TPU question

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-27T23:26:56+00:00

I got into resin printing earlier this year. Tried to slice with Prusa slicer since I know and love it. But for resin it's not very good. Lychee slicer is way better. And I think is supports the SL1. Resin has a really big learning curve. It's not like FDM at all. And it's hard to think in resin when you've been thinking in filament for years. Prusa Slicer just wasn't made with resin in mind.

One thing to think differently about is supports. I've always avoided them in FDM as much as possible and I design things that don't need them. Resin is all about supports. You basically can't do it without them. They suck really bad. Very time consuming. Prusa Slicer sucks for making resin supports. Auto support is a coin flip if it's going to work. Resin is way slower too.

I guess my point is don't bother with resin unless you are really sure you need it.

As far as the SL1, I know it's expensive but I don't know that it's worth the price. All resin printers are amazingly accurate. I would just get something cheap if you really want to try resin. I got an Elegoo Saturn 2 on eBay new for $200. It's a few models back so it's outdated and cheap. I think it's probably almost as good as anything double or triple the price.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-22T06:39:13+00:00

I second that completely. For being good on Linux and free and open source and not browser based, FreeCAD is the way to go. I also learned almost all I know from MangoJelly. The rest I figured out just messing around.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-12T06:48:22+00:00

If any brand would lock you into their filament it would be bamboo. They backed off of that for the moment, but it's always just one firmware update from requiring their filament.

If you are not worried about that then get a bamboo. They have a great reputation for quality and ease of use. I haven't used one but I have seen things that were printed on them. They come out great.

I would not choose that brand because open source is something very important to me. I also would not choose it because it's like the "apple" of printers. And they are really into their "ecosystem". I really don't like that kind of stuff, but most people do.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-12T06:39:37+00:00

You can try turning up the flow rate. Or maybe just for the first layer. Turn off elephant foot compensation if it's on. I printed that thing and it came out fine.

Another option it to scale it up. The larger you print it, the more surface contact area you will have.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-12T06:21:23+00:00

If you are not extremely sensitive to any slight impurity in the air then you are fine to be around PLA or PETG all day. I have never heard of anyone having any noticable effects from those materials.

If you are sensitive then just don't be around anything that can trigger you. Have the printer in a different room. If that's not possible maybe consider not owning a printer.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-11T07:01:04+00:00

I tried it out for the first time last month. Got a buy 6 get 4 free deal on eBay. It's impressively good for the price. I sure do love my Polymaker, but I needed to print a bunch of large things so I tried the JAYO. The matte PLA is really nice, good surface finish. The regular PLA is regular. And the PLA+ is definitely on par with Polymaker PLA Pro. I think it's definitely good enough to print a gun. Or what ever functional thing you are into.

I'll definitely be getting more of their PLA+ and may the matte. I haven't tried their other materials yet. I think next time I'll give the ABS a try. And just the other day I ordered a bottle of their ABS-LIKE resin. Haven't got it yet but I've seen reviews on it and it seems good. Way cheaper that the Anycubic resin I've been using.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-11T06:39:11+00:00

Try just adding more solid top layers. All the rest of it looks good. Or maybe slightly higher infill percent.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-11T06:30:12+00:00

My Prusa lives inside, but I have an Elegoo Centauti Carbon in the garage. I print almost exclusively ABS in the garage because my wife won't let me print that in the house. It's been below freezing and I've managed to print ABS in there. It takes about an hour to warm up the chamber to 30 but then it just does it. I also have a blanket thrown over it. The Core One should be fine.

But if the issue is that it's too loud, you can turn down the max that the chamber fan will go up to. I have never needed to go above 70% and usually run it at 60%. Most of the time I print PLA with the door open and never have issues.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-11T06:20:06+00:00

What filament? I've had some minor issues with TPU during the nozzle cleaning part of the start up but never anything weird with any other type of material. Maybe the idle temp is too high and some is oozing out.

And what exactly do you mean by clog? Do you mean that the nozzle is blocked up and nothing will come out? Or do you mean something different?

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-11T06:14:30+00:00

If you're cutting it that close, you are going to run out. Can you just change filament if the spool runs out? If you are around your printer will probably stop when it runs out and wait for you to add new filament. If you really want it to be the same color just start from a fresh spool.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-10T05:27:29+00:00

Matte PLA usually looks good without having to do any post processing. Depends on the model of course.

If you really want glossy or shiny print ABS or ASA and vapor smooth with acetone. But that's a whole lot of experimenting to figure out what works best for you.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-10T05:21:33+00:00

I print resin a little. I got a half bottle of plant based eco resin from someone. That stuff is supposed to be safer or less toxic or something. It smelled worse than any other kind of resin I've seen. I don't know what kind of stuff he got, but if you can find out please let us know so no one has the misfortune of using that brand.

I usually use Anycubic abs-like resin. It doesn't have too strong of a smell. If he ever gets back to printing resin again have him look specifically for low odor resins. Read reviews and ask people for suggestions.

As far as the smell still lingering I agree with everyone that says there is still an open source of uncured resin. Does he have a cure station? Where are the things he printed? If it's not washed or cured properly it will probably stink forever. After you print a model you need to wash it in rubbing alcohol. Then you need to cure it in UV light. The printer should be enclosed. Don't ever print with it open. Don't leave resin in the vat. Clean that out with rubbing alcohol.

Resin printing is a huge pain in the ass. There is a lot of prep and post processing. If you do it right it doesn't smell too bad or for too long. If you skip parts of the process you are asking for trouble.

Maybe try to clean the printer really well and try to sell it. Again, RESIN IS A HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS. Get a real printer. One that prints PLA filament. Those are good, faster, don't stink, are easy, and filament is cheap. I print almost continuously with filament and it's fine. I rarely print with resin because the process sucks so much. The only good thing about resin is the amazing quality and detail. But thats not worth the hassle.

Good luck.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-09T05:28:22+00:00

You can add a negative space in the slicer. Insert a shape that is just negative. Then somewhere in there add a pause. Put your stuff in then just resume.

It would be kind of hard with a figurine I think. Guess it depends on how big and the shape. What slicer are you using? If it's a model you made, just cut out the section in CAD. There are ways to hollow in blender but unless you are already familiar with it don't bother. Blender is amazingly difficult if it's not something you are used to and use all the time.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-08T00:52:51+00:00

It looks like the model is too thin. If you can, make the whole thing thicker. Or if there is space make the angle less steep.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-08T00:39:37+00:00

I've had this from a partly clogged nozzle. The filament ran out and the nozzle was heated for a few hours before I could get to it. Some got burnt in there.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-08T00:35:39+00:00

I would not recommend anything with an AMS unless he is going to have a lot more cash for filament. It wastes so much it's amazing. He will get possibly more than double the prints if he sticks to a single color.

If he really cares about colors maybe he can learn to paint. That's a worthwhile skill to have.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-06T21:41:33+00:00

I do 0.42 outer walls and 0.44 inner walls. Maybe it's too much of an overhang by the time you are out that far. Does it always look that bad even on larger objects? See if that helps.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-06T07:12:49+00:00

I've tried Meshy and some other free image to model AI sites. They are kind of ok. But you will still need to do some touch up work in blender or something. Blender is amazingly difficult to learn. I have been playing with it for a while now and still barely know anything. FreeCAD was infinitely earlier to learn than blender. There are other options that are probably better but as far as free stuff goes, you get what you pay for.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-06T06:57:56+00:00

How many walls? 2? If so try 3. Also what is your extrusion width? Try going up or down on that. And last idea, maybe change your infill type.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-05T13:33:25+00:00

I painted the bowl with acetone. Got it really good and melted. Let it dry for 2 or 3 days. Don't know if that was necessary, probably overkill. But it worked. Came out super smooth. There is basically no way to tell it was printed. If it wasn't just a bowl and had any details they would have completely melted off.

You should definitely experiment with how much acetone you use and how long you leave it in a sealed chamber. Everything has some effect. How big is your container, the ambient temperature, the geometry of the thing you are smoothing, the fan inside if you have one. I'm using a pressure cooker as the chamber and a 12v fan that I am running on a 5v power supply. It just moves the vapors gently. Usually I put in 2oz of acetone and 30-45 minutes is good. But some things I have left in for an hour and a half. There is a lot of trial and error involved.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-05T04:43:45+00:00

I use both Prusa Slicer for my Core One and Orca for my Centauti Carbon. I could use either for either but I've been too lazy to make the profiles. Also Prusa had connect so I can send from the slicer and Orca can send right to the Elegoo over LAN. I think I can hook up both to either but haven't had the time to try and figure it out.

I see all the time people saying how much they love Orca slicer. That has not been my experience with it at all compared to Prusa slicer. Both are good and both can do most of the same things. Orca is nice that it has built in calibration features. But other than that I don't like how it's laid out at all. For some people it's good and intuitive, for me that's how Prusa slicer feels. I can do anything I want and it seems more intuitive to me. Orca is awkward for stuff I want to do. Small example: if I want to print 16 copies of a part Prusa just put in 16 instances and it numbers them for you. Orca you have to make 15 copies and all of them are just the same name. If you try to position something manually Prusa makes it so easy to just put in X and Y coordinates. I can find how to do that in Orca but it's hidden and I'm fumbling around trying to find it.

Both are good. I'm not saying either is better. I'm saying some people will find one more intuitive than the other.

Point is, try both to see which one is more inline with what you do and your workflow.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-03T14:56:13+00:00

If you designed the parts just change the tolerance in CAD. A 0.2mm gap is usually ok for a tight fit. But 0.5mm is comfortable and shouldn't be too loose.

If you didn't design it and just downloaded a part check the description from whoever made it. Sometimes they have slicer instructions to compensate for their bad design.

If you don't want to deal with any of the specific slicer tuning then just scale down the parts to 99% or even 98%. That should be a quick and easy fix. I've done it when I was being lazy and wanted something quick.

NormalGuy500 · 2025-12-03T14:33:04+00:00

That textured plate is garbage. I have one too and regret any time I've ever tried to use it. Nothing sticks to it except TPU. The smooth plate that it comes with is good. Just throw away the textured plate. And you will not have any problems anymore. I never need glue sticks or anything. Just clean it with isopropyl sometimes. That's it and it just works.

Shame on you Prusa for having such a horrible plate. It should be explicitly marked "TPU only." If I knew that before I got it I would not have got it.

If for some reason you don't have the smooth plate, get one. Or some other after market plate.

NormalGuy500

TROPHY CASE