Christmas Advent 3D Printing advice #Day 9 PolySmooth *Glitter*

December advent calendar - modular Christmas tree

3D Printing advice #Day 9

For the background and introduction - Day #1 Post click here

Yesterday - Day #8 Post (BEMO - Handheld game station) was printed in 3D4Makers Facilan C8 and a Translucent 'clear/milky' PLA from Pongostore - being used as an LED light guide.

Christmas Advent 2017 Download on Thingiverse here - designed by Tom Van den Bon @geekc0der With some help for each day by the South African Makers team.

The original advent calendar from 2012 is on Thingiverse - designed by Peter Leppik.

It's time for Day #9 already, and today the gift is designed by Candice Howe -  It's a trumpet.

Today is all about the glitter.

The first thing I realised when I spotted this trumpet for day 9, was that I had no gold filament at all :(

I considered other metal filled materials, then quickly came to the conclusion this was the perfect model to demonstrate another use for PolySmooth - *Giltter*

First I cut the model in half again. No point in making this a really tricky print, especially if it's going to be covered in glitter :)

The two printed parts are together, now we need to get it glittered.

Jam-jar (empty of jam) full of 100% IPA.

Use a different filament type (not polySmooth) to make a dipping hook. Then dip and wait about 3-4 minutes for the plastic to sticky up.

It will have 'smoothed' and also have a sticky film all over it. 

Touch it if you need... but it's sticky, trust me.

Now, go crazy with the glitter. move it around and cover everything (not the room).

Shake it off a little, I whacked it against a cardboard box. And then let it dry for 1-2 hours.

When dry, brush off any loose glitter - the rest will be really well stuck on to the PolySmooth object.

Makes for great Christmas decorations. 

We have about 5 inches (or more) of snow here in the UK. So we are going out to do some sledging.

The tree is looking splendid.

Using PolySmooth with glitter - advice.

If you need to know my settings and thoughts on using PolySmooth, take a look at the Day3 Advent, where I used it for a Christmas rubber ducky.

Can't you just use ABS and acetone + glitter? - Yes, you can, that's another way to do it. Some glitters do melt using acetone, so try it out first before dipping your part.

Why use glitter? - Why not? It's the only way to get a glitter finish. Obvious really.

Does the glitter stay on the model? - Yes, It seems to bond well, when dry you need to brush off the loose stuff, but after that it seems to stay stuck.

Why not just use glue? - You could, but it's a bit boring isn't it? - We had fun with PolySmooth and have done quite a few different models like this. It works really well.

Can I use X type of glitter? - Yes ;)  - just try it, it's fun.

Isn't glitter bad for the environment? - Yes, if it gets into the water system / ponds / sea. Don't waste it. I still have some in the house and the Kids enjoy using it, we will use responsibly.

Day #9 Is Completed. Glitter things up, you know you want too.

The story for today is simply about having fun (and making a bit of a mess).

Join me next time for Day #10 - I don't have the tree sections 10 or 11 printed yet, or a good looking green material to use... so wish me luck.

Thanks for reading.

Rich.

Please join me on Twitter @RichRap3D

My profile and posts over on Google+

Files and designs shared on YouMagine

Files and designs shared on GitHub

Files and designs shared on Repables 

My Youtube channel is here, all 3D Printing and Hi-Def video content.

Christmas Advent 3D Printing advice #Day 8 3D4M Facilan C8 and Pongostore PLA

December advent calendar - modular Christmas tree

3D Printing advice #Day 8

For the background and introduction - Day #1 Post click here

Yesterday - Day #7 Post (water bottle rocket) was printed in Prusa research Easy ABS-T and Filamentive Recycled RPLA.

Christmas Advent 2017 Download on Thingiverse here - designed by Tom Van den Bon @geekc0der With some help for each day by the South African Makers team.

The original advent calendar from 2012 is on Thingiverse - designed by from Peter Leppik.

It's time for Day #8, and today the gift is designed by Rick Treweek -  It's a Bemo.

BEMO (handheld game station)- Read below - I make him come alive with a flickering LED...

For Day 8 is made sense to use a new material called 'C8' - Facilan C8 is a material you probably will not have used. C8 is a new (Nov 2017) I was sent a pre-production roll for testing and feedback to the manufacturers 3D4Makers.

Another reason for using C8 to print this model, is that I have found C8 manages to translate to the print a lot of detail from the 3D file. The finished output quality is quite unlike any filament you will have used before. It's a combination of a matte finish, smooth, an almost silky touch surface and optically it has an almost magic ability to hide layer lines. Sounds interesting. (the camera catches them more than in real-life with your eye)

First I must just say the pre-production roll I was sent was out of tolerance, so the quality should actually improve even more than these images below. I have calibrated the diameter (it's low ~1.6mm) for each model, but because this was a prototype batch run it drifts a little and that gives tiny (and I mean tiny) surface / perimeter drift over layers.

3D4Makers have a full production line setup now for C8 and they are busy manufacturing it - Their website as of today states an end of December 2017 shipping date.

One last thing before we move on - The filament feedback form from 3D4Makers for C8 was the very best I have ever been sent - it was encouraging all feedback on every single aspect. Tips, advice, improvements and general comment sections on every area. I will at some point post the entire completed C8 feedback form on here, in the hope that more manufacturers do a similar thing.
Top marks for 3D4Makers here. They didn't just assume it was going to be an awesome material.

For this model I have also used a really nice semi-transparent/translucent 'clear/milky' PLA from Pongostore. This is for the optical light guide (Face of BEMO) that's using a flickering LED powered by a 3v lithium battery cell.

Finally found a new source of LED light guide filament (PLA) for optical electronics projects.

Excelvan PLA - also really great for LED light-guides.

Before finding Pongostore translucent PLA this year, I was using Excelvan PLA (see above - see eBay if you are lucky) It was very tricky to get hold of! I was often shipped the wrong colour / material / size (from eBay sellers - it was the only place I could source it). Eventually the supply dried up completely (at any price). This is my last spool, when that runs out at least I now have Pongostore for a very similar type.

Lets get on with Day 8 - 

First tip starts straight away with what to do if you have a plate of model parts in one STL file? - you may want to print these parts in different colours, but it's just one model file.

This is an easy one, but I still get people asking me how to do this.

Load the plate of parts into netfabb (it's free) and use the cut options to chop up the plate into separate parts. Above I'm cutting in Y. Then export the model top left by right clicking and save to STL.

Then delete that part (it's important to do that). And you can do the same on the X axis to cut out the base and head parts. Repeat as required to get all the individual parts separated.

I have modified the body section to add a 5mm flickering LED and 20mm Coin-cell battery.

Now you can print out just the parts you want, in various colours/materials. Above is the body and base printed in C8. You can see above the hole for the LED and a step to hold the BEMO face away from the LED light so we get a diffused glow.

Using an LED that flickers (like a candle) is one of the easiest ways to light up a model like this. all you need is a 3V CR2032 Lithium battery - one leg of the LED goes under the battery, the other on top and the printed 'strap' holds the connection.

Faclian C8 material also likes permanent Sharpie pens. It's a quick and easy way to colour your model, instead of using the filament-swap method we did in Day 4.

You can get helpers involved too :) - You can see the LED in this image above.

But not the fury kind. Tiggy was trying to help!

Almost completed - adding filament for legs and arms. The Pongostore PLA face is also now fitted.

She's Alive!

The flickering LED effect really makes this an interesting object for our advent tree.

Print advice - (Facilan C8)

What settings did you use? - You can use Faclian C8 like PLA. I use 214 Degrees C and a heated bed of 55 Degrees C.

I found that another +20% of extruder retraction was required for the best results (at 214 Degrees C) you don;t need quite that much at 200 Degrees C - but that will depend on the speed you are printing.

Why use it? - C8 is new, it seems to be an almost ideal filament for anyone that does not like ABS or wants to move away from using ABS. It has many of the same properties of ABS and it's easier to print with, no warp or de-lamination.

Is it strong? - Yes, It's a strong and tough plastic (stronger than 'normal' PLA). It has good impact resistance and layer bond strength is very good. Just not quite as good as PETG, but it's better than PLA, and most ABS materials.

Is it easy to use/print - Yes - My only real issues were the filament size and tolerance - that should not be a problem when they are in full production.

Do you have to dry it before/after use? - No. Just keep it sealed in a bag with desiccant as normal.

Do i need a 'special' nozzle? - No, it's not abrasive, I have used it with all different sizes of nozzle from 0.25 to 1.6mm - It will work fine with Stainless, Hardened steel, Copper, Ruby or Brass nozzles. 

Does it smell when printing? - No. I can't detect any smell at all using it at any temperature from 200 to 222 Degrees C.

What's exactly in C8? - I can't say, but 3D4Makers do state it's a 'friendly bio-plastic' blend.

Does it come on a eco friendly spool? - No, :( It's on a generic virgin plastic clear ABS reel. With a recycle logo.

Conclusion for Faclian C8 - For the price (39 euro for 750g) it is probably one of the very best and easiest to use materials I have ever used. I plan to use more of it, and it's a Bio-plastic, so I may never need ABS again...

The Pongostore PLA materials are really good and easy to use too, I just don't have a lot of other advice other than you can use 'normal' PLA settings.  As you can see, the Translucent material is fantastic as an LED light guide.

Day #8 Is Completed. I hope you try adding some simple electronics / LED's to your 3D models.

The story for today is about helping 3D printed objects come to life with simple electronics and Optical parts for LED fun. - also keep cats away from 3D Printing :)

Join me next time for Day #9

Thanks for reading.

Rich.

Please join me on Twitter @RichRap3D

My profile and posts over on Google+

Files and designs shared on YouMagine

Files and designs shared on GitHub

Files and designs shared on Repables 

My Youtube channel is here, all 3D Printing and Hi-Def video content.

Christmas Advent 3D Printing advice #Day 7 Prusa Easy ABS and Filamentive RPLA

December advent calendar - modular Christmas tree

3D Printing advice #Day 7

For the background and introduction - Day #1 Post click here

Yesterday - Day #6 Post (Christmas Stocking) was printed in Chroma Strand Labs INOVA-1800 and Filamentive Recycled RPLA colours.

Christmas Advent 2017 Download on Thingiverse here - designed by Tom Van den Bon @geekc0der With some help for each day by the South African Makers team.

The original advent calendar from 2012 is on Thingiverse - designed by from Peter Leppik.

Day #7 is with us, and today the gift is designed by Andries Smuts-  It's a water bottle rocket.

Water bottle rocket (modified for easy print) in Prusa - Translucent blue glitter 'Easy ABS-T'

For Day 7 I would like to see some blue start to appear on the advent tree. I also wanted an easy material, but not just PLA. So this little rocket is printed in glitter-sparkling translucent Prusa Easy ABS-T material.

I don't usually like using ABS material. The smell/fumes are very uncomfortable for me. But I have found that Easy ABS-T from Prusa Research does not cause any problem for me at all. It has almost no smell and is easier to print than 'standard' ABS.

This particular ABS-T filament also has a few special features you don't often find in ABS materials, it's translucent (light blue) and it has glitter sparkle.

Printing advice - (Prusa ABS-T)

My first step of advice here is to make life easy for yourself. Just because a model has been designed and intended to be printed in a single part, it does not mean you should try, or struggle to print it like that.

This original model has a very small surface contact area with the build platform. You can use rafts, and a brim along with support material if you need. 

Original Rocket design has a tricky first layer with minimal contact area.

Model cut in half. This will be a much easier print.

My outlook with 3D printing is always to make things easier, so I just cut it in half and I will bond back together at the end.

There you go, a much easier print, just what I needed after yesterday.

I'm still using a brim of 4mm around each part, this is just good practice for ABS materials, even small parts.


You will see in the image above I'm also printing onto a section of tape. This is a small length of PET tape stuck onto the build surface. Just for ABS printing. 

The heated bed is running at 100 Degrees C, but even with that, you may have some difficulty printing onto different print bed surfaces.

This particular ABS (and others too) does not like to print onto a PEI build surface. ABS materials may also not be happy with a glue-stick coating or Magigoo. I know the only surfaces I can use successfully are PET or Kapton tape for this ABS-T. 

Still use a brim as this is quickly removed after printing and will get you a good first layer bond.

Glitter in the 3D printed layers stands out well, quite tricky to photograph.

If you do have adhesion problems, you can consider using a raft. As I don't use ABS very often I prefer to use PET tape, you can also peal it off and use again, and again.

When the print bed cools down, the model will just lift off. You then need to remove the brim (and raft if you decided to use it).

I flame the edges to remove white 'bruise' marks from ABS brim removal.

ABS can get white bruise marks when you peal away brims, or bend parts. My next top-tip is a quick and easy fix for removing any remaining white marks or sharp edges after brim removal.

One of the reasons I did not want to just enable support material was that this particular ABS (being translucent) will show up any marks of support removal on the surface of the finished print.

I simply use a flame / lighter very quickly move around the edge, this will slightly melt and remove white bruise marks. 

Parts after 'flaming' ready to be bonded together.

I slightly overdid the flaming in this image (I was trying to take the photo and do it at the same time).
But don't worry if you slightly round the edge, the next step will correct most of that.
Now I need to bond the two parts together. You can use superglue, but I use acetone applied with a tiny paint brush.

Two parts bonded together with acetone and a small brush - don't touch and let it dry.

Paint on the acetone (Nail varnish remover if that's all you can get) to each surface. Wait a few minutes and place them together. Hold for as long as you can until you get bored.

The two parts should bond and you can run an acetone dipped paintbrush around the join, ideally around and across the print layers to help 'weld' the two surfaces.

When dry the finished part should be strong and maybe slightly more glossy because of the acetone 'wash'. ABS can be smoothed with different acetone processes, but I'll leave that up to you.

Obviously do be careful if you decide to do any of this, acetone / nail varnish remover is flammable. Always wear gloves and eye protection. The 100 Degrees C heated bed for ABS printing is a higher temperature than most other materials require. Take care.

Now we have the finished parts for Day 7 in our advent tree. 

Was it easier than trying to print it as the single original design? Yes, for me even with the extra steps, it was.

What settings did you use? - Use For most ABS materials you need a 100 Degrees C heated bed, some even higher (120/130/140) Be careful! 

This Easy ABS-T is actually quite happy at lower than normal ABS temperatures (220+ Degrees C) 

I print this ABS-T range at 245 Degrees C (you can go slightly lower, but I would recommend 220 or more - up to 255).

Print speed was slowed down for this model (30mm/sec) because it has a number of tiny features. ABS is quite good at hot layer-on-layer printing. PLA for example is more likely to turn small features into blobs, if printed too fast without adequate cooling. - This is the reason I selected ABS for this model.

Why use it? - This is the most easy to use ABS I have ever discovered. To be honest I'm not exactly sure why. I have never directly asked the Prusa team (how/why/what), but it's my choice whenever I do decide to use ABS.

You can also print quite big with this ABS, some other ABS materials will warp and de-laminate badly with objects ~60+ mm wide

Is it strong? - Yes, It's a strong plastic. It has a higher glass transition temperature than PLA, and it has very good impact resistance. ABS plastic is often used in many objects. 

Is it easy to use/print - Yes - as long as you test and make sure you have a good print bed surface, sonething that this ABS will stick too. Then it's plain sailing. Use just a little fan cooling, (or none) it's really not required for most/all objects.

Do you have to dry it before/after use? - No. For some reason this ABS does not seem to have any problem at all with moisture. Drying it out would not hurt and may give even better performance, but I just keep it sealed in a bag with desiccant as normal.

Do i need a 'special' nozzle? - No, it's not abrasive, I have used it with all different sizes of nozzle from 0.25 to 1.6mm - It will work fine with Stainless, Hardened steel, Copper, Ruby or Brass nozzles. This particular reel has glitter so do remember to use a 0.4mm nozzle or bigger if it's loaded with sparkle.

Does it smell when printing? - No. I can't detect any significant smell at all using it at any temperature from 220 to 255 Degrees C. It also does not make me feel sick (other ABS brands do).

Does it come on a eco friendly spool? - No, :( It's on a generic virgin plastic reel. No recycle logo and no marking of material type. 

Conclusion for Prusa Research Easy ABS-T (Glitter) - It's the only ABS I can use without discomfort. It also happens to be really easy to use (I guess that's why they named it Easy ABS) and it's well priced too.

Day #7 Is Completed. That was easy, I hope you learned something new?

The story for today must be about making 3D printing life easier, for both you and your 3D printer. If it looks tricky and you don't want to risk supports, then chop it up into easier to print parts. Simple.

Join me next time for Day #8

Thanks for reading.

Rich.

Please join me on Twitter @RichRap3D

My profile and posts over on Google+

Files and designs shared on YouMagine

Files and designs shared on GitHub

Files and designs shared on Repables 

My Youtube channel is here, all 3D Printing and Hi-Def video content.

Christmas Advent 3D Printing 2017 Day #6 Filamentive & Chroma Strand Labs INOVA-1800

December advent calendar - modular Christmas tree

3D Printing advice #Day 6.

For the background and introduction - Day #1 Post click here

Yesterday - Day #5 Post (Christmas Robot) was printed in Polyalchemy Elixir PLA blend colours.

Christmas Advent 2017 Download on Thingiverse here - designed by Tom Van den Bon @geekc0der With some help for each day by the South African Makers team.

The original advent calendar from 2012 is on Thingiverse - designed by from Peter Leppik.

Day #6 is here, and today the gift is designed by Candice Howe -  It's a Christmas Stocking.

After a few problems, Day 6 is finally finished.

Disaster strikes - (twice!)

For Day 6 I also needed to print some new tree sections in another shade of Green. I'm a little behind on doing these so in an attempt to catch up I started printing Days 6 and 7 of the tree in Filamentive Recycled RPLA Apple Green. Unfortunately in my rush I used a partial coil and had not noticed a tangle in the filament, that caused the printing failure (above) around 2 hours into the print. 

Recycled RPLA filament from Filamentive.

Filament coils became tangled causing print failure, escape from spool holder and abundant unwinding (all over the floor).

This is a time sensitive series of projects, we only have one night every day to print, write and post everything. Oh no.

Measure the height of a failed print to enable a restart of printing - explained below.

Do I scrap the print and start again. No, that would be a waste of filament. I'm going to take this failure as an opportunity to show you how to restart a print even after a filament feed failure.

This failure had nothing to do with the filament brand/type. I have printed over 650g of this recycled PLA filament roll, without any problems I can remember. It was a tangle (filament end wrapped under multiple coils) - I should have spotted before loading the filament into the printer, but the next failure was not the same, read below for more info.

I was using Magigoo on the build surface, this is good because even when the bed is now cold, power is off and it's hours later. The parts are still well bonded to the surface. I can re-heat and continue the print - with a little Gcode editing first... (read below on how, and what to do).

First thing is to do is take a measurement of the print height, so you know where to re-start printing from.

Then you need to edit the Gcode file you were using for the model.

First find the Z height position you measured. Do this by searching for the nearest round number to the height you measured. In my case the measurement was 10.86 so I'm searching for G1 Z10.800

Now search for the last time in the file G1 Z10.800 is used before it jumps back to an earlier point. This step is important if you have Z-hop enabled, you may find the jump height rather than the extrusion height.

See below in Green, we have our restart point in the Gcode file.

Almost everything above is going to be removed from the file (delete it, from the top to the green line)

> Lots more Gcode above this point  - it will also be deleted <
G1 X51.543 Y74.216 F7800.000
G1 Z10.800 F7800.000
G1 E0.80000 F2100.00000
M204 S2000
G1 F3600
G1 X55.432 Y70.327 E0.18615
G1 X59.544 Y70.327 E0.13919
G1 X51.543 Y78.328 E0.38300
M204 S1000
G1 F6240
G1 X53.224 Y76.647 E-0.76000
G1 E-0.04000 F2100.00000
G1 Z10.950 F7800.000
G1 X51.543 Y115.337 F7800.000
G1 Z10.800 F7800.000
G1 E0.80000 F2100.00000
M204 S2000
G1 F3600
G1 X52.060 Y114.821 E0.02472
G1 X52.210 Y114.897 E0.00571
G1 X52.698 Y115.085 E0.01767
G1 X53.202 Y115.220 E0.01767
G1 X53.718 Y115.301 E0.01768
G1 X54.239 Y115.329 E0.01767
G1 X54.761 Y115.301 E0.01767
G1 X55.277 Y115.220 E0.01768
G1 X55.781 Y115.085 E0.01767
G1 X55.988 Y115.005 E0.00751
G1 X51.543 Y119.449 E0.21275
M204 S1000
G1 F6240
G1 X53.224 Y117.769 E-0.76000
G1 E-0.04000 F2100.00000

G1 Z10.950 F7800.000

The last thing you need to do to the Gcode file is add a way for the Z axis to be reset back to the correct height (home, without any bed leveling enabled)

So make sure you add a section like this (below in red) to the top of the Gcode - just before the start point in Green above.

M83  ; extruder relative mode
M104 S210 ; set extruder temp
M140 S58 ; set bed temp
M190 S58 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S210 ; wait for extruder temp
G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level

This will ensure you are at the correct print temperature and perform a simple bed probe check on the top corner - hopefully this will out of the way of any partial print on the build plate. If you have a very big, or tall partial print, then this method is not going to work. It is great to save smaller prints or low height failures.

Now save this modified Gcode and print on your machine with the failed print still attached to the print bed. It should continue where it failed...

Restarting from a extrusion failure can save a print, time and material. Do try it.

Great! we are printing again, exactly where it failed. No wasted plastic here...

Bam! Failed again...

Just as I thought it was going well, another failure. Now I'm wondering if there is a material problem... This time the final few solid layers have failed to print. the filament is jammed in the extruder and it's not a feed problem.

Second failure - this time it's a filament tolerance problem causing a jam in the hot-end. see below.

Spool almost finished, just enough material to complete these prints (I hope).

This is the very end of this spool, so I'm going to do the same process again above for the final few solid layers, and hope I have enough material on the roll to complete.

This filament section had a bump of over 2.0mm* and that's just going to block in the stainless steel heat-break of a V6 hot-end.

* In some older style hot-ends I may have been concerned that heat was creeping back up into the thermal break / heatsink causing a softening of filament. This can cause a plug like shown above. But this is just PLA at 195 Degrees C with an E3D V6 hot-end. So I know for sure the thermal capacity and cooling ability is not the problem here. *


After removal of the blockage, you can clearly see the filament has an out of tolerance bulge (measured at 2.08mm diameter - see above) and it's wedged at the stainless steel thermal break point in the hot-end. That's not good.

If you look close you can even see a force line where the extruder drive has tried very hard to push it into the stainless steel nozzle entrance, then when things stopped the extruder gear started munching through the filament and material extrusion stopped.

E3D V6 cross section - also showing the correct Fan mounting for heatsink cooling.

If you have a good/adequate thermal cooling system for your hot-end, then you will not get significant heat past the glass transition point, creeping up the filament, past the thermal break causing filament to deform or jam.

On an all metal hot-end the heatsink should be cool to the touch (all the time) it should never feel warm or hot. If you do have a heatsink that’s warm, then do make sure to check the heatsink cooling fan is connected correctly (to the correct voltage for the fan 12v/24v) and that you are using a minimum 30mm sized fan. Ideally one that came with your original V6 E3D Hot-end. Also make sure it is well mounted and cooling the heatsink fins.

You can see from the above highlighted drawing above (Original drawing by E3D) the design of the thermal stainless steel V6 heat-break has a maximum 2mm diameter clearance.

Remember to clean out all the debris in the extruder drive gear - it will be blocked after a failure like this. It will not work correctly if you leave the teeth blocked.

Cleaned and ready to go again.

This was the very end of an old RPLA filamentive roll I have had for over 12 months. I'm going to chalk this one down to very bad luck, I have not had this problem before with RPLA, so maybe it's a one off. Let's hope so, I don't want to be doing that frequently.

You should always analyse your failures, it's good to know it was not because you did something wrong. When a material is +out of tolerance it causes more trouble than almost anything else.

My trusty Die to check 1.75mm filament is not going to block my hot-ends...

With every new material I buy or new manufacturer I use, I always run around 20m of the filament through my home made die. This is a section of brass with a hole drilled with a 5/64″ bit — to give a metric 1.97mm hole. Experience has shown that this dimension is the very maximum size I can use with an E3D V6 1.75mm hot-end, without causing jamming, skipping or excess nozzle pressure.

Finally done. Not perfect, but good enough, and no wasted material at all.

Good, we need to get back to Day 6 - Christmas Stocking printing.

For today's Gift I have decided that Christmas stockings need to be strong (to keep all the presents safe). I have just the material -

A nice deep Christmas Red Chroma Strand Labs INOVA-1800 Co-Polyester. << I have linked to Lulzbot page as the Chromastrandlabs website is currently being updated.

This material uses Eastman Amphora co-polyester and it's really nice to 3D print with. It is a little tricky to get hold of (Unless you are in the USA, then LulzBot brands and stocks it ) - I would encourage anyone to try it out, it's well worth being in your filament range.

Don't print directly onto a glass surface (any glass type) Co-polyester materials can rip chunks out of a glass build plate. Ideally print onto a PEI surface covered in a thin layer of gluestick or Magigoo.

We got there in the end.

I would have liked to do the highlight detail on the stocking in a white piping, but I don't have any white INOVA-1800 material. INOVA-1800 does not like being bonded to other plastic's in my experience, (I have tried PETG / PET types) so we have a single colour print this time.

Printing advice - (INOVA-1800 Co-polyester)

What settings did you use? - Use a PEI print surface for INOVA-1800, lightly coated with Gluestick or Magigoo. I use 235 Degrees C, but 240/245 is also good and will provide an even better layer bond.

Print speed - Seems to like a moderate speed around 20 to 55mm/sec. It's not so great at bridging or spanning gaps, so slow down, use some fan and give a 120% extrusion rate for bridges.

Getting a good first layer is critical for INOVA-1800 if it's not going down well, check your distance from the bed, too close and it'll be a disaster. too far and you will suffer warping or lifting. Really, this is the key setting.

Why use it? - This is a strong and impact resistant co-polyester, it's good for anything that will be used in daily life - Brackets, machine parts, 3D printer parts and many practical objects
Warping is minimal even for objects over 120mm+ wide.

Is it strong? - Yes, It's a strong plastic. It has a higher glass transition temperature than PLA, but note it will shrink a little (~10%) if you apply 100 Degrees C water. I have used this trick to get a water tight seal on jar lids and pots. You can generally make INOVA-1800 objects even stronger by post-stressing them in boiling water after printing and cooling.

Is it easy to use/print - Yes - as long as you get a good first layer height and flow. Tune the bridge and spanning, then everything else is really quite standard. You don't need a lot of extruder retraction, the same setting you use for PLA should be fine.

Do you have to dry it before/after use? - No. I have not needed to dry this filament at all. It always seems ready to use, even when being stored out of any packaging - But as per the normal advice, try to keep it sealed in a bag with desiccant if possible.

Do i need a 'special' nozzle? - No, it's not abrasive, I have used it with all different sizes of nozzle from 0.25 to 1.6mm - It will work fine with Stainless, Hardened steel, Copper, Ruby or Brass nozzles. It works very well with big nozzles (0.8mm / 1.0mm) and can produce strong parts quickly.

Does it smell when printing? - No. I can't detect any smell at all using it at any temperature from 230 to 260 Degrees C.

Does it come on a eco friendly spool? - No, :( It's on a generic virgin plastic reel type (CARRIS REELS). It has a recycle logo, and is made of ABS. Packaged in a colour printed cardboard box.

Conclusion for Chroma Strands INOVA-1800 - It's not a low-cost material, but it is worth paying for. You get a very strong and straightforward to use filament. I use it for anything that needs to hold up weight, or clamp/hold things together.

Day #6 Is Completed. With failures and also the opportunity to save on plastic waste, Day 6 turned out okay in the end, but I'm annoyed about the out-of-tolerance filament bulge causing the second blockage failure.

Chroma Strand Labs Co-polyester is a great material when you require very strong finished objects, with high impact resistance. We now have a virtually indestructible Christmas stocking.

The story for today is all about turning failure into an opportunity both to learn, and always succeed.

Join me next time for Day #7 (I now also have the tree section for #7, so less of a panic tomorrow.)

Final note on Filament tolerance -

A few years back (2014) I wrote a blog post for 3D Printing Industry about what to look out for when testing a new filament / supplier. If you want even more background on the importance of 3D printing filament quality control, (even dust management) then take a look here – https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/richrap-reviews-spectrum-filament-3d-printing-24446/

There is also a great guide for care, guidance and troubleshooting of your all metal hot-end (E3D V6) on the E3D dozuki website - https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Wiki/V6_Troubleshooting It’s well worth a read.

Thanks for reading.

Rich.

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