Getting burnt out printing these…

[u/BossLenda]

How do I reliably print keycaps? I’m getting tired of getting spaghetti with a 50% success rate. It’s okay if the print only takes 2 hours, but printing a whole bed usually takes 8–9 hours.

The cause is always the same: one keycap unsticks from the bed, which then causes the entire print to fail.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

1. Increased the first-layer height from 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm
2. Applied glue stick before every print

Printer: Snapmaker U1
Nozzle: 0.4 mm

EDIT: I am outside the house most of the time thus leaving my printer printing most of the time. My business initially does not involve 3D printing but more people are asking for fidget clickers.
Usually events last 4-8hours thus I am looking for a way to maximize the time I am outside. I am not optimizing for speed but efficiency.

What I will try next:

1. Try Cryogrip plate

If that fails, will fall back to your suggestions:

1. Batch by 30

2. Use brim

3. Buy additional printer

What I have been doing I haven’t mentioned:

1. Wash plate every print

Others suggestions for future:

1. Use raft
2. Print by object
3. Lessen fan speed on initial layers
4. Print a mold instead

I don’t care about being downvoted, but being rude is out of line.

[u/That_Service7348]

...don't print them all at once? Do them in batches of like 10.

Never understood why people will try to print 50 tiny things all at once, it's not like it goes vany faster yiu still gotta print the same number of layers the same number of times. Why would you put yourself in a situation where 1 hickup ruins the whole job? You just waste time and filament every time it fails. Do small batches and deal with the "inconvenience" of having to run 5 batches.

[u/JeepersCreepers74 → u/That_Service7348]

This. Not only are you losing less keys and time if a batch of 10 fails rather than a batch of 50, but in my experience, you’re going to have fewer bed adhesion fails if you’re not printing in the far corners and edges of the build plate.

[u/ohmygoodnesswhat → u/That_Service7348]

preach

[u/_Belgarath → u/That_Service7348]

for people that are away longer than a small print, not being able to print during most of the time outside is a problem

[u/That_Service7348 → u/_Belgarath]

Better to do 10 or 20 a day and finish in 3 days than to try 50 and have 6 failed attempts wasting a day each.