Fauxhammer shows many tricks and tips on troubleshooting your 3D printer- check out what to do when you can’t print miniatures.
Fauxhammer has some unique Warhammer and tabletop hobby content, so if you need some sweet tips, you should follow him to get up on all your painting and conversion techniques!
When printing miniatures like Warhammer 40k, you can sometimes run into problems when setting up or using your printer, so instead of fumbling around, check out his tips first from his troubleshooting 3d printers video.
Troubleshooting Your 3D Printer For Printing Miniatures
So, you’ve just got your printer, and things aren’t going how you want; well, here are five steps for troubleshooting your 3d printer to get your miniatures looking perfect!
Step 1:
Level the build plate! One of the most significant issues is people don’t get their build plate leveled. While there are many methods, you should always follow your printer’s guide. However, every printer first needs to take off the vat and throw it on a single sheet of A4 paper folded in half on top.
This generally works as a guide for where to level your printer to. Some printers will need more, but a single sheet folded in half is a good starting point.
Then, when you lower the build plate, it should sit flush on the paper with just a bit of resistance. If one corner doesn’t reach the paper, you’ll have to lower that part until it touches. Again, some printers can be finicky, and if the paper method doesn’t; work, you probably need to join a group for your specific printer or contact your printer’s manufacturer (sorry about that).
Lastly, you also want it to be tight, so make sure the screws up top are tight enough (but not too tight and throw off the leveling), or the whole thing will wobble and tell your printer this is where the zero point is.
Step 2:
Print something! Some people may be yelling; you need to do exposure tests first! However, you just got a new 3D printer, so you might as well print something. But you can’t just print anything; you want to print out one of the test prints that come with the computer. Pick the simplest thing you can print, and get to printing!
This proves that the printer works, so while you can change things later, you want to be sure that the printer can print an object.
If it’s not a success, here are some reasons why it may have failed:
- The resin you may have used was incorrect for that printer, so just use the resin that came with the printer.
- The main reason after that is temperature. The resin can fail if the temperature in the room you’re printing is too hot or cold. Most resin has a temperature range, and if you’re outside of that, this can all fail.
- Be sure to watch the video to see more on this.
Step 3:
Getting the optimal exposure time. This is harder than you might think, as it depends on your environment, temperature, and environment. The first thing is to download the Lychee Slicer program, which gives you a massive set of profiles that are based on your same printer, and it will give you the exposure time you should use.
This is a starting point, and this should get you close to the correct exposure time. The next thing is to download an exposure file that you can print. Depending on how your print looks, you can either increase or decrease your exposure time (most files made for exposure show you which way to go).
Most exposure tests have posts and holes, so if you have more posts than holes, you have overexposed; if it’s the opposite, you need to increase it. Next up, you want to choose your layer height. 0.05mm or 0.02 mm are your best bets for miniatures.
However, you can go smaller depending on the micron printing capabilities of your printer.
Step 4:
Print fun stuff! Considering you bought the printer, you might as well start printing fun miniatures. Either way, if you can print a miniature, you can probably print anything else.
However, you want to print something that is pre-supported and supported very well to start because sometimes, your printer is working, but something isn’t supported correctly, and you might think something is wrong with your printer when it’s not.
If you can get something like the above miniature to print correctly, you are ready to go, and you can start printing pretty much whatever!
Step 5:
Now that everything is up and working, don’t wait; get printing! If you’ve got the model from earlier printed, it generally comes down to supports. So, print whatever you like and try to learn how to support models correctly.
Be sure to watch the video below for all the details!
Click Here To Follow Fauxhammer on the Web or on YouTube
After watching this, did this help you with troubleshooting your 3d printer problems for printing miniatures?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
