3D Filament

lithgowlights

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May 6, 2010
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I use a few thousand covers printed in Aurarum ABS Natural in my display, and they are holding up pretty good. I print, vapor smooth in Acetone vapor, then let the acetone outgas for a day or so. Once they are OK, I do a coat of clear Dulux Dura Max plastic primer from bunnings and then 2 coats of Septone actylic topcoat clear from Supercheap Auto. I am finding I still get a little yellowing of the covers that are now 2 seasons old, but they are not brittle at all, whereas the ones I put up with no coating yellowed roughly twice as fast but went brittle in less than a season

I have ABS and PLA that has not been out for 2 solid years, not just the 6-8 weeks of the display, and it's not brittle but has lost color a lot, so I think the brittleness comes because my covers are just 2 layers of filament thick and light does go through them so there is not a lot holding them together :)
 

lithgowlights

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May 6, 2010
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I tried ASA, and it was just a sample... Looked great, but I dont think I printed it hot enough as it was weak as hell - the 2 covers I printed broke due to light mechanical impact through wind. I plan on getting a full roll one day and trying again
 

scamper

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Jan 5, 2014
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collie
How much filament do you go through?
As a beginner will 1kg last a while? or should I get a few rolls straight up?
 

scamper

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Actually it's not so much the diameter as much as the flexibility that suffers. Yes filament will grow, but usually less than 0.05mm, which should not be an issue for most printers, but the main issue is that the filament becomes brittle and will break as you unspool it. There are ways to dry it out, and the simplest method is to re-use the silica gel packets that come with the printer

1. Get an old rice cooker or similar (New ones are about $12 at Target)
2. put a few of the old silica gel packets on the base. I normally heat 10-12 at a time as any more and they dont get dry enough.
3. warm it up - this usually takes 20-30 minutes, and I run it on high for 5 minutes then low for the remainder. I leave the lid on, but slightly ajar so I can see the water condensing on the top. I turn the packets around every 10 minutes or so to make sure they get completely heated. You dont want to boil off the water, just heat it enough to drive it out, so 60-80c is all thats needed normally.
4. let the packets cool down
5. Store them in a good ziplock bag or plastic container with a good seal.

I put 2-3 packs in my filament roll bags now when I store them away when not in use, and when I get the filament out, I usually put the filament that was on the printer away straight away, but I'll swap out the silica gel for freshly dried ones, and put the other ones aside for drying later. The largest ziplock bags from Coles are just large enough for every filament roll I have here, and then they just get put under the 3D Printer bench in plastic totes. I normally have 30-40 open filaments at a time and another 20 awaiting use left in their packaging.

Now if you ever use Nylon filament, I would suggest throwing 10+ packets in there, rotating the packets with new ones every 2-3 days and do this for a week or two before you use it. That stuff is like a sponge with water, and I had to resort to real silica gel in 100g 3D Printed holders to keep that sucker dry!

I have been having problems lately with my filament, it keeps breaking, luckily it is after the print has finished, I will come back the next day and it has snapped.
I assumed it was moisture as I also noticed some bubble look on some of the layers also, though not bad enough to wreck a print yet.
The question I have, is how long would it take to remove the moisture from the filament doing what you described?
Also, are there any better filaments that don't suck in moisture quicker than others?
I didn't have a problem over winter, i guess because I had my fire going, but now I have had this problem each time I use it.
I have been using this
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3D-Prin...var=485203099367&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
 

Fing

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Dec 31, 2014
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i brought a food dehydrator at aldi for little $$, they make good filament dryers apparently i haven't used it yet
 
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