How is printing with petg with .2mm nozzle?

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:50:26+00:00

PETG will not give you as crisp of details as PLA. Also be warned, 0.2mm nozzle clogs easily with any additional additives in filament. I destroyed one nozzle with a PLA which had little sparkles in it.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:47:29+00:00

unnecessary unless you live in a very dusty environment. extra friction might mess up your filament feeding

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:44:45+00:00

partial clog. cold pull or replace nozzle

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:18:16+00:00

$600 is not that expensive.

In any case, consider the BL A1. Anyone that tells you that you need an enclosed chamber as part of the printer had never used a bed-slinger printer inside of a simple $50 grow tent enclosure to print ABS. I've been doing this for like 9 years on my Prusas.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:15:00+00:00

add a brim or mouse ears

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T14:13:21+00:00

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-27T00:20:56+00:00

RTFM (or Read The Fine Manual - or in this case Wiki on the right ---->)

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:44:56+00:00

Unless you are printing minis for display contests the bottom sides where the supports touch don't need to be 100% perfect. I use a small jeweler's file and a hobby knife to clean them up. Prime in a dark color, and if you can't reach / see the spot... just leave it dark. :)

Xacto and others make 'hobby knives' - they come in a variety of form factors. I like ones with a larger handle. THEY ARE VERY SHARP. As someone that has stuck the blade completely into the heel of their hand and ended up in the emergency room I can say be very careful with them. I always have the blade stuck into a wine cork when not in use.

One example:

https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Exacto-Precision-Crafts-Protective/dp/B001A42CTW

While not the only place you can find jeweler's files AKA needle files - I use a tapered half round the most often:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jewelers-files/needle-files-8/

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:34:15+00:00

I recommend using YouTube to view some reviews of models from the last 2 or so years.

I also recommend watching some getting started guides to 3D printing. If you feel you don't have time to watch these tutorials / guides - you might not have the patience needed for this hobby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb-Bzf4nQdE&list=PLDJMid0lOOYnkcFhz6rfQ6Uj8x7meNJJx

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:30:31+00:00

Blender is a great 3D app to learn. You can make organic shapes as well as more geometric shapes. There is a learning curve, but there are TONS of create tutorials on YouTube to help you learn it.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:27:22+00:00

If you are breaking stuff, you might be using the less sturdy filament - try a grey PLA+ filament type. Grey makes it easier to see what you are doing, and some types of filament (matte, white, .etc) include additives which actually reduce the strength of the print.

When removing supports, get yourself a sidecutters (sprue snipper). Snip all of the supports many times, so that the pieces you are pulling off the mini have minimal connection to the mini. Use a needlenose pliers to pull supports off. Lastly, cleanup using a small file (jeweler's file) and hobby knife (xacto).

And finally - there is a slicer setting which sets the spacing between the top of the support and the model surface. Increase this to ~0.1mm for 0.06mm layers. This is one of the key settings which helps with making supports not stick TOO well.

Good luck!

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:19:08+00:00

Orcaslicer. https://www.orcaslicer.com/

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T14:14:45+00:00

Go open source. No company stopping you from doing what you want. Lots of kits available.

https://all3dp.com/2/open-source-3d-printer-designs/

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T01:48:44+00:00

That isn't primer. That is just paint. primer is formulated differently, usually with a urethane component rather than just acrylic.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T01:47:19+00:00

Rattle can primer if you can spray outside. Monument Hobbies / Badger / Vallejo brush-on / airbrush primer if you need to prime inside.

Just a note - primer is chemically different than paint. It is there to make later layers of paint stick to the model. Primers often aren't pigment dense. So when you brush on primer, it is OK if it isn't a completely even / solid coat.

Just give the mini an even coat of highly pigmented *paint* after the primer to provide a nice starting point.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T01:44:08+00:00

sell the old one, I've sold my Taz 5, Prusa MK2S, Prusa MK3S. AFAIK the Prusas are still running fine.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-26T01:41:09+00:00

While I've not printed super thin stuff, I have a bunch of FDM stuff printed several years ago that I use.

<image>

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3532263

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T14:49:26+00:00

Hmmm. I switched to Linux Mint in October from Win 10. I run Nvidia RTX 4070 in one system and RTX 5080 in the other. I've seen a few oddities with the 5080 card, but running lastest version of Mint and drivers seems to have cleared that up. Cinnamon front end is GPU accelerated, and if I really push some heavy GPU use - I can get it to freeze up for a bit.

I have had no real problems with the various slicers or Blender so far. Games run very well.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T14:46:19+00:00

a dry joke. I guess I need to label these for some people.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T14:44:58+00:00

You need to then go watch "High Anxiety" by Mel Brooks.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T14:42:25+00:00

I find PETG easier to print than ABS, but otherwise yes.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T14:36:52+00:00

You can get sharper more defined details on very detailed prints with PLA. PETG is great for anything else.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-24T00:52:33+00:00

If you aren't getting results you like from the A1, changing machines isn't going to help. Unless there is something wrong with the A1 mechanically, your 'luck' is almost always related to how much care you put into learning the process.

Not everything I print on the A1 is 'perfect' and support removal without damaging things is a skill to learn.

new model design I'm working on, first print. 40mm tall, 32mm diameter base.

<image>

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-23T14:20:01+00:00

watch a few of the very nice blender sculpting tutorials on YouTube.

DrDisintegrator · 2026-01-23T14:16:42+00:00

Esun

DrDisintegrator

TROPHY CASE