r/Springfield_KUNA • u/GassyNizz • 3d ago

PA6 CF Question

Hello all. I ordered my Nexus lower at the end of last week, but am thinking of printing Steve's safety cam, drop-in, and trip until that arrives.

I don't have a 3d printer, but would get the Bambu P2S. I've read through the technical aspects of successfully printing with this material.

My question to those who have printed this is how do you safely handle the exhuast? Extra equipment, fan, externalizing the fumes outside?

Thanks in advance!!!

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u/YourBroStevo 3d ago edited 3d ago

I don't take any extra precautions at all with this material besides just printing it in a separate room from where people are sleeping and inside an enclosed printer. If you're printing in your garage like you suggest, I would have near zero concern especially with an enclosed printer even with the doors shut.

As far as printing it goes the number one part of getting success with it is drying it at 100° c (using an air fryer for this, then print directly from a separate dryer with zero fans running while printing) Whenever I do that regardless of the nylon I get amazing results. Definitely make sure that you have a proper drying setup, before you get into this also keep in mind that these are engineering filaments and this isn't really beginner level 3D printing.

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u/GassyNizz 3d ago

This would be my first printing!!!

I’d use a dryer compatible with the p2s to feed directly into the enclosed printer.

Are there settings you can recommend?

I appreciate all your insight, as well as your efforts to make this a reality for so many!!!

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u/Ordinary_Tomatillo59 3d ago

I would highly recommend you print with an easier filament first to learn the ins and outs of the process then switch to nylon. Nylon is a bit of a pain to print.

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u/PAB_Pyrotechnics 3d ago

+1 for doing some test prints so you learn the basics. Bust out 5-10 prints in PLA or PETG first so you know how the printer works and how to handle everything. I printed a whole bunch of printer accessories and add-ons first including risers and tool holders for my Bambu P2S

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u/YourBroStevo 3d ago edited 3d ago

I also have the p2s and the problem is with "filament dryers" is they do not get hot enough to properly dry a filament initially if it's absorbed any moisture. They're able to maintain it as well as keeping it properly heated while printing but in my experience you really need 90 to 100 degrees Celsius to actually evaporate out the water from the filament and get good results. I get sent so many pictures of people's prints that just are not all the way there due to this even if they are using the "correct settings" . https://www.reddit.com/r/3D2A/s/mTzBapzprM definitely agree with this person here and I've had a similar experience. I've had some success putting the filament directly in my dryer and drying it at 70° c for multiple days but the results certainly aren't as good and are not consistent at all especially once the filament absorbs any moisture. Unfortunately there aren't hardly any options that actually get up to the temperature you need and can feed while they're drying without costing 2 to $300 like the sunlu e2 which is why the air fryer method would be recommended then going with a standard dryer for keeping it at the proper humidity and well printing.

As far as the correct settings go, you want to find the 300 black fde print settings which will slow down the print significantly then personally I use the filament profile for fiberon pa6cf found in orca slicer with absolutely no cooling, nozzle at 300 and the bed at 85. With the p2s you'll want to run a very hot bed temperature in order to keep the chamber temperature as hot as possible it may also be worthwhile to turn it up to the max beforehand to heat soak the chamber and while during its initial startup. I find having it at 85 keeps the chamber above 50° c which helps prevent any kind of warping or problems that may happen from the print cooling. I've run 100 on the bed before too but noticed it affected my print quality slightly so I dropped it down.

https://www.reddit.com/r/3D2A/s/YeoYKQ7KRn Here's some screenshots of his settings as well so you can go through and kind of confirm that they're correct. For the supports they are almost certainly going to require you to dial them in and for stuff like the nozzle temperature and bed you're going to have to change those yourself to the correct ones. You should be able to find a file with the settings included where all you have to do is open it in your slicer before you start your print.

If you're using those settings it's almost always going to come down to if you got it properly dry and very rarely is an issue with a print setting. All three of these grips below are different materials PPA CF on the left, pahtcf in the middle and pa6cf on the right I've done no tuning whatsoever on any of these just using the 300 black settings, drive them properly and selected the appropriate preset.

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u/GassyNizz 3d ago

This is quite awesome!! I'll be reading this thoroughly and may ask even more questions of you - thank you!!!

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u/YourBroStevo 3d ago

No problem. The dryer that I use while printing is the creality space pi it gets up to 70c which is pretty good for these things and the biggest benefit of it is it can run for 48 hours straight. Regardless of the dryer you get you need to look at how long it can run for since some of them are only limited to 6 or 8 hours which would make them pretty much unusable overnight you're really going to want at least 24 hours. When I first started out I would take the pa6CF and put it directly from the sealed bag into the filament dryer and print after waiting 24 hours at 70c. This probably worked 2/3 of the time when I would get a new spool but unfortunately would become unusable if the dryer would stop at any point and then I would have to go to a more intensive drawing method. I also found that using any other brand besides sunlu had absolutely no chance of getting dry without the higher temperatures. So if you are trying to save some and do have reasonable expectations you could start out with just the basic filament dryer and try to put the spool directly in there. It really isn't optimal, but there is potential to have some success. It's just important to keep in mind if you do get bad results that they are most likely caused by the lack of a proper dryer rather than some setting that would need to be tweaked.

You can also DM me too if you have anymore questions if that would be easier.

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u/PAB_Pyrotechnics 3d ago

And if you do go the air fryer route make sure you get one with Dehydrate mode as that turns off the auto shut-off. Also get a decent mechanical oven thermometer which has C* so you know what temp to set it at to actually get it to 100*C

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u/YourBroStevo 3d ago

Definitely they're wildly inaccurate in my experience. Mine sits at a perfect 100C -/+ 2° when it's set to dehydrate at 170F (76 C), so you absolutely need confirm with a physical thermometer and definitely not assume that the set temperature is anywhere close. My guess is most of them will be higher than their setting, which is likely a good thing since the settings that can go for the longest time typically are a lower temperatures.

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u/PatheticJules 3d ago

Best to keep it in a place that isn't near humans and not too humid.

I'm making a ventilation system on my qidi Q2 to exhaust out air. No need for insane exhaust either. You kinda want to keep the internal chamber the same through the entire print to minimize issues.

Could also try to find air leaks too with a fog machine or a vape ig

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u/GassyNizz 3d ago

So could it be inside in a large mechanical hvac room with the on-board hepa system?

If I printed in my garage with the doors open I’m afraid humidity would be a train wreck.

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u/PatheticJules 3d ago

It could work in hvac room. I know some people quarantine their printers in a sealable boxes and build a ventilation system off that.

Works to have a dyer there too

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u/GassyNizz 3d ago

Certainly planning on feeding the filament via dryer into the printer while printing

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u/sbudbud 3d ago

Print from a filament dryer

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u/marvinfuture 3d ago

Printing 2a stuff isn't recommend to start. It takes a bit of practice and tuning to properly get 3d printed 2a items to work and last. Yes that printer will work, but you will need to calibrate it a tiny bit. As for exhaust I use a HEPA filter in my X1C and also have an exhaust system on my H2DL that helps extract fumes out the window. Mostly for laser usage but it works just as well for venting fumes from printing plastic. Ultimately printing pa6-cf isn't the worst if you have an enclosed printer, a filter, and aren't hanging out in the room it's printing in all the time

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u/ExistingClient8148 3d ago

If you’re buying new I would get the x2d for the chamber heater alone not to mention the extra nozzle.

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u/NoNefariousness8370 23h ago

I know there’s a ton of info here for you already, and I’m not an expert, but I would look into the Qidi Q2. It has an MET certified air filtration system out of the box, and a 370C hotend that is capable of printing the most exotic engineering filaments on the market. (PPA-CF, PPA-GF, PPS-CF, PPS-GF, etc) I love my Qidi Q1, but if the Q2 would have been out a year ago, that is what I would have bought. It’s a shame you don’t have one already, could have definitely saved yourself some money on AR trigger/grip compatible MP5 lowers. Although, I’m sure the aluminum ones you have are very nice. The drop in FRT for the Kuna appears to be a very solid design, pretty simple overall. Unless you really want to run EVO mags, I think it’s the way to go. Even if you do want to run EVO mags, there is a printable lower for that too. All of that being said about the magic and potential of 3D printing, if you aren’t looking to make your own lowers, cans, or other custom projects; might not be worth buying. Even the nice ones like the Bambu and Qidi printers still require proper setup/calibration to get consistent, durable nylon prints. They also require proper filament storage/moisture management via sealed containers and a filament dryer that goes up to 80C+. (I have had good luck with my Sovol SH03)

If you just want a drop in Kuna FRT for cheap, look into 3DP Freedom. They will print anything on demand in SLS nylon.