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.