My Journey from Resin to FDM 3D Printing or Troubleshooting Your Creality Ender 3 S1 Printer

[@evanstrong4064]

wow crazy to learn about the autoleveling problem in creality, this is a useful video. thank you!

[@GreylightMay]

Thanks for watching, Evan!

[@RoseKindred]

Hey, I missed your videos. Sorry, life. Welcome to FDM, when we talked last I was hoping you were not gonna get an Ender, for some of the reasons you showed. But, now that you are past the hurdle I cannot wait to see more stuff. You have so many neat toys now! A possible solution for the box, on the underside of the "flange" extend it downward and angle to the wall. Kinda hard for me to describe, but, like a curtain rod holder that looks like a 45-degree square tool. It doesn't need to extend to the bottom all the way, just a little way down, a few mm should work. This will take away the need for support(s). I would also print the llama separately from the box, that way it can be its own STL and color. Also, with updates to Cura, Prusa, and Lychee, I recommend a different slicer program that has Tree/Organic supports. They work much like Resin supports do but are easier to remove. I cannot recommend one over the other now as my FDM is no longer working. But Cura was always my favorite.

[@GreylightMay]

Rose! I was hoping you would see this, as I remember you were waiting for me to get into FDM! I've seen that people recommend the tree supports, and Creality has other options beyond the default I used here, but tree isn't one of them. I am surprised, because it seems like theirs is based on Cura but it must not be the most recent version. I will do some research and switch. I understand what you are describing with the flange. Do you know why the resin printer can do it as designed and the FDM can't? Both need to build off a preexisting piece. Does the fact that resin does a whole layer at once give it more ability to handle small shifts like this? If so, that is another advantage. Welcome back! Do you plan on getting a new FDM?

[@RoseKindred]

​@@GreylightMay Yeah, "tree" supports and the like are still rather new for FDM, Prusa just got them in a Beta release, which users have said is not always stable. I am sure more companies will implement them into their slicers. Cura just went through a major update, seems their tree supports are even better now according to a few forum people as well as adding support for more printers. I am not smart enough to explain why it works better with Resin, but my assumption is that weight plays a factor. Each layer on a resin print is much smaller than a layer with FDM plastic, so there is less "pull" on overhangs. Go too far though and the pull will collapse and fail. If that ledge was farther out you may need to add supports to it, depending on orientation, etc... I do plan on getting another FDM, it will probably be a year till I can.

[@AndreaP_N7]

It's wild that Creality's software doesn't account for its own auto-leveling feature 😮That is inexcusable for a paid upgrade. My 3D printer experience was the reverse of yours. I started with FDM (a base model Ender 3), then added a resin one later. I find resin so much more intimidating simply due how messy resin is, but the printer itself is simpler to operate. I had the same issue you did with trying to find good instructions for assembling the Ender 3. I had to consult multiple assembly videos as no single video showed everything clearly. That multi-color filament looks amazing, though. I need to get some!

[@GreylightMay]

Andrea, I think it is more common to start with FDM, especially since resin arrived on the scene later. The cleaning and chemicals ARE intimidating, I really hate that part. Resin printing is faster, though both processes are slow. Like everything in life, there are tradeoffs that need to be weighed, but both are also a little bit miraculous. I still marvel that these machines are affordable for hobbyists like me!

[@ronm6585]

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

[@GreylightMay]

Thanks, Ron, I appreciate it!