Re-printing my Primo with PLA-CF

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Your Builds
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I built an original MPCNC 10+ years ago using the 3d printer I had. Then re-built it with Burly parts. Then built a LR.

Got a Bambu last fall, and was so excited I printed a Primo out of old PLA I had lying around and it worked pretty well! Didn’t pay much attention to the recommended infill or walls. I just ran off half-cocked and rebuilt the machine.

Upgraded to the Jackpot, which is better than Marlin in pretty much every way.

Got it all dialed in, making very accurate cuts at reasonable speeds.

But then started doing some things that require deep travel on the Z axis through some pretty dense wood. It was already a tall machine, and I made it taller.

Gotta get stiffer.

I tried some PETG-CF and some PAHT-CF. Very stiff, but a bit stringy and difficult to print. Found myself drilling out pretty much every hole. Nothing fit the hardware on the first try.

I must say, PLA-CF is awesome. It’s not terribly expensive, prints easily, and man, is it accurate.

The Primo has lots of horizontal holes and nut traps. With the PLA-CF, everything fits perfectly. Some of the parts ought to be tightened hard, and you can do that. The nuts fit perfectly and the plastic doesn’t deform.

Started with the core, then the core clamps. Today I replaced all of the corners. Next, the feet (with a custom design). Every part I’ve replaced with PLA-CF has made the machine noticeably quieter at high speed, less fiddly, and more accurate at the deeper plunge I need.

It’s been a downright joy to assemble.

Highly recommended.

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Do you have any pictures? And did you try different brands of filament?

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I’ve used the Bambu brand and IEMAI, both have been great. They’re definitely sensitive to moisture. Quality fell off the cliff at one point and I had to dry them.

Seems to be three colors available. Black, Red, Blue.

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I spent a lot of time testing PLA vs CF mixes and I found that the pla parts are stronger for my applications, the strength of adhesion between the layers with CF was very poor. I was surprised how much stronger the pla was. I was hoping the CF was going to be the answer for me, but after I seen a video about this on youtube I did some testing and found the CF printing was much weaker, way more expensive, harder to keep consistent, and way more expensive.
I wish I would have known this before I spent so much time and money on the CF printing.

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I really like the way they look. That matte makes it looks like most of my renders!
I assume you got a hardened nozzle for that CF? If not you need to or at least change your nozzle now because all the parts surely took a toll. What I am getting at through is I just tried a PET-CF, not PETG-CF. It is extremely brittle on the spool, but once you print with it boy o boy is it awesome. Excellent heat resistance and the only thing I have found that is easy to print that is more rigid than PLA.

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I have the Bambu x1c, it prints the pla-cf very well. I printed a core from petg-cf and it wasn’t as clean. But maybe that was me not knowing what i was doing. Printing some parts for lowrider now, maybe i’ll give it another try.

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I’d give it another try, ive had great success with it.

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I also have a Bambu X1C and recently reprinted most of my parts with PLA-CF when replacing my conduit to DOM. The core was one of the best looking prints I have ever done. You can’t really see the layer lines, so it almost looks injection molded. So far I don’t see any issues with it, but I have just done a couple of jobs since getting it put back together.