3D Printing Guides

[XFabricate]

I could not get polymaker ASA to stick to PEI well enough for a perfectly flat bottom (about a 4x4 flat part). Best solution I've found is to use layerneer on a boro glass plate. My printer is also inside a small pot tent with a space heater and I think it gets around 50-60C. I cant believe your printer can reach 65C chamber when the walls arent even insulated.

I've had mixed results getting ASA to stick to PEI, on some sheets it adheres really well and other brands don't stick well at all. Once I got it dialed in it worked very well though, sometimes with a little help from plain old Elmer's glue stick if it's a tricky model shape.
The enclosure is aluminum composite panels on the bottom and rear with acrylic sheets on the remaining sides, foam gaskets on all of the panel edges. It does a pretty good job as there are almost no air gaps anywhere aside from some small slots where the belts pass down to the Z motors. I think it could probably get to the 70s or 80s with some added insulation but I didn't opt for high-temperature rated motors and belts.

 

[Dukenukem117]

I've had mixed results getting ASA to stick to PEI, on some sheets it adheres really well and other brands don't stick well at all. Once I got it dialed in it worked very well though, sometimes with a little help from plain old Elmer's glue stick if it's a tricky model shape.
The enclosure is aluminum composite panels on the bottom and rear with acrylic sheets on the remaining sides, foam gaskets on all of the panel edges. It does a pretty good job as there are almost no air gaps anywhere aside from some small slots where the belts pass down to the Z motors. I think it could probably get to the 70s or 80s with some added insulation but I didn't opt for high-temperature rated motors and belts.

How warm is the room? Do you have a picture of the bottom surface of those flat parts?

 

[XFabricate]

How warm is the room? Do you have a picture of the bottom surface of those flat parts?

I have my printers are in an un-insulated garage so it gets down to around 5-10C ambient on colder nights and still maintains >60C in the chamber.
Right now I'm seeing ~25C ambient and and 67C in the chamber.
I don't have a bottom picture of that same part but here's one that shows the bottoms on a different print:

Surface finish can vary depending on how I set the Z-offset, if I squish the first layer a bit more or bump up the extrusion rate then it'll adhere stronger and turn out glossier but also tends to make the bottom edges less sharp so I mostly use a sort of middle-ground setting with some fine tuning depending on the print.

 

[Dukenukem117]

Thats not bad. I dont know why, but my polymaker ASA does not seem to stick to PEI at all. I even have it sanded down with 40 grit for a real rough surface.

 

[XFabricate]

Thats not bad. I dont know why, but my polymaker ASA does not seem to stick to PEI at all. I even have it sanded down with 40 grit for a real rough surface.

Which brand of PEI are you using? I've had fairly decent results with Energetic and BuildTak so far. The z-offset can make a huge difference too, I tend to get vastly different results in surface finish by adjusting the offset by even 0.01mm or 0.02mm.

 

[Dukenukem117]

Gizmodork. My ASA did not stick to buildtak sheets at all.

 

[XFabricate]

Gizmodork. My ASA did not stick to buildtak sheets at all.

That's interesting, the BuildTak PEI worked fairly well for me. I've briefly tried Gizmodorks as well but that sheet ran into an unfortunate incident with a polycarbonate print and was fairly short-lived.
Maybe the difference you're getting could also just be down to the print settings or air temperature?

 

[Dukenukem117]

I sent a spool to a guy running a print shop with MK3s to see if he got better results, and he said it drove him crazy too. He had a PEI coated spring steel sheet and the outer edges all lifted from the plate. The only thing I've found that can hold it firmly to the floor is that glue, and I've resorted to using cheap boro plates because after 10-12 prints, it would break the glass.

 

[XFabricate]

I sent a spool to a guy running a print shop with MK3s to see if he got better results, and he said it drove him crazy too. He had a PEI coated spring steel sheet and the outer edges all lifted from the plate. The only thing I've found that can hold it firmly to the floor is that glue, and I've resorted to using cheap boro plates because after 10-12 prints, it would break the glass.

Wow that sounds pretty rough, what sort of models were you printing that were breaking your glass? I've experienced the magnetic sheet lifting at the edges once before on a particular model that went right up to the edges of the plate, so I guess it could also be that your models are contracting in a particular way that makes it adhere poorly.

 

[Dukenukem117]

These brackets. The bottom needs to be aesthetic, and even a little bit of lift will catch the light. I've also had that issue with magnetic spring sheets where it would bow upwards cause the warping is too strong.

 

[XFabricate]

These brackets. The bottom needs to be aesthetic, and even a little bit of lift will catch the light. I've also had that issue with magnetic spring sheets where it would bow upwards cause the warping is too strong.

I can see how that might be tricky with a large flat surface like that, how close is it to the full size of your build plate? I've noticed that the uneven heating and weaker magnetism near the edges of the platform can be a problem for things that get near the edge. Could be that a more over-sized printer could help keep temperatures more even in a situation like that too.

 

[Dukenukem117]

I can see how that might be tricky with a large flat surface like that, how close is it to the full size of your build plate? I've noticed that the uneven heating and weaker magnetism near the edges of the platform can be a problem for things that get near the edge. Could be that a more over-sized printer could help keep temperatures more even in a situation like that too.

It takes up almost the entire build plate to print one set. Thats why for this I use a solid sheet of boro glass and clips. I figure I can flip the glass over once it cracks on one side.

 

[XFabricate]

It takes up almost the entire build plate to print one set. Thats why for this I use a solid sheet of boro glass and clips. I figure I can flip the glass over once it cracks on one side.

That sounds like a pain having to replace the glass frequently though. How large is your printer? Maybe you can give it a try running that model on a larger one to see if it still suffers from the same issues.

 

[Dukenukem117]

Its not ideal but I priced in the replacements. Fortunately its a low volume part, but I will look into a better solution in the long run if I have to ramp up production. Might just require one of those $3000 printers with a heated chamber that can go up to 70-80C and hold it.

 

[XFabricate]

Well whatever works, right?
Which printer models were you looking at?

 

[Dukenukem117]

I was looking at this thing but I thought it had a heated chamber and it does not.

Raise3D E2 Industrial 3D Printer

The Raise3D E2 3D printer is the result of Raise3D's many years of experience designing, building and supporting sturdy, feature-rich 3D printers like the N2 and Pro2. Featuring an independent dual extrusion system A 7" touchscreen display RaiseCloud - a fully intuitive print management system...

www.matterhackers.com

Now that Stratasys's patent on their original heated chambers have run out, I'm sure there will be more affordable printers in the $3-5k range coming down the pipeline.