General 3D Printing Thread
- Thread starter Bryan Mayland
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RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
That may be true, but you dont have a ball valve there, the ball in a ball valve is typically completely encased by the valve housing, your barrel has the entire top circumference of the valve cylinder exposed creating a long crack there along that circumference. With the ridges and bumps of a typical 3D print I wonder how tight that junction will be along that edge of the cylinder and that's why I wonder if it may leak there. Whether it will leak enough to cause an issue I don't know, but it was that question (and tendancy of my Fauxmado to have runaway temps) that shied me away from pursuing this type of concept. Even with the small and very smooth brass rod mated tightly through a smooth drilled hole I can tell my flap valve leaks a bit there, the flap actually seals very well inside the housing on my valve. When I put suction on the valve I can tell it's leaking around the brass rod a bit therefore the I know the flap is actually sealing quite well when it is fully closed, and fully closed is the most critical position for a valve in our application...
That said, IDK if the leak will be enough to cause an issue, and even if it does you could probably put some grease in there that would help seal it off well enough to minimize the effects now that I think about it... You've done some pretty nice work there designing that valve and I hope it works out well for you...
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You are correct, it is not a ball valve. It would be if I thought I could print a good ball valve, but it's the next best thing, a cylinder. The principle of a ball valve is to maximize surface area of contact in order to create a seal. The part you are incorrect about is the comment about the casing. The cylinder is actually completely encased, top and bottom, by the surrounding housing creating orders of magnitude more surface contact than a flap valve. As such, the pressure required to create an equivalent leak between this valve and a flap valve would again be orders of magnitude greater.
Edit: I see what you were talking about now. Your up is my lateral. The area in question has a several mm thick rim between it and the channel. The likelihood of an observable leak is low but I will see once I test it. Also, I am using an acetone wipe to smooth all of the contact surfaces of the valve.
Edit: I see what you were talking about now. Your up is my lateral. The area in question has a several mm thick rim between it and the channel. The likelihood of an observable leak is low but I will see once I test it. Also, I am using an acetone wipe to smooth all of the contact surfaces of the valve.
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Bryan Mayland
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All I know is that it looks pretty cool. I tried a few times to print the gear socket side on my flap and it never came out very well. I just don't have the resolution to print gear teeth that are 1/4 the size of the extrusion. I still don't have the damper yet but my housing is looking cool I think.
What would really be sweet is if I could figure out out to integrate two contacts into the tab slot that receives the blower. Then it could be powered when it is plugged in rather than the pin header I am thinking of using to connect it to the RJ11 jack board. There's space to mount the jack between the servo and the blower so I'd like to make a housing or something for it.
What would really be sweet is if I could figure out out to integrate two contacts into the tab slot that receives the blower. Then it could be powered when it is plugged in rather than the pin header I am thinking of using to connect it to the RJ11 jack board. There's space to mount the jack between the servo and the blower so I'd like to make a housing or something for it.
All I know is that it looks pretty cool. I tried a few times to print the gear socket side on my flap and it never came out very well. I just don't have the resolution to print gear teeth that are 1/4 the size of the extrusion. I still don't have the damper yet but my housing is looking cool I think.
What would really be sweet is if I could figure out out to integrate two contacts into the tab slot that receives the blower. Then it could be powered when it is plugged in rather than the pin header I am thinking of using to connect it to the RJ11 jack board. There's space to mount the jack between the servo and the blower so I'd like to make a housing or something for it.
Looking good. How are you planning to secure the servo?
As for the blower contacts, what about making two small channels in the tab that can accept strips of solder?
Bryan Mayland
TVWBB Hall of Fame
The servo fits pretty tightly into the hole it passes through so I may not need anything at all. There is also a screw hole closest to the flange and I could put another in the far end as well. I don't know if I'll need it.
Solder is pretty soft so I'd be worried about it breaking after a few uses. Also, how would I solder a wire to the solder without melting the plastic? I might rip some contacts out of a AA battery holder or something.
Solder is pretty soft so I'd be worried about it breaking after a few uses. Also, how would I solder a wire to the solder without melting the plastic? I might rip some contacts out of a AA battery holder or something.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
Bryan has been running a customized version of the firmware from pretty early on, he adjusted down the speed and acceleration for the motors to what he found they were capable of in the real world. A month or so ago Colin at MakerFarm made some very similar changes to the firmware he ships, so you are probably good. If I recall correctly the first thing Bryan did was rig a rPi to his printer.... I never did this because I had a spare PC to connect to the printer which I can do my 3D design work on and have it control the printer, I kinda like to watch the layers go down on the Pronterface 3D view anyways... Bryan also added an optical end stop to the Z-axis cause the screw/switch system is a little hokey. I never did this either, however, I did find some screws that bite the holes in the micro switch well and used them to secure the Z-Axis switch to the frame, and I also put some solder wick into the hole where the adjuster screw goes so it will bite better. So far so good with that, I really haven't had any problem with it...
I had some problems with my bed hitting the Y-idler (on the single bearing side) from the get-go. So be careful how much to tighten down the bearing on that side, if you crank it down and the bearing bites down on the wood enough to round the edges of the slot the bed will sit low on that side. I had made Colin aware of this issue so perhaps he has made changes, however, the bed was extremely close to the Y-idler on both my kit and Bryan's. I printed up a pillow block that I use on the bearing(s) to secure them in place (rather than having them pressed right against the wooden bed) to raise the bed a little bit, eventually I made a whole new bed out of an aluminum plate (very happy with that, it sits much more level than the wooden one, which always wanted to dip down on the single bearing side). I also secured the frame of the printer to a wooden base, cause the Z-towers had a tendency to wiggle, if I barely touched a Z-tower I could see it (the whole frame) move quite a lot, the movement of the hotend over the glass when I did this was very pronounced. Once the printer frame was secured to the wooden base everything was MUCH more stable....
IDK if Colin made any changes in this area, but the way the steppers are wired you kinda need to plug them in upside down, RED wires on the TOP. I think the diagram provided with the kit is generic and actually showing the wires in the wrong order. (not sure if he has changed that or not, but RED wires need to be on TOP) Good news is if you plug them in upside down (as shown in the diagram I got) nothing will burn up, but it is kinda shocking when the bed and extruder race in the wrong direction when you hit home, if you don't yank the power they will hit the end and the belt will start to skip. (very alarming!) You can invert the direction for each axis in the firmware if you like, which I did at first, but then I realized I would have to do this every time I updated the firmware which is a PITA, so I ended up pulling the wires from the molex plug and installing them in the opposite orientation (RED at the TOP).
That's all the stuff that comes off the top of my head about my initial experience with the MakerFarm i3 kit.... Good luck with your build.....
I had some problems with my bed hitting the Y-idler (on the single bearing side) from the get-go. So be careful how much to tighten down the bearing on that side, if you crank it down and the bearing bites down on the wood enough to round the edges of the slot the bed will sit low on that side. I had made Colin aware of this issue so perhaps he has made changes, however, the bed was extremely close to the Y-idler on both my kit and Bryan's. I printed up a pillow block that I use on the bearing(s) to secure them in place (rather than having them pressed right against the wooden bed) to raise the bed a little bit, eventually I made a whole new bed out of an aluminum plate (very happy with that, it sits much more level than the wooden one, which always wanted to dip down on the single bearing side). I also secured the frame of the printer to a wooden base, cause the Z-towers had a tendency to wiggle, if I barely touched a Z-tower I could see it (the whole frame) move quite a lot, the movement of the hotend over the glass when I did this was very pronounced. Once the printer frame was secured to the wooden base everything was MUCH more stable....
IDK if Colin made any changes in this area, but the way the steppers are wired you kinda need to plug them in upside down, RED wires on the TOP. I think the diagram provided with the kit is generic and actually showing the wires in the wrong order. (not sure if he has changed that or not, but RED wires need to be on TOP) Good news is if you plug them in upside down (as shown in the diagram I got) nothing will burn up, but it is kinda shocking when the bed and extruder race in the wrong direction when you hit home, if you don't yank the power they will hit the end and the belt will start to skip. (very alarming!) You can invert the direction for each axis in the firmware if you like, which I did at first, but then I realized I would have to do this every time I updated the firmware which is a PITA, so I ended up pulling the wires from the molex plug and installing them in the opposite orientation (RED at the TOP).
That's all the stuff that comes off the top of my head about my initial experience with the MakerFarm i3 kit.... Good luck with your build.....
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RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I am running the stock (most recent) firmware from MakerFarm, the only thing I may alter in the firmware is the number of steps on the extruder motor when I change filaments, cause they don't all print exactly the same. I have found the filament from MakerFarm to be some of the best and most consistent printing filament that I have purchased though...
...and like I said, I did swap the wooden bed for an aluminum bed I made, and mounted the frame to a wooden base to stiffen it up a bit. Other than that, yah, pretty much stock (so far). I've had a bit of a hiatus on printing lately, having printed the cases and dampers I wanted successfully and watching summer fly by I decided to get out of the basement a bit more... I did put the wires for the hotend and extruder motor into a shrink wrap tube (just used as a sleeve, I didn't shrink it), just to keep those wires together as a unit and eliminate the possibility of them snagging on something, the rest of the wires I just used the wire ties. I know Bryan put shrink tubing on all of his wires, there's a pic of it somewhere in the forum, it looks kinda like a crazy rainbow with all those colors... To get the wires through the shrink tubing I pulled the pins out of the connectors before I pushed the wires through so I could use smaller tubing....
If you read back through this thread (and the 3D printed case thread a little bit) you should see pics of both of our printers and details about what mods we have done...
...oh yah, Bryan also added some sort of bed leveling aid to his printer... I think it is a microswitch you put on the hotend that drags on the bed, then software sweeps the hotend across the bed and registers the highs and lows so you can tweak the bed leveling a bit. I haven't done this yet, but want to, just haven't gotten around to it. I think both of us have moved over to a compressed spring system under our heated bed instead of the plastic spacers so we have the ability to adjust the bed a bit....
Holy S$^%, i just got this email from Staples.
http://www.staples.com/Cube-3D-Printer-Silver/product_201876
Things are progressing rapidly.
http://www.staples.com/Cube-3D-Printer-Silver/product_201876
Things are progressing rapidly.
Andy Snider
TVWBB Fan
Bryan Mayland
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I have one of those $25 off $100 coupons, so you only need to get $1275 approved (plus tax). :-D
Mike Meyer
New member
Ok I have convinced myself that I really need a printer. Was ready to order to the one from Makerfarm but the link that Tom posted looks like a much sturdier design. Was wondering for those of you that have them do you use the lcd screen (is it worth the $50 extra) or do you just use your pc. Depending on how much shipping is from Hong Kong I am leaning towards the one from Gadgets3d. Tom if you dont mind I will pm you about making the plastic parts for the one from Gadgets3d if I go that route.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I generally print from PC (rather than SD card) so I do most everything from the pc, but I do like having the LCD there to watch temps on and just as a general reference, though I could get along without it....
Bryan Mayland
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I've also have never printed from the SD card. The only thing I really look at there is the temperature and the Z-height right before it starts printing. That information is on the PC too, so I don't really think I'd pay $50 to add it again. It is something you could always add later if you really feel like you're missing something.
On another topic I was playing with the acceleration settings in Marlin. The newer Makerfarm i3 firmware has it set pretty low, 500mm/s^2 and when I set my printer to that it felt like it was printing in super slow motion. I made a quick spreadsheet to determine how fast it can actually go, based on jerk, acceleration, max speed, and distance to travel. It is interesting to see how they interact. For example, for 500 acceleration, if you try to draw a 10mm line at 250mm/s, you'll peak at 73.5mm/s and average only 46.7mm/s.
I also found that my printer can do accurate X-axis moves at 275mm/s 2000 acceleration, but the Y-axis skips steps anywhere over 200mm/s 1000 acceleration (but can run close to 250mm/s at 500 accel). Lowering the acceleration also seriously decreases the amount my table shakes at high print speeds.
On another topic I was playing with the acceleration settings in Marlin. The newer Makerfarm i3 firmware has it set pretty low, 500mm/s^2 and when I set my printer to that it felt like it was printing in super slow motion. I made a quick spreadsheet to determine how fast it can actually go, based on jerk, acceleration, max speed, and distance to travel. It is interesting to see how they interact. For example, for 500 acceleration, if you try to draw a 10mm line at 250mm/s, you'll peak at 73.5mm/s and average only 46.7mm/s.
I also found that my printer can do accurate X-axis moves at 275mm/s 2000 acceleration, but the Y-axis skips steps anywhere over 200mm/s 1000 acceleration (but can run close to 250mm/s at 500 accel). Lowering the acceleration also seriously decreases the amount my table shakes at high print speeds.
Mike, I don't have an LCD but I do have a dedicated PC for my printer so I don't really have the need for one. Let me know if you decide on the kit and need parts.
Bryan, be careful with lowering the accel too much. You can start to get artifacts at edges. It's better to decrease your speed and maintain a relatively higher accel. Also, your hotend limits you the most. You can only extrude so fast.
Bryan, be careful with lowering the accel too much. You can start to get artifacts at edges. It's better to decrease your speed and maintain a relatively higher accel. Also, your hotend limits you the most. You can only extrude so fast.
Mike Meyer
New member
Thanks guys, I will skip the lcd/sd card and use the money for filament 
.
One other quick question, would it be a smart thing to pick up some spare heating elements for the hotend (reprap). I see they have a bulk purchase of 10 for $29 which does not seem like a bad price.
.One other quick question, would it be a smart thing to pick up some spare heating elements for the hotend (reprap). I see they have a bulk purchase of 10 for $29 which does not seem like a bad price.