Several years ago I leapt enthusiastically into the realm of 3D printing by buying a massive, expensive delta-type printer. I had to put it together myself, which was fun, but after that I struggled to get it to print well. Even simply trying to get the prints to stick to the bed were difficult, leading me to add huge brims to all my parts which were a pain to cut off afterward. Eventually I gave up fiddling with it and it’s been gathering dust ever since.

I know that a lot of you treat the hobby as an opportunity for endless tinkering and optimization, which is great, but I think I’ve realized that what I’d prefer is something that just works out of the box with a minimum of adjustment.

  • emiellr@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    For good bed adhesion I think I have a couple pieces of advice:

    • Get a PEI bed if you don’t already have one. It makes a world of difference.
    • If that doesn’t stick well, consider getting something like this
    • Make damn sure your bed is level
    • Make sure the Z offset is properly set up
    • If you aren’t already, start by printing PLA, then move on to other filaments once that goes well.
    • Make sure you have proper temperatures for both the hot end and the bed. Normal values for PLA are 210-230 on the hotend and 50-60 on the bed.
    • CommissarVulpin@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      Thanks for the advice. The model I got (SeeMeCNC RostockMax 3.2) has a stationary glass bed and this fancy system where it probes the bed and automatically makes a height map. I might end up trying to get a new bed surface like you suggested before springing for a whole new machine.