Rostock MAX v2 User's Guide
#9 Know Your Filament.
This strategy is a bit lower level than the previous eight but important and often overlooked. I
see a lot of folks just assume that they should print filament X at temperature Z – for instance, print
PLA at 200°C. This might get you in the ball park but if you really want to get to consistent and
GREAT results, profile your filament. It's easy and if you write it down (see #7) you'll never second
guess how best to print that filament again. It's important to realize that higher temperatures are not
always better, they can actually lead to issues - parts that are just a little too large, parts that stick to the
bed too well and can't be removed, blobs on the print, stringing, and a host of other problems. In
general, I like to print at the lowest temperature possible for PLA and ABS. Then, as I ramp up print
speed, I also need to ramp up the hot end temp a little since the filament is not resident in the hot zone
for as much time. I suspect little details like this cause people more problems than they might
anticipate.
Here's how I profile a new filament:
• Start with a reasonable target temperature – 200°C for PLA and 225°C for ABS (one quick note,
it is ideal to have a calibrated hot end, so when I say 200°C I mean 200°C. One easy way to do
this is to make a little table with the hot end set temperature (what you see on the temp display)
and the measured temperature (with a thermocouple). Do this in 5°C increments from 160° to
240° C (or so). Keep this chart in your notes (#7) and you will always know what the actual
temperature is.)
• Now, use the manual controls of your host to extrude 50mm at 50mm/s and watch and listen.
• If the filament extrudes nicely, reduce the temperature by 5°C and wait for the temperature to
stabilize.
• Test again by extruding 50mm at 50mm/s
• Repeat until you reach a temperature where the filament does not extrude well. At 5°C to that
temperature and note this as the "low extrusion temperature" for that filament. Use this low
temperature whenever you are printing slowly (20-30mm/s). You might find some filament need
to be bumped up a bit more than 5° so don't hesitate to experiment and find that lowest reliable
extrusion temperature.
If you want to get really serious about profiling your filaments, do the melt-flow test at higher
extrusion rates – 60 mm/s, then 70mm/s, etc.
Don't forget to measure the diameter of your filament too! Not all filaments are created equally.
Measure in several locations to get a sense of variability. Most of the slicers let you enter filament
diameter and they will calculate a reasonable flow for you.
12 – A Strategy for Successful (and great!) Prints - 101
To Next Page
