Recommendation for First Print

[AU_Doc]

I purchased an Ender 3 Pro to give myself and my kids something to tinker with over the summer while isolating. I hope to assemble it this evening/tomorrow, and I'm wondering what I should use for my very first print. I'm thinking a calibration print of some sort. Maybe something to test bed adhesion?

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

[BBummer]

The dog. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunity to print calibration cubes, temperature towers, bed adhesion tests, etc., but for your first, just pick one of the test prints that come with it and see what happens. (Psst, the dog.)
Best of luck, and welcome to the hobby.

[AU_Doc]

Lol. Thanks for the feedback! I got overruled by my kids. We ended up with a calibration cat followed by a short wizard (no love for the dog, I was voting for the dog, BTW).

The prints turned out ok. They have some artifacts that I'm not sure what is causing them, but I'll see if Google turns up any quick fixes. For the time being my kids have me printing an army of Cali Cats. Artifacts and all :-) So I can't really try any tweaks at the moment.

[Maximo101]

Try these for the kids. Mine love them, and they float in water!
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3845304

[AU_Doc]

Thanks for the recommendation! I printed one of the octopuses last night. Looks like I still need to dial in the settings, though. One of the arms broke off at the joint. Below is a photo of what I ended up with. For the most part, it looks pretty nice considering I haven't really had an opportunity to tweak anything.

Am I correct that the lines on the side of its head are due to over extrusion? Some of the joints don't move freely (hence the broken arm), and I'm guessing it could be due to the same artifact that's on the side of the head.

[Maximo101]

I've only had my printer 2 weeks so am still learning the terminology and how to resolve issues as they arise. I think that line is the 'zipper' or seam from the layer start stop. I recall seeing a video about that, some settings in the slicer can change to print from Outside walls in, yours might be printing from inside to out?
my first octopus was very stringy, see attached. Need to be very careful removing supports and making articulated sections to move.
Hopefully others have more useful information!

[AU_Doc]

That’s a nice looking print! I get some stringing as well. My first prints were pretty bad, but it’s gotten better. I’m not sure what tweaks affected the stringing though.

I had to google the seam, and I think that may be related what I have going on, but the biggest artifact I’m seeing is horizontal lines. As I understand it, the seam is vertical, correct?

[Maximo101]

Yes the seam is the vertical spot.
the horizontal lines are part of the process. If you make your layers smaller (0.12mm or 0.16mm) you won't see them as much, will give more detail but add to print time.
it's always a trade off quality/ detail vs print time.

The stringing can be tweaked with the Retraction distance (6-8mm is good for most ender3), with retraction speed of 25mm. I also turned on Z hop on retraction and Combing 'not in skin'. I think the combing not in Skin was the setting to stop the vertical seam, so it doesn't travel over the skin to get to next layer
the higher temp you print at, the more stringing but the stronger the print I believe.
Also the standard Bowden tube can cause the stringing, upgrading to a Capricon ptfe can improve it.

[Maximo101]

I had to google the seam, and I think that may be related what I have going on, but the biggest artifact I’m seeing is horizontal lines. As I understand it, the seam is vertical, correct?

i came across the Z Seam setting in the Shell section of Cura. Might be worth playing with that

[AU_Doc]

I believe that Z Seam setting will put the seam along a vertical corner if one exists. The idea being you won't see it if it's in the corner. There's also a way to specify where you want the seam. I think that would help if you know which side will always be facing away (like the back, or something like that).

The horizontal artifacts I'm referring to are not the layers.I believe it's referred to as blobbing. I've lowered my print temperature a bit, and I haven't seen this again. I also haven't printed anything large yet, either.

I know my extruder is skipping some. I hear it bang every now and again. I have an upgrade sitting on the table, but haven't had time to put it on. It's a cheap amazon part, so no idea if it's really an upgrade, or just metal instead of plastic :-) I do have replacement bowden tubing as well. I'll try to replace both as soon as I get a chance.

[irvshapiro]

You might want to check out this video about blobs on your print. The specific slicer settings that impact blobs are discussed at 13:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKEUBeeIUqM

[AU_Doc]

Excellent video, Irv! I'll give that tweak a try and see what we get.

Thanks!

[Maximo101]

I added some filament guides (printed) and did extrusion tests. Basically measure 120mm from where the filament feeds in, Mark it then make the nozzle temp 205 or so. Then on the printer Prepare, move Axis, Extruder and 100mm. Takes a little bit of time. Then measure the filament and see if it's 20mm left, now you can change extruder esteps. It's suggested to do the above 3 times and get an average, I just did once.

Mine was 2mm under. 100/98*93=94.89

Calibration:
(e/o) * s
e = expected dimension
o = observed dimension
s = current number of steps per min (93 default)

hope that helps

[Ender5r]

Hey Maximo101, if you want to save filament while doing this (I saw it in a video today):

1. pull the filament out of the extruder;
2. clip the end of the filament square;
3. unscrew the bowden tube connector from the extruder;
4. feed the filament back into the extruder until it's flush with the edge of the hole on the output side of the extruder;
5. tell the extractor to feed 100mm of filament;
6. measure the amount of filament that was pushed out of the extruder;
7. use the formula you listed to calculate any changes needed.

[Maximo101]

Hey Maximo101, if you want to save filament while doing this (I saw it in a video today):

Thats fair, i guess you could do it that way. Although the filament cost about 9cents a metre and we are only using 100mm so the saving on filament isnt too much of a concern.
But your method is actually easier to measure.
Cheers!

[AU_Doc]

Ender5r, would using your method introduce any error due to the extruder not having to push the filament out the nozzle? It may not be enough to matter all things considered. Just curious.