Creator Pro first 3D printer some questions

[djprinter]

ABS shrinks when it cools, which is probably why one side is lifting off the bed. The larger the object the more it will tend to do this.

I recommend hairspray on glass for ABS (specifically aquanet extra super hold). I'd also suggest printing at 140-145 for abs, if you print too cool your layer adhesion will suffer and the shrinking may cause layer separation.

Even with all that, you're still going to have problems with large ABS objects sticking unless you find a way to warm up your build chamber to something close to 50C.

Modifying your printer to actively heat the build chamber makes printing ABS a lot less frustrating, I modified my printer to vent a cheap low power hair dryer into the bottom of the chamber, the hair dryer is hooked up to a temperature controller that keeps the chamber exactly 50c.

Here's the mod: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524781

[djprinter]

After messing around with different free slicers, I decided to buy Simplify3D. I installed it and just start to discover it using the videos on it's website.
Seems to be very comprehensive. A lot of functions to learn. Will start with a print with the basic functions setup and while it is printing study the manual and the videotutorials.

Good choice, simplify 3d was a great investment for me, almost as good as the heated build chamber mod.

Here's a photo that shows off a few mods:

6b79070a1ea30e7ab72550943358e963_preview_featured.jpg

The large white inlet vent on the side pipes air from a hairdryer to the bottom of the printer (so it doesn't blow directly on the parts). The hair dryer is hooked up to a temperature regulator so the build chamber doesn't get too hot (50C is just right).

The white squares under the glass plate are 0.5mm thermal pads which I use to keep the plate stuck down securely while also being easily removable. My experience using clips was not a good one, they don't always hold tight and the extruder can hit them. 0.5mm thermal pads (the kind you use on computer heatsinks) work fantastic.

[jfkansas]

140-145 on what?

ABS shrinks when it cools, which is probably why one side is lifting off the bed. The larger the object the more it will tend to do this.

I recommend hairspray on glass for ABS (specifically aquanet extra super hold). I'd also suggest printing at 140-145 for abs, if you print too cool your layer adhesion will suffer and the shrinking may cause layer separation.

Even with all that, you're still going to have problems with large ABS objects sticking unless you find a way to warm up your build chamber to something close to 50C.

Modifying your printer to actively heat the build chamber makes printing ABS a lot less frustrating, I modified my printer to vent a cheap low power hair dryer into the bottom of the chamber, the hair dryer is hooked up to a temperature controller that keeps the chamber exactly 50c.

Here's the mod: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524781

[helste]

Wow, this is a great mod. I probably do that one time, when I have anough time and motivation for it.
At the moment I have a setup that works well. I use the glass plate with the spray, that came with the printer and that works well with ABS and PLA.
I repeated the large thin printer and it worked well.

Yes, simplify3D is great. I did not expect it to be such a differenc to everything else. I played around with it and it is great what you can do with it.

Since I got my printer, it rarely stands still. Made some nice things. So much fun. How could I live so long without a 3D printer?

I will try those cooling pads too. At the moment I use corner pieces I printed out. Found it on thingiverse. Those paperclips did not work. Got hit by the extruder on the very first try.
The corner pieces work fine, but if the cooling pads work, that is a good option too.
Thanks for the hint.