The Official 3d Printing thread

[RobbyMaQ]

Well. I was supposed to get 2 360mm rods for the Z, and 2 410 mm rods for the y.
I got 4 400 mm rods. the Z too long is a non issue. the y too short is an issue. Easily fixed by moving one of the frame members inwards, but that sucks all around because I lose 10mm of working space, and of course have to re-square. I might get by with the 400, but man it's awful close. I only get about 5mm of bite at each end of the rod holders. I'd feel better if they were the extra 5mm at each end. I may tinker with installing stops in each rod holder, to prevent them from moving. Hell even silicone would prevent them from sliding out of one rod holder/in towards the other.
Not a huge deal... I should have recognized this earlier, but the chinese manual is so damn comical if it wasn't so frustrating at the same time lol

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Also...
If you could make a build plate level enough... behold:
[video=youtube;ULJqLSTriRY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULJqLSTriRY[/video]

 

[actaeon277]

Do it, do it! They are almost as much fun as guns!! Lol.

The price of them has really came down. If you are a tinkerer they are a blast to make parts for projects. I have zero regrets except looking back and knowing what I know now, I would have just built the first one as a homebrew. But that is not a project for everyone.

If only I had the time.

 

[1911ly]

If only I had the time.

Hopefully things will show down for you in the future and you will have some time to build one. I know you would have fun with it.

When I got up this AM I though I would try extruding some more media threw the nozzle I had hooked up. well, it did not go so good. I had pulled the media out of the tube over night and I put it back in this morning. It would not extrude on the first nozzle. So I pulled the hot end apart and the head tube was filled with PTFE strands of crap. God I was pissed. I pushed it out from the nozzle end with a drill bit and this came out:




So I picked up the new tubing from WW Grainger. And it made all the difference in everything. Both extrude beautifully. I have both working great. I have removed the media a half a dozen times and heated and cooled them both many many time trying to get them to screw up and so far no issues. I am happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_O5tGAeJYQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj3dUbbLblg

I have to figure out the level and tweak the settings as well as figure out how to do a dual print. I have a lot more to learn but I am getting there!

Still having fun and learning a lot! That's what it is all about.

 

[Ericpwp]

I thought you burned yourself.

 

[1911ly]

I thought you burned yourself.

Lol, my skin is really tough from years of soldering and stuff. I have handled so much hot stuff I have burned skin so many times and not even felt it. I have to watch it sometimes. But that was just crud from the tube.

I played with the leveling this evening and I have determined the heat blocks and nozzles are within .04mm of each other. The heat breaks measure within .01mm of each other. So those are plenty close. But the heat sinks are about 1.1mm different in length because the heat break end is threaded deeper on one then the other. I ran a tap down in the the shallow tapped one and it bottoms out.

The two were drilled to different depth. I can't tap it deeper. I am going to buy a nut tomorrow and make a jam nut arrangement to adjust the height. I will most likely have to thin it down on the lathe so it's not so tall, make it lower profile. BTW, the heat sink side of the break is a 7mm x 1 thread. The amount of carriage tilt adjustment is about .65 If I were using Makerfarm's extruder setup that amount of tilt would probably be enough.

My X/Y test prints were of remarkably better qualite using the Bowden setup. Getting the weight off the carriage seems to show up in the print. And I haven't played with the X/Y jerk and acceleration rates yet!

This is turning out to be a lot of work trying to match things up and dealing with crap parts. But as I sad earlier, I have learned a lot. And I am still having fun.

 

[1911ly]

I made a trip to the hardware store and picked up a hand full of nuts and a few bolts to use as a mandrel in the lathe and...



I ended up with a setup like this:



It's totally adjustable now. I think this will work. I have some other projects to get done today, but I hope to get back to it before the end of the day. I also need to machine down a 11mm wrench flat enough to fit between the heat sink and the hot end. It will make fine tuning really easy. I can do it without it though. But might as well make it easier.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Almost there... (well, almost built anyways).
It will be along while before we print anything I am sure.

Other than my opting to use a lot of washers (hoping to reduce risk of cracking acrylic) and one wing nut not quite tapped all the way through, I've not had much issue. Directions are not very straightforward. Some things could be built, and then put onto the frame, vs building them after on the frame. Othertimes you run into no length of bolt, or incorrect length of bolt... only to find later it is too long or spec'd differently. But there seem to be extras of everything.

Tired. Have a job to work on tonight, and 1500 tomorrow. So calling it a day on the printer this evening.

 

[Ericpwp]

it looks like that z axis could spin right off. I there something to stop it?

 

[1911ly]

Almost there... (well, almost built anyways).
It will be along while before we print anything I am sure.

Other than my opting to use a lot of washers (hoping to reduce risk of cracking acrylic) and one wing nut not quite tapped all the way through, I've not had much issue. Directions are not very straightforward. Some things could be built, and then put onto the frame, vs building them after on the frame. Othertimes you run into no length of bolt, or incorrect length of bolt... only to find later it is too long or spec'd differently. But there seem to be extras of everything.

Tired. Have a job to work on tonight, and 1500 tomorrow. So calling it a day on the printer this evening.

It's looking really good Robby. I read a few reviews and there were some complaints about hardware and rod lengths not being correct. Bit it seemed like everyone has been able to get them going. Have fun at the 1500 tomorrow. I need to attend one one of these days.

I have the carriage back on and the nozzles levels. What a different the setup I did made! I had no issues tweaking things. the machine is currently doing a single color print and I am researching the setup and how to on doing a 2 color print. I might get something printed tonight. We will have to see how the learning curve is and what the learning curve is. I am clueless at this point. lol.

 

[1911ly]

it looks like that z axis could spin right off. I there something to stop it?

The end stops in the firmware are the limits that are opposite the end of limits. It would be better that it runs to the top and not twist against a hard stop. the steppers have an amazing amount of force when they have the current limit set high enough. It probably would break a hard stop or the frame

The printers that have holders at the end of the drive rod are use using them for anti wobble. Not really an end stop IMHO. My boys Makerfarm 8 inch i3v and the Pegasus I helped build as well as the homebrew don't have ends on the Z rods. It's fine.

I did print a 2 color print. It's kinda crappy because the alignment is off as I figured it would be. But both Bowden drives are fine. The trick for the leveling worked excellent. Both heads are printing just fine, just not in sync yet. I am well on my way to having it figured out,

I figured how to slice the files and I know how to create them. And that is kind of a PIA for a noob, but I can do it and will learn it better. I will post some video and a pic or two in a bit.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

it looks like that z axis could spin right off. I there something to stop it?

No. the bushings for the threaded rod are at the bottom of those brackets on each side. Crappy phone and angle kinda hides it, but you can kinda see the stairstep on the right one in that photo. The smooth guide rod portion is taller than the threaded rod portion (L shaped). The bracket on the left is full height for the stepper mount, but the bushing is at the bottom. Below is a photo I found on the net showing the bracket a bit better

This is the poor Z design wobble that people complain about. FLSUN probably figured the guide rod would provide support and that the threaded rod was just there to move the Z axis. But it causes wobble as the x axis has some flex forward and back. So people print mounts with bearings in them attached at the top of the threaded rods and mounted to the frame.

Others mount their Z motors on top of the frame, and hang the threaded rods (still using support mounts at the bottom)

Of course, 2 weeks after ordering my kit, they now offer kits that included similar bracketry.

 

[1911ly]

No. the bushings for the threaded rod are at the bottom of those brackets on each side. Crappy phone and angle kinda hides it, but you can kinda see the stairstep on the right one in that photo. The smooth guide rod portion is taller than the threaded rod portion (L shaped). The bracket on the left is full height for the stepper mount, but the bushing is at the bottom. Below is a photo I found on the net showing the bracket a bit better

This is the poor Z design wobble that people complain about. FLSUN probably figured the guide rod would provide support and that the threaded rod was just there to move the Z axis. But it causes wobble as the x axis has some flex forward and back. So people print mounts with bearings in them attached at the top of the threaded rods and mounted to the frame.

Others mount their Z motors on top of the frame, and hang the threaded rods (still using support mounts at the bottom)

Of course, 2 weeks after ordering my kit, they now offer kits that included similar bracketry.

Looking good Robby. I have the printer printing in two colors. The calibration is really off. I figured I would have some adjusting to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEgO4PzNX08

A few pictures:






Here is a picture of the jam nut/ nozzle height nut I turned down on the lathe, This was the bomb,for taking care of my issues with nozzle height.




So far so good. There is still a lot to figure out. But I am getting there.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Thank god I don't have a lathe or mill, or I'd be making my own printer by now lol. These really are simplistic.
Of course, i haven't gotten to the software side of things yet lol

 

[Ericpwp]

The software us plug and play, until you start tweeking it.

 

[Sailor]

I have been MIA, not printed much, finished up my S-corp taxes working on my personal ones and trading forex. Also getting Passports and Visas squared away for family trip to China.

 

[1911ly]

I have been MIA, not printed much, finished up my S-corp taxes working on my personal ones and trading forex. Also getting Passports and Visas squared away for family trip to China.

I was wondering where you were. I figure life was busy. That is way more important then this stuff. That's for sure! The trip sounds like an adventure!

I haven't posted much about the progress on the dual printing in the last few days. But I can say that the locking nut adjustment for is the bomb! I have another ideal I am going to try. It will involve printing another carriage setup. It will be easier to post the finished ideal then explain it. But between the two adjustment the head height will be able to be set quickly and easily and be easy to frequently recheck.

Where I am at on the printing:

Still dialing the difference between the two print heads. Once those values are dialed in I will but them In the firmware and reflash it. That way I don't have to rely on offsets in the slicing software. I have them really close

And learning out to print a dual color print has a bit of a steep learning curve. I have only been able to do it threw Repeiter using the Slic3r as the slicer. I can not yet figure out Cura full enough to use it as a slicer. Importing the files right in to Slic3r direct does not always place them in the correct orientation. And the orientation is key to everything.

I can print from either print head by selection. I am having an issue with extruders putting out unequal amounts of media. the two motors are Nema 17's but not identical. I am going to swap the odd stepper with the X axis motor so they are the same. I have not yet found code in the firmware to change the settings individually on the extruders. There still might be and I have not gone threw it well enough.

I am learning a lot and still having fun!

 

[1911ly]

Thank god I don't have a lathe or mill, or I'd be making my own printer by now lol. These really are simplistic.
Of course, i haven't gotten to the software side of things yet lol

You know see why I built the second one instead of buying. TBH, you can buy enough stuff off Ebay that you can use a hacksaw, drill and hand tools.

As Eric said, the firmware is really simple and pretty much just plug and play so to speak. If you find something you want to change just post it up here and one of us can help you with it.

I looked to see if they had a copy of your firmware on line and I did not see it. Did you get a copy with it? If not we can work around it. Especially if your board is a Ramps board.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

You know see why I built the second one instead of buying. TBH, you can buy enough stuff off Ebay that you can use a hacksaw, drill and hand tools.

As Eric said, the firmware is really simple and pretty much just plug and play so to speak. If you find something you want to change just post it up here and one of us can help you with it.

I looked to see if they had a copy of your firmware on line and I did not see it. Did you get a copy with it? If not we can work around it. Especially if your board is a Ramps board.

Yes, they supply an SD card with everything on it. Except it's still all written by the grammatically challenged.
There's an FB group I can lean on for specifics on that portion.

While i realize that the software is easy to manipulate, it's which specific things that need manipulating that concern me. Slowing the thing down & setting things to improve print quality and such is going to be a huge learning curve.

 

[1911ly]

Yes, they supply an SD card with everything on it. Except it's still all written by the grammatically challenged.
There's an FB group I can lean on for specifics on that portion.

While i realize that the software is easy to manipulate, it's which specific things that need manipulating that concern me. Slowing the thing down & setting things to improve print quality and such is going to be a huge learning curve.

You can set the speed of the print from the from panel before and during the print. It shows it in % on the display and rotating the encoder changes it from main boot up screen. I have notice that I can really print fast with the Bowden setup. The head can most a lot faster without the extra weight. I haven't seen how far I can push it though.

If you did get a copy of the firmware I would love to look at it for the settings that are different for the Bowden setup. I am hunting and pecking with the settings from information gathered here and there.