I’d like to print in PLA, I really would.  No warping?  No rafts?  Smells like syrup?  Makes kittens and rainbows?  Sign me up!

Rick from MakerGear has the following suggestions for printing in PLA:

  • Have a 150-160 C degree temperature for the entry of the barrel
  • He notes that the nozzle temperature is roughly 190 C degrees
  • However, later he suggests printing at 220-235 was possible
  • He suggests not to worry overmuch about PLA in the threads – its just one of those things

Nick McCoy offered several pieces of wisdom:

  • He found that 10W-30 oil added lightly to the PLA as it entered the extruder, by adding oil to a piece of cotton wrapped around the filament, helped it print without jamming
  • He noticed that pausing the extruder for more than a few seconds would jam the barrel
  • He found he could print at 180-210 degrees (I assume he’s measuring the nozzle temperature as you would with an ABS setup)

Nick’s results suggesting a nozzle temperature of 180-210 seem to match up with Rick’s findings of 190 or so.  I think I’ll give Polly another shot and see if I can extrude at those temperatures.

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You guys are going to have to let me know if this whole “Polly/PLA” and “Abby/ABS” thing starts to get creepy.  Ferris Bueller famously once said…  “You can never go too far.”  As far as I know, anyone who’s ever taken Ferris’s advice ended up just fine.

I’m tempted to explain the references, but I don’t want to kill the joke…

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My friends are telling me to give you another chance.  They say you’re not so bad, that if I just put in the time things will work out.  They say you’re capable of being faithful too…

Maybe there was just too much pressure on our relationship.  Heaven knows we let things get too heated sometimes.

Was I expecting too much from you?  I thought everything would be magic and come out smelling like roses.  Things seemed to work fine at first, but they quickly turned into a big gooey mess.

Polly, I’m so confused.  After all we’ve been through, I get all choked up…  I just don’t know how I can take you back so soon.  And, well, Abby has always been there for me… 1

Truly,

MakerBlock

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  1. Well, for the month and half I’ve had my MakerBot… []