Learning about 3D printers and looking for input

[r-mm]

Some may call this shallow and foolish but its important to me that my tools and machines look good and make me proud to own them. Those flimsy enclosures really bug me. I have looked at some enclosed by design machines like such. I am still reading about the "IDEX" extruders and not really sure that's something I need/want but I do like the design.

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[7milesup]

Not at all shallow R-mm. I too enjoy having my machines, etc look good.

With that being said, you could look at 80/20 for inspiration. https://8020.net/
It is not cheap but it is some nice stuff to work with. Maybe you are already familiar with it...

 

[Technical Ted]

There was only one brand that I've totally given up on; Overture from Amazon was a complete failure!
We tried tweaking all kinds of parameters, but never even had one successful print with it.
Will never buy more of that.....

-brino

@brino

I remembered this post of yours and thought I'd share a similar experience I had with Overture PLA that maybe could help you or someone else use it if you haven't already thrown it out

I only had a problem with fast travel speed and high extrusion rates. I printed a bunch of kitchen trays for my wife that basically used the full area of the print bed. I used 3 different filaments; Hatchbox, Sunlu and Overture for a comparison. Using the Overture, I found I got nearly a perfect 1st layer, but the 2nd layer was so bad I had to stop the print... looked like grass was growing with blades of filament sticking up.

So, I increased the heat up to 220C on the 2nd layer and beyond and slowed the travel speed down to 75% of the generic profile in PrusaSlicer. Problem solved.

I've since done some research and found that others have fixed the problem with Overture by decreasing the "Max Volumetric Speed" which essentially does the same thing I had done "manually". It limits the maximum filament flow rate. My Prusa Mk3S+ can not process enough of the required amount of filament required by the fast 2nd layer travel speed/extrusion rate with the Overture filament. The other brands were fine, but not the Overture.

So, if you still have the Overture and the problem I had was similar to yours, you might want to try setting the max volumetric speed to 11 or 12 and see what happens. You can always tweak travel speed percentage and extruder temp during the print to find the threshold.

As an aside, the Hatchbox won the comparison. It was the only white that I could not see through the first layer. The others I could still see the grid pattern on the flex sheet. Not the Hatchbox. Very solid color. The most translucent was the Sunlu, which you could easily see light through the walls after printing the trays. But, they all printed well (Overture after the adjustment) and different colors may have different results.

Ted

 

[brino]

@Technical Ted

Hi Ted,

First, you have a very good memory!

Second, thanks for providing this possible work-around for that filament.
I don't think I threw it away (I'm too cheap!), but I also stocked up on filament that I know how to use.
I will try your advice when I get some free time to go back and try it again.

I really appreciate the input!

-brino