32
votes
Accepted
How to recycle filament material from printed parts?
There are a few options.
Machines are available which grind the used plastic into fine pieces, melt it down, and extrude it as filament to be reused. Filabot is perhaps the most well known.
Depending ...
- 1,553
29
votes
Accepted
How is PLA different from ABS material?
Paraphrasing this site. Feel free to add suggestions in the form of comments and I will try to incorporate them.
Summary
ABS: Stronger, machinable, more flexible, and more temperature
resistant than ...
- 1,553
19
votes
Accepted
Why do the corners of my ABS object lift off the bed?
There are many different approaches to solving this issue and most of the answers already are spot-on. However, the fundamental reason for the "warping" is incorrect and inconsistent temperature ...
- 6,274
18
votes
Accepted
Can I mix ABS and PLA when recycling filament?
This is not a good idea. Both filaments have different melting points, that of ABS being much higher than that of PLA. To melt the ABS you have to heat the plastic to the point where the PLA starts to ...
- 14.6k
17
votes
Accepted
What to do with failed/unwanted 3D prints?
The "obvious" answer is re-grinding the prints and making more filament. Unfortunately, this isn't yet a very economical or simple operation. A decent filament extruder capable of holding acceptable ...
- 6,496
16
votes
Accepted
Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment?
It makes a difference where I live, and I'm not in a particularly humid climate (California). When printing with wet filament, you'll sometimes hear it popping and see steam coming out of the ...
- 688
14
votes
Accepted
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I have a bunch of solutions to this problem but I'm always looking for additional ideas. I usually start by slicing as much as possible off with a hobby knife. The more than can be removed before ...
- 1,318
13
votes
Would 3d-printed objects outgas in vacuum?
I found much the same question at Does PLA outgas? An answer there pointed to a NASA outgassing database, Outgassing Data for Selecting Spacecraft Materials, and says that:
ABS (unknown supplier), ...
- 3,201
12
votes
Would 3d-printed objects outgas in vacuum?
Almost all of the FDM materials outgas even at normal atmospheric pressure, and, in fact, most plastics outgas. Further, FDM and many other printing processes do not guarantee no internal voids - ...
- 1,833
11
votes
Accepted
Safety precautions when using acetone
There are a few main safety precautions you should consider.
Make sure the area is well-ventilated. Acetone is flammable. A buildup of acetone gas could quickly get concentrated, meaning that a ...
- 1,316
10
votes
How to recycle filament material from printed parts?
If you're more interested in the recycling and reuse aspect than the re-print aspect, you could melt all the scrap filament onto a cookie sheet or into a bar (like in a bread ban). You could then ...
10
votes
Why do the corners of my ABS object lift off the bed?
Most common problem with corners is to low temperature of heated bed. Set the heated bed temperature to 110°. If this will not help then try to set brim in your slicer.
The problem can be cause by ...
- 1,921
10
votes
How thin can I make the wall of a pipe?
The thinnest wall your printer can print is determined by its nozzle size, and will be a little thicker than that nozzle size.
A great challenge when dealing with thin, hollow cylinders is that the ...
- 14.6k
10
votes
What to do with failed/unwanted 3D prints?
It will be very difficult to find a recycling facility that will accept your 3D prints, because they're mainly set up to handle packaging material (which constitutes the vast majority of plastic waste)...
- 14.6k
10
votes
"Tac Tac" sound when printing with ABS
@Ecnerwal is right: that noise you hear is the extruder not being able to push the filament, and the stepper can't push any harder. When the extruder tries to push harder than it can, it gives up, and ...
- 241
9
votes
Accepted
How many grams will be used in a print
You can not tell this by looking at the STL file alone, because how much material will be used depends on the print settings (obviously, printing at 100% infill will consume much more material than 10%...
- 14.6k
8
votes
Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment?
Humidity may be the problem.
Humidity tends to degrade filament, making it weaker. If you leave a coil of filament out, over time it will be exposed to humidity. I have yet to hear of this happening ...
- 1,316
8
votes
How is PLA different from ABS material?
The problem is that it's almost impossible to answer the PLA/ABS question just by looking at the material characteristics as it is so dependent on the application and even the specific object you're ...
- 91
8
votes
Why do the corners of my ABS object lift off the bed?
Adding a manually added brim with a larger bulk at the corner extremities that you can cut off after printing should help. My larger prints come off the printer looking like tents with concrete ...
- 181
8
votes
Accepted
Layer delamination
Cool environmental conditions are the single biggest contributor to ABS delamination. Delamination or edge/corner cracking is caused by warping stresses when the first layer adhesion is stronger than ...
- 6,496
7
votes
Why do the corners of my ABS object lift off the bed?
This is a common problem with ABS. You might prevent it by enclosing the printer inside a box/chamber - that will create a warmer environment and the extruded material will cool down more slowly, ...
- 1,096
7
votes
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I use normal wet/dry sandpaper and it works just fine. If I remember correctly, I usually start with 220 and then work my way up to 400, 600, and 800.
There are also foam or rubber sanding pads ...
- 1,553
7
votes
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I use nail files. They're easy to get, cheap and have different grits on either side. You can lay them flat or hold them in your hand and they have some stability making it fairly easy to sand ...
- 129
7
votes
Wanhao Duplicator i3 ABS settings
I am an official Wanhao Distributor
By experience I can recommend you to print with this settings:
Extruder 230 °C
Heated Bed 65 °C
Have a glass surface
Use hairspray over the glass
Continue to ...
- 323
7
votes
Accepted
Should I consider health impact of ABS or PLA when printing cookie cutter?
If it's one-time-use, both ABS and PLA are perfectly safe for use as a cookie cutter.
The "food safety" of 3D printed parts is fairly controversial. In fact, whether any particular material is ...
- 6,496
7
votes
Accepted
Raft hard to remove?
A couple things to consider:
Ensure that your build plate is flat and level. An un-parallel HBP could result in the object "welding" to the raft.
Turn down your nozzle temperature. It is likely that ...
- 6,274
7
votes
Accepted
Best method to make dissolvable supports?
I've had great success printing with HIPS (high-impact polystyrene) as a support for both PLA and ABS. Most sites recommend it for use with ABS because the materials melt at similar temperatures and ...
- 628
7
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to print with ABS without enclosure?
There is no requirement for an enclosure when printing ABS. Like many things in FDM, there are improvements to be made, but there is a scale of what is possible.
A heated bed is much more necessary (...
- 3,722
7
votes
What is this called and how do I avoid it? (model frees itself from support structure and warps upwards)
What is this called
This is called warping.
Warping of prints occurs frequently when you use a filament that shrinks. If the model would shrink uniformly, it will become smaller, like in a scaled ...
- 33.2k
6
votes
Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment?
In most cases, you should be fine with ABS or PLA out of an airtight container. If you're worried about it, throw a few desiccant packets where you store your filament.
However, some specialty ...
- 513
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