Unanswered 3D Printing Newbie

Ok I went through that link you sent and set up the REAL Cura, but how to you manually control the nozzle and bed movements? In MC you can manually move it all around... I like to be able to wipe off the nozzle before a new print, the nozzle seems to always ooze a little while its leveling.

EDIT: sorry never mind, I found it AFTER i clicked to print... little weird but ok...

 

After you click "print from USB" the ponterface will come up where you can set a preheat temperatures and move the print head around with buttons. Or you can enter G-code commands.

http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code

Remember. With great power comes great responsibility.

 

Just wanted to say thanks again everyone for sticking with me! My first REAL Cura print came out WAAAYYYY better than all the MC prints i attempted. :-D

Now, a few things.

1. The sides are MUCH smoother now, so how smooth is optimal with this printer? It still has some imperfections on the left and right sides, and the imperfections are in the exact same adjacent spot on opposite sides. Hope thats not confusing. (SEE side image)

2. The very bottom layer, after the skirt, always prints protruding from the rest of my cube, and its also messy/oozing on the front and back side on the bottom later only (SEE front image)

3. The top is still pretty ugly, does this mean i just need more top layers and it will smooth out? I feel like the the initial bottom layer always sets a bad guide for the entire model, it prints strangely, jumping around skipping lines and printing some lines overlapping other lines causing some filament to ball up in to little bits making the first layer really uneven. (SEE top image)

4. Lastly the bottom layer, as stated in the previous example, skips some lines and is still doing that "step-over" thing, you can see it pretty clearly. Also how the bottom layer was offset from the rest, you can see the result of that on this image, although i broke off the part that hangs for my piece. Im not sure why that bottom layer always prints offset. (SEE bottom image)

BTW Im currently using ABS, still waiting on my PLA to come in.

 

Looks like you have some loose components in the X (left to right) and/or Y (front to back) direction. Make sure the belts are tight. Also check the set screws that hold the cogs to their motors are tight.

With the printer off confirm that you can move the carriage left and right easily. Same with sliding the printer bed back and forth. It might help to lube the smooth rods up with some white lithium or sil glyde.

As for making the top look better, generally more layers will accomplish that.

 

Looks like something caused a skip on the bottom layer. Probably a clipping or something. Lower your Z offset a bit.

 

What does the filament density affect? Are PLA and ABS different densities? The reason I ask is because in MC theres a pre-made format for ABS and PLA that gives you a base to go off of, like extruder temp, bed temp, speed etc. but i didn't see anything in Cura that specifies differences for ABS or PLA. Whats a typical extruder temp and bed temp for PLA/ABS?

Ive noticed that Cura won't allow extrusion under about 200C... is there a way to change that, seems a little high for PLA right?

 

More test runs. This time tried adding a brim and it still did the usual step-over/offset on the bottom layer, but the actual bottom side looked better overall. The strangest thing is the sort of "cantilever" overhang that it added halfway through the print. The top half didn't shift over, its like it added something in the code that wasn't there...

 

By the way, i just thought of something, when i was using MatterControl, one of you told me to change the steps to 2560 in the eeprom settings, does that need to be done again in Cura? is that what this is?

 

I decided to try printing something else, this is my own personal Trademark/Logo to give you a better idea, the second image is what is SHOULD look like. With the extra details, i can say for sure, something is shifting the entire thing forward... the logo should be fairly centered and its shifted forward...

 

If your Z_steps per mm are 2267.72 and you have a M8 rod you need to flash your firmware to use the right Z steps per mm of 2560. Otherwise your prints will come out shrunken causing over extrusion issues you're seeing. The spot in cura is only for E steps.

help.robo3dprinter.com/c/Firmware

 

Ok my rods are M8 (~21 threads/inch), and I'm attempting to flash the firmware (something Im not familiar with). The directions say to "Download the file. You will need to extract the folder of the .zip file and put it to where your arduino software is looking for sketchbooks." Ive got the Arduino software, but Is this referring to the "file" at the top of the ROBO page you linked me? i downloaded the one for M8 rods but theres no ZIP file, I'm on a Mac. what do i put in the sketchbooks location? Also, the step that talks about choosing your serial port, it says to unplug your printer to figure out which port is for the printer, but that didn't do anything when i did it, i tried it when the printer was on AND off. The image shows what my options are, I'm on a Macbook Pro and it have 2 USB ports, the one on the right side is what my mouse is hooked to, the left is what my printer is hooked to...

 

Thats what I've got, but its not zipped when It completes the download. I did it again, and this time i just let it sit there for a couple min, and it literally took about 2 whole minutes to show up, same with the ports, i disconnected the printer usb again and it took almost an entire minute before it disappeared... strange but ok....

 

Ok so in the comments of that page you linked me, someone says something about also having to update MC after you flash with arduino, is this something i need to worry about doing with the REAL Cura as well? I see this option in Cura to "Install custom firmware", but not sure i need to mess with it though.

 

Ok got a problem...so I started breaking down my machine to check all the screws/bolts for any loose ones, and I wasn't sure if there was anything inside that needed to be checked so I removed the flat panel on the bottom and when I did, the fan came unplugged, so are one of these the one i need to re-attach my fan to? Im guessing the red one, makes the most sense, as the fan plug has the female connection for a 2-prong connector... But I didn't want to just start plugging things up and burn up something. Oh and also, the threaded rods, I lifted off the carriage to have better access, and was wondering about the little black plastic parts that have the nuts attached to them that stayed on the threaded rods, they can rotate freely on the rods now, how do i know where they should be at when i put it back together so its not out of level? I don't believe they've rotated, but just in case...HELP pls!

 

Red circle is for the fan.

The terminals on the end stops should be towards the front of the printer.

 

ok good i guessed right then on the fan lol. My question about those terminals is if they spin around, then the heights will be different than before i took it apart. does this matter, assuming they're the same on both sides?