printing with nylon

[cambo3d]

Not sure where to put this post but since i'll be using the rostock for this, I guess this would be a good choice?

but anyway, i'm about to start printing with nylon. I believe i have everything i need to get started, along with the manufacturers suggested settings and bonding surfaces listed here. http://taulman3d.com/618-specifications.html

but anyone have real world experiences to share? I hear it warps but is also difficult to remove from garolite le. That being said warping should be minimal, no ??

I ordered garolite le and some cast nylon sheet to try. Hopefully these manufacture recommendations don't steer me in the wrong direction.
I'll be doing some prints with it this weekend and hopefully i'll have some decent prints to show off.

[cambo3d]

nylon calibration cube printing..

garolite le was about the same thickness of my boro 1/8"

sticks so far, If this works out i'll machine it to match the diameter of the boro.

first impression so far: a lot of moisture in the filament, definitely warps, quarter of the way through this print and i'm already seeing signs of warping. Which is probably gonna get worse as the print progresses.

[Flateric]

I put my filament in the oven for a good 12 hours "warm" to get the moisture out and it made a huge difference. No more popping etc.

Quality of print was up dramatically.

[cambo3d]

I put my filament in the oven for a good 12 hours "warm" to get the moisture out and it made a huge difference. No more popping etc.

Quality of print was up dramatically.

will have to do that because the moisture is really bad and noticeable in the print.

[cambo3d]

seeing how it was turning out so far, decided to stop the print

preliminary findings:

Garolite le is working really good as the print surface. too good actually I couldn't remove the printed part without damaging it. bummer so manufacturer was right about this one.
warping didn't get worse after all, my guess is that it stuck too well to warp anymore. just minor warping at the edges.
Nylon seems to be moisture prone, will have to bake it for the next try. I'm guessing if I can get rid of most of the moisture in the nylon, it may help minimize warping also.
ED3 hot end is printing just fine with it, I had it up to 260 during some of the print, and the cold side was barely warm to the touch.
retraction for nylon needs to be increased to get rid of stringing.
Need to figure out to remove these stuck pieces of nylon now. Seems like it got welded it to the surface of the garolite. sanding might be my only option

[jetpad]

To combat the moisture in Nylon, I keep all my filament in a rubbermaid tub along with one of these http://amzn.com/B000H0XFCS until I'm ready to use them. There is still a little bit of occasional popping with the Nylon. But if I leave the Nylon on the printer for just a few hours, it has soaked up enough moisture to sound like rice crispies when it is printing.

[cambo3d]

To combat the moisture in Nylon, I keep all my filament in a rubbermaid tub along with one of these http://amzn.com/B000H0XFCS until I'm ready to use them. There is still a little bit of occasional popping with the Nylon. But if I leave the Nylon on the printer for just a few hours, it has soaked up enough moisture to sound like rice crispies when it is printing.

sounds like nylon absorbs moisture even worst than pla. Something that the manufacture didn't mention, unless I missed it somewhere.

Will have to get one of those devices. http://www.eva-dry.com/products/eva-dry ... umidifier/

so this is a bust till i get all the moisture out of my nylon. does it really need 12 hrs in the oven?

[cambo3d]

so i got to thinking on how to keep my filaments dry. I'm wondering if a food dehydrator would work.

might give it go and see how it works out. this may be a quicker way to have filament ready to go when i need to use it.

[kbob]

so i got to thinking on how to keep my filaments dry. I'm wondering if a food dehydrator would work.

i'm thinking it would, might give it go and see how it works out. this may be a quicker way to have filament ready to go when i need to use it.

How about a desiccant packet?

[barnett]

A few weeks ago, my local Staples office supply had plastic storage boxes like this on sale for $6 each. I bought two, one for filament and the other for misc printer junk. They had a "watertight" version that was smaller and more expensive, but I'm trying this for now. I've got a large desiccant pack in there.

I'm still printing ABS, but I have one roll of PLA (unwrapped) and one nylon in the box. My moisture problem doesn't seem to be worsening, but I'll have more info in a few weeks.

Before getting the box, I had a successful before/after experience baking ABS at 180F for about 2 hrs.

[kbob]

Have you guys looked at Bart Dring's Delta ORD Bot? It has a (not quite) airtight spool holder with the extruder mounted on the holder. Filament leaves the spool, goes into the Bowden tube, and has its first meeting with outside air just past the hot end.

http://www.buildlog.net/blog/2013/01/the-delta-ord-bot/

The guy's fabrication skills are insane.

[cambo3d]

looking around ebay i found this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sanplatec-Dry-K ... 4d01bc3af2 and some similiar items. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sanplatec-Dry-K ... 4170c912d2

quite pricey for a used one but cheaper than new. could fit all my filaments in there but I'm not sure if its suitable. specs from the manufacture say it will bring the moisture inside to 30% to 40% hmmm

[jetpad]

I just weighed the dehydrator that I have in my tub of filament and it has soaked up 26 grams of water in the last week.

[cambo3d]

I just weighed the dehydrator that I have in my tub of filament and it has soaked up 26 grams of water in the last week.

To combat the moisture in Nylon, I keep all my filament in a rubbermaid tub along with one of these http://amzn.com/B000H0XFCS until I'm ready to use them. There is still a little bit of occasional popping with the Nylon. But if I leave the Nylon on the printer for just a few hours, it has soaked up enough moisture to sound like rice crispies when it is printing.

how long does it take to dry again after putting it back into the tub? I'm looking for something that will work quick and keep it dry. not just for nylon, i'm thinking i will start doing this for all my filaments to help improve print quality.

[Flateric]

It does help improve quality for all of your filaments. Dryer the better.

I went to walmart and bought a bunch of airtight containers made for cakes. They are large enough for one 5 lbs spool and then some. Cost me $8 cdn.

[jetpad]

I just weighed the dehydrator that I have in my tub of filament and it has soaked up 26 grams of water in the last week.

To combat the moisture in Nylon, I keep all my filament in a rubbermaid tub along with one of these http://amzn.com/B000H0XFCS until I'm ready to use them. There is still a little bit of occasional popping with the Nylon. But if I leave the Nylon on the printer for just a few hours, it has soaked up enough moisture to sound like rice crispies when it is printing.

how long does it take to dry again after putting it back into the tub? I'm looking for something that will work quick and keep it dry. not just for nylon, i'm thinking i will start doing this for all my filaments to help improve print quality.

I run it over night and it'll be dried out by the next morning. If that is too long, I guess you could get two and just swap them out.

[cambo3d]

my temporary super hitech nylon drying centrifuge. ok not really but sounds kool =P
Its drying in my clothes dryer at the moment.

[Flateric]

How hot do dryers get inside? I myself don't have a clue.

My GF will hate this idea without the slightest doubt.

[cambo3d]

How hot do dryers get inside? I myself don't have a clue.

My GF will hate this idea without the slightest doubt.

good question, im not sure myself but i'll check with my thermocouple meter.
edit: just checked it with my thermocouple meter and it reads between 65c (159F) and 97c (206f) , on medium heat.

not sure how long I need to leave it in there or what temp it should be, but its been in for 1.5hrs. another 30 minutes i'll take it out for a go in the printer.

[Eaglezsoar]

How do you keep the spool from tumbling?

[cambo3d]

How do you keep the spool from tumbling?

my dryer has a shoe drying rack, i just put it on that,

[Eaglezsoar]

How do you keep the spool from tumbling?

my dryer has a shoe drying rack, i just put it on that,

Now that is a neat idea, I'll have to find one to fit my dryer. I didn't know such a thing existed.

[cambo3d]

i think most of the newer dryers come with this.

on another note:

I've been experimenting with temperatures. 235c for nylon seems to give the best print quality so far.
I've tried 247c - 260c and the print just doesn't come out right. It leaves roughness in the layers. At 235c this roughness seemed to go away and smooth out. I was under the impression that nylon required a higher temperature to print..hmmmm

Drying the filament in the dryer helped to almost eliminate the moisture in my nylon. There's still some noticeable steam and popping occasionally but not constant like before. Maybe leaving it in the dryer for a little longer might remove all.... just started a new print with the new settings. Looking good so far.....

[foshon]

Sam,

Is that an illusion caused by the picture or does the left side of the 235 degree portion have half as many layers as the right? It looks like it lost dimensional integrity as well, unless the lower portion is out of spec.

[cambo3d]

Sam,

Is that an illusion caused by the picture or does the left side of the 235 degree portion have half as many layers as the right? It looks like it lost dimensional integrity as well, unless the lower portion is out of spec.

that's the start of the extrusion that needed to be tweaked also. i have it set to extrude slightly more after retractions.