Comments on: PLA for the win!!! Successful Mendel Extruder Piece

By: jkeegan

jkeegan — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:33:18 +0000

So that picture on the half-wall (“4 PLA attempts”) does look a bit pink (I now see what you meant), but the piece itself doesn’t at all in real life, so that is some strange lighting effect (I’m wondering if I was wearing a red shirt that day which reflected in the piece somehow?). The rightmost piece in that picture (the clear one) is the piece featured in most of the pictures after that. The picture on jeans at the end shows the difference between a piece printed vertically (the top one) and printed on its side (the bottom one), the former probably allowing more light through as it’s less dense. In that “4 PLA attempts” picture before, the piece to the left of those two was burned because I printed it way too hot.

And thanks!

By: jkeegan

jkeegan — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:24:22 +0000

So apparently there are multiple types of PLA out there, with different properties and temperature. So far I’ve been using the ultimachine.com PLA based on NatureWorks PLA 4042D, and now i have on order some makerbot.com PLA based on NatureWorks PLA 4032D with different temperatures.

By: Urizan

Urizan — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:07:56 +0000

If anyone needs the money I have money for printed Mendel parts and I may be reached here, mb.thewellbeinghalo.com

I could also trade for parts if anyone needs my skills.

By: Bodgeit

Bodgeit — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:36:45 +0000

Its intereseting in your pictures the various shades of colour the printed parts have.

Do you know why this is? (temprature?)

The one with the pink hue is the most noticable in the pictures ~ the finish on the last clear one looks very sharp and crisp.

Excelent post.. reading the rest of your blog now

By: urizan

urizan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:40:46 +0000

YES YES YES YES YES!

I got $500 dollars! Buy, Sell, TRADE!! How to get someone to print the parts for me?

By: Robert H. Morrison

Robert H. Morrison — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:35:28 +0000

Re: Melting point?
Posted by: nophead ()
Date: December 19, 2009 01:53AM

ABS softens at 90C, melts at 105C, can be extruded at ~180C but needs to be ~240C to bond strongly to itself.

HDPE melts at 130C, extrudes at similar temps to ABS.

PLA softens ~50C, melts at ~ 160C, extrudes and bonds well at 180C-190C.

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

By: jkeegan

jkeegan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I’ve heard that too. When I tried much lower temperatures it sometimes failed to come out of the extruder. I was going to try 205C but the motor sounded strained trying to even print. Sometimes my extruder jams and I can’t extrude at all, and I need to raise it to like 240 and extrude for a while, to clear it out (I’m thinking plastic backed up into the barrel and at 240 there’s enough heat to melt some of the plastic higher up in the barrel? I don’t know.). Then there’s the question of whether that’s actually 225C, or if the thermistor is off. For reference, I print ABS at 220 also, but never did real serious temperature comparisons and graphed them out or anything).

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:18:01 +0000

Good work. I was thinking PLA printed at much lower temperatures. I print ABS at 220C…