Newbie Problem that I still have trouble with

Email yourself a 10% off coupon

Send

Coupon sent! Check your email

posted in Community by vinnie90

I always had this problem and I want to see if you guys have tricks in fixing it another way.

Printing in ABS...

Imagine you have a part with a thin column or columns that go straight up. My parts come out like crap when I have parts like this. Because the nozzle is hot and the area is hot. The nozzle is just staying on the columns and is keeping the plastic nice and soft. So the taller the columns are the more messed up the tops of it is. The columns are soft while it is printing and gets all blobby.

The best way I figured to fix this is create a dummy part that is far off to the side so the columns can have time to "cool off" before it comes back to make another layer. However, this adds more time and a waste of plastic. What are yall thoughts??

9 years, 4 months ago

printedsolid - Your method is a pretty good one. Some slicers have a cool head lift (Cura for sure) where it moves the nozzle off to the side of the part for layers under a certain time to complete.

9 years, 4 months ago

nyl0cke - If you need multiple of the same part then print them all at the same time. You probably already do that though. With Simplify3D and Cura you can tweak temps at different layers or z heights, try lowering the temp at those places and go slow, reaaaal slow. 10-15mm/sec. Also cool head lift helps, but the "plastic reservoir" in the nozzle oozes, which can cause its own problems.

9 years, 4 months ago

the_robo_forge - I've tried the extra structure method mentioned above but it does add time to your prints. I thought about but haven't tried a method of using a electric air pump like what's used for air mattresses to blow cool air on the tips/ends of the print to accelerate the hardening and prevent the distortion.

9 years, 4 months ago

vinnie90 - Good ideas guys.

In the past I seen on thingiverse people have made a fan duct so you can attach a fan to it to blow on the prints for ABS in a heated enclosure.

They attached some test prints with it and they looked pretty awesome. However, I wonder if this can mess it up because Im cooling the part more in certain areas.....but it is sucking the hot air around it......

9 years, 4 months ago