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Hi all,

Just joined here as im looking to start out in 3d Printing and just ordered a CTC Bizer which I hear is an ok Printer once setup and tuned.

As im totally new to this, where is the best place to start and any tips for this printer? and how to start.

I did borrow the same printer from a friend who got one but could not get it to work (poor prints / Not extruding - However he did manage to scratch up the hot plate with the hot end so i figure he may have damaged the head with this), I had the same issues too which I want to avoid this time round.

Regards,

Mat

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Hey Mat,

When starting it is essential to calibrate the printer. If your friend found that the printer was scratching the printer bed, then it was not calibrated correctly. Sometimes a company says there printer has already been calibrated before its sold, but it’s always best to recalibrate it so your sure everything’s fine.

To ensure your prints are of a high quality you need to calibrate your printer regularly. I’d advise after a few prints unless you have a very large print (probably best calibrating after a long print). If your printer is inactive for long periods of time aim to calibrate every few weeks.

Another essential is keeping everything clean. When calibrating you should also clean the printer nozzle. Try to clean the print bed after every print. Try to keep filament stored in a cool dry area.

These are mainly just to ensure a constant high quality of prints, but after printing for a while you’ll be able to work out what’s best for you.

A good way to get familiar with your printer is to go online and find free models to download. By printing these in a small scale you’ll be able to experiment with different settings and filaments.

Hope this helps you out. If you have any questions just ask.

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Thanks for that, much apprciated. Is their any tips on how best to calibrate the device and what all the setting mean? Im technically minded but looking at all the settings in something like RepG and I have no idea where to start. Any tips on what setting in the software I may need to adjust?

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In terms of calibrating it varies between machine. Most printer manuals will advise how to calibrate and what parameters to stick to. The more level the better. Calibrating can be a real pain sometimes as it can just take a few calibrations and other time can take dozens. By calibrating your printer on a regular basis get you both familiar with calibrating, but also stops confusion when it is completely slanted.

With your slicer I’d advise you keep most of the settings the same to begin with. Your main settings are:

  • Layer Height (determines resolution)
  • Speed/Feedrate (determines quality, slower is usually better quality)
  • Shell Thickness (how thick the outer faces of the model will be)
  • Infill (determines how dense the interior is)

Just playing around with main settings as these will give you a better understanding of how they work and what your printers capable of. I usually print objects at 100 microns (0.1mm) for layer height as it is more detailed. Infill is usually on average 20%. Hollow designs can collapse in and could cause faulty prints, but if you increase shell thickness it’ll be stronger. I have shell thickness set at the standard point it was when I received my printer. Feedrate may be something to experiment with as some printers are different to others.

Finally ensure your nozzle temp and heated bed (if you have one) are set to what ever the filament your using specifies. Most will have optimum temps on the box, inside or online from the supplier.

If you would like any more help/ advise don’t hesitate to ask. I hope that’s covered everything and given you a better idea of the main settings.

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You said your friend scratched the bed, I did the same when I got my ctc bizer, I recommend manually moving the nozzle close to the bed(next to it not over it) and tighten the wing nuts underneath so you have a good amount of clearance all over the bed(1-3mm should be good) and then using the interface on the printer select the level build plate option. I also preheat my build plate and nozzle because metal tends to expand when heated so I level the bed when it’s at the right temperature just to be sure. Depending on what material you are using (PLA or ABS) you will need blue painters tape for PLA to help adhesion and perhaps a cooling fan but look into that when you get to grips with your machine, and work out the optimum temperature for the material you are using, different colours vary in temperature, but temperature plays a large factor when it comes to good prints.

Hope this helps

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Thanks all for the tips. Printrr arrived today and so far it works great see attached pic of the 20mm cube. Only downside is the printer seems to be missing the panel of wood over the PCB not an issue I guess but still…

IMG_20160826_195520.jpg
IMG_20160826_195520.jpg4000×2992 2.37 MB

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