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Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>As an extension from <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/264/when-to-use-1-75mm-vs-3mm-filament">this</a> question, is there any reason that you would not be able to use 1.75 mm filament in a printer that takes 3mm filament? I know you would have to change the filament size in the slicing of prints but would there be any other problems?</p>
<p>Also, would using 1.75 mm filament be possible if the nozzle diameter was greater than 1.75 mm but less than 3 mm?</p>
| <ol>
<li><p>It may work for a short time but you're going to fill the melt chamber quickly and possibly overflow to a point where the filament isn't constrained causing a messy jam. All the molten plastic will likely flow backwards to a point where the diameter isn't 3mm any longer (probably next to your drive gear) but depending on the length it may just flow up, cool down and jam the extruder.</p></li>
<li><p>No, the filament would just pass through unheated and not do anything.</p></li>
</ol>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I've been printing for a week now on my new printer and have been getting great results, including great adhesion. However, most of my prints have had a fairly small footprint.</p>
<p>Now, I'm stepping up the types of items I'm printing, and I've started to run into a problem. Long, thin parts are starting to lift off the bed, especially at the edges of the bed.</p>
<p>I've read <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/61/why-do-the-corners-of-my-abs-object-lift-off-the-bed">the question dealing with this issue with ABS</a> and realize some (most) could apply to me. However, I'm printing entirely in PLA on a non-heated bed.</p>
<p>My question is: What is the best way to go about troubleshooting this problem? In which order should I attempt fixes to narrow down the problem most quickly?</p>
<p>Printer: Monoprice Maker Architect 3D (Very similar to Makerbot)</p>
<p>Material: PLA</p>
<p>Heated Bed: No</p>
<p>Bed Material: Something similar to BuildTak on top of an acrylic bed. (The sheet of material came unlabeled with the printer and I haven't been able to track down exactly what it is.)</p>
| <p>There are several things you could try without spending much but even PLA will warp on an unheated bed. I had a Legacy Kossel that I switched to an acrylic bed and had many issues with warping and prints pulling off the bed. </p>
<p>Some cheap things to try would be...</p>
<ol>
<li>Adding a brim to the print.</li>
<li>Blue painters tape on the acrylic, remove the other material if doing this.</li>
<li>Place cheap piece of glass/mirror on bed and use hairspray/gluestick.</li>
<li>Use hairspray/gluestick directly on acrylic. You must be careful here because first layer height is very critical to prevent damage to the acrylic from the plastic welding. A layer of hairspray or glue should prevent it but dial in your height before printing.</li>
<li>If you aren't currently using a fan, you could try sealing the sides to prevent drafts. I doubt this would change much since you are using PLA but it's an option.</li>
<li>If these are your designs, there are steps you can take to reduce warping as seen <a href="http://hackaday.com/2011/11/15/a-technique-to-avoid-warping-on-large-3d-prints/">here.</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Also many other suggestions <a href="http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/06/23/12-ways-to-fight-warping-and-curling">here.</a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>With <a href="/questions/tagged/fdm" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged 'fdm'" rel="tag">fdm</a> printers, the 3D object that should be printed can be positioned anywhere in the build volume. But it's only practical to place it on the bottom, because otherwise support material would be necessary.</p>
<p>stereolithography has the same problem. Even though the photopolymer can be cured at any position in the build volume, the result would drift away if it was not held in place by support material.</p>
<p>The powderbed based printers (either powder+binder or any of the laser/electron beam sintering/melting variants) do not have this problem, because they continuously fill the entire build volume with powder. The support material that other printing technologies require is part of the powder based printing anyway. It would be possible to pack the build volume with many prints and print them in one go.</p>
<p>Given that the machines are relatively expensive, it would be economical to increase the throughput. A company that does use such printers heavily could wait a certain amount of time until a few print queued up that fit together in the build volume and only then start the process. Do people do this?</p>
| <p>There are several things you could try without spending much but even PLA will warp on an unheated bed. I had a Legacy Kossel that I switched to an acrylic bed and had many issues with warping and prints pulling off the bed. </p>
<p>Some cheap things to try would be...</p>
<ol>
<li>Adding a brim to the print.</li>
<li>Blue painters tape on the acrylic, remove the other material if doing this.</li>
<li>Place cheap piece of glass/mirror on bed and use hairspray/gluestick.</li>
<li>Use hairspray/gluestick directly on acrylic. You must be careful here because first layer height is very critical to prevent damage to the acrylic from the plastic welding. A layer of hairspray or glue should prevent it but dial in your height before printing.</li>
<li>If you aren't currently using a fan, you could try sealing the sides to prevent drafts. I doubt this would change much since you are using PLA but it's an option.</li>
<li>If these are your designs, there are steps you can take to reduce warping as seen <a href="http://hackaday.com/2011/11/15/a-technique-to-avoid-warping-on-large-3d-prints/">here.</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Also many other suggestions <a href="http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/06/23/12-ways-to-fight-warping-and-curling">here.</a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>There must be a trick to doing a good job of applying Kapton tape on a printer bed plate…</p>
<p>We built a Bukobot and even with a great deal of care ended up with bubbles under the tape and occasional overlaps. I'd appreciate any pointers.</p>
| <p>There are several things you could try without spending much but even PLA will warp on an unheated bed. I had a Legacy Kossel that I switched to an acrylic bed and had many issues with warping and prints pulling off the bed. </p>
<p>Some cheap things to try would be...</p>
<ol>
<li>Adding a brim to the print.</li>
<li>Blue painters tape on the acrylic, remove the other material if doing this.</li>
<li>Place cheap piece of glass/mirror on bed and use hairspray/gluestick.</li>
<li>Use hairspray/gluestick directly on acrylic. You must be careful here because first layer height is very critical to prevent damage to the acrylic from the plastic welding. A layer of hairspray or glue should prevent it but dial in your height before printing.</li>
<li>If you aren't currently using a fan, you could try sealing the sides to prevent drafts. I doubt this would change much since you are using PLA but it's an option.</li>
<li>If these are your designs, there are steps you can take to reduce warping as seen <a href="http://hackaday.com/2011/11/15/a-technique-to-avoid-warping-on-large-3d-prints/">here.</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Also many other suggestions <a href="http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/06/23/12-ways-to-fight-warping-and-curling">here.</a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>From what I understand, when you hook up the <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007KG0ZYI">Switching Power Supply 12v Dc 30a 360w</a> to the wall outlet, you have to be <strong>very careful</strong>; careful not to get the wires mixed up; careful not to have anyone or anything touch the leads (in fact the first proper project I intend to print out will be <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31659">a casing to fit around the switching power supply</a>), or just order one from someone. </p>
<p>Now there are three wires that go into the US wall of particular concern, and these wires come out of a standard PC cable with the female end cut off, and they hook the power supply. Like the external casing, these three wires are also insulated, and when you take the insulation off the bare wires and connect it to the power supply, you have to use Electrical connectors of some sort to connect them to the power supply's screw leads.</p>
<p>I bought some electrical connectors just for this purpose, but I'm not entirely certain they will be good for this purpose, so I thought I'd check here first.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/RTAFs.jpg"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/RTAFs.jpg" alt="Picture of GE Electrical Connectors 50956, 40 piece set"></a></p>
<p>There are specifications on the back:</p>
<pre><code>╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ ╬ AWG ╬ Wire Size ╬ Stud Size ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Spade Terminals ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ YF1.25-35 (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ 0.5-1.5 ╬ 3.7 ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Ring Terminals ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ YF1.25-4 (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ .5-1.5 ╬ 4.3 ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Butt Splice ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ BF-1.2SS (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ .5-1.5 ╬ n/a ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
</code></pre>
<p>Not sure if I should use ring or spade terminals, and I don't know what wire size to use; and I don't know what wire grade is inside a standard PC power cord or even if these are safe connectors to use for this.</p>
| <p>It is okay to just use bare wires in the type of screw connector found on your power supply. They're designed for it; they have a little plate under the screw that prevents the wires from being frayed by the screw.</p>
<p>If you want neater wire termination, you should use one of the spade type ones. Pick the smallest size that fits your wires.</p>
<p>PC power cords are generally fitted with an IEC C13 plug, and those are rated for 10A (meaning also the wires themselves will be able to carry at least that much current). This is fine for any home 3D printer which usually draws a fraction of that.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1115.html">This article</a> states that 3D printing has been accomplished in outer space, on the International Space Station.</p>
<p>I'm curious as to how this works differently from 3D printing on Earth. Are there any extra measures that needed to be taken to ensure that the filament would be correctly extruded onto the print bed, or during other steps?</p>
| <p>Most likely, the 3D-printers used on ISS does not incorporate some fundamental difference that allow them to print in zero gravity.</p>
<p>Some people over at <a href="http://3dprint.com/62797/3d-printing-upside-down/" rel="noreferrer">3Dprint.com</a> raised a very similar question, and figured that when turning their 3D-printer upside down and on it's side:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>there’s not really much difference at all. It’s quite interesting to see how the orientation has little effect on the quality.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the early 3D-printer models - the <a href="http://bukito3d.com/" rel="noreferrer">Bukito</a> printer - demonstrated that their printer was so portable it even could print on the move, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePU4EEM3JEI" rel="noreferrer">upside down</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, some consumer 3D printers already print upside down, and so they would probably print in zero gravity as well!</p>
<p><em>(That's the short story anyway. Have a look at Ryan's post, who gives a great description of the more intricate parts of space printing!)</em> </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Are there any techniques for getting a smooth finish for parts printed with co-polyester (PET) filaments? More specifically, I am looking for an alternative that does not roughen the look of the part - such as using sandpaper - but rather works like acetone baths for ABS.</p>
<p>In particular, I want to treat ColorFabb's XT filament made from the <a href="http://www.eastman.com/Markets/3D_Printing/Pages/Products.aspx" rel="nofollow">Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer</a> (<a href="http://ws.eastman.com/ProductCatalogApps/PageControllers/ProdDatasheet_PC.aspx?Product=71100831&sCategoryName=Generic" rel="nofollow">datasheet</a>). This is also the polymer is also used in:</p>
<ul>
<li>ColorFabb <a href="http://colorfabb.com/co-polyesters" rel="nofollow">nGen and XT</a></li>
<li>Taulman3D n-vent</li>
<li>TripTech Athiri 1800</li>
<li>3DXTech 3DXNano</li>
</ul>
| <p>Ethyl acetate (sold as a MEK substitute) is supposed to work for vapor smoothing PET. It doesn't seem very toxic (it's used to decaffinate cofee and tea, and as a nail polish remover), but you might want to look more into it. There's a post on Printed Solid's blog where he vapor smoothed colorFabb XT and MadeSolid PET+ along with a few other filaments and got some good results.</p>
<p><a href="http://printedsolid.com/blogs/news/37035395-vapor-smoothing-3d-printed-parts-pla-colorfabb-xt-t-glase-pet" rel="nofollow">http://printedsolid.com/blogs/news/37035395-vapor-smoothing-3d-printed-parts-pla-colorfabb-xt-t-glase-pet</a></p>
<p>The links in the blog don't work for me, but google was able to find slightly larger versions:</p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-20-18.38.04-1024x613.jpg?16147388421280943481" rel="nofollow">https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-20-18.38.04-1024x613.jpg?16147388421280943481</a></p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-21-18.16.28-1024x612.jpg?9543779874607042697" rel="nofollow">https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-21-18.16.28-1024x612.jpg?9543779874607042697</a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>When designing parts that should either fit with external objects or other printed parts, what measures can one take to ensure that the dimensions of the final print are accurate and fit the other object?</p>
<p>To my knowledge, you at least have two options to account for printer inaccuracy and shrinkage:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adjust the space around joints in your CAD model</li>
<li>Adjust dimensional offsets in your slicer software</li>
</ul>
<p>Are there any good workflows one can use to design and print 3D-models accurately without resorting to trial and error?</p>
| <p>I think the best way to go about this would be to calibrate your printer and slicer as best you can. One of my pet peeves is when people upload STLs that have been adjusted to fit their printer/material. There are many suppliers of material that vary in quality as well as many materials and different printers that the tolerances shouldn't be built into the part because in the end it usually just makes it harder for others attempting to print the model.</p>
<p>If you aren't sharing models then all I can say is you are still better off to calibrate your printer and tune your slicer to your material. You'll have more luck with models from other people and have an easier time designing your own. </p>
<p>If you still have trouble then modifying the model is probably the last option. I don't know of any CAD programs that can work with problems 3D printers have so experience is going to be your only help. I know in Inventor you can go around and Thicken/Offset individual surfaces of the model to compensate or if you had a percentage for your shrinkage you could get creative with formulas in the sketches.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I upgraded to a dual Mk9 extruder, and quickly discovered how critical it is to get the ends of both nozzles exactly level with each other -- that is, equally distant from the build plate at all times. Otherwise the lower one will crash against the plastic just extruded by the higher one.</p>
<p>So, what's a good procedure for getting the nozzles accurately level? About all I've figure out is to move the heads down close to Z=0, and then run X and Y back and forth and eyeball and adjust; then move even closer to Z=0 and repeat. Is there a better / more efficient way?</p>
| <ol>
<li>Make sure that the <strong>bed is level</strong>. As the saying goes, a level bed is next to godliness or something like that. Pay extra attention to the direction the nozzles are offset by (if one nozzle is offset on the X-axis, pay extra attention to the bed leveling along the X-axis). <a href="http://wiki.solidoodle.com/leveling-the-print-bed" rel="noreferrer">This can be done with just one nozzle and a business card or piece of paper</a>.</li>
<li>Use a <strong>bubble level</strong> to get the nozzles about right. Move your z-axis up a bit and put a bubble level against the nozzles. Adjust as necessary so it's exactly level. The nozzles should be level enough that the bubble stays in the middle.</li>
<li>Fine-tune it with a <strong>business card</strong>. When you home the z- axis, you should be able to just fit a business card under both nozzles with a moderate amount of resistance. Don't force the card. If sliding the business card under produces a different amount of resistance for one nozzle than for another, adjust the nozzle a <em>tiny</em> amount. You can also use an index card or playing card.</li>
<li>Once it passes the card test, try a test print. If it doesn't work, make sure your bed is level, your nozzle offset is correct in the slicing software, and try calibrating with an index card again. If the nozzles become way off, try the bubble level again.</li>
</ol>
<p>As for physically adjusting the level, another answer suggests shims made from aluminum foil, which work well. Personally, my extruder was off-level by almost exactly 1mm, so a pair of washers worked nicely for that.</p>
<p>Happy printing!</p>
<p>Leveling with a bubble:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/O1IDe.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/O1IDe.jpg" alt="Almost level, sorry for the bad lighting"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I just received this printer and while it seems to talk to Makerbot Desktop software I'm not sure if I should be trying to update the firmware.</p>
<p>The printer comes with firmware v7.2 and while Makerbot Desktop offers an upgrade to v7.5 I'm not sure if it's a good idea with this non-Makerbot branded printer.</p>
<p>I've also seen information on upgrading this printer to Sailfish v7.5, is this the same thing as Makerbot firmware v7.5?</p>
| <p>The Monoprice Architect is is a bare-bones FlashForge Creator that has been re-badged for Monoprice. The Creator line is a very popular set of printers, so there is lots of good advice out there. The FlashForge Google Group is a good community to join: <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge" rel="nofollow">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge</a></p>
<p>The entire FF Creator line, in turn, is cloned from the original Makerbot Replicator 1. So you can use Makerbot slicing profiles for the Replicator 1. Just keep in mind that Makerbot does not generally test new software revs with their older printers, and DEFINITELY does not test new software revs with competitor knock-offs. Sometimes they appear to break functionality for non-Makerbot machines on purpose. So recent versions of Makerbot Desktop may not "play nice" with your FlashForge. <strong>The most recent "known good" free slicer you should use with this printer is Makerware 2.4.x. You can find links by searching the FF Google Group.</strong></p>
<p>On that note, you may have received instructions to use ReplicatorG with your printer. But RepG is abandonware: development stopped years ago. It should only be used for firmware updates, not as a slicer. You should also only use the most recent version posted on the Sailfish page on Thingiverse: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084" rel="nofollow">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084</a></p>
<p>Using older versions of RepG with newer firmware revs will corrupt your EEPROM! Only use the version downloaded from the link above. </p>
<p>The firmware that comes with the printer is FlashForge's slightly-customized build of either Sailfish or Makerbot's Replicator 1/2/2x firmware. But here's the trick: Makerbot's Rep1/2/2x firmware is just an old, out-of-date, slightly customized version of Sailfish. Makerbot stopped keeping up with bug-fixes and feature additions a long time ago. <strong>Everything is Sailfish:</strong> just different versions. You should use the most recent official release version listed at:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/</a></p>
<p>Follow the instructions in the Sailfish manual from the link above, and RepG will automatically pull the right builds from the official mirror and populate a list of printer options to choose. The trick here is which build to download. As of 1-21-16, there is not an official Monoprice Architect build yet. Which would mean editing a machine xml profile to avoid the firmware throwing warnings. I STRONGLY recommend getting used to the printer using factory firmware before trying to fight with custom machine profiles... But here is the basic process to pick a Sailfish firmware build when you're ready:</p>
<p>First: which Atmega processor version do you have? The large chip in the middle of the control board will either say 1280 or 2560. You need to know which version you have. Bad things happen if you load the wrong version.</p>
<p>Second: What is the tooth count on the X and Y drivetrain pulleys? To my knowledge, FF always uses 17-tooth pulleys, which matches the Replicator 1 and FF Creator profiles. The Rep2 and 2x use 18t pulleys, so only use those builds if you have those pulleys. People often mess this up and their prints end up with dimensions ~5% off in X and Y. </p>
<p>Third: The Architect has one extruder and no heatbed, so firmware builds that expect those to be connected (Rep 1 Dual, Creator, etc) will throw errors if loaded. You can fix this from the LCD screen or RepG, but that's a whole separate question. Do some printing and learn about the printer before attempting any firmware update so you'll know what to do if you pick a build with the wrong parts. </p>
<p>Fourth: This one is just for the sake of completeness. Some FF models were shipped with off-spec heatbeds that require special firmware builds to prevent drawing too much current and overheating / overloading the power supply. The Architect doesn't have that, but firmware builds for those printer models (eg I believe the FF Creator 2560) will under-power regular heatbeds. This is just something you need to know with the Architect if you decide to install a heatbed later. But it's a really critical safety warning for people with those off-spec heatbeds. </p>
<p>If this all seems complicated, that's because FlashForge (and in turn Monoprice) relies heavily on the open source Sailfish project to maintain the software ecosystem behind this line of printers. FlashForge has some internal builds that they use for flashing new bots, but these are not kept particularly up-to-date. Nor does FlashForge release the source files, so it's quite opaque where exactly the stock firmware differs from mainstream Sailfish. In the long run, you should install mainline Sailfish. But it's ok to stick with the factory firmware until you get used to the printer. </p>
<p>To summarize: Because there is not an existing Sailfish build, you're going to need to do some investigating and some experimenting to figure out which build will work. Don't try that until you're familiar with the printer. Post on the FlashForge Google Group when you're ready for help.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>When I use Cura with the Pronterface UI it sometime just stops printing.</p>
<p>When it stops the printer just stops, the UI looks like it's still printing but nothing is moving in the printer, also, trying to control the printer from the UI does nothing.</p>
<p>It always stops early in the printing process, usually during the auto-leveling process or while printing the skirt, the latest it happened was during the first solid layer of a raft.</p>
<p>Usually closing the printing window and re-opening it solves the problem but not always, this never happened to me with the basic UI, I couldn't find any settings that makes the problem better or worse, it just happens randomly.</p>
<p>Anyone knows how to stop that from happening?</p>
<p>My printer is a Robo 3D R1+</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong></p>
<p>After installing a screen on my printer I discovered Pronterface is sending a "Wait for user" G Code to the printer.</p>
<p>Because this changes the question too much and invalidates the existing answer I've asked a new question at <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/518/what-makes-pronterface-wait-for-user">What makes Pronterface wait for user?</a></p>
| <p>The Monoprice Architect is is a bare-bones FlashForge Creator that has been re-badged for Monoprice. The Creator line is a very popular set of printers, so there is lots of good advice out there. The FlashForge Google Group is a good community to join: <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge" rel="nofollow">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge</a></p>
<p>The entire FF Creator line, in turn, is cloned from the original Makerbot Replicator 1. So you can use Makerbot slicing profiles for the Replicator 1. Just keep in mind that Makerbot does not generally test new software revs with their older printers, and DEFINITELY does not test new software revs with competitor knock-offs. Sometimes they appear to break functionality for non-Makerbot machines on purpose. So recent versions of Makerbot Desktop may not "play nice" with your FlashForge. <strong>The most recent "known good" free slicer you should use with this printer is Makerware 2.4.x. You can find links by searching the FF Google Group.</strong></p>
<p>On that note, you may have received instructions to use ReplicatorG with your printer. But RepG is abandonware: development stopped years ago. It should only be used for firmware updates, not as a slicer. You should also only use the most recent version posted on the Sailfish page on Thingiverse: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084" rel="nofollow">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084</a></p>
<p>Using older versions of RepG with newer firmware revs will corrupt your EEPROM! Only use the version downloaded from the link above. </p>
<p>The firmware that comes with the printer is FlashForge's slightly-customized build of either Sailfish or Makerbot's Replicator 1/2/2x firmware. But here's the trick: Makerbot's Rep1/2/2x firmware is just an old, out-of-date, slightly customized version of Sailfish. Makerbot stopped keeping up with bug-fixes and feature additions a long time ago. <strong>Everything is Sailfish:</strong> just different versions. You should use the most recent official release version listed at:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/</a></p>
<p>Follow the instructions in the Sailfish manual from the link above, and RepG will automatically pull the right builds from the official mirror and populate a list of printer options to choose. The trick here is which build to download. As of 1-21-16, there is not an official Monoprice Architect build yet. Which would mean editing a machine xml profile to avoid the firmware throwing warnings. I STRONGLY recommend getting used to the printer using factory firmware before trying to fight with custom machine profiles... But here is the basic process to pick a Sailfish firmware build when you're ready:</p>
<p>First: which Atmega processor version do you have? The large chip in the middle of the control board will either say 1280 or 2560. You need to know which version you have. Bad things happen if you load the wrong version.</p>
<p>Second: What is the tooth count on the X and Y drivetrain pulleys? To my knowledge, FF always uses 17-tooth pulleys, which matches the Replicator 1 and FF Creator profiles. The Rep2 and 2x use 18t pulleys, so only use those builds if you have those pulleys. People often mess this up and their prints end up with dimensions ~5% off in X and Y. </p>
<p>Third: The Architect has one extruder and no heatbed, so firmware builds that expect those to be connected (Rep 1 Dual, Creator, etc) will throw errors if loaded. You can fix this from the LCD screen or RepG, but that's a whole separate question. Do some printing and learn about the printer before attempting any firmware update so you'll know what to do if you pick a build with the wrong parts. </p>
<p>Fourth: This one is just for the sake of completeness. Some FF models were shipped with off-spec heatbeds that require special firmware builds to prevent drawing too much current and overheating / overloading the power supply. The Architect doesn't have that, but firmware builds for those printer models (eg I believe the FF Creator 2560) will under-power regular heatbeds. This is just something you need to know with the Architect if you decide to install a heatbed later. But it's a really critical safety warning for people with those off-spec heatbeds. </p>
<p>If this all seems complicated, that's because FlashForge (and in turn Monoprice) relies heavily on the open source Sailfish project to maintain the software ecosystem behind this line of printers. FlashForge has some internal builds that they use for flashing new bots, but these are not kept particularly up-to-date. Nor does FlashForge release the source files, so it's quite opaque where exactly the stock firmware differs from mainstream Sailfish. In the long run, you should install mainline Sailfish. But it's ok to stick with the factory firmware until you get used to the printer. </p>
<p>To summarize: Because there is not an existing Sailfish build, you're going to need to do some investigating and some experimenting to figure out which build will work. Don't try that until you're familiar with the printer. Post on the FlashForge Google Group when you're ready for help.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm in the process of building a 3D printer and have all the stepper motors wired up and the controller connected to the computer running pronterface.</p>
<p>I can move each axis and also send g-code to the printer.</p>
<p>Now <strong>how can I define the current position to be the 0/0/0 position?</strong>
I'd like to move the printer into a position where I think should be the zero position and define it as such in pronterface somehow.</p>
| <blockquote>
<p>G92 X0 Y0 Z0</p>
</blockquote>
<p>tells the printer that the current position is (0,0,0).</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I found a story about someone <a href="http://www.fablabamersfoort.nl/en/node/534">3D-printing equipment for their Lego minifig</a>, using an Ultimaker. (Article is in Dutch, but accompanied by photographs).</p>
<p>I noticed that what they made weren't the actual connecting bricks, but the tools used by the minifig. And that even so, some filing and a dremel were needed afterwards to make them fit properly.</p>
<p>I'm told that to make something connect properly with real Lego, the machine needs to be tuned very precisely. </p>
<p>So, what resolution is needed to print bricks that will connect with normal Lego bricks?</p>
| <p>It's really more about calibration than resolution -- a poorly calibrated printer will have dimension errors that prevent mating with true LEGO bricks or other printed bricks. </p>
<p>Also, "resolution" is an incredibly loaded term for 3d printers, because it can mean a lot of different things. But we don't need to get into that right now. There are really two big things to worry about: layer height and extrusion width.</p>
<p>Layer heights of 0.1mm or 0.2mm should be fine. Coarser layers may run into surface finish issues that make the bricks difficult to put together or take apart. There probably isn't much reason to go finer than 0.1mm for this application. Almost all FFF printers can do 0.1mm layer heights as long as it is reasonably well-tuned.</p>
<p><strong>Any typical household FFF printer with a "normal" nozzle size can print fine enough for the bricks to work. It just needs to be tuned well.</strong> The smallest "must have" feature in a standard lego brick is the 1.6mm thick wall around the sides. The typical minimum printable feature size for an FFF printer is 2x the extrusion width, because the slicer will place a path on the inside edge of the shape and the outside edge of the shape. (Some slicers will allow single-extrusion features, but this is not generally recommended because it makes weak parts.) </p>
<p>So, how wide is the extrusion width? It's adjustable, and different slicers auto-recommend different values, but as a safe rule of thumb it needs to be between 1x and 2x your nozzle size. There are some volume calculation quirks in different slicers that may encourage larger or smaller sizes, so sometimes people recommend [extrusion width = nozzle size + layer height] particularly with Slic3r. This is very system-specific. </p>
<p>Assuming you have the most common stock nozzle with a 0.4mm orifice, and also set the extrusion width to 0.4mm, the slicer should put four strands in the walls of the LEGO brick. That's good. </p>
<p>Where it gets tricky is if you have an extrusion width that does not evenly divide into 1.6mm. Say you are printing with an extrusion width of 0.6mm. There is enough room in the wall of the part to place two full 0.6mm perimeter strands... but then a gap 0.4mm wide will be left in the center. You can't put another 0.6mm strand into that 0.4mm gap. Different slicers handle this different ways. Some will leave an empty space between the walls, and you get a very weak print. Some will mash an excessive amount of plastic into the gap, causing poor print quality as excess material builds up more and more on each layer. Some will push a smaller-than-commanded strand to try to properly fill the volume. </p>
<p>So, the general advice with small features is to make sure your extrusion width goes into the part's minimum thickness a reasonable number of times.</p>
<ul>
<li>[Feature size / extrusion width < 2] is BAD </li>
<li>[Feature size / extrusion width = 2] is GOOD </li>
<li>[2 < Feature size / extrusion width < 3] is BAD </li>
<li>[Feature size / extrusion width > 3] is GOOD</li>
</ul>
<p>Although these will vary somewhat by slicer -- older slicers like Skeinforge tend to have more issues with this than newer slicers. What you should do in practice is check your slicer's print previewer to see whether it is leaving a gap between the strands. Then adjust extrusion width and perimeter/shell count to try to get an intelligent output. There's some trial and error involved.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I was just shopping for filament, and saw some glowing claims about PETG being as easy to work with as PLA, but as strong as ABS, and less brittle. Anyone know if that's actually true, or what the tradeoffs are?</p>
| <p>PETG is great stuff to work with. It is stronger than ABS also. It prints slower than ABS and PLA. The formulas vary quite a bit from vendor to vendor. I have used 3 brands, and each of their properties vary. </p>
<p>From my experience you do have to be careful with moisture. You'll be able to tell you have moisture in your filament if you start hearing a slight hissing and popping and an increased number of structural zits on the object. Moisture will also increase the problem listed in Mark's post below regarding the accumulation of filament on the nozzle.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography">Stereolithography</a> produces parts by projecting ultraviolet light on the top of a vat of liquid photopolymer, causing it to harden. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Liquid_Interface_Production">CLIP</a> produces parts by projecting ultraviolet light through the bottom of a vat of liquid photopolymer, causing it to harden. This seems like a minor difference, yet CLIP is reportedly much faster (I've seen numbers as high as 100x). Why is this?</p>
| <p>It's important to understand what specifically is being compared. <strong>CLIP is much faster than bottom-up technologies that require a peel step between every layer.</strong> For example, the Form1 galvo SLA printer tilts the resin vat to separate the transparent bottom from the print. That is, by far, the slowest part of SLA/DLP printing with most modern light sources. Where the speed comes in is that without a peel, a continuous "movie" can be used to cure the resin rather than a series of alternating images and peels. </p>
<p>Top-down printers can print dramatically faster than bottom-up-and-peel printers. CLIP is not necessarily faster than top-down. For example, the Gizmo 3D line of top-down printers are very similar in print speed to CLIP. (<a href="http://www.gizmo3dprinters.com.au/">http://www.gizmo3dprinters.com.au/</a>)</p>
<p>Most "consumer" SLA printers these days use bottom-up-and-peel techniques, because this has some practical advantages over top-down printers:</p>
<ul>
<li>Way less resin is required to fill the printer when the part is pulled out as it builds rather than being lowered into the tank (along with the Z stage) as it builds. Resin is expensive. This also means bottom up printers can be smaller and have fewer mechanical parts such as leveling devices submerged in resin. </li>
<li>Standard resins contain an inhibitor chemical that prevents polymerization in the presence of oxygen, which causes the surface layer exposed to air (and low-level stray light) to not cure. So top-down printers must shoot light through a non-curing layer before reaching curable resin. This makes the tuning more sensitive and can somewhat reduce detail compared to a bottom-up printer curing right on the window.</li>
<li>Replacement vats or windows for bottom-up printers may be seen by manufacturers as a profit-generating consumable, since they have to be replaced somewhat frequently.</li>
<li>Top-down printers have to worry somewhat more about resin flow rates as the part is lowered. Air bubbles may be pulled into the resin or the fresh resin layer above the part may vary significantly in thickness if the part is submerged too fast for the resin viscosity. (Admittedly, bottom-up printers will experience excessive suction forces and potentially break off bits of the print at high peel speeds.)</li>
</ul>
<p>CLIP is a bottom-up technique that doesn't require a peel step, because the vat creates an oxygen layer over the window that keeps the resin from curing directly on the surface and sticking. In that way, it arguably performs more like a top-down printer than a bottom-up printer. </p>
<p>Top-down printers that are designed to overcome the above issues and use high-intensity light sources can achieve exceptionally high print speeds. This includes similar "continuous" build techniques used as in CLIP.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>In Cura, I can edit my .ini profile settings as needed, for example, when I change filament or models. It's annoying to have to edit the profile on another computer and update it on my Pi just to change the infill, etc. I've searched <a href="http://plugins.octoprint.org/" rel="noreferrer">http://plugins.octoprint.org/</a> and can't find any plugins that do this.</p>
| <p>As far as I know, this is currently not possible.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><a href="https://e3d-online.com/blogs/news/are-abrasives-killing-your-nozzle" rel="nofollow noreferrer">E3D-Online</a> and <a href="http://makezine.com/2015/09/11/carbon-fiber-filament-ruins-nozzles/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Make Magazine</a> have written about the potential damage printing carbon fiber and glow in the dark filaments can do to your printer's nozzle.</p>
<p>What I can't seem to find is what clues or warning signs to be on the look out for if your nozzle has taken a significant amount of wear. I've printed a few hundred grams of glow filament personally and have not noticed any change in print quality.</p>
<p>E3D says you may have "unpredictable erratic printing" with a worn nozzle. Can anyone explain or provide examples of what this actually means and when a replacement is necessary?</p>
| <p>I believe the little experiment made by E3D - the same link you provide - answers your question very well. Several points about wear can be found in this article. After printing only 250 grams of ColorFabb XT-CF20 (carbon fiber filament):</p>
<ul>
<li>The nozzle diameter had increased markedly</li>
<li>The inner walls of the orifice (opening) showed deep sharp ridges and grooves</li>
<li>The tip of the nozzle had become critically rounded, and shortened</li>
</ul>
<p>All of these symptoms were found repeatedly for standard brass nozzles.</p>
<p>In particular, I believe the last of these symptoms may be the one most easily identifiable without accurate measuring equipment (and without observing print quality).</p>
<p>With regards to reduction in print quality, these symptoms could be simulated by:</p>
<ul>
<li>Setting the nozzle diameter too big in your slicer</li>
<li>Leveling your bed too high (the rounded tip will also reduce the length of the tip)</li>
<li>Printing with a partial clog that interruptus normal filament flow (due to the grooves and ridges)</li>
</ul>
<p>Exactly what this will look like on your printed part is hard to predict, but I would assume you could see blobs, under-extrusion, poor layer adhesion, as well as an irregular surface finish of your top layers.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I need to do some post processing of my 3D-printed models that includes adding some holes. For each of PLA, ABS, PETG and other 3D-printing materials:</p>
<p>In what ways is drilling a hole in a model made from that material like or unlike drilling wood? Is it worth getting special "plastic drilling bits" that cost tons of money or can I use regular high speed drill bits? Do these plastics have grain that they will split on when drilled into, and if so, what are ways to avoid such splitting? Are higher speeds better, or lower speeds, or should I only use a finger-twirled bit holder?</p>
<p>Are some 3D-printing materials easier to drill than others?</p>
<p>What other methods also work for creating a hole in the different types of plastics?</p>
| <p>I wouldn't recommend drilling a hole in a 3D printed part in a traditional sense like with wood. Instead, I would merely ream a 3D printed part.</p>
<p>I've done this quite a bit where I'll print my holes at a slightly smaller than nominal size and use a standard carbide drill to ream the hole.</p>
<p>Things to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Printing the holes smaller than nominal will ensure your hole is not printed larger than nominal</li>
<li>Printing with a higher shell will ensure you can remove the material without exposing the infill</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that drilling directly into (or thru) an infill area of the part could lead to cracking of the part later, depending on the hole's functionality. In general, a printed hole (even if reamed) will be significantly stronger than one drilled through an infill area.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>On one of the nozzles on my printer, the filament comes out at a 45 degree angle. It seems that this causes problems with adhesion to the bed and overall quality.</p>
<ul>
<li>What caused this problem? </li>
<li>How do I fix it? </li>
<li>How do I prevent it from
happening in the future?</li>
</ul>
| <p>If you're extruding into the air, it's actually quite normal for the filament to come out in seemingly random directions. This shouldn't cause problems because the filament should always be getting squished onto the bed/layer underneath (or during bridging, getting stretched). The way the filament comes out in free air doesn't reflect how it behaves during printing.</p>
<p>If you are experiencing troubles then perhaps the nozzle is clogged with a small piece of debris (or, unlikely) the nozzle is actually damaged. There's little you can do to prevent that apart from using high quality filament and being careful not to damage the nozzle.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I"m considering making my own filament, with a device like the one at <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380987" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380987</a>. Partly because it's another machine to build, which is cool, but also to save money on filament.</p>
<p>Has anyone here tried to make their own filament? My main questions are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's good enough to use without a lot of frustration?</p></li>
<li><p>Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.</p></li>
<li><p>Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?</p></li>
</ul>
| <p>You can basically use any machine that pulverizes your pellets into small pieces.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.3dhubs.com/talk/thread/how-make-your-own-filament-recycling-old-3d-prints-part-1" rel="noreferrer"><strong>One guy on 3dhubs, explained it in details.</strong></a></p>
<p>My conclusion is that you can recycle everything using this data gathered from research up in link there. </p>
<p>Also, you can use any plastic material and pulverize it into pellets (even from the bottles) and you can try to do this process. Only thing that matters is quality of product.</p>
<p>I was thinking about pellets from vinyl records. I bought one big collection before one year, and there was around 500-600 records that are completley useless. So, you can pulverize them and repeat the process, because process of making vinyl records and process of making bottles is completley different, and uses different kind of plastics. </p>
<p>So to draw a conslusion: everything depends on quality of pellets.</p>
<p>And to answer on your three questions:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put<br>
another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's<br>
good enough to use without a lot of frustration?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No, it isn't Your filament would be lower quality if you don't get a great pellets.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other
details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning
of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes it does. Check the link up there.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve
with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better
control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Again, it all depends on type of filament you like to use. I wrote about plastic filaments.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>When installing and using a new hotend for the first time, which steps of action should be taken before. This will probably be more applicable to chinese clones than to authentic products (is the statement true?): <strong>Should a certain cleaning procedure be carried out</strong> (removing swarf/shavings for example)? <strong>Should mechanical precision be controlled and if necessary improved</strong> (de-edging and nozzle size are two things I could think of)?</p>
<p>I know the topic <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/233/how-should-i-clean-my-extruder-when-changing-materials">How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?</a>, which is a nice addon read, but I am concerned about brand-new extruders.</p>
| <p>So far, these are my experiences to make a new hotend work properly.</p>
<ul>
<li>Read the instructions. The ones of the 'original' if it is a clone.</li>
<li>Check the parts. Is everything included you need?</li>
<li>and check the design, if it is a clone. It might not be the same as the one they're trying to copy. Figure out the differences (as far as I encountered mainly the heatbreak/inliner design)</li>
<li>There is no immediate need to mechanically check the nozzle if it passes an optical check. You will be calibrating the extrusion anyway and unless you're unhappy with the results, there are most likely more severe impacts than the accuracy of the nozzle diameter.</li>
<li>Cleaning should be done to some extent. You wouldn't want any visible leftover products from the hotend's production in the extrusion path. Anything that you can't see will most likely be removed easily by the filament and should only be a problem when there are other more significant flaws.</li>
<li>You maybe want to install a heatbreak into the heatsink with lots of thermal paste to transfer the heat as effectively as possible. A defined and short meltzone is key for reliable operation.</li>
<li>You also maybe want to add some thermal paste for the thermistor/thermocouple to ensure quick heat transfer here.</li>
<li>You maybe want to insulate your hotend thermally to not lose heat by dissipation. I asked a question about that process here: <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/1247/168">Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend?</a></li>
<li>Test whether the filament is easily guided into the heatbreak, so that it doesn't stop being extruded by catching an edge or deforming over one.</li>
<li>Check the two valuable answers of TextGeek and Dimitri Modderman, there's good information in them!</li>
</ul>
<p>This answer is most likely not complete and totally up for discussion. I appreciate any addtional answers and comments to improve on the topic!</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>What are the specifications of the three wires inside a PC cable that is used to connect the switching power supply to a US AC outlet.</p>
<p>The positive, negative and ground appear to be the same gauge stranded cable, and I've heard that it can handle 10A, but beyond that I don't really know what the rest of the specifications for the wire are.</p>
| <p><em>Very</em> basically speaking, electricity works like this:</p>
<ol>
<li>There's some source that delivers a certain <strong>voltage</strong>.</li>
<li>You have a device that operates at a certain voltage. <strong>The device voltage and supply voltage should always match.</strong> No, don't put that 120V US device in a 230V outlet in Europe.</li>
<li>The device does something. By doing something it draws <strong>current</strong>. Most devices also draw some current when not doing anything.</li>
<li>How much power your device draws is the product of these two values:<code>voltage x current = power</code> </li>
</ol>
<p>So far, so good. In your case:</p>
<ol>
<li><blockquote>
<p>US AC outlet.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>the <strong>voltage is 120V</strong>.</p></li>
<li><p>On <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/352/10">this other question of yours</a> you linked to <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007KG0ZYI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this power
supply on amazon</a>. Besides being available gift-wrapped, it
states the following feature:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You can choose the input voltage (110V/240V) by switch.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>110V ≈ 120V, which means the <strong>device voltage matches your supply
voltage</strong>.</p></li>
<li>The supply can deliver 30A at 12V on the DC side which means 360W.
If it could transform the electricity ideally, without any
inefficiency, that would be <strong>3A</strong> at 120V on the AC side. But your
supply is unlikely ideal. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply#SMPS_and_linear_power_supply_comparison" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia suggests 60-95% efficiency</a>.
Let's be super pessimistic and assume 50%. That means half the power
that goes into the switch power supply is turned into heat. In order
to still get the 360W out, you have to insert 720W. That means
<strong>your device draws 6A</strong> on the AC side.</li>
</ol>
<p>What does this all mean for your wire?
What wire size do you need for this supply?</p>
<p>Coincidentally, the above link to the amazon website showing your power supply also suggests the following PC ATX power supplies to me:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00SN6VN7W" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sentey Power Supply 725 Watt</a></li>
<li><a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00I3IXEBI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sentey Power Supply 1000 Watt</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Let's get this straight: You can buy a power supply for a PC and plug it into your outlet without even thinking about what a wire size is. You'd just plug and play. <strong>That PC power supply will potentially draw more current</strong> than <strong>the power supply of your 3D printer</strong>. A standard wire would be able to supply either one of the PC ATX power supplies linked above and would not have a problem delivering a lower current to the power supply of your 3D printer.</p>
<p>The switching supply doesn't have a plug like a PC ATX supply, but that on its own doesn't make it any less secure (if wired up properly). It's just less common for household appliances.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ultimately, I'd like to avoid a fire, or damage to the house wiring.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That's a good and valid concern. </p>
<p>PC Power supplies deliver 12V and supply more than enough current (like the examples above). They are probably in use in your house already and did neither set it on fire nor damage the house wiring.</p>
<p>A switching mode power supply is just as secure and if bought from a known brand unlikely to do you any harm either if used properly and within its specifications.</p>
<p><strong>Ultimately</strong>, this is not a question of secure electricity but a trade-off between secure electricity and the price to pay for it. The standard wire and it's specifications have little to do with this.</p>
<hr>
<p>Personally, I also use a cheap switching power supply made in china for my printer. It's very noisy and I pull the plug when I leave it unattended.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>If I need to test out some of the components of a RAMPS 1.4 based 3D Printer, can I only plug some of them into the board (not all of them) and test them out?</p>
<p>I'd like to test out the NEMA 17 motors without testing the heated bed or extruder. Is this safe and why?</p>
| <p>If by components you mean motors, fans, or heated bed, then yes. This is even suggested in the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4#Final_Setup" rel="noreferrer">Final Setup</a> instructions on the RAMPS wiki.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you think you may have mistakes (in your setup) you can install only one stepper driver during initial testing and risk only one stepper driver.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are also printers using RAMPS with no heated bed and other machines that have no extruder at all. Furthermore, from an electronics perspective: if nothing is connected across a terminal no current will flow and therefore there is no damage that can be done. Obviously if you short out the unused connections there will be problems.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>This is in with <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/394/when-building-a-ramps-1-4-based-printer-can-i-safely-plugin-just-some-of-the-co">my other question about components</a> and the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/389/in-the-standard-pc-cable-wire-that-goes-from-the-wall-outlet-to-the-switching-po">other question about electricity</a>; how can I check to see how many amps are being pulled? Can I check a component at a time to make sure I'm not going over the limit, and then just add them all in together once I've summed the amps to make sure it's safe to hook everything up. The amps shouldn't change right? </p>
<p>What settings should my multimeter be set to? And to check how much it's pulling, do I just put the multimeter's leads on the green terminals on RAMPS 1.4?</p>
| <p>To measure amps (current), the meter has to be wired in series with the item to be measured (for this reason, ammeters are designed to have very low resistance). </p>
<p>This has the down-side that you have to disconnect the component to put the meter in line with it. That makes it hard to do the "check a component at a time" method you mentioned.</p>
<p>An ammeter measures <em>actual</em> current flow, so you really can't test a component for it in isolation. Components can have wildly different "current draw" depending on the situation. For example, motor current varies with torque and speed; current through a resistor varies with the voltage across it; and so on.</p>
<p>There are special "clamp-on" current meters that just clamp around a conductor and report the current by using induction. Very nice if you have one.</p>
<p>If you just want the total current the entire RAMPS board is pulling, put the ammeter between the power supply and the RAMPS power input connection(s). Be <em>very</em> sure not to have the meter set to read volts or ohms when you do this (it might or might not survive).</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>There is a little circuit board, or breadboard or something <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3_Rework_Electronics_and_wiring#Wiring" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in the diagram of the wiring for the i3</a>.</p>
<p>And it's mentioned that the z-axis motors need to be <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3_Rework_Electronics_and_wiring#Motors_wiring" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wired in parallel</a> but beyond that they don't give you much detail about parts or how the wires go in. </p>
<p>Can someone provide me with some more detail on this?</p>
| <p>In the diagram, they do show the wires connecting together, which is right. You can accomplish that just about any way you like, so long as you pair up the wires correctly from one motor to the other.</p>
<p>I'm assuming both "Z" motors are the same type and have the same color-coding for their wires. If not, you'll need to figure out the correspondences first (you may want to post another question if you need a hand with that, since it's pretty specific and generally useful).</p>
<p>Many control boards have "headers" sticking up, with 4 bare pins for each motor. Connectors that plug right onto those are readily available, such as at <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10364" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10364</a>.</p>
<p>Some ways you can wire the motors in parallel:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Some control boards, like my RAMPS 1.4, provide 2 sets of header pins next to the Z stepper driver board. In that case, just put a connector on each motor (if they're not there already), and plug them in next to each other.</p></li>
<li><p>If there's just one set of header pins (or one Z-motor socket of some other kind) on your controller, make a "Y-cord" by soldering the wires from one connector (that plugs to the controller) to <em>2</em> 4 pin connectors, one to mate with each motor.</p></li>
<li><p>Or you can skip the 2 extra connectors entirely, and just solder the motor wires to the wires from the connector: 2 reds to red, 2 blacks to black, or whatever.</p></li>
<li><p>If your controller just has empty holes, either solder in header pins and do as above (preferred, IMHO), or wire directly into the holes, splicing the 2 sets of motor wires if there's only one set of holes.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Motor and connector wires are wildly inconsistent, so make sure you get them sorted out right if they aren't already. The first thing is to check continuity: find 2 pairs of wires, which are the ends of two separate coils. If your motors have more than 4 wires it's trickier.</p>
<p>With RAMPS (see handy diagram <a href="http://makerdev.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ramps_fanboard_annotations.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RAMPS 1.4 RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu shield</a>), </p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/A6lsT.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="RAMPS 1.4 RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu shield"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/A6lsT.jpg" alt="RAMPS 1.4 RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu shield" title="RAMPS 1.4 RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu shield"></a></p>
<p>the 4 pins are commonly labelled (starting from the one nearest the power-supply end of the RAMPS board):</p>
<pre><code>2B 2A 1A 1B
</code></pre>
<p>It means coil 1 and coil 2, each of which has ends A and B. I find this unclear because it could just as well have been numbers for the coils, and letters for the ends (if you wire it that way it won't work). So be sure you have continuity (maybe 15 ohms or so) between the wires you connect to 2B and 2A, and between the wires you connect to 1A and 1B.</p>
<p>The <em>really good thing</em> about this pin order is that if a motor is running backwards all you have to do is power off and then turn the plug around. That's one reason I think it's important to keep connectors in there, rather than soldering directly.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm thinking about buliding my own 3D printer from scratch. </p>
<p>Is it better to buy a starter DIY kit and try to build your printer around it, or to order separate parts for printer, and then to combine a printer?</p>
| <p>From a general point of view, there are a few things to consider.</p>
<p><strong>If you buy a kit</strong>:</p>
<p>Pros:</p>
<ul>
<li>You get some insurance that <em>you have all the parts that you need</em> to get a functional printer - all the electronics, structure, bolts, nuts, screws, washers, wires and so on.</li>
<li>Most likely, all the parts you get are made to <em>fit together</em>.</li>
<li>You will (usually) get a <em>manual</em>, often a community that can help you out, and sometimes even technical support.</li>
<li>Sometimes, it can be <em>cheaper</em> than buying each part separately (but it can also be more expensive)</li>
</ul>
<p>Cons:</p>
<ul>
<li>You have limited/no options to customize your printer to your own preferences without purchasing additional parts. </li>
<li>Some kits can be difficult to upgrade later or may be locked to some configuration or software.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>My opinion:</strong></p>
<p>The way I look at it, the better option for <em>you</em> depends on how you want to spend your time. That is:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you get a kit, you can spend more time building.</li>
<li>If you collect all the parts yourself, you will have to spend time planning, ordering parts (possibly multiple times) in addition to actually building the printer. A possible lack of manuals could also increase the building difficulty.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you don't already own a 3D printer, I would recommend getting a kit, simply because struggling with trivial things like parts not fitting together can take away the fun for many people.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>How do I smooth 3D printed objects? What is the best / common method to do this?</p>
| <p>From a general point of view, there are a few things to consider.</p>
<p><strong>If you buy a kit</strong>:</p>
<p>Pros:</p>
<ul>
<li>You get some insurance that <em>you have all the parts that you need</em> to get a functional printer - all the electronics, structure, bolts, nuts, screws, washers, wires and so on.</li>
<li>Most likely, all the parts you get are made to <em>fit together</em>.</li>
<li>You will (usually) get a <em>manual</em>, often a community that can help you out, and sometimes even technical support.</li>
<li>Sometimes, it can be <em>cheaper</em> than buying each part separately (but it can also be more expensive)</li>
</ul>
<p>Cons:</p>
<ul>
<li>You have limited/no options to customize your printer to your own preferences without purchasing additional parts. </li>
<li>Some kits can be difficult to upgrade later or may be locked to some configuration or software.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>My opinion:</strong></p>
<p>The way I look at it, the better option for <em>you</em> depends on how you want to spend your time. That is:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you get a kit, you can spend more time building.</li>
<li>If you collect all the parts yourself, you will have to spend time planning, ordering parts (possibly multiple times) in addition to actually building the printer. A possible lack of manuals could also increase the building difficulty.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you don't already own a 3D printer, I would recommend getting a kit, simply because struggling with trivial things like parts not fitting together can take away the fun for many people.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have seen lots of printers that print chocolate using a syringe with molten chocolate. But, even cooler, would it be possible to print chocolate using some kind of feed system for <strong>continuous</strong> chocolate printing, so large objects and for a prolonged time, not only lasting the content of one syringe with molten chocolate ?</p>
<p>Things to consider are IMO: </p>
<ul>
<li>How to keep the chocolate long enough in a molten, viscous state
enough to print ?</li>
<li>Chocolate needs a tempering temperature, which
means it needs to be around 32-37 degrees celsius, else it doesn't
shine but gets a dull look (or turns white after a while). </li>
<li>Chocolate
is food, so you need foodsave equipment in the whole chain that is in
contact with the chocolate.</li>
</ul>
<p>Maybe a peristaltic pump that keeps pumping the molten chocolate to the extruder, which might be a valve that can be open/closed from G-code ?</p>
| <p>Update: I found a nice article about chocolate printing: <a href="https://all3dp.com/2/chocolate-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://all3dp.com/2/chocolate-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know/</a></p>
<hr>
<p>You are searching for chocolate extruder. I did not find one, which would fulfill all your requirements. You have to adapt each solution.</p>
<h2>Zmorph3d Liquid paste extruder</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://zmorph3d.com/cake-and-chocolate-extruder/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://zmorph3d.com/cake-and-chocolate-extruder/</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According video on the page you insert chocolate in liquid form. That could be solved with heated chocolate container. </p>
<h2>Syringe based extruders</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.open-electronics.org/3drag-is-now-printing-with-chocolate/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.open-electronics.org/3drag-is-now-printing-with-chocolate/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://richrap.blogspot.de/2012/04/universal-paste-extruder-ceramic-food.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://richrap.blogspot.de/2012/04/universal-paste-extruder-ceramic-food.html</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Extruder-for-Ultimaker/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Extruder-for-Ultimaker/</a></li>
</ul>
<p>You can use a <a href="http://esyringe.com/2l-jumbo-syringe.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2 liters syringe</a>. And if this is not enough then you can refill during print.</p>
<h2>Convert pellet extruder</h2>
<p>Printing from chocolate pellets is simpler then printing from plastic pellets. Therefore if you use foodsave parts to build such a extruder then this is useable for you. </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youmagine.com/designs/universal-pellet-extruder-reprap-3d-printing" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youmagine.com/designs/universal-pellet-extruder-reprap-3d-printing</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Cooling</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.open-electronics.org/the-3drag-choco-chocolate-3d-printer-cooling-system-explained/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">3DRAG CHOCO (Chocolate 3d printer) Cooling system explained</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Shop</h2>
<p>by Open-Electronics</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://store.open-electronics.org/index.php?_route_=3DCHOCO" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Extrude for chocolate</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.open-electronics.org/syringe-heater-for-3drag-chocolate-printer/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Syringe Heater for 3Drag chocolate printer</a></li>
</ul>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I recently found out carbon fiber and glow in the dark PLA can damage the printer nozzle, now I'm suspicious of all the "exotic" filaments.</p>
<p>So, does wood filament cause damage to the nozzle? (under normal use, or at least what someone who only used PLA/ABS before would consider normal use)</p>
<p>Let's assume a normal quality brass nozzle - not some cheap stuff that didn't even came in the correct size to begin with and not some premium reinforeced nozzle - and reasonable quality filament.</p>
| <p>If you haven't been to their site before, you should check out the forums on 3DHubs. There's a lot of how-to's. A quick Google search yields <a href="https://www.3dhubs.com/talk/thread/accelerated-nozzle-wear" rel="noreferrer">this</a> link to a similar question.</p>
<p>The key thing to note is that in all technicalities, any material you run through the nozzle is going to cause <em>some</em> sort of wear on your nozzle. <strong>How quickly</strong> depends on the material or composition.</p>
<p>The answer to the question linked above relates it spot on to sandpaper. If you have sandpaper made out of metal (ie stainless pla), it will scratch your skin fairly easily. If you have sandpaper made out of tree bark (ie laywood pla), it probably won't scratch your skin as bad, but it'll still scratch. And just for poops and giggles, lets say you have sandpaper made out of pla; it'll take a while, but you could eventually make your skin raw if you rub the plastic against your arm long enough.</p>
<p>It is typically recommended to use one nozzle for each material type as to avoid cross-contamination of materials in your printing. With this idea in mind, if you are using many types of materials, you can also minimize failed prints due to clogging and other "damaged nozzle" type troubles.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>In general 3D printers are compact and smaller than RP machines. That's ok. But, what's the difference? 3D printers can be used as RP machine too.</p>
| <p>All rapid prototyping means is automatically producing a physical part from a cad model. 3D printing is a way to achieve rapid prototyping. There are 2 main methods of rapid prototyping: additive, and subtractive.</p>
<p>A 3D printer is additive- you add materials to an object layer by layer.</p>
<p>Usually, when people talk about a subtractive machine, they are talking about a CNC mill (or lathe), which tend to be extremely large (most are over one ton). You start with all the material there, and you subtract the material that you don't want. This might be what you are thinking of.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'd like to customize and modify some parts on Thingiverse, beyond just simple scaling for 3D printing.</p>
<p>I've been looking for some tools that convert the STL files into something that is easily edited, but so far all that I've found are really buggy and crash frequently as soon as one loads a reasonably complex model.</p>
<p>Are there any free open source software tools that people can recommend that handle STL importing and editing? If not FOSS, what about just "free or nearly free for hobbyists, ed, non-commercial?</p>
| <p>If you want to do basic edits to an STL, a program such as <a href="http://www.meshmixer.com/" rel="noreferrer">MeshMixer</a> might be right for your. It offers the ability to combine and subtract models, add custom supports, and similar, in a fairly straight forward manner.</p>
<p>An alternative that allows your to do complex editing of STLs would be <a href="http://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview" rel="noreferrer">Autodesk Fusion 360</a>. Here you can import STLs into meshes, which you then may convert into solids for further editing. It is more work to use, but a very flexible solution; you can i.e choose to only convert certain faces to solid, or use the mesh as a reference point for other designs. </p>
<p>As far as I know, neither of these are FOSS (free and open source), but both are free for non-commercial use.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have a Robo 3D. However A while ago, the print bed was fractured, and now it has a long crack cutting it in half. The bed still works because it is held together, by the screws holding the bed to the tracks. So I want to continue using it, because it still is fairly good, the heating element works fine, and a replacement bed is 80$, and I am unsure if the one sold on the RoBo 3D website will be compatible with my printer as I don't have the R1, but a version before that.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b4osS.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b4osS.jpg" alt="My cracked bed, with crack running straight through the center"></a></p>
<p>So my question is:
How can I best align the two glass fragments, to provide as flat a print surface as possible, and two how to best hold these two pieces in place, or if it would be best to invest in a new print bed?</p>
<p>EDIT:
Here is a image of the heating element as well to explain the situation with how it is attached<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/4yr34.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/4yr34.jpg" alt="The heating element attached to the underside of the glass print bed"></a></p>
<p>EDIT:
The RoBo 3D team have said that I just need to upgrade my y-axis with a object on thingiverse and then buy their new build plate. So I am going to experiment with a glass replacement, and if that fails to succeed then I will go along with their suggestion, and buy the upgrade. Thanks everyone for their help.</p>
| <p>A little chip is fine, but I wouldn't print with that big of a crack. <strong>However</strong>, that doesn't mean you need to spend $80 on a new sheet of glass.</p>
<p>Option #1- If you want borosilicate glass, you can get a sheet from either McMaster (about $40+shipping for a 10"x10" piece, less for smaller) or from a local glass maker (the price varies a lot, so you should check that also if you want to go that route). However, you won't be able to drill holes (tempered glass <em>will</em> break of you drill a hole). Borosilicate glass has the advantage of being <em>extremely</em> heat-resistant, so it won't break from thermal expansion. If you go this route, you should pick up a few binder clips also to attach the sheet to the heated bed.</p>
<p>Option #2- You might be able to get picture frame glass from a hardware store. It's super cheap (mine was $3 or something from lowes) and they'll often cut it to exact size. You might be able to drill this, but you have to be extremely careful. Sometimes, the hardware store can drill holes in the sheet for you if needed. If you don't want to drill, a few binder clips will work just as well.</p>
<p>Just a note for if you are using binder clips: you might need to (depending on how your hbp is set up) get a piece of glass that is slightly smaller to allow for any bed leveling screws to have room. If you're going with the picture frame glass, you should make sure that the glass will be entirely within the heated part so that there isn't any heat gradient (that's how glass cracks/shatters). </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm using Cura as my slicing/printing software and I just started using the BuildTak printing surface.</p>
<p>The BuildTak is damaged by pushing a hot nozzle into it and my printer's (Robo3D R1+) autoleveling feature works by pushing the nozzle into the build surface.</p>
<p>Is there a way to configure Cura so that it runs the Z probe first, then heat up the nozzle?</p>
<p>My first sheet of BuildTak already has 10 small holes in it (at the homing position and at the 9 leveling touch points)</p>
| <p>In Cura (and Slic3r), you can 100% customize what the printer does before printing your actual model through custom <strong>start/end g-code</strong>.</p>
<p>If you navigate to the <code>Start/End-GCode tab in Cura</code>, then select <code>start.gcode</code>, you can see what operations are run before each print begins. Lines prefixed with <code>;</code> are comments, and does not affect the printing in any way. </p>
<p>Basically, we want to manually tell the printer to do the auto leveling <em>before</em> heating up the nozzle by editing the g-code in <code>start.gcode</code>.</p>
<h3>G-Code generated with the default start.gcode:</h3>
<p>If you try to slice some model with the default code found in <code>start.gcode</code>, you will get something like the following (depending on your printer):</p>
<pre><code>; CURA AUTOMATICALLY INSERTS THESE TEMPERATURE CODES
M190 S70.000000 ; Set bed temperature to 70 degrees
M109 S210.000000 ; Set nozzle temperature to 210 degrees
; THESE ARE THE CODES FROM START.GCODE (for a ROBO 3D R1)
G28 ;move printer to endstops (the home position)
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded filament length
M565 Z-1 ;set z-probe offset
G1 Z5 F5000 ;move the printer 5mm above the bed
G29 ;run auto-leveling
; THE ACTUAL MODEL BEGINS HERE
;Layer count: 168
;LAYER:0
.
.
</code></pre>
<h3>Analyzing the g-code output</h3>
<p>At the top of this code snippet, we can see that Cura automatically inserts g-code for heating up the bed and nozzle to their respective temperatures with the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M190:_Wait_for_bed_temperature_to_reach_target_temp" rel="noreferrer">M190</a> and <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M109:_Set_Extruder_Temperature_and_Wait" rel="noreferrer">M109</a> g-codes. This means the printer always will heat up the nozzle before reading the <code>start.gcode</code>s that we set. However, if we manually override <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M109:_Set_Extruder_Temperature_and_Wait" rel="noreferrer">M109</a> code in <code>start.gcode</code>, the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M109:_Set_Extruder_Temperature_and_Wait" rel="noreferrer">M109</a> at the top will automagically disappear from the generated g-code output! (Thanks, @TomvanderZanden!)</p>
<p>We could therefore use the auto-leveling command <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#G29:_Detailed_Z-Probe" rel="noreferrer">G29</a> before manually setting the nozzle temperature with <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M109:_Set_Extruder_Temperature_and_Wait" rel="noreferrer">M109</a>; specifically, we want to add <code>M109 S{print_temperature}</code>, which reads the <code>Basic -> Print Temperature</code>-setting in Cura, and replace <code>{print_temperature}</code> with it automatically.</p>
<h3>Manipulating start.gcode:</h3>
<p>In order to postpone heating the hotend till after probing, <code>start.gcode</code> could be something like: </p>
<pre><code>G28 ;move printer to endstops (the home position)
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded filament length
M565 Z-1 ;set z-probe offset <----- ( YOU HAVE TO ADJUST THIS, READ BELOW)
G1 Z5 F5000 ;move the printer 5mm above the bed
G29 ;run auto-leveling
M109 S{print_temperature} ;set nozzle temperature, and wait for it heat up
</code></pre>
<p>And that's about it! You can then use these codes in your <code>start.gcode</code>. However, you probably will have to recalibrate your z-prove offset. </p>
<h3>Adjust z-probe offset:</h3>
<p>Normally, auto-leveling is done with the nozzle heated for a reason: when the nozzle is warm, it expands slightly, moving closer to the bed. You might therefore have to adjust your Z-probe offset with the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M565:_Set_Z_probe_offset" rel="noreferrer">M565</a> command (as demonstrated in the snippet) to account for the increase in nozzle length when warm.</p>
<h3>Remember:</h3>
<p>Remember that when editing g-code in this manner, you will take full control of how the printer operates. You could therefore very well do something unintended, so keep the power switch close! </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I am wondering how people that use standalone 3D printers (printers that have the ability to print autonomously from SD Card) feed in filament, prime the printhead and/or change filaments without a laptop ?</p>
<p>Do the printers have a menu to arrange all these tasks ?
I often only see the options to preheat the head to a certain temperature, but not to load/unload filament, extrude a small amount etc.</p>
<p>I understand this differs from printer to printer, but still am wondering about this.</p>
| <p>My printer (IdeaWerk 150) is very basic and doesn't have any options for this from the screen.</p>
<p>I wrote a really simple GCODE file that brings the nozzle up to temperature, then runs the extruder for a few seconds, then waits, then extrudes for a bit again. I think it does this 3 or 4 times then stops. I can put the file (when converted to .x3g!) onto an SD card and run it whenever I need it.</p>
<p>I have a similar file that allows me to level the bed without a computer by just moving the nozzle around to a few key points on the bed and pausing for a few seconds.</p>
<p>I used a GCODE file generated by my slicer in verbose mode to get started, along with a <a href="http://softsolder.com/2013/03/14/g-code-and-m-code-grand-master-list/">list of codes</a></p>
<p>I don't have these files to hand at the moment, but this is my <code>start.gcode</code>:</p>
<pre><code>(**** beginning of start.txt ****)
(This file is for a WeisTek IdeaWerk 150)
(**** begin initilization commands ****)
G21 (Metric FTW)
G90 (Absolute Positioning)
M18 (This disables the stepper motors.)
G92 X0 Y0 Z0 A0 B0 (Declare the current position to be 0,0,0,0,0)
(**** end initilization commands ****)
(**** begin homing ****)
G161 Y X F2500
G92 X0 Y0 Z0 A0 B0
G1 X5.0 Y5.0 Z-5.0 F450
G162 Z F450
G161 Y X F2500 (Home X axis maximum, go until reaching the end stop.)
G92 Z142.4 ( ** Set Bed Height ** )
G92 X-75 Y-75 (set zero for X and Y)
(**** end homing ****)
M108 R8.0 (Extruder speed = max)
M6 T0 (wait for toolhead parts, nozzle, HBP, etc., to reach temperature)
G1 Z10 F500 (Bring bed up)
M101 (Turn on Extruder)
G04 P8000 (Wait for 8 seconds for flow)
(**** end of start.txt ****)
</code></pre>
<p>If I feed <em>just</em> this file into my printer, it will heat up the nozzle, bring the bed up to about 10cm below printing height and once the nozzle is at temperature, it turns on the extruder for 8 seconds.</p>
<p>Your printer will likely be different to mine - there are a few different flavours of GCODE and you will likely have different XYZ positions, so take a look at some GCODE generated by your own slicer and identify the different parts. The principle is the same.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm thinking of another extruder on my printer, and I'm curious about this one....</p>
<p>Is it necessary to have both hot ends on same height? Why yes / why not? (if there is not)</p>
| <p>I have a dual extruder Replicator 1 and having the nozzles at the same height is a must and albeit a bit of a struggle otherwise. At one point, I had to disassemble my extruder head and the nozzles didn't line up quite right. There after, printing with the lower one obviously didn't have any troubles, however, printing with the high extruder made it so the lower extruder would scrape the molten plastic layer. This made my surface finish horrible and almost impossible for support structures to be printed.</p>
<p>Instead of fighting with my stock nozzle assembly to get everything perfectly lined up, I just shimmed the one side with some stacks of paper cutouts. This brought my extruders very close to even.</p>
<p>Also, you'll want to make sure excess plastic is cleaned off of <strong>BOTH</strong> nozzles when printing with either nozzle. I found that some prints would fail because of a small discharge from a previous print on the other nozzle.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have searched the internet and found various 3D printers with different advantages and materials which they can print - some even multi color. </p>
<p>However, I cannot seem to find a printer that can print multiple material with different properties; for instance, simultaneously printing PLA and metal. Is there currently such a printer available or in development? </p>
| <p>Yes and no.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>for instance simultanious printing of plas plastic and lets say metal. Is such a printer available or in development ?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Practically speaking, no. Metal printing requires significantly higher temperatures than plastic, and the two processes are so incompatible that there is currently no good solutions that would allow one printer to print both in the same print. Whether extruding filament, laser sintering, or curing resins, the materials involved have to be fairly similar in processing environment to print adjacent to each other without issue.</p>
<p>There are many printers that are intended to print multiple materials by changing the print head. You might, for instance, use a ceramic paste extruder, then change the head for the next print using plastic.</p>
<p>There have been efforts in the past, and some efforts are ongoing, to resolve this. For instance wood's metal, a low temperature alloy, can be poured at temperatures compatible with plastics, so it's possible to create a printer that prints plastic, leaving troughs or voids in the plastic, then the same printer during this print would pour molten woods metal into these areas, which then solidifies into an internal metal structure. These are intended for circuitry and electrical use, however significant problems still exist because the thermal expansion differences in these materials lead to stress and result in poor reliability.</p>
<p>So while some of these processes are being developed, this is still just in the experimental stage and there are significant problems to overcome before printers can print widely different materials in a single printing session.</p>
<p>Of course you can find plastics with such a wide range of characteristics that they can be seen as printing different materials. Plastics imbued with wood fibers, printing next to conductive plastics with graphite, printing next to flexible plastics, etc, etc are now possible, and depending on your requirements they may meet your needs.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Is there a good method or tool to level the bed of 3D printers? I find myself making small adjustments a lot and it's mostly just trial-and-error. A normal bubble level is of limited help and trying to figure out if the head is the thickness of a sheet of paper from the bed in all corners is beyond the capability of my vision.</p>
| <p>The easiest way I know of (unless your printer has a Z-probe and automatic leveling), is to bring the nozzle(s) down fairly close to the bed (maybe 1/4" or so), and then move it around while watching for anyplace that doesn't look even. Adjust the bed until it seems even. You can just eyeball it, or use a ruler or object to measure.</p>
<p>Then bring the nozzle down closer, and repeat. Each time you move it closer, you'll be able to eyeball more accurately.</p>
<p>Once you're quite close, pull out a 3x5 card, or business card, or similar, and move the nozzle up or down until the card just fits between the nozzle and the bed (with no great pressure, but no space either). Again, move the head all around the bed, and do any remaining (tiny) adjustments so it's the same everywhere.</p>
<p>Of course if the bed is at all warped this will be much harder, or even impossible. So before starting, put a good-quality straightedge along it to make sure it's actually flat.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Occasionally, while printing, my <em>y</em> axis will slip and the layer will, from that point forward, be shifted, ruining the print.</p>
<p>What might be the causes of an axis slipping? I have tried cooling the motor which seemed to have been getting warm, and the belts are not too tight.</p>
<p>This does not happen with every print, and seems to be an intermittent problem. </p>
<p>My printer is a MendelMax RepRap, and the <em>y</em> axis is my moving bed.</p>
| <p>The current to your motor driver could be set either too high or too low. If it's set too low then the torque might not be sufficient and the motor will skip steps. If it's set too high then the driver might overheat and occasionally shut down to protect itself.</p>
<p>Another option is that the printing speeds (or jerk/acceleration settings) are too high. I would start by reducing the travel speed (which presumably is higher than your printing speed) and see if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>The motor getting warm is normal and will not cause these issues.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Glass is always level, easy to clean, easy to work with.</p>
<p>Aluminium allows for the addition of automatic bed leveling with an inductive sensor and distributes heat a little more evenly.</p>
<p>When printing mostly ABS and PLA, which one is better?</p>
| <p>I believe printing directly on aluminium is unwise, simply because it will expand when heated, typically giving the bed a concave or convex shape. Glass, on the other hand, does not (at least not significantly).</p>
<p>As pointed out in the comments below, the heat expansion of aluminium could potentially be mitigated by increasing the thickness of the bed, as well as heating it evenly. Also, a common solution is to place a glass plate on top of an aluminium bed, at the cost of a slightly longer heat-up time.</p>
<p>In my experience, printing directly on heated glass can be very practical and give a nice surface finish for some PLA variants and other materials that support it. I don't know if printing directly on aluminium can give similar benefits.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I currently print with a .4mm nozzle on my extruder, and my prints seem to come out fairly accurate; would I see much of a difference if I went to a .3mm?</p>
<p>What are the pros and cons of larger and smaller nozzle sizes?</p>
| <p>1) Smaller nozzle advantage: sharper "corners" (higher X and Y resolution)</p>
<p>2) Larger nozzle advantage: faster 3d printing (because you can print the shell faster as each perimeter can be thicker so you'll need less perimeters to be printed to get the same shell thickness. Same true for infill).</p>
<p>3) Smaller nozzle disadvantage (varies, debatable): higher risk of clogging. There are of course other factors which can result in clogging, but this can also affect it as even finer particles in less quality filament can get stuck now.</p>
<p>4) Smallel nozzle disadvantage: since less plastic can come out at a given duration of time, it means less speedy printing of larger layer heights, if at all possible.</p>
<p>I feel like I should get back to (1) and explain why it is so.
When companies market their 3d printer they usually talk about the layer height (the Z resolution) completely ignoring the X and Y. This makes sense for marketing. Luckily it is not hard to explain what is usually left out and what is important for one of the answers to your question on what are advantages of smaller nozzles:</p>
<p>The Z resolution depends on two main things:
1) The stepper motor driver accuracy of your 3d printer's motherboard. Pretty much all are the same now. Claiming your 3d printer can print at 20 micron layer height doesn't say anything, pretty much any 3d printed today can.
2) Nozzle/extruder quality, nozzle diameter. The latter surprisingly does not determine much. Because of how FFF/FMD 3d printing works, the perimeters of your 3d print can be way thinner than your nozzle diameter. This might sound odd but there's a simple explanation: the molten plastic coming out of the hotend is squished and stretched when the head moves. Because it is stretched, it can be made thinner as you increase how much it is squished. There's not much experimentation done on this and available online, only from personal experience I can say I can print perimeters 50% thinner than my 3mm nozzle. So I suppose if you wanted thinner perimeters than that, you would need to swap to a thinner nozzle.
Why would you want thinner perimeters? To get sharper corners or in other words better X and Y resolution for your 3d prints which is ignored by most unlike the overstated "layer height" (Z resolution).
Here's an illustration to help you visualize how fatter perimeters and less sharp corners/edges on your 3d model result in "lower X/Y resolution" (the illustration is a 2d cutout, viewed from the top):</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/E9Q38.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/E9Q38.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><strong>Given the emissions that 3d printing gives off (ABS = styrene and other chemicals, PLA give some off, etc), what options are there to filter the air in the enclosure other than venting the air out of a window?</strong></p>
<p>More information on the chemicals 3d printing emit:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://built-envi.com/portfolio/ultrafine-particle-emissions-from-3d-printers/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://built-envi.com/portfolio/ultrafine-particle-emissions-from-3d-printers/</a></li>
</ul>
<p>It looks like activated carbon filters would be a strong performer for ABS (styrene) and PLA (lactide):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sentryair.com/activated-carbon-filter.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.sentryair.com/activated-carbon-filter.htm</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Are there better filtering materials or processes for filtering the air in an enclosure?</strong></p>
<p>Here's an example filter setup:</p>
<ul>
<li>This fan mount: <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:780001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:780001</a></li>
<li>60mm fans and this filter: <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00XNI5SY4" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNI5SY4</a></li>
<li>And sandwich the filter on the fan using this fan grill: <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11906" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11906</a></li>
</ul>
| <p>My residential materials expert referred me to these links (<a href="http://www.bofaamericas.com/3D-printing-fume-extraction.asp" rel="noreferrer">3D Printing Fume Extraction Solutions</a>, and <a href="http://www.3dprintfilemarket.com/140629194058.html" rel="noreferrer">ABS 3d Printer Nanoparticle and Chemical Exhaust Air Filter</a>) and thinks that you're pretty much on track with the idea of using activated carbon.</p>
<p>We both primarily print with ABS with my Replicator Dual and what's worked enough for me (in the past 5 years) is to keep my printer next to a window or vent in my den at home. The window is obviously a good ventilation option, but the variability that it creates in the ambient temperature screwed with my prints. Later, I moved my machine into its own hutch, which, if it is an option, would greatly help the overall environment for both the machine and any stored filament.</p>
<p>We'll keep poking around, but hopefully that helps in the mean time.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Some electronics come as a single PCB. They have CPU and everything on just one board.</p>
<p>Other electronics are a shield for an Arduino. So these are always two boards. The Arduino and the other PCB.</p>
<p>You probably don't want to exchange the Arduino unless it is broken. Does it break that often or are the two boards just the predecessors of the one board solution?</p>
<p>What are the benefits/downsides to having one/two boards?</p>
| <p>Many 3d printer motherboards are based on Arduino/Atmega microcontroller and just add some stepper motor drivers, MOSFETs and such in a single board. That explains why you use the Arduino IDE to update or modify their firmware.</p>
<p>Now why you would want to use an Arduino + an Arduino shield board like RAMPS? Well if you're not good at electronics, are happy with the cost of your own board, don't care much about upgrades/modding beyond what is possible with your board, maybe you shouldn't, it might be overwhelming.</p>
<p>There are several advantages with using Arduino with a shield for your 3d printer, "two boards are not just the predecessors of the one board solution", no.</p>
<p>1) It is moddable/exandable/upgradable/has replacable parts.
If your printer came with its own motherboard that doesn't have additional or enough pins to add more fans, enclosure lights, a second extruder, an LCD and you want to, it sucks. RAMPS can do that, it has plenty of extra pins.
It is upgradable. You want to replace the stepper drivers with a new one? Or you accidentally damaged the one you have? Fear not, you can just replace that instead of the whole motherboard.
Think if it like other motherboards being PCs on which you can't change the CPU, RAM and GPU.</p>
<p>2) It is here for a long time, you will be able to acquire one for a long time.
There isn't just one company making RAMPS or similar sheilds. Sometimes 3d printing companies go out of business or stop producing your particular motherboard. RAMPS is likely here to stay. Because Arduino is very likely here to stay.</p>
<p>3) As said above, not just one company owns or makes RAMPS or other Arduino shields. Besides the possibility of your motherboard not being produced anymore, there's also the advantage of not being at the mercy of one companies pricing and shipping policies. This is true for some other boards as well though.</p>
<p>4) It is possibly cheaper than what have you. I don't want to post a link, but one company right now is selling their derivative of Printrboard for like $180. Check the cost of Arduino Mega, stepper drivers and a RAMPS board yourself, quite a difference. That said, there are some boards which are close in price.</p>
<p>5) It's an Arduino. Why is this a good thing by itself? Because many people who have a 3d printer are tinkerers/makers and they already use Arduino for other projects. It is open source with a rich library to control many things. The modding and upgrades for your 3d printer which can be done with Arduino is another level higher. Or it can be a good learning experience for your future Arduino projects. If on the other hand you already use Arduino and are experienced with it, you might use it just because you know how to control it/fix it better than some specialized board you haven't seen before. Plus for a guy like you your 3d printer's motherboard will be an "off-the-shelf" part, that's nice, right?</p>
<p>Video on RAMPS: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJn6FuWOv4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJn6FuWOv4</a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>My printer has an auto-leveling feature that works by touching the build plate with the tip of the nozzle.</p>
<p>I started using a BuildTak surface and BuildTak is damaged when you push a hot nozzle into it.</p>
<p>So I edited the start G-code to run the auto-leveling before heating up the hotend</p>
<p>But ABS doesn't stick to the build surface unless I pre-heat the hotend and wait about a minute.</p>
<p>So now I'm looking for a G-code command to put at the end of the start G-code that will make the printer wait a minute before printing</p>
<p>The sequence I'm looking for is:</p>
<ul>
<li>Heat up the bed</li>
<li>Auto level</li>
<li>Raise the hotend a little bit so it doesn't touch the build plate</li>
<li>Heat up the hotend</li>
<li><em>Wait a minute (that's the only part that is missing, everything else works)</em></li>
<li>Start printing</li>
</ul>
<p>Any way to insert a delay into the G-code?</p>
<p>I'm using Cura to slice/print, my printer is Robo3D R1+</p>
| <p>An alternative solution to using a hard delay with the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#G4:_Dwell">G4 dwell command</a>, is to increase the time that the temperature set with <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M109:_Set_Extruder_Temperature_and_Wait">M109</a> has to be held before it continues with the next command.</p>
<p>In Marlin, this setting is named <code>TEMP_RESIDENCY_TIME</code>, and can be found around line 150 in <code>Configuration.h</code>. By default, this is set to 5 seconds, which looks like:</p>
<pre><code>// Actual temperature must be close to target for this long before M109 returns success
#define TEMP_RESIDENCY_TIME 5 // (seconds)
</code></pre>
<p>If increasing this setting solves your exact problem, I cannot say, but it could be worth looking into.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I just added a fan to my printer because very small layers seem to come out very badly. For example, the 5mm PLA cube that's the top level of the test shape shown below. Watching closely, I can see that the newly-extruded fiber is pushing the previous layer(s?) around pretty freely. And when the object is finished, the little top cube is bulging, rounded, and still soft to the touch. </p>
<p>The 2nd-to-top level of the object is also quite small and quick, but often comes out nicely (if anything, it was better before I added the fan).</p>
<p>The fan is a squirrel-cage with about a 2.5cm square outlet, pointing at the nozzle from about 5cm away, running full speed. The extruder is a Mk9 from <a href="http://www.makergeeks.com/duexretopr.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.makergeeks.com/duexretopr.html</a>.</p>
<p>I also tried telling pronterface to wait if a level was too brief, but that setting seems not to do anything.</p>
<p>What else can I try? It seems like this is a not-enough-cooling problem, but perhaps something else too?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rKDz8.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rKDz8.png" alt="A sample step-cube"></a></p>
| <h2>Layer Times</h2>
<p>See my answer to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/516/what-parameters-affect-cylinder-regularity">this question</a> and pay particular attention to my suggestion about a minimum layer print time. I'm not sure if all slicing engines provide this option, but I know MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop and (possibly) Slic3r allow this setting.</p>
<p>Basically, when you're extruding smaller features like this, the previous layer(s) are still very hot and possibly very pliable. So, as your nozzle moves around above the previous layer, the nozzle may (and probably will) push some of this molten plastic around. Chances are you can see it to a certain degree while it's printing. You can definitely see this in a most drastic state if you print a tall and small diameter cylinder. You'll notice that the part will become almost exponentially unstable the higher it goes.</p>
<p>By increasing the time your printer takes to print a single layer, you are allowing the previous layer(s) to cool closer to the ambient temperature of the build space, and hopefully not as molten.</p>
<p>Please refer to <a href="http://www.abcgroup3.com/toolbox/mold_cooling_calc.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this calculator</a> or a similar one for material cooling times. For a standard shell setting of about 2-3 (0.4mm nozzle) will yield about 130sec to cool down to room temperature. I would recommend (for ABS/PLA at least) about a 15second minimum for each layer, possibly longer depending on the size and spread out of the features.</p>
<p>Also note that this can be cheated by simply printing multiple items in the same build plate with the same heights (ie. multiples of the same part). Naturally, it will take longer for the machine to print the rest of the parts and therefore allow each layer to cool slightly before being printed over.</p>
<h2>Active Cooling</h2>
<p>Again, some slicing engines have an Active Cooling setting. I don't personally have this option setup on my machine, but I believe it regulates the flow of air directed at your nozzle (usually by use of a mounted fan). This can help cool the layers a bit faster. With ABS, this might result in some pretty bad warping mid-print.</p>
<h2>Feedrates</h2>
<p>Try bringing down your feedrates to provide the printed portions of the current layer more time to cool if the above options aren't available. Note that you might also bring down your hotend temp to shorten the time it takes to cool the plastic.</p>
<h2>All else fails</h2>
<p>My only other suggestion is stated above, try printing duplicates on the same plate. My diagnosis is that the previous layers aren't cooling down enough before the next layer begins.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Most electronics use micro-controllers like an AVR, but I'm seeing ARM chips in new electronics. ARM chips are said to be more powerful, but in what areas related to 3D printing could this help? What are the features that the AVR struggles with and where an ARM could be better?</p>
<p>High Speed movement? Delta printers? Graphic display?</p>
<p>And is the AVR really the limitation there?</p>
| <p>Generally, AVR is in fact less powerful than many ARM cores used today. Most printers with AVRs don't have floating-point coprocessors, although a lot of the step and movement control can be done in integer-only math (except for G2/G3). Marlin can interrupt for step handling <a href="http://softsolder.com/2013/06/04/marlin-firmware-stepper-interrupt-timing/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">up to 10000 times per second</a> on AVR, translating to 40000 steps per second. This isn't particularly useful without mechanical components that can move at those speeds and still print meaningful results (or are far more precise and have a far higher step-count-per-mm at a similar speed).</p>
<p>Graphic display isn't a particularly taxing thing to do at <em>low</em> speeds--high speeds or weird interfaces might require a bit more power or a dedicated interrupt.</p>
<p>The times when ARM might be important are for more math-heavy and especially floating-point-heavy setups such as delta, where every move requires many floating-point and trig operations, and navigation in menus on a 16MHz AVR (atmega2560) <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/242/marlin-menu-navigation-slow-while-printing#comment294_242">is described as</a> "painfully slow", but Marlin does succeed in printing meaningful results on delta-style printers.</p>
<p>Clearly, an ARM core that is either faster at performing soft floating-point, or supports hardfloat (hardware that does floating point operations very efficiently) will see a benefit for such processes.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I want to upload some of my works to <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse</a> without making my real name public (displaying it on the profile page).</p>
<p>I think it is OK to register my name to the site unless the make it public, and it is required by the terms to provide truthful and accurate information.</p>
<p>I tried creating an account on the site, but I deleted it because I couldn't find the way to hide my name (set another one) from the profile page in a short time.</p>
<p>I see some accounts that doesn't seem showing their real name (for example, their name on profile equals to their account ID, or at least not in two parts: first and last name as required on registration), so I guess this is archivable.</p>
<p>examples:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/Darkcheops/about">http://www.thingiverse.com/Darkcheops/about</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/ruaridh/about">http://www.thingiverse.com/ruaridh/about</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/Torleif/about">https://www.thingiverse.com/Torleif/about</a></li>
</ul>
<p>How can I set my name for profile page on Thingiverse after registration and logging in?</p>
| <p>To change your displayed name (as opposed to username) in Thingiverse:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to your profile page</li>
<li>Click "Edit Profile" on the info column on the left</li>
<li>At the top, next to "Thingiverse Settings" is another link/tab called "Makerbot Settings". Click that.</li>
<li>Change the First Name and Last Name fields, and save.</li>
</ol>
<p>Note that neither First nor Last Name is required; if neither is provided, your username will be displayed in place of your display name.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>everyone.</p>
<p>I'm a relative newcomer to 3D printing, so I don't know what constitutes an unacceptably bad spool of filament.</p>
<p>About 1/6 of the way into a roll of PETG (and maybe 4 hours into a 6-hour print), an over/under wrap brought things to a screeching halt. I aborted the print, then snipped the filament and started unspooling it, looking for more cross-wraps. I found a ton of them, along with a ton of kinks.</p>
<p>I stopped about 1/3 of the way into the spool, still finding kinks and cross-wraps, and said to heck with it. The only way to use it would have been to run the entire length onto another spool, carefully avoiding cross-wraps, and hope the kinks wouldn't affect the print quality.</p>
<p>I complained to the supplier but never even got a reply, so now I'm wondering if this is just one of those things I can expect from time to time. Any thoughts & opinions would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Glasseyed</p>
| <p>Filament should come off of the roll without overlapping itself. That being said depending on what you paid for it would determine if you should complain. Normally you get what you pay for. If you paid \$10 for it, I would think that is why it was so cheap, but if you paid >\$25 it should be nice stuff.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><strong>I was wondering if this printer(daVinci 1.0) had the ability to print very small objects, like insects, coins, or small nuts. (About the size of 1 -2 cubic centimeters)</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://us.xyzprinting.com/us_en/Product/da-Vinci-1.0-AiO" rel="nofollow">Here</a> is a link to the printer on the website.</p>
<p>The reason I ask is someone asked me if it was able to, but I have not been able to access the actual 3-D printer for use at this time, just manuals which I have looked through.</p>
<p><strong>So if the 3-D printer was able to print small objects, would a novice be able to do such a thing?</strong></p>
<p>Please let me know if any additional details are needed. </p>
| <p>1) If we're talking about FFF/FDM printers:</p>
<p>Accuracy of the electronics and motors allows it, yes.
But how FDM printers work it might be very hard to lay down layers of molten plastic so small as to preserve little details in the X and Y axis, not much of a problem doing 20 micron layer height though (Z resolution).
Check this answer to find out what the X and Y resolution is and what it depends on: <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/509/381">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/509/381</a></p>
<p>You'll need both a small enough nozzle, as well as somehow cool the plastic because since the printed objects are so tiny the nozzle keeps contact with the surface surrounding it and heats it longer, which might melt the whole object or even char it.</p>
<p>I've seen very few people do tiny prints with success. And the smallest nozzles I know are 250 micron.
Not trying to dscourage you, just letting you know. If it was easy to do I think more people would be doing it and more companies would be advertising their printers as capable of such a thing</p>
<p>So you'll have around 20 micron Z resolution and around maybe 200 in the X/Y.
If that's enough for you, then you could try. Calibrating it all won't be easy, tiniest backlash will be noticeable.</p>
<p>2) It's a lot easier with curing resin 3d printers (SLA or DLP). Most of them actually have trouble printing larger objects, ironically (trouble sticking to the bed and cracking of the 3d print).
Even here badly calibrated lasers would prevent you from doing this and even many Form 1 users have reported their lasers being assembled poorly resulting in poor beam profile.</p>
<p>Size of the laser beam profile (aka laser "spot size") is what determines the X/Y resolution for SLA 3d printers. With the Form 2 its 140 micron, unless you'll get a badly calibrated printer.
For DLP printers it's easier, it's the resolution of the DLP projector divided from the size of the print area.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I am considering buying a 3D printer for work (scientific research). On paper, the Makerbot 5th generation seems to be the best option, because the price is right for my budget, and also because I'm generally pretty busy, so I want something that's as close to "plug and play" as reasonably possible. This will be my first 3D printer and I have no prior experience with the technology.</p>
<p>However, any search for "Makerbot" brings up a raft of negative reviews from around the time of the 5th generation's first release, which mostly focus on issues with the smart extruder constantly failing and needing to be replaced under warranty. Many of these reviews point out that this may be an initial "teething" issue which might be fixed in later versions of the model, but now, one year later, I'm unable to find any information about whether this was indeed the case.</p>
<p>So: are the initial issues with the Makerbot 5th generation's smart extruder generally considered resolved, or is it an underlying flaw of the model that won't be fixed until the next generation?</p>
<p><sub>I imagine that people might want to suggest alternative models in the same price range. That would be welcome, but I have an extra constraint, which is that I can only buy models that are available in Japan without a long delivery time - this probably limits my options quite a bit.</sub></p>
| <p>Makerbot claims the problems are fixed. I have heard from a number of resellers that the problems are fixed. Unfortunately, both of those are somewhat biased sources. It's surprisingly hard to get good info on the subject -- very few credible people are talking about recent experiences with the product line. </p>
<p><strong>Issue #1:</strong> The main surviving user forum (<a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/makerbot-users">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/makerbot-users</a>) has had the torrent of people reporting 5th gen issues more or less dry up. There ARE still people posting issues, but at a fairly low level that is not far outside what you would expect for an average hobbyist printer. What we DON'T know is whether the flood of complaints has slowed because they're working better, or because very few people are actually buying them any more. </p>
<p><strong>Issue #2:</strong> The power-users and community leaders that typically evaluate and review 3d printers are all avoiding the 5th gen line like the plague. Makerbot burned up a lot of community good-will by going closed source with the Replicator 2, and lost more good-will through a series of misunderstandings over patent applications and the Thingiverse terms of service (Takerbot scandals), and put the nail in the coffin by <strong>knowingly</strong> releasing a non-functional 5th gen product line. Very few credible people are willing to give them a chance at this point, so there is a severe shortage of unbiased reviews.</p>
<p><strong>Issue #3:</strong> Makerbot has a proven history of buying off journalists and reviewers to get positive 5th gen press. Some verifiable examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Hundreds of fake 5-star Amazon reviews from paid review accounts. A relevant analysis: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JI8LRRXZYNX1/">http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JI8LRRXZYNX1/</a> (Not verified, but related: a widely-believed rumor states that the German Amazon site actually wiped all of Makerbot's 5th Gen reviews because of blatant tampering: <a href="http://www.amazon.de/MakerBot-MP05825-Replicator-5th-H%C3%B6he/dp/B0183TP806/">http://www.amazon.de/MakerBot-MP05825-Replicator-5th-H%C3%B6he/dp/B0183TP806/</a>)</li>
<li>The CES awards initially given to the 5th Gen line were given before Makerbot had functional firmware. None of the 5th Gens at the CES launch were functional. All demo prints shown were made on Replicator 2s. How could a non-functional product win awards? Not hard to figure that one out. </li>
<li>Historical positive press in the 3DP journalism media (3ders, Make Magazine, etc) has been directly proportional to the volume of ad-buys from Makerbot or the parent company Stratasys. </li>
</ul>
<p>I could keep going, but you get the idea. </p>
<p>So it's hard to evaluate the reality of the situation. <strong>But even IF the Smart Extruder issues are truly all fixed</strong> (jams, leveling issues, thermocouple connection, filament encoder failures, etc), <strong>there are still meaningful problems with the product line.</strong> </p>
<ul>
<li>The print quality is not impressive. The motion mechanics, which have not been appreciably changed to my knowledge, are not great. The Smart Extruder is basically a giant pendulum wobbling off the side of a non-optimal gantry selection of an H-bot architecture. Makerbot has addressed the floppy construction via firmware tweaks to significantly slow down the machine to give marginally-acceptable print quality. According to most reports I have seen, a Replicator 5th Gen will print significantly slower than a Replicator 2, for example. Expect in the neighborhood of perhaps 30-40% longer print times than comparable printers.</li>
<li>The price tag is roughly double or even triple the current market price for the size and print quality output of the machine. There are so many great printers on the market now for significantly less money that it's kind of nuts to drop the cash on a Makerbot.</li>
<li>It is marketed as a PLA-only machine. That's fine if you're printing art and trinkets, but it's not a great option for mechanical parts. While you CAN print other materials, this is not technically supported. </li>
<li>The support plan structure has quite frankly become abusive. Makerbot used to have really helpful phone tech support, but the crushingly massive volume of 5th gen troubleshooting requests forced them into a paid tech support model. Around the same time, Makerbot shut down their user community forum and deleted links to external technical resources off their website. So unless you know the right places to go, support is scarce. For official tech support you must buy "Makercare" or pay for each help ticket. This is completely out of line with industry norms for a hobbyist/consumer 3d printer. They essentially took their biggest liability -- unreliable printers -- and tried to twist it into a profit center. I personally think this is a significant reason to avoid the company entirely. </li>
</ul>
<p>Is it possible to get good results from a Replicator 5th Gen? Sure. But it's a poor value for the cost, from a company that has spent the last few years systematically driving away its former loyal user base. I would recommend staying away until there's some significant change in the product line at minimum.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>One way to give PLA prints a smooth finish is treatment with chloroform vapours (or other solvents, as mentioned in <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/36/674">this</a> answer). This method is even featured on <a href="https://ultimaker.com/en/tips-tricks/17897-vapor-treating" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ultimaker website</a>. I would like to try it on some of my prints. </p>
<p>What are the practical concerns I should be aware of using chloroform vapours? I am looking for advice concerning vaporisation temperature, time of exposition that makes for a nice finish, and any other experiences. </p>
<p><strong>Caution!</strong>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroform" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chloroform</a> is a moderately toxic chemical! I only approach this method as I have an access to a well-equipped chemical laboratory with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fume_hood" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fume hood</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Disclamer:</strong>
The question is not about the safety issues using chloroform vapours. It is about how obtain the best post-processing results with least trial-and-error.</p>
| <p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/25ej7d/does_anyone_have_experience_with_pla_thf_vapor/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This Reddit post</a> seems to have some good trial and error dialog.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:73120" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This Thingiverse post</a>, along with many other references online, suggest that the results are very similar to that of an Acetone treatment with ABS. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of how it works, but the general advice is to be conscious of what you're working with. A heat-induced vapor treatment seems to yield the best surface finish, but can be tricky to track down proper exposure times. It seems that the time required to achieve a desirable surface finish depends on the size and openness of the features on the object. By openness, I mean how evenly the vapor is able attach itself to the surface of the object as compared to other features. Some this variability may be reduced by streamlining the process. Perhaps if you found a way to rotate either the part or the vapor container during the process. This could ensure contact is made in small corners/features. Other variables to consider may be:</p>
<ul>
<li>If a gradual reduction of exposure is necessary (as is with most heat treatment operations);</li>
<li>How much temperature effects time. Most pages I've read mention 100C as the temp to vaporize the chemical;</li>
<li>Size of the "vaporization chamber" in accordance with how much of the chemical is available. I've used a gallon paint can lined with lightly dabbed paper towel with Acetone for part between 1"^3 to about 4"^3.</li>
</ul>
<p>That's all I can think of, currently, that could potentially have the most impact on the process. Just as with 3D printing, there's not an easy way to definitively know how your parts will turn out. The sheer difference in the shape of your parts could throw out any "proven process" you come up with. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what things to look out for in starting out.</p>
<p><em>Here's information about safety, before OP added disclaimer</em>
<s>As with any chemical, <strong>always</strong> refer to the MSDS <sup>(Material Safety Data Sheet)</sup>! Whichever supplier you acquire the chloroform from, should ship an MSDS with the product. If one is not shipped, you should be able to request one. If they don't have one, don't use the product and don't purchase from them.</p>
<p>In most cases, you can get away with finding any MSDS online, but I'd recommend trying to get one directly from your supplier as they might theoretically have a different "strand" of the chemical. Therefore, reactions and safety precautions may be different than what you will find online.</p>
<p>A quick search yields <a href="http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927133" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this MSDS</a> which states that chloroform does have "carcinogenic effects" along with some other long-term, undesirable effects. As with any other MSDS it continues to go over best-practices and extremity limits.
</s></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>On a Cartesian printer movements are really simple. If we assume the printer has 100 steps/mm on each axis, then a move of 10mm on a axis is just 1000 Steps on that axis.</p>
<p>Movements that are not aligned with one axis are also simple. Moving from x,y = 0,0 to 10,10 would be 1000 steps on x and y.</p>
<p>On deltas even for simple moves more than one motor has to move. And just calculating the amount of steps on each axis needed to reach the destination probably gives a curved move.</p>
<p>So what is the algorithm to calculate the steps for a given move for a delta printer?</p>
| <p>There are two main special steps to the technique used by most open-source 3d printer controllers:</p>
<ol>
<li>Divide each linear gcode segment into lots of very small subsegments ("Segmentation")</li>
<li>Use some basic trigonometry or the pythagorean theorem to tie extruder position to carriage height for each of the three towers ("Inverse Kinematics")
to find the target position for each small segment</li>
</ol>
<p>The inverse kinematics are surprisingly simple. A virtual 90 degree triangle is constructed from two known lengths to solve for the unknown third length: </p>
<ul>
<li>The fixed delta arm length is the hypotenuse of the triangle</li>
<li>The horizontal distance between the column joints and end-effector joints is calculated from the XY coordinates of the nozzle and the fixed position of the column, to determine the length of the lower side of the triangle</li>
<li>The length of the upper side of the triangle is calculated from the previous two via the pythagorean theorem</li>
<li>The length of the upper side is added to the nozzle Z height to get the necessary carriage height</li>
</ul>
<p>I think the best open-source reference here is Steve Grave's Rostock Kinematics document, rev3 available for download here: <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/msg/deltabot/V6ATBdT43eU/jEORG_l3dTEJ" rel="noreferrer">https://groups.google.com/d/msg/deltabot/V6ATBdT43eU/jEORG_l3dTEJ</a>
Some relevant pictures:
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/MxCMc.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/MxCMc.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/geOQI.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/geOQI.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>These inverse kinematics calculations are performed for each carriage to get a "carriage space" target position, and this is performed for every path sub-segment.</p>
<p>The results from these steps can then be reinserted back into the standard linear path interpolation techniques for the printer, in which it fires steps in the necessary ratios and at the necessary rates to produce the desired straight-line motion and acceleration/velocity profile. (How THAT is done is a different question.)</p>
<p>The net effect is that the printer will move through a series of small "linear" carriage movements (linear meaning constant* speed with respect to time) that collectively approximate the necessary curved (quadratic position with respect to time) carriage motions required to produce a straight-line end-effector move.</p>
<p>*(<em>Constant speed before acceleration slowdowns are applied in order to obey dynamics constraints, anyway. Again, that's the subject of a different question.)</em></p>
<p>Segmentation is very similar to the process of using a polygon to approximate a circle. If the facets are small enough, the polygon is a good approximation. Higher Segmentation rates produce less path-following error. The primary conceptual difference between drawing circle arcs and Delta motion paths is that the so-called "faceted arc" with Delta Segmentation is constructed in height-vs-time coordinates instead of the X-vs-Y coordinates you'd use to draw a circle on a computer screen. </p>
<p>This system is used in large part because support for Delta style printers was originally bolted onto GRBL-based motion planners which were written exclusively for straight-line motion paths in Cartesian printers. It was a relatively minimal modification to the existing codebase compared to implementing full quadratic path interpolation.</p>
<p>Techniques have evolved over the years. And alternate approaches are often used: for example, the dc42 fork of RepRapFirmware performs exact path-following without segmentation, by recalculating the proper time for the next step <em>after every step</em>. This is functionally equivalent to approximating a circle with a polygon facet count <em>so high that every pixel on the screen gets its own facet</em>. So it is exactly as accurate as the positioning resolution of the motors allows. The downside is that this segmentation-free technique is fairly processor-intensive, so it only works on relatively fast controllers, not the older 8bit Atmega AVR that powers most existing consumer/hobbyist printers today. </p>
<p>Other techniques are possible. The academic parallel robotics control literature is a whole other world of mathematical techniques and complexity in order to produce generalized control algorithms that work for a wide range of robot mechanisms. The version we use in open-source 3d printers is quite simple and application-specific in comparison. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Is there a definitive scalable 3D printer? </p>
<p>I've seen examples of Chinese companies printing entire houses, and I'm curious as to printers / filaments that are intended (or at least able) be scaled up for (very) large print jobs. </p>
<p>Since most hobby printers can take hundreds of hours for something that can still be held in our hands, so I'm curious if there are any designs for printers that are meant to extrude material efficiently with a easily scalable printing area. </p>
<p>Open sourced / free is preferable; though I'm interested in <strong>any</strong> designs that exist, commercial included.</p>
| <p>If I understand your question correctly, it sounds like you're looking somewhere within the <a href="http://reprap.org/" rel="noreferrer">RepRap</a> realm. The RepRap community is mostly responsible for the boom in consumer 3D printing in the past 10 years, and that's most likely because it's <strong>open source</strong>. RepRap designs are mostly dynamic (and most parts can be 3D printed), so you could theoretically build a larger frame for your machine and use a slicing engine that allows you to set the build volume. I believe <a href="http://slic3r.org/" rel="noreferrer">Slic3r</a> allows you to customize the build space, I'm not sure though.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Our library system just put a 3D printer in one of the branches. I have used SketchUp on the library computers for a number of years just to do artsy things. Suddenly, I have the opportunity to actually print something. (I'm really not sure why the libraries have SketchUp installed. But, I have enjoyed using it.)</p>
<p>There is a plug-in available for SketchUp so that it can export STL files. But, the security on the library computers will not allow me to put a file into the SketchUp plug-ins folder. And, the tech guy at the library doesn't think that the IT guys at the library will update all the copies of SketchUp at all the branches just so someone could do 3D printing.</p>
<p>After doing some searching on this website, I found out that I could export a COLLADA / dae file from SketchUp. I would then import that dae file into Blender (The portable version on my flash drive). I could then export it as an STL file.
The process appeared to work. I could see my test object in Blender. </p>
<p>I gave the STL file to the branch manager who tried to open it in the Makerbot software so that it could be sent to the printer. But, it gave him a message about the file not being recognized. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with all the details in the importing and exporting processes that are going on. Is there someone out there that can give me some help?</p>
<p>One problem is that, I am using the library computers. I cannot alter them. I can use what portable versions of software are out there, like Blender.</p>
| <p>Here is what I suggest you try. If you have a file that you can view/edit in blender I would export it as both STL and OBJ formats. Then take those files and upload them to Netfabb (<a href="https://netfabb.azurewebsites.net/" rel="nofollow">https://netfabb.azurewebsites.net/</a>) and get a "repaired" file. Have the library try again with the repaired STL and OBJ files. If this doesn't work try to get the exact error message/dialog that the makerbot software is giving them as well as the version of the software that they are using.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>When you cut or break a PLA model (for example to remove support) it often leaves an ugly while mark where the removed piece was connected.</p>
<p>Sanding also tend to leave dull white scratches on the sanded surface.</p>
<p>What can I do to restore the white areas to the original filament color?</p>
| <p>A quick blast from a heat gun will very slightly reflow the surface texture and eliminate white marks. </p>
<p>However, it's important to avoid over-heating the perimeter layers or you'll see them soften and sag into the infill. So wait for the heat gun to get fully hot and then use a short duration of high heat. Let the part cool between attempts if you don't get it all the first time, or need to clean up a large area. </p>
<p>Incidentally, the heat gun will also help clean up strings from travel moves.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Cura does not seem let the full print area to be used. My printer is a <a href="https://www.lulzbot.com/store/printers/lulzbot-mini" rel="noreferrer">Lulzbot Mini</a>. The design illustrated below can be found <a href="https://www.tinkercad.com/things/hBE6Aj2EJMo-skyrail-marble-coster-banked-curve-beta" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.imgur.com/y1WpAws.png" rel="noreferrer">
<img src="https://imgur.com/y1WpAws.png" />
</a>
<a href="https://i.imgur.com/42n8npt.png" rel="noreferrer">
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/42n8npt.png" />
</a></p>
| <p>Cura is likely factoring in your skirt. Change the skirt lines to 0 and you might be able to print (<code>Expert</code> -> <code>Switch to full settings</code>, then click the options button next to "platform adhesion type."). Cura also seems to have an in-built build size offset of about 2 mm. I can't seem to get rid of it in any way other than to change the build size.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm having trouble getting my MendelMax 2's heatbed <em>not</em> to heat up when I want to print without it. I don't get how multiple sources of control relate to each other (same with extrusion temperatures, actually):</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Slic3r (1.2.9) has settings under Filament Settings / Filament / Bed, for First layer and Other layers (and groups of settings can be saved).</p></li>
<li><p>The pronterface GUI (Printrun-Mac-10Mar2014) has an "Options" panel where you can set "Bed temperature" (actually, two settings, one for PLA and one for ABS -- though I doubt the software can test which filament is loaded!)</p></li>
<li><p>The pronterface GUI also has a menu/fill-in labelled "Bed", which works fine to adjust the bed when nothing is printing. The menu there lets you pick from a manually-entered value, "0 (off)", and (apparently) the settings for PLA and ABS from the options panel.</p></li>
<li><p>Marlin's Configuration.h has settings for bed minimum and maximum temps (the non-zero minimum seems to be to prevent running the bed when the thermistor isn't working, to avoid unlimited overheating).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I recently tried to print some PLA with no bed heat (using blue tape on the glass build plate). I sliced the model with bed heat off in Slic3r; changed the PLA bed temps in the printerface options panel to 0; and picked the PLA setting in the GUI main screen (and also tried setting "0 (off)" manually.</p>
<p>When I started to print the object, the bed turned on and stayed on, maintaining 60C.</p>
<p>I thought of just unplugging the heatbed, but then I expect the print would never start, since it would try to heat up the bed and never succeed.</p>
<p>So how does the decision about which temperature setting to use, <em>really</em> get made? I have the same question about extruder temps, speeds, accelerations, and other things, too -- whose settings are really in charge?</p>
| <p>3D printer get the temperature settings from g-code file. The firmware settings for min and max temperature are just safeguards.</p>
<p>You should verify instructions within the g-code file. If you are not familiar with g-code, take a look to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-code" rel="noreferrer">wikipedia</a>. List of g-code instructions for marlin firmware is <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<p>Instruction responsible for setting bed temperature are <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M190:_Wait_for_bed_temperature_to_reach_target_temp" rel="noreferrer">M190</a> and <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M140:_Set_Bed_Temperature_.28Fast.29" rel="noreferrer">M140</a>. Open your g-code file and search for lines containing them. If you delete these lines then the bed temperature will be not set during print. Additionally it means that it is set by your slicer. </p>
<p>In <em>Slic3r</em> you should check <em>Printer settings</em> → <em>Custom G-code</em> → <em>Start G-code</em> if it contains one of mentioned instructions and possibly remove it.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>In Cura, when you enable "Print support structure", is there a way to see what it will look like?</p>
| <p>Select the View Modes Button in the upper right hand corner, and select Layers.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/grPQi.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/grPQi.png" alt="Cura"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>We have a Makerbot Replicator 2X at our school. I have a class in the computer lab and one of our focuses is using the printer. Currently, it is not printing properly. We are using PLA at 210 degrees Celcius. The built plate is not heated (using Build Tak). This has worked very well in the past. The problem is that when the extruder goes to lay down plastic, the filament is too hot and curls up in a clump around the extruder. This is characteristic of when we first tried PLA at a higher temperature. I think that our heat sensor is not working properly. Does anyone know how we can fix this problem? Is there a way to calibrate the sensor is should we install a new one?</p>
| <p>Overall, it is unlikely that the problem is temp sensing accuracy. There are only a few things that will throw off the thermocouple's reading:</p>
<ul>
<li>Poor thermal coupling between the tip and the hot block, such as if the tip has partially pulled free of the brass thermowell crimp (this will make the hot block hotter than the reported temp)</li>
<li>Loss of electrical insulation between the tip and the hot block, plus some ground loop noise or stray voltage on the hot block (this will typically add noise to the reported temp)</li>
</ul>
<p>You should be able to visually check for the first, and test for the second with a multimeter. The resistance between the board end of the thermocouple leads and the brass thermowell at the tip should be infinite / out of range. </p>
<p>To actually check the thermocouple calibration, you have a few options:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Easy:</strong> Look at the behavior of the printed plastic. PLA that is too hot will smell of pancakes/waffles much stronger than normal, or even smell burnt. The printed material may be more shiny than usual. It will string and ooze more as you print.</li>
<li><strong>Moderate:</strong> Secure another reference thermocouple (such as might come with a digital multimeter) tightly to the hot block with some Kapton tape, somewhere the aluminum block is exposed. The external TC should read within a few degrees of the printer's TC. (Assuming you get it attached well enough.)</li>
<li><strong>Hard:</strong> Place the tip of the TC in boiling water to check if it reads 100C (or slightly lower if you live at a high altitude). Repeat with well-mixed ice water to check if it reads 0C. Both measurements should be within a couple degrees. You will probably need to dismantle much of the extruder to detach the thermocouple for this test. </li>
</ul>
<p>But, again, the problem probably isn't the TC. It's more likely either a bed tramming issue (eg too much gap between nozzle and surface) or the BuildTak is degraded and not adhering. This can happen if you do a large number of prints in the exact same place, or get the surface oily, such as with fingerprints. Try a fresh sheet of buildtak or cleaning it with rubbing alcohol and moving the print to a different location. </p>
<p>In some rare cases, low-quality filament or filament stored in very high humidity may not stick well. This is pretty rare though. For the most part, if your nozzle gap is right, any extruded plastic will stick to Buildtak. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm building my own 3D printer (custom design, made by me and cut using a water cutting machine) but I have always had problems with the hotend clogging.</p>
<p>I have had four hotends:</p>
<ul>
<li>a J-Head;</li>
<li>a full metal;</li>
<li>a full metal made by me and;</li>
<li>my current hotend which is just a block of aluminium with a plaster cold-end 100% homemade with no precision at all.</li>
</ul>
<p>Believe it or not, this hotend is the only one that has finished a whole print (about 40 minutes), all of the others, with or without fans, haven't managed to finish one!</p>
<p>Well... this hotend has a 1.5mm hole so I guess that that's why it can print.</p>
<p>The problem with all of the others was that the 1.75mm PLA that I'm using clogged the hotend after two minutes.</p>
<p>Now I would like to buy a new, more precise, hotend. I'm using a Bowden extruder, can you suggest a good hotend?</p>
<p>This is my printer:</p>
<p><a href="https://s10.postimg.org/mhk71hq0p/IMG_20160302_204645713.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://s10.postimg.org/mhk71hq0p/IMG_20160302_204645713.jpg" alt="Print1"></a>
<a href="https://s23.postimg.org/c7u1n63nf/IMG_20160302_204636873.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://s23.postimg.org/c7u1n63nf/IMG_20160302_204636873.jpg" alt="Print2"></a></p>
| <p>To make the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/670/which-hotend-does-not-clog-and-is-good-to-use-with-a-bowden-1-75-mm-setup#comment-874">suggestion of Martin Carney</a> a real answer and shift things away from comments:</p>
<p>Yes, moisture and dust can be a problem. Find elaborations on the moisture here:
<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/84/does-filament-have-to-be-stored-in-an-airtight-environment">Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment</a>.</p>
<p>Also, dust getting into the hot end won't make extrusion easier. (link with suitable information needed). There are filament cleaning 'devices' for print on thingiverse, have a look at things with the <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:filament_cleaner" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tag: filament cleaner</a>.</p>
<p>There are some other things that are mostly discussed in relation to hot-end clogging, which are printing speed, retract setting and what I would call hot-end resistance. For all of those, read through this thread and refine your question according to what you tried and what the results were:
<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/612/repeatedly-clogged-printrbot-simple-extruder">Repeatedly Clogged Printrbot Simple Extruder</a>.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have seen some lasers attached to the RepRap platform for cutting but most seem to be cutting paper, balsa wood, or merely etching. If I were wanting to build a platform for cutting wood, similar to the wood framed or boxed 3D printers on the market, what power laser would I need for that? I assume that a lower powered laser would have to travel slower but going too slow would add the possibility of catching the wood on fire (not good). </p>
| <p>Please do not go down this road. First, not all lasers are equally absorbed by the material and the energy converted to heat to vaporize the material. The light not absorbed is reflected right back into your eyes. This is especially dangerous because it doesn't make you go blind instantly, fooling you into thinking there is no harm. You got the other part right, the lower the laser power, the less turned to heat, the longer it takes to cut, the longer you risk exposure to your eyes. That's right, a low powered laser is MORE dangerous than a big one. Next, the only way to properly cut is with air assist. This means a stream of air blows away the vaporized material so the laser can keep cutting deeper. This also prevents fires. The thing we haven't even touched is a proper safety enclosure, proper bed design to not reflect the laser beam back into the laser killing it and your eyes, and finally smoke/particle exhaust. </p>
<p>Simply put, these cheapo DIY lasers are dangerous, and are also illegal.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Using an FDM printer and PLA or ABS, without adding support material. What modifications can I make to improve how steep an overhang my printer can print before it starts having problems?</p>
<p>The obvious first answer is to add a cooling fan, increasing the airflow over the freshly-extruded material ensuring it solidifies. What other things can improve it?</p>
<p>Does lowing the temperature help? Raising it?</p>
<p>Does speeding up or slowing down the print head help?</p>
<p>Does increasing/decreasing the extrusion diameter, or layer height help?</p>
| <p>The two most important things you can do are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Provide adequate cooling to solidify the plastic quickly</li>
<li>Minimize layer height</li>
</ul>
<p>Cooling is really obvious. You need the plastic to solidify before it has a chance to sag. PLA in particular has to shed a lot of heat before it is fully solid. A fan and air guide setup using a "squirrel-cage" radial blower around the nozzle is optimal. A little 30mm or 40mm axial fan will not provide optimal performance. </p>
<p>Low layer height when slicing is less obvious, but is extremely effective. When you use thinner layers, two things happen:</p>
<ul>
<li>There is less melted plastic per pass and a higher surface area to volume ratio, so the fresh material cools faster. </li>
<li>A larger percentage of each strand in the overhang is supported by the previous strand. If you do 0.2mm thick by 0.4mm wide, half of each strand is unsupported. But if you do 0.1mm thick by 0.4mm wide, only a quarter of each strand is unsupported. </li>
</ul>
<p>When you combine these two effects, it is possible to exceed 70 degree overhangs with good surface quality. </p>
<p>Another lesser factor is printing shells/perimeters inside-out rather than outside-in. This helps anchor the outermost strand a little better as the overhang is built. This is pretty minor though. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I would like to secure my hotend thermistor in a more reliable way (now it is just thermistor plugged in the hotend :D). I want to have a stainless steel tip for it to fix it inside hotend with a screw (The same approach as used for the heating cartridge). I have thermistors, but I cannot find any tips to buy separately.</p>
<p>Maybe you have some links for this kind of stainless-steel tips? Or some keywords I can use to search them?</p>
| <p>The two most important things you can do are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Provide adequate cooling to solidify the plastic quickly</li>
<li>Minimize layer height</li>
</ul>
<p>Cooling is really obvious. You need the plastic to solidify before it has a chance to sag. PLA in particular has to shed a lot of heat before it is fully solid. A fan and air guide setup using a "squirrel-cage" radial blower around the nozzle is optimal. A little 30mm or 40mm axial fan will not provide optimal performance. </p>
<p>Low layer height when slicing is less obvious, but is extremely effective. When you use thinner layers, two things happen:</p>
<ul>
<li>There is less melted plastic per pass and a higher surface area to volume ratio, so the fresh material cools faster. </li>
<li>A larger percentage of each strand in the overhang is supported by the previous strand. If you do 0.2mm thick by 0.4mm wide, half of each strand is unsupported. But if you do 0.1mm thick by 0.4mm wide, only a quarter of each strand is unsupported. </li>
</ul>
<p>When you combine these two effects, it is possible to exceed 70 degree overhangs with good surface quality. </p>
<p>Another lesser factor is printing shells/perimeters inside-out rather than outside-in. This helps anchor the outermost strand a little better as the overhang is built. This is pretty minor though. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>In a design that I need to prototype, I have a coaxial, rotational joint between 2 cylinders connected to another coaxial rotational joint between 2 cylinders by a hinge. I have attached the individual part files as well as their assembly where you can use your mouse cursor to check how they move.
<a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8GACx5kXowlcEwxOWI4REV6OFk&usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Click here for the SolidWorks parts and assembly files">Click here for the SolidWorks parts and assembly files</a></p>
<p>Initially when I 3d printed them by splitting them in half, the outer tube did not close, even after filing the inner tube sufficiently.
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/OjlVJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/OjlVJ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>Could you tell me an alternative method to get this complicated joint working? I need to 3D print them. I plan to use ABS for the 3D printing.</p>
<p>Thanks for your patience :)</p>
<p>EDIT:
Lubrication: I plan to use grease to lubricate the sliding surfaces.</p>
<p>Clearances:
I printed them without clearances initially (this is my first ever 3D print and I wanted to know how accurate it would be). I then used Dremel and filing tools to file away about 0.5 mm of both the surfaces. It should have been enough for mating the parts. The gap between the edges of the outer shell while trying to close it around is 3-4 mm which doesn't suggest 3D printing inaccuracy. I suspect that the outer tube isn't circular enough in cross section. It meets the inner tube at the the two ends of the semicircle and not inside its belly (you can see it in the picture). I have already tried the obvious, which is removing material from the surfaces wherever the parts touch. The model seems to be too warped for any success. The parts were printed upwards from the bottom, so it is not the warping due to gravity.</p>
| <h3>Consider ball bearings</h3>
<p>Depending on the requirements for your joint, I would consider making a design that utilizes <em>ball bearings</em>. With ball bearings, your join will not wear down as quickly, and also move smoothly.</p>
<h3>Handling dimensional inaccuracy</h3>
<p>The topic of how to achieve dimensional accuracy of FDM printers has already been discussed in <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/322/how-to-achieve-dimensional-accuracy-of-printed-parts/">this question</a>. You might want have a look at <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/357/115">Ryan Carlyle's answer</a> for a specific routine on how to calibrate a Cartesian printer.</p>
<p>From the question linked, a summarized approach for handling dimensional inaccuracy could be:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add any desired tolerances into the joint in your CAD model, without regarding the inaccuracy of the actual printer you will use.</li>
<li>Tune your printer and slicer to reproduce those dimensions set by your CAD program.</li>
</ol>
<p>Generally speaking, the printer settings should handle filament independent dimensional accuracy, while the slicer should be used to account for different characteristics in each filament type. Correcting size through your CAD model is ill-advised, since you should be able to use the same model for multiple printers.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I had a friend request that I print out the Bathymetry of Lake Michigan as a gift for her PhD adviser. I went to NOAA and the site had a few files for the Bathymetry of Lake Michigan.</p>
<p>Files and types are located here: <a href="http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/greatlakes/michigan.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/greatlakes/michigan.html</a> </p>
<p>I am trying to convert this into an STL file to print in my 3D printer however I am having no luck in converting this into a mesh I can use. I have tried multiple approaches with the different files that are listed but cannot seem to get it to properly convert to a mesh. I have tried the following so far:</p>
<p>-Import an .xyz file into MeshLab to convert it to an STL. After I import it looks like nothing imported and I can't navigate around in the file</p>
<p>-Import an ASC file into MeshLab to convert it to an STL. After I import it, I get no errors but the output is a long, thin mesh that looks nothing like lake Michigan</p>
<p>-Just for a test, I imported the .xyz file into Autodesk ReCap just to see what would happen. I noticed that the points were in a long thin area similar to the ASC import but as I browsed around I noticed that the each layer of dots was the actual Bathymetry contours.</p>
<p>I have tried multiple approaches and software beyond these but can't seem to get the files to convert into a printable mesh that I can manipulate to send to my 3D printer.</p>
| <p>In order to properly get an STL file out of a point cloud, you'll need some tool to help triangulate the points to create proper shell surfaces. The shell that is created in an STL is what the slicing engine will "slice".</p>
<p>I'm not as familiar with the full potential of MeshLab, but I would think this tool is best suited for files that at least have most of shell already in place. Essentially best for fixing STL's.</p>
<p>In the past, I've used (the very expensive) Unigraphics NX8. This CAD/CAM software is very powerful and has tools for creating meshes out of point clouds. I believe it was the <a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=unigraphics%20nx8%20sew" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sew tool</a> that allowed me to do this in the past (I no longer have access to the software). Other CAD programs such as SolidWorks, Rhino, AutoCAD, etc. might have similar features.</p>
<p>Alternatively, I think it looks like you might be able to convert a 3D point cloud in SketchUp. If the cloud is layered by height and each layer had points on the same -Z- plane, then you might be able to automate creating lines between the nearest points on the same plane. Then it might just take a little bit of manual labor to "fix" the model to become 3D printing ready. Also check out <a href="http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=56135" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this forum post</a>, it looks like someone had luck in converting terrain point clouds.</p>
<p>Completely alternatively, have you considered converting an image to STL? I've done this many times before and it turns out quite nicely. If you can find topographical map of the lake, you could alter the image into grayscale (play with it a bit). Then use <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:66115" rel="nofollow noreferrer">software</a> to convert the grayscale image to STL.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have recently bought a spool of eSun PETG. So far I really like the filament. My only complaint is, I get lumps of charred filament deposited on my object. The slicer I used is Craft Ware and I have played with the Far Travel -> Elevation settings. I have noticed that this helps but then I have little to no adhesion to the print surface and my supports do not stick to the raft. Does any one know how to mitigated PETG from collecting on the extruder?</p>
| <p>Different brands and blends of PET filaments seem to do this to different degrees. Esun's PETG is definitely one that tends to glob onto the nozzle. Basically, the nozzle plows through the top surface of the filament and lifts up some plastic, much like the bow of a ship lifting up some water at high speeds. PET's viscosity and stickiness seem to amplify this effect more than other filaments. </p>
<p>Some things you can do to minimize the globbing:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calibrate extrusion volume on the low end of what you'd normally use for other filaments (how you do this depends on your slicer)</li>
<li>Use your slicer's "Z-hop" or "avoid perimeters" feature so you don't do travel moves across printed surfaces</li>
<li>Invest in an anti-stick coated nozzle, such as are sold by <a href="http://www.micro-swiss.com/#!3d-printing/c843" rel="noreferrer">Micro Swiss</a> or <a href="https://www.p3-d.com/collections/duraplat-3d-extruder-nozzles" rel="noreferrer">Performance 3-d</a> (these don't eliminate globbing, but they do reduce it and make the nozzle much easier to clean)</li>
<li>Play with slicer settings such as extrusion width, layer height, and infill/perimeter overlap to reduce the amount of "excess material" that sticks above the print surface</li>
</ul>
<p>Again, this is a common problem with PET blend filaments. Anecdotally, some brands seem to glob more or less than others, so switching to a different vendor may be worth trying if you want to do a lot of PETG prints. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have a z-axis which follows schematically the same principle as the makerbot one's (threaded rod and two leading rods with linear ball bearings carrying a level). It is from an old experimental lab doing physics or chemistry.</p>
<p>The axis move gorgeously about 5 cm, but then it get's stuck on either sides of this way. Both driving threaded rod and the leading rods seem perfectly fine and should be able to allow for further movement. This is as far as I can see by eye.</p>
<p>Where should I look to find further issues and how could I improve the performance? Do I need to take the construction apart?</p>
| <p>There could be a few issues at play.</p>
<ol>
<li>The smooth rods are not parallel which is causing the bearings to bind the further you go up.</li>
<li>Part of the thread is damaged not allowing it to pass through the nut.</li>
<li>The threaded rod is bent significantly to where it either doesn't pass through the nut or bind the assembly. (Is the end of the threaded rod opposite the motor constrained?)</li>
<li>Even less likely is that the motor could be damaged. Since you said it moved 5mm I would have to assume that is several revolutions of the motor so this is unlikely but possible.</li>
</ol>
<p>The easiest way to find the problem would be to unhook/remove the threaded rod and see if you can move the carriage up and down the rods by hand, if so you just narrowed the problem down significantly.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Some RepRap models use only a single motor for the Z axis, others use two.</p>
<p>For example, there is the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/3drag" rel="noreferrer">3drag</a> that has only one motor and a smooth rod on the other side. There are modifications that add a threaded rod on the other side that is connected to the motor axis with a belt - which seems to be a really good solution.</p>
<p>Other printers, like the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3" rel="noreferrer">Prusa i3</a> or the Mendel90 have two Z motors. And after playing around with a two motor model, I find it pretty annoying when they get out of sync and I need to calibrate the axis and the print bed again. So two motors seem more like an disadvantage to me.</p>
<p>Could someone please shed some light on why most RepRaps have two Z motors (nowadays)?</p>
| <p>There are three main options here for Mendel style ZX gantries:</p>
<ul>
<li>One Z screw and motor, which is similar to a cantilevered design but somewhat more stable because of the opposite smooth rod</li>
<li>Two Z screws and two motors</li>
<li>Two Z screws and one motor, with belt synchronization of the two sides</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Of all of these, running two screws off one motor is clearly superior in reliability and user-friendliness.</strong> There is no risk of the two sides of the Z stage going out of sync. One motor running at higher current will generally out-perform two motors splitting one driver's current via parallel wiring, because one motor with twice the torque can push much harder when one side of the gantry binds up or hits a rough spot. </p>
<p>The only real downside to the single motor, double screw approach is that it requires more engineering and parts. A closed-loop timing belt must be run between the two screws, with associated pulleys, tensioner, and support bearings. In comparison, using a separate motor for each screw is very simple. It adds a stepper and a shaft coupler, but saves a lot of vitamins and design complexity.</p>
<p>Two-motor, two-screw solutions are lower-cost and simpler to design. That's why they're used. End of story.</p>
<p>One-motor, one-screw Mendel style printers are quite rare. The passive side of the Z mechanism does add a little bit of stability to the X stage, but not a lot. It's possible to rack the X stage out of square with the bed and bind up the gantry. In order to work at all, they require a very wide/tall bearing footprint on the driven side to resist torque exerted on the driven side by the weight of the X stage and extruder carriage. So it's true that they don't have synchronization issues, but additional design challenges and undesirable flexure modes are introduced. It's much more common for one-screw designs to simply cantilever out the X stage, like a SmartRap or Printrbot Simple. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>What software is best for the basest of n00bs when it comes to 3D parts creation?</p>
<p>I have a heavy math background and know how to create explicit functions of volume, surface area, center of mass, etc. Ideally, I'd like a program that uses those strengths but I realize that most n00bs have a crippling math phobia so I'm not holding my breath.</p>
<p>I tried freeCAD once and made some headway but the next time I turned my computer on, it refused to open. It was just a weakling netbook that I don't even have in my possession anymore but the computer I'm currently using is rather slow and doesn't seem to have much memory left either, so I still need something lightweight.</p>
<p>tl;dr: Seeking a free, lightweight program to create .stl files that is good for n00bs that are <strong>not</strong> afraid of math.</p>
| <p>I don't have a heavy math background, but enjoy using such skills when applicable.</p>
<p>If you've not yet explored <a href="http://www.openscad.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">OpenSCAD</a>, you may find that it meets your qualifications. It's more or less a scripting/descriptive language "compiler" that takes ordinary text and converts it to your model design. I use quotes, because I'm not skilled enough to qualify it as a true compiler, although it works in a similar manner and may indeed be a compiler.</p>
<p>It meets another qualification of yours in that it's free and there's quite a supportive mailing list/forum for any questions or difficulties that arise. If you look on Thingiverse using OpenSCAD as a search term, you'll find others' code available for examination and integration into your own models.</p>
<p>For the folks who are not so much into the math and text and logic, there's a GUI of sorts for OpenSCAD called <a href="https://www.blockscad3d.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BlocksCAD</a> that allows drag and drop of various modules in a manner akin to Scratch programming. </p>
<p>I'd been using OpenSCAD long enough that I found BlocksCAD to overly complicate the creation of models by obscuring details. It may be better suited for younger model makers in that respect.</p>
<p>Syntax and punctuation errors would be eliminated with BlocksCAD, while it's far too easy to create such errors in the editor for OpenSCAD. One gets used to it and error count quickly is reduced.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm building a Kossel Mini, and I'm stuck on the extruder motor holder.</p>
<p>My Kossel came without instructions, I was given a set of instructions by a friend (the "Kossel Build Guide" by Blomker industries). I also found some instructions on the net. However, my components are different from those in the build guides.</p>
<p>The question is how these components fit together. </p>
<p>I'm pretty certain the stepper motor should be connected to the big black components (labeled (1) and (4) in the picture). The 4 holes in these components correspond to openings in the stepper motor; and the stepper motors for the vertical carriages, were connected in a similar way to their respective holders.</p>
<p>The round thing, second from the left on the bottom, (labeled (2) in the picture) presumably goes on the axis of the stepper motor. Once again, a similar procedure was needed for the motors that will move the vertical carriages.</p>
<p>The screws on the right, labeled (3), are 1 cm long and 3 mm wide.</p>
<p>The other screws are 2 cm long and 3 mm wide.</p>
<p>The stepper motor is a Wantai Stepper Motor Model 42BYGHW811 .</p>
<p>I have e-mailed the company where I bought my kit and am awaiting their answer. Meanwhile I'm hoping to get some advice here.</p>
<p>Apparently the usual stepper motor for a Kossel Mini is Nema 17. Searching on "42BYGHW811" I mostly find datasheets. Using "Nema 17 mount" or "Nema 17 mounting screws" as search terms, I find a lot of images with a component like (1). But nothing on how this and the other components should be put together for the motor holder for an extruder for the Kossel Mini.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/l98L8.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Parts of the extruder"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/l98L8.jpg" alt="Parts of the extruder" title="Parts of the extruder"></a></p>
| <p>Have a look at the image provided in this seller's part description. it probably says more than my words could (which would also only rely on images - your parts just looked like I saw them somewhere before). </p>
<p><a href="http://de.aliexpress.com/item/3D-printer-parts-right-hand-bowden-Extruder-kit-set-no-motor-compact-extruder-aluminum-alloy-for/32319995802.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">3D printer parts right hand Bowden Extruder kit set no motor compact extruder aluminum alloy for</a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/fsNaL.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Right hand Bowden Extruder kit"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/fsNaL.jpg" alt="Right hand Bowden Extruder kit" title="Right hand Bowden Extruder kit"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm building a 3D printer and I've been looking around for materials suitable to make the frame.</p>
<p>I have occasional access to a laser cutter which I could use to manufacture a ply box-type (UltiMaker) enclosure, but I like the ease of adjustment provided by the T-slot beam kits.</p>
<p>I don't have any metal-cutting machine tools. Can aluminium beam be cut by hand with a hacksaw to a good degree of accuracy? How does one finish the cut end?</p>
| <p>Aluminum of almost every grade is very easy to cut with a hacksaw. I would suggest to mark clearly the cut line and to wrap masking tape at the edge of the cut. Consider to allow for about 2-3 millimeters (1/16") extra material for final finishing. Cut across the line, rotate the part ninety degrees and cut again. Once you have the guide cuts in place, you should be able to manage a square cut by following those guides</p>
<p>You will want to have a clamping mechanism available, such as a vise or workbench type device. </p>
<p>After the cut is done, use a sharp file to make final adjustments to the length and appearance. Push the file, do not drag it backwards. Push forward, lift away from the work piece as you return, then push again. Pick up a file card, which is a fine metal-tooth brush used to clear the teeth of the file.</p>
<p>It is very easy to remove material with a hand file, perhaps three or four strokes to remove 1/16".</p>
<p>Your accuracy will depend on the measurement of the lines you create and how carefully you file to the edge of those lines.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>PLA is flammable, but a good case can protect the main board from dirt.</p>
<p>Is it worthwhile to protect a circuit board with a 3d printed case?</p>
| <p>It depends.</p>
<p>Protecting your electronics from being touched by random bits of conductive material which would short and fry them is always a good idea.</p>
<p>If it's something that will be visible, then a pleasant printed casing might go well. You might just as well use any other casing though, there's no requirement it be 3D printed.</p>
<p>For a very small circuitboard (an inch or less) heatshrink tubing might be a better form of protection. Or just insulating tape.</p>
<p>If you never intend to access the circuitry again and heat dissipation isn't a big issue, then just putting the whole lot in potting compound may work best for you - complete waterproofing and environmental protection.</p>
<p>Or you could just tape a bit of plastic from a 2l coke bottle over it, and get 99% of the protection you'll ever need, and still keep the circuit visible and accessible.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it boils down to: Do you want it to be covered? If so, by what? If you would prefer a 3D printed case, then do you want it enough that it is worth the time and effort to you?</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<h2>Backstory</h2>
<p>I've had issues in the past with my drive gear "eating" my filament. It seemed that the filament quit extruding for one reason or another and the drive gear would slowly eat away at the side of the filament.</p>
<p>I eventually assumed it was the plastic filament guides causing unnecessary tension that the drive gear couldn't compete with, ultimately keeping the filament from moving forward. Thusly, allowing the drive gear to continue "trying".</p>
<p>My solution was to hang my spools above the machine to avoid using the filament guides feeding from the back of the machine up through the top.</p>
<h2>Question</h2>
<p>Can the plastic filament guides really cause that much drag? What other variables can I expect to look out for?</p>
<p><em>Machine:</em> <strong>MakerBot Replicator Dual (1st Generation)</strong></p>
| <p>For an easy test, try manually pulling the filament through the U-loop of guide tube. How hard is it to pull through? It should only take 1-2 lbs of tension at most. </p>
<p>Then do a "tug test" on the extruder. Start it loading and grab the filament by hand to try to stop it from extruding. The Replicator 1/2/2x extruder style can typically pull ~8-10 lbs of tension and it should be fairly difficult to stop the filament. When you do stop the filament, you should hear clicking/thumping from the stepper stalling, NOT quiet grinding as the drive gear chews through the filament. If the grip slips rather than stalls, your extruder hardware needs to be tuned or replaced. </p>
<p>There are three common causes of excessive feed tube drag:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use of polyethylene tubing instead of PTFE -- this makes a shockingly large difference in drag friction. You can use a heat gun or torch (outside!!) to tell the difference between PE and PTFE. PE will soften quickly and then melt fairly easily, whereas PTFE will simply go clear and eventually char without melting. Nylon is also sometimes used for feed tubes with acceptable results, but if you have any suspicion about the tube material, just buy new PTFE tubes from a reputable vendor like McMaster. </li>
<li>Too many loops/curves in the tube. Total drag friction is an exponential function of the total amount of curvature in the tube. You should have one good U-loop, no spirals or floppy zig-zags. </li>
<li>Excessive friction on the spool rotation. Any spool back-tension gets greatly magnified through the feed tube per the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capstan_equation" rel="nofollow">capstan equation</a>. This can be caused by a bad spool holder, or if the filament is knotted on the spool due to letting the end of the spool loose during handling. </li>
</ul>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>As my first project, I'm trying to design a holder for glass vials, for a scientific application. The photo below shows the latest design iteration, and also shows the problem with it:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/7vqSam.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/7vqSam.jpg" alt="vial holder"></a></p>
<p>As you can see, one of the clips that's meant to hold the vial in place has broken off. This happened after inserting the vial once or twice.</p>
<p>I think I understand the reason for this. It's because I'm printing in the orientation shown below, in order to avoid the need for supports. (This will be more important later, when I scale it up to an array of many holders.) This means that it's relying on the strength in the z dimension, which is much weaker than in the other two directions, because it relies on the cohesion between the layers.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/aOyctm.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/aOyctm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>My question is whether I can do anything about this by changing the design of the clips, without abandoning my hope of support-free printing. I don't care at all what the design looks like, except that as much of the vial as possible needs to be visible from the front. I'm printing in ABS.</p>
<p>I have tried varying the thickness of the clips. Thinner ones don't break as easily, but they are a bit floppy and aren't very good at keeping the vial vertical. The ones shown are the thickest I've tried - I'm afraid that if they're too thick they won't bend at all. (The vial is supposed to be inserted from the front rather than the top.)</p>
<p><strong>Edit</strong> just as an update, here's what it looks like using John Biddle's suggestion, which works perfectly:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/w3qeG.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/w3qeG.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
| <p>Considering that you wish to print the clip in the vertical orientation but without supports, I would suggest that you create a suitable taper of the clip from the bottom. The taper would provide necessary support-free support but may reduce the amount of bottle access one has to remove it from the clips.</p>
<p>As such, you could also reduce the amount of the straight vertical segment of the clip at the front, which would allow the support-free support to start at a higher level from the bottom.</p>
<p>If the bottle bottom encirclement is raised, you'd receive additional retention. You could then reduce more the upper encirclement and taper for easier release.</p>
<p>I too prefer to design models that require no support, but have run into the same circumstance, where the weaker axis takes a disproportionate load.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>If you already have a 3D printer, would you say that you have saved money on buying the printer, buying models and then printing the models, compared to buying something alike in retail?</p>
<p>Would you say that saving money is an argument to buy a 3D printer?</p>
| <p>I would say that the general answer to your specific question is no. If you want to justify buying a printer because of all the things you could print instead of buying that is not going to be easy. </p>
<p>If however you are a DIYer and you have some CAD skills, or are willing to learn some, then consider the 3D printer as another tool you can use. There are plenty of stories about people who fixed some very expensive thing instead of having to buy a whole new one for hundreds of $/£; so if you have a specific use in mind then it may be justifiable to you.</p>
<p>I have made and fixed stuff around the house, but it's often things you simply couldn't buy, or could have fixed some other way.</p>
<p>There is an ever growing library of models available out there, and many are free. I recently fixed the leg on my keyboard with a printed one which I found on thingiverse, took minutes to print and the keyboard is part of a wireless set which would cost £30 to replace, so that was great but you won't normally find exactly what you want like that at this time.</p>
<p>And lastly it's not plug 'n Play yet, so you need to be a tinkerer at heart to use most printers out there right now.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I've been curious about the various UV/Laser printers in (or coming into) market that use liquid resin. I've seen the samples of the <a href="https://fslaser.com/Products/View/1" rel="noreferrer">Pegasus Touch</a>, <a href="http://formlabs.com/products/materials/" rel="noreferrer">Form1</a>, and the <a href="http://carbon3d.com/" rel="noreferrer">Carbon3D</a> as examples. I like the specifications of the quality that machines can put out. However, in my experience with FDM printing, there almost always seems to be something not quite right about the print.</p>
<p>So, what are some major maintenance considerations for these types of 3D printing? Also, specifically, are supports and overhangs as much an issue in these types of printers as with FDM/FFF?</p>
<p>Here are some things I consider major maintenance considerations in FDM:</p>
<ul>
<li>Extruder Clogging</li>
<li>Build platform conditions (i.e. levelness, clean, type of tape, bubbles in tape)</li>
<li>Variances in material quality (i.e. diameter, purity, physical conditions)</li>
<li>Mechanics of the machine (i.e. belts, rods, gear teeth, etc.)</li>
<li>Build environment (i.e. ensuring steady temperature in the build environment, minimize draft)</li>
</ul>
<p><sub>I'm not necessarily looking for printer recommendations, more so technical insight on the technology.</sub></p>
| <p>Taken in order your questions:</p>
<p>Maintenance for a resin printer means keeping the vat or tray clean, using appropriate methods to remove the unused resin (or leaving it in the vat per manufacturer's directions). Cleaning the tray should be done also per manufacturer's spec, although each printer's user forum may provide better or more effective options.</p>
<p>The Pegasus Touch has a caution regarding dripping resin on the mirrors, so there's operational care considerations for these types of printers.</p>
<p>There is a build platform for these printers. The flatness and level are as critical or more so for resin printers, as the resolution can be astonishingly high. If any portion of a print does not bond to the platform, that entire print will have a failed section, creating an entirely failed print. Gravity is not particularly helpful in that respect, at least with the Pegasus Touch.</p>
<p>The release medium varies from device to device. The Pegasus Touch originally used PDMS (silicon release compound) and now uses what's called a SuperVat. The plastic material in the SuperVat is purported to provide better release and fewer failures, along with increased lifespan. PDMS becomes cloudy from repeated printing in the same location and can be torn away from the vat if the print does not properly release.</p>
<p>I've become aware of a product from Australia that has had good reports from use in a B9 Creator resin printer. The report indicates that it releases the model quite easily and barely turns cloudy. I have an order pending for this material, as I am hopeful it will perform as described.</p>
<p>The mechanics are also varied. One expects a system to raise and lower the build platform and to direct the laser or illumination system (DLP), but generally, this type of printer is somewhat simpler mechanically.</p>
<p>Because I live in a hot humid climate, my Pegasus Touch remains in the box, and my brain is about to explode with what I've learned of using it. Environmental conditions are likely to vary with different machines. I've seen references that 70 degrees F is too cold, others that say 70-75 degrees F is just fine, anything higher is too hot. Another user says that 65 degrees is good. The type of resin also becomes an important factor for environmental conditions.</p>
<p>The laser will create heat in the resin, so I'm inclined to believe that cooler is better. Different colors require different durations of laser light, somewhat akin to various plastics having different temperatures.</p>
<p>supports and overhangs are important considerations in an SLA or DLP printer, just as they are in FDM.</p>
<p>Expect also that many of the resin printers require that the user purchase only the product provided by the manufacturer. This isn't necessarily a negative as most of the resin sources are priced similarly.</p>
<p>If I've missed any part of your question, let me know.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I obtained the following wire 22 Gauge Stranded Hookup Wire from Radio Shack:</p>
<pre><code>Type/Style: AWM/1007
Wire Gauge: 22 AWG
Insulation Thickness: AVE. 0.42 mm
Rated Voltage: 300V
Temperature Rating: 80°C / 176°F
</code></pre>
<blockquote>
<p>Use Limitation: Internal wiring of appliances; or where exposed to oil
at a temperature not exceeding 60°C or 80°C, whichever is applicable..
Tags may indicate the following: 600V Peak - For Electronic Use Only.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'd like to be able to hook up RAMPs 1.4 to my <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007KG0ZYI" rel="nofollow">switching power supply</a> with this wire. Will this work okay?</p>
| <p>22awg wiring is good for a max of 7A in this usage case. Your power supply can provide 30A. So it is definitely not large enough wire gauge for good wiring practice -- in the event of a short, you want the PSU's over-current protection to kick in before the wiring overheats. That would mean 14ga between the PSU and board. 16ga would probably cover your actual load requirements just fine, but we need to know a lot more about your printer to say that for sure. </p>
<p>12v systems need heavy duty wiring, at least on the main supply lines. You can use 22ga for individual power consumers, such as fans, extruder heaters, etc. (No heatbeds.)</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have done the calibration for the x, y, and z axis and everything works fine there. However when I went to do the calibration for extruder things got a little weird. The original number programmed on the board for the step per mm was 98 When I did my first measurements I used 120mm as the mark on the filament then extruded 100mm then remeasured the mark it was 37.66. Then by using the new_e_steps = old_e_steps * (100/(120-distance). I would use the new number and upload it to the printer which was 119.0187. After that I took another measurement, the new measurement was 61.27mm after marking 120mm then extruding 100mm of filament. Using the formula it came out to be 202.6540. Then the new measurement was some where around 80 some MM. It seams that the more I do the calibration the less accurate it gets. What am I doing wrong here?<a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter%27s_Calibration_Guide" rel="nofollow">Triffid Hunters Calibration</a> is the guide I have been using and this link is to the specifications to the printer <a href="https://www.3dprintersonlinestore.com/reprap-prusa-xi3" rel="nofollow">HE3D Prusa XI3</a>.</p>
| <p>It is really strange that although you <em>increased</em> the steps per mm, the amount extruded was <em>less</em>. I can think of two possible explanations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>You are extruding too quickly, at a rate at which the extruder can't keep up melting the filament fast enough, causing the filament to slip or the extruder to miss steps: try lowering the feedrate (a feedrate like 100mm/min is typical for 1.75mm filament) and make sure that the temperature is appropriate to your filament.</p></li>
<li><p>You are in absolute coordinate mode, and when you try to extrude 100mm it actually extrudes a different amount (based on the previous "position" of the extruder). Enter relative coordinate mode using G91.</p></li>
</ul>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>First of all I'm working with a Folger Tech Prusa i3 kit, if that makes a difference. Also I believe the Arduino is a Mega 2560.</p>
<p>I know somewhere in the back of my head that electrically programmable ROM like what must be on the Arduino board storing the firmware degrades a little, each time you write to it. Right now I'm trying to calibrate away another print problem, and I think I need to modify the firmware yet again, which I've already done several times. So I'm starting to worry about how many times I can do that.</p>
<p>Well, once I remembered the acronym "EEPROM", and after a little googling, I came across this, <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/EEPROMWrite" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Arduino - EEPROM</a>, which says that it can handle 100k cycles, so I think I'm onto the answer, but the problem is I'm not sure if a cycle is an entire file being uploaded? Wouldn't it be a single blip of data? And if so how many cycles would the average Marlin file consume?</p>
<p>I also found this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>but I'd be very surprised if I've uploaded to it more than 2000 times</p>
</blockquote>
<p>on <a href="http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=58243.0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mega2560 bricked? not detected, DFU failing</a>, indicating that the answer might be as low as 2000. </p>
<p>Also, this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Failure modes</strong></p>
<p>There are two limitations of stored information; endurance, and data
retention.</p>
<p>During rewrites, the gate oxide in the floating-gate transistors
gradually accumulates trapped electrons. The electric field of the
trapped electrons adds to the electrons in the floating gate, lowering
the window between threshold voltages for zeros vs ones. After
sufficient number of rewrite cycles, the difference becomes too small
to be recognizable, the cell is stuck in programmed state, and
endurance failure occurs. The manufacturers usually specify the
maximum number of rewrites being 1 million or more.[5]</p>
<p>During storage, the electrons injected into the floating gate may
drift through the insulator, especially at increased temperature, and
cause charge loss, reverting the cell into erased state. The
manufacturers usually guarantee data retention of 10 years or more.[6]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>from Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEPROM#Failure_modes" rel="nofollow noreferrer">EEPROM - Failure Modes</a>, indicating the answer might be into the millions.</p>
<p>At this point I'm just wondering if an expert might see this and relieve my angst...</p>
| <p>The EEPROM is <em>not</em> where the program itself is stored, what's relevant for your question is the flash. The flash in the ATmega2560 <a href="http://www.atmel.com/images/atmel-2549-8-bit-avr-microcontroller-atmega640-1280-1281-2560-2561_datasheet.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">is rated for 10,000 cycles</a> (i.e. you can reprogram it <em>at least</em> 10,000 times).</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>E3D mentions on their <a href="http://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/E3D-v6_Assembly#Usage_Guidance" rel="nofollow noreferrer">own wiki</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Excessively long retractions will cause issues by dragging soft filament into cold areas. [...] for bowden systems you might want to go up to 2 mm. Retraction beyond 2 mm is likely to cause issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have retraction set to the recommended maximum of 2 mm, but I still get a lot of stringing and blobs. My printer is set up with a relatively long Bowden tube (500-600 mm). I wonder if I need to push my retraction setting slightly beyond 2 mm to take up some of the slack. Is the 2 mm a conservative rating (I guess they don't want dissatisfied customers with clogging problems) or is it really the maximum? Is there anything else I can do to improve retraction performance? (I already have a small coasting distance of 0.1 mm set.)</p>
| <p>Yes, you can increase retraction past E3D's max 2 mm recommendation to compensate for Bowden tube stretch and slop. The reason for the recommendation is that jams will occur with most all-metal hot ends if you pull molten filament up into the cold zone. Any molten filament that enters the cold zone rapidly cools and hardens and sticks to the walls, very often forming a jam. </p>
<p>So, the requirement is to keep your retraction distance <em>at the extruder</em> less than 2 mm. Additional retraction travel that is absorbed by the Bowden tube and not seen at the extruder is fine. I personally run 2.5 mm retraction on an E3Dv6 Bowden system without any issues. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I am encountering a problem with this ID3 printer using ABS -- at some point during the print the print head displaces on the y-axis by 2-3 centimeters. I cannot pinpoint how or why it is doing this. It has displaced in the positive Y direction and in the negative Y direction on separate runs of the same piece (which is just a poker chip I found on Thingiverse). </p>
<p>Is this a software issue (Simplify3D) or a hardware issue? Can anybody suggest a fix?</p>
<p>See the following photos:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9Kyv.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9Kyv.jpg" alt="3D print exhibiting positive Y displacement mid-print"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yH40.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yH40.jpg" alt="Close up of 3D print exhibiting positive Y displacement mid-print"></a></p>
| <p>This has happened to me in the past and here are a few things that I determined could have been the cause:</p>
<ul>
<li>Limit Switch triggered. My coworker was able to repeat the issue by manually triggering a limit switch during the print. Somehow, this seemed to cause the relative axis to shift on his MakerBot Replicator 2.</li>
<li>Skipped steps. It's possible that, if stalled due to excessive load, the stepper motor could skip steps. I have a dual extruder, so if a part curls really bad then the second nozzle gets caught in the print. I'm not sure exactly how this works, but my coworker suggested this as an issue.</li>
<li>USB connection. I had sliced a model and tried printing over USB connection, however each time I attempted the print I encountered the "shift" at the same exact location. However, using the slice, I exported a G-Code file and printed from the machines SD card with no errors.</li>
<li>Slicing Engine bug. This is in correlation to the <em>USB connection</em> issue. I noticed that the issue occurred after updating my slicing engine. My solution in the long term was to re-install the previous version that was stable for me. I was using MakerWare 2.4.2 and reverted back to MakerWare 2.4.1.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you're printing via USB connection, I'd suggest exporting to G-Code if you're able to print via SD Card until you can find a stable version of software for your machine. This has been the most repeatable solution for me in the past.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Recently, the ticking sounds started to come from feeder of my UM2. Inspecting it I have noticed that once in a while stepper motor jumps back for few steps. I have an idea of what can be the reason, but I just want to hear what you can think of. That is the video of feeder during the printing :)
<a href="https://youtu.be/z6CzudMOeD0" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/z6CzudMOeD0</a> First tick at 10sec</p>
| <p>Ultimately, your stepper motor is unsuccessful in driving the filament through the extruder. A couple potential reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li>extruder temperature isn't high enough. This could either be operator error from not setting the temperature correctly or your machine is getting a false reading. Typically, for ABS/PLA, you can get away with a low extruding temperature of about 210c.</li>
<li>filament tension is too high. This happens if, say, your spool of filament gets kinked or wrapped around the spool spindle.</li>
<li>your nozzle is clogged. I've encountered where I had back flow coming out of the nozzle (filaments oozed around from the hotend at the threads). This was a result of not putting the hotend back together correctly. There was a enough hardened plastic backed up in the hotend that when I threaded the nozzle back on, it technically didn't fit back on all the way.</li>
</ul>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have a long 8 mm smooth steel rod of about 55 cm long. This rods bend easily due to the length. If I replace them with 8mm solid carbon fiber rods, will the bending reduce? Will the bearings wear off the carbon fiber rod? I couldn't find too much information about this.</p>
| <p>Steel is the best material for a linear rod when you have a fixed cross-section. It will have the least flex of any rod (aside from some exotic metals) of the same size. </p>
<p>Carbon fiber's material properties might seem superior at first sight, but the stiffness is very anisotropic -- it's very stiff along the grain and not very stiff across the grain. So multi-axis stresses like bending aren't necessarily going to perform up to the theoretical specs. Carbon fiber has exceptional stiffness-to-weight ratio, but the stiffness-per-area isn't necessarily superior in this application. </p>
<p>People do occasionally use carbon fiber for linear rods/rails, but only in much larger sizes than 8 mm. Think >25 mm. </p>
<p>And that's really the problem here. 8 mm diameter at 550 mm long is well outside what's reasonable for bending stiffness. Bending deflection increases with the CUBE of length, and this is simply far too long for the size of rod. The general rule of thumb for precision motion applications is length < 25*diameter. That's a conservative rule, but it's the right ballpark. You really shouldn't be going over 200-250 mm or so with an 8 mm rod. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>My printer will feature LM8UU bearings/threaded rods for the z-axis and bronze sinter bushings on the x- and y-Axis.</p>
<p>As also, but not only, written here <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Lubrication" rel="nofollow">http://reprap.org/wiki/Lubrication</a>, I know that one should:<br>
- use machine oil for sinter bearings, if anything at all,<br>
- grease on the 'more fluid' side for the linear bearings so that the lubricant stays eqally with balls on the upper and lower side<br>
- and probably PTFE grease for the threaded rods (as for example provided by the Ultimaker UM2)</p>
<p>Is there a way to unify this or at least only use two lubricants?<br>
I do not have the slightest idea about lubricants, I would not know what to actually buy if the combination would e.g. be machine oil and low viscosity grease. Do you have specific recommendations of what to avoid?</p>
| <p>A mid-weight PTFE grease like the popular Superlube will work in all the cases you mention (bearings, screws, and sintered bushings). 3D printer service conditions are quite light-duty as far as lubricants are concerned. You really just need to keep everything a little bit "wet" with oil or grease and performance will be adequate. </p>
<p>The main downside to using grease with sintered bushings is that they will likely stop being "self-lubricating" after the first exposure. The grease tends to clog the pores that allow the sintered bushings' factory oil impregnation to maintain a nice oil film on the sliding surfaces. So the bushings will forever-after require regular re-greasing, just like the ball bearings and threaded rod. </p>
<p>In comparison, a light machine oil like 3-in-one will maintain the sintered bushings' self-lubricating properties, but if used in ball bearings and screws will require very frequent replenishment. And that is certainly an option -- oil DOES work on bearings and screws -- but odds are good that you'll eventually over-oil the bearings, get drips on the build plate, and bang your head against a wall trying to figure out why your prints won't stick all of a sudden. Grease doesn't need to be applied as often, and it tends to stay where you put it rather than dripping. So grease is generally preferred to oil if you have to pick just one lubricant.</p>
<p>Again, the most important thing is to keep sliding and rolling surfaces wet with <em>something</em>. You'll just have various maintenance trade-offs with different options. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I began printing the parts for the Ultrascope DIY telescope designed by the Open Space Agency. See <a href="http://www.openspaceagency.com/ultrascope" rel="noreferrer">http://www.openspaceagency.com/ultrascope</a>.</p>
<p>All of the STL files for the 3D printable parts are canted 45 degrees. Brackets, tubes, everything I have seen so far. Is there a reason for this? I printed one part last night and simply rotated the part so it would lay flat because I didn't want to deal with supports. I am relatively new to 3D printing -- Am I missing something I should know? Is this a thing?</p>
| <p>The orientation of the part in the STL file depends on the Software that creates the file. I had a software that would export the parts standing upright instead of laying flat. Depending on the CAD software it can be beneficial for the creator of the model to create in in a different orientation as the one you want to use for printing. Also not all CAD Engineers know (or care) about the best orientation for printing a part.</p>
<p>So my guess is that this is an issue of file export/ STL file creation.</p>
<p>It is totally normal to rotate the parts into a position that is best for printing.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I'm having a lot of trouble printing polypropylene right now, and I think it may have to do with the conditions. I'm using a very thin coat of ABS on the base plate (just as you would do when printing with ABS) in order to promote sticking.</p>
<p>In this following first picture, I attempted with a 240°C tip and a 150°C bed (above PP's Tg). Oddly enough, one side actually looked somewhat decent while the other clearly had trouble sticking. The print speed on this was 1500 mm/min.</p>
<p>In the second picture, I was printing with the tip at 220°C and a 50°C bed. What's interesting in that print (you may be able to see it) is that the polymer extruded with little blips of material followed by a more stringy section, rather than a steady, even filament. (Print speed on this was 2100 mm/min)</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCbye.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="240°C tip and a 150°C bed"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCbye.jpg" alt="240°C tip and a 150°C bed" title="240°C tip and a 150°C bed"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/IaF8Z.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="220°C tip and a 50°C bed"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/IaF8Z.jpg" alt="220°C tip and a 50°C bed" title="220°C tip and a 50°C bed"></a></p>
<p>Does anyone have suggestions for doing better prints with PP? </p>
| <p>Polypropylene is a bear to print. There's a good reason almost nobody does it. The main problem is that it's a semi-crystalline material, which means it doesn't follow the normal rules for warping prevention.</p>
<p>An amorphous polymer like ABS or PET is able to slowly flow or creep until it cools below the glass point, Tg. This means the stresses caused by thermal contraction will "shake out" above Tg and only start accumulating when the print cools below Tg and fully solidifies. That's why heated build plates are usually set around the glass point for amorphous materials -- there's minimal warping stress in the print at that temp.</p>
<p>However, when you extrude semi-crystalline polymers like PE or PP, crystallization starts as soon as the temp drops below the melt point, Tm. A crystalline polymer will not flow or creep at a rate that is meaningful over the duration of an FDM print, so thermal contraction stresses will simply build up more and more as the plastic is cooled farther below Tm. And there's a loooong way to go when cooling from Tm to room temp. As a result, you get HUGE warping stresses with these plastics compared to more typical FDM materials. </p>
<p><strong>It is simply not possible to pick a heated bed or heated chamber temp that entirely eliminates the tendency of PP to warp. The normal rules we use for amorphous polymers don't apply. And, greatly compounding the problem, PP is a very low-surface-energy material with adhesion behavior fairly similar to wax. It doesn't want to stick to much of anything except itself.</strong></p>
<p>High warping stress + poor adhesion = bad times. </p>
<p>So, the simple answer is, polypropylene does not have the correct polymer behavior to be favorable for FDM. You will always be fighting warping. Think carefully about whether you want to struggle with PP or switch to a more suitable material that could accomplish the same design goal for the printed part. Do you really need to use PP? PET blends have similar hardness and chemical resistance, nylon blends have similar toughness, and TPUs can handle living hinge applications. That covers most of the reasons you'd want to use PP.</p>
<p>If you absolutely must use PP, you're going to need to pull out ALL the tricks people use with traditional high-warp materials like ABS and PC and nylon.</p>
<ul>
<li>Use a build plate made of a close relative of the material you're printing. For example, people have successfully printed HDPE on a PP build plate, so I would imagine that a HDPE build plate should work for PP. </li>
<li>Or, use a perfboard build plate with a raft so the initial layer will get embedded into the holes.</li>
<li>Or, use a coarse fibrous surface like stiff cardboard or fiberboard.</li>
<li>Get the build chamber enclosed and as hot as you can without damaging the printer. 50C is usually reasonable for motors, extruders, etc unless you have PLA printed parts to worry about. (Heated build plates only really help with the bottom 5-10mm of the print if the printer is not enclosed.)</li>
<li>Use helper disks / mouse ears on corners.</li>
<li>Really mash the first layer down onto the build plate. </li>
<li>Print low layer heights, like 0.1mm. Smaller layers mean the thermal contraction applies more shear stress between layers, and less of the large-scale aggregate bending stress that lifts corners. </li>
<li>Higher print speeds may also help due to some complex strain-crystallization effects, but that's only currently proven in nylon to my knowledge. </li>
</ul>
<p>Another option, if it meets your functional requirements, is to use a fiberglass or carbon fiber composite PP. CFR and GFR plastics usually warp less than virgin plastics. The fibers have a low coefficient of thermal expansion, which makes the composite material contract less as it cools, which reduces warping stress. The most successful PP printing I've ever seen was GFR-PP. But that stuff is hard to find and may not work if the part needs to be flexible. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have an idea for a 3D printed project, but I'm a total noob in this area and need someone to reality check it for me.</p>
<p>Basically what I want to do is a tricopter frame made of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragonal_disphenoid_honeycomb" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tetrahedral honeycomb</a>.</p>
<p>The whole model would be within 30 * 30 * 10 cm, the honeycomb edges would be approximately 1mm thick and about 15mm long and it would be printed out of nylon with SLS.</p>
<p>I have found Shapeways' design guidelines and my idea seems to fit it, but still it feels slightly more extreme use than what they had in mind.</p>
<p>Is this doable? Does anyone else use a similar method? Is there some software that I can use to generate honeycombs like this, or do I have to write it myself?</p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<p>This is how two layers of the honeycomb look like:
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ttIZ6.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ttIZ6.jpg" alt="honeycomb"></a></p>
<p>In the actual model there would be several layer of this on top of each other and the shape would be kind of carved out of the honeycomb (+ some finishing to avoid spiky surface)</p>
| <p>For designing your part, especially considering the repetitive mathematics involved, I would consider to learn to use OpenSCAD. I've learned the program and it fits your modeling requirement quite well. I feel it's easy to learn and is somewhat easier for folks who have a programming background. I don't have one, but it's still a logical progression to learn this program.</p>
<p>Regarding the SLS aspect, that also jumped out at me as a suitable answer. Solid shapes require to have "drain holes" to reduce the amount of powder consumed by the process.</p>
<p>I am assembling a Sintratec SLS printer and your model is the sort of thing I would enjoy to create with the printer. I've not yet listed my Sintratec printer on 3dhubs to solicit business, simply because it's not yet a fully assembled printer!</p>
<p>I did a quick Google search for "openscad tetrahedral honeycomb" and found this link:</p>
<p><a href="http://forum.openscad.org/Beginner-Honeycomb-advice-needed-td4556.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://forum.openscad.org/Beginner-Honeycomb-advice-needed-td4556.html</a></p>
<p>The result is more a polygonal honeycomb, not a true 3d tetrahedron, but it's a start. The file that created it is fewer than a few dozen lines of code.</p>
<p>The post is old enough that the internal links no longer work but the OP posted his module code and that does work:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rO5Je.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rO5Je.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>I'm not sure how personal contact works in stackexchange, but I'd be willing to work with you regarding creating your code and if the printer ever gets assembled, printing out your part.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hohRb.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hohRb.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>Adding a picture again, to show the latest revision, based on the updated information:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gna6W.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gna6W.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I can download a file from Tinkercad as any of these:</p>
<pre><code>.STL
.OBJ
.X3D
.VRML
</code></pre>
<p>Is there a way to convert any of those file types to .DWG?</p>
| <p>For designing your part, especially considering the repetitive mathematics involved, I would consider to learn to use OpenSCAD. I've learned the program and it fits your modeling requirement quite well. I feel it's easy to learn and is somewhat easier for folks who have a programming background. I don't have one, but it's still a logical progression to learn this program.</p>
<p>Regarding the SLS aspect, that also jumped out at me as a suitable answer. Solid shapes require to have "drain holes" to reduce the amount of powder consumed by the process.</p>
<p>I am assembling a Sintratec SLS printer and your model is the sort of thing I would enjoy to create with the printer. I've not yet listed my Sintratec printer on 3dhubs to solicit business, simply because it's not yet a fully assembled printer!</p>
<p>I did a quick Google search for "openscad tetrahedral honeycomb" and found this link:</p>
<p><a href="http://forum.openscad.org/Beginner-Honeycomb-advice-needed-td4556.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://forum.openscad.org/Beginner-Honeycomb-advice-needed-td4556.html</a></p>
<p>The result is more a polygonal honeycomb, not a true 3d tetrahedron, but it's a start. The file that created it is fewer than a few dozen lines of code.</p>
<p>The post is old enough that the internal links no longer work but the OP posted his module code and that does work:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rO5Je.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rO5Je.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>I'm not sure how personal contact works in stackexchange, but I'd be willing to work with you regarding creating your code and if the printer ever gets assembled, printing out your part.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hohRb.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hohRb.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>Adding a picture again, to show the latest revision, based on the updated information:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gna6W.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gna6W.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I am new to 3D printing and need to know if I use steel in printing, do I get the same strength (compression and shear) as steel profiles manufactured in a factory?</p>
| <p>A laser sintered part typically uses what could be described as surface bonding, as it does not melt particularly deeply into the powder. It would not have the same strength characteristics as machined steel or otherwise processed metal. A part constructed from 3d printing using feed metal/welding methods would have more strength, but would not necessarily have un-modified steel strength, due to the heat applied during the process.</p>
<p>Using a metal which responds to post processing, as in tempering, will likely improve the strength, but I believe that one is unlikely to reach the same values as "ordinary" steel. Compression along the lines of the construction layers would be reasonably strong, but forces applied in other directions are likely to match only the characteristics of the bond. The same consideration applies to shear strength.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I've been asked to prepare a 3D model for 3D printing in sandstone. I've been told that it needs to be 3" tall and the walls have to be at least 2 mm thick. It's an absolute pain in the neck having to make sure everything is the right thickness. So, I was wondering, can the whole model just be printed as a solid object, with 100% infill, and does that work for sandstone?</p>
| <p>Yes, you can just print it solid. However, it might be significantly more expensive to print your object entirely solid. For instance, Shapeways charges \$0.75 per cm³ of material for their full-color sandstone. A solid cube of 5x5x5 cm would cost \$96 to print, whereas it would only cost around \$6 if you printed it hollow with 2mm walls.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Is there a way to make all your prints seamless?? I know there was this program that printed a vase constantly changing the z axis making it seamless. Why cant this be done with regular prints?</p>
| <p>If you ever seen 3d printouts on your own and you did keep it in hand then you probably felt layers. Most printouts contains 3 main "components"</p>
<ol>
<li>bottom and top component (floor and ceiling)</li>
<li>outline (perimeters)</li>
<li>infill (inside supporting structure)</li>
</ol>
<p>It is almost imposible (and for sure sensless) to create all these components with one continues line as it would be very complex and sophisticated line.</p>
<p>Second reason. It would be very often that printer would cross outlines (perimeters) so it would destroy good looking external surface.</p>
<p>And third reason. Objects can have "islands". Imagine printed elephant which is standing on 4 legs. How to draw leg leyers with one line if these legs are separated (at the floor level).</p>
<p>That's why "round vase" is the only option to print seamless. :)</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>During printing, my printer occasionally makes some mystery moves: it will very slowly move either the X or Y axis all the way to the left/front, before very slowly moving back to its original position and resuming the print as normal. I've checked my G-code files, and the moves are definitely not part of the G-code. What could be causing this?</p>
<p>I'm printing from an SD card on a Cartesian printer.</p>
| <p>The issue was due to a corrupt SD-card, which was occasionally having some garbage read from it. It turns out that Marlin will try interpret a corrupt move command like <code>G0 X1q3.54</code> and still read as many numbers as it can. In this example, it would be interpreted as <code>G0 X1</code> rather than (as might have been intended) <code>G0 X103.54</code>.</p>
<p>This explains my symptoms perfectly:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>X and Y always moved to (approximately) their home positions, but it was always only one of them (it's quite unlikely that both moves are corrupted).</p></li>
<li><p>Z was not affected because Z moves are much rarer in the G-code (only on layer change) and thus it was very unlikely that a Z move would be affected.</p></li>
<li><p>E was not affected since a request to move E to near 0 would be prevented by Marlin's long extrusion prevention.</p></li>
</ul>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I've been going down the learning road with two broken printers that I'm rebuilding with better parts and electronics.</p>
<p>One thing that I've recognized is that there is a pretty low likelihood that any hotend or heatbed that has had the thermistor/thermocouple and/or the printer board swapped with a non-OEM part can be trusted to accurately report it's own temperature.</p>
<p>Sure, there are lots of things I can (and do) do to try to make it as accurate as reasonable like calibrating with thermistors from multimeters, IR thermometers, etc., but each method has limitations. You never know if the 2nd thermistor is mounted both correctly, or if it is reading the same local temp as the printer thermistor. IR thermometers have issues with reflective surfaces (like aluminum hot ends and build plates) Calibrating the thermistor constants from experimental data isn't perfect.</p>
<p>IMHO, any hotend/heatbed temp on a DIY setup might be off by a constant ± 5 °C or so, more if it is poorly calibrated.</p>
<p>Printers use PID controlled heaters to keep oscillations down to a degree or two Celsius, because people say it impacts print quality.</p>
<p>Is there a good visual or experimental way to know whether your temperatures are "correct" for your printer/filament? IOW, if my filament was supposed to be heated to 220 °C, how would I know if my printer was having issues because the "true" temperature is only 215 °C (or 225 °C) when it is reporting 220 °C?</p>
<p>One common problem I've experienced is the nozzle clogging after the transistion from layer 1 to layer 2. (Layer 1 = higher heat and slower speeds, Layers 2+ = lower heat and faster speeds.) It's been a struggle to know which factor (lower heat or faster speeds) are to blame for the clogs after the transition.</p>
| <p>The short answer is, you use the temps and speeds that give you good results. It's trial and error. </p>
<p>The temperature number your printer reports really doesn't matter. That's just a process control variable: it needs to be consistent and repeatable, but it doesn't need to be accurate against an independent reference. What you should care about is your print results. </p>
<p>Some signs your printing temp is too cold:</p>
<ul>
<li>PLA printed parts have a dull, matte surface</li>
<li>Poor layer adhesion</li>
<li>Extruder stalls or strips the filament at fairly low printing speeds for your extruder and nozzle size</li>
</ul>
<p>Some signs your printing temp is too hot:</p>
<ul>
<li>PLA printed parts have a very shiny surface</li>
<li>PLA has a very strong sugary/waffle smell, or any material smells burnt</li>
<li>Stringiness during travel moves that you can't eliminate by tuning retraction</li>
<li>Excessive oozing while the nozzle is stationary off the print</li>
<li>Bubbles or cloudiness in extruded strands in extruded strands even with dry filament</li>
</ul>
<p>You will also calibrate speeds via trial and error. There are two main speed limits for a printer: how fast the motion mechanism can move the nozzle without running into issues or unacceptable print quality degradation (which is also a function of acceleration settings), and how fast the hot end can heat up and melt filament. </p>
<p>The mechanism speed limits you have to find via trial and error. Pick a test print you like (such as Benchy) and repeat it with different tuning until you find your preferred limits.</p>
<p>Melt flow restrictions are slightly more complex, because they are a function of VOLUME flow rate, not commanded speeds. Make a large boxy test print (with long straight lines) and multiply extrusion width times layer height times feedrate. That will give you your approximate flow rate in mm<sup>3</sup>/sec. Generally speaking, every extruder + hot end + material combo will have a maximum feasible flow rate. For example, most "average" hobbyist printers with 0.4 mm nozzles and good extruders can extrude about 4-8 mm<sup>3</sup>/sec with PLA. PTFE-lined hot ends are at the lower end, all-metal hot ends are at the higher end. The value will depend on your hardware. But you can do a few quick benchmarking tests to find the limit, and then use that to determine peak feedrates to avoid exceeding the melt capacity of your system. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have a 3D printer that is going crazy with x-axis shift, and I need a tension gauge belt to measure the tension.</p>
<p>I've never used one before, and looking online, I can't tell which one would be the right fit.</p>
<p>Any ideas? What things should I look for?</p>
| <p>It's extremely unlikely that belt tension is actually your problem. I've never heard of anyone using a gauge to measure their belt tension. Typically you just pull your belt tight by hand so that it produces a low note when plucked. It's far more likely that you're experiencing shifts due to too high or too low stepper current.</p>
<p>Unless your belt is so loose that it easily skips over the pulley (which should be obvious without using a gauge) or so tight that it completely binds up (it would be impossible to get it that tight without some kind of superhuman force) it's definitely not the problem.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/871/is-22-guage-stranded-hookup-wire-the-correct-wire-to-connect-the-switching-power">I'm still looking at wires</a> for my Prusa i3, to go between the power supply and <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RAMPS 1.4</a>, and <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007KG0ZYI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the power supply</a> and the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/PCB_Heatbed#MK2.2C_MK2a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MK2a Heatbed</a>. </p>
<p>I also recently found a <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/400-ft-wire-storehouse-61527.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">400 ft. Wire Storehouse</a> that I bought from Harbor Freight which has wire sizes in it from AWG 10 through AWG 22 (and additionally speaker wire, Zip Cord and Bell).</p>
<p>I also bought some reading material, I picked up <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/097929455X" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiring Simplified 44th edition</a>, and in it on page 28, Table 4-1, there is a table with information about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampacity" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ampacity</a> of copper wires including their maximum temp (C), and maximum carrying current (Amps) based on their insulation types.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/400-ft-wire-storehouse-61527.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">400 ft. Wire Storehouse</a> does not provide any information in regards to the insulation type or quality and this makes it difficult for one to choose the correct wire based on the specification in the table. </p>
<p>Given that the thing only cost $30 for 400 Ft. of wire, it would lead me to believe that the cheapest grade of insulation was used; as I understand it, the TW type wire. </p>
<p>I also read a forum somewhere in which people were complaining about the cheapness of the wire in this kit, stating that one ought to wear gloves when working with it as there is probably lead in the insulation as well as the wire.</p>
<p>The largest copper wire I have found in the table that I have (AWG 10) says that it is rated at 30 AMP regardless of which type of insulation it has, should I be using the speakerwire instead? That isn't listed in the table. Also it should be noted that though the ratings for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampacity" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ampacity</a> are 30 AMPs, the max temperatures are different; with the TW being at 60 C. </p>
<p>As far as I can tell if I use the AWG 10 (TW?) to connect everything it won't matter, but I just thought I'd check here to be sure first since my power supply is rated at 30 AMPs and that's probably the same as the wire....</p>
| <p><strong>THHN</strong> wire is thermoplastic high heat-resistant nylon coated wire.<br>
<strong>THWN</strong> is thermoplastic heat- and moisture-resistant nylon coated wire.</p>
<p><strong>"T"</strong> stands for thermoplastic insulation covering the wire itself.<br>
<strong>"H"</strong> stands for a heat resistance of the insulation max 167°F.<br>
<strong>"HH"</strong> stands for a heat resistance, but increased max 194°F.<br>
<strong>"W"</strong> is for moisture resistant.<br>
<strong>"N"</strong> is for a nylon coating make the insulation oil and gas resistant.</p>
<p>In my opinion the Wire Storehouse is good for simple stuff, but I would not use it for something I consider important. It's quality is poor on the insulation rating and the number of strands is low. Higher strands number allows for more flexible wire.</p>
<p>If you get high end audiophile type speaker wire it could be considered as you can find high strand number with good quality insulation properties in heavier gauges. </p>
<p>Or your local auto parts store will carry 8 and 6 gauge wire with better insulation properties. </p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I have a really bent heatbed PCB, the middle is elevated about 3 mm with respect to all edges.</p>
<p>I have found this thread <a href="http://midibox.org/forums/topic/17599-warped-pcbs/" rel="noreferrer">Warped PCBs</a>, where a heating method is applied by baking a PCB in the oven, as described here: <a href="http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/3-2.shtml" rel="noreferrer">3.2 Bow and Twist Repair</a>.</p>
<p>Can this help straightening out a Prusa heatbed PCB? If so, can I apply the heat by the heatbed itself, or do I need to utilize an oven? Will the pressure from the strongly clamped glass plate be enough or will the glass break at these temperatures (given that the heatbed can reach them).</p>
| <p>Baking PCB in an oven is not a good idea, I would say. I know PCBs are resistive to the heat (especially heatbeds) but, still, it sounds odd. But the real question is how baking would help. Let's leave it.</p>
<p>If your heatbed is such bent you can do few things depending on your situation/environment.</p>
<p>You can:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add two glass plates (at the bottom and at the top) and clip them all together;</li>
<li>Support your HB with flat aluminium or even wood;</li>
<li>Add an aluminium frame, or;</li>
<li>If you use glass plate, clip the HB to the glass using stronger (wider) clips.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ad#1 the thermistor can even stay sandwiched between the PCB and the bottom glass plate.</p>
<p>Ad#2 If your HB is bent up in the middle, you can use the middle thermistor hole. Drill it a bit with fi8mm drill (but not too much, I would say halfway through) and use a cone head screw to screw it flat on to the aluminium/wood support. Of course you will have to install a thermistor into the new place.</p>
<p>The simplest, and less destructive, solution is #1 and I would recommend that.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p><strong>Before you put duplicate from this <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/147/which-are-the-food-safe-materials-and-how-do-i-recognize-them">Which are the food-safe materials and how do I recognize them?</a> please read</strong> </p>
<p>I need to know if <a href="http://store.printm3d.com/#filaments_head_scroll" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this 3D Ink™ (PLA Filament) </a>is food safe<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/lNh2d.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/lNh2d.png" alt="this "></a></p>
| <p>In general, PLA is known as a "food safe" filament, especially <strong><em>Natural PLA</em></strong>. However, filament suppliers have different processes that may detriment the food safe quality.</p>
<p>Doing a little digging, I found <a href="https://printm3d.com/solutions/article.php?id=47" rel="noreferrer">an article on the M3D site</a> which mentions the following about their filament</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All of our products, including our filaments are made from 100% non-toxic components and considered generally safe under normal use. They are not considered a chemical, or a hazardous material by OSHA standards. Therefore, OSHA defines it as an "article" and does not require MSDS sheets. You can see more information about that here: <a href="http://www.ilpi.com/msds/faq/partb.html#article" rel="noreferrer">http://www.ilpi.com/msds/faq/partb.html#article</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, without contacting M3D directly to acquire an MSDS (or asking if its food safe), you will not find one online.</p>
<p><a href="https://pinshape.com/blog/3d-printing-food-safe/" rel="noreferrer">Here</a> is an article on a few tips for printing food safe objects as well. In a nut shell, don't 3D print food handling objects with crevasses, using uranium, or intend to put in the oven (a.k.a common sense).</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>On my <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007KG0ZYI" rel="nofollow">Switching Power Supply</a> there is a little orange trimpot that's marked <code>VR1</code>; what does that do, and does it work similar to the ones on the stepper drivers?</p>
| <p>No doubt it's just a final tuning potentiometer. Even on the pictures you linked it's described as V adj which stands for voltage adjustment.
It's a way to tune your power supply's output as it can vary depending on temperature/humidity/wall-plug voltage/etc.</p>
<p>It's usually set properly and doesn't need to be touched. But you can connect a multimeter to check if your power supply gives the voltage you need. </p>
<p>If you are not familiar with the subject but still want to do it yourself, it's good to set your multimeter to the highest available range and make sure that AC/DC is properly chosen. Now you can measure voltage. You can set the range closer to the expected values then. Usually multimeters have a range around 20 or 30V DC which is propbably what you expect from your power supply. In such a range you should see something like 12.000. If it varies from 12.000 you can then precisely adjust it to get as close as possible to this value. But watch out... cheap power supplies can cheat you. When the are have a load on the output (your 3D printer for example) they can reduce voltage.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I just recently purchased a new MightyBoard (Rev G) for my Replicator that requires a new power supply. </p>
<p>The power supply for the Rev E was a 24 V/9.2 A which was necessary for the dual extruders and heated bed. I know I need a 24 V power supply, but should I be concerned about the amperage? What will a higher (or lower) rating affect on my machine?</p>
| <p>I suggest looking at the maximum amperage draw for all components that could be on at one time, and then find a power supply that can supply at least 20% more current. You would never want to get a supply rated for lower current than your max draw, because then it will affect the torque or your motors, or the temperature to which your heaters can get. </p>
<p>Think of it like this: An outlet at home may be rated at 115V/20A. Your blender is not going to draw the full 20A; having a little extra never hurts. But if you try to run a large appliance (dryer, hot tub, etc.) on a smaller amp circuit, the breaker would blow because you are trying to draw more than it can supply. </p>
<p>The point is, get something rated for higher than you need, within reason. It will draw only what it needs.</p>
<p>Pro tip: Make sure to set the current limits on your stepper motor drivers for maximum performance!</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>Some 3 mm filaments seem to actually be 3 mm - is there any way to shave off the excess and use it as 2.85 mm? </p>
| <p>I would not recommend you to try and somehow re-size the filament, since even the smallest of irregularities and error in diameter occurring from such a process would ruin your prints with sporadic over and under extrusion. Rather, if you have the tools available, you could grind the filament into pellets, and use a filament extruder to make it anew with your desired diameter. </p>
<p>Alternatively, depending on your printer setup, you might very well extrude true 3.00 filament with your 2.85 mm filament printer. If you try to do that, make sure to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adjust filament diameter in your slicer</li>
<li>Check that your filament isn't getting squashed by the extruder wheel</li>
<li>Check that all mechanical parts actually can pass through your filament freely</li>
</ul>
<p>I do not own a 2.85 mm printer myself, and therefore have not tried this procedure. There are, however, <a href="https://ultimaker.com/en/community/4297-30mm-pla-vs-285mm-pla">several people</a> who seem to have done this successfully.</p>
|
Instruct:
Given a question paragraph at StackExchange, retrieve a question duplicated paragraph
Query:
<p>I was working on my printer when something metallic came into contact with the pcb. I smelled smoke and quickly unplugged the printer. Anyway, this is the result and, of course, the heat bed won't heat. </p>
<p>Can this be salvaged or should I toss it and buy a new one? </p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhRPu.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhRPu.jpg" alt="shorted"></a></p>
<p><strong>update</strong> the heat bed was not hot at the time. I had the heat bed unscrewed from the chassis but had forgotten to unplug the printer. I am not exactly sure how it shorted but I think it shorted between the power lead connection and the thermistor. </p>
| <p>What happend was short circuit of course. There is no doubt you overheated HB so copper detached from HB base plate. Because you wrote it doesn't work it means copper tracks are broken.</p>
<p>There is very low chance to fix it. I mean it - near to zero.</p>
<p>What you could do is:</p>
<ol>
<li>Detach HB from arduino</li>
<li>Find a place where track is broken (which needs to uncover it from protective layer)</li>
<li>Connect it with a wire</li>
</ol>
<p>Unfortunately even if you do it and your HB will work (electrically) your fixed HB which won't be flat anymore.</p>
<p>So definitely it's to be thrown away.</p>
<p><strong>[edit]</strong></p>
<p>I just realised you have double power HB, which means your HB has 2 heaters... which gives a bit hope.</p>
<p>take a look here</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/GZMZc.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/GZMZc.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/6/62/Heated-bed-schematic.png/800px-Heated-bed-schematic.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here is schematics</a> which could give you an idea</p>
<p>You could check if your second heater works ok</p>
<p>If yes then you are salvaged! :)</p>
<p><strong>[edit2]</strong>
I really suppose the schematics of HB is more or less like this</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/AS2I1.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/AS2I1.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>So if H1 is broken there is a chance to use H2 connecting pins respectively</p>
|