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New guy, first clock. Hello!

Hello all,

Recently retired mechanical engineer here starting on my first clock. Not new to 3D printing, but new to clock building. I just purchased the Moon Phase Clock, as well as the hardware pack. Currently reading through the manual and familiarizing myself with the .stl files. I have also read through many of the topics on the forum and watched a few videos. Currently trying to decide on color, and more importantly, filament type/brand.

I had my hopes set on the silky filaments, but from what I have been reading, the silky can be finicky. Should I avoid the silky filaments on this first build? I have also read (I think), that the MatterHackers filaments are good for these clock projects. Can someone confirm or suggest otherwise from recent experience?

Looking forward to the build. I will post some pictures as I move forward.

Cheers!

8 comments

8 Comments

Pop Fizzle

Dec 06, 2024

I've only used the bambu silk filament it works well. Nozzle temp about 235c degrees and slow down to about 1/3 than bambu recommends. Printing on a P1S what I found is set it hotter and slower than regular PLA. If you're printing on something else test it till you get stringing and dial it back a bit. Layer adhesion with silk can be a problem too cold. I baby sit mine on small overhangs and small towers where the printer is not moving much and drop the temp 5 degrees or so and turn up the air to full. Silk filament can make a beautiful finish but if you have to sand anything it ruins the shine. Hope this helps. Oh! by the way this is my first post on this forum. Love the clock building have a few older metal gear clocks. My first venture too in 3d printing clocks.

Edited

sosalty62

Dec 06, 2024

Replying to

Right on. Thanks for the info. Although 135° seems way low for PLA, but your material may be different. I just started using silk PLA in the last few weeks myself, but have only used the Geeetech brand from Amazon (in Gold). But wow, that is likely the most beautiful printing material I may have ever used. It just works. I just ordered a spool of the tri-color from Geeetech to print my first gear to see how that behaves on the hot bed, and looks. I'll report back.

Cheers mate!

Pop Fizzle

Dec 06, 2024

Replying to

fixing it 235c sorry

Edited

sosalty62

Dec 06, 2024

Replying to

Lol, no worries. I figured it was a typo, but there are a lot of new materials coming out, so you never know if there is a low temp PLA out now. Thanks again.

Steve

Dec 01, 2024

I only use silk PLA for the gears. It looks so much better than normal PLA. There might be a slight amount of extra stickiness that is easily solved with a very thin layer of lithium grease on the pinions. Normally, most of clocks run properly with gears straight from the printer. The rachet is the only component that typically needs a touch of grease.

I started using MatterHackers blue raspberry Quantum PLA because it was the first place that it was readily available. I have switched over to generic dual color PLA from Amazon at around half the price. It works just as well. Generic silk PLA from anywhere is also acceptable.

Enjoy your clock build.

Steve

sosalty62

Dec 01, 2024

Replying to

OK, great. That is good news. So glad it isn't as big of an issue as I thought. The silky materials are addictive. I just recently stared using them on projects, and some are just stunning. Thanks so much for the fast response. I will proceed with filament purchase.

One other question I had in mind but forgot to ask. I believe I had read that for the seams, you tend to prefer the "Random" setting. However, on most of my projects, I tend to prefer "Aligned" so that bores/shafts have the seam as a single line that I can easily bore or trim away for a perfect fit, while the majority of the bore/shaft is perfectly round as printed. Can you offer any additional advice on your latest, preferred method for seam setting? I suppose either way, as long as the bores are bored out, all is good. For shafts, however, I tend to prefer having to trim just a single, straight-line seam.

Thanks again for you help.

Cheers!

Steve

Dec 01, 2024

Replying to

The seam on most parts is purely cosmetic. Anything will work. "Closest" or "aligned" seam position on the weight shell would often leave a very visible line. Random leaves small dots that are more scattered.

The latest slicer feature is scarf seams where the seam is nearly invisible. Most slicers have implemented it. Prusa Slicer only has it in the pre-release 2.9.0-alpha1 version that I am using now. It is the first feature that convinced me to download software before the official release.

Steve

sosalty62

Dec 02, 2024

Replying to

Edited: Moved response to align with comment. I had typed it in the wrong (primary) Comment Box, lol.

Ok, thank you. I won't over-think the seams anymore. Yeah, I saw a YT video about the scarf seams last week. Brilliant. I also have not tried it yet. Lately, I have been taking the time, when it makes sense, to use the seam paint tool to force or exclude seams, putting them right where I deem most appropriate.

Thanks again for your responses.

Cheers!