3D printing

Information about and experiences from 3D printing

Content

Divisions on this page.

• Models
• Tips
• Log

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Models

Photos and comments from 3D printing and prints of various models.

• Own quadsphere Earth QSph1zp.500.obj, 2021-01-03 - 2021-01-05, photos 2021-01-05
  3D print of first own model, created as Wavefront OBJ by a PERL script, showing northern (zp=Z positive) sixth of Earth sphere, with Greenland and Aleutes prominent.
  
• CreativeTools test boat #3DBenchy, 2020-12-31 - 2021-01-02, photos 2021-01-02
  3D print of a classic test model, sliced to gcode from STL, first fail because of not unbderstanding the importance of a really clean plate, clumsily solved by using brim.
  
• Creality test zhong, 2020-12-30, photos 2021-01-17
  First 3D print test ever of a ready gcode file.
  

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Tips

Tips about 3D printing from experience as an absolute beginner with the 3D printer Creality CR-10S Pro v2. These are additions, adjustments and comments to the shipped manual, and not a complete manual in itself.

• Unpacking
  Cut tape sealing box top, not to deep. Packing list is in the manual in a side pocket between box and packing pads. Lift entire assembly straight up from the box. Remove packing pads by pulling straight out to the sides, the separate pads for the printing platform ("hot bed") needs bending some to remove. Gentry frame threaded bars may be well lubricated and risk leaving slick areas or stains if frame is laid down. Putting packing pads back in box and closing it makes this a stable enough low table for assembling and placing the printer on.
• Manual
  The manual is obviously intended for someone who are already familiar with handling the printer. Many instructions lack detail, are incomplete, misleading or simply wrong, and can at best be used as a checklist for operations you should already know. Here follows some attempts to complete some of them, adding to or modifying instructions already in the manual.
• Gantry frame installation
  Stand base frame on table with one rear corner and screw holes for gentry frame on that side outside the side of the table. Fit gantry frame onto base frame and check it's stable enough to stand unfastened. Fit screw for assembly on correct Allen key and push through screw hole in base frame before tightening loosely into screw hole in gantry frame. Repeat with the other screw on that side. Shift assembly so the other rear corner and screw holes for gentry frame on that side are outside the side of the table. Fit screw for assembly on correct Allen key and push through screw hole in base frame before tightening loosely into screw hole in gantry frame. Repeat with the other screw on that side. Tighten all 4 screws to final tightness.
• Filament holder installation
  Assemble filament holder. Remove screws holding gantry frame top bar on left vertical bar, seen from front (where the control pad is), and remove the plastic end cap from the top bar on that side. Push the filament holder nuts in the correct position (across rather than along the top bar) from the open side into the top groove to their position just right of the left vertical bar. Use a screwdriver or similar into the top bar top groove to prevent them from turning while tightening the filament holder screws into them. Fit filament holder over the filament holder nuts to the left on the top bar with the handle-like filament spool hub pointing backwards. Push filament holder screws through the screw holes in the base of the filament holder and fit them to each filament holder nut before tightening them with the correct Allen key. Replace and tighten screws holding gentry frame top bar to left vertical bar, and replace the plastic end cap.
• Cable connections
  Connect cables, except power cord, before X-axis adjustment. Move printing platform ("hot bed") to foremost position for easier access to some connections.
• X-axis adjustment
  Move printing platform ("hot bed") to foremost position to be able to position X-axis spacer properly. Raise and lower right and left ends of the X-axis bar simultaneously by turning the big nuts at the bottom of the vertical threaded bars at the rear of the gentry frame vertical bars. If you feel much resistance, loosen the nuts holding the wheels running on the vertical bars some. Fit the X-axis spacer standing on the base frame under the left end of the the X-axis bar and lower the X-axis bar until it rests lightly on the spacer. Move the spacer to the right end of the bar and adjust just that end of the bar until it rests lightly on the spacer. Fine tune by repeating the process with just the left end and then the right end again. Note that it should be the bar, not its mounts, resting on the spacer. This adjustment should be repeated after each time the printer has been moved, or the X-axis bar or print head ("nozzle kit") have been manually manipulated.
• Turning on
  Connect the power cord and flip the power switch next to its connection on the base frame.
• Loading filament
  Manually heat the nozzle to the desired temperature (200°C for PLA) and permit it enough time to reach that temperature. Cut the filament diagonally on a straight stretch using the pliers to get a sharp tip, to make it just hard instead of impossible to push the filament through the filament detector, extruder, teflon tube and nozzle assembly. You may still need to poke, twist and curse some.
• Replace filament during printing
  Just DON'T!!!
• Reloading filament ("refueling")
  Abort any ongoing print(!), manually heat the nozzle to the desired temperature (200°C for PLA) and permit it enough time to reach that temperature. Use the controls to retract the filament 3x10 mm, loosen the extruder drive and pull the filament fully out of the detector. Then load new filament (as completed above). In case of changing color of filament, push enough filament through the assembly so that what comes out through the nozzle is the pure, new color.
• Filament length
  Slicers like Ultimaker Cura, preparing the model for print, can give good estimates of both time and amount of filament required. This enables estimates of if there is enough filament left on the spool for the print. For PrimaValue 1 kg 1.75 mm PLA spools, each turn is between 0.6 m for full spool and 0.3 m for almost empty spool, with 40 turns per layer, so between 24.0 m (40 x 0.6 m) and 12.0 m (40 x 0.3 m) per layer. A model requiring 40 m of filament will require that at least 3 1/2 layer of filament remains on the spool (3 1/2 x 12.0 m = 42.0 m, giving some margin). If there isn't enough filament left, you should either select a smaller model to print or change to a (more) full spool.
• Bed leveling
  Do the coarse leveling ("AUX leveling") every time the printer has been moved, after X-axis adjustment, or excessive force has been used on the printing platform ("hot bed"), e.g. trying to remove a stuck print. Then do the fine leveling ("automatic leveling") by setting Auto leveling to On and selecting the leveling control Measuring. The applied adjustments will be displayed, and if there is a big difference (>0.3 mm) between the average left and right values, average top and bottom values, or values in opposite corners of the matrix, the coarse leveling was probably poor and needs to be repeated, or the printing platform ("hot bed") plate is damaged and needs replacing. As long as auto leveling is on, a fine leveling will be automatically performed before each print, which is well worth the few minutes it takes.
• First printing
  See to that the hot bed is kept warm throughout the prints by selecting the Adjust button visible during printing and turn Economic off. This option sticks and is not required to do for every print. With Economic on, the hot bed will stop heating during long prints and increase the risk of the print coming loose before done, ruining it. It may work with Economic in warm climates and seasons, but hardly in cold climates and seasons.
• Before printing
  Make sure the print plate is very clean from dirt, dust, fat and humidity. Avoid touching the plate printing surface with fingers (fingerprints bring both fat and hunidity), and at least wipe it with dust-free cloth (no fuzzy microfiber cloth!) or wipe soaked in IPA while the printer is turned off and then allow the IPA (isopropanol) to evaporate fully before turning the printer on. To be sure, remove the plate from the hot bed, clean the plate with dish washing detergent without skin care (the latter can bring both fat and humidity binders), rinse thoroughly with pure water, dab it dry with dust-free cloth or wipe, and re-mount it on the hot bed, before wiping with IPA. IPA is very drying to the skin and can be absorbed trough it, so using plastic gloves when handling it may be a good idea.
• During printing
  Avoid having pets, children, wives, other relatives or your clumsy self stumbling over the printer, bumping into it, or otherwise messing with it during printing, to avoid both hair, drool and dirt in the print, as well as having it broken loose prematurely.
• After printing
  Just as hard as it can be to make the print stay on the plate during printing, just as hard it can be to get it off after printing. If it requires anything more than very moderate force, remove the plate from the hot bed, usually by releasing some simple clips and pull the plate off. I have experience with 3 working methods to get the print off: brute force ("break" the print off the plate), cooling (much less force is needed when cooled to +18°C than at +30°), and slightly bending the plate (e.g. weighing down on its edges when put over a thigh).
• PTFE tube
  The PTFE tube for filament feeding is connected to the extruder and the print head ("nozzle kit") with nuts, topped with plastic stoppers gripping the tube unless partly depressed into the nut.
  • Sliding the nuts
    To slide the nut along the tube, remove the small plastic clamp on the stopper and depress the stopper before sliding the nut. Trying to slide the nut by force without depressing the stopper will cause terrific cuts and flanges on the tube, making it hard or impossible to slide the nut past them even after depressing the stopper. Replace the small plastic clamp on the stopper when done.
  • Disconnecting and connecting tube
    When disconecting or connecting the tube at the print head ("nozzle kit"), use 1/6 turns with the wrench before shifting its grip on the nut and avoid assaulting the straddling delicate cables with the wrench. When connecting the tube at the print head ("nozzle kit"), make sure the tube is pushed as far as possible into the assembly to prevent creating a gap and pocket at the nozzle causing uneven flow of heated filament. When connecting the tube at the extruder, make sure the tube is pushed as far as possible into the extruder to prevent creating a gap causing problems when loading filament ("refueling").
• Modeling prints
  Prints are made up of strings of adhesed plastic, often 0.4 mm wide and 0.2 mm high. This puts some limitations on the model to be printed.
  • Wall thickness
    Vertical walls can have a thickness of 0.4 mm (single layer), 0.8 mm (double layer), 1.2 mm and above (double layer with fill), because below 0.4 mm is impossible or at least non-reproducible, between 0.4 mm and 0.8 mm can cause string overlaps and thereby bumps in the layer, between 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm can cause fill overlaps and thereby bumps in the layer.
  • Overhang
    Walls leaning outwards create an overhang that can make the walls collapse. Since the cross section of the outer layers of the wall will be like brickwork, where the cross section of each string will be like a brick twice as wide as high, it can be understood an overhang of up to 45° from the vertical should be OK. This is not quite true, since these "bricks" have heavily rounded edges, making them lose some contact area and support. However, since these "bricks" are also somewhat sticky, the actual limit is a bit more than 45°, but how much depends on things like filament quality, print speed, air temperature and humidity, and surrounding geometry. From experience, the safe limit is usually 50-55°, but with the right geometry, e.g. when the overhang just needs to bridge short gaps (<5 mm) so the mostly or fully unsupported strings can carry their own weight for this short distance, the limit can actually be even 90°.
  • Gentle slopes
    Horizontal areas are printed well, often with only a discrete diagonal pattern from area fill strings side by side. Slopes are divided into 0.2 mm height steps, since each print layer is 0.2 mm thick and is not adjusted in altitude depending on geometry, which usually isn't so disturbing on slopes with an inclination of 45° or more, where the steps become 0.2 mm wide or less. But at small angles the steps become wider and more distinct, so at e.g. 5°, the width becomes 2.3 mm.
  • Horizontal roundness
    The print head's horizontal movements relative the model has no 0.2 mm steps but can theoretically be infinitely fine. However, rounded walls, like in a standing cylinder, are really polygon prisms, where the number of sides of the polygon decides how rounded the wall will look. How many sides are required to hide the edges beteen prism faces depends on the size of the polygon, and can range from maybe 6 sides for small cylinders with 1.2 mm diameter, up to maybe 360 sides for large cylinders with 200-300 mm diameter.
  • Scaling
    The slicer Ultimaker Cura expects measurements in mm, but many modelers export models with measurements in m, requiring a scaling of 1,000x or 100,000% from the modeler or in the slicer, or inches, requiring a scaling of 25.4x or 2,540% from the modeler or in the slicer.

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Log

A technical history from my 3D printing carreer.

• 2021-03-16: Got items ordered from Creality EU Shop.
• 2021-03-15: Received notification about arrival of items ordered from Creality EU Shop.
• 2021-02-26: Received and payed invoice for custom fees and VAT for items ordered from Creality EU Shop.
• 2021-02-25: Received unexpected notification about custom fees and VAT for items ordered from Creality EU Shop.
• 2021-01-19: Updated web page 3D printing with division preambles and division Tips with PTFE tube.
• 2021-01-18: Updated web page 3D printing with division Tips.
• 2021-01-17: Updated web page 3D printing with division Models.
• 2021-01-16: Created web page 3D printing with division Log.
• 2021-01-15: Refilled filament on CR-10S Pro v2, after having to disconnect teflon tubing from feeder and print head to remove broken filament.
• 2021-01-13: Ordered Creality 3D Printer Enclosure Protective Cover Large and 2 310*320 mm Aluminum Alloy Heated Bed Platform Plate and Sticker for CR-10/CR-10S/CR-10S PRO/CR-X/CR-10 V2/CR-10S PRO V2 3D Printer from Creality EU Shop.
• 2021-01-12: Bought isopropanol Luxorparts lpaClean IPA-1000 and Luxorparts Cleaning Cloth Microfiber from Kjell & Company, and dental floss Johnson & Johnson DentoTape Original 100m from Apotek Hjärtat.
• 2021-01-10: Refilled filament changing from white to black on CR-10S Pro v2.
• 2021-01-06: Created 6 quad sphere models "QSph2[xyz][pn].obj" of Earth using gebco_to_quadsphere_stl1.pl.
• 2021-01-06: Created gebco_to_quadsphere_stl1.pl.
• 2021-01-05: Started writing PERL program gebco_to_quadsphere_stl1.pl to convert GEBCO altitude data into STL quad sphere parts.
• 2021-01-05: Printed own model "QSph1zp.500.obj" sliced using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, with both aux (coarse) and automatic (fine) platform levelling, without platform heat turned off.
• 2021-01-05: Attempted re-filling filament according to manual and got it stuck when original and second filament competed for same space, and probably created a pocket at print head after disassembling and reassembling by not pushing teflon tube tight enough.
• 2021-01-04: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.500.obj" sliced and with an 8 mm brim added using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, without platform heat turned off, but failed because model came loose from printing plate when almost done.
• 2021-01-04: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.500.obj" sliced and with an 8 mm brim added using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2021-01-04: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.500.obj" sliced and with 10% instead of standard 20% fill using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2021-01-04: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.500.obj" sliced using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2021-01-04: Updated gebco_to_quadsphere_obj1.pl to create Wavefront Mtl files as well.
• 2021-01-03: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.car.obj" modified using software Daz 3D Carrara 8.5, sliced using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2021-01-03: Attempted printing own model "QSph1zp.obj" sliced using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2021-01-03: Created 6 quad sphere models "QSph1[xyz][pn].obj" of Earth using gebco_to_quadsphere_obj1.pl.
• 2021-01-03: Created gebco_to_quadsphere_obj1.pl.
• 2021-01-02: Started writing PERL program gebco_to_quadsphere_obj1.pl to convert GEBCO altitude data into Wavefront OBJ quad sphere parts.
• 2021-01-02: Printed model "#3DBenchy" from CreativeTools at Thingiverse with CR-10S Pro v2, sliced and with a 10 mm brim added using Ultimaker Cura with CR-10S Pro v2.
• 2021-01-01: Attempted printing model "#3DBenchy" from CreativeTools at Thingiverse sliced using Cura with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2020-12-31: Attempted printing model "#3DBenchy" from CreativeTools at Thingiverse sliced using software Ultimaker Cura 4.8 with CR-10S Pro v2, but failed because model came loose from printing plate.
• 2020-12-30: Printed test model "zhong" with CR-10S Pro v2.
• 2020-12-30: Installed CR-10S Pro v2.
• 2020-12-29: Received 3D printer Creality CR-10S Pro v2.
• 2020-12-22: Received filament spools PrimaCreator PrimaValue PLA 1.75 mm 1 kg black+grey+white.
• 2020-12-21: Ordered a 3D printer Creality CR-10S Pro v2 plus filament spools PrimaCreator PrimaValue PLA 1.75 mm 1 kg black+grey+white from Webhallen for delivery same day.
• 2020-12-19: Decided to buy a 3D printer as Christmas gift to self.
• 2012: Became interested in 3D printing after demo at work.

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Created 2021-01-16 and updated 2021-03-17 by magnuz.binder@gmail.com