First print-- issues with tallthin.g from the SD card...

[minusbacon]

MakerGear M2 was delivered today! I've never used a 3D printer before so this is all new to me, but I am in IT so I know my way around technology. I'm excited to get printing!

After unpacking, I followed the instructions that came with it step by step. Watched and followed the initial setup, z stop calibrating, bed leveling, and feeding filament videos by MakerGear. Per the instructions, I started printing tallthin.g that is on the SD card that MakerGear included with it. I'm using Simplify 3D-- I opened the machine control panel, clicked 'print from SD card', selected tallthin.g, and it started printing.

Print came out good but after closer inspection I noticed it didn't come out as good as the sample print MakerGear included in the box. I've attached pics-- blue is the sample print from MakerGear, black is my print.

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Here are the issues I see...

1. There's a noticeable "gap" between the inside and outside walls. I say "gap" because I can push my fingernail in there and the PLA spreads apart.
2. Due to 1, the whole piece is more flexible than the blue one. Blue one is stronger/more sturdy overall.
3. There's a line that goes up the middle of one flat side. This is through the whole print from the bottom to the top. Thing is, the line starts at the bottom in a corner where two flat sides meet. Over the next 3cm on the Z axis, it zigzags until it gets directly into the middle of the flat side and stays in the middle for the remaining 15cm (guessing) height of the piece. The pic I attached shows how it starts at a bottom corner and moves to the middle.

In Simplify 3D, I changed the process settings from medium quality to high quality (only thing I see that the quality setting changed was infill from 20% to 30%) and reprinted. Didn't make a difference-- piece came out the exact same. During the print I was thinking-- would changing process settings in S3D effect print quality when printing an already made .G file off an SD card or do those settings only apply when you use S3D to slice and/or print directly to the printer?

What can I do so tallthin.g prints exactly like the sample print from MakerGear? I'm waiting to print anything else until I figure this out. Don't want to waste filament if this is going to possibly effect other prints.

Also-- any recommendations on some good beginner 3D printing guides? Something that has best 3D printing practices so I don't start getting in bad habits. Explanations of print settings and how they effect quality.

Thanks for the help! Please reply fast because I want to PRINT STUFF!

[jsc]

Check the "M2 tips" thread in the Tips forum for some beginner links. Also there is a recent thread trying to bring together some useful current discussions for beginners. Some quick responses:

S3D settings only apply to gcode files that it generates. Once you get to gcode, all the settings are baked in.
You can improve your print by carrying out an extruder calibration (link to instructions in the tips thread).
The seam you are seeing is where it begins each layer. It looks like it starts on a flat surface, but the sides are not completely flat. You can control where that seam goes (and reduce it somewhat) by tweaking your settings.

But, first things first. Run an extrusion calibration test, and take the opportunity to dial in your z offset.

[minusbacon]

I've been reading the M2 tips thread but missed that link for the extruder calibration. Will do! Thanks!

[minusbacon]

I tried the cube walls and got some weird measurements. It seems like two corner walls are around .41 - .42 and the other two corner walls are perfect .40. I'm exhausted. Gonna try another tomorrow.

This is frustrating. When I print directly from Simplify3D, it always does this before it starts printing..

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Thoughts? I tried searching but I'm not exactly sure what to search for.

[insta]

That's intentional, it's in your starting gcode under the "scripts" tab. It's used to get the plastic flowing in the nozzle before the print starts.

Average all the measurements you took and use that as the number. Sounds like 0.41 or so.

[willnewton]

Don't make yourself crazy chasing things down to multiple decimal points. Filament printer resolution at its best is around .1mm. You are extruding a squishy material, so things won't be perfect, but you can get REALLY close.

[minusbacon]

That's intentional, it's in your starting gcode under the "scripts" tab. It's used to get the plastic flowing in the nozzle before the print starts.

Average all the measurements you took and use that as the number. Sounds like 0.41 or so.

The extruding before it prints doesn't bother me. It's just frustrating that it does it when the nozzle isn't over the bed. So I have to watch it and catch it. Any way to change it so it does it over the bed only?

[minusbacon]

I haven't fully done the extruder calibration yet, but I've been thinking about this for the past day. Jsc recommended doing the extruder calibration. I'm not sure if that was just a suggestion for a noob or a possible resolution for my printing issues. If it's a possible resolution, I was thinking about what he said about gcode files having everything needed in them for printing and that S3D settings are only used for gcode files it creates. If I do an extruder calibration and change the process settings in S3D, that isn't going to make a difference when I try printing the tallthin.g again from the SD card again. I don't want to attempt any other prints until I get a print that matches the sample print MakerGear sent.

I was looking at the sample print and my test print again and noticed a couple things. First-- my print is noticeably lighter than the sample print. So it seems like not as much PLA was used for my print as was used for the sample print MakerGear did.

Second-- either the first 4-5 layers on my print are off on the X and/or Y or after these layers the printer makes the rest of the print off. You can see what I mean in the pics below. Blue is the sample from MakerGear, black is my print.

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I'm using MakerGear's PLA temp suggestions-- 220 extruder and 70 bed.

[Jules]

The extruding before it prints doesn't bother me. It's just frustrating that it does it when the nozzle isn't over the bed. So I have to watch it and catch it. Any way to change it so it does it over the bed only?

Yes, you could change that in the Starting Script. But i very highly don't recommend doing it.

If you let it purge on the bed, then what are you going to do with the big glob that lands right in the middle of your plate? Your print isn't going to dodge around it. The nozzle is not going to move around it. So you have to quickly pry it up off of the plate before it prints. (Not gonna happen. )

You could also turn off the purge in the Starting Script. It's not absolutely necessary. But then your first layers might be kind of skimpy because the nozzle isn't primed.

It's not actually necessary to catch the purge - if you just let it go, it makes a little glob that drops down into a long strand that then wipes itself off on the side of the plate. You can just snap it off when the print gets underway. (Try it. )

What can I do so tallthin.g prints exactly like the sample print from MakerGear?

Have as much experience printing as the folks at MakerGear. The reason their print looks a lot better is, they've been doing it a lot longer. Don't wait to run other prints until you get to that point - it's running the other prints that will get you to that point.

There are some settings that you need to adjust to fix a couple of the issues on your print:

1. Adjust the width of the extruded thread to fix the gap problem between the walls. It looks to me like it had an extruded width that is too high (like 0.5mm), and the total width of the wall is only 1.4mm. So S3D dropped the middle thread. (If it can't fit it in, it drops it.) Change your extruded width to 0.4mm, and the layer height to 0.2mm. You'll probably get a solid wall. (And if you don't - stop the print. You don't have to print the whole thing if something is amiss.)

2. You need to adjust your retraction settings to minimize that line of blobs that appear at the start of the layers. For PLA, that is all that is generally needed. The ones that come on the SD card are probably just a generic setting - they will give you a print, but it's not going to be the best quality for the filament that you are printing now.

3. Learning to adjust the settings in S3D to give you the best result for whatever filament you are printing (and it changes for each spool) is the main thing we do in the beginning. The best way to learn it is to jump in and start printing - but use something small at first, like the calibration squares. The very first thing you should do is calibrate the extrusion width (and height) for that roll of filament, and you do that for every new spool. It will get you familiar with how the machine operates and not take a tremendous amount of time. Save those settings as a profile in S3D. Then use that whenever you print from that spool.

4. Plan on buying more filament. I shot through an entire roll while learning the machine and slicing software. (Might as well order it ahead of time, so you have it when you need it. )

[Jules]

I haven't fully done the extruder calibration yet, but I've been thinking about this for the past day. Jsc recommended doing the extruder calibration. I'm not sure if that was just a suggestion for a noob or a possible resolution for my printing issues. If it's a possible resolution, I was thinking about what he said about gcode files having everything needed in them for printing and that S3D settings are only used for gcode files it creates. If I do an extruder calibration and change the process settings in S3D, that isn't going to make a difference when I try printing the tallthin.g again from the SD card again. I don't want to attempt any other prints until I get a print that matches the sample print MakerGear sent.

I was looking at the sample print and my test print again and noticed a couple things. First-- my print is noticeably lighter than the sample print. So it seems like not as much PLA was used for my print as was used for the sample print MakerGear did.

Second-- either the first 4-5 layers on my print are off on the X and/or Y or after these layers the printer makes the rest of the print off. You can see what I mean in the pics below. Blue is the sample from MakerGear, black is my print.

I'm using MakerGear's PLA temp suggestions-- 220 extruder and 70 bed.

No, jin's advice was not just an off-the-cuff suggestion - the first thing you need to do is the extrusion calibration. Without doing that, you haven't got a prayer of matching the sample print.

Every spool of filament is different. They have non-uniform diameters that have to be adjusted using the correct filament diameter and extrusion multipliers. No telling how long ago that SD card file was created, or what kind of nozzle was in use when it was created. I think it's over-extruding based on the results you are seeing. If you don't calibrate, you'll never get rid of the blobs - 'cause those are definitely too much plastic coming out. The first few layers are crammed together - again over-extruding. You need to calibrate.

Also, for PLA, your temps are too high. (Yes those might be the recommended starting settings, but it's not needed and you are always better off extruding on the low side for filaments.)

For PLA if you have a V4 nozzle - try an extruder temp in the 205 - 210 range, and the bed temp in the 40 -50 range. The filament might also be flowing too much because of the temps and getting smashed at the bottom.

For now, don't print directly from the SD card - print over USB. Pull up an .STL file and practice on that, preferably a smaller one. (Matter of fact, I'll post one for you here that you can practice with - it's just a box, but it prints quickly and you can work out some of the kinks using it.) Afterwards, you can print the tall thing from an STL file so your settings change. You want your settings to change - they are incorrect at the moment.)

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