3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
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In a nutshell, ~~the prime tower lets the printer print a basic shape, and if it doesn't look right, either you or the printer (depending on the model) can stop the print. It also~~ it ensures that filament is flowing right between each layer change.
edit: Fixed. The first point seems to be incorrect, but the second one is okay
The prime tower has nothing to do with "looking right". It builds as the print goes and often looks bad while the print is fine because that is it's purpose: to build pressure getting the filament moving in the nozzle before the head moves into place.
In the case of mixing filaments like PETG and PLA for support it looks really horrible because it's laying down lines of plastic that dont stick to each other. But the part looks fantastic because the slicer creates actual support interface layers for supports.
Oops, I think I misremembered. I fixed the comment now. I typed it when I was very tired.
Now that I see your actual question, the main reason it's a tower and not "poop" is because simply creating poop would mean the little wiper that pushes out excess filament to the poop chute needs to be used, increasing the time as there is a brief pause.
If it was poop, the printer is like "poop poop clean - wait a bit - now I print" between each layer
If it was a prime tower, the printer is like "tower tower >> actual print immediately after" between each layer
One more thing, if there is a drastic colour change (i.e. between darks and lights) then there needs to be additional stuff for the prime tower (which is why in many multi-colour prints, the prime tower has "infill" rather than being hollow)
If it was using many small bits of poop, the printer is more like "poop clean - pause - poop clean - pause - poop clean - wait a bit more - now I print" since if the poop gets too big it could damage the nozzle/clog it.
If instead it was a prime tower, the printer is like "whirr prime towerrr >> actual print immediately after"