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Printed parts for Mendel ABS vs PLA

Posted by EmailGuy 
Printed parts for Mendel ABS vs PLA
October 09, 2014 05:47PM
What do people recommend to print replacement or upgrade parts for an original Mendel?

So far I've only printed in PLA because my heated bed only heats up to about 60 C. I *may* be able to print in ABS, but I'll likely have issues because the bed doesn't get hot enough.

I've read that PLA is stiffer and stronger than ABS. For many parts that is an advantage. My only concern is parts near the hotend getting soft because of the heat. Right now I have a Wade's Geared Extruder and an OpenX Mendel carriage. I'm planning on changing the belt to the Prusa style mounting using the Mendel X-axis belt modification and the Prusa-belt 624 X-carriage for Mendel files that are on Thingiverse. I have a genuine hotends.com j-head MK V-BV 0.4 1.75 hotend. I do not have a cooling fan.

Has anyone used PLA for the carriage and extruder parts? Was there any warping?
Re: Printed parts for Mendel ABS vs PLA
October 10, 2014 12:17PM
I think that both are good, but if there are some parts that you need to bend to fit bearings or rods, PLA can crack easier. I print ABS with ABS parts without fan (catnozzle). No melting. I'm gonna buy & test Nylon for gears.


Prusa i3, Ramps 1.4. Catnozzle 0.4mm
SketchUp - Enveloping Globoid Worm Gear - Part One - 3D Printed: [youtu.be]
DesignSpark Mechanical & more precise screw thread: [youtu.be]
Nicer Screw Thread In SketchUp ( Bolts,Nuts): [youtu.be]
How To Model A Heart Shape In SketchUp: [youtu.be]
How To Draw 3D Printable Snap Fit Ball Joint In SketchUp: [youtu.be]
Re: Printed parts for Mendel ABS vs PLA
October 12, 2014 07:15AM
I have PLA extruder and X carriage parts in my Mendel90. However, I am using an E3D hotend with a cooling fan. Perhaps adding a cooling fan for the j-head would solve possible warping problems.
Re: Printed parts for Mendel ABS vs PLA
October 14, 2014 06:54PM
I tried a couple of test prints with ABS and I cannot get them to stick to the bed. My Mendel is very old and the heated bed uses four 1 Ohm resistors in series with a 12v power supply. So that means I'll get 3 amps at 12 volts for a total of 36 watts. It heats up to 60C plus of minus a couple of degrees. I use Kapton tape over glass on top of the aluminum plate.

So without upgrading my bed to a better heater, I can only print in PLA. So far my PLA extruder and carriage have not warped when just printing PLA.

I also have the Gen Electronics, so it would be difficult to control the temperature of a heated bed.

Instead of all the upgrades to this printer (new heated bed, new RAMPs electronics, new carriage and extruder) I may try to build another printer as use this one just for printing PLA.
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