New Owner, couldn't be happier even with a few hiccups . this is my little story.

Hi all. Well I got the Robo R1, (enclosed bottom) a week ago, took a few days to get to reading up and setting it up for a test but I got there. Right away I knew I wasnt going to like the soft much (I'm a Mac OS X user and while good software for sure its not stable enough for my tastes, not yet anyway) but just like when I got my Roland Plotter, use what the give, learn, then decide what you need and move on, anyway...

So, I normally first make sure all software, drivers and firmware are updated but updating the firmware using MatterControl on a Mac seems to be an effort in futility. So we move on.

I get it all set up, checked out and feel i'm ready to go and load up Business Card 2 from the library and give it a go, haha, funny stuff. No adhesion and print head way to high from bed. So, of the this forum and the internet in general. I then turned off auto leveling in the software and and it seemed to help, laid on the vinyl supplied and saw what proper adhesion looks like but was still having issues. Print head seemed to be destryong what it printed, or something. Anyway, left it for the night (I find giving my brain time to mull it over in the background helps) and started free next day.

So I did some more reading and watched a few videos and found one of my level sensors was out of position (making it print like a drunk spider) and the heating cable was getting in the way of the bed position sensor, got that all sorted and clicked print and BOOM, got me a black business card and pen holder! nice.

So, I looked around online and found this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:308335/#files and figured thats a killer first proper print to make so I got the files, loaded them in and got to it and to my enjoyment it printed the lower jaw very nicely indeed. So i figured I had it licked, hahaha.

Next day I go to print the T Rex skull using Glow in the Dark Green (Robo purchased) and wow did I have issues. Started with filament not feeding, found a piece stuck in it, unscrewed the spring screws and after some fiddling got it out. then got a 10 guage High E string end out and made sure it was clear, loaded the filament and went for it again, no dice. This time the "gear" that feeds the filament was chewing through the filament instead of loading it!. more forums and it turns out they could be too tight. I mess around for 2 hours and give up, remove the glow in the dark green (Robo purchased) and switch to black as a way of eliminating the filament as the issue and it prints! So, I printed a black T rex Skull and Jaw and they look great, I'm very happy and very ready to try the glow in the dark again to finish what I started and learn some more, well it loads up and prints fine, like properly. So, My take on this is that filament must be a lot like T Shirt transfer sheets and that they are influenced by temp and humidity in the room they are used in. In all of this I read about seasoning the head and also installing an oiler, still looking into that stuff.

So, here I sit with a very well behaved and properly printing Robo, nice. Life is good.

Any thoughts, tips and what not? I own and operate a printing business and am very familure with wide format inkjet, laser and plotter/cutters as well, just for background and I use Mac OS X.

Thomas.

 

here it is with the top skull done. Man this is some fun S#!T

 

I'm seeing that totally. Its a lot like Heat Press Vinyl for fabrics. Every type has a different temp, pressure, peel time and so on. I'm keeping a log so I can quantify the results better. Also seasoning my end and printing an oiler tonight. getting there.

 

Printing my oiler right now, how cool is it that the printer can almost upgrade itself, lol. Any other cool upgrade tips out there? I feel like going nuts, hahaha.

 

Fan ducts. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:431160

 

Well, I just finished this print: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:230139 and it came out amazing. The hinges work perfectly. I can't believe it. Amazing. Just need a few more weeks and I'll have this baby running 100%. I printed my oiler and its great too, think I'm going for a top mount spool holder as well.

Now to print the fan ducts and a killer extruder shroud I found as well: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:456427/#files

 

Nice.
I'm told my fan ducts stick out a bit further than the width of the top of the Robo cover so you won't be able to print quite as high. I run my Robo topless but I want to revisit my duct design to try make them fit but I can't tell when that'll be.

 

"I'm told my fan ducts stick out a bit further than the width of the top of the Robo cover so you won't be able to print quite as high"

Well, to me that sounds like a slight top case mod, maybe, but at the same time I have my oiler right on top of the extruder now as well (figured its also cleaning as well as oiling so it might as well be right at the end, also thought it would acquire dust easier if the filament was lubed too early.) so that right there must be a loss of 2" so its probably not a bother. I'm thinking I should adjust my bed parameters in MatterControl to make sure it doesn't try and go to high now? Think I should?

I'm printing a new spool holder now, I found a nice looking top mount that is back offset so the Filament comes off the spool and straight down into the slot. I'm thinking it will be great to help ensure I have eliminated all feed issues. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:267039

 

I couldn't too OCD to have that look. I know, lol, but thats how it is.