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Mike's Printer is in!

Discussion in 'Show and Tell' started by Michael DiFilippo, Jun 25, 2013.

  1. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    NO they simply slide right over them but I tried actually printing them and I think I made the threads too fine to actually work I am in the process of redoing them with larger more usable threads. So I would hold on for just a bit
    Basically though this is how it works there are three parts
    1 Sleeve that is threaded on it outer side; this part slips over the existing plastic post
    2 TopCAP/BedLeveler this part threads onto the top of the part 1, the Sleeve and is the part that adjust the levelness
    3 a locking nut; this is threaded onto the bottom of the sleeve just under the TopCAP and is used to tighten up against the TopCap so it does not move
     
  2. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    So I pulled off the heated bed and was going to try the glass clipped to the wood and see where I was level wise... my z-limit switch though just broke as I was moving it. So now I need to get another switch. I thought taking a couple of weeks off with the printer would cause me to come back with no frustrations and some positive results. So much for that. Sigh.
     
  3. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    I took my heated bed off and clipped the glass as pcb together then stuff them to the wood with foam double sidedtape, that seems to help a bit, but it's still a pain to level, I'm working on a solution, Just don't have a lot of time :/
     
  4. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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  5. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    I was able to rig it up so the switch still works (the metal lever snapped off but my fine tune screw was in the right position to still hit the switch). I just tried a print with no heated bed and I'm still not getting even printing when I go much bigger than just the center. Which leads me to believe the wood is warped (who would have thought wood warps). Since it is warped (this is what I'm sticking with now that the wood is warped) a leveling system seems pretty pointless so I'm going to look around to see if I have anything I can use as a platform.
     
  6. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Maybe you already figured this out this is simply a case of the nozzle being too close to the bed surface at layer 0 I saw this many times in my fails here is what I see happening the nozzle is too close when it is while it prints so nothing much comes out so it builds up. When the nozzle is lifted to move to the next spot the filament starts to escape forming a buildup around the nozzle this is spread as the nozzle tries to print but can because the nozzle is still too close that is why it transitions to the flat line but it is building up again inside as teh shape is finished it lifts out comes material it lowers and spreads it building up more and then the pattern repeats. You say the as the nozzle gets higher off the bed it performs better which makes sense as the nozzle is never really blocked again. The solution was to use the z stop fine tune bolt. Forgetting the business card height for the moment start a print if you see this stop raise the z axis up 5mm now without measuring adjust the screw downward just slightly 1/8 turn max start the print again if you see the same immediately stop and repeat by lowereing the fine tune bolt downward again. Each time you do this you are raising the nozzle an din one of these steps you will see the first layer will be more of a rounded line or flattened tube. When you see that then you are at the correct height and your prints will be much better.
     
  7. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    The wood is most likely warped, (I said this would be a problem from the beginning) Ply wood warps easy, just go down the wood isle at home depot, you won't see a single straight piece of ply wood, I bought 3/4 inch maple for my desk and it was still warped I even went through a bunch of sheets trying to find one that wasn't so bad. They would of been better off going with a engineered wood like MDF. I've been thinking of a bed leveling idea like I originally posted in my other thread, but I've come to the conclusion that even leveling the wood build plate you will still have problems, so either we replace it with something else, like MDF or Aluminum, I'm just not sure how much weight these motors can handle. Or we just level the heater and glass and lose some z height, But that's easy to get more of.
     
  8. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    what thickness of aluminum would be needed any thoughts?
     
  9. Harry

    Harry Team ROBO 3D
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    Hey Mike, would this be for the build surface or as the surface replacing the wood?
     
  10. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    I'm thinking 3mm might be enough, it should still be stiff but light enough that the motors could handle it.
     
  11. Harry

    Harry Team ROBO 3D
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    What is this for seshan? A build surface?
     
  12. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    To replace the wood.
     
  13. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    SHE's ALIVE! So after being down for a few weeks due to getting frustrated and also not having time to really sit and fine tune the printer I am back up and running. Jeff and Harry were both super helpful in giving me suggestions and trouble shooting with me. If any of you guys need help private message me and I will gladly give you my skype name, its a much easier communication platform then private messaging. Anyways! I put back the heated PCB re-set my Z height and fine tuned the extruder height. Now any time I start a print I watch as the perimeter starts and if it needs adjustment I kill the print job and make any fine tune adjustments needed and within minutes I'm printing.

    So, here are a few pictures (just Iphone still not enough time to shoot good stuff will soon). I am using boro glass with aquanet hair spray and my heated bed off. Red and Black PLA first layer at 190 all the rest at 180, with the red I think I am going to try dropping it down a little to 175 as I am noticing some black areas which I think could be burned plastic.
    First one is a twisted vase, the red one is printed at .7 scale and the black one at a little more than 100% scale. Small one took about 2 hours if I remember and the black one took about 8-9 hours. Both at 200 micron
    twistedvase.jpg
    After having these two print perfectly I printed a design for a dummy battery which I don't have a picture of right now I will get that later. Then I decided to go for something with more recognizable detail. So I sprayed some aquanet, and after one small fine turn on the z-height adjustment screw I was printing perfectly. Took about 2 hours, 200 micron, 30% fill and 75% scale. The top of the head is really smooth and rounded, just one area where it is a little rough on top and there is a black line.
    ocotpus.jpg



    Further more I post pictures on my instagram account as I print things. I almost always try to remember to tag robo3d but feel free to also follow my instagram account! It is @mikediflip

    I hope to be printing with ABS within the next week.
     
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  14. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Glad your back in the game Mike. Just started playing with ABS and it is completely different the PLA as far aas how it acts but I think you'll like it. Last night I managed to sandwich the two together ABS-PLA-ABS in the 15mm cube will be posting pics in a bit but it worked well. Your prints look awesome.
     
  15. SPyKER

    SPyKER Active Member

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    So much learning to do. Thanks for posting your experience so that hopefully others time to have quality prints is reduced (once we all get our printers!)
     
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  16. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    just be sure to ask about any issues that may occur SPyKER it seems like we are narrowing down the process to get good quality prints fairly soon and i think it is a bit different than anyone expected. So if any frustration set sin about a particular print make sure to ask soon. We will all try and help.
     
  17. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    Jeff that is awesome you were able to get them to print ontop of one another. I am doing another octopus print right now bigger and in green and lowered the temps to see how that goes. I also just configured an excel formula sheet to figure out costs and prices as I plan to open an etsy shop selling prints if anyone is interested I could post the basic worksheet or explain the math.

    Spyker don't hesitate to ask questions just be ready to provide as much info as possible when you do. That is how I was able to get my stuff working again, I asked a question, Jeff would trouble shoot I would give him the feedback info and soon enough all was good.
     
  18. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    post the sheet and explain it think it would be interesting
     
  19. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    Will do Jeff! Don't have much time right now have a wedding to shoot in a few hours and a busy weekend too but maybe Sunday sometime or Monday I'll get it up with a full explanation. So far green pla is looking SWEEEET loving it.
     
  20. Harry

    Harry Team ROBO 3D
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    Dayum Mike! Lookin fly! haha
     

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