Whether you’ve been dragging an old MK2 or MK3 kicking and screaming into the present through the available upgrade paths, or recently picked up a CORE One, pretty much any of the 3D printers still being actively supported by Prusa are able to connect to the network for the purposes of remote monitoring and control. Although their printers can work entirely offline, Prusa offers a smartphone application as well as web interface that makes it easy to keep tabs on all the hot plastic action.
If you’ve got a few Prusa printers on the net and would like a dedicated interface for controlling them, check out this custom firmware for the BigTreeTech K-Touch and Panda Touch devices. These touch screen gadgets were originally intended for controlling printers running Klipper, but thanks to [Nomads Galaxy], they can now talk to Prusa printers either directly over the local network or through the Prusa Connect cloud API with a user interface that mimics the aesthetics of the official offerings.
After recently publishing a few videos covering research into the poor adhesion between chopped carbon fiber (CCF) and the thermoplastic filaments as used with FDM 3D printing, some of the feedback received by [I built a thing] included the idea that the missing step to make CCF additives work was post-print annealing. Naturally this claim had to be investigated, both through the resulting physical characteristics as well as on a microscopic level in the same scanning electron microscope (SEM) as before.
Post-annealing SEM scan, showing clear voids. (Credit: I built a thing, Youtube)
Theories as to why annealing the parts would help here seem to focus on increased bonding and filling of voids in the printed CCF-infused material, while there are the typical worries with annealing such as parts warping and shrinking to also take into account as potential downsides of this treatment.
For the sample materials PETG and PETG-CF, as well as PLA and PLA-CF filaments are used, with each filament type featuring an annealed and not annealed version. These were then tested for tensile strength, stiffness and failure type, as well as dimensional accuracy and warping, before being examined under the SEM. A total of 160 samples were used, with 20 samples per material and annealing state.
Perhaps the biggest surprise here was how much PETG benefits from annealing, making it much more resilient to breaking, whereas neither PLA nor PLA-CF seemed to see much benefit. Shocking was how much worse PETG-CF performs than PETG, with the former being worse than both PLA and PLA-CF here.
In terms of dimensional accuracy, annealing caused a Z direction expansion while shrinking the samples in the other directions. The CCF addition here actually prevented much of the shrinking and expansion, showing the first clear benefit of this additive. Yet despite annealing at right above the glass transition temperature as is proper, this would seem to be the limit of this approach in terms of practical benefits.
Compared to the previous research that focused on PLA-CF, PETG-CF would seem to make the case even more strongly that there’s no real purpose to CCF additives, especially since you can already account for parts shrinkage during annealing before printing. That there’s no improvement to the CCF and thermoplastic interface adhesion is also no mystery, considering the science behind how e.g. thermoset materials create bonds with CF.
Generally the idea with photopolymers as used with resin 3D printing is that the process only works in a single direction as with all thermosets: after polymerization under influence of UV light they become an inert lump of plastic. Being able to turn these lumps back into resin would of course be ideal, as it would make recycling incredibly easy. Here depolymerizable resin turns out to be a thing, with 3Dresyn being one company that sells additives and resin which enable this (found via Fabbaloo).
Irreversible (thermoset), partial and full depolymerization. (Credit: Machado et al., Nature, 2024)
These additives and resins come in essentially two flavors based on which temperature they depolymerize at, which can be at either 80°C or 150°C. This comes at a cost, of course, with the ready-to-use resin coming in at an eyewatering €833.00 for a 1 kg bottle, a factor only slightly helped by the reusability aspect.
From a more technical perspective this depolymerization feature is fascinating, as it addresses the one aspect of thermosets (like SLA and epoxy resins) that thermoplastics have as advantage, especially from a recycling view. This type of circular photopolymer appears to be quite novel, with an article by [Machado] et al. from 2024 claiming to have demonstrated the first resin that can be photopolymerized, depolymerized and subsequently again photopolymerized in a closed loop.
In the demonstration by [Machado] et al. the depolymerization is achieved using dynamic disulfide bonds, with the pulverized printed samples put into a 2-methyl-tetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) solvent. After heating at 80°C for 3 hours with an inert atmosphere, most of the photopolymerized material had returned to its original, pre-printing state. In a more recent 2025 study by [Bo Yang] et al. an approach using catalytic thermal dissociation of dithioacetal bonds was explored.
Based on the available information by 3Dresyns it would seem that their product is closer to this latter approach, with depolymerization requiring putting the part into an oven at the target temperature for up to an hour, presumably in some kind of suitable container. This is said to target elements like sacrificial molds, reusable tooling and jigs that would otherwise be discarded, or need to melt like a thermoplastic instead of acting like a thermoset. Whether a solvent like MeTHF is required as in the two cited studies is sadly unclear based on a quick scan of the site.
Why a cover? A cover helps retain heat and block drafts, which can help improve print quality. A cover also keeps the machine’s insides dust and debris-free, not to mention serving as a decent barrier to curious fingers or paws.
This is a great use of an off-the-shelf product that performs at least as well as any bespoke solution. The nature of printer enclosures makes them trickier than one might think, with the size and weight of materials often driving costs up for something that seems relatively simple in concept. Getting one by 3D printing the fixtures and purchasing the bulky part locally and affordably is a great alternative. IKEA even sells the box’s lid separately, so one can buy just the box and isn’t stuck with an unused lid afterward.
Integrating off-the-shelf components into a design is often risky because much of it is outside the designer’s control. Availability can change, and a manufacturer might alter dimensions or design elements without any notice. But IKEA’s storage products are pretty well standardized and work really well for this purpose.
On the off chance you need a design tweak, [Beaver Works] has provided STEP files for the 3D-printed parts, something we always love to see.
Computed Axial Lithographic printing gets even closer to the Star Trek replicator fantasy than any other 3D printer we’ve seen: there’s a machine, it glows with a mysterious bluish light, and an object appears. OK, the object is appearing inside a spinning vat of photochemical ooze, not in thin air, but that’s a detail. It’s still very cool tech, and now it’s open source enough to replicate with full documentation and a GitHub repository.
This project is descended from the same Berkeley research that we featured last year, but at that point, they were inviting everyone to join their Discord server, and that was about it. At the time, we put on our old man outfit to yell at clouds and say, “A Discord shouldn’t count as open source!” For once, it looks like those geriatric grumblings were heeded. There is still a corporate-hosted chat server named for a malignant goddess, and you’re still invited, but now there’s also actual, searchable documentation!
If you have a Bambu Labs printer and aren’t keen to send your files to Bambu’s servers with each print job, then check out Bambuddy, an open-source, self-hosted, cloud-free central command that offers a local alternative for managing Bambu Labs printers. It acts as a replacement for the official cloud services, allowing you to slice, print, and monitor with full local control and zero reliance on Bambu Labs’ servers. Continue reading “Bambuddy Says Bye To Bambu Lab Cloud Services”→
Sometimes it’s useful to add extra mass to a 3D print, and [Joe Fedewa] shared a simple and effective technique that uses plaster of Paris. Rather than pause the print and insert hardware or weighted bits inside, he designed the base as hollow. Not in the sense of zero infill, but in the sense of modeling a cavity into the open bottom of the object.
An open cavity in the base is perfect for filling with plaster of Paris.
After the print is complete, he mixes the dry plaster with water until it creates a thick but pourable mixture. Then the object gets turned upside-down and the cavity filled. In about an hour, it will have set up enough to be handled and worked.
Plaster of Paris has a good heft to it, but more importantly it can be made perfectly presentable thanks to being very friendly to post-processing. Any rough spots can be easily sanded and the whole bottom smoothed, so one doesn’t even need to cap it off. Completely cured plaster can be sealed with a clear coat for a more durable finish, if desired.
This basic concept has been used in other ways, such as reinforcing prints with concrete to yield parts solid enough to make tools out of. But using plaster of Paris not just to add mass, but specifically to create a presentable surface that doesn’t need covering up is a neat and highly economical adaptation of the idea.
Other methods of adding mass to a 3D print include inserting metal balls or chunky nuts, bolts, or other hardware, but this method doesn’t require pausing prints to insert things. Nor does it require sealing off or capping the print, messing with goopy epoxies or resins, or spending a lot of money — making it a good one to keep in mind in case it comes in handy someday.
