question about 3D printer fillament

[manikyath]

so.. i've been looking into getting a cheap 3D printer for some handywork around the house, and since i dont really mind print quality i could go quite cheap.

 

i found this thing: http://www.conrad.be/ce/nl/product/409630/Velleman-K8200-3D-printer-bouwpakket-Single-Extruder?ref=list

which seems to check all the boxes i need, until i noticed one oddity: the fillament diameter.

 

but i noticed one oddity: they advertise it works with 3mm fillament, and all their "official" (rebrand) fillament is 3mm, but if i go look for 3rd party fillaments (like for example colorfabb) it's 2.85mm fillament.

 

does this 0.15mm difference matter?

as in, will it clog the printer, make bad prints, or just not work at all

 

i just kinda eventually wanna experiment with colorfabb's fancy fillaments at some point

[Flight1sim]

Im building a 3D printer at the moment (low budget one from old computer parts) and it uses 1.75mm. And the standard sizes are 1.75 and 3mm here. So idk about 2.85

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Flight1sim said:

Im building a 3D printer at the moment (low budget one from old computer parts) and it uses 1.75mm. And the standard sizes are 1.75 and 3mm here. So idk about 2.85

http://colorfabb.com/xt-cf20

colorfabb's options are 1.75 and 2.85

 

offcourse ultimaker is 2.85mm, which is what colorfabb jumped on

[Flight1sim]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

http://colorfabb.com/xt-cf20

colorfabb's options are 1.75 and 2.85

 

offcourse ultimaker is 2.85mm, which is what colorfabb jumped on

 

hm alright then I guess whatever I read is wrong. Also for that price i'd build my own 3D printer, also gives you more flexibility in the long term using the Marlin firmware and Arduino 

[slanensis]

10 minutes ago, manikyath said:

so.. i've been looking into getting a cheap 3D printer for some handywork around the house, and since i dont really mind print quality i could go quite cheap.

 

i found this thing: http://www.conrad.be/ce/nl/product/409630/Velleman-K8200-3D-printer-bouwpakket-Single-Extruder?ref=list

which seems to check all the boxes i need, until i noticed one oddity: the fillament diameter.

 

but i noticed one oddity: they advertise it works with 3mm fillament, and all their "official" (rebrand) fillament is 3mm, but if i go look for 3rd party fillaments (like for example colorfabb) it's 2.85mm fillament.

 

does this 0.15mm difference matter?

as in, will it clog the printer, make bad prints, or just not work at all

 

i just kinda eventually wanna experiment with colorfabb's fancy fillaments at some point

 

the filament diameter will definitely make a difference. For example. the stepper that feeds in the filament might not have a good grip and you might have under extrusion. Try to find a printer that is 1.75mm diameter. I suggest the wanhao duplicator i3, cheap and trusty machine. For more go to facebook and search for that group. 

[manikyath]

Just now, Flight1sim said:

hm alright then I guess whatever I read is wrong. Also for that price i'd build my own 3D printer, also gives you more flexibility in the long term using the Marlin firmware and Arduino 

the one i'm buying is a kit, which is kinda as far as i'd want to go at the moment.

--

i found a thread with some WIDELY varying opinions on the 3mm/2.85mm stuff on ultimaker forums.

 

some people are saying it's the same fillament, some are saying it's "okay", some are saying it'll kill your printer..

 

seeing i'm going for a kit where you need to go as far as adjust the position of the adjustable endpoint switches i'm sure it'll be just fine

3 minutes ago, slanensis said:

the filament diameter will definitely make a difference. For example. the stepper that feeds in the filament might not have a good grip and you might have under extrusion. Try to find a printer that is 1.75mm diameter. I suggest the wanhao duplicator i3, cheap and trusty machine. For more go to facebook and search for that group. 

finding those local to me (avoiding forking out import tax and shipping nightmares) puts it at the same price as what i'm eyeing, and i have at least some experience with this thing

[Flight1sim]

Just now, manikyath said:

the one i'm buying is a kit, which is kinda as far as i'd want to go at the moment.

--

i found a thread with some WIDELY varying opinions on the 3mm/2.85mm stuff on ultimaker forums.

 

some people are saying it's the same fillament, some are saying it's "okay", some are saying it'll kill your printer..

 

seeing i'm going for a kit where you need to go as far as adjust the position of the adjustable endpoint switches i'm sure it'll be just fine

finding those local to me (avoiding forking out import tax and shipping nightmares) puts it at the same price as what i'm eyeing, and i have at least some experience with this thing

 

Just go with 1.75 it gives you more precision. Also does the kit run on arduino? I'd only buy one if it's running on arduino/open source firmware. 

[slanensis]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

seeing i'm going for a kit where you need to go as far as adjust the position of the adjustable endpoint switches i'm sure it'll be just fine

finding those local to me (avoiding forking out import tax and shipping nightmares) puts it at the same price as what i'm eyeing, and i have at least some experience with this thing

7

I mean, that printer is right at the price range you are seeing, but is really more reliant. Please research about it, join the group, ask some questions, and go ahead with your choice. You would not be dissapointed by this printer. Do not worry, I am not a sales representative

[manikyath]

Just now, Flight1sim said:

Just go with 1.75 it gives you more precision. Also does the kit run on arduino? I'd only buy one if it's running on arduino/open source firmware. 

i dont really mind the precision, i just need it to work and not be a shipping nightmare.

 

i'm gonna look into where i can find the duplicator i3, and some reviews on it.

[manikyath]

4 minutes ago, slanensis said:

I mean, that printer is right at the price range you are seeing, but is really more reliant. Please research about it, join the group, ask some questions, and go ahead with your choice. You would not be dissapointed by this printer. Do not worry, I am not a sales representative

it appareantly works with cura, which funnily enough is a bigger selling point for me than most other things

[slanensis]

Just now, manikyath said:

it appareantly works with cura, which funnily enough is a bigger selling point for me than most other things

If i got that point correctly, then I would say that the wahnhao one works with cura. Yeah, really good selling point indeed

[manikyath]

Just now, slanensis said:

If i got that point correctly, then I would say that the wahnhao one works with cura. Yeah, really good selling point indeed

the friend i currently outsource 3D printing to has an ultimaker, so i'm used to testing my models in cura before sending them off

 

as well as the printer by default shipping with an sd card reader (for the velleman that's an €80 accessory), shipping in one piece (i mean... i like building, but if it's assembled thats always a bonus )

 

i know the vellemann comes with a heated bed that fillament sticks to REALLY well (although the "heated" part of the bed is a joke), but if it comes down to it i'll just go buy a roll of painter's tape and go early ultimaker style

[slanensis]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

the friend i currently outsource 3D printing to has an ultimaker, so i'm used to testing my models in cura before sending them off

 

as well as the printer by default shipping with an sd card reader (for the velleman that's an €80 accessory), shipping in one piece (i mean... i like building, but if it's assembled thats always a bonus )

 

i know the vellemann comes with a heated bed that fillament sticks to REALLY well (although the "heated" part of the bed is a joke), but if it comes down to it i'll just go buy a roll of painter's tape and go early ultimaker style

 

I'm really happy that you decided that you are going with the wanhao, if I understood correctly. You will not be disappointed!

[manikyath]

10 minutes ago, slanensis said:

I'm really happy that you decided that you are going with the wanhao, if I understood correctly. You will not be disappointed!

i'll put it like this: i'm considering it, in the same way i'm considering the velleman

 

but looking at the spec sheet of this thing, i'll probably end up swaying this direction, depending on what the old folks have to say.

 

EDIT: if i order it it's gonna ship with PostNL, shall i point the delivery folks to the fact i have a doorbell, chase them out the back yard with a baseball bat, or put 10KV on my back porch?

i thought i'd let you decide how evil i'll be

[Hackentosher]

Most 3mm filaments are actually around 2.85, it doesn't make a difference as long as you have the diameter set correctly in the slicer. 

[manikyath]

Just now, Hackentosher said:

Most 3mm filaments are actually around 2.85, it doesn't make a difference as long as you have the diameter set correctly in the slicer. 

some ultimaker folks were bassicly preaaching the end of the world if you use the wrong fillament, then again, every enthousiast community needs those folk dont they?

[Hackentosher]

1 hour ago, Flight1sim said:

Just go with 1.75 it gives you more precision. 

Um no. If the extrude is calibrated correctly , it'll be very precise. 

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Hackentosher said:

Um no. If the extrude is calibrated correctly , it'll be very precise. 

 

i was thinking, does using a thinner fillament *generally* mean longer print times?

[Hackentosher]

11 minutes ago, manikyath said:

some ultimaker folks were bassicly preaaching the end of the world if you use the wrong fillament, then again, every enthousiast community needs those folk dont they?

True 3mm will be a little tight in an ultimaker bowden tube, but it should still be usable. 

 

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i was thinking, does using a thinner fillament *generally* mean longer print times?

I don't think so, you can just feed the material faster. 

[Flight1sim]

44 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

Um no. If the extrude is calibrated correctly , it'll be very precise. 

 

 

Is just from what I heard, I don't know much about that specifically. 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Flight1sim said:

Is just from what I heard, I don't know much about that specifically. 

i guess it'd be easier to calibrate, but if well calibrated it'd have the same result.

[Hackentosher]

19 minutes ago, Flight1sim said:

Is just from what I heard, I don't know much about that specifically. 

Assuming the extruder can grip the material properly and its calibrated its very precise. The controller knows how many steps it rakes to move 1mm of material, thus making it very accurate despite the filament diameter. 

[bob345]

If you have a 3mm printer, 3mm and 2.85mm are pretty much interchangeable as long as you adjust for the size difference in software. You may have problems if you use 3mm in a 2.85mm printer though.

[Hackentosher]

4 minutes ago, bob345 said:

If you have a 3mm printer, 3mm and 2.85mm are pretty much interchangeable as long as you adjust for the size difference in software. You may have problems if you use 3mm in a 2.85mm printer though.

It's important to note that there is a tolerance to the diameter and you should check it w/calipers. Then use the number your calipers produce as the diameter in slic3r or whatever.