Printable View
So I have access to a 3d printer and I am soon getting of my own ....the printer is the MB replicator 2x.The only thing is that its not very constant and messes up a lot(using recommended settings), so I was wondering if anyone can guide me in the right direction for things such as best build plate temp,the right extruder temp,the right quality,speed of extruder,the best filament,and raft or no raft.Also just basic tricks or tips to improve the printer!
I run a highly upgraded Rep 2. I can use ABS but I have had a lot of headache and actually prefer the properties of PLA for most things.
I would say the key is to stay away from Makerware, I can't get that program to give me anything useful since i got the bot back when it first came out. What I have been using is ReplicatorG with Sailfish, and it is very daunting at first, frustratingly limited in some ways, but very powerful in giving you clean prints. WHPThomas or some similar name, on the Makerbot google group, and on Thingiverse, has tons of info and tips and downloads that have been massive lifesavers, things that were otherwise driving me mad. Make sure to look at what that guy has, because he's a real pioneer and has much more useful info than the company itself.
The other things I'd look into are upgrading the stock extruders with metal ones if yours has the polymer ones, they are essentially junk. Find someone making an aluminum extruder and don't look back. I also did a few other small upgrades that are mostly pertinent to the 2 and the 2X already covers, like heated bed, stronger power supply, and a proper enclosure, but even something simple like using a metal extruder has given me prints that are plainly better quality over what was before. If I could put another few hundred into this thing I'd replace the Z-arms with aluminum ones, as well as the X-axis gantry and Y-axis mounts; essentially replacing almost all of the moving injection molded parts with aluminum ones to really stiffen the structure to tighten variance between layers. But, as is, it still makes really nice stuff.
For ABS I hover around 110' on the build plate using a glass plate with a thin ABS/Acetone slurry. Sometimes I use blue tape below the slurry to help with cleanup but not always the best. Otherwise parts just diddn't stick in ABS... if you're having that make the slurry and that'll stick anything you want to print to the bed like glue. After a print I would have to take the glass plate off my heater platform and put it in the freezer before using a new OLFA blade to scrape the parts off the glass, that's how well they were stuck down.
For PLA I use 70' on top of blue painter's tape on the same glass plates, and that works really well so long as everything is level. It can be picky still at times down by the .1mm resolution for the first layers, as the leveling and spacing from the nozzle head is so critical there. I have a dial gauge indicator, I need to make a mount for it for more accurate leveling.
If you aren't already, get the bot running the latest Sailfish and use Replicator G. That may take you 90% of the way towards quality prints. If you're seeing improvement but it's not enough, or if you're getting a lot of failures due to plastic feed, a new extruder is definitely worth the upgrade from the older models (the latest 2X might have a good extruder by now.)