3D Printing

Got an Ender 3 in May 2020 because it's one of the cheapest while also having one of the biggest communities and big print bed.

Mods and Enhancements

Completed

Planned

  • Replacing the electronics and extruder fan and maybe the fan ducts: With the SKR upgrade, the fan is now the loudest component. The fan size is 4010, but a 4020 would still work, this is a good one(or any that is 24V, ~7 CFM, ~20db), remember to order 2 next time buying at Digikey.

Situational

  • Aluminum Extruder: Lots of people swear by this, but it others say that with the filament guide, this shouldn't happen.
  • Replace printbed: Comparision Video, doesn't seem necessary now as the default print bed does its job well. Also check out PEI Sheet.
  • Change power supply: This one is compatible, if upgrading the PSU, should probably change the fan too(guide here). The fan runs at 24V so need either a power converter or a fan that supports that natively. Doesn't seem necessary for now but the PSU is a pretty bad one so if safety is a concern then this is probably essential.
  • Replacing part fan: Blower style, aka radial style. The fan size is 5015, most of the fans on Amazon is pretty bad and the blower doesn't seem to make a lot of noise so if the machine is still loud after the extruder and electronics fans are replaced then do this.

Calibrations

This page is an excellent tool for visual diagnostic. Although it may not always be accurate.

This video has a pretty thorough list of things to check.

Belt Tensioning VERY IMPORTANT.

For bed leveling, use the corner leveling(using the knobs) and then manual bed leveling built into Marlin, note that the manual bed leveling offset should be small(like in 0.5 range), if it's too big, do corner leveling again. For manual bed leveling, stops when it's barely tight enough to crumb the paper, meaning not too light pressure but no too heavy either.

Calibrations PER MATERIAL:

  • Temperature: Do temperature tower when other issues are already sorted out.
  • Flow rate(commonly called extrusion multiplier)

Good video about not calibrating too many things

List of good test prints:

  • Fast Stringing Test: Good for fast test, but some some strings will still remain. The best profile so far still has string on top but they are easy to remove.
  • More Commonly Used Stringing Test: Should use this for ease of comparison with people like youtubers. Proper config should get rid of all string on this one. Can be used for rapid testing if printing partially.
  • Cat Print: A more elaborate test.
  • Poly Peal Tower: A tough test that is more thorough than Cat.
  • For Testing Support
  • All-in-one Test: Take awhile to print so probably do this last.

Settings

Printer

NOTE: The SKR Mini has some kind of bug, even if the LCD shows Stealthchop is enabled, use M569 to make sure it's in Stealthchop, currently, the jumper on the board is on SpreadCycle by default and Stealthchop is enabled using firmware.

Printer settings are either enabled through the LCD and saved into EEPROM or enabled during compilation.

EEPROM:

Compile Time:

  • Disable Hybrid Threshold: Mostly because the z axis moves pretty loudly, this is probably a bug so check back later.

Cura

The profiles for each material are stored in the same directory as this file. However, variation of the profile is probably necessary sometimes. General guidelines:

  • Infill > 50% for things that will be manhandled. Around 20% is good for things that is usually not touched.
  • Layer height < 0.2 for things that need to look pretty.
  • Wall count of 7 for things that need to be strong.

Start and End GCODE is in this folder.

Printing Screws

It's totally doable to print screws on the Ender 3(provided that only one screw is being printed at a time to avoid stringing and slow speed and low layer height), however, the screw should only be used to non-important stuffs since they are pretty flimsy(less so if they are like M8), the scad file for screw is in this folder.

Materials

Hatchbox PLA is pretty reliable and prints at low temperature.

ESUN PLA+ require higher temperature to print fast. Texture doesn't seem to be as good as Hatchbox but the temperature resistance might be better.

Overture PETG is pretty good, however, NEED TO REMOVE PRINT WHEN STILL HOT, otherwise it will take a chunk of the buildplate with it, although the buildplate is still usable even when missing a chunk in the middle. Should only be used when needed though, it prints pretty slow