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3D Printer Essentials? (Or maybe better named as "Adventures in Newb 3D Printing" )

sswilson

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Print finished fine.... still have about 8.5M left which I'll throw into a baggie and keep for smaller jobs. (The job I just finished says that it's 42(ish) M ).
 

sswilson

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I also noticed that my print surface is getting a bit beat up (I've done quite a bit of printing over the last month and a half) even to the point where I've got a small hole dead center (I can see light through it from both sides, and suspect it was caused by "crashing" the print head down too far onto the print surface) so I ordered a 3 pack of the creality replacement surfaces....


I'm more than happy with how well stuff adheres to it now that I've got the bltouch so I'll stick with what I know works. If anything... my problem now is that I'm having a hard time getting thin single lines (like a skirt) off of it.
 

lcdguy

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Not sure if one is available or not for the ender 3, but I have a removable flexible print surface for my prusa and love it to bits. If there was one available I would jump on it in a second for the ender.
 

sswilson

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Not sure if one is available or not for the ender 3, but I have a removable flexible print surface for my prusa and love it to bits. If there was one available I would jump on it in a second for the ender.

The stock surface has a semi-rigid base (I think it's fiberglass) that can flex enough to make getting larger pieces started fairly easy, but I've still got a couple of areas on the outer areas of the print bed (might even be outside of the "official" 220mm size) where the first layer print is exceptionally thin so there's really nothing to get a hold of. Soaking in Alcohol seems to work most of the time, but sometimes it's just too thin.

I've also got some marks on the surface of my glass bed which show up on the surface of the first layer.... I'm wondering if I can just apply one of the new surface "stickers" to it and get the benefit of the new surface while keeping the benefit(s) of glass being a more consistent level surface.

Is there any use in buying one of the y carriage replacement plates?
 

danmitch1

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The ender 3 doesnt have the magnetic bed? I guess the pro version eh..
I wonder if you couldnt glue the magnetic bed onto the glass bed, that way you can simply lift up the corner of the bed allowing you to easily peal off your model.
 

lcdguy

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maybe you could glue strong magnets on the underside of the build plate maybe ? Though you need ones that can handle the heat from the bed. My prusa uses a spring steel sheet with a pei surface on both sides and magnets in the heated part. likely neodymium magnets.
 

sswilson

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The ender 3 doesnt have the magnetic bed? I guess the pro version eh..
I wonder if you couldnt glue the magnetic bed onto the glass bed, that way you can simply lift up the corner of the bed allowing you to easily peal off your model.

Yeah, it's only the pro that has the removable magnetic bed. The stock model comes with a semi-rigid bed that the surface is glued to and then it's clipped to the y carriage with those triangular paper clips....

It's not a horrible setup, and I've heard some complaints about the magnetic base not always clicking into place and messing up leveling.

As it stands, the BLTouch really is a game-changer when it comes to concerns about the print surface... I honestly haven't had a single issue with bed adhesion since I installed it (knock on wood.... ;) ).

Currently looking into flashing stock marlin onto the creality board in order to allow me to up the number of probe points for better accuracy (going to try 5X5 vice the stock 3X3) but I'd really wanted to wait on that until after I get the replacement board.
 

danmitch1

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Nice, good to hear.
My " place order" button for the bltouch is calling me .. lol
 

Entz

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See its totally worth it :D

I am honestly surprised Creatlity hasn't come up with a "clone" and included it with the printer. Or even a clone of the Prusa one.
 

sswilson

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See its totally worth it :D

I am honestly surprised Creatlity hasn't come up with a "clone" and included it with the printer. Or even a clone of the Prusa one.

Well, they do have an "authentic" Creality kit which includes the BLTouch and everything needed to upgrade an ender 3 (stock or pro). The most recent kits even include a usb firmware "burner" which compensates for the lack of boot loader.

But yeah..... Creality should just bundle one with their base printers and raise the price by $60. It's really been a game changer for my user experience.
 

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