Old thread >>934080
>open source community
http://reprap.org/
http://forums.reprap.org/
>buyfag buyers guide
https://www.3dhubs.com/best-3d-printer-guide
Any number of Reprap kits out there
>basic 3d printing FAQs
https://opendesignengine.net/projects/vg3dp/wiki (lots of useful stuff)
http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/wiki/index
>what kind of filament do I want
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/28-material-guide
http://www.matterhackers.com/3d-printer-filament-compare
>why do my prints look like shit, visual troubleshooting
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide
http://reprap.org/wiki/Print_Troubleshooting_Pictorial_Guide
>how to calibrate
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/30-getting-better-prints
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThomasSanladerer
http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter's_Calibration_Guide
http://prusaprinters.org/calculator/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Wb0i0-Qvo [Embed] [Embed]
>where do I get files to print?
https://www.yeggi.com/
https://www.youmagine.com/
http://www.thingiverse.com/
https://www.myminifactory.com/
>what programs do you make your own files with
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/38-designing-for-3d-printing
http://www.openscad.org/
http://www.freecadweb.org/
https://www.blender.org/
https://www.onshape.com/
https://www.tinkercad.com/
http://www.123dapp.com/
>where to buy genuine hotends
http://www.filastruder.com/collections/e3d-hotends (USA E3D reseller)
http://e3d-online.com/ (E3Ds regular site, yuro based)
http://hotends.com/ (genuine J-Head seller)
https://www.printedsolid.com/shop/printer-parts/hexagon/ (hexagon)
https://www.b3innovations.com/ (pico)
http://www.dta-labs.com/products/prometheus-v2 (prometheus)
https://www.lulzbot.com/catalog/budaschnozzle-20 (budaschnozzle)
>where to buy filament
http://pushplastic.com/
http://www.jet-filament.com/
http://www.makergeeks.com/
>but anon, there are euros here
http://www.reprap.cc/
>tech support
freenode #reprap
I get weird artifacts occasionally when printing sometimes. Some layers appear to be shifting. How to fix?
Running a prusa i3 clone and slic3r.
I'm pretty much convinced that I need to buy a 3d printer.
Before I get into this hobby, how much can I realistically expect to spend? I've been eyeballing that monoprice printer for $350 but I'm afraid that after I buy that I will realize that I just need to spend more on another printer for reasons.
>>949936
If it shifts there should be gaps on the other side. Are you sure it's not over-extruding or not being cooled quickly enough?
>>949949
The Monoprice Select, aka Wanhao Duplicator i3v1, needs some basic fixes to avoid a fire hazard, like pulling some wire crimps out of the cable chain.
It's a decent printer, but worksmanship is mediocre in general on wiring. If you know how to solder you should improve the wiring.
Immediately changes to improve quality include lowering acceleration of X and Y, as well as Jerk.
Beyond that, you'll want to do some upgrades, like the Z-brace, diiicooler, thumbwheels, glass bed, and a few other things. Most of these are printable, but require screws.
I have a Wanhao Duplicator I3v2. I got it on black friday for $390 with a free glass bed. I've probably put in an extra $20 for parts for screws/hardware for the above upgrades and thermal pads (for sticking the glass bed) and it's a nice printer. The v2 just fixes the crimp thing (and some other minor modifications), which you can do in 5 minutes. It's not a permanent keep in mind, your best bet is to solder the wires for a stronger connection.
There are more extensive upgrades you can do, including an all-metal Mk10 microswiss hotend; the linear bearing replacements on all the axes; motor dampers and flexible couplers; metal mk8 extruder parts; and more.
For the money I spent it's a decent printer and produces high quality parts for the money. If you don't mind spending a little more (around $500) and assembling your own printer, you can easily build a higher quality i3 with better parts.
Also keep in mind, as a preassembled printer from China QC will not be perfect. Some people have had problems.
Overall, if you want to get into 3D printing without assembling your own it's a decent printer for the money. But you will need to fiddle with it just the same as any other printer.
Check the Wanhao Duplicator i3 facebook group. I've seen some people selling theirs.
>>950107
I just got one of these, could you please be a little more specific with a list of mods for it?
How do I stop my prints from caving in like this? Just slow down so the PLA cools faster?
>>950196
What's the model itself look like? It's kind of blurry and I can't really tell what it's supposed to look like vs. what it is.
>>950212
Pic related
Want to use it as a little paperweight
The sword and coins print out well, but the top of the chest doesn't really come out.
>>950213
Looks like you need supports to print the top of the chest. Unless it's on a slope, the extruder can't print into thin air. 45 degrees is generally okay, but I've had decent results with as low as 30. Also - is it empty inside? If so, consider doing an infill of something like 10-15%.
>>950216
I set it at 50%. Should I be doing this lower? Will enable supports.
>>950184
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/3k07w5/spent_the_last_week_refining_things_on_my_wanhao/
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/3zy7z5/attention_monoprice_maker_select_printers_theres/
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/3zl1yi/quick_tip_to_improve_print_quality_for_anyone/
Just read through those. It's more thorough than I can be.
>>949949
As with any printer, expenses can ramp up very quickly when you are searching for better print quality.
Printers will lay plastic as well as you build it/ as well as you understand print settings. You will be perfectly fine with just a kit in that price range, once you know the ins and outs you will be able to decide how much you want to upgrade the printer.
Of all the printer kits coming out right now, the Wanhao (or monoprice) kits look good.
I know that Makerfarm kits are good, and have a good company to stand behind them
http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/pegasus-8-kit-426.html
And if you are looking to get speed the Folgertech Kossell REV B is great. Deltas are kinda the in thing right now. It has aluminum corners which is very nice and will be easier to initially build square and straight.
http://folgertech.com/products/folger-tech-kossel-2020-full-3d-printer-kit
My thinking is, you need a printer with a sturdy frame which would be worth putting money and upgrades into. These three would all do that fine.
>>950224
What necessarily makes deltas faster than regular (XY?) printers? And does the speed come with decreased quality?
>>950228
Cartesian printers have a large glass and plastic Y axis that moves in one direction, and an X carriage that has a hotend and a heavy stepper motor going in the other direction.
The momentum can quickly make your printer unstable, and will be very detrimental to print quality. The carriages are a lot heavier than you think.
Normal speeds they work just fine, and the frame holds it just fine.
Deltas on the other hand have a small light effector plate that holds the hotend
They use Bowden extruders so the stepper is mounted on the frame not being thrown around.
The momentum is vastly reduced, the way the 3 axis all work together makes it very fast and makes your Z very fast with no backlash.
It allows your "normal speeds" to be decently faster than an I3s "normal speeds" with the same print quality.
They can be a bit hard to tune though, but it pays off in speed.
When you push the limits of both printers, there is no question the Delta is significantly faster.
IMO, the I3s are much easier to initially tune but much harder to get REALLY good prints out of. The mechanics of a delta is just so much simpler with so many less variables.
>>950224
>And if you are looking to get speed the Folgertech Kossell REV B is great. Deltas are kinda the in thing right now. It has aluminum corners which is very nice and will be easier to initially build square and straight.
Keep in mind you're going to be hard pressed to get a Delta to print specialty filaments like ninjaflex or clay simulants. Most likely you just won't make it work with a bowden set up. Hell, it's hard on a direct drive too.
With a cartesian getting good quality prints is really a matter of making sure your belts are tight and going slow. CoreXY set ups can achieve 80~mm/s for high quality prints, whereas a Prusa i3 might need 40mm/s for high quality prints.
I have a Duplicator i3 and I usually print 30-40mm/s and it produces good results.
>>950251
I have a pretty standard I3 with an aluminum frame , and I usually print about 35 on outer walls, 50 on infill, and 25 on top bottom layers.
That is with a bowden setup, with frame clamps onto a heavy wooden base, it keeps it pretty sturdy.
Before I went bowden and before I clamped it to MDF, it would literally walk and slide itself around on my desk.
>>950221
You're beautiful.
>>950253
I have the stock extruder setup on the Wanhao. I guess it shakes a little. I have it on one of those low asian tables. I usually print 30-40 perimeters, 70 infill, 20 bottom with 0.2mm height. Sometimes I go down to 10 or below for those <0.1mm layer prints, for tiny parts. It certainly never walked or slid around anywhere, just shake a little. Once I get the z-braces installed I'll be putting rubber feet on it too.
Have you installed rubber feet on yours? Between that and clamps it shouldn't budge even with a direct drive extruder.
Lately I've been wanting to sell the Wanhao and build a CoreXY, but the bom is pretty expensive. I've heard an aluminum extrusion box is remarkably stable and easy to build an enclosure around.
>>950262
My absolute recommended mods for the Wanhao are lowering acceleration and jerk values for x and y, z-brace, diiicooler, and the mk8/9 filament extruder gear.
Jetguy shows the improvement installing a finer extruder gear.
http://3dprinterbrain.com/pmwiki.php/DupI3/ExtruderGear
http://3dprinterbrain.com/pmwiki.php/DupI3/ExtraMods#extrudergear
He has a bunch of other mods on there too.
>>950263
I have 1/2in MDF with rubber feet installed under it, and my printer is sitting on top of tool box liner, clamped down to the mdf with little printed J hooks.
Its way heavy enough for it to not move and is a needed mod for any I3.
Sitting solely on 4 small printed pieces lets it slide around.
The Wanhao being a boxed frame, with the PSU mounted on the side has to help out some in the stability department.
Ive never seen a Wanhao IRL, but I have done the Z stabilizer upgrade like Pic related. It seems to have done pretty well too, if thats what you are talking about by Z-braces.
It almost seems like the Wanhao may not benefit from it as much.
>>950318
The Z brace is because the vertical box frame and bottom are separate pieces that are connected by 4 small screws. It's not a good connection so the Z-brace helps stabilize it. A back brace would probably be a good idea but would require new screw holes and all.
>>950240
>Cartesian printers have a large glass and plastic Y axis that moves in one direction, and an X carriage that has a hotend and a heavy stepper motor going in the other direction.
Not always true. The Cartesian printer like Ultimaker 2 that have X and Y axis hot end movement can achive good quality results at high printing speeds as well.
What is nice about Cartesian printer is that even when they are badly calibrated they can print. While deltas if not calibrated very accurately won't print.
>>950196
Just by looking at a brim I think the temperature and calibration of extruder and bed is off.
This is how my cheap $300 Chinese i3 prints
The brim looks The lines look clean no bobbles so and other defects.
>>949949
People ask me this question all the time, and I always give the, the same answer: what are you going to do with it?
If you are looking to print little brackets and parts for around the house, you really only need a PLA printer, and can get away with something like a micro3D(prebuilt), oneUp, or printrbot simple (DIY) That's about 350 or less, and material is cheap.
If your looking for higher force parts, you'll need an ABS printer like a wanhao. That's pretty much the standard these days, and are pretty easy to use, but draw more power cause they need a bed. 500 should get you into here.
If you want support material or Exotics like polycarbonate, that's a whole other level. You need special hot ends, more extruders, and enclosures. Don't expect to spend less than 1000, and material costs are really high.
If you want small, high quality parts, consider a SLA resin printer. If you can get your hands on a DLP projector, the rest shouldn't cost more than 300. The resin, however, is slightly toxic and not good as a mechanical building material.
If you want very high quality ABS parts, and money is no object, look at stratasys or 3D systems. They are about 2 years behind the DIY community, but they have tried and true methods that are already built, tested, and plug and play, as opposed to these that you have to fight. These are about 1000 as a floor, and filament costs a lot more.
If you want one "because they're cool." don't bother. You'll end up with a printer and then not print anything on it.
And as always, the more you print, the more you learn, the more you fix, the more you need, and the more you spend. I build, repair and maintain printers and I've sunk some $2000 or so into mine, but I build them as a hobby.
Hi this is the $500 ALDI printer that people told me to post pics of in the next thread which means this thread. I've printed a few things on it so far and it has worked ok. Apparently it's a clone of the Wanhao Duplicator i3 v2.
>>950874
Looks pretty good
Why aren't your print fans going?
Is it just the picture?
>>950879
They were going when I printed that whistle, don't worry. Look more closely and you'll notice some motion blur.
>>950874
>Apparently it's a clone of the Wanhao Duplicator i3 v2
Jesus, monoprice sells it too so it's under 3 different names.
It's kinda like the Dremel rebranded printer
>>950887
Yeah, here's the official site for it which includes accessories and shit: http://www.cocooncreate.com.au/
I bought some more PLA for it today just in case and there were still about 10 or so reels left there. Other outlets apparently sold out of the printers and reels within the hour and in some cases people camped outside in the early morning with deckchairs so they could get there first.
Even though the bundle was pretty well appointed, a lot of people have noticed weird things such as the print time apparently being one hour upon opening it out of the box and powering it up, and many others (me included) ended up with smashed-up demo PLA reels because they didn't come on a proper spool. In my case, I noticed there was a layer of dust over much of the metal frame suggesting it had been lying around in a warehouse doing nothing for a fair while before being packaged up.
Is 90 mm/s and 6 mm retraction ok for bowden set up with MK7 teeth gear?
Do any of the open source 3d printers have an option for inkjet heads or other liquid dispensing heads? The cheapest flatbed inkjet printer is $1000+ and I can't even modify the software.
>>951054
Look up the Plan B printer or the Pwdr
There is suppose to be a way to set different nozzle temperature for the first layer in Cura via plug in. Anyone knows how to?
>>951533
If you cant find the plugin, you can manually insert it into your models Gcode
And Im pretty sure Slic3r has that option stock.
>>951538
ok I think I found the plug in
https://github.com/Dim3nsioneer/Cura-Plugins/issues/7
And I downloaded the zip file from here
https://github.com/Dim3nsioneer/Cura-Plugins
Now I copied the content of zip file to Plug in folder in Cura directory. And now I don't know how to import /install it in Cura . I would appreciate some help.
>>951549
OR is this TXT file the plug in?
http://wiki.ultimaker.com/CuraPlugin:_TweaktAtZ
Still no idea how to make plug in work.
Does anyone know where I can get Form Futura's easyfil HIPS in the US? The shipping from Europe is like twice the cost of the filament.
>>950473
Very informative. Thank you based motherfucker.
>friend is making a DLP printer
>wants to use/spend $15 on an easystepper driver and an $25 uno
>give him a nano i got for 3 dollars and an a4988 which cost cents on the dollar and show him how to interface the nano with the a4988 & creation workshop
>still buys an easystepper and uno
I have a kinda weird issue. My heat bed won't go over 80-85c. It has its own line to the 20a power supply. I checked the firmware. I don't see a value for it in EPROM. Any idea what to try next.
>>952765
have you run and set the PID autotune values?
How viable would it be to make a printer that can double as a cnc with a head switch? Maybe add an engraver function too...
Headache to calibrate after each switch I assume?
>>952861
I wasn't aware this was a thing. I'll try it next. Thanks.
Are genuine E3D parts really that much better than clones? My nozzle snapped in my E3D Lite's heater block, forcing me to look for replacements. Made in the USA clones would only cost me $4 and save me even more in shipping, while the genuine deal would cost me much more.
I also might need to replace/repair the fan, as it only runs occasionally, possibly due to singed wires.
Help me guys.
I just got done putting together a rostock v2 kit two weeks ago, and everything is mechanically and electronically sound. I am having a hell of a time getting ABS to stick to the bed. I've done it on glass, I've used alot of glue, little bit of glue, turned up the temp to 90, turned extrusion up, turned it down, turned nozzle temp up, turned it down, lowered Z height while at temp, raised it, zero'd it, re-calibrated all three towers. I have a hell of a time getting it to stick. The filament curls like crazy, and if there are designs on the print on the first layer, it un-sticks from the bed every time the head moves. Driving me crazy!
When I am able to get a print started, it crackles every 10 seconds. Sounds like popping, and I've read this means that the filament has moisture in it. Is this causing all my problems or is it unrelated?
>>954046
What kind of glue? ABS doesn't stick to most.
>>954068
Elmer's disappearing purple, which was recommended for ABS
>>952991
LOOKING TO SOMETHING OF THIS SORT
eventually i will do something like a 3040 cnc kit , then build the other head with the cnc itself #creation
>>954046
>Is this causing all my problems or is it unrelated?
dry out your plastic anyways
>>954046
Dry out your plastic.
For ABS try hairspray / touch of acetone+abs glue / kapton tape or just say fuck having to do something to the print surface every print or ever few prints and spring for a sheet of PEI
PEI is fucking magic, everything sticks to it. Just wait for the bed to get within a few C of ambient temp and it will just about pop off itself
>>953651
Yeah most of the clones use tin / lead for their nozzles and heater blocks. someone on the subreddit melted his heater block a few weeks ago on his clone block
>>954046
I have an I3 and was running a direct drive extruder.
I was having a nasty popping noises too, leaving nasty looking outer layers.
I tried a dust filter and desiccant in an air tight container, the filter marginally helped out the overall print quality but still the popping didnt go away.
It ended up being backlash in my printed gear.
Gear was somewhat oblong, would have 0 backlash through 90%, then hit a spot where there was enough backlash to not feed filament through for a certain amount of steps.
Im not sure why not feeding enough made it pop, but it totally did.
Make sure your extruder isnt slipping, grinding, or missing steps.
>>954046
>Sounds like popping, and I've read this means that the filament has moisture in it
Actually that might be the plastic warping and breaking off from the bed. I recommend 110c on the bed or hairspray or that wolfbite stuff.
>>954157
That sounds a bit ridiculous. Do you have the source? A lot of cheap kits still use those chinese clones and I've never heard of a heater block melting. They'd all melt every time from the heater cartridge.
>>953651
I have both. First i bought a Chinese e3d v6 clone and then a legit lite 6 hotend. What I use? Both to be honest. I used the Chinese Alu block heating element and termistor, because the Alu block that came with Lite 6 is much smaller. The bigger Alu block will keep the temps more constant. Also I couldn't be bothered assembling the Lite 6 termistor so I just used the assembled one that came with clone V6. It works with out issues. Also the fan that came with Chinese clone V6 makes way less noise and cools just as fine. On the other hand I use the e3d nozzle since Chinese one are crap. I use the lite 6 cold end (stainless steel one piece cooling part) Unlike the Chinese one like the original V6 is made from two parts, an aluminum radiator (which is ok quality and the Stainless steel heat break that has PTFE tubing inside (only half way through). Not that good quality. Because the original Lite 6 is one piece and the PTFE tubing goes all the way through to the nozzle I prefer the lite 6 cold end. Also the PTFE tubing that came with Chinese clone is of very bad quality.
IMO if you only broke the cold end (Stainless steel part) just buy that part from e3d. it is not that expensive.
>>954215
Here is the printer I just pre-ordered. What do you guys think? It's a DIY kit so I have to build it myself.
http://www.cultivate3d.com/the-beast-large-format-3d-printer/
>>949936
If you use shitty filament, try a better one, diameter (and thus extruded volume) can be inconsistent in low tier filaments.
>>954267
>http://www.cultivate3d.com/the-beast-large-format-3d-printer/
Looks good if you need a printer with big print volume. Cost 3K but I guess for that print volume and 4 extruders it is not that expensive.
>>954274
Forgot to add. That big print volume is a bit useless if prints at high speeds are crap.
Any opinion on this?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2121749597/259-reach-3d-printer/description
>>954332
>https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2121749597/259-reach-3d-printer/description
crap. The designe is definitely crap. It looks like the cheap ones from AliExpress. (wouldn't be surprised if it actually was)
>>954046
I don't print abs because of that. Also I've heard its fumes are possibly toxic. Therefore I've switched to petg filament which is also extremely robust.
>>954332
>>954338
i mean, if you're a $199 backer it's a good deal since it's made out of extrusions and if you have any idea of what you're doing you can fix anything that goes wrong with it
as far as an "entry level" "budget" printer for $300 without a full graphics screen that's $20 on ebay? nah, you can buy the extrusions and build it yourself cheaper
>>954332
My opinion on any budget kickstarter printer, its a bad idea.
Kickstarters failure rate is enormous for a reason.
Designing the printer is the easy part, the logistics are insanely hard. Add the fact that a stupid amount of orders come in
Look at the Tiko, 4 people with business majors who have connections with high quality chinese factories.
They have had nothing but logistical problems since the kickstarter ended, they have delayed it over and over and they still havent fixed their supplier problems.
Itll only be a matter of time till the supply problems eats all their money and they never ship one fucking printer.
Its happened time and time again, I dont expect to see anything else different.
You can build your own printer, or get a cheap kit for around the same price without having to wait and hope your money isnt wasted on some bums from kickstarter.
>>954332
>We are working with an engineer in Texas to enable the reach to extrude paste, metal paste!
lol
>>954332
While I certainly looks cool, the "industrial arm" design is quite unstable along all three axes.
>>954483
I played around with a SmartRap before, it is killer to get leveled right.
There is a reason that one comes with autoleveling.
You will NEVER get it level and it will always need compensation from the Z axis to print anywhere near straight
>>954199
yeah im gonna say bullshit also
tin melting point 230c
lead melting point 327c
aluminum 660c
copper/brass-900-1000c
cost
aluminium- $0.72 us/lb
lead- $0.78 us/lb
tin -$7.31 us/lb
if they said their nozzle was packed with asbestos and never melted i would believe that more
>>954332
Looks like a shittier, flimsier printrbot simple metal
Im having a problem with my printer (huxley he3d), my x axis stepper motor has developed a shudder and will no longer move it just vibrates back and forth. I know it is not a problem with the code or the endstop, any ideas what it could be?
>>954119
>>954155
>>954162
>>954193
>>954434
Thanks for the replies. I've got my ABS roll sitting in the oven right now, drying it out. My bed only has a max temp of 110c, and I feel as though it would take a half hour just getting it up that high. I don't have any hairspray, but I can pick some up when I go to town this weekend.
I've had some luck using a "raft" setting, but I don't think this is an effective solution, because of how much plastic is being wasted on making it, and disconnecting the part from the raft is very sketchy. I haven't tried any other filaments yet, but I have a roll of PLA and some Ninjaflex that I was going to try after I was done drying out and re-testing my ABS
Alrighty guys, I'm an idiot and Im trying to do something unbelevibly stupid. I won't go into details, but long story short, I'm trying to get the hot end to ~1000C. I've replaced literally everyone that was aluminum with steel and copper. Aside from a giant fan and a liquid cooler, what other methods are there to cool hotends?
Also, repetier seems to not let me go above 600C. Is there another host that will let me do that?
>>954952
Rafts are wasteful and best suited for small parts that need it. That said, if it just won't stick you should use one, a raft can easily make it stick just because of the surface area and distributed weight.
>>955001
You trying to do like aluminum extrusion?
Have you changed the actual failsafes in the Marlin software that your control boards run?
I know they have failsafes for certain temps, and you have to change them for any sort of high temp filaments. Maybe thats whats tripping repetier up, maybe try prontrface or something.
>>955029
Actually, yes, I'm trying to run 14 gauge (1.6mm) aluminum wire. A 1/4 a mile of aluminum wire is, on eBay, about 40 bucks. That translates to about 50 in^3, which is actually around the price of expensive ABS.
Cohesion is going to be a killer, but if I could get it to print literally one layer, then wait for it to cool a bit before continuing, I can kind of fight it. Aluminum foil bed anyone?
So far I have all steel heat throats, a cut up steel bench block, a thermocouple, and a steel .4mm nozzle, all of which should be able to somewhat withstand 1000C, and if not, 800 C should be fine to print aluminum, which melts at 600C.
The current design has a huge number of copper fins and a refrigerated liquid cooling block for the cold end, and two 200W 120V heating cartridges for the hot end.
>>955085
How are you planning on sheilding the aluminium from the atmosphere? You need to consider the oxide layer that will form and prevent adhesion of the layers
>>955091
To start, all I want to see if I can do is get it to extrude.
If I remember correctly from my welding days, aluminum oxide is caused by oxygen coming I. Contact with pure aluminum. Since, presumably, melting the aluminum into a puddle would remove the layer on the hot end side, the biggest issue is oxidation to the layers already put down.
Am I stupid, or would just making an airtight enclosure, then lighting a small fire like a candle to burn up all the oxygen work, or will the aluminum steal oxygen from carbon dioxide or something?
>>955085
I doubt you will be able to print anything worth using.
The problem with aluminum is (the same occurs when welding aluminum) that it goes from solid to very liquid form way to quick. For example it is almost impossible to archive that molten lava like state between solid and liquid form with aluminum.
Also you will need to protect the molted aluminum with inert gas (argon) otherwise it will be useless basically.
>>955109
Tbh you'd probably have an easier time hooking up a MIG to the gantries and feeding the ally wire through that.
I'm sure you've seen that video of the robot arm using a MIG welder to print a small footbridge out of steel so it is doable.
>>955133
Yea, there's also an open source one elsewhere. I kind of just want to do it so I can say I did, even if it doesn't work out. Tis truly the spirit of DIY, is it not? Any suggestions on cooling?
>>954906
probably one bad wire connection to the motor in question. Might be a fried motor driver or a dead motor, but more likely it's just a connection problem. Wiggle some connections and try switching different motors to different drivers
>>955148
I think it's a brilliant idea and I hope it works. Liquid cooling as you've described it is probably the most efficient. Another option is peltier cooling, but your system sounds like it will already be a bit of a power hog, and peltier elements pull heavy wattage.
>>955148
>suggestions on cooling
the temp difference in a head just needs to wider than the melting range for the material. For plastics, it's a wide melting range so the heatbreak needs to be a large temp difference over a short length. For aluminum, the melting range is narrow, so the heatbreak doesn't need to be such a crisp temp differential.
Aluminum also doesn't get goopy like plastics at high-but-not-melting temperatures. Your "cold end" could be 400c and it'd work fine.
Liquid cooling sounds really bad idea. Using water near something 600c+ could get explosive. Just use air cooling.
Going to get an Ultimaker 2+ extended, saving up for it. Since I'm going to Uni in the fall I wanted a new hobby, and I wanted to do some fiddling with my intended major (medical technology).
This seems like a good winter hobby when you can't get out as much. Looking to transition into being a normal person, so during the day I can relax and try to socialize, but leave prints running over night right?
>>955319
>leave prints on overnight
I wouldn't recommend it. Printers are for the most part low-maintenance (well, depending on how much you spend on it) but there is still a chance for some catastrophic failure occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. Something I had, for example, my printer glitched and decided to stop running the X and Y steppers but left Z and E extruders as normal - spaghetti mess. The most common problem I hear is "print detaching".
Plus, you don't really want to be inhaling print fumes while you sleep.
>>955309
>the temp difference in a head just needs to wider than the melting range for the material
not only does he need to cool the thermal break, he needs to cool the whole machine so the extruder doesnt melt the rest of the machine.
air will not be enough
his liquid cooling doesnt need to be water either. probably wont be able to.\
guy, you are going to need argon, your candle idea will probably not work.
start reading about all the guys who tried solder extrusion, use that as a point of reference
>>955436
I will look into solder extrusion.
The liquid cooling plan is to not only run through a standard radiator, but also to use a giant heat sink (an i mean giant, this thing is like 1 cubic foot of aluminum) to sink heat from 4 40W peltzer coolers refrigerating the water as a second stage. This is on top of a 1.3 amp 12V death fan cooling massive fender washers and copper plates as fins. To be honest, I think I'll be fine as far as cooling goes.
In total, my shody CAD file puts the total length of the hotend at around 8 inches long, so at this point, size isn't really a problem and any serious speed is pretty much out the window.
As a shielding gas, is argon the best bet? Its a really expensive gas, and I know CO2 is also used as a shielding gas. In truth, can't i just use any gas that doesn't have any oxygen in it?
i fuckin hate my prusa i3 with the fury of 1000 suns, so i was thinking of scrapping all the electronics from it and building a more decent aluminium extrusion frame with CoreXY. are there any designs i should just go with or should i attempt to roll my own?
>>955523
You could do the P3Steel conversion, 140$ shipped on ebay (with new rods). Literally just move everything over to the new frame intact.
I really want to do it, but havent pulled the trigger yet.
>>955511
CO2 is active gas used for welding common carbon construction steel. For materials like Stainlees steel or aluminum you need INERT gas that prevents oxidation of weld.
>>955600
forgot to add. You could use Nitrogen. IT is also used when welding SS but on a non contact side
>>955523
What's wrong with it?
>>955511
Argon is also good because it's heavier than atmospheric air so keeping it in the enclosure will be easier.
>>955523
>hating the i3 design and preferring corexy
corexy is a bigger meme design than delta rofl, i3 and ultimaker style are the only ones that actually matter
>>955641
You post this in every thread without ever actually justifying it with, you know, a rational argument. Please elaborate.
>>955683
Not him, but although I do like the core xy style, delta bots are totally a meme.
The math is just too complicated to be properly hackable.
>>955732
I agree with respect to deltas, I just want to hear what's so terrible about corexy.
>>955641
>ultimaker style
>good
Pls, there are few good linear bearings that also work as radial bearings that the ultimate style requires. I've worked with ultimakers and they are some shit.
>>955523
A corexy frame is going to cost you like $500. It's a massive jump in cost from a dinky i3.
>>955641
>calling delta a meme
>praising the i3
Depends on what you mean by "meme"
One is based off of successful and accurate industrial robot designs.
The other one is a stripped down iteration of a proof of concept design.
The only reason the I3 got popular was because when it came out, it was the cheapest reprap you could build.
Then the chinese saw its popularity and made shitty ones that were dirt cheap.
Its not popular because its a particularly good design.
>>955732
>The math is just too complicated to be properly hackable.
I dont even
>registered for biomechanical engineering course in the fall
>feel like I'm forgetting something, oh yeah course pre-reqs, should probably start them early
>mfw one of the pre-reqs is knowledge of 3D modeling programs compatible with the Ultimaker 2+ Extended, Flashforge Creater or some shit, and some other prebuilts availble in the room
>mfw don't know jack shit about 3d modeling
Which program is best for a noob like me? Were going to be designing complex parts for stuff like prostheses, small medical devices, etc.
>>955875
>>what programs do you make your own files with
>http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/38-designing-for-3d-printing
>http://www.openscad.org/
>http://www.freecadweb.org/
>https://www.blender.org/
>https://www.onshape.com/
>https://www.tinkercad.com/
>http://www.123dapp.com/
>>955886
Read OP, appreciate it anon, but I was wondering of those programs if any particular one was better than the other. Ah, I'm being lazy. I'll do my own research. Thanks!
>>955888
Depends on what you're modelling. Blender is great for organic, curved contours. SolidWorks kicks ass for most other things.
>>955683
>elaborate
you're tying multiple axes of movement into the same plane, instead of separating them, it's the same thing the delta printer does, but at least the delta uses belts instead of the wires or string that some people use on XY
almost every professional FDM 3d printer either uses stacked plane/ultimaker or i3 style design, and there's a reason for that
>>955789
i don't know what term they use to call that style of printer, which is why i called it the ultimaker style. whatever the stacked planes of x and y are with a rising Z platform, that's the best alongside the i3 design. they both pale in comparison to a secured bed with an XYZ gantry
>>955849
>successful and accurate industrial robot design
>
it might be successful and used in automation practices, but i doubt that those uses of the design utilize pinpoint precision like 3d printing does. i realize that it works for 3d printing, i'm just saying it's not near as optimal/future ready of a design as an i3 or ultimaker style
i could be wrong about the industrial precision of these setups, so if you can provide a source i would like to see it
>>955849
>stripped down proof of concept
And this is bad because...?
If it works, it works. There's probably a reason that it's popular, apart from the price.
I'm seeing people shit on the i3 here but nobody's given a reason past "it's not a delta".
>>955888
I am student if mechanical engineering and I use Solidworks. It was quite easy to learn, at least for me. Maybe your school can provide you a student version or you might be able to get it from some other source. My next go to program would be Fusion 360, I have not tried it yet, but design proces looks to be almost the same. It also includes CAM. It is somehow free for students, enthusiasts, hobbyists,...
The next on my list would be Freecad, looks similar to Fusion 360.
Openscad: The layout is different than those above. There you do a lot with the mouse (clicking, drawing,...), but in Openscad you sort of write everything with code, some sort of programming. I tried it, but didn't have much time to learn it.
I tried Tinkercad, but didn't like it. I can't imagine doing anything serious with it.
Blender: it is not so much engineering program, but for design for art, video games, maybe CGI, I don't even know. You work with polygons and it is more like sculpting from clay. It very useful for organic shapes, like animals, humans, ergonomic parts?,...
read here for more: http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Options#CAD_Tools
Simply put: with Solidworks you make perfect or ideal part/machine, with Blender you make this part/machine after 100 years, with dents, rust, chipped paint,....
>>955888
>>955905
Soon-to-be mechanical engineer here;
Blender is a good general-purpose (free) program which I use to design most of my 3D printed parts. It works well enough and it can import/export lots of different model types if you have the proper plugins.
SolidWorks is used more for industrial design and you're going to have a bit of a slow start if you don't have anyone to teach you how to use it. It's parametric, doesn't use polygons (each curve is smooth with theoretically infinite points), and has all the fancy features you'd expect from a program used in manufacturing/design industries. Huge downside - it's not free, not by a long shot.
tl;dr Blender's free, relatively simple, but not super high quality due to the way the models are processed, while Solidworks is a fatass program that lets you design your own mechs and fighter jets if you so choose.
>>955875
antimony is a pretty cool software, but its not designed for beginners.
http://www.mattkeeter.com/projects/antimony/3/
oh yea, and it's linux only.
>>955907
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnJqYHp4vHw
>i doubt that those uses of the design utilize pinpoint precision like 3d printing does
I guess you dont realize how imprecise 3d printing is in the robotics world.
There is a reason you can hack together a crooked and unlevel I3 and still lay down plastic.
>>955925
>I'm seeing people shit on the i3 here but nobody's given a reason past "it's not a delta".
There are a ton of people on here with I3s, nobody really shits on them.
Dollar for dollar and pound for pound, your 300 dollars is going to net you a much better printer buying Folgertech Kossel than it will with an I3.
Then when you dump another 500$ into both of them in upgrades, the delta will be more than twice as fast for the same precision and will need less maintenance.
Again, they are only popular because they were the cheap design at the time. I remember all the hooting and hollering at the $600 I3 printer kits!
Then suddenly that hype snowballs into 250$ i3 chinese plastic i3 kits!
The money drives the popularity, look at the retarded kickstarters making millions.
Doesnt make them a bad printer, but the popularity doesnt make them the golden standard of repraps either.
>>955927
>>955928
Thank you anons, really appreciate the thoughtful answers. Going to email the professor about getting a copy of Solidworks, or just seeing if the course website has something like that like a key for students.
>>955929
Wincuck here, my hardware isn't compatible with linux I learned that the hard way. My next machine will be arch.
>>955875
Autodesk student account.
>>955937
the speed and precision is pretty cool, thanks for linking that video
>>955942
>my hardware isn't compatible with linux I learned that the hard way.
Wat
What did you try?
And you could always run a free virtualbox machine to run Mint or something.
>>955907
>you're tying multiple axes of movement into the same plane, instead of separating them, it's the same thing the delta printer does, but at least the delta uses belts instead of the wires or string that some people use on XY
>almost every professional FDM 3d printer either uses stacked plane/ultimaker or i3 style design, and there's a reason for that
Almost all coreXY designs use belts.
>>955925
You could say the same about the CoreXY. CoreXY has proven to be every good as the i3 design in terms of quality for hard surface designs but it can also produce more precise circles. i3 often has a problem with creating precise circles that have uniform radius from every angle but hbot and corexy create more precise circles. It can also achieve faster speeds with good quality because of the lack of a moving bed with a more rigid and substantial frame (heavy), given the frame is basically required for coreXY.
>>955732
>The math is just too complicated to be properly hackable.
U wot m8?
>I doubt that those uses of the design utilize pinpoint precision like 3D printing does
>3D printing is precise
>SMD placement not precise
Dubble wot m8?
>>955942
It does have a student key, yes. It requires a fairly powerful computer to run, though, forgot to mention.
>>955907
>pinpoint precision like 3d printing
hahahahaha
>hot glue
>wood
>acyrlic
>8mm drill rod
>threaded rod
>anything 3d printed
if any of these things are in your motion control platform, then you can take precision out of the equation.
>>956034
>your list speaks for everyone who has ever 3d printed
i wasn't talking about a sub 100 motion system bub
Tried printing my first thing, but it came out super stringy with PLA. The first layers look so nice too. Any advice on how to fix this?
>>956080
Calibrate your machine and your slicer. There's a guide on reprap wiki in the OP.
>>955875
90% of the time i use Inventor.
I also found this free RSA Design Spark modeling program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgMY3-hlgs
IT is kind of simple to learn, but the workflow is a so different than Inventor or similar design programs. Since I know inventor, I really cant get use to Design Spark different approach, but if you don't know either one of them you can try it. You might like it.
>>955875
Learned OpenScad and never looked back
The Vim plugin makes things very easy
>>955789
>I've worked with ultimakers and they are some shit.
I disagree. Our company has 5 Ultimaker 2's and it is the best fdm printer I've seen by this far.
Easiest 3D model program to use to fix mesh errors in .STL files?
>>956335
netfabb
So I'm about to print some parts that need to be fairly strong, and I thought about the possibility that different infills (at the same %) could be stronger. Can anyone confirm whether e.g. rect vs. Honeycomb is stronger? I'm not finding a definitive answer on the internet.
>>955888
Little differences at high fills. For 10% and less, it more or less depends on the shape of your parts (how thin, curves) and how your slicer decides to fill it in.
Anyone know how strong Polymax PLA is? Supposedly it's tougher than ABS but in what regard?
I wish they sold samples or smaller reels. $50 seems like a bit much to spend on a new material.
>>956521
Honeycomb would probably be the strongest of all. There's reason bees use it - honeycombs are surprisingly strong considering how little material they contain.
Just mind the direction.
>>956521
Get the newest version of repetier and use 3d honeycomb. That's the best I've seen as far as strength goes.
>>956573
i heard some where that triangular infill pattern is the strongest.
i just ordered 40€ worth of electronics to build the cheapest 3d printer i can:
>4 cheap steppers (7,2° per step)
>16 mosfet transistors
>diodes
>an atmega32 + 20 mhz cristal
>a pcb
i will control the steppers directly via the microcontroller, doing halfstepping.
since ste steppers will do 3.6° per step they won't be accurate, so i will move the axis with screws.
i'll post results once i figure out the necessary code
>>956911
>building your own arduino
>7.2 degree step
>controlling 4 motors with one atmel chip
why
the allegro a4988 is literally like $1-2 dollars per qfp chip already on a board with pins, and it's a multitude times easier to control that then it is to run your own steppers directly from an arduino
unless this is a troll or you left stuff out
>>956913
but i live in italy :)
the product (and the price) you said, are not available to me.
the best online shop in my country is "robot italy" and it's not as vast as american ones.
also, if you live in america you Will be able to do this project with 30$, because italian VAT is crazy
>>956913
also:
arduino has an atmega328p, not powerful enough.
the atmega32 is a bigger mcu
>>956911
Good luck writing your own G-code interpreter
>>956914
You could hire someone to buy and ship to you? Customs can't be that bad can it?
OK so I'm the guy from a few threads ago who's been using and maintaining a replicator 5 for an electronics store demo. We had to replace the extruder after some idiot tried to run it without the build plate in it. We contacted makerbot and they sent us a smart extruder plus
Hoo boy, makerbots going downhill fast. The "new and improved" extruder arrived here broken. Two of the clips for the fan duct were snapped. Luckily, that's easy to hold up with tape. However, the filament has managed to jam on 3/6 prints (it looks like the wheel inside ends up digging into it without moving it). Even when it didn't jam, it seems to be heating to the wrong temperature, or just not extruding properly, because the rafts end up curling up at the edges.
I would say that I can't wait till they run out of business and I get to walk home with the printer for free, but I tried taking a peek inside it to see if it would be easy to rebuild it. Every single screw that held the back of the case on was fucking overtightened to the point of breaking the plastic tab. The screen in the front panel is connected by hdmi though, so that's interesting.
>>956914
You cant order from a website like Deal Extreme or some other chinese website?
Its what I do
>>956914
right, because some faggot from CZECH and another faggot from hungary can distribute their own printer parts, but you cant find the proper setup
in the fucking country
where they make
ARDUINO
http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-mega2560-a4988-ramps-1-4-3d-printer-kit-for-arduino-reprap.html
$45, thats what... 25 lira? with $5 USD shipping
globalization faggot
>>957054
holy fuck the euro is basically at par with the dollar that shit fucking crashed harrrrrd
>>954906
Different model but when mine had the problem it was because I was running too many amps to it.
>>957054
>from Czech
why do I keep seeing this
>>957054
believe it or not, in "the fucking country where arduino it's produced" webstores are not good enough, and if i buy from another country (even next to mine) shipping costs rise well above 10€.
also:
>lira
you fucked up m8
normally i pay 6,90€ for shipping
>>957018
Yea I keep swinging back and forth on if I like makerbot or not.
After the demise of the thingomatics, and stratasys buying that shit, everything is going wrong for them. They need to just run thingiverse and that's it.
the printer design is... Interesting. For starters, they use coreXY... And then stick a direct drive extruder on it, completely defeating the point entirely. Then, if you take off the back panel, there is duct tape everywhere. The board itself ain't bad, and the HDMI is a cool add on, but holy shit guys, get some Chinese child slaves to make this thing and actually design it to be optimized for something.
And then we get to the smart extruder. If you haven't been following maker got here is what went down: strata says bought makerbot. Not long after, stratashit's lust for DRM lead to the smart extruder. It was a colossal failure. To recoup losses and punish makerbot, stratasys laid off 20% of makerbot staff. They then asked makerbot to begin working on the next few printers. Missing 20% of their staff, they obviously didn't make quota. Stratasays, buy now, is in a tizzy that their new tech startup was having issues, so what did they do? They laid off another 20% of makerbot staff. This new smart extruder+ is their attempt to do whatever damage control they can, but they have a bunch of makers working on a machine that is as doomed to fail as the 3D systems cube. Using non-makerbot filament already voids the warrentee on the bot. If stratasys suggests chipped filament to makerbot, that's the nail in the coffin for our poor old friend.
I don't blame makerbot for having shitty products. In fact, I feel sorry for what happened to them. Thingomatics are what originally got me into 3D printing in the first place, and it's really a shame that industrial grade giants are doing this.
>>957258
By far the worst part of Makerbot is the patent trolling they are doing by stealing technology from the open source designs and try to patent them
>get put in charge of getting the company 3D printer up and running again
>it's a CubeX
Just how bad of a time am I in for?
>>957258
Patenting the comunity created Thingomatic is one of the early shit moves they pulled. That later turned into a whole streak. I don't realy see a relation to Stratasys.
>>957258
CoreXY's "point" is kinda stupid to begin with. The only moving axis motor on an i3 is the X-axis motor, which moves along the Z-axis. The Z-axis hardly moves a lot or fast so it's seriously a non-issue. And you can use a bowden setup on an i3 anyway.
Removing the y-axis moving bed is probably the real biggest improvement CoreXY has, coupled with the fact it requires a substantial (heavy), very rigid frame. Most people probably don't have their i3s bolted down to a solid surface, so shaking and sliding due to the y-axis bed is probably the main problem for most people.
>>957271
I never understood the reasoning behind a bowden on an i3. Isn't the Y axis mass already a bottleneck on speed even with a direct drive/geared extruder
>>957299
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSiWot9tib8
this guy explains it pretty well
>>957299
I don't understand bowdens in general. The speedcap I usually hit is cooling time. Is it only relevant when printing big stuff?
>>957350
I think it has more to do with reducing phenomena like ghosting than it does speed. You can technically achieve 60mm/s on an i3 with a metal frame as long as it doesn't move, but you'll see some weird defects.
>>957266
So long as you know how to replace the control board with an open source one, you'll be fine.
The CUBEX has three extruders, so you need a RAMPS-FD, RADDS or a duet to run them all.
>>949924
first time here, would like some help looking for someone who takes commissions. I dont have the money for my own printer and just want someone to do a small project. I'm of course willing to pay for all that is needed I just need someone who can do it. if anyone can help m please let me know.
>>957837
https://www.3dhubs.com
If youre in any non-godforsaken country in the world, there should be a printer near you, or at least one that can ship to you.
>>957839
awesome, thanks. know anywhere I can make a file blueprint? I dont have any idea
>>957840
> file blueprint
Wut?
You mean an STL file?
>>957827
The Cubex is available with one, two, or three extruders. Ours has two.
>>957841
sorry, I dont know anything at all about these things. the website asks me to upload a file as soon as i open it.
>>957842
Oh, then you can just rewire all the motors to a RAMPS for like 30 bucks.
I am always distrustful of 3d systems, mainly because they have already said they will be abandoning the Cube, despite the fact they are still selling it in Microsoft stores. No producers of chipped filament means all of those printers will be glorified bricks once the manufacturer backs out, and selling printers that will not be able to get filament just seems... Unethical to me.
I would hook the printer up to a open source hardware board and not look back.
>>957846
That's the STL file of the part you want to get printed.
>>957851
ok so how do i go about making my own? I have not found what im thinking of on 3dhubs yet
>>957852
You'll need some sort of 3D modeling software that can output to STL.
>>957854
damn, so thats out. thanks for taking the time to help
>>957852
STLs are typically made on a CAD software.
The good free ones are OpenSCAD (http://www.openscad.org/) and I personally like OnShape (https://www.onshape.com/)
Learning to CAD isnt something you learn overnight. If you need a bunch of parts all the time like some of us on here, its worth learning. However, if you just need one part done, its not that complicated, and you have a drawing of it, post an image of your drawing, with dimensions, and I'll CAD it for you if you want.
>>957856
I fell my pc isnt up to specs to run stuff like that. I only have one thing i want to do anyway so would you mind giving me you email then so when im dont drawing it up I could send it?
>>957858
Sure.
My fakemail is [email protected]. Once you have a basic drawing done, let me know and so long as it is not crazy looking or stupid difficult to CAD I can probably do it in like five minutes.
I need something that looks somewhat like pic related. If its missing dimensions, ill let you know.
No viruses pls.
>>957862
thank you so so much for the help. it has been really hard for me to find someone who could help. I think I spent 2 weeks looking for help. I will send an email with the subject "CAD drawing" from my fakemail. [email protected]
>>957864
No problem.
Since the likely hood of me being anywhere near you is so low, i cant print it for you, but I can certainly get an STL file done for you to buy from someone nearby you on 3D hubs.
>>957868
Holy crap is that guy reading that at gunpoint?
That shouldn't be too difficult. The hardest part would be getting the organic shape of the grip, but that might just be fillets. The joystick might be a challenge, but let me know how you intend to deal with that. I've been printing for years, so I know what works and what doesn't.
Assuming you print it all as one part, that's about the size of most printers. Unless your hub is some shit, it should be able to print it.
>>957872
lol I thought the same when I first saw it. in the related videos I saw this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCAUpQg670Y
you dont see it until 5:30 of the vid though so just fast forward to the end. I was hoping on almost exactly that.
>>957875
The frame for that looks really easy to both make and print. Do you already have the electronics you need for it to take measurements off?
>>957877
I do, yeah
>>957878
Alright then, that takes a lot of the guesswork out.
Email me what you got in terms of dimensions when you got it.
>>957879
Will do.
>>949924
I've ordered this printer because reviews seemed pretty good. Anything I should know? (Newbie in terms of 3D printing)
>>958148
read this thread
What are good places to buy filaments from that ship to Romania? Good european shops? Which ones have good prices incl. shipping?
Looking mostly for ABS and PLA, but honestly also other filaments like flexible filaments (Ninjaflex/Filaflex come to mind), etc.
>>958628
don't fall for that flex bullshit, the only things i'v seen printed with flex stuff are gay bracelets
>>958652
I've seen more than that. The material looks pretty solid for things like custom wheels, joints, etc.
Please give arguments though, is the material bad?
>>958656
Not that guy, but the material isnt bad per se.
Its just really expensive, and its very very hard to print well.
I thought the custom wheels looked great too, but I know its a nightmare to actually print.
>come to /3DPG/ to see if anyone is talking about PID bed settings
>Find "pid"
>6 matches found
>1 for actual pid talk
>the other 5 are calling people stupid
>AYYYYLMAO
>>958674
One interesting thing I learned while calibrating a new hotend over the weekend: increasing the PID controlled range from 10 to 15C helped. Not sure if relevant to bed tuning. Are there specific issues you're having?
hatchbox wood PLA thoughts, or just wood PLA in general?
difficulty of printing, how layers are, sanding/smell, etc, has anyone used it?
>>957266
The old cubex printers are garbage. >>957827
Replace the controller board and expect to do some more work to get it working well. I tried replacing the magnetic z home switch with a mechanical one and upgraded to a heated bed.
The new cube pro seems to be pretty nice. I was talking with a distributor and they told me they were greatly improved over the cubex so I took a small leap of faith and bought one off ebay. It seems good so far. Don't like the software (Will probably upgrade to simplify3d) and not thrilled about the chipped cartridges but if the quality remains high I'll be ok with more expensive prints.
>>957849
The Cubex uses the same filament as the Cube Pro printers which they are still producing. I think they will continue to produce the filament for the cubes as well as support the owners.
Have any of you ever tried running OctoPrint?
>>958939
Ive run it. Pi B+
Runs ok, pretty laggy and can lock up from time to time. The Camera works pretty good though. The timelapse software is hit and miss too.
Its been a good 8 months or so since I used it, so maybe its a better updated thing now. It was certainly more convenient than having another PC to control my printer though.
Is this printer worth it? Dual extruders seems really good for the price. (free shipping to where I am)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-3d-Printer-for-Makerbot-Replicator-2-1-Roll-Free-PLA-or-ABS-Filament
>>959015
>Dual extruders seems really good
well it would be even nicer if they actually worked
pretty much general consensus on Makerbot is avoid it like it is a plague
>>959016
It's a chinese Makerbot clone though.
i did a review of my sunhokey prusa i3 2015 here: https://hackaday.io/page/1569-3d-printer-sunhokey-prusa-i3-2015
my first 3d printer btw.
Doing a few test prints. My big problem is that there are little holes on top of the print. Is the general consensus to lower temperature or increase filling?
>>959064
could be a number of issues. Have you gone through the calibration guide on the reprap wiki?
How many layers of horizontal perimeters are you printing?
>>959017
up all i saw was makerbot replicator 2
i instantly went
nopenopenope.jpg
Ok then since it is a replica it is probably using standard parts not makerbot proprietary shit.
So in that case it is most likely ok.
>>959064
Why does that say eontrol?
>>959137
Yes it does. Their quality eontrol is top kek.
>>958939
Yep. SD card is superior.
>>959068
Two, .8mm with a .4mm nozzle
>>959182
Story checks out.
are TPE filaments body-safe? I want to 3d-print a dildo to shove up my ass.
>>959512
wear a condom with any of the plastics, it will be inherently porous regardless
>>959518
alright
are $15 chinese ebay hotends any good?
>>959519
They are very hit and miss in the quality control.
Not only that full metal hotends (even expensive ones) can be fussy at time.
Are you trying to upgrade a printer or build it from scratch or something?
>>959521
trying to build one from scratch for sub-300
>>959522
Itll lay plastic for the time being
Just remember once you are up and running it should probably be one of the first things you upgrade
>>959523
cool thanks
Are there any decent kits on aliexpress?
Been putting together my Chinese i3, so far hasn't been anything wrong except the gears came pre-installed backwards. Both wires for the extruder heater are red though. Does it matter which terminal I put them into? Seems like it wouldn't, cause its just a heater, but I dont want to blow anything up.
>>959798
There is no polarity for the heater cartridge, just hook it up.
>>959802
Thanks. Didn't think it'd need any specific polarity, but >china.
Is the monoprice Maker Select a decent starter printer?
Everyone recommends going big but I just want to hobby around with a printer. It need not be large or perfect, I don't mind a little sanding, etc.
What is a good budget printer between 300-500?
Was looking at XYZ, Prusa's, and Solidoodle etc. I know makerbot or nothing, but for a hobby I'm unsure about I don't really want to go all in a few grand. Buyers guide doesn't really cover this.
It would be inside so I'm thinking enclosed or one its easy to build a safe enclosure for would be a good idea due to fumes.
>>960036
If you don't need the absolute best, expandable, power user machine, printrbots, oneUps, and M3Ds are fairly nice entry machines.they don't have heated beds, so they can only really do PLA, but PLA doesn't produce fumes, so you don't need an enclosure.
>>960036
depends how much money do zou want to pay for it.
>>960049
I have been only printing ABS and without an enclosure for over 2 years. Not braindead yet. But does anyone know for sure whether the amount of fumes created by printing is actually bad for you? I keep thinking that this only applies once you have a farm of printers...
Anyone having a business and making money with 3D printing?
>>960201
I've been selling stuff to friends who want silly plastic shit. Next Halloween I might try and make a few bucks selling costume bits that are hard to make, like helmets from Fallout, Star Wars, Halo, and so on.
>>960201
I actually own an LLC. We mainly do specialized plastics for the local university (all their printers only do, at best, aBS), so we can make some cash selling PC, PMMA, flexible, and others. In addition, we have to be careful with what we can and cannot make, but we have had people ask us for gun parts like extended mags or rail mounts, which is something the university won't touch with a ten foot pole.
>>960050
Useful info, but not really any recommendations for the range I'm shooting for.
Was considering ABS just because I'm familiar with the material unlike PLA.
Its to make small novelties and I do a bit of casting and mold making so being able to print a part to refine rather than starting from scratch with clay and MDF would be pretty handy.
I've used Sketch Up in the past, thinking maybe it translates well to 123 Design or maybe even works for this.
The feeder gears keep fucking up. Gnaws a groove into the filament instead of feeding it properly. Should I tighten them or loosen them?
Are there general rules of thumb for increasing printing speed? I can print reliably with my Prusa with PLA at 220 degrees at 25mm/s, but I am not sure how I would go about making it print faster reliably in any way other than just increasing the temperature.
>>960357
Loosen of course
>>960363
Alright, thanks. I was thinking that if I loosened it, it'd be like a tire in dirt and just get stuck more. Its a real pain in the ass taking the whole extruder apart to clip the filament.
>>960364
See if the temperature isn't high enough or if the extruder is partly clogged too. Filament grinding is the pain of my existence, and it can usually be traced to one of three reasons.
Considering a HICTOP Prusa I3, how possible is it to build a safe enclosure to keep fumes from being an issue?
Would be in a bedroom temporarily. Or is there better in that range or within a couple hundred dollars.
>>960379
>build box
>add rubber feet to box
>cut hole in back of box
>stig ur dig in :DDDDD
>put pipe leading from hole in box to outside window
>?????
>profit
>>960387
Do enclosed models have a pipe? Never see it in the pictures like Solidoodle or DaVinci Jr just show a box.
>>960364
It needs to barely leave nicks in your filament.
Its one of those things were people unknowingly tighten it way too tight.
Extruders dont care and its hard to tell blind, you can crush and deform filament very easily in them. And when they are being deformed they grind a lot easier.
Of course like the other anon said, there are legit reasons for a correctly tensioned extruder to grind. But a very likely scenario is you tightening it too much.
Take your hotend off, and then run plastic through your extruder. Tighten/loosen it to where it is very slightly cutting into the plastic.
If you are running somthing like a Wades extruder, hold the big gear firmly and pull the filament. It should spin the gear you are holding firmly instead of the filament slipping out of the extruder. If it slips out you arent tight enough. If you cant hold the gear, and it isnt crushing it, youll be good
>>960389
No they dont, what that guy is saying is to build a large enclosure around it.
I personally made one and I use dryer vent hose that goes to a piece of wood for the window. A 120mm fan forces the air out. It works well enough.
>>960393
Guess that would work. I worry about the cat getting out the window or the heating/air bill going up from having it partly open.
Wonder how the ones with no pipe manage it or if there is a good one that is enclosed that is similar.
>>960330
M3D can do ABS because it has buildtak. It takes some fighting, but it can.
A Chinese I3 Needs some work, but it will do what you want fairly easily.
>>960415
Cool thank you. M3D seem a bit pricey for what they are, but I had looked at them.
i3 was definitely a consideration. Was thinking of just making a plexiglass box around it, not so sure it would really even need venting, others don't.
Though for the cost of plexiglass I wonder if there is a slightly higher model that comes enclosed. Seems really hard to tell their performance at a glance and what features are must haves even on the cheap end.
>>960389
>>960393
>>960406
One route you could go with is using what's called a Fume Trap. They're used in some industries where fumes or particulates need to be ejected from the workspace, like soldering or something.
You would still need somewhere for the fumes to go though. The window doesn't have to be fully open, you can just have it open an inch 1/2 or so, provided the pipe you're using is small enough.
>>960426
>Though for the cost of plexiglass
Look into acrylic or actual glass.
Guy with the fucked up extruder again. So I opened it up to see if I could loosen the spring, and realized that no, I cant. There's nothing to adjust it with. Gonna clean out the extruder with wire tomorrow, but if that doesn't fix it is there any ghetto way of lessening the pressure?
>>960438
you could always try bending the spring yourself
>>960442
I actually might need to do that. The things seems pretty fucking taught right now.
What's the deal with the 220 dollar Aliexpress 3d printers? Are they trash?
Also, I'm looking for someone to design a clip for a WSON-8 bios chip. Where should I look?
>>960429
Have one of those on an airbrush cleaner, basically a cotton ball jammed in a vent. Works though.
I just don't know the hazards of PLA and ABS. If its a little stinky I can deal, but if its long term exposure gives you brain damage or something then I would like to avoid that. I'm not the brightest as it is.
So how much hell is calibration? M3D auto calibrates which sounds useful, but i3 has a way larger print area. But I don't mind a small area if what comes out of it is fairly good.
So /diy/, since I'm at home for break for a week I thought I'd try to get my old PrintrBot LC up and running again. Ever since I got my Prusa I've been using that near-constantly, but it doesn't seem to print ABS well and I've got ~3kg of 3mm filament lying around so figured I might as well try to get it working again.
Only problem is that it's giving me pic related as an error, when I KNOW that it's not reaching any sort of temperature that would be considered unacceptable. The maximum actual temp reached is ~205C, and the /displayed/ temp (on the graph) is ~240C - which doesn't make sense that it would send out an "overheat" warning at that low temperature. What's going on? What do I need to do to troubleshoot?
>>960036
My i3 (from Josef Prusa himself) is doing fine. No issues with it so far, and it's doing great on quality (.1mm no problem).
>>960455
Physical calibration is easy. The hard part is figuring out what settings you should use with your slicer.
>>960496
could be a broken thermistor
Any anons know what causes this? My printer will print fine for several layers, but occasionally lay down some shit layers like in the upper section of this print. Then it goes right back to normal. I swear it does this shit when I look away and resumes printing fine when I look at it again.
No settings were changed mid-print, ceiling fan off. Printing with ColorFabb's nGen at 300 micron. P3Steel.
Any thoughts on the Solidoodle Press or Apprentice?
Seems easy to use and nicely made.
>>960567
(cont'd)
I've gone over both the RepRapWiki and Simplify3D troubleshooting guides several times and everything is calibrated per Triffid Hunter's calibration guide. My printer has been running very well for months now, but this one sporadic issue is something I haven't been able to figure out yet.
>>960573
Is there anything different in the model at that hight? Like a hole or something that we can't see from this angle. It might corelate with that even if it's on the other side of the object
