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Topsy's Printer! (Some pics NSFW-ish)

Discussion in 'Show and Tell' started by AutopsyTurvy, Oct 1, 2013.

  1. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    So excited to finally get to post one of these threads myself! I was in the April Assembled/Calibrated ABS Kickstarter (International) batch, and got my shipping notice September 28, got my printer yesterday, September 30.

    Spent quite a while last night trying to get it going with the amazing help of Tesseract in the shoutbox (whom I cannot thank enough for all the help, tips, and info!). Had some initial issues with the boro sliding around (the included printed bed clips do a poor job and mostly get in the way), and some issues getting the level correct and the z-stop adjusted, mostly just due to inexperience rather than it actually being particularly difficult. Once I figured out how the nuts and z-rods and z-stop all work together, and figured out that calibrating the -middle- of the bed is really what matters more than the four corners, it was pretty easy, just a little fiddly.

    I'd never used a 3D printer before last night, and between the startup guide and Tesseract's help, I was able to get it to a point where everything was working except the print sticking to the bed. So I went out and got some new hair spray (L'Oreal Elnett Satin, as I can't find Aquanet here - it's expensive but worth it!) and suddenly, everything stuck!

    I got a little bit of peeling up on the corners on my first try at the calibration cube, and then when it tried to print the very top, it yanked it off the bed and dragged it around, but 90% of it printed beautifully.

    Try #2 with two coats of hair spray, I got no peeling corners, but a few sagging loops on the bridged areas aaand 90% of it printed before the laptop I have connected to the printer went to sleep and the print failed, d'oh!

    In any case, I am SUPER HAPPY and way excited! I still have a lot to learn and some settings to tweak, but with very minimal fiddling around, I am printing things! I can't even begin to express how much glee I'm filled with, holding these two silly little calibration cube things in my hand. I CAN PRINT THINGS, OMG.

    This is definitely a very user-friendly printer - there's some things I want to mod (like the filament feed - springs on screws, really? I nearly put my eye out with those things pinging around my living room) when I've learned a little more, but even despite being shipped internationally, it worked pretty well basically out of the box, was very well-packed, instructions on getting started are very clear and easy to understand (except maybe the z-stop, but that's a little fiddly anyway), and if a not-really-mechanical person like me can get it working in under 24 hours, I'm pretty sure most anyone can!

    I'll snap some pics shortly of my not-terribly-impressive-yet-still-super-exciting calibration cubes! :D
     
  2. David Mortlock

    David Mortlock Active Member

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    Glad to hear you have got your printer and are having fun with it.

    I am in the same batch as you, April/Fully assembled/ABS/International, so I am expecting some good news soon.

    You will have to post some pics of your efforts
     
  3. scotta

    scotta Active Member

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    Congratulations on getting it up and running.
    I have a long list of things I want to print. Just need a printer.......
    Over the weekend I played with the Autodesk 123D catch software. You take photos of an object and it converts into a model, very cool, can then import into blender or reprint.
     
  4. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    My first crappy little calibration cubes. Left is the first one I got printing - it's a little hard to tell but the right side of the very bottom of the layers curled up a smidgen. The right is the one that almost printed and then got dragged around.

    [​IMG]

    And this is just a really quick thing I knocked out before I picked up my son from school - he made me a clay heart for Mother's Day and wanted me to make a heart for him, so I found a "Heart Earring" file on Thingiverse, scaled it up a little bit to pendant size, and had it printed in under 10 minutes, while I was getting ready to go pick him up. There are a lot of little blobs on the inside of it for some reason, but he doesn't care, and was delighted to get it.

    [​IMG]
     
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  5. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    You give me hope, Ms. Turvy. I'm an April ABS in the US, for one, and printing cool stuff already(!) for two.
    Good on you!
     
  6. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    looks like you are off to a great start! Just keep going and learn from each print you make
     
  7. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    I know this is a really bad picture, and it's.... not actually a great print, either, but having this little thing has made me so happy that I don't even know what to do with myself. This is the first test piece of the project I bought my printer for - a ~42 piece jointed doll. This is the toe piece, which fits into a foot piece to allow the doll to stand on tiptoes or wear high heels. The layer height is far too coarse, the underside is a total mess from cutting off the raft, and it's going to need some adjustments to the model to work for what I need it to, I can already tell, but....

    It's a real thing. I made it myself! More than 2 damn years of 3D work and I'm holding in my hand the first step toward being DONE. I am elated, ecstatic, and other emotions starting with E as well.

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    That is awesome! Can't wait to see the finished product.
     
  9. keraynopoylos

    keraynopoylos New Member

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    Well done Autopsy!

    Regarding the hairspray, I'm sure many other brands will do just as fine.

    I only mentioned LÓreal as this was the one I had in hand and worked for me.

    I will try a cheaper brand next time myself.
     
  10. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    The only quality I have found that is important was that it say strong or super strong hold not so much the cost. I think Aquanet is favored here so much because it is usually the least expensive of the super strong hold types.
     
  11. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    Aquanet from what I have seen is just stupid cheap and super strong so best of both worlds.
     
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  12. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    here here Mike I agree totally

    I like that " Stupid Cheap" LOL
     
  13. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    damn don't know why that is so funny but I am busting up had to change it to ROFLMAO Yeahs thats stupid cheap

    I must be very very tired
     
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  14. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    Go get some sleep... for your own good haha
     
  15. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    I'm sure other brands will do just fine too - but I did actually start with another type (Etos brand - sort of a drugstore chain, not sure how widespread they are) and it didn't work. I can probably find Aquanet in Amsterdam as there's a few beauty shops there that have EVERYTHING, but that'll have to wait for when I can find some time to get there. :)

    In any case, the Elnett stuff works fine, and it smells a lot better than most hair spray... And though it was like 8.50 euros for a large can of it, a little goes a long way, so I'll probably just stick with this. :)
     
  16. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    lol sooo, uh, I have a good example of why printing with support is really useful!

    [​IMG]

    Except for a little slight banding on the arms, the print quality was just utterly exquisite, flawless, gorgeous, and other gushing as well. But as soon as it hit the chin, it just all went to hell and started flinging filament wildly into the air. So now I have a really creepy little zombie-in-a-suit statue, which is not what I was going for, but is also cool, I guess?
     
  17. Deadwood

    Deadwood Active Member

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    Was looking like a nice print, what causes the banding on the arms and how do you stop it ?
     
  18. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    I think the banding may've been due to the borosilicate sliding around a little bit - it was taped at the front and back edge (you can see the tape behind the zombie statue) but not at the sides, so I think every once in a while it'd get jerked ever so slightly.

    Also I think I screwed something up... I was trying to change the custom G-code at the end of the print, so that instead zeroing the Y it'd max it, to bring the print forward to me rather than to the back of the bed, but I somehow managed to instead tell it "Once you've finished the print, lower on the Z axis directly above the print so that it mashes the hot end directly into the just-finished print."

    [​IMG]

    I'm so sad, as the print is otherwise just -flawless- and the support came off perfectly and it's just... exactly right... but smushed. :(

    Also, holy carp is PLA strong!! On the toe piece I printed, there's a small bar, about 1.5 or 2mm thick by about 2mm wide, up in the ball of the foot (to give a place for the elastic to hold onto when stringing the doll parts together)... The channel around it to put the elastic into was not big enough the way I designed the part, so I was trying to use a 1.5mm carbon & steel knitting needle to widen the hole, figuring the thing was darn near indestructible...

    Not so much... End of the needle went pinging off across the living room and I still haven't found it. PLA: 1, Carbon & Steel: 0
     
  19. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Nice and I assume the skirt looked good too right LOL
     
  20. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    lol yes the skirt was lovely, before I picked it off the bed with my fingernail and threw it away. :p

    ETA: Lower leg done too, now. 4 hours to print as I've slowed the speeds down a LOT to prevent the distortion I get on smaller layers, but it's worth it. Print came out beautifully, just had to snap off the support and I was done!

    The tape and string on the left side is just the elastic to hold the pieces together, and tape to keep the elastic taut.

    [​IMG]
     
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