Help needed printing Copperfill Statue of Roger Ebert

[charcoal86]

Hi,
I designed a 3d model of Roger Ebert dressed as Emperor Palpatine giving two thumbs down for our Oscar Pool Fantasy League trophy.

I’m trying to print the award with Copperfill filament and I’m getting some mediocre results. I’ve had some good results with regular PLA but the Copperfill + “the Ebert” AKA “Darth Criticus” is giving me a real challenge.

Here is a render of what “the Ebert” looks like in Simplify3d followed by a couple photos of what he actually looks like when printed with the following settings:
http://imgur.com/a/jaO4a

3D printer:

Flashforge Creator Pro Extruder

temp: 230

Layer height: .3

Printing speed: 4800 mm/min

Modeal orientation: vertical (like in the render photo)

Bed: blue painters tape + 50 degrees (with no heat the model was detaching about 50% through the print)

Shells: 4 Raft: On (2 layers)

Skirt/Brim: On Generate support: no

If anyone has any advice to help me bring Ebert (back) to life in the way he deserves I’d appreciate it.

Happy to answer any questions, share the model file, etc. if that’s helpful.

[JDe_Jos]

Hi Charcoal86,

Are you sure 230c is neccesary for copperFill?

I have no experience with the Flashforge but the Makerbot is a similar system and it prints the metal-filled materials (bronzeFill, copperFill, etc.) around 195c I believe.

You will definitely need support for this model at the bottom/back of the chair, to prevent the sagging on the 3rd picture

You should contact colorFabb support (support@colorfabb.com) with this question, listing your problems, settings etc. and they should be able to help.

Maybe someone with a similar printer to yours can shed some more light on this as well.

Good luck!

[MB3D]

Also make sure, to select “inside out” in the “Layer” options of Simplify3d, this will help with overhangs. Aside from the support, that’s necessary under the chair, this model should be OK to finish.

Use a caliper or a fine knife to snip off any blobbers around the surface.

I finished copperFill by first sanding a little bit with rough to fine sand paper. After that I’ve started with medium steelwool (you can leave out the sandpaper part, if you spend more time with the steelwool).

As the model has many cavities I would recommend to just use steelwool, as the sandpaper won’t get in the cavities.

Using a brass-brush (shoe-cleaning tool) is highly recommended, it brings the copper shine out very well.

To get the model to look like in the Colorfabb advertisement pictures you can get some black spraypaint, spray the print briefly and !instandly! whipe it off with a towel. Use the brass-brush or steelwool to remove some of the dried paint if required.

Lastly use polish like Brasso.

I’ve also used a buffing wheel with polish, this gave better results, compared to Brasso.

I would use a lower layerheight (0,16mm was my preference for metal composites) to get some detail.

Work on perfecting the retraction settings (more coasting or extra restart distance) and use increased cooling for overhangs.

Good luck with that project, please share some pictures, once you’ve finished the statue.

Cheers,

Marius

[3D_Fair]

190 or 185 is enought for This material. Metal stay hot longer time than regular Pla, adding a fan to nozzle help a lot

[Norma]

I agree with Marius, looks like you definitely need supports, I would say also under the arms and under the top of the chair. In my experience removing copper/bronze fill supports is quite easy, and they the connection points file down very well. Also I found with the copper fill, its a bit heavy and sometimes the motor fails to pull the filament through at a constant rate, which can cause the underextrusion, I would keep an eye on the print and from time to time give it a little help by giving the roll a little push round to loosen the filament a little.

[Autotiv]

Hey so you are definitely going to need supports under those overhangs. Additionally your temperature is a little high which is why you are getting a poor surface finish. The filament is stringing, meaning it oozes out as you finish printing and begin to travel. Lastly I would recommend printing on pva coated glass rather than painters tape. You will have much better part adhesion. If you would like I could print this and mail it to you. You can reach me at … Good luck, Evan

[modfab]

230 is too hot for CopperFill. I have had fine results with 210, maybe go to 220. Obviously the chair needs support but another poster stated that already. As far as polishing goes, I use a soft steel pot scrubber which looks like a ball of swarf (like you get when a lathe cuts metal) The steel is foil thin and wont gouge the surface. After that, I use a teaspoon to burnish the surface. The teaspoon has had a part of the bowl rubbed with 600 grit wet and dry abrasive paper to give it a bit more cut and I found a spoon with a handle that tapers down to a thin, rounded end which I also hit with the 600 grit paper. This will allow you to get into the detailed areas a bit better. Finally, i get a cosmetic nail buffer and give the surface a final polish. Don’t use a buffer that’s like wet and dry abrasive, get one that’s smooth for polishing. That is a really fine looking model you’ve made there BTW

[ImShogun]

+1 to 1) nozzle fan to optimize overhangs, 2) lowest temperature (test for the lowest that extrudesfine with nozzle fan on)…

And obviously the thumbs needs support too

[gabriela3d]

Hey Evan, cheers for the input. I wanted to give a heads up that I moderated your email out. In the future, please make sure to use your Hub profile as means of contact. Thanks!

[Artefact3D]

try :

temp 200°

layer height 0.2 or slow the speed to 60mm/s (i think layer to 0.3 with 4800mm/min is too high for copperfill)

shell 4 (why ?)

Bed > level your bed !

raft not needed but use spray on blue tape or better use ‘UHU stic’ glue (if you find this brand)

with glue use prehead bed to 100° after print to remove the model and the blue tape

use support

[MB3D]

I assume he used 4 shells to make the outside resistant to steelwool and other treatments, instead of UHU you can also use other brands solvent free glue stick. 50°C is hot enough for the bed and you can remove the print fairly easily after the bed is cooled down. Only use a very little bit of glue stick, a barely visible coating is all that you need (if you use too much the print is incredibly hard to remove and you risk breaking it.

As copperFill is very good at overhangs you can use a low infill percentage.

Cheers,

Marius

[danilius]

You need support. A lot of support. My advice is that you break this model into as many pieces as you can, and print them separately, then glue them together.

[Xeno]

[Vader voice]

find your lack of support disturbing !

[/Vader voice]

[ImShogun]

BTW, do not throw away your failures, loty of money there, I’d like to test my shredder–>Extruder on them

[MB3D]

The failed print can also be used to test polishing. As long as just steelwool, brushes and sand paper are used, you should be able to still recycle the print. The use of polishing paste etc. may cause trouble in the recycling process. Cheers, Marius

[ImShogun]

Good point!

[Nikki]

Hey @charcoal86, @Roel might be able to offer you some help - he’s got loads of experience with the special filaments.