3D Printing Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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5 answers

Lines of PLA not sticking to the bed

When I am printing objects that have a lot of surface area on the first layer parts of that layer will rise up causing there to be gaps in the first layer. Here are two pictures. The first one was printing with a raft and the second one was without…
Loanb222
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Is PLA filament conductive?

I am planing on printing something that will make contact with PCB boards. The print will be most likely to be in PLA. I don't want to fry the PCB board so I want to know if 3D printed PLA objects are conductive. I googled and found out about…
Alic
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Printing Plastic Replacement Parts

On a number of occasions I've broken small plastic parts that are nearly impossible to replace but could easily be 3-D printed. The latest such mishap is the volume knob on the factory-installed radio on my car. I have little experience in 3D…
James
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Comparative design methods for joints that will be joined together

I want to 3D-print some parts that will be later joined together along a seam. When modeling these separate parts, what are some methods that work well with 3D-printed pieces? For example, if I were doing wood working, I might choose dowel and pin…
Tony Hansen
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Producing closely fitting parts

I would really like to be able to print moving parts that fit well enough to move without excessive friction, but also aren't excessively loose. Using an Ultimaker 2, what should be my expectations be, and how would I go about produce well fitting…
Chris Rutherford
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2 answers

Reducing amount of material

Just started doing some design. First project was a replacement handle for my angle grinder, so basically a hollow cylinder. I want to reduce the amount of material used in the print. I could sit here and punch holes through the handle with a…
SleepyBoBos
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6 answers

Extruder clicks

I have Prusa i3 derivative with MK8 extruder and Marlin 1.1RC8 as firmware. I already reduced the default speeds as well as the accelerations. But sometimes when trying to print with BQ PLA filament (220°C), mostly during filling areas, my extruder…
Thomas S.
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2 answers

Second layer: gaps, poor adhesion - why?

I'm seeing the following pattern on my Prusa clone: The first layer prints OK, layer adhesion to the bed is good. The second layer shows the weird gaps. On larger pieces, or with an increased feed rate, it sometimes gets so bad that parts of the…
vwegert
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2 answers

E3D Thermistor Alternative

E3D hotends use a thermistor whose legs are insulated with glass fiber sleeving and clamped down with a screw and washer: This solution enables the printing of high temperature materials, but it's a bit fragile and after reassembling the hotend a…
Tom van der Zanden
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How close should the nozzle be to the substrate?

I have my nozzle close to the substrate that I am printing on, so that a piece of paper can just about slide underneath it freely, without catching. Is this the right way to do it?
Ageis
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Troubleshooting poor adhesion at the edge of the bed

I've been printing for a week now on my new printer and have been getting great results, including great adhesion. However, most of my prints have had a fairly small footprint. Now, I'm stepping up the types of items I'm printing, and I've started…
Jeff
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Heated bed - what are the benefits? Why use one?

When using a heated bed with your printer, I have seen claims of running temperatures of 90c throughout the print. That seems like a fairly high power use to keep a large slab of, say, aluminium at 90c for long print times (ie multiple hours). Is…
Beeblebrox
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4 answers

How do I do multi-colour printing?

Printer: FDM printer (FDM == Fusion Deposition Modelling). Raw Material: Thermoplastics. How do I do multicolor printing? What changes should I make to the printing process/to the raw material used? (Answer in the context of printing a basic 3X3…
Dawny33
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4 answers

How to easily get rid of rafts and support structures?

My printed parts consist rafts, supports and other extraneous filament when printing with ABS or PLA. What are efficient general techniques of removing them?
kenorb
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3 answers

How to print edible food?

I would like to print edible cookies or ornamentation for a cake. Is printing with edible materials achievable by standard thermoplastic-like 3D desktop printer? Or you need to buy a special printer to do that?
kenorb
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