Curled Edges While 3D Printing

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I am starting to learn a bit more about what the limits are for my 3D printer. There's a learning curve and since I switched from the build plate that came with my Tronxy XY-2 Pro to PEI that learning curve reset somewhat.

plaque1.jpg
Image Source: Personal Photo

I was trying to 3D print a plaque for one of my fellow amateur radio friends who now lives in Florida (KK6PHN). He was one of my "Elmers" which is a mentor in the ham radio community.

plaque2.jpg
Image Source: Personal Photo

I've noticed some curling along the edges for large prints. I think the problem is that I need more adhesion and the solution would be to use a brim at minimum for most things I will print in the future. After a few prints of large models I'll be able to confirm whether that will work.

Please feel free to comment opinions below if you have more experience with 3D printing. Please note that the filament I am printing with is PLA and not ABS.

plaque3.jpg
Image Source: Personal Photo

My Thingiverse account: https://www.thingiverse.com/holovision/designs
My Thangs account: https://thangs.com/Holovision
3D printing community on Hive: https://peakd.com/c/hive-103035/created

Posted with STEMGeeks



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8 comments
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Is this printer your own?
Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @holovision


Posted via proofofbrain.io

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(Edited)

Yes, I own that 3D printer. Bought it with that stimulus money from the government.😁

Thank you for the reblog.

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That's a great use of stimulus money :D
They would have rather you bought a new Iphone or SMART tv :D

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What temp are you running the bed plate at?
60C seems to be a really good temp for me, and can deviate it +-1 degree Celsius without adhesion issues, but outside of that range is always problematic.

After initial layer, how much deviation do you have with the bed temp?
I've discovered that curling is reduced if the bed temp is only slightly cooler than initial temp.
With mine, 60C first layer and 55C remaining layers seems to be good for most filaments that I use.

I like the skirt better but have succumbed to utilizing a brim.
I can achieve better adhesion by increasing the squish for the first couple of loops by decreasing Z-offset, then I increase the Z-offset about 0.100 mm.
This has to be done pretty quickly of course ,maintaining attention to detail for an on-the-fly adjustment, but it's been working well enough.

Sometimes adhesion is just a pain and I break out the glue stick, then the whole process becomes much more forgiving :)

Overall, based on research I've done, the curling is mostly due to the part cooling from the top down and creating an upward force on the print, in which the solution is more heat on the bed plate. Parts fan should always be off during first layer because it's counterproductive to good adhesion, and in some cases draft shields are needed to reduce curling.
Here's an article I found explaining this a bit:

https://all3dp.com/2/3d-print-warping-what-it-is-how-to-fix-it/

I hope this is helpful to some degree, I know that with different printers the settings needed will not be exactly the same, but hopefully I've provided some useful information in this comment.

Have a great day.

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I had the curling problem with my Makerbot Replicator, and after trying to fix problems with the build platform (twisting, uneven heating, etc.), I came to the conclusion that the curling problem would be best solved with a heated build chamber. I started to build a box to keep around the printer, but I never finished it. The Replicator 2 has an enclosed build chamber to keep the heat inside, as do many other 3D printers currently on the market, something that wasn't the case ten years ago. An enclosed, heated build chamber solves a lot of problems.

@holovision, if you want to build a box to put over your printer, let me know, I can modify the design I came up with and send you drawings.

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Thanks. I'll let you know. I am experimenting with a few other options first before going turtle mode.😁

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My bed is set at 61 degrees. I can only increase or decrease by increments of three degrees. I am printing on PEI now. It's more like printing on a glass bed so maybe increasing the temperature to 64 or 67 decrees might be something I'll try. Technically PLA doesn't even need a heated bed so I am also open to trying that to see what happens..

The curling around the edges might also be due to the configuration of the heating elements. I'll need to take a look at that later. I might need to let the plate warm up for a little longer before starting to print so the temperature can move from the center and be more uniform throughout the plate.

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