I am new to the 3D printing world and just got my P2S at home, it seems my newbie honeymoon faded quite fast when I realized that these lines and especially the ironing just cannot seem to be “normal” - could I ask the more experienced folks to chime in?
From what I could gather in the wiki and the forum, this seems to be under-extrusion or potentially even a Z-Axis issue?
I use original BL PLA Silk (Dual Colour Velvet Eclipse) in the AMS2
filament was dried over night at 45 degrees celsius, AMS shows 8% humidity (fwiw)
I used the dynamic calibration (auto)
I printed calibration cards from the makerlab and they all look off, especially when ironing
I use the out of the box 0.4mm nozzle and the original textured PEI plate (cleaned with detergent and water)
I also wanted to print a present for my dad using the keychain maker in studio but it just looks horrible with default settings…I appreciate any input in what I can improve or tweak?
You can find some pictures attached, hopefully that can narrow it down. If you need further info, please let me know! Thanks!
Good morning. First let me commend you on reading the wiki. So few do.
Silk will give different sheens depending on temp and speed, you may have investigate that.
45 isn’t that warm. Should dry at 55 for PLA. That being said it doesn’t seem moisture is your issue. I (and others will correct me) believe it to be the filament itself.
Try slowing the printer. You can experiment easily by choosing silent mode (cuts speed to 50%) and go from there. I’d just print a 20mm cube with low infill to save filament. Slowly speed it up in Studio. I’d also play with temp to get the look your after. Silk can be a challenge for a certain look.
Silk seems to be a different beast, but damn does it look so pretty Even more reason to make it work So I spent the whole Sunday printing calibration cards, but I cannot see any difference, even with 50% speed setting…
So I did the Flow Dynamics Auto-Calibration via Studio and then added the K-Factor output to the silk filament. I then re-printed the calibration cards and also did one run each with 50% - am I missing something? They look identical to me Its hard to catch with uniform lighting but I hope you get the idea:
left side: adjusted K factor & 100% speed
right side: adjusted K factor & 50% speed
I might just go for “face down” print mode, then at least the surface is uniform for the gift.
Regarding drying temps: Since it is BL original filament, the RFID identified it and warned against going higher than 45 for drying as that would be “softening” temp and prompted me to remove the spools from the AMS
TL;DR: judging from the calibration cards, what is considered a “good print”? I am leaning towards 0.97 flow rate and 60/20 ironing settings - but in my eye they still have imperfections, are those considered “normal”?
Thanks again for your insights and sharing your experience!
I gave it a go now with “face down” and while that is workable, the back pattern again shows under-extrusion if I am not mistaken? Especially the edges are rough and I printed that at 50% speed…
What am I doing wrong? I used the default “keychain maker” preset changed to “0.16mm High Quality @BBL” and globally reduced print speed on the P2S itself
Well what exactly are you looking for? I should have started there, apologies.
Don’t overthink it. Because of the lighting I can’t tell, but .96 looks (from the pics and through older eyes) to be nice. Again, what is it you’re looking for?
No need for apologies, I am still finding my way around anyways and also writing novels here so thanks for your patience
In essence:
Currently I am bothered by the rough edges on my print. From the wiki:
3. Inappropriate PA value
When the model is short of material at the corner (figure below), then it is likely that the pressure advance value is set incorrectly and the flow needs to be recalibrated.
I read about “Inappropriate PA value“ but the dynamic flow calibration I did now twice for this filament seems to have no positive impact. Neither does global speed reduction to 50% - So I wonder if this degree of “imperfection” is normal or can be improved with tweaking the right setting (which I currently have no clue which that might be).
What you’re seeing is somewhat normal. I would caution you in changing too many settings at once. More often it’ll have a negative impact. You may be doing one at a time (or a recommended combination) but don’t go to much beyond. Makes troubleshooting more difficult.
Try changing the bottom surface pattern to concentric.
It will give you a more consistent line and may remove (should but I don’t know everything) the issue. You can use the same on top or you may choose Ironing. Ironing will dull and change the silk “sheen” a bit. I’d recommend not but YMMV.
I want to caution I do not know all. Someone will usually jump in to correct. Until then give that a try now that I think I understand the issue better. Good luck.
While there are some slight issues the prints look decent. I would try printing the same print but with a basic PLA and see if you have the same issue. It will give you another reference point.
Thank you both! I think I had no idea what a “regular” print looks like and starting out with silk probably did not make that easier I am now experimenting with uni-colored PLA and PETG and overall I don’t think I can complain - and a few artifacts and imperfections are part of the course.
I made a spool holder with PETG HF and I am quite happy. So maybe there is a learning about expectation management, overthinking and perfectionism somewhere in this thread hehe
Even more reason to make it work 
So I spent the whole Sunday printing calibration cards, but I cannot see any difference, even with 50% speed setting…
Its hard to catch with uniform lighting but I hope you get the idea:
Continuing the learning journey