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Under-extrusion in vase mode So I found a vase on thingiverse and I wanted to print it, so obviously I did. I used craft ware to slice the model using there 'vase mode', and sent the Gcode to my Anet A6 printer. In the end I found weird underextrusion (I think that is what happened) at the starting points that seem to have appeared. I don't know what to think of this and I don't know what happened or how to fix it. | This sort of failure is best diagnosed by observing the failure. It probably isn't underextrusion, there is no reason to get variation in extrusion just along one edge.
Did you really get a proper vase-mode? You can check in your slicer, or with gcode.ws and make sure that each layer only occupies a fraction of the part, with many small steps (rather than one step after printing a slice of the whole part)
It seems the failure is close to a sharp transition in the wall. Have you got enough cooling, or a low enough extrusion temperature? It could be that the plastic viscosity and surface tension are conspiring against the shape. Printing slower might possibly help too (both on the failure, and to allow the part to cool between layers).
Finally, you might have a mechanical problem which is interfering with the print just at this point, and that might include the extruder binding in some way. This could be hard to spot during the print, so check over all the moving parts, and all the fixings. |
Can OctoPrint web interface be turned off during a print? Can I turn off the web interface (i.e. shutting down my computer) during a print? The Raspberry is online still.
Am I correct to say that G-code has already been uploaded via WiFi to my OctoPi, and so turning off my computer now (web interface) will not disrupt the print? | Assuming the OctoPrint server is running on your Raspberry Pi, which is the usual "OctoPi" setup, then yes, once you have uploaded the G-code to OctoPrint, you no longer need to leave the web interface open.
For example, one could upload code from their desktop running the slicing software to OctoPrint, walk to the printer to turn it on, then use a different device (a phone, for example) to connect OctoPrint to the printer and begin the print. At no point does the device accessing the web interface matter. The Raspberry Pi is in control of the printer, not the device that started the print. |
Arduino and Ramps powering up I want to run two stepper motors using Arduino Mega 2560 and RAMPS 1.4. But, somehow I burned the Arduino while I was connecting the motor and plugging the board to the computer.
Can I plug external power supply and USB connection to the computer at the same time?
Additional info from comments
I am using RAMPS 1.4 with Polulo red stepper drivers and Arduino Mega R3. I am only using two Nema 17 stepper motors and not using any hotbed or anything else other than the two stepper motors for the x and y axes. I am feeding 11.9 V supply to the RAMPS board. When powered on, can I plug the USB to my computer?
Suppose I have connected two motors on the X and Y outputs of the RAMPS, and the external power supply is on, then can I connect my Arduino to my PC using USB? Will it burn my board or not?
My only trouble is that when the board is on load, connecting the USB to computer motors would take power by Arduino pins instead of the RAMPS external supply. | I had a similar issue building my Prusa i3 Mk2s clone. I was constantly hooking & unhooking my Arduino from my PC while the printer was plugged into the mains. At some point it had enough & it released some "magic smoke". Later on I found out this was the power regulator on the Arduino.
You shouldn't need to plug in the USB and the external power to the Arduino at the same time, but if you did, it is smart enough to only use one.
That being said, by default the RAMPS passes 12V straight to the Arduino in order to power it (the Vin pin). |
Should I enclose my 3D Printer? I have a home built RepRap with all sides open..
Would there be any advantage to enclosing the print area in acrylic? | It is hard to tell whether you personally should enclose your printer. However, you asked for the advantages and I will name some of them on which one can base a decision.
A 3D printer enclosure
helps to keep the temperature of the whole print at controlled levels, if you use a heating element, thermocouple and pid regulator. This is one of the most direct uses of the enclosure, which can be achieved by almost no other means. One could sloppily say it does for the whole print what the heatbed does for the initial layers. Controlling the temperature can be beneficial for layer adhesion and can help against delamination problems. This can go as far as fixing cracks and complete delamination (Thanks to @J. Roibal for bringing these cracks to my attention in the comments)
keeps dangerous fumes controlled. Here you can find a scientific study about it, published in Atmospheric Environment 79, titled 'ultrafine particle emission from desktop 3D printers, on exactly that topic. You can embed a filter with a fan in your housing to filter the air from all dangerous fumes that are created when melting certain plastic types. It could just circulate the air inside the chamber or get the filtered air out of the housing. This is another use which cannot be achieved otherwise (afaik).
can keep humidity away from your printer. This is helpful for filaments that attract water (and don't print well under that circumstance). This should be realized separately for stored filament, too, adding some silica gel to regulate humidity. (Thanks to @Obmerk Kronen in the comments)
minimizes losses of your heatbed. This happens in at least two ways, - the heated bed will also heat the surroundings, that is the inside of the enclosure. By raising its temperature, the temperature difference and hence heat loss is minimized. Also wind, introducing high fluctuations in the transfered (i.e. lost) heat is minimized. In that sense, it also
shuts out any wind for print temperature stability. Also dust and particles that could be blown on the print will be shut out (thanks to the addition of dust/particles: @Obmerk Kronen). This is a benefit that comes without having a heated chamber or filter.
helps to keep the printer clean in between use. Your axes will thank you being free from dust.
reduces smell and noise. If you use the printer in you living area, that alone can be a great benefit.
makes sure that your printer is safe during storage, nothing will fall on it.
can look pretty nice and add to the style of your printer, even if selfmade ;-)
There are obviously also downsides, as: connected work/money to make it, increased space used for the printer, and, if not well made for that purpose (which it should be), increased difficulty in repairs and maintenance of the printer itself (i.e. to get the printer out of the enclosure). |
Any possible issues with adding heat/cool down cycle in the end of print (PLA) I'm printing with anycubic i3 mega on an ultrabase bed. When I first got the printer the prints were easy to remove from the bed after it cools down, I didn't need to put any extra effort. However after I used 70% isopropyl to clean it it seems I removed some kind of extra coating as all next prints were sticking to the bed firmly even after the bed cools down. So I tried to heat the bed up to 100 degrees and then cool it down and wait until it gets to something like 35, at that point print comes off quite easily (really helped me with some big parts with huge initial layer) so I wonder if I should just add that extra heating cycle to the end of each print job.
Is there any possible problems with that?
PS my understanding is that PLA should be okay with short temperature spike since it is being melted with twice as high heat. However long exposure to that temperature might cause some deformation (eg if I throw the printed part into dishwasher).
Another possible concern is that extra heating cycle could potentially shorten life of the ultrabase, but not sure if it is the case.
UPDATE
so after some experiments I printed at least a dozen calibration cubes adjusting several parameters along the way as it seems each of them contributed to the issue
I decided to reset initial layer thickness which I noticed was set to 0.25 when normal layer was 0.2. Since it was thicker for better adhesion I thought I don't need it since I don't have problem with sticking to the bed :)
second thing was the flow adjustment and enabling some layer filling settings in cura (filtering small holes etc). Ended up at 91% flow rate which gave me much cleaner top layers as well as the bottom ones.
and finally I played with Z offset, I did bed leveling recently so it was flat (did single layer tests to check that) but it might have been a little bit too high, so adding an offset seems like a good way to compensate for it. The thing I was looking after as a feedback here is the squeezing bottom layers issue, so I stopped once I got initial layers a bit smaller than the ones on top, went back a few values and ended up with 0.125 mm which sounds quite big to me but it allowed to get initial layer very clean and consistent with next layer so I think I got it right.
I can say it is easier to remove the cube from the bed now (used to be very difficult and I was using a mallet almost every time in the beginning) but it still doesn't come off on its own. I also noticed that now all three dimensions are almost identical (Z was about 0.5 less). And all X/Y/Z are ~19mm after cube cools down (the model is 20mm) so I wonder if I need to fix that one now | Heating PLA even to 60°C will make it pliable and may affect dimensional accuracy; 100°C is likely to make that severe. Being stuck to the bed and thus constrained by it might help some, but I think it's a bad idea.
If your PLA is hard to remove, you probably have bed leveling issues. PLA should remove easily after cooling from reasonable print-time bed temperatures of 40-60°C to room temperature as long as it has not been extruded against the bed with excessive force (from being too close and having nowhere else to go). |
Can anyone suggest what technology and 3D printing material is most suitable for printing of dental models? I'm looking for a 3D printer for applications in the dental field, for printing digital dental models (not for itra-oral use parts).
Resolution and finish are the main requirements that we consider necessary.
Any suggestion? | If resolution is your upmost concern then resin 3d printers are the way to go. They use a liquid resin that does not harden until a UV laser is shined through them. Apparently they get ultra high resolution and smooth finishes right out of the box. The downside is they are generally more expensive machines and the resin material itself is also a higher cost. but if you are in the dental field then money is not a problem. Look into resin 3d printers.
otherwise if you want to try FDM printers then try looking into .1mm brass nozzles which will increase resolution but vastly increase print time. Not sure what material would be best. ABS has toxic smelling fumes, but is the same as LEGOS and is able to be easily smoothed (if necessary) with Acetone fumes. PLA might work well at .1mm nozzle resolution though and is a starch/dextrin based non-toxic biodegradable filament. |
When 3D printing a hollow box, what is the best course of action? If I need to 3D print a hollow box that can not have any light permeating into the box, what would be the best course of action? Should I 3D print the hollow box as a whole or print out the 6 sides individually and put them together at the end? And if I do the second option, what would be the best way to put the pieces together (design/connect grooves or use glue)?
I am very new to 3D printing so any feedback would be very much appreciated! | That depends very much on what your goal is with the box. If it needs to be hollow and you don't need any access to the inside (and also prefer it to be printed in one piece) than the answer provided by user77232 would probably be the best.
Alternatively, if you need access to the inside of the box you would probably be best off printing the box in two pieces. A box and a lid. This way you can print the box without support and also save on material that would otherwise be used as infill.
The amount of light coming into your box also depends on the translucency of your material and brightness of the light source. To find the required wall thickness would be a matter of testing with the desired material. |
Interesting project for a child A member of our hackspace wants to get their 8- and 11- year old kids1 excited about 3D-printing and CNC cutting and makering in general. We have a weekly open training where people can design and print/CNC/laser an item of their choice like a dogboned box or a two-piece sword and hilt, or a name tag, or whatever. I need a few ideas prepared so we don't spend half our lesson on Thingiverse or in Fusion (more like a quarter)! I'm not a parent and my youngest friend is probably in their twenties.
What we have:
a full bed 1200x1800 mm CNC (preferred, because it's loud and fast)
Prusa mk3
cheapo 80W 500x300 mm laser
Fusion 360 based workflow, easy :)
Arduinos and stuff
Ideas we've had: a minecraft creeper, done as a simple-ish box.
1: the (girls) are not interested in my normal kids' goto, which is: swords, shields. They are interested in: minecraft, dragons, horses. _o_/
edit: this is NOT an opinion-gathering post, though there may be more than one "correct" answer. We need specific applications of 3d printing for a young audience. This collection of answers will be useful to evangelize making to a whole new generation! | As @fred_dot_u mentioned above, keychains are a simple, personalized item to make. In terms of interesting projects, things that I found intriguing when I first encountered 3D printing were objects that could not be made by other means, such as those "geared bearings" (Google: geared bearings 3d print). Given the popularity of figet spinners a while back, they could be an interesting item. A captive ball in a box, or three joined rings, can also be set up as a 3D print, and could have the same effect, while being easier for the kids to design.
EDIT: Some links to versions of items along the above lines. Thingiverse tends to slowly break links, though, so these might not last:
Geared Bearing
Captive Ball
Three Rings
Triple Gear
Self-aligning Bushing Keychain |
Aluminium cube - fan and hotend mount - is it worth it? Has anyone used one of these aluminium cubes?
It is used to mount the fan for the hotend, when used on a delta effector, like so:
Are they a good idea?
Without actually buying one and trying it, compared to the traditional fan mount, I imagine the pros are
Additional heatsink surface area
and that is it, I could think of only one tenuous advantage...
However, I would imagine that the cons are:
Additional weight on the effector1, for the push rods to move around, i.e. slightly higher inertia;
Probably restricted air flow, and;
Unnecessary additional cost
Therefore, as the cons appears to outweigh the pros, are they worth upgrading to from, say, a typical plastic fan mount:
Does anyone have first hand experience? Are there any other additional benefits, and/or is heat dissipation that much better?
1 Of course, the lightest solution is with the fan mounted, such that it hangs off the top of the effector, but with no air flow guide and hence less effective heat dissipation. | I think its only advantage is that it serves to move money from the folks who buy it to the folks that sell it, and that's an advantage purely for the folks that sell it.
"Additional heatsink surface area" is quite doubtful - it would have poor coupling to the actual heatsink. If the actual heatsink is correctly designed, there's no need for additional area, anyway. This design clearly does limit airflow to the top and bottom fins - the bottom one, in particular, is not a good place to limit airflow for best function, and yet it's severely occluded by the design of this block.
Save your money.
Edit - I think the plastic one shown is also less than ideal - the close coupling to the edges of the heatsink reduces the effectiveness of the heatsink, which would otherwise be dumping heat into the airflow past those edges. A better design (IMHO, gut engineering) would be spaced off the ends/edges of the fins about as much as the space between fins, not touching them. Axial fans perform poorly with backpressure, and that would also reduce backpressure. |
CR 10 mini not detecet as Serial interface (Win 10) I want to use my secondary Win 10 PC for Octoprint (Direct connection to the Printer via USB) but Windows detects the Printer as "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)" Im 99.9% sure the cable is not the problem cause it works perfectly fine on any other device. Ive tried installing multiple Driver versions (including the one that came with the printer) but no luck yet. I also tried different cables/USB ports, no luck either.
(Device Manager)
(Properties)
From Properties->Events->Information I get this:
Device USB\VID_0000&PID_0002\6&23938f4b&0&4 was configured.
Driver Name: usb.inf
Class Guid: {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}
Driver Date: 06/21/2006
Driver Version: 10.0.18362.1
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Section: BADDEVICE.Dev.NT
Driver Rank: 0xFF0000
Matching Device Id: USB\DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE
Outranked Drivers: usb.inf:USB\DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE:00FF2000
Device Updated: false
Parent Device: USB\VID_8087&PID_0024\5&2564d19a&0&1 | I use linux, so I am not familiar with Win10 stuff. But, it seems that the device driver has asked the USB device for its identifying codes (PID and VID) and got no recognisable response. Could be a bad cable, but you seem to have checked that. Could be a fried USB interface chip, so check whether you have any luck trying to connect to any other computer. If you can find someone with a linux machine (or you have something you can run linux on), the logs will tell you a lot more about what has been tried and what failed (or not).
Note that the parent USB device is VID=8087 (being Intel Corp.) and PID=0024 (being the Integrated Rate Matching Hub) - see https://devicehunt.com/search/type/usb/vendor/8087/device/0024. |
Scaling/size issues in delta printers So here How to achieve dimensional accuracy of printed parts the Cartesian printer approach to accurate sizing is covered. And deltas get a footnote of being a whole other ball of wax - so let's look at that wax ball.
I'm currently resurrecting, or erecting, depending how one looks at it, a poorly documented Chinese printer (purchased in China by a Chinese student and abandoned in the US after graduation) that appears to be based off a Rostock mini. Z 204mm, X Y 100mm radius or 200 mm diameter, Bowden tube.
It appears to be equipped with an absurdly small nozzle (lacking a good way to check that precisely yet, feeding suggests possibly 0.1mm, and no, the vertical resolution is not nearly enough to make that in any way reasonable), which is obviously fixable if the rest of it can be made to work.
Yesterday we got it to the point of (very tediously with tiny nozzle) spitting out a test cube, which was 17 by 17 by 20 mm - undersized in XY, accurate in Z. The last bit makes me pretty sure the steps/mm are right on the steppers, but obviously something is off in the geometry (measured, no documentation for this exact printer can be found, at least by non-Chinese-speaking/reading me - it being utterly un-branded does not help.)
A second test cube was produced with scaling set to 20/17 (1.176) in the XY directions, and that seems to be accurate at least to non-precision measurements. I'm now contemplating "what likely needs tweaked, and in what direction" for the delta geometry - I'd say the rod eye-to-eye measurement (85mm, IIRC) is fairly decent, the offset from rod mount at carriage to rod center is not too terrible, and I have low confidence in the rod mount at printhead to nozzle - so that's the one I suspect most.
tl, dr:But I lack an intuitive understanding of how each of those parameters (offset at carriage, offset at printhead, and arm length) would affect the printed size. I'll come back and edit in what we currently think each is. Rather than depending on scaling in the slicer I'd like to seek the "right numbers" but when at the limits of available measurement precision, having an idea how and in what direction incorrect offsets or arm length affect the print size would be good, rather than just blindly changing numbers and hoping.
I also have some other "print quality" issues and a bed leveling issue which will be other questions when I can sort that out. | Issues in X-Y size on a Delta are usually the result of an incorrect diagonal rod value in the firmware. This should be easy to fix assuming the rods were built together.
The formula for this is (20 in this case is your test print X-Y):
New DELTA_DIAGONAL_ROD = 20 / measured_length * Original DELTA_DIAGONAL_ROD
I found this information (here), this site also has more information on setting the radius and other delta specific issues.
If you encounter issues with the size of the rods you should build new ones using a jig. There are several (here's one) I found on Thingiverse but they require printed parts and they do all the rods horizontally which I think would be tough to keep equal. I would use something similar to this picture but with a longer rod/bolt so you can fit all rods on the same time. When I did my Kossel Mini I used a piece of the extrusion with bolts coming off of it to keep the rods consistent.
For the other issues you mention you should open another question specific to each issue. |
Layer shifting on product printing after raft support structure First post here, so please forgive me for any silly mistakes.
Recently the y-axis (I think, forward-backward) has started skipping forward when printing the first layer of my print. It prints the raft with no issues at all, sticks the bed nice and flat and the raft is perfect every time.
Then it starts to print the actual item, but every time it starts to the print the back right corner the Y-Axis jumps or skips on the gears and makes a loud grinding noise. The amount it jumps varies on the print, but always jumps towards the front of the print. It doesn't matter on the size of the print or the position, it always jumps forward never back.
The printer is a Makerbot Replikator clone, from eBay. The X & Y moves the extruder. I have tried upgrading and downgrading the software (which uses Makerbot software) I am unsure if I can update the firmware.
Any help much appreciated.
UPDATE:
Image has been attached of the failed part, excuse the colour, I use it for my test prints. This is orientation it printed on the bed. First 3 blocks printed fine, 4th one jumped It printed in the following order 1. top-left, 2. bottom left, 3. bottom right, 4. top right. | Layer shifting is a result of the use of open-loop control systems. This means that the printer just instructs the head to go to certain positions without checking that it actually did arrive at that position. If something happens along the path, like hitting some part of the print or the printer, the motors could loose steps or the belts may skip teeth without the printer knowing it, so it continues further without correcting this.
There are a couple of causes for the skipping to occur. Usually it is a mechanical issue, but it can also be related to an electrical problem or a print settings problem (if e.g. your print speed it too high, the steppers could miss steps).
Looking closely at the image, you will see that the infill of the first layer does not touch the outer lines. This could be a hint that your belts are not tight enough (mechanical issue). Too loose belts cause the stepper driving pulley to skip. Also check the pulley whether it is securely fastened so that the pulley is not slipping when subjected to an increased torque. The nozzle most probably hits the raft (ABS? as it curls up and detaches, you see some irregularities on the left of the bottom right product in your image). Do note that too tight belts are also not wanted as they stress the stepper by an increased torque load. If the issue is electronically related, you could thick of increasing the torque by increasing the current through the stepper (and driver). Too much current will overheat the stepper driver though, so make sure that these do not exceed their rated maximum and properly cool the stepper drivers.
To solve your issues it is recommended to first try printing at lower speeds (this can be skipped if you already have low print speeds), then check the mechanical system of the printer, and finally, if this does not fix the problem, you could look into the electronics. |
What are some conductive filaments that can be used in printing electronics? I'm very new to 3D printing, and I am very interested in printing electronics. I want to be able to print out circuits, so I've been trying to find a conductive filament. What sorts of conductive filaments are available to the consumer (me) and are of acceptable quality
Edited for clarity: I am not seeking a product recommendation, but rather am looking to know what sort of variety I can expect and more specifically which filaments are useful for printing electronics. | At this point conductive filaments are a very new thing. All the filiments on the market are PLA based that have been infused with Carbon or Graphine
However I worry you over estimate what you can do with this. You will at most be able to 3d print a simple wire and power a LED. You will not be able to run a microcontroller, and honestly I would expect a complicated print to have too much or too little resistance, maybe burst into flames.
You really should look into the Voxle 8 and other printers. The printer is really the driving factor. Using a conductive filament will not be enough. Note this printer uses a syringe not PLA plastic.
Here is a Voxle8 print. |
How are infill paths connect to form an efficient path that respect the object's geometry? I am attempting to write a basic slicer for some objects I am working with. I need to write a custom slicer as the objects are not polygonal based (they are implicit objects) and therefore cannot be plugged into slic3r. I can easily obtain the perimeter/shell of the objects I am working with and have a few successful prints. What I am having trouble with is how to add infill. I think the biggest hurdle is simply my inability to frame the question properly. How do current software tackle this problem?
I don't know of my current approach is feasible but if I have a collection of vectors that represent the path around the outside of the object and a collection of vectors that represent an arbitrarily large infill pattern is there a way to union the two paths together to from an outer path (the object shell) and an inner path that is the infill pattern cut out in the shape of the object?
EDIT:
Sorry for the lack of clarification. So lets say I cut out the infill pattern to match the inside of the object. How do I then intelligently connect all the broken infill segments together to form an efficient path that doesn't cross gaps or mess the object up in any way? | The answer to this is pretty much basic algebra: The software tackles the problem by using a set of functions that generate the infill pattern for ALL the build volume, then discard anything outside the shells. Which is determined by algebra:
Basics
Outline Function
Assume the outline of the body is a function $O(l)$ that has a parameter $l$ for its length. This function can be calculated into XY coordinates, giving us $y\mapsto O^{xy}(x)$, that is parameterized after $x$, and should give us the values of $y$ for a closed function $O(l)$.
Infill Functions
Now, let's generate a function for infill pattern. Let's make it easy for us and use a diagonals pattern: $I_n(x)=x+n\times d$
where $d$ is a fixed parameter for "distance to last line" and $n\in\mathbb Z$ is the number of the line with 0 passing the origin.
Comparation: Outline=Infill
Now basic algebra! Let the computer solve for each $n$ the term $O(x)=I_n(x)$. The result should be (in the best case) paired points, all on the linear function $I_n(x)$. Sort these points by their correlating $n$ value first, then the $x$ values.
Dealing with the results
Let's assume we have some banana shape and our solutions for n=0 are like this: $P_{i=1 \to 4}=\{\{1,1\},\{2,2\},\{3,3\},\{4,4\}\}$
Modeling starter
On the most simple cases, we hope to only have paired results - the outline is closed and thus each line passing it has to cut it in multiples of two. Because we don't allow geometry to be below $\{0,0\}$, the line in this example will pass into the body at the first solution of these points and pass out of it at the second and so on. Generally: It moves in at odd and exits at even i. So our infill lines in the example need to connect $\{1,1\} \to \{2,2\}$ and $\{3,3\} \to \{4,4\}$.
Enhancing the Modeling
checking for tangents
Now, we might have an odd number of points that solve O(x)=In(x) for a given n. Let's assume $P_{i=1 \to 5}=\{1,1\},\{2,2\},\{3,3\},\{4,4\},\{5,5\}$.
Now we need to be careful as one of these points is guaranteed to be a point in which $I_n(x)$ is a tangent at of $O(x)$. So, we need to know the first differential of $O(x)$ in the points, which is the tangent at $O(x)$. But we don't need to solve all the points: We know the first should enter and the last exit the body, so we need (for most cases) to only solve this for the points $P_i$ with $i=2 \to i_{max-1}$. When $O'(x)=I_n(x)$, we got a tangent and remove this point from the list of points to connect with infill lines.
Because we could have several tangents in a set of points, this check has to be done for all sets of points to eliminate these points.
Also, I used the "usually" there by intent: there are cases where the first or last point is a tangent, and because it is easier to cose, we should run the elimination process over all $P_1 \to P_{max}$!
The new, reduced set of points will be a paired list: $Q_{i=1 \to 4}=\{1,1\},\{2,2\},\{4,4\},\{5,5\}$. The Infil connects $Q_1 \to Q_2$ and $Q_3\to Q_4$.
Turning Points into vectors
Now, we have our points $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ (or any other pair of $n \land n+1$, where n is an element of the odd numbers), both on $I_{n=0}(x)$. How to connect? Easy! $I{n=0}$ is a function, most likely a linear one. Along this line has to be our connecting line from $Q_1\to Q_2$, so the movement we have to plot is the function of our pattern between the points. For a simple, linear pattern this would be:
$L_1=\frac{I(x)}{|I(x)|} \times |\vec{Q_2}-\vec{Q_1}|+\vec{Q1}$
Optimisation
Sorting properly
Now, we have a set of Lines $L_n$, where, as established in the last paragraph, n is an odd number declaring it has the lower-end $Q_n$, and the upper-end $Q_{n+1}$. How do we sort these lines smartly so we have the least movement? Let's take a look at our lists:
The list of Pi, which contains all tangential points and end points. Not very helpful.
The reduced list of $Q_{n}$, which contains all the start and end points; it is sorted in a way that odd numbers are starts, and even ends.
The list of $L_n$ with i always being an odd number, that contains the movement paths (=lines) from each $Q_{n}$ to its corresponding $Q_{n+1}$
Shortest movement between prints?
Now, let's do some math again: What is the closest $Q_{a}$ to the $Q_{n+1}$ we did end at after doing the $L_n$ movement? Well, first of all, we need to make sure we don't get back to already moved paths so let's make a new list $R_{i}$, which contains all the $Q_{i}$ we have not yet moved to.
So what is the closest $R_{i}$ to the end point of the path $L_e$ we just moved? Well, easy! Solve $min|R_i-L_e|$ with i being all the odd numbers in the list of $R_{i}$ and $L_e$ the point where the printhead was sent to at the end of the last movement
fewest direction changes?
Always moving just the shortest distance might create a large number of direction changes. So it might be a good idea to keep the point-lists sorted by the parameter n of the function $l_n(x)$ that created the points in the first place, and run down that list from minimum n that generated points (which can be below 0) to the maximum n that generated points.
optimizing direction changes & movement paths
Now, we have 2 approaches that pretty much only follow the pattern. However, we might make our average movement paths more efficient by using a simple trick:
Up to now, all our line functions $l_n(x)$ had the same vector and just a different starting point to one another. So all the starts were on one side of the body, all the ends on the opposite. With a very simple trick on the infill function we can generate a group of functions that alternate the sides of the end-points between each line, jsut by adding an inverse element:
$L_n(x)=-1^n\times l_n(x)$
Now, after all the movements with the same $n$ are done, check for the closest starting point (which should be on the same side, but is not necessary the neighboring line), and go down that line fully, eradicating these points from the list of remaining points $R_{i}$. Once back on the side we started first at, we look for the closest unused point again, run down that line, rinse and repeat. |
Reprap prusa i3 Y and Z axis swapped when printing GCODE files I'm having an issue with my new Prusa i3. (This one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01DLIRDFW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
For some reason the Y and Z axis are swapped when I print Gcode files, even though all the axis move correctly when I manually move them with the interface on the LCD. Also, if I try to print an STL file, the Z axis moves in one direction more than it is actually limited to, and then does the same again in the opposite direction when the print starts.
Anyone know the solutions? | Sounds like your slicing program is not set up right.. Or more likely your printer isn't.
I would use Pronterface
I use simplify 3d, but the best free software is Slic3r.
Try those then report back. Honestly I think you might not have it wired correctly. With pronterface tell it to move X. Then try moving it and manually holding the endstop. Then if it does not stop try going tho incorrect way with that endstop still pressed. If you find that your reversed you will need to correct this with your firmware. If I knew this was a ramps board you could reverse the wires, but lets do it in firmware as I am not buying you a new board.
After that you should work. Software wise we just made sure your interface and your slic3r work and talk the same language. Those two I know will not be doing anything funny. After that report back if it is still not working. |
Limit to extrusion volume Assuming heat transfer to melt the filament is not an issue, what’s the bottleneck in pushing more filament through the nozzle? Is extrusion volume per time proportional to applied extruder torque? | The molten plastic in the extruder becomes a hydraulic fluid effectively when it gets melted. You're pushing on a fat piston (1.75 mm or 2.85 mm, depending on filament type), and shoving fluid out through a 0.4 mm or so hole. There's a limit to flow rate at a given pressure, but the bigger issue actually tends to be friction. Molten plastic really loves to grab on to metal, and the ratio of surface area to volume is fairly high in the long, skinny tube that is the inside of an extruder. To make matters worse, the not-quite-molten section of the melt zone up at the top normally doesn't make a lot of contact with the walls due to lower pressures not deforming the plastic all that much, but at higher pressures you get much more deformation, increasing the linear distance that the plastic is dragging against the tube walls, and the pressure with which the two surfaces are bonding together. Especially in cheapo clone extruders you'll find roughly bored inner surfaces with many circumferential grooves which exacerbate this issue - this is why most extruders have a PTFE lining as far down as they can go. I had this issue in my $3 "all-steel" extruder barrel, where even printing PLA was an issue because of how readily the plastic formed huge plugs and grabbed the inside of the extruder.
So what you end up with, is that increased torque mostly linearly translates to increased pressure, which results in linearly increased friction inside the barrel, plus a little bit extra due to extra deformation in the top of the melt zone. You can polish the inside of the barrel (heatbreak? seen both terms) to help alleviate internal friction somewhat.
To make things even more fun, there's obviously a limit with how much force you can exert through the mating surface of a single hobbed bolt and the side of the filament. Too much force and the teeth will simply rip off the side of the filament and then you'll have no feeding torque whatsoever. To get much higher torque you'd need to design an extruder that both supports the filament much better than modern designs do, and spreads the force out over a larger surface area, either by using a much larger diameter feed gear, or multiple tightly-coupled feed gears.
I went into some degree of detail on the feed mechanism in this answer that another user asked about using a commercial extruder for plastic injection molding, which overlaps somewhat with your question here.
I know the original question assumed perfect heat transfer that was not a limiting factor to the process, but how that actually works is relevant to the question as well. E3D took one approach with their Volcano design, simply by making the melt zone much longer to increase heat transfer; the downside is there's obviously substantially more friction when you've got 4x the linear distance of molten plastic against metal, assuming you're not using a PTFE liner. This does have the advantage of letting the plastic take its time to reach the target temperature, decreasing how far over your target plastic temperature you need to have the heating element. One thing not often discussed in 3d printers is the fact that the plastic asymptotically approaches the temperature registered on your thermistor. If you're printing very, very slowly, your plastic will nearly be exactly at the target temperature. If you print very quickly with very high volumes, you'll tend to have slightly cooler plastic than intended because it simply wasn't in contact with the heater long enough to come up to temperature. The solution for very small designs might be higher temperatures, but the drawback there is that if you slow down even for a moment, say moving to thinner line widths or picking up and moving the extruder, you'll overheat the plastic. So there's practicality questions that need to be answered to determine how you'll actually heat that much plastic to the right temperature. Increased distance improves reliability at the cost of increased friction (and therefore extruder torque required), and increased temperature mostly bypasses that question at the cost of reliability.
TL;DR Increased extrusion speed requires increased pressure, which increases friction dramatically and in a non-linear fashion and results in stripped filament. |
Ender3 printing tilted layers I bought an Ender 3, and after assembling it following the description and some YouTube videos and after correct leveling, I printed the test dog gcode on the micro SD card that comes with the printer. PLA 1.75 mm. Attached the image of the printing result. What went wrong? I didn't change or modify any settings what so ever, I just assembled the printer, and printed the test dog. Please help me, I am a beginner in 3D printing. | This is an extreme case of repeated layer shifting in the Y-carriage, which can come from some pieces related to the carriage. Luckily for you, they are easily fixable.
The Ender3 Y-carriage has an eccentric nut to adjust the force the wheels press down on the V-slot. Adjust it (most likely loosen them a little) so it moves smoothly when the motors are off, but keep it tight enough so it does not tilt.
The belt in the Y-carriage might be loose. Tighten it till it gives a nice ring when struck.
Check if the gear on the Y-motor is tightened down correctly. If it slips or wriggles, the backlash results in the layers shifting.
The Ender3 has the cables to the gantry and the bed running across each other and quite open. Make sure nothing can be caught in them.
Make sure the gantry is parallel to the bed and stays so in moving upwards - adjust the wheels as needed.
To ensure this, make sure the lead screw is orthogonal to the gantry. Level the bed afterwards. You might need to adjust the motor mount, possibly by shimming. |
What and how much does coloring in the filament affect in the print? Are there general rules on how much a colored filament vs. vanilla filament affects the print results, what is affected and how those values should be changed in the slicer to achieve more similar results between different color/colored vs. pure filament spools? | At this point in time I don't think there is a need to be concerned with purity of filaments based on pigmentation.
For the most part, variations in filament quality due to coloring should be the least of your concerns compared to some of the other variables such as quality of the pellets, extrusion temperature (when manufactured), cooling rate (after extrusion), handling/storage, etc.
Also, assuming your focused on consumer 3D printer use, the typical hardware components aren't equipped to be accurate enough to make fine adjustments with regard to the quality range driven by filament color. Even if there were capable, accurate extruder(s) installed, I think you would need a well designed feedback loop to ensure that you're reading temperatures along the full extrusion process (drive, melt, extrude, etc).
I believe what you're asking involves more material science expertise, from a design aspect.
However, I believe that the more "color" you have obviously reduces the purity of the material and thusly the material properties can suffer. Such properties as thermal resistance found in PLA and ABS. So theoretically if you have Black filament, you'll want to extrude with a lower temperature than you would with a natural "White" filament. I would think that the necessary difference in temperature would be a few degrees (Celsius). However, there are many other factors, such as moisture and manufacturing techniques that can take precedence over color differences.
My advice, figure out how to "cheaply" analyze your material and ensure you have an accurate temperature feedback loop. If can you do that, you'll be able to drastically change the quality of consumer 3D printing. |
Marlin 2.0 - set stepper drivers? I have an Anycubic Delta with a Trigorilla board. I have swapped out the A4988 drivers for DRV8825.
Currently, I am assuming it is using the A4988 drivers as the steppers are making a quiet growling noise. Kinda like a grating, coarse hum.
When I put the A4988 back in they are as smooth as always.
Where do I tell Marlin 2.0 that the assigned board has the DRV8825 drivers? | In the configuration.h file of Marlin 2.0.x you can define which stepper driver type is used to drive the stepper in the Stepper Drivers section.
You can choose to use the following constants from the array to configure the correct driver:
['A4988', 'A5984', 'DRV8825', 'LV8729', 'L6470', 'TB6560', 'TB6600', 'TMC2100', 'TMC2130', 'TMC2130_STANDALONE', 'TMC2208', 'TMC2208_STANDALONE', 'TMC26X', 'TMC26X_STANDALONE', 'TMC2660', 'TMC2660_STANDALONE', 'TMC5130', 'TMC5130_STANDALONE']
And update the section that links the steppers to the stepper driver by updating the following section of the configuration.h file.
//#define X_DRIVER_TYPE A4988
//#define Y_DRIVER_TYPE A4988
//#define Z_DRIVER_TYPE A4988
//...
//#define E0_DRIVER_TYPE A4988
//...
by removing the // in front of the driver specification and update the constant of the correct stepper driver:
#define X_DRIVER_TYPE DRV8825
#define Y_DRIVER_TYPE DRV8825
#define Z_DRIVER_TYPE DRV8825
//...
#define E0_DRIVER_TYPE DRV8825
//...
This results in the use of specific timings for the specific drivers. To be honest I have never set these constants when I used DRV8825 stepper drivers on my RUMBA board and my motors are operating smooth without these settings.
What you do need to look out for is when you replace stepper drivers is whether the micro stepping jumper settings on the board are correct for your stepper driver! I needed to set the jumper switches in a certain position to enable the 1/32 micro stepping functionality for the DRV8825 drivers. Knowing that the maximum micro step for the A4988 is 1/16, you also need to look out for the steps/mm; with more micro steps, you need twice as many steps per mm when you go from 1/16 to 1/32; e.g.:
#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 80, 80, 4000, 500 }
would need to be changed to:
#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 160, 160, 8000, 1000 }
Also, did you tune the new stepper drivers correctly? When you receive the stepper drivers, they are usually not tuned and the position of the potentiometer on the driver board is undefined! You need to calculate the correct $ V_{ref} $ for your stepper driver in use for the specific stepper you have (max current that the stepper can handle). For DRV8825 stepper drivers, the maximum current is defined as:
$$ A_{max} = V_{ref} \times 2 $$
For example, if you have a stepper motor rated for 1.4 A, you limit the current to 1.4 A by setting the reference voltage ($ V_{ref} $) to 0.7 V. More details are found here. |
Convert a 3D NumPy array of voxels to an STL file Given a 3D boolean array representing voxels, how can it be converted to a 3D-printer-ready file?
The end-goal I would like to achieve is to print the 3D shape that the numpy array represents (True coding for fill this voxel, False for leave it empty).
For example, the array
[
[
[T, T, T],
[T, F, T],
[T, T, T]
],
[
[T, F, T],
[F, F, F],
[T, F, T]
],
[
[T, T, T],
[T, F, T],
[T, T, T]
]
]
would encode a level-1 Menger sponge. | I agree with the use of OpenSCAD, but since it is difficult to program in OpenSCAD, I would use SolidPython, which is a front end for OpenSCAD with the full programming capability of Python.
In the alternative, you could use any programming language to decode your arrays and generate the OpenSCAD code for the little network of cubes (or voxels).
The final possibility is to generate an STL file directly. I've helped someone do this, but we found the rules to be a little non-intuitive. We used mesh tools to check out results, both by looking for error messages, and by displaying the result to see if it looked as we intended it to look. |
Why does a raft adhere to the bed while skirt does not? I'm experimenting with my new Ender 3 V2 using PETG filament on the textured side of the included glass bed without any additional adhesives.
I'm been having trouble with adhesion until I found out that enabling raft on my prints helps solve the problem. However, I can't help to wonder whether skirts work any different than rafts.
In my test prints, all settings are identical except for the raft vs. skirt setting (using Cura as my slicer). However, the outer line of a raft adheres perfectly to the glass, while the outer line of a skirt fails to stick completely and moves around when the nozzle goes "around the corner".
Is there any difference between the outer border of a raft and a skirt as produced by Cura?
EDIT: I've managed to upload a video comparison of raft and skirt in the same project. | The raft base (initial layer) is usually printed with very wide lines. Cura's default is double the nozzle diameter, so 0.8 mm with standard 0.4 mm nozzle. This is ridiculously high flow, especially with the default 0.3 mm thickness, which is why the raft base lines are (and must be, unless you have a seriously overpowered hotend) printed so slowly. So, each line has significantly increased (double) surface contact, more pressure against the bed, more forgiveness if the bed clearance is too high (since it will still smash against the bed, just spreading out less than the whole 0.8 mm width), comes out slower (giving it better opportunity to adhere), and does not involve any curves (where the nozzle may "pull" just-extruded material that's not yet adhering).
You may be able to get a lot of the same benefit with skirts (or brims) by increasing the "Skirt/Brim Line Width" setting and slowing down its speed. |
Cura 3.5 doesn't launch repeatably When I was notified by Cura that 3.5 was out, I looked at the changelog, and I installed the new version. It worked normally for a time, until once when I went to launch it and cura.exe forever sat idle in task manager doing nothing. I reinstalled Cura 3.5 and tried again.
That then worked for some time, maybe another couple days, and then the same thing happened again. Rince and repeat, maybe for a few more cycles. Now, Cura 3.5 doesn't like to do anything even fresh out of the box. Restarting the computer does nothing.
I've looked at the cura.log file in AppData/Roaming/cura and found a peculiar line:
...
2018-10-10 21:49:33,591 - INFO - [MainThread] UM.VersionUpgradeManager._upgradeFile [369]: Upgraded .\fdmextruder+%232_user.inst.cfg to version 4000005.
2018-10-10 21:49:33,605 - DEBUG - [MainThread] UM.Backend.Backend._logSocketState [178]: Socket state changed to Listening
2018-10-10 21:49:33,650 - INFO - [MainThread] UM.Backend.Backend.startEngine [74]: Started engine process: C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 3.5\CuraEngine.exe
2018-10-10 21:49:33,652 - DEBUG - [MainThread] UM.Backend.Backend._backendLog [94]: [Backend] Calling engine with: ['C:\\Program Files\\Ultimaker Cura 3.5\\CuraEngine.exe', 'connect', '127.0.0.1:49674', '-j', 'C:\\Program Files\\Ultimaker Cura 3.5\\resources\\definitions\\fdmprinter.def.json', '']
It looks as if the issue is when the Cura GUI tries to connect to its backend slicing engine. Is my analysis correct? Is this a known issue/is there a known fix?
I'm going to try to report this to Ultimaker if nothing comes up here. | Issues like these are not new, I have experienced similar issues (see e.g. this topic, but more can be found) with an installation of an older version. At the moment of writing there is already a reported issue with Ultimaker Cura 3.5.
It is generally best to mention problems with a specific software application at the developers own forum or tech support. This will catch a more specific type of users as well as the developers themselves.
A workaround, but not a definite solution, is to remove the settings (on the Windows platform these files are located in AppData/Roaming/cura) that Ultimaker Cura uses and remove prior installations and do a fresh re-install of 3.5 and see if this works. Just rename the directory to e.g. AppData/Roaming/cura_old, this way you can always go back.
The drawback of this solution is that all material profiles and printer setups are lost as you start completely new. This is not a problem if you have a single printer and no custom materials defined, but in my case it was a lot of work to get all profiles back.
These issues could be related to the profile settings and storage model, which, at the time of the older installations was not very stable. A new material model was required, if that has been replaced is still a question. |
Weird bumps cylindrical hole Not quite sure what's happening here. I printed it as a single ball and had this effect. I thought it might be a cooling issue so I printed 4 at once but the issue still occurred. If I size the ball up, the problem reduces.
Note that the hole is supposed to be a cylinder. | It looks like possibly a combination of too high of extruder temperature and poor retraction.
First, try reducing your extruder temperature. PLA ideal extruder temps range from about 185C to 225C; depending on purity, quality, and climate. This can help prevent additional oozing and clogging. If your extruder clogs easily, you probably have too high of temperature.
After you've verified you have correct extrusion temperature. Try finding/adjusting retraction settings in your preferred slicing engine. Here's a good troubleshoot page from Simplify3D's website. |
First layer lines don't stick at all My Ultimaker 1 with a heated bed doesn't print good first layer lines at all. The single lines keep detaching from the printbed, no matter what nozzle or bed temperature or the height of printhead from printbed. I cleaned the printbed thouroughly, too. It worked a while ago, I don't know what I am doing wrong.
Data:
Ultimaker 1 with Heated Printbed (Glass)
PLA @ 200°/60°
This is how it looks like after removing a print (one and a half layers) from the printbed.
It is quite thick though. | This looks a bit like your build plate isn't level. I'd suggest re-leveling using feeler gauges. |
Is a 3-D printer made from 3 CD Drives practically somewhat decent, being DIY and less expensive? I want some indication to all the workings of 3D-Printers and the basics of design.
All links regarding DIY 3D-printer are welcomed. | I would guess that a printer made in the following way would be both poor quality, and annoyingly frustrating, as well as requiring constant tinkering/re-adjustment. Also, if the chassis of the CD/DVD drive is incorporated into the design (as below) then the print volume is rather small, given the inherent limited movement of a CD/DVD mechanism.
If the steppers are used without the CD/DVD chassis then it might be possible to increase the print volume but then you would need to spend extra on the rods and support structure for the X gantry, the Y-axis print bed, and the Z-axis movement. If you do that, then the steppers from the CD/DVD drive probably would not have sufficient torque to move the additional weight - by incorporating the CD/DVD chassis the inertia of the movement has been kept to an acceptable minimum.
By using the CD/DVD drive's stepper motors you are only really saving the cost of buying three or four actual, more powerful and useful, stepper motors (as well as the cost of the additional rods and support).
That said, it could be quite amusing to make, and show off, and also provide some satisfaction if you do manage to print a tiny frog, parts for another printer, or whatever, with it. However, I wouldn't expect it to print anything to any great accuracy/tolerance/precision/etc., but it would maybe give you something unusual to talk about at dinner parties.
An example
There is this (IMHO unjustifiably1) popular (i.e. well linked-to) Instructables guide: EWaste 60$ 3DPrinter, which describes making a 3D printer from old desktop computer parts2.
$ 3DPrinter"> 3DPrinter" title="EWaste 60$ 3DPrinter">
According to E-waste printer looks nice, prints really, really small, it has an awesome print volume of 37 mm x 37 mm x 18 mm.
Apparently, all you need is to salvage:
2 DVD drives (Matsushita stepper datasheet)
1 floppy disk drive (ensure it has steppers and not simple d.c. motors)
1 PC power supply
Then purchase these standard 3D printing components:
RAMPS & Arduino Mega or RepRap Gen6/7 - Capable of running Marlin/Sprinter frimware
Nema 17 stepper motor for the extruder - Either this, or better still something from RepRap Wiki - Nema 17, i.e. Kysan 1124090/42BYGH4803, Rattm 17HS8401, or Wantai 42BYGHW609.
MK7/MK8-type direct drive gear for extruder
PTFE tubing
Hotend (throat, heaterblock, nozzle)
Heater
Thermistor
Cables, female connectors, heat-shrink tube.
To make the frame, you need a 325 mm x 362 mm, 5 mm thick acrylic sheet, and use this template (missing files):
or this one (cnc-calisma-yalniz.dwg):
You will also need to 3D print these parts (the links to which have died):
Extruder idle
Extruder body
Hot end holder
Once you've gathered all of the parts required, you can then try to work through the incomplete assembly steps of the Instructables guide.
Other links
A very similar printer also made from an old DVD drive, Instructables: Curiosity 80\$ EWaste Educational 3D Printer. See also An E-waste 3D printer for every child?
A very complete, and IMHO, a much more doable E-waste printer, Instructables: Complete Newbie Step by Step, 3D Printer With All Parts Lists
Other Instructables, that I've not really looked into:
Super Cheap 3D Printer From CD-Rom Drives
Cherry- 60€ 3D-Printer
Poor Man's 3D Printer
Chimera: \$60 DLP High-Res 3D Printer
3d Printer for Less Than \$100 USD!!!
A Low Cost 3D Printer With Basic Tools
Thingiverse: \$65 3D printer made from recycled electronic waste
Footnotes
1 Most, if not all, of the links for the printer above are dead (this variant, mentioned above in Other links, is much more complete). However, with a bit of knowledge, and common sense, it should be possible to work through those omissions:
Marlin software - easy enough to find on Github
The frame laser cut - the original file is missing but an alternative is still available
The 3D printed parts for the extruder - as the links have died, you'll either need to find reasonable facsimiles on Thingiverse, which shouldn't be too hard to find, or buy them from cheap Chinese suppliers:
Extruder idle
Extruder body
Hot end holder
2 Funnily enough, whilst searching around looking for information to fill in the gaps in the above answer, I found this question on 3DP.SE: Missing print steps in e-waste 3d printer |
Which is the right filiament type to print breakable children's toy parts such as small gears Probably the question sounds a little strange; however, I am looking for a filament which is breakable and not so steady and reliable as PLA. I want to print parts similar to the following gears for instance (They are from Lego, a children's toy).
They should break after some time or in any way become unusable after an accidental period (1 minute to several days) of use. Yes, you read right: I want to print parts that are frangible and probably will break! I plan to use Ultimaker 3 as 3D printer. So I'm looking for a suitable filament. Maybe I can merge two types of filament?
Could Ultimaker's TPU filament (https://ultimaker.com/en/products/materials/tpu-95a) be useful for my purpose? Or can anybody recommend me another filament that can be useful for my intended use? The primary purpose is that the printed part is not stable enough to serve its original purpose for longer than a foreseeable time (1 minute to several days). I appreciate your advice and ideas.
Note: I don't want to sell them; I want to use them for my private project. So please no legal issues. They are not helpful for my question. I don't ask for legal advice. | deliberate/planned obsolescence is the term you look for
If you design parts that break after some time, you plan their obsolescence. That you do by a deliberate choice of material and working conditions. Designing a part that will break after a certain time can be done by choosing the correct stresses that will make your chosen material break.
In a gear that is meant to break at certain stress, one can weaken the teeth or the sprues, so that normal operation stresses will very likely break the safety margin and destroy the gear.
is it a material choice?
Any material is suitable to make a planned break, as long as the design is suitable. Performing a stress analysis of your part will tell you where to weaken it to enforce it will break - if the part was solid. As printed parts in FDM aren't solid, take the result with salt - it will tell where but not when it fails. Do the experiment for actual numbers.
is it a print setting thing?
Besides deliberately under-engineering some part of the gear, a usually perfectly fine gear would lose a lot of strength by deliberately reducing how massive it is: the stability of a print is affected by the form and amount of the infill just as much as the number of shells. Some random setting examples:
1-shelled, 1-bottom/top-layer, 5% infill piece is very likely so fragile you might not get it off the build plate
these parameters at 2-5-10% results in a somewhat durable piece.
2-5-20% is more than twice as strong as 2-5-10%.
To find the exact breaking point of a setup, one might need to toy with the parameters and experiment. It might be interesting to use no top- or bottom-layers and thus turn to create all the spokes of the gear in the shape of infill and outer shell. Also, some infills are better at withstanding forces than others - for example, Gyroid or Hex infill is rather stable on pressure while spaghetti is quite weak.
Other parameters also can change the infill stability: speeding up the print of the infill compared to the shell and using a thinner line considerably weakens the infill, thus reducing the needed load to break it. This is a somewhat easy parameter to tweak if you want to go for breaking the spokes (see below).
planned obsolescence and how to under-engineer safely
Sometimes, planned destruction is good for safety: a safety valve is supposed to break under overpressure to release the pressure in a safe way.
But planned obsolescence can also be a safety risk: If a toy breaks under normal use, it is a safety hazard for the broken off parts can be swallowed by children. Another factor to look at is where broken off parts end up in the machinery - they might jam other pieces that are not meant to self-destruct and destroy them.
Design the pieces to break in a safe way - the larger the chunks, the better you prevent them from going into places they should not.
Design the teeth to deform or melt rather than shearing off
Design the axles to sheer free by losing their keying
Design the spokes of the gears to break, separating gear rim from axle & hub, either of which goes nowhere due to the other gears and the mounting
Encase the self-destruct gears in some sort of gearbox to prevent the pieces from going flying
Industrial machinery design usually goes the melting way: Let's take a hand mixer. It contains a gearset that has one drive gear connected to a second gear, so that both mixers spin opposite. Under normal use, these spin pretty fast, creating heat from the friction. In a good design, these two gears are made from metal or a high heat tolerant polymer. But if one plans for having them break, these gears are made from a material that will heat under the friction in such a way, that after a set time (around 5 minutes), the teeth will be sufficiently weakened to deform and grind away, destroying them in the process.
Preferred Material
I would actually deliberately under-design the gears for the expected loads and then go for a solid material printed in SLA or SLS from either a resin (which will break with pieces and bits going flying, so a gearbox is mandatory!) or a polyamide (nylon). These parts would match the stress analysis fully.
If FDM is the only option, the material choice depends on the failure mode you opted for:
In case you opt for destruction from heat on the teeth or axle, a low melting material like PLA is perfectly fine, but make sure to engineer the chance of breaking teeth low. ABS can perform a little better but needs more heat (and thus more RPM) to self destruct.
In case of designing for a breaking failure of spokes or keying, PLA is an excellent choice, as it is sufficiently brittle.
PETG is a good compromise between ABS deformability and PLA's printing ease.
Footnotes
Gear DesignWhen designing your gears, keep in mind that gears are rather complicated. I actually advise to take a look on the gross oversimplification of This Old Tony because it allows you to see where you can make teeth break very easily by design!
planned obsolescence and consumer rightsWhile planned obsolescence can be an important safety factor, planning obsolescence in consumer products for sale to break them after a calculated time is unethical and can be a consumer rights violation. Remember, that legally demanded warranty and a right to repair exist in a lot of countries.
LEGO is Copyrighted, Patented and TrademarkedCopying Lego designs would be a Trademark Violation, Patent infringement and a copyright violation by using their designs. They protect them. |
Tips for not burning out my Arduino Mega or catching something on fire when wiring a Prusa i3? I'm reading about wiring up the electronic components to my Prusa i3 using an Arduino Mega 2650 and Ramps 1.4.
I have step sticks, a heated bed, and a Switching Power Supply 12v Dc 30a 360w (more details on that later when I can add which ones to the post).
I've heard that if you wire it wrong and plug it in, you can do anything from starting a fire to burning out your boards.
What are some tips of things to check before plugging it in? Are there any common mistakes that I can avoid? | Polarity matters, sometimes. Be especially mindful of the wires from your power supply to the board, as getting those the wrong way around will definitely cause damage. Heated beds and extruders are not polarity sensitive, and can go in either way. Fans are polarized, but will probably survive if you get them backwards - they just won't run. Stepper motors don't care about polarity, flipping the connector around just makes them run backwards.
Take special care with endstops. The endstop connectors have 3 pins (VCC, 5V and signal), endstops with 2 pins are usually connect to GND and signal. Putting a 2-pin endstop across 5V and GND will destroy the 5V regulator.
A common cause of damage is wires not being clamped in their respective terminals properly. The offending wire will arc, melting and destroying the connector. Tighten down screw terminals properly, use proper crimps if you have them. Soldering the ends of wires going into screw terminals is not encouraged, but if you do solder the ends then make sure to check after a while and tighten the screws again.
Put the stepper drivers in the right way around.
For things like the heated bed and wires going to your power supply, use sufficiently thick wires. Especially with the heated bed, a lot of current flows through the wires and flimsy wires will heat up and melt. |
Unable to upload Marlin 2.0 to Melzi 2.0 board I need to set the HOME_POS manually since it isn't printing in the center of the bed. But whenever I try to upload it to the Melzi 2.0 board I get an out of sync error.
I am using Arduino IDE on Manjaro Linux, I was able to upload Marlin to the board on Windows 10 but I have since removed that OS.
I have the correct settings for the board: Sanguino Atmega 1280 or 1280P (16mhz)
Here is what I have tried to get me this far:
Running Arduino IDE as root (administrator) which fixed the
permission denied error
Changing the Board and the processor settings
Uploading a fresh Marlin firmware with no changes
Uploading a simple program to my Arduino UNO which worked
Changing USB Ports (USB 3.0, USB 2.0)
Changing the Baud Rate from 115200 to 57600
Here is the (verbose) error message
Arduino: 1.8.12 (Linux), Board: "Sanguino, ATmega1284 or ATmega1284P (16 MHz)"
Sketch uses 107854 bytes (82%) of program storage space. Maximum is 130048 bytes.
Global variables use 4054 bytes (24%) of dynamic memory, leaving 12330 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 16384 bytes.
/root/.arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/avrdude/6.3.0-arduino17/bin/avrdude -C/root/.arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/avrdude/6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf -v -patmega1284p -carduino -P/dev/ttyUSB0 -b115200 -D -Uflash:w:/tmp/arduino_build_963029/Marlin.ino.hex:i
avrdude: Version 6.3-20190619
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/
Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Joerg Wunsch
System wide configuration file is "/root/.arduino15/packages/arduino/tools/avrdude/6.3.0-arduino17/etc/avrdude.conf"
User configuration file is "/root/.avrduderc"
User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping
Using Port : /dev/ttyUSB0
Using Programmer : arduino
Overriding Baud Rate : 115200
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x73
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x74
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x61
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x72
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x74
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x0a
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x65
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x63
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x68
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6f
avrdude done. Thank you.
An error occurred while uploading the sketch | Okay thanks to @towe for helping me I figured it out. my Baud Rate was set to 115200 but my board is using the old bootloader so it needed to be 57600. I Changed my boards.txt file to that but the verbose console printed:
Overriding Baud Rate : 115200 turns out you need to change it in the serial monitor as well (the little magnifying glass in the top corner of the IDE)
after that everything worked great thanks for all the help! |
Why is my filament pressed together at the nozzle When I wanted to take out the filament from the extruder, it didn't wanna come out, it was stuck (even when I heated up the nozzle). So I unscrewed the nozzle and it looks like the filament is all pressed together at the top of the nozzle (see picture). What does this mean? I am heaving issues extruding filament from the nozzle, the filament barely comes out and the extruder motor is clicking. Can someone help, please. | As per attached picture I can see that the issue source could be:
the ptf tube is not inserted to the end of heat-break, or it is not straight-cut at the end - see this video for help
the cooler on the hotend is not working properly/not installed and heat goes up to the throttle and melts the material
an object in the nozzle that blocks the flow (usually a ptf tube particle that probably melted) - clean/replace the nozzle |
What grade of wire is required for the heating element on a J-Head extruder? I have a large resistor that goes in my J-Head extruder. It's grey, and it came with the extruder. I'm uncertain as to what grade of wire I need to solder to it. It being one of the elements of the system that heats the hottest, I would think that it would be important to find out what sort of wire is the correct kind to use on it, since heating elements require a lot of electricity.
Also does the solder type I use matter? | There are a number of things to consider:
Wire Gauge: a typical 40W, 12V heater draws around 3A. 24 AWG or lower would be appropriate (copper wire, CCA will require thicker gauge).
Insulation: the part of the wire close to the resistor leads might get too hot for conventional PVC installation. Consider using silicone, teflon or glass fiber insulation instead, especially near the heating element. If the resistor's leads are long enough they might stay cool enough for regular PVC insulation, but make sure you insulate the part of the leads closer to the resistor appropriately.
Solder: if close to the heater itself, the solder might melt. Consider using silver solder, or using a mechanical connection (ferrule/crimp) instead. Again, this might not be a concern if the leads of the resistor are long enough.
Flexibility: given that the extruder (probably) moves a lot, use flexible wire (stranded, not solid core) and provide strain relief (especially near the connections, and avoid creating too sharp bends).
Finally, resistors have fallen out of favor compared to ceramic heating elements. Since they are inexpensive and solve all of the above problems (the leads are already attached and appropriately insulated) consider using a ceramic heater instead. |
How can I determine the current value of a #defined variable? I previously set up my Ender 3 with a precompiled binary of Marlin that already had the correct X and Y offsets for the attached BLTouch. Now I'm compiling my own, and rather than measure for myself I'd like to just use the same numbers.
When I send M851 through the terminal, it gives me the current value for the probe's Z offset from the extruder. I know I can also use M851 to set the X and Y offset, but there doesn't seem to be a way to read the current values.
Is there any way to query the printer for the current values of X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER and Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER? Or, ideally, for any other arbitrary variable? | "#define" is a feature of the compiler preprocessor and isn't a feature of Marlin. So there is no general way to recover the value of a "#define variable" (which isn't actually a variable at all) unless Marlin explicitly provides the option.
In the current version of Marlin M851 will report the X and Y offsets. It appears you have an older version which does not do this. In older versions there appears to be no option to recover the value. |
Do all 3D printers allow the printing of flexible material? Are there any specific type of FDM 3D printers that I should look for? | Not all printers are suitable to print flexible filament. E.g. 1.75 mm filament printers with a Bowden extruder/hotend combination will not work (you may have more luck using 2.85 mm filament, which is stiffer because of the increased diameter). For 1.75 mm filament you require a direct drive extruder, e.g. with the stepper mounted onto the hotend, even then some additional guide parts need to be printed to make it work. This also depends on the amount of flexibility of the filament, some are more flexible than others.
E.g. Ultimaker 3D printers use 2.85 mm filament with a Bowden setup. They also sell a flexible filament that can be printed with these printers. Even for direct drive extruder printers like the Anet A8 (a cheap Chinese Prusa i3 clone) inserts exist (e.g. this or this one) to even better guide the filament to prevent it to buckle. |
How to stop objects with "floating" parts from breaking So, I'm having this problem where almost anything I print with a section(s) that is not directly connected to something below it breaks when I try to pull the small filaments meant to hold it up during printing off. For example, I 3D-printed a Rayquaza(this one) from Pokemon for my little brother, and as I was carefully pulling the filament from under the mouth, the whole head just snapped off. Does someone have a recommendation as to a way to get the small filament off without breaking the object? Would a solution just be to print it bigger and see if it holds up better, or is there something else I can do? Thanks. | The small filaments you remove that hold the parts up are called supports. The one model I located on Thingiverse clearly requires a number of supports, as the model is not easily designed for 3d printing with FDM printers. It would be better printed with SLS, but that's not the focus of your question.
You don't specify how large you printed the model, but certainly a scaled-up version will be stronger at the weak points. You will want to use sharp non-shearing cutters to clear away as much of the supports as possible, without torquing on the model.
Another option which also reduces the forces on the model body is to use a soldering iron to smooth and clear/cut the supports. If you are able to use cutters and not damage the model, the soldering iron can remove and flatten the remnants of those supports.
Please note that if your careful work has resulted in a model that snaps to pieces, your little brother will soon destroy the successfully cleaned up model just as easily.
If you have skill with 3d modeling software (Meshmixer and Blender come to mind for such organic models), you can add insignificant items to the model to provide functional support. Would the Rayquaza look fiercer if you 3d printed a cage as an integrated part of the model, using the bars of the cage to provide support?
I successfully printed a model that was created by an artist unfamiliar with 3d printing restrictions. The support material was wash-away PVA. I provided the model to the "owner" who washed away the support material and snapped the legs in two. It's sometimes impossible to solve poor designs. You have a good chance if you build a cage for this one. |
What are main differences between rafts, skirts and brims? I would like to understand the differences between rafts, skirts and brims. They appear in the software which I'm using to edit my 3D objects.
Can anybody elaborate what are these and what are the main differences between them? | Rafts:
Rafts are a few layers of plastic a placed on the printing surface before the object is printed. If non water dissoluble filament is used, a bit of an air gap will be placed between the raft and the print itself so it can be removed easily. A raft can help a print stick to the printing surface as it normally has a larger surface area than the bottom of the print. It also allows the bottom layers of the print to contact another layer of plastic so there is less spreading compared to printing on the printing bed itself.
Skirts:
Skirts are loops of plastic that are extruded around the object that is being printed. On the first layer this allows the filament to get pushed through the extruder so that a steady flow can be established. A multiple layer skirt can be used to create a blockage around the print so there is less air movement on the print and the print can cool slower.
Brims:
A brim is a layer of plastic that is placed on the first layer of the print go allow for better adhesion to the printing surface. It does not extend under the print as a raft does, but only goes from the edge of the print to a set distance away.
Credits: Images from Slic3r |
G-code commands gets multiplied by random number The G-code sent from Octopi to my printer gets multiplied at the end of every row.
The corresponding code out of Simplify3D do not have that multiplication.
This results in a always Max speed print.
1 month ago all worked perfect.
Have anyone seen this problem before? How to solve? | I believe that everything after the "*" is a comment. From the random variation, I speculate that the comments for Octoprint are a check code. For other host programs, it is a sequence number.
@oscar linked to a previous answer in a comment which shows that it is a checksum. I will need to check the next time I run Repetier Host, but that seemed to be a sequence number. Please see Oscar's comment (and upvote it). |
Printer with two extruders but one as a backup I'm trying to make a printer that will have a second extruder as backup for when the primary one clogs or runs out of filament. It is an ongoing project I'm doing to make a 3D printer as reliable as possible. How could you implement this. | You could use a "filament runout sensor" and combine it with a "filament running sensor". If either fails the controller needs to be notified by a signal. If you configure the Configuration.h filament runout setup such that it doesn't call M600 but instead a series of codes to park tool 0, activate tool 1, home tool 1, prime tool 1, and commence printing, you are near a solution. |
CURA doesn't want print bridges I made a model for my 3D clock. Model has few vertical holes so I made one layer thick bridge for every hole. In Fusion 360 everything looks fine, but CURA (version 3.6.0) doesn't want to print those Bridges. Why?
The Full Wall is 1.68mm thick(in Fusion), infill is 20%, wall line count is 1, layer height is 0.28mm, the support-bridges are designed to be this thick too.
I'm not sure will be material stable above holes without Bridges. | Nomenclature help
A Layer is everything that is printed between the print head moving upwards.
Layer height is how tall each line is. It is in Quality.
A Wall is made up from lines put down next to each other.
line width is how thick a 1-perimeter-strong wall is in the XY-plane. It should never be smaller than the Nozzle Diameter. It is in Quality.
Nozzle Diameter is what is the physical diameter of your nozzle. It is located in the printer configuration.
A Bridge is printing horizontal layers that connect to walls at the sides but otherwise not connected to the printbed or print.
Ultimaker Cura does ignore too thin walls
Your walls are 0.28 mm thick and your nozzle is most likely 0.4 mm thick. That can't be printed at all, in fact, you are way too thin to be printed: a printer should never print any object that is thinner than its nozzle as that is a perfect way to generate clogs.
Atop that, slicers ignore also what is thinner or exactly as thin as the line width. If the line width is 0.4 mm, and the wall is 0.4 mm, it gets ignored. If the wall is 0.45 mm, it is not. This can be remedied by setting the option print thin walls, but you still need to have one line nozzle-diameter as minimum line width - actually it is common to go about 10% larger for better extrusion.
Solution
Strengthen the walls to one line width (usually 0.4 mm) in your CAD-design and activate print thin walls under Shell. |
Are silicone socks safe? It's fairly common for E3D to sell silicone socks for their hot ends. There are also other companies that sell these silicone socks for their hot end cartridges.
According to a brief internet search, it seems the ignition temperature of silicone is surprisingly low - around 450 °C. This surprised me because I was under the impression silicone would just burn / evaporate if it were heated up to a much higher temperature.
If my thermistor/heatrod slips off, my heatrod will glow into an orange temperature during thermal runway. This only happens briefly, but its color indicates it is reaching a temperature around 790 °C.
So, are silicone socks safe? Couldn't they ignite fairly easily? | Silicone socks are safe to use, provided your printer is safely operating and you are using the silicone socks in their operating temperature range.
Your current setup is NOT SAFE!
When the heater element falls out of the heater block (that should not happen in the first place, please secure it correctly) and heats up to about 800 °C this means that the printer has no active Thermal Runaway Protection (TRP) enabled. Basically, when the thermistor doesn't measure a temperature rise while the voltage to the heater element is being scheduled, the firmware should shut down the voltage to the heater element. When this fails, the heater element can reach dangerously high temperatures to start burning anything that can catch a flame on touch. In deliberate tests, heaters have been able to melt the aluminium of the hotend:
You should be worried at this point as you see from the link you provided what happens if the heater is not shut off when the heater element is disconnected from the heater block:
Please fix your printer ASAP by uploading a proper firmware with enabled TRP protection before proceeding to print anything or at least don't let it print without supervision and proper smoke/fire detection devices. |
Anet A8 extruder motor moves back and forth This is what is happening to my motor. Any suggestions would help.
1. I have tried adjusting the trimpot.
2. Rewire the connector to match the one on the motherboard.
3. Anything else I found on the internet. | Check the continuity of the wires on the cable. Sometimes, they are not crimped correctly. Another common fault is crossed wires. In either case, the easiest diagnostic test is to substitute another cable, but please note the color coding of this replacement wire to match the cable you replace. |
Is there any better way to make this transparent dome? As part of a larger project, i'm trying to print a translucent green dome. I set it up as follows:
In Blender, create an icosphere of the maximum allowed complexity. Cut it in half and throw away one of the hemispheres.
Duplicate the hemisphere. Move the second one down slightly and use Subtract, to hollow it out. Clean up the vertex garbage left behind.
Export the model. Import it in the slicer, scale to the proper size, and export as gcode.
Print the model with translucent green filament at 100% solid infill.
I ended up with a beautifully rounded dome that doesn't feel at all like a polyhedron, so that worked out fine. The only problem is, it's solid green. The filament seems to lose its translucency past a certain thickness, and the fact that my "solid" print is actually made up of thousands of tiny strings pressed up against each other probably doesn't help.
I tried reprinting it in Spiral Vase mode, and while the print turned out to be transparent, it was also extremely thin and fragile, and it failed anyway because of lack of support once the dome's angle got bad enough.
I've been trying to think of how to print this properly, but nothing I think of will work:
Scaling can make the walls thinner, but only by reducing the size of the model. Its basic dimensions need to remain unchanged.
Doing the same trick again that I used to create the dome, subtracting a copy of itself moved down slightly, would lead to non-uniform thickness in the model. (Which I already have some of. But when the thickness is directly correlated to the degree of transparency, this is problematic.)
Does anyone know of any tricks I can use to get it to come out properly? For reference, I'm using Blender as my 3D software, IdeaMaker as my slicer, and printing on a Raise3D N2 Plus printer. | The filament seems to lose its translucency past a certain thickness
That's exactly the point. Think of translucency as a percentage of light being allowed through, per amount of material. 2x the material means 1/2 the light. You need either less material (which becomes brittle as you saw), or a more translucent material. I think it has little to do with the model itself.
Also - check out OnShape. One of the features it has is a "shell" function, that does what you're describing - takes a single 3D feature and creates a shell out of it of consistent thickness. |
Calculating extruder motor steps for 1 mm I would like to calculate the amount of steps to turn the motor to have 1 mm of the filament.
I did the following (using approximate values):
The gear on the outside of the teeth as a diameter of 11mm.
Therefore the circumference is 34.56mm. Divided into one degree i get 0.096mm / degree. The stepper does 1.8 degree per step which results in 0.1728mm per step.
To get 1mm of filament pushed into the extruder I will have to do 5.787 steps.
The same extruder is in a Geeetech i3. The firmware there is configured to do 93 steps per millimeter.
I don't have any experience in working with stepper motors but in theory, this would be my approach with a huge difference to an existing firmware.
Where is my mistake? | Microstepping. Your board likely has 16x microstepping, so that each step is divided up into 16 parts. Your 5.787 figure, when multiplied by 16, comes out to 92.6 steps/mm - matching the value in your firmware. |
How can I avoid that a small bit of filament sticks out of the nozzle during heating? So when my Prusa I3 is heating up, a small bit of filament is coming out of the nozzle, forming a small string at.
When the printing starts, this results in a small plastic ball on the bed, impacting the overall printing process.
How can I avoid this? | I normally print a skirt. This acts as a quality check for: flow rate; bed adhesion; bed level; and proper zero position in the Z. |
Getting precise measurement of a complex rod I'm trying to build a headrest for my Sayl office chair. For that, I'm designing a 3d-printed part that's going to fit on one of the existing rods of the chair.
Check out this picture:
How would you go about in getting the exact measurements of that white rod? I tried a caliper, and I'm able to get the width and depth, and I can just assume that the rod's profile is a perfect ellipse, which is probably a close estimate. But say that I want to get a more precise measurement. Is there any technique to do that? | You need to disasemble the part and measure it with special equipment, a caliper can help but only as reference since the part has an angled shape.
I recommend to use an optical comparator (base shadows) with this you can have X and Y data to calculate the angle and curves. If you want more precise measurements you can try an Optical Measurement Device (based camera), this also can give you Z but X and Y will help you a lot. Both equipments use a system called Quadra Chek many industries has at least one of this to assure his quality due meets all requirements for Ford GDT guides (geometric dimensional tolerances). no matter the manufacturer brand.
I´ve tried to measure with the phone or table application but is hardly to calibrate on each required dimension. I had to buy an optical comparator. |
How long will my print take? If I have a stl file is there a good way to estimate how long it will take to print on a given printer? I know there are a lot of things that go into print speed, such as the speed of the printer, the size of the print, etc. I was wondering if anyone knows of perhaps an application that you could enter your printer's specifications and the stl that you want to print, and it could calculate the print time? | The duration of a print is affected by the print properties. Speed, nozzle diameter (or line width), layer height, amount of perimeters, infill percentage, combing, support structures to name a few important parameters.
So, the only way to tell how long the printer will be printing a certain STL is by loading the STL file into a slicer and slice the model with those settings. The most common free slicers are Ultimaker Cura, Slic3r and payed slicer Simplify3D. Alternatively, when you already have G-code files and do not have the STL anymore or don't want to slice it again (e.g. because you cannot remember which settings you used), you could upload your G-code here and it will calculate it approximately for you (as it does not know the dynamics of the printer).
Note that these times are approximations of the real time it takes to print the object as it integrates the tool path and speed to get the time. Sometimes these calculations are off as the actual printer may behave differently than projected by the slicer. From experience I can tell that the Ultimaker Cura slicer predicts fairly accurate print times for the Ultimaker 3, so they have tuned their slicer software to their machines. For your own build or other brands this may result in different/inaccurate print time estimations. |
Can leaving the nozzle at 160 °C continuously on in between prints affect the viscosity of the prints? We're printing on a WASP 3MT pellet extruder with PLA. To save time, we're leaving the hotend at 160 °C between prints but realized that the print quality varies, from one print to the another, when using the same G-code file.
Could it be that leaving the temperature at 160 °C constantly creates more fluid PLA and therefore affects the following print? | PLA starts to change its properties at above its glass transition temperature of 60-65 °C, if stored there too long. Keeping it at 160°C, close to the melting temperature (173-178 °C) can degrade the material relatively rapidly. During an extrusion, this is usually mitigated by filling fresh material into the melt while the older material gets extruded, but keeping the machine stagnant at the high temperature has not only creep the heat up from the designated melt zone (thus preheating material that should not be preheated yet) but also can damage the material deep in the melt zone. Together with this possible material degradation, the preheated material melts faster and might overshoot the aimed at print temperature until the normal temperature is reached again. Both effects can lead to reduced print quality in the lower layers.
The time saving from keeping the filament heated up for an extended period of time is, in my opinion, not worth the quality reduction that can come from using non-uniform material. You pay more in lost prints than you save in time for heating up the head.
If it is impossible to not keep the hotend heated between prints, it might be advisable try these:
Starting every print with a larger purging operation might get rid of degraded material. It would be as simple as extruding some quantity of material before starting the actual print at the edge of the build plate.
Aside from purging, it might be a good idea to reduce the hold temperature from 160 °C to a lower temperature, allowing the melt to partly solidify and keep the heat creep in check. |
Success metrics for 3D prints I'm doing some testing for objects in 3D printing for a report. I'm trying to get success metrics for it but a bit unsure of what else I could do since would ideally like hard values for it. For example, I have:
Filament needed
Volume
Ease of removal
Weight
Time of print
Would anyone know anything else? | The success metrics are entirely up to you, the user of the printed part. For example, the strength of the part under the load it's desgined for will be critical for an end-use part (such as as hook), but doesn't matter at all for a fit or appearance prototype. Conversely, the dimensional accuracy is very important for a fit model prototyping a complex assembly, but might be unimportant for an appearance prototype or for some kinds of end-use parts.
Because there's a wide range of uses for printed parts, there's a wide range of possible metrics. Mostly they depend on the original design, the print options chosen (e.g. infill style), the material chosen, and the capabilities of the printer. Here are a few:
Dimensional accuracy (of the part compared to the design)
Dimensional stability (does the part warp or shrink afterwards)
Total time to print + finish
Material cost of print (build materials and other consumables)
Weight of printed part
Labour of operating the printer and any post-processing
Surface appearance/smoothness (different for horizontal, vertical, angled, and curved surfaces)
Surface friction
Surface hardness (can you scratch it easily)
Colour accuracy (of the part compared to the design, for colour printing processes)
Colour stability (do they fade over time)
Colour resolution (are colour changes sharp or blurred)
Rigidity (different in different axes)
Failure load (different in different axes)
Non-adhesion across small gaps (as in a tolerance test)
Porosity (e.g. if printing a container for liquids or gases)
A big cross-cutting metric is repeatability. If you make the same print again the next day and repeat any of these measurements, how different a result do you get?
There are also some metrics that are more about the material choice than the way it's printed:
Outgassing
Flammability
Toxicity |
What resolution (pixels/mm) should I use in SVG for CNC? I am planning a mechanical 40% keyboard build and are coincidentally on the home stretch of a homemade CNC project.
The only thing the CNC needs to do for the keyboard project is to drill 7*48 holes. So what I need to do now is layout those holes in SVG. Therein lies the question. What resolution should I use for the SVG? I want to space the center of the keyboard switches 19 mm apart. An online pixel to mm converter suggested that 72 pixels is exactly 19.05 mm (which actually is what Cherry MX says should be their spacing).
Now, I do understand that this really doesn't matter, but I am curious as I am new on CNCs and was suspecting that there is a number that will "just work".
EDIT:
For example, if I where to print the template (SVG) on a regular printer, what pixel to mm ratio should I use so that it would come out the size I want? | I found one of those printer things that puts ink on dead trees and tested to print a simple SVG file.
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
width="400px" height="800px">
<rect x="10" y="10" width="72" height="72" fill="#999999" />
<rect x="10" y="100" width="378" height="378" fill="#999999" />
</svg>
As I suspected 72 pixels came out pretty much exactly 19mm. (72/19.05)*100~=378 came out 100mm.
Given this I am going to assume that 72/19.05 is the de facto best pixel to mm ratio to use for CNC projects.
EDIT:
Found this documentation: http://w3.org/TR/SVG/coords.html#Units
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
width="400px" height="800px">
<rect x="10" y="10" width="19.05mm" height="19.05mm" fill="#999999" />
<rect x="10" y="100" width="100mm" height="100mm" fill="#999999" />
</svg>
Much simpler to use mm as units right away |
Access Temperature sensor data of 3D printer via Serial connection I want to access the bed and nozzle temperature sensor data of a 3D printer via serial connection. Could someone please guide me in the right direction?
Thanks!
Edit: Response from printer:
Connecting to printer...
Connection response from printer:
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mx�}M#
�LYԣPh���^@ ��rp � TP�j�~1�� V6 6 � f� 6�k#���&�H".��k K2���ek�(��&��^K�k2����Ul�(� ���~N�ʈ*.�>Z��k#d$�����(� ��
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Asking for temperatures (M105)...
Temperature response from printer:
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
File "printer_files/serialaccess.py", line 15, in <module>
response = ser_printer.readline()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 446, in read
ready,_,_ = select.select([self.fd],[],[], self._timeout)
KeyboardInterrupt
After the code asks the printer for temperature values, there is no output on the terminal anymore. I waited for a while and then killed it using control+c. It is clear that the printer is responding to the connection response but I am not sure why it is not returning the temperature values. Again, thanks a lot for your help, Demetris! | Assuming your printer accepts conventional G-code flavor, extruder and bed temperature can be retrieved by sending M105 through the serial port. The printer will respond with ok T:XXX.X B:XXX.X where T is the nozzle temperature and B is the bed temperature.
You can read more about the specific G-code in the RepRap wiki.
EDIT:
I am editing the answer to include information for connecting to the printer using a simple python script.
The following script, first opens a serial connection to the printer. For Marlin firmware, when you first connect to the printer, it needs some time to initialize and respond back. That is why some delay is needed before reading the response. After printing the response, the script sends the M105 command, waits for 100ms, then reads the response of the serial buffer and prints it on the screen.
Note /dev/ttyUSB0 is the serial port name and in your case it may be different. Also 250000 is the baud rate of the connection; 250000 is the default value of my printer so you need to replace this with the baud rate that your printer uses.
import serial
import time
ser_printer = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyUSB0', 250000)
print "Connecting to printer..."
time.sleep(30) # Allow time for response
buffer_bytes = ser_printer.inWaiting()
response = ser_printer.read(buffer_bytes) # Read data in the buffer
print "Connection response from printer:"
print response
print "Asking for temperatures (M105)..."
ser_printer.write('M105\n')
time.sleep(0.1) # Allow time for response
print "Temperature response from printer:"
response = ser_printer.readline()
print response |
How to re-program NEW Prusa MK3 MMU2 to accept taller Z axis In a previous question, I have modified the Z-axis-height of my Prusa Mk3 from 250 mm to 350 mm.
Prior to the MMU2 upgrade, I changed the code in my printer to accept the new height the following way: I changed Arduino → Configuration_prusa.h → Axis settings → line 54 to #define Z_MAX_POS 210 (it worked perfectly).
However, the layout is different for the new firmware v. 3.4.1, and I have no idea where the Z axis settings have gone, if they are even still there.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find the Z MAX POS settings, please?
Obviously, I'm not very good with coding, but it looks like the entire code layout has changed for the v. 3.4.1
Firmware
Prusa MK3 (firmware 3.4.1) MMU2 (firmware 1.0.1). The source code on Github is found here. | Basically, the answer on your previous question is still valid, but your specific questions will be addressed below.
To answer where the setting has gone by answering:
However, the layout is different for the new firmware v. 3.4.1, and I
have no idea where the Z axis settings have gone, if they are even
still there. Can anyone point me in the right direction to find the Z
MAX POS settings, please?
To find where the setting is, you need to go to the source code repository of Prusa firmware (which is based on Marlin firmware) or download the zip file with the sources and use a "grep" search utility to search in files.
The setting Z_MAX_POS is located in the board configuration file (so in 1_75mm_MK3-EINSy10a-E3Dv6full.h if you have the MK3). This can be found in the online sources (the github page). The online repository is located here. Using the search functionality to search within the source code files on that page you are able to find any setting you need to find. If you type in "Z_MAX_POS" and scroll down till you see
#define Z_MAX_POS 210
You have found what you where looking for if you located the MK3 board.
To solve your problem by answering:
How to re-program NEW Prusa MK3 MMU2 to accept taller Z axis?
Prusa development team has got rid of Configuration_prusa.h, you will not find this file in the repository anymore!
Instead, it is you that has to rename one of the board variant files (from the "Firmware/variants" folder) corresponding to the machine you have to "Configuration_prusa.h" and place it in the "Firmware" folder prior to compiling (note that these are simple actions that you can do on any operating system; i.e. copy file, paste file, rename file). Before you compile the sources, you need to change the value of Z_MAX_POS 210 to Z_MAX_POS 350. Please read the README file as this describes exactly in more detail than worded above what you need to do (e.g. use the correct Arduino IDE, e.g. 1.6.9 as this is used by Prusa development team themselves).
Quoting from the README file:
section describing the renaming of the file:
in the subdirectory "Firmware/variants/" select the configuration file
(.h) corresponding to your printer model, make copy named
"Configuration_prusa.h" (or make simple renaming) and copy them into
"Firmware/" directory
section describing the compiling:
run "Arduino IDE"; select the file "Firmware.ino" from the
subdirectory "Firmware/" at the location, where you placed the source
codes File->Open make the desired code customizations; all changes are
on your own risk!
select the target board "RAMBo" Tools->Board->RAMBo note: it is not
possible to use any of the variants "Arduino Mega …", even though it
is the same MCU
run the compilation Sketch->Verify/Compile
upload the result code into the connected printer Sketch->Upload
or you can also save the output code to the file (in so called
HEX-format) "Firmware.ino.rambo.hex": Sketch->ExportCompiledBinary and
then upload it to the printer using the program "FirmwareUpdater"
note: this file is created in the directory "Firmware/"
To compile the sources correctly please take care in using the correct
software versions and libraries (Arduino IDE 1.6.9, RepRap
Arduino-compatible Mother Board RAMBo by Ultimachine v. 1.0.1, Arduino
AVR Boards Built-in by Arduino updated to v.1.6.23)
Sidenote:
A little more in depth for those who are interested to know (and have some programming skills) why you need to change the name of one of the variants configuration files. Basically, Prusa uses different boards with different settings for the different printers they sell. All the settings for these printer variations are stored in the Firmware/variants folder. When you rename the variant file and put it a folder layer higher to Configuration_prusa.h (e.g.Firmware/variants/1_75mm_MK3-EINSy10a-E3Dv6full.htoFirmware/Configuration_prusa.h), these specific printer and board settings are included into the Configuration.h file (line 43 to be precise) by the C-code include statement:
#include "Configuration_prusa.h"
This include statement will basically insert (like copy in memory) the statements from the Configuration_prusa.h file and thus set important constants like:
#define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_EINSY_1_0a
and many more. |
Stepper motor for CR10-S5 Y-axis I need to replace this stepper motor with the following product identification:
It’s a Y-axis for CR10-S5 and labeled as JD42HS60-1500A-02F. What type of stepper motor is this? | This is a NEMA 17 motor. It is virtually identical to the NEMA 17 motors Creality uses in most of their 12V products.
In contrast to other companies, Creality uses a different connector with a flat ribbon cable instead of color-coded wires.
The upper line of the label identifies it more clearly:
JD Identifies the factory/manufacturer
42 identifies the faceplate size as 42mm square, so a NEMA17
HS identifies how the holes are shaped
60 is the height of the motor as 60 mm.
1500 identifies how much power is OK for it, here: 1500mA = 1.5A
A specifies our motor has a maximum safe temperature of 104°C
- gives us no voltage for this motor, but as you have a CR10, it should be 12V
02F is supposed to tell us something about the wiring and steps per rotation, but I can't find out what.
Side Note: the Creality Ender3 uses 34mm high stepper motors. |
MakerFlex Spool has bubbles? I ordered a 0.5 KG spool of Makerflex Glow in the Dark filament from Makergeeks. I ordered Clear and Opaque PLA with it. The Makerflex plastic is called TPEE. The entire spool of it seems to have small bubbles in it. I even confirmed this by cutting one of the bubbles, and I could fit a small piece of metal inside, so it is not just a funky coloring. Does anyone know if this is normal? I can't get in touch with Makergeeks themselves. Will it damage my printer? I have a stock Tevo Tarantula. | Bubbles are a defect. Two problems can occur:
The air in the bubble will be under pressure when heated and can cause a little blow-out when the plastic sides of the bubble are soft enough that they can no longer contain the pressure. Depending on where this happens, it can either result in little spatters of filament being spit through the nozzle at the printed object, expanded craters which could increase the diameter of the filament and make extrusion more difficult, or, if at the end of a print job, the expanded filament may cool and be too large diameter to feed for the next print job.
If the air escapes without causing any other problem or it was created by cavitation, the volume of the bubble causes under extrusion, since it represents missing plastic. The extrusion volume is controlled by driving a specific linear distance of filament and assuming a specific filament diameter and 100% plastic. Underextrusion hurts print quality, print strength, and surface finish.
Bubbles in the filament indicate a failure in the filament manufactury. As @Granny said in the comment, this is defective filament which should be returned for a refund. If you use it, understand that it will not give results that are the best your printer can deliver. |
Bed leveling method not working with Repetier firmware 0.92.9? I homebuilt a delta 3D printer (like Kossel mini) with a Z probe near the hotend with manual deploy and RAMPS 1.4 board:
I configured the Repetier firmware with the online tool;
All my endstops (included the Z probe endstop) work in reverse mode, so I reversed the endstops triggering option;
I enabled Z-probing and set the BED_LEVELING_METHOD to 1 (n*n grid);
I set Z_PROBE_REPETITIONS to 3, and;
Finally I downloaded it and uploaded to my Mega 2560.
Then I tested it inside Repetier-Host and all seems to work well (homing, moving, extruding) except for the Autobed leveling method.
Specifically, it always starts measurement of 3 Points (with 3 probe repetition each) even if I change the type of measurement.
It never does a grid measurement or a 2 points mirror measurement.
I also tried to re-upload the firmware with EEPROM_MODE to 0 but didn't work.
Does anyone have the same issue, or can explain to me why this happens? | As a guess, you are using the wrong command. If set for n x n grid, you get 3 point measurement with G29, but that is not auto leveling, it is just setting Z height - based on average height at 3 points.
What you need is G32 S2 with S2 to store result in EEPROM (and therefore you should have EEPROM enabled with auto leveling. It is also used to store endstop offsets). |
Why the Ender 5 Pro can't remember the axis position or cant move back to home anymore? I am completely new to 3D Printing. I got my first printer a Creality Ender 5 Pro yesterday.
My problem
I did shutdown the printer without the axis being in home position (X: 0, Y: 0, Z: 320 instead of X: 0, Y: 0, Z: 0). I thought this should be no problem but after turning the printer on again the info screen showed the axis as 0, 0, 0 again...
So I can't move the Z axis up again because the printer thinks its already at 0.
NOTE: On the Ender 5 the bed is lowering for the value of the Z so 320 is the lowest and 0 the highest. The motor works because it tries to go down further if i increase Z position but I am scared of damaging the motor because it can't move further but it tries to (judging by that weird sound).
My question
Is this a normal behavior that the printer axis cant remember its position? Because I think as I built the printer the axis were also not at the 0, 0, 0 position and on the first start they moved back without any problems.
Has someone any ideas how to solve this? Or is this a broken printer?
PS: I could replicate this behavior on X and Y as well (moving them with prepare->move axis and then shutdown the printer) but here for I can easily disable the motors and move them manually back to 0, 0 which isn't the case for the Z Axis.
I hope I could explain that understandably. | Once you pull the plug or disable power to the stepper motors, the printer forgets its location. That is perfectly normal and exactly how it is supposed to work.
The printer knows where the printer volume is once you have "homed" the printer. Homing is done prior to printing with G-code G28 which should be present in your start G-code script of your slicer. Once homed, the offsets from the endstops determine where the origin of the printer is and the maximum dimensions determine the build volume.
After you switched on the printer, the printer doesn't know where the origin is and movement is limited. E.g. when the following constant is defined: #define NO_MOTION_BEFORE_HOMING no movement at all is possible before the printer is homed, this can help prevent destroying the printer. |
What grease to use for linear rails? What grease to use on linear rails to make them stick as little as possible? I've tried so far:
WD40 (let’s not start a discussion about that please),
silicon spray and
some bearing grease called ‘motorex’,
but with all of them the rails stick quite much and don’t slide as easily as I’d hope.
Can someone recommend some good grease for linear rails (specifically the hiwin type, 12-15mm)? | Don't use grease, it is better to use a light oil to lubricate the rods. A light oil will help flush out any dust and filament debris, grease will trap it.
I've used both light machine oil (like used for sewing machines) and PTFE based spray (Teflon). Grease is thick and will collect and trap dust and particles more easily than light machine oil.
Even high-end consumer printers use light machine oil, e.g. the Ultimaker 3 Extended I got came with a bottle of light machine oil for the linear guide rails. Their advice is to regularly add a drop of oil on each shaft once in a while (how frequent depends on how much your printer prints). |
Slicer is adding additional floor bed I'm trying to print an architectural model of a house with 2 floors and a room on the roof. It was designed in SketchUp by a friend. I removed inner walls and floors to print it upside down to get just the outer look of that building. All is good in SketchUp and in Meshlab (converted .skp to .3ds) and even after exporting it to .stl format. But when I slice it and select preview, it is adding a floor on its own. Please take a look at the attached screenshots to get a better idea of what I am referring to. Any idea what's causing this and how it can be solved?
(Using Ultimaker Cura 4.1.0 for slicing at 0.2 mm layer height) | SketchUp has a problem with generating the normals of an STL in the right way. As you see in the slicer, the model claims, that the "tops" are overhangs, which means that the whole model is "inside out" with the normals.
To fix that, you'd need to open the file in a program that can fix that by recalculating the normals. I suggest blender:
Open Blender
Delete the cube by clicking on it and pressing the delete button
Import the STL via Drag & Drop or the menu
Change to edit mode in the top left corner
A to select everything
Ctrl + N to recalculate normals
N then under Mesh Display > Normals hook Faces
Now, your model should look like a hedgehog, each face having a blue line poking out.
It also should show if there are any faces remaining, which can be selected and deleted manually by clicking it, so that only it is highlighted, and then pressing delete |
How to reduce +/- 5 degree temp swings of hotend (after PID tuning) I have a Monoprice Maker Ultimate 3D printer (a rebranded Wanhao Duplicator 6) and out of the box the hotend temps when set to 200 would vary between 190 and 210. I used repetier-host to run PID tuning and stored the last set of values it gave when it finished, however I'm still seeing around 5 degree temp swings.
Here's a screenshot of the temp during a Benchy print from Octoprint:
I tried PID tuning again, which gave different values, but basically the same results. Is there anything I can do to improve this? The Maker Select Plus I had only seemed to vary +/- 1 degree so I'm assuming this is more than expected. (I don't actually know what the implications are, so I don't know whether it is/will affect my print quality).
Is there another way of tuning (I don't fancy manually tweaking numbers and testing for hours), or if I do more than 8 cycles (the default on the Wiki page linked above) would that improve the accuracy? | If you are sure that PID is enabled (and not using bang-bang heating, as this gives a very similar heating profile) and did not fix the fluctuations, the best guess for this phenomenon is that the printer board has incorrect capacitors installed on the printer board. This is not very uncommon and can be found on the internet. You should at least show the graph to the vendor and ask for support.
If incorrect or faulty capacitors are the cause it requires desoldering, and resoldering new ones. If this is out of your comfort zone, it is better to steer your communication with the vendor to replacing the board. |
Bed Adhesion materials There are all sorts of stories of what to put on your printer bed to make your part not come loose when it is printing but can be removed after it is done without requiring a hammer and chisel.
Is there anything out there that shows an analytical comparison?
My biggest interest is PLA on a heated glass base. | I use a product called 3DLAC but I suppose it's regular hairspray. Makes my PLA stick to the heated bed like a charm. After cooling down the print can be removed from the bed with ease.
Only today, after a few thousand prints the glass bed of my printer broke. But I suppose this is because we didn't have enough patience to let the bed cool down to room temperature before removing the printed piece. |
How to use a 3.8V stepper with Marlin / RAMPS? I recently purchased a small stepper motor with a hollow shaft, without realizing it ran at 3.8V. I'm looking for the easiest way to integrate it with the ecosystem around the 12V steppers used in 3d printing, including control by Marlin firmware, and also compatibility with mainstream printer boards.
The rated specs are as follows:
2 phase 4 wires
1.8 step angle
Rated Voltage: 3.8V
Rated Current: 0.8A
Body Length: 30mm
Shaft Diameter: 5mm
I have only A4988 drivers, and I was under the impression that those drivers could only work at 12V. I have two spare DC-DC buck converters that could drop a 12V output from something to 3.8V. But I'm not sure what wires to do that for.
I know that motors have "A" and "B" coils for movement. Do I just use two DC-DC bucks off an A4988 driver to power this thing? So, after the output from the A4988 driver, I would connect 1A and 1B to IN+ and IN- on the DC-DC buck, and 2A 2B on IN+ IN- on the second DC-DC buck.
Is there a better way to integrate this motor into an existing 3D printer board based on RAMPS? I'm using MKS Gen and MKS Sgen boards
Using the pins before the driver might not be such a good idea if 800 mA is needed to run the printer. I don't know whether those pins connect to 12V or to the microcontroller output. | The 3.8 V rating does not mean what you think it does. "Rated voltage" has a very specific technical meaning. For a 3D stepper motor to work properly, the rated voltage of the stepper motors actually needs to be significantly lower than the supply voltage of the stepper drivers.
These steppers are perfectly compatible with a standard 12V RAMPS setup with A4988 system. You do not need to and should not mess around with buck converters. All you need to do is adjust the potentiometer on your stepper drivers to limit the current to at most 0.8 A.
The rated voltage in some sense refers to the average voltage the stepper motor should see, but to actually run them at reasonable speeds you need to supply short bursts of higher voltage. A stepper driver and motor actually form a sort of buck converter themselves, and in some sense do the conversion from 12V to the rated voltage for you. |
Alternating number of lines for the shell between layers Is is possible to have alternating numbers of lines for the outer wall between each layer? So, say, one layer will have 3 lines for the wall, the next layer, 2, then the next layer 3, then 2 again, and so on? Even better, if I could group them in twos: two layers with 3 lines, two layers with 2 lines, repeat until done.
I use Cura, but if other slicers can do this I'd like to hear about it, too. | It is possible to get an alternate extra wall in Ultimaker Cura, the option is called Alternate extra wall. It can be used to catch the infill more firmly, strengthening the print.
From Ultimaker support:
Alternate extra wall
This setting adds an extra wall every other layer. This way the infill gets caught between the walls, resulting in stronger prints. For example, if you set the wall line count to two walls and enable alternate extra wall, it will print two walls on even numbered layers and three walls on odd numbered layers.
I've used this option frequently, but I'm not aware of any option that you can change the amount of layers alternating. You can do that probably with the option to set different options for different sections of the model, see e.g. "Different infill in the same part". |
Monoprice select mini V2 displaying '999' degrees for build plate temp I have a monoprice select mini v2, and it has worked well up until now. It currently displays 999 degrees for the build plate temperature. This is a glitch, and I don't know how to fix it. Since it thinks the temperature is so high, it thinks that the build plate does not need to be heated. Because of this, many of my prints turn out warped. Is there a way to fix this? | You get this temperature reading when there is broken wire. Not owning this printer type, can't you switch out the bed thermistor for a new one? Or alternatively check if a connection is loose. |
Ultimaker Cura is adding redundant top/bottom layers I'm trying to print a supporting base which will house the spindle for an electrostatic rotor. It's basically just a truncated cone with a hole down it's center to house the spindle.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, Ultimaker Cura keeps on adding an unrequested top/bottom layer (color-coded yellow in the screenshots) inside this hole, so instead of a single hollow cylinder of 10 mm depth, the result is a hole only a few millimeters deep with another hollow cylinder behind it.
Here is the intended model, note the open space for the hole at the top.
Here is the inner view of the hole being printed as expected:
Finally, here is a layer view of the print a few millimeters from the final top layer with the unrequested top/bottom layer that covers the spindle hole:
The STL file is on Github (with a built-in viewer).
Can anyone help me understand why this is happening? | It would appear that your model does not conform properly to STL standards. I base this conclusion on a couple of factors. When I loaded the model into Simplify3D slicer, it displayed fine, but when sliced, displayed nothing. Using the onboard repair feature, it presented the entire model as being composed of non-manifold surfaces.
Meshmixer's Analysis/Inspector feature also highlighted the entire model as flawed.
Another observation is that there is an extraordinary amount of facets/triangles/faces to this model. Nearly three-quarters of a million triangles for something that should be much simpler.
The most recent version of Prusa Slicer 2.0 presents an error message indicating that no layers were detected. This is peculiar indeed.
All of the above points to a problem with the source file or the software used to create it.
Please consider to add to your post the program you used or the source of the model. |
Wiring Z-stop directly to hot end and aluminum bed / spacers So I am really fed up with inductive probes. The one I am using keeps getting shifted slightly every time I switch nozzles or run an oozy print. That means I have to autolevel again, then manually set a Z-offset (as I would have anyway if I didn't have an inductive probe).
On my Lulzbot Mini there is a different scenario. There are four washers at each part of the bed. The nozzle is "grounded" so that when the Mini touches the washers, a current is created that seems to act as the Z-stop. Surprisingly there isn't much out there for a DIY implementation of this.
Since I have an aluminum bed (and aluminum is conductive), I am thinking of doing the following:
1) Put one wire from the Z-stop ground pin to the aluminum bed. Make sure it is away from the wires for the heater / thermister (?)
2) Put one wire from the Z-stop 5V into the heating block of my nozzle.
When the nozzle probes the bed, a current will be created from the 5V heating block, through the conductive nozzle, into the conductive bed, to the Z-stop ground.
I'm always unsure when it comes to circuitry. Will there be any dangerous interference from this technique from, say, the bed heating circuit? I'm not sure what kind of protection circuitry are on each of the Arduino's pins, and I'd rather not fry my board if this sounds like a bad idea to someone.
I figure most people don't do this because they have sheets of PEI or some other non-conductive material on their bed. I can use PET tape but still leave holes in the tape for this autobed leveling probe. It would be really great if it worked and wasn't dangerous.
I shouldn't even need the third pin? | Aluminium is conductive, but aluminium oxide is not, which is just so what there (unavoidably, since aluminium rapidly oxidises in air) happens to be a thin layer of on top of your bed. The coating is very thin, but it might foul your plans. It would work better with a sharp probe (that can puncture the layer) than with a 3D printer nozzle. You should be careful, because your probing method might be unreliable (which could cause the nozzle to crash into the bed).
Wiring the endstop 5V directly to ground will create a short circuit which will damage your printer. You should use the third (signal) pin and ground instead. |
Partially missed / dragged layers I'm trying to diagnose a print issue that looks like a missed layer (sorry, first-time printer here)
and
Specs:
Printer: QIDI Tech X-Plus (direct drive).
Material: PLA.
Extruder temp: 200 °C.
Bed temp: 60 °C (70 °C first layer).
Print speed: 60 mm/s (actually 48 mm/s on non-infill because of min_layer_time).
Retraction distance: 2 mm.
Started from a new printer: I was getting imperfect prints (lesser version of this, functional part) and contacted QIDI support. They eventually replied that my bed was too low but I had since lowered the bed on a misdiagnosis. They supplied a slightly modified G-code but that also failed in a similar way.
Since then, I've been raising the bed bit by bit to try to fix this issue. I don't care about the little whiskers much, but the solid "connecting lines" are a problem.
Questions:
Is this actually a bed-leveling/height issue?
What is this defect called (whatever the cause)? I've been googling but can't find something that looks like this.
Is there a better way of fixing bed height issues than just printing->tweaking bed height->printing?
I'd appreciate any help diagnosing this issue - even if it's just the name of this problem. I have no experience disassembling/looking at hardware but I could always give it a shot.
Update
As per comments I took a look at coasting and ran some tests. I first re-leveled the bed manually (I'll call that height=0). I don't want to add tons of pictures so I'll show the baseline, and "bad" refers to similar failure as above.
+--------+--------------+------------+-----------------------+-----------------+--------------+-------------+
| | Combing | Coasting | Retraction distance | Extruder temp | Bed height | Results |
|--------+--------------+------------+-----------------------+-----------------+--------------+-------------|
| Test_1 | infill only. | off. | 2.0 mm. | 200 C. | 0. | Baseline. |
| Test_2 | infill only. | off. | 2.0 mm. | 200 C. | +0.05 mm. | ~ Baseline. |
| Test_3 | off. | off. | 2.0 mm. | 200 C. | 0. | Bad. |
| Test_4 | infill only. | off. | 1.5 mm. | 200 C. | 0. | Bad. |
| Test_5 | infill only. | off. | 2.0 mm. | 190 C. | 0. | TBD |
+--------+--------------+------------+-----------------------+-----------------+--------------+-------------+
(+/- 0.05 mm height achieved with clicks of "fast leveling")
Test 1 external view:
Test 1 internal view:
Update
I think I've confirmed an under-extrusion problem. Here is a top layer printing I stopped partway through.
This looks exactly like Simplify3D's Guide. So I manually pushed through, removed, and re-inserted the filament - and cleaned the nozzle with a brush.
I then ran a new print and noticed a clicking sound in the extruder (I don't know if it's new or if I simply noticed because I was focused on under-extrusion problems) - the print failed in the same "dragging" way as above, but the top layers were slightly better.
I'm now going through the list of possible causes of clicking extruder + under-extrusion. | I managed to confirm the dragged layers were mostly due to under-extrusion.
I had a faulty extruder (clicking sound) and once I swapped it out it was greatly improved.
It's worth noting I also had a slight z-wobble issue so that could have played a role.
Hopefully this can help somebody out as I hadn't seen this kind of symptom in any of the print quality guides. |
How to prevent z-fighting in OpenSCAD? Z-fighting is a 3D rendering artifact of coplanar surfaces (means, triangles are located in exactly the same plane, and overlap).
It can happen in OpenSCAD's preview mode when doing a difference() or union() operation. In case of difference(), the rendering artifacts can prevent seeing into a hole in the object. The "compile and render" mode in OpenSCAD does not have z-fighting issues. But since it can take some time to render an object in that mode, it is not a practical solution during development.
How best to avoid z-fighting?
If the answer involves changes to my OpenSCAD code, I would love to see an idiomatic answer / established convention of OpenSCAD coders, if that exists. | The general advice in the OpenSCAD community is to "extend your cuts and embed your joins" (source). The rendering artifacts are one thing but rather just an annoyance; however z-fighting can also cause unexpected errors during STL export (I did not experience that myself so far, just read this somewhere).
So you would change the dimensions of your objects very slightly (0.01 mm works fine) so that:
for a union(), there is overlap volume between the parts
for a difference(), the intersector has volume both inside and outside of the intersected part
Now you could adjust both the size and position of your parts to keep the mathematically exact dimensions for the resulting part. But I found that for the purposes of 3D printing, such accuracy is not worth it because it complicates the formulas so much.
Instead, I adjust either position or size of a part, depending on what is simpler in each case. A measure in the final design will be off by 0.01 mm, which does not matter.
And I keep the 0.01 mm offset in a variable called nothing (picked that up somewhere and liked it …). This keeps the calculations intuitively understandable.
Example
To create a cylinder and cut a hole to half of its depth, I would do this:
//!OpenSCAD
nothing=0.01;
height=40;
difference(){
cylinder(h=height, r=20, center=true);
translate([0, 0, height/4 + nothing])
cylinder(h=height/2, r=15, center=true);
}
Now the hole is nothing=0.01 less deep than half of the cylinder – that's the inaccuracy I accept.
(Note: If you don't have OpenSCAD installed, you can also try the above code online by copy & pasting it into OpenJSCAD. Include the magic comment in the first line to switch it to OpenSCAD syntax.) |
What are the ideal print conditions for polypropylene? I'm having a lot of trouble printing polypropylene right now, and I think it may have to do with the conditions. I'm using a very thin coat of ABS on the base plate (just as you would do when printing with ABS) in order to promote sticking.
In this following first picture, I attempted with a 240°C tip and a 150°C bed (above PP's Tg). Oddly enough, one side actually looked somewhat decent while the other clearly had trouble sticking. The print speed on this was 1500 mm/min.
In the second picture, I was printing with the tip at 220°C and a 50°C bed. What's interesting in that print (you may be able to see it) is that the polymer extruded with little blips of material followed by a more stringy section, rather than a steady, even filament. (Print speed on this was 2100 mm/min)
Does anyone have suggestions for doing better prints with PP? | Polypropylene CAN be printed with excellent results, you just need a good filament roll and good printing setup.
A few days ago I read this topic and was kind of afraid of testing it, now I am so happy I tried it.
I am printing the PP filament from the brand Smart Materials 3D (search on google).
I am using a Prusa i3 Mk2, bed heated to 70ºC and hotend to 210ºC. I ventilate the printer as much as possible: room windows open and fan at 100% after second layer.
IMPORTANT: apply some cheap brown packaging adhesive strips to the bed, where the part is going to touch the bed, with adhesive facing down. I tried many other solutions but none worked.
I have printed so far at 20mm/s constant, with 0.2 mm layer heigth, 0.4 mm extrusion width, 0.8mm retraction, flow 125%. Still optimizing setings.
Parts come out very nice, with good flexibility and amazing inter layer bonding. Density is a bit lower than ABS, so excellent, and impact resistance is awesome.
Check some parts I printed today: |
What is average price for 3D parabola? So I wanted to print a 3D parabola, with a radius of 15 cm and a height of 4 cm. I've told this company, they told me that they need 3.5 days and its price will be 147 USA dollars and 50 cents.
I just want to know what is the average price for this? | The price dependss roughly on material, machine hours, operator labour, profit and administrative overhead.
Some companies deduce the operator labour, machine hours and overhead to roughly 10 times the material cost. I think that is kind of fair. In your case I assume that you use PLA, the perabola is hollow (just a flat surface) and the company needs to construct the 3D model the parabola to a specific tolerance.
this model in PLA should not cost more than \$5 in filament, so about $ 50 should be an okay price for your parabola. The total price of \$147 leaves about \$97 for modeling the parabola. I think that's fair, given that a non-mathician has to find a way to construct a model and test the results.
If, for example, you want a metal print and you provide the 3D model I find the price of \$147 to be very normal. These metal printers are very expensive, labour intensive and eat up energy.
You can get instant quotes at the following sites: https://xometry.eu/, https://formalize-am.com/
All above is just my best guess, given the data you provided. Expect a better answer when you provide more data. |
What is the meaning of extruder's knocking sound? I have a Prusa i3 printer with mk8 extruder. I am using PETG with (200-240/75-85) degrees recommended temp on it's box. but when I do printing i hear some knocking sound that means there is a problem in extrusion. last time I did increase my temp up to 270 degrees!! maybe this sound solved! but it damaged my extruder's screw's inner Teflon and I forced to change it!
Now I have a new nozzle and extruder's screw, but again I can hear this sound during the printing! I thought maybe it's because of very close distance between the nozzle and the bed, but when I increase the distance, the filament starts to warping!
My nozzle is new and it can't be for clogging. so I decreased the print speed from it's default 60mm(in Cura software) to 50, but didn't solve this sound. Also when I use pronterface and do extrusion manually, it works nice with 200 degrees! but I can hear the sound in 190 degrees. But when I do printing I hear the sound even in 200 degrees! Is this mean I must increase the temperature for printing? how much?
By knocking sound I mean the sound you can hear when you have a clogged nozzle and the extruder's stepper motor can't push the filament into it and rotates with knocking sound! | The extruder motor may be skipping steps because of insufficient current. Typically, the stepper driver will have a small potentiometer that lets you increase or decrease the current. Increasing the current will give the motor more torque/force, but also cause it (and the driver) to heat up more. |
Flashing a bootloader on Ender 3 without Arduino I just order myself an Ender 3 Pro which will come by the end of the week.
Before it arrives I want to be ready to flash a bootloader onto it.
I was wondering what other options there are to flashing except using an Arduino?
I have a bunch of ESP8266/ESP32 and a USB to TTL. Would it be possible to use these somehow instead of an Arduino to flash a bootloader to the Ender 3?
Or should I just go buy an Arduino? | What you need to is called a ICSP or ISP: in-circuit serial programmer or in-system programmer, which excludes the USB to TTL device you own.
I've never used an ESP8266 as ICSP but it seems there are some resources out there reporting it is possible.
If you want to go the easiest way probably you want to buy an Arduino and follow the tons of tutorials out there, if you are looking to save some money then you might get around buying an ICSP like the very well known USBASP (just Google for that). |
How can I calculate volumetric speed for Slic3r auto speed? I have noticed that Slic3r offers a speed setting called "auto speed" meant to give a constant filament pressure at the extruder, which I believe could eliminate filament grinding issues at higher printing speeds.
According to the tooltip in Slic3r, auto speed is calculated from two parameters:
Maximum speed
Maximum volumetric speed
Maximum speed speaks for itself, but how can I calculate the maximum volumetric speed of my print? | Auto speed is calculated from maximum volumetric speed in mm3 per second. If you normally print at 80 mm/s, your extrusion width is 0.5 mm and you are printing 0.2mm high layers, your volumetric speed would be 80 * 0.5 * 0.2 = 8 mm3/s, which is the volume of plastic extruded by your printer every second when printing at that speed (not accounting for any die swell). |
PID autotune fails with a temp too high Working on upgrading my Ender 3 to a dual extruder setup using the Winsinn dual hot end and MKS Base V1.6 motherboard using Marlin FW 2.0.5 and am unable to get the PID autotune to work. When I start the autotune, the temperature spikes pretty quickly and quickly fails, either heating to 60 °C or 200 °C (M303 C5 E0 S60) for either hot end (E0 or E1). After looking through other online messages, I used 24 V heater cartridges rather than the 12 V ones that came with the hot end. Aditionally, I have the thermisistor settings to use config 6 (rather than 1) after reading through user recommendations on the hot end. After failing to get the hotend to heat properly, I have the following questions:
Should I try reducing the current to the cartridge? Currently set to default of 255?
Are there any other PID changes I should make to allow the autotune to figure out the right parameters to use?
Are there any other tests recommended to figure out why the hot end heats without being stopped by Marlin?
Here is a chart showing the temperatures of the hotends and bed while running autotune on T0 and T1. Weird gap in second attempt was verifying that the right sensor was plugged into the right mainboard pin (no power going to hot end at this time).
Thermistor settings:
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 6
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 6 | As the heating curve is very steep, it could be that the wrong cartridges are inserted, or you have been supplied the incorrect cartridges. (Not long ago I've had a similar experience with a 12 V cartridge in between my 24 V spares...)
To find out for which voltage the cartridge has to be used you can measure the resistance with a multitester/multimeter. You can calculate the resistance roughly by using the formulas:
$$ U = I \times R$$
$$ P = {U}\times{I} $$
Combing these formulas gives:
$$ R = \frac{U^2}{P}$$
(P is power in Watt [W], I is current [A], U is voltage [V] and R is the resistance in Ohm [Ω])
Your multimeter readings should be close to the calculated values. About 4 Ohms for a 12 V/40 W cartridge and about 14 Ohms for a 24 V/40 W cartridge.
Since the Ender 3 is running on 24 V, you need the higher resistance cartridges.
If you are using a 4 Ω (12 V/40 W) cartridge on 24 V, the power would become:
$$ P = \frac{U^2}{R}= \frac{24^2}{4}=144\ {W} $$
This amount of power will quickly raise the temperature of the nozzle! It then becomes very difficult for the PID control schedule to harness that power (e.g. overshoot control).
From the question is read that:
I used 24 V heater cartridges rather than the 12 V ones that came with the hot end
If the cartridges are truly 24 V this rapid heat-up is not expected, it could be that you accidentally received incorrect cartridges, you should measure the resistance to be sure. |
Functional object in low poly - program and tutorial I'm losing my mind, it all started out with the idea of a project where I want an abstract shape (I'm going to call it a stretched cube with an angle), now I know a bit of Vectorworks - a 3D/Architecture drawing program. I found nothing in all the tutorials how to make something low poly but still be able to for example screw the bottom of with a thread for example.
I found numerous shapes I like on Thingiverse but they are all STL files which I've learned so far are hard to edit and make them functionally usable when cross transferring them for one to another program.
Today I gave it another try to find other programs which can give me the result and functionality I want. Thus far I've only found program where you make the shape perfectly and then by using a mesh program like 123make and Meshmixer to then change the outcome of the rendering. But in my case this makes some parts unable to use anymore as example the threading?
So for the question I their a program which I can make a low poly shape (example below) where I still can add holes and threading like you can do with AutoCAD, Vectorworks.
I hope somebody knows how to do this I've been searching and asking around for weeks!!
This is an example of the type of shape I would like to create, Low poly vase - mine would be exactly the same but it would be to give you an idea
Example of the thread I would like to implement in the shape above, Tap and Die for 3D printed threads | Yes, you can accomplish threading easily with something like 3Ds Max, Blender, Maya etc. I use Maya personally so, in Maya, all you have to do is:
Create a cylinder. This will be the main body of your 'screw'.
To make the thread, you need to create a helix primitive. You can edit the number of coils and the coil thickness in the Maya GUI.
Once you have the thread, it is a simple matter of performing a couple of boolean operations. The first boolean (union) operation will unite the screw made in step 1 with the thread made in step 2. The second boolean (subtract) operation will cut out the thread from the object within which you want your screw to be driven into. When you print the two models, you should find that the screw nicely turns into the object from which you cut out the thread.
The point is: yes, it is easy to do such things in most 3D software packages. Maya comes with a nice selection of default objects you can use, so essentially you need to do no 'modeling' yourself to create something like the example you showed us.
Your next question, about editing models on Thingiverse. The reason why you cannot edit them easily is because most models there have been decimated and triangulated, which makes them very difficult to reshape or edit because the topology is no longer strictly manifold -- it is just a big mess of triangles!
If you want to edit Thingiverse models, I recommend something like ZBrush. You can import triangulated models and then rebuild the geometry into quads (using DynaMesh, for example), which you can then edit to your liking. Once done, you can simply decimate and re-export as STL or whatever extension you need.
Finally, low/high poly is not so relevant in 3D print outs, especially in mechanically functioning parts. This is because most models are created in high resolution (high polygon count) and then decimated + triangulated down to truncate file sizes. But the functionality and physical feel of the model should not change due to this process - it just takes practice and lots of experimentation.
Hope this helps :)
Hassan |
Curing a resin print After a resin print completes, what is the expected process to finish the print? Is some cleaning expected? I also some manufacturers sell UV chambers to cure the print surface, is this required?
I purchased a low-cost printer from China that is quite high-quality hardware, but sadly short on documentation. Insight on the proper post-print process is appreciated. | Yes
You need to do a two-step post-processing:
Washing
This is basically as easy as taking the print and dropping it into a vat of Isopropyl alcohol and vigorously shaking it to get all the liquid resin off. Careful, the resulting contaminated IPA is to be treated as toxic waste.
The reason why you wash the print is to make sure no resin stays on it and cures, distorting the print or altering the measurements.
Post-Print-curing
The next step is just having the item sit in UV light to cure thoroughly, which means either having it sit outside in sunlight or under a UV lamp. Under sunlight, it might take a few hours, under a UV lamp, it depends on how thick the object is and you might need to turn and rotate the printed part. Note that some resins, especially transparent ones, can change their coloration when exposed to sunlight, both during or after curing.
Curing is done to ensure all the resin is fully cured and get the full stiffness out of the print - sometimes prints are still somewhat malleable before giving them time to cure. |
Resin types: Water Soluble vs PLA With resin LCD printers (not filament!), what are the considerations to choose between PLA and "water soluble"? Microcenter carries resins from esun in these two types, and their spec sheets indicate that tyhe water-soluble type has higher tensile strength and other mechanical properties. Which leads me to wonder, under what circumstances one selects PLA then? | First of all, let's look at what the filaments are:
PLA & PVA Filaments
Normal PLA and Water-soluble PVA contain for the most part the material on the tin, its precursors, and possibly some modifiers. These are only suitable for thermoplastic processes like injection molding or FDM/FFF (Filament deposition modeling/Fused Filament Fabrication) printers - the finished polymer can't be made back into a UV-curable resin easily. Both materials are chemically rather well bonded and are not very reactive at all. They are biodegradable and not a lot of toxic waste. PLA needs very strong chemicals such as dichlormethane to go into solution, but PVA is water-soluble.
Resin
Almost no cured resin (as in post-polymerized) is water-soluble, your webshop might have a misnomer as it meant to write the proper name: water-washable, which is meant to reflect the ability to put the unpolymerized monomers into solution in water.
eResin
eSun offers an eResin-PLA-Bio-Photopolymer, which is similar to PLA, but it is not the same material you get for an FDM printer. You see this most easily by checking the density and the MSDS: Real PLA has a density of 1.21–1.43 g/cm³, eResin (as the bottles are labeled) has a density of merely 1.07-1.13 g/cm³. This is a totally different material in the bottle! It is most likely a resin mix that is based on lactic acid monomers and a UV-active acid that can bond the monomers, creating a structure that does contain lactic acid groups and the binder - but most certainly it is not chemically identical to PLA. It contains, according to the MSDS, Polyurethane acrylate as the 'binder', 1,6-Hexanediol diacrylate Monomers, and about 10 % photo inhibitors and pigments. The main selling point seems to be, that comparable to PLA, it would be made from a renewable source to a larger part. The chemical reaction that leads to the completed resin is a question I have pitched on Chemistry.SE.
It needs to be cleaned with IPA (isopropyl alcohol) or another organic solvent like any standard resin and you are not allowed to rinse the material into the sewer: it is classed as a LONG-TERM AQUATIC HAZARD - Category 4 and its MSDS contains:
Solubility：Soluble in ethanol, ethyl acetate, benzene and other organic solvents, insoluble in water
water-washable eSun Resin
eSun offers no water-soluble resin at all, they offer a water washable resin, which means that it is supposed to be less toxic than standard resin and safe to rinse effectively without IPA, creating less toxic waste in the process. The MSDS for this is not (yet)) available so I can't evaluate this. However, I have requested the MSDS for the evaluation of safety procedures needed and hope to hear back from them soon. This resin is most certainly not PVA, but it seems to be chemically somewhat similar to their other resins. |
Anet A6 heat bed stopped working Just last night the heat bed stopped working. It was fine up to 75 % of the print, then when it was done the bed was not on anymore. The display said it was set to 50 °C, but it was at 18 °C. I did try moving the pins, and that is not loose (very simple thing to try).
I want to know what could have happened and what to look for when I try to fix the heat bed.
Please note: I do have a multi-meter. I do not use a MOSFET (I do have plans to install on)
Upon further investigation, I tested the mother board for any voltage were the bed hooks up and there is nothing. I had the printer trying to heat the bed when I was testing. But the thermistor is working, when I unhooked the connection the thermistor went to 0 °C, when plugged in it went to 18 °C.
Is it the motherboard? How can I fix this knowing no power is being supplied to the bed from the motherboard? Do I need a new motherboard? | This is a shot in the dark, but the vast majority of problems with a heating bed stopping to work is usually at the cables/connectors interface.
This is because in printers like the A6, the cable/connector is subject to constant mechanical stress, and - since metal fatigue is a thing - either the solder or the cable core cracks.
You should make good use of your tester to verify the integrity of the circuit in the bed and if it is not toasted you should be able to just repair the connection.
For many printers there exist "strain relief mods" to prevent this type of failure to happen. The first one showing up for the A6 is a full chain, but normally is enough the have a small enclosure for the connector like this one for the CR-10. |
Unknown issue affecting print quality I have been having issues with a vase print using a FlashForge Creator Pro.
I am using the default slicer for the printer(FlashPrint) because the Creator Pro only accepts .x3g rather than .g/.gcode.
The issue is that the printer seems to be both under extruding and over extruding.
I am printing ASA filament at 0.18 mm layer height at 240 °C with a heated bed at 110 °C. I am running the print with the fan on. I am also running at 80 mm/s print speed.
I have tried both lowering and raising the temperature, changing the print speed from 80 mm/s to 60 mm/s, and changing the extrusion multiplier.
At this point I am not really sure what to do in order to get this to print nicely, any advice would be welcome.
After a few more prints and the link that "E-Doe" posted I am beginning to think that the problem might be with the z-axis. My reason for thinking this is that the layers that bulge out do so consistently for the entire layer and then stop for a bit. I think I also ruled out temperature variation. I measured the temperature in the enclosure with a separate device and it stayed pretty constant the whole time.
Not really sure how to fix that but I will call this question answered. | A very helpful page for troubleshooting common errors is: Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide - Lines on the Side of Print
It seems like your problem is inconsistent extrusion or temperature variation. From the photo you posted I guess that you use a big diameter nozzle. Keep in mind that your extruder might not be well equipped to deliver such a large amount of plastic consistently. This most likely is a problem with the heating capacity.
You can try to lower the speed even more to give your extruder more time to heat the plastic. |
Printed 2 Sided Object? Apologies, I'm a EE designer and software guy. We've been CNC'ing prototypes, and my office just bought a very cheap 3D printer.
I'm using Cura as recomended, and wanted to print a piece that has features on both sides.
Here is a screenshot of each side.
So if you laid one side flat, you see how there is a subtractive portion underneath it?
Is there a way to 3D print an object like this, and keep the details on each side?
UPDATE
I copied some Cura settings from guys and basically tipped this thing to a 45 degree. Here are the results. Pretty good! The finish has some zits and pops, but the surface details are quite accurate enough to fit a PCB board in there with confidence. | You can print it laying flat on the bed with supports. It will be very laborious to clean up, but it will probably work. supports usually are thin enough to strip away, but they leave marks which you need to cut off to get a clean result.
You can also buy a printer with dual extruders and then use dissolvable supports. That would probably be easier to clean up and provide a cleaner result.
If you're using PLA to print, you might get away with turning up the part cooling fan to the maximum level and hope for the best. Overhangs are very much prone to dropping though. I'm not sure if a stock MP Select mini will get the job done. You might want to consider an upgrade to the part cooling fan. You can look for fan duct related upgrades which allow you to mount bigger fans on Thingiverse
With PETG you can possibly get away with longer overhangs, as it cools quicker. However, PETG is much harder to print well, as it's much more prone to stringing, which can cause issues like artifacts and clogging.
All in all I'd start out with getting a good benchy before you start on engineering projects. This will make sure that you have your printer calibrated to perform for your chosen filament. Every brand and type has their own quirks and differences, so you'll have to fine tune your settings to get the best result.
A CNC-like finish will not be easy to achieve. A CNC type finish will be unachievable without extensive post processing if you're using supports. In any case, getting a good finish requires some practice with finding the right settings for your filament.
Learn how to print and to get your printer dialled in to achieve the required result, which, in the case of it having to be CNC-like, is quite high-end. The fact you're laying down filament means that you'll be able to see lines, even at top quality. Maybe this guide will help you get on your way.
Getting a $1000 printer mainly inproves reliability of the print. The quality of the print is in the skill of dialling in the right settings in your slicer for a given filament choice, plus recognising the type of supports necessary. This takes practice to achieve. |
Is nozzle no longer heating up correctly related to hotend insulation being pulled off? The insulation of the heater block got pulled off...
I was trying to print ABS on my TEVO Tornado, overnight. But I not-so-smartly left the window open overnight, thinking it was alright (as to remove the fumes) but then it warped so much that it pulled off the insulation of the hotend.
It is no longer heating up to over 200 degrees Celcius. It starts showing a message saying PRINTER HALTED: PLEASE RESET Should I just re-insulate it? if I should, what do I use for insulation? | Yes I had this same problem myself.
You will need to re-insulate it using a silicone block and next time don't leave the window open while printing. Just keep the fan or AC on to circulate the air. |
Strange vertical lines on X-axis direction of parts This one is turning out to be a real head-scratcher. I'm running a stock Creality CR-10S and there seems to be a single line approx 45° across the print on the X-axis direction.
I have attached images to better explain. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | In your slicer check your z-seam overlap. Lines like that are what happens when a slicer is systematically trying to hide a seam while not adding a ton of time onto the print by adding in a bunch of additional time for travel. |
Bicycle air pump project Is a home 3D printer capable of printing a good bicycle air pump?
I've searched the Internet and there is very limited info on it. Things need to be rigid and very minutious in the valve part of the pump. I could give an example of what I thought in the image | depends
You certainly can print parts of a bicycle pump, for example, the outer case and maybe the inner piston, maybe even the housing for the connection valves.
However, you cant print the buffer spring or the valves itself. You will have trouble printing the adapters. And you will have to print in ABS to smooth the inside of your pump with acetone vapor, so you have a smooth surface that forms an air seal under operation.
It would be cheaper and more durable to just print just the fittings and use a PVC Pipe as the cylinder itself.
As in all things, if this is a good pump depends a lot on design and your machine. |
What is acceptable voltage drop from PSU to controller? My voltage at the controller at max load is ~11.4 V
(heated bed + motors + hotend). Is this normal?
I'm measuring 11.8 V at the PSU, so 0.4 V -> 5 W lost in the wires.
I have a pretty beefy ~2 mm diameter copper wire that's ~1 m long. Its area is 2.5 mm2. The diameter with shielding is 3.5 mm.
Could there be a bad connection somewhere?
Checked the wire is warm to touch, so looks like it's actually the cause.
Is this normal? Should I go for even bigger wires? | Regardless of how the voltage is lowered, you aren't delivering the power to the heating elements that they are designed to deliver. For a resistive heater, the power scales with the square of the voltage.
Delivering 11.4 V to the heaters will result in the power being $11.4^2/12.0^2 = 0.9025$ or 90 % of the intended power.
There are two things you could do to increase the power at the heaters.
Your voltage is starting out low, which you may be able to increase
at the power supply to 12.0 V.
The voltage drop in the 1-meter cables can be reduced by using
shorter cables or larger cross-sectional area conductors. 13 gauge
is not a very heavy wire for low-voltage high-current DC. I would
suggest 10 gauge, and would prefer 8 gauge.
The logic in the controller board should be fine as you are now. Controller boards include regulators that being the nominal 12 V down to the 5 V or 3.3 V required by the digital logic. These will automatically adjust for changes in the 12 V supply.
To actually answer your question, the permitted voltage drop is application dependent. As a rule, though, I would suggest that the voltage on the pins of the controller should be 12 ± 5 %, or from 12.6 V to 11.4 V. The voltage you measured should be acceptable if it is the true minimum voltage. |
Are there any non-static (ESD safe) materials to print with? I am attempting to replace an SFX power supply of my computer with a PicoPSU. I would like to manufacture a plate to fill the vacant place and to pass through the power lead, and maybe host a power switch and a 60 mm fan.
The thing is, I need to have a material that is ESD safe, i.e. does not collect static electricity. Meaning that the conductivity should be somewhere between 10^(-4)and 10^(-9) if plastic. And also a material that can take screws. So, a metal or some kind of conductive plastic.
Question is, are there any known ones?
If I will seek out to buy or borrow a 3D printer, I need it to support this choice of material. | Yes there are ESD Compatible filament materials. One manufacturer is 3dxtech.
There are also filament materials that are even more conductive than that.
Pretty much all rigid filaments can "take screws". You can either have a hole that and let the screw self thread or tap the threads into the hole. A better option is often to press a threaded insert into a hole.
The bigger question is why do you need this? Are you trying to prevent ESD. If so, why, are there ESD sensitive components? If so, just make sure proper spacing is provided. If you are trying to manage electrical emissions/susceptibility, there might be better solutions such as a coating. |
Polypropylene Bed Adhesion I recently upgraded to a Polypropylene print bed, but I haven't actually been able to complete a print.
Adhesion seems incredibly inconsistent, even on the same spot. Sometimes it goes down great, and sometimes it just curls up and clumps on the nozzle. I even cranked the temp up to 220 °C for the PLA and 70 °C for the bed in an effort to get it to stick for an initial layer, and it still isn't sticking.
Any tips? I've been cleaning with rubbing alcohol, but I don't know if there's any trick. Clean when hot? Cold? Let sit after cleaning before using? Is it just a matter of incredibly precise bed leveling? | If you are using PLA, 200 for the extruder sticks the best for me. The other issue with adhesion is the greater the difference between the extruder temperature and the bed the poorer adhesion. There are other things can help with this. Using a higher bed temperature for the first layer can help. A slower extrusion speed allows the extrusion to cool more before getting as long of a length to for the contraction force; thus improving adhesion. |
Heater cartridge extension wiring I recently bought a Titan Aero hot end which came with a 24 V 30 W heater cartridge from E3D. I'd like to use this but the cable length is only 1 meter long and I need it to be 2 meters. The ends terminate with prong connections and there is no polarity to the prongs. How can I safely extend the leads one meter and then connect to my Duet 3 Mainboard 6HC?
Should the cable terminate with a JST connector instead of the prongs to connect to the Duet board? | Heater polarity doesn't matter
The heater cartridges are just large resistors and so polarity is irrelevant. Either can be positive or negative.
You can extend the leads by cutting and splicing in ~20 gauge wires* to a two pin JST connector line you suggest.
*At 24 volts and 30 watts, you need wire that is rated to carry at least 1.25 amps. The US National Electric Code dictates that this should be 20 gauge wire, but their standard is very conservative. Since you don't need to adhere to NEC codes, you could get away with something thinner (ie higher gauge number). |
Issue crashing Z-axis when I home X or Y axes I'm just getting started in 3D printing by rebuilding an old machine from scratch updating firmware etc. It is all wired up and I am calibrating and completing tuning before a first print.
I am having a weird problem in that when I click "home X" button in Pronterface, my dual Z axes steppers move in the +Z direction and crash. If I home Z via Pronterface, the Z-axis behaves correctly (moves in -Z direction until it bumps off the limit switch). I am using an MKS GEN L V1.0 board and Marlin v1.1.9
If I move thr Z-axis via Pronterface in the +Z direction, it moves as expected. Both Y and X axes also seem to work okay and respond to commands normally via Pronterface.
Sending a G28 X command also results in a Z-axis activation and crash.
Sending a G28 Y command has the same result.
Any ideas on how to resolve this? | Found the issue with help here! My Z-axis homing height was not set - I set it to 4 mm but found that the Z movement is way off (actual Z movement is more like 15 cm!).
I will update to the latest firmware as suggested. |
Second layer: gaps, poor adhesion - why? I'm seeing the following pattern on my Prusa clone:
The first layer prints OK, layer adhesion to the bed is good. The second layer shows the weird gaps. On larger pieces, or with an increased feed rate, it sometimes gets so bad that parts of the second layer detach and are dragged across the print. I get the impression that this effect is worse when printing in the "top left to bottom right" direction, but not as bad when printing in the "top right to bottom left" direction.
This occurs with multiple filaments and materials. I've already tried to manipulate the flow rate, temperatures and print speed, but gotten little improvement if any.
What might be causing this issue? | I wouldn't describe that as an "OK" first layer. The nozzle is either too far from the bed, or you're underextruding. Underextrusion also looks like the cause of your second layer problems. |
Large flat ABS print curling during cooldown I am printing a large flat print, approximately 8" x 4" x 1/8". It has good adhesion when printing and lays flat when finished. I allow the print to cool slowly but the center of the print bows upward 1/16"-1/8". It bows in both directions but more noticeably in the longer direction. The corners are not curling up this is the center of the print lifting.
I started printing at 25% infill but have tried 100%. 100% bows less but still bows. This does not happen with PLA or PETG. 100% fill was printed with no fan. 25% printed with no fan for first layers and fan at 40% after.
Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening?
Printer: Lulzbot TAZ 5 w/ 0.5mm hotend in sealed enclosure. Heated bed at 115C, extruer at 240C. Environmental temperatures are 30-37C depending on the stage of the print. Hotter as it continues.
Follow Up Questions:
What is the ideal environmental printing temperature for ABS?
If a part were reheated could an existing arch be corrected?
Update: Build Plate Thermal Images w/plate set @ 115C | Short Answer: Make the environment temperature is a bit warmer to offset the cooling rate.
Long Answer
All materials shrink as they cool, but some materials shrink at a much higher rate than others. This is primarily driven by temperature coefficients and thermal conductivity of the individual materials. There are calculators available online that you can get more involved with discovering how this works mathematically.
However, in layman's terms, the temperature between your build plate and the first layers of plastic are so drastically different, that at a certain point the plastic becomes under tension as it shrinks faster/more than the build plate. Over time, since the surface tension between the part and the build plate is no longer in the way, the corner can continue to shrink.
Here are some options:
Ensure your build plate temperatures are correct acceptable. I've had success with 112C in NW United States. Increasing the temperature will be an attempt to bridge the gap between BP temps and plastic temps during the final cool-down.
Search for ways to "anchor" the part to the build plate. There are lots of resources on the internet on how to do this, so I'll spare you the list.
Increase your environment temperature. I highly suggest this because it can help reduce other errors you might encounter throughout the printing process, such as de-lamination, warping, brittleness, etc. I'm not recommending placing a space heater next to your printer (really, don't do that!), but perhaps even a space heater in the room can help regulate the environment temperature a bit better.
Consider other environment variables. Consider things like "Is my printer next to a window?", "Do I live in a particularly cold environment in general?", or even "Am I baking cookies in the next room?". A lot of these seemingly meaningless variables play an important role in ensuring quality prints.
(I know there's more, so I'll add onto this answer a bit more as I remember them) |
Beginner in calibrating HE3D Prusa XI3 This is my first time calibrating my printer and I'm not sure where to start. The printer is running Repetier v0.91 firmware that came on the SD card that came with the printer.
Anyway, the question I have is where do I start calibrating and how would I go about it? I have read on Google many ways and it seems there are different opinions. I am reading this at the moment: RepRap Wiki - Calibration. | There's a great tutorial here on youtube.
And personally my favourite is this tutorial. |
Print contaminated by chips of previous filament colors I have a flashforge creator dual.
From time to time while printing a model I notice when there are abrupt changes in direction, that a few "Grains" of old filament fall out from the head. Generally they end up embedded in the print which is not a big deal, but sometimes they get into a visible portion.
I can mitigate this somewhat by disassembling down to the gears, and blowing out all of the old filament.
My question is two fold
"What is causing these chips to accumulate near the gears?"
"Is there something I can do to resolve this issue?" | My bet is your extruder knurls are scratching the filament. If it happens for specific filament then probably it doesn't keep its diameter. It means you can avoid these grains by using better filament.
If it happens always then you could do 3 things
reduce stress on the spring which pushes filament to extruder gear
make extruder gear less sharp
eventually change the great itself |
3D printing a cardboard box Is there an FDM 3D printing material that looks similar to a cardboard box? I guess, and understand, it would not be possible to 3D print a cardboard box but would there be something similar? | The closest thing you will find is Woodfill plastic. As time goes on we are seeing more and more PLA that is infused with other materials. Woodfill will look and feel like waxy wood. We are pretty used to seeing fiber boards and the like so this will not come off as odd. However it is not quite cardboard, except that it is also a wood product. It will also smell of wood.
Here is a close up of a beyond exceptional wood fill printed piece. There is also other types of wood fill including bamboo.
I mean if you want Cardboard.. Why not a laser cutter? While you can get a MUCH cheaper laser cutter, the glowforge comes to mind. |
Which firmware to use on printer settings for DIY printer I have a 3D printer that I built using CD-ROM drives. It's all set and ready to go but when I generate .stl or .obj files my G-code sender program cannot load it. I have found that Slic3r will export the .stl into G-code but it has the option of changing the G-code flavour, or firmware.
My machine is running from an Arduino Uno with Grbl v0.8.
So the question is, which firmware setting would be appropriate for my machine that would require the least amount of editing before I can print? | Unless you can find a slicer that explicitly supports grbl, you will need to check the G-code specification and see which common flavour is closest to what grbl supports. The RepRap Wiki includes grbl in it's compatibility chart, but it has question marks against a lot of entries for grbl.
The other alternative is to slice a very simple model and see what commands are issued by the slicer, and whether they are supported by grbl.
Note that there is a question as to whether grbl supports FDM printing technology, i.e. 3D printers that use filament. Most slicers are designed to work with FDM printers, and will expect to be controlling at least one extruder. If your printer does not have an extruder that is controlled via G-code, you may encounter real difficulties generating G-code for it using commonly-available slicers.
RepRap Wiki: G-code |
Zonestar Extruder motor does not work - what can I check? While this may seem like terribly noobish question, I'm sure one day someone will have same problem.
I own a ZONESTAR P802QSU (Bowden extruder) and all of sudden my extruder motor stopped working. What I did:
I check whether or not motor is moving freely - I can rotate it without any problems manually.
I checked out cable and plugs - everything seems OK.
I checked whether motor is working after plugging it into another slot in motherboard - motor works fine.
I checked if another motor works after plugging it into same slot on mainboard - and it does not.
It would seem that there is something wrong with E0-mot driver module, or with socket. I'm however totally at loss about what can I do with any of those. I do not have any electronic equipment except multimeter, and voltage on motor seems fine(11.3V between red and black, I guess V+ and ground). It sometimes seemed to get lower, but I'm almost sure it is my trembling hands.
After some googling, I started checking A4988 stepper driver with my multimeter. VDD was ~5V and VMOT around 12V, so it seems to work at least in this way.
What can I do, to see what is broken? Visually nothing looks like it burned out, but I'm fully aware it may not be visible. | Good investigation there! You are almost certainly correct that a driver chip has gone blooey. Personally I doubt it's worth the effort to locate and repair, rather than buying a new, trustworthy board.
I recommend this approach because one blown chip may well have caused (or been caused by) unrecognized damage elsewhere, which might then lead to future failures. |
StoneFlower3D - how to pause a print? I've been trying to make a paste extruder and I came across StoneFlower3D. In their site, they mentioned about a feature called Infinite Printing. Please see page number 25 of this document.
They're only using Step, Dir, Enable and GND from main controller and there's not a serial connection with the controller.
Anyone have idea about how they're doing it? | The extruder is connected to 3d printer mainboard as a stepper driver.
That said it is not using standard stepper motor output, but it is fed directly from CPU digital pins.
Please see OP reference manual.
The extruder has theability to self-feed (load filament) - so that is the reason of kit/printer switches - see pic 1.
Then pausing a print to feed the clay tank need to be executed from printer (pause print) and then operated locally in the kit mode.
if get your comments well - pic below gives an overview how to connect it to rams - see manual for details |
Laser cutting on RepRap I have seen some lasers attached to the RepRap platform for cutting but most seem to be cutting paper, balsa wood, or merely etching. If I were wanting to build a platform for cutting wood, similar to the wood framed or boxed 3D printers on the market, what power laser would I need for that? I assume that a lower powered laser would have to travel slower but going too slow would add the possibility of catching the wood on fire (not good). | Please do not go down this road. First, not all lasers are equally absorbed by the material and the energy converted to heat to vaporize the material. The light not absorbed is reflected right back into your eyes. This is especially dangerous because it doesn't make you go blind instantly, fooling you into thinking there is no harm. You got the other part right, the lower the laser power, the less turned to heat, the longer it takes to cut, the longer you risk exposure to your eyes. That's right, a low powered laser is MORE dangerous than a big one. Next, the only way to properly cut is with air assist. This means a stream of air blows away the vaporized material so the laser can keep cutting deeper. This also prevents fires. The thing we haven't even touched is a proper safety enclosure, proper bed design to not reflect the laser beam back into the laser killing it and your eyes, and finally smoke/particle exhaust.
Simply put, these cheapo DIY lasers are dangerous, and are also illegal. |
How to remove a resin print stuck to the FEP tray bottom With a resin printer, the print will occasionally adhere to the bottom sheet of the resin tray (the FEP transparent sheet), instead of the stainless print plate.
How does one remove the failed print from the FEP sheet without causing damage? | Wash the resin tray in the normal way, with hot water and dish soap. Once the FEP sheet is warm, run a finger alongside the bottom of the sheet, opposite the side where the failed print is stuck. The slight warping of the FEP sheet will cause the print to come loose. If this does not occur the first time, try again. Proceed patiently and delicately, making sure to wait for the FEP sheet to be sufficiently warm. |
PLA wood filament: a special treatment? PLA wood has a beautiful natural texture that I wanted to try. But when I used it in my second print, it clogged the nozzle (solved). I know this filament is composed of 70 % PLA and 30 % recycled pine wood fibers.
Are there special indications for this kind of filament?
Should I modify the temperature, or other settings? | PLA and wood fibres = wood filament
Most wood filamet consists of about 60-70 % PLA and 40-30 % wood fibres. This basically implies that PLA temperatures should be used. It can be printed with standard 0.4 mm nozzles, but it is adviced to be printed with a larger diameter nozzle. A larger nozzle will less likely to cause nozzles to clog (more area for the fibres to pass through).
Basic printing advice
Start experimenting with relatively large layer heights (0.25-0.3 mm layer heights). Printing speeds should be held high to ensure relative short residence times in the hot end (in the range 50-80 mm/s). Short residence times prevent degradation by heat resulting in clogging. It is best for wood fibres filled filaments to not have the filament to stagnate (e.g. pausing). A higher retraction speed and distance might be needed because the filament usually is a little more runny compared to plain PLA.
Beware
After printing, you should retract the filament from the hotend so that during next printing jobs heat up cycle, the filament doesn't degrade and clogs the nozzle. Alter the end script G-code and also use priming scripts at the start and/or do not forget to use a large skirt of multiple lines or a considerable length. As always, you shouldn't leave the printer unattended, regularly check the printer and shut down the printer when there is something wrong, e.g. not extruding. Also note that wood filled filament is reported to be abrasive to brass nozzles, a (hardened) steel nozzle or a Ruby nozzle should mitigate wear problems.
Basic settings
These settings have proven to work, but are not a guarantee, these settings should provide a reference to start experimenting on your own printer:
Temperature: 190-205 °C
Layerheight: 0.25 mm
Speed: 50 mm/s
Minimal layertime: 8 s
Bowden type extruder
Retraction speed: 40 mm/s
Retraction distance: 5.5 mm
Direct extruder
Retraction speed: 25 mm/s
Retraction distance: 1.3 mm |
Query advantages of OctoPrint I have read that if I disconnect OctoPrint when printing, the print will stop. Since I thought the advantage of OctoPrint over, say, printing from Cura, was that it didn't tie up the computer while the print was taking place, what are the advantages of OctoPrint? | I have read that if I disconnect OctoPrint when printing, the print will stop.
You can disconnect your computer from the OctoPrint server while printing and the print will continue just fine. You cannot disconnect the OctoPrint server from the printer without interrupting the print, of course.
Since I thought the advantage of OctoPrint over, say, printing from Cura, was that it didn't tie up the computer while the print was taking place, what are the advantages of OctoPrint?
The advantage (the one you're talking about, anyway) of printing via OctoPrint (which you can also do via Cura, btw) is that you don't have to tie up the computer that you're using for other things. You run OctoPrint on some other computer that can stay connected to the printer. Typically, a Raspberry Pi is used; they're cheap (~$30), and there's an OctoPi distribution that's practically a turnkey solution.
Other advantages of OctoPrint include:
stores your .stl files, either on the print server or on the printer's SD card
enables remote monitoring, including a webcam feed
lets you control your printer from any device with a web browser
provides a plugin mechanism (and a large variety of plugins) to extend its capabilities |
What kind of colors should I use to paint my PLA prints? I'd like to paint my prints, which I printed using white PLA, with some colors. I have no idea what type of paint should stick to PLA well. I need paint that will not be soluble in water and will stick good enough.
What kinds of paints do people use to paint PLA prints? | Fortunately, PLA accepts many types of paints, most common of them is acrylic paint.
Acrylic is water-soluble until it dries, then it becomes water-resistant.
Depending on the goal you plan to achieve, different types of paints can be used - oil paint, already mentioned acrylic, enamels or lacquers.
Keeping in mind that manufacturers may present different types of plastic under the same 'PLA' brand, it is always good idea to try selected type of paint on a print sample to ensure that it sticks well enough and not melts the print too much at the same time. |
How to rotate camera using mjpg-streamer-experimental? I've successfully installed mjpg-streamer-experimental from here I just can't figure out how to set the parameter I need in order to rotate my camera 180 degrees (I have my webcam mounted upside down for a custom mount I made).
I'm using a Logitech C270. I've been searching online for hours for a solution to this issue and just can't find what I'm looking for. Doesn't help that I'm not very proficient when it comes to this stuff.
Would really appreciate some help! | Edit: Having now installed Octopi myself, I have found that they made it easy to rotate the image right from the interface. If you open the "Settings" and look under "Webcam & Timelapse", there are settings for flipping the image horizontally or vertically and for rotating 90 degrees.
There are a few ways to rotate the image of which I am aware. You can do it via the input plugin, the client, or post-processing.
The "input_uvc" and "input_raspicam" plugins both have options to rotate the image. If you are using one of these plugins see the documentation at input_uvc or input_raspicam (it is worth noting that the input options may not be supported by all cameras). You should be able to run the command like the following to get a stream that is rotated 180 degrees:
mjpg_streamer -i 'input_uvc.so -rot 180'
I'm not sure how you are handling the stream, but it is possible that your client can perform the rotation. For example, if you are using VLC you can set the angle of rotation by doing something like this:
Open the “Tools” menu and select “Effects and Filters”
In the “Adjustments and Effects” window, on the “Video Effects” tab, select the “Transform” check box
Select a rotation from the dropdown menu and then click “Close”.
Finally, if you are saving the stream and are only concerned with rotating it afterwards, you can post-process it with a utility like ffmpeg. See this post as an example and look for "Rotate" in the accepted answer.
If your stream is being rendered via a browser you may be able to add some CSS3 formatting to the video element. For example, you could add an ID of "videoElement" to the stream and then add the following to your CSS:
#videoElement {
transform: rotateZ(180deg);
-webkit-transform:rotateZ(180deg); /* Safari and Chrome */
-moz-transform:rotateZ(180deg); /* Firefox */
} |
When leveling hotend always slams into bed? If the hot-end is at ~0 on the Z axis and I go to level it, as it approaches X = 0 it begins scraping along the bed, then when moving back to probe the center of the bed (after homing X to 0) it will scrape the bed again.
I want to add a glass plate but am worried this aggressive homing will smash the glass. How can I fix it? The printer auto-levels and runs Marlin. | I realised the simplest fix for this shortly after posting the question. In either your slicer or your printer controller (I use octoprint, so I added this there) add to the starting G-code something to lift the head so that it is above the point it is scraping across.
For example, change your starting G-code from something like:
G28 ;Home all axis
G29 ;probe bed
To
G91 ;Set to relative positioning
G0 Z10 ;move head up by 10mm
G28 ;Home all axis
G29 ;probe bed
(obviously remove G29 if you do not have a probe)
10mm should be more than enough to lift by unless you have something seriously wrong, but you can adjust the figure as needed. |
Ultimaker Cura problems with build platform size and overhang support I am attempting to print an axial fan blade, and due to the size requirements, I have to angle it on its side (despite only being 7.44 inches in diameter...). I am using an Ultimaker 3, which I thought was able to print 215mm (or 8.46 inches). This leads me to two questions:
Question 1: If my diameter is only 7.44 inches, why am I unable to lay the fan blade flat (see below - notice the dimensions are within the bounds)?
Question 2: What is so wrong with the surfaces in red that Cura cannot print, even with supports? I am using PVA as a support material, yet there is something wrong with my model in Cura. I checked the X-ray view and nothing seemed amiss. | Ultimaker Cura print bed size sizes (shrinks) when you enable skirt, brim or raft build adhesion options. Try to print without build plate adhesion option if you want to push printing to the limits of the build plate. Furthermore, you mention the use of PVA, using 2 cores, the priming print tower also needs space to be printed, this can be also limiting your build plate space. Note that you can define where to print the tower, you could try locating it in a corner where the fan does not reach.
From your screenshot with the fan flat it appears that you have selected dual extrusion. Note that the bed size depends on the amount of cores you use, from Ultimaker:
Left or right nozzle: 215 x 215 x 300 mm (8.5 x 8.5 x 11.8 inches)
Dual extrusion: 197 x 215 x 300 mm (7.8 x 8.5 x 11.8 inches)
As an example I have made a 7.44" cylinder of 2" height and put it onto the UM3E build plate to show the differences when you use dual extrusion.
This image shows the cylinder when printed with a single core:
This image shows the same cylinder, but now with enabled "Extruder 2" as the "Support Extruder" option:
Having an Ultimaker 3E myself, printing PVA might not be very good choice as you need to print a lot of support material when printing upright. PVA cooks easily even in the B core, it also needs to be very dry, PVA takes up moisture very fast and becomes useless after that. At work we have much better experience with break-away support material.
Another consideration why you should not print this upright is the orientation of the layers. It is generally known that the layer to layer bonding is less strong that the material itself, it at least provides a lot of notches from which cracks can initiate and grow. This means that if you want to print this, you should lay it flat, this way the centrifugal force is in line with the layer deposition direction.
With the correct layer height (read thin layers), you should be able to print this flat without support. I have printed similar structures like turbo turbine wheels with similar overhangs without support. |
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