My 3D Printing thoughts and lessons learned

  What is needed to advance 3D printing to be a reliable process.

1. Design must improve.  Designing for past manufacturing methods was very mature.   Designers must learn how to design for 3D printing to make it useful for production work.  3D printing wont replace everything, it has it's niche and use.  Many very good uses.  To take advantage of it Designers will have to learn new design rules and methods.   Just changing the orientation of a 3D part while making the part could have a major effect on the design.  Most importantly, design leaders must learn to use and validate 3D designs and parts. 
   
2. Organic design tools are needed.  CAD software that can also check and implement design rules for 3D modeling. 
   
3. The "post processing" of the data to make manufacturing code must continue to develop.   To be able to design a part 10mm square with a 5mm hole and have it print out to 10mm square and with a 5mm hole within a design tolerance.  Adjusting the model from nominal dimensions to fit tolerance needs to go away.
   
4. The industry must stop re-inventing the wheel.  The very first 3D machines in 1986 did not use G&M codes and did not use tool paths.  They printed the completed table as a grid and deflected the laser.  They were very slow and expensive.  Customers had to teach the 3D companies the basics of NC programming at the time.   Those designing "additive" machines need to  investigate machine tool design, movement compensation, welding and other overlapping technologies.
   
5. The professional 3D machines must become machine tools, not elaborate hobby machines.    More sensors to help control the 3D process.  Better understanding of the variables.  Processing the sensor data and then developing the algorithms to make it all usable in the manufacturing environment.    A 100 machines should take the exact same code and be able to make the exact same part, within the required manufacturing tolerances.  This is not the standard yet. 
6.  Material Science.   Turning 6061 aluminum into powder, then melting it with a laser to make a 3D part does not make a 6061 grade aluminum part.   The process changes the material. New materials must be developed for 3D printing processes.  Materials must be predictable, reliable and consistent in 3D use.  Metals, plastics, resins are all ongoing.  For many years 3D was done with existing materials.  In the last few years, development of new materials has grown and must continue to grow. 
7. Trade secrets and patents too easily obtained and widely applied are limiting advancement.
8. Data, data and more data is needed.   The rocket industry embraced 3D printing to help make very expensive and costly rocket engines.  Traditional processes took hundreds to thousands of steps and 9 months to years to build all the complex parts and assemblies.   With 3D printing the process is simplified, overall faster and potentially 10% of the overall cost.   It has taken the rocket industry 30 years to be successful with 3D printed parts. 
   

As I learn tips I will add to them.   I have used PLA, PETG, ASA and clear PVB so far.  

• Your time is valuable. Add that to the overall costs.  Saving cost may end up costing you hundreds of hours tweaking, learning, and finding an answer.
  
• Use well supported printers.   That includes, slicers, firmware, help and user communities.   It is the fastest way to get up to speed. 
  
• 3D printing looks simple, but it isn't print and forget yet.  It will take study and time to become an expert.
  
• Keep the sheet clean.  Dirt, oil, or any residue can mess up the adhesion.  A clean sheet, well cleaned, works well.
• Glue on the sheets is not usually needed.  Only for materials that may stick too well.
• Stick with the proven filament as much as possible.  Cheap filament may be expensive to use.  Filament can be bad.  Colors can change how filaments work.   I opened and dried a roll that was 3 years old.   For the first 30 meters of filament it would not stick and turned into a ball.  I checked and the color had been discontinued, non-sticking is probably one reason.     Filaments are sold with diameter measurements, but not density and moisture content guarantees. 
  
• Many suppliers are recommending "drying" new filament before use, even though it is sealed. 
  
• Learn the difference between I did this vs.  Engineered parts.  If you are building tools, upgrading the printer or complex designs, look for engineered designs.    One example is upgrading the printer fan.  There are hundreds of mods that seem to make sense.   I did find one with real engineering data and was tested to validate the design. 
  
• Reward and praise good designs, ignore the rest.   There are too many complainers and whiners on the internet.  Complaining just makes the complainer look bad.  Constructive criticism is an art that does not involve anger, complaints or insults. 
• Nothing is free.  Many have graciously made the models available to everyone.  Some designs have taken hundreds of hours.  At least praise someone for the models you use.
  
• 0.4mm nozzle and 0.3 mm first layer setting.  Even if you print other layers at  0.2, this appears to help bed adhesion on the first layer for me.
  
• Perimeter draft shields are needed on larger parts to prevent edge curling.  The perimeter helps to prevent cooling which causes the edge to pull up. 
  
• Brims can help keep corners down and keep small parts attached to the bed. A Brim adds gripping power to the bed.  Warning, with PETG brims are much harder to remove.  A raft or glue of some kind may be best in these cases.  A good debur tool is very helpful when you need to cleanup a brim.
  
• Be aware of the health hazards some materials may pose.  
• Diamond nozzles once you have experience with 3D printing.  10/2023 You may need to adjust temps.   Expensive, 2-5x, compared to others. It can be used for a wide variety of printing.  The Polycrystaline Diamond doesn't shatter as ruby does, it transfers heat very well and has extreme life compare to brass or steel.    Even a hard Z bed crash usually does not harm a Diamondback tip.  You may need to drop tip temperatures by 10-15C, since the diamond conducts heat better.  One exception may be small plain PETG parts with corners or overhangs, the diamond may induce curling.  In most case I have found the standard temperatures work with a diamond nozzle. 
  
• Humidity matters, especially for PETG.  There are many discussions on keeping filament dry.  Be careful but not crazy.
  
• Old exposed filament is bad filament.  Don't stock pile too much.   Use up or protect what you have. 

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