cosi wrote:Hi all,
I'm buying the printer because I intend to print a whole motorcycle engine. It's a prototype engine and I need/want to check fitment in the chassis it's intended for.
Do you guys have any suggestions when it comes to filament (ABS vs PLA), V3b vs V4, things to look out for. As I understand it PLA is more accurate as there is less shrinkage than ABS and that's my main priority. I am not too fussed about speed to print.
Is the LCD worth buying, what advantages are there? I don't fully understand if I need to have my laptop connected to the printer while it prints.
Why does one have a dual extruder vs single, is it about speed or colours? Not sure on this one. As you can tell I'm a complete noob when it comes to 3D printing. So go easy
That sounds like one heck of a project!
ABS warps and splits badly for larger parts that are not printed inside an enclosure to keep the temperature stable. If strength (and temperature) is not an issue, and you are just printing for fit, PLA is probably your best bet. It can be calibrated to hit fairly exact sizes. Speeds on PLA are very fast, relatively speaking. It's the easiest filament to print. (But it melts at the lowest temperature -
don't try to fit it into a hot engine.)
The dual extruder is mainly used to print dissolveable support, or it can be used for multiple colors or to print different filaments . (It's not faster, it's slower to use than a single.) With the ooze issues that it generates from the inactive nozzle, I think some of the guys have found that the benefits of having the dissolving support are not very much greater than just slicing the model into parts so that the support is not needed, and then gluing the parts together. But it does give you the ability to do some things that are impossible in one pass with a single nozzle. (If you're a complete noob, learn to use one extruder first. Two extruders create double the problems that have to be addressed.)
To increase your print speed, you can try one of the larger (0.5mm) nozzles for the V4. You won't get as fine a surface detail, but you'll be able to move some serious plastic. (You'll also want to pick up a complete spare hotend for the V4.) And IMO, it's worth the investment to get the Simplify 3D software to slice the model.
As far as the LCD goes - it's up to you. You don't have to keep the computer attached to the printer unless you are printing directly over a USB connection. Alternatively, you can save the G-code file onto an SD card and use that to print the file by plugging the SD card directly into the machine. That does not give you control over the print once it starts though - it just follows the G-code instructions on the card. But it's great for long prints that you don't want to babysit.
