Designer Experiments with 3D Printer, Overkill Makes Better Parts

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Gerrit Coetzee had a problem 3D printing smaller parts, and so he decided to experiment with temperature and speed resulting in his "overkill method" that uses fans to cool a small print, while plastic is heated by a very hot nozzle. The result is a high-quality small 3D printed part that is not "bendy" or "gloppy." The combination of an extra hot nozzle for melting plastic using cooling fans to bond layers before they hit the glass is the key in this case to better 3D printing. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/119203/overkill-cooling-method/ ‎

[JonS]

Quote: "Once the plastic hits the glass, however, there is no further bonding."

It's not once it hits the glass, it's once the temperature of the plastic hits (on the way down) the glass transition temperature. Once below the glass transition temp (when an amorphous material is in a brittle glassy state, rather than a molten rubbery state), there will be no inter-layer bonding.

[adamfilip]

this article basically says.. put a fan on the hotend this is nothing new.