Getting a Cura Raft to stick to the object more firmly (for ABS)

Question

I have been have a problem printing ABS with Cura on an Ender 3.

I am getting good bed adhesion on the raft, but the object on top of the raft easily curls off it. See photo below.

Settings:

Bed 110 °C
Nozzle 260 °C
Fan 0 % speed

How do you control how strongly the raft adheres to the object in Cura?

Curling up from raft

@Paulster2: the bed is perfectly level, hence the very solid raft adhesion. Apparently it is the air gap setting according to Oscar below. — Gone Coding, Nov 11 '18 at 08:13
Please realize the difference between "level" and "straight". Have you put a straight edge on the bed to ensure it is flat all the way across, in all directions? — Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2, Nov 11 '18 at 12:53
@Paulster2: I misspoke. I meant straight & level, not warped etc. The flat raft indicates that. The airgap suggestion below worked. — Gone Coding, Nov 11 '18 at 22:42

0scar · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-13T12:34:00.387

6

You should reduce the air gap option called "Raft Air Gap". Printing ABS optimally requires an enclosure of the printer, wind and draft cause temperature changes which could lead to layer separation.

edited Nov 13 '18 at 12:34

answered Nov 10 '18 at 21:43

0scar

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Thanks for the airgap info. Will try that shortly. Re enclosures, my understanding is the problem gets worse the taller the print (further from heat bed). This print object is just a test, whereas the actual items I need to ABS print are under 8mm in height, so should be fine, but currently have the same problem. – Gone Coding Nov 11 '18 at 08:18
Reducing the airgap appears to have solved the immediate problem of the object separating from the raft. Many thanks – Gone Coding Nov 11 '18 at 17:37
strictly speaking, Enclosure is not *needed* but it *helps* – Trish Nov 13 '18 at 12:00
I had the same problem and this solved it. I also needed to reduce the "Support Z Distance" (distance from the top/bottom of the support structure to the print) to stop the supports from curling off. – ianmcook May 03 '20 at 22:43

Getting a Cura Raft to stick to the object more firmly (for ABS)

1 Answers1