3d Printer User's Group

[Torg]

Is your printer in a heated room?

I have had issues when the temp has dipped... I have both my printers in a heated enclosure and still at times have issues - I tried normal (non water washable) and got better results.  Although I was getting great results about the end of November - before things got to be a real winter (cold / freezing temps).

With some minor tweaks to my exposure settings and bumping up the temps in my enclosure I have started getting some success (with non-water wash). I will go back to water wash resin when things get warmer and I have a longer track record of success with my current settings. I also have 3-4 bottles of resin staying at temp in my enclosure lol.

Resin printing has been really finicky for me when it gets cold. My set up is in my detached garage - insulation is questionable - so it does get chilly. I have started to leave on a electric furnace when I am printing over night to help out with the heater in the enclosure.

best of luck.

-d

[scottshoemaker]

The room is 70 deg F.  I cracked open a new bottle and ran it on my Mini with no issues.  I think the previous resin got jacked up.  I'll keep testing and share the results.

[Torg]

Hmmm I think my low temp trigger is around 71 - and the fan doesn’t go on to help cool till 80 I think.  I’ll have to look tomorrow at my meter settings.  But I think I got those numbers from a user group or one of the resin manufacturers. 
but - true - I’ve had a bad bottle before as well. 
interested in how this turns out. 
 

-d

[Torg]

Looking at Elegoo's numbers (currently using their resins myself - Water wash and ABS like) their optimal setting is 25ºC-30ºC (77ºF - 86ºF) ... which is probably an adjustment I need to make on my set up - I think my heater doesn't go on till 71-72 lol.

REF Doc

-d

[scottshoemaker]

Photon is fine.

TLDR: Don't mix old resin with new resin.

I believe what happened is that I jacked up the particulate-to-binder ration what I mixed the bottles together. That led to the delamination issues. For the Elegoo Water Washable Grey it has quite a bit of pigment, extreme borderline obsessive shaking is required through the use of the bottle, and even then the last dregs of the slurry are just waste. I'll me adding glass marbles to the bottles moving forward. I'm also draining the vats after every other print or every morning, whichever comes first.

What's so odd is that I've been using the same type of resin for a year and just now had this issue. I suspect it's sitting for longer than usual during shipping and separating more that it had been.  

[scottshoemaker]

I tried translucent resin and was satisfied with it's performance.  My two takeaways:

It's more forgiving.  My noted points on the opaque resin just aren't present. There is no pigment particulate to deal with. Coloring looks like it comes from dye.  The best analog I have is the difference between ink and paint.

It cures more brittle. It may require less time per layer, perhaps 1.5 sec rather than 2.

[Ish]

I wonder if anyone makes a paint can shaker, for home use, that could hold a bottle of resin?

[scottshoemaker]

In other news, my latest bottle of Grey is as thick as syrup.  Warm water bath, shaken till dizzy, no difference in viscosity.

[Torg]

Finally got around to printing this nice version of a grown up dark grogu.

[Torg]

here is a question for y'all - I am trying to de-clutter my hobby - which includes 3d printing... mostly this means STL files. My downloads folder is full of them... and various other spots that I manage on my computer. But I really need to get a handle on some organization for them. Especially if it is something I plan on holding onto for awhile after I print it.

I am thinking the normal folders with different categories... folders within folders...etc.  Renaming files with more descriptive names... or lots of tags on the files so I can search for them in other ways.  OR some standalone file system which will allow me to have thumbnails??? 

Anyhow, It is a big subject.  How are you doing it?

 

-d

[scottshoemaker]

I group by my intended use. If it's a generic scifi truck I intended for Necromunda, it goes in the Necromunda>Civilian Vehicles folder. Past that I got nuthin.  Maybe tags or duplicate files?

[Casiarius]

My busiest folder looks like this:

28mmSciFi
.Terrain
..Buildings
...Greebles
..Scatter
.Units
..People
...Bits
..Robots
...Bits
..Vehicles
...Bits
...Stowage

I also have a 6mmSciFi folder for BattleTech, and a 28mmFantasy, laid out roughly the same. Within that framework there are the folders for individual projects. If the files have really long names I may shorten them to fit on the LCD of my Ender 3.

[Justjokin]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:23 AM, Ish said:

I wonder if anyone makes a paint can shaker, for home use, that could hold a bottle of resin?

Feels like a recipe for bubbles in your resin.  

[scottshoemaker]

A cautionary tale.

The resin from Visit the Deeplee Store is crap.  I tried to save a few bucks but the resin that came in two different orders was total garbage, to thick to use, delamination, horrible. My new bottle from Visit the ELEGOO Store is exactly what it is supposed to be.

I suspect the stuff from Deeplee is either expired, was frozen (or something) or counterfit. 

The first bottle got binned, I'm limping through the second bottle.  I've thinned it with ISO as much as I dare and only printing small parts.  Anything with any mass just delaminates or fails in some other spectacular fashion.

 

Tried to save $8, cost me $80.

[Justjokin]

1 hour ago, scottshoemaker said:

Tried to save $8, cost me $80.

We spend so much time on our craft, quality materials = quality outcomes. Thank you for tanking the hit on this, so that others might learn.

I always tell my son: "It's an unwise man who doesn't learn from his own mistakes. It's a flippin' idiot who doesn't learn from the mistakes of others." 

[scottshoemaker]

I’m ok with buying quality. I’m also ok with being cheap with low expectations. That’s what harbor freight is for. I’m just irritated in this kind of instance when the product should be the same despite the source. When I saw the price I just assumed it was a bulk wholesaler.  I did go back and leave a bad review, along with the near 50% one stars that others left.

[Justjokin]

2 hours ago, scottshoemaker said:

along with the near 50% one stars that others left

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[scottshoemaker]

On the topic of water washable translucent vs opaque resin

I printed multiple items at various sizes, and used most of the 1kg bottle

While the translucent is easier to work with on the the front end, I'm only just satisfied with the results. In all honesty unless you need the end print to be clearish, stick with opaque. I'm sure I could overcome some of the issues with print settings, but I don't have the time time figure that out. The light bleed is within the print is enough to soften detail and make supports more difficult to remove. It's also just harder to see the surface of the print. On larger items without so much detail it's not an issue.

You will need different setting profiles for the different resins (duh), but it's not entirely clear to me without more testing what those should be. Less exposure time seems like the right direction, but it's a fine line until layers don't bond. Ask me how I know.

There is an interesting edge case. On something that's dead flat and parallel to the build plate the surfaces are crystal clear. I noticed it on my raft bases. If one was trying to print tinted glass or power fields (as long as they are straight) it would turn out great.  Once I finish this set of commissions I may give that a go.  I have a little left over.

 

[scottshoemaker]

Has anyone located 3d models of Ogryns in the 1st Ed Rogue Trader Bob Olley style?

[scottshoemaker]

I had a close call.  It hard to see, but the squarish discoloration in the middle of the stuck print is a hole in the FEP.  There was a little leakage, but not severe.  The stuck print cured enough to cork it up. This is on a Photon Mono X, so the volume of spilled resin could have been nasty.

I did mar my polarizing filter a bit cleaning cured resin off of it, hopefully it’s not an issue

[Justjokin]

I've done a screen protector replacement on my Mars 2 pro after I scratched it cleaning the LCD after a FEP leak.  I thought I had destroyed the LCD, but there is a replaceable protector, thank goodness.  

[scottshoemaker]

Prusa updated their repository website. 

https://www.printables.com/

 

[scottshoemaker]

Phrozen Water washable resin review.

 

TLDR I don’t like it.

pros: nicely thin, not too viscous at all not terribly stinky, prints well enough

cons: still need ISO to clean it, dries tacky afterward, requires a ton of UV time to cure, only seems to cure in direct sunlight

if this was half the price of the elegoo id consider it again

Pass

 

[scottshoemaker]

I’ve got a large client model that after 5 attempts won’t print without either ripping off the supports, or delaminates. Trying this. Wish me luck

[scottshoemaker]

So I think I have an issue with my big printer.  This is very consistent, I get 1-2 inches into the print and it’s almost like a layer or 2 just fails to expose.  I’ve changed settings, changed FEP twice, changed that for nFEP, used different tensions, used PTFE lube,   changed resins, temp controlled, sliced in multiple programs, updated firmware, you name it.

I finally got the print done on my little printer with the eco resin and creative positioning.

I’ll be shelving the problem child until I can circle back, I ordered a phrozen mighty to replace it for now.