3D printer thread - what have you been printing? - Creationism Corner

Flipping the plate may reverse the issue. I also started back up with PLA printing last night, but didn't finish printing some spacers. Didn't complete them, but they were complete enough for the task. I should get some gears going, PLA makes better gears. [editline]2nd September 2014[/editline] Use blue painters tape, I don't even have to heat the bed.

I ain't got painters tape but I heard hairspray works quite well too, and I tried it before but then cleaned it for some reason... If painters tape gives such good results I'm certainly gonna try it (is it with PLA or ABS though which have good results for you?)

I use it for both, 90°C blue painters tape will keep ABS reasonably stuck in place, though there is some lift (it takes the tape with it mind you), and so far I can do PLA without bed heating directly onto it, but I think I'll crank up the bed temp to 40°C next time. I'm applying blue painters tape directly onto a kapton tape covered aluminum plate. [editline]2nd September 2014[/editline] I have a feeling that said aluminum plate is ever so slightly bent, the first layer is different on the left side compared to the right. [editline]2nd September 2014[/editline] Also, kapton tape wears out really fast. Its only on my bed because it came with it and I don't fancy removing it.

I got that master sword finished and all assembled... man it's a thing of beauty. I'll grab some pics tonight after work. I printed it in glow in the dark, so that I can tape over some of the features when I paint it. I'm so proud of this, it took just under 30 hours to print.

I still have to buy a 3d printer..looks cool!

I have been tweaking my printer for a couple days now, here's a repeated print of the Bulbasaur. From this: [T]http://i.imgur.com/JuuKvWA.png[/T] To this: [T]http://i.imgur.com/OEfLoxW.jpg[/T] [T]http://i.imgur.com/Fm1NLXS.jpg[/T] [T]http://i.imgur.com/ZgrCfh8.jpg[/T] Still not what I'd ultimately like. As you can see from the pictures above, sometimes there are tiny protrusions at the edges of the print. I'm not quite sure whats causing that. Anyone has any ideas? Here are my settings: [code] Layer height: 0.2 mm Fill: 30% rectilinear Speeds: -Perimeters: 50 mm/s -Infill: 80 mm/s -Travel: 130 mm/s Material: White 3mm ABS at 240*C Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm Retraction length: 1 mm [/code]

Looking much better, I think we can chock up the remaining z-bands to [url=http://www.soliwiki.com/Banding]z-wobble.[/URL] There is a big thread on the reprap forums about identifying and fixing the issue on the reprap.org forums.

[vid]http://webmup.com/BplWC/vid.webm[/vid] I guess I should eliminate this wobble of the frame first. No matter how tight I tighten the nuts that hold it on the two Y axis leadscrews, it still wobbles. It doesn't look like it's moving while printing, but I guess it vibrates slightly while the steppers move.

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;45881106]Looking much better, I think we can chock up the remaining z-bands to [url=http://www.soliwiki.com/Banding]z-wobble.[/URL] There is a big thread on the reprap forums about identifying and fixing the issue on the reprap.org forums.[/QUOTE] Yeah, and it seems liek there's as many solutions as people to come up with them. My two favourite would be the thread-less bearing, and the software patch I actually use the software one, you'll have to find it for your specifics, but basicallly you measure the bands and it counteracts them

Holy shit [video=youtube;yQVqvhg_EDA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQVqvhg_EDA[/video] I gotta print this :v:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/Bqn6hdv.jpg[/img]

[T]http://i.imgur.com/hujmye5.jpg[/T] Today I tried to print some parts for the frame braces to increase overall rigidity of the printer. Started my first print and noticed that I have an X offset as the Z progresses. Dropped my acceleration and jerk quite a lot and increased my stepper driving current. Offset was reduced. Great, I thought! Went on to do another copy and it started all nice and straight, but after a dozen of layers some corners started to lift. Probably because I have my Z offset a little too high, but I have yet to find the right spot. Sometimes it's too low and ends up on getting the extruder jammed or I have it too high and the bottom layer isn't as squished. Some nuts fell out during the print which just emphasizes on how bad I need the carriage. Anyway, I let the printer finish the job, since the lift wasn't half bad and the parts looked still usable. As soon as the parts were finished I tried to fit them and... they fucking don't fit my printer's carriage.

If its ABS you can use a drill bit to widen it a tad.

Printed more stuff! [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/z3mEZ3N.jpg[/IMG] The thing on the left is a box for some spare speakers I had lying around. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/2s6UQxX.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/VLezLsO.jpg[/IMG] I really like the semi transparent properties of this filament. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/cOHVjDT.jpg[/IMG] I decided to print a full scale scorch shot. Came out really good! I also made some improvements on how it is assembled. If anyone wants to to download it I uploaded it to thingiverse! [url]http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:448498[/url]

I've mentioned this before, but I really wish there was more granular control in Slic3r. It has the ability to have a different temperature for the first layer than all other layers, but having the ability to modify [B]just[/B] the settings for the first layer is useless to me. I want to turn off the heated bed at a layer that I can say "ok, there is enough structure in place to prevent the bottom layer from warping". I'd personally like to turn off the heated bed at layer 20, but just have the option of anything. [editline]4th September 2014[/editline] [B]Fucking hell[/B], I give PLA the benefit of the doubt to do a more-than-a-box after running a few calibrations and it immediately clogs.

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;45896229]I've mentioned this before, but I really wish there was more granular control in Slic3r. It has the ability to have a different temperature for the first layer than all other layers, but having the ability to modify [B]just[/B] the settings for the first layer is useless to me. I want to turn off the heated bed at a layer that I can say "ok, there is enough structure in place to prevent the bottom layer from warping". I'd personally like to turn off the heated bed at layer 20, but just have the option of anything. [editline]4th September 2014[/editline] [B]Fucking hell[/B], I give PLA the benefit of the doubt to do a more-than-a-box after running a few calibrations and it immediately clogs.[/QUOTE] it's finnicky but you can turn off heatbed controll by setting it to zero degrees. That you can shut off the heatbed yourself once it's printing.

So I've been working on a pistol from Mass Effect, since there were no really decent meshes available. I did try to make it print-friendly, and most components are separated and put together via pins and slides. [t]http://i.imgur.com/3lkpBWh.png[/t]

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;45896229]I've mentioned this before, but I really wish there was more granular control in Slic3r. It has the ability to have a different temperature for the first layer than all other layers, but having the ability to modify [B]just[/B] the settings for the first layer is useless to me. I want to turn off the heated bed at a layer that I can say "ok, there is enough structure in place to prevent the bottom layer from warping". I'd personally like to turn off the heated bed at layer 20, but just have the option of anything. [editline]4th September 2014[/editline] [B]Fucking hell[/B], I give PLA the benefit of the doubt to do a more-than-a-box after running a few calibrations and it immediately clogs.[/QUOTE] I wish they would make better layer control too, like slicing portions of the model in different settings. Like if you were printing something that has a large cuboid base, with a statue or something on top. It would be very nice if you could slice the base at 0.3mm and the rest at 0.1mm for instance. You can do this by slicing it both ways then manually joining the code at the right layer, but it would be really nice if that automated that and had lots of options for specific layers.

I've got some issues with corners of the initial few layers peeling upwards all of a sudden. Would turning off the fan which cools the PLA be a good idea for the first 2-3 layers?

I left the clogged mess that is my cold end/filament guide alone and went to bed last night, I hate it when this shit happens.

weird issue with my printrboard.. it connects perfectly every time to pronterface or repeteir on win if my extruder therm isn't connected, and floods with errors because the therm isn't connected. if i have it connected, the board just sits at connecting... for hours and doesn't work unless i power cycle it a few times and unplug/plug everything back in. also it doesn't like when i have endstops plugged in. Ideas?

So I go and mount my E3D since now the old printhead jammed and I don't fancy unclogging it... My immediate reaction was "Oh, I forgot to print the other half of the tension arm" :v:

[QUOTE=scratch (nl);45897472]I've got some issues with corners of the initial few layers peeling upwards all of a sudden. Would turning off the fan which cools the PLA be a good idea for the first 2-3 layers?[/QUOTE] yes, that or make your hotend temp slightly higher for the first 2-3 layers not just the first

Printed frame braces and got rid of the frame wobble. As an added extra, the printer is now incredibly less noisy. Also, wrote this thing to calculate how much filament you need for a print by feeding it the gcode. If anyone's interested here's the source (C#): [url]http://pastebin.com/T8DveEn1[/url] I have only used it with Slic3r 1.1.7.23, so it might shit itself and crash with a different slicing app/version of Slic3r. I really haven't put much effort into it, it works for me, so maybe it will work for someone else :D

[QUOTE=alexaz;45916217]Printed frame braces and got rid of the frame wobble. As an added extra, the printer is now incredibly less noisy. Also, wrote this thing to calculate how much filament you need for a print by feeding it the gcode. If anyone's interested here's the source (C#): [url]http://pastebin.com/T8DveEn1[/url] I have only used it with Slic3r 1.1.7.23, so it might shit itself and crash with a different slicing app/version of Slic3r.[/QUOTE] I'm sure an older version of repetier I used gave this information, but more recent ones don't seem to.

For a while OctoPi also gave this information, but I think it broke when I updated Slic3r.

Got the hardware assembly completely finished on Mendelmax 2, now I gotta find a spot for all the wires and electronics. After that, its to calibrations! All in good time too, I've got 11 days until I leave for college

What did I learn today? Make sure your endstops are plugged in at both ends. [t]http://i.imgur.com/OoXPawJ.jpg[/t] Guess I won't be printing for a while, unless I find where I can get some couplers fast (noone has it locally here)

You could always try some sort of flexible tight-fitting tubing and some zip ties as a makeshift coupling to get you running again. It's not going to be as accurate maybe, but it's better than nothing. [t]http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/e/eb/Reprappro-mendel-z-axis-M5-attach.jpg[/t]

Printer reassembled, wires properly soldered this time, and stupid amounts of hot glue replaced with proper mountings and work. Still some hotglue, but hey, you aren't a true maker until you use that stuff unnecessarily. About to run first shakedown prints on this machine, lets see how she does :v: