SLA experienced and PLA ignorant! Hello All!

[Thor Art]

So first of all. Hello! Great to have a forum like this to help a guy like me get some successful prints. I started a previous thread that really is no misleading as a title , so will post a new one.
I have a New Artemis 300. Impressive looking machine! I have read a lot on PLA printing and gotten to the point I am getting prints to happen...but they just are not printing like some of the sample .stls provided.

My main problem was adhesion . I slowed down the protest speed. Also, filament was not extruding well. I checked for nozzle blockage...it flows well when manually tested. So I sped up the "Exteusion factor" on the control panel . Also raised filings temp. So it's laying down filiment well now. Well...not well. I can't get the lines of layer down filiment to "squish together" like some of the samples did. I even have my z-baby steps lowered to - 0.75. Here are some shots of the base build of a mini catapult model. Suggestions or rerencing me to another post in here regarding this issue greatly appreciated! Posting some photos of my screen and the prints . Aloha! -Tom.

[wepollock]

It's a little hard to tell from the pictures but I think that the "first layer" may be a bit too close to the bed.

It also looks like your temperature is set too high for most PLA's (235 may be ok for some PLA's)

---60 degree bed temperature is usually a good point for PLA.
---Some PLA's like 235, but most work with 180-215.. Sometimes I print hot at 205
---What PLA are you using (makergeeks likes 235 - but I don't like makergeeks)

I would not run the fan at more than 60% after the 1st layer -- I am using no fan in most cases...



This may be a question of adjusting Z offset.

The first layer "skirt" should have a rounded feel. It looks like your layer might be a bit squashed into the bed.
Therefore you would want to raise your Z offset away from the bed.

I have a flowchart and a macro for adjusting the z offset.
Also a .2mm metal slip gauge is also useful


Example

G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-.1
M500

-----------Macro

G28
G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-.48 ; negative up from bed positive is towards bed - start very far up from the bed
G32
M500
G0 Z0
M117 "Measure Gap From Extruder to Bed using paper or slip gauge - waiting for 30 seconds"
G4 S30
G28

---------- Flowchart

I was having a concern whereby after I did G32 the hot end was pressing exactly into the bed after G0 Z0, with zero room for paper or a gauge. So my offset from the bed was not correct. To correct the problem I did a rinse and repeat flowchart. To fix a problem like this I used the following flowchart.

FLOWCHART

HOME
G31
G32
M500
G0 Z0
Repeat

G31 Towards and Away

This is conceptually a bit difficult to gleam, in terms of offset.

The minus sign (negative increments) is going away from the bed
The plus sign (positive increments) is going towards the bed

So a command G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-1 goes one millimeter away from the bed
Therefore a command G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z1 goes one millimeter into the bed.
The adjustments in the G31 command are not cumulative.

Progression

I am too close to the bed without an offset - so I need to offset away from the bed in the negative direction.

Iteration One

Home
G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-.55 ; so i started here and worked my way down to -.40
G32 ; now that we have a trial offset lets autohome
M500; now lock this test case
G0 Z0; now lets see if the offset is good or not

Iteration Two
Home ; Repeat the process, take it from the top
G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-.50 ; a little bit closer to the bed from Bed-.55
M500
G0 Z0

....

Final Iteration
G31 P500 X0 Y0 Z-.40 ; so i started here and worked my way down to -.40 with seven iterations
G32
M500
G0 Z0

Guess what; every time I did a G32 the calibration got better and better.

[Thor Art]

Great info! A lot to chew but super good stuff! Thanks !

[Thor Art]

Great info! A lot to chew but super good stuff! Thanks !