MakerBots, RepRaps and UP!s: It's 3D printers!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > MakerBots, RepRaps and UP!s: It's 3D printers!

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Stupid_Sexy_Flander: Mar 14, 2007; Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?; Grimey Drawer

Had a bit of a tard moment. Releveled my bed on the elegoo mars but forgot to do it without the resin, so basically I've wasted like 3 days wondering why prints keep failing.

So, cleaned it up, got it releveled, and now printing more dumb tiny poo poo cause gently caress, it's neat.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 02:49

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# ? May 19, 2024 19:48

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

Parts Kit posted:

And if you want to use the exact same heights / materials / etc as the original creator, which is a really weird limitation to go with.

You can still download the STL.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 17:50

JuffoWup: Mar 28, 2012

The thing I see useful for just grabbing the straight gcode is for things like I had a month ago. Someone on thingiverse made a chapstick cap with a keyring on it. But the instructions about walls and such were related to cura. Except I'm trying to use prusa slicer as I have a prusa mk3. Made for a fun time trying to translate what cura calls a setting versus what prusa slicer calls for the same setting. But alternatively, if someone had done all that and put together the gcode, I could have just downloaded that and been on my merry way.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 18:57

cephalopods: Aug 11, 2013

Twoflower posted:

I just moved, disassembling my Anet A8 in the process. I've always had mixed feelings about it even after lots of calibration. I've been considering putting together the AM8 upgrade, but at best I can only find the extrusions/hardware for close to $100, and then I have to go through the hassle of setting the printer back together and getting it re-calibrated and working well to print out the parts in petg. Looking at what's on the market now price-wise compared to what I got almost 2 years ago I'm thinking about maybe dropping $300 on one of the newer printer kits that already has a metal frame. Any thoughts? Is putting in the work for the AM8 upgrade worth it at this point?

if you upgrade the body of an A8, it'll still have the electronics of an A8. unless you really enjoy tinkering and/or using fire extinguishers, I'd just replace it

# ? Aug 8, 2019 19:24

eddiewalker: Apr 28, 2004; Arrrr ye landlubber

JuffoWup posted:

The thing I see useful for just grabbing the straight gcode is for things like I had a month ago. Someone on thingiverse made a chapstick cap with a keyring on it. But the instructions about walls and such were related to cura. Except I'm trying to use prusa slicer as I have a prusa mk3. Made for a fun time trying to translate what cura calls a setting versus what prusa slicer calls for the same setting. But alternatively, if someone had done all that and put together the gcode, I could have just downloaded that and been on my merry way.

Only really works if the random internet stranger sliced for the exact same machine you have in the same material you have on hand, which I guess is what Prusa would like.

Take Thingiverse setting suggestions with a serious grain of salt.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 19:26

Sagebrush: Feb 26, 2012

Prusa is doing a good job with their ownlittle ecosystem, and if you buy an i3 and Prusa filament you can feel confident that yes, you can just download the g-code and press go and you'll have something that looks like the photo in the number of hours specified. That is a useful function for some users.

As long as they also include the raw STL somewhere, I have no problem with their emphasis on sharing the g-code.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 20:28

SEKCobra: Feb 28, 2011; Hi
Don't look at my site

So I installed a BLTouch probe, but honestly it feels slow and annoying compared to just using mesh bed levelling, so I disabled it and went back to that.

I've also come to a point where I don't really know what to print next so I'm just printing random stuff until I can continue working on my own designs.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 20:29

Sagebrush: Feb 26, 2012

SEKCobra posted:

So I installed a BLTouch probe, but honestly it feels slow and annoying compared to just using mesh bed levelling, so

? You should be doing both. Mesh leveling compensates properly for a nonflat bed, and the BLTouch is the best probe to use for leveling because it measures directly off the printing surface and works regardless of the bed material.

The proper technique is to

- install the BLTouch in a place where it can reach every corner of your bed,
- configure the firmware with the correct margins etc so that you can run like a 10x10 leveling routine,
- send a G29 P1 (Marlin) to create the initial mesh,
- tweak it as needed (not generally necessary with a BLTouch because, again, you're literally touching the print surface),
- save the mesh,
- before each print, load your saved mesh and do a quick tilt calibration with G29 J, which measures a 3x3 grid and deforms your base mesh accordingly (put in start g-code)
- go
- adjust nozzle zeroing with M851 and babystepping if required for perfect squish.

works great.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 21:01

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

Is there anything good for kids around 10-12 to use for designing stuff in 3d destined for a 3d printer?

# ? Aug 8, 2019 21:25

Sagebrush: Feb 26, 2012

Tinkercad is pretty good. I want to recommend SketchUp but the stls it makes are non-manifold garbage.

Sculptris is really good if they want to make aliens and animals and stuff as long as you're there to ensure that whatever they make is printable.

Comedy option: if you have a VR headset, the Google Blocks app is surprisingly intuitive and fun to use

# ? Aug 8, 2019 21:37

csammis: Aug 26, 2003; Mental Institution

Sagebrush posted:

? You should be doing both. Mesh leveling compensates properly for a nonflat bed, and the BLTouch is the best probe to use for leveling because it measures directly off the printing surface and works regardless of the bed material.

The proper technique is to

- install the BLTouch in a place where it can reach every corner of your bed,
- configure the firmware with the correct margins etc so that you can run like a 10x10 leveling routine,
- send a G29 P1 (Marlin) to create the initial mesh,
- tweak it as needed (not generally necessary with a BLTouch because, again, you're literally touching the print surface),
- save the mesh,
- before each print, load your saved mesh and do a quick tilt calibration with G29 J, which measures a 3x3 grid and deforms your base mesh accordingly (put in start g-code)
- go
- adjust nozzle zeroing with M851 and babystepping if required for perfect squish.

works great.

You forgot

- ensure your machine is absolutely perfectly square or a very slight and immeasurable-to-my-tools twist in your X axis will cause the BLTouch to hit slightly wrong on one side of the machine, resulting in a head crash on one side of the bed and spewing filament a tenth of a millimeter too high on the other side. At least that's how it was explained to me by the ADVi3 firmware creator.

I ended up taking the BLtouch off because after squaring and Z-braces and everything else for weeks I still couldn't make it work reliably :sigh:

# ? Aug 8, 2019 22:31

Sagebrush: Feb 26, 2012

That's kinda plausible, but as long as the BLTouch never moves relative to the nozzle, it shouldn't matter. If your x-axis is twisted and the carriage ends up half a millimeter higher on one side, then both the nozzle and the probe will be half a millimeter higher simultaneously and your mesh leveling should take care of it.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 23:29

Great Beer: Jul 5, 2004

Thermopyle posted:

Is there anything good for kids around 10-12 to use for designing stuff in 3d destined for a 3d printer?

Fusion 360. It will teach good fundamentals like how to read unhelpful error messages and dig through forums to find fixes for problems that only apply to software six versions behind the current release.

# ? Aug 8, 2019 23:49

SEKCobra: Feb 28, 2011; Hi
Don't look at my site

Sagebrush posted:

? You should be doing both. Mesh leveling compensates properly for a nonflat bed, and the BLTouch is the best probe to use for leveling because it measures directly off the printing surface and works regardless of the bed material.

The proper technique is to

- install the BLTouch in a place where it can reach every corner of your bed,
- configure the firmware with the correct margins etc so that you can run like a 10x10 leveling routine,
- send a G29 P1 (Marlin) to create the initial mesh,
- tweak it as needed (not generally necessary with a BLTouch because, again, you're literally touching the print surface),
- save the mesh,
- before each print, load your saved mesh and do a quick tilt calibration with G29 J, which measures a 3x3 grid and deforms your base mesh accordingly (put in start g-code)
- go
- adjust nozzle zeroing with M851 and babystepping if required for perfect squish.

works great.

Well this is a lot better insteuctions than what I was working off, I couldn't even find a proper way to set the initial Z offset. But both mounting options for the ender 3 do 't seem to really reach the corners of the bed, and even if I don't have to probe the full thing every time, using mesh bed levelling with a feeler gauge is a breeze and I've had really consistent results.

# ? Aug 9, 2019 06:45

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

Thermopyle posted:

Is there anything good for kids around 10-12 to use for designing stuff in 3d destined for a 3d printer?

My 12 year old and his buddy used TinkerCad for a school project and modeled a set of lungs and a cutaway cell in a few hours together.

# ? Aug 9, 2019 12:33

insta: Jan 28, 2009

Great Beer posted:

Fusion 360. It will teach good fundamentals like how to read unhelpful error messages and dig through forums to find fixes for problems that only apply to software six versions behind the current release.

Seconding this, but really because kids are smarter than you think.

# ? Aug 9, 2019 16:38

insta: Jan 28, 2009

I'm trying to get filament runout working with Octoprint / Klipper.

code:

[gcode_macro UNLOAD]
gcode:
  SAVE_GCODE_STATE
  PAUSE
  G91
  G1 Z2 E-60 F1200
  G90
  G1 X208 F3000

[gcode_macro LOAD]
gcode:
  G4 P8000
  G91
  G1 E100 F200
  G1 E-1 F3000
  RESUME
  RESTORE_GCODE_STATE

[pause_resume]


[filament_switch_sensor my_sensor]
switch_pin: ^PA1
pause_on_runout: False
runout_gcode:
  UNLOAD
insert_gcode:
  LOAD
event_delay: 1.5

What happens is on runout, the print head will lift 2mm (correctly), retracts a bunch (correctly), moves off to the side (correctly), then moves back to where the runout occured (wrong) and waits. I think it even starts immediately running the LOAD gcode as well.

I have "pause on runout" false because I'm calling PAUSE myself.

# ? Aug 9, 2019 16:52

22 Eargesplitten: Oct 10, 2010

Assuming you have someone who will print the printable bits for you, are you better off buying an Ender 3 or similar entry-level printer or would it be possible to, in the same price range, do a DIY kit with printed parts and end up with a higher quality product? I still need to get my new place set up to have a workstation where I could set up a printer, but I'd really like a printer with a larger bed (300mmx300mm-ish ideally) and I'm wondering if I could get something like that set up with an upgraded hot end for around the same price as a cheaper out of the box printer. I haven't really looked into the reprap side of things at all, so I'm kind of lost on what kits are available and/or what individual parts I would need to source. My friend that has a printer could probably help out with the latter part, but I'm trying to decide if it's something I even want to pursue before getting him involved.

# ? Aug 10, 2019 18:30

Rexxed: May 1, 2010; Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Assuming you have someone who will print the printable bits for you, are you better off buying an Ender 3 or similar entry-level printer or would it be possible to, in the same price range, do a DIY kit with printed parts and end up with a higher quality product? I still need to get my new place set up to have a workstation where I could set up a printer, but I'd really like a printer with a larger bed (300mmx300mm-ish ideally) and I'm wondering if I could get something like that set up with an upgraded hot end for around the same price as a cheaper out of the box printer. I haven't really looked into the reprap side of things at all, so I'm kind of lost on what kits are available and/or what individual parts I would need to source. My friend that has a printer could probably help out with the latter part, but I'm trying to decide if it's something I even want to pursue before getting him involved.

It's very difficult to compete with the pricing of a printer like the Ender 3 because creality is getting their components in bulk and getting discounts. If you need more build volume you should consider the CR-10. You could go with a DIY build of something but the bill of materials will exceed the price of a similarly prebuilt printer. The main reason people do DIY kits is for extra features. Most of those folks already have a printer and want something else.

Devon on Make Anything recently reviewed this Artillery Sidewinder X1 which he liked a lot. It's $400 or so but it comes with silent stepper drivers and is 300x300x400 like the cr-10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH8DcthcOVM

# ? Aug 10, 2019 20:18

Rapulum_Dei: Sep 7, 2009

Sagebrush posted:

. I want to recommend SketchUp

You monster!

If you DO have VR Oculus medium also allows you to sculpt and export as an STL. If you�ve win10 then 3D Builder is also good.

# ? Aug 10, 2019 20:24

EvilBeard: Apr 24, 2003; Big Q's House of Pancakes; Fun Shoe

I'm pretty sure I'm right, but I thought I'd check with the experts here. I built an octopi and installed it in my crappy JGAurora A5. Now that it's had some failures and I've figured out a bit about printing, upgrades, etc, I bought a new Ender 5 while it's on sale. I should be able to slide the octopi right into it, and then just change the printer settings on it, and it'll take right off, am I correct?

# ? Aug 10, 2019 21:20

Rexxed: May 1, 2010; Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

EvilBeard posted:

I'm pretty sure I'm right, but I thought I'd check with the experts here. I built an octopi and installed it in my crappy JGAurora A5. Now that it's had some failures and I've figured out a bit about printing, upgrades, etc, I bought a new Ender 5 while it's on sale. I should be able to slide the octopi right into it, and then just change the printer settings on it, and it'll take right off, am I correct?

If by sliding in you mean plugging it into the USB port, sure. If you did something with a raspberry pi zero that's internally mounted there may be considerations to get 5V power to the Pi, but it's not clear from your post if that's the case.

# ? Aug 10, 2019 21:40

EvilBeard: Apr 24, 2003; Big Q's House of Pancakes; Fun Shoe

Rexxed posted:

If by sliding in you mean plugging it into the USB port, sure. If you did something with a raspberry pi zero that's internally mounted there may be considerations to get 5V power to the Pi, but it's not clear from your post if that's the case.

yeah, I'll have to wire the buck transformer to my power supply to power the pi, but plugging it into the usb should be it, right? I'll just have to adjust my printer parameters in octoprint.

# ? Aug 10, 2019 21:47

Rexxed: May 1, 2010; Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

EvilBeard posted:

yeah, I'll have to wire the buck transformer to my power supply to power the pi, but plugging it into the usb should be it, right? I'll just have to adjust my printer parameters in octoprint.

Yeah, just hit the wrench icon in the upper right and make sure that there's a printer profile for your new printer. It's basically for the build area dimensions. Most of the settings for your specific printer will be configured in whatever slicer you're using and not octoprint. If you slice with the Cura engine in Octoprint you may want a full profile but otherwise that should do it.

# ? Aug 10, 2019 22:01

Stupid_Sexy_Flander: Mar 14, 2007; Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?; Grimey Drawer

Neat. If you change the support option to "heavy" it actually prints the model correctly and not just as a flat piece of resin when it falls off the build plate.

Tip for resin printers #8326.

# ? Aug 11, 2019 04:10

22 Eargesplitten: Oct 10, 2010

Rexxed posted:

It's very difficult to compete with the pricing of a printer like the Ender 3 because creality is getting their components in bulk and getting discounts. If you need more build volume you should consider the CR-10. You could go with a DIY build of something but the bill of materials will exceed the price of a similarly prebuilt printer. The main reason people do DIY kits is for extra features. Most of those folks already have a printer and want something else.

Devon on Make Anything recently reviewed this Artillery Sidewinder X1 which he liked a lot. It's $400 or so but it comes with silent stepper drivers and is 300x300x400 like the cr-10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH8DcthcOVM

Fair enough, thanks. I wasn�t sure how much of the cost was stuff that could be printed or marked up extrusions.

# ? Aug 11, 2019 17:11

TKIY: Nov 6, 2012; Grimey Drawer

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

Neat. If you change the support option to "heavy" it actually prints the model correctly and not just as a flat piece of resin when it falls off the build plate.

Tip for resin printers #8326.

Yup, and none of the slicers put enough supports on either. Go heavy supports, ball shape tip, at least 60% density and then add more.

# ? Aug 12, 2019 15:33

Duct Tape: Sep 30, 2004; Huh?

I've been wanting to get a 3D printer for quite a while, basically just for miniatures and terrain, and I've been eyeing the Anycubic Photon.

Right now it's on sale for $279 on their site, with the Photon S going for $390. I read the differences between the two, and opinions seem to be split on whether or not the added Z-axis stabilizers on the S are worth the lower quality housing (plastic instead of metal).

Both seem like good deals, but is it worth the $110 to get a Photon S instead of the Photon? Anyone have experience with these two printers and have a preference?

# ? Aug 12, 2019 18:55

porktree: Mar 23, 2002; You just fucked with the wrong Mexican.

I got some cheap PLA filament and was trying it out on my Ender 3 - and it started to shrink and pull away from the board -

Is this filament trash? I have 2 kg (2 rolls) - and it was only :10bux:

- I've printed a couple of things since with no issue (different filament) so I don't think it's a printer issue (platen set to 55).

# ? Aug 12, 2019 20:15

eddiewalker: Apr 28, 2004; Arrrr ye landlubber

porktree posted:

I got some cheap PLA filament and was trying it out on my Ender 3 - and it started to shrink and pull away from the board -

Is this filament trash? I have 2 kg (2 rolls) - and it was only - I've printed a couple of things since with no issue (different filament) so I don't think it's a printer issue (platen set to 55).

That�s textbook curling. You need to work on your bed adhesion either through more squish or surface treatments.

# ? Aug 12, 2019 22:33

sleppy: Dec 25, 2008

I also buy the cheapest PLA I can find, and I have never had curling that bad with my ender 3 at 60C on the magnetic bed. Only time I've had any to that extent is with printing ABS way too cool. I have pretty low standards, but so far I have found all PLA to be equal..

# ? Aug 12, 2019 22:54

Harvey Baldman: Jan 11, 2011; ATTORNEY AT LAW
Justice is bald, like an eagle, or Lady Liberty's docket.

I've got some experience with 3D printers, but not much with the CR-10 S4 in particular. Just bought one of these things and did a first print with it - a new bottom part for the control box so I can mount some 120mm fans. Most of the part seems to have printed nicely and it's plenty usable, but there's a few things I'm trying to figure out. I have some guesses, but I'd appreciate any advice.

CR-10 S4 with BL-Touch Bed Leveling, stock everything else, .4 nozzle.
Push Plastic PLA - printed at 205 degrees, bed temp was set to 60 degrees
Part sliced in Simplify3D; .2mm layer height, 5 top solid layers, 5 bottom solid layers, 3 perimeter shells, 20% infill. Overkill, I know, but I had a period overnight to fill.

My startup code is as follows:

code:

M117 Up and running!
M140 S[bed0_temperature] ; Set Heat Bed temperature
M104 S130 ; Set Extruder temperature to a no-ooze warmup temp.
G28 ; home all axes
M117 Bed heating...
M190 S[bed0_temperature] ; Wait for Heat Bed temperature
G29; Auto Level Process
M117 Extruder heating...
M104 S[extruder0_temperature] ; Set Extruder temperature
M109 S[extruder0_temperature] ; Wait for Extruder temperature
M204 P500 S700 T1000
M205 X10 Y10 ; set jerk x/y=10
M117 Purging Extruder...
G1 Z1.0 F3000 ; lift Z
G1 X0.2 Y25 Z0.2 F3000.0 ; move to start-line position
G92 E0 ; reset extruder
G1 X0.2 Y150.0 F1000.0 E15 ; draw 1st line
G1 X0.7 Y150.0 F3000.0 ; move to side 0.5mm
G1 X0.7 Y50 F1000.0 E30 ; draw 2nd line
G1 X0.7 Y25 F5000.0 ; quick wipe
M117 Printing...

I mostly mention that in case the jerk settings / M205 are relevant.

Current retraction settings in S3D are set to 6mm retraction, -0.1 Extra Restart Distance, .12 retraction vertical lift, 3600mm/min retraction speed, and a coasting distance of .12mm.

The back left corner of the print seems to have some degree of scalloping, but only for about an inch and a half of the part. Usually if I've seen this kind of thing, it is propagated throughout the entire layer, not just one tiny section of it, and it accompanies under-extrusion or possibly the nozzle or bowden tube starting to jam up. It appears to have recovered immediately after it finished printing the layers that rest atop the supports adjacent to the holes in these corners. Any ideas what this is or why it's localized? I was wondering if it was the angle of the bowden tube, but if that were the case the front left would also be messed up, since it twists the tube to the same position to reach that corner.

There's fine stringing all over the print, and dimples all over the part interior. Probably a temperature or retraction issue, but which would you start by adjusting? I actually don't know how to tweak retraction settings very well, the ones I'm using right now are borrowed from another CR-10 S5 profile I dug up.

# ? Aug 12, 2019 23:08

CarForumPoster: Jun 26, 2013; â¡POWERâ¡

I bought the AxiDraw 2.5D pen plotter and it is loving dope. Super easy to set up. Using it from Inkscape worked well. Getting close to never writing another Christmas card again. Just drop that poo poo in from a CSV.

# ? Aug 13, 2019 04:11

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

porktree posted:

I got some cheap PLA filament and was trying it out on my Ender 3 - and it started to shrink and pull away from the board -

Is this filament trash? I have 2 kg (2 rolls) - and it was only - I've printed a couple of things since with no issue (different filament) so I don't think it's a printer issue (platen set to 55).

I've had to take to using a brim, and a 10mm/s first layer to get a good, consistent base that doesn't warp, but its now pretty much plug and play.

It's only taken me eight months to get to the point that switching a roll of filament doesn't mean a week of tweaking to get it right.

# ? Aug 13, 2019 07:54

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

Grey Hunter posted:

I've had to take to using a brim, and a 10mm/s first layer to get a good, consistent base that doesn't warp, but its now pretty much plug and play.

It's only taken me eight months to get to the point that switching a roll of filament doesn't mean a week of tweaking to get it right.

Weird, I've only had my Ender 3 for like a month, but I havent ever had to do anything when switching a roll. Admittedly, I've only got 6 rolls from three different companies...

# ? Aug 13, 2019 17:58

armorer: Aug 6, 2012; I like metal.

I've had zero curling with pla on my ender 3, using several different brand filaments.

# ? Aug 13, 2019 18:06

porktree: Mar 23, 2002; You just fucked with the wrong Mexican.

armorer posted:

I've had zero curling with pla on my ender 3, using several different brand filaments.

That's the first time I've seen it; I have a half dozen other rolls of various colors with no issue. I'll bump the bed temp and print a skirt and see if I overcome.

# ? Aug 13, 2019 19:49

Sagebrush: Feb 26, 2012

you already know what i'm gonna post

# ? Aug 13, 2019 19:51

armorer: Aug 6, 2012; I like metal.

Sagebrush posted:

you already know what i'm gonna post

Are you going to say to buy a Prusa, even though this is clearly a material issue since this was some unknown random discount filament and the Ender 3 otherwise works fine with others?

There was another poster in here having printing issues printing with PLA that turned out to actually be ABS. Could it be something like that?

# ? Aug 13, 2019 20:23

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# ? May 19, 2024 19:48

Rapulum_Dei: Sep 7, 2009

armorer posted:

Are you going to say to buy a Prusa, even though this is clearly a material issue

Did you miss this bit?

Grey Hunter posted:

It's only taken me eight months to get to the point that switching a roll of filament doesn't mean a week of tweaking to get it right.

# ? Aug 13, 2019 20:31

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > MakerBots, RepRaps and UP!s: It's 3D printers!

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