Thread: 3D printing
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Old 14th July 2017, 18:05
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275NART 275NART is offline
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I have a cheaper desktop printer (makerbot) bought 5 or 6 years ago and it has really taken me a long time to get all kinks worked out. You will have problems with the print head clogging, layers separating, the part lifting off of the build plate etc. It's just the way it is unless you spend $20000+ on a machine.

I will give you a few tips that really helped me

-make sure your build plate is perfectly leveled and distanced to the print head.

-wrap calphon tape on the build plate and Pre "paint" your build plate with a solution of abs scraps dissolved in acetone. You can put it on a paper cloth and wipe it on really thin. This will ensure your part does not lift during printing

-build intricate parts in sections so that helps you avoid "support material" or having a big part 75% done and then the top layers mess up! Your finished part can be glued together in sections with the abs solution you already made up.

-Use "fast" print speeds and make the build plate hotter than suggested (if it can be heated) and also set the print head temp 10 or 20 degrees over what online "getting started" articles suggest. If you can update your firmware to allow accelerated printing, do that.

- I use solidworks for solid modeling. You don't have to get a legitimate copy (hopefully I'm not breaking the rules here) It is way more user friendly than the free programs like sketchup. It's the best when you want correctly dimensioned parts and engineering drawings. There are some great solidworks tutorials on youtube that will walk you through the main tools for taking a sketch to a part.
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