[Closed] Cheap 3d printer kits - Experiences?

Nice. Mine turned up TODAY!!! 😀 The UPS guy took a cheque at the door.

Wow...AlexSimon. Those bits laid out like that look very impressive! What's the next step, then?

I haven't done any more printing yet. I've started to model a bed level test for the CR10-Mini bed size and I've been sketching up some ideas of things I want to make. It requires a whole new way of thinking.

I am hoping to spend a bit of time this weekend doing some tests, re-levelling the bed etc.

While I was happy with my very first Benchy print, there are some obvious issues that need resolving....so I want to investigate further.

I am not convinced the glass is perfectly flat, so will have a fiddle about with that.

Tonight I downloaded a temp tower and spent a few mins fiddling with the gcode so it should automatically adjust the temp as it gets to each new temp layer.

I also added a raft just to see what that comes out like.

papamountain - getting it printing this weekend, then?!

Woohoo!

What’s the next step, then?

Yep first print later tonight hopefully. Had a bit of a mare.. assembled/adjusted it, plugged it all in, turned it on and..... nothing, DOA. Tried a different kettle lead, no dice. Nothing at all, no screen, no fans, nothing.
Had a look inside control box in case it was anything obvious. Checked the switch which was fine, the fuse above the power connector, which was fine. Last gasp I removed and re-fitted the main spade power terminals and it's now working.. Will have to keep an eye on that.

I used that sheet of masking tape on the bed, went down flat and smooth.
Had trouble getting the rear right corner of the bed low enough to get a sheet of paper under the nozzle even when as low as it could go. Eventually solved by tightening the center screw on the bed roller nearest that corner. So all in all didn't go as smoothly as I hoped.

Now torn on which pla. Was thinking about the colorfab stuff but read so many reports of problems that i'm back to undecided. Might just get some from https://shop.3dfilaprint.com/filaprint-black-premium-pla-175mm-3d-printer-filament-1374-p.asp to try.

I think I'm gonna try the HobbyKing own brand PLA. It's about £10.50 or so.

There's several favourable reviews out there and while I'm sure it's not the ultimate quality, it will allow me to get a few colours at that price!

Bit of a shame about your power issues, but hopefully all resolved now!

I think at some point I will take the control box apart and check for loose connectors etc.

First print. You can even see the green that was inside the extruder at the bottom before the white came through. Is there a way to prime the head without manually pushing it through? Just print a few lines I guess.

Anyway. No probs to speak of. Quite pleased with the result 🙂

[img] [/img]

That one looks a bit better than my first print from what I can see.

I had a bit of blue come through mine, but I pushed the filament though until it ran white.

You can add a skirt in the bed adhesion settings to our the filament. It just puts a line of filament a few mm around the outline of the part, but helps to get the plastic flowing properly. It's under the bed adhesion settings.

What other settings did you use? How did the letters on the underside come out?

I always print with a skirt or brim, depending on whether I need extra adhesion or not.

Funnily enough, my bed has exactly the opposite problem of yours - my x-gantry hits other parts of the printer quite early, so all my bed screws are set quite tall. I had trouble lifting the z-limit switch high enough to get it to trip. I imagine my tall screws are introducing ringing as the bed changes direction, but it's not visible most of the time. My benchy bow port holes show about 3 clear rings though.

Just remembered this thread when I was asked if I could print a Baby Groot. I had no idea what one of them was so went on Thingiverse and downloaded a design. Only another hour and a half of the five and a half hour print to go and I will have the head completed. Then about the same again for the body. I am please witht he quality of print so far.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4675/39894022592_64d708cfb5_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4675/39894022592_64d708cfb5_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/23Mii2J ]20180127_135922[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

PETG

Bed at 40

Nozzle at 230

20% Infill

The Baby Groot is looking good. How did it turn out?

I am a bit apprehensive about doing long prints.

I've just spent the last 30 mins or so levelling the print bed by putting some 50x50 sheets of foil under the centre of the bed.

I'm currently printing a 10x10mm calibration cube which already looks a lot better. Nozzle might even be a bit close now....

I got to the stage where I was happy with long prints as long as the first layer was good.
I've had several at 30+ hours now and have only checked on them twice a day.

The head completed fine.The bed wasn't completely level when it started. The back allowed the filament to sit but the front was too high and it scraped off for the first 2 layers. After that is was okay and printed fine.

I twiddled the bed adjusters once I had spotted the lack of level but it was done by eye while the thing was printing so not sure if it made any difference. Also, as it was only the brim what will be cut off, as long as it stuck to the bed, I wasn't too fussed. It is a bit of tat for a kid*, not some NASA engineering thing that has to work.

*Don't tell Natalie I said that

Well, the quality of the calibration cube was great compared to the first Benchy.

The only issue was an elephant foot flare for the bottom few layers.

It is a 20mm cube that measures 20.02x20.05x19.96 in Z, so pretty sure once I get the elephant foot corrected it'll be spot on.

I think I might have moved the bed a bit too close to the nozzle, which has caused this. Either that or I don't need 60deg. C on the bed....the bed adhesion was ridiculous. It took a LOT of effort to get it off the bed. I ended up using a scraper.

It's all good learning!

I did have a 3 line skirt but i'd already removed it for the pic. After letting it all cool it came of the bed easily leaving nothing behind. The letters on bottom where a tiny bit messed up because when I started it was oozing a bit and i failed to remove it in time (suddenly realized that tweezers are a good idea).
I thought it was going to screw up the whole print but once it got past the first couple of layers it was fine.
Also the tape obviously leaves an imprint but it's fine. I think I'd rather have that and be able to easily remove the thing.

I used same settings as you but with 50mm/s speed instead of 60mm/s.

My glass is definitely lower in the middle. Might put a shim under the middle or flip the glass or get a new bit of glass/mirror.

Amazing watching it work. Takes ages lol 1hr 20mins for the benchy. Kept an eye on it while I played Xcom on the PC.

May print the feet that are on thingiverse that take squash balls so the noise isn't transferred to the desk it's on.

Overall I'm happy as Larry. Was expecting a birds nest for my first print 😀

Also that looks great WCA. How do you find the petg? Is 230 the temp you usually use with it? I'm off to read up about petg and its qualities.

I'm itching to print something else.. Need to get some pla ordered 😀

Oh, do you remove the filament each time you stop using it? If so, while the nozzle is still hot? I let it all cool down then remembered about removing the filament so heated the nozzle back up to 185 and pulled it out.

Oh, do you remove the filament each time you stop using it? If so, while the nozzle is still hot? I let it all cool down then remembered about removing the filament so heated the nozzle back up to 185 and pulled it out.

Yesterday perfect, today with identical setting I get snot.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39045329825_9520ce0ac2_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39045329825_9520ce0ac2_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22uiweP ]20180128_113158[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I wish the bloody printer was consistent. trying again at half speed for the first hour or so.

papamountain...for the bed levelling and the slightly lower centre, I cut a load of 50mm squares of alu foil and played around with the quantity under the glass until it was nearer the level of the extremities. It seemed to work well and was a quick and easy thing to try. I think I started with 5 pieces stacked up, but have just been playing with the bed levelling and have taken a piece out.

I think I'd got a bit over concerned about the nozzle being mega close to the bed. Just running another calibration cube now and the base looks a heap squarer (no visible elephants foot). Will be interesting to measure and compare to yesterdays one.

One thing I am finding quite annoying is that the bed seems to need levelling every time i print and some times it several iterations to get it spot on, which obviously adds time.

Yeh I think I'll try that first and see how it goes. I think the sweet spot is just feeling some vibration on the paper, not actually dragging.

Do you level with bed and/or nozzle hot or cold?

I hate this "bit of paper" stuff, I know it works but it's so open to interpretation, give me a feeler gauge ffs.

papamountain
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Yeh I think I’ll try that first and see how it goes. I think the sweet spot is just feeling some vibration on the paper, not actually dragging.

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Do you level with bed and/or nozzle hot or cold?

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Yeah, that was the conclusion that I came to; rather than have the paper dragging, just wait until you can feel the fan vibration through the bed.

I have been setting the bed height with everything hot.

Northwind

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I hate this “bit of paper” stuff, I know it works but it’s so open to interpretation, give me a feeler gauge ffs.

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Yeah, I keep meaning to dig out my feeler gauges from the garage!

PS - Quoting with this new forum format seems a bit erm, tricky!

Okay, I give up. This is the third attempt at Baby Groots body.

I used the same settings as I used for the head. One of the hands lifted.

I used some hair spray on the taped bed and it seemed better but after I watched the first few layers go down I left the room and it looked much like it does in the picture.

This time it was printed at 80% speed and still failed after I left the room.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/39291946814_0bf7dea05e_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/39291946814_0bf7dea05e_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22S6uSS ]20180131_114607[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I am not sitting watching it for 9 hours so any suggestions please. It is PETG.

I am thinking of dropping the nozzle temperature 5 degrees as there are burnt bits in the ruined print. I think these are actually caused by the PETG sticking to the nozzle instead of the model though.

Help!

I think these are actually caused by the PETG sticking to the nozzle instead of the model though.

It is design I downloaded from Thingiverse and my computer isn't capable of changing the model. The head had brim when I downloaded it, the body didn't.

I know the first print failed because the base layer shifted but the last two failed prints were definitely well stuck. I watched the base layer going down and there was no lift or curl.

I am re-slicing with first layer filament temp of 230 and subsequent layers at 225 to see if that helps.

Unfortunately the laptop I have is so old it takes about 30 minutes to slice each time. That is why I am asking for suggestions on what settings to fiddle with. Each experiment takes and hour or so to slice, start printing and then fail. Given the full print is estimated at 9 hours and I don't want the noise of the printer overnight I don't get too many chances each day.

Blimey - sounds tough. Brim should be in the slicer under adhesion.
But if you think it was stuck well, that might not be the problem.
I found PETG best with very little part cooling (allowing the layers to stick better to each other).
I don't know what else to suggest as the head came out so well.

I printed PETG at 235, but I thought that was low compared to most.(My hot end has a PTFE throat, so doesn't like going hotter).

I generally find to sort out these problems, you need to watch it, so you can see what causes the problem. 30 mins to slice tho!!! I just sliced it to see if I could see any issues, I won't tell you how many seconds it took. I did notice there are a few overhangs, while this should be fine, if you haven't got your settings dialled in they do tend to compound over each layer.

I've found if I'm chasing my settings and prints aren't consistent then its usually the material. Also if you have had a few bad prints and the nozzle has dragged over cooled material, there maybe a tiny blockage in the nozzle. Best way to find this is buy extruding some material and if it spirals or goes off to one size, rather than directly down, then its usually got a small blockage. eSun Cleaning material is great for this, the Atomic method also works with this, I also use it when changing material.

Still slicing....

I had used works PCs before but the new security clamp down prevents all personal use so I have a knackered laptop from 2004 or 2005.

When I get some cash together I will be getting a new one - perhaps an upgrade to a ZX Spectrum 🙂

Repetier had crashed but the error message wasn't being displayed until I tried to use it. Oh well.

What I tried to use it for was to extrude some filiment to see if it appeared to snag but looks fine to me.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/40003156641_4698120449_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/40003156641_4698120449_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/23WWCMg ]20180131_134400[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

OMG how dirty is your nozzle, that is supposed to be brass colour! I think something is wrong though, if I extrude like that it ends up in a nice coil on the bed, not tangled up, but I have a different printer.

Rather than slicing the whole model, can you slice the first 10mm as the problems seem to occur by then? Will reduce the slicing time down by quite a bit I would think!

looks fine to me

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Milkie
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OMG how dirty is your nozzle, that is supposed to be brass colour! I think something is wrong though, if I extrude like that it ends up in a nice coil on the bed, not tangled up, but I have a different printer.

Rather than slicing the whole model, can you slice the first 10mm as the problems seem to occur by then? Will reduce the slicing time down by quite a bit I would think!

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If you haven't tried it, you can do this in Ideamaker - another free slicer. I downloaded it last night  & had a quick play with it.

You can choose a cut line which splits the part. You can then treat them like separate models, so could just delete the portion above the cut line.

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I have yet to print anything too demanding, or encounter any major problems. I am dreading seeing an image like WCA's failed Groot prints! I hope you sort it out soon...

Surely, if the failed portion is not warped/curled or coming away from the bed you can rule out first layer adhesion?

Right, I have just bought a new computer with a graphics car. Got through most the installation and set up stuff so now trying to remember what the 3D printing software I was using. on the old crap laptop.

From memory Repetier Host (or something like that) and Slic3r.

both free which was the main point. Any other recommendations for free software that is easy to use and FREE. I will check out IdeaMaker.

Also recommendations on free and easy to use CAD software to start creating stuff would be good.

I use Simplify3D, but that's not free, but pretty awesome at the time I bought it.
Cura is free.

Here is a list:
https://all3dp.com/1/best-3d-slicer-software-3d-printer/

Fusion360 is what I use for designing. Loads of tutorials on it on YouTube.

Oh wow!

How frickin fast. It is like I have just moved from riding a mule to flying a jet plane. I know the printing will still be slow but I don't even have time to drink coffee while it slices.

I will be playing lots while I recover from the ankle op.

Can't edit old posts - now should I mention that...

I realised that the really quick slicing was using Cura with default settings ending with a model with predicted 2 hour 27 minute print time.

Just running Slic3r to do the same thing and it takes about twice as long. Still less than a minute though and gives a model print time of 3 hours 18.

both significantly less than the 9.5 hours previously.

That'll be a lie. It'll be close to a 9hr print.

They'll be overestimating the printers travel, acceleration and jerk settings.
You'd do well to obtain a Printer profile and a PETG profile for your printer from a suitable facebook group or forum. Then you'll a) get reliable prints and b) accurate time estimations.

Cura is excellent in my experience.

Thanks - I will google some settings. Happy to use Cura

Cura sliced the model in a few seconds on the new computer after I had adjusted the settings for PETG and my printer.

I then realised I wouldn't be able to print it before going into hospital so sliced another smaller model which gave me time to print before leaving.

It started printing with a 2 hour estimated print duration. An hour and a half later and it is a 1:15 duration remaining.

Looks like it should be okay print though, just a little scorching at one point

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4713/25148731707_e77b4cbff7_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4713/25148731707_e77b4cbff7_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/EjiPLx ]20180201_110816[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

My son's printer finally arrived (and not Vat or duty to pay!)

[img] [/img]

(apologies for crap pic)

Good stuff wwaswas - I would move that black cable bundle around the back of the printer - alongside the bowden tube

he's read the instructions now and a number of assembly changes have been made 🙂

lol

Well, this afternoon I decided to do my first functional print. It's a shim for our rotary washing line as the pole in the ground has a larger ID than the OD of the drier pole, so it flops around again.

Quite a learning exercise so far!

Because the last print I did (calibration cube) came out so well I didn't bother levelling the bed. I figured that it can't be sensible to have to level it every time so would just leave it be.

First print was a messy curl of plastic that refused to adhere to the bed, so stopped print, cleared the bed and gave it a really good clean and another dose of glue.

Second print was better, but still lifting in places. I thought I'd let it run and see what it looked like. About 15 mins in I realised it was going pretty badly, so stopped it.

Ended up levelling the bed again which took ages and trying again. I don't get how it can drift from print to print. Hey ho.

Finally I don't think I have my settings very well tuned for this print. I really wanted it to be printed with no infill because the walls are so thin. But it is trying to put an infill in which appears to be 1 nozzle width wide. This is making it massively slow as it's basically laying a dot in each infill position.

And I think as a result of this, the rest of the layers aren't going down very well. There are thin areas on the outer walls in places and it generally looks a bit shite..

I'm leaving it to run because I think it will be a valuable learning experience. And to be honest, as long as it's dimensionally accurate it should do the job anyway.

But - there's quite a lot to this printing malarky to get good results! When it goes well, it seems so easy. But when it doesn't go well, so many factors come into play!