve the appearance of parts printed at high speeds, but if appearance is important, slower speeds almost always yield a better result, especially where materials other than PLA are concerned.  And the value of the rails is also a bit controversial.  They add weight, but also rigidity to the beam and are less likely to wear out over long and hard use.  That stated, the regular wheels are very accurate, durable (when not overtigthened) and are dirt cheap and easy to replace if ever necessary.

Normally, I would shy away from units with special nozzles.  However, since this is a Creality machine, I suspect that they will be supported for a reasonable time to come, and it helps that there are several models which use the same nozzle design.  Just be aware that they are a consumable and that they cost more than the typical nozzles, so you'll likely be tempted to try to fix one (often times unsuccessfully) rather than tossing it and using a new one.  Just factor in the cost of the replacements and have plenty on the shelf so you won't need to in a pinch.

But the consensus seems to be that they are decent machines, and Creality has a reasonably good track record compared to other brands. So for the price, and more importantly what you get for it, I think it's something I would buy as a first 3D printer as someone who has already been exposed to them and intends to use it productively.