3D Printing
Hello everyone! Its been a little too long since my first post but I am back and with a lovely mess of problems. Over the last few weeks, I have been looking into how to use a 3D printer. More specifically, I am trying to learn how to use a multi-extruder printer. The two major benefits of a multi extruder printer are utilizing multiple colors for a single print and utilizing soluble supports. The image below shows a 3D print that uses PLA filament as structural support. Specifically in rainbow print of the protein “Seipin” you can see the rough surface where the structural supports were pulled. Let me just say it is not fun trying to pick these models apart without breaking something along with it.
The idea behind using soluble supports is that simply submerging the model in water after printing dissolves supports, leaving just the model behind. The specific filament I am going to be using is Polydissolve S1 from Polymaker which is a PVA filament that is soluble in water and compatible with PLA filament as well.
The Issue…
I am currently unable to print using soluble filament at all. This issue has presented itself in many forms. I’ll start with the simplest mistakes and move to the mistakes that are currently unsolved.
The image below is not a soluble filament print, but it does show THE ISSUE… with non-soluble support prints.
The Simplest: The Wipe Tower
If you are familiar with multi-extruder 3D printing, there is a function called the “Wipe Tower.” The Wipe Tower is a structure that is printed in association to your model in order to allow for smooth transitions between the different color/type of filament. An example of what I mean is shown in the video below.
The issue is PrusaSlicer, the software I use, does not “allow” soluble material to be printed with a wipe tower. This is not true and can be bypassed by following these steps:
Print Settings (Top Tab) –>Support Material (Left Side Tab) –> Top Contact Z Distance set to “0 (soluble)”
This allows for the wipe tower to be enabled in the “Multiple Extruders” side tab by checking the box. Subsequently the options “support material/raft/skirt extruder” and “support material/raft interface extruder” can be set to the extruder of your choice containing the soluble material (Mine was 2 but it does not matter as long as it is the same as the extruder the material is loaded in).
The Annoying but Simple: Loading/Unloading Errors
A very frustrating, but simple, issue I run into is the loading and unloading errors that can sometimes occur multiple times in a single print. My current guess into why this is happening so much is due to PVA material being much softer than PLA and the material does not guide as nicely as the PLA. I think this because I only have consistent errors when trying the PVA material and almost never have the issue using only PLA material. If you are reading and have a better suggestion for a different brand of PVA filament let me know!!
Also, I am sorry I forgot to take a video of this event but I’m sure it’ll happen again so look forward to that.
The Most Complex: INFINITE LOADING..
The biggest, and most frustrating, issue is after everything is set up and the print is started. During this time the MMU (Multi-Material Unit) would endlessly load and unload the filament. Occasionally I would have issue with the 3D printer just going to the corner of the baseplate and unloading filament endlessly which is not good. This leads me to believe this is a program/machine error and not due to the PVA material. There are many different ways to approach this problem and based on my initial research on Reddit, some others found a similar issue and it was a hardware problem. After ensuring there are no clogs or any too loose/tight screws we can ensure sensors are working properly. The filament sensor may be my issue here however I have yet to check.
Again, I forgot to video this issue but trust me it’ll happen again so stay tuned.
Moving Forwards: Multi-Color Print
Instead of never using this multi-extruder 3D printer due to the issues with soluble support I decided to just print with multiple colors of PLA material. To show off the multi-color print best I decided to print a representation of Hemoglobin from the protein database (code: 3PEL). Strangely enough without any troubleshooting this print test started immediately without any issues at all. As much as I wish I could show the final product right away at the time of writing this it has yet to be completed (It takes 13 hours for a 2in x 2in model).
Next Steps: More Work in 3D Printing
The plan for my next blog post will be to move past the issues I ran into over the last few weeks and actually get even the simplest model printed. If that does not go to plan, then I might start designing a mini-final project. My vision for this includes a model that can be stuck together with pegs that were added using AutoDesk Fusion.