Hi @doug. Great to see such excellent results. That finish is amazing. The PLA you are using looks like it provides a better finish than mine, but it’s hard to tell comparing black and white (literally!). I too am amazed with the quality of finish from Simplify 3D. It really makes the Snapmaker a better printer but I guess at the price it should! I should provide a disclaimer here as it feels like I am becoming a bit of a fan of Simplify 3D - I definitely paid for my copy so I am not some sort of shill!
I am happy to report great results too. Printing my failed print from last night in a different orientation made all of the difference. The supports that Simplify 3D does are amazing, very dense but just break away easily. Even the internal ones popped out with a bit of a push.
I assembled the earbud holder this morning and one of the hinged covers broke on assembly. Once again a print orientation issue. I’ve noticed that PLA seems much weaker along print lines than across - a sign that the layers not be adhering maybe? Anyway, I’m printing the outside covers in the other orientation too, just the same as I did with the central portion. This should make them much stronger in the direction the main bending stress appears to be. We’ll see…
Yes @Doug. I am really pleased with the adhesion plate surface supplied with the Snapmaker. I think for the price the Snapmaker is an excellent tool. I’m really looking forward to seeing what advances will be made for upgrades. I am itching to have things like: a larger print area, a removable magnetic bed (like the Prusa), power interrupt handling, ability to pause, filament changing mid print, heated bed above 80 degrees, etc.
Thanks for the advice, as always, it is truly appreciated. No I did not do that. I must admit as newbie I am overwhelmed in my thirst for learning. Having never had any 3D printing experience, it has only been a couple of months and I have jumped from Snapmaker3D to Cura and now to Simplify3D, watching lots of How-To video’s, reading etc. Your advice and suggestions from other knowledgeable users is adding to my learning. I hope that other newbies are reading all of our dialogues and speed up their learning process. I have been sharing my travels for that very reason.
Hi @kelvin8r. Thanks. The ability to use two different processes in the same print is a really good feature. I have been printing parts separately because I wanted to do 100% infill on some and 50% on others - now I can do them all on the same print. Those Maker’s Muse videos are fantastic. @rick
@doug@rick I’m learning a lot from you and other makers in this forum and Facebook as well. That’s what makes this community great. I appreciate your log of experiments. The finish from both your prints is amazing. I’m definitely more tempted to get Simplify3d now.
I agree with @rick we are cautious in not recommending products that people have to spend funds on. All I can do is relay my observations and experience and Simplify3D has blown me away. There is a lot to it and it will take time for me to explore many of the features and functions, however it does provide that flexibility above other slicers, should you need it.
There is a solid place for Snapmaker3D and Cura, which I assume will address the bulk of most peoples needs. It is only when you start to explore tricky builds that Simplify3D comes to the fore.
It is a great forum and I have a been a bloody nuisance in being all over it in the hope of generating a good vibe and letting other newbies know it is OK to show&tell and ask for advice and guidance without the concern of being ridiculed
As I say, keep having fun
Doug
ps,. I forgot to the say, Simplify3D even in its default state produces great results. Obviously its algorithms and slicer techniques are so much more advanced that it produces quality prints. The ability to utilise all of its features and functions just makes it more powerful.
Hi @doug. I’ve been off line as I am travelling. Here’s the final print I did of the ear buds case. I finally got one to assemble without breaking. I used PETG for the final trial but it still seems a little brittle so I need to work on it some more.
I’ve been using the print bed without cleaning for the last few prints and adhesion is still good. I think the secret to adhesion is frequent levelling /calibration and taking a great deal of care with the first layer. PETG has quite different properties from PLA and getting prints optimised has been a challenge. I am getting closer every time. You will notice in the picture of the print there is only one or two visible small strings - this is a great improvement on my first few prints with PETG which were very hairy (literally and figuratively!)
I just had some recent adhesion issues using ColorFabb White nGen is a PLA made with Amphora AM3300. It requires higher temperatures of 210–240c I have been using 220 and will do a some prints at higher temperatures. I really should be printing as a temperature tower and find the sweet spot. I also had the bed temp too high I think at 70c. I just found the datasheet on this and it states 60c. getting the temperatures correct is critical. (datasheet http://colorfabb.com/files/AmphoraAM3300-TDS.pdf)
I used the ColorFabb to print some frames and inserts for my RoboChair project.
@doug thanks for the tip. I’ll calibrate after the next print - won’t be for a while as I am on the road. Our travels are going very well thanks.
Your experience with the Colorfabb is very interesting. It seems that temperature is very important. I have read elsewhere that even a few degrees can make a difference. I reckon a temperature tower might be a good idea. It was very useful for me the one time I have used it so far. I’ll do one for each filament I have when I get the time.
You RoboChair project looks very interesting. Can you tell us a little about it?
My RoboChair is a project of love. I lost my wife to Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2012 and I had started developing technology to help her to communicate and I have kept that effort going since then.
Here are a couple of independent stories about my project
@dave. I’m so sorry. I lost my best friend Simon to MND in 2016. It’s such an awful illness.
I applaud what you are doing. I would love to be able to help you, even in a small way.
I am a mechanical engineer but am pretty rusty with my engineering skills as I have been a Project Manager for years. Nevertheless I offer what skills I have if you would like some help.
Thanks, I truly appreciate your thoughts. It is a most horrendous disease that I would not wish on anyone. I am a retired Systems Engineer/Programmer (long time ago).
Spent the latter years in management consultant and troubleshooter. Always continued to program and do R&D for friends. I wrote a draft paper some years back just after losing my Kath and I use that as my roadmap, you can find it on my out of date web site Draft White Paper
Most of my work is with software and using Tobii Eye Tracking to control a PC. You would love RoboChair. I built it from robotics kits from Pitsco (Tetrix and Prime https://www.tetrixrobotics.com/ ). I have micro-controllers and sensors from ModernmRoboticsInc, a 360 degree scanning LiDAR from Scanse. Indoor Position System beacons from Estimote and MarvelMind… try to put them all together is a bit of an integration nightmare. There is an onboard HP Pro 608 Tablet running Windows 10 and where my application control software runs.
RoboChair is the delivery platform and if you can imagine a person who is immobilised they will be able to do many things from RoboChair just by look. I have been working with a Brain Computer Interface Neuroheadset from Emotiv however they have not matured enough for my needs.
This year I hope to have the prototype working.
Once again thank you for the offer and I shall keep that in mind as I progress. I need to get off my backside and update my website www.mndcommunicate.com
@rick
Hi! Do you use the snapmaker software or another slicer?
I’m printing with PET-G for the last few months and maybe I can help you with some settings for your parts.
For functional parts you should use at least 3 perimeter shells (3 x 0,40 mm = 1,20 mm) and a high percentage of infill.
For some parts I use 100% infill (to be more exact a top layer height higher than the part itself) to make super solid 100% PET parts. With the right settings the prints getting clear/transparent.
When I get a new filament I’m starting with the highest temperature and the reducing the heat in 2-3°C steps until the stringing disappears and the surface gets smooth.
I noticed that the same filament in a different colour (same distributor) CAN require other temperature settings!
Hi @rojaljelly. I started with the Snapmaker software, moved to Cura, then purchased Simplify 3D. The improvement in print quality was noticeably better with Simplify 3D in my opinion.
I have been experimenting with the settings for PETG and your tips will be very helpful. Thanks very much. I am currently away from my machine for a while and I will try your suggestions when I get back and will report my results in this forum.
My experience so far echoes yours - it seems to be a fine balance between stringing and layer adhesion as the temperature is adjusted.
I saw you had some settings for PETG using Simplify 3D in another part of this forum so I will try those too.
Thanks for publishing the results of your work. I’m sure it will help many of us to get better results from our great little machine.
Rick
Sounds like you guys can help. I cant get my piece to adhere to the plate. I have been at it all day changing the setting of print and nothing is working.
Since you didn’t gave us specific informations we can only tell you basic things:
Tighten the screws of the heated bed (all with the same torque)
Calibrate the Z-offset with a thin piece of paper (go at least twice around points 1-4 until you have the same resistance when pulling the paper back and forth)
Set the first layer height in the Slicer software (Snapmaker or another one) to 0,20 mm
First layer speed 5-10 mm/s depending on the model (small details in the first layer require slower speed)
Heated bed to about 60°C
This should be a good start
Kind regards, Michael from Austria
PS: You can also use the search function. This is not the first time I wrote this list…
I hope user learn to provide as much information as they can when they have a problem or we are all in the dark as to help. I asked fro the details in the comment preceding
Take care and have a great weekend in Austria from Australia.
I love the machine control panel in Simplify3D.
So powerful…
It hurts a little bit but I’m throwing away all my old filaments (originally sealed snapmaker filaments and some ICEfilaments in PLA, PETG and ABS).
Completly switched to AprintaPro (some local guys here in Austria are selling these and the quality is outstanding). But they deliver only within Europe…
