Unable to remove raft from print

#1

Hi there,

Since I havent seen this his question before I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my printer.

I have been a proud owner of the the Zortrax M200 for over two weeks but haven't been to happy with my prints since the rafts simply won't come of the products. Pretty strange that the 2 files that came with the SD card (bearring and carabiner) don't seem to have this problem. Any idea??

Is there any way I can change my designs to make it easier to remove the raft. So far I have been trying really hard to put a small knive between the print and the raft. Won't be doing that again since I cut myself pretty good, ended up in the hospital where they had to give me 3 stitches in my artery (no joke I made a mess!)

I can only think of one thing that may have caused this problem. Can it have something to do with me not putting in the right serialcode into the zsuite software. I asked for a serialcode before buying the printer since I wanted to test the functionality (which I think is important before buying a printer). After I purchased a printer I couldn't find any option to change the serial code anymore.

Please any advice on the raft issue, its now getting really disappointing...

Greeting,

Jordy

#2

Wow, I hope all your projects aren't red now!  :o

Can you give some more details on settings? E.g. Material and layer height? Are you also having issue with removing support? If you post up the STL I could give it a shot and see if I have issues too. 

And for future reference, if you have a part that you know will have difficulty coming off the raft, my advice is use the scraper to separate the part from raft before removing the raft from the build plate. 

#3

If you print with Z-Filaments and the corresponding Profile for that filament in Z-Suite, then there should be no issue with getting the raft off.

I cannot imagine what kind of model could withdraw this statement (raft should go off easy with any model).

Printer issues that could have impact: bed calibration, Z-Axis height and wrong temprature.

#4

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Get these, they will save you the hospital trip and prevent major injury. Also stop aiming the knives towards your self, never near the hand's or leg's, it is a bit difficult to remember to do at times but it can save you a lot of pain.

-Michael

#5

It's not just your Printer. I know I have issues with removing rafts but only with some materials. 

Had a ZHIPS print last night that that was difficult to remove. Most of the ZHIPS white is a pain for me and occasionally Zultrat grey. 

Always use a hard work surface and point the knife away from you. A vice is sometimes nice but using an Exacto knife with a fresh blade always works. Just take your time and don't rush it. Hate to see you bleed out and have that beautiful printer sit there all alone.  :(

#6

I have the same issue form time time time. It's rare but almost always it's because the object is a teeny bit off the bottom in Z-Suite. This has happened before when I was printing four objects at once. Three of the objects were at the same height, while one was slight raised. This caused the raised one to be more adhered to the raft than the others. I did get it off but it was not easy. The other three came right off. Make sense?

The worst part is that job was part of a time lapse with 22 print jobs. Each one had one object out of four stuck! My fault, not Z-Suite or the printer. I should have made sure every part was on the same plane.

#7

Thanks for the quick reaction,

I'm using Z-ABS that came wih the printer.

So I did a little expirement:

Calibrated the platform

Then I printed a simple 3D part

I used 2 different settings of layer height (0.19 & 0.09 mm)

With the 0.19 resolution the raft did separate a bit from the print, not totally though.

With the 0.09 resolution there's no way to remove the raft.

I also took a photo of the print with raft still attached, you can see that the raft will break around the edges of the print and still stick to the print itself leaving no room to put any tool in between them (not gonna use a knife anymore, learned my lesson).

Using a different layer height should not be the solution to the problem though.

Hope somebody can helpout.

BTW, not able to upload photo's and STL-file because I have no idea how to do this using the tools provided in the dialog box of this forum.

Greetings,

Jordy

#8

BTW, not able to upload photo's and STL-file because I have no idea how to do this using the tools provided in the dialog box of this forum.

Try selecting the "More Reply Options" button and you will find more options for attachments.

#9

Thanks for the tip about uploading attachments!

Uploaded the STL-file which I printed in 2 different resolutions (0.19 and 0.09) also see the two screenshots i've taken from Zsuite.

As you can see in the other pictures the raft is pretty stuck to the print, it just broke around the edges. I wasn't able to remove it so I had to throw it away....

Jordy1713

Calibration.jpg

#10

And yet more disapointment today,

Please see the picture attached, this time the print actually broke since the bottom layers came off while trying to remove the raft.

The raft is still attached to the bottom layers. WTF!

I just keep on making parts that end up in the trashcan. I wonder what I will throw away tomorrow??

What can I do?? 

Jordy1723

20150624_212917.jpg

#11

Hi,

Maybe you can try with Z-Suite 0.9.6, it produces a different raft (and please try it with 0.19mm layers first)

Laurent

#12

Could get it off the raft, but it is harder to get off than other objects I printed today.

You should give it time to cool down and if your printer is covered you could try to print without covers to get lower temps.

Sorry for the small pic, running out of upload space.

#13

Mine came off ok.. If you let it cool and then find the sweet spot you can generally get it off. Slowly try to separate all the way around model a time or two. You generally find a spot that starts to break free. Then just keep trying a little at a time.. The straightest edge was the sweet spot for me. I printed with default support .190, full infill, and 100% fan. (no xacto knife used. It snuck into the picture)

#14

Could get it off the raft, but it is harder to get off than other objects I printed today.

You should give it time to cool down and if your printer is covered you could try to print without covers to get lower temps.

Sorry for the small pic, running out of upload space.

If you use "more reply options" button on lower right, You have unlimited upload space for things like this..

#15

Hi there,

Since I havent seen this his question before I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my printer.

I have been a proud owner of the the Zortrax M200 for over two weeks but haven't been to happy with my prints since the rafts simply won't come of the products. Pretty strange that the 2 files that came with the SD card (bearring and carabiner) don't seem to have this problem. Any idea??

Is there any way I can change my designs to make it easier to remove the raft. So far I have been trying really hard to put a small knive between the print and the raft. Won't be doing that again since I cut myself pretty good, ended up in the hospital where they had to give me 3 stitches in my artery (no joke I made a mess!)

I can only think of one thing that may have caused this problem. Can it have something to do with me not putting in the right serialcode into the zsuite software. I asked for a serialcode before buying the printer since I wanted to test the functionality (which I think is important before buying a printer). After I purchased a printer I couldn't find any option to change the serial code anymore.

Please any advice on the raft issue, its now getting really disappointing...

Greeting,

Jordy

Julia has a great solution so people don't lose fingers.. Make it out of wood if you have to.. I think hers is metal.. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:131301

#16
I had the same problem with the last version of Z-Suite.
I switched back to Z-Suite 0.9.6 that works better.
#17

Z-Suite 0.9.6 was suggested twice, would give it a try too.

For the ongoing injuries I would suggest creating a gallery for showing the results, two pics are available already  :ph34r:

#18

If you use "more reply options" button on lower right, You have unlimited upload space for things like this..

This might be true for expert users, Renegades only have limited space of course.  ;)

#19
 

Hi there,

Since I havent seen this his question before I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my printer.

I have been a proud owner of the the Zortrax M200 for over two weeks but haven't been to happy with my prints since the rafts simply won't come of the products. Pretty strange that the 2 files that came with the SD card (bearring and carabiner) don't seem to have this problem. Any idea??

Is there any way I can change my designs to make it easier to remove the raft. So far I have been trying really hard to put a small knive between the print and the raft. Won't be doing that again since I cut myself pretty good, ended up in the hospital where they had to give me 3 stitches in my artery (no joke I made a mess!)

I can only think of one thing that may have caused this problem. Can it have something to do with me not putting in the right serialcode into the zsuite software. I asked for a serialcode before buying the printer since I wanted to test the functionality (which I think is important before buying a printer). After I purchased a printer I couldn't find any option to change the serial code anymore.

Please any advice on the raft issue, its now getting really disappointing...

Greeting,

Jordy

 

I think that your lower fan is broken. Check if it is spinning while doing raft.

Have you contacted support yet?

#20
  • try to print it in a different place on the printer's bed (not in the middle, but f.e. in the corner)
  • try to use different filament colour (i have problems with white and black sometimes)
  • sometimes I use this method: in Z-Suite I put 'pause' in 0%. It makes printer stop just after raft is made, and then I hit "continue printing". It takes some time, the raft surface is cooling down and it's easier to take off part from the raft.

ps. since I got two-lower-fan version, it's better :)