The 3D printed model for InqVent was published on Thingiverse.com on 12 June 2020. You can download the *.stl files from there. This section will provide details about printer settings required so you can create a successful InqVent. You will find four *.stl files.
These four files contain all the necessary 3D printed parts for InqVent. The parts found on all four files are arranged within a 150mm x 150mm area convenient for most printers. The maximum height of any one print is 43 mm. I use Ultimaker Cura for my slicer program and the settings required below are representative of it. If you must use another slicer program, it is your responsibility to find and use the equivalent settings. Using the following settings, all four models are printed in less than 20 hours and use approximately 230 grams of ABS plastic.
Note about Materials: Currently, only ABS plastic is recommended and the following settings reflect using ABS. I am printing (12 June 2020) an InqVent using PLA and will be evaluating and making modifications to the model and print settings if I find is a viable candidate. Early results are promising, so check back here if you are limited to using PLA.
Cura Custom Print Settings
In Cura, I have the visibility set for showing ALL settings under the Preferences/Configure Cura…/Settings menu item. There are several hundred settings available. Any setting not shown below, the default value should be used. They are in order and grouped per the Cura Custom setting editor dropdown.
- Quality
- Layer Height = 0.2 mm
- Initial Layer Height = 0.2 mm
- Line Width = 0.4 mm
- Shell
- Wall Thickness = 1.2 mm
- Outer Wall Wipe Distance = 0 mm
- Top/Bottom Thickness = 1 mm
- Top/Bottom Pattern = Lines
- Bottom Pattern Initial Layer = Lines
- Top/Bottom Line Directions = [0,45,-45,90]
- Compensate Wall Overhangs = unchecked
- Fill Gaps Between Walls = Nowhere
- Filter Out Tiny Gaps = unchecked
- Z Seam Alignment = Random
- Infill
- Infill Density = 25%
- Infill Pattern = Cubic Subdivision
- Infill Overlap Percentage = 0
- Infill Before Walls = unchecked
- Material – For ABS Plastic
- Printing Temperature = 255.0 C
- Build Plate Temperature = 100 C
- Speed
- Print Speed = 80.0 mm/s – All other values are adjusted based on this value.
- Skirt/Brim Speed = 40.0 mm/s
- Travel – These values are highly dependent on the type of printer you are using… especially whether it uses a Direct vs Bowden drive. Use the recommending settings for your type of printer.
- Cooling
- Enable Print Cooling = unchecked – There is much debate about print cooling for ABS and PLA. In both materials, I have found far superior structural strength especially in the z direction when print cooling is off. It permits far more time and heat for fusing to the last layer. The issues when it is advisable to have it on is for very small or cosmetic models like action figures where small details tend to get blurred. The fact that many or large models are printed at the same time allows the previous layer to fully solidify before the print head returns to the same area.
- Support
- Generate Support = As the names of the files shows, model files (A) and (B) should have this unchecked. Model files (C) and (D) should have this checked. The rest of the settings under Support only apply to (C) and (D).
- Support Placement = Everywhere
- Support Overhang Angle = 50
- Support Pattern = Lines
- Support Wall Line Count = 0
- Support Density = 10%
- Support Infill Line Directions = [0]
- Support Z Distance = 0.1 mm
- Support X/Y Distance = 0.7 mm
- Build Plate Adhesion – In general, you should not need build plate adhesion if you are used to reliable adhesion with your printer. Models (B), (C) and (D) have large surfaces in contact with the bed. However, model (A) has some small parts that have little bed contact and it will give the most problems in this regard. If you find issues, you might want to add a Brim of 4 mm.
- Mesh Fixes
- Union Overlapping Volumes = unchecked
- Merge Meshes Overlap = 0
- Maximum Resolution = 1 mm
- Maximum Travel Resolution = 1 mm
- Experimental
- Slicing Tolerance = Middle
- Enable Bridge Settings = checked