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Here's my filament dryer. The first thing I did was cut off 2 tabs at the rim of the bowl so it would fit on the tray. I then put a bead of silicone on the top rim of the bowl and centered the bowl on the tray. After it set up overnight I used a side cutter & removed the center part of the tray. Then I filled any gaps with silicone so the air would have to escape at the top central hole

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I then placed my spool of PLA on an unaltered tray
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I then put the bowl unit on.
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I used a digital oven thermometer to monitor temps.
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I had the PLA drying at 115F for 8 hours. After the drying process I immediately put it into an air tight cereal container with desiccant beads. I have another roll of PLA to do today.
 
@John Kemker Check out this video. From what I've been reading/seeing is that desiccant will help keep filament dry but won't remove the moisture from the filament, hence filament dryers.
I use the filament dryer to regenerate the desiccant. After about 2 to 3 hours I place the desiccant back in my air tight container. I typically have 6 filaments in one container. After 24 hours the content is back ca. 15% humidity. This is how I extract the moisture or keep the filament moist free as much as possible. I have solved problem filaments in this manner.
 
Printed some Covid cloth mask "filter" filter holders and two 29mm motor retainers (one smooth and one ribbed). The filter holders are 3 part, the two threaded parts are from Thingiverse and the clamp washer (washer with ridge in it) is my design, my wife makes the cloth masks for me and puts the holes for the filter holders in them.

The other two photos are my filament dry box, the drybox is a Sterilite gasket container from WalMart that cost about $8 or so, I then printed some bearing type spool holders and adapted several Thingiverse parts for the drybox (all parts that bolted through the plastic are from several Thingiverse objects). The filament ports use the M10 bowden tube push fittings to hold a short section of tube, about 12 to 18" of filament are exposed at anytime to air not dried via dessicants. The two white rectangular boxes in the bottom of the drybox are dessicant boxes one a Thingiverse design (meh, but not good enough that I didn't design my own) and the other my design (not very good, it works just fiddly). The axle stops and spool carriers are my own design and the spool carriers using 608 bearings almost allow the spools to rotate too freely. Since using this drybox I have had zero moisture related issues, filaments come out of their factory packaging and go directly into this drybox or another one thats just for storage of partial spools (it doesnt have all the fittings).


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Printed some Covid cloth mask "filter" filter holders and two 29mm motor retainers (one smooth and one ribbed). The filter holders are 3 part, the two threaded parts are from Thingiverse and the clamp washer (washer with ridge in it) is my design, my wife makes the cloth masks for me and puts the holes for the filter holders in them.

The other two photos are my filament dry box, the drybox is a Sterilite gasket container from WalMart that cost about $8 or so, I then printed some bearing type spool holders and adapted several Thingiverse parts for the drybox (all parts that bolted through the plastic are from several Thingiverse objects). The filament ports use the M10 bowden tube push fittings to hold a short section of tube, about 12 to 18" of filament are exposed at anytime to air not dried via dessicants. The two white rectangular boxes in the bottom of the drybox are dessicant boxes one a Thingiverse design (meh, but not good enough that I didn't design my own) and the other my design (not very good, it works just fiddly). The axle stops and spool carriers are my own design and the spool carriers using 608 bearings almost allow the spools to rotate too freely. Since using this drybox I have had zero moisture related issues, filaments come out of their factory packaging and go directly into this drybox or another one thats just for storage of partial spools (it doesn't have all the fittings).


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@rharshberger I'm thinking about making a two spool unit like this. I'm pretty limited in desktop space in the room I have my printer. Do you have any urls for the Thingiverse items? Thanks.
 
@John Kemker Check out this video. From what I've been reading/seeing is that desiccant will help keep filament dry but won't remove the moisture from the filament, hence filament dryers.



I would highly recommend you put your filament in a storage container between printing and regularly dehydrate it in a dehydrator.

To store filament, I buy cereal storage containers or dry food storage containers. They tent to fit most spools. I put a small desiccant pack in with the spool. They will not dry the filament but will keep it dry between use.

For a dehydrator:
I bought a cheap Presto Dehydrator at a local surplus store (link is from Amazon). It works ok. I replaced it with the Print Dry filament dehydrator. I prefer the Magic Mill which I bought later because it has steel racks. If I had it to do over again, I would buy the new Print Dry system and the Magic Mill.
 
I would highly recommend you put your filament in a storage container between printing and regularly dehydrate it in a dehydrator.

To store filament, I buy cereal storage containers or dry food storage containers. They tent to fit most spools. I put a small desiccant pack in with the spool. They will not dry the filament but will keep it dry between use.

For a dehydrator:
I bought a cheap Presto Dehydrator at a local surplus store (link is from Amazon). It works ok. I replaced it with the Print Dry filament dehydrator. I prefer the Magic Mill which I bought later because it has steel racks. If I had it to do over again, I would buy the new Print Dry system and the Magic Mill.
Chuck, I don't nearly do as much printing as you do & I probably never will, so my DIY filament drier should do me well. Plus now that I'm retired money is tight so I have to do more DIY than when I was working.
 
Chuck, I don't nearly do as much printing as you do & I probably never will, so my DIY filament drier should do me well. Plus now that I'm retired money is tight so I have to do more DIY than when I was working.

Understood. You are probably right. I have printed 547 KM on a single printer. I have 8.
 
Last week I needed to get a nosecone tip off. This week, I need to get it back together. I wanted to replace the 1/4"-20 screw with a stainless eyebolt. I intended for the 3D printed part to be a prototype before machining one out of aluminum. The 3D printed part tightened the eyebolt in just fine when printed with 4 perimeters and 30% infill using some very old, cheap PLA. I guess I'll save the aluminum bar stock for a future project.

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My Ender 3 V2 showed via UPS yesterday afternoon. I had it mostly assembled last night but I ran into a snag. When I went to level the bed I ran out of spring to push the bed up to where it needed to be.

This morning I went out to my shop & found in my can-o-springs 4 springs a little bigger in diameter & 1/4" longer. They fixed the problem.

After I got the bed leveled I ran a couple of test prints of small objects and they look good. And I am amazed at how silent the stepper motors are. Can't hear them at all, only the hot end fan.
 
Designed and printed removable rail buttons for my Estes Ventris build.
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My Ender 3 V2 showed via UPS yesterday afternoon. I had it mostly assembled last night but I ran into a snag. When I went to level the bed I ran out of spring to push the bed up to where it needed to be.

Doesn't that just mean that you have the z-limit switch set too high? On my Ender 3 (I don't think it's V2) the limit switch attaches to an upright rail. If it's attached too high, the nozzle will auto-zero in a high position, and then you'll need to push the bed way up high to get it leveled. Try just sliding the switch down a bit.
 
Doesn't that just mean that you have the z-limit switch set too high? On my Ender 3 (I don't think it's V2) the limit switch attaches to an upright rail. If it's attached too high, the nozzle will auto-zero in a high position, and then you'll need to push the bed way up high to get it leveled. Try just sliding the switch down a bit.
@Kelly I had it all the way down. It has a little tab on the inside that stops when it gets to the lower frame.
 
Working on the next version of resin 3d printed rocket.
Code name: Mod_Beta_Max_Pro_38 (Not a nod to video tech - just turned out that way)
Overall length is ~2 meters and body diameter of 66mm. (66mm being the maximum circular diameter I can print on my machine.)
Setting up for 38mm CTI motors.
Max Z height for my machine is ~340mm. So I have broken things up in ~300mm sections with shoulders that slip down into the body.1594328590848.png
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Needed a tube cutting jig for my 3-inch diameter Cherokee-H from Vander-Burn Rocketry. Pulled out the digital calipers, sat down with TinkerCAD and quickly whipped something up. Exported to STL and sliced it with PrusaSlic3r, then printed it with Paramount British Racing Green PLA. (My Ender 3 Pro seems to love that filament!) STL file attached.


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An update on my filament dryer. I dried 2 rolls in it one roll at a time, purple & yellow. Both filaments were eSun. The purple PLA printed perfectly, great results. So yesterday I tried the yellow filament which had been kept in an airtight cereal container with desiccant beads. The yellow printed horribly. I'll run it through the dehydrator another time to see if that will improve it, if not it goes into the trash.

Has anyone every purchased a role of filament that came out of the box bad? Any recommended brands?
 
An update on my filament dryer. I dried 2 rolls in it one roll at a time, purple & yellow. Both filaments were eSun. The purple PLA printed perfectly, great results. So yesterday I tried the yellow filament which had been kept in an airtight cereal container with desiccant beads. The yellow printed horribly. I'll run it through the dehydrator another time to see if that will improve it, if not it goes into the trash.

Has anyone every purchased a role of filament that came out of the box bad? Any recommended brands?

I've had wet eSun and warped Gizmodorks. I suppose either could have been a warehousing issue, rather then manufacturing. The eSun was Amazon, and i think it claimed to be straight from eSun. The Gizmodorks was via eBay and definitely a reseller.
 
I had a roll of Hatchbox PLA that looked ok when it printed, but was very weak. I have been using 3D Fuel Pro PLA and it has been consistently really strong, with decent looking prints. The company is great to talk to as well.
 
7.51 Gemini Titan parts for a twin 54mm first stage Titan with a singlr 54mm TVC upper stage......
 

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