Filament Coloring

Topics Related to the ORD Bot Printer

Filament Coloring

Postby blah_59 » Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:57 pm

A little different than my usual questions but here goes: I recently changed from a QU-BD hot end to a J-Head and I couldn't be happier with the reliability. But here's the question, I pulled out a spool of Proto-Paradigm Black filament that I haven't used in about a month and printed with it yesterday. The print came out good but the color was more like a flat black than the semi-gloss that it used to come out as. Could that be a symptom of older filament or is it a symptom of the different hot end?

Thought or ideas?
blah_59
 
Posts: 158
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:08 am

Re: Filament Coloring

Postby cvoinescu » Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:43 am

This is not an answer, but another possibility: it may be that the temperature is different. Even if your settings are the same, the QU-BD thermistor is stuck to the outside of the extruder, while the one on the J-Head is nicely inside the heated metal block. The actual temperature inside the hot end may be quite different.
cvoinescu
 
Posts: 501
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:12 am
Location: Camberley, Surrey, UK

Re: Filament Coloring

Postby blah_59 » Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:01 am

Interesting and insightful idea, gonna try a quick calibration cube with the heat jacked up a little.
blah_59
 
Posts: 158
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:08 am

Re: Filament Coloring

Postby roberlin » Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:05 am

Sometimes my fans turn the print a bit "frosty" instead of smooth and glossy...
roberlin
 
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:05 pm
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Re: Filament Coloring

Postby orcinus » Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:09 am

The surface finish varies with temperature.
Low temperatures = matte finish.
High temperatures = glossy finish.

You can create interesting effects by varying the temperature in a controlled fashion.
There's a plugin for Cura, if i recall correctly, for doing exactly that. It's meant for something else (achieving a wood-like texture using the wood-filler filament), but can be used for this too.
orcinus
 
Posts: 720
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:03 am


Return to ORD Bot

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 28 guests

cron