Thought, I'd start one for any kind of hint/tips/ect for 3D printing. I've got one at the moment. For resin printers, I tend to wash stuff off as soon as it's finished, but I know this won't always work, so I had dried resin on my build plate, and since it's not flexible at all, I got hints for how to take the dried material off. I tried with no luck, iso alc, since it's recommended for cleaning, in my book with my post processing unit, but a heat gun and scrapper got it off pretty well, I just had to secure my print bed in vice to hold it still, and just let it cool off after. Just turn the gun on, I tried high and low, high worked a little better, but held heat gun on an area and gently scrapped stuff loose as I went along.
Well after my first failed successful resin print, yes I know that didn't make much sence, but it will, reindeer 1/24 scale, while it did infact print successfully with no issues, getting the supports off after post processing is another story.... so with that:
Next tip: If print fails, try different orientation and or a different print method, in my case, would the reindeer been standing upright, while 2x long job, made a difference or would FDM printing work better??
Next I got this one that actually helped me get my Neptunt 2D printer up n working finally.
1) Preheat to normal operating temp.
2) Home all axis.
3) Before turning off/disabling stepper motors, raise Z up equal to thickness of paper or feeler gauge.
4) While not moving Z axis, move tip, over screws and adjust corner by corner firectly over the screws/springs, leaving center for last. Repeat atleast 2x. On center, check for warp by checking various feeler gauges to see if it's off or not, subtract the thickness of one used for leveling. 0.1 or under over thickness should be fine. Ex) 0.15 total would be 0.05 warp for what i used. 0.1mm.
This worked on my Neptune 2D, the Auto leveling didn't work for me for some reason... it seamed like my bed was warped, but my 0.1 worked fine with no thickness over or under at center.
@vampyricblood77 (https://savagechats.com/index.php?action=profile;u=15) needs to watch this. He has an Ender 3 S1.
(https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/cover.png)
https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/cover.png (https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/cover.png)
Well, next tip. For this one, I am on V3 of a cover for the Trash Compactor at work, for a solution to keep water out of the start button, below.
(https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/Resized_20251122_152947.jpeg)
https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/Resized_20251122_152947.jpeg (https://jknightandkarr.altervista.org/3DPrinter/Resized_20251122_152947.jpeg)
Last winter, as the water got into said button, and temp droped, as expected, pushing said button became VERY hard... so answer is a cover to keep water away.
Tip: For projects such as this, measure completely, and for my case, my digital calipers would have made this VERY easy, esp. with the thickness of the front panel, which is also wider than the box itself, and think about how it needs to be before spending 5 hours printing, only to have it not work, due to having it designed with a flaw that had, what was intended to go over the front panel by sliding on, green and yellow bars, to be too far out, and also too close togeather, thought 11 mm and seamed to be closer to 16 mm (18 mm to be safe), so had to redesign, which also includes removing some side material, and adding whats my alt name online.
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 25, 2025, 12:19 AMTip: For projects such as this, measure completely, and for my case, my digital calipers would have made this VERY easy, esp. with the thickness of the front panel, which is also wider than the box itself, and think about how it needs to be before spending 5 hours printing, only to have it not work, due to having it designed with a flaw that had, what was intended to go over the front panel by sliding on, green and yellow bars, to be too far out, and also too close togeather, thought 11 mm and seamed to be closer to 16 mm (18 mm to be safe), so had to redesign, which also includes removing some side material, and adding whats my alt name online.
We learn from experience - good job, Joe.
Quote from: granz on Nov 25, 2025, 08:41 AMWe learn from experience - good job, Joe.
That philosophy is highly underappreciated. In my projects on Savage///Circuits, I post my failures as well as mu successes. It's important to show how even experienced people can run into issues and possibly how to overcome them.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Nov 25, 2025, 11:18 AMQuote from: granz on Nov 25, 2025, 08:41 AMWe learn from experience - good job, Joe.
That philosophy is highly underappreciated. In my projects on Savage///Circuits, I post my failures as well as mu successes. It's important to show how even experienced people can run into issues and possibly how to overcome them.
True, failure is a chance to learn!
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 25, 2025, 02:51 PMTrue, failure is a chance to learn!
Often times, we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. That is another reason for my recommendation for getting an Engineer's Notebook - record all the results from your testing/experimenting and go over them periodically to see what you can learn.
Well, since Joe posted about a Tips Thread (https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=610.0), I'll go ahead and post my tip:
On my Monoprice Voxel (FlashForge Adventurer 3 clone) don't print articulated parts. The individual small parts stuck to the build plate, and tore the surface material off the plate.
Well, I got one...
For prints requiring multiple parts, it's best to use the same machine for all the parts, unless the parts are for something like a game or instances where part size isn't absolutely critical.... I printed most of the parts for my Zelda Master Sword on the Centauri Carbon, However I printed the handgrip wrap on the Neptune 2D using White PLA+. Now, came out just fine, no issues whatsoever, except the grip wrap was just slightly too small, and when I got the wrap partially on the handle, the print got stuck, and I was forced to VERY carefully break it off.... Printed on the Centauri Carbon, using the filament sample that came with it, failed due to layers not sticking well, anyhow, tried the part, and it fit very well.
Good tip, Joe. With different printers myself, I need to remember this. Thanks.
Quote from: granz on Jul 30, 2026, 09:13 PMGood tip, Joe. With different printers myself, I need to remember this. Thanks.
Welcome, I guess with SOME stuff, where there's no clearance issues, I think this is no issue, but my sword has seams like pretty tight clearances, it just won't work...
I picked up some stuff at Hobby Lobby last night n posting here.
https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/3d-printing-filament-refillable-spool/p/81250287 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/3d-printing-filament-refillable-spool/p/81250287)
First off there's these Empty spools, $3.50 ea, combined with my cheap kitchen scale, I figured out that the Blue Silver Silk PLA from Inland, has 221g of weight left, sadly I need about 450g of it for the scabbard for my Zelda Sword. The spools weight is 206g, which makes it easy to est how much filament I got left.
https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/deburring-tool-blade-set/p/81250342 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/deburring-tool-blade-set/p/81250342)
Simple deburring tool; $9.99, wish it had a spot to hold the handle...
https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/filament-vacuum-pump-with-storage-bags/p/81272795 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/filament-vacuum-pump-with-storage-bags/p/81272795)
$10.99 get ya 10 reusable bags, 2 clips (Help seal the bags), USB-C cord, and a pump to remove air.
https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/orange-silica-gel-beads/p/81257571 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/orange-silica-gel-beads/p/81257571)
$5.99 for a 1.5lb bag of Indicating Silica Beads, absorbs moisture changing from Orange to Green, then replace or recharge by 3 min intervals in microwave or 200-250 deg F for 1-2 hrs.
https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/thermometer-humidity-gauge/p/81272454 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/thermometer-humidity-gauge/p/81272454)
$2.50 for Temp/Humidity gauge! 1 5/8 hole, button on bottom to turn on, press to switch F or C and press n hold for off.
They also have spray adhesive $10.99, a print bed mat (10.12 * 10.12) $18.99, and storage containers for a spool $4.50(Chris's cereal containers). Just wish they had bigger selection of colors.....
Nice, thanks for that write up. Hobby Lobby is much closer than Micro Center. I'll have to take a look there soon.
Quote from: granz on Oct 15, 2026, 03:22 PMNice, thanks for that write up. Hobby Lobby is much closer than Micro Center. I'll have to take a look there soon.
Welcome. Sadly filament selection is VERY limited...
Did you happen to notice if they had any Bambu Lab filament? I'm looking for the stuff with the RFID tags for the AMS.
Quote from: granz on Oct 16, 2026, 06:07 AMDid you happen to notice if they had any Bambu Lab filament? I'm looking for the stuff with the RFID tags for the AMS.
I haven't purchased any recently, but Bambu Lab was advertising that customers wanted lower pricing and they listened. So I am led to believe they lowered prices. I do need to place an order, so we shall see.
Quote from: granz on Oct 16, 2026, 06:07 AMDid you happen to notice if they had any Bambu Lab filament? I'm looking for the stuff with the RFID tags for the AMS.
They do not. Only brand that just says 3D Printing Filament https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/burnt-titanium-sparkling-3d-printing-filament/p/81274581 (https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/kids-crafts-activities/arts-crafts-supplies/burnt-titanium-sparkling-3d-printing-filament/p/81274581) Target and Best Buy around my area supposed to have those, but neither does have anything at all....
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Oct 16, 2026, 12:26 PMThey do not. Only brand that just says 3D Printing Filament
I could not find "Burnt Titanium" for comparison, but I just bought 10 refills of varying colors of PLA BASIC and each was $12.47.
Yesterday, I saw where someone was predicting (based on the previous two years) that Bambu Labs was going to have a sale around the end of this month. I believe that he said that last year, and the year before, the sales started on Monday of the last full week of October. So, he is thinking that there may be a sale starting on 26 Oct, and lasting until some time in the beginning of December.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Oct 16, 2026, 01:34 PMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Oct 16, 2026, 12:26 PMThey do not. Only brand that just says 3D Printing Filament
I could not find "Burnt Titanium" for comparison, but I just bought 10 refills of varying colors of PLA BASIC and each was $12.47.
I just picked one, but that's not bad price.
I think I got a pretty good deal.
Recent_Filament_Order.jpg
Quote from: Chris Savage on Oct 16, 2026, 11:19 PMI think I got a pretty good deal.
Recent_Filament_Order.jpg
Most definitely.