Sore fingers, amazement, frustrations and hair spray: First days with my Creator Pro

[Stigern]

Did another try with ABS, got it working!

But, I had a hard time removing the raft. Still some left on my model. Tried another print increasing raft offset, separation and lowering infill to 30%. Got some sag on my lines. But easier to remove the raft

[Geoff]

Did another try with ABS, got it working!

But, I had a hard time removing the raft. Still some left on my model. Tried another print increasing raft offset, separation and lowering infill to 30%. Got some sag on my lines. But easier to remove the raft

Yeah, I have some ABS that just doesn't come off well, but that also was ReplicatorG. Makerware does a much better rafting job, it peels off like a single sheet.

[Serena]

Now you would think that with all that, it would have improved things. Now, I don't know why but you would think that if I can do it without hassle on my caveman-flashforge-3d-wooden-casket of a machine, you would think with all the improvements, that printing ABS would be easier for you, but it's not.

I will spend some considerable time this weekend doing ABS vs PLA tests

Nice! That will be really interesting to see.

Did another try with ABS, got it working!

Yay!

Today's print took just under 12 hours- needed lots of supports which removed pretty cleanly. I do feel like I see imperfections more in this dark blue color. Also- it turned out really shiny. Not sure why- is it just the design? Anyway, I'm very happy with the level of detail you can get from the flashforge.

Photo Oct 09, 9 46 34 PM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 34 17 AM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 35 40 AM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 35 08 AM.jpg

Anyone know how I rotate pics? Also, on that last one- see the roughness from the supports I removed? I tried sanding it and I feel like it looked worse. Maybe I need finer sandpaper... do you guys ever sand your pieces?

[Dargonfly]

Nice! That will be really interesting to see.


Yay!

Today's print took just under 12 hours- needed lots of supports which removed pretty cleanly. I do feel like I see imperfections more in this dark blue color. Also- it turned out really shiny. Not sure why- is it just the design? Anyway, I'm very happy with the level of detail you can get from the flashforge.


Anyone know how I rotate pics? Also, on that last one- see the roughness from the supports I removed? I tried sanding it and I feel like it looked worse. Maybe I need finer sandpaper... do you guys ever sand your pieces?

Looks good! What settings did you use for it?

You always see imperfections better on darker and/or glossier colors. That's why I never trust printers (or painters) that only show white and/or matte products..
I prefer printing in glossy dark blue PLA. Gives me a very good visual of what settings I need to tweak to get better results.

I have filed a print sometimes, never used sandpaper (sandpapering small things with my large fingers is not doable.) But from what I've heard; sanding PLA is a bit more difficult then lots of other material. Just start with 200-300 grit and gradually move up to 1000.
But if possible; try making support that easily break of (or don't use any at all) to save a lot of time.

[Geoff]

Nice! That will be really interesting to see.


Yay!

Today's print took just under 12 hours- needed lots of supports which removed pretty cleanly. I do feel like I see imperfections more in this dark blue color. Also- it turned out really shiny. Not sure why- is it just the design? Anyway, I'm very happy with the level of detail you can get from the flashforge.

Photo Oct 09, 9 46 34 PM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 34 17 AM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 35 40 AM.jpg

Photo Oct 10, 8 35 08 AM.jpg

Anyone know how I rotate pics? Also, on that last one- see the roughness from the supports I removed? I tried sanding it and I feel like it looked worse. Maybe I need finer sandpaper... do you guys ever sand your pieces?

Thanks for printing my Model

If you want to clean up sanding marks, use a cigarette lighter VERY gently on it, they will dissapear like magic. Easy way to rotate pictures is windows office picture manager, if you have Office.

I sand alot of prints, mainly support removal spots to clean them up, I use a small butane torch set to low and lightly flick over the white marks from sanding and supports.

[Serena]

Looks good! What settings did you use for it?

You always see imperfections better on darker and/or glossier colors. That's why I never trust printers (or painters) that only show white and/or matte products..
I prefer printing in glossy dark blue PLA. Gives me a very good visual of what settings I need to tweak to get better results.

I have filed a print sometimes, never used sandpaper (sandpapering small things with my large fingers is not doable.) But from what I've heard; sanding PLA is a bit more difficult then lots of other material. Just start with 200-300 grit and gradually move up to 1000.
But if possible; try making support that easily break of (or don't use any at all) to save a lot of time.

Its ABS- layer height was .0.1700mm. Trying to find that sweet spot between high and medium quality. Everything was pretty much default S3D settings except I removed the brim and slowed down the first layer speed. I've been having problems with the brim not laying down good and creating little strings that then catch on the extruders and mess up the first layer. I haven't seen a way to slow down the speed of the brim because I think that would solve the problem. So I just took it out and slowed the first layer. That seems to be working ok. The supports were auto generated by s3d and came off easily. No problems at all. They just leave that tiny bit of roughness that really shows up in the darker color. I do love the way the dark colors look though. I can see why you use them.

Thanks for printing my Model

If you want to clean up sanding marks, use a cigarette lighter VERY gently on it, they will dissapear like magic. Easy way to rotate pictures is windows office picture manager, if you have Office.

I sand alot of prints, mainly support removal spots to clean them up, I use a small butane torch set to low and lightly flick over the white marks from sanding and supports.

I didn't realize that was yours!!! I downloaded quite a few things to try out a while back. I think the Groot head I printed was yours too. Those two things are my most favorite things I've printed to date. Thank you for sharing them. They are so well done. Now that I've tried several different Thingiverse designs, I can really tell the difference in quality of the various choices. You are really good at sculpting great detail that prints beautifully. Nice job man. :-) My husband is a HUGE superman fan, so I printed that one for him.

I will definitely try your tip about the heat to smooth the roughness. That sounds like a great idea.

[curious aardvark]

Apart from superman's chin - what else needed supports ?
Looking at the model it ought to print supportless without too much trouble.

(looks through geoffs thingiverse uploads)
WOW !
some seriously cool stuff there.

Tell you what you could do - how about a gonzo from the muppets ?
Well, it can't hurt to ask :-)

[Serena]

Apart from superman's chin - what else needed supports ?
Looking at the model it ought to print supportless without too much trouble.
(looks through geoffs thingiverse uploads)
WOW !
some seriously cool stuff there.
Tell you what you could do - how about a gonzo from the muppets ?
Well, it can't hurt to ask :-)

The main area that needed supports was the arms. The cape had a little bit but probably would have done fine without them.

Some updated pics of recent prints:
Attachment 3070

First off- (really bad cell cell phone pic) but this geared heart printed great. It's so cool! Have you seen this model? It's a remixed one and it works like a charm. Super fun to play with! I was able to print all the parts in only two batches which wasn't bad at all. First batch was around 3hrs and second was maybe 4 or so. I did have to redo the pins with a raft because they kept slipping. Highly recommend trying this one!

Next I tried the t-rex skull that is on thingiverse. Great model- I was worried about the skull but turns out I've had more trouble with the rod and the platform. So this is a new one for me:


Photo Oct 15, 8 56 54 AM.jpg

It's like a strip just peeled off. I tried sanding it smooth but more kept lifting. Like a thread I wish I hadnt pulled. Anyone tell me what went wrong?

Also, the rod has been a real pain. Tried printing it and it lifted off the bed so I rafted it but this happened:

Photo Oct 15, 9 46 46 AM.jpg

This should be the easy piece to print but I can't seem to get it. Any advice?

The skull turned out great-
Photo Oct 15, 8 57 51 AM.jpg

a little cracking but I think I had the temp too low:

Photo Oct 15, 8 58 34 AM.jpg

This is such a great looking model though- and not too bad long of a print either. No supports at all which is awesome. Had to floss his teeth a bit with some sandpaper, but overall very smooth. I want to try it again with some modifications to my processes- once I figure out that stupid rod.

[curious aardvark]

you need to print a little hotter to avoid the delamination.
Or use pla :-)

I've found it difficult to avoid the cracks in any solid block of abs.
I refer you to my previous answer ;-)