Transparent ABS T-Rex skull

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:40 pm

So I was inspired by Mike B to print the T-Rex skull when I saw his avatar. I was blown away when this print finished. This may be my cleanest print yet.

So, how many of you think I should attempt a cold acetone vapor finish following McSlappy's youtube tutorial here?

Or should I just leave it the way it is since it has that cool Crystal Skull look to it?

astroboy907 · Post by **astroboy907** » Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:22 pm

I'm liking the crystal skull look ATM

Makes it look a bit like bone/fossil.

critical_limit · Post by **critical_limit** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:12 am

Do you have pics from the print?

Orientation? Supportstructure?

looks great!

barry99705 · Post by **barry99705** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:09 am

Vapor finish might make it clearer. Would cut down on the ridges on the outside and inside of the print.

Delta Zee Solutions · Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:02 pm

Go Clear on the next one !!!

BTW, what settings did you use to print this one?

Can you cut/paste the settings from the g-code?

Thanks,
Mark

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:06 am

Hey guys! My bed was set to 90C and the hotend to 225C and the files were sliced using Cura and these settings

JasonCura.ini: Cura settings for ABS prints; (10.61 KiB) Downloaded 429 times

I printed it exactly as the stl loads from the Makerbot Academy model on thingiverse here

But here's my Gcode for the top and bottom of the skull, and here's the pic of the finished skull that came off the bed last night!

T-RexSkull_Skull.gcode: Top portion printed first; (25.01 MiB) Downloaded 490 times

T-RexSkull_Jaw.gcode: Lower portion printed second; (11.74 MiB) Downloaded 329 times

I didn't print any supports for either of the two pieces, I just made sure my printer was calibrated nice and low to my bed, sprayed the glass with "Aussie Mega Hair Spray", and away the prints went!

: This is how I printed the upper skull, no supports :)

: This is the way I printed the lower, also no supports. I did slow the speed down to about 69% near the area that the jaws were beginning to connect. The ABS was wanting to warp.

: And here's the finished skull!! @_@ look at it

One crucial factor, or at least I believe it to be, is the shower curtain enclosure I made. It keeps the chamber just warm enough that it keeps warping from happening on my longer ABS prints, so I can print nice and slow to get the quality needed in this skull.

astroboy907 · Post by **astroboy907** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:32 am

Have you noticed a change in accuracy (either way) with the addition of dampers, or has it pretty much stayed the same?

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:34 am

That's the sweetest part! I printed the upper without dampers, the lower with dampers, and I can't tell a difference in quality at all!

Dampers seem to have no effect on my print quality other than the sound that the motors make. It keeps the motor whine from echoing and vibrating through the entire machine.

McSlappy · Post by **McSlappy** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:48 am

Do it, vapor finish that bad boy!

Clear ABS tends to look pretty awesome, it kind of makes the internals more visible, so that's either a plus or a negative, but I think it looked cool

Post by **Eaglezsoar** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:10 am

I know you printed the upper skull in the position shown in the picture but it sure looks like it would fall over.
Any tips on how to keep it from falling? I use hairspray but the base attached to the glass looks so small.

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:52 pm

Yeah, Eagle, I have no real clue as to how it managed NOT to fall over, but apparently the guys and gals at the Makerbot Academy designed it specifically with this print orientation in mind.

I would say try calibrating your nozzle height just a smidgen lower than usual to get a nice solid stick on the first layer with the hairspray on the bed.

Post by **Eaglezsoar** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:28 pm

lightninjay wrote:Yeah, Eagle, I have no real clue as to how it managed NOT to fall over, but apparently the guys and gals at the Makerbot Academy designed it specifically with this print orientation in mind.

I would say try calibrating your nozzle height just a smidgen lower than usual to get a nice solid stick on the first layer with the hairspray on the bed.

Thanks, all I can do is try it after a short prayer.

Delta Zee Solutions · Post by **Delta Zee Solutions** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:34 pm

Thanks for posting the G-Code lightninjay!

I'm installing the new E3D hot end as well as tossing my 50 cent trash bag curtain in favor of super clear vinyl table cover... $4.00 from the fabric store (probably the same stuff as the shower curtain). I agree that an enclosure does help with warping and more even cooling rates.

I'll try the skull right after a test print.

Mark

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:42 pm

No problem guys! If it doesn't work the first time, I'd recommend slowing the print down. The top of the skull was a 12 hour print and the lower jaw was 7 hours.

craftymethod · Post by **craftymethod** » Sun Aug 24, 2014 2:59 pm

Ahh.. a fellow Australian! West or East coast?

The Hair spray im using is "GARNIER FRUCTUS - ULTRA STRONG".

It does hold better than stick glue but I have had some supports knocked over and messed up. Only just build my rostock last week and working myself up to a stage I can print anything with supports just yet.

How thick do you lay the spray on? This stuff says fast drying and I give it a couple decent layers of the stuff.

oh.. how high is your first layer?

This is my latest build... No peek fan and the support for the tail failed so I think my print is a little warm, gets a bit flexxy and furry and pla seems to push up against the nozzle a bit... but here is a little horse I printed!

http://imgur.com/AXyhg6j

.25 nozzle

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sun Aug 24, 2014 3:08 pm

The spray I use is just coincidentally called Aussie, lol, here's a link to it. http://media.aussie.com/en_US/products/ ... rspray.png

I normally spray left to right and right to left in horizontal strokes across the area I need to print on. one or two passes with about half-second bursts on the spray nozzle gives me a decent coat of spray on my bed to work with.

I used the stock .5 mm nozzle that ships with the SeeMeCNC hotend, with a .35 first layer height.

predawnsky · Post by **predawnsky** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:15 pm

awesome print Im going to try my hand a printing with clear pla soon hope it looks as good as yours

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:45 am

predawnsky wrote:awesome print Im going to try my hand a printing with clear pla soon hope it looks as good as yours

The real trick is make sure you've followed all of Geneb's instructions in the manual to a "T" in order to ensure your machine is tightly calibrated and well-maintained.

It also helps to follow the tips of the guys and gals on this forum that have experience with certain filament types and colors. Give it a shot with one set of bed and nozzle temps and if it doesn't come out quite right, figure out if the temps should be raised or lowered and retry!

predawnsky · Post by **predawnsky** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 7:43 pm

heres my made out of clear pla

lightninjay · Post by **lightninjay** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:37 pm

That's one sweet looking print! Saber-toothed tiger? I like the shiny look to it

Post by **Eaglezsoar** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:53 am

Awesome print of the clear PLA skull!
Great Job.

predawnsky · Post by **predawnsky** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:16 pm

lightninjay wrote:That's one sweet looking print! Saber-toothed tiger? I like the shiny look to it

thanks, yeah its a saber tooth tiger

predawnsky · Post by **predawnsky** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:17 pm

Eaglezsoar wrote:Awesome print of the clear PLA skull!
Great Job.

thanks

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Transparent ABS T-Rex skull

Acetone Finish, or leave as is?

Transparent ABS T-Rex skull

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