Filament makes a difference!

[DavidR8]

I've been struggling with poor quality prints of recent.
I printed the read head brackets for the mill DRO and they turned out fine.
Then I printed the change gears for the Clausing. First one, 32 tooth was fine. Second one 40 tooth was pretty awful; very poor layer adhesion and nothing seemed to fix it.
Next I wanted to try out the Gridfinity system but I just could not get a decent print.
Checked layer heights, temps, extruder steps (they were out a bit) to no avail.
Today I swapped filament to a partial roll that has been sealed in a bag.
Poof, problem solved.

 

[Matt-Aburg]

need filament dryer possibly

 

[DavidR8]

need filament dryer possibly

Gonna break out our dehydrator

 

[Susquatch]

These are not issues I want to hear about......

 

[Darren]

These are not issues I want to hear about......

Apparently guy store their rolls in a sealed tub with a few desiccant packets and its a big help to keep them dry.

 

[Doggggboy]

Apparently guy store their rolls in a sealed tub with a few desiccant packets and its a big help to keep them dry.

You can dry filament in the Carbon. I've never done it (dehydrator) but apparently it just heats the bed with a spool on it. The AMS also has dessicant packs in it.
Nylon is tricky becuse it is such a sponge. I don't use it much but always use the dehydrator first.

 

[DavidR8]

In all fairness, it's been in my basement for multiple years so not surprised that it's absorbed moisture.

 

[Susquatch]

In all fairness, it's been in my basement for multiple years so not surprised that it's absorbed moisture.

I really don't want to worry about whether my filament is dry or needs drying out. It's another variable, another issue to go wrong, and another issue to debug.

Then there is my internet speed. Another problem to throw money at.

How many more issues are out there? I really don't want issues. Issues are for young people with energy, time, fast brains, and eyes that actually see stuff.

I just want it to work like any other printer. Plug it in, load some consumables, and press print to download a file. If my laser printer stopped working cuz the ink was wet, it would end up in the junk pile at the landfill yesterday.

Sorry, I'm in a grumpy mood right now I guess. My bank account is draining and I don't even have a 3D printer picked out yet.

Looks to me like it is going on hold for another year.

Insert big long sigh here.....

 

[phaxtris]

@Susquatch dont get deterred, you really dont need a 1000$ printer, i have a 200$ kingroon sitting on my desk that prints perfectly first time every time, the anycubic mega i have in the laundry room prints perfectly as well, that one might have been 350$

no big internet connection required for any of them, download (or design), slice with cura, put on sd card, put in printer, print

once and a while the filament goes bad after sitting out of a year, i could dry it, but its normally at the end of the roll, i just toss it, a new roll of pla is like 25$

i see those SV06 printers that @Dabbler likes are over 100$ off on amazon right now...time to jump in!

 

[DavidR8]

I see those SV06 printers that @Dabbler likes are over 100$ off on amazon right now...time to jump in!

I may spring for one myself.

 

[phaxtris]

I may spring for one myself.

I've never used one, or read about them, but they kind of look like prusa knock offs ?

 

[slow-poke]

My used printer came with numerous rolls of filament and being clueless that caused me some initial problems with adhesion, as soon as I tried PLA works like a champ. I have printed > 10 parts with that original spool and ordered a new roll of PLA from Amazon ($20), but it's going to be a while before I get to the new spool.

I never thought I would say this but I find 3D printing less of a hassle than printing paper on my Canon because it goes through ink like no tomorrow and the Windows driver is slower than molases going uphill in Winnipeg in January.

To make something simple like the image below, it takes about 10-15 minutes in Altium, another 2 minutes to slice it and another minute later it's printing. It's so easy that that I made a mental note this morning to think before hitting the print button, the initial version of the image below that I printed yesterday I blindly copied the 5.5mm holes from the ballscrew drawing instead of making them 4.2mm to be threaded for a M5 screw.

 

[phaxtris]

Here's an easy one last night, 15 minutes In fusion, 2 to slice, put it on the sd card and into the printer beside me

Sometimes I watch the first layer, after that's down off to bed I go, nice little prezzie sitting on the printer when I wake up

That's just on a cheap kingroon, it's ran 3 spools with only 1 nozzle change....you don't need expensive to get into this game these days