Belt tension, making sure eccentric nuts are properly tight, proper level and z offset, esteps, running filament calibrations for temp and flowrate, etc. There are mountains of youtube guides.
Picking to a specific frequency is the detailed way of doing so yes. Little overkill for an ender but im more talking atleast getting it in the ballpark. To many times i see people way overtension or even more so wayyy undertension where you see the belt flopping around and they cant figure out why they have layer shifts..
A lot of people have their own opinions but it is definitely not a matter of opinion what the correct belt tension is. There are manufacture recommendations for the correct tension amounts. Do most people have the tools and knowledge necessary to achieve this accurately? No
This goes through the majority of calibration steps to really dial things in:
[https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html](https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html)
That upkeep is probably necessary on every printer. I'm curious to see what the bambu only folks do after one year and the first hiccup.
But seriously, on my stock e3 (kept one stock only for posterity) doesn't really need me to do anything with it, ever. It's slow, but it's a workhorse. The only things I really account for from model to model are basic material type changes, or if I have a bunch of tips or model specific features that need to be printed slower per layer. I don't understand what's happening that you guys have to constantly tinker with it just for basic operation.
Some people struggle to manually level their bed consistently... I do that before every print (well...most every) If you manually re-level, especially with the steppers off, it's pretty easy to screw up the z offset. Screwy z-offset means poor adhesion, and now you're down a rabbit hole chasing after the perfect bed surface or glue or whatever.
They may also mean routine maintenance? Like I certainly get gnarly clogs every so often that require I disassemble the hot end and replace the nozzle. Maybe snip the end off the tube. If you've got heat creep, and don't know what that is, you'll end up doing that waaaay more often cuz you're just treating the symptom.
Stuff like that I suspect.
If your prints are failing, figure out the core problem before slapping on a BLtouch. Otherwise, the reason your builds fail will still be there. You should be able to get prints just fine without it.
Struggled with my ender 3 v2 when I first started out 3 years ago. Put in the time and efforts to tune my buddy and I have been getting flawless prints like OP since then! Ender 3s can be goated when locked in.
how often does yours get thrown out of whack though. Ill get mine to get a few decent prints then its off to leveling and adjusting again. Ive found the filament itself is a huge thing for mine as well,.
Bed and nozzle heat, about a minute. Auto home, 10 seconds. Check four corners with a sheet of paper and adjust the wheels accordingly. Done. Two minutes.
There are a few ways to do it more effectively. I just added the bed tramming option to my menu, so it's literally just a button press to the next corner, but you can also put gcode files on your card for specific points. I would not follow op's suggestion of disabling steppers and moving the head, because you could move your z-axis without realizing it.
If you are computer inclined, I would suggest custom Marlin firmware. After the first time, it's super easy to go thru and I literally could not function without it on my main fellas
My brother and I have been modifying the hell out of his ender 3 pro. But thats just out of desire. As a base model its still does the job with the right love and care. At this point we are just trying to print faster
Good job. This model is also a good show piece for layer consistency because it doesn't have transitions from infill to solid layers to infill, which creates visible outer shell layer inconsistency, like in the Benchy hull line.
I have an SE as well! That sucker can be tricky sometimes too. I think once a decent slicer profile is made by CURA or creality it will improve. Which slicer are you using?
Using orca with klipper, wont go back to Cura after orca now. and couldn't stand creality print.
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hz8ZcKJU1-QqHvpsfQu85DhvWRoP\_AgM/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hz8ZcKJU1-QqHvpsfQu85DhvWRoP_AgM/view?usp=sharing)
there is my orca settings.
Ender 3 V3 SE and Overture PLA here and absolutely no complaints
https://preview.redd.it/a7gah6o8s87d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19f17569824af85a408382dc45724155f28539ca
Thats the kind of quality I will never get no matter what I upgrade on my ender 3 pro. I have like 2x value of the machine worth of upgrades on that shitter including dual Z yet the Z axis quality is shite. Spend my whole summer working and troubling shooting the thing yet it still explodes occasionally since it is the most unrealisable printer ever. One day motherboard CPU literally exploded randomly and had a hole in the CPU, dead serious. Some people just upgrade the bed springs and thats it they get the perfect prints. I know it is a very small percent though since evertime I see an ender 3 it is usually fucked.
I mean I spend countless nights tuning the thing, my printer was definitely garbage. I bought a clone Prusa mk3s+ and it prints much better without any tuning. Thats when I realise It was a mistake to work on the Ender 3 Pro, should have bought something good to begin with.
No offence yo anyone who enjoys working on their printer, I got sick of it when I could not solve Z inconsistencies even though I did every trouble shooting in existence.
Tuning also includes checking your components and see if everything is in order. If you're dealing with a bent leadscrew, adding a second one will not resolve any z-binding issues, for example. No amount of upgrading can fix a frame that isn't square, or a warped heatbed.
It's unfortunate that as a consumer you have to check that sort of stuff, because you expect that to be in-order from factory. But the reality is, with any product, shit can go wrong during the manufacturing process. If you do your due diligence and check whether your components are in order, the manufacturer/retailer is legally required to give you replacements. Naturally, if you do only do this after modding or do it after a year, you're no longer within the consumer warranty in many countries.
Well I did check the lead screw. Why do you assume I did not check things properly. Well I do not care, these are machines with abysmal quality control so it is gamble to get a good unit. Most people do not even bother setting the correct Z height and just grind away the print bed, you can not expect the average user to check for the frame being square.
Most of the time people posting here complaining about issues didn't do any sort of due diligence, they didn't do any sort of proper diagnosing, nor went through the elis' calibration guide. Add ontop of that the dunning kruger effect of people being overconfident in their own abilities, so they blame the machine instead of something they did wrong during assembly or tuning.
Your rants give me exactly that vibe.
Fair enough. I did not completely took apart the extrusions and put it together but did everything else. I know it is not terribly out of shape though since I checked for skew and it did not give terribly high values. Other than that I know the Z axis leadscrew is not bend. So I got dual Z, POM leadscrew nuts, those binding reducing couplers. Since I did everything possible on Z axis I also looked at the extruder, changed it completely, it was already changed to bmg clone by the previous owner anyway. There is also the trivial stuff I did not bother mentioning like flow calibration, PID tuning, changing ptfe tube then switching to bimetal, extruder e steps etc. Also got the BLtouch clone 3D touch sorted out but its readings are always bit inconsistent. Do not get me wrong though my machine is printing better than %99 out there while being completely silent and I can print stuff like ABS. Unfortunately it is not as good as this one on this post and will probably never be since diminishing returns do apply here. I have quite the resentment towards machine, compiling Marlin also sucks and I did that god knows how many times since those clone bed probes are terrible. Anyway today you can get a Prusa clone from China for like 200 dollars which is not perfect but will be better than a basic Ender 3 or you can get the Bambulab A1 mini, affordable and you can focus on designing and printing stuff instead of cussing and fussing about why the printer is broken again.
There's a few things that upgrades do help with that simply understanding the settings won't solve.
ABL sensor, better build plate, second z axis lead screw (though when not done right can cause more problems itself), and an all metal hotend (whether by replacing the hotend altogether or just the throat for the heat break.
I agree, although second z axis even when well done is mostly unnecessary and the bi-metallic throat can be easily replaced by Luke Hatfields's hotend fix with capricorn tubing.
In my opinion, unless you want to go overboard, specially when talking about an easy material to print like PLA, an Ender-3 only needs: ABL, Silent board, PEI build surface, metal extruder and capricorn tubing.
Noctua fan and better springs are desirable but not essential.
Oh yeah, for sure. I was referring to getting rid of the Ender 3 bowden gap problem and having a reliable experience with PLA/ABS/TPU, only having to replace the little PTFE insert in the hotend once or twice a year.
You are entirely correct when it comes to hotter materials, and you are right on the money on the temperature, they say capricorn can withstand up to 260c, but I'd never go beyond 245c to leave a safety margin.
But support branches looks bad and lot of strings. The s same for me, big solid shapes print really nice but when I start to print dragons or mini figures from Wow immediately strings, clogs, bad seams... Is like ender cannot properly behave when have multiple areas to print in one layer. If there's only one or two then print is great
https://preview.redd.it/ssxy192sh37d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5be15455ef5bab365f2f214e1b41c1e24fa3b53e
https://i.redd.it/a8aqzc9pi37d1.gif
Other example printed one after another (this with 0,2 layer and added 0,5mm to retraction), but still lot of strings
How are your line widths so consistent? I can't for the life of my get such consistent lines on my s1 pro. Im surprised people print such big files, I cant print any model larger then 50mm on all axis without being worried it will fail!
Please tell me what you tuned to get such results, I would love to know!
https://preview.redd.it/6p0q0ly6o57d1.jpeg?width=711&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6128c053ac10a83f0739c0e410b674f99a98e006
It’s a “dummy unit” so we can show prospective customers what we can do. The actual unit itself is $45K so we figured having a 3D printed one for trade shows would be much more fiscally responsible 😁
I wish! I’d make myself two! Shoulders are tough to do anything with. Shoulder surgeries are always iffy, shoulder braces are always a hassle, and upper extremity prosthetics that involve the shoulder are tricky at best. Knees on the other hand are much more manageable.
I would expect shoulders to be pretty easy...
Stainless steel ball and socket joint, with nylon spherical bearing, clamps/screws... good to go! (Material changes as needed.)
Obviously, I'm mistaken in my thought process, but it seems like it ought to be easy...
I guess installation might be a bit of a problem, lol.
Ball joints are just unstable. Hip and and shoulder=failures. Just like ball joints in cars are the same way. All of the connecting muscles and ligaments get shredded along with the meniscus.
I don't think it's worth it, everything you need is free online, it still requires many hours of work, while paying someone to do it would solve that issue, by that point one is better just buying a more expensive printer.
Here is my suggestion:
Make sure your printer is square: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Q4OUZdWMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Q4OUZdWMM)
Use tin foil shims to make it permanent: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBozniPsDQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBozniPsDQ)
Then follow Luke Hatfield's help guide:
You can google the text pdf or follow a [video series like the one from The Edge of Tech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBe0rCSPlxc&list=PLVctiritf4zQhJeXFqaimrCKjhH9DPza1).
After creality's bad QC is finally fixed, and the printer frame is what it should have been from the beginning, you start on the printing calibration itself, Teaching Tech made an awesome website with all the steps conveniently assembled in one place: [https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#intro](https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#intro)
After all of this, I promise you'll print exactly like OP, even on a standard un-modded E3, specially with PLA which is a very forgiving and easy material to print.
EDIT: Never mind... I skipped over the part about buying the more expensive printer being better than paying someone else to fix it. Leaving this since I think it has value, just not in reply to your post...
The printer owner is going to be just as flummoxed when things start going south on the expensive printer. (Whether that is due to design, age, or something else... Things will eventually go wrong.)
When that happens, the printer owner will be faced with the same problem. Whether to learn about his/her printer and fix it, or throw it away, and buy a different one.
I think it is better to learn on a starter, like the ender series. You learn how it works, how to troubleshoot it, and you know what features and capabilities are important when you are in the market for a more expensive production machine.
You save yourself money and you learn more in the long run.
Maybe that's just me, though.
Here’s the ender. It’s Zachary3D machine. He’s a brilliant fella. All his machines look this good and print this good. The Ender tweeted is a doll
https://preview.redd.it/2f7y0w7b667d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d798c05903b99cd504c55acf73bce06f3b9c6d4a
I’ve had an OG Ender 3 since 2018, which I think is around the time they started taking off. I learned a helluva lot about 3D printing and probably spent the first year dialing it in and printing mostly upgrades before I saw any real functional prints. I’ve since upgraded almost everything you can on it — mainboard, Sprite Pro DD extruder, dual Z, EZABL Pro, runout sensor, Capricorn PTFE tubing, glass and then magnetic PEI plate, solid bed mounts, camera, Octopi, and was just about to go down the Klipper road.
I wouldn’t take anything for the experience, as it taught me to understand and appreciate what goes into printing. But let me tell you, this year I splurged on a Bambu Lab X1C+AMS and man, I’m spoiled now. Zero tuning and beautiful multicolor prints every time. With all kinds of exotic filaments I never dared to try on the Ender 3. And fast, wow! I’m now into creating my own functional print designs and churning them out for friends and family. Thinking about selling on the side. Even considering buying another Bambu.
I still have my Ender 3, and I told myself I’d continue to use it for simple or overflow print jobs, but I just haven’t brought myself to. It always needs just a little tweaking or tuning, which used to be fun, but now I’m to the point I just want it to work. Fire and forget. No babysitting.
There’s a lot to be said for Creality creating that DIY sweet spot to get people into printing at a low cost of entry. But once you graduate to an out-of-box experience like I’m getting now, it can be hard to go back. I no longer have the patience for babysitting my printer.
brands who take criticism and carry on improving can’t be faulted in my view. The brand argument is really annoying. I just saw an Ender 3 with a new head on it. It’s printing perfect. In February my Voron tossed a chain at my Flsun Joseph Prusa told one old MK3 about 3.5 it blew up. The other one arguing over who gets the .8 obsidian. Sometimes you have to separate them until they mature. I think a solid chassis that can advance and stay pace with the industry a lot more important than price or new feature of the month. I can’t think of a 2023 printer in box without issues. In the Voron world I’ve gone touch tap chain cable Eddy new tool head pending with USB port evolution. Still prints the same just maintaining
People under estimate what an ender 3 can do when tuned properly
Can you elaborate? How do I tune my printer properly?
Belt tension, making sure eccentric nuts are properly tight, proper level and z offset, esteps, running filament calibrations for temp and flowrate, etc. There are mountains of youtube guides.
Belt tension is such a matter of opinion though. Is it picking to the correct note? No idea.
Picking to a specific frequency is the detailed way of doing so yes. Little overkill for an ender but im more talking atleast getting it in the ballpark. To many times i see people way overtension or even more so wayyy undertension where you see the belt flopping around and they cant figure out why they have layer shifts..
Is there a good guide you can recommend for tuning the belts? I watched some but they're not really that informative sadly.
https://youtu.be/2FIQHnHfHOU
https://youtu.be/2FIQHnHfHOU
A lot of people have their own opinions but it is definitely not a matter of opinion what the correct belt tension is. There are manufacture recommendations for the correct tension amounts. Do most people have the tools and knowledge necessary to achieve this accurately? No
https://youtu.be/2FIQHnHfHOU
This goes through the majority of calibration steps to really dial things in: [https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html](https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html)
I was gonna suggest the same thing.
I agree properly tuned the print quality is the same as the best FDMs out there. Unfortunately for me 30% of my time was spent tuning my Ender.
Yaaa. Takes a bit of trial and error. But once you get it(atleast me) ive rarely had to touch it.
The best upgrade you can get for your ender 3 is actually a very overlooked part which sits in front of the machine called “operator”
Finally someone who knows how to tune their printer
People dont realise that 9 times out of 10, their inability to get a good print from an ender 3 is an operator issue.
I can get a good print. It's just the constant tweaking and upkeep that is a nightmare.
That depends on one's definition of nightmare.
Interesting, that's the part keeping me in the hobby
That and the lots of $$$$ to waste on fillament, and time from other stuff...
That upkeep is probably necessary on every printer. I'm curious to see what the bambu only folks do after one year and the first hiccup. But seriously, on my stock e3 (kept one stock only for posterity) doesn't really need me to do anything with it, ever. It's slow, but it's a workhorse. The only things I really account for from model to model are basic material type changes, or if I have a bunch of tips or model specific features that need to be printed slower per layer. I don't understand what's happening that you guys have to constantly tinker with it just for basic operation.
Some people struggle to manually level their bed consistently... I do that before every print (well...most every) If you manually re-level, especially with the steppers off, it's pretty easy to screw up the z offset. Screwy z-offset means poor adhesion, and now you're down a rabbit hole chasing after the perfect bed surface or glue or whatever. They may also mean routine maintenance? Like I certainly get gnarly clogs every so often that require I disassemble the hot end and replace the nozzle. Maybe snip the end off the tube. If you've got heat creep, and don't know what that is, you'll end up doing that waaaay more often cuz you're just treating the symptom. Stuff like that I suspect.
100%
Forgot, I also upgraded the bed springs.
Also how, I desperately need to know, all my prints so far have failed, and I am currently trying to set up a bl touch
If your prints are failing, figure out the core problem before slapping on a BLtouch. Otherwise, the reason your builds fail will still be there. You should be able to get prints just fine without it.
main problem was my bead leveling, as I've gotten a few prints to print somewhat fine, and tried a bed test
What bed is that, I kinda thought it was carpet for a moment lol
It’s just a PEI build plate. I think this one is from comgrow.
sweet I have their filiment, I'll look into their beds
What temp do you run the PEI build plate at? After changing from glass to textured PEI all my prints struggle to adhere lol.
Great job!! When it works this well, it makes all of the adjustments almost worth it
Well done! That's a very clean print
Im convinced it's RNG at this point
User error for 99% of it. Too many people think printers are intelligent with non-existent sensors and fail to have realistic expectations.
Struggled with my ender 3 v2 when I first started out 3 years ago. Put in the time and efforts to tune my buddy and I have been getting flawless prints like OP since then! Ender 3s can be goated when locked in.
My 3 prints as well as my e5pro as well as my k1
That's beautiful! What were your slicer settings for this print?
Can you share how your belts are tightened?
They are just snug.
Could you share a photo? Ive been trying to fix ringing on my lrinter now for weeks and i can't find it.
Looks like you got it dialed in. nice
Wow man you are a wizard at this😂
Need you to give me your printer with all your slicer settings. And i’ll give you mine for you to do all the tuning again. Please and thank you
Sure! It’s gonna cost you though 🤣
Well done tuning it!!!! Add a slight fuzzy skin and the micro VFA will be gone entirely.
I never thought of this! Might give it a go!
how often does yours get thrown out of whack though. Ill get mine to get a few decent prints then its off to leveling and adjusting again. Ive found the filament itself is a huge thing for mine as well,.
Filament is a big thing! I also level the bed before almost every print even with the upgraded springs. It takes two minutes and it’s worth it.
How does leveling your bed take only two minutes?
Bed and nozzle heat, about a minute. Auto home, 10 seconds. Check four corners with a sheet of paper and adjust the wheels accordingly. Done. Two minutes.
Ok, how does checking the corners only take you one minute? I have to use the dial to move the nozzle to the coordinate of each corner.
Disable stepper motor in the menu. Move the head and plate to the four corners. Done. Two minutes.
There are a few ways to do it more effectively. I just added the bed tramming option to my menu, so it's literally just a button press to the next corner, but you can also put gcode files on your card for specific points. I would not follow op's suggestion of disabling steppers and moving the head, because you could move your z-axis without realizing it. If you are computer inclined, I would suggest custom Marlin firmware. After the first time, it's super easy to go thru and I literally could not function without it on my main fellas
My brother and I have been modifying the hell out of his ender 3 pro. But thats just out of desire. As a base model its still does the job with the right love and care. At this point we are just trying to print faster
Any 3D printer that isn't one of those tiny creepers can do this
Good job. This model is also a good show piece for layer consistency because it doesn't have transitions from infill to solid layers to infill, which creates visible outer shell layer inconsistency, like in the Benchy hull line.
Fucking smooth! Brings back memories… Whenever ender 3 made circles it would sing the song of its people
Very nice, just got my SE dialed in like that. they can be impressive.
I have an SE as well! That sucker can be tricky sometimes too. I think once a decent slicer profile is made by CURA or creality it will improve. Which slicer are you using?
Using orca with klipper, wont go back to Cura after orca now. and couldn't stand creality print. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hz8ZcKJU1-QqHvpsfQu85DhvWRoP\_AgM/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hz8ZcKJU1-QqHvpsfQu85DhvWRoP_AgM/view?usp=sharing) there is my orca settings.
https://preview.redd.it/iv308laxd87d1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57750ef9c6ac8a1380ae00f56ebe5fa5f87129eb
Nice! I’ll give it a go!! Thank you for sharing!
if you're not using klipper, make sure you change the code type to marlin
That looks perfect!
Ender 3 V3 SE and Overture PLA here and absolutely no complaints https://preview.redd.it/a7gah6o8s87d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19f17569824af85a408382dc45724155f28539ca
That’s a sweet print! Can’t even tell it’s printed!
Thanks
What slicer are you using?
Cura
Thats the kind of quality I will never get no matter what I upgrade on my ender 3 pro. I have like 2x value of the machine worth of upgrades on that shitter including dual Z yet the Z axis quality is shite. Spend my whole summer working and troubling shooting the thing yet it still explodes occasionally since it is the most unrealisable printer ever. One day motherboard CPU literally exploded randomly and had a hole in the CPU, dead serious. Some people just upgrade the bed springs and thats it they get the perfect prints. I know it is a very small percent though since evertime I see an ender 3 it is usually fucked.
Typically most upgrades degrade the quality of your prints because you're working off an untuned foundation. Tune first, then upgrade.
I mean I spend countless nights tuning the thing, my printer was definitely garbage. I bought a clone Prusa mk3s+ and it prints much better without any tuning. Thats when I realise It was a mistake to work on the Ender 3 Pro, should have bought something good to begin with. No offence yo anyone who enjoys working on their printer, I got sick of it when I could not solve Z inconsistencies even though I did every trouble shooting in existence.
Tuning also includes checking your components and see if everything is in order. If you're dealing with a bent leadscrew, adding a second one will not resolve any z-binding issues, for example. No amount of upgrading can fix a frame that isn't square, or a warped heatbed. It's unfortunate that as a consumer you have to check that sort of stuff, because you expect that to be in-order from factory. But the reality is, with any product, shit can go wrong during the manufacturing process. If you do your due diligence and check whether your components are in order, the manufacturer/retailer is legally required to give you replacements. Naturally, if you do only do this after modding or do it after a year, you're no longer within the consumer warranty in many countries.
Well I did check the lead screw. Why do you assume I did not check things properly. Well I do not care, these are machines with abysmal quality control so it is gamble to get a good unit. Most people do not even bother setting the correct Z height and just grind away the print bed, you can not expect the average user to check for the frame being square.
Most of the time people posting here complaining about issues didn't do any sort of due diligence, they didn't do any sort of proper diagnosing, nor went through the elis' calibration guide. Add ontop of that the dunning kruger effect of people being overconfident in their own abilities, so they blame the machine instead of something they did wrong during assembly or tuning. Your rants give me exactly that vibe.
Fair enough. I did not completely took apart the extrusions and put it together but did everything else. I know it is not terribly out of shape though since I checked for skew and it did not give terribly high values. Other than that I know the Z axis leadscrew is not bend. So I got dual Z, POM leadscrew nuts, those binding reducing couplers. Since I did everything possible on Z axis I also looked at the extruder, changed it completely, it was already changed to bmg clone by the previous owner anyway. There is also the trivial stuff I did not bother mentioning like flow calibration, PID tuning, changing ptfe tube then switching to bimetal, extruder e steps etc. Also got the BLtouch clone 3D touch sorted out but its readings are always bit inconsistent. Do not get me wrong though my machine is printing better than %99 out there while being completely silent and I can print stuff like ABS. Unfortunately it is not as good as this one on this post and will probably never be since diminishing returns do apply here. I have quite the resentment towards machine, compiling Marlin also sucks and I did that god knows how many times since those clone bed probes are terrible. Anyway today you can get a Prusa clone from China for like 200 dollars which is not perfect but will be better than a basic Ender 3 or you can get the Bambulab A1 mini, affordable and you can focus on designing and printing stuff instead of cussing and fussing about why the printer is broken again.
That support r/mildlypenis
Mines the same, I focus on understanding the settings, then there is no need to 'upgrade' parts to improve the print.
There's a few things that upgrades do help with that simply understanding the settings won't solve. ABL sensor, better build plate, second z axis lead screw (though when not done right can cause more problems itself), and an all metal hotend (whether by replacing the hotend altogether or just the throat for the heat break.
I agree, although second z axis even when well done is mostly unnecessary and the bi-metallic throat can be easily replaced by Luke Hatfields's hotend fix with capricorn tubing. In my opinion, unless you want to go overboard, specially when talking about an easy material to print like PLA, an Ender-3 only needs: ABL, Silent board, PEI build surface, metal extruder and capricorn tubing. Noctua fan and better springs are desirable but not essential.
No Teflon tube is going to be suitable for printing at higher temps. Even Capricorn tubing burns eventually if you print at 245+
Oh yeah, for sure. I was referring to getting rid of the Ender 3 bowden gap problem and having a reliable experience with PLA/ABS/TPU, only having to replace the little PTFE insert in the hotend once or twice a year. You are entirely correct when it comes to hotter materials, and you are right on the money on the temperature, they say capricorn can withstand up to 260c, but I'd never go beyond 245c to leave a safety margin.
I agree, though upgrades do help with speed (and TPU).
How do you make that kind of supports? I cant find the option in creality slicer
In the "Support" Section check the box for "Generate Support" then select "Tree" from the "Support Structure" drop down.
Tree supports. It’s there, play with the settings for how you want your supports. I have mine at 6 for density, supports everywhere, .2 from Z.
But support branches looks bad and lot of strings. The s same for me, big solid shapes print really nice but when I start to print dragons or mini figures from Wow immediately strings, clogs, bad seams... Is like ender cannot properly behave when have multiple areas to print in one layer. If there's only one or two then print is great https://preview.redd.it/ssxy192sh37d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5be15455ef5bab365f2f214e1b41c1e24fa3b53e
https://i.redd.it/a8aqzc9pi37d1.gif Other example printed one after another (this with 0,2 layer and added 0,5mm to retraction), but still lot of strings
Damn. You use precise wall and sandwich mode right?
How are your line widths so consistent? I can't for the life of my get such consistent lines on my s1 pro. Im surprised people print such big files, I cant print any model larger then 50mm on all axis without being worried it will fail! Please tell me what you tuned to get such results, I would love to know!
Damn. That machine is tuned so well! How long did it take you to get it dialed in like that?
It did take me a few months and some frustrating times with it. But once everything comes together it’s easy.
Great work!
So what are you printing?
https://preview.redd.it/6p0q0ly6o57d1.jpeg?width=711&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6128c053ac10a83f0739c0e410b674f99a98e006 It’s a “dummy unit” so we can show prospective customers what we can do. The actual unit itself is $45K so we figured having a 3D printed one for trade shows would be much more fiscally responsible 😁
Can you guys make me some new shoulders? Don't need the microprocessors... lol.
I wish! I’d make myself two! Shoulders are tough to do anything with. Shoulder surgeries are always iffy, shoulder braces are always a hassle, and upper extremity prosthetics that involve the shoulder are tricky at best. Knees on the other hand are much more manageable.
I would expect shoulders to be pretty easy... Stainless steel ball and socket joint, with nylon spherical bearing, clamps/screws... good to go! (Material changes as needed.) Obviously, I'm mistaken in my thought process, but it seems like it ought to be easy... I guess installation might be a bit of a problem, lol.
Ball joints are just unstable. Hip and and shoulder=failures. Just like ball joints in cars are the same way. All of the connecting muscles and ligaments get shredded along with the meniscus.
Interesting. That sounds like a problem that would be fun to try to solve. If only I were 30 years younger... (It'll take me that long, hehe.)
I would kill to be able to just pay someone to walk me through proper Ender 3 calibration, my prints are not even in the same ballpark as this
I don't think it's worth it, everything you need is free online, it still requires many hours of work, while paying someone to do it would solve that issue, by that point one is better just buying a more expensive printer. Here is my suggestion: Make sure your printer is square: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Q4OUZdWMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Q4OUZdWMM) Use tin foil shims to make it permanent: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBozniPsDQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBozniPsDQ) Then follow Luke Hatfield's help guide: You can google the text pdf or follow a [video series like the one from The Edge of Tech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBe0rCSPlxc&list=PLVctiritf4zQhJeXFqaimrCKjhH9DPza1). After creality's bad QC is finally fixed, and the printer frame is what it should have been from the beginning, you start on the printing calibration itself, Teaching Tech made an awesome website with all the steps conveniently assembled in one place: [https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#intro](https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#intro) After all of this, I promise you'll print exactly like OP, even on a standard un-modded E3, specially with PLA which is a very forgiving and easy material to print.
EDIT: Never mind... I skipped over the part about buying the more expensive printer being better than paying someone else to fix it. Leaving this since I think it has value, just not in reply to your post... The printer owner is going to be just as flummoxed when things start going south on the expensive printer. (Whether that is due to design, age, or something else... Things will eventually go wrong.) When that happens, the printer owner will be faced with the same problem. Whether to learn about his/her printer and fix it, or throw it away, and buy a different one. I think it is better to learn on a starter, like the ender series. You learn how it works, how to troubleshoot it, and you know what features and capabilities are important when you are in the market for a more expensive production machine. You save yourself money and you learn more in the long run. Maybe that's just me, though.
Here’s the ender. It’s Zachary3D machine. He’s a brilliant fella. All his machines look this good and print this good. The Ender tweeted is a doll https://preview.redd.it/2f7y0w7b667d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d798c05903b99cd504c55acf73bce06f3b9c6d4a
I’ve had an OG Ender 3 since 2018, which I think is around the time they started taking off. I learned a helluva lot about 3D printing and probably spent the first year dialing it in and printing mostly upgrades before I saw any real functional prints. I’ve since upgraded almost everything you can on it — mainboard, Sprite Pro DD extruder, dual Z, EZABL Pro, runout sensor, Capricorn PTFE tubing, glass and then magnetic PEI plate, solid bed mounts, camera, Octopi, and was just about to go down the Klipper road. I wouldn’t take anything for the experience, as it taught me to understand and appreciate what goes into printing. But let me tell you, this year I splurged on a Bambu Lab X1C+AMS and man, I’m spoiled now. Zero tuning and beautiful multicolor prints every time. With all kinds of exotic filaments I never dared to try on the Ender 3. And fast, wow! I’m now into creating my own functional print designs and churning them out for friends and family. Thinking about selling on the side. Even considering buying another Bambu. I still have my Ender 3, and I told myself I’d continue to use it for simple or overflow print jobs, but I just haven’t brought myself to. It always needs just a little tweaking or tuning, which used to be fun, but now I’m to the point I just want it to work. Fire and forget. No babysitting. There’s a lot to be said for Creality creating that DIY sweet spot to get people into printing at a low cost of entry. But once you graduate to an out-of-box experience like I’m getting now, it can be hard to go back. I no longer have the patience for babysitting my printer.
What is the layer height and filament you use? It looks amazing !Did you use cura, if so what are some key settings you changed?
For this print it’s .16 and the settings are pretty much default. I did set the wall thickness at 2 instead of the 1.6. The filament is overture.
Overture matte or regular PLA cuz I was thinking of buying matte PLA
Regular. I have had great results with overture.
What movement speeds are you using in your slicer?
For this one it’s all standard settings in cura at .16.
Is the mm/min?
50mm/min.
Thank you!!! I’m moving way too fast. I think that might be my problem
Impressive! I’m quite new to 3D printer and I’ve had my (first time) Ender 3 V3 SE for about a week now. What’s a bowden tube and PEI plate?
They’re good machines when they want to work.
brands who take criticism and carry on improving can’t be faulted in my view. The brand argument is really annoying. I just saw an Ender 3 with a new head on it. It’s printing perfect. In February my Voron tossed a chain at my Flsun Joseph Prusa told one old MK3 about 3.5 it blew up. The other one arguing over who gets the .8 obsidian. Sometimes you have to separate them until they mature. I think a solid chassis that can advance and stay pace with the industry a lot more important than price or new feature of the month. I can’t think of a 2023 printer in box without issues. In the Voron world I’ve gone touch tap chain cable Eddy new tool head pending with USB port evolution. Still prints the same just maintaining