this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2026
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I Got Away With It (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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Since people wanted to see how it turned out. This is a 330x330 object that covers the entire purported print area of my machine.

I'm ashamed to admit that I undershot my filament usage calculation slightly, and I chickened out just before the finish line. I didn't have any more white in stock, so I switched to some grey of the same type from the same manufacturer by doing a mid-air refuel, shoving the end of the new spool in chasing behind the very tail of the old one. I don't think it looks too bad. I may just spraypaint the entire thing white later anyhow. I wanted to use a light color in order to more easily spot and keep track of screws and springs and such.

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[–] The_Hideous_Orgalorg@sh.itjust.works 31 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The grey edge turned out nicely anyway.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

It certainly makes it easier to photograph, or at least to find with the autofocus.

There are also two color blemishes on the top surface which I'm a little miffed about, since these were defects directly in the spool of filament. It must have been made with like two pellets of the wrong stuff in the hopper.

Oh well. It's a tool, it's not like I'm hanging it up on the wall in a frame or something.

[–] RattlerSix@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think the grey edge looks better than 100% white. Things like this are the reason I have AMS, all my prints are functional and could be done in one color, they just look better when they're not. And if it's for screws and hardware, they're going to be down in the white where they'll contrast, not hiding up on the edge.

[–] TruePe4rl@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

Yeah, the grey looks great. Just the right ammount, imo.

[–] mcavoya@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I am impressed that the edges of your build plate are hot enough to keep the corners from curling up. This is a problem I fight on any print that is close to an edge.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I can't speak for other printers, but my X-Max 3 has an absurdly thick aluminum plate under there which seems to spread the heat pretty well. I've poked it with my little IR camera and it's not 100% even but it's not bad. The only side effect of this is that it takes a month of Sundays to fully reach temperature, especially when you're aiming for higher temperature materials like ABS.

Here it is on today's preheat for PLA:

(IR cat tax paid here.)

[–] mcavoya@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

WOW! That is super even. I looked at mine with a FLIR attached to my phone, and it had definite hot spots. It might be time for a new heat bed.

[–] IMALlama@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I can't speak for other printers, but my X-Max 3 has an absurdly thick aluminum plate

The stock 350mm Voron bed is 5/16" (8mm) thick. It's quite hefty lol

[–] Noja@sopuli.xyz 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

A cooler bed can prevent warping. But a warmer bed may be better for overall plate adhesion.

[–] Deckname@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Wow, now i would really like to try a 256 mm³ cube on my A1 :D but this seems very unnecessary :D

Edit: Also a question: whats up with the yellow-ish colour in the upper half, is this the blemish you were talking about?

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

now i would really like to try a 256 mm³ cube

That's a cube measuring ~6.5mm x 6.5mm x 6.5mm...I know the A1 is small, but that seems fairly unambitious.

[–] Deckname@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Fuck you right. 😂 Damn you, volume law! I mean 256 mm * 256 mm * 256 mm (so more like 16,7 Million mm³)

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you go for something like lightning infill of 15% and 3 walls, you could probably make that print in something like 11h and only use 750g filament.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If there were ever a poster child for printing something with a 0.4mm layer height of possibly even more, it may be this. One wonders how much infill you'd need to make it strong enough to sit on. Otherwise, I don't know what the heck you'd do with it.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you're a "regular sized adult" I honestly think you can get away with 30% adaptive cubic, and 5-6 walls and top/bottom layers.

That's pushes it to 2.4kg filament and a +2 days print though with a regular 0.4mm nozzle and 0.3mm layer height.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Sounds plausible to me. On reflection, I think I'd just run off a wooden box on my table saw if I need a cube to sit on.

My problem, as I'm sure many others have, is admitting when 3D printing something probably isn't the best solution...

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago

Yeah I agree, 3d printing is not the right tool for a simple large box.

[–] Bluewing@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

There are many good applications for FDM printed items. But I still have a metal lathe, mill, drill press, and welders for all the other times that FDM is a poor choice.

[–] Fedegenerate@fedinsfw.app 1 points 2 months ago

This always trips me up. Would the correct way of writing: a cube 256mm to an edge

256³mm³? That feels inelegant.

Do the math myself so 1.67*10⁶mm³? Which seems like I'm asking the reader to simplify what I complicated.

Or 256mm³? That seems true to speech it's a 256mm cube...

[–] Fifrok@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think the yellowish part is just a shadow from something, because the 'remove screws' stickers on the sides also change color

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Yes, and let me tell you about how many times I've resolved to finally one day remove those stickers and I still haven't. Now that they've been thoroughly baked in the enclosure they're on there good.

[–] Deckname@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 months ago

Ah yeah. Now that you say it. Guess i was a bit blind. Still a bit strange :D

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's just the shadow cast by the gantry blocking the LEDs that are all arranged along the front edge of the machine.

Rather, I have two of these which are just tiny specs of grey or black or grey or something, which got printed right into the top surfaces. They're small, but annoyingly visible. This is what I get for buying cheap filament, possibly.

[–] Deckname@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Thanks! This might also be a bit of burning by the nozzle slagging behind. I also see that sometimes on my prints

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Could be. Usually when that happens there's some variance in the surface, too, or some booger left behind. I didn't see that here but it's possible it simply got mashed flat back into the surface on the adjacent pass.

[–] einlander@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Qidi x- max 3?

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Exactly so.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Are you just using the custom qidi-version of klipper that it ships with? I quickly replaced mine with FreeDi because I got annoyed by the arbitrary limitations they have with their non-standard klipper implementation.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

All stock. What limitations are those? I haven't run i to any that have impacted me as far as I can tell.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wanted to integrate spoolman and some other things that i have on my other klipper printer to integrate with my already established workflow, but it's not possible with their klipper version.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Interesting. Well, if I ever want to get into any of that I'll look into it. For now, the stock firmware is doing fine by me.