3d Printers South Africa

[AfricanTech]

[snip]

For cleaning, I struggled using the included magnetic bed on my Ender 5 Pro. So I chucked it on advice from a different forum, and got myself 2 square pieces of normal 4mm mirror that I print directly on. Never looked back. No hairspray, nothing. Even did TPU on it over the weekend, and no adhesion issues. Clip it onto my printer bed with binder clips, so removes easily (just make sure the clips don't run into any printer parts when printing - I put the clips in the wrong place last weekend and managed to break my BL Touch mount off....).

Place the mirror with complete print to one side to allow it to cool, then the print comes off without any help (you can actually hear the PLA release with faint cracking sounds as it cools down). I then just clean my mirror with some hand sanitizer (medical grade, 90% isopropyl alcohol or just isopropyl alcohol - places like Mantech sell it in 1 litre bottles) and kitchen towel until I hear it squeaking under the towel. If I'm in a rush I just replace the glass bed immediately with the 2nd one I have waiting So I can start the next print on the fresh bed immediately, while I can allow the other print to cool and take my time to remove the print and clean the bed. Never used any soap and water until now.

Works for me.

Could you post a few pics of this setup please (including where you've placed the clips)

My magnetic bed has developed a couple of 'holes' in the black layer (stuck PLA pulled it away while I was cleaning so I'm going to move to mirror squares.

I presume that you had the mirror squares cut to size at a glass place.

 

[furpile]

Could you post a few pics of this setup please (including where you've placed the clips)

My magnetic bed has developed a couple of 'holes' in the black layer (stuck PLA pulled it away while I was cleaning so I'm going to move to mirror squares.

I presume that you had the mirror squares cut to size at a glass place.

My magnetic bed also features 2 holes now, after printing a whole bunch of big PETG parts. Was hoping they would last longer with PLA but if yours also has holes I think the mirror is the way to go.

 

[Gnome]

My magnetic bed also features 2 holes now, after printing a whole bunch of big PETG parts. Was hoping they would last longer with PLA but if yours also has holes I think the mirror is the way to go.

Smooth PEI (if that is what your bed is made of) with PETG is a well known no-no.
The parts will rip parts of the bed off (adheres too well).
You can add a releasing agent to prevent that

 

[furpile]

Smooth PEI (if that is what your bed is made of) with PETG is a well known no-no.
The parts will rip parts of the bed off (adheres too well).
You can add a releasing agent to prevent that

Note sure what bed it is exactly. Came with the Ender S1. It is not smooth though, almost sandpaper type finish. Parts came off fine in the beginning, but I have now printed more than 10 of the same big part so I think that part of the bed got worn a bit?

 

[avk]

Could you post a few pics of this setup please (including where you've placed the clips)

My magnetic bed has developed a couple of 'holes' in the black layer (stuck PLA pulled it away while I was cleaning so I'm going to move to mirror squares.

I presume that you had the mirror squares cut to size at a glass place.

Might look a little strange, but I dropped the front bar on my Ender 5 Pro in order to more clearly see the first layer going down (using the printed green brackets). Otherwise the bar is in the way. This combined with the movement of the hotend and BL Touch necessitated some creative placement of the clips, especially front left. Just place the clips and then move the bed up and down to make sure nothing hits anywhere.

Printed the red brackets to mount the LED strips. Works well for me.

Regarding the mirrors, standard 4mm mirrors cut and beveled to size. I have been using them now basically daily for well over two years with zero issues. Super cheap, think it was R50 for 2. Have printed PLA, PLA+ and TPU with zero 'extra's' like hairspray, glue, etc. First layer I always print at 0.12mm, 40mm/s and no fan. Remove it after every print and clean off with high isopropyl alcohol hand sanitizer. Easy to remove with the clips. I also make sure that the bed is heated properly before printing to make sure the heat soaks through the mirror. As yet no scratches, nicks or burn in like I had on the normal magnetic bed, and much, much cheaper than any other option.

 

[AfricanTech]

Might look a little strange, but I dropped the front bar on my Ender 5 Pro in order to more clearly see the first layer going down (using the printed green brackets). Otherwise the bar is in the way. This combined with the movement of the hotend and BL Touch necessitated some creative placement of the clips, especially front left. Just place the clips and then move the bed up and down to make sure nothing hits anywhere.

Printed the red brackets to mount the LED strips. Works well for me.

Regarding the mirrors, standard 4mm mirrors cut and beveled to size. I have been using them now basically daily for well over two years with zero issues. Super cheap, think it was R50 for 2. Have printed PLA, PLA+ and TPU with zero 'extra's' like hairspray, glue, etc. First layer I always print at 0.12mm, 40mm/s and no fan. Remove it after every print and clean off with high isopropyl alcohol hand sanitizer. Easy to remove with the clips. I also make sure that the bed is heated properly before printing to make sure the heat soaks through the mirror. As yet no scratches, nicks or burn in like I had on the normal magnetic bed, and much, much cheaper than any other option.

View attachment 1319432

View attachment 1319434

Thanks.

I like your box - simple and straightforward plywood.

Have you thought about 3D printing 'corner slip on's' to hold the mirror in place or will the heat be too much?

The arms of those clips you used won't clear the gantry poles (12mm gap between bed edge and uprights) on the Ender 3 S1 from what I can see.

lol - wasn't thinking straight. Can simply fit the clips like this

 

[AfricanTech]

Smooth PEI (if that is what your bed is made of) with PETG is a well known no-no.
The parts will rip parts of the bed off (adheres too well).
You can add a releasing agent to prevent that

The Ender 3 S1 comes with a removable, magnetic bed plate that has a rough texture.

didn't help that I damaged that part of the bed 'cover' with my very first test print - I didn't level properly nor feed the filament through properly so created a lovely etched pattern on the (removable) bed plate with the bare nozzle...

Note sure what bed it is exactly. Came with the Ender S1. It is not smooth though, almost sandpaper type finish. Parts came off fine in the beginning, but I have now printed more than 10 of the same big part so I think that part of the bed got worn a bit?

Same here. I was printing PLA but it was the same shape repeated 6 times (and 8 hour prints to boot) - I should have moved it a cm each way between prints to avoid the issue I suppose - ah well, school fees I guess.

 

[avk]

Thanks.

I like your box - simple and straightforward plywood.

Have you thought about 3D printing 'corner slip on's' to hold the mirror in place or will the heat be too much?

The arms of those clips you used won't clear the gantry poles (12mm gap between bed edge and uprights) on the Ender 3 S1 from what I can see.

lol - wasn't thinking straight. Can simply fit the clips like this

View attachment 1319550

Jip. Clips would work on printers like that, unfortunately on my Ender 5 pro I can't have the clips in the front sticking forward, as they will hit the front bar. Also not totally sideways as the BL Touch is of course much further out then the print head, so it hooks onto the clip. I broke the BL Touch mounting bracket a while ago due to this. Luckily I printed an extra when I printed this one. And it is JUST strong enough that the BL Touch is kept in place, but printed weak enough to break before the BL Touch break.s

Regarding the box, it is actually a little bit misleading from the close up picture. It's actually a computer cupboard which I built in Matric 20+ years ago as my Woodwork project. Printer fits in perfectly....so my project has gotten a new lease on life as my 3D printing station. However, building a box from plywood is most definitely an option.

 

[Gnome]

The Ender 3 S1 comes with a removable, magnetic bed plate that has a rough texture.

Hmm ok, that would be a textured PEI sheet. You can buy new ones at DIYElectronics (ie. wambam).

didn't help that I damaged that part of the bed 'cover' with my very first test print - I didn't level properly nor feed the filament through properly so created a lovely etched pattern on the (removable) bed plate with the bare nozzle...

Yeah that can happen but honestly it'll get damaged over time anyway so you'll get over it
I got so frustrated with my Ender 3 V2 that when it finally scraped the glass bed (with some kind of weird texture applied to it), I was too angry with frustration to care about the bed. Didn't really make much of a difference.

 

[Gnome]

<snip printer in box images>

What kind of temperatures do you reach inside your enclosure?

 

[avk]

What kind of temperatures do you reach inside your enclosure?

No clue to be honest.

But at the same time I haven't printed anything other than PLA, PLA+ and TPU. So initially the enclosure was just to have somewhere to put the printer and keep it of my tables. But side advantage is preventing cold breezes on the printer, and to keep noise at a minimum.

 

[Gnome]

No clue to be honest.

But at the same time I haven't printed anything other than PLA, PLA+ and TPU. So initially the enclosure was just to have somewhere to put the printer and keep it of my tables. But side advantage is preventing cold breezes on the printer, and to keep noise at a minimum.

Oh I'm surprised it works with PLA.
Voron people recommend removing the printer enclosure panels (or at least door open) while printing PLA because it causes hotend jams.
Because of that I'm too scared to go back to PLA (too lazy to remove panels and ABS is cheaper anyway)

 

[xrapidx]

Apologies for the load shedding - I'm about to print something

 

[xrapidx]

Oh I'm surprised it works with PLA.
Voron people recommend removing the printer enclosure panels (or at least door open) while printing PLA because it causes hotend jams.
Because of that I'm too scared to go back to PLA (too lazy to remove panels and ABS is cheaper anyway)

I've had that - took me forever to figure out what was happening.

I don't think its much of an issue in the cold though, my temperature in the enclosure stays less than 30 - in summer it goes up to 50 degrees +

 

[Gnome]

I've had that - took me forever to figure out what was happening.

I don't think its much of an issue in the cold though, my temperature in the enclosure stays less than 30 - in summer it goes up to 50 degrees +

Yeah it happens because PLA gets soft at such a low temp (around 40℃ ± 8) that it clogs in the heat break or before that. (you might know this but for others following along)
PLA has an incredible low glass transition temperature and no heat resistance whatsoever

 

[saor]

Quite cool

 

[AfricanTech]

Quite cool

View attachment 1321116

View attachment 1321118

Details demmit

 

[AfricanTech]

Has anyone here upgraded/changed the firmware on the Ender 3 S1?

 

[AfricanTech]

Jip. Clips would work on printers like that, unfortunately on my Ender 5 pro I can't have the clips in the front sticking forward, as they will hit the front bar. Also not totally sideways as the BL Touch is of course much further out then the print head, so it hooks onto the clip. I broke the BL Touch mounting bracket a while ago due to this. Luckily I printed an extra when I printed this one. And it is JUST strong enough that the BL Touch is kept in place, but printed weak enough to break before the BL Touch break.s

Regarding the box, it is actually a little bit misleading from the close up picture. It's actually a computer cupboard which I built in Matric 20+ years ago as my Woodwork project. Printer fits in perfectly....so my project has gotten a new lease on life as my 3D printing station. However, building a box from plywood is most definitely an option.

Got my mirror squares today but didn't manage to get the clips yet so tried 3D printed clips....ja well, no fine that didn't work so well did it - was too loose once the bed warmed up and shifted during printing leaving a string of plastic spaghetti all over



Lesson learnt, will get proper clips tomorrow.

 

[saor]

Details demmit

Cleaning option on the Form3 resin printer. Had a failed print that left some cured resin in the tank, tried this cleaning thing for the first time. Got most of it out by hand beforehand, was still cool to see though.