I just set up my new Monoprice Maker Select Pro Ultimate 3D Printer (Wanhao Duplicator 6). I have been able to produce a couple of small prints using the supplied PLA filament and another roll of Hatchbox PLA filament I ordered. The only problem I have had so far is actually changing from one filament to another. I did not have any trouble loading the initial filament but the instructions did not specify anything about a process to actually change to a different one. I probably should just spend some time perusing this forum for these few questions but if someone has some quick answers, I would appreciate it.
Using ABS filament: From my initial research, I understand using ABS can have some issues so I ordered 2 rolls of PLA and 1 roll of ABS to try. The small instruction book that came with this printer gave instructions for inserting filament but made the statement of “these instructions will assume the use of PLA filament”. So what difference could there be of inserting ABS filament? It looks the same. Also another review I read seemed to infer that some sort of cleaning may need to be done when switching from PLA to ABS. Any ideas?
Replacing filament: I printed one very small project using the supplied PLA filament. Then I changed it for another color of Hatchbox. I wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed but I just cut the filament off of the top and chose to “move material” until I thought the old filament had passed through. Then I put the new one in by pressing down the lever and pushing it down. But it took forever for it to grab on. I tried several times including re-cutting it at an angle. Finally I found that if I rotated the knob in the opposite direction, it seemed to grab hold of it and eventually I found that I kind of needed to turn the knob back and forth a few times and just get the feel for how it was grabbing it. Eventually it fed through. Is this normal behavior or is there a better procedure for changing filaments?
Initial Layer Thickness: The second thing I tried printing was a Tick Twister. The supplied notes specified that I should use ABS filament but I stayed with the PLA I already had installed. It also said “It is very important that the first layer is printed at 0.1mm” So I went to Cura and in the Advanced settings, I did change the Initial layer thickness from 0.3 to 0.1. I’m not exactly sure what that is referring to. I know that this printer (and maybe most printers) require a support structure to be built along with the item printed. So when I change the initial layer thickness, is that referring to the initial layer of the item being printed or is it referring to the initial layer of the support structure underneath the item being printed?
Creating 3D designs: Does anyone have any recommendations on good inexpensive or free software to use? I have tried the Microsoft 3D builder and Tinkercad. So far, I think I like Tinkercad of the 2. But one thing I have had trouble with is initially I have been trying to build a small cylinder or polygon with a very thin wall of say .39mm. I haven’t found any way with either one of these packages to specify a thickness of a wall. I can choose to build a cylinder and then build a smaller cylinder to place inside the first one and then create a hole in the larger one and that works pretty good but doesn’t give me the accuracy I would like. Any ideas here?
Sorry for the basic questions but I’m sure someone else has similar questions?
Thanks,
Rod
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Zapaer
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@rodqmiller
Loading filament is the same for all materials. Do as you have done for PLA.
However, when you are switching between two materials for example from PLA to ABS, make sure the hotend is hot (200C for this example).
Once hot, push in and then pull out the filament that is already loaded (I assume it’s still connected to the spool). Be careful to keep an eye on the spool, make sure you keep the tension so as to prevent the spool from coming loose and tangling.
Then after the old filament has been removed, raise the temperature of the hotend to the recommended printing temperature for the material (240C for ABS) and insert the new one (in this case ABS). Then let the hotend extrude at least 200mm to clear out remnants of the old material. If the temperature difference between the two materials is too big (ie more than 80C you may require another material to act as a go between when raising the temperature of the hotend and flushing the nozzle of remnants from the old material).
For different colors of the same material, repeat the above process except keep the temperature the same. You should be able to tell when you have “cleaned the nozzle” enough through visual inspection of the uniformity of the color of the filament being extruded.
The initial layer height is the layer height of the first layer being printed. From my knowledge, I would say it does not affect the support structure, rather just the object being printed. A thicker first layer height results in better adhesion.
To determine the wall thickness you will have to use CURA or a similar software as such settings are determined by the slicer.
So you can design a cylinder, and then set the wall thickness (perimeters/shells) in the slicer. The slicer does not change the dimensions of the object, rather it changed the internal structure such as the wall thickness, infill density, and layer height.
Thanks. Your response was timely because I was just getting ready to switch over to a spool of ABS. I did what you said and it worked but I still had trouble feeding the filament through just as the I did with the PLA but I think it is just a matter of practice and straightening the filament and maybe cutting an angle on the end and just getting a feel for it.
As far as the wall thickness goes, I have been battling with that for the last few days (while still using PLA). At this point, I have just been printing really small practice objects of no value or use just to learn how to use a 3d modeling program. For all practical purposes, I was trying to print a 6 sided sleeve that would slip around a pencil body as a partial cover. I was trying to make the walls as thin as I could, I found that in some cases when I loaded my stl file into Cura, it would tell me it would take 0 minutes to print (which I guess was Cura speak for saying this will not work) Through trial and error, I tried loading very small objects that were just basically a very thin wall and I found that if I made the wall less than .42mm, Cura would tell me 0 minutes to print. After I discovered that, I stupidly realized I should have just Googled “3d printing minimum wall thickness” because when I did, I found several references to not trying to print walls less than 1mm so I guess if my printer will print a .42mm wall successfully, it must be doing OK.
I have still been trying to settle on a 3d modeling program that will work for me. In my quest to print this little pencil object with the thin walls, I was trying to find the best way to create a hole in a 6 sided polygon. I bounced back and forth between TinkerCad and Microsoft 3D builder and finally decided that the Microsoft program gave me better results for my simple project. I just discovered a podcast today called “3D printing Today” and they were talking about using Fusion 360 so I’m going to give that a try.
Thanks again.
Rod
