I’m fairly new to 3D Printing, bought an X1C combo for Father’s Day, my 12 year old son and I are learning as we go.
I haven’t done any hueforge type prints or coasters that need to have a high quality first layer since it becomes the top surface.
I’d like to print the XL mousepad which resembles the X1C plate:
https://www.printables.com/model/399749-bambulab-print-plate-colored-mousepad-max-sized
I plan to use black PLA for the body and will be using silk PLA in silver for the inserts.
I will dry the silk PLA prior since it’s been sitting bagged, with desiccant for a couple months. The black PLA is in the AMS and has been good to go for the past week. I think it’s fine as-is.
I have only used the cool plate, recently started using hairspray instead of the glue stick.
I also have the high temp plate. Any reason to use the tigh temp plate instead of the cool plate for the mouse pad?
What settings should I use in order to ensure I have no gaps for the first layer?
I have always used the auto calibration for filament, never used the new flow dynamics calibration tab. Should I perform FDC for each of these filaments?
I have never used ironing, should I learn how to before I try this print?
Thanks for any help.
From the link you’ve provided it’s apparent that the original maker used the textured plate (you can see it in the photos). This might or might not be a problem, I suggest printing a quarter of the original pad so you can check if you’re happy with the results before wasting too much filament.
I’d suggest that you crank up the bed temp a little bit and go slower (first layer only). Keep in mind that the first layer will be the top of the mouse pad.
FDC won’t be too bad if you have the time and filament to do it.
Ironing never caused major problems for me but just as I said, the first layer you’ll lay down will be the top surface for your mouse pad so you don’t need to use it.
One last thing, PLA on anything different than rubber is very slippery so you might wanna look at some cheap rubber vinyl off of Amazon to stick on the underside.
I don’t have the textured plate, I could use the engineering side of the high temp plate, it has a very slight texture to it. See any downside to that?
I’m finishing up the full machine calibrations now and will dry the silk next. I will perform the FDC on both filaments this evening.
That’s a good call on using silent mode tp print the plate. I’ve used it before when I needed finer details.
Normal mode is so fast anyway, amazed the machine doesn’t damage itself the way it whips around. I have an old PlasmaCam 98Z CNC plasma table, no way I’d run it like that lol.
I have begun raising the bed temp to 45C for taller objects to ensure adhesion, normal cool temp is 35. With so much surface area covered with this print, do you think raising bed temp to 45C would induce the risk of heat creep?
Thanks for the response.
How do I get rid of these visible insertion points for the filament changes. You can see it in preview after slicing.
Tried ironing, different patterns, .13 first layer height, different seam positions, both wall generators. Nothing gets rid of the visible filament start/stop points.
I’ve been using Hilbert curve for most of my prints, seems like it would work best for the mouse pad surface also. Archimedean Chord and Octogram Spiral both end up with too many long parallel lines. I like the dense pattern of Hilbert curve.
Printed it last night. Surface turned out great, aside from not having any of the letters show up. Pure black surface. I know I painted them in the silver silk in the slicer. Not sure why it printed without them.
Tried it again this afternoon. It’s putting them in the second layer. No idea how to fix that. I’m done.
I bought the textured plate and I’m thinking about trying this again. I need to figure out why the letters and markings want to print on the second layer instead of the first.
Is there some default option/setting that can cause it or is it a problem in the file?
The mouse pad looks great in the slicer, everything shows up as expected. And yes, I’m printing it upside down. Thanks for any help.
