I agree that Prusa printers have a good reputation but I also haven't heard anything bad about Lulzbot printers. James Bruton has a you tube channel where he regularly prints very large PLA parts with Lulzbot printers (who sponsor him) and he doesn't seem to have any issues with first layer adhesion. There probably isn't much wrong with it that can't be fixed. Does it have a heated bed? Are you sure it is working and the nozzle is the correct height above the bed for the first layer? On Sun, 21 Aug 2022 at 23:16, William Lugg via Discuss < discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: William Lugg <luggw1@protonmail.com> > To: "Jan Öhman via Discuss" <discuss@lists.openscad.org> > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2022 22:15:28 +0000 > Subject: [OpenSCAD] Re: 3D Printing escapades > Charles, > I suppose this is a little off topic for this forum, but let me see if I > can help. From what you describe, it sounds like you're printing PLA on > a filament printer, is that correct? (I want to make sure I understand > the printing environment correctly.) If so, it sounds like you're > having first layer adhesion issues. For PLA you shouldn't need to put > anything on the plate to get the filament to stick. > > I use a Prusa MK3S+ with a MMU2S (multi material unit) and the plain > steel sheet on the print bed. I find all I need to do is keep it > extremely clean and it prints flawlessly 99% of the time. The other 1% > is because I did something wrong, typically. All I do to clean the > steel sheet is wash it thoroughly on both sides in dish soap and hot > water with a scrub brush and also give it a LIGHT scrub with a > scotchbrite pad. I dry it thoroughly with a lint free cloth and and I'm > good for several weeks of printing. All my PLA prints are run at the > recommended nozzle and bed temperatures. > > If you're thinking of buying a new printer, I highly recommend the Prusa > line of FDM printers. They are certainly not the least expensive > printers on the market, but they consistently get good reviews, are > completely open source, upgradeable, and do a remarkable job, in my > opinion. Company and community support are stellar and I really like > their slicer too. Note that I have no association with Prusa other than > being a very satisfied customer. > > HTH > Bill Lugg > > On 8/21/22 15:50, charles meyer wrote: > > Thus has become a troubling situation. I've Googled to find an > > objective, independent site which reviews 3D printers but to my > > chagrin have found none. > > > > I found old posts on reddit whose thread is closed. > > > > We have a Lulzbot Taz 6 (5 years old). > > > > The nozzle cracked and we had to buy a new one. It can print both PLA > > and metal but ti had problems extruing any PLA. A "tech" person saoid > > they;v;e fixed that by drilling as little bit wiode hole inthe nozzle. > > Since then we;ve had som really good prints and a lot of bad prints. > > > > We slice the g-code from an .stl file (Thingiverse mostly) and save > > that to a sd card which we insert directly into the printer to print. > > > > The files get 45+ likes on Thingiverse. > > > > Lately, most of the prints have been bad. From filament not extruding > > during the print phase, it drags the filament across the bed,the 1st > > layer prints badly but all the other layers print well. > > > > We leveled the bed, changed the nozzle temsop from 205 to 210 to 220 > > to 230 changed the bed from 65 up to 75 degrees, changed the > > extraction settings, sprayed the bed with hairspray for prints to > > stick better to the bed, and purchased garlic! :) > > > > We're considering replacing the Taz 5 with a Makerbot 3D printer as we > > don't know what else to do. > > > > We've used Ultimaker (free) to slice the g-clode, used Cura, Cura > > Ultimaker, and the Prusa slicer. > > > > We're not software engineers nor computer programmers, just public > > librarians. > > > > Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions even if it's to s share a > > link to a more appropriate forum if I've drifted too far in my post > > > > Charles. > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: William Lugg via Discuss <discuss@lists.openscad.org> > To: "Jan Öhman via Discuss" <discuss@lists.openscad.org> > Cc: William Lugg <luggw1@protonmail.com> > Bcc: > Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2022 22:15:28 +0000 > Subject: [OpenSCAD] Re: 3D Printing escapades > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org >