The 3D Printer Thread

[Max-U52]

Hey guys, for better or worse I've joined the club. I just ordered a CR10 3D printer, so prepare yourselves for a bevy of strange questions.

First question, is anyone else using the CR10? I ordered this one

https://www.lightinthebox.com/cr-10-3d- ... 1.47.198.0

[wibblywobbly]

I have one, it is as good as it gets. The interesting thing is that it doesn't use anything that wasn't available on the day that 3D printers were invented, it's just taken this long for someone to design it right. You could not have bought a better printer for the money. I bought a build it yourself one 3 years ago that I thought was great, then I bought a Delta printer that was fast, but a pain to set up correctly, then I bought this one and never looked back. I built a 2D plotter using the parts from the original printer and sold the Delta.

My tip would be to do a couple of tall prints. If the print nozzle drags on the print at the right hand side, adjust the rollers to remove slack. Many buy a dual stepper motor and threaded rod conversion at vast expense, but I picked up this tip on the web, and it cured it completely for free.

[AlwynTurner]

Well I've finally had it with my old HICTOP reprap/prusa printer. For the umpteenth time the extrusion has failed, and after repeated failed attempts to fix it I've given up!

So after some 'discussion' with my better half I have ordered a Creality CR-10. It's got bigger capacity (300x300x400) than my current printer and there seem to be less things to go wrong.

So now awaiting the courier from AMAZON. DRAT, the message from Amazon says delivery on the 4TH DECEMBER!!!! I'm going to be printerless until then - how will I cope?

Alwyn

[wibblywobbly]

Well worth the wait!

[Max-U52]

Don't feel bad, for mine I had a choice - no tracking or pay an extra $100 for shipping and get a tracking number. I choose the cheapskate path. They say it may take as long as 30 days to get here. But, I made sure to pay through paypal so if there's damage or it gets lost the very worst thing that can happen is that it will take a few weeks to get my money back. With luck it will be here in 10 to 15 days and in perfect condition.

It tickles me pink to know I bought the same machine that so many experienced members own. I think the first step will be to learn to print files sent to me by others, then try to create my own. I want to print things like wheel rims for the tankmodelbau tires to go on the HL/WPL trucks and air tanks for the side of the SS100. And of course the "cargo packs" to hide different electronics packages for accessories. Then I might try things like side rails and seats for the back of the trucks, and the eleventy gazillion things that I'll look at say, "man, I can print one of those". I see myself spending large amounts of money on spools of filament.

[AlwynTurner]

Latest update on my printer, Amazon dropped the price by £30, so I cancelled my order, got confirmation it had been cancelled, and reordered at the new price. Amazingly with the new order it will be here this Thursday instead of next Monday, so I scored £30 and am getting it 4 days earlier. Bizarre

Alwyn

[971wright]

Hi Alwyn I do think you will be pleased with your new printer, Mine only needed a little work to get it up and running ,check the backlash in the traverses they are easy to adjust, and make sure all the bolts on the printer are tight, easy to level bed. the controls are simple to use. only had one miss print so far and that was because I didn't tick box to build support. I am very impressed with it and the quality is very good.

regards pete

[AlwynTurner]

Pete that's great news and I'm really looking forward to my new toy. I've been watching all the setup and tuning vids on youtube so I'm really going to give this printer a working over before use because some of the issues raised point to not great quality control, which is understandable given the number of these things being sold.

Meanwhile I'm watching the Amazon tracking and looking for amazon couriers......

Alwyn

[wibblywobbly]

I read a few of the gripes on the internet. Some people are not very bright. Some of the rollers, the bed etc are deliberately left slack to prevent damage in transit. I literally bolted my two printer parts together, adjusted the bed rollers to remove the slack and levelled the bed. Plug in the labelled cables and its good to go. I would suggest adjusting the rollers first as they are a pain to get at once assembly is completed. They are mounted on concentric bolts so its a simple task to take the slack out. The spanner is provided.

To get 100% every time adhesion I do the following:

Fit the glass bed.
The rear clips can go anywhere along the back.
The front right one can go on the right on the front edge.
The front left one is a dodgy choice.
Best place is on the left side, and then remove the spring handles.

With the bed in place.
Load an STL onto the SD card.
Insert the SD card.
Switch the printer on (if you swap cards without turning it off you will have to refresh the card using the menu).
Drip a couple of drops of builders PVA liquid onto the bed.
Use a wet paintbrush to spread the PVA around, it will look like milk.
Start the print.
The bed heats first so it dries out the PVA by the time the nozzle starts heating up.
I then turn the bed down from the default 60 degrees to 48 degrees. With PLA this is more than warm enough.
On large parts I wait till about 10mm of layers have been printed and reduce the bed temp down to 0c.
The part is well and truly stuck by this point so the heated bed serves no purpose.

When complete, it will be difficult to remove the part so:
Wait for it to cool and the part will come off easier.
or, spray water around the base of the part and leave it a couple of minutes, the water melts the PVA and the part comes off.

[AlwynTurner]

Thanks Rob, I feel a lot better after your clarification, some of those vids made it seem like the printer needed a rebuild! While we are going over the procedure, what were those changes you did to CURA for the Creality, something about the x/y/z settings?

Many thanks
Alwyn