I love Modifiers!

[Olias]

I haven’t personally tried this with tape, but my own curiosity will definitely have me trying it sometime in the next couple of days. I just have to find the partial roll of tape I have kicking around in my work shop.

It’s also worth mentioning that some folks in the FDM printing community have used painter’s tape on glass plates for unheated beds, so there’s a bit of precedent for the use of tape as a substrate for layer adhesion, whereas painters tape is supposed to be temporary, metallic silver duct tape is the opposite which why it came to mind.

Considering that silver duct tape has a really strong adhesive and can handle high temperatures due to its metallic properties, I believe it should not only work but work quite well. One thing to think about, though, is that after the tape gets covered by filament in those first layers, it might be a good idea to bump up the nozzle temperature for the next 10 layers or until you’ve printed about 1mm, whichever comes first. That should help ensure proper adhesion until the underlying substrate sets, hopefully preventing any issues with uneven heating causing possible rippling.

[SimEyeSee]

To change the temperature for a few layers, do I adjust the G code like this, or is there another way.

How to do custom nozzle temperatures to improve surface finish

How to do custom nozzle tTemperature to improve surface finish Using ocra slicer 1.6.3 You set the layer height changes by using mm in the G-code and putting the nozzle temperature. Start by using the right slide bar tool to find the mm you want to change to a new nozzle value on your part. You can help eliminate matte finishes or other reasons you need more temperature control for your part. Speed changes Shell thickness Infill % Top surface Overhangs Matte Speed Sample: [Speed Matte Su…

[Olias]

I hadn’t thought about using G-code. I suppose that would be a more elegant way of doing it. My original thinking was to either do it from the front control panel, since your already standing there. Or you can do it from within the slicer control panel if you’ve walked away and don’t want to walk back just to change the temp.

[SimEyeSee]

For the layers after the tape, how many degrees (C) would you raise it?

Also, would the same idea work in the following situation. I was printing something with ASA while using HIPS as a support interface layer (only one layer) and I got some layer sepration in the ASA right around the layer where the HIPS was printed. I suspect based on reading something in another forum that issue was caused by the delay between ASA layers while the AMS was switching to the HIPS and back to ASA. So if I increased the temperature for 10 layers after the HIPS support layer so that the ASA is hotter, would that potentially solve the layer separation issue I had?

[Olias]

@SimEyeSee

For the layers after the tape, how many degrees (C) would you raise it?

For an experiment like this, I’d recommend increasing the temperature by at least 10°C, if not more. Metal film tends to spread heat and can create heat sink-like effects, which may lead to layer separation until there’s enough filament mass above it to behave normally. Think of it as the opposite of an elephant foot issue. In this case, you’re working on an artificially unheated build plate with metal tape, so what typically happens on a heated plate might not occur unless the lower layers are close enough to transfer heat to the metal film. However, you’ll need to test this to be sure.

One thing I do when conducting experiments like this. I use both a cheap non-contact IR thermometer to test out surface temps and make my judgment call from there when experimenting with dissimilar filaments on top of one another. But I also picked up a cheap IR imaging sensor off Amazon. While not exactly FLIR, it does give one a really good idea of heaty dissipation on the surface that a non-contact thermometer just can’t see.

But the truth be known. I would not have bought this for just 3D printing. I do a lot of electronics work where chasing down thermal issues is damned near impossible without imaging. FLIR cameras are obviously the best at this but this 64x64 sensor is good enough.

In this example the object being printed is in blue. The near plate shows as a hot spot of 59.3°C and falls off dramatically at distance. But you’ll note the near 20°C temp drop for the blue object in the middle. I was in the middle of a print just now and paused it solely to move the print head out of the way to take this quick picture but it gives you an idea of what I was printing at the time. Just look at Amazon under MLX90640 Infrared Thermal Imager. It’s the name of the MLX90640 sensor that gives it the name. They range in price now between $75-$120 but the sensor is made by only one company.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNQHB229

@SimEyeSee

I suspect based on reading something in another forum that issue was caused by the delay between ASA layers while the AMS was switching to the HIPS and back to ASA. So if I increased the temperature for 10 layers after the HIPS support layer so that the ASA is hotter, would that potentially solve the layer separation issue I had?

I’d say that is a reasonable theory and likewise a logical conclusion. I can tell you that when I tried PETG on PLA, I did precisely that. In that case I went 20°c between PLA on the bottom and PETG on the top. I did this because I knew I was going to have to “cook” the layer underneath in order to guarantee adhesion. It worked, it wasn’t pretty but it worked. It should be noted though that I was working with a model that was smaller than 3" x 5" at the time, so larger objects may offer a greater challenge.

Again, as I mentioned above, this is where taking IR readings from a cheap IR thermometer worked wonders for me. I paid $15 for mine but I’ve seen them as cheap as $8 now. Standing there taking measurements is tedious I’ll admit, that’s

because you have to baby sit the print the first couple of times but I learned a lot in the process.

[SimEyeSee]

It is amazing the world these 3D printers open up for people.

I have just started and there are so many different things I want to do. All in good time.

[calicoowls]

How do we start question threads here? I can’t even print my STL’s bc the printer thinks a simplify turtle will take 28 hrs!

[SimEyeSee]

If you go to the main page, there should be a new topic button on the top right. If you don’t see it, you might not have a high enough access level to start topics. I can’t remember the exact process to get the access level to start topics, but I don’t think it was too many steps. Unless I am thinking of a different forum, there is a tutorial bot that asks you do go through some steps. If you do them you learn some useful things for the forum and you get elevated so you can start new topics.

[SimEyeSee]

Are you using an AMS? If you are changing colors or using the support interface material, a simple turtle can take 28 hours because of all the changes in the AMS.

[Rob]

Wish there were a way around it splitting into two touching objects.

I’m trying to reduce the speed of a long, thin diagonal overhang at about 30º so it doesn’t wobble around so much. However when I use a modifier, a) it doesn’t adjust the speed correctly (completely ignores the sparse infill and leaves it the same as the rest of the model) and b) I get these stupid extra walls at the edges of the modifier which both use more filament and more importantly weaken the model.

Work around is to modify the entire layer to go at the slow speed, for all the layers that have the diagonal overhang. Or slow the whole print down to a crawl.
I’ll probably end up with a different finish on sections of the print due to having to change speed per entire layer.

Modifiers have so much potential but are implemented so poorly.
Only one height range modifier per object is another unnecessary limitation.

[SimEyeSee]

How did you make the modifier, in Bambu Studio or in a CAD program?

The reason I ask is if you make it in a CAD program, you need to find the modifier in the objects list in Bambu Studio, right click it and convert it to a modifier.

I am going to print a dragon for my son, I have 4 different modifiers to convert the wings to a higher infill, the head and tail in between infill, and the body the least infill. I don’t have any walls between modifiers and it is working with my infill changes. I haven’t tried any speed changes for modifiers yet.

[Rob]

I create the modifiers in OrcaSlicer. I think because my modifiers are varying something the software deems requires new perimeters it splits it into essentially a new section. I understand it is a lot of work to adjust the code so that, for example, new outer wall speed doesn’t require new perimeters to be formed.
The infill speed bug is due to be corrected with the next version. I have also learned that there is a way to have more than one height range modifier per object, although not overly intuitive.

Problem with changing the infill density is it can result in non-aligned infill which may weaken several layers if it ends up extruding sparse infill over thin air.

[DBSkyout]

When creating part modifiers in CAD then bringing them into BS you need to change each part to a modifier. Is there a way to group select the parts so you can change them all at once from a part to a modifier? So far I have only been able to change them one at a time.
Thanks

[SimEyeSee]

No, you can only change the type one at a time. After you convert them to modifiers, you can select multiple modifiers in the objects list and change all their properties at the same time.

[DBSkyout]

Thanks for the quick answer to my question! It would be nice to be able to group select. But I still love modifiers!

[SimEyeSee]

I am working on a part to use as a cover for my window fan when the fan is turned off to prevent the hot or cold air from outside entering the room.

This is the fan. I 3D printed a bracket that attaches to the fan and fits into the part of the frame on the right. I glued a couple of rubber strips onto the bracket to seal it with the window frame. I have another 3D bracket on the left to hook it onto the sliding window on the left side. I also printed a box shaped model to seal the top with some insulation inside the box. The top model fits into the right side window frame the same way as the fan bracket.

I also 3D printed the cable clip on the bottom right of the fan, it hooks onto the rivets on the fan frame. This is what the clip looks like:

This is what the brackets look like to hold the fan into the window. The grey part is to simulate the fan for sizing and positioning of the brackets.

This is the right bracket. It is made of two parts on the left that are joined together and attached to the fan. And one part on the right that fits into the window frame. The red parts are the mods for the screw holes, which are printed as solid plastic using 100% rectilinear. When designing it in Fusion, the mods are sub-components of the part.

This is a picture of a test piece that I was using to make the right bracket fit tightly in the window frame. To reference it with the drawing above, it is a picture from the bottom. The black on the bottom edges of the part are the rubber strips I glued to the part to make a good seal. The rubber is on the front part of the bracket. In the drawing above, the left faces are the front.

This is the left bracket. It is made of two parts on the right (of the left picture) that are joined together and attached to the fan. And two parts on the left that are joined together and hook onto the sliding window on the left side. In addition to the screw hole mods, I made some internal rib mods that are embedded within the infill. The ribs are lined up with the screw hole mods and are used to prevent the part that hooks onto the window from breaking at the corner. The image on the right shows what the internal ribs look like. When printing I made the rib mods 100% rectilinear, the rest of the infill was gyroid.

This is what the fan cover will look like, it will be white. I cut it up into four sections for printing, and the circular part missing in the center will be another 3D printed part.

The holes on the right side (holes will also be repeated on the left) will be used to screw on an attachment that will hook onto the metal frame of the fan to hold the cover in place and also have a handle going the other direction to use to hold onto the cover. I made the part that hooks onto the fan frame an attachment so it can be modified and replaced without reprinting the fan cover pieces.

This is what one of the four sections look like, the yellow parts are the mods.

The rib structure on the inside corner wasn’t put there for support, I added it so I could make the corner a 45° angle so it could be printed without supports or defects like the picture below:

The fan cover is meant to insulate, so I am using 7% cubic infill because it makes pockets of air in the model which is good for insulation. Since this infill wouldn’t be good for supporting the screw holes, I added some modifiers to strengthen that section.

The part is supposed to be printed in the orientation in the slicer image above, but I put it on its side for the picture below so the infill differences are more visible.

I made two mods a few millimeters larger than the holes for the screws and nuts, and made them 100% rectilinear infill so it would be solid plastic. I then used another mod to surround the screw holes and made it 20% gyroid to hold the screw/nut mods in place. I extended the mod surrounding the screws to the bottom of the part at an angle so that it supported itself while printing.

I made the mods sub-components of the fan cover in Fusion. This is what the screw/nut hole mod looks like:

This is what the screw surrounding support mod looks like. I used Fusion’s combine tool to cut the screw/nut mod out of the screw surrounding support mod so the mods don’t overlap.

[DBSkyout]

Nice work. Just goes to show how modifiers can help when designing difficult parts to print.

[SimEyeSee]

This is what the fan cover looks like. I added some weather stripping foam strips to the back edge to make an air tight seal with the fan.

This is how the clip that holds it is opened and closed.

I will add pictures of the mods I used for the clip parts.

[greggT]

This is awesome, and it seems like it would have taken me months to complete.

But I need to ask: why not design it to allow the window to close behind the fan to insulate the area when the fan is off, instead of designing a cover? [The cover is beautiful, BTW… I love all the curves and it appears to function well.]

[SimEyeSee]

Mostly because I didn’t consider doing it that way.

When I first started, I was using a fan that was meant to be put in a window, but it strangely didn’t actually have any parts to actually keep it in the window.

So I designed something to secure that fan to the window. The fan was a piece of junk and failed after a couple of months. I thought it was because I had attached a third party speed controller so I bought another one and plugged the fan in directly without the speed control. That second one also failed so I went with a more industrial style wall mount fan. I reused some of the parts I originally made, but made additional parts so it would work with the new fan.

I kind of like your idea, but one issue is how would I secure the fan? I would probably need to screw it into the wall or the window frame which I don’t think I would want to do. Also, I think it would be hard to make a good seal around the fan. I use weather stripping foam on the top bottom and left side and a rubber seal on the part that goes into the window frame on the right. It is mostly air tight around the fan.

If you have suggestions related to my concerns above I would like to hear them. I like the idea of being able to close the window, so if I can figure out a nice way to do it, I may make a change in the future.