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Update on my Ord Bot Hadron build: Death by a thousand cuts to my wallet and patience. The completed structure is sitting there taunting me while I constantly find new parts I need. Machine screws, little wire connectors (gave up on this after Radio Shack/Hobby stores, just gonna solder wires -*edit* not onto the RAMPS, don't worry- or hack up a Dell motherboard and power supply I got for $5 at GoodWill). Today I wanted to get the RAMPS board mounted and the motors spinning, but that got foiled by the machine screws not QUITE fitting the holes. Aside from that though, I think I actually do have everything I need to print at this point, it's just not hacksawed, assembled, soldered, taped, and connected. I'm still looking for something to put on the bottom of the heated bed sandwich. Right now I'm planning on: Glass Aluminum sheet (How thick is too thick? And how thin?) Mk1 Prusa Heated Bed Silicone Oven Mat 8.5x8.5 piece of thin wood or steel cut from a computer/VHS player case. Locus fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Oct 9, 2012 |
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Oct 9, 2012 01:58
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Just picked up a solidoodle 2. What's the best/cheapest place to pick up 1.75mm PLA?
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Oct 9, 2012 04:01
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 Well my budget is going out the window. I'm thinking of getting a Mojo 3D Printer now, but my concern is it only prints one color of ABS and I'm not sure about the durability of a painted finish. I could get 8 colors with the uPrintSe but thats double the money on top of that. The parts I'll be making and selling will recoup the cost of a commercial printer... but with that in mind the Mojo is at the upper limit of my budget that I'm comfortable with absorbing.. I'll have to finish modeling my parts and send the stl files out to a few vendors to test their printers and see which ones I get the best results from. Roland and Stratasys has decent leasing programs with low startup costs so I'm leaning in that direction..I guess I was really turned off by some of the rep rap open source stuff, but that could be that individual build platform, I'll need so meet someone whos getting good prints out of a hobbyist printer...
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Oct 10, 2012 19:46
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greenman100 posted:Just picked up a solidoodle 2. What's the best/cheapest place to pick up 1.75mm PLA? welp... 
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Oct 10, 2012 21:48
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greenman100 posted:welp... One of the many. Do you frequent their google group? This is a pretty common thing sadly and I see similar posts about it all the time. Given how frequently this happens youd think theyd change the way they pack the machines or change shippers. Nope.
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Oct 11, 2012 03:55
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Blackchamber posted:One of the many. Do you frequent their google group? This is a pretty common thing sadly and I see similar posts about it all the time. Given how frequently this happens youd think theyd change the way they pack the machines or change shippers. Nope. I've started reading the group. and soliforum.com. I actually did fix it temporarily, long enough to do a test print:   They're supposed to be mailing me new parts this week. I really have mixed feelings. I'm blown away that I can 3D print in my own house, but disappointed in a few aspects of the Solidoodle. I don't think any of its competitors have everything figured out either, but the SD2 is *so close* to being great. After a couple hours getting the kinks worked out, things have been pretty smooth. greenman100 fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Oct 11, 2012 |
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Oct 11, 2012 05:11
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greenman100 posted:
I really like the surface lines on that duck! I know some people hate that aesthetic, but combined with the colour it reminds of something from an Apple ][. 
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Oct 11, 2012 10:00
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techknight posted:I really like the surface lines on that duck! I know some people hate that aesthetic, but combined with the colour it reminds of something from an Apple ][. I think the lines will get better once I'm actively driving both sides of the Y axis, and after some calibration tweaks. Other than ghetto-rigging the broken part, i havent done anything. It's not bad, IMO!
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Oct 11, 2012 14:18
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Is the lead time still high on the solid doodle 2? Last time I checked it was several weeks to a month and a half to get a unit, if its under a week I'll order one today to play around with while I decide on what commercial printer to lease in a month or two... /edit Nevermind, looks like they're still filling backorders from months back... Anything else I should look at thats under $1000 that's assembled w/ a heated build table? That's shipping? I'm working on a few stl files now to send off to a few commercial vendors for evaluation. Hopefully I can get something going on the side to get the printer to pay for itself then I can have some fun with it. Maybe I'll go over and drop by deezmaker this weekend and see if they have any extra bukobots Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Oct 11, 2012 |
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Oct 11, 2012 20:54
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Is anyone here registered at the printrbottalk.com forums? http://www.printrbottalk.com/forum/ucp.php?mode=register I'm trying to register and when I fill everything out I keep getting a "One of your responses below was not correct" note and nothing happens. I've tried a few different user names, emails and passwords but it is never satisfied. I also can't find any contact information on the site that I can access without registering so I can't get in touch with anyone on the site. Figured if one of you guys were my "in" I could at least shoot an email to one of their mods or something.
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Oct 13, 2012 03:01
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Impact Damage posted:Is anyone here registered at the printrbottalk.com forums? Registering worked just fine for me. Are you doing both parts of the image captcha?
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Oct 14, 2012 05:15
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Ohh, I didn't even see that captcha. I haven't seen one like that before, it registered in my mind as some kind of ad and I completely ignored it every time I tried to register.
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Oct 14, 2012 22:25
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Check out this awesome variant of the Bukobot Flyer by Andrew Plumb - made by printing PLA directly onto tissue paper:  http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/10/21/working-glider-3d-printed-directly-onto-tissue-paper/
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Oct 22, 2012 06:08
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That is really awesome, i need to get my printer running again but goddamit where is the video of it flying 
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Oct 22, 2012 17:01
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Quick question: Does anyone know of a good source for 5x8mm flexible couplers? Like this: The only ones I'm seeing online are from China, with the associated shipping times. My ORD Bot is working pretty good so far (I haven't sorted a good power supply out yet, so I've only been running the motors, not an extruder/heatbed), but I'm leery about the Z-axis. I have it squared pretty well, but occasionally one motor will bind up a tiny bit, make the gantry uneven, then lock everything up. Also gently caress the imperial measurement system, we should have switched to metric decades ago.  techknight posted:Check out this awesome variant of the Bukobot Flyer by Andrew Plumb - made by printing PLA directly onto tissue paper: That's really clever! I imagine that kind of concept could apply to a lot of different construction techniques, not just with tissue paper and airplanes.
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Oct 22, 2012 18:10
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Locus posted:Also gently caress the imperial measurement system, we should have switched to metric decades ago. Bullshit, Europe already foisted one measurement system on us only to switch horses themselves a few centuries later, and now they're working on another one (because the International Prototype Kilogram, foundation of the entire system, is changing weight due to atomic decay  ). Sure, it's being reconfigured on the back end this time instead of new names, but I think enough is enough. We don't need another brand-new "revolutionary" system of measurement from Europe! tl;dr: My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.
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Oct 22, 2012 18:28
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Locus posted:Quick question: Does anyone know of a good source for 5x8mm flexible couplers? Like this: At work I buy those from RS. Not the cheapest but next day delivery, plus when it's not your credit card you tend not to worry about every penny 
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Oct 22, 2012 18:53
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Ok, I got my makergear M2, I've been printing basically non-stop for a week, and I'm tepid about the investment. I was actually hoping for better overall prints, however quality seems to be in line with the the unfinished prints I've seen elsewhere, so I'm not going to complain too much. My biggest problem seems to be getting good adhesion with PLA, I've started wiping a mixture of glue and water on the glass before starting and that seems to have fantastic results. I am however having a hell of a time with Slic3r, I have a terminator mask for a buddy of mine that he'd like for halloween if at all possible. The lower jaw is printed, and now I want to get the upper jaw and cheeks printed. It's within the printable area for the printer and it looks good, BUT Slic3r 9.3 crashes whenever I try to generate support material for it, and it will not print without the support material (I've tried a few times resulting in a dislodged print each time. With how little time is remaining and what is likely a 14 hour print job ahead of me I'm hoping someone here who uses another program besides slicer can do up the g code for me with proper supports. Printer is using 1.75mm PLA filament. Here are the slicer settings I am using: Anyone who is interested in helping please PM/IM/Email (starslayer@gmail.com) code:
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Oct 28, 2012 19:38
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What about just adding printed supports of the same media, and trimming them off when it's done?
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Oct 29, 2012 15:54
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Splizwarf posted:What about just adding printed supports of the same media, and trimming them off when it's done? Its kind of obnoxious and you can end up damaging your print depending on how fragile it is.
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Oct 29, 2012 15:57
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hobbesmaster posted:Its kind of obnoxious and you can end up damaging your print depending on how fragile it is. Oh, I'm sure, molding flash is pain enough. I don't mean generally, I mean to get him through this particular problem in a hurry. It can't be too delicate if someone's going to be wearing it as a mask. It's also probably getting painted.
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Oct 29, 2012 16:00
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Splizwarf posted:What about just adding printed supports of the same media, and trimming them off when it's done? This is what I want to do (the makergear M2 only has a single print head)- Slic3r is supposed to be able to calculate and do this automatically, but it crashes when I attempt it. I was hoping someone who's more familiar with one of the other programs could generate the .gcode for me and send it back for me to print. Manually adding supports is an option, but I am REALLY new to '3d modelling for printing' and I am likely to foul it, severely or add way too much support, or way too little.
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Oct 29, 2012 18:58
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Linux Assassin posted:This is what I want to do (the makergear M2 only has a single print head)- Slic3r is supposed to be able to calculate and do this automatically, but it crashes when I attempt it. I was hoping someone who's more familiar with one of the other programs could generate the .gcode for me and send it back for me to print. Manually adding supports is an option, but I am REALLY new to '3d modelling for printing' and I am likely to foul it, severely or add way too much support, or way too little. Did you try running your STL through netfabb's cloud service to fix models? Back when I hung out in the #reprap channel all the time, 9 times out of 10, this fixed a slic3r crash.
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Oct 29, 2012 19:15
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Obsurveyor posted:Did you try running your STL through netfabb's cloud service to fix models? Back when I hung out in the #reprap channel all the time, 9 times out of 10, this fixed a slic3r crash. Yep, before I did that slic3r would not even process it without support.
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Oct 29, 2012 20:19
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Linux Assassin posted:This is what I want to do (the makergear M2 only has a single print head)- Slic3r is supposed to be able to calculate and do this automatically, but it crashes when I attempt it. I was hoping someone who's more familiar with one of the other programs could generate the .gcode for me and send it back for me to print. Manually adding supports is an option, but I am REALLY new to '3d modelling for printing' and I am likely to foul it, severely or add way too much support, or way too little. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you meant you were trying to do something with dual extrusion or account for a pre-made support. My bad.
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Oct 29, 2012 20:35
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Has anybody ever played around with using 3D printing tech to print etch resist masks for printed circuit boards? I just realized that it could be really cool to print out a circuit positive, etch, wash, and then re-print an insulation mask over the traces. Obviously not cost-effective compared to the '$49 laser printer and some transparency film" method, but it would have some advantages.
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Oct 29, 2012 21:08
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Jonny 290 posted:Has anybody ever played around with using 3D printing tech to print etch resist masks for printed circuit boards? I just realized that it could be really cool to print out a circuit positive, etch, wash, and then re-print an insulation mask over the traces. Obviously not cost-effective compared to the '$49 laser printer and some transparency film" method, but it would have some advantages. Why would you have to re-print? Put your circuit board directly on the printer, print only the lines you want to keep, etch away the copper, wash, and scrape away the contact solder points only, the traces will be covered with a layer of either ABS or PLA (or whatever other plastic you use). Only crevat will be 'does PLA/ABS get eaten by the etchant'
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Oct 29, 2012 21:30
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Yeah, I guess you could do it in a single pass if you could selectively clean off your solder pads. I was taking the more hamfisted approach, but you're totally right.
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Oct 29, 2012 21:31
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People do circuit board etching with 3D printers. Rather than using the actual extruder, you can just do 2D plotting with the right etch-resist marker. http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Automated_Circuitry_Making http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Plotting In other news, I've got my ORD Bot with a freshly assembled extruder/hot end sitting here ready to be plugged into two modified PC power supplies. I don't 100% trust the power supplies, as I had to really jam the wiring in to close them back up... but regardless, the moment of truth will arrive soon. Locus fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Oct 29, 2012 |
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Oct 29, 2012 21:42
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Solved my own problem; I feel foolish for not realizing it sooner, but I will share just in case others run into a similar problem. Do not use a 32 bit program for doing massive memory operations, anything that takes up more then 30% of your bed size may very easily require > 2GB of RAM which is the max that a 32 bit program can address. Slic3r crashes without much explanation when this takes place. There is a 64bit version of slic3r available, use that on a 64 bit operating system for slicing, just to be sure.
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Oct 30, 2012 04:27
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Well poo poo. My RAMPS board won't turn on any more. I don't think it was even the power supply, my multitester was reading about 12 volts stable, and I had used that supply with the RAMPS board before rewiring it with binding posts and a switch. The only other thing that changed between this time, and the last time I used it was plugging in the hot end, extruder motor, and extruder thermistor. What should I do? It's not responding to USB or 12v power. *edit* Quadruple checked that I hadn't reversed the polarity. Nope. Power resistor cables read something like 6.4 ohms which sounds right, and I don't THINK the RAMPS board just shoots power through that thing on startup anyway... What the heck.  *edit* Ok, I was right. it wasn't the power supply, it was the extruder motor being plugged in. I unplugged the stepper driver (which I suspect might be of low quality, as the potentiometer has no stop, and can turn freely forever, not sure?), and now it starts up. I'm relieved, but wary of frying more. I only have one extra left, as the board came with 5. *edit2* Nope I was right about the power supply (which is golden), but wrong about the real problem. The stepper driver is fine. I must have inadvertently switched some wires on an endstop when I installed the extruder, and apparently connecting a closed switch to the SIG/GND instead of VCC/GND pins can cause the board to simply not work. Problem solved though. Locus fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Oct 30, 2012 |
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Oct 30, 2012 05:11
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Does anyone here use Marlin and a max Z-axis endstop? I'm trying to figure out if there's a more graceful method than "Hit your max Z endstop, then go down by 10mm increments until your hot-end is touching the print surface, then call M114, and do some math to get a new max Z distance to enter in the firmware" etc. I had assumed it (pronterface) would generate its own max Z-distance each time I reset the RAMPS board, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Homing it just informs the software that it is now at the max Z-height as defined in the firmware, travel distance ignored. Yes I've smashed the hot end into the bed several times and had to put new tape on it. 
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Oct 31, 2012 02:49
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Locus posted:Does anyone here use Marlin and a max Z-axis endstop? My M2 at least does X homing, then Y homing then Z homing, and the X/Y is ever so slightly OFF the edge of the glass. After homing I can lift the Z a bit and get my .2mm feeler gauge out to see if its high enough yet. If you can't do that then your actual problem may be your X and Y home. If instead pressing home on pronterface does not do that you may have another problem. Edit: Wait- when you go to your max Z distance it is well above the board? Side note- don't use tape; use a dillution of normal white glue and water, adhesion is actually superior to the tape and its easier to apply. 1:32 for heated print bed.
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Oct 31, 2012 04:09
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Half my posts seem to be complaining about things in this thread, now that I'm building a printer, but honestly I'm having a lot of fun, and the process is very intellectually stimulating. I got my first printing started, and have problems to solve with wonky 5mm-walled squares. But, back on the negative side, my Z-axis stepper driver started malfunctioning (locking, going in random directions), so I replaced it with my only spare driver. Replaced it the wrong way around.  So I'll be fine-tuning the printing process once I order another A4988 and it gets delivered.Linux Assassin posted:Edit: Wait- when you go to your max Z distance it is well above the board? Yeah, exactly. I actually am starting to like this system now that it's dialed in correctly, and I guess the method I was asking about earlier is best. The logic in putting your endstop at max (numerically speaking) Z distance is that you can adjust numbers in software rather than moving the endstop pin (what the switch hits). I don't know about other printer designs, but on the ORD Bot, these pins are impossible to reach when the carrier plates are over them. So you'd have to run the Z-axis down, wait for it to click, check the distance, run the Z-axis back up, unscrew the pin, slide it down a tiny bit, and just keep repeating that until it's properly aligned. Both methods are a pain in the rear end actually, but there's less fiddling here I think.
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Oct 31, 2012 20:55
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Locus posted:So you'd have to run the Z-axis down, wait for it to click, check the distance, run the Z-axis back up, unscrew the pin, slide it down a tiny bit, and just keep repeating that until it's properly aligned. Both methods are a pain in the rear end actually, but there's less fiddling here I think. I believe Hall effect sensors alleviate having to move anything, you can just turn the pot up or down. I haven't installed mine yet. I really need to make some time to work on getting ORD back up and running.
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Oct 31, 2012 22:56
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You know, I was actually misremembering the endstop pin locations on this ORD Bot. The Z-axis pin is always accessible, it's just the X and Y pins that get covered by plates. So a Z-min endstop could work easily. I'll have to experiment, but for now I do like having software control of the distance to the bed.Obsurveyor posted:I believe Hall effect sensors alleviate having to move anything, you can just turn the pot up or down. I haven't installed mine yet. I really need to make some time to work on getting ORD back up and running. Huh, that's cool. Adjusting a potentiometer until it trips, with your hot end sitting at the right spot sounds great. Maybe I'll try to set one up for my Z-axis some day. I guess this thing is about the only packaged device floating around right now? - http://reprap.org/wiki/Hall-%CE%98 I can't tell if they're sold anywhere but the Netherlands supplier. Also, it yesterday it clicked why my first stepper driver burned out. My cable setup was temporary and crude, and the Z-axis motor connector had gotten loose and disconnected a little bit while it was running. Apparently that can build up a charge in the drivers. I'll clamp everything down when it's back up and running.
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Nov 1, 2012 14:35
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Speaking of limit switches: Anyone with an ORD bot or extrusion-based 3D printer want some t-slot nuts with 3/16 sized holes and matching set screws? Free for the US only. I ordered these from Misumi because I didn't like how close the belts were to the switch levers and M4 sized set screws on my Hadron. You can only get them in quantities of 100 and I accidentally ordered two bags. So I have 150 extra t-slot nuts and 40 t-slot nuts/set screw combos. Private message me your mailing address and how many you want. Requesting these is pointless if you don't have an aluminum extrusion based 3D printer, so please don't request unless you need them. Requests in the thread will be ignored and I'll probably ignore your PM too if you post a request.
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Nov 2, 2012 00:00
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I'm having a bit of trouble connecting my Prusa to the computer, I haven't used it in awhile and now have a fresh instal of windows and can't remember all the software needed to make the drat things talk to each other. I figured since the electronics already have been flashed with the firmware I shouldn't need to worry about running Arduino. When plugged in windows detects the USB and installs the drivers, I have downloaded Pronterface but it won't connect. I know I'm just missing something simple as I have done this successfully twice before, any hints to what I'm doing wrong or forgetting?
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Nov 2, 2012 06:54
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General Apathy posted:I'm having a bit of trouble connecting my Prusa to the computer, I haven't used it in awhile and now have a fresh instal of windows and can't remember all the software needed to make the drat things talk to each other. I figured since the electronics already have been flashed with the firmware I shouldn't need to worry about running Arduino. When plugged in windows detects the USB and installs the drivers, I have downloaded Pronterface but it won't connect. I know I'm just missing something simple as I have done this successfully twice before, any hints to what I'm doing wrong or forgetting? Do you have the correct com port and bitrate selected? bitrate is gonna depend on your firmware settings.
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Nov 2, 2012 08:20
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peepsalot posted:Do you have the correct com port and bitrate selected? bitrate is gonna depend on your firmware settings. Yeah I'm using COM3 which is the one that appears when I turn the printer on and a 115200 baudrate which I'm pretty sure is the one I've been using, though I have tried the others with no luck. After failing to connect Pronterface will just spit out some gibberish like ńMr!éLžN. I have tried some other host programs but none of them want to connect. Edit: Just restarted my computer and now it connects! Yay time to print plastic things instead of revising for exams. General Apathy fucked around with this message at 08:37 on Nov 2, 2012 |
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Nov 2, 2012 08:30
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