"Multiple printing FMD?" Topic

Is it possible to print more then one item using a FMD printer? I should add "without a lot of bother" TIA

It's not clear what you are asking but you are free to load up your build plate with as much as you like assuming there is room for everything. I routinely print multiples of an item or multiple different items in a single job. It is zero bother.

Please give some additional context so that we can help you through your issues.

As ThunderAZ said, fill the build plate. The slicer will turn the model red if it is outside the print area or a model is overlapping. I would start with a single item until you get all your settings dialed in.

Bambu Labs have a function to arrange the items on the print plate to make then max fit..

Dave

Yes, but it is fraught with issues. FDM printer extrude one layer at a time. The print head will jump from item to the next. This shouldn't be an issue, but it can be.

Plastic extrusion isn't perfect. Globs, gobs, and strings are possible. This means that moving to a new model bring that string or glob with it (when printing one item, the string will often smear off inside the model without issue). That imperfection can mar the print or worse, knock something over!

I have successfully printed multitple objects at one time on an FDM printer, but I have also seen more failures than single prints.

New printers are better, but the base issue remains.

I recommend printing only one object at a time on an FDM printer.

Joe Collins

Creality Slicer also has a "Fill the Buildplate" function.

Printing multiple objects takes more time. If it takes an hour to print a figure, it will take eight hours and fifty five minutes to print nine of them.

And yes, if one fails the print head can drag the one that came loose and smack it into another one, and soon you have a big ball of plastic and no figures. And maybe some nasty hot end clean up. We've all been there.

But if you've got your printer set up right and it's reliable you can save some effort by printing batches. Many people do this all the time. There are videos and web pages that will give you tips and techniques to make it go smoothly, and you should certainly avail yourself of plenty of free advice before doing this. I wouldn't call it an "advanced technique", but if you're asking if it's even possible it suggests you're closer to the beginning of your journey, and maybe wait to do this until you have learned some lessons cheaply.

I batch sometimes, especially for very small parts. But since I don't run the printer when I'm asleep or out of the house it's little trouble to run a simple job over and over and over rather than bothering with a batch. But if I need a bunch of tiny houses or pegs or several different pieces of the same project I often put a bunch of stuff on the plate and I rarely have trouble.

Good luck!

Have fun!

I have never printed up 1 item on an FDM printer except the Buddha test print. I just finished printing up 12 1/700 German Destroyers on my Bambu A1. I printed up around 50+ blood/wound counters a week ago a few times. More items just means more print time. Keep taller items together and lower items the same. I have been running a 3D print Company for years with up to 14 FDM printers at one point. This isn't really an issue most of the time.

Thanks.

John

I recon a compromise, where possible I print about 2 to 3 hours worth. That covers a lot. It's no quickers to print lots just less setting up time so 2 to 3 hrs is a good compromise. The longest print we have ever done is 24 hours and we paused it overnight. No problems.

I more typically will run prints around 5 to 6 hours if thats what it takes to finnish, ususlly largeish DIY jobs. They very occtionaly fail which is why I run 2 to 3 hrs generally.

Thanks one and all, recently my wife gave me a Bambu A1 mini for my BD. Unfortunately the office/ painting room is a temporally a guest room, so until after the holidays all I can do is right now is "think" about getting started (LOL). And so It occurred to me, that I've only seen folks printing out one item at a time.

Anymore tips or hints for using the Bambu printers?

Did you get the AMS lite too? Frankly the Bambu A1 is the most print and play I have seen in about a decade of printing. It's amazing! I have run in to a few small issues. Just make sure the resin is flowing on the initial calibration test. Spray down the build plate with IPA every 2 or 3 prints. Buy lots of Filament. Because you'll be printing a lot!

Enjoy!!!!

John

I have an A1 mini. No need for an AMS on my part as I pretty much strictly print for gaming and all of my prints get painted. Fantastic printer. Bambu Studio takes a bit to figure out, but fortunately it's defaults are pretty dialed on and should not need any tweaking. I use its default settings and have had hundreds of fantastic prints. Any PLA brand of filament I have tried on it all work fine.

Some things you can print multiples of in a single job in one run are things like wall sections. You can probably print a dozen sections more or less depending on shape in a single go.

Not a prob on a resin printer though.