In this film I share a couple of things I’ve leant in my first year of 3D printer ownership, and in particular the role silica gel can play in keeping 3D printer filament in good condition.
The gauze containers will find uses beyond 3D printing filament storage, indeed anywhere anything needs to be kept moisture free. Electronic assemblies, camera equipment, documents etc
Clearly not everyone who has a 3D printer also has a metal working workshop, but maybe you know someone willing to swap some print time for some machine tool time, maybe you have a nearby maker space, or maybe what I’m describing will plant the seed of an alternative approach that better suits the tools and materials you have to hand.
Be aware, unlike using a powered dehydrator, it can take several days for the moisture to diffuse out of the filament. But I’m a low consumption user and am not in any rush. This passive drying approach suits my needs perfectly, but may not work for everyone.
The elegant simplicity of the factory fitted reverse Bowden setup has the great advantage that it keeps the distance between the reel and extruder constant, regardless of where the print head is, so filament is only pulled through by the extruder itself.
Using the pulley arrangement means that the X Y movement of the print head carriage also tends to pull filament off the reel, sometimes in big chunks. In my experience at least, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It may not work as well with very heavy reels or machines that have high speed movement over a large work envelope.
There are plenty of breakfast cereal storage boxes out there that will probably work well. I chose the Lock-n-Lock HPL951 as they were end of line at the local supermarket, and going for a song. If anyone would like to print their own RH meter holder (to suit this particular box), it’s available on Printables here: www.printables.com/model/821386-hygrometer-relative-humidity-gauge-holder-for-lock
I use two thermal cuts outs, a standard thermal pellet fuse and a non-resetting bimetallic trip, to increase the chances of a successful disconnection in the event of an over temperature event. The 70 Celsius temperature chosen may be too low for more exotic filaments, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Arbour, arbor or mandrel / mandril? Meh. Call it what you will.
Chapters
00:00 Chapter 1: Introduction
00:39 Chapter 2: Improving TPU prints
01:49 Chapter 3: Printer Enclosure & Safety
02:30 Chapter 4: Keeping an eye on things
03:08 Chapter 5: Clean and dry
03:51 Chapter 6: Using silica gel
06:17 Chapter 7: Gauze silica gel containers
08:17 Chapter 8: Preparing an end cap arbor
09:56 Chapter 9: Making a set of end caps
13:11 Chapter 10: Filling the tubes
13:47 Chapter 11: Reusing silica gel
15:17 Chapter 12: Room for improvement
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POST UPLOAD UPDATES:
Thanks for the suggestion of a food dehydrator. If I ever drop on a cheap one, I'll pick one up to try. Although they are available, they’re not at all that common here -I certainly don't know anyone who has one. UK kitchen gadgets like this go through phases (think the Breville sandwich toaster, the smoothy maker and more recently the air fryer). If food preservation catches on, charity shops will soon be filled with filament driers for everyone!
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I’ve had a couple of queries about the kitchen cabinet I used:
It’s an Ikea METOD 60x60x80 base cabinet.
I’d forgotten until I had a closer look just now -these come with an open top (they are supplied with two metal strips to retain the sides) so I promoted an UTRUSTA 60x60 internal shelf to be a top (secured with six large furniture screws fitted through the top edges -wouldn’t look great in the kitchen, but fine for my purposes).
The door is a 60x80 VEDDINGE.
I sealed the edges and painted the back of cupboard back board the try and make it a bit more durable in my damp workshop. As it sits on a shelf, the rectangular cuts outs at the top corners (meant for fixing it to the wall) were filled with a couple of scraps of thin plywood.
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Manually subtitled for accuracy. Click the CC box.
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Shot: HC-X920 & HDC-HS700 1920x1080 50P AVCHD. Nozzlecam 3840x2160 30P
Edit: DaVinci Resolve 18.6.4
Mic: NT1