General 3D Printing Thread


 
I also had stuttering on a Pi B+ with & without a camera, but I swapped it for a Pi2 and it went away. I didn't think to try to kill mjpeg process.
Bryan (earlier in this thread) suggested connecting printer via serial vs USB, but I didn't try that solution. $40 < headache of soldering & debugging on my printer. Pi3 w/Wifi makes the decision even easier.
 
Quick question -
For the PETG & servo, does the plastic move freely/quietly? I haven't made anything from PETG that needs to move, but it feels like it would be 'sticky' when rubbing together. It has a 'soft' surface finish that seems to increase friction.

SteveCK - I think the glossiness is the nature of the beast. I have Clear, HD Black Glass & GITD from makergeeks & all have the gloss, the GITD less so because it's not translucent/transparent, but I think the surface finish is the same.
I won't replace all my ABS with it, but it is definitely better than ABS in some respects. 'Useful strength' - it doesn't crack at layers as bad & it's giving me a really nice upper surface finish with less infill vs ABS.
I printed a handle for my RTIC 30oz mug (same as a yeti) & the ABS cracked at a stress point 1st use (at the lake over labor day). Printed same handle in PETG & used it for over a week. Printed a beefed up version in GITD & it will be there until I lose the mug....
 
The servo puck, seems to move pretty well. I did have some plastic that did not adhere along the edge that I clipped off that was causing some issues. It seems to take less force to turn then would abs or pla.

The only thing I would do different on another petg print would use 1 outer layer, as the box for the adapter board had no infill on one of the walls. I used some super glue inbetween the walls to stiffen it up some.
 
Andy Snider said:
I also had stuttering on a Pi B+ with & without a camera, but I swapped it for a Pi2 and it went away. I didn't think to try to kill mjpeg process.
Bryan (earlier in this thread) suggested connecting printer via serial vs USB, but I didn't try that solution. $40 < headache of soldering & debugging on my printer. Pi3 w/Wifi makes the decision even easier.
Click to expand...
haha yeah I do not recommend anyone go straight serial to serial. At the time I did that, Pi As were $25 and you could actually get them and Pi Bs were $35 and somewhat rare. However the 1 USB port needed to be used for Wifi. I already had a sick feeling in my stomach from buying a $500 3D printer as a tangent to my hobby and spending dollar after dollar upgrading parts on it. It seemed natural to "just" make a level shifter and connect the TTL uarts together (as well as the SPI bus because you can't flash new firmware over uart!). Now with the Pi 3 being available and it has 4 USB ports you don't even need because it has built in wifi, it is totally an easy decision. Especially considering the Pi 3 is wicked fast compared to an original Pi.

One thing is that it is great to look back at that time and see how I agonized over spending $10-20 bucks at Mouser every few months to buy parts for developing new HeaterMeter stuff. Now the profits from the sales at the HeaterMeter store covers my costs so having one of every Pi to test on is not a problem, buying a bunch of wifi adapters to test them isn't a problem, 6 different types of SD cards isn't a problem, replacing a broken heatbreak in my printer with an [expensive] authentic E3D part isn't a problem. It is just really cool to me that people like HeaterMeter enough for it to pay for its own hardware and all I have to put in is my time! I also appreciate all you regulars here, helping new people with build problems, answering questions, and coming up with new ideas which gives me more time to move things forward.

Sorry I got a little off topic but I have to share how happy I am to still be working on this project and to have such a good community around it. :D
 
Those PETG prints look great, John. I haven't gone back to ABS yet since swapping in E3D V6 and getting PETG tuned in on my printer..

I had mine dialed in so well... I could start prints and walk away and get reliable stuff, every single time... of course the one time I started and walked away without watching the first layer, it crashed the head. Still recovering from that :( but almost back to normal.


It's been a while since I read, but I believe the gloss/transparency is directly related to print speed. The slower you get, the more translucent you can get on the clearer/natural filament.
 
A few people here are having problems printing cases, and having them warp with ABS. I have been printing with ABS for a while now and have a few pointers. Well, I have 1 pointer. GET the right build plate material! Forget the hairspray, glue stick, ABS slurry. you just spent $200-$5000 dollars on a 3d printer. Buy an after market build plate supplement to boot. I have a Flashforge Dreamer and love the build tape they provide. Never had a problem with an ABS print warping, no matter how large. It's similar to BuildTak? I would highly recommend. Here's a pic of a recent print of a box I designed to hold my small thread taps and dies. Notice NO warping.

 
Last edited:
I'm really liking PETG Pro material and the translucent colors. I have used a digital indicator to get my printing bed as level as I possibly can. As a result my last case I printed came out flawless, except for couple places I don't like. Its getting reprinted, anyways for a misplaced drill bit(Adapter switch). The RD3 turned out great.

20161219_031126.jpg


20161219_031233.jpg


And something I really like about PETG, its really hard to break, I can't break any part of the case by hand, not even the little pilliars. The layer bond, is very strong.
 
Last edited:
I also love PETG strength. I've printed some small funnels for a friend.. for the life of me I couldn't break it. It took a bit to dial-in, it's a different animal than ABS, but once I did that, love it.

My Prusa i3 was doing great, had that sucker dialed in.... until the one print I just started and walked away before the first layer... and of course it crashed the head somehow. Just fixed it all up and re-calibrating to get back where I was. The tinkering bug has hit me, thinking about constructing a corexy printer.
 
Hey John, do you find yourself varying settings much between different PETG brands / colors / etc?

I was over at Micro Center and picked up some of their PETG. Filament measured 1.72-1.73 (vs. esun 1.75 dead on).

I'm testing out translucent blue right now, and I have to drastically slow down the print to prevent underextrusion. Never had that issue with eSUN black/orange/natural PETG, they print with the same settings.
 
I have used matterhackers and esun. I am not to good at making changes, so I recycled on making heat adjustment and making sure my bed is super level. I used a micrometer to get my bed level as can be. Of the two I have used they are similiar, although I prefer matterhackers, but it's expensive.
 
Cool. I've had no problems with the eSun at all.

PETG is such a different beast, though. I've found that I don't need to smush the first layer on the glass like ABS. I spent a lot of time to keep PETG from blobbing on the hot end and stringing up, now with the silicone cover it doesn't happen, so I'm readjusting things a little to get the results I want.

I recently changed over to the cartridge thermistor on my hot end (e3d v6) and also added the silicone sleeve.
 
Can't comment on MicroCenter brand PETG, but a long time ago I ordered some MicroCenter PLA and it wasn't very good (even smelled like chemicals when printing) so I sent it back. Perhaps MicroCenter just has crap filament
 
Perhaps for sure. Like any new brand/type of filament, I just had to tune for it.

I had to (massively) increase the extrusion multiplier and slow down printing speed for it. I really don't care much about printing speed (for now) so not a huge deal. I do like the color of the translucent blue.

Still on my Prusa i3, not much left of the original folgertech parts besides the frame. I'm going to convert the Y axis to a v-slot system and then that's probably the last mod for that thing, I'm itching to build something and seriously considering a D-bot or some coreXY variant.

Right now I've only printed with direct drive -- any major drawbacks to moving to bowden in your opinions?

PS happy New Year Steve. Original microdampers are still kickin strong :)
 
Hey WBegg,

Just curious on the durability of the Flashforge build tape you use. It is pretty thick and durable? Also, I have a 3/8" glass build surface, do you think it would apply well and work on the glass since I don't have the Flashforge build plate?

Thanks,
Troy

WBegg said:
A few people here are having problems printing cases, and having them warp with ABS. I have been printing with ABS for a while now and have a few pointers. Well, I have 1 pointer. GET the right build plate material! Forget the hairspray, glue stick, ABS slurry. you just spent $200-$5000 dollars on a 3d printer. Buy an after market build plate supplement to boot. I have a Flashforge Dreamer and love the build tape they provide. Never had a problem with an ABS print warping, no matter how large. It's similar to BuildTak? I would highly recommend. Here's a pic of a recent print of a box I designed to hold my small thread taps and dies. Notice NO warping.

Click to expand...
 
Troy Gamm said:
Hey WBegg,

Just curious on the durability of the Flashforge build tape you use. It is pretty thick and durable? Also, I have a 3/8" glass build surface, do you think it would apply well and work on the glass since I don't have the Flashforge build plate?

Thanks,
Troy
Click to expand...

it's fairly thick and durable. When Applied, it's also super flat. Sometimes, ABS will stick TOO well, and when it does, I go through a cool down and heat up cycle, then start one edge of the item printed with a knife then remove with scraper, being careful not to gouge the surface.
 
I was given a MendelMax 1.5, not sure of what ramps board it has or what other controls or board I may need. I Was told it needs a 24v powers supply, from looking around believe with the heated bed I need a 400 watt supply.
Anyone know of a cheap source for the power supply and any good forums to be looking at to get this working.
I was told it was working good at one time, it has been sitting Idle for at least 2 years, he got his company to buy professional 3d printer, this one went it the recycle bin destined for electronic salvage yard if no employees claimed it for personal or company use.

Should I keep it and make it work or sell it is the question

4yT3RKy.jpg

h3yvkN5.jpg

yfca4hh.jpg

7fVXbBW.jpg
 
Last edited:
Question for you guys. My printer has been working fine, but recently something changed. When I home my Z-axis it works fine, as long as the print head is not powered. As soon as I power my print head, it no longer detects my z-axis limit switch. I'm using an inductive based switch.

The odd thing is that it works as long as I don't have the print head powered :(

Any ideas?

thanks
david
 
OH SNAP!!! With a little help from H&R Block, an awesome Foreign Tax Credit, and some persuasion from my inner self, I have bought a new Printer. All the reviews I've seen rank this as a professional industrial printer for a fraction of the cost.

Large build volume (240x190x200), self leveling bed, heated build chamber, exchangeable extruders, HEPA filter, super quiet, and non-proprietary filament and software (a big plus). It can also print at 500 mm/s

Supposed to be here next Wednesday so I'll keep Y'all informed.

GwEwGVH.jpg


Cubicon Single Plus
 
Last edited:
Dale Ward said:
I was given a MendelMax 1.5, not sure of what ramps board it has or what other controls or board I may need. I Was told it needs a 24v powers supply, from looking around believe with the heated bed I need a 400 watt supply.
Anyone know of a cheap source for the power supply and any good forums to be looking at to get this working.
I was told it was working good at one time, it has been sitting Idle for at least 2 years, he got his company to buy professional 3d printer, this one went it the recycle bin destined for electronic salvage yard if no employees claimed it for personal or company use.

Should I keep it and make it work or sell it is the question
Click to expand...

I have a 350W (24v @ 14.6A) power supply lying around if you want it. I'll let it go cheap. PM me if you decide to keep the machine. I think you should. It was free after all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top