FlashForge Creator Pro user need some help

[anthony27]

Another thought I had,
I wonder if the screws that are used to adjust the plate need a finer pitch, to allow for a more accurate adjustment?
also has anyone used the newer machines with auto-leveling beds, do they work well?

[curious aardvark]

read this thread - not much it doesn't cover. http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...-Creator-forum

Also search for acetone smoothing for abs.

Speed wise - the default speeds I always found way too fast.

Print speed I generally use between 30 and 70 mm/s Depending on material.
Pla I rprint at 60-70 mm/s depending on the model. And specialist or flexible filaments between 30-40 mm/s.

travel speed for most things I keep at about 80 mm/s.
If you start getting spiky bits of filament that catch the print head then just set the travel speed to be the same as the print speed and they should go away.

[anthony27]

read this thread - not much it doesn't cover. http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...-Creator-forum

Also search for acetone smoothing for abs.

Speed wise - the default speeds I always found way too fast.

Print speed I generally use between 30 and 70 mm/s Depending on material.
Pla I rprint at 60-70 mm/s depending on the model. And specialist or flexible filaments between 30-40 mm/s.

travel speed for most things I keep at about 80 mm/s.
If you start getting spiky bits of filament that catch the print head then just set the travel speed to be the same as the print speed and they should go away.

Thanks for that info, I sprayed hairspray onto the bed and that made a huge difference, and lowered the speeds by half!
please see images attached of a test cube I made, getting better, but not quite accurate, it has some warping on some sides and when measured is 19.76mm and 19.70mm, when it should be 20mm cubed?
any theories?

[curious aardvark]

abs shrinks by around 1%.

Yet another reason top use pla :-)

So I'd say that cube,s pretty much bang on - for abs.

No image though.

[anthony27]

abs shrinks by around 1%.

Yet another reason top use pla :-)

So I'd say that cube,s pretty much bang on - for abs.

No image though.

Ah thanks for that info. I forgot to factor in shrinkage,
I also forgot to post the images! see attached, note i did have a raft which I have peeled off before I took the photo
note the same cube two different angles
0.2 resolution, 15%infill, 1 wall, travel speed 60ms
1.jpg2.jpg
Cheers
Anthony

[warkmal]

- I am a bit lost with Maker ware in the sense, that I am not sure what speeds things should be moving at, and I have used the defaults, I guess its hard to come up with some universal parameters for testing the machine, but if you have some thoughts it would be helpful!, especially temperatures and speeds.

You can go pretty fast for travel only moves (120mm/s), but for extruded moves you'll find that you need to go much slower. Start at 40mm/s and go up from there. There are several reasons why a FlashForge can't really print as fast as an original Replicator 1 Dual, but one of them is the PTFE lined hotend. There's a limit to how fast it can melt the plastic and extrude a clean line. Another is that there is some play in those X-rods and that leads to backlash and ringing at too high of speeds (you could improve this by lowering the onboard preferences for acceleration via RepG)

- the Bed is incredibly hard to get level, and I have noticed the left nozzle is always touching the bed whilst the right nozzle is loose, either the bed is warped or the nozzles are misaligned?

If they're always like that in each of the positions you drag the nozzle to, then its the nozzles not the bed. You can adjust the nozzle heights via loosening the set screw. The tricky bit will be using a reference point to get them even with each other. Some folks use the bed itself. There are youtube guides for doing this.

- the prints don't stick to the bed anymore at the raft stage, they just curl up and then the nozzle takes them on a vacation around the printer! think it may be time to switch to glass!, does any one know where to get the right kit?

I found glass to be difficult without some coating. Waaaaay (I mean, it's really hard to overstate how much better) easier to deal with is a PEI sheet stuck to glass. Get thin PEI (0.5mm to 1mm) because it apparently usually comes a little curved and sticking it to glass flattens it out. I just used regular float glass from my local hardware store, but some folks use borosilicate. I figure if it breaks because of the heat/cold/heat/cold, I'll just get a new one since they're pretty cheap. But so far, no problem.

- when I try printing a cube, the first vertex is usually skipped and the print usually ends up curling and also burning, the other three corners are usually ok

It's probably still that the bed isn't uniformly the same distance from the nozzle all the way around.

- I have tried making the Marvin print, but it keeps failing at the base of his helmet/body, same happens with a small sphere, impossible at this point

You may be having the difficulty that the nozzle is staying too close to the last layer and keeping it to soft which happens with small ABS parts. One easy solution is to print two Marvins at the same time a little ways apart so that the layer on one has time to cool while it is working on the other.

- when printing something small, such as Marvin's legs the printer makes some hideous sounds, maybe a lack of support?

Could be the speed combined with the onboard jerk settings. Slic3r has a setting to go slower for small infill. Probably goes away if you slow down overall

[mightybhwk]

I too am new to 3d printing with the FFCP. Just got it a couple of months ago and I'm still learning. Here are a few upgrades that I have made.

I went with the glass bed upgrade but used the 3/32" 8x10 glass you get from the local big box store. I have had no issues so far with it. Clean each time with IPA and spray it with Aquanet. Every so often I clean it with soap and water.

I did have problems with the binder clips getting knocked off so I went with the small ones and put them on the backside. Once it purges the head I could put the front ones on. Alot of times I don't bother.

Here is the glass clips I used:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:570406

I printed an active cooling duct and wired in an additional fan. I had to use small gauge butt connectors to wire it to the board. It was missing the terminal block.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:537918

Here is the tube holder that I used.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:409297

Here is a video that help me with the knots in the filament. I'm trying to be more mind full on handling it when changing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE9LchCtKL4

I thought about building this so I wouldn't have to handle the filament as much.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:961881

And here's a really good whistle.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:403012

Hope my little bit of advice helps...
Randy.

[anthony27]

I too am new to 3d printing with the FFCP. Just got it a couple of months ago and I'm still learning. Here are a few upgrades that I have made.

I went with the glass bed upgrade but used the 3/32" 8x10 glass you get from the local big box store. I have had no issues so far with it. Clean each time with IPA and spray it with Aquanet. Every so often I clean it with soap and water.

I did have problems with the binder clips getting knocked off so I went with the small ones and put them on the backside. Once it purges the head I could put the front ones on. Alot of times I don't bother.

Here is the glass clips I used:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:570406

I printed an active cooling duct and wired in an additional fan. I had to use small gauge butt connectors to wire it to the board. It was missing the terminal block.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:537918

Here is the tube holder that I used.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:409297

Here is a video that help me with the knots in the filament. I'm trying to be more mind full on handling it when changing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE9LchCtKL4

I thought about building this so I wouldn't have to handle the filament as much.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:961881

And here's a really good whistle.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:403012

Hope my little bit of advice helps...
Randy.

Hey Randy,

thanks for all that top info! really appreciated,
nice whistle by the way! never knew I needed one until now ha-ha
just got some BilbyCNC PLA filament in, going to try that out after work, should be interesting..
I will let you know how it goes
Cheers
Anthony

[warkmal]

Instead of binder clips some Gino pads hold it in place laterally without additional fasteners and let you pick it up vertically. http://www.amazon.com/202mm-2mm-Sili.../dp/B008X0UKV8

[anthony27]

Instead of binder clips some Gino pads hold it in place laterally without additional fasteners and let you pick it up vertically. http://www.amazon.com/202mm-2mm-Sili.../dp/B008X0UKV8

Cheers I will look into that