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

[Stigern]

PLA is stiffer but nowhere near as strong as ABS for a gear I find, sorry you can't convert me, and i've been doing this a fair bit longer than you mate PLA gears are rigid yes, seem great .. but have zero stress tolerance, warp over time (no matter how well you printed it to start with) and have more of a tendency to snap off small segments from stress fractures, like gear teeth.

I sell both complete kits and parts, in ABS or PLA it depends on what they want, end effector, zprobe holder and gears always in ABS. I prefer to have peace of mind knowing i've sold someone an end effector that wont melt to buggery during a print.

@ Stigern..

Get a kids Glue stick, use some of that on the blue tape if you are having stick issues, but at 110c hotbed, it should not be having issues sticking really.

Is it lifting straight away or after a while?

Straight away, I'm gonna level my build plate again, and try some more. Maybe enclose my printer better. Haven't attached the top acrylic cover yet.

[Geoff]

Straight away, I'm gonna level my build plate again, and try some more. Maybe enclose my printer better. Haven't attached the top acrylic cover yet.

Ok if it is lifting straight away, we have a bed level issue, not an ABS issue. If you have the bed at 110c, the ABS should no matter what, be sticking well for at least the first 10-20 layers or so

If you have Blue tape, here is a good trick to get you going..

Add another layer of blue tape on top of whatever you have there, so you have 2 layers... heat the bed to 112c when you print, you will see a big difference. The extra tape saves you re-levelling the bed also, its a band aid fix but tells you if you are on the right track or not.

[Stigern]

Have some trouble writing ABS with my Pro. It won't stick properly, I've tried kapton & blue tape.

Could it be that my heatbed isn't hot enough?

[Serena]

Stigern- I will let the experts answer more since I am totally new, but I can say that so far I've had success printing abs with my bed between 225-230. I had trouble sticking early on though, due to my bed not being level. I think it was too far from the nozzle and it wouldn't stick. Many gave me great advice earlier in this thread if you want to scroll back.

[Stigern]

Stigern- I will let the experts answer more since I am totally new, but I can say that so far I've had success printing abs with my bed between 225-230. I had trouble sticking early on though, due to my bed not being level. I think it was too far from the nozzle and it wouldn't stick. Many gave me great advice earlier in this thread if you want to scroll back.

225,230 C on the bed?

[Serena]

Oops sorry- that's the extruder temp. Bed is between 106-110c.

[curious aardvark]

PLA is stiffer but nowhere near as strong as ABS for a gear I find, sorry you can't convert me, and i've been doing this a fair bit longer than you mate PLA gears are rigid yes, seem great .. but have zero stress tolerance, warp over time (no matter how well you printed it to start with) and have more of a tendency to snap off small segments from stress fractures, like gear teeth.

lol true. I was just going by soemone who was running gears with a drill. reckoned the pla stood up better.
I will bow to your greater experience :-)

Had a look at the creator pro specs.

Key features and improvements:
- Sturdy metal frame is substantially more stable than the Creator's original wood frame.
- Warp-resistant 6.3mm aluminum build platform remains perfectly level under the stress of high heat.
- New heat-resistant metal platform supports replace plastic supports.
- New heavy-duty (10mm) z-axis guide rod ensures steady and precise movement.
- New acrylic cover encloses the chamber to insulate and protect ABS prints.
- New LED light illuminates the build chamber..

I can see why you're getting better abs results than I do :-)
I haven't got any of that stuff lol

[Geoff]

- Sturdy metal frame is substantially more stable than the Creator's original wood frame.
- Warp-resistant 6.3mm aluminum build platform remains perfectly level under the stress of high heat.
- New heat-resistant metal platform supports replace plastic supports.
- New heavy-duty (10mm) z-axis guide rod ensures steady and precise movement.
- New acrylic cover encloses the chamber to insulate and protect ABS prints.
- New LED light illuminates the build chamber..

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

[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.