I got a 3D printer for my model railroad

White River Line Mar 17, 2023

  1. White River Line

    White River Line TrainBoard Member

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    I'd love to hear any recommendations or tips.
     
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  2. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Nice work. You are a lot more meticulous about the setup than I was. I only use Hatchbox filament. I've had good results using a 5 mm retraction and 50 mm/second retraction speed in Cura.

    I think you will find that you can get better results detail wise than you think you can. I have lots of N scale items that look good, at least to me. Detail down to about .014" isn't bad at normal viewing distances which is about 2 1/4 inches in N scale.

    For the servo mounts you might want to look at some that I have up on thingiverse. The option for vertical mounting, horizontal mounting and the more conventional under the turnout mounting with 1 or 2 limit switches for control of the frog polarity, signaling or something else here....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Servo%20Control/Servo%20Control-Index.html

    ... other switch machine options here....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Trackwork/Trackwork-Index.html

    .... and lots of N scale buildings, electrical enclosures, cable clamps and other items here....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer/3D-Printer-Index.html

    Have fun with the printer, love mine,

    Sumner
     
  3. wvgca

    wvgca TrainBoard Member

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    they come in handy for lots of things .. i use a prusa fdm flatcar.lots.jpg clone with heated bed and auto zero

    flatcars.finished.jpg
    track.bumpers1.jpg
     
  4. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I forgot. I have magnetic bed-covers on both printers and like them. Prints come out good on them and it is easy to pop the parts off. Usually I don't have to remove the whole cover. Lift a side up enough to separate a corner of the part and use the spatula type tool under it to pop it off.

    Having to put the tape down would be too much for me and I'd worry about getting a build up of the adhesion gum. You really don't need it. I've printed hundreds of items with the magnetic covers.

    On the filament I use HatchBox cool gray as when I paint I also use a gray primer usually and if I miss a spot with the primer there isn't another color showing through.

    Sumner
     
  5. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    dont let those printers fool ya they can print with good detail you just have to set up real nice and if parts are laid flat on the surface you can get very good detail's. like sumner said hatchbox grey filament is the best so far very consistent prints. as for print bed me i like a glass plate works great. Tweaking is the key to those printers must get them set up perfect for great prints. Keep filament dry very important...best mod for low bucks is new springs (im trying the rubber spring things and so far they work good ) next best mod is twin screws for the Z axis very good control = much better prints.
    tips get that filament tube cut straight and square , loosen the nozzle then push that tube all the way in and lock it then tighten up the nozzle, (trust me thats a must do ) no plugged nozzles that way. there are tons more ..... print small things at first to get the printer set up that way you dont use a lot of filament and during that time you can fine tune the printer......
     
  6. White River Line

    White River Line TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the links and tips. I'll take a closer look at your servo mounts. The one I'm using for my next video has a couple of spots for spdt like one of yours which I planning on using for at least frog polarity.
     
  7. White River Line

    White River Line TrainBoard Member

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    I'm assuming you remove the glass cover before putting on the magnetic cover.
     
  8. White River Line

    White River Line TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the tips on the mods. I replaced the springs already, but the twin z screws sounds interesting.
     
  9. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Both of mine are the 3 Pro. They came with the magnetic cover. Looks like you need to do something like this video...



    ... to change from a glass bed to a magnetic one. My cover doesn't might not have the PEI coating the one in the video has and appears to be more flexible. I hardly ever take it all the way off. Usually lift a corner and then bend it back towards the build surface which then usually lifts a corner of the print enought to use the putty knife under it. If the print and bed is cooled down it even pops off easier.

    I finally bought a second cover for the first pro after a year or so and it seems to be the same material the Pro came with when new. I have no regrets with the print quality and have no problems with the print sticking to the bed.

    I will say that at times if the print is larger with very little contact with the build plate I'll print on a 'Raft' where the printer lays down a thin flat surface and then builds the print up off of it. The prints snap right off but do adhere to the 'raft' better than the build plate. I use this for very few prints.

    [​IMG]
    https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer-2/page-54.html

    The clamps above are an example of using the raft.

    I like the magnetic cover, Sid likes glass you might like both or neither ;)

    Sumner
     
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