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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.

  • I don’t have much advice, since I feel like I’m still a beginner even after having the printer for quite a few years.

    The one bit of beginner advice I do have, is to stick with basic PLA filament. I Picked up some ABS super cheap when I started out, but I’ve had a lot of trouble with it, and ruined my printer’s magnetic mat due to lifting it while it was too hot and kinda melty. 
    I guess that’s the second bit of advice: wait for it to cool a bit first before removing the print.

    Oh, and printing is easier when the room is warm. I had problems printing in a cold garage, that went away when the weather was warmer.

    also always wipe down the build area with some rubbing alcohol before printing, even on a brand new clean machine. That probably depends on your build plate. Mine doesn’t require any glue or tape or such.

    oh one more thing… I found that leaving the filament spool on the printer for a few days made the filament brittle. But only the bit that was off the spool. So it’s best to put it away when done printing, but to do so you have to pull it back before it cools and hardens in the print head. Or just preheat the print head again… but ain’t nobody got time for that Laughing 

    Enjoy! And don’t feel bad about losing a few prints here and there, that’s part of the process!

  • Hope you enjoy 3D printing, it's an amazing hobby and an even better tool paired with electronics!

    Few tips:

    • Make sure the printer is in a really good ventilated area, and be careful with the filaments you're printing with. Filaments like ABS and ASA release a bunch of stuff into the air you really don't want to be breathing, so if you plan on going that route, make sure you figure out the fume extraction for your printer. While not completely harmless, PLA and PETG are much better than ABS and ASA.
    • Any touch from your fingers to the build plate can cause adhesion issues, whenever you handle the build plate, make sure to use IPA and clean the surface.
    • While IPA should be sufficient for materials like PLA, some materials can be more stubborn with sticking down, a regular glue stick works great (there is a popular specialized glue for 3D printing, MagiGoo, while I've heard good things about, I've read some stuff about it also being not the healthiest thing)

    Have fun and enjoy using your printer, make sure to share how your prints turned out!

  • 3D printing fume is toxic. Do not do that so frequent.

  • in reply to HKPhysicist

    PLA isn't so bad though, right? Models like the Bambu A1 don't come with an enclosure, and my assumption there was that they know you'll mostly be using PLA with it & that doesn't need a cabinet or much/any ventilation. 

  • in reply to Matt
    Matt said:
    PLA isn't so bad though, right?

    Looks like it still produces lots of ultrafine particles (<100 nm)

    '65,482 particles/cm3 for PLA'

    Particle emissions from fused deposition modeling 3D printers: Evaluation and meta-analysis.
    https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?Lab=NERL&dirEntryId=344258

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    And 300,980 particles/cm3 for ABS.. wow, that's quite an increase over PLA, but I guess most printers that do ABS are in an enclosure.

  • in reply to Matt

    The enclosure used to be a common addition to maintain a more stable print temperature. Not sure that they were always airtight or externally ventilated/connected to a particulate filter though.

    In ten years time we will probably start to get the health warnings appearing as the longer term effects of inhalation start to appear in statistical data.

  • in reply to milosrasic98

    The build plate for the Bambu Lab A1 (and mini) seems to be best cleaned with soapy water rather than IPA, and doesn't look to need a glue stick. There's quite a good video on it here; youtu.be/AjJQEL0Jctw

  • For clearing support structures safely, I’ve found that a combination of flush cutters and a dedicated sculpting or hobby knife works wonders, and using tools with fine tips can help avoid cuts. Some people also lightly heat the part to make supports more pliable before removal, especially when working with delicate 3D printer filament like PLA or PETG.