Warping! It messes up your 3D printed parts, turning them into a useless, dimensionally-inaccurate mess. You can design your parts around it, or try and improve your printer in various ways. Or, you can check out some of the neat tricks [Jan] has to tackle it.
The basic concept is a particularly valuable one. [Jan] notes that ABS and PLA are relatively compatible. In turn, he found that printing ABS parts on top of a thin layer of PLA has proven a great way to improve bed adhesion and reduce warping. He’s extended this technique further to other material combinations, too. The trick is to find two materials that adhere well to each other, where one is better at adhering to typical print beds. Thus, one can be used to help stick the other to the print bed. [Jan] also explains how to implement these techniques with custom G-Code and manual filament changes.
We’ve been discussing the issue of warping prints quite often of late. It’s a common problem we all face at one time or another! Video after the break.
Enclosed bed chamber is another.
https://www.wevolver.com/article/3d-print-warping
Holy AI generated blog spam bat man. What an inane, repetitive pile of pablum. Most of the sentences were just the definition of the words used in the sentence.
Example: “These areas of weakness can reduce the part’s strength,” no, really, is that what “weakness” means? Please, continue “load-bearing capacity, and overall performance, making it more susceptible to failure under mechanical stress.” Yup, that is definitely the definition of weakness. Thank you for that insite, now do the next word.
Occasionally I get a client wanting to print some fancy PLA colour-blended filament that will not stick. I print the first layer in clear PLA …
Haven’t watched the article yet, but this reminds me of what Diabase Engineering (RIP) did to get ABS to stick well enough to a Kapton bed for subtractive post-processing… which implies that you’d want it to be pretty well stuck. They would use their machine’s multi-material capability to put down a layer of TPU first and then print the ABS part on that. Finally, a squirt of IPA around the edges released the TPU from the bed easily once the machining was done.
Warping is the biggest reason to use carbon fiber or glass fiber filled filaments. Regular old pla is really only suitable for printing junk that doesn’t need to be flat or straight or strong.
I’ve never had PLA warp to a noticable degree on me, and testing shows PLA to be amongst the strongest of FDM plastics. It’s just not the toughest, being rather hard for a plastic, and it does have a tendency to creep.
just gonna push back with a little engineering principle.. the idea is to use the right tool and material for the job. a project isn’t “junk” just because my requirements for flat / straight / strong are forgiving enough that PLA fits the bill.
it’s an important distinction because people sometimes classify, in their own minds, a tool/material/process as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and then they’re surprised when the ‘good’ process nonetheless leads to bad results. every process has strengths and weaknesses and good engineering requires us to be aware of both
I think this sentiment really needs to be taught to people at a young age. I have a hard time throwing stuff away, because growing up, I always wanted to have the coolest workshop like my uncle had. Filled with Snap On and Craftsman and a bit of something needed for this particular thing that he hasn’t used in years, but you never know. As I started getting better tools, I still hung into my Husky tools and random Chinese tools I’d find. I’ve used them more than my more expensive tools, because I’m not as afraid to break them, but I’ve also broken very few tools.
I’ve also got boxes of miscellaneous stuff. Plastic containers that can’t hold stuff well, but I can cut into templates, use as shims, use to test paint or chemicals. Offcuts of wood, old electronics that I cannibalize for parts. I bought 40 cheap brushes, but I only needed a few, but now I also have handles to practice engraving, staining, whatever…
I could go on for days. One of my favorite things to get are toys from the dollar store or Goodwill, because there are fancy ways of doing stuff and there are quick and inexpensive ways of doing stuff and finding different ways of doing things is always good.
There is no junk. Just stuff I haven’t found a use for yet.
I keep stuff a bit too long, but EVERY time I throw away something I haven’t needed in years, I ended up needing it for a random project two or three days later! Never fails🤣
Oh, the irony. When I use PLA, I often have rectangular shapes curling up at the corners. This happens even with a brim, and even when I have difficulty releasing the print from the bed. So to hear that PLA helps to prevent ABS from warping…
I probably need an enclosure for the printer, and maybe even a heater. Unless I’m missing something, which could well be the case as I don’t have a lot of experience with 3D printing.
If you have problems with PLA warping then you probably have a severe draft in the room. Yes, and enclose might help but even just a draft shield might be sufficient. Setup a wall surrounding your printer from a large cardboard box.
PLA tends to be the material that works the best on most FDM 3D printers, but there is still plenty of space for something to go wrong. Getting both the bed heat and nozzle heat right, and making sure your filament is dry (like hasn’t taken up water, not like just dry to the touch) is important. It sounds to me like you may need to turn your bed heat up a bit, maybe as much as around 5°C/10°F. You can also try using some Aquanet hair spray (like in the purple spray can) for better bed adhesion, especially if you are using a cheaper or older printer.
And also, don’t worry about learning, and don’t use your expensive filament until you get stuff dialed in with your cheap black or white PLA ($10/kg or less).
I had the same problem with PLA on my first printer, but I have solved most of the problems by doing a few things:
Turning my bed temperature up (60C)
Cleaning my bed plate regularly with isopropyl alcohol. Once a month with acetone.
Using a non-textured PEI plate. I find a textured plate doesn’t work as well as a smooth one.
Fully enclosing my printer, but not letting the temperature inside the enclosure to get to more than 30C when printing PLA.
All beds have hot and cool spots. Knowing where they are and orienting your build accordingly on the plate can really help. I used a FLIR camera to find the hot spots on my bed. It really paid off, but they are really expensive. I rented one for a day and did my two printers.
I rarely have edges curl now that I have done those five things. Even something that can cover the entire print plate doesn’t usually curl. I do not use glue, Kapton tape, or hair spray on my bed as I hate cleaning it off. IMO those should be used as a last resort.
I haven’t tried to print with ABS yet due to a ventilation problem, but as soon as I get that fixed I have a couple of things that I want to try as they need the toughness of ABS. High strength is not really a hallmark of PLA in my experience.
I don’t get how you can use IPA to clean the bed. I get literally zero adhesion after wiping the bed with IPA or rubbing alcohol. I regularly use vinegar with the glass bed plate, and it works perfectly. then just wash it with dish soap if it refuses to stick.
I don’t use a glass plate. I use a standard Creality brand K1 issue smooth PEI plate. I have had no issues using IPA or acetone on my plates, though I don’t use acetone very often. You have to make sure that the bed plate is dry after you do it, but I have had zero adhesion problems. If anything, my prints are harder to take off the bed.
I dunno, maybe it’s just me…
Get some Layerneer Bed Weld. It works on most every bed surface, but I prefer glass for it’s inherent flatness. Not a single warped part since. Some might say drafts cause warping, but one of my printers is right next to an HVAC vent, and I haven’t had any issues at all.
yeah i only use PLA on an unheated bed and it definitely has some warping. i believe the reports that it’s much better than ABS, though…i’ve seen severe warping in an ABS part that is only about an inch square. on my printer, i can typically print up to about 2 inches on a side before i start to notice warping, and even up to about 3 inches it isn’t usually a big deal to me.
in my case, rafting also doesn’t seem to help. rafting really only helps if the object is so small at the base that it doesn’t stick to the bed, like for towers.
the specific tape i use might matter a bit. i use blue painters tape on my bed, and the brand i’ve got now sticks well to the part but poorly to the bed, so the tape itself peels up a little at the corners! i’m not sure fooling around with adhesion makes a big difference for warping though.
i remember the article from a couple weeks ago, it suggested breaking up straight outer walls. next time i worry about it, i’m gonna put gaps in the bottom of my outer walls, maybe a 3-5mm divot every inch or so. it sounds like the idea is that as it shrinks, it will change the angles of the divot instead of pulling the whole line inwards and causing it to warp. sounds good but i haven’t tried it yet
For parts where the filaments stick to each other too well, a layer of PVA glue painted onto the first layer will help with getting them apart again, they should peel away really easily. You can thin it out with some iso so that it spreads thinly and dries quickly.
Just wanted to say how proud I am of you…
Textured print-plates need to be firmly scrubbed with a stiff-bristle brush and some detergent.
The little pits in the surface hold onto a fair amount of contamination; the bristles get right down in there.
I was trying to get by with isopropanol/acetone wipe-downs and getting mixed results.
I have a bad habit of touching everything, including the plates…oooh, hot, textured surface…
Anyway, clean your textured plates like you are scrubbing an old frying pan!
From my experience and testing. The best way to prevent warping is to have your bed temp set to the Tg of the material. ~65c for PLA, ~85c for PETG, ~105c for ABS.
Using this method I have been able to print all of these materials on bare untreated Boro. In the case of PETG it adheres “too good” and has a habit of tearing small chunks from my glass bed so in recent years I have mostly been printing with PET tape over my Boro to protect it.
PET tape works extremely well when heated.
I believe most of the issues come from inadequate bed temps combined with insufficient heat spreader. The bed needs a “thermal mass” to prevent it from varying temp. Too hot is just as bad as too cold. There is a window of about 5-10c which is centered around the Tg of the material used.
I have tested bare glass, window tint, PET tape, kapton tape, “PLA on paper”, blue tape, G10/Garolite…etc. In all cases the most important thing was the temperature.
I also do not have a heated chamber. Have printed down to less than 10c ambient (PETG, PLA)…with ABS it is best to keep ambient over 20c to avoid delamination.
I had the same thing with PETg on glass, but I just to print it at 65-70°c bed temp. Still doesn’t warp because of how well it sticks, and prints pop off without damage.
How about a touch of hairspray? It works very well for me.
There is an option within most slicing software to alternate the print direction of your walls. Meaning layer 1 might be up down up and then layer 2 would be down up down. This is supposed to help reduce the internal stress of the plastic that can lead to curling and peeling as it cools. PETG in particular doesn’t like having the parts blower fan on unless you’re bridging gaps or printing significant overhangs. After giving PETG adequate time to cool, I have experienced almost no warping even on my largest surface area prints.
Also the bed temp is measured at a single location and doesn’t mean the whole bed is uniformly that temperature. Bringing your bed up to temp and letting it sit at that temp for a minute or two prior to printing should help ensure a more even heat distribution.