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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • Just to add what others have said, the temp you dry at is as important if not more important than time and different for each type of plastic. If you don’t have it hot enough (typically near the glass transition temperature of the plastic) then the moisture is not able to escape the plastic.

    Cool project as well, I have wanted to do the same!


  • Ah yeah that is good, just making sure because it has caused me a lot of strange issues hah.

    One thing that prob doesn’t matter but I usually dry PETG at 55 or 60, not sure how much of a difference that will make, 51 might be warm enough though. From what I have learned, it has to be warm enough that the moisture can escape the plastic (usually just below the glass transition temp) so you might try turning it up a bit if nothing else works because the moisture might not be escaping.





  • Glad to help! Mixing colors shouldn’t be an issue, I have done it in the past, also have mixed PA and PA-CF in the past without issue. I bet you could even find a tent with a window and run a PTFE tube to a dry box outside the tent then you could pull the first color out and put the second one in without having to open the tent.

    Also, just to say it out loud I would definitely test the strength of the layer adhesion (especially between the colors since they might have different additives) for anything structural, especially if you might get injured if it fails, just to be double safe heh.

    Last, at least where I am, PA is significantly more expensive than ASA or PETG so might be worth looking at those for at least prototypes of the parts. For example, I typically use PLA to prototype ASA parts, has usually been fine to swap it out with just minor tolerance adjustments and it’s way cheaper to print 50 versions in PLA while I’m working out the design and then I print the final ones in ASA or whatever.


  • I have printed PA and tent idea will probably work but the other person is not kidding, PA is very finicky. Plan on printing PA directly from a dry box as even sitting on the printer will ruin a roll of it if you live somewhere with more than like 20% humidity outside, also make sure your dryer can reach 85c to dry out a spool of PA, even with a dry box I usually dry PA immediately before printing it. As others have mentioned, definitely consider ASA or PETG or maybe even PC (if that printer can print it) where you don’t really need the material properties of PA specifically.

    The tent will also probably be important for maintaining temperature of the chamber more than the smell, nylon doesn’t have a ton of odor anyway. You may need to put a blanket on it, you probably won’t need a chamber heater since nylon needs like a 65c bed or more, just make sure to pre-heat the chamber first by turning the bed on, I usually let mine warm for 20 min or more. It is alap important to keep the temps stable as nylon also warps easily which can cause it to pop off the bed while printing too So make sure the tent is sealed and try not to open it.

    Sounds like an interesting project though, best of luck!





  • I mean sure but that’s a lot of words to say “I didn’t read the directions and no one caught it in a merge request review because no one else read the directions either.”

    Their documentation and examples are pretty easy to read and the site parameter is explained in the getting started guide and even linked from the readme for the JavaScript sdk, and in lots of sample configurations so I’m not sure how this made it into a release and then no one noticed the missing metrics for eleven days, sounds like lots of issues in that shop.

    The behavior of the sdk isn’t great but the proposed solution wouldn’t work because you can use custom endpoints for all of the components using endpoints on domains you own anyway.


  • So I stared at this for a while, particularly the pattern of the seam, I have a few questions. What type of infill are you using? how many outer wall loops? How much infill overlap (or whatever it is called)?

    Also what happens if you rotate the part on the bed 90 degrees so the seam is on a different axis? Or maybe 45 degrees? This will make sure it’s not some sort of mechanical issue in one direct that shows up in this specific situation.

    I know that all seems random but those are what I would check hah.


  • I think what that person is saying is that in your example the left part would probably be more durable because it is flexible and that the part on the right is less durable but more rigid, basically saying your result is expected and makes sense if you are wanting durability over rigidity.

    I think that the part that is unclear is that OP is using durability, rigidity, and strength as they are defined by material science not in common English and they way they differ in definition makes that comment make sense. I’m not a material scientist though so I could be wrong.

    I hope that is correct and makes sense hah!


  • I have found the best way to cope is to surround yourself with people that understand and help you out when you fall short. Easier said than done for sure and it hasn’t always been that way for me but at this point I have a bunch of ADHD friends so they all get it, and my wife saves me usually, she is the best at that hah. Other than that I have been just leaning into it lately, for example find a job that has a lot of tasks that work well with your brain, choose wisely.

    I also treat my attention as a privilege that I can give people and not something someone can demand. I don’t phrase it that way to be egotistical, it’s just that my attention and focus is fleeting sometimes as it is so I need to defend it in that way to have any at all. This is also harder said than done but it’s also not too difficult, most people are understanding when you say “can I get back to you in 30 min when I’m done with I am doing” or “let’s put time on the calendar to work on that tomorrow” it turns out.

    Along this same line I also treat notifications everywhere as an opt-in activity, everything gets denied and I only let the most important ones through focus modes (I have an iPhone) that I actually need to receive and this includes all phone calls on all mediums. The only people that get let through focus modes are those that understand the gravity of interruptions on my brain (well and my parents because they are great hah).

    Well that was longer than I thought it would be but the short version is that you have to try to construct a situation for yourself that works with your brain and not against it, and it’s a long journey but you have to keep iterating on it like you have been.

    I hope some of that helps!


  • Make sure your filament roller doesn’t have too much resistance as well. Since TPU stretches linearly way more than any other filament if it does have a lot of resistance then the extruder won’t be able to pull more filament until it overcomes that resistance and the stretch and it ends up physically thinning out the filament. Just a thought, hope it helps!