3D Printing

Callum and I picked up a CREALITY Ender3 3D printer this week and we're trying some things out. Starting this page to track a few things. Big thanks to @Toyotaboy for giving some up front advice. I'll mark his advice with a {TB}.

Assembly

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me8Qrwh907Q
  • The most helpful video we watched. After Step 5 of the visual directions, we went to YouTube
• When you build, make SURE that the z-axis is as perpendicular as possible to the bed (bed should be lowered all the way on all 4 knobs). Use something square and rigid to look at the gaps, then tighten down the frame screws {TB}
  • This comes out in the video, as well as how to use one of the crossbars to check evenness.

Levelling

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqTmb01cBk

Notes

• Don't use the stock buildtak surface. Your first couple prints will stick well, then they will be hard to remove and you'll scrape the surface trying to get them off. Use PEI sheet. it's durable and sticks well. If it stops sticking, sand lightly with 600 grit sandpaper and wipe down with isopropyl alcohol. Get this one with adhesive already applied: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GSJSDWR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 {TB}

Helpful Mods

• Vent Ring 2 {TB}
• Board fan guard {TB}
• Cable Clips
• Cable Chain
• Filament Guide

To Do

1. Get the spool holder off the machine
   • Amazon sells cheap ones that work well. You want the weight off the machine because as motors move around, extra weight will make printing offset, then you get little artifacts because the slicer doesn't calculate weight. It assumes a rigid machine

Upgrades

• {TB}

So the only other upgrade (which I'm currently looking into), not to de-focus you (but something you may want later on).  The stock board does not allow for easy firmware upgrading, you need an arduino board and some wires.  Ideally you want to run something open source like marlin which adds thermal runaway protection, things like octoprint (remote monitoring, adding webcams, etc).  For a while now you either had to buy a bootloader, or replace the board with something completely different (which requires re-routing wires, swapping out connectors, etc.).  A new board came out last month that is a direct drop-in replacement, comes with Marlin (but you can upgrade firmware with the sd card), adds 32-bit cpu.. it's only $20.
32-bit board means way smoother servo control, which greatly quiets down the motors.  Also allows you to run optionally higher torque motors, let's you run modded firmware like klipper.  I've seen ender3's go from 40mm/sec print speed, to 150+mm/sec print speed and retain most of it's quality

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKlsJZJ4aJ8