Hi all
I’m new to printing, so be gentle! 1st real project ordered by grandson, but, I can’t get the supports off, and the parts that should articulate have filament in them so the dragon is pretty sold. I also have lots of “stringy” filament across the top of the dragon. Any clues what I did wrong thanks
I can give you my 2 cents worth but its hard to answer a question like this without more information. First of all “print in place” movable parts require a pretty accurate printing setup. That mans that your first layers need to be pretty perfect, levelling set up properly and temps pretty exact. Your print speeds probably need to be low and since most require some sort of bridging your cooling must be set up properly. Usually they print with a little bit of sticking but the parts should break apart with a little bit of careful wiggling. Most of this information can be found on line with a few searches.
The other issue you might be having is if you have scaled your print down to fit it onto smaller print bed. This can be a major issue if you have scaled by a large amount. My first articulated prints were printed on a tiny bed so major scaling. The same item printed on my large printer worked flawlessly but the smaller sizes mean tolerances are much closer. My suggestion would be to first tune your printer carefully, then try printing some simple articulated models before trying complicated ones. I would also recommend finding or designing models that fit your bed without having to scale them.
Thank you for reply
I took it apart, and the articulated sections where pretty solid. Reviews where fine so I agree it must be set up. I found another, and after 2 attempts it printed quite well. I gave no thought to print speed, and cooling, just went for it. It was difficult to remove off the bed, I later read whilst instructions said no supports necessary a previous user recommended rafts. I first used the creality slicer, the successful print was cura, it just seemed easier to read. 2 of the sections broke, I just glued these, a 6 yr old won’t notice!. Think I have gone too complicated too quick!
In Cura ensure your bridging settings are set up so the bridges don’t stick. Speed, temps and fan are important settings when dealing with that kind of a print. Your first layer needs to be as best as you can get it. I prefer to avoid rafts so I spend time getting my first layer squish exactly right for the filament I am using. PETG and PLA are slightly different for the first layer. If using PETG keep in mind it can stick to glass so well it will pull off small chunks. I use a little glue stick on my glass to ensure this doesn’t happen and make sure you let the part cool down before trying to remove it. Generally, if you have to use a raft your first layer needs some fine tuning. PLA tends to stick to the bed better on the first layer. PETG likes to stick to the nozzle and small parts often pull off the bed (glass) I believe that the magnetic beds are better but I don’t have any to verify this.