3D Printing – Ryan Schulze

Multicolor 3D prints made easy

July 21, 2024July 21, 2024Ryan3D Printing

Multicolor prints are easier than most assume. For this example I’ll use a small travel version of a game inspired by Quarto that I designed in Tinkercad. It has internal holes in the base and figures for metal washers and magnets to help keep figures in place (i.e. places in the printing process where we want to pause the print anyway to embed metal into the print).

Multicolor print of both the base as well as the figures

I’ll use the popular software Cura for the examples, but they basically apply to any slicer software.

Pick out the filaments you want to use

I start with this step because the filament can impact your slicer settings. The easiest way to get good adhesion between filaments, is if they are the same brand/type, but with enough patience and tweaking settings, you can get anything to stick together (even PLA and TPU).

Pick out the layer where you will want to change colors

In this example layer 25 is the last layer where the holes are still open, and starting with layer 26 the holes are covered. So we will interrupt the printing after layer 25, switch filaments, and then continue.

Cura has a plugin feature, and one of the provided plugins is called “Filament change”. It moves the head away from the print, retracts the filament, and waits for the user to put in a different filament before continuing the print.

To add breaks for filament changes, go to “Extensions -> Post Processing -> Modify G-Code / Add a Script -> Filament Change”. This gives you a configuration window where you can specify on which layers you want to change colors/filaments.

If you want to change the color multiple times, just list all layers the filament should change separated by commas.

Switching filaments

Once the head is clear of the print and the filament has been retracted, remove the current filament, and insert the new one. manually extrude enough filament so that the old color has been purged out of the hotend/nozzle (it doesn’t need to be a hard cut, it is sufficient to just get the new filament into the hotend and not have a gap between the old and new filament). Remove and excess filament from the nozzle, so that it is clean and can continue printing and then continue the print from the printer display.

Be creative with filament changes

For example you can use it to inlay logos or text into a print by printing 1-2 layers of a different color before switching back to the original color (here we switch filaments at layers 9 and 11 to have 2 layers of a darker color).

Board game organizer for Dungeons & Dragons: The Fantasy Adventure Board Game

May 19, 2023July 21, 2024Ryan3D Printing

This is another board game organizer I made and uploaded to thingiverse. This time it is for the game Dungeons & Dragons: The Fantasy Adventure Board Game (BGG Link). My children really enjoy this game, so we sleeved the cards and I made some organizers so simplify setup and cleanup of the game.

Since it seems this game was mainly distributed in Europe in various languages, I also uploaded the SCAD files so you can translate the card names into other languages (the German version is uploaded as STL files).

The card boxes include space for the cards from the 2 expansions (forest and ice).

The box for all the heroes makes it easy to keep track of which character had which items between campaigns.

This isn’t intended as an insert for the original box.
Since I have both expansions, I use a bigger box to hold all the pieces.

Thingiverse Link with all the file downloads and printing instructions: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6034394

A case for the Pimoroni Tiny 2040

April 28, 2023July 21, 2024Ryan3D Printing

In my last post, I mentioned the Pimoroni Tiny 2040. While it probably won’t die by just dangling off it the end of a USB cable, or tossing the naked device it in your bag/pocket, I prefer to have a small case around it to have some protection and make handling easier.

This also has the benefit of looking more professional when using it at work, compared to the “uh, are you sure this is a good idea” look I get when plugging PCBs directly into USB ports.

The design itself is pretty basic:

as small as possible
a top and bottom half that snap together securely when assembled
a slight recession on the bottom to accommodate the parts on the underside of the PCB
holes for the two buttons
a thin layer above the LED so it is protected, but still can be seen/used

One reason I like using this case, is that I can print a few in different colors and switch them out based on the payload (e.g. red for dangerous, green/blue/yellow for safe, testing, informational).

I uploaded the design to Thingiverse for everyone to access: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5994359

Getting started with the Creality CR-6 SE 3D printer

April 12, 2022April 3, 2022Ryan3D Printing, cr6-se, creality

I noticed an uptick in interest for the Creality 6-SE 3D printer lately (either because the price is dropped a bit end of last year, or because people are buying second hand). Since I’ve had mine since it was initially released on kickstarter, I thought I’d add some useful insights and links for people getting started with one.

First off: it’s capable of making really consistent quality and precise prints for an FDM printer. That being said, the initial design and QA felt a bit rushed, and even if the newer models being produced now have fixed all the initial issues, there are still a few small things you should definitely do to upgrade the printer. For all the things I mention here, there are plenty of videos and more detailed information out there, google them if you are unsure or want more details.

Unboxing Checklist

Ok, so you have the printer in front of you and are new to all this. Have a look at the following checklist to get it set up and make sure everything is working as intended: https://gist.github.com/Sebazzz/030d21c606413e22cbd77d8df9fb8b17

Firmware

The official firmware is a bit lacking in features and doesn’t make full use of the Marlin firmware it is based off. There is a community maintained firmware version that is far superior and add a lot of functionality and fixes: https://github.com/CR6Community/Marlin/releases

The firmware updates both the main motherboard and the firmware for the display.

Motherboard

Bigtreetech has a drop in replacement motherboard that also fixes a lot of the issues with the initial Creality motherboard. I’m using this motherboard and have been more than happy with it.

Daughterboard (Hotend)

If your hotend daughterboard breaks, it can be hard to find a replacement. What is sometimes easier to find is a complete hotend assembly (e.g. on aliexpress, it has the whole hotend assembly, strain gauge, daughterboard, hotend with heater and thermistor, fans and backplate).

My tips

Don’t tie the ribbon cable to the hotend (black) and the bowden tube (white, filament moves through it) together. The hotend is connected to the strain gauge (which is used for the automatic bed leveling and triggers at around 160g of pressure if calibrated correctly). Pulling/pushing on the bowden tube can influence the sensitivity of the automatic bed leveling. This also means that if you make any modifications to the hotend assembly (especially to fans, cover or duct), you might have to recalibrate the strain gauge (there is a small potentiometer on the daughterboard on the hotend, it’s super finicky to adjust, I suggest using a kitchen scale and the LED should light up blue at around 160g).
Before you print anything else, print this filimant guide thing:4677617 it snaps in place between the extruder and the runout sensor and makes it infinitely simpler to feed filament into the system. Trust me, it’s a quick print and will make handling filament so much easier.
Filament guide between runout sensor and extruder
If you want a quieter printer, replace the motherboard and power fans. I use Noctua versions of the fans (will need a step down from 24V to 12V for the motherboard fan), but any quiet fan will do. You will want to print an alternate cover for the psu that has space for the larger fan: thing:4665448. Since the fans extend farther down than the original design, you should also add/print risers to the feet of the printer to lift everything a few centimeters.
Printed covers for motherboard and power supply
If you plan on updating firmware more regularly, you might want to extend the sdcard externally (so you don’t have to take apart the display to get to the display board each time). Just get a simple/cheap extender off amazon, you can either bring the cable outside at the bottom of the board, or through the ventilation slots on the back.
External sdcard access to update display firmware
The standard glas printing surface is OK. I’ve also had good experience using the Creality PEI magnetic bed (has a rougher surface) and a magnetic WhamBam surface for a smoother finish.

Another list on reddit of helpful things to know: So you just ordered your CR-6 SE…

This should be enough to get you started 🙂

Printing wood filament

January 25, 2022April 1, 2022Ryan3D Printing, FIlament

I wanted to try printing a wood filament and picked up a roll of Easywood Pine from FormFutura. Wood filaments are a mixture of PLA and wood fibers or particles. I tried printing a few test objects, and from a printing perspective it prints very similar to normal PLA.

Due to the fibers in the filament I’d suggest a 0.6mm nozzle (or larger) to reduce the chance of clogging. And I also went with a steel nozzle from micro-swiss since the wood in the filament can be a bit abrasive and wanted a more durable nozzle.

Realistically, we are just printing plastic with wood fibers in it, nothing we print will ever be confused with real wood. That being said, it does have wood like characteristics, the surface and smell do have a slightly wood like quality to them. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it reminds me most of thick rough cardboard.

As far as print accuracy goes, It faired pretty well. some details were lost (most obvious in the last photo of this post), but that was to be expected both printing with a rough material and printing with a larger nozzle.

Viewed from the back we can see the underside of the bridging on the bottom right. The card was printed on a flat metal surface, the filament adheres very well to the build plate. I also tried out different build surfaces, even a rough one in the hopes it looked more wood-like. But the rougher surfaces all turned out shiny and looking very fake due to the plasticky rough surface.

I printed the same card with ironing enabled on the top layer. The results were not good at all. The ironed parts are very uneven and the wood feeling of the surface is pretty much gone, the surface is non-uniformly rough, but not in a good way. It feels as if too much heat is transferred into the printed object and the plastic becomes very dominant. Having the filament heated up but flowing slowly through the nozzle can also “burn” the wood fibers and/or increase the chance of clogging.
There are probably situations where (localized) ironing my have beneficial results, but It’s not something I suggest having on by default.

A final photo with a direct comparison between a 0.4mm nozzle printed PLA+ filament and the 0.6mm nozzle printed wood filament.
It’s not a filament I’d use every day, but I’m happy to have it here, and have a few ideas I’d like to try out with this filament.