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The Everything 3D Printer Thread

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jeepxj

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Mar 2, 2008
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17,831
anndd major shift. buying at these quantities I can shift over to ABS and get made in USA 5kg spools for under 6 a kg to the MN facility. gona burn thru this and going 100% made in USA ABS for all products.

edit: assuming this supplier has UV stabilizers in it.
 
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LS1-IROC

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Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
173
Location
Grand Rapids MI
Need some advice from the more experienced printer people here. What material would you recommend I print this piece out of? I just used some PLA I had on hand to test fitment...drove around a bit to check function as well. As the engine bay heat started getting hot, it started to really soften and warp (not surprised). Would ABS be a good material? PA-CF maybe? This will be subject to heat (probably around 200ish F) as well as significant vibration. Printer is a Bambu X1 so I can print just about any material. Anybody here have good experience with engine bay printed items?

Edit, it's the bright red thing in the pic...lol
IMG_8561.JPG
 

kaymccampbell

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Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,416
Location
Upstate New York
Need some advice from the more experienced printer people here. What material would you recommend I print this piece out of? I just used some PLA I had on hand to test fitment...drove around a bit to check function as well. As the engine bay heat started getting hot, it started to really soften and warp (not surprised). Would ABS be a good material? PA-CF maybe? This will be subject to heat (probably around 200ish F) as well as significant vibration. Printer is a Bambu X1 so I can print just about any material. Anybody here have good experience with engine bay printed items?

Edit, it's the bright red thing in the pic...lol
IMG_8561.JPG
I'd think you'd want something more like rubber, to take the vibration, with big ribs on the outside to keep it from collapsing.
It's what's on my turbo sbox.
 

Poolshark314

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Joined
Jul 5, 2021
Messages
658
Location
MD
Need some advice from the more experienced printer people here. What material would you recommend I print this piece out of? I just used some PLA I had on hand to test fitment...drove around a bit to check function as well. As the engine bay heat started getting hot, it started to really soften and warp (not surprised). Would ABS be a good material? PA-CF maybe? This will be subject to heat (probably around 200ish F) as well as significant vibration. Printer is a Bambu X1 so I can print just about any material. Anybody here have good experience with engine bay printed items?

Edit, it's the bright red thing in the pic...lol
IMG_8561.JPG
This guy does a nice video of his experiences. I haven't followed up on it but he might have some more recent videos of his results:
 

pamike

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Joined
Aug 4, 2015
Messages
694
Location
Central PA
anndd major shift. buying at these quantities I can shift over to ABS and get made in USA 5kg spools for under 6 a kg to the MN facility. gona burn thru this and going 100% made in USA ABS for all products.

edit: assuming this supplier has UV stabilizers in it.
Is your primary 3D printing business the tractor cupholders? How long have you been at it? Seems things have really taken off for you.
 

ArcReactorKC

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Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Messages
2,237
Location
Out in the county NE of KCMO
Somebody who has a Prusa XL with the multi toolheads please chime in.

I have a need for multicolor TPU printing. I need the object to be flexible as it is worn as a hat, however I also need the lettering on said object to be semi-transparent. I have already picked my filaments but due to the bambu ams and the way it's configured theres no way I'm getting anywhere with that.

I'm curious if the multi toolheads on the prusa xl can handle this task. I'm currently working on getting my e3d toolchanger back up and running but trying to decide if it's worth it to buy the XL.
Just bumping this up again.

I am about to pull the trigger on this printer. It's gonna be about $3700 shipped to the house, for something I only need for a specific project that's pretty steep. Now in theory this will turn into a profitable venture but I'm just leery of buying it and it not doing what I need. I've yet to see a youtuber, or anybody else talk in depth about multi-color TPU prints with the machine.
 

coldh2o

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Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
1,414
Location
Ontario, Canada
Hi, need some advice on working with my Bambu P1S. I'm making a bunch of game pieces, they're little pegs to move around a board. I need five pegs in each of six different colours. If I build five pegs on one plate, it takes about 20 minutes to print. Then I change the colour and print five more.

I have an AMS so could print multiple colour pegs at once. The problem is changing colour every layer is wasteful and time consuming.

Is there some way I can print each colour group consecutively, in one print process? ie. do five red, home the printer and do five green, etc. Do I put them on separate plates in distinct, non-overlapping locations and then print all plates?

I tried to Google this but don't even know what to call it.

Thanks.
 

Cruzan80

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Joined
Jul 22, 2015
Messages
4,165
Location
Denver, CO
Edit: I was wrong, see below for the correct answer.

Short answer is no.

The reason is that it needs the room to swing the print head in both X and Y, and if there is something on the bed, it will interfere. I guess it would theoretically be possible if the print is shorter (Z-axis) than the print head so it would fit under the rods, but probably not worth the effort to implement (have to check for collisions when homing, finishing, etc).

What is wrong with starting a new print 20min later?
 
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Poolshark314

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Joined
Jul 5, 2021
Messages
658
Location
MD
Hi, need some advice on working with my Bambu P1S. I'm making a bunch of game pieces, they're little pegs to move around a board. I need five pegs in each of six different colours. If I build five pegs on one plate, it takes about 20 minutes to print. Then I change the colour and print five more.

I have an AMS so could print multiple colour pegs at once. The problem is changing colour every layer is wasteful and time consuming.

Is there some way I can print each colour group consecutively, in one print process? ie. do five red, home the printer and do five green, etc. Do I put them on separate plates in distinct, non-overlapping locations and then print all plates?

I tried to Google this but don't even know what to call it.

Thanks.
Yes you can, to an extent. The feature is called Print Sequence "By Object" as opposed to the default "By Layer". The caveat here is note how large of an unoccupied area you need to print By Object, for clearance of the printhead:
1718846027879.png


The above will not even slice. If you use the Arrange feature, you will notice you can now do what you want, but in much smaller quantities:
1718846114563.png


Just the 1 filament change now for the 2 different colors, but there is actually a better way to accomplish this. As you can see, treating each piece as its own object requires a lot of open area for movements. However, if you treat each color set as an assembly, it requires much less area, like this:
1718846504546.png
What I did was make clones of the pieces, then change the colors, highlight them, and click "Assemble". You will then see a shaded area for the required area needed for printhead movements of the entire assembly instead of each single piece. You may have to arrange/rotate your pieces in a specific manner to get them to fit on the bed, but this should be all you need to do. Hope that helps and let us know how it goes
 

Poolshark314

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Joined
Jul 5, 2021
Messages
658
Location
MD
Short answer is no.

The reason is that it needs the room to swing the print head in both X and Y, and if there is something on the bed, it will interfere. I guess it would theoretically be possible if the print is shorter (Z-axis) than the print head so it would fit under the rods, but probably not worth the effort to implement (have to check for collisions when homing, finishing, etc).

What is wrong with starting a new print 20min later?
While your statement is correct concerning the printhead, the slicer is aware of this and prints objects in a certain order, in this case starting at the back of the bed and working it's way forward
 

XJSuperman

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Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
3,086
Location
Central Iowa
Short answer is no.

The reason is that it needs the room to swing the print head in both X and Y, and if there is something on the bed, it will interfere. I guess it would theoretically be possible if the print is shorter (Z-axis) than the print head so it would fit under the rods, but probably not worth the effort to implement (have to check for collisions when homing, finishing, etc).

What is wrong with starting a new print 20min later?
Actually I would argue against that. I am running a print right this very second that is printing in order of object rather than by layer. Theres a checkbox in the settings for print sequence. Take a look.
Edit: Poolshark beat me to it, with pics as well.
 

coldh2o

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Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
1,414
Location
Ontario, Canada
Yes you can, to an extent. The feature is called Print Sequence "By Object" as opposed to the default "By Layer". The caveat here is note how large of an unoccupied area you need to print By Object, for clearance of the printhead:



The above will not even slice. If you use the Arrange feature, you will notice you can now do what you want, but in much smaller quantities:



Just the 1 filament change now for the 2 different colors, but there is actually a better way to accomplish this. As you can see, treating each piece as its own object requires a lot of open area for movements. However, if you treat each color set as an assembly, it requires much less area, like this:

What I did was make clones of the pieces, then change the colors, highlight them, and click "Assemble". You will then see a shaded area for the required area needed for printhead movements of the entire assembly instead of each single piece. You may have to arrange/rotate your pieces in a specific manner to get them to fit on the bed, but this should be all you need to do. Hope that helps and let us know how it goes

Awesome, this is exactly what I was hoping for. These pegs are only 9x9x22mm each, so I should have lots of room on the bed.

Screenshot 2024-06-19 221334.jpg
 

niget2002

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Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
11,115
Location
Josephine, TX
Hi, need some advice on working with my Bambu P1S. I'm making a bunch of game pieces, they're little pegs to move around a board. I need five pegs in each of six different colours. If I build five pegs on one plate, it takes about 20 minutes to print. Then I change the colour and print five more.

I have an AMS so could print multiple colour pegs at once. The problem is changing colour every layer is wasteful and time consuming.

Is there some way I can print each colour group consecutively, in one print process? ie. do five red, home the printer and do five green, etc. Do I put them on separate plates in distinct, non-overlapping locations and then print all plates?

I tried to Google this but don't even know what to call it.

Thanks.
If you have the print height you can stack your prints one on top of the other with some material you can cut away between each print. You'd have to do this in CAD. You may have to create supports in CAD depending on what the game pieces look like.

Quick search shows some slicers support stacked printing. I've only done it once and I did it in CAD.
 

jeepxj

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
17,831
Hi, need some advice on working with my Bambu P1S. I'm making a bunch of game pieces, they're little pegs to move around a board. I need five pegs in each of six different colours. If I build five pegs on one plate, it takes about 20 minutes to print. Then I change the colour and print five more.

I have an AMS so could print multiple colour pegs at once. The problem is changing colour every layer is wasteful and time consuming.

Is there some way I can print each colour group consecutively, in one print process? ie. do five red, home the printer and do five green, etc. Do I put them on separate plates in distinct, non-overlapping locations and then print all plates?

I tried to Google this but don't even know what to call it.

Thanks.

you're looking for sequential printing:

 

moab11

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Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
553
Location
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Finally had some success printing ASA on my X1C, I had been fighting warping and bed adhesion issues, even with good chamber temps (45c or so) and the textured PEI plate.
Found a tip to use the smooth PEI plate and glue stick and it worked like a charm! Prints were stuck on the plate extremely well!
 
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jeepxj

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Mar 2, 2008
Messages
17,831
Finally had some success printing ASA on my X1C, I had been fighting warping and bed adhesion issues, even with good chamber temps (45c or so) and the textured PEI plate.
Found a tip to use the smooth PEI plate and glue stick and it worked like a charm! Prints were stuck on the plate extremely well!

i preheat for 30-40 minutes at 100c then start the job.
that helped a lot for me
 

moab11

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Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
553
Location
Thunder Bay, Ontario
i preheat for 30-40 minutes at 100c then start the job.
that helped a lot for me
That seems to be all most are having to do, but for some reason it wasn't enough for my printer. I had been doing the preheat at both 100 and 90(printing temp) mostly to get the chamber temp up. Putting a small blanket over the opt and sides of the printer makes a big difference in getting to and maintaining temp.

The glue stick on the smooth PEI sheet seems to have been the final piece to the puzzle, at least for me. Still need to print more items and revisit some that gave me all kinds of trouble before, but so far, so good.
 

gpiggaz

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Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
2,548
Location
Tucson, AZ & Edmonds, WA
Not to go off subject but my Lowrider 3 CNC router which is mostly 3D printed is up and running, but it's been interesting learning Fusion well enough to be successful. I did find a file ready to cut on YouTube from Woodworker's Journal. It shows that the machine does pretty well, (Still a little bit of Z axis error between bits that I don't completely understand yet, Z "zero" is reset between each bit change) But it shows me that the machine is capable - now I just need to "master" Fusion
The learning curve is steep- it's very similar to learning how to use the 3D printer was.

See attached for the flag I made
 

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JackOfDiamonds

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Jul 31, 2020
Messages
706
Location
Idaho (USA)
I got tired of the glass bed on my Sidewinder x1... it's sunken about 1/2mm in the middle, plus the temperature varies almost 20 degrees from the center to edge. I bought this piece of 1/4"x12" MIC6 tooling plate for about $70, plus a new silicone heating pad for $45. I'm a little worried it will be too heavy but even if I have to slow the printer down a lot, I think it will be worth it if the heat is even.
 

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JackOfDiamonds

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Jul 31, 2020
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706
Location
Idaho (USA)
While I'm converting to the aluminum bed, I also decided to switch the cable from hanging out the back, which adds a good 6 inches to the space needed for the printer, to the front corner. I bought a cable chain but needed to re-route the wires up front somehow so this was my solution. I don't know if bolting plastic to the heated bed like this will actually work. I mean the plastic won't melt, right? But I don't know if it will soften over time.

Also, I almost forgot to run a ground wire...this is an AC-voltage bed, so I'm running a ground wire to a lug on the bed, and fusing the power wires (the original printer didn't even have any fuses on the bed power wires!)

1720632409133.png

1720632435366.png
 

rslaback

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Jul 24, 2010
Messages
4,061
Location
Westcentral Wisconsin
I bought a folding trailer this past spring as a project for cheap. It is a 1980 Besco which is an imported trailer from a French company that is long dead. It needed a tongue. The trailer wiring connects through that tongue to the tail lights. So what do you do when you need a 44 year old proprietary connector that no longer exists? You 3D print your own using modern pins of course.
 

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rslaback

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Jul 24, 2010
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Westcentral Wisconsin
@rslaback great job on the plug! That is one cool trailer. Please more pictures and show us how it works. How much weight can it tote?
I can't seem to find a good video of it folding but basically the wheels pivot to the center and the two bed halves fold together. So to open it up and use it you lay it on the ground with the front half up. Open it up to around 90 degrees, slide the locking pins forward to the front and then pivot the wheels up like wings. Slide the locking pins back to keep the wheels unfolded and then open the trailer completely flat. Slide the hitch into position and lock it. Then flip the trailer over by lifting the tongue in an arc.
I believe they are rated to haul 300 pounds and were originally popular in Europe where spaces were smaller and trucks are uncommon. They were tried in the US for a couple of years but not widely adopted. They have a small enthusiast following and have become popular with owners of small cars and motorcycles.

https://www.goldwingfacts.com/threads/f-s-small-folding-trailer.450521/#lg=thread-450521&slide=3
 

Citation

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Jan 20, 2016
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3,209
Location
Indy
Anyone have experience with the Flashforge Adventurer 5M? A friend is looking at getting one and asked me about it. I don't know but thought some here might know more than just want the YT videos show.

Update:
The FF 5M is in, so far so good. It's very fast. The fans are on the noisy side but only if you are in the same room. While the machine can be used in network mode so far it's been used with a thumb drive and no network access. However, when setting the things up we did have to connect to the network so we could download a firmware update (bad company for not having updated firmware).

The printer can use build plates from the various Ender 3 copies. The auto bed leveling works well. I like my Ender 3 V3 SE but I don't like having to dial in the z offset.

The filament change process probably makes sense to their engineers but I wish I could just pull the filament out like the printers in used to. To change you cut the filament at the hot end then the system decides to purge out the old while you manually put in the new. The change uses more filament vs a manual change.

For the $250 paid for this printer I think I'm going to get myself one.
 
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