Hi, your 240deg print is still foaming as it is less than half the weight of regular pla. The hotter you print lw pla, the weaker it is so a happy middle ground needs to be found. At higher temps with higher foaming I have found the parts to become ever more flexible and weaker
Thanks for the comment. On my Prusa `mini I also have to print PLA at a higher than normal temperature (~+10C) so I think the temperature sensor is slightly inaccurate. That suggests that the 240C for LW-PLA might actually be 230C. I have an IR camera - perhaps worth checking.
I did some further testing and found that if I increase the flow rate a bit (from 0.42 to 0.52) and slow the print speed to 30mm/s I get a slightly thicker perimeter with 5 degrees cooler temperature - first layer still 240C, other layers 235C. Next step is to do some test cubes at 235 and 230C to check thickness and stiffness.
I’ve been looking at this idea “old balsa/ monokote” gas rc guy. Looking at building again. All the foam stuff is insanely heavy with really poor flight characteristics. But if you mix 3d printed ribs, with old school building techniques it would be easy to get really strong and very light wing structures. I haven’t seen anyone try that yet. They all want the 3d printer to do the whole job. Which I don’t think is realistic. The new electric power systems definitely are good sadly the air frames today are just heavy junk because everyone wants zero build/assembly effort.
One of my older videos uses 3D printed ribs with a foam skin that also has a packing tape coating - a hybrid ARMIN approach. What I have not yet done is use the LW-PLA ribs with the foam skin. Should work a treat as long as there is a CF spar (or two) to tie the LW-PLA ribs together. Let us know if you try something like it!
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Hi, your 240deg print is still foaming as it is less than half the weight of regular pla. The hotter you print lw pla, the weaker it is so a happy middle ground needs to be found. At higher temps with higher foaming I have found the parts to become ever more flexible and weaker
Thanks for the comment. On my Prusa `mini I also have to print PLA at a higher than normal temperature (~+10C) so I think the temperature sensor is slightly inaccurate. That suggests that the 240C for LW-PLA might actually be 230C. I have an IR camera - perhaps worth checking.
I did some further testing and found that if I increase the flow rate a bit (from 0.42 to 0.52) and slow the print speed to 30mm/s I get a slightly thicker perimeter with 5 degrees cooler temperature - first layer still 240C, other layers 235C. Next step is to do some test cubes at 235 and 230C to check thickness and stiffness.
I’ve been looking at this idea “old balsa/ monokote” gas rc guy. Looking at building again. All the foam stuff is insanely heavy with really poor flight characteristics.
But if you mix 3d printed ribs, with old school building techniques it would be easy to get really strong and very light wing structures. I haven’t seen anyone try that yet. They all want the 3d printer to do the whole job. Which I don’t think is realistic. The new electric power systems definitely are good sadly the air frames today are just heavy junk because everyone wants zero build/assembly effort.
One of my older videos uses 3D printed ribs with a foam skin that also has a packing tape coating - a hybrid ARMIN approach. What I have not yet done is use the LW-PLA ribs with the foam skin. Should work a treat as long as there is a CF spar (or two) to tie the LW-PLA ribs together. Let us know if you try something like it!