How do I stop my filament from curling? (2023)

FAQs

Why is my filament curling Ender 3? ›

The more common instance of this issue is a partially-clogged nozzle. The easiest way to catch this is to extrude some filament and see if it comes out straight or curled. Curling indicates a partially blocked nozzle, usually caused by foreign particles in the filament that cannot be melted and get stuck in the nozzle.

If your filament is curling right out of your nozzle, it's indicative of a clog. Normally, I'll just heat it up to around 250 and just keep feeding filament through until it clears. Some hardened nozzles are pretty cheap though and I totally suggest getting some.

Experiment with the type of infill pattern: honeycomb, grid, rectangle, etc. On my printers I find that a honeycomb infill often leads 80% of the time to warp prints where as rectangular I don't get warping. Hollow out a design. Again related to infill and is beneficial for really large prints.

3D print warping happens when extruded filament layers on the 3D printer build plate cool too quickly and shrink. This causes the plastic material to contract and pull away from the build plate, resulting in warping (or curling, as it is sometimes known).

In general, the best PLA bed temperature is around 50 °C, while the best PLA print temperature is around 210 °C. As we have seen, however, different factors can affect the optimal temperature range, which makes testing imperative when printing PLA for the first time.

As for various materials, PLA undergoes quite significant dimensional changes even at 70 °C (158 °F). Higher temperatures caused warping and at 170 °C (338 °F) the object completely collapsed (melted). For PETG, the suitable temperature is about 90-110 °C (194-230 °F).

PLA prints best at around 210 °C, but it's very versatile and can work well anywhere from 180 to 230 °C. It doesn't require a heated bed, but if your printer does have one, set it to somewhere between 20 and 60 °C.

Adjust the Eccentric Nuts

The eccentric nuts should be tight enough so that you can't rotate or tilt the bed but not so tight that it inhibits motion. The easiest way to do this is by loosening all the nuts and then tightening them again until the bed is firm. The X carriage should also be adjusted this way.

If you're printing too hot (with any filament, not just PLA) you're going to see stringing and blobs/oozing because the material is getting runny and exiting the nozzle in an uncontrolled manner. Because it's uncontrolled, you will also likely see artifacts showing up in your prints.

If the filament is wet, you will be able to see bubbles forming in the extruded material. Alongside this, one should be able to hear a hissing sound. If the filament has a lot of moisture, one might be able to see steam exit the nozzle. Hygroscopic filaments that have been exposed to a lot of moisture tend to swell up.

How do you know if a nozzle is too close? ›

Nozzle is too close.

If your nozzle is too close to the bed, it will plow through the filament, causing a rough, uneven surface. You could have thin patches where the plastic is being pushed into the bed surface.

A tried-and-true technique is to have around a . 1mm gap between the nozzle and the bed to get the ever-so-perfect first layer. This is typically achieved by using a piece of regular 8x11 printer paper or a . 1mm feeler gage in between a heated nozzle and the bed.

Paper curl is caused by an excess amount of moisture in the paper. The first step to ensure less paper curl is to store your paper in a cool, dry area. By doing so, you will reduce the amount of moisture and humidity the paper is exposed to. The next step is to always fan the paper before placing in the machine.

Increasing the temperature above the filament's T_G leads to a reduction of the surface tension between the printing bed and the printing material and to a larger contact area that ultimately causes better adhesion between the bed and the filament.

Q: Are PLA products microwave and freezer safe? The PLA clear products are heat resistant to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. So, PLA products are good for cold products. PLA is freezer safe , but PLA is not microwave safe.

If they're not sticking well, you may want to increase the temperature up a little. A warmer bed helps to soften the plastic, allowing it to stick. Just be careful not to heat up your bed too much, otherwise your prints might end up with elephant's foot (as seen in the photo).

On average, 200°C is an excellent place to start printing PLA, but some brands and even colors may need you to adjust this hotter or cooler, depending on their individual makeup.

There is a type of PLA whose formulation makes it soluble in isopropyl alcohol, a much less dangerous product than acetone or methylene chloride. This is why this material, of the Polymaker brand, has become quite popular among those who want to smooth their parts without getting too complicated.

Drop the filament into the boiling water and let it heat up for at least 10 seconds. Take it out using a spoon. The consistency will be like a cooked noodle. Quickly wrap the filament around your object.

Can you smooth PLA with a hair dryer? ›

And while it might seem like a hairdryer would be a good alternative to a heat gun, a hair dryer isn't designed to be hot enough to melt plastic. Most models don't even reach PLA's glass transition temperature of 60 °C, so you'll be waiting a long time to see any change!

Store in a dry environment (less than 50° relative humidity)

PLA and ABS filaments

The aforementioned materials PLA or ABS are perfectly suitable for indoor use. These materials are less suitable for outdoor use because PLA deforms when exposed to heat like the sun. ABS on the other hand withstands the heat, but yellows when exposed to the sun's UV rays over time.

1. PET-G. A great heat resistant filament is PET-G (polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified). This 3D printing material is great for beginners because it's just as easy to print as PLA, but more technically resistant to different stressors such as heat, water, and corrosive chemicals.

In general, PLA prints at around 60 millimeters per second on most 3D printers. Naturally, there is a lot of experimentation to change this, but as of early 2019, most materials need a speed ranging from 40 millimeters per second on the low end to 100 millimeters per second at the high end.

The Ideal Speed

When searching for the best printing speed for PLA, you probably find 40-60 mm/s as the typical guidance given.

Materials like ABS and PLA will do well with a speed of 40 to 60 mm/s and a retraction distance of 0.5 to 1.0 mm on direct drive extruders. On the other hand, extruders on Bowden setups will generally require a speed of 30 to 50 mm/s, with a retraction distance of around 2.0 mm.

An accurate print requires the accurate flow of plastic from the extruder. This is controlled by the number of motor steps it takes to move 1mm of filament through the extruder. The default value for the Ender 3 is 93, (or 744 if you've chosen x128 microsteps as mentioned in the config guide).

The standard Ender 3 nozzle has a 0.4 mm nozzle diameter, which is the most common size and which is suitable for a range of prints. Small diameters create thinner lines of filament (better resolution) at the expense of printing speed, while large diameters can push out more filament at a time at the expense of detail.

Retraction speed

Faster retraction speeds can help prevent oozing and stringing while also reducing overall print times, but excessive speed can lead to other issues such as filament grinding. As with other FDM printers, the safest Ender 3 retraction speed is in the range of 30–50 mm/s.

How do you smooth out a filament? ›

There are a few ways to smooth out a 3D printed figure. One is to use sandpaper to lightly sand down the rough edges. Another is to use a heat gun to slightly melt the edges and give them a smoother appearance. You can also use chemicals like acetone or XTC-3D to smooth out the surface of the print.

To adjust the extrusion tension, you will need to first loosen the idler screw and load the filament so it doesn't move forward on its own. Then, you will begin tightening the screw until your filament has been gripped just enough by the extruder to push through. Trial and error will bring the best results.

To get the best print quality, keep the humidity level where you store your filament and where you print below 45 % relative humidity (RH). At levels above 55-60 %, you will see problems. The higher the humidity gets, the lower your chances of getting a successful print.

As a general starting point, PLA tends to adhere well to a bed that is heated to 60-70C, while ABS generally works better if the bed is heated to 100-120C.

Is PLA toxic? In solid form, no. In fact, Polylactic Acid (PLA) is biodegradable. It is often used in food handling and medical implants that biodegrade within the body over time.

The drying process is similar to baking your favorite thanksgiving turkey. Just place your filament spool inside an oven and set it at the right temperature: 104 to 113°F (40 – 45 °C) for PLA. 176°F (80°C) for ABS.

Air conditioner or dryer

Using an air conditioner or dehumidifier to dry a filament can also be quite expensive, as it cannot dry the filament below 40% RH. It is also ineffective when the ambient temperature is low.

Keeping your filament dry is an important step in the 3D printing process. While it is common to store filament in a dry environment, moisture buildup can occur due to the properties of the filament being used.

One of the most common causes of filament curling around the nozzle tip is a partial blockage within the nozzle. Over time, filament residue can build up within the nozzle, especially if certain types of filament weren't extruded properly, resulting in overly thin strands of filament being deposited.

As a general rule, the maximum layer height values should not exceed 80% of the nozzle diameter. For example, a 0.4-mm nozzle has a recommended maximum layer height of 0.32 mm. It goes without saying that larger nozzles will extrude more material through thicker layer heights and widths.

What should my nozzle height be? ›

Layer height should not exceed 80 % of the nozzle diameter.

If you are using the standard 0.4mm nozzle, the maximal layer height is about 0.32 mm. However, with a 0.6mm nozzle, it's possible to achieve up to a 0.48 mm layer height.

This can happen if foreign debris is trapped inside the nozzle, when hot plastic sits inside the extruder too long, or if the thermal cooling for the extruder is not sufficient and the filament begins to soften outside of the desired melt zone.

Here are some recommended PLA print temperature settings from a selection of material manufacturers: MatterHackers Build Series PLA: 205±15 °C. Fillamentum Extrafill PLA: 220±10 °C. Ultimaker PLA: 200–210 °C.

PLA prints at a relatively low temperature, typically printing between 190°C - 220°C. The optimal printing temperature of a PLA filament will vary depending on which printer you are using and more importantly will vary between filament brands.

The perfect first layer

The Z-offset refers to the distance the X-axis is offset in the Z direction from the zero point (the washers used in the Auto levelling process). This means that an offset of -1.5 is as close to the bed as you can print, leaving little to no space for actually printing your first layer.

These results agree with the literature that show that the tensile stiffness of PLA can be higher than its compressive stiffness, and the tensile yield strength of PLA is lower than its compressive yield strength [41] . ...

PLA parts, meanwhile, will begin to soften at around 60 °C so are only useful at low temperatures.

Just place your filament spool inside an oven and set it at the right temperature: 104 to 113°F (40 – 45 °C) for PLA. 176°F (80°C) for ABS.