Printing tool holder

i have successfully printed all of the components apart from my last print.

 

i can’t get the tool holder to print without warping when I print it flat, either way up.

It doesn’t look like I can print it upright as there will be so little contact with the bed…

 

did I’d anyone else have this issue and if so, how did you fix it?..!

 

thanks

James

Do you have a heated bed? You need to make sure the first layer is the same thickness all the way around. If it’s different, then some will cool faster, which causes warping. Also, really good adhesion can help. If you use blue painters tape, you can clean it with some alcohol and it will stick so we’ll that the tape will come off with the print, and you’ll have to soak it in alcohol to remove the tape. If you don’t fix the first layer height, then it might still pull up the tape.

Before I understood this, I had a part that was warping a lot for me, and I printed with a raft. 90% of the warping was in the raft.

But in PLA with a heated bed, if it’s warping on that sized print, it’s a first layer issue.

It is a heated bed. I have considered turning the heat off and using tape instead…

What tool holder? My “tool mount” or a holder for a specific tool, if it is a part I made it should be easily printed with no support, a lot of other tool mounts require support. Could that be the issue?

Its the stock tool mount that comes with the file bundle on thingiverse

I printed it upright on painter’s tape. Looking at my gcode, I was feeling cocky. I printed that and the lower router mount parts at the same time!

What is your bed made of and what are you using for adhesion?

It should print without problem, but if you’re worried you can always add a brim

Im printing onto a glass covered heated bed.

My main concern with printing ‘upright’ was the ratio of the bases contact surface area to the height of the object.

My 3D printer has the Z and X axis controlled by the extruder - but the Y axis is controlled by moving the bed, often with less than smooth movements.

I use a heated bed temp of 60 degrees C and use hairspray for adhesion. I have better results with this than I have had printing on to tape.

The solution I found was to use some ‘thin’ CA glue (though to be fair it was pretty much medium as its not that fresh) around the base as in the photos. Once it was built to about 3 cm in height I added the CA glue and I didnt have the issue of the base wanting to part company with the glass once the ‘large’ mass of the tower had taken shape.

I ended up adding a brim on the tool holder cause the first attempt came off the bed about half way through. But the Prusa also prints at fairly quick speeds and this was on the PEI sheet directly. I am also having a little bit of an adhesion issue with the PEI that I need to figure out so that could have been the cause as well. Good luck!

CA glue? Never tried that for bed adhesion, though I have been known to repair failed supports mid-print with hot glue. I find that hot glass with a coat of good extra-hold hairspray and a solidly squished first layer is perfect on all of my printers. Once done, a quick tap with the handle of my putty knife and the prints pop off cleanly. I’ve also had great success with the glue stick method, but have since switched to good old Aqua Net almost exclusively for PLA, PETG and TPU (ABS I use an ABS/Acetone slurry). Haven’t used the blue tape method in years, but had good results early on. I do believe, as other have mentioned, I added a 5mm brim to the tall tool holder just as a safeguard and it came out fine the first time out. Peel and trim the brim and she was ready for install.

I use a Wanhao Duplicator i3 with heated bed and glass.

 

School glue should work for PLA.

I use this:

https://www.staples.ca/en/Elmer-s-Craft-Glue-Stick-25g/product_279946_2-CA_1_20001

Then I also got this because it was on sale. Not sure if it works better or not.

https://www.staples.ca/en/Elmer-s-Washable-School-Glue-Sticks-20g-3-Pack/product_644429_2-CA_1_20001

Because these glue sticks are oh-so-convenient.

If I don’t care about bottom surface finish, I use green painters tape on glass and no heat. With just glue, I try to run the first few layers with bed at 50C.

I just printed that this weekend, standing on end. After a few fails with bed adhesion I realized I should align the long axis of the mount with the Y-axis, that way more of the surface is fighting any rocking the bed might impart as the print gets taller. PETG on blue tape bed at 60C. I added a 5mm brim for good measure. Good luck!

I usually use glue sticks. Elmer’s purple. Even printed a holder for it on the side of my printer enclosure. Lately I’ve been using painter’s tape. I think the humidity is affecting the stiction of the glue. Have a holder for that on the side of my printer too!

Just to explain a bit more clearly - I didnt use CA glue for bed adhesion in the conventional sense of laying it down on the glass bed before the print starts - this likely wouldnt work given the nature of CA and would also be horrendous in terms of the fumes to cover the surface area.

I used hairspray (as usual) to start the print off, and then added the CA as a fillet ‘brim’ between the edge of the print and the glass bed whilst the print was running (be careful not to knock the print while doing it - my dropper is flexible so not too much of an issue). The thinner the CA you use the quicker it will spread and ingress forming the bond. I use a lot of CA for my RC models and hadnt thought about using it for this before.

 

It worked perfectly, and was easily scrapped off the glass bed with a sharp chisel edge once the part was released. There was no way that was coming off as part of the printing process - the adhesion was excellent, and something I will try to remember when it comes to printing difficult parts in the future.

For those whose bed doesnt move itself while printing I suspect you will not have the same issues of the printer itself trying so hard to throw the object off the bed.

Others may have a better set up 3D printer, or perhaps just a better 3D printer and not be having these problems. I just wanted to get on and finish the last part I needed for the build without loads of printer fine tuning - im impatient like that… I could probably have sorted this out with better tuning and trying a variety of tapes etc :slight_smile:

Now to get cutting the conduit and start assembling the jigsaw puzzle with my son :slight_smile:

Thanks for everyones advice

I’ve done the superglue thing for really small thin parts that start to come off the bed halfway through the print. Other than the fumes, it seems to get the job done!

I’m running PEI on a heated bed and typically add nothing to the bed other than an occasional spritz with alcohol to clean off accumulated dirt. I run the bed at 68°C (which gives me very close to 60°C for bed surface temperature as measured by a cheap laser thermometer) for PLA. If I have the bed height right and it’s very level in relation to the X and Y axis I see pretty much no problem with things not sticking, even on 7-8" tall objects.