1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Modding the Lulzbot Flexystruder for the robo3d

Discussion in 'Projects' started by KTMDirtFace, Mar 26, 2016.

  1. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Lol just found another thing I have to fix. Lulzbot must use M5 mountingbolts, the nut recesses are way to big for the robo's M4's

    Fixing that now :) My pile of fails is getting quite large now hahaha.
     
    #21 KTMDirtFace, Mar 28, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
    Mike Kelly likes this.
  2. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Fail Pile Growing LOL.. technically the last couple are not fails..just not quite right.. like the last 2 work mostly but the nut recesses are too big. Which I overlooked this entire time till now.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Latest progress:

    Got it mostly working with PTFE tube in there, my major hurdle left is only the fact that my stock robo3d hobbed bolt is so uneven. Its tight/loose tight/loose as I spin it. Hopefully the hobb goblin gets here soon!

    Now because the E3DV6 has PTFE that goes in it pretty far, and you can't release it from the little blackholder unless you can reach it.. I ended up cutting the tube as straight as I could part way through so that I can drop the hotend without dismantling the entire thing. This may end up being a bad idea depending on how much space ended up inside. Another option may just be to remove the little black PTFE holder on the top of the hotend, its probably not going to be needed? I want to be able to drop my hotend without dismantling the entire thing.

    I mocked my extruder and hotend up and ran ninjaflex and pla through by hand, but the hobbed bolt uneveness is a problem I can't fix at this point.

    Cut so that the lower portion always stays in the E3DV6, top always stays in the extruder.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Ran filiment through by hand and its working as long as im on the "tight" side of my hobbed bolt its perfect.
    [​IMG]


    Even if I get this working I don't think its going to be a one size fits all .STL file that others can use..the tolerances are sooo finiky.. I might look into thingivers's modifier deal.
     
    #23 KTMDirtFace, Mar 28, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
  4. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    IT EXTRUDES! ( even with my poor uneven stock hobbed bolt which is making things really difficult, one side of it really digs in leaving major marks in the filament, the other side hardly touches the filament ) My Hobb goblin bolt will be here friday and I will finalize this deal and start printing with it then.

    I haven't got to print anything because I busted my wire chain mount reinstalling everything.. going to print a new wire chain mount on my other printer.

    I so far have just ran Esun Cleaning filament through it and ninjaflex, no problem but I could kinda hear and see when the hobbed bolt gets to its low spot..the filament doesn't come out even then. Didn't notice it with the ninja flex, that seemed fine.

    FYI, the stock motor mount screws are a bit too short, I found some M3x10's in my toolbox that seem perfect. ( Additionally you will need longer M4's to mount the extruder to the carriage .. Mine are M4x25's I think..its all the hardware store had I think M4x22 would be perfect..for an E3DV6.

    [​IMG]

    Also, I ended up using only 2 of the 3 original bearings otherwise my main gear was too far away from the motor gear. I used the stock small washer on the inside followed a stock bearing followed by two random M8 washers from the hardware store and then the main gear. Its not tighend down very tight because this is probably not the best setup. I need some propper washers.

    [​IMG]

    Here she is installed
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Poor quality image of ninja flex pushing out the remaining cleaning filament
    [​IMG]

    Wire chain mount broke so I can't really print just yet
    [​IMG]

    Final tally is I think 13 attempts LOL...and probably a few more once my Hobb Goblin bolt gets here but I have the process dialed down to modify them now lol
    [​IMG]

    Here is a video of it extruding ninjaflex. ( Something my robo3d has never been able to do before - well it sort of could with a PTFE tube that was cut but not reliably..unsure how reliable this setup is but i'm digging it so far)

     
    #24 KTMDirtFace, Mar 29, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2016
    mark tomlinson and WheresWaldo like this.
  5. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Forget sleep, I'm staying up to do a test print. crossing my fingers! haha

    Duct taped and tied my wire chain up with a peice of esun eflex lol

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  6. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Most I have ever extruded of ninja flex out of the robo..but its definitely slipping. 20mm/s print speed.. I'll try again friday when I get a better hobbed bolt.

    Fail. some of it looked ok but i can actually hear it slip...at least it doesn't wad itself up ever like with the stock extruder...its just a slipping problem now I think.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    That and your extrusion multiplier or extrusion width is set too low also, as a result your extrusions do not touch. In S3D I bet you have width set to "Auto", better to pick a number than use the auto setting.

    But you are doing this the way I would, get the flow correct then adjust for all those little imperfections in the resulting prints.
     
  8. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    I did pick a number, that was just my first try. I'm not going to try it again until i get a new hobbed bolt though. I'm just fighting a loosing battle with the really uneven hobbed bolt.
     
    #28 KTMDirtFace, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2015
    Messages:
    6,757
    Likes Received:
    2,339
    Looks good! Keep us posted! E3dv6 and a notched tube and my robo just finished ninja flex at 35mm/s sorry to hear of your troubles with it!
     
  10. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Well crap, I got the Hobb goblin bolt today but it appears that my bearings wont fit over it.

    Hobb gobblin is correct I measured it at 7.98-7.99 everywhere these robo3d bearings are too small.

    The robo3d bearings have some oddball 7.94mm inner diameter they say 608Z on them so they should be 8mm but they are too small, probably cheap :)

    I found more 608 bearings, none of them fit over this hobbgoblin bolt. what gives. I could probably press them on with a press but they would never come off and wouldnt be adjustable

    EDIT: Solved my bearing problem. I stuck the hobbgoblin in my drill. wrapped some 200grit sandpaper around it spun it a bit, then 100grit, then 600.. polished the shaft up bearings slide right on now.
     
    #30 KTMDirtFace, Mar 31, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2016
  11. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Got it installed, hand feed test seems perfect off the printer it feeds it and its tight! at all times with ninja flex. PLA was almost too tight i had to press pretty hard while feeding to get it started, but then it was fine, and the filament came out pretty gnarled up.. maybe thats a good thing. If not i'll reprint again with another .2mm offset of space.

    Currently the printer is heating up to try a ninja flex print.

    EDIT: Fail...sorta

    Good news is it extruded consistently with no issues/pauses/stoppages (thats really good news actually). bad news is lots of gaps between lines. this was with 1.0 ext multiplier in simplify3D. What do other people use? on my makerbot rep2 0.9 ( the default ) works fine and prints at 50mm/s no problem. Im gonna bump it up to 1.2 and try..for shits and gigs.

    [​IMG]
     
    #31 KTMDirtFace, Mar 31, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2016
  12. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    Are all your other setting correct, like filament diameter on the OTHER tab. Outline Overlap, Infill Extrusion Width on the INFILL tab. Extrusion Width on the EXTRUDER tab?
     
  13. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Another issue i have noticed is my ninja flex spool tends to really stick to itself..making it really hard for the extruder to unwind it. I kinda have to unwind a bunch and rewwind it so its loose.
     
  14. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
  15. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    All default, what should those all be? I have never had to mess with any of that before.

    Some screenshots of my settings. Didn't show the skirt, but i have a 2 or 3 perimiter skirt at 8mm.. it seems to take about 1 perimiter before it starts fully extruding propperly.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  16. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    So im printing now with the 1.2 extrusion multiplier and things are looking better...not perfect there is gaps between perimeters and fill. and some gaps between the lines on the second layer. But better than before. It feels strange to mess with Extrusion multiplier.. I thought that was a last resort kinda thing.

    Edit: side note its extruding consistently with my modded flexystruder and hobbgoblin bolt so that is a huge plus.

    EDIT 2: just read the posts from the link you sent me.. sounds like I should crank up the temp.. Im at 225 now.
     
    #36 KTMDirtFace, Mar 31, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2016
  17. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    It extruded and it printed..so thats better than its ever done before.

    Hopefully just setting tweaks now.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  18. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,247
    Likes Received:
    461
    Ok I'm calling this a success. The flexystruder works. My settings may still need tweaking but it feeds.

    Here is print #2. I cranked up the overlap to 20% and the extrusion multiplier a bit more.

    I'm super happy that it at least extrudes reliably.. no stoppages, no jams etc. The Hobb-Goblin bolt was for sure needed at least for me.
    I will have to try printing with PLA tomorrow to see if it can still print that. I will post my source files this weekend.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    i was pretty conservative with my Z offset, because stuff likes to get perma glued to my zebra skin

    [​IMG]

    was only able to get a few threads on the locknut for the hobbgoblin but it should hold. I possibly could flip the bolt around. I will try later this extruder is only 15% infill for testing so I'm gonna re-print with more infill this weekend.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    #38 KTMDirtFace, Apr 1, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2016
  19. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    @KTMDirtFace I do not have a single filament setup where I have had to use an extrusion multiplier that high! But I went and gave proper settings to those things that can be measured. Filament diameter is always something I check because it affects other calculated factors (however minor they are). Outline overlap as you have already found also affects the printed output. Some filaments just don't spread like others do, or shrink a bit too much and require more overlap. The easiest way to find out exactly the width of a single extrusion for your settings is to print something in vase mode and measure just the top layer extrusion of a multi-layer print. That will tell you what the correct extrusion width should be. By just ever increasing the extrusion multiplier you are basically killing an ant with a hand grenade. Sure it will get the job done, but it isn't the best way to do it.
     
  20. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,322
    Likes Received:
    510
    Ok, I really like what I'm seeing in the latest posts and would love to give it a shot on mine before resorting to modifying the carriage to hold the Bondtech.
     

Share This Page