[T]http://i.imgur.com/CdYEmtm.jpg[/T]
[T]http://i.imgur.com/f2RxUHr.jpg[/T]
just printed some upgrades for my extruder "jigsaw" and idler pulley brackets .
How do you guys stop your 3D printed parts from warping? At my uni we have access to several 3D printers but pretty much every part we get larger than about 50mm square is warped
[QUOTE=download;40910837]How do you guys stop your 3D printed parts from warping? At my uni we have access to several 3D printers but pretty much every part we get larger than about 50mm square is warped[/QUOTE]
Does it lift during printing? Make sure the bed is cleaned thoroughly before you start and is properly up to temperature. If you mean warping after, I find I have to let the bed cool back to room temp before I can remove anything otherwise it tends to warp. Otherwise I can only guess it's something to do with the print settings and the way the material is laid causing an internal stress, possible the feed rate isnt high enough?
It lifts during printing. The guy who runs the 3d printers has now resorted to creating a large basepad on the parts that can be cut off later to stop lifting.
[QUOTE=download;40911505]It lifts during printing. The guy who runs the 3d printers has now resorted to creating a large basepad on the parts that can be cut off later to stop lifting.[/QUOTE]
Make sure the bed is being heated to the right temperature and that the surface is perfectly clean, no grease or anything. I use acetone to clean mine and can happily print up to 180x180 without issue. It sounds to me like the heating elements in the bed is struggling to keep the plate at a suitable temperature though.
I'll look into it
man ill tell you what i did
i set the first layer speed to 60% and gave it a 8mm brim after that i can literally print ABS on cold glass and it sticks no problems since (although i still use the heated bed at 97oC) I havent had any warping/lifting since not once
[editline]5th June 2013[/editline]
also i dont clean my glass i just re apply hair spray each time and clean it about once every 10 - 15 prints, that stuff gets baked on and its like superglue for plastic, btw to get them off i take the glass off the bed and run cold water on the back of it it pops off in about 10 seconds, then I have a second glass warmer made from candle warmer elements so i can get right back to printing
[QUOTE=frozensoda;40915492]man ill tell you what i did
i set the first layer speed to 60% and gave it a 8mm brim after that i can literally print ABS on cold glass and it sticks no problems since (although i still use the heated bed at 97oC) I havent had any warping/lifting since not once
[editline]5th June 2013[/editline]
also i dont clean my glass i just re apply hair spray each time and clean it about once every 10 - 15 prints, that stuff gets baked on and its like superglue for plastic, btw to get them off i take the glass off the bed and run cold water on the back of it it pops off in about 10 seconds, then I have a second glass warmer made from candle warmer elements so i can get right back to printing[/QUOTE]
Keen bean, I usually am doing other work in the workshop while it's printing so a 10 minute cooldown/warmup cycle doesnt bother me most of the time. I find with hairspray it gets a lot of dust and crap stuck to it which becomes embedded in the print and that's no good, just keeping a clean printbed works fine (I just use cheap nail varnish remover to clean it) that said I usually print in PLA (bed temp 64*C)
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/2Sopgna.jpg[/IMG]
I did a temporary mod to test quality difference, this pic explains everything lol
Ugh, this is ridiculous. My part was about half way into a 12 hour print when the filament ran out. Instead of stopping like it would have if someone with common sense designed it, it decided to keep printing for half an hour and apparently that means I need to reprint it from scratch...
[QUOTE=download;41015319]Ugh, this is ridiculous. My part was about half way into a 12 hour print when the filament ran out. Instead of stopping like it would have if someone with common sense designed it, it decided to keep printing for half an hour and apparently that means I need to reprint it from scratch...[/QUOTE]
Yeah there's no stop on many printers for that, come up with one and you will be a popular dude, And as far as I know it is extremely difficult to stop a print, and restart it later.
[QUOTE=frozensoda;41029580]Yeah there's no stop on many printers for that, come up with one and you will be a popular dude, And as far as I know it is extremely difficult to stop a print, and restart it later.[/QUOTE]
What if you add a small laser detector that senses when it's almost out, stops it before it hits empty and emails you?
Sure, it won't stop the problem, but it might alert you quick enough to prevent the problem getting unfixable.
The problem is you really would need a way to auto load the next batch, if it stops even for a few minutes you will have a layer seperation from the cooling. On top of that the filament does not like to follow another piece thru the extruder, it likes to slip beside it and clog everything up. One last note is that when changing filament you need to remeasure and re-set the settings which take effect BEFORE the print starts, and you also need to extrude some to get it loaded right, if you left it in the same spot it would make a huge mess on your print.
So your options are really limited to either losing the print and not wasting electricity, or totally rethinking the delivery system.
ps
I have thought about using a heat gun to heat up the top layer before you restart the print, I have seen people do this for multiple colors on one print. It is difficult and sketchy at best.
[QUOTE=frozensoda;41039746]The problem is you really would need a way to auto load the next batch, if it stops even for a few minutes you will have a layer seperation from the cooling. On top of that the filament does not like to follow another piece thru the extruder, it likes to slip beside it and clog everything up. One last note is that when changing filament you need to remeasure and re-set the settings which take effect BEFORE the print starts, and you also need to extrude some to get it loaded right, if you left it in the same spot it would make a huge mess on your print.
So your options are really limited to either losing the print and not wasting electricity, or totally rethinking the delivery system.
ps
I have thought about using a heat gun to heat up the top layer before you restart the print, I have seen people do this for multiple colors on one print. It is difficult and sketchy at best.[/QUOTE]
I've not experienced any issues with stopping and changing a fillament mid print (granted I had to be there to watch it till it ran out) but I think a lot of these differences stem from the fact I print mostly in PLA which is a pretty forgiving material compared to ABS it seems.
Pause the print, move the head up, overheat the extruder a tiny bit, pinch the freeing lug, pull the fillament out slap another in, feed a bit through and check it's extruding ok and send it on its way again.
If you were automating reloading it wouldn't take much to move the head away from the print job to reload I have a small triangle out of the 0,0,0 corner of the table so I can extrude stuff through the head without making a mess of the bed (it just makes a pile on the workbench below instead). I thought I just had, totally hypothetwith absolutely no testing done what so ever so it may well be utter rubbish, but could you "weld" 2 fillaments together? Like have a small metal block the diameter of the fillament push one in from each end heat the block, squish the fillaments together and leave to cool? Probably a bit ott if you know you dont have enough on the reel, easier to change it probably.
Granted though, the delivery system on pretty much every printer I've seen could be improved in some way. Mine has a habit of the reel getting tangled and stopping the head from pulling fillament through because the reels dont come nicely spooled and damned if I'm respooling 100m every time I change the reel.
Also I want to develop some kind of system that estimates the length of fillament needed for a job and the amount you have used/have left because it should be fairly simple and yet I've not seen it done effectively.
It would be easy to calculate the weight needed for the job then weigh it
[QUOTE=download;41055762]It would be easy to calculate the weight needed for the job then weigh it[/QUOTE]
That depends on the complexity of the shape and you'd need to remove the filament, weight it and put it back between each print which is a bit of a faff, however it's an interesting idea.
For a computer it would be a pinch to calculate
[QUOTE=download;41056009]For a computer it would be a pinch to calculate[/QUOTE]
Aye, possibly but I still think it would be easier to just add up all the distance extruded.
It's all about ease of use. Dealing in lengths could be done quickly from the gcode and I usually have a rough idea of how many turns are left on the reel (and thus distance). If I have to feed the information into a seperate program to calculate the weight, then take the fillament out, weight it and put it back I'm probably not going to bother as that would double the length of my setup time. Even better would be estimating amount needed, measuring the amount fed and then calculating a remainder given a known length of reel from first being fed into the print head. Getting the amount fed as it's fed would be the tricky part.
For any of this to work you would need the best calibrated machine ever, when you extrude 100mm it is in actuality less or more then 100mm, and calibration determines how much more/less. I believe it would be extremely difficult to get exactly 100mm out. Also yes I am working with ABS which is quite unforgiving, but I do not have the money to buy a new hotend and I have been advised against sharing more than one material in a single hot end
[editline]16th June 2013[/editline]
Also keep in mind that everything I say is unprofessional opinion from someone who only has experience with a cheap desktop machine :D
[QUOTE=frozensoda;41058750]For any of this to work you would need the best calibrated machine ever, when you extrude 100mm it is in actuality less or more then 100mm, and calibration determines how much more/less. I believe it would be extremely difficult to get exactly 100mm out. Also yes I am working with ABS which is quite unforgiving, but I do not have the money to buy a new hotend and I have been advised against sharing more than one material in a single hot end
[editline]16th June 2013[/editline]
Also keep in mind that everything I say is unprofessional opinion from someone who only has experience with a cheap desktop machine :D[/QUOTE]
Mine's entirely homemade, I wouldn't describe it as professional. I happily use multiple materials in the same hot end.
As for extruding 100mm give or take a bit, that's just something you'd need to calibrate for the machine and find appropriate tolerances which wouldn't take much effort, just a bit of trial and error.
I would like to build one next, now that I can print my own parts. What infill % is acceptable for printed parts? When I upgraded the parts on my current machine I used 100% just to be safe
[QUOTE=frozensoda;41059890]I would like to build one next, now that I can print my own parts. What infill % is acceptable for printed parts? When I upgraded the parts on my current machine I used 100% just to be safe[/QUOTE]
Depends how structural the part is I guess, and the shape. Even in PLA a 40% infill with a double outer makes a pretty solid object. I usually go for somewhere in the region of 60-75% for something load bearing IIRC
Copied from the other DIY thread, a little interesting something I'm working on.
Been trying for a few days to design something in sketchup that actually vaguely resembles a horse. The aim being I will 3d print it, use the plastic model to make a mould to cast an aluminium horse pendant and if I successfully get that far perhaps coat it with a more attractive/more precious metal to give as a gift to my girlfriend.
[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3798635/horse.png[/t]
[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3798635/horse2.png[/t]
It's a bit of a sod! Not sure how well it will print either. This is definitely a long term project since the furnace is still short of a bracket before it's usable, so plenty of time to refine it. I've heard interesting reports about lost PLA casting with aluminium too, I may give that a shot.
Also I'm aware the lower legs aren't the greatest... I'm working on it but I'm not really an artist.
A quick update, it printed reasonably. image with a ruler for a size comparison, however I'm not sure it will cast well at that size!
[t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3798635/2013-08-23%2012.00.28.jpg[/t]
Nice, when I am doing stuff like that I generally use google image to find a stencil of what I want so say Horse Stencils, then import as an image into sketchup and use a couple of tools like line, circle, curve, and beizer curve to trace it, then extrude it out. It works pretty well.
[QUOTE=frozensoda;41941392]Nice, when I am doing stuff like that I generally use google image to find a stencil of what I want so say Horse Stencils, then import as an image into sketchup and use a couple of tools like line, circle, curve, and beizer curve to trace it, then extrude it out. It works pretty well.[/QUOTE]
That's a really good tip, I shall remember that. However this being for the darling gf the more effort I put into it the better! Also my dad just appeared to show me the caterpillar tracks he's just finished assembling for a robotic crane. Very cool.
I'm really thinking of having a go at building a 3d printer when tax time rolls around again, but the filament prices seem a little crazy, at least in Canada. Where does everyone get their filament from, and how much are you paying for it, with shipping?
As incredibly awesome as it'd be, the cheapest place I've found in Canada is still $100/3kg plus shipping, and much much more if I have to buy from the US.
As far as printer kits go, the cheapest one I've managed to find so far is an ecksbot, based on a prusa mendel I think, but that still comes in at $860 after taxes and shipping. Any suggestions for something that'd burn less money?
[QUOTE=Lapsus;41975627]I'm really thinking of having a go at building a 3d printer when tax time rolls around again, but the filament prices seem a little crazy, at least in Canada. Where does everyone get their filament from, and how much are you paying for it, with shipping?
As incredibly awesome as it'd be, the cheapest place I've found in Canada is still $100/3kg plus shipping, and much much more if I have to buy from the US.
As far as printer kits go, the cheapest one I've managed to find so far is an ecksbot, based on a prusa mendel I think, but that still comes in at $860 after taxes and shipping. Any suggestions for something that'd burn less money?[/QUOTE]
Prusa mendel seems to be the cheapest design to build. The only real way to keep costs down is to ask yourself for every part, is there a way I could make this part myself cheaper? On our printer here the motor driver boards were home made and built mostly on matrix board. The power supply is an old stripped down computer supply. If you can get someone to print the extruder and frame parts for you at cost price you could probably save a chunk. The stepper motors aren't going to be too cheap, there isn't much you can do about that.
I don't know what your prices work out at in money/weight, over here I buy it by the 100m roll. What material were you looking at, was it coloured? Did it have additives?
I expect to pay between £15 and £30 per 100m of PLA (which I think is about ~1/3 of a kg in the diameter I use) dependent on colouring and additives.
[editline]26th August 2013[/editline]
That's including shipping and I usually buy from ebay mostly from a store called faberdashery ltd
[QUOTE=Lapsus;41975627]I'm really thinking of having a go at building a 3d printer when tax time rolls around again, but the filament prices seem a little crazy, at least in Canada. Where does everyone get their filament from, and how much are you paying for it, with shipping?
As incredibly awesome as it'd be, the cheapest place I've found in Canada is still $100/3kg plus shipping, and much much more if I have to buy from the US.
As far as printer kits go, the cheapest one I've managed to find so far is an ecksbot, based on a prusa mendel I think, but that still comes in at $860 after taxes and shipping. Any suggestions for something that'd burn less money?[/QUOTE]
It seems expensive but a KG lasts for a really long time.
[T]http://i.imgur.com/ujn8LCv.jpg[/T]
[T]http://i.imgur.com/0jP3v2Y.jpg[/T]
[T]http://i.imgur.com/FM675OR.jpg[/T]
embossing press
[url]http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:140343[/url]
it printed assembled and the hinge works really nicely. It's not tough at all and it's probably the best pre-assembled print I've done.
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3D printer thread - what have you been printing?
