mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I dry every roll I run, so I haven't bothered with dessicant in storage
The Everything 3D Printer Thread
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Yankeefarmer
Well-known member
I use a creality space pi dual spool dryer. Whenever I dry a new roll of filament, the other side of the dryer has desiccant beads being dried for reuse.
Yankeefarmer
Well-known member
Years ago, I built a small wooden crate from a rough sawn plank. I use it to carry chainsaw fuel and oil into the woods, along with felling wedges, scwrench, marker crayon, etc. Got tired of the smaller items shifting and obstructing the fuel can when I put it back in the crate. Yesterday I designed and printed a couple accessories to solve this problem.
Jehannum
Well-known member
Do they stack vertically?I wanted a solution to keep my filament dry and ready for the next print. Here's my $7.82 solution, which I'm pitching as "my" solution despite the fact that I totally stole it from someone else.
Start off with a cheap sealed cereal container. The cheapest I could find was a six pack on Amazon working out to $4.72 per container.
Next up I printed some desiccant holders. Desiccant is surprisingly cheap and looks a lot like salmon eggs. That five pound jug set me back $20. Color changes to a blackish green when it's absorbed up. It's supposedly reusable... just heat it in a toaster oven or microwave and good as new or so they say. I would be hesitant to try the house oven, would likely use the powder coat oven in the garage.
This is the final assembly that gets dropped into the container. The hygrometer was $14 for a 12 pack. Add onto that $1.93 worth of filament between the various parts. Model files came from Maker World. There are a lot of similar ones, I hunted til I found one that matched the container and hygrometer dimensions.
pcrov
Well-known member
Since we're talking storage I gotta say this rack is dope:
It's on swivel casters so you can pull it out for easy access to the other side. Super sturdy too.
It's on swivel casters so you can pull it out for easy access to the other side. Super sturdy too.
moab11
Well-known member
That will be my next battle once I get some basement reno's done and can dedicate a room to the 3d printer(s).
I also vacuum bag my filament, but storing it effectively has been a battle so far.
I also vacuum bag my filament, but storing it effectively has been a battle so far.
Old tool guy
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Rookie question, and i mean rookie. I signed up for a continuing ed / senior citizen class at the local community center run by the school district, it’s a maker space class for 3d printing and laser engraving. Turns out it’s a class of 1 … me … so we’re going to concentrate on 3d printing. They have a bambu 1a mini which is rather small 180x180 printer with a 4 spool ams. But it’s a start and it’s fun.
So if the bug bites and i succumb, what would be a good choice for a printer? I have no defined projects yet. Looking at the website, the p1s looks interesting, would it be a good long-term choice? Would there be an advantage to getting the p2s? Or something completely different.
So if the bug bites and i succumb, what would be a good choice for a printer? I have no defined projects yet. Looking at the website, the p1s looks interesting, would it be a good long-term choice? Would there be an advantage to getting the p2s? Or something completely different.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Depends on your pocketbook. I only open the coin purse, so I bought a Flashforge 5M for $230. It prints one color. It's 9-10x faster than my old Monoprice or Ender 3. I mostly use it for tools and jigs and functional things. If you want fancy and multicolor/multimaterial, the sky's the limit, but you're gonna have to dump your pocketbook.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
There have been a couple questions like this recently so scrolling back will probably be worth it.
If you want to have a 3d printing hobby and not a 3d printer hobby, I vote Bambu. Specifically a A1, P1S or X2D, depending on budget
pcrov
Well-known member
I've had an a1 mini for a year come July and have only run up against the build volume limits a handful of times. It's remarkable what 7" can do.
It's the perfect gateway drug into 3d printing, in my opinion. Inexpensive and reliable to let you focus on learning to make stuff while figuring out just where you want to go with it. As you gain experience with it you'll come to know better what it is you want in a printer and what is it you need; and you'll be in a much better position to make an informed choice.
I'm somewhat of an outlier here in that I've resisted the temptation to upgrade, or rather maybe just not been as tempted. The tech is advancing swiftly enough still that newer generation printers can still come down quite a bit in price and I'm content to wait.
The mini is a great little printer and it's hard to go wrong with any of Bambu's offerings at this point. Just gotta determine that want/need/budget trio.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Work with what ya got!
I really like having my printers enclosed, and would go to a P/X series for that alone. Core X/Y is also better for tall prints
pcrov
Well-known member
Yeah I have a large moving box I plop upside down over it when a print needs an enclosure, but it sure would be convenient to just have that always there. My next printer, whenever that happens, will prolly be enclosed; but for now I've got CAM (cardboard-aided manufacturing.)
I have a P1S with an AMS and so far the user has been the limitation. I print so much on the thing that I’m contemplating a second printer without the AMS. 99% of my prints are single filament. I have only used my Bambu, so I can’t speak to other printers, but the damn thing just works. I would like something with a larger print area.
No nesting, so not so well
Do you run the rolls from full to empty? Most of my projects involve using part of a previously used roll. Usually I’m switching filaments from one print to the next.
My previous solution was Ziplocks. I thought about desiccant containers in the Ziplocks, but the cereal boxes really weren’t that expensive and now I have a cool *** looking bookshelf full of filament. It’s got gauges.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Not always. I have a drawer full of partials in my tool box and most, but not all, are in freezer bags. I keep the more sensitive stuff sealed though... Tpu and CF mainly.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Gauges are definitely sweet.
I have not done TPU or CF.. yet. I own spools. What is it that you do to store those?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Freezer bags for the TPU, and the bag that the CF stuff came in. I'll use a small nozzle attachment on my vacuum and pull as much air out as possible. For something like the CF, I'll run the drier all out for at least several hours before printing anything and keep it on while printing.
Is that a daily rate? Am I reading it correctly that you have printers running a cumulative 1200+ hrs/day?
I have thought about getting a drier. If I’m keeping my filament and AMS at <10% humidity with desiccant, what’s the advantage of the drier? I guess it’s quicker? And I have no experience with TPU which seems like a real challenge.
pcrov
Well-known member
Even with single filament prints I really like being able to pick from 4 loaded ready to go. The automatic swap to a second roll when one finishes is nice too.
Oh I had not thought of the automatic switch. Today I came home to a stalled print due to empty spool and had to load a new roll. I was printing white PETG from Schoolhouse and had to swap in white PETG from Bambu. I was really impressed that the print only had minor issues. Had noticeable layering after the switch, but I had calibrated the settings to the Schoolhouse filament so they were off for the Bambu.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dessicant won't dry wet filament, but it can help keep filament dry.
Not all filament is delivered to you dry and avoiding wasted time and material because of surface defects is worth it, IMO. A standalone drier is about $40 and a AMS drier lid can be had for under $100.
AMS drier lid. I need to research this.
I’ll also add that I’m printing in my basement which is a naturally humid space.
pcrov
Well-known member
I only thought of it 'cause my most recent print had a switch midway through. Bottom printed some matte pla from elegoo, top from deeplee, and I can't tell where it happened on the finished print. Those two brands are the same stuff it seems.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I have two, a sunlu and an eibos. Both work well but the sunlu is better, so I am swapping out the eibos this weekend.
Both sunlu's were bought open box on Amazon for $90.
My third drier is a sunlu s2, which is really helpful for things I can't run though the AMS (tpu and CF) plus stuff I want to print on a smaller nozzle so I can keep the 0.6's in printers with the ams's
Others have offered their options, I will as well. First, how much do you want to spend? As I said in this post
The Everything 3D Printer Thread
The direction change might be tough. How about pull to shut off? thats nice. gona be so many levers.
www.garagejournal.com
If you are designing your own models or are comfortable using the slicer then a lot of the Bambu advantages go away. A number of companies make good, solid printers that "just work". Bambu wins by having an eco system that just works (and may have some surveillance features people don't like). Basically, if you find a model on Banbu's website, the cloud will help slice that model for your specific BL printer and material. So rather than me screwing up the settings then blaming "my printer" for the print failure, Bambu can take the print settings from the model creator, adjust them if needed to work for your specific BL printer, then help you get the best print possible. I'm not a BL fanboy but this is a very good feature.
That said, when dialed in correctly, even an old Creality Ender 3 can produce some really nice prints. Odds are if you have a bad print with the FF 5M, it's because you set things up wrong. Disclaimer, when I started using Orca with my 5M, the default settings caused some of my prints to fail. It was an issue where it would ignore walls thinner than Xmm. Well, I was doing a trick where you print a single strand of filament, almost like a hair suspended between two features. My Creality had no issue with the prints but the 5M just wouldn't slice the feature. I had to compare the default Orca settings for the two printers to find the setting that was limiting the slicer. That story is something I found with the 5M. The up side is I learned more about operating the slicer. The downside is the default profile was not suitable for my uses.
Anyway, another nice thing about the 5M is the printer is both low priced but also expandable. A nice DIY enclosure kit from FF is $40 (or less on sale/open box). It won't be a heated enclosure but that puts it on par with most other enclosed printers. The 5M can also accept a camera for remote print monitoring. It supports wired and wireless networking. It's 280* peak nozzle temp is good for a lot of engineering filaments. Basically if you like the machine it will offer some potential for low cost growth. Or if you decide you want more, well you can sell it and not be out too much money. At the same time when buying the second printer you will have a better idea what you want and what features are worth paying for. Hence, it might make sense to start cheap then upgrade later.
pcrov
Well-known member
Oh, often forgot side benefit of a smaller volume printer: cheaper build plates.
They last a good while but they are a consumable.
They last a good while but they are a consumable.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No argument on them being cheaper, but I'm at about 1500 hours on each of my three and haven't even worn a single build plate noticeably. That's more time than I bet most people put on their printers in at least a couple years.
A BQ 256mm textured plate is about $17 vs $8 for a 184mm.
indeed.
the green line is printer count * 24 hours. thats the absolute max we could print in a day.
the blue line is how many hours a day used.
orange is the %.
as we add printers the green line moves up.
there seems to be some lag on the analytics picking up new printers and their usage.
Nice analytics! And running 80 printers…indeed.
the green line is printer count * 24 hours. thats the absolute max we could print in a day.
the blue line is how many hours a day used.
orange is the %.
as we add printers the green line moves up.
there seems to be some lag on the analytics picking up new printers and their usage.
Old tool guy
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See … i have no desire to get into that.
At the moment the bambo A1 is my first choice, with their ams lite which holds 4 spools, and a hardened steel nozzle. I’m arguing with myself if it’s worth stepping up to an enclosed model. The print area doesn’t get any larger which would have been a big factor, so it’s down to what i perceive as minor details.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Enclosure and switching from a bed slinger to core x-y are the big changes. Enclosure helps control dust, noise and temperature. Open frame has no benefit other than being cheaper.
You only need a hardened nozzle to do abrasive filaments like carbon fiber, glass fiber and glow in the dark.
Old tool guy
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Bed slinger & core x-y … totally greek.
I don’t envision doing those filaments, does the regular nozzle last a long time? And what size nozzle?
The regular teacher at the school is on medical leave and his buddy is filling in. So first day i ask if we can build a plug that i need, basically a 1/2” x 3/4” cylinder with a hole in the middle. So we struggle through the design, which was ok (to struggle) cuz it gave me insight to real world, and we send it to the printer. Software says 7 seconds to print. Doesn’t seem right says I. So we “print” twice and there’s nothing there. He has no clue, end of the period so we shut down and clean up. Suddenly it hits me … we had entered the dimensions in inches and it was expecting mm. So when we entered 0.75“ for the height the software read it as 0.75 mm … which isn’t very big. No wonder it printed so fast.
I don’t envision doing those filaments, does the regular nozzle last a long time? And what size nozzle?
The regular teacher at the school is on medical leave and his buddy is filling in. So first day i ask if we can build a plug that i need, basically a 1/2” x 3/4” cylinder with a hole in the middle. So we struggle through the design, which was ok (to struggle) cuz it gave me insight to real world, and we send it to the printer. Software says 7 seconds to print. Doesn’t seem right says I. So we “print” twice and there’s nothing there. He has no clue, end of the period so we shut down and clean up. Suddenly it hits me … we had entered the dimensions in inches and it was expecting mm. So when we entered 0.75“ for the height the software read it as 0.75 mm … which isn’t very big. No wonder it printed so fast.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
A bed slinger slides the bed front to back rapidly and the head moves left/right and up/down. This can shake the part significantly and may require slowing the print down as it gets taller.
Core x-y moves the bed up and down only, and the head moves left/right front/back
A regular nozzle will last a very long time. Buy one when you want a different size.
Old tool guy
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Seems to me the a1 mini we were using, the bed is fixed and all the movement is in the head. No?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No, the a1 is a bed slinger. The head can't move front to back