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A nice to know, if you are 3D printing.

colporteur

What is your 3D printing tip, trick or trap?

A friend of mine purchased a BIBO 3D printer three years ago. It stayed in the box until recently. The printer is now on my office floor as I learn to 3D print. A FREE 3D PRINTER YES!

Like all technology paths, with experience life becomes easier and without the experience, the response “I wish I had known that!” is common. I recently discovered glue sticks make a difference and the right glue stick even more.

I’m looking for tips, tricks, and traps E14 members have learned on their 3D printing journey. Maybe you have a tool that is indispensable for rooting out those support structures. I’ve cut my thumb once trying to clear a support structure and want to avoid that in the future. Do you have something, I would like to know about it?

I’m using Ultimaker Cura as slicer software and have started down the path of learning FreeCAD. I have created a few models in the CAD software and successfully printed them to solve problems I used to do in wood and metal. This has motivated me to continue.

If your suggestion is to throw the free 3D printer I have in the garbage because: 1) the manufacture has gone out of business: 2) newer printers do much more 3D heavy lifting than the dinosaur I have, don’t bother. I’m looking to tap into community experience without having to invest in cut thumb failures to learn it.

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  • I have been down this path no that long ago and I must says that I prefer OrcaSlicer, it feels more intuitive to me. And do not forget to activate mouse ears to avoid corner lifting.

    But the first thing I did with my printer was to buy a textured PEI bed sheet with magnetic base. This way it's very easy to remove the whole thing from the moving bed and flex it to remove the part.
    Oh, and no need for anything fancy like kapton tape, glue stick, just use the textured PEI sheet as is. A simple wash with dishwashing liquid under running water, dry with paper towel and everything is back to normal.

    To remove the supports, I find that a good plier is much better than try to use a scalpel, much less dangerous.

  • in reply to obones

    Another thing that came back to me is to make sure your filaments are dry and stay dry.
    A food dryer is good for this, along with "sous vide" bags that do not leak with time.

  • in reply to obones

    Oh yeah, great point. Careful with food dryers though(or anything that uses heat), it's easy to mess up rolls of PLA. The best approach is to keep all filament in a drybox, and that way there's no need to dehydrate at all.

    Hearing popping noises, seeing tiny air bubbles in extruded filament, and excessive stringing are the main signs of wet filament. Some types of plastic love to absorb moisture really fast(like PETG), some others not as much(like PLA).

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  • in reply to obones

    Oh yeah, great point. Careful with food dryers though(or anything that uses heat), it's easy to mess up rolls of PLA. The best approach is to keep all filament in a drybox, and that way there's no need to dehydrate at all.

    Hearing popping noises, seeing tiny air bubbles in extruded filament, and excessive stringing are the main signs of wet filament. Some types of plastic love to absorb moisture really fast(like PETG), some others not as much(like PLA).

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