Monday, November 8, 2010

Getting rid of warping, part one.



The printer has been running quite much lately, and everything is running fine. I've been trying to avoid printing large prints due to the warping problem. I thought I would try to fix this, or at least minimize it so it´s negligible.
In this first part I'm trying out a new platform adhesive paint.

First part of minimize warping for me is to find something better than the green silicone paint (or what it is). It works good for smaller prints but it is a bit tedious to get an even layer and getting some prints to stick.
So far I've been trying out the blue 3M masking tape (7090) although I didn't have to repaint the platform the prints pulled up the tape when starting to warp. So I needed something that was easy to apply and stuck good to ABS plastic.

I have been using acrylic sheets when printing large stuff and got away from warping but the acrylic sheets didnt last that long and it I needed more heat from the platform. So after searching some I set off to try out acrylic spray lacquer used on PCB boards. It is available in a spray can so it should be easy to applicate on the platform.
And sorry for the bad pics, low light and wrong settings!


It´s really not that easy to tell from the bare surface.


Trying out a smaller print to see if it stick and it sticks real good!



Trying out a larger print that I have had trouble with warping.


So far so good!


Slight warping but only about 1mm compared to around 5-10mm before.


Finished printing and It´s looking good! At least a lot better than before.


You can see the warping here and it´s really not much , may be possible to
print a larger raft to get the print completely unaffected.


My calibration and squaring made a huge difference in this print so now
things works as it should!


This is the spray paint I used, I think automotive acrylic lacquer
would work as well as this, this is just what I had available at
the moment.

I think I´ll use acrylic lacquer from now on, the application takes me seconds and I don't have to think about getting an even layer since it pretty much does that itself. The prints sticks better to this, much better. But it´s really not hard to remove using the spade. Once the platform has cooled it snaps off pretty easy, it's harder to remove when its hot/warm so wait until it cools of. I usually remove the plate and splash cold water on the underside and I can instantly remove it.

This has allowed me to print larger things without much warping. On the item itself it´s not really noticeable. the raft took most of the warping. I only got about 0.5mm on this item.
Next thing to try is to bump up the heat on the platform.

8 comments:

  1. Looking good! Just saw your link on the forum. Seems like a easy way to coat the platform and get rid of the warping ;-)
    As I see some text in the pictures, I was wondering if are you from germany as well?

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  2. Hi Marcus, no I'm from Sweden. Not that far though. The German text in the photo was from a media markt ad I think :)

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  3. Hey Chris thanks a lot to day I do all and have better prints. I use the acrylic lacquer and work very good to me.


    J

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  4. But to day I return to the green paint If i do a part whit all the platform don't work good have problems whit the curling .
    I dont know what happen.


    J

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  5. Strange, checked the nozzle height? I use the green paint mostly for smaller prints since it´s easier to remove than the acrylic. But for large prints acrylic works much better for me. Does the green paint work better for you with a large print now? Cheers!

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  6. Hey amigo i put a generous paint and frech put in preheat send the print i wait the beep and accept and when it begin its in 1.0 and do perfect but generous paint whit texture to feel good when the heat put the first layer this is the important layer in this machine .

    Thanks

    J

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  7. Look amigo my city have 16 C and you're ambient how many grades it has?

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  8. Here it´s around -3c right now :) first snow is falling...

    ReplyDelete