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CubePro Duo Filament Cartridge Replacment Problem | The CubePro Duo is a discontinued 3d-systems printer. It uses their standard proprietary cartridges to prevent to use other filaments. In comparison to other printer filaments, their filaments range between 100 and 150$ per spool, which is listed as "1 kg" (though if that is with or without casing is not clear).
From what I could find out about the cartridges, they should contain some kind of identification method to the printer. That it is stuck in Validation means, that it might not be able to read this. So let's try installing the cartridge again, following the handbook p.17!
Take out the cartridge
boot the machine
wait for the machine to ask for filament
remove the thumbscrew so the filament spool inside the cartridge can turn
pull out the 30 cm
cut 5 cm off the end
insert the material into the Bowden tube of slot 1
push the material till you get some goop coming out
mount the cartridge into the slot, make sure it is clamped in tightly.
This should start the validation of the material, at which point you might get told that the colors don't match the print defined colors. Should the cartridge not be validated again but works on the ABS cartridges, the validation method might be broken on this cartridge. Should it not recognize either, the firmware or the detector might be broken. |
How to configure Marlin to enable auto-fans with dual extruder | After trying many different things, I found out that the solution is really simple and requires only a few lines of code. I'll answer my own question in the hope that this will help someone.
First, I defined a few constants (macros actually). To keep my own stuff separate, I created a new file for them called myconfig.h:
#define MY_BED_TEMP_THRESHOLD 50
#define MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN 6
#define MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_SPEED 255
The pin constant corresponds to D6 which is the green marked output of the RRD Fan Extender where I connected the fans under my bed.
Second, in the file temperature.cpp of the Marlin Firmware, I included my file and added four lines of code:
#include "myconfig.h"
...
#if HAS_AUTO_FAN
void Temperature::checkExtruderAutoFans() {
...
HOTEND_LOOP() {
if (current_temperature[e] > EXTRUDER_AUTO_FAN_TEMPERATURE)
SBI(fanState, fanBit[e]);
}
// --- start of my code ----------
if (current_temperature_bed > MY_BED_TEMP_THRESHOLD)
digitalWrite(MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN, MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_SPEED);
else
digitalWrite(MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN, 0);
// --- end of my code ------------
...
#endif // HAS_AUTO_FAN
...
Now my fans are automatically turned on while the bed temperature is higher than 50 °C and are turned off again after the bed has cooled down far enough. |
ABS or PLA for structural printed parts? | To answer the main question "Is ABS better for structural parts of a 3D printer as opposed to PLA".
The answer, unfortunately is it depends.
ABS has lower yield and ultimate strengths compared to PLA. This means that at room temperatures, ABS is weaker than PLA. However the difference between yield and ultimate for ABS is much larger than PLA, meaning that ABS parts will deform, noticeably so before breaking. This can be a good thing. If your ABS part is highly loaded, you may want to be able to inspect it for overloading. The plastic deformation that occurs in ABS may be sufficient for you to identify, and modify your parts before a catastrophic failure. With PLA though since the two strengths are quite close, your part would more than likely fail completely without any warning or deformation before it. So in terms of strength, it's a design consideration. Would you rather have a slightly weaker part that shows signs of load failure, or is a catastrophic failure acceptable. There are use cases where either may be better.
As Ecnerwal pointed out, PLA has a lower Tg (glass transition temperature) compared to ABS. If your printed parts are going on a 3D printer and aren't sufficiently isolated from the hot parts (print bed or extruder) then you may end up having some localized deformation. That being said, the extruder is generally pretty localized and likely won't cause you too many issues assuming you're using any of the already available 3D printer designs out there, same for the print bed. However by the sounds of it your 'room' temperature is a fair bit higher than here in North America, by a factor of almost 2! This could cause you some issues if you're printing parts in the high heat with PLA. Your best option would be ABS, but even with it's higher Tg (roughly 90C if I remember correctly) you may still run into issues.
The warping and shrinkage issues mentioned in the question seem to be more about parts being built by a 3D printer. Once the parts are built warpage and shrinkage are essentially a non-issue unless you've heated parts back to within their melting temperatures.
Depending on where you're getting your plastic parts, there may be a third option. By the sounds of it you're looking at building your own printer. You may be able to get the STL files of the printed parts you need and then have someone print them for you in a stronger material such as Nylon.
Assuming alternative materials aren't an option I would personally suggest going with ABS for your use case. My reasoning is purely due to the potential operating temperatures. While 50C is below the Tg for PLA it's getting very close. |
Prusa i3 MK2 Heated Bed Thermal Runaway Problems | The local library makerspace (prior to COVID-19 shutdown) has a Prusa i3 MK2 (no MMU) that had a similar problem. The model being printed was relatively small, compared to the bed and was being printed nearly atop the temperature sensor.
The part cooling fan was cooling the bed sensor while the rest of the bed was not being used.
Moving the model away from the sensor resolved the problem. If you're printing in the center of the bed, consider to re-slice in a position offset from the center.
If you are using the PEI sheet as the library machine is/was, consider to shuttle your prints around the bed over time. The library's printer wore away the PEI from always-centered prints. It had to be replaced after about a year. The replacement is going on two years with little complications. |
After installing BLTouch and Marlin, my nozzle is too high when trying to print | In some ways, this reminds me of the pain I went through recently. I am also fairly new to 3D printing.
After you have completed the bed levelling using G29 you should have a list of mesh coordinates showing in the interface with Octoprint. (I am using Pronterface, so am not all that familiar with Octoprint) You need to save the mesh coordinates to the control board. To do this enter M500 and then M503 to check that the data has saved. If you enter G28 after using G29, but without saving (M500) the coordinates will be discarded.
When you have set your Z offset, you also need to save that too (M500).
Unless you bed is warped, a 7 x 7 grid (mesh) is overkill. If you are printing on glass or better still, a mirror, a 3 x 3 grid should be enough. I have a 5 x 5 due to may warped bed.
Best of luck and have fun. |
Problem with print bed height on Creality Ender 4 | Moving a printer would most likely affect the hardware rather that the software. Unless you have tinkered with the software over USB or loaded an unknown G-code file over SD card that has embedded G-code commands that change your settings.
The most likely solution is that the printer or parts of the printer shifted as such that the printer is not aligned anymore as it used to be. Re-calibrating the machine should fix that for you. |
SerialException: 'WriteFile failed ([Error 22]...' Printrbot Simple Metal using Cura 15.04.6 | From the look of it, and given that you already two different slicers, it look like this may be a hardware issue. I have had very similar error messages with my cheap Chinese printer and this is ultimately why I ended up always printing via the SD card and stop worrying.
That said, the error is about the serial connection over your USB cable. I was about to write a list of suggestions, but I found out that your manufacturer already has a troubleshooting guide for your printer here.
Adding my own suggestions to those of Printrbot, this is the final troubleshooting guide (the linked page has detailed instructions for each step but 6 and 7):
Cycle power
Update your Operating System.
[Windows users only] run a VCP (Virtual Com Port) driver wizard
Check physical connections and swap power and usb cables.
Use a standard 2.0 USB input rather than USB 3.0, if applicable
Make sure that your printer is away from any potential source of EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference). Microwaves ovens, many types of energy-saving lamps and power bricks/adapters are known offenders.
If possible, reduce the serial speed of your connection (revert if this does not solve the issue, as it may effect print speed and quality).
Flash your Printrboard
To clarify what these tips are all about:
Step 1 is about making sure you don't have your computer and printer in "dirty states" (as in: with their serial buffer corrupted or stuck).
Step 2-3 are about making sure you have as many known software bugs and problems patched as you can, as well as all the latest features. This is especially important if you are asking for help, as nobody is going to downgrade their own machines just to replicate a user' unique state.
Step 4-7 are about diminishing the possibility that the signal in your cables gets disrupted and mangled along the way between the computer and the printer.
Step 8 is like 2-3 but for your printer firmware, rather than your computer software. |
Prusa i3 pro W - not extruding | Problem identified.
I took of the fan and heat sink so I could see what was going on in the mechanism that should pull through the filament.
Using repetier-host software I tried to manually drive the motor - nothing happening.
I swapped the A4988 stepper motor driver for the extruder with another (and my x,y,z axis motors work) to see what would happen - and it worked!
So just a faulty A4988 on the extruder motor.
I also manually pushed filament through the hot end to ensure there was no blockage and it worked fine.
So hopefully GEEETECH can send me a replacement and I'm good to go! |
How to align sketch with the x-axis | It's rather simple:
Start to edit the sketch with this line via a right-click edit sketch
click the line you want to force horizontal
on the right menu, the lower menu has "align horitontal/vertical", click it
DONE
To find the button I mean, a picture with the right tool next to the red mark:
Hint: in the case of your item, I suggest to use the blue marked symmetry on the two lines you forced to be equal:
first choose the lines (SHIFT)
choose the tool
click the symmetry line (in your case: the construction line) |
Purge okay but not extruding during printing | So, I was able to fix this (or it fixed itself overnight as these things sometimes do) with a 5°C increase in extruder temperature to 210°C. The Sunlu PLA filament specifies 200°C - 230°C as its print range.
I followed the advice of a IRL friend who suggested "What happens if you raise the z a bit so you can see the nozzle and keep raising the heat until it starts to come out on its own. Check temp and then run a print at that temp."
I only needed that 5°C increase before I could see it oozing. From there I was able to successfully print a calibration cube and further model. |
Raised lines on top layer surface Ender 3 | I would firstly do a flow rate calibration:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2490893
print this using: 0.2 mm layer resolution;0.4 mm layer width; wall count= 2; infill=100%
print it at the same temperature you printed the cat.
measure the walls width a couple of times in different places, get the average and then do : 100*0.8/average. the result is your new flow rate or extrusion multiplier.
I would then do a E-step calibration, use this:
Once you have this two parameters, re-print the block. I would suggest to print not faster than 50 mm/s and raise it by 5 mm/s if you see the thing is going right. Try a typical grid-20 % infill with 3 top layers and 1 superficial layer (usually you shouldn't need more than one). For these trials try scaling the blocks by 50% so you don't waste that much material. Try not to use the ironing function yet, you should get a uniform surface without it.
The weird thing is the holes pattern you get in all the pieces. Just in case, tighten your x and y belts, re-level your bed and try moving the extruder with your hand (gently) to see it doesn't wobbles. |
No Z hop in Dual extruder, print getting disturbed at retraction point | It appears as though you are using (or used) an old version of Cura. More recent releases allow you to insert G-code commands on changing the extruder. You could insert a Z-hop in these sections.
Extruder End G-code: First set the extruder in a relative mode, move up 2 mm, set absolute again:
G91
G1 Z2
G90
Extruder Start G-code: First set the extruder in a relative mode, move down 2 mm, set absolute again:
G91
G1 Z-2
G90
You could even do filament retractions to prevent oozing or stringing!
Note that this assumes both hotends are on the same carriage!
An alternative you could try is to use a print server that is able to inject G-code scripts, an example is OctoPrint: |
Alternative 3d molding techniques at home | Forming kinda blister out of paper is possible but not the way it's formed out of plastic. Paper is not elastic, it's bendable but not strechable. It's the issue of how cellulose fibers are formed and how are they entangled.
Anyway - you can create a form out of wet mixed paper pulp. Wrap it around your model and then wait until it's dry. It will form amazingly stiff form. You can do it also out of wet handkerchiefs.
You could build a vacuum machine as in the formbox to squeeze the paper pulp the get water out of the material but the cover should be done out of light silicone film so it would be treated by vacuum. |
Screeching Noise when moving the Z-Axis Down | I had this same problem. I attributed it to the linear bearings which ride on the 8mm travel rods. I did two things which ultimately eliminated the issue (since I did both at the same time, I'm not sure which solved the issue, but believe it's #1 below):
I replaced all of my ball type (stock) linear bearings with Igus Drylin linear bearings. I'm pretty sure the metal ball bearings were screeching along the 8mm metal rods. The Drylin bearings pretty much eliminated any noise on the rods. I replaced all of them for X, Y, & Z axis rods at the same time.
I used white lithium grease (just a small amount) on the Z-axis screw rod. This helped everything travel better. It should also help it last longer by preventing wear.
Since I've done this, I've not had any screeching anymore. You don't have to use Drylin linear bearings, as there are other printable options on Thingiverse.com. |
How many times printed printer can print it-self? | The files used to print these objects are digital, and do not degrade in any way after each printing. There are no side effects or degradation that occurs over time due simply to printing them multiple times.
This is the RepRap philosophy, and the machines are actually designed with enough tolerance for printing and building mistakes that even if the print isn't perfect, it will not only work fine, but it can print a printer better than it was printed, with some care and attention to calibration.
The process still takes a lot of human intervention, in the way of building the new printer and properly calibrating it. If there are errors in the printer or the prints it produces, they can almost always be attributed to the builder/calibrator/user, and not to the design or the fact it's the Nth generation of printer. |
Extruder clogs with HIPS | This has been sitting for a long time without an answer, so let me answer with an experience I've had with PETG rather than HIPS.
PETG seems to be a relatively soft plastic. It isn't soft like TPU, but it is softer than PLA or ABS. The HIPS filament (which I have but haven't used) appears to also be softer, so it is possible that my PETG problem could relate to your HIPS problem.
I was printing and re-printing an object with PETG that had worked fine with PLA. Three times in a row, I got a filament jam in about the same place.
The problem was that the filament was retracting, returning, retracting, and returning many times within a very small amount of extruded plastic. My extruder was set for high pressure between the drive roller and the idler. When the filament went back and forth through the extruder, it flattened enough that it would jam from being too wide to fit through the next stage (in my case, a Bowden tube).
When I reduced the compression of the filament in the extruder, the problem stopped. I also reduced the retraction distance, and increased the minimum travel before the slicer would do a retract. Both were intended to reduce the number of times any single bit of filament would pass through the rollers. |
3D printers for ceramic clay? | What you are looking for is the Frostruder style extruders.
Here is a link to a thingiverse file for it.
You honestly cannot expect fantastic results but it will get the job done! There are many other types. Quality will depend on the size of the point. However with something as high viscosity as clay I would not expect you to be able to push the quality very high. |
Would 3d-printed objects outgas in vacuum? | I found much the same question at Does PLA outgas? An answer there pointed to a NASA outgassing database, Outgassing Data for Selecting Spacecraft Materials, and says that:
ABS (unknown supplier), MakerGeeks PET and Makerbot PLA have been measured and are listed in the NASA database.
Poster there recommended PLA for lower outgassing, and clear PLA because there would be fewer additives to complicate the problem. |
Ultimaker 3 Extended prints pores in walls | While no expert, I'm wondering if you're going the wrong way with tweaking your parameters.
If I'm reading your question correct, you have a fairly large nozzle (it's a 0.8 mm?) and then you're using ABS which requires more heat (230 °C nozzle temp) than say PLA does (typically 190 °C). Along with that you are using a fairly thick print layer of 0.3 mm, where I've normally only used a 0.1 mm layer height. You add all this stuff up and it seems to me the nozzle temps are probably not keeping up with the amount of filament you are trying to extrude, and due to these things, you're seeing the gaps in the print.
My thinking on this to fix your issue is to do a couple of things. You can slow down your print speed to allow the heating element to keep up. Secondly, use a smaller layer height. Both of these things should help, but will increase print times dramatically. You could also go to a smaller print orifice. Lowering the orifice size to 0.4 mm would again, increase print time, but would mean less filament extrusion and the chance for the nozzle temps to keep up with extrusion needs. |
Causes of over-extrusion? | This is almost surely the source of your problem:
I had to replace the entire hotend assembly on my Prusa i3 MK2,5. Before that, there was no issue. After the replacement and after noticing the issue, I followed the list above. I recalibrated the extruder and in fact I had to increase the steps/mm to match the extruded length.
There is no plausible physical reason for extruder steps/mm to change due to replacement of the hotend. Steps/mm is purely a function of stepper motor steps per rotation and extruder gear radius. Set it back to its original value.
If the extruded length is not matching what it should, you have a problem with blockage/flow rate in the hotend restricting advance of the filament and causing the extruder gear to grind without moving it, or the motor to skip steps. Adjusting steps/mm to "compensate" will not fix this; it will just grind/skip more. Instead go back to the beginning, with steps/mm set correctly to the original value, and start looking for the cause of your hotend problem. |
Why does MakerBot Replicator heat the extruder and platform separately? | It really doesn't quite have enough power to heat everything at once. Initially bringing the bed up to temp takes a lot of current and so Makerbot's start sequences decrease stepper current and hold off on heating the extruder(s) until the bed is preheated. Once preheated, the bed's power draw decreases to a lower "holding" level and there is available capacity to do everything else.
The start sequencing decreases the max average power draw by a pretty substantial amount. The decrease is about 0.6A each for the XYAB steppers and 1.7A each for two hot ends, totalling 5-6A of avoided peak power draw. (Even lower if you preheat with the steppers disabled rather than idling.)
The history here is that one of Makerbot's design decisions with the Replicator 2 and 2x was to utilize off-the-shelf UL-listed power bricks (like a laptop might use) instead of an internal power supply. This made engineering and safety certification much easier, and completely eliminated mains-voltage wiring inside the printer, which is a big safety plus. However, the largest readily-available 24v power brick had slightly less current capacity than optimal. So Makerbot came up with a software workaround for the hardware limitation.
If you want, you can replace the stock power brick with a ~350w PSU and preheat everything at once. Sailfish firmware builds intended for printers with properly-sized PSUs (eg FlashForge Creators) will allow simultaneous preheating. |
Dual extruder unused nozzle is breaking prints | I started this as a comment, but it got too long. I have been working for much too long on a multi-extruder printer, and so I understand that the fixed, dual-head designs are somewhat fraught with problems.
I am assuming that this is a mechanism in which the two nozzles are inline in the X-axis, the Y-axis is parallel to the bed and normal to the line between the two nozzles, and the Z-axis is normal to both X and Y (and usually vertical).
When you "bed level", is it clear that both nozzles are "exactly" the same height from the bed everywhere on the bed? If there is anything non-parallel about the movement plane and the bed, it can cause one head to dip lower than the other when over the same position on the bed.
Is twist along the Y-axis of the heads possible? A twist could be because of either looseness or compliance (springiness) in the X-axis. The twist could be induced either through acceleration or by a nozzle being pushed up in reaction to the plastic extrusion against the object.
Is the printing from the active nozzle properly flat, or does it produce verticle bumps? Any vertical ripples will cause any head passing over them to bump against them. Something will need to comply with the force. Either the head will melt through the bump and smear it out a bit, the bed will be pushed downward, or the nozzle pushed upward. If the passive nozzle hits a bump, that compliance will be conveyed to the active nozzle, creating another defect.
Is the passive nozzle cold or hot? It may help to heat the unused nozzle so that it can melt the plastic it touches rather than pushing against it. If this helps at all, it may be necessary to slow down printing so that the passive nozzle has more time to melt through the obstacle.
If you find that the problem is bump defects from the active nozzle, it might help to remove the passive nozzle completely and focus on printing a smooth, even surface with the active nozzle. Debugging that would be easier without the passive nozzle compounding the problem. |
Why are skirts designed the way they are? | Skirt and Brim are not only nozzle prime operations. While Brim is intended to help in adhesion by increasing the area, Skirt is a method to test some things about the bed and positioning:
If the bed is unlevel, you can see this in the skirt before the print starts. This demands to go around all of the print.
If the bed is greasy, you'll see also before the actual print starts, as the extrusion does not stick well.
It provides a visual check if the slicing is positioned well on the printer. If you for example run printers of different dimensions, the skirt shows instantly, if you loaded G-code that is too large for the bed.
The effect to reduce airdraft to the first layer is sometimes brought up, but I don't think it is relevant. However, if one would pause between skirt and print, one could use the outline to put down glue or ABS-slurry for materials that need extra adhesion.
The use of the material in a skirt is directly proportial to the width (1 or 2 lines) and the area included (as circumference is proportional to area).
In Cura, can I change the layout of the skirt, so that it gets drawn in a convenient part of the build platform, instead of going all the way around the edge of the print?
No. Skirt is, by definition always around the whole set of parts. Just turn off Skirt and use an alternate priming, if you don't think you'll need it or find it cumbersome. Instructions for example priming operations can be found in Writing G-code : swiping at start of print |
Is there a reason for the z-axis M5 drive nut to be super loose on the lead screw? | It's probably intentional. Threaded rods are almost never perfectly straight. If the nut is rigidly coupled to the carriage, then the slightest deviation in the screw will either cause it to bind up or appear as artifacts (e.g. z-wobble) in the print. By making the nut slightly loose, it can move around a bit to compensate for wobble. See e.g. this design and this design for how this is commonly implemented in other printers. |
Is 12V and 15A enough to make work a Ramps 1.6 Plus and two stepper motors? | The easiest way to know how powerful the PSU should be is to download from https://github.com/rcarlyle/StepperSim the Excel workbook which simulates the power absorbed by the stepper motor. Input the motor specifications, check in the graph the max speed at which you plan to run it, check the absorbed power, add 20% for the various losses. Once you know the absorbed power, you can multiply by the number of stepper motors and obtain the current required, add 20% not to stress the PSU too much.
In you case, this is the result
Your motor will never absorb more than 7 W, 14 W for the two motors, around 20 W considering losses in the motors and overcapacity of the PSU. This means that around 2 A PSU will be perfect for your setup.
Previous answer, which may not be completely correct but still provides a useful background knowledge:
The TMC drivers limit the current to the value you set, which is most of the time lower than the datasheet. In no case you will need more than 1.3 A * sqrt(2) * 2 motors = 3.6 A. In fact, you won't need this much either.
When there is no field in a coil, the driver applies full voltage, but the current is low (initially zero) so you don't hit the 1.3 A per coil.
The current increases (the higher the maximum voltage available to the driver, the faster it increases) and the driver (probably) keeps the full voltage until the preset current is reached. Just a moment before that, the current is almost there, but you still have full voltage from the power supply. This is the theoretical worst case, but it applies only for a very short amount of time.
As soon as the current reaches the preset, the driver "cuts the voltage" to keep 2.4 ohm * 1.3 A = 3.2 V (because V = R * I). This means that the power supply sees 3.2 A/12 V*1.3 A = 0.35 A.
When running, the motors almost never start from zero to max current: both coils are powered and when one increases, the other one decreases.
In fact, the microstepping makes the steppers act more or less like AC motors with two phases. This means that overall the current is the max current per phase multipled by sqrt(2). Also, when using microstepping one phase (coil) is not completely shut off, but two of them work at the same time (with different current levels). This means that in total one compensates the other, and the power supply only provides, more or less, 0.35 * 1.4 = 0.5 A per stepper. You have two, so it's 1 A total, therefore 2 A PSU considering the inefficiencies.
A very easy and complete explanation is provided here:
By controlling the duty cycle of the chopper, an average voltage and
an average current equal to the nominal motor voltage and current are
created.
...
As the current increases, a voltage develops across the
sensing resistor, which is fed back to the comparator. At the
predetermined level, defined by the voltage at the reference input,
the comparator resets the flipflop, which turns off the output
transistor. The current decreases until the clock oscillator triggers
the flip-flops, which turns on the output transistor again, and the
cycle is repeated
So you never have coming out of the PSU more than the preset current.
Supply current is not the same as the motor current in a copper drive. It is the motor current multiplied by the dutycycle, at
standstill typically Isupply = IM · ( VM ⁄ Vsupply )
...
Depending on
how the H-bridge is switched during the turn-off period, the current
will either recirculate through one transistor and one diode (path 2),
giving the slow current decay, or recirculate back through the power
supply (path 3). The advantage of feeding the power back to the
power supply is the fast current decay and the ability to quickly
reduce to a lower current level. |
How to identify, use, and replace the Copperhead Bowden coupler? | It's an embedded Bowden collet. Also called a Bowden clip which is a much more vague and overloeaded term.
E3D (UK) and MicroSwiss (US) have their own branded versions but they're likely not made in house, they're prbably reselling what they buy in.
Youtubers appear to pronounce this Bowden collect which does not help. |
Baud rate for Ender 3 on Repetier Host (Debian) | Your firmware configuration may vary (probably worth checking what you have set), but from The Ender 3 configuration is set to 115200 baud rate #12174, the standard baud rate seems to be 115200.
I think the default Ender 3 configuration is aligned to the Ender3 official confg, which has 115200 so...
Ah, but this is Marlin, and you're using Repetier. Hmmm, maybe ignore that then.
According to Recommended baud rate?:
Normally 115200 or 250000 baud should work find and usb->serial latency is the bottleneck.
Apart from that I don't know. Sorry. I might delete this answer, if it doesn't help. |
Difference in weight from Cura to printed model | The density of the filament can be specified in the material model of the filament in Cura (Preferences -> Configure Cura... -> Materials and click on the material/filament you are using to slice your model for PETG), look at the value behind Density, the PETG filament I use is using 1.28 g/cm³ (PETG Economy Black -> Specification >).
This field is user editable, so you can change it to your needs. Cura calculates the weight based on the deposited volume. |
Removeable Glass Bed vs. Removeable Springsteel Beds | In favor of glass:
Smoother surface gives you a nicer bottom layer (though Kapton-layered steel is no slouch)
More even, regular surface makes bed easier to level
Easy to prep and clean
More scratch-resistant makes getting under a part with a metal scraper a little less harrowing
Corrosion-resistant (glass doesn't rust; silicon dioxide is in fact already about as oxidized as it can possibly be)
In favor of steel:
Flexes for easier release
Safer (steel plates don't shatter, at least not at temperatures you're likely to use them)
Conducts heat better for faster and more even heating
Slightly less expensive on average |
Any possible issues with adding heat/cool down cycle in the end of print (PLA) | Heating PLA even to 60°C will make it pliable and may affect dimensional accuracy; 100°C is likely to make that severe. Being stuck to the bed and thus constrained by it might help some, but I think it's a bad idea.
If your PLA is hard to remove, you probably have bed leveling issues. PLA should remove easily after cooling from reasonable print-time bed temperatures of 40-60°C to room temperature as long as it has not been extruded against the bed with excessive force (from being too close and having nowhere else to go). |
Is Repetier host able to do multi-material printing? | Yes, it can. I have configured it for as many as four extruders. The problem may be in the slicing, as the slicer is responsible for generating the tool change commands.
One problem with the Repetier multi-extruder support is that, although the temperature of each extruder is reported by the RepRap firmware response, only the selected extruder is updated, and only one extruder is shown in the temperature graph. |
Printing straight from the browser | There was the CuraEngine plugin, but it's not really maintained anymore. It should still work though |
Monoprice Select Mini - Detached Filament Feeder fitting | Solution - there is a set-screw and a square nut in that T-slot which holds the feeder fitting in place on the heat sink.
One may well think (as I did) that the fitting is threaded into the heatsink, since it does have a big hex-head for a wrench. A small turn an the set screw lets go, the nut sliding down the slot with it. Thus when you inspect it, you don't realize they are involved 'cuz they aren't around.
Simply slide back up and you're in business.
Mystery solved - thx to Mark on Twitter. :) |
Setup Creality CR-10 in Cura | GCode flavor: the firmware your machine uses. Google tells me CR-10 uses Marlin, so you should select that. Volumetric Marlin is not very common.
Print Head Settings
X/Y min/max define the bounding box of the area your print head takes up. Measure the distance from the centre of the nozzle to the left-most point of the print head and do the same for the right-most, front-most and back-most.
Gantry Height is the distance from the tip of the nozzle to the lowest point of the gantry, which is the axle on which the print head is mounted.
These print head settings are only used for one-at-a-time printing. |
Gaps between perimeter walls; potential under extrusion? | PETG filament is not entirely rigid and compresses slightly in the Ender 3's extruder gear and Bowden extruder setup. Tightening it will only make this effect greater. Being compressed at the point where mm of extruder advance is applied means less than the desired advance of at-nominal-diameter filament will take place. I find I need a flow of 104% to compensate for this.
When adjusting flow in Cura, make sure you get the main flow setting not the first-layer one (which is an additional factor on top of the main one and can be left at 100%), and that all the derived flow settings for each type of extrustion (walls, top/bottom, infill, etc.) all come out matching the value you set. When I first tried fixing this with flow, they didn't propagate right and I ended up testing changes that weren't actually doing anything.
With that said, you may have something else going on too. The underextrusion looks pretty severe, including in the top layers which you said looked okay. You should not see deep grooves between the lines like that. I suspect they're only bonded to the layer below, not to their neighbors. This could be a result of tightening the extruder pulley, or some other problem. |
Monoprice i3 clone heat shuts off printing abs | this could be connected to a thermal shutdown protection.
Most firmwares requires a decent increase in temperature every few seconds.
if you use Marlin then in the source code you can extend thermal shutdown timings.
what to check:
check every single connector to eliminate any fiddling or play - risk of fire !!!
if any of wires goes hot - double check connections, replace wires/connectors
note temperature change (how many seconds/degree) on the hotbead
then increase voltage on psu (probably you have a led psu - so there is a small regulator next to the connectors)
validate if that help |
Extruder feedrate when loading and unloading filament | Loading and unloading filament through the LCD options is taking care of by G-code command M600. The options used when executing the M600 command define where the head goes and how much filament is extruded of which extruder. Apparently, there is a difference in calling the M600 command via the LCD menu or (un)loading filament through the Repetier application.
The Firmware-based and LCD-controlled retract options are defined in Marlin Firmware file Configuration_adv.cfg (Advanced Pause). The settings for Repetier are probably differently defined than in the advanced configuration file; you should look them up in Repetier. It could well be that separate G-codes (or scripts) are used for this. E.g. G10 is used to retract filament as set by M207 (both length and feed rate!). G-code G11 does the opposite, it unretracts the filament as specified by M208.
To answer your question, yes, you need to alter the values of the constants in Configuration_adv.h for changing the speed when using the LCD to change the filament:
// (mm/s) Unload filament feedrate. This can be pretty fast.
#define FILAMENT_CHANGE_UNLOAD_FEEDRATE 10
// (mm/s) Load filament feedrate. This can be pretty fast.
#define FILAMENT_CHANGE_FAST_LOAD_FEEDRATE 6 |
Beginner in calibrating HE3D Prusa XI3 | There's a great tutorial here on youtube.
And personally my favourite is this tutorial. |
When should I replace the nozzle on my printer? | Replacing the nozzle depends on many things,
the nozzle material (copper/brass, steel, hardened steel, Olsson Ruby Nozzle),
the type of filament you print,
how frequently you use the 3D printer.
To replace a nozzle, there are probably a few reasons for doing so. A nozzle can wear out (see: How to identify nozzle wear; not only from the friction of standard filament, but especially when used with abrasive filament like glow-in-the-dark PLA, and glass or carbon fibre filled filament) causing the outer shape and the inner nozzle diameter to change size. This can result in lower quality prints or difficulty in getting the print to stick to the bed. Having a metal wire or drill bit of the diameter of the nozzle will tell you if the hole itself has worn out. Sometimes, a visual inspection may sometimes be enough for you to tell that it has worn out:
(source: filament2print.com)
Please note that an interesting video is posted by Stefan from CNC Kitchen on nozzle wear:
Nozzles can collect burned particles inside, partly clogging the nozzle, causing the extrusion to be non-ideal. A sign for this is when the filament is not leaving the nozzle straight when freely extruded at height, but curls up.
Furthermore, when used frequently, nozzles can get coated with filament which is sometimes hard to remove. This sometimes causes freshly extruded filament to stick to the nozzle, certainly if it curls up like mentioned before.
Note that nozzles are very cheap with respect to the complete assembly and replacing them is a matter of 2 minutes work. So if you're unsure about how to improve the quality of printing after having tried fixing flow rate and nozzle to bed height, you could replace the nozzle, see e.g.:
(source: The 3D Print General)
Depending on the quality of the nozzle and the filament, a nozzle replacement for one brand might be necessary much sooner than for another printer. E.g. my Ultimaker 3E has literally printed kilometers of PETG without the need to replace the nozzle (or "core" as it is called for this printer), while the brass nozzle of my first cheap, now dust collecting, Anet A8 printer has been replaced a few times. |
Stuttering extrusion after layer change | You retraction settings may be too high. Direct drive extruders require less retraction than Bowden style extruders. Typical retraction settings for direct drive are 1.5mm at 50mm/s and for Bowden, 4mm at 50mm/s. The speed usually makes more of a difference than distance beyond a certain point.
You can get away with smaller retraction settings if you increase travel speed because there will be less time to ooze. You could also try using Coasting as well.
Anyway, try reducing your retraction settings if they're higher than what I stated above. Another alternative is to set an extra prime distance so that extra filament is extruded after the retraction. |
Printing rectangular grid | This sounds like you have an adhesion problem if it catches laid down filament, you might want to address that first. E.g. use a PVA based glue or spray to get better adhesion. This will result in not dragging laid down filament.
To my knowledge, Ultimaker Cura has no option to choose how you print the squares (direction and start point). However, you could use Z-hop so that it will lift your nozzle (or lower your build plate in your case) prior to moving to the next rectangle.
It looks as though you are using an older version of Ultimaker Cura as it only prints one line of each of the small rectangular holes (or are you actually using a single wall/shell), in later versions of Ultimaker Cura this is fixed (e.g. the image below is created with Ultimaker Cura 3.4.1), it will print all walls/shells before commencing to the next small rectangular hole. This way you have more lines deposited which have a possible better adhesion to the increase of laid down material:
Further investigation of your image shows that you are using a very fine grating (< 1 mm?) resulting in very limited amount of walls. In your case the version is not that important, but the latter information is just left as a possibility for people that use an older version of Ultimaker Cura.
Also note that there is an option to put the brim on the inside of your models (option called Brim Only on Outside), when disabled, this would also increase the surface area for better adhesion.
There are also option available to start with the outer or inner wall (option Outer Before Inner Walls), but in this case that would not help you as there is only 1 wall at each side of the rectangular hole. |
Ultimaker Cura is not always retracting in exported G-Code | It's likely that you're hitting Cura's Maximum Retraction Count (retraction_count_max) within the Minimum Extrusion Distance Window (retraction_extrusion_window). This is a misfeature supposedly designed to avoid grinding/flattening the filament, but of course acting on it will ruin your print in exactly the same way you're seeing. I think setting the window to 0 or the maximum count to some ridiculously high number like 1000000 will fix the problem.
Note that it's exacerbated by the thin nozzle making the number of retractions needed take place over a much smaller extruder-axis move distance than what you'd have with a normal 0.4 mm nozzle. This is probably why nobody has noticed and complained about the badness of Cura's defaults here. |
What voltage does the Creality Ender-3 run at? | Bearing in mind that the specifications on Amazon's page are sometimes not 100% (even though they are in this case), it is always best to check on the manufacturer's website.
From Creality3D's own website, Creality3D.shop, on the Creality3D Ender-3 product page, Creality3D Ender-3 3D Printer Economic Ender DIY KITS, the specifications are given as (emphasis is mine):
##ender-3 Machine Parameter:
Modeling Technology：FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling）
Printing Size：220220250mm
Machine Size：440410465mm
Package weight：8kg Max
Traveling Speed：180mm/s
Filament：1.75mm PLA,TPU,ABS
Input：AC 100-265V 50-60Hz
Output：DC 24V 15A 360W
Layer Thickness：0.1-0.4mm
Nozzle diameter：0.4mm
Precision：±0.1mm
File Format：STL,OBJ,G-Code
Working Mode：Online or SD offline
Max Nozzle Temperature：255℃
Max Hot bed Temperature：110℃ |
What's the best way to connect pieces of a large print after printing? | Previous answer assuming not yet printed:
If you want to drill holes, print smaller guide holes to guide the drill bit. The best glue depends on the material. Printing structures like dovetails makes the connection less dependent on the strength of the glue.
Answer with the parts already printed:
The best way to align drilled holes is probably to glue the pieces together first, then drill the holes. Otherwise, you need a method to clamp the pieces together or do precision drilling. |
Adding custom M or G codes to Marlin 2.0 | The code in 2.0.x is similar to the old branch 1.1.x, G-code is parsed in gcode.cpp, specifically in process_parsed_command:
void GcodeSuite::process_parsed_command(const bool no_ok/*=false*/)
In the case statement the codes read from the G-code files are parsed (interpreted) and the appropriate method is called (e.g. G28() calls void GcodeSuite::G28())
If you want to create your own codes, it could be an idea to start there. Also think of using a different letter and/or codes in the 10,000 range so that it will not collide with new implemented G-codes. |
Autobed leveling doesn't compensate | I believe that the matrix is shown transposed from how it should be, but that doesn't affect the answer. The compensated Z position is derived from the original (X,Y,Z) position by multiplying the corresponding vector with that matrix. This means that the new Z position would be
Z' = 0.999992Z - 0.001233X - 0.003905Y
If you have a 200 x 200 printbed, a diagonal move from one corner to the other would correspond to a 1mm change in Z-height. This should be noticeable, but if perhaps you're printing something quite small you might not notice it.
Though, if your first layer is perfect, I would see no reason to mess with it. |
My Z-axis is limited to 15 mm at height | @Trish is right, it would help greatly to have more details, such as the model of printer, photos of the printer at the upper height limit, and a video with sound of moving the head against the 15 mm stop.
Without those details you might answer your question for yourself (and for SE) by trying these tests and considering the results. If you have already done these things, it would help us help you if you included your results, and other experimental results, in the question.
The problem could be in the mechanism or in the slicing program.
Using the UI, can you raise the head above 15 mm? On the Prusa3D branded i3m3 the UI will allow you to move the Z axis hard against the top stops. If the UI can raise it, the problem is more likely to be in the slicing program.
If the UI can not raise the head above 15 mm, move has high as you can and listen carefully. Does it simply fail to move with no noise? Is there a clicking or banging sound as you try to move higher?
If there is a clicking or banging sound, something hard is interfering.
If it simply stops moving, does the machine reset or just stop with no glitching on the UI? It is reset, look for a cable problem, such as a short circuit or wires pulling on the controller PCB. If it is just a silent refusal to move, it could be the Z-axis plug is loose and being tugged by the cable bundle to the head.
If the problem seems to be in the slicing software, check that the Z-height is set properly there. If good slicing software thinks you have only a 15 mm height, it won't try to print higher than that. |
FDM: Clear=transparent part | First I would hedge your expectations.. I am very familiar with t-glase. It is very translucent but it is not clear and no amount of post treatment will make it 100% clear. Their example is the only exception where you have a simple print where it has only a single layer. By applying the clear coating they have normalized the wall and made the surface even. Thus no more light diffusion.
You could likely get the same effect with good sanding but good luck sanding a 1 wall thick print. Also note they do not show any solid parts. If they cannot get a solid part to look good and clear, then really you shouldn't expect to be able to.
Any infill will cause it to be non clear. Any extra shells will also create air pockets, lines, etc and make it non clear. If you really want clear, FDM is not the way to go. The only way I could imagine to print an item clear with FDM is to create a cast, then cast it with resin or glass..
If you consider how the plastic is applied, you can see there is no real way make it 100% air pocket free.. See below,
Image taken from here.
The best I can recommend for settings. Make your temp spot on. If you boil the material you will have less translucency. Play with over extruding (too much material) in a Limited amount. Might reduce gaps. I would also try to print in BIG THICK lines. Less lines, less diffusions. |
Water-cooling stepper motor with aluminum block | Cooling any single face of the motor is fine. The motor case conducts heat very well. Many 3d printers effectively cool the motors merely by having the output drive face of the motor bolted to a metal bracket which is bolted to the aluminum extrusion frame. That's it. That contact alone cools the motor, which is shown by how the motors overheat when people install vibration dampers, which puts rubber between the motor and the extrusion.
The only thing I would worry about is the surface area inside this particular style of block, and ensuring that you use an all-aluminum radiator since the block is aluminum.
There is another type of cheap 40x40 aluminum block with the nipples on the face instead of on the edge. That style has fins and a lot of surface area inside. This style with the nipples on the edge has a big S channel inside and not much surface area. It may still be more than enough. I'm just saying it's a significant difference and it might make a difference. If you find you're not cooling enough, all you may need to do is switch to that other style of block, not try to install 3 blocks per motor or any other exotic nonsense.
But no way do you have to worry about coooling more than one face of the motor, nor does it matter rwhich face it is, especially not with active water cooling like this, as long as the block is actually making good thermal contact with the motor (thermal tape, or thermal epoxy, or thermal pad & zip ties) |
Tevo Tarantula I3 firmware | Answer for "2)":
The default firmware seems to be Repetier. It also includes Bed leveling (see documentation):
https://www.repetier.com/documentation/repetier-firmware/z-probing/
Marlin includes the Auto Bed Leveling feature too. You need to enable it by editing the Configuration.h file.
Bed size settings are there aswell.
"stylesuxx" made a video on how to get Marlin onto the Tevo:
or you can take a look at their website:
http://marlinfw.org/docs/configuration/configuration.html#configuration.h
Autoleveling can be enabeled as well in this file. There is a good video from Thomas Sanladerer on Mesh Bed Leveling:
If you want some help with auto bed leveling it would be nice if you can include what kind of sensor you want to use (inductive, capacitive, microswitch...) and what your prefered type of bed leveling is (mesh 3x3, just z-leveling)... |
What alternatives are there to sanding resin parts with fine details? | desktop tumbler/brass polisher, rotary rock tumblers are probably a better option than a small sandblasting cabinet. choose your abrasive material from there, a coarse sand is probably not what you want but there are walnut based things and finer grit materials that should be able to get a nice shine. if you would rather do it manually and geometry allows you can try a dremel-type rotary tool with a buffing wheel or similar |
Auger Paste extruder | To be precise we shall have all physical parameters of extruded material to calculate extrusion parameters.
In that case, my approach will be to use try and check approach, as that will give a systematic problem-solving.
To set the steps/mm, we will focus only on the measured length after extrusion.
let's set the extrusion length to 10 cm, extrude and check the extruded length.
if we measure a different value, then we can use a formula to fix that
newStepsPermm = currentStepsPermm*(requestedExtrusionLength / measuredLength )
That need to be repeated as long as we will get requested length and this is a standard calibration procedure.
The minimal layer thickness will be connected with the way how the pasta behaves (how it is sticky, water amount etc) - so for that there is a need for a patience.
My approach will be to create a sheet where I would store the ingredients ratio and a note about extruded material behavior.
To remove bubbles in the extruded material - the syringe shall be filled with caution and continuously to avoid material stacking as that produces air pockets.
Addon: To calibrate clay you can print a single line using manually prepared gcode. Amount of extruded material could be estimated by weighting conteiner/bottle or extruded material and that will give you an orientation of flow like gramms/mm or mm3/mm.
let's try this:
we have our steps//mm untouched
try to set printing speed for single line, so the clay will looks nice
if we have over/under extrusion - change feedrate by 5% up/down.
when the extrusion looks ok, then note all printed parameters
so if we end-up with printing speed 10mm/s and feedrate 140%, then we know that the steps/mm need to be multiplied by feedrate factor (1.4 in this case). |
Marlin move axis issue | Update. Jumpers were inserted to 1/16, but stepper chip I have (9488) could not handle that many micro steps. I changed it to 1/8 and now it works good. |
How to build a CT scan into a printable 3D model? | Using the terms "convert CT scan to 3D model," I found a number of links of tutorials. One of them is described as free, with registration and appears to be web based. The link, Embodi3D, appears to have a relatively comprehensive set of instructions to accomplish your goal.
Instructables also has a similar tutorial. Should neither of these prove suitable, the search terms above may be of value.
Image below via Instructables: |
My Prusa i3's Z-axis will only go up | It sounds like your Z limit switch is stuck.
The firmware will prevent the motor going further down past the limit to prevent damage. Be careful going up because if the firmware doesn't know where the bottom is, it doesn't know where the top is.
I checked my printer (an i3 clone) and the limit switches are wired as NC (normally closed). That means that the circuit opens when the switch is activated. So, if the wire (or switch) is broken, or if it is unplugged, it will behave as if the switch is activated (the behavior you are seeing).
An easy test would be to switch the x-limit and z-limit cables at the controller board. If the problem moves to the x-axis, you have found your problem. BE CAREFUL not to run the motor into the end stop and damage something since there is no limit switch to protect it. |
Material extruded to prime the nozzle doesn't stick to bed at first | Have you tried using a raft
I had the same issue on my mini delta when I first started printing with it. After checking and double checking the bed level I ended up discovering that using a raft base in Cura solved the issue.
It does use more plastic however I have had absolutely no issues with respect to sticking in the dozen or so prints since then.
Additionally it makes removing the print from the bed really easy as I'm not worried about damaging the print with a scraper. |
How to address bed scratching on a Creality Ender 3 | Most likely your print surface is uneven. You can try rebuilding your firmware with mesh bed levelling that allows you to manually probe and store n*n grid bed mesh setting the height offsets at each point manually (however, on stock setup you might need to disable certain features for the compiled firmware to fit). Other option would be to use some kind of ABL as mentioned above. You can also try installing Z offset plugin on Cura and raise it up a bit.
The last thing to check would be comparing the test gcode to your slicer generated ones (via any text editor) looking for differences in G0/G1 Z movement in the beginning of the gcode. If there are ant differences, that would give you a hint where to progress further. |
Extruder motor not running during print job but working after I preheat the extruder and test it | According to all the information:
No reassignment of the extruder in the Gcode
You can extrude if you push the filament by hand
Extruder motor works when switched to Z driver
Z Motor works
I come to the conclusion that some of your electronics or the motor have fried.
What have fried? I tried to make a step by step check:
Switch drivers between E and Z, but plug the motors as usual:
1) Does the extruder extrude?
Yes: Your driver has fried
No:
2) Were you able to move the Z motor?
No: Motherboard And driver has fried
Yes:
3) Plug in the E motor on the Z driver, can you make the E motor turn?
Yes: Motherboard fried
No: Motor fried
HTH and keep us updated if it worked or not! |
What is the power consumption of the heatbed and hotend? | I have a Kill-A-Watt meter so I got a pretty good measurement for you with my Anet A6. Like Petar said each model is different but this should give you a idea. When heating both the nozzle and heat bed the printer consumes 160 W of power, once to temp it backs down to 9 W (it also uses 9 W when just "sitting doing nothing and is on"). When the nozzle and bed get down in temp it hits back up to 160 W. Basically it is never a consistent heating, it is on and off. Like a refrigerator.
When it comes to heating only the nozzle the printer uses 60 W (so 51 W is going to the nozzle for heating).
When it comes to heating only the bed the printer uses 142 W (133 W to the bed).
This is interesting because it would make sense the printer needs more than 160 W when 51 W is going for the nozzle and 142 W going to the bed, that makes 193 W. I make mention of this because that may suggest my power supply is not big enough and the printer could really use around 200 W.
As a little bonus when the printer is moving around (stepper motors are active) I find it using 35-40 W (or 26-31 W) to power the steppers.
So with all the said, is it possible to use a battery? Yes, you could. And to give a example a car battery should have 80 Amp-hours (or something like that, but we will go with it). With that battery you can get 960 Wh (Watt-hours) from the battery before it dies. Going with my printer using 160 W I will get 6 hours of printing time. But keep in mind as the battery is used the voltage will drop, so in the end the printer will be getting something like 10 V which I am sure will affect heating and overall performance.
Last thing I feel that needs to be said. If using a inverter to convert the 12 V battery to 110 V (or whatever voltage you use) a cheap one will not be healthy for the printer. Cheap inverters put out square waves instead of sines waves. Basically it will hurt the printer. You can learn more at this WEBSITE
"Update" on March 4
I read a comment that mentioned running right off the battery without a battery and then I thought of something that I did not think of before. And that would be protecting the battery itself
So I said you can run the printer off the battery. There was one issue that I had not thought of. And that was the voltage drop and the battery discharged. A battery usually does not have voltage-cut off to keep the battery from being overly discharged, and a printer does not have anything to measure voltage (why should it). So a simple hook up of a 3D printer to a battery is prone to drain the battery much lower than 10 V, which will greatly shorten a battery life-span. This can be prevented two ways.
A circuit between battery and 3D printer. There is plenty of circuits that can be bought as long as they cut power to printer at 10 V or something (for lead acid anyway) and can handle the amperage draw.
An inverter can also be used because this voltage cut off is already in them. But remember that square waves are bad for the printer. |
M502 will reset all configurable settings to their "factory defaults", which settings are those? | What Marlin does when M502 is called is defined in the configuration_store.cpp file.
It resets:
Max acceleration
Steps per mm
Max feedrate / speed
Min segment time
Acceleration (Normal, Retract, Travel)
Min feedrate
Min travel feedrate
Jerk settings
Junction deviation
Home and SCARA offsets
Hot end offsets
Filament runout sensor distance
Tool change parameters (Swap length, extra prime, prime speed, retract speed, Park
positions, Z raise)
Backlash correction distances and smoothing parameters
Extensible UI
Magnetic parking extruder settings
ABL (fade height, stored points, nozzle offset, servo angles
Delta calibration data (Height, Endstop offset, radius, rod length, segments per
second, calibration radius, trim angle)
Dual / triple endstop adjustments
Preheat parameters
PID parameters
self-defined thermistors
LCD contrast
Power loss recovery
Firmware retraction
Filament diameter (for volumetric extrusion)
Endstops (if disabled)
Stepper drivers
Linear advance parameters
Motor currents (digipot)
CNC coordinate system (if selected)
Skew correction parameters
Advance pause filament change lengths |
Is it possible to print a resonator for a musical instrument? | I can't answer this from a technical 3D printing angle. But, from a musical angle:
Where the body of an instrument has the primary function of enclosing a vibrating air column, the material has often been demonstrated to perhaps make a difference, but only a subtle one. As an example, a recent range of plastic trombones, although not first-class instruments, have proved extremely playable (and have the great advantage of being virtually indestructable).
I suggest you try this. Play your instrument, dampening vibration of the cabaça with your hand or with a piece of cloth. Just damp the shell externally. Don't obstruct the hole or put anything inside. Now, fill the cabaça with cotton wool or similar. If the first makes little difference, you're probably good to go with a plastic cabaça. Of course, if the second makes little difference either, we might have to suspect that the cabaça is mainly decorative!
You could also experiment with alternative resonators of a similar size and capacity, available 'off the shelf', not worrying too much about a cosmetic match. They might sound even better! |
Effects of static on 3D printers & print quality | Static electricity is detrimental to nearly all electronic devices. A stray zap from touching the frame of your printer could migrate to the controller boards, terminating normal operation. If you wish to protect the printers from static electricity, connect the frame to a confirmed electrical ground. The power supply may be grounded via the electrical cord, but you'd want to ensure that the entire structure shares that ground. Additionally, provide a grounding strap to which an operator would connect prior to using the machine.
Image below courtesy of linked site.
The more unfortunate aspect of your description is the issue of particulates in the air. Moving parts will be subject to excessive wear and your printer has plenty of moving parts. The stepper motors may "ingest" particles and the fans on the power supply will certainly pull in abrasive dust. The rails and bearings are going to be collecting as well.
If you wish to ensure a longer lifespan for the printer, a filtered enclosure with an overpressure environment is going to be needed. This presumes that one desires to provide cooling air to the printer and power supply. The box around the printer would have to be fed by a fan which is protected by a filter capable of preventing the dust you describe from entering. One could create a box around the printer without fans and another around the power supply with fans and filters.
One could use the reverse concept, that is, build a box from filters and have a fan suck the air into the box, into the fan and back out into the environment. This would provide for a greater surface area of filter material, reducing the frequency of filter changes. In the first example, the box is created from a solid material and the fan forces air for cooling, into the box, as dust-free as the filters will allow. In the reverse method, the box is created from filters and the fan is used to move air from the box to the outside, pulling clean, cool air into the enclosure.
It sounds like a tough place to be a 3D printer. |
Prevent stopping and heating in the middle of the print | Your allowable temperature tolerance might be too low.
You have seen what I call emergency-halt the print on getting too far away from the set print-temperature. As described, the allowable tolerance seems to be 1 degree, which means pretty much any variation in the printer head's temperature will trigger the stop before the software even can counteract it.
To counteract this, you might try to increase your allowable range slightly, for example to about 2.5 of more degrees, either way, giving the printer time to compensate without halting the print.
How the tolerance area works
Let's assume the printer has 210 degrees with a stable heat input from the cartridge and monitored by the thermosensor.
conditions are met to start printing.
Filament is pushed into the nozzle, picking up heat energy from the heater block.
The temperature of the heater block drops, as the thermal energy (=heat) input from the cartridge did not yet include the new thermal energy drain in the shape of the filament.
The Thermosensor registers the thermal drop a little bit later and notifies the chip
The chip increases the voltage on the heater cartridge with a little time difference
With a very low tolerance, it is possible to fall below the threshold before the cartridge could heat up to compensate
the cartridge pumps in way more heat than needed, raising the temperature rapidly back into the print-temperature tolerance area...
...and overshoots the aimed for 210 degrees.
The thermosensor only registers the aimed temperature with a short delay
the chip cuts the voltage to the heater cartridge lower
but there is still a lot of extra thermal energy banked in the heater cartridge, heating the block over the aimed 210 degrees
which again can trigger the stop for the temperature rose over the allowable tolerance. |
Print box bigger than the printer bed | Are you making a simple box? Or does it have some kind of detail or structure? The photo below exemplifies a structure attached to connectors that have been created outside of Fusion, but you can also use it as an idea to create your own!
Link to OPENSCAD LIBRARY
If you are thinking of cutting into parts, you can also create a kind of male / female (puzzle) in the parts that fit. Something like that ...
Here is some interesting information to study How to design Snap-fit Joints for 3D Printing |
Jammed extruder. Wanhao duplicator i3 Plus | I follow the techniques spelled out in this video on Tom's 3d:
Basics: Cleaning out a clogged nozzle!
Essentially you:
Heat up the hot end past the point you normally print at.
Manually (gently) push filament out of the hot end.
Turn off heat & continue applying pressure to the filament, until it quits extruding (it has cooled off).
Set the heat on the hot end to normal printing temprature for the filament & immediately start pulling firmly on the filament, but not too hard.
As soon as it melts enough, it will just "slip out" & bring any stuck crud with it.
I went ahead and bought some white nylon filament so I can heat it up hotter (good for cleaning out ABS) and since it's white, I can see the nasty crap it pulls out. |
First layer eventually sticks to the hotend and tears | Step Zero: is always to check/adjust the bed level - if the height over the bed varies while putting down the first layer, it's hard to ever get first layer settings that work.
Step One: is to adjust your first layer settings - height, temperature, extrusion width until you find a set that work for your setup (knowing that they may change somewhat when you change filament.) Some folks find more success with thin first layers, others with a thicker first layer to pump more plastic, still others use the same layer height but increase the width to pump more plastic, and others combine these approaches. Increasing the temperature is common, though in my case I found that the "usual" +5°C was not enough for the present setup.
You can change one setting at a time and have an idea of what works better or worse in each case, or you can change lots of settings and hope you get lucky. I prefer the tedious approach, it's less maddening.
Are you using any surface treatment on the bed? A bit of gluestick or hairspray may help you stick. |
When should I use a raft, when should I use a brim? | A raft will allow for better adhesion for the whole print as the raft attaches to the printing surface and the print attaches to the raft. Rafts go all the way under the print and consist of multiple layers, whereas a brim is only 1 layer and on the outside of the print. Rafts are normally harder to remove than brims because of the increased contact with the print.
From my own experiences, the brim does not help a lot with layer adhesion as it is only 1 layer. I normally use a raft when I need a nice looking 1st layer that is not on the bed or when there are not enough contact points. |
Adding a Bowden extruder to a direct drive setup | I'm an amateur and I used dual extruder printers but never built any.
It's probably a good idea, take care about the purge, retractions distances that may vary. On the filament feed side there shouldn't be interference from the different flexibility. Still it maybe good to place one reel on one side and the other on the opposite.
Now the most complex thing is to make both nozzle not interfere. A technique is to rotate by few (like 5°) the dual setup to give few millimeter more to one of the two nozzles. If both heads are at the same height, you'll need to keep them hot, and avoid the passive one to leak. It would be good also (but not mandatory) to have a purge routine. |
What are some good FOSS or free tools for editing STL files for 3D Printing? | You can use OpenSCAD. It's a script based powerful CAD open source software under GPL.
On Thingiverse, a lot of things are made with this CAD software (the Customizer flagged ones) and you can just download their source code (.scad) and directly edit them !
You can also import existing STL and edit them like they were a primitive shape like a cube. You can then interact with them by doing binary operations, adding parts, etc.
It is hard to start with if you have never coded, but that's worth it :
OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD models. It is free software and available for Linux/UNIX, Windows and Mac OS X. Unlike most free software for creating 3D models (such as Blender) it does not focus on the artistic aspects of 3D modelling but instead on the CAD aspects. Thus it might be the application you are looking for when you are planning to create 3D models of machine parts but pretty sure is not what you are looking for when you are more interested in creating computer-animated movies. |
Anet A6 stock power wires.. the live, the zero and the ground. Which is which | This picture shows the correct wiring for a British 13A mains plug:
The green/yellow wire must always be connected to the earth terminal (at the top of the plug). This is most important, and will prevent electrocution if something goes wrong.
The brown (live) wire should be connected to the fuse, and the blue wire to the remaining terminal. It is true that, since alternating current is being used, the device will likely work if the blue and brown wires are swapped, but it is better to stick with standard practices to avoid confusion.
I would not use a "test" screwdriver to determine which terminal is "live" in this instance, simply because it is unnecessary. The live terminal is always the one that the fuse is connected to. This is done for safety reasons since the device is automatically disconnected from the live side of the circuit if the fuse blows.
How to wire mains plugs is really beyond the scope of this stack. Watch appropriate YouTube videos if you want to make a competent job of it. The only advice that I will give is to always use a proper fuse of the correct rating for the device. Never use something like a paper-clip. Also, don't use the 13 Amp fuse that comes with the plug. The fuse is there to protect the cable, rather than the device. Most printers will draw less than 5 Amps, and will be supplied with a 5 Amp cable, so use a 5 Amp fuse.
Also, never work on a plug while it is connected to the power socket. This is most foolhardy, even if the socket appears to be switched off. |
Attaching the resistor for the J-Head Extruder with Type 44 Non-Contaminating Heat Sink Compound? | Nope, not adequate. When heating at maximum power, you should expect the resistor to be 50-100C hotter than the hot block. (It must be hotter than the block in order to transfer heat to the block.) GC 10-8118 is only rated for 200C, but the service conditions at the power resistor may run up to 300-400C depending on power output and desired hot end temp.
For that matter, you may want to question whether the power resistor itself is rated for the >300C temps it will see in normal service. It's probably not. Most modern hot end designs use steel-jacketed heater cartridges instead of power resistors because they can handle higher temps and are, you know, actually designed to be used as heaters. The power resistors used in older hot end designs are generally being operated way past their design ratings. It's kind of amazing they work at all. |
Meshmixer size of model | You mention your dimensions in cm. Any chance that the STL export is also in cm where Meshmixer might expect mm?
Assuming your Sketchup template was set to cm:
To validate this guess you could measure/eyeball a known dimension and if that comes out to be 10 times too small you could scale your model by 10 times.
Alternatively you could adjust the template in Sketchup.
Additional information on STL files:
By it's very nature, the STL file format is just a bunch of unitless numbers in a well defined structure. This structure represents a set of points (vertices), lines (edges) and and triangular surfaces (facet). A few simple rules apply to exactly how all this should be defined. (See here)
But the key thing here is that an STL file is not aware of units, the program used to generate the STL file (e.g. CAD software) needs to be told what units to use, and accordingly the reading program (e.g. slicer) needs to use the same settings. Generally in mechanics applications we default to mm, at least in metric land. All this is explained a bit more verbose here. |
Why some corners aren't sticked well? | You can clearly print but there are also some problems it seems.
To see if you're about okay when it comes to leveling, I recommend to activate the 'skirt' in your slicer soft. Slic3r has it and I think most others too, it just makes the printer do a big one-layer all-around 'perimeter' around what is going to be printed before starting. You'll see quickly if there is not enough or too much space between the bed and the nozzle. You might catch other problems too (I love it because when the hotend drips a bit when leveling it get's smeared out far away from where the print is going to happen).
Your print looks like it is not optimal (overextrusion? no print-cooling? ...) so start with slowing down, first layer 20-25mm/s (Look at it when it's printed, it's very telling!). Then for the following ones, don't go over 40-50mm/s for starters.
Last but not least, you are printing ABS (but you said you had the problem with PLA too, hence my post), I have never printed ABS but for what I have read, you'll need a heatbed and a heated chamber(enclosed printer) to not have this kind of problems.
But for PLA especially; If you have a heat bed, don't put on too much heat when printing, I went from 60°C to 50°C, first layer, 30° then, and my prints now stick like they are melded onto my plate instead of skidding around. |
Great prints then suddenly terrible quality | After watching it countless times, I found out that it was the magnetic mat on the bed that has worn out. It no longer adheres to the bed completely flat and some of the texture was worn down more than in other areas. It wasn't visually detectable - I found it by checking the nozzle height with various feeler gauges in multiple random locations. |
Prusa MK3 heatbed marks | Prusa ships (or has shipped) with two types of PEI build plates. The original (and what I was shipped in February 2019) is a PEI sheet held in place with an adhesive. The marks I've gotten seem to be places where the adhesive has been displaced slightly from long term pressure by the object being printed.
In your case, it actually looks like scratches in the PEI. If, after cleaning with water, then 95% Isopropyl alcohol, and finally acetone the scratches still appear, I'd check if they are a problem. Do they transfer onto objects printed on the plate?
If you decide you have a problem, I would use a mild kitchen scrubby sponge to "sand" out the scratches. I have two types in my kitchen. The yellow ones are too abrasive. The blue ones are better. Gently use one to make the surface uniform.
If you have an adhesive based plate, Prusa sells replacement PEI sheets, with adhesive. The process of changing them seems onerous. Although I bought two spare sheets when I got the printer, I have never been tempted to use one. When my build plate becomes unusable, I will buy another one.
Prusa3D also offers a textured build plate, which is more expensive and in short supply. These are a powder-coating process and from pictures and their blog, I infer they are particles of PEI which are melted onto the steel surface. I have no experience with these.
I don't know if they are making the current smooth plates with a powder coating process, or if they are still using the adhesive.
The adhesive is the weak link in the heated bed. It is only rated for 110 degrees C, which is the temperature limit of the bed. I find that when I print with a hot bed (such as for PETG), the visible ripples in the surface are worse than when printing PLA on a cooler bed. |
Printer inverted Y-axis | This blog post shows 3 main solutions:
Flipping the motor cables (As suggested in the other answer)
Switching the x and y-axis:
This may switch the direction of your y-axis depending on the way your printer is setup)
Change the direction of the axis in firmware which you can see below how to do:
"When the solution opens up, you will see many different files open. You need to navigate to the Configuration.h file. Within this file scroll down to the following lines of code:"
// Invert the stepper direction. Change (or reverse the motor connector) if an axis goes the wrong way.
define INVERT_X_DIR true
define INVERT_Y_DIR true
define INVERT_Z_DIR true
"This is where you need to switch the values around. If they are currently true, change them to false and if they are false, change them to true. Due to the fact I was having issues with my x-Axis, I have changed the above to the following:"
// Invert the stepper direction. Change (or reverse the motor connector) if an axis goes the wrong way.
define INVERT_X_DIR false
define INVERT_Y_DIR true
define INVERT_Z_DIR true |
How to make a printer bed vibrate using g-code (heated chemical stirrer)? | Basically you need to write a G-code file yourself. This is a plain text file with a .g extension.
You need to home the printer with G28, then move the Y axis all the way forward (for a Prusa style printer) with G1 F1500 Y{ymax} (where {ymax} is the length of the bed). Now raise the head with a similar command G1 F500 Z{zmax} (where {zmax} is the height of the printer volume).
Heating the bed is done with M190 S60 (set and wait to reach 60 °C).
You can now rock the Y axis by moving it fast, e.g. with G1 F5000 Y{ymax-5}, G1 Y{ymax-1}, Y{ymax-5}, Y{ymax-1}, etc. |
Flat heated bed replacement for uneven bed | Several things to consider:
Nothing is perfectly flat. It is flat within a tolerance. The bed you have now is flat to within a tolerance. If you want a flatter bed, you are going to have to specify how flat.
As @mac mentioned, aluminum is bendable; so, what once was flat can be made un-flat and the other way around. Note: Your problem may not be your bed, it may be that the bed mounting frame has introduced stress that is bending the bed.
Because the heating element is applied to one side of the bed, the differential heating (between the top and the bottom) can cause the bed to bend at temperature; so, flatness could vary with temperature.
What to purchase:
The Anet A8 has a 220x220 bed. A very popular size. You can get replacements heated beds for as little as $20 from a lot of sources.
Because of the considerations above, rather than replacing the bed, you may want to consider attaching a 220mm x 220mm Borosilicate Glass Plate to the top of the bed. These are also readily available (even from Amazon) for less than $20. That is what I did. The glass makes for a very flat surface and a great printing surface. I attach mine with small binder clips. That makes it easy to remove to take the print off or to clean when needed. |
Can a single line of Gcode have variable extrusion rate? | My understanding is that the printer firmware will define the maximum acceleration and speeds for each axis (X, Y, Z, and E). When executing a line of g-code that involves more than one axis, the acceleration for each will be limited such that they all begin and end, including acceleration together.
During the start and end of a line, when the print nozzle is moving more slowly, the extruder will also move slowly. In the middle of the line, the extruder will move faster. The amount of material extruded per distance will be constant over the length of the line.
Another way to look at it - suppose you could accelerate quickly on X with a high top speed, but slowly on Y. A move only in the X direction could happen quickly. A move only in the Y direction would be slower. If you want to move at a 45-degree angle, you will need to slow down X so that it doesn't get ahead of Y.
If you did want to intentionally vary the amount of extrusion per distance during a line, you would need to break it into multiple segments with individual lines of g-code. |
How to switch E0 to E1 for extruder? | If you go through the Repetier-Firmware configuration tool for version 1.0.2 you can select the E1 stepper for the E0 extruder (or whatever stepper you want to use for it) in the tools tab sheet. I'm not familiar with Repetier, but if that does not work you would have to switch pin numbers.
If you already have a Configuration.h, you can use that one (by loading it into the configuration tool) and alter the E1 afterwards so that you do not have to enter all the other options by yourself.
Edit: After some investigation, you can find your configuration file here as described here, so the only thing you would have to do is to load the file in the online tool and adjust the E1 stepper for E0 extruder. |
What does a stand alone "T" index value do? | T stands for "Tool" and has its origin in the origins of .gcode being for other automated machine controls. Depending on the machine, everything could be a tool for .gcode, like an actuator or pump or a spindle motor or a drill.
In 3D printers, the T-controlled tool is usually the extruder motor. Convention has it that the indexing always starts at 0, so T0 and T1 are your first and second Extruder respectively. It is the way to choose which tool is used.
As a side note: E is not originally intended for extruders but for the feed rate of lathes. |
What is the MKS Base AUX header connector type? | You need a 2.54 mm pitch (similar pitch to Dupont) female IDC (insulation displacement connectors on a ribbon cable) connector of 2x5P (pins) for the header connectors that have a notch. (for comparison, note that e.g. RAMPS 1.4 has 2x5p dupont headers on the shield for the AUX headers, not the notch type headers)
These connectors are usually crimped onto flat ribbon cables and used to connect the display to the board. These connectors have a rectangular notch to fit the gap in the housing to correctly position the cable (which the 2x5P Dupont don't have).
For reference/difference, an image of the Dupont 2x4P and 2x5P is shown below, highlighting both sides ("up" on the left, "down" on the right): |
How can I get PLA or PETG to stick to a glass bed permanently without adhesives? | There are seven factors that I can think of, that contribute to the adhesion of the first layer onto bare glass:
glass cleanliness: dish soap and hot water, dried by patting down with quality kitchen paper is what seems to work best for me. Beware of fingerprints.
glass roughness: a common way to increase adhesion to glass is to rough-up its surface by scratching with some fine sandpaper. This works best if you take care of sanding in multiple directions (so that you have grooves crossing each other). I suppose an experiment you could try is printing on frosted glass (the side that has been sandblasted or etched of course).
tuning of the bed: your bed should be super-flat and perfectly leveled. Use an indicator gauge if you can.
filament chemistry: that is not only to say that certain plastics, like PLA, stick better than others, but also to say that certain brands work better than others (as the additives each manufacturer adds to the plastic influence how the strength of the interface with glass).
printer settings: typically a slow speed, no active cooling and a bit of overextrusion work best.
area of the interface: the larger the area of the interface, the better. But also: for large uninterrupted interfaces, problems with curling begin to appear.
temperature: each filament has it's own sweet spot, but typically some heat make prints stick better. However this is true until the print is in progress, once the print is done and the printing bed cools, prints tend to separate by themselves, so in your case you may want to print with a cold bed (which is totally feasible with PLA).
All that said, this would not be a complete answer without a strong warning: any functional part which integrity depends on this kind of adhesion is bound to catastrophically fail very quickly, if working at all.
For one this "assembly" would be extremely susceptible to change in temperature. While I read too of broken glass due to too good bonding, I only recall this having happened to people using some sort of substance on the glass. Usually the differential in shrinkage is exactly what makes the print come off the glass (a common tip for stuck prints is to put them in a freezer).
Secondly, as soon as some air (or other fluid) will begin seeping between glass and plastic, it will take very little for it to separate the two completely. It's a bit like using a crowbar: as soon as there is a crack you can stick the tip in and use for leverage, it is very easy to pry things open.
Finally, be aware that managing to print watertight shapes with FDM printers is relatively difficult. You can help your luck by extruding at slightly higher temperature than required.
It's difficult to advise on alternatives solutions without knowing what you are trying to achieve, but I would be very surprised if there was not a better alternative. :)
EDIT: the "nozzle too close to the bed" is the wrong way to achieve what you factually achieve with setting the flow rate so as to overextrude during the first layer: you want to increase the pressure of the molten plastic beyond what you normally would do so as to really "squish" it on the glass. |
Please suggest parameters for 0.5 mm diameter nozzle | These parameters are not fixed. FDM printers are designed to work over a range speeds, feed rates, layer heights, extrusion temperatures, etc, depending on the type of print job and the filament type used. If you design a printer to work with fixed parameters, you are unlikely to get good results. |
Do I need to recalibrate z-probe offset every time I switch to a different layer height? | All modern slicers adjust the nozzle position for the first layer in accordance with your chosen layer height. You can see this in your gcode if you slice files with different layer heights. Before you add special slicer settings and offsets, if you print 0.1mm layers, the nozzle will start at Z=0.1mm, and if you print 0.3mm layers, the nozzle will start at Z=0.3mm.
There are two reasons this is more complex and less reliable than it seems:
Different slicers assume different initial tramming gaps. And your actual tramming gap may not match that assumption. If the slicer thinks your nozzle is leveled at Z=0 with a real physical gap of 0.1mm to start with, that means gcode Z=0.1mm is actually a 0.2mm gap that must be filled with plastic. So the slicer must compensate by starting lower than the nominal layer height.
So what works perfectly for one slicer won't necessarily work correctly for another slicer. And if you tram with a thinner object than the slicer expects (say a post-it note instead of business card) then your first layer will be off. This is why I personally prefer physical build plate leveling mid-print using screws while watching the strands go down. It bypasses all the assumptions about tramming gaps and just gives you the correct result. (Or you can do the same thing with babystepping in firmware that supports that.)
The other issue is that people use lots of weird, ad hoc slicer tricks to get their first layer to stick. Things like printing the first layer much hotter, or at half speed, or squashed way down and over-extruded, or at 60% layer height, or at 200% extrusion width, will all affect the extrusion volume calibration and the space-filling behavior of the molten plastic flowing onto the bed. The slicer doesn't really have the ability to understand "your" first-layer adhesion recipe.
The combination of incorrect/unknown tramming gap and person-specific first-layer settings is why the slicer can't always get the first layer height and extrusion volume correct across all layer heights. Within some fairly reasonable assumptions, the slicer is smart enough to always correctly relate extruder flow and nozzle position so it fills the space between the nozzle and whatever surface you're printing onto. But if you break those assumptions, it may perform differently for different settings. |
Long prints shifting with Ultimaker 2 | If the brim is firmly connected to the part and sufficiently large, you could "duck tape" the brim to the bed after a few hours; by then you should have enough space/clearance to work with.
But maybe the best advice is to invest in a heated bed platform, or use the heated bed if you only did not enable it. Heating the filament to the point close to the glass transition temperature ensures that the printed filament stays ductile. Once filament cools down, it shrinks and cannot grip on the to build plate indefinitely.
My Ultimaker 3 uses a heated build platform that can virtually make every filament stick to it as long as you prepare the bed correctly. On glass I prefer to use a specifically designed printing spray called 3DLAC; that, and a little heat (depending on the filament you print; i.e. the glass transition temperature) make that I never have had any problems with getting filament to stick to the build plate. I'm even able to get the slippery filament POM to stick to the heated bed. |
How to implement wall thickness Analysis for my .net project | If your talking about a hollow object, such as a cube with a hollow center. The wall thickness is determined by the model.
If your talking about a solid object, the wall thickness is determined by your nozzle diameter multiplied by your # of walls. This is all adjusted by your splicing software. If you have a nozzle of 0.5mm and you print at 3 perimeters, your wall should be 1.5mm. If you want the wall to be 2mm, then you will adjust your perimeters to 4. Everything within those walls will be whatever you choose for infill.
I work with ASP.NET, Windows Forms, and Console Apps myself. I'm sure you can find libraries capable of taking 3D models but I don't think it would matter because the printed thickness is determined by your splicing settings.
Also for cost of printing, I recommend just using Cura which you just have to plug in some cost information about the filament and it will tell you estimated cost, mm of filament usage, and time. |
Print ASA without enclosure | According to MatterHackers, Simplify3D, and 3D Insider an enclosure is not necessary but highly recommended as ASA, like ABS, is susceptible to drafts and can warp. A heated bed is necessary (somewhere between 90-110 °C), and little-to-no cooling fan used. The enclosure helps ensure adhesion and a consistent temperature. ASA also has fumes and an enclosure can help contain unwanted smells.
MattHackers has a video (Step 4 in the link) on making an enclosure with some kind of plastic sheeting or trash bag (I didn't watch it). There are videos on YouTube on using cheap Ikea side tables and acrylic sheets to make an enclosure if you want a more permanent solution. |
Quality drop in vertical axis printing | The main problem with your setup is the nozzle width. It is simply too big to accurately print a structure that tiny. An integral part of the filament deposition is the "smearing" of the molted plastic, that clearly can't happen if the structure is about the same size of the nozzle bore. Also the printed structure is too flimsy to resist the "suction" of such a big nozzle moving away.
I would suggest to use a smaller nozzle and/or increase the size of your pillars. A good combo would be 0.2mm nozzle with 0.6mm or 0.8mm pillars. For these small details, it would be best to have a pillar size that is a perfect multiple of your nozzle diameter.
Other settings that will help you:
reduce the print dramatically (try 20 or 30 mm/s)
use retraction (or increase its amount/speed)
make sure your cooling fan is 100%
use a sensible "minimum layer time" (try 10 seconds for a start)
The first two settings should reduce the force/impulse applied by the nozzle on the pillar.
The latter two should make sure your pillar is "solid" when extruding a new layer on top of it. |
Which filament to use for an application involving water circulation? | I saw a lot of selling PETG water cooling pipes.
So PETG will be the best choice considering all factors.
In addition:
You could use any plastic with the oil instead of water for cooling medium.
Also automotive anti-freeze (G11, G12, G13 ...) designed to be non corrosive and much better than water in terms of cooling. |
Is it possible to 3D print sharp objects with high details? And how? | Best option for something like this would be to use an SLA printer. They can do sharper image detail compared to FDM style printers.
That being said, printing something like this poses its own set of challenges. In order to print a part, some surface needs to be in contact with the built platform, and depending on which surface chosen, you will end up with having some amount of overhang, or undercut. Not an issue in and of itself as these can be supported with support structures. For the size that you're looking at printing though, removal of the support material will be a bigger challenge.
As for costing of this, that's not something that this forum is used for, but these structures don't look absurdly difficult to print. If you were to contact a local print shop, or check on Google for an online print house, they will be able to give you costing on printing these. |
Using a XYZ printer on Linux | XYZprinting is a company known for vendor lock-in (even filament), so it's not surprising that their software's Linux support is bad, but apparently it is possible to ditch their XYZware and get it to print gcode from whatever slicer you like. Check out the miniMover repository:
This is a project that lets you send GCode to an XYZ da Vinci prniter. It will also convert from a .3w file to .gcode and back, and can monitor and setup the printer as well. This works with newer printers that implement the version 3 serial protocol. These include the Nano, Mini W, miniMaker and Jr. line of printers among others.
You'll also need to setup a profile for your printer in a slicer (I'd recommend Ultimaker Cura), but it looks like the thread linked from the README has information on settings needed. |
RCBugFix what is it? | It refers to a specific branch of the current project, named RCBugFix. It's basically the most up-to-date, bleeding edge version of Marlin that contains all of the most recent fixes (it is more up-to-date than RC). However, as it's so up-to-date, it's also not thoroughly tested and possibly quite unstable.
The latest Release Candidate lives in the "RC" branch. Bugs that we find in the current Release Candidate are patched in the "RCBugFix" branch, so during beta testing this is where you can always find the latest code on its way towards release.
Use with caution. |
Cura going to 204C instead of 200C | Its mainly due to the regulation loop of the PID Regulator implemented in the Firmware of the Da vinci jr. The P-Factor is a little bit too high. This is the reason why the temperature "overshoots". Because the Printerhead and Nozzle has some volume which is heated up. It takes time to cool down after it has detected an overshoot.
here you can find additional informations about it: https://innovativecontrols.com/blog/basics-tuning-pid-loops |
What causes gaps in small region fills and how to prevent them? | I had a similar issue as described in this question. Curiously, yours is almost opposite as my raised lettering was OK, but the surrounding areas were poorly filled.
I came to the conclusion that Slic3r was simply not able to properly handle the geometry in my part. I tried with Cura and had great results! |
Will RAMPS able to control 4 stepper motors | There is no problem with using 4 motors instead of 5. The 5th slot is provided to enable use of a second extruders, but many people only have a single extruder printer and leave the 5th slot unused.
how will Marlin figure out which slot the extruder is connected
Which stepper motor is in which slot is something you can configure in the firmware. There is no way for the firmware to "figure it out" without help.
It is quite involved to change it in the firmware, so it is best to follow the default placement. You can easily find wiring diagrams for RAMPS (showing the default assignment of motors to slots) on various resources such as the RepRap wiki. |
Setting the startpoint of the EZABL 3x3 mesh | The "EZ" company (TH3D) is trying to make flashing firmware easy by making choices in the configuration for people to set based on printer type. While this makes the flashing more accessible to more people, it does not help people to understand what actually happens in the firmware or what is meant by certain settings. See it as an automated process to add automatic bed levelling to a number of printer models.
To change the bed probing area, you need to modify some specific lines that specify the probe area. How you should change this is explained in this answer on question "How to set Z-probe boundary limits in firmware when using automatic bed leveling?". It would be best to set or increase the constant MIN_PROBE_EDGE. This effectively makes the probe area smaller so you will not hit the bed clips. |
OctoPrint mjpg-streamer configuration | The commands in your documentation only work with the Raspi camera. If that's the camera you're using, you can use the tools mentioned from terminal on your Raspberry Pi, or over SSH.
If you don't have SSH setup and are using your Raspberry Pi with a keyboard and mouse, you can access the command line by pressing ctrl+alt+f1 remembering that ctrl+alt+f7 brings back your GUI.
Setting exposure for Raspi camera
First navigate to the folder you installed mjpg-streamer. If you installed it in your home folder:
cd ~/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental
Then use the input_raspicam.so utility to set the exposure using whatever preset you'd like.
./input_raspicam.so -ex night
If you don't have a Raspi camera
I'm currently using a Logitech HD Webcam C310 with OctoPrint. I'm pretty sure setting the exposure for that is a pretty standard operation and you shouldn't need to install anything. v4l2 (video 4 linux 2) comes installed with Raspian.
To set the exposure for a Logitech camera (possibly others too) first enable manual exposure mode (1 for manual, 0 for auto)
v4l2-ctl -c exposure_auto=1
Then set the exposure value with
v4l2-ctl -c exposure_absolute=100
replacing 100 with whatever value you'd like. The values start at 1 and have a maximum value of 10,000.
These commands can of course be run over SSH.
You can also run
v4l2-ctl --list-ctrls-menus
to see all the options for your camera.
Here's a screenshot of my ssh session and my OctoPrint interface for context: |
Slic3r - Can I add new infill patterns? | Although the core of Slic3r is written in C++ a lot of other components such as infill generation are written in Perl. Since Slic3r is open source there is nothing stopping you from writing your own infill module in Perl and recompiling your own version of Slic3r.
If your considering doing this you can find the existing infill code in the Github repository at
https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/tree/master/lib/Slic3r/Fill
Instructions on how to run from source can be found at
http://slic3r.org/download
Here is a commit where a new infill pattern is added. This should show you all the parts of the codebase that must be modified to add a new infill model (some trivial C++ modifications appear to be necessary in addition to the Perl code)
https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/commit/2811af349ae17230a525ddcf819b1ddffaa250c9 |
Any defacto standards for controlling new tooling options on generic 3D printers (firmware control and signaling)? | Generally: nozzles are not changed, the whole tool head is
While "tool change" is easy to implement in a G-code and could be easily adapted in the firmware, there are several practical issues to hot-swapping nozzles without swapping the whole hotend assembly:
The hotend is a fluid-dynamic system that needs to be sealed to operate under pressure and temperature.
The seal of the nozzle-heatbreak system is in most systems a metal-on-metal pressure seal
Rubber seals are not an option in a system that runs over 180°C
Moving metal seals are very hard to make and run smoothly.
Your idea: especially No
There is literally no way to design a turning Y-switch that fits the following bills:
sealed
filament path ~2 mm
screw-in diameter for heatbreak and nozzles M6
creates enough free space between the lower outlets to mount 2 M6 nozzles with enough space to hold a wrench (=15mm diameter of centers)
fit into the form factor of a conventional heater block
Your idea would need to be considerably larger, need a stronger heater element and creates an impossibly to clean area around the turning junction peg. Atop that, you would trade 1 area of possible leak (between heatbreak and nozzle) for 3 areas of possible leaks (nozzle-block and heatbreak block) and one area of guaranteed leak (the turning peg).
How is it done then?!
Currently, there are the following ways to swap between different of nozzles mid-print that have been proven to work somewhat reliably:
fixed independent print heads with independent carriages.
fixed independent nozzles and heaters on one carriage.
swapping print heads on one carriage.
The first design is used for example in the Leapfrog Bolt, combined heads are for example the e3D Chimera, Cyclops and Kraken. e3D also designed on a reliable printhead - or rather tool - swapping system starting about 2018 and did release it to the public in late 2019.
Type 1 needs you to level the printheads well and to the same height in the easy case, but with the right setup of firmware, a Z-offset of the two tools can be included and compensated for - possibly even automatically. Type 3 does usually demands you to include very accurate offsets of the used tools or includes a way to measure the offset during operation, though I lack insight into how e3D solves it. Both setups can mitigate oozing of the unused nozzles out of the printing volume.
Type 2 not only demands hyper exact leveling, but it also is very prone to create some sort of oozing of the unused nozzle. |