Banding Getting Worse...Poor Quality

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wisdomknight
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Re: Banding Getting Worse...Poor Quality

Post by wisdomknight » Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:21 pm

ednisley wrote:
CCRN wrote:how is it different from isopropyl alcohol?
Denatured alcohol is basically poisoned vodka: it has enough methanol (or other additives) to kill you, but not enough to affect ethanol's useful properties:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is straight-up poison, but a great solvent for common gunk-on-glass:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

Both come from big-box home supply stores in convenient metal cans...

I just tried 99% Isopropyl alcohol and it did not remove any PLA at all from my nozzle

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ednisley
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Re: Banding Getting Worse...Poor Quality

Post by ednisley » Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:24 am

wisdomknight wrote:I just tried 99% Isopropyl alcohol and it did not remove any PLA at all from my nozzle
That's because it's not a solvent for PLA, it's a solvent for gunk-on-glass. Insta recommended an alcohol bath as a thermal shock after torching a nozzle, but I think he's crazy. On the other paw, he runs such a weird variety of plastic that he's close enough to beinging a Perfect Master that he speaks the truth.

The only common solvent for PLA is methylene chloride, which is fairly nasty stuff. It's a (minor) component of (some) paint strippers; you must read the label to find out. Doesn't work rapidly, requires soaking, and should be done outdoors...

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wisdomknight
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Re: Banding Getting Worse...Poor Quality

Post by wisdomknight » Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:13 pm

thanks for clearing that up for me. much appreciated

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insta
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Re: Banding Getting Worse...Poor Quality

Post by insta » Fri Aug 26, 2016 12:36 am

I'm the printer equivalent of the guy on the motorcycle saying "just jam the throttle until the front wheel comes up, that's all there is to it". Great advice if you're trying to do a wheelie, but pretty stupid advice normally.

That said, I run a side business printing. I have a bag of about 20 nozzles. As a nozzle clogs, I swap it out immediately. When I get down to 5 left, I order 5 more, and blowtorch the whole pile clean. It takes about 15 minutes. I discard the worst 3-4 afterwards, slowly building up the pile of spares. The turnaround between orders is about 4-5 months -- nozzles last awhile.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

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