From one Extreme to the Other. PLA vs ABS

[jfkansas]

So for the last couple weeks I have been having issues getting Black ABS to stick. It starts out fine, then after about 20 layers the front starts to lift. Weird that it is always the front.... I created a makeshift front panel to try to help but no changes with that. I haven't covered the top yet but plan to sometime. Anyway I haven't used any PLA yet so loaded some up. I taped up a piece of glass and clamped it to the bed. To start with I just used default Makerware PLA on the highest quality setting. It actually printed just fine, no heated bed, just Blue tape. Anyway the new extreme is I couldn't get the piece un stuck from the tape. Wow, wish I had that problem with the ABS. Finally after running a razor blade under a corner I was able to use my George Forman grill scraper to peel it up. Yes, the George Foreman scraper works pretty good.

I guess next up is to use some melted ABS and try to get the Black ABS to stick again.

[Geoff]

So for the last couple weeks I have been having issues getting Black ABS to stick. It starts out fine, then after about 20 layers the front starts to lift. Weird that it is always the front.... I created a makeshift front panel to try to help but no changes with that. I haven't covered the top yet but plan to sometime. Anyway I haven't used any PLA yet so loaded some up. I taped up a piece of glass and clamped it to the bed. To start with I just used default Makerware PLA on the highest quality setting. It actually printed just fine, no heated bed, just Blue tape. Anyway the new extreme is I couldn't get the piece un stuck from the tape. Wow, wish I had that problem with the ABS. Finally after running a razor blade under a corner I was able to use my George Forman grill scraper to peel it up. Yes, the George Foreman scraper works pretty good.

I guess next up is to use some melted ABS and try to get the Black ABS to stick again.

The dye colour affects the melting point. I started using white at the very beginning and had zero issues, then when I started using colour that's when it all started to go pear shaped - especially black. I currently have 3 rolls of black ABS, all different suppliers.

2 are standard ABS black, the other is HIPS ABS black which dissolves in a citrus solution called Limonella (good for removing tricky support structures) and they all print so differently it's a joke. Even the two stock black ABS print differently, and require different temperatures. That's why I have been sticking to the one supplier because I would rather pay a tad more for consistent filament than go chasing the cheap stuff that leads to more issues.

I wish I knew the solid answer to it... for me it's a constant battle to always keep track of what setting each filament requires. :/

[jfkansas]

here is the PLA part. I'm happy with it for now.



The ABS is frustruating. It starts out perfect for about 30 minutes, then the front lifts. It will actually finish the print but the part is distorted. The Black ABS I tried first was from Sainsmart, then heard good things about Toy builders and tried their Black ABS. Pretty much the same results. Guess I will try some PET from Taulman and maybe some bridge nylon.

I suppose I should try again the ABS with the white that shipped with the printer.

[Geoff]

here is the PLA part. I'm happy with it for now.



The ABS is frustruating. It starts out perfect for about 30 minutes, then the front lifts. It will actually finish the print but the part is distorted. The Black ABS I tried first was from Sainsmart, then heard good things about Toy builders and tried their Black ABS. Pretty much the same results. Guess I will try some PET from Taulman and maybe some bridge nylon.

I suppose I should try again the ABS with the white that shipped with the printer.

Have you tried turning the part around and printing it in a different place & orientation on the hotbed?

[jfkansas]

Nope, I did rotate it a couple different ways but it takes up a about 1/2 the print bed so there isn't a lot of front to back movement.

Like you have mentioned in some of your posts, I am printing raftless because I want the bottom surface to be nice and smooth. But even with a 4 or 8mm raft I have sticking issues.

I think I am going to print off a few more of these blue ones though then try the ABS again with Slurry. Each one of these blue ones take about 5 hours, gonna queue up 2 of them overnight for a 9 hour print. I might have to do some at .2mm and see how the quality differs. The one pictured is .1mm.

[jfkansas]

Good news, Getting Black ABS to finally stick with a liberal coating of ABS Slurry. I have plenty of the stuff mixed up, just tossed all the bad parts into a pyrex bowl. Melted into a plastic goo. I had to thin it out way more than I thought I would, it is the consistency of maybe chicken broth or something like that.

[Assaf]

The Flasforge Creator 3d printers are lacking a layer fan, which is essential in order to get good prints in PLA and in some other termo-plastics.
We added a layer fan to our creator pro and we get great PLA prints.
you are welcome to have a look in our layer fan and a PLA print we made with no support
dino in PLA.jpg
better images of the dino and layer fan add-on are available here.

[curious aardvark]

which add on duct did you use ?

As far as the print lifting off goes. I had alot of that before I added the flat print bed.

So it's possible that either the bed is not well calibrated or your bed isn't perfectly level.

[Assaf]

Hi Curious aardvark,
the fan holder is something we designed ourselves, there are some more photos in here.
IMG-20140907-WA0003.jpg