3D Printing Settings for Various Materials

G-Code Scripts:

Prime Hot End & Wipe:

This script primes the hotend by feeding a little filament through at the edge of the bed, and then wipes off the nozzle by pulling away from the blog it made and criss-crossing the edge of the bed. This swipes any clinging goop off of the tip of the nozzle and primes the filament so you get filament extruding from the very beginning of print.

This Code is for Printrbot simple metal (which has a real problem with this). To adapt to another printer, you may need to adjust X and Y values to direct the nozzle to the edge of the bed where you like to wipe.

G28 ; home all axes

G29 ; probe Z

G1 Z3.0 F9000 ;move the head 3mm up for CYA clearance

G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length

G1 Y0 F4000 ; move half way along the front edge

G1 E15 F300 ; Extrude 15mm slowly

G92 E0 ; zero the extruded length again

G1 E-2 F400 ; retract

G1 X190 Z0 F9000 ; pull away filament

G1 Y20 F9000 ; wipe the filament by sweeping the head quickly

G1 X210 F9000 ; wipe " "

G1 E0 ; feed filament back

G1 Y50 F4000 ; move back into more printable Y axis territory

G92 E0; zero extruder

G1 Z1; Cool, now we're at Z 1 and we can print!

PLA

Lorin Parker's basic print settings (will vary with print and material). These are my starting points. Many more variables come into play, and these will require adjustment as needed. However, this works with most stuff.

Ultimaker2:

Surface: Just glass or glass with very light swipes of Elmer's disappearing purple gluestick (awesome). Thin / spread with a little water (damp towel) and it'll dry in a nice coat when bed heats.

Extruder Temp: 210C (205C if moving slowly)

Bed Temp: 60C

Retraction: 1mm per 0.1 mm of nozzle diameter. (ie 0.4mm nozzle = 4mm retraction)

Layer height: 0.1 to 2.5 (0.4mm nozzle)

First layer height: 140% (if using thick layer heights %125) -- this evens out inconsitencies of bed surface, height.

Cooling: 1st layer, no fan. 2nd layer through end, 100% fan.

Speed: 60mm/sec, 65%-75% underspeed on outside layers & solid fill. (beginners might want to start at 40mm/sec and ramp up).

Non Print Movement Speed: 100mm/sec

Printrbot Simple Metal:

Surface: Blue tape and purple elmer's stick.

Extruder Temp: 205C

Bed Temp: 0C

Retraction: 1mm per 0.1 mm of nozzle diameter. (ie 0.4mm nozzle = 4mm retraction)

Layer height: 0.1 to 2.5 (0.4mm nozzle)

First layer height: 140% (if using thick layer heights %125) -- this evens out inconsitencies of bed surface, height.

Cooling: 1st layer, no fan. 2nd layer through end, 100% fan.

Speed: 50mm/sec, 65%-75% underspeed on outside layers & solid fill. (beginners might want to start at 40mm/sec and ramp up).

Non Print Movement Speed: 80mm/sec

PETG

PetG filament is very strong, stiff, and slightly flexible. It is finicky and tricky to print with -- the settings must be precise. Once you get it dialed in, it's terrific. Lorin prefer's it to ABS in almost all cases when PLA is not suited. PETG or PETT (also colorfabb XT) prints a bit like PLA, but HOT. The secret is to lay it down quickly and cool it off quickly (use 30%-50% fan in most cases). Retraction should be as fast as possible to prevent stringing. Non-print moves should be fast as possible for same reason. PET plastics can vary in temps from 120C to 160C, it depends on the filament formula. You can print PET with an unheated bed, but it's trickier. Also, beware, this stuff STICKS. If adhesion is good it's often really really hard to get off the bed -- put the bed in the freezer for 30 minutes and then use a razor to seperate. Do not force PET off a bed, adhesion can be so strong that it will crack bed or even lift chunks of glass with it! Use the freezer trick, or turn an air-duster can upside down and spray with the freezing liquid at base of object (after slow cooling -- do not do this to warm glass).

Warning: PET hates mixing with PLA. If there is any PLA in the nozzle, the PET will not stick, might crystalize, and will just suck. Try flushing a little ABS, Nylon, HIPS filament between PLA and PET prints. Get the PLA out first. This factor ruins a lot of peoples' prints needlessly.

Ultimaker2

Filament: Taulman Tech-G -- tends to print hotter than others. Not glass clear. Designed for strength. FDA approved.

Surface: Glass with elmer's purple stick & a bit of water.

Extruder temp: First layer, 245. 3rd Layer - end: 238 (sometimes less).

Bed temp: 45-50

Retraction: 0.5mm per 0.1 mm of nozzle diameter. (ie 0.4mm nozzle = 2mm retraction)

Retraction Speed: 60mm/s (fast as is reasonable with a printer to prevent stringing)

Wipe and Coast: Coast - 0.2, Wipe - 5mm during retraction

Layer height: 0.1 to 0.2 (0.4mm nozzle)

First layer height: 140% (if using thick layer heights %125) -- this evens out inconsitencies of bed surface, height. PetG is pretty sticky and tolerant of thick layers.

Cooling: 1st layer, no fan. 2nd layer through end, 30% to 50% fan. Watch out that cooling fan doesn't affect hot end temp...

Speed: Reduce speed for layers shorter than 20-25 seconds. 50mm/sec, 75% underspeed on outside layers & solid fill. (beginners might want to start at 30mm/sec and ramp up). Consistent speeds help.

Brindging: Be conservative, bump up the fan, slow down. Per your judgement. Does not bridge as well as PLA, but almost if going SLOW with fan.

Non Print Movement Speed: 200mm/sec (this UM2 speed, just go fast as machine is capable to prevent stringing).

Watch out for: If filament gets cloudy, bubbly, then it is printing too hot and / or too fast. Lower temp. Overheating PETG does not affect bonding or strength, but it does make it ugly and stringy. Slow down as needed.

Hatchbox, Atomic PETG (most machines):

Extruder Temp: 245

Retraction: Bowden Printers - nozzle diameter X 5 FAST Direct Drive: nozzle diameter X 3 FAST

Fan: 60% after layer 3. I generally step it up in increments to prevent affecting extrude temp

See above for add'l ideas.