My 3D Printer Purchase - Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer

[Nifty]

PLA filament because it’s not necessary to heat the plate/Platform

Ya, I'm starting with PLA too since it seems pretty forgiving / easy. I am worried about strength and longevity, so we'll see how it goes.

also use a Pritt stich or hair spray on the plate to make it nice and tacky,

I was planning to just use "painter's tape" (masking tape)... hopefully that will work ok? I know people use hair spray and glue sticks, but never understood why. I guess it's to make the first line of filament stick to the bed?

replaced it with 3D print sticker

Do you have a link to these?

She’s a very durable beast, but a little lubrication goes a long way, I use a very light grease (1 Part) to (10 Parts) 3 in one oil mixed thoroughly and I use a syringe to apply it to the shafts once a week. (1 minute job)

Wow, good to know! I'm sure there are videos on this.

Well, today is the day that it should arrive. I hope all goes well!

 

[The Hat]

Do you have a link to these?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/649

 

[Nifty]

This is hilarious!

People talk about the fact that this printer comes in a non-decript box, that's inside a Monoprice box. Well, that Monoprice box was also in an Amazon box:





So, now I have 3 nice boxes for packing!

I followed all the instructions, leveled the bed, etc.

My very first print is NOT going to be the dumb wasteful junk on the card. I decided to print the control knob extension here as my first print. I downloaded the stl file, loaded it up into Cura, sliced it, and exported it to the gcode file for my micro USB.

NOTE: I had a HECK of a time loading the file so that the printer would read it. It seemed every time I tried to copy the file over to the card, it couldn't be found by the printer. Finally I exported the gcode file directly to the USB card and it worked fine. Ideally I'd like to connect this printer up to my computer via USB... or even better WIRELESS!

Well, here is my first print so far:

 

[Nifty]

... and for my 2nd print: A razor blade holder for scraping parts off the bed: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2024019

Here's my finished first print riding along with the 2nd print:

 

[stratman]

Fantastic!

Before you know it you'll be making cozy's for the hens laying eggs.

 

[Nifty]

Ok, here's my output so far. All 4 items have been for the printer itself (I think it's cool that the machine can make stuff to make itself better!).

• Control Dial / Knob Extension
• Astra Razor Blade Holder
• Filament Dust Filter
  
• MP Select Mini Filter Bar

Here's everything next to each other (with the dial extension installed):


Here's the filter and filter bar installed:


I've been trying to print my first edited print... but I've having all kinds of problems getting the first layer to stick to the bed... especially around my initials (specifically the "T").

It's a Gyro Spinner For MPSM:

 

[Nifty]

... the results of my multiple failures with this most recent print:



I guess it's balance in the universe since the first 4 prints went amazingly well without any problems at all!

 

[Nifty]

PHEW! I finally finished this print!

I ended up having to add a "brim" to the print to get everything to stick properly. The bloody thing took 2 hours to print and it was a big pain to separate it because of that brim... but it turned out half decent!




Maybe a bit of cleanup around the edges is still needed, but I can save that for another time

 

[The Hat]

@Nifty, it looks to me like I’ll be looking for tip from you at the rate you’re going, wow that was a great day’s production.

Here is the setting I use in CURA, they make for a much better finished product, all be it because of the thicker density, my models take far longer to reproduce, but then I’m in no hurry, I can get on with designing even more gadgets and other choirs...

Question for Nifty, do you like your new printer ?

 

[Nifty]

but then I’m in no hurry

Ya, I was a bit impatient today testing out a few things. I'm hoping that over time I'll get a feel for all the best cura settings for this printer.

One thing I really need to figure out is how to get the first line of plastic to stick to the bed better. I'm sure it's some combo of bed-height, bed temp, bed material, print speed, extruder temp, etc.

Question for Nifty, do you like your new printer ?

As my daughters would say, "I don't like it... I LOVE IT!"