PLA + REPLICATOR any good settings???

[coreformula]

Looking to test out some PLA on our REPLICATOR. 

Where should I start?

[Aljosa]

Just use the default profile but turn the HBP down to 40-50 for larger objects or completely off more more smaller stuff. 

[Bozo Cardozo]

Check out the blog on printing with PLA at protoparadigm.com. Tons of info on setting skeinforge for PLA. 

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[Jesse Donaldson]

We switched to PLA on our Replicator a little while ago. We've found
printing at 215C seems to work best, and usually keep the bed at 50C.
We were originally printing on blue tape as well, and it worked
fine... But last weekend I switched to borosolicate glass, and it's
much nicer. The prints come right off once the glass cools. You can
clip a piece of glass to your existing build platform using binder
clips or something, and then adjust z axis limit switch to leave room
for the glass. If you don't feel like adjusting the limit switch, you
can install a clip like this one:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31959 ... it should leave the right
amount of space to let you relevel the bed with a 1/8" piece of glass
on it.

One other issue we needed to solve when switching to PLA was that the
right extruder would start randomly start knocking and quit extruding
filament. This would occur rarely with ABS, but much more often with
PLA. It would load fine, but begin clicking and working erratically
partway through a print. I read a lot about the grub screws on the
drive gears not aligning with the flat on the shaft, etc... but the
problem ended up being simpler. If you look down the round hole the
filament passes through to get to the drive gear, on this extruder you
would see that the curve of the hole was not aligned with the curve of
the drive gear. The drive gear was too far in towards the motor.
Moving it a couple of mm further out on the shaft solved the issue,
and that extruder has been working fine ever since.

Good luck, have fun!


Jesse

On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Will Stone <will...@gmail.com> wrote:
> some key settings i've found to play with are:
> filament diameter (i use 2.0mm for my 1.75mm pla)
> layer height (I use .3mm)
> temp (I found between 210-220 works best for test prints, but for larger
> prints 230 works better?)
> i leave the bed at 35-40C and use blue painters tape (and rub it with
> rubbing alcohol when things dont stick) -
> i also use some olive oil in a paper towel wrapper around the PLA to prevent
> jamming (has not jammed since doing this a few months ago...)
>
> i've been looking for short summaries re: what Edge Width over Height ratio
> to use in Craft->Carve in skeinforge 50... right now i use the ABS profile
> but i think changes should probably be made for PLA as follows:
> Carve->Edge Width over Height ratio (increased to 1.6?)
> Carve->Import Coarseness and Extra Decimal - not sure
> Clip->Clip over perimeter width (increased to .24?)
> Dimension->Filament Diameter (1.85mm?), Filament Packing Density (increased
> to .9?)
> Fill->Grid Extra Overlap (increase?)
> Fill->Infill Perimeter Overlap (increase?)
> Speed->Perimeter Feed and Flow Rate Multipliers (increased to .8?)
> Speed-> Feed Rate and Flow Rate Setting: increase to 55?
> Temperature-> set all temps to 225
>
> These thoughts are taken from the skeinforge settings wiki and various
> places online, but I definitely have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Some
> guidance would be great!
>
> some sources:
> http://fabmetheus.crsndoo.com/wiki/index.php/
> http://www.protoparadigm.com/blog/2011/11/filament-tolerances-and-print-quality/
> http://www.protoparadigm.com/blog/2012/04/thing-o-matic-mk7-pla-set-up-and-troubleshooting-mk8/
> http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Newcomer_guide_to_your_first_3D_print
> http://www.makerbot.com/docs/software/skeinforge/
> Note: i'm having a lot of trouble finding info on skeinforge 50 for 1.75mm
> pla :(

>
> On Thursday, August 9, 2012 1:55:09 PM UTC-4, coreformula wrote:
>>

>> Looking to test out some PLA on our REPLICATOR.
>>
>> Where should I start?
>

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[Laird Popkin]

I've been very happy printing with PLA for a while now, printing onto Kapton tape with dissolved ABS wiped on it (dissolve some ABS scraps into Acetone, wipe a thin layer on the Kapton tape). No heat. The only drawback is that you end up with little ABS bits on the bottom of whatever you print, but it pretty much wipes off with a little acetone (which dissolves the ABS and not the PLA). And it's great not having to wait for warm up / cool down. Well, it's a little trickier getting the first layer to stick (I find myself dialing the speed down lower than with ABS, to get the first layer to stick, then wishing I could dial the speed back up on upper layers.

Wanting to print something larger than fits onto the Replicator HPB, I've been trying glass and acrylic platforms clipped onto the HPB with binder clips. Dissolved ABS wiped on glass works pretty well, but I'm hoping for something lower maintenance. People report PLA on acrylic working well, but so far I've just managed to permanently stick the PLA into the acrylic. But supposedly when you get the distance calibrated right it works well. So I'll keep experimenting until I get it right. :-)

The 'clip' Jesse linked is great - simple, and makes it easy to put the plate on/off - you just have to remember to put the clip in when you put a plate on, and take it out when you take the plate off.

Hmm, has anyone tried Kapton tape on glass? ... so many fun combinations to fiddle with.

- LP

[Doogiekr]

"I find myself dialing the speed down lower than with ABS, to get the first layer to stick, then wishing I could dial the speed back up on upper layers."

 

You can change the base layers speed in SF (see pic) and can even change how many layers are considered the "base", the default is 1 layer but sometimes its nice to have 2 layers put down slowly and then pick the speed back up.

 

Since its just a multiplier, you just set the speed when you generate your gcode to what you want the whole print to print at, and then the modifier for the base layer will slow it down for however many layers you tell it... and then it will go back to the normal speed for the rest of the print.