9 3D Printing Sins...

Here are 9 common annoying things and mistakes that many people make when 3D printing...

[tsepash]

Don't use flush cuts or "pliers" as they are called in this video. They are high carbon steel and are NOT meant for prying. The tips will break very easy. #1 Tip, just let the bed cool. As the bed cools it shrinks. The plastic will shrink at a different rate, this will release the print.

[AnryRyu]

I'd like to add one important aspect that gets neglected often, mostly in private use. Since no private person is forced to do a risk assesment the material choice of the filament needs to considered carefully due to hazardous properties. As I do this stuff at work I cannot understand why on earth anyone without a proper ventilation and filtersystem (just opening a window is not suffcient) would want to print ABS/ASA/Vinyl/HIPS/PPS. ABS/ASA contains styrol which lowers fertility and comes with high regulation at workplace use. It also gets metabolised fast into other toxic substanced in your body after skin contact or respiration. Vinyl straight up releases formaldehyde into the air. So please check the safe datasheet of any filament you want to use and see which chemicals are in there, at what tempreture do they react/disolve and what do they do.

[NiSE_Rafter]

1. Touching the bed
2. Not leveling bed properly
3. Printing too fast
4. Wrong material settings
5. Not considering print orientation
6. Not storing filament properly
7. Cleaning with ipa instead of soap+water
8. Using PLA for outdoor parts
9. Adjusting slicer settings too much

[BryceDixonDev]

Counterpoint to using isopropyl alcohol for cleaning: what if you dont use glue because you have a decent build plate that doesn't require it and do it frequently?

Every time I start a print, I'll give a few sprays of alcohol and wipe with a microfiber cloth (specifically for this purpose). With this method, I have both rarely had bed adhesion issues (less than 1% of prints) and each wipe down takes about 15 seconds (during which time the bed is heating up, anyway) as opposed to having to take the build plate off and thoroughly wash it during time I could be doing anything else (and during which time it can't be used for printing)

[Solarmopp-ir]

0:27 - scratching your bed visibly with your pliers while telling people that would be better.

[AnonymousRetts]

Me 9 seconds after unboxing my first ender 3

[peterneerdaels]

Dawn dish soap and water made a huge difference for me when I was having issues with large articulated prints failing. I had been using a paper towel soaked with isopropyl before this.
Pick a soap without moisturizer and make sure to dry the build surface real well to prevent rust.

[RocktCityTim]

#8 - Yep, learned that after 4 failures on a printer that had been sticking perfectly with the same filament and settings because I was in a rush and just did an Isopropyl wipe down. After 4 failures, I removed the bed plate and washed it with Dial soap and warm water. Next print run succeeded and I'm a soap fan for life.

[CoolTurtleCreations]

There is absolutely a beenfit to using isopropyl alcohol. It flashes of almost immediately, and you can clean your built plate easily while in place. Soap and water does work great, but you have to take the build plate to a sink or something and then wait for it to dry before using. Wiping down the plate with IPA takes about 10 seconds and the alcohol is flashed off in less time than that. Just keep a bottle of IPA and a rag by your printer. I do a quick wipe before nearly eveyr print.

[circadianrebel]

Both soap and my local tap water leave residue on the build surface that prevents adhesion. The process I have found to give the best results *by far* is to clean left over glue stick, oils, and anything else off using water, either completely avoiding or using an absolute minimum amount of soap, wipe off with paper towel, then follow up with a quick clean with isopropyl to remove the residue from the water (and soap); the isopropyl also helps remove all moisture. Following that I do my glue stick application rituals.

[KayMank]

IPA is a good choice to clean the bed before/after each print to remove reside... at least for PEI coated (flat or textured) surfaces. It's not a replacement for a soapy water rinse. That's still necessary every once in a while for the reasons mentioned in the video, but is everyone else really washing their build plate for each print?

[logicalfundy]

#1: I actually suggest 3D printing plastic spatulas, there are plenty of patterns online, and if you bought a Prusa Mk4 it's actually one of the files on the USB stick that comes with the printer. Makes removing stubborn prints a lot easier and won't ruin the build plate like a metal one would. Also - I'm a big fan of PEI, especially the gold colored stuff, prints seem to stick well with no glue stick.

#5: You know what annoys me? When somebody uploads a print to an online site in the wrong orientation. If you're going to share the print with the world, please make sure it's in the correct orientation to print.

[maratsiyanin]

Another thing you must never do with your fdm printer is turning it off too soon. The mistake I made in the begining. If you turn it off, when hotend is still hot, your cooling fan turns off and filament starts melting, where it should not be melted, and when you turn on the next time, your hotend is completely stuck. (sorry if my english is not good)

[linkeroniw]

3:46 the AMS unit uses chips that are nearly exclusively on the Bambu Lab spools to recognize what filament they are.

[theElemDragon]

#9: On the topic of 3d prints for outdoors.... I feel like the MAIN time you'd have an issue using PLA for something outdoors is if that particular item is meant for in your car (or a shed or somewhere that doesn't have good temperature regulation) or is constantly in direct sunlight. PLA starts to soften at 60C/140F, so in most cases it would be OK, even if it's just something you need to throw together in a pinch until you can get a proper fix or something.

[pdrg]

Wall thickness is a great point - the technical term is "second moment of area", and a good way to consider it is that lampposts are tubes, not solid steel as almost all of the strength is in the outer skin, not the core, due to how far away it is from the centre point.

[NWAHVAC]

As far as build plate cleaning, I use alcohol wipes between prints. Soap and water after every few prints. Never use your pliers to pry off the plate. They will break and your a lot more likely to damage the surface.

[orange-micro-fiber]

The comments on isopropyl alcohol have an image of highlighted text showing ethanol. Ethanol and isopropyl are different chemicals. Additionally, you used 70% isopropyl in your video. I have had bad experience with anything less than 90%.

[dylandreisbach]

First time I used the X1 carbon I accidentally had it set to the p1p settings. It printed fine but it didn’t do any LiDAR calibration and that’s one thing I really like about the printer. Also having auto bed leveling is a dream after leveling beds manually for years.

[rajgill]

Bambu is just killing it. The a1 series is amazing. Auto leveling. Auto flow calibration. A camera and multi color for under 500 bones. Makes this hobby much more about orinting and much less about tinkering