Hi, I was trying to print a rocket from Thingiverse ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:50178 ) but

Hi, I was trying to print a rocket from Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:50178) but the print was screwed up near the start. The plastic for the 4 legs stuck to the extruder and the result can be seen in the photo below. Help pls!

P.s. I can print some stuff properly such as http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:47032.

Have you tried cleaning your nozzle before printing? Sometimes when there are remains of the old melted filament there, it will cause the freshly extruded stuff to stick to it and mess up with your prints?

Think for your ABS printer, you can try getting acetone to clean the nozzle?

Oh, based on the model, it could also be that there is not enough surfact area for the fins to adhere to the build plate - have you tried printing with raft/supports?

Hi Funbie Studios, thanks for the reply! Do you mind explaining what is a raft/supports and how can I go about doing that?

Nope, I have not clean it before. Yes, that has happened many times. I will give it a try.

Sure, depending on your slicer of choice, there should be a option to turn on or off rafts and supports. A raft is a base layer which is printed (and subsequently removable) which will give more support and adhesion for smaller points of the model on the build plate. Supports are scaffolds which extend off the raft to hold up overhanging parts of your model which may otherwise droop due to gravity.

The model you are trying to print seems that it may not need support but raft will help with the adhesion of smaller parts.

You should be able to find acetone in pharmacies like Guardian in Singapore :wink:

Slic3r offers the option brim - it lays down a, well, brim around the object on the first layer of the print. This will increase adhesion to the platform, keeping your prints from getting knocked over and also fighting warp.

Yes I am using slic3r. Oh great, I will give that a try! I never knew about it. Thanks guys!

Hi guys, I used the latest slic3r to create a brim but the brim itself doesnt stick onto the glass! Any idea why?

Are you printing ABS or PLA?

ABS

ABS needs a layer of Kapton or PET tape on top of the heated glass to stick well. Only PLA sticks directly to the glass bed.

yes, there is a layer of tape on the heated glass. it came along with the printer. i just tried printing other stuff but it all screwed up. the first layer doesn’t stick properly to the heat bed.

Ah well, it’s kinda hard to see in the picture. If you’ve printed a lot onto the same surface, it will degrade a bit. I’ve found that you can freshen it up by wiping it with silicone remover, then acetone. I’m using Kapton (gold-brown), though, your top layer looks more like PET (green), and I don’t know how well silicone remover works on that.