MakerGear Forum

I am close to printing for the first time. My question is how do I prime the filament?

I have it inserted as far as it goes with the machine off. Do I turn it on, warm the heater, jog a few cm of filament into the heater and wipe it clean prior to starting my print?

Also, I plan to use ABS. Should I put down the poly tape or use hairspray?

Yes, you are doing the right thing. Put the filament in as far as it will go, then heat the extruder, and forward-extrude until the filament starts coming out of the nozzle. Let it keep flowing until it stops, then wipe, and you're ready to go.

Not an expert on ABS but I understand that the hairspray works well. I also understand that people on this forum have widely different experiences with and opinions on the use of hairspray with ABS.

imsmooth,

As for priming filament, you have the basic idea right. You won't be able to jog filament until the nozzle temperature comes up above about 170 C (configured in firmware). But for ABS, I think you'll want to bring it up to about 230 to 245. (jimc would give the best advice on this -- he uses ABS WAY more than I do.) Since you're working with a new machine, there is a risk of temperature overshoot if you just set it to, say, 240 to start. I'd take it up to about 210, let it settle out, then bump it up to final temp. Then you can start jogging in the filament. Jog in 10 mm increments. It takes about 40 mm of jogging to get from the drive gear down to the nozzle. You can safely jog 10 mm of filament at a time, and you should get a nice straight thread coming out. It might curl up on the nozzle -- no biggie. Just wipe the nozzle off with a clean cotton cloth. (You'll want to be careful -- perhaps wear gloves -- so you don't burn your fingers on the nozzle.)

As for be prep, there are as many ways to prep the bed as there are people doing so. I'm a hair spray fan myself, but I print PLA and PET. I think most users printing ABS use either the Kapton tape or a "glue" made up of a little ABS plastic and some acetone. Bed temperature will need to be up at about 100 to 110 C for good adhesion. Again, be careful. This is boiling water temperatures we're talking about!

My best wishes for success on your first print!
Dale

what about post-print maintenance? How should I clean up the glass once I remove my print? Should I wipe it with acetone or some other solvent?

The hairspray is water-soluble and cleans up very easily with warm water and a sponge.

I find that the hairspray works so well, I often run a number of prints (say, 5 or 6 or so) before I even bother to clean the glass. Sometimes the "ghost of prints past" will show up on the bottom of the next print, where the outline of the last print or prints was still visible on the glass, so if you want the flat side to look perfect, definitely give the glass plate a good cleanup first.

I have measurement gauges. Is 0.004" adequate space when hitting Z home? Should I do 0.003?

Thanks.

i set my bed spacing to .005"

Aquanet works very well with ABS.

My machine? the settings need to run hotter then what's spoken here.
Temp gauge/thermistor could be off. Do not struggle and try to mimic everything
you hear on this board, use what works for you.

210 ABS will not extrude very well on my machine, resulting in models prone to splitting.
I print abs at 240 and get good filament fusion.

Straightening out the natural curve in the filament, so it straight before priming the extruder
easier. I get my temp up before inserting filament and hit 100 jog twice, with the nozzel off the side
of the table so it don't drip goo on the heated bed. Tinnie-tiny set screw came loose on the drive
gear of the extruder that threw me for a loop. Do not hesitate to disassemble this part and inspect.

While a newbie to 3D printing, can do excellent pieces in abs, keep the bed temp up high, mine
works best at 110. This eliminates warping issues. I know others run cooler, but cooler
does not work for me.

Personally, glad I good a handle on printing PLA first, cuz abs was nothing but big big grief at first.
Recently moved to PET with jimc's help. Can do excellent prints in a filament that's a lot
stronger than abs. PET extrude for the clear stuff at 260. At 240-245 PET just lays strings of filament
that do not fuse together. PET should be stronger, cuz it costs twice as much.

yes with the v3b 235-255 is normal range for abs. john be careful. 260 is about the max upper limit with no real room for error at that point. you dont want a meltdown. the clear pet+ layer bonds well at 245. the opaque colors i bump up 10 deg.

Tried 245 with PET, all I got was strings, or layers not fusing together with jimc's settings with PET.
jimc is way advanced and a very valuable resource to this board.