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The Everything 3D Printer Thread

niget2002

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Oct 2, 2012
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Josephine, TX
As I sat organizing my filament last night (I moved it from one spot to another in the house) I began to get curious as to how much everyone keeps on hand these days. I'm not a production facility, but my days of just a couple rolls of black on-hand are long gone. Those pics of shelves full of filament spools on the maker libraries and the racks behind the youtubers are starting to make more sense to me now.
With the latest purchase, I've got a bunch of colors of PLA, a few colors in PETG-HF, a roll of ASA, and some PETG. I get impatient waiting for a color or type, and I don't like running out mid-print. Then I started looking at toys for birthdays and such, and more colors were needed. I did some outdoor stuff and needed different kinds, etc. It just seems to keep growing.

How many spools of filament do you keep on-hand most of the time?
12

4 pla various colors
3 Asa
2 petg
2 abs
1 tpu

The abs is legacy. I should probably just toss it as I typically use Asa for anything I used to use abs for.
 
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jeepxj

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shakenfake

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I sold a stock Ender 3 Pro for $70 a few months back but recently the prices have really dropped. Microcenter was clearing out the E3 V2 for $50 and the E3 S1 for $75. Great value for someone looking to tinker and on a tight budget. I think the prices on good printers (Bambu, the latest Creality stuff, Flashforge 5M, latest Elegoo) has dropped the price of entry so much that the "cheap but you need to tweak it" market is going to die.
Fine by me. This Ender 3 just sucked. I could only ever get it to work right sometimes.
 

ArcReactorKC

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Jun 1, 2019
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Out in the county NE of KCMO
Wondering if anyone in this bunch can help me with support settings in Bambu Studio.

I'm trying to print this unicorn lamp for my daughter:


Because it needs to be somewhat transparent, I'm using 2-3 walls, and no infill.

The model prints great, but I'm having issues removing the supports after the print is finished. Any ideas on settings or why this might be happening would be amazing.

I've been using tree supports. Started with the default auto settings. Then changed to "slim" Tree, and adjusted the Top Z-distance to be a little bigger (.25mm instead of the default .2mm).

I haven't tried "normal" (non-tree) supports yet, but those seem like they would be even harder to remove.

Filament is a brand new roll of PLA+. Printer is Bambu A1.

supports1.jpg

They are all difficult to remove where it touches the model at the top of the support, like it's fused. I've tried heat gun and various tools but it always breaks the model.

IMG-7555.jpg

These were the latest settings I tried:

supports2.png
supports3.png

Any help would be appreciated, I am racking up useless pink unicorns and they take 4.5 hrs a piece! 🤣

IMG-7556.jpg
Do you have an AMS? If you do put a roll of petg in one of the slots and use it for the support interface. PLA won't stick to the petg so the supports will come off super easy.

If you don't have an AMS this sounds like the best excuse I've ever heard to buy one!
 

loganb

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Omaha, NE
I stopped counting filament rolls at 50....it wasn't too many over that though. (2) recent deliveries from Bambu with 10 rolls each doesn't help me not looking like a horder

Open rolls are kept in either a couple 5 gal buckets with desiccant packs and food saver lids or the reusable plastic cereal containers
Unopened stays in the box on a couple shelves organized by material type, need to do more organizing of it...room is kinda a mess right now

Do you have an AMS? If you do put a roll of petg in one of the slots and use it for the support interface. PLA won't stick to the petg so the supports will come off super easy.

This.. Or order the water soluble support material, but that is often used where you can mechanically remove the supports easily in deep holes or internal cavities etc Since you can easily get to it, using PETG has worked great for me.
 

jeepxj

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Mar 2, 2008
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had an issue on my A1 mini that stumped me for a minute. hopefully this helps if it happens to you.



1731206962052-png.2217024



1731207061784-png.2217025
 

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jeepxj

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1731207262953.png

this is what the first layer looks like.

there are 3 screws behind the nozzle body that were loose. if those are tight, remove them. on that bracket is the heater stuff. there are 4 on the backside of it that come loose as well.

1731207261976.png
 

XJSuperman

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Jan 26, 2018
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Central Iowa
I shouldn't have mentioned the PETG-HF here I guess, they're sold out of the color I need! I need more of the stuff for the engine block project due to my poor estimation. A couple more chunks and then its the waiting game for this guy. ;)
 

toolfinder.us

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Nov 11, 2024
Messages
11
Is there a online site that will print items for you kind of like how send cut sent does metals?
Xometry.com is pretty good for this service in 3D Printing...CNC parts...etc. Have used them through many projects and generally they do a good job. I would highly encourage developing a working relationship with more of a "local" partner to you if you can, though. There are advantages to being able to just go and pick up a 3D print from a nearby source.
 

Citation

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Jan 20, 2016
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Indy
In the past I used Shapeways for sintered nylon parts. This was over a decade back but the resulting parts were very solid and had a finish like a fine casting. I did finish machining on the parts to get what I needed at the time. The nice thing about someone like Shapeways is they offered materials and printing processes that are not available to home printers (ie more than FDM and SLA type resin).
 
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XJSuperman

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Jan 26, 2018
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Central Iowa
Not to beat a dead horse or whatever, but I was surprised last night as I placed another order, to see that Bambu is discontinuing regular PETG in favor of the -HF. I didn't see that coming as it looked like there were still enough differences in the properties to warrant both their existence.
Also the new update looks promising. It's got fixes/changes for the couple things I've been wanting.
 

moab11

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Nov 22, 2015
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555
Location
Thunder Bay, Ontario
I saw the demise of the regular PETG coming, still sad about the PLA Tough being gone.
I am surprised they brought back the cool plate again, with an improved formula it seems.
 

jeepxj

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Not to beat a dead horse or whatever, but I was surprised last night as I placed another order, to see that Bambu is discontinuing regular PETG in favor of the -HF. I didn't see that coming as it looked like there were still enough differences in the properties to warrant both their existence.
Also the new update looks promising. It's got fixes/changes for the couple things I've been wanting.

inventory management would be an issue there i'd guess. plus people want speed.
 

bugnut

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Jul 14, 2012
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Central Ohio
New printer up and running. I'm blaming you people!! Then printed a fixture to help drill a broke stud or two out.
 

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