Edge Curling

[TFMike]

I am currently using the Orion to print ABS onto the boro plate, yesterday I tried a print at 90° C bed temp, had edge curl, even with hairspray. Had a long convo with John today and decided to try again, this time with 70° C bed temp and the aquanet super hold, still got edge curl. What am I doing wrong? I think it could be due to the bed plate not being exactly level but I am open to suggestions, I did the tower calibration and the screw on the carriage trick. The machine took some nasty bumps from UPS, even bending one of the original metal carriage screws so I think it is entirely plausible that the bed plate is no longer level but I have no idea how to fix it.

Geneb in another thread informed me that it was highly unlikely unless something got up under the support plate for the heated bed, would this mean I would have to take the machine apart in order to look at it? Pictures provided upon request and any help is muc happreciated. Thanks

[ludodeceuster]

Hi,

What is your extruder temp.?
I experienced the temp is very important.
Mine are 255°C for extruder and 80°C for bed and results are really perfect (at last...oef!)

Regards,
ludo

[geneb]

At 255C on the extruder, you're going to be replacing the hot end soon. MAXIMUM temperature for the stock hot end is 240C. The PEEK section of the hot end will fail at higher temperatures.

ABS can be a royal pain in the ass to print with due to shrinkage. What happens is that the part shrinks asymetrically(sp) and causes curling - some times so extreme that the part pops free of the bed during the print.

Have you tried adding a brim to the part you're printing? That would give additional surface area for the part to grip the bed and may help curling. Also, keep the machine out of any drafts - that will cause all kinds of problems with ABS prints.

I just took a look at my Orion and the wiring for the heated bed can't interfere with the mounting of the bed. Take a peek under there and see if maybe some bit of debris got stuck under there during manufacture. (It's possible, but I doubt it)

If you continue to have issues, I'd be happy to work with you via Google Hangout or Skype this evening.

g.

[TFMike]

Extruder temp is the default that the orion quick start guide detailed (thx geneb), so I think like anywhere from 210-220 for the ABS, depending on layer. I actually printed up someparts last night, went to bed when they were 30% complete, lookin decent, wake up and it all went to hell. A mass of spaghetti on end of the bed plate and an offset part on the other, no idea how this even happened but here is a pic of the offset part:

also I had to use supports, no idea on what settings to input so I just guessed, perhaps that has something to do with it? Furthermore even with the heated glass bed AND the super hold aqua net my parts started to curl, I'm going to close the vent in my office tonight and see what that leads to. Also, because I did not want to give up on the prints that I had wanted for so long, once they started curling at the edge I furiously applied superglue gel to them, this held until the spaghetti plastic and offset parts started printing, at which point i shut it down. All help is appreciated as usual....

[Batteau62]

If you are printing ABS, I would not even try a part without a brim, a raft or "mickey mouse ears". Especially if said part is a lot of mass. My rule of thumb is to add one of the afore mentioned in at least the same area as the bottom of the part. I've also lately been running a small ceramic heater blowing at the level of the Onyx. It doesn't create a lot of draft and keeps the print area hot. My temps seem to stay more constant now. 230C and 80C respectively. I have a max, but I think it all applies.

[Jimustanguitar]

255 is too hi. I've always printed ABS, and you will fight lifting and curling from time to time, but it's never plagued me.

I had the gen1 SeeMe hot-end and got a lot of pops and snaps from overheating the filament at 230. I did some test prints where I'd manually move the temp down 5 degrees at a time and found out that my layers will stick to each other until I get down around 185. Since then I've installed the hotends.com JHead and just kept my temperatures from before. I'll have to run the test again since the new hotend undoubtedly has a different melt chamber. SeeMe has updated this aspect of their own design too (plus the new nozzle is great).

Since I don't have a layer fan, I usually keep things moving slowly and have had good luck printing between 200 and 210. When I get things in gear and add a layer fan, I'll probably be able to crank up the speed and will raise the temp as a result.

I've always used aquanet, but I've heard good things about ABS juice (abs scraps + acetone) and I've also seen greta results from GlueStick. Blue tape and kapton tape works too. You might give some of the other "sticking agents" a try after you've tweaked your temps a little.