My son got a 3d printer for Christmas and we have been busy tinkering with prints and learning the ropes. I've recently run into an issue that I'm hoping the more experienced folks can help me with.

I'm trying to print a small tackle box - roughly 4" x 8" and the corners are curling up during the print. We are printing the lid and the base at the same time so it takes up most of the print area. I'm assuming I need to increase the temp of the print bed. I went up 10* on the second print but still had the issue but not as severe. Would it be better to print the pieces individually so they are closer to the center of the bed?

I'm sure there is more to it that this - filament type, etc. But as mentioned we are very new to 3d printing and looking for help to get our issues rectified quicker. Using an Elegoo Neptune 3 printer with Sunlu PLA filament. Extruder temp of 210 and the bed temp of 80 on the last attempt.

Printing large boxes are notoriously difficult to print because of corners curling. Try adding a brim or mouse ears to the corners to help hold them down. You can also try a glue stick to help adhesion.

It could be uneven heating of the build surface. It could be cool air moving around in the room. There's a lot of things in play when trying to figure out what's causing your corners to cool.

I've been 3D printing for ~8 years and I still have problems with large boxes/corners.

Thanks for the insight. I may hold off on trying until this cold weather passes. The room that houses our printer can be a bit drafty.

I wonder if inverting the box so that the "open" side are attached to the print bed would be a better approach?

Illustrious Potentate said:

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I wonder if inverting the box so that the "open" side are attached to the print bed would be a better approach?

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First, I love your username.

Second, I doubt that it would help much. And you would also have to print a TON of support material to support the bottom of your box.

You saying that the room is drafty is pretty indicative to me. I used to keep mine in the basement in PA, and it got very cold and with some drafts in the winter. I addressed it two ways. First, I increased my pre-heat time. I have a textured glass bed, which means its temperature actually lags what my thermocouple says. This resulted in me starting prints before the bed was actually at temperature and caused curled corners like you're seeing. For more delicate/detailed spots on the bed, I would put down some Elmer's purple glue stick. It doesn't take much, just a thin layer. With these two changes I stopped seeing raised corners.

I also want to ask, you've leveled your bed and calibrated your z-offset, correct?

I ran through the leveling process and calibrated everything on the initial setup. Is it best to do this before every print - how often should it be performed?

Thanks for the compliment on the username and I appreciate the help.

Illustrious Potentate said:

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My son got a 3d printer for Christmas and we have been busy tinkering with prints and learning the ropes. I've recently run into an issue that I'm hoping the more experienced folks can help me with.

I'm trying to print a small tackle box - roughly 4" x 8" and the corners are curling up during the print. We are printing the lid and the base at the same time so it takes up most of the print area. I'm assuming I need to increase the temp of the print bed. I went up 10* on the second print but still had the issue but not as severe. Would it be better to print the pieces individually so they are closer to the center of the bed?

I'm sure there is more to it that this - filament type, etc. But as mentioned we are very new to 3d printing and looking for help to get our issues rectified quicker. Using an Elegoo Neptune 3 printer with Sunlu PLA filament. Extruder temp of 210 and the bed temp of 80 on the last attempt.

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Step 1 with 3D printing is that you have to switch to thinking in millimeters. 4x8 is 100mm x 200mm

Illustrious Potentate said:

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I ran through the leveling process and calibrated everything on the initial setup. Is it best to do this before every print - how often should it be performed?

Thanks for the compliment on the username and I appreciate the help.

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What printer are you using? What type of filament are you printing in?

Using an Elegoo Neptune 3 printer with Sunlu PLA filament. Extruder temp of 210 and the bed temp of 80 on the last attempt.

Just ran across this guy who makes wall mounted planters that fit 3m dovetail tabs and got the itch to purchase a printer. He sells the file as well for like 5 bucks.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrBTplsgZ-0/?igsh=MXY5YnR2enh4ajVjdg==