I have a plan.... I think.

[clm2112]

Dozed off and missed the point where the filament ran out. Printer just flagged the error and parked the head in the corner of the bed. It got as far as the trigger guard, so it is a success for my purposes. Took about an hour to clean off all the excess supports. And for the purposes of taking pictures, it got a quick coat of flat brown paint.

Now to twiddle my thumbs for a few days and wait for parts & more filament to show up.

 

[Racer88]

Dozed off and missed the point where the filament ran out. Printer just flagged the error and parked the head in the corner of the bed. It got as far as the trigger guard, so it is a success for my purposes. Took about an hour to clean off all the excess supports. And for the purposes of taking pictures, it got a quick coat of flat brown paint.

Now to twiddle my thumbs for a few days and wait for parts & more filament to show up.

Cool. But, when I zoom in on your photos, I do see a lot of "blebs." The finish is pretty rough. But, I suspect that's a matter of getting the machine "dialed in."

 

[clm2112]

Cool. But, when I zoom in on your photos, I do see a lot of "blebs." The finish is pretty rough. But, I suspect that's a matter of getting the machine "dialed in."

Yeah, I see them too. They were not that noticeable in the pure white of the raw print. Some of them scrape right off (they were stray bits of filament and support sprues.) It is serviceable but could use improvement. Some of it I caused with that initial bobble of parts popping off the bed. The extensions behind the locking block are messed up and it effected to layers below it.

 

[clm2112]

I wonder how well PLA responds to wet sanding? Perhaps tonight after work I'll do a little "auto-body" work to this test part and see.

 

[clm2112]

Getting ready for the next attempt at a frame print. Slight change of plans, The roll of wood filled PLA arrived, yet the roll of PLA+ has yet to ship. So, doing another Glock stand as a test print. The whole printer and cart got moved into another spot in the basement, along with a UPS added in case West Penn Power does it usual blips in electric supply.

The walnut PLA looks kinda nice...kinda like milk chocolate. Hmmmm... a 3D Glock that identifies as a Hershey bar?

 

[brian]

Hmmmm... a 3D Glock that identifies as a Hershey bar?

Depending on the model it would be a "miniature", a "big block", ...

 

[clm2112]

Came home to a successful print of the Glock pistol stand. Set the printer up again and started the print of a DD 26 frame. This time using the ChairmanWon Hex pattern with no microtexture, brim turned on. It is past the initial supports and into the frame itself. I did not have the issue this time of the small bits popping off.

Since it looks like sanding the frame is going to be needed for a nice look, I figured the micro texture surface is pointless. It would just get sanded off. Print time estimate is shorter. So now I wait for it to do its thing.

Meanwhile, the Glock stand is sanded down to 220 grit, washed in alcohol, and shot with a coat of Matte lacquer clear (yeah, another 1970's left-over from the basement, when my Aunts, Mother, and Grand Mother all were into ceramics.)

 

[clm2112]

Bit of failure to deal with this morning. During the night something happened to the filament feed and the nozzle on the print head got clogged up. First time for this. Got the nozzle off the print head and soaking it in acetone to get the blob of burnt plastic out. Didn't have any problems with the print sticking to the bed, it was up through the slot for the barrel take-down when it failed.

 

[Michele]

Brass nozzles are cheap. I have a few on hand. I get lazy and don’t adjust my print bed often and get the occasional clog. I just toss them and put a new one on.

Clogs:

• Bed not level causing nozzle height variations. The yellow springs may allow printing a few objects without leveling before each print.
• Nozzle to far from bed ( print bed level squares to determine if nozzle height is good)
• Print temp too high or low. All filament is not the same even same brands vari. Temp is on the spool find the right setting with test prints. I write the number on the spool for future ref.
• Low quality filament. Cheap filament can have junk in the resin and have variations in thickness.

If you are printing wood it has a tendency to clog the nozzle due to the resin make up. Clean or change out the nozzle after printing with wood.

 

[Racer88]

If you are printing wood it has a tendency to clog the nozzle due to the resin make up.

 

[clm2112]

Brass nozzles are cheap. I have a few on hand. I get lazy and don’t adjust my print bed often and get the occasional clog. I just toss them and put a new one on.

Clogs:

• Bed not level causing nozzle height variations. The yellow springs may allow printing a few objects without leveling before each print.
• Nozzle to far from bed ( print bed level squares to determine if nozzle height is good)
• Print temp too high or low. All filament is not the same even same brands vari. Temp is on the spool find the right setting with test prints. I write the number on the spool for future ref.
• Low quality filament. Cheap filament can have junk in the resin and have variations in thickness.

If you are printing wood it has a tendency to clog the nozzle due to the resin make up. Clean or change out the nozzle after printing with wood.

I'm chalking this one up to accumulated junk in the nozzle. After soaking the nozzle in acetone, I was able to remove a lot of burnt black residue from inside and put everything back together. Before I left for work, I kicked of a print of a Raspberry Pi VESA case (going to use it for an Octaprint) and 10 hours later it is about 98% complete. with no noticeable problems. It should be done in about a half hour. Then I'll kick off another attempt at the pistol frame.

 

[clm2112]

Well, ahem... finally got a print of a frame to finish without clogging. The PLA+Wood filament just isn't suitable for printing in fine detail, no real surprise. It's not like I wasn't warned. After another clog, I decided to make a bigger nozzle. I took the spare 0.4mm nozzle and drilled out the hole to 0.8mm, polished it up, and installed. Told Cura about the change in nozzle size and re-sliced the model.

The end result was that it did print it without clogging. Though, the line widths and thicknesses are twice what it was at 0.4mm, so it going to take a ton of sanding to get it shape smooth and sharp. I'm just going to have to wait for the roll of PLA+ to show up (maybe Tuesday, I hope.) I also have an order for an assortment of spare nozzles of different sizes. They are cheap enough.

Try not to barf.... this is what the print looks like as it came off the printer. I haven't removed any of the brim or supports yet.

 

[Racer88]

Well, ahem... finally got a print of a frame to finish without clogging. The PLA+Wood filament just isn't suitable for printing in fine detail, no real surprise. It's not like I wasn't warned. After another clog, I decided to make a bigger nozzle. I took the spare 0.4mm nozzle and drilled out the hole to 0.8mm, polished it up, and installed. Told Cura about the change in nozzle size and re-sliced the model.

The end result was that it did print it without clogging. Though, the line widths and thicknesses are twice what it was at 0.4mm, so it going to take a ton of sanding to get it shape smooth and sharp. I'm just going to have to wait for the roll of PLA+ to show up (maybe Tuesday, I hope.) I also have an order for an assortment of spare nozzles of different sizes. They are cheap enough.

Try not to barf.... this is what the print looks like as it came off the printer. I haven't removed any of the brim or supports yet.

Ha! It looks like one of those molded cardboard protective packing thingies.

 

[Michele]

You’re doing a fine job of practicing and getting the feel of printing. Keep experimenting that’s the way to get proficient

 

[clm2112]

Good news and bad news, After spending a few hours trying to clear all the supports from the DD26X frame printed at 0.8mm settings, it is just too crude to use. The outside sands down nicely, but the insides are just too rough to make use of. Since I've got the time, I'm going to try it one more time at 0.8mm with the rails side up. Looking a the slices in Cura, that uses the least internal support structure, though more on the outside. I'm also going to use the original DD model, which is more functional and significantly less detailed on the exterior.

One the flip side, the rail kit from Riptide Rails arrived. They went right into the partial print I did last week using the last of the white PLA and a 0.4mm tip. So, this can work.

Just waiting for a print of a few odds and ends to finish (gunsmiths bench block and a Sig magazine loader). These are low detail items, which is currently working quite well. I did another pistol stand yesterday, to go along with the Sig P320C I bought yesterday as well. (Yeah, just what I need, another project

 

[clm2112]

Printer is humming again. Printing the frame rail side up appears to be faster over-all. Might have to do with the smaller amount of supports that have to be created. So far it is partway up the grip/mag well, with a separate support tower forming for the trigger guard and dust cover. We'll see just how level the frame is when (ahem, I am being optimistic) the print is done.

Meanwhile, I'll amuse y'all with other pedestrian objects just off the printer... the stand and speedloader for the Sig... Still kinda rough, I only went over it with 60 grit paper to remove the stray filaments. Both done with the PLA+Wood filament, 0.8mm nozzle, 20% infill, 200 degree nozzle, 60 degree bed, with glue stick and brim.

 

[Michele]

Printing those extras is a great way to use that wood. Have you tried tree supports. I’m a fan of rails down. Most of the support (scars) end up in areas that are not visible. Are you ready to get another Cura add on to make special supports and blockers ? Or did you find that

That speed loader is very nice. What about some wood mags. The menendez magazine files print pretty nice. Brownells has springs xcept the big sticks they are out of stock.

 

[clm2112]

Printing those extras is a great way to use that wood. Have you tried tree supports. I’m a fan of rails down. Most of the support (scars) end up in areas that are not visible. Are you ready to get another Cura add on to make special supports and blockers ? Or did you find that

That speed loader is very nice. What about some wood mags. The menendez magazine files print pretty nice. Brownells has springs xcept the big sticks they are out of stock.

Not ready for that yet, but pass on the info anyways. I think it might tie into something I was thinking this afternoon while pushing the lawn mower around. I was wondering if there was a way to get the aluminum serial number plate built into the print.

For example, let say we wanted to build a metal plate into the print. Ok, in the model, build in a pocket and window into the dust cover just like in the Polymer80. Now, during the print, have the printer pause as soon as it finishes the pocket. Insert the plate into the pocket, and continue printing the next layer that covers the plate and seals in permanently in the finished print. But, Cura would have to be to told to ignore that three dimensional void in the model and not try to fill it with supports.

Just back from checking on the printer.... we are up to the magazine catch level. Still going strong and not filling up the mag well with a bunch of supports that were a nightmare to remove on the rails down model.

Kinda looks like it is printing in peanut-butter.... maybe that is what I will call this one if it succeeds... the peanut butter pistol.

 

[Michele]

Yes I believe your idea is doable. Might have to be printed rails down or maybe angled like some print frames.

Yes blockers can be set to block out supports but…. even better you can block areas where you want supports or put specific type supports like columns, bridges. Ok I got off track . Back to your idea. After u slice, preview the model. On the right is a slider with number of layers. Bring it down to the layer you want to stop at to install the metal plate. Take note of that layer number. Then goto Extensions (top leftish) - post processing- Modify G Code- pause at height. At top right change Height to Layer. Now simply type in the layer number u want to pause at. If you see a red notice by the slice button reslice and save and print. Now the printer will stop and park itself and stay heated to 200* unless u change the temperature. All u have to do is figure out about what time that will occur so you can what do whatever is needed and get it resumed. There’s also a change filament script which can be used to pause print also.
Either one will work…as I suspect you know I have just explained to u how to make various colored prints.

For now try modification of Cura Supports- “to table” only setting… u can the angle setting instead of using 45* see if that helps any.

 

[clm2112]

Thanks, I figured there had to be a way to command the printer to pause in order to change filaments and that could be used to do this. I'll give it a try at some point.

New roll of PLA+ showed up in the mail. Time to go back to 0.4mm nozzle and try for a frame with better surface detail.