So I am posting this because because I found information scattered around the internet and it was a pain to figured out what was where. Hopefully, next person that googles it will find this post:
I bought my Rep-Rap Prusa I2 used. It came with a small amount of PLA and almost a full roll of Taulman Nylon 618, both 3mm. It came with a plexiglass bed installed and a heated bed (not installed) and a Budaschnozzle. I had read up on Nylon 618, and about how it did not need any extra fans or heated bed. I downloaded slicer 3 and pronterface (eventually stopped using and just used an sd card) and tried printing a some items. Ended up with warping so bad parts were unusable and low quality. So I scoured the web, and found bits and pieces of information on it in this forum and that forum. After trying a bunch of things (I'll spare you the boring details and cursing) I have found the right mix of things that work for me. I have now ran about 12 prints using the setup below with great quality and very little if any warping. Even with solid parts .Hopefully they will help others out too. I will post pics when I get around to cleaning up the parts.
My advice:
#1 Dry the Nylon. Mine came in a plastic casing, So I took it off and zip tied it into a spool. 4 hours @ 200 degree F in my oven.
#2. Dry it again.
#3 When you finally think it is dry, dry it again. On the specs of nylon, it can absorb a ton of moisture. It cause a ton of problems when extruding it. Warping included.
#4 Set your extruder at 230 degrees C and adjust from there. I have mine set currently at 238 C and great great adhesion. My nozzle has teflon liner as far as I know, and I dont want to burn the Teflon (nasty bad skull and cross bones fumes). If you dont have teflon in yours, people push it as high as 248 degrees C.
#5. Use a glass heated bed and no tape. I tired different Garolite, mdf, plexiglass, and wood. The last three with and w/o blue tape. I set mine to 38 degrees C, sometimes a bit more when the room is really cold. All I wanted to do was soften the shock of the hot Nylon on a cold bed.
#5 Elmer's washable glue stick. I coat my glass while the bed is warming up with it. This is one of two very important steps to get it to stick to the glass and prevent warping. And yes, the kinds that starts purple and turns clear is just fine. I currently use it.
#6 Print a Brim. A MUST to keep it from warping. It is an option in the current version of SLic3r. I started big with this one and have been working my way down. On very small parts like your extruder motor gear, use about 7mm brim and go bigger. On most of my parts, they get at least a 10mm brim.
#7 Be ladylike and wear a skirt. I have found nylon takes a long time to get flowing well through your nozzle. I normally use a 1 layer skirt of 5 loops and I set the distance (this is important) to whatever the size of my brim is. So if I'm using a 7mm brim, set the distance from object in the skirt menu to 7mm.
#8. If your one of those people that like to push there machines as fast as they can, slow your roll. Much better results. All my speeds are less than slic3r defaults.
#9 And finally, pick up something to pry your part up with. I use a metal putty knife. Once you parts cool, start at the brim and work your way around slowly.
# 10. Wash and enjoy your new Nylon print. There will be some glue on the bottom of it but since it is washes off with plain water, it comes off easily.
If anyone else has any tips or sees something I missed, just post and let me know. Hope this helps.
-Clark
I bought my Rep-Rap Prusa I2 used. It came with a small amount of PLA and almost a full roll of Taulman Nylon 618, both 3mm. It came with a plexiglass bed installed and a heated bed (not installed) and a Budaschnozzle. I had read up on Nylon 618, and about how it did not need any extra fans or heated bed. I downloaded slicer 3 and pronterface (eventually stopped using and just used an sd card) and tried printing a some items. Ended up with warping so bad parts were unusable and low quality. So I scoured the web, and found bits and pieces of information on it in this forum and that forum. After trying a bunch of things (I'll spare you the boring details and cursing) I have found the right mix of things that work for me. I have now ran about 12 prints using the setup below with great quality and very little if any warping. Even with solid parts .Hopefully they will help others out too. I will post pics when I get around to cleaning up the parts.
My advice:
#1 Dry the Nylon. Mine came in a plastic casing, So I took it off and zip tied it into a spool. 4 hours @ 200 degree F in my oven.
#2. Dry it again.
#3 When you finally think it is dry, dry it again. On the specs of nylon, it can absorb a ton of moisture. It cause a ton of problems when extruding it. Warping included.
#4 Set your extruder at 230 degrees C and adjust from there. I have mine set currently at 238 C and great great adhesion. My nozzle has teflon liner as far as I know, and I dont want to burn the Teflon (nasty bad skull and cross bones fumes). If you dont have teflon in yours, people push it as high as 248 degrees C.
#5. Use a glass heated bed and no tape. I tired different Garolite, mdf, plexiglass, and wood. The last three with and w/o blue tape. I set mine to 38 degrees C, sometimes a bit more when the room is really cold. All I wanted to do was soften the shock of the hot Nylon on a cold bed.
#5 Elmer's washable glue stick. I coat my glass while the bed is warming up with it. This is one of two very important steps to get it to stick to the glass and prevent warping. And yes, the kinds that starts purple and turns clear is just fine. I currently use it.
#6 Print a Brim. A MUST to keep it from warping. It is an option in the current version of SLic3r. I started big with this one and have been working my way down. On very small parts like your extruder motor gear, use about 7mm brim and go bigger. On most of my parts, they get at least a 10mm brim.
#7 Be ladylike and wear a skirt. I have found nylon takes a long time to get flowing well through your nozzle. I normally use a 1 layer skirt of 5 loops and I set the distance (this is important) to whatever the size of my brim is. So if I'm using a 7mm brim, set the distance from object in the skirt menu to 7mm.
#8. If your one of those people that like to push there machines as fast as they can, slow your roll. Much better results. All my speeds are less than slic3r defaults.
#9 And finally, pick up something to pry your part up with. I use a metal putty knife. Once you parts cool, start at the brim and work your way around slowly.
# 10. Wash and enjoy your new Nylon print. There will be some glue on the bottom of it but since it is washes off with plain water, it comes off easily.
If anyone else has any tips or sees something I missed, just post and let me know. Hope this helps.
-Clark