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thread-28 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/28 | How to 3D print a bike? | 2016-01-12T19:39:43.650 | # Question
Title: How to 3D print a bike?
I've seen article about World's First 3D Printed Bike.
What kind of printer is required to do that, briefly how long it takes and how much does it cost? Is this even achievable at home? Doesn't need to be that specific one.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You will need a laser sintering or lasercusing printer, which will not be something you can buy for home use. They are horribly expensive.
You could always print this in PLA or ABS and cast it in aluminium. Then you have to find a safe method to test the result, because casting is not quite as simple as it looks and the bike could be seriously dangerous.
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Tags: cost, estimation
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thread-38 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/38 | Conversion of 3 mm ABS filament to 1.75 mm | 2016-01-12T19:59:15.953 | # Question
Title: Conversion of 3 mm ABS filament to 1.75 mm
I have a few kg of 3 mm filament when I only have use for 1.75 mm.
How can I make 1.75 mm from 3 mm filament?
# Answer
In theory, making filament is easy. You take a 3 mm hotend with a 1.75 mm hole, and extrude the 3 mm (sometimes actually 2.85 mm) filament, let it cool, and then reel it up.
In reality there are a lot of pitfalls to making filament - if the pressure isn't even, the hole not perfect, the temperature uneven, you can end up with oval filament, filament with bubbles, or worse. If you are over temperature you may damage the filament and it could look good, but not melt correctly when used. If you reel it too fast you may thin it out more than the intended diameter, or too slow and you may thicken it. A lot of hotends use steppers, which may result in ripples in the filament, so you may end up building a nearly custom filament machine.
Resolving all these problems is probably not worth simply selling or giving away the filament to someone that can use it, and buying the right size for your machine.
If you are still interested, though, you might as well go all the way and build a full filament extruder that accepts raw plastic feedstock (usually pellets) as well as your filament, and convert it that way, then continue using it to create your own filament.
> 7 votes
# Answer
The best option is to find somebody in need of 3 mm filament and trade them for it (either in exchange for 1.75 mm filament or in exchange for legal tender with which to buy said filament).
The next best option would be to cut it into small pieces, and feed those into a filament extrusion system such as the filastruder.
> 5 votes
# Answer
You could build a machine that has a nozzle with 3 mm input hole and 1.75 mm output hole, based on some designs for filament making machines. Or you could just cut the filament into little peaces and use them instead of the granulate in an original filament making machines.
There are some open designs for such machines you can build, or you could buy one, such as Filabot.
However, as mentioned by kaine, this is very unlikely to be worth the cost/effort. Best option for you is to try to sell the 3 mm filament to someone who has a use for it, take the money and buy some 1.75 mm filament instead.
> 3 votes
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Tags: filament, filament-production
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thread-33 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/33 | How many times printed printer can print it-self? | 2016-01-12T19:52:25.430 | # Question
Title: How many times printed printer can print it-self?
There is a 3D desktop printer RepRap which can print most of its own components.
Assuming each printed printer will print the next one and so on. Are there any limitation how many times this can be achieved?
For example somebody printed for me printer and I do the same for my friends and they do the same for theirs. Can this go forever (since 3D model stays the same), or there are any serious side-effects/disadvantages of doing that continuously?
# Answer
> 16 votes
The files used to print these objects are digital, and do not degrade in any way after each printing. There are no side effects or degradation that occurs over time due simply to printing them multiple times.
This is the RepRap philosophy, and the machines are actually designed with enough tolerance for printing and building mistakes that even if the print isn't perfect, it will not only work fine, but it can print a printer better than it was printed, with some care and attention to calibration.
The process still takes a lot of human intervention, in the way of building the new printer and properly calibrating it. If there are errors in the printer or the prints it produces, they can almost always be attributed to the builder/calibrator/user, and not to the design or the fact it's the Nth generation of printer.
# Answer
> 7 votes
The reprap printers have often been compared to plants, providing fruits to you and the possibility to reproduce themselves.
This analogy holds in both good and bad ways. Any life form can reproduce itself only so often without artefacts (mutations) being introduced.
It takes a bit of **skill to build, configure and run a reprap printer**. While the parts can be passed on, that doesn't necessarily hold for gained experience. Chances are that the parts your printer produces are not as good as those that you have received to build the printer. At least not until you caught up on the learning curve.
A reprap has a lot **other parts that are not printed and can vary in quality independently from the printed parts**. It makes a difference what steel rods are used, what driver circuit for the motors, etc. If you give printed parts away that are as good as those that you received yourself, the added parts are not necessarily as good as your.
---
My recommendation would be that **you and your friends get printer parts from that somebody and you build your printers together**. While giving parts to others is a great thing, building 3D printers together with friends is greater.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As long as you maintain each printer and keep a proper calibration, go for it, this is what they were designed to do, I've even made replacement parts for myself.
Unfortunately the RepRap project just shut down on January 15th 2016 due to their lack of sales.
I have a reprap that came from a reprap, and has made another reprap.
Just make sure that when printing out the pieces for the next you are properly calibrated, otherwise the next machine might be built crooked;
Your only limitations will be the electronics pieces and the small amount of hardware that you will need to buy.
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Tags: reprap, desktop-printer, replicating-printers
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thread-49 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/49 | Are there any methods of limiting exposure of hazardous fumes and odors emitted by heating the plastics? | 2016-01-12T20:16:38.260 | # Question
Title: Are there any methods of limiting exposure of hazardous fumes and odors emitted by heating the plastics?
When using thermoplastic-filament, this can be potentially hazardous, since constant printing can emit hazardous fumes and odors that may be emitted by heating the plastics.
I understand it normally should be used in well ventilated areas. However I would like to use it heavily in the basement which is not well ventilated.
Are there any practical methods of limiting such exposure? For example locking it in some special box, covering it or suck the odors? Would that help?
Do you have any experience doing so?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Using negative pressure ventilation and a suitable organic filter will limit your exposure to toxic compounds, but won't completely remove them from your environment.
Enclose your printer in as air-tight a box as you can manage, then use a fan to suck air out of the box. This negative pressure will ensure that any leaks in the box will not allow gasses to escape.
The air should be blown through an organic filter. This might be done with face mask filters for painting, for instance.
Additional filtering may be done depending on the compounds you expect the printer to produce, but the ideal situation is to set up a ventilation system to the outdoors where the products cannot concentrate and harm anyone.
Another poorer option is to simply wear a proper organic filter mask yourself. It's not as good, since the compounds can spread through your residence or remain in the air and be inhaled when you aren't printing.
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Tags: filament, desktop-printer, safety
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thread-20 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/20 | What are main differences between rafts, skirts and brims? | 2016-01-12T19:30:45.060 | # Question
Title: What are main differences between rafts, skirts and brims?
I would like to understand the differences between rafts, skirts and brims. They appear in the software which I'm using to edit my 3D objects.
Can anybody elaborate what are these and what are the main differences between them?
# Answer
**Rafts:**
Rafts are a few layers of plastic a placed on the printing surface before the object is printed. If non water dissoluble filament is used, a bit of an air gap will be placed between the raft and the print itself so it can be removed easily. A raft can help a print stick to the printing surface as it normally has a larger surface area than the bottom of the print. It also allows the bottom layers of the print to contact another layer of plastic so there is less spreading compared to printing on the printing bed itself.
**Skirts:**
Skirts are loops of plastic that are extruded around the object that is being printed. On the first layer this allows the filament to get pushed through the extruder so that a steady flow can be established. A multiple layer skirt can be used to create a blockage around the print so there is less air movement on the print and the print can cool slower.
**Brims:**
A brim is a layer of plastic that is placed on the first layer of the print go allow for better adhesion to the printing surface. It does not extend under the print as a raft does, but only goes from the edge of the print to a set distance away.
<sup>Credits: Images from Slic3r</sup>
> 46 votes
# Answer
All three of these features are used to improve the quality and success rate of prints, especially those failing due to issues on the first few layers, or due to the small size of the first layer.
# Raft
A raft is a horizontal feature made as the first few layers of a print, and is used to help with bed adhesion issues, primarily used with ABS. The first few layers printed are the brim (typically prismatic), with the part itself on top of it (with a small separation distance to aid in separation, to allow the part to be removed from the raft). This separation distance needs to be adjusted to allow the first layer of the actual part to adhere, but also for the raft to be removed easily.
# Skirt
A skirt is a single-layer feature designed to help extruder priming and to establish a stable filament flow for an optimal first layer. They are generally a few passes around the first layer "footprint" in the rough shape of the first layer, but they do not touch the part itself or help adhesion directly (although having a primed and ready extruder helps extrusion on its own).
# Brim
A brim can be considered a skirt touching the first layer shape. It is used to help adhesion, and increases the first layer surface area (thus having more area to adhere to the bed). Brims are best used for parts with small first layers that fail to adhere properly. They are generally done as perimeters (as opposed to the crosshatching of infill) to be easily removable without damaging the part.
> 8 votes
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Tags: rafts, brims
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thread-70 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/70 | My print is warping: how can I ensure that it cools evenly? | 2016-01-12T21:00:36.337 | # Question
Title: My print is warping: how can I ensure that it cools evenly?
My print is warping and I suspect it is because of uneven cooling.
How can ensure my print cools evenly? Should I put a fan on the bed? Will no fan and a tall skirt help?
Or are my edges curling up for another reason?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Without more information we cannot address what is causing your edges to turn up. This can depend on the model being printed, the process, the material, the bed, and the method used to bond it to the bed.
As far as the initial question, a fan will most certainly ensure *uneven* cooling.
The middle of the print is, and will remain, the warmest. If you want the print to cool evenly, you'll need an enclosure to block out drafts and air currents, and you'll need to bring the heated bed temperature and enclosure temperature down slowly over a long period of time.
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Tags: adhesion, warping, cooling
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thread-16 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/16 | Are there any ways to make a 3D print transparent? | 2016-01-12T19:25:52.270 | # Question
Title: Are there any ways to make a 3D print transparent?
I am aware of several "clear" filaments for a ABS or PLA printer. They, however, have a cloudy or frosted glass appearance. I do not believe this is possible to eliminate but I believe it can be reduced.
Are there effective ways to make a print have a more transparent appearance?
# Answer
It depends on a lot of factors, type of plastic, whether the parts need to be strong, can you use a vase print, etc. Here's a few thoughts.
PLA - The brand of PLA makes a big difference, some can be printed very clear, some can't. Most of the transparent PLAs I've used print much more clear at around 240°C.
ABS - I've seen some pretty impressive clear parts printed as a single layer shell in ABS and then vapor smoothed. I tend to find ABS more translucent and less transparent though.
PETG - Again the specific PETG you use matters, but I haven't seen nearly as much variation as with PLA. I'm not sure how much temperature matters, but if it's too hot you get bubbles which will decrease clarity.
Thin Wall Prints - I don't have much experience here, but the Smooth On XTC-3D or vapor smoothing seem to be effective.
Solid Prints If I want transparency, I usually print it at 100% infill (should be a real 100%, too much overextrusion or underextrusion will decrease transparency). Printing slower and with less cooling sometimes helps. It's easier to get the infill solid with a direct drive extruder, I couldn't get decent results with a long bowden tube (a short bowden tube works fine).
Here's a page where I tested 10 transparent filaments, the printed samples are 2mm thick, 100% infill - http://thrinter.com/10-transparent-filaments. Those samples are all overextruded a bit, you can get better results if you dial in the extrusion precisely, but that's hard to get right, and the optimal settings may change slightly depending on the part geometry. Larger nozzles and thicker layers may help to, but I haven't experimented much with that as there are significant downsides to that approach.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Use Taulman t-glase and after a light sanding with really fine paper (optional really, but go for it if you can), spray it with polyurethane varnish or something similar. Check out the article here.
> 9 votes
# Answer
You can make a mold from the print and then get a cast from that mold with a clear casting material.
> 7 votes
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Tags: post-processing
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thread-103 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/103 | Is it legal to make a fire weapon with a 3D printer? | 2016-01-12T23:39:20.770 | # Question
Title: Is it legal to make a fire weapon with a 3D printer?
Is there any regulation against a 3D printed weapon in the United States or Europe?
Some time ago, I saw an article in Israel where they had one that was not detected by the x-ray and was fully functional!
# Answer
**Sort of.**
Fully plastic guns are banned in the United States by the Undetectable Firearms Act, because they can pass unseen through metal detectors \- a huge problem. One way around this is to insert a slip of metal into the gun, thereby making it detectable by metal detectors. 3D-printed guns made of metal - were that possible - would not violate the law.
The UFA was originally enacted in 1988, extended from 2003 to 2013, and then again until 2023. It may seem a bit unnecessary, as all-plastic guns, like the famous Liberator have structural issues that make them extremely difficult to fire when compared to a normal all-metal gun. However, then *can* be used.
In Europe, gun laws vary widely by country. The European Firearms Directive is the main international agreement on gun laws, but its application varies, and it does not directly address 3D-printed guns.
I'm not aware of a country that has an explicit law banning 3D-printed guns. The only countries that ban them either unintentionally cover them or ban guns altogether.
> 10 votes
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Tags: legal
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thread-48 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/48 | What are the reasons for my 3D prints having large numbers of strings between parts of a layer? | 2016-01-12T20:16:01.823 | # Question
Title: What are the reasons for my 3D prints having large numbers of strings between parts of a layer?
I am printing a print using PLA on a Prusa i3 printer and an MK8 extruder, at 210 degrees celsius, 60 mm/sec, sliced with slic3r. The print consists of a base, with 4 tower-like projections that then join with a near-vertical overhang slope that isn't posing a problem for my printer.
However, even before the overhang begins, I am getting large amounts of strings as the extruder head jumps between the four towers in the print, leading to a "spiderweb" effect between them. How can I deal with these strings, and are they a warning that there might be something amiss with my printer, or possible other failures in other parts of the print?
# Answer
> 16 votes
Stringing is often a result of too-high a temperature, or insufficient retraction. When there is highly liquid filament in the nozzle tip, it can adhere to the remainder of the print while dripping as the nozzle moves, leading to a thin string of the filament forming. As further travel moves are performed in each layer, this turns to a web.
The high temperature causes filament to be very liquid, causing it to move downward in the nozzle chamber easily, as opposed to having to be extruded forcefully due to viscosity. The temperature setpoint of 210 was high enough to cause this to happen.
A second possible cause, insufficient retraction, can also be blamed for this issue. Retraction is a process in which the extruder reverses its movement to pull filament back up the hotend, preventing it from dripping at the tip, and forming a string. Most slicers will allow specifying a numeric value in millimeters of filament to be retracted. Remember that printers with Bowden tubes between nozzle/hotend and extruder motor will require increased retraction and priming (extrusion when starting to print after a retract-and-move). Note that too much retraction can cause other problems, such as insufficient plastic in the hotend chamber at the start of the next printing move, which can cause gaps and other issues.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Here's just a few of the things you might want to look into.
* plastic - some plastic types are more stringy than others and there's also variation between brands and colors.
* moisture in filament - water turning to steam tends to cause the extruder to ooze when it isn't printing, which can cause stringing.
* temperature - too hot or too cold can cause stringiness.
* retraction distance - not enough retraction can leave some nozzle pressure, causing it to ooze during travel moves (not sure how much retraction speed matters but I suspect it can make a difference too).
* acceleration - if it's too slow it's more likely to draw out strings.
* travel speed - faster travel speeds are more likely to prevent strings or make them thinner and less of a problem.
* z-hop - raising the extruder on travel moves makes stringing more likely.
* wipe - a longer wipe distance can be helpful to reduce stringing, especially with some of the more stringy filaments.
* combing - avoiding passing over open spaces can reduce stringing in some cases
* part cooling fan - more cooling might help to reduce stringiness.
There are other things too, the extruder design makes a big difference with longer bowden tubes being more challenging to tune. The order in which the layers are printed can make a difference too in some more specialized cases.
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Tags: quality, fdm, pla, extrusion
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thread-54 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/54 | What is the best way to connect 3D printed parts? | 2016-01-12T20:24:44.003 | # Question
Title: What is the best way to connect 3D printed parts?
I want to print a model of an animal cell.
What I have so far: I managed to use different colors to print out the different parts of the cell.
My question is: what is the best way to connect plastic 3d printed parts?
Glue? Melted plastic? I need it to have a strong connection and not very visible when used well, and preferable dries fast.
# Answer
For ABS print, I recommend acetone. It is not a glue, but it will dissolve the plastic a bit and if you apply it to both connecting parts and push them together, they will stay connected after the acetone dries. However, it does not dry very fast and you have to be careful not to destroy the object.
For PLA I usually use regular super glue (Cyanoacrylate).
> 7 votes
# Answer
For ABS I use a gel super glue (Loctite is my current favorite), it seems to slightly melt the ABS parts together and makes for a great bond. A slurry of old scrap ABS and acetone also works well, though I find that it will evaporate even if left in a closed mason jar over time. The small nozzle applicator and the fact it doesn't seem to evaporate makes super glue the better choice for me.
The gel super glue works "OK" for PLA but I've had parts fail after taking a small tumble. I just started using this acrylic cement for PLA. It cures *very* fast but seems to slightly melt the PLA in the same way the ABS options do.
For internal seams I like to put a bead of "high performance" hot glue over the seam. It's just a bit flexible and seems to do a good job taking drops.
Lastly I really like (but haven't mastered) friction welding parts together using a Dremel. Matt Griffin at MAKE Magazine did a great write up on the technique here.
> 5 votes
# Answer
After doing the processes that hroncok described, the edges of the print can be finished with a 3D printing pen. The pen extrudes filament as a regular print head does, but is hand held. The filament can be extruded on the previous gap between the two prints. It will melt between the two sides and can be finished to create a smooth connection point.
> 2 votes
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Tags: post-processing
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thread-84 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/84 | Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment? | 2016-01-12T21:57:01.307 | # Question
Title: Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment?
For standard ABS and PLA filament, most distributors recommend storing the filament in an airtight bag. Does not doing this actually make print quality worse? I have left mine in the open for a year and have had no noticeable problems.
# Answer
It makes a difference where I live, and I'm not in a particularly humid climate (California). When printing with wet filament, you'll sometimes hear it popping and see steam coming out of the extruder (it's usually only this extreme with nylon). With most other filaments, when they're wet, the extruded filament will have small bubbles in it and the surface finish of the parts will be rougher, with breaks in the layer lines. It can also lead to more oozing and stringing. Air print a few centimeters of filament and look at it closely to see if there's any bubbles, if not, it's probably dry enough. Whether the filament absorbs enough water to be noticeable in a few hours, in a day, or in a week depends a lot on the filament (and I assume the humidity too). I'm mostly noticed problems with nylon, ABS, and NinjaFlex, less with PLA and PETG (though I avoid leaving any filament out for more than a day).
If you're not seeing any difference between, then I wouldn't worry about it. Storing filament dry is a hassle.
> 16 votes
# Answer
**Humidity may be the problem.**
Humidity tends to degrade filament, making it weaker. If you leave a coil of filament out, over time it will be exposed to humidity. I have yet to hear of this happening over a short period of time - the real threat comes if you leave it out for weeks or months - but it can happen nonetheless.
Contamination with other materials is possible but unlikely. The odds of some sort of impurity developing from nearby particles is extremely low unless the filament is actively exposed to some other material.
In most cases, though, things should be just fine.
> 8 votes
# Answer
In most cases, you should be fine with ABS or PLA out of an airtight container. If you're worried about it, throw a few desiccant packets where you store your filament.
However, some specialty filaments should be stored in an airtight container. PVA is notorious for absorbing the ambient humidity around it. When it's heated, the water it has absorbed starts to form bubbles, completely messing up the extrusion.
In short, some specialty filaments, definitely. With others, it isn't necessary, but it can't hurt.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I haven't had any other issues storing it in the open, but keeping it in an airtight environment (especially if you live in a humid environment) keeps it moisture free, which can effect print quality. Manufacturers recommend this to help keep filament dry.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Normally you should check and follow guidelines provided by filament manufacturer or please contact them for more details. It can vary as not all environments are the same. For example frequent temperature fluctuations can increase chances of making a filament turn brittle.
For example PLA can be easily transfigured at temperature ranging from 55-70°, so it should not be exposed directly under sunlight for an extended duration<sup>faq</sup>.
PVA specifically is a water-soluble filament, so keeping it dry is absolutely necessary, because when it gets wet it can become unusable. Therefore when possible, keep them in original packaging (a sealed bag with a dessicant packet) as long as possible.
See: How should I store my filament? at MatterHackers FAQ
> 4 votes
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Tags: filament, pla, abs, storage
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thread-150 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/150 | Which are the strongest and most durable materials? | 2016-01-13T06:38:38.630 | # Question
Title: Which are the strongest and most durable materials?
I am working on a robotics project and need to print some gears. These will probably by under a LOT of pressure. Which material/filament should I choose so that the gears don't wear off easily?
PS: Newbie here...
**EDIT:** According to my instuctor, it has to be some sort of plastic (not metal). It also has to be lightweight...
# Answer
> 2 votes
So, as you say you want to materials for printing robotics parts. And as you have not given any budget constraint, I would give you a list of materials which would help you achieve the task, and you can choose amongst them accordingly.
1. Plastics: Basically used for building prototypes. Nylon Polyamide should be a choice for you.
> Polyamide 3D printing is achieved through SLS 3D printing. It offers strong and flexible prints. The upside of this material is that the printing technology requires minimum preparation of the 3D file before printing. There is no need for support. And it also offers the possibility to create intricate shapes and moving part in just one go. After the print the polyamide can be polished and dyed.
2. Metals: Metals like Brass, Alumunium and Steel should be a good choice.
But, if I were to achieve your task, I would select carbon fiber. some details about it:
> Carbon fiber consists of 90% carbon atoms, each fiber is 10 times thinner than a human hair. Carbon is especially prized for its lack of combustibility and infusability but also by its incredible strength (stronger than steel) and ability to create flexible structure, light weight and corrosion resistance. Its melting temperature is 1500, this heat there are only carbon.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Filaments that are intended for making parts that require strange should be rated by the manufacturer for strength and flexibility.
You need to calculate the required strength and then choose a material with higher rating
For example the rating for filaments made by Taulman are at http://www.taulman3d.com/how-to-choose.html?m
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Tags: filament, material
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thread-134 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/134 | What are the benefits to using 128X microstepping drivers on the X and Y axis of a FFF printer? | 2016-01-13T02:39:47.150 | # Question
Title: What are the benefits to using 128X microstepping drivers on the X and Y axis of a FFF printer?
Assuming you have a high quality printer with a fast processor, will you see a noticeable improvement by upgrading from 16X/32X microstepping drivers to 64X/128X microstepping drivers? (e.g. smoother surface finish). In what ways do they perform differently from the more common 16X or 32X stepper drivers. I'm thinking the RAPS128, Silencioso, and Trinamic drivers vs the DRV8825, A4988 and A4988.
# Answer
You will likely not see a noticeable improvement by upgrading from a 16x or 32x to a 64x or 128x microstepping driver. Depending on the motors you're driving and the size of the load you could actually see a decrease in quality.
Although microstepping increases theoretical resolution it does not necessarily increase accuracy. The reason is that microstepping significantly limits the incremental torque of the motor. This means that you may ask for a step but not get one because the torque of the step won't be enough to actually turn the shaft.
As an example: a motor running in full steps will have 100% of its rated holding torque. Moving to 16 microsteps/full steps drops this to ~10%, 128 drops it to ~1%.
The practical effect of this is that in high torque situations (such as printing at fast speeds) the motor may end up skipping some of the steps. In this way the increase in resolution can actually lead to a decrease in accuracy (smaller steps but they may not actually be taken).
A relevant calculation to do would be to work out what the different number of microsteps to full steps works out to in terms of horizontal, vertical, or whatever movement the motor drives. You can do this by measuring how far the stepper moves said surface in one revolution provided you know the number of steps it takes per revolution.
**Example:**
With no microstepping: 1 turn/inch * 200 steps/turn = 200 steps/inch or .005 inch/step (127 micron resolution)
With 16x microstepping: 16 * 200 steps/inch or .0003 inch / step (8 micron resolution)
In this example 128x microstepping would be absolutely foolish. Every situation is different and you should use this information to make a decision based on your setup. Many manufacturers have recommendations on how far their motors can be microstepped.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Prints benefit from higher microstepping in two ways:
**Noise level**
Using microstepping reduces noise from your printer's operation.
**Print quality**
Using higher resolution microstepping does not increase the physical accuracy of your prints meaningfully, but it can reduce surface artifacts such as moire.
> 4 votes
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Tags: microstepping, stepper
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thread-140 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/140 | Do stepper motors require any maintenance? | 2016-01-13T04:14:31.923 | # Question
Title: Do stepper motors require any maintenance?
I've had my printer for almost a year now.
Is there something I should be doing to maintain the motors?
# Answer
The stepper motor itself does not. You may want to inspect the motors for debris or dust.
Depending on your configuration you may want to check on parts of your printer that connect to your stepper motor such as shaft couplings, pulleys, lead screws/threaded rods and belts. The stepper motor wires should occasionally be inspected for wear and strain.
> 15 votes
# Answer
No, stepper motors do not require maintenance. They are a brushless kind of motor, so they do not have brushes that need to be replaced.
> 10 votes
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Tags: electronics, maintenance, mechanics, stepper
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thread-164 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/164 | Can I print my own Lego bricks? | 2016-01-13T12:25:55.097 | # Question
Title: Can I print my own Lego bricks?
Assuming I've 3D design (or I've created one) which looks very similar to Lego bricks, I am allowed to 3D print them for my personal use?
Do I need to obtain some permission to do so, because of some patents? Or how does it work?
# Answer
> 10 votes
The patents that cover Lego bricks have expired, so you are free to print bricks using the same interlocking system. You are even allowed to offer such prints commercially.
What is not allowed (and a violation of trademark law) is to call them "Lego bricks" or use Lego's logo. "Compatible with Lego" on the other hand, would be fine.
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Tags: legal, bricks
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thread-168 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/168 | I've exported 3D models from the game, can I print them? | 2016-01-13T12:36:34.530 | # Question
Title: I've exported 3D models from the game, can I print them?
Assuming I've extracted 3D models from a game which I legally bought (such as StarCraft). I am allowed to 3D print them for personal use or give it to close friends?
Is there any general rule, or this suppose to be specified in the license? If so, which section/clause potentially can prevent me from doing that? Or I need to contact the company who owns the game to obtain the permission?
# Answer
> 1 votes
No. Such figures are generally covered by copyright, which means that nobody but the copyright holder is allowed to (re-)produce copies of the work. Copyright also covers personal use. In the US there are limited fair use exceptions but they do not apply here.
The only way to do this legally is if it is specifically authorized in a license or if you get permission.
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Tags: legal, 3d-models
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thread-2 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2 | Is 3D printing safe for your health? | 2016-01-12T18:45:51.287 | # Question
Title: Is 3D printing safe for your health?
I would like to buy a 3D printer, but I'm concerned about the health risks that are associated with its operation. Some groups of scientists say it can be harmful for humans.
What do I need to consider before buying a 3D printer if I care about my health? Are there any safe printers?
# Answer
> 23 votes
There is very little information about safety available, as home 3D printers are relatively new. However, plastics such as ABS have a long history in making plastic products, and a study found that at traditional manufacturing methods (such as injection molding and hot wire cutting) do not release dangerous levels of carcinogens and/or respiratory sensitizers in to the air.
Of course, 3D printers are not among the processes covered in the study. In home 3D printing circles, this study that looks at ultrafine particle (UFP) emissions, is often cited. It finds that printing ABS releases relatively high levels of UFP's and PLA releases significantly fewer (but still quite a large amount). However, it is unclear whether/how dangerous these UFP's are in the amounts emitted.
It is often suggested that PLA, partly because of the reduced UFP emissions is safer to print than ABS, partly because of its "natural" origins as it can be derived from materials such as cornstarch. I would caution against this line of reasoning since "natural" materials can still be poisonous (snake venom is natural, after all) and the cornstarch is heavily processed so it hardly resembles its original form. The lower UFP emissions may suggest it is safer, but the study is only quantitative, not qualitative.
That said, PLA does probably pose less of a risk (despite my earlier argumentation against "natural" materials, PLA does play quite nicely with the human body), but I contend the risk with ABS is not too large anyways, given that it has been safely used in factories for decades.
Another study is often miscited, supposedly saying that 3D printing ABS releases hydrogen cyanide. The study only looks at the thermal decomposition of ABS, which happens at significantly higher temperatures than are reached during printing (but a significantly malfunctioning printer might cause toxic gasses to be released, but I contend that at that point you should worry about your printer being on fire, rather than temporary exposure to some toxins).
There are no printers out there that are fundamentally safer than others. However, some printers have an enclosure (containing the fumes) and some even have a carbon filter and a fan for fume extraction. If you would like to err on the side of caution, this might be a good choice (but again, it is not clear if a carbon filter is totally effective).
Finally, as printers are generally quite noisy it tends to be preferrable to keep your printer in a separate room from where you usually work. In this case, fume exposure (during the few minutes that you go to check on your print) is minimal, and the potential advantages of a "safer" printers or using "safer" materials diminish.
Incidental exposure as a hobbyist is probably not a big deal; workers in factories are exposed to the fumes of melted plastic their entire lives and they don't seem to be dropping dead. On the other hand, if you are going to be printing structurally then it is probably preferable to move your printer to a separate room, if not because of health and safety because of the noise.
# Answer
> 18 votes
Almost all 3D printers have issues that could cause health problems.
FDM/FFF printers heat plastic to a temperature that may cause it to off-gas, and these byproducts may not be healthy.
SLA printers often use epoxies that may off-gas, or may be somewhat toxic prior to being cured.
Powder based printers can also off-gas, in addition to the powder itself presenting a possible hazard.
Many hobbyist and small companies dance around the problem, and suggest that the machines always be used in well ventillated areas. Professional machines often have filters and ventillation systems built in.
Rather than trying to find a "perfectly safe" 3D printer, spend some time deciding what you want to use one for, find printers suitable for your use, and expect that you'll need to provide reasonable ventilation for almost any printer. Plan your installation for that, and you should be able to make any printer safe for your required use.
If, however, you plan on setting up a printer farm with many printers, and plan to have yourself or others spend significant time operating them, I suggest you work with a health and safety professional and have them identify possible hazards and plan mitigation.
# Answer
> 10 votes
I am going to address the air issue as it is currently unresolved. the third dimension offers a great answer for common safety issues.
The short answer is that based on our limited knowledge at this point, there may be imperceptible health hazards related to FDM / FFF printers and therefore additional safety precautions are, in my opinion, necessary and not optional or secondary as suggested by some in the community.
In other words, if you can isolate your printer in a well-vented area where people rarely go, then of course it's not a health risk, but if people will be exposed to the air of the printer for any significant periods of time, you need to do something about it. This is my situation - where I live dedicated workshops and extra rooms are luxuries that most people do not have.
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# Realistic Chance of Being Dangerous --\> Treat It As Dangerous
The key information at this point in time is the UFP (Ultra-Fine Particle) study that is linked in Tom's answer.
Leaving out the scary / detailed parts:
> Therefore, results herein suggest that caution should be used when operating these 3D printing instruments inside unvented or unfiltered indoor environments due to their large emissions of UFPs.
>
> One important limitation to this study is that we have no information about the chemical constituents of the UFPs emitted from either type of 3D printer \[...\]
>
> \[...\] there may also be differences in toxicity because of differences in chemical composition.
This means that although many processes release UFPs (the authors of the paper compare to cooking), all UFPs are not created equal. Since the UFPs from 3D printing are still an unknown, the only real answer from a safety perspective is to treat them as dangerous.
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# This is not legal, safety, or professional advice!
I am not qualified to give an opinion on what should be done but I will share what I would do:
* **Venting** \- Active airflow pushing the envelope of air around the print into a large, unpopulated body of air.
* **Enclosure + Venting** \- By fully enclosing your printer, it will probably keep the UFPs mostly within the enclosure. You could combine that with either continuous venting or as some have suggested purge venting before opening the enclosure.
* **Enclosure + Filtering** \- A filter can be applied both to the vent to reduce the output of UFPs (e.g. if you have no access to a safe body of air) and as a recirculating system that removes the UFPs from the body of air within the enclosure.
**A note on positive vs negative pressure** related to venting and filtering: if you produce positive pressure within the enclosure, you are going to be blowing all the UFPs out into your environment anyway. Negative pressure vented to a safe body of air or neutral pressure with good seals and recirculated filtering may avoid that.
**A note on filters**: Activated carbon filters will not remove UFPs. HEPA filters may remove 3D printing UFPs.
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# Which Printer?
As long as the uncertainty exists, I predict that as the market matures, filtering and enclosures will become more standard. At this point in time, the only enclosed AND HEPA filtered consumer-grade FDM printers I am aware of are the Up! Box and the Zortrax Inventure. There are a number of enclosed printers without filtering.
As an alternative, at least one company has appeared with products targeted at those who are concerned about various safety aspects of 3d printing.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Apart from the inherent process itself and direct health hazards from that, many 3D printers also require some complementary technology to work.
printers have a printing head that needs to move around in 3D space. **Moving machinery parts can be a hazard**. In a home/hobbyist environment with children for example, I would recommend to buy a printer with a housing.
"open" designs often feature **bare electronics** mounted directly to the printer structure. This rises the possibility of short circuits and electric shock.
The printers that heat material often do so at very high temperatures. **Hot parts of the printer** should not be touched.
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Tags: print-material, safety, health
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thread-172 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/172 | Printing copyrighted objects as a print shop for a customer | 2016-01-13T12:57:34.693 | # Question
Title: Printing copyrighted objects as a print shop for a customer
If a person is running a print shop where there are given STL files by customers, and they print the part for them, does the legality of the printed object matter? The customer would be supplying the file so the print shop would not know if it was legally obtained (or even what the object is). Could the print shop get in trouble with the law for this?
# Answer
There are two aspects to this question that probably should be addressed separately. This is not legal advice and I'm not a lawyer, so consult with an experienced IP attorney.
Copyright law may apply, and other IP laws, such as patents and trademarks, may apply. They each have different requirements and restrictions.
Notably, IP law varies from country to country. WIPO has made significant inroads into regularizing IP law across many countries, but this answer will still focus on a US-centric reading of US IP law.
### Copyright law
It's already established that printed works, such as photographs, texts, and similar works will result in prosecution against the person and the company that the person outsourced the copying of the copyrighted work to. Attempt to copy a book or copyrighted photo at a paper copy shop and they will typically refuse to reduce their liability.
Even if you show that you have rights to the work, through educational use laws, for instance, they may still refuse because they may be putting themselves in danger of a lawsuit by a particularly aggressive copyright holder.
This applies to 3D printing shops in a similar manner. If you don't know the source of the 3D model, and that the person has a right to the model, you may find yourself liable for copyright infringement. Even if you are sure, a lawsuit can financially ruin your business if it comes from a large corporation.
### Patents
Patents apply even if you were unaware of them. So any model you print that contains patented techniques, technology, or concepts may also pull you, as the print shop, into a lawsuit for patent infringement.
### Reducing liability
A suitable contract with the person requesting the 3D print, as written by an IP lawyer, may reduce, but not eliminate, your liability. It won't completely absolve you of all responsibility, but may reduce your exposure to such lawsuits, and give you some leverage in court should someone prosecute you.
> 2 votes
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Tags: legal
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thread-171 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/171 | How to print edible food? | 2016-01-13T12:52:32.577 | # Question
Title: How to print edible food?
I would like to print edible cookies or ornamentation for a cake.
Is printing with edible materials achievable by standard thermoplastic-like 3D desktop printer? Or you need to buy a special printer to do that?
# Answer
> 7 votes
You cannot print edible models using a "standard" consumer 3D printer without first installing an "hot end" capable of depositing edible - normally thicker - substances as well as a suitable extruder mechanism.
However, there are not necessarily any technical limitations in the electronics, software, slicers etc. in a typical printer that wouldn't allow you to install such an upgrade. For instance, you could calibrate your extrusion rate and nozzle width to suit batter and similar.
Some commercial printers, such as the DeltaWASP allow for upgrades that print clay, which wouldn't be very different from printing liquid food.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You can, but that doesn't mean it's very easy.
You don't have to buy a special printer, but you need a special extruder (such as http://www.structur3d.io/). Most of these systems can print anything with the consistency of Nutella. However, many parts of the printer may not be food safe.
Another option (if you simply want 2d designs) is something like the PancakeBot. It can probably also "print" with anything that has the same consistency of pancake batter.
# Answer
> 5 votes
MakerBot Industries had a mod available for their early open source machines called the Frostruder. It was basically a syringe connected to your print head. I saw this in action at the University of Washington a long time ago. Check out the legacy ReplicatorG in action!
I like to relate 3D printing as "A hot glue gun on rails". The beauty is that a lot of the home machines can easily be almost anything on rails.
So, you could always try to 3D print a solution of your own. Please keep in mind any federal regulations on food processing materials (ie ABS is not recommended for most food applications).
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Tags: desktop-printer, food
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thread-181 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/181 | Can you use PLA material with food and drinks? | 2016-01-13T14:12:10.063 | # Question
Title: Can you use PLA material with food and drinks?
I would like to print fancy plastic cutlery sets or plastic glasses.
Is it safe to do it? Or bad for your health, if so, why?
# Answer
> 6 votes
As others have pointed out, PLA isn't specifically not food safe, but materials that have been printed previously can contaminate the PLA.
Additionally, anything 3D printed is extremely porous. Once a part is used for food, moisture and bacteria will accumulate in the pores, and can never be completely cleaned out, contaminating any food that contacts it. It can't be sterilized either, because the temperatures needed for sterilization would deform or melt the plastic.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Regardless of whether the actual filament you are printing is marked as Food Safe by the provider, remember that actually printing the filament might contaminate it.
If you previously have printed a toxic filament on your printer, you cannot be sure no remains of that filament are deposited onto the model. Equally, I believe very few printers only consist of parts that are all marked as Food Safe - the parts that touch the filament that is.
Another aspect of food safety is your ability to properly clean 3D printed objects. Due to the highly structured surface of 3D printed objects, I would not be certain that they are truly clean after washing, particularly since many plastics cannot be cleaned in a dishwasher.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Having performed a quick search through all the resources at the FDA Food Contact Substance resource, I cannot find PLA in any list except an occasional notification that a specific manufacturer has obtained approval for use in specific circumstances, with the notice that such notifications are only valid for that manufacturer and cannot be used to validate another use of a substance.
There are companies that have received approval for their specific formulation and use of PLA as a food contact substance. You may wish to discuss this further with your material supplier to find out if they have approved PLA product available.
Without specific product approval, though, PLA is not on the lists of generally recognized as safe, nor approved for food contact use.
Regulations in other countries may differ, so you may want to search the EU directives, for instance, to find out their opinion on PLA as an FCS.
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Tags: pla, safety, health, food
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thread-149 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/149 | What can cause a sudden and dramatic loss in the inter-layer registration of my prints? | 2016-01-13T06:35:47.820 | # Question
Title: What can cause a sudden and dramatic loss in the inter-layer registration of my prints?
Suddenly, my printer has started producing prints that have a very pronounced layering. Normally, the alignment between layers is very good, and the prints look very smooth. Suddenly, the prints have become much worse and the layers are misaligned with respect to each other.
The part on the left is my "normal" quality, while the part on the right show the deterioration. Here is another picture (in which the good part is on the right):
The parts are both printed with 0.1mm layer height, and identical slicer settings/filament. I am printing on a custom-built FDM printer; the mechanism is roughly similar to that of an Ultimaker.
# Answer
> 3 votes
It appears the heatbreak of my E3D nozzle had worked itself loose from the heatsink, allowing the nozzle to wobble around a bit. Because the nozzle was still tight against the heatbreak I didn't experience any issues with my hotend, but because the heatbreak was slightly loose the nozzle wasn't properly constrained and moving around a bit.
A quick turn to tighten the heatsink back into the heatbreak was enough to fully resolve the issue. My prints are as smooth as ever now.
# Answer
> 4 votes
There are many factors, here are a few things to check:
I'd first suspect filament feeding. This type of ridging can be caused by a filament coil that is binding occasionally, or a filament that doesn't have an even diameter or volume per length. Binding within the filament feeder and feeder tubes can also be a cause. Bubbles in the filament, or sometimes a mismatch between the filament ideal temperature and the head temperature could create results like this, but it probably wouldn't vary so much between the layers.
Next I'd look at the print head. If it has blockages, or poor temperature control this could result.
Lastly, I'd check the mechanisms - disconnect the motors and see if all the carriages slide smoothly without any binding, particularly the Z axis. It doesn't look like you're missing steps, but binding here may result in greater backlash, which could result in similar ridges. Make sure any belts and gears are tight.
# Answer
> 4 votes
As with many topics in 3D printing, there can be many variables that produce this result.
Immediately, your images make me think that the belts on your machine are not tight enough. This can cause noise in every direction of movement and is more prominent in backlash areas. I would suggest going through your general maintenance checklist:
* Replace Build Plate tape
* Level build plate (An uneven plate or improper height can yield these results as well)
* Teach your axis belts
* Clean/lube guide rails
* Clean drive gears
Keeping up on your maintenance (I do mine about every 5 prints) should reduce noise in your motion and ensure better quality prints, mechanically speaking.
As mentioned above, your results may be caused by your BP being leveled too low (or too high). If your build plate height is off, the filament will not adhere to previous layers very well (if too low) and can cause this back and forth "spaghetti noddle" effect on outer layers. If the build plate is too high, you might see the nozzle physically "spreading" the previous layer around as the nozzle digs into the layer.
Another possible fix for this would be to play with the settings in your slicing engine that involve the order that shell/roof/floor layers are printed. ie Start inside-out or start outside-in.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Have you recently leveled your print bed? By placing the nozzle too close to the bed on the first layer the first layer will seem over extruded. If there are no infill layers after the first layer, these layers will seem over extruded as well since the extra filament will have nowhere to go.
A typical sign of too close bed leveling is that the bottom layers seem over extruded, while layers after regions of infill appear normally extruded.
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Tags: fdm, abs, print-quality
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thread-229 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/229 | How do I set the G-code buffer size on Marlin? | 2016-01-13T23:34:03.707 | # Question
Title: How do I set the G-code buffer size on Marlin?
I am reconfiguring a Printrbot Simple Metal that has been retrofitted with a RAMPS+Arduino Mega running Marlin, with a fairly slow feedrate due to mechanical and quality limitations.
I am finding that upon cancelling a print where something goes wrong, I have a long period of time in which the printer is continuing to print from the G-code and movement buffer, although the host software (Octoprint) has long stopped sending G-code.
Is there a way I can either a) configure Marlin to have a smaller print buffer (since Octoprint has no trouble keeping up with the printer as it stands) or b) send a particular signal or G-code to the printer that stops it without continuing to read buffer contents?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Marlin does allow one to change the size of the buffers, in `Configuration_adv.h`. In the current version there's an ifdef that switches between two cases, one with SD support, and the other without. Both have a movement planner of size 16, which can be adjusted.
Additionally, in the same file, `BUFSIZE` can be changed to modify the size of the buffer storing *unparsed* commands before they are parsed and enter the movement planner buffer.
Additionally, for some firmwares, `M112` will immediately shut down the printer, no matter what is in the buffer, but the reset button will need to be used, and the axes will not be homed afterward. In Marlin, it's hardcoded to call `kill()`.
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Tags: g-code, firmware, marlin
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thread-211 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/211 | What material can I use to make my own cake molds? | 2016-01-13T20:41:04.500 | # Question
Title: What material can I use to make my own cake molds?
I would like to make custom cake molds.
I've asked about this in a few stores that specialize in cooking equipment, they said this wasn't possible.
I wonder if 3D printing makes it possible. It would require a material that is food-safe, as per Which are the food-safe materials and how do I recognize them?
However, there are two extra conditions:
* The material must be able to withstand the heat of an oven or microwave, and not mix with the dough.
* It should not be too difficult to remove the cake from the mold after it is ready.
The first condition is where this question is a little different from Can you use PLA material with food and drinks? \- that question is about cutlery and glasses, not about things that go into the oven or microwave.
Is there a material that can be used for this purpose?
# Answer
I would say that FDM printing in general is out of the question for this task, ABS and PLA would both melt in the oven, and the grooves in the print from the FDM process would make it a nightmare to clean.
My initial thought was an SLA printer ( $1000+ ) which uses a Photopolymer Resin hardened by a UV light, and based on its medical uses, I would think that it is food safe - I do not know what its melting point is however.
Another idea, one that would not too easily be done in house, is porcelain.
Shapeways offers a service that you could use for this - they say just $9 per part, 125 x 125 x 200mm maximum dimms, both food and oven safe.
> 7 votes
# Answer
The biggest problem I see with using a Kossel (or any FDM printer) is that to print the mold directly you'd need a plastic with a low enough melting point you can print it and a high enough melting point you can bake it.
From this list of filaments (which admittedly shows printing temperatures, not melting temperatures) Polycarbonate and Polycarbonate-ABS are printed at 250+ C, while a brief search found cake baking temperatures from 175 to 200 C.
According to this, polycarbonate is already used for food-safe containers, though you'd still need to worry about printing in a food-safe manner and surface finishing as in the question you linked.
Those two facts suggest it might be possible to print a polycarbonate mold and bake in it, though IMO there's a much better way to achieve the same result: print a positive of the mold in whatever material you want, smooth the print for better finish quality, then use food grade silicone to make the mold from the finished print.
> 7 votes
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Tags: food
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thread-242 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/242 | Marlin menu navigation slow while printing | 2016-01-14T06:54:46.547 | # Question
Title: Marlin menu navigation slow while printing
My Kossel Mini printer (delta) has RAMPS1.4/Arduino Mega electronics configured to use a standard 20x4 LCD display with Marlin during printing.
Often, navigating the menus during print can be painfully slow, and I occasionally end up making the wrong selections due to lag.
Without starving the actual printing process of CPU resources, is there any way of speeding up the menu navigation?
# Answer
A Delta printer requires constant complex calculations to produce straight lines while printing. The firmware, therefore, spends most of its time figuring out the step and timing sequence, and only the little remaining time between interrupts and these calculations is given to the user interface.
Marlin doesn't document any configuration parameters that would improve the user interface responsiveness, and in any case such improvement must necessarily come at the cost of printing speed and/or accuracy. The processor is being used to its maximum capacity. The only thing you might be able to do is dig into the firmware and try to change it yourself, as this is not a clear option within Marlin.
If working with the user interface while printing is important to you, your next step should probably be to change to a faster 32 bit processor. There are a few firmwares available for ARM and other architectures which may resolve your situation.
> 5 votes
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Tags: slic3r, ramps-1.4, arduino-mega-2650, marlin
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thread-259 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/259 | Does the material a bed is made out of affect the cooling time of a part? | 2016-01-15T01:07:58.893 | # Question
Title: Does the material a bed is made out of affect the cooling time of a part?
Let's say I print a part out of ABS and wait for it to cool. I could theoretically do this with several copies of the same printer, modified to use print beds of different compositions.
Will the material a bed is made out of affect how long it takes a part to cool?
# Answer
> 10 votes
**What bed material cools faster?**
I found an extensive list which relates various materials to their *thermal conductivity*, k \[W/mK\]; the lower thermal conductivity, the better the material insulates, and the slower the print bed will resist changes in temperature - both heating up, and cooling down.
Here are the thermal conductivity for some common materials for 3d printer beds:
```
Aluminum 205
Glass 1.05
Acrylic 0.2
Air 0.024 (for reference)
```
There is also the matter of thermal capacity, but I will not go into that right now (need to do some research myself first!).
**Will bed material affect cooling time?**
Bed material, I believe, is not necessarily related to print cooldown time: it depends on the situation, such as whether we are discussing cooldown during or after printing, and if the bed is heated or not.
1. If you are *not* using a heated bed, I believe the bed material doesn't matter at all.
2. With a heated bed *while printing*, only the first dozen layers or so are probably affected by the rising heat sufficiently that it affects the printing process.
3. With a heated bed *after printing*, the thermal characteristics of the bed will determine how quickly the print cools (and thus can be removed).
Also remember that other physical properties, such as flatness (both cold and during heating) of the bed material is vital for successful prints, and that not all materials can tolerate heating equally well!
# Answer
> 2 votes
Assuming you are meaning the build plate and not confusing it with a printed raft, yes, different materials for the build plate will have different cooling rates. I don't know the values of hand, but a Google search can get you to a formula to calculate how long a certain size build plate of a given material type should roughly take to cool. (I'm using the mobile app right now, so I'll have to get back to this answer later to give links and more details)
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Tags: heated-bed, hbp, cooling
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thread-269 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/269 | Can 1.75 mm filament be used in a printer that takes 3 mm filament? | 2016-01-15T13:05:05.660 | # Question
Title: Can 1.75 mm filament be used in a printer that takes 3 mm filament?
As an extension from this question, is there any reason that you would not be able to use 1.75 mm filament in a printer that takes 3mm filament? I know you would have to change the filament size in the slicing of prints but would there be any other problems?
Also, would using 1.75 mm filament be possible if the nozzle diameter was greater than 1.75 mm but less than 3 mm?
# Answer
Typically an extruder and hot end are designed for one or the other, and cannot support the other without mechanical changes.
The extruder may not be able to grip a smaller diameter filament with enough force to assure even feeding and retraction.
The hot end, however, is much more complex. The filament has to be pushed with force into the melting zone, which means the filament has to slide along an area inside the hot end where the filament is plastic but still put pressure on the filament ahead of it.
When you put filament into a hot end, the filament softens before the melt zone, but since the walls of the hot end are just barely larger than the filament it has no choice but to continue pressing down on the liquid filament below.
With a narrower diameter filament, though, the filament can heat, soften, then travel *backwards* along the sides of the hot end and cool in place, jamming the hot end, or at least preventing an even continuous flow of plastic.
Some hot ends will accept a small Teflon tube that takes this space up and allows you to do this with fewer issues, and if you like to tinker you can experiment with this, but be prepared to learn a lot and fail a lot as you find out the hard lessons of hot end design.
Generally you should upgrade your entire extruder and hot end setup to the size you want to use.
> 14 votes
# Answer
1. It may work for a short time but you're going to fill the melt chamber quickly and possibly overflow to a point where the filament isn't constrained causing a messy jam. All the molten plastic will likely flow backwards to a point where the diameter isn't 3mm any longer (probably next to your drive gear) but depending on the length it may just flow up, cool down and jam the extruder.
2. No, the filament would just pass through unheated and not do anything.
> 5 votes
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Tags: filament, extruder
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thread-81 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/81 | Safety precautions when using acetone | 2016-01-12T21:50:45.197 | # Question
Title: Safety precautions when using acetone
Acetone can be used to smooth ABS prints. What safety precautions should be taken during its use?
# Answer
There are a few main safety precautions you should consider.
* **Make sure the area is well-ventilated.** Acetone is flammable. A buildup of acetone gas could quickly get concentrated, meaning that a single spark could lead to disaster. Using a fan is good; angle it towards an open window. This is also to prevent exposure to acetone because of its toxicity.
* **Be prepared to fight a fire.** Should vapor ignite, you may need to fight the fire. If it is large enough, then you should clearly evacuate the area. If it appears to be small, use dry chemical powder to snuff out the fire. Alcohol foam, water spray, and/or fog may be used on slightly larger fires. Acetone is not likely to cause a large inferno to rip through the building. But there's always the chance of a small fire. Be careful.
* **Create a vapor chamber.** This is another way to stop a potential fire from spreading. It can also reduce contamination.
* **Wear gloves.** This can minimize any potential transfer toxic effects. However, skin exposure is unlikely to cause major issues.
Acetone is toxic, as I mentioned before, but it is not highly toxic. Exposure via the eyes and nose/mouth is the main risk. Skin effects may occur (e.g. mild irritation), but they are minor and generally arise only after long-term exposure (hence the recommendation of gloves in some cases).
Acetone exposure is only a serious problem when a person is repeatedly exposed to levels greater than 1,000 ppm (severe effects only arise at much higher levels). It seems unlikely, given a proper ventilation system, that this will be an issue
In addition to all this, basic safety precautions such as wearing a ventilator mask and goggles should definitely be taken. When working with any such chemicals with the potential for bodily harm, these should absolutely be used.
> 12 votes
# Answer
Contrary to what the other answers suggest, the risk of fire is not that great. An acetone "explosion" is even more unlikely, since you need a ratio of 2.5%-12.8% acetone vapor to air for that: too much acetone (as would be the case inside of your smoothing vessel) and nothing happens, too little (as would be the case inside of a badly ventilated room) and nothing happens either.
Note that even if you were working in a completely non-ventilated, ridiculously small 1m^3 room you'd still need to evaporate over half a liter of (liquid) acetone to reach that bare minimum 2.5%. In any case, well before you got into the "danger zone" the air would become unbreathable.
So, then what should you be mindful of when using acetone?
* It can give you a headache. Avoid breathing the fumes and ensure adequate ventilation.
* You may opt to use gloves, as skin contact should be avoided (acetone can irritate the skin and possibly be absorbed through the skin). However, limited skin contact isn't a big deal: acetone is an ingredient in some nail polish removers.
* Acetone is heavier than air, so if you use a sufficiently high container fewer fumes will escape.
* If somehow a fire does start, it will likely be limited to your container. Having a lid handy allows you to starve the fire of oxygen, harmlessly putting it out.
All in all, smoothing using acetone is not very dangerous. Acetone isn't suspected to be carcinogenic, though it isn't something you should be careless around either. The risk of starting a fire is small. On the other hand, solvents like MEK (used for smoothing PLA) aren't as nice by far, and should only be handled with a respirator.
> 6 votes
# Answer
1. **No fire.** Acetone is highly flammable. Avoid open flame, smoking, soldering etc. near acetone or acetone fumes. Be ready to fight a fire.
2. **Ventilate.** Acetone is very volatile so the fumes will be everywhere in the room. While breathing them should not kill you, it is certainly not good for your health. It may cause drowsiness or dizziness. It is also a good idea to close the container/jar as soon as possible and do not keep it open when not necesery.
3. **Avoid eye contact.** Acetone causes serious eye irritation. IF IN EYES: Rinse cautiously with water for several minutes. Remove contact lenses if present and easy to do – continue rinsing. Seek medical help if needed.
You should also avoid skin contact; repeated exposure may cause skin dryness or cracking, but this never happens me if I wash my hand after using acetone.
> 5 votes
# Answer
# Safety Advice for Acetone Handling/Usage
---
***Please remember that you handle acetone at your own risk! By using this advice you agree to hold me harmless and not sue me as a result of using these instructions/advice. Remember that I am not a professional chemist or a lawyer (this isn't professional or legal advice)!***
---
I encourage you to research safety precautions and risks on your own to build a personal body of knowledge. The most effective safety precaution available to you is knowledge; the brain is the most important piece of safety equipment! This listing of advice for acetone handling is generated from the highlights of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for acetone. After reading this advice you should read an MSDS for acetone directly. It would actually be an excellent idea to find and read the MSDS for all the chemicals you use during 3D printing.
**Safety Equipment**
* Wear safety clothing! Acetone requires that you wear protective gloves, protective eyewear, and a respirator (to protect your airway). It is also highly recommended to wear protective (ideally also chemically resistant) clothing (like a smock or an apron). These safety clothes are recommended because acetone is a toxic substance which can absorb through the skin and walls of the lungs directly. Make sure to verify the gloves are made of a substance which blocks acetone absorption, also, verify that your respirator is rated to protect against acetone (many respirators are not capable of blocking acetone due to it's volatility).
* Possess, prepare and understand how to use an eyewash station, a fire blanket, a fire extinguisher (rated for chemical fires), a chemical shower/dousing system and other standard laboratory safety equipment. Posting warning signs along the entrances and exits to the work area about working with a volatile, flammable and explosive gas is also recommended.
* Keep an inert absorption media readily available to cleanup spills should you accidentally fail to avoid a spill. Diatomaceous earth, silica/sand and activated charcoal are all potential absorption media. Should you have a large spill or not possess absorption media (which should not happen - always verify safety equipment is present and working before handling chemicals!) then you may also dilute the spill with water and mop up the dilute solution of acetone. No matter which method you use to cleanup a spill remember to dispose of the contaminated cleanup materials according to the requirements/laws of your local area. **Do not** lazily dispose of the acetone down the drain without doing research on the correct disposal methods!
**Control Your Environment**
* Ensure proper ventilation of your workspace (ventilation is required in addition to your respirator due to explosion/fire risk). If the atmospheric concentration of acetone becomes too high the risk for fires and explosions quickly becomes unacceptable (the risk is never going to be zero working with acetone unfortunately, but minimizing it is very important). Working outside is the perfect way to insure the ventilation is adequate, although that presents it's own problems and considerations. Alternatives include using a fume hood, or even something as simple as a fan blowing air through an open window.
* Eliminate any and all sources of flame or spark for a considerable area around all sources of acetone (10-15 meters minimum). Take special precautions to prevent being unknowingly contaminated with acetone (which could then be accidentally transported from the work area to a flame source using you as a carrier). Personal contamination can lead to injury if you attempt to smoke during a break or at anytime before verifying you are not contaminated. It is important to provide an ignition-free environment that extends quite far away from the immediate vicinity of the acetone because acetone can ignite a vapor trail of acetone and allow the flame to travel distances via flashing over the vapor trail. Physical isolation is the ideal solution to this dangerous problem. A policy of always closing the door to the acetone work area is an example of physical separation which would hopefully prevent this vapor trail flash-over.
* Avoid acetone spills. Acetone is an excellent solvent which could easily eat away the paint on your wall or destroy the finish of your table. Spills also necessitate following special precautions for cleanup and disposal, which have already been provided earlier within this list.
**Acetone Chemistry**
* Do not under any condition mix your acetone with chemicals without an extensive analysis and understanding of the products and the risks associated with the reaction. The following list of chemicals will create an explosive compound/mixture when reacted with acetone, so do not allow them to come into contact with acetone: hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid, nitric acid, nitric acid + sulfuric acid, chromic anydride, chromyl chloride, nitrosyl chloride, hexachloromelamine, nitrosyl perchlorate, nitryl perchlorate, permonosulfuric acid, thiodiglycol + hydrogen peroxide, potassium ter-butoxide, sulfur dichloride, 1-methyl-1,3-butadiene, bromoform, carbon, air, chloroform, thitriazylperchlorate.
* Should you accidentally ignite some acetone, you must take additional precautions while evacuating or while attempting to extinguish the fire. Acetone is a hydrocarbon and the reaction of burning it produces products which include carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Essentially, humans are incapable of detecting these gases with their senses (detectors exist to measure concentration). However, these symptoms of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide can help alert you to the fact they are present: shortness of breath, blackness along the edges of your vision, confusion, headache, unconsciousness, coma, and finally, death. Carbon monoxide is far more dangerous than carbon dioxide because often the first symptom is unconsciousness, which prevents you from evacuating, leading to death. The dangerous of gas inhalation are substantial enough that as soon as a fire becomes medium-sized you should seriously consider evacuating the area rather than staying to extinguish the fire. It is better to lose property to the fire than to die (if you die I would guess that your property is destroyed anyway!).
**Risk Analysis**
* Acetone is a confirmed developmental toxin for females and a suspected developmental toxin for males as well. The risk of breast milk contamination is unknown, but it is a suspected toxic contaminant. Mutagenic and tetragenic effects are not known. The result of this toxicity is that pregnant or breastfeeding women should not handle or be around acetone (due to vapors) even for short periods of time.
* The risk of cancer and the carcinogenic properties for acetone are not well-defined, with some declining to classify acetone as a carcinogen and others classifying it as being carcinogenic. California, for instance, has required that acetone bear a proposition 65 warning about cancer risk.
* Acetone is definitely a toxic substance, but it is not highly toxic and accidental ingestion or absorption is essentially incapable of causing severe symptoms. Small exposures to acetone (like the exposure levels likely encountered during 3D printing) are more-or-less not very harmful. However, if you do get a problematic exposure to acetone, contact a poison control center.
* The LD50 ("lethal dose 50%", dose where half of subjects die) in rats is 5800 mg/kg, making the predictable (humans are often similar to rats in regards to toxicity) LD50 for an adult human similarly high. With such a high lethal dose, the predicted toxicity of acetone likely causes chronic sub-lethal damage instead of causing an acute and lethal response. If we assume an average adult human (62 kg) shares the LD50 of a rat- that human would need to consume 392 cc of acetone to reach the LD50. 392 cc is nearly equivalent to 4/10 L- meaning that there is essentially no chance the small consumption of acetone caused by working with it could poison an adult human (if our assumptions are correct).
* *Potential effects of inhalation, ingestion or skin absorption of acetone:* dry skin, nausea, vomiting, skin irritation, eye irritation, burning sensation, redness, tearing, inflammation, corneal injury, depression, fatigue, excitement, stupor, insomnia, hypersomnia, ataxia, tremors, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, headache, muscle weakness, loss of motor coordination, speech abnormalities, narcotic effects, coma, kidney damage, liver damage, brain damage, and death.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Repeated exposure to acetone *can* lead to the skin becoming sensitised, which means that in the future it will become overly irritated at the slightest contact.
On a more mundane note, it is an excellent degreaser and dries your skin something rotten. And then your fingertips can split and take days or weeks to close up, hurting in the meantime.
> 1 votes
# Answer
You can smooth a print with acetone using different approaches which require different precautions. In general, you should have ventilated area and use gloves (or wash your hands after the procedure).
## Applying Acetone Directly
Using the print in acetone for several seconds or you can apply acetone with a brush. There is a low possibility of fire. See this video, (4) MakerBot Replicator - Model Finishing Tricks - Acetone Wash.
## Cold Acetone Vapor
This process takes several hours and gives you best control of the process. Because no external heat is used there is low chance of fire. See this video, Cold Acetone Vapor Finishing for 3D Printing.
## Hot Acetone Vapor
This approach takes minutes to smooth the print and there is high chance of ignition. I would never use it inside a building. See this video, Make your 3D Printed parts look professional with Acetone and a Rice cooker! - 2014.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: abs, acetone, safety
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thread-279 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/279 | Is packing multiple prints into the build volume a feasible workflow for powderbed printers? | 2016-01-16T00:11:52.217 | # Question
Title: Is packing multiple prints into the build volume a feasible workflow for powderbed printers?
With printers, the 3D object that should be printed can be positioned anywhere in the build volume. But it's only practical to place it on the bottom, because otherwise support material would be necessary.
stereolithography has the same problem. Even though the photopolymer can be cured at any position in the build volume, the result would drift away if it was not held in place by support material.
The powderbed based printers (either powder+binder or any of the laser/electron beam sintering/melting variants) do not have this problem, because they continuously fill the entire build volume with powder. The support material that other printing technologies require is part of the powder based printing anyway. It would be possible to pack the build volume with many prints and print them in one go.
Given that the machines are relatively expensive, it would be economical to increase the throughput. A company that does use such printers heavily could wait a certain amount of time until a few print queued up that fit together in the build volume and only then start the process. Do people do this?
# Answer
Yes, this is very popular. Look into the site Shapeways and you will see that this is exactly what they do. I've also personally seen a local 3D print shop do this with their machine. It's called batching. I similar technique can be used in traditional machine shops (mills/lathes).
> 5 votes
# Answer
The print speed for powderbed printing depends primarily on the height of the print; the lateral extent doesn't really matter. Since powderbed printing provides its own easily-removed support structure, a packing that maximizes the number of items and minimizes the height will maximize throughput.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: sls, slm
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thread-284 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/284 | Applying Kapton Tape To Bed Plate | 2016-01-16T05:15:54.453 | # Question
Title: Applying Kapton Tape To Bed Plate
There must be a trick to doing a good job of applying Kapton tape on a printer bed plate…
We built a Bukobot and even with a great deal of care ended up with bubbles under the tape and occasional overlaps. I'd appreciate any pointers.
# Answer
Try using a solution made for applying window tint, maybe even soapy water. Squeegee it out, heat the bed for a bit and you should be good to go.
This video demonstrates the process.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I like to heat my build plate up a bit before I begin. Just warm to touch. I feel that this will help prevent bubbling so soon. I would think that since the build plate is expanded with the heat, that when the tape is applied it will shrink with the build plate. I was also told that the heat would help the adhesive stick better.
The other thing I do when applying kapton tape is apply one end of the tape to a ruler, place the ruler on the far side of the build plate, and slowly begin working the tape evenly across the plate. I find it much easier to apply tape this way.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed, hbp
--- |
thread-294 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/294 | How is a J-Head Extruder Head attached to the Prusa i3 rework? | 2016-01-16T13:28:24.050 | # Question
Title: How is a J-Head Extruder Head attached to the Prusa i3 rework?
I am building a Prusa i3 Rework, and I haven't been able to find out how to attach my J-Head extruder (see below), at the moment it's just kind of held there by pressure, but it seems there are two holes on ether side of it; not sure if they're meant to hold it in place, but it seems that way.
Any suggestions as to what I should use to hold it in place? This is definitely a part that gets moved around alot.
**update**
# Answer
> 4 votes
It looks like the hotend may not be all the way in, are you sure it's not stuck?
If it's stuck and you can get it in further, those holes should go directly through the smaller ring on top of the J-Head. You just need to run a machine screw into each hole to secure the hotend. The screw will need to at least be flush with the other side to work correctly.
---
Tags: reprap, prusa-i3, prusa-i3-rework
--- |
thread-297 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/297 | What are the other materials which can be used in DLP Printing, other than polymers? | 2016-01-16T14:53:08.413 | # Question
Title: What are the other materials which can be used in DLP Printing, other than polymers?
I know that melted polymers are used for DLP (digital light processing) printing, by displaying the model onto the liquid material, which is the melted polymer.
But, can I use materials like steel, carbon fiber, etc?
If yes, then what precautions and arrangement should I make to my apparatus for coping with their high melting point?
# Answer
> 6 votes
DLP doesn't use "melted polymer". It uses a photosenstive resin which is at room temperature and polymerizes when exposed to (UV) light. At no point is any material melted.
As such, steel or carbon fiber can not be used as these materials are not photosensitive.
---
Tags: dlp
--- |
thread-296 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/296 | Are these the right types of electrical connectors for hooking my Switching Power Supply up to a wall outlet? | 2016-01-16T14:40:27.247 | # Question
Title: Are these the right types of electrical connectors for hooking my Switching Power Supply up to a wall outlet?
From what I understand, when you hook up the Switching Power Supply 12v Dc 30a 360w to the wall outlet, you have to be **very careful**; careful not to get the wires mixed up; careful not to have anyone or anything touch the leads (in fact the first proper project I intend to print out will be a casing to fit around the switching power supply), or just order one from someone.
Now there are three wires that go into the US wall of particular concern, and these wires come out of a standard PC cable with the female end cut off, and they hook the power supply. Like the external casing, these three wires are also insulated, and when you take the insulation off the bare wires and connect it to the power supply, you have to use Electrical connectors of some sort to connect them to the power supply's screw leads.
I bought some electrical connectors just for this purpose, but I'm not entirely certain they will be good for this purpose, so I thought I'd check here first.
There are specifications on the back:
```
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ ╬ AWG ╬ Wire Size ╬ Stud Size ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Spade Terminals ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ YF1.25-35 (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ 0.5-1.5 ╬ 3.7 ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Ring Terminals ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ YF1.25-4 (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ .5-1.5 ╬ 4.3 ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ Butt Splice ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
╬ BF-1.2SS (red) ╬ 22-16 ╬ .5-1.5 ╬ n/a ╬
╬──────────────────╬──────────────────────╬─────────────╬───────────╬
```
Not sure if I should use ring or spade terminals, and I don't know what wire size to use; and I don't know what wire grade is inside a standard PC power cord or even if these are safe connectors to use for this.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It is okay to just use bare wires in the type of screw connector found on your power supply. They're designed for it; they have a little plate under the screw that prevents the wires from being frayed by the screw.
If you want neater wire termination, you should use one of the spade type ones. Pick the smallest size that fits your wires.
PC power cords are generally fitted with an IEC C13 plug, and those are rated for 10A (meaning also the wires themselves will be able to carry at least that much current). This is fine for any home 3D printer which usually draws a fraction of that.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The block on the supply will accept the bare wire
you *could* use the yellow in the middle on the right, but the screw on the block essentially does its own crimp.
---
Tags: wiring, switching-power-supply
--- |
thread-132 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/132 | How can I set the 1st layer after a raft in Slic3r to print at 1st layer speed | 2016-01-13T02:13:54.357 | # Question
Title: How can I set the 1st layer after a raft in Slic3r to print at 1st layer speed
When you add a raft in Slic3r, the first layer of the raft prints at the first layer speed. After the raft is finished, the first layer of the print prints at the standard speed. How can I make the first layer of the actual print slow down to the first layer speed?
# Answer
This is still work in progress, and here is what I have so far, but first:
**A useful alternative for similar problems:**
A problem very similar to this would be to use different settings for different parts of a model in Slic3r. For most settings, this can be achieved through modifier meshes.
# Post processing scripts:
As far as I know, Slic3r does not give you the option of setting the speed of the first layer after a raft directly, but they do allow you to run post processing scripts; that is, to automatically run a set of operations - programmed by you - on the g-code output.
Although far from trivial, you can in theory make a program that runs through the output g-code, adjusts the settings to your preference, and then saves it again at the target destination.
### Tuning overall printer speed through g-code:
As it turns out, there is a simple g-code command that sets the overall speed of your printer's operation:
```
M220 S[some number] ; see the link above for compatible firmware
```
A newsletter from Reprapwold explains that:
> For example M220 S50 will reduce the speed to 50% of the original sliced G-code. If you want to hurry your print to the finish in time for dinner, use M220 S200, to print twice as fast (200%)
In other words, just like some printers allow you the change speed mid-print, you can use the M220 command to override the current speed used, either through a user interface such as PrintRun, or by fiddling with the original g-code itself.
### Manipulating the g-code output to adjust speed settings:
The easiest way to achieve our goal would be to manually manipulate the output g-code file through a text editor, and insert our M220 command in appropriate places:
* Set M220 S50 just before the first *perimeter* layer (after the raft's *interface layer*), to slow down the first layer of the actual model.
* Set M220 S100 sometime after the first perimeter layer, to resume the normal speed settings.
In order to do this, though, we need to be able to distinguish these two points in the g-code output.
### Distinguishing insertion points:
Slic3r offers a setting under `Print Settings -> Output options -> Verbose G-code` that - when enabled - inserts written comments all throughout the g-code files generated.
If one inspects a g-code file outputted for a model with raft, one will find the comment:
```
; move to first perimeter point <- lets call this A
```
and
```
; move to next layer (x) <- lets call this B
```
littered several places throughout the gcode.
It is under my *impression* that the *first* occurrence of comment **A** happens right after the raft is finished, and before the actual model is being printed, while the first occurrence of comment **B** succeeding comment **A** can be used to set the speed back to normal.
It should be noted, however, that **the comments in the output g-code does not seem fully consistent**, and I would therefore not recommend anyone to automate this logic into a script without possibly finding other, more reliable breakpoints, and thoroughly verify these through several different models.
I have not looked into the details of writing an automatic script for this task as of yet.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I've played with v1.2.9 only a little bit (I primarily use MakerWare). However, it looks as though you can just go to `Print Settings -> Speed -> (Modifiers) First Layer Speed`. Here you'll have the option to set the speed in `mm/s or %`. If you're having issues with the first layer (or two) not adhering very well to a raft, try reducing the distance between the part and the raft. Mine looks to be a default of 0.2mm. This can be adjusted from `Print Settings -> Support Material -> (Options for support material and raft) Contact Z distance`.
Please note that the closer the part is to the raft, the more likely the part is to sticking to the raft once it cools. So, I would recommend being close by as the part finished so you can quickly remove the raft before it cools with the part. It become especially more difficult with PLA because it becomes hardened during the print process, therefore resulting in a more catastrophic material failure if any part of the object is broken (such as a raft).
I'll also note that I primarily use MakerWare for my machine and v3.8 has made it much easier to apply these types of settings. It's similar to Slic3r's interface and no longer in a JSON file that pops up. Through the MakerWare interface, you can navigate to `Settings -> Custom -> Extrusion Speeds -> First Layer` to adjust the print speed. You'll also notice that there is a separate option for `First Layer Raft` that ensures that the two values are separate in the post-processer. I believe it still may be possible to use MakerWare for a non-MakerBot machine, just export the file to GCode and you should be able to load it directly into your machine via SD card or possibly even Slic3r (it might change some of the code though).
> 2 votes
# Answer
You shouldn't need to. The purpose of a slower first layer is to help with need adhesion. With a raft the first layer of the model is printing on the raft so it can go at regular speeds.
> -1 votes
---
Tags: speed, slic3r
--- |
thread-208 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/208 | What is the life expectancy of the Kossel? | 2016-01-13T20:02:02.020 | # Question
Title: What is the life expectancy of the Kossel?
I'm considering buying this package, the Kossel, as my first 3D printer.
It's not the cheapest model, but apparently a high resolution and stable, which is what I'm after.
The question is, what is the life expectancy of this printer, given the component list? Assuming the printer is constructed properly and properly taken care of, but used once or twice a week for several hours.
Is it possible to make an estimate of how many years this particular printer could be used before it starts showing signs of wear?
**Parts list:**
1x Complete set of platics for Kossel Mini (PLA)
1x Kossel mini Extrusion set
1x traxxas (set of 12)
1x Carbon Tube (kossel printing arms) Set of 6
3x Square slider (40cm)
1x Megatronics v3.0 - Kossel kit
1x Heated Bed glass round 17cm diameter (Borosilicate)
1x Kapton heater mat round 16cm diameter
1x Power supply 12V (240/115V / 20A MAX)
3x Aluminum Pulley GT2
5x Timing belt 1m x 6mm (GT2)
1x E3D v6 - HotEnd Full Kit - 1.75mm
1x Hobbed bolt v1.1
1x Brass drive gear (Wade's compatible)
6x Bearing 623ZZ
125x (1 pcs) Screw M3X8 Philips
125x (1 pcs) Washer M3 normal
125x (1 pcs) Nut M3 normal
6x (1 pcs) Screw M3X16 Philips
12x (1 pcs) Screw M3X25 Philips
6x (1 pcs) Screw M3X20 Philips
10x PTFE tubing, 2inner/4outer diameter (10cm)
1x Bowden setup - J head comp. plug set (1.75mm)
1x E3D v6 - Threaded Bowden Coupling - 1.75mm
2x (1 pcs) Screw M3X40 Philips
6x (1 pcs) Screw M2X16 Philips
1x Power cable 1.8m
6x M4 Threaded rod - Custom length
# Answer
> 7 votes
Much like your car, the number of miles, or the number of prints that you can get out of it is entirely up to how well **you** can maintain it.
A 3D Printer is a machine, and a machine needs general maintenance; if you see something starting to break - or get worn out - or anything abnormal, fix it.
I am sure that if you had something like a MakerBot, it would require less maintenance then a fully home built machine, but if you are building it from scratch, I am sure you don't mind.
I am still rocking a 3 year old home built MendalMax, and have both made some improvements, and had to make some repairs along the way - but it is still in damn good condition.
For a $600 investment, I can say you will get a few years out of it if you take proper care of it. By the time the end of its life comes (5+ years), I am sure there will be much better printers available for cheaper, and you will never look back :)
* Tighten all your nuts and bolts
* Keep it calibrated
* Keep belts properly tensioned
* Oil X, Y, and Z rods
* Clean of any dust and scrap plastic (compressed air can?)
* Clean hobbed bolt
* Clean extruder
* Ensure all electronic connections are secure
* Check wires at points of movement for wear
!remindme 5years
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have built a Kossel too. Got lots of tips from the Google Deltaprinter group. Most important when using the Traxxas rod ends is to have the metal parts go into the freezer and the plastic parts in warm water(not boiling, just 60 degrees celsius or so). Then put the 2 together, due to the fact the metal crimps just a little and the hot water softens the plastic a bit, they will fit easy and will be stiff longer. These mounts tend to wear out causing play in the effector. I have printed 100's of hours on my Kossel mini with traxxas rods and still moves very nice and prints accurately.
---
Tags: quality, life-expectancy, kossel
--- |
thread-309 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/309 | My endstops have 4 female plugs, but the examples on the RepRap Prusa i3 Site have 3; what are each of them for? | 2016-01-17T01:23:41.323 | # Question
Title: My endstops have 4 female plugs, but the examples on the RepRap Prusa i3 Site have 3; what are each of them for?
The Sainsmart Endstops I picked up are different from the ones described in the RepRap Prusa i3 Rework electronics assembly wiki; they have 4 female plugs that go into the RAMPS 1.4 board instead of 3:
Since these endstops are different, how do I hook them up, and what do the markings on them mean?
# Answer
> 3 votes
The website shows exactly what each wire is for. Both middle wires are ground, the wire on the same side as the lever is the signal wire and the last wire is the power wire.
---
Tags: prusa-i3-rework
--- |
thread-313 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/313 | Holes/ missing layers (after retraction) in 3d printed objects | 2016-01-17T13:27:51.030 | # Question
Title: Holes/ missing layers (after retraction) in 3d printed objects
My printed objects have horizontal holes in them (as seen I the picture below):
This doesn't only look bad it also makes the object break at the seems.
Looking carefully at the printing process I can see that after a retraction there's a small amount of time the hotend isn't extruding plastic.
Material: PLA, Printer Robo 3D R1+, Slicer: Cura
# Answer
> 9 votes
(answering my own question)
The problem was the extrusion distance settings in Cura's advanced tab, reducing the value to 1.5mm solved the problem.
Other problems with the same symptoms:
* Partially blocked hotend nozzle.
* Incorrectly configured steps per mm for the extruder motor - this youtube video shows how to test and configure this.
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Tags: extrusion
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thread-326 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/326 | Understand and developing firmware - IDE help | 2016-01-18T16:16:23.127 | # Question
Title: Understand and developing firmware - IDE help
Lately I've been working on tweaking firmware to fix functions on my printer. A few of my biggest issues are lack of understanding of C and finding out how the multiple cpp and h files are linked. Most of what I am doing is easy enough to do with copy and paste but with most firmwares having 30+ individual files it's hard to find where each parameter comes from or goes to.
I've been looking at Eclipse with an Arduino plugin as well as Visual Studio (or Atmel Studio) with the Visual Micro plugin. What I would like is an easy way to view where each parameter is used, maybe highlight the parameter and it shows all instances or something similar? Is there any IDE that offers something like that or is everyone using the Arduino IDE for firmware development?
# Answer
As far as I know, Marlin - assuming that is the firmware you are using - is a standard C++ (the big brother of C) project that can be opened and compiled in the Arduino IDE, but also - at least - edited lots of other IDEs.
Depending on your OS, there are several alternatives. Visual Studio, Atmel Studio, Qt Creator, XCode, Eclipse, Visual Studio Code, Atom, Sublime Text and the Arduino IDE are just some of them.
I also believe that this question should be moved to StackOverflow. However, if you have questions as to how you can make *specific* modification to Marlin, this forum is the right place to ask. If that is the case, consider reformulating your question!
> 1 votes
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Tags: firmware
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thread-329 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/329 | Installing E3D v6 extruder electronics on Ultimaker Original+ | 2016-01-19T00:13:36.493 | # Question
Title: Installing E3D v6 extruder electronics on Ultimaker Original+
I printed the mechanical parts to mount a E3D v6 on my Ultimaker Original+. But I don't know how to connect my heating cartridge, my thermistor and my 3 fans to the electronic board. Any idea?
Edit: I should have said I'm using the following design: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/e3d-v6-hot-end-mount
My main problem is to connect all 3 fans, as the original design of the UMO+ is only using one.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not certain exactly what you're asking, but I'll give this a try. If I've misunderstood, please give more details.
It sounds like you're upgrading to the E3D v6. If so, the heater, thermistor, and fans should connect to the same places as the previous ones did. The exception would be if you had thermocouples instead of thermistors before; that's a more complicated change.
If the *connectors* are different, you'll need to get matching connectors from a parts supplier (post a picture if you're having trouble identifying them). Fortunately each of the items you mentioned has 2 wires, and for the heater and thermistor polarity doesn't matter.
For fans, polarity *does* matter, so match up red vs. black, or just try it one way, and if the fan doesn't turn, then swap the wires. Some fans have a third wire, which could be used for measuring the actual rotation speed (see \[http://pcbheaven.com/wikipages/How\_PC\_Fans\_Work\]); but it's not necessary.
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Tags: electronics, ultimaker-original, e3d-v6
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thread-35 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/35 | Printing Plastic Replacement Parts | 2016-01-12T19:57:20.273 | # Question
Title: Printing Plastic Replacement Parts
On a number of occasions I've broken small plastic parts that are nearly impossible to replace but could easily be 3-D printed. The latest such mishap is the volume knob on the factory-installed radio on my car.
I have little experience in 3D printing, and would like to be able to replace these parts with something very close to the original. Spending hours measuring and designing a replacement part that should be $5 isn't really an option. I need something to scan the broken pieces in 3D and somehow just seal up the seam where it's broken.
Is there a scanning/printing/software system to do this that doesn't require a lot of 3D design experience?
# Answer
The easiest way is as you currently do: model the pieces by hand, using (digital) calipers to measure them.
Scanning technology isn't very good, and the models are not of printable quality. Usually, fixing a scan is more work than modeling an item from scratch.
> 12 votes
# Answer
There is scanning technology: either hardware or software (such software typically works from multiple 2D photographs). It has limitations, but is an active research area, and getting better all the time. "Autodesk 123D Catch" and "3-Sweep" are a couple examples.
One tradeoff between automatic and manual is the complexity of the shape you need to duplicate. Sometimes you can make a much simpler shape that still works, and/or thicken the part so it doesn't break the next time. That can make manual design much more attractive.
> 3 votes
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Tags: software, scanning, replacement-parts
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thread-319 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/319 | How to smooth the surface of parts printed with Co-polyester (PET) filament | 2016-01-18T10:29:58.050 | # Question
Title: How to smooth the surface of parts printed with Co-polyester (PET) filament
Are there any techniques for getting a smooth finish for parts printed with co-polyester (PET) filaments? More specifically, I am looking for an alternative that does not roughen the look of the part - such as using sandpaper - but rather works like acetone baths for ABS.
In particular, I want to treat ColorFabb's XT filament made from the Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer (datasheet). This is also the polymer is also used in:
* ColorFabb nGen and XT
* Taulman3D n-vent
* TripTech Athiri 1800
* 3DXTech 3DXNano
# Answer
Ethyl acetate (sold as a MEK substitute) is supposed to work for vapor smoothing PET. It doesn't seem very toxic (it's used to decaffinate cofee and tea, and as a nail polish remover), but you might want to look more into it. There's a post on Printed Solid's blog where he vapor smoothed colorFabb XT and MadeSolid PET+ along with a few other filaments and got some good results.
http://printedsolid.com/blogs/news/37035395-vapor-smoothing-3d-printed-parts-pla-colorfabb-xt-t-glase-pet
The links in the blog don't work for me, but google was able to find slightly larger versions:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog\_2014-03-20-18.38.04-1024x613.jpg?16147388421280943481
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog\_2014-03-21-18.16.28-1024x612.jpg?9543779874607042697
> 3 votes
# Answer
I've found a chart which covers several plastics and solvents and only two of them (Chloromethane and Chloroform) are rated "D" which includes dissolving the material and both seem to be quite nasty and I doubt you will be able to purchase them without being placed on several lists.
Is it possible that something like XTC-3D from Smooth-On would work for you?
Also some more information on dissolving PET here, several sources also mention PET is affected by Hydrogen Peroxide but they do not mention to what degree the plastic is affected.
> 2 votes
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Tags: filament, post-processing, pet
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thread-233 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/233 | How should I clean my extruder when changing materials? | 2016-01-14T00:23:36.260 | # Question
Title: How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
I often switch my print material, i.e. ABS / PLA / Wood / Flex,
How can I best clean out my extruder between them to ensure I don't contaminate my next print?
# Answer
If you feel you need to *clean* the nozzle the best approach is a *cold pull*. You can perform this procedure with many printers, however, you should seek advice from your printer manufacturer before attempting this process if you have any doubts.
With the previously filament still loaded and the tool head cold:
* Begin to raise the temperature of the tool to the printing temperature of *the next filament you intend to load*
* As it begins to warm up perform any tasks you normally perform during filament unloading (open the idler, for example). **You should not be fighting against the extruder drive gear or any other part of the tool during this process!**
* With a fair amount of pressure begin pulling on the filament
* The old filament should eventually release from inside of the tool leaving the end of the filament roughly in a nice molded shape of the inside of the tool. Begin loading the next filament you intend to print and manually feed some filament through as the tool finishes heating
Anything left over from the previous filament including pigment or other residue should be stuck to the end of the filament.
You can perform *cold pulls* as many times as you wish by loading new filament, extruding a small amount, letting it completely cool and repeating the steps.
> 19 votes
# Answer
In most cases, removing the old filament from the printer, inserting the new filament in, and running the new filament through the printer for a short period of time will clean the nozzle. The skirt of the print can also be a time during the actual print for the old filament to be flushed. Assuming the skirt is long enough, all that needs to be done is the new filament inserted and the print started.
Assuming that extruding new filament does not fix the problem, there is a more serious problem such as a clogged extrusion head that needs to be fixed with other methods.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Some people use a nylon "cleaning" filament when switching types of filaments. It heats well to a variety of temperatures and seems to stick well to whatever is in there when pulling it back out. Be sure to heat it up to the temperature of the filament being removed to get that to bind with the nylon.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I always find the best way is to run more filament through the nozzle. Just enough for a full colour change.
> 2 votes
# Answer
eSun has a cleaning filament that extrudes at a wide range of temperatures. It may seem ridiculous to use filament that costs over $100 USD per kilo to purge the nozzle, but it's very convenient and in practice, you don't use much each time (it's sold in 100g packs). I'm still using some samples I received with some filament over a year ago.
Cold pulls will probably be more effective though (as described in another answer), they're just more effort. I usually use cold pulls with nylon when I want to clear out my nozzle, either as part of routine maintenance or when switching to plastics that are sensitive to contamination (usually PETG or ninjaflex). I usually use the cleaning filament when I want to change from a dark to a light or clear filament, especially if the new filament is expensive. Most of the time I just feed in enough of the new filament to purge out the old, with the temperature set to the max of the two.
> 2 votes
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Tags: maintenance, print-material, extruder
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thread-321 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/321 | Can a common 3D printer be used to print masks for PCBs which use SMD components? | 2016-01-18T12:28:29.653 | # Question
Title: Can a common 3D printer be used to print masks for PCBs which use SMD components?
Common 3D printers (read "cheap") may be used to print masks for PCBs (printed-circuit boards) which use PTH (through-hole) components.
But can they be used to print PCBs which use SMD components? I'd like to make boards at least for Arduino-like SMD chips.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In addition to the thermal issues Tormod raised, there is a conductivity issue. Present conductive filaments are much less conductive than copper. The power loss may be enough to affect functionality. Also, the lost power goes to heat, making the thermal problems worse.
For bulk materials, "volume resistivity" is measured in "Ohm-cm", which is the resistance of a 1 cm cube of the material, measured from one entire face to the opposite entire face (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical\_resistivity\_and\_conductivity).
Copper has a volume resistivity of about 1.68 *micro*Ohm-cm.
Proto-pasta conductive PLA filament claims 15 ohm-cm (http://www.proto-pasta.com/pages/conductive-pla). Functionalize F-Electic™ claims 0.75 ohm-cm (http://functionalize.com/about/functionalize-f-electric-highly-conductive-filament/).
Printing itself significantly raises resistivity. Proto-pasta claims 30 ohm-cm along X and Y, 115 along Z. More intuitively, each cm of length of a 2.5mm wide printed trace, 0.4mm thick, should add several hundred ohms with the Proto-pasta, or several tens of ohms with the F-electric. That may be enough to matter.
It's probably worth mentioning that there's a specialized PCB printer (the "Voltera") that uses (pricey) conductive ink, and can also dispense solder paste: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2885188/3d-circuit-board-printer-a-smash-hit-on-kickstarter.html
# Answer
> 1 votes
In theory, I imagine you can, but there are some practical considerations that might need some thought:
If you have a desktop printer with multiple extruders, you could probably print with both one *conductive* and one *structural* filament, and thereby build circuits in 3D.
One concern would be the low melting points of most 3D printed filaments, since one would have to limit the heat generated by the mounted components and connections so that the structure of the "board" would not be melted.
Mounting components to the board would also differ from a normal PCB, since you would have to connect the components with the conductive filament without melting the structure of the board. In other words, you probably would have to use conductive filament as "solder", and melt components into place.
Whether you could use typical tools used for mounting SMD components with conductive filament as solder is beyond my knowledge.
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Tags: electronics
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thread-334 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/334 | Comparative design methods for joints that will be joined together | 2016-01-19T04:55:24.273 | # Question
Title: Comparative design methods for joints that will be joined together
I want to 3D-print some parts that will be later joined together along a seam. When modeling these separate parts, what are some methods that work well with 3D-printed pieces? For example, if I were doing wood working, I might choose dowel and pin joints or mortise and tenon joints or glue overlapping pieces. What methods translate well into use with 3D-printed plastics? How does the answer change depending on the orientation of the joint along the printing direction?
# Answer
One of my favorite techniques is to join pieces with screws, and include a tapered feature that helps align the parts. A single screw can give a very strong joint, that is well-aligned and won't twist. Another advantage is that such joints can be printed in any orientation, since the tapered feature can be designed with 45 degree angles.
Here is a cross-section example of such a joint:
> 5 votes
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Tags: print-preparation, 3d-design
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thread-344 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/344 | How can I set the position in Pronterface? | 2016-01-19T23:18:20.953 | # Question
Title: How can I set the position in Pronterface?
I'm in the process of building a 3D printer and have all the stepper motors wired up and the controller connected to the computer running pronterface.
I can move each axis and also send g-code to the printer.
Now **how can I define the current position to be the 0/0/0 position?** I'd like to move the printer into a position where I think should be the zero position and define it as such in pronterface somehow.
# Answer
> 7 votes
> G92 X0 Y0 Z0
tells the printer that the current position is (0,0,0).
# Answer
> 3 votes
There's a handy list of G0-codes at http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code -- though the list is too big to be convenient for finding a code if you're not already sure what it's called... :(
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Tags: software, pronterface
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thread-13 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/13 | Resolution Drawbacks | 2016-01-12T19:18:57.943 | # Question
Title: Resolution Drawbacks
With an ABS or PLA extrusion 3D printer, are there any potentially negative quality differences that could occur if I try to print at a higher resolution?
I am not concerned about print time as the equipment is not under high demand. I am, however, worried the device may be more prone to fracture, likely to have defects, or have other issues I cannot currently imagine.
# Answer
The biggest effect I've see on resolution is due to plastic stress due to thermal gradients.
The higher resolution prints build up more layers of material, and each layer has a cumulative effect on thermal stress. The upper layers pulling up more as they cool, and the lower layers curling up more strongly as the layer count is increased.
To counteract this, a heated (or even just a draft free) enclosure makes a big difference. Having a heated print bed helps significantly, as long as the bed itself resists deformation (a sheet metal or PCB bed will bend more than glass under the same tension, for instance).
The actual plastic strength, however, appears increased. Laying down thinner layers of material appears to increase the bond strength between layers.
> 15 votes
# Answer
Regarding the sturdiness of the final print, I believe it depends on the inter-layer adhesion of the filament itself - which varies greatly. Also, normally, thicker layers would increase the strength of the print up to a certain point.
An informal study of strength/layer height ratio can be found here: this study suggests that the strength of the print increases up to a layer height of 0.25 mm, and then stabilizes.
On the other hand, printing at high resolution often will hide defects that occur from bad quality filament, in particular filament that has degraded by absorbing too much moisture. Due to the less amount of plastic extruded per layer at high resolutions, some general printing defects also tend to be less pronounced and easier handle afterwards.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It's also worth noting that the ratio of nozzle diameter to layer height affects strength. The layer height is typically set slightly smaller than the nozzle diameter, so the nozzle "squeezes" the new plastic onto the previous layer. This is especially important for the first layer, because it affects how well the object sticks to the bed; but it also affects inter-layer strength.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In my experience building with smaller layers also makes bridging and overhangs more pronounced and less likely to fail.
The smaller layers allow gradual changes for overhangs that are more abrupt with thicker layer.
> 3 votes
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Tags: quality, resolution, fdm
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thread-339 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/339 | MakerBot Replicator 1 Voltage Regulator Fix | 2016-01-19T15:36:34.467 | # Question
Title: MakerBot Replicator 1 Voltage Regulator Fix
My Replicator (you know, the one made of balsa wood) has blown a voltage regulator on its MightyBoard for the second time. The first time, MakerBot graciously replaced it. However, they replaced with the same model board with no apparent fix for the commonly faulty voltage regulator. I can't afford the now $500 replacement board, so my option is to replace the faulty component and hope no further damage was taken on the board.
As MakerBot Industries did not need me to send in my old board, I've followed these steps to try and replace the voltage regulator on the old board.
I've offset the voltage regulator towards the power jack, jumped the remaining pin on the voltage regulator to the remaining lead on the board (where the old voltage regulator was), but I'm confused what/where the green wire does/goes (mine is blue on my machine). The image looks like he just soldered it onto the heat sink pad.
I tried to test it by plugging in the power and the RGB LED strip. The stepper motor driver LEDs turned on, but the LED strip and none of the other on-board LEDs turned on. I'm not very seasoned when it comes to electronics, so can anyone explain what the actual pinout should be or suggest other ways to resolve this issue?
## Update: Old Board Replacement
So far I've replaced the regulator on my old board with some success. Before the replacement, the board wouldn't turn on (on-board LEDs wouldn't turn on). Now, all of the proper status LEDs turn on, but the board seems to be stuck in a boot sequence. The LCD screen provides two lines of block characters (as it normally does when initializing), but just hangs up there. I tried connecting the machine to my PC to try and restore the board to factory settings and install the latest firmware. However, the PC couldn't find the machine and I began to smell a bit of burning. I'm not sure if this is a result of permanent damage from the original regulator failing, or improper installation of the new regulator.
I'm going to dig around a bit more before attempting this fix on my main board. I'll edit this post as I continue the project.
## Update: New Board Replacement
So, I've now attempted the fix on the newest board (the reason for this question). The results of this board are the same as the old one. I actually get power on the main board, but the LCD screen just shows two solid lines. I've taken pictures of what I've done.
# Answer
What's the part number of the regulator you're putting in? The pin assignments vary from one part to another, but you can probably find them from the part number online. Some parts have the ground pin also connected to a metal part of their case. The green wire from the board *should* be ground (no promises!)
Assuming you've got a voltmeter, you can use it to find out which pins on the board are power and ground (easiest to do before the regulator is installed...). Then once installed, check that you're really getting 5V versus ground on the remaining (output) pin.
Since 2 of these burned out on you, I suggest taking steps to reduce the strain on the regulator. Voltage regulators turn the excess power into heat. Some things that can help:
* Use heat sink grease to conduct heat from the regulator to the circuit board, the adjacent socket, etc. Hot melt glue, as the instructions you linked to mention, won't likely provide as much heat conduction.
* Attach a heat sink to the regulator, or a *bigger* heat sink.
* Get more air blowing across the regulator. You could do this by moving the regulator slightly, adding a fan, adding something to redirect some air onto the regulator, etc.
* Swap in a bigger voltage regulator (that is, one rated for more current)
* Turn down the voltage just a tiny bit on your power supply (if it has a control for that; many do).
Let us know how it turns out!
Steve
> 4 votes
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Tags: fdm, makerbot, replicator-dual, mightyboard, fff
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thread-204 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/204 | How to get consistent and accurate readings from thermocouples? | 2016-01-13T18:02:27.633 | # Question
Title: How to get consistent and accurate readings from thermocouples?
I upgraded to an Mk9 dual extruder, and it came with thermocouples installed instead of the thermistors I had before.
No matter what I did with the thermocouples, the indicated temperature jumped around by as much as 30C or more. In short, after several weeks of fiddling I never got the thermocouples to work well, and replaced them with thermistors, which have been fine.
So my question is: what is required to get thermocouples to give reliable, consistent, accurate readings? Are they just incredibly touchy?
Some things I tried include:
* Of course, one must add circuitry (typically a thermocouple amplifier board such as http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Thermocouple\_Sensor\_Board\_v1), to convert the tiny voltage differences to larger differences usable with Arduino or similar analog inputs.
* Place those boards close to the thermocouples, but far enough that they are at pretty stable temperature themselves.
* Have absolutely no wire extensions of splices, changes of wire types (material), etc.
* Avoid doing repeated measurements too fast.
* I replaced a thermocouple board with 5V through a potentiometer to the analog input pin, to rule out problems in the Arduino, pin configurations, or software, and got stable readings.
* I checked for shorts-to-ground from the heater block, both sides of the thermocouples, the heater itself, etc. None found.
* The thermocouple wires are surrounded by a braided shield (not common or shorted to either thermocouple wire); I tried grounding that at either end and at both ends, to the heat block, the printer frame, the power-supply ground, and the RAMPS board ground. These had various effects (sometimes large), but I couldn't find any configuration that made the readings stable (much less accurate!).
Anything I'm missing?
Thanks!
Steve
# Answer
Thermocouples work by passively generating VERY small voltages via the Seebeck effect -- usually a few tens of millivolts. They're literally just a pair of wires made from two different special alloys, electrically connected together at the "hot" end. That wire junction can be mounted inside whatever kind of attachment tip or lug is desired.
The fact that they're very simple and passive devices makes them extremely precise and consistent between TCs of the same type, MUCH more so than thermistors. Any type-K thermocouple in the world will give you the same accurate output +/-1-2C or so. You can even cut a thermocouple in half, re-twist the ends of the wires together, and it'll still work!
However, the very small (millivolts) signal they generate is quite susceptible to electrical noise and circuit design. The signal voltage has to be greatly amplified to be useful. So it doesn't take much EMR from your heater or stepper wires to interfere with the TC reading. A frequent problem with TC circuits in 3d printers is the dreaded GROUND LOOP -- if the "hot" tip is electrically connected to the hot block, voltage and current on the heater and motor wires can induce small currents through the TC wires that totally screw up the millivolt signal. The amplifier picks up these stray voltages and it throws off the temp read. So, there are some important guidelines for keeping noise out of the TC wires:
* The TC wires must be electrically insulated from the mounting hardware (eye lug, thermowell, whatever your extruder has). You can check this with a multimeter -- you want infinite / out of range resistance from the TC leads to the mounting tip and hot block. While you're at it, make sure your heater cartridge wires aren't shorting to the hot block -- that's unsafe and can also cause problems with TCs.
* Keep the two TC wires close together, and not immediately parallel to noise sources like PWM-controlled heaters or stepper wiring. If you must run the TC in a bundle with the other wires, TWIST the heater/stepper wiring pairs. (For steppers, twist each coil pair to a different pitch if possible. You don't need to twist the separate coil pairs to each other.)
Another common issue with TC circuits is the COLD JUNCTION COMPENSATION. A thermocouple doesn't measure tip temperature, it measures the DIFFERENCE in temperature between the hot tip and the cold junction where the TC is connected to either the amp or copper wiring. The TC amp has an onboard thermistor that it uses to add the temp at the cold junction to the measured signal from the thermocouple. There are a few things you need to do to make sure the cold-junction compensation works properly:
* You should run TC wire all the way from the "hot" tip to the TC amp. You CAN splice it and install plugs, but only with more type-K TC wire and proper type-K thermocouple plugs. These use the same metal as the TC wire so they don't generate undesired junction voltages that interfere with the TC signal. If you splice copper wire between the TC and the amp, any temp differences along the copper will not be measured! This is a particularly big problem if you splice to copper inside a warm enclosure and then run copper to an amp outside the enclosure.
* The amp should not be super hot. The onboard thermistor is designed to accurately measure temperatures reasonably close to room temp, not hot-block temps.
* There should not be large temperature gradients near the amp or between the TC wire termination and the actual amp chip. Place the amp far enough away from the hot end and other heat sources (like stepper motors) that it isn't experiencing weird temp profiles.
If you do the above, the TC will output a good signal, and the amp will read it properly. But there's one more hitch. The mainboard has to know how to understand the amp's output. 3D printer control boards that are designed exclusively for TCs, like Mightyboards, usually use digital communication between the amp and the main control chip (MCU). This is high-reliability and does not require any special firmware configuration -- support is baked in. But if you're strapping an external TC amp onto a board that is expecting thermistors, **you will have to tell the firmware how to read the signal from the amp.** The most common technique is for the amp to output a linear voltage signal to the MCU's normal thermistor input (ADC). Then you configure the firmware to use the appropriate "thermistor table" (really a voltage lookup table) for that particular amp. Depending on your controller board, you also may need to make sure the regular thermistor pull-up/pull-down resistors aren't affecting the amp's output.
So you need to make sure:
* You don't have electrical noise issues
* The cold-junction compensation is working as intended
* The firmware and controller board is configured correctly for your amp chip's output
If you do all that, a TC should give superior accuracy and reliability over a thermistor.
> 7 votes
# Answer
It sound like you just have a defective thermocouple. But, I just did a google search for "Why are thermocouples inaccurate" and found this article on identifying bad thermocouples and preventative maintenance. I never thought of a lot of the tips in the article, but I haven't had such drastic temperature errors either.
> 2 votes
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Tags: extruder, maintenance
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thread-239 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/239 | Bulging filaments - How can catch them before they go in the printer | 2016-01-14T05:15:09.270 | # Question
Title: Bulging filaments - How can catch them before they go in the printer
After multiple jams from bulging filaments on two spools I'm getting frustrated. One, right before a job was done.
Is there something I can do to prevent these bulges in filaments from ruining jobs?
What can I do to prevent this from happening in the future before it's a disaster?
He's a picture of one I found using google.
# Answer
> 3 votes
That's my picture :-)
I use a filament monitor with an encoder wheel that pauses the print if the filament stops moving (because a bulge got stuck, or filament ran out, or the hot end jammed, or whatever). I have a bunch of these on multiple printers: http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/products/tunell-3d-printer-filament-monitor
The Tunell monitor works with Sailfish, Marlin, and Smoothie to my knowledge. This particular one doesn't work with Repetier, but you can wire up a simple encoder wheel to use Repetier's filament monitor functionality.
Like other people have mentioned, you should avoid cheap filament, and return spools with bulges. I personally only see bulges like that maybe every 20 spools or less.
# Answer
> 6 votes
How to catch *and* fix these on the fly? That would be difficult..
But this is an issue you really should not have.
Could it be an issue with filament storage?
Or is it coming from the manufacturer with these bulges? If so, I would try contacting ( you may have gotten a bad batch? ), or finding a new retailer if this happens often.
I have gone through a lot of pounds of both ABS and PLA and never come across this.
# Answer
> 4 votes
**Bottom line: *The easiest way to prevent this is to avoid cheap filament.***
You can get mid-grade filament for a few dollars more than the ultra cheap stuff.
In other words I tried out some 10$ stuff from ebay, and while it might print for a little while it notoriously clogged in any prints greater than 1hr.
20-25$ is the going rate for mid-grade filament on amazon and check the reviews I've had good consistency there.
# Answer
> 4 votes
There is a filament width sensor design at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:454584 -- cleverly, the author tweaked Marlin so it adjusts extrusion in real time to correct for variations.
That said, I agree with several others that buying filament with better quality control, and keeping it dry and unchewed by Labradors, should be enough. :)
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Tags: filament
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thread-303 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/303 | How is 3D printing done in space? | 2016-01-16T20:21:06.633 | # Question
Title: How is 3D printing done in space?
This article states that 3D printing has been accomplished in outer space, on the International Space Station.
I'm curious as to how this works differently from 3D printing on Earth. Are there any extra measures that needed to be taken to ensure that the filament would be correctly extruded onto the print bed, or during other steps?
# Answer
> 18 votes
Most likely, the 3D-printers used on ISS does not incorporate some fundamental difference that allow them to print in zero gravity.
Some people over at 3Dprint.com raised a very similar question, and figured that when turning their 3D-printer upside down and on it's side:
> there’s not really much difference at all. It’s quite interesting to see how the orientation has little effect on the quality.
One of the early 3D-printer models - the Bukito printer - demonstrated that their printer was so portable it even could print on the move, and upside down.
In other words, some consumer 3D printers already print upside down, and so they would probably print in zero gravity as well!
*(That's the short story anyway. Have a look at Ryan's post, who gives a great description of the more intricate parts of space printing!)*
# Answer
> 8 votes
To answer your question, you have to consider how the melted filament sticks to the print bed and to other layers, and if gravity has any affect on how it sticks. The answer is that gravity does *not* have any real affect on the stick-to-itivity of the filament. Instead, the plastic bonds to the print bed surface, and then subsequent layers fuse with the previous layer. Nor does gravity have any affect on how the filament is fed or how the belts and gears move. Certain filament roll holders may not be able to be used if they do not clamp the roll down, and the printer also needs to be clamped down. But, perhaps surprisingly, there isn't really anything else that needs to be done differently to make a printer work in space.
# Answer
> 7 votes
The first big space-specific issue is actually air quality. You can't just open a window to air out the molten-ABS smell from the ISS!
FFF printers put out fumes and nanoparticles. In a space station, the same air gets recycled over and over, and the air purification systems have a specific set of contaminants that they are optimized for, as well as a design capacity for air turnover and chemical removal rates that won't be adjusted just because somebody's printing a space-ratchet today. Protecting cabin air quality is a huge design factor for any experiment that goes into space.
The Made in Space printing experiments on the ISS to date were performed in one of the vacuum experiment chambers, so any unfiltered fumes (or fire flare-ups) could be vented directly to space if required. In the long run, this isn't going to work -- other experiments may need the vacuum chamber, or "production" printers may be too large to fit. So the printer needs to have its own internal air purification system.
Another MAJOR design constraint is launch survival. Rocket payloads must be designed for extreme g-forces without 1) damage, or 2) significant internal shifting of mass which would affect the payload center of gravity.
Total payload weight is also quite important here: lifting mass to low Earth orbit is EXPENSIVE.
Surprisingly, the microgravity environment itself isn't that big of a deal. Molten plastic is highly viscous and pretty much stays where you put it long enough to solidify, as long as it's sticking to something. But two impacts do come to mind.
* First, an unsecured filament spool will try to unwind itself. Gravity won't provide the contact friction we usually rely on to keep spools from bird's-nesting. (Think about it: a tightly-wound spool is literally a giant coil-spring.)
* Second, heat flows are different in microgravity -- you can't rely on passive convection to cool the print or the motors. Accommodations must be made for sufficient forced airflow and heat-sinking on anything that requires cooling. And that includes the enclosure itself, since, as mentioned above, the print chamber must be sealed up tight for air quality control.
Finally, reliability is critical. Amazon doesn't deliver to the ISS (yet). Even a single stripped screw may take the printer out of commission for months until a replacement part can be fit into an upcoming supply launch. Having the printer catch on fire because something shorted would be catastrophic.
So, really, it's all about making a printer robust enough to make it up there, operate safely, and never break. Printing upside-down is trivial in comparison.
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Tags: applications
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thread-352 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/352 | Is this fuse a good choice for my Prusa i3's power supply and RAMPS 1.4? | 2016-01-20T14:06:31.790 | # Question
Title: Is this fuse a good choice for my Prusa i3's power supply and RAMPS 1.4?
Wondering if this fuse is safe to use in this switch/plug to turn on /off a 12V DC 30A Power Supply 360W Power Supply that will power a RAMPS 1.4 board for a Prusa i3 with an external led display that contains an SD Card Reader.
I found the suggestion to use it here.
# Answer
**No, do not use this fuse.** The current rating is too high to be reasonable for your printer. It will "work" in the sense that your printer will get power, but it won't provide anywhere near as much protection as a lower-rated fuse.
10A is a lot of current for mains voltage. Depending on what else you have plugged in, there is a fair chance your home's 15A breaker will trip before this fuse does, which kind of defeats the point of having it.
Even for "fast" fuses, it takes a significant amount of time for them to blow when conducting their rated current. The internal fusible link has to heat up and melt before the fuse stops conducting. The less the overload current exceeds the rating, the longer that takes. A 10A fuse conducting a 10.5A short might take 30 seconds to trip. In the meantime, your printer is melting. Lower-rated fuses will trip faster for the same short and thus provide better protection.
*You need to size fuses as small as possible for the required current draw if you want to have any hope of rapidly cutting off an excessive-current event.*
I would recommend a 4A fuse in the USA for this 350w power supply. (Note: the listing title says 360 but the photos show 350.) I use 4A fuses in several printers with 120v / 350w PSUs and they do not trip. But you can do the math for yourself:
350 watts / 120 volts / 80% efficiency = 3.64A
The smallest fuse you can find that is larger than this value is what you should use.
Now, we can argue over whether 80% is the right efficiency value... it could be lower. The PSU label says 6.5A input is required, but that amount of current draw implies either a \<50% efficiency (which is quite poor for this kind of PSU) or would only occur for abuse/surge scenarios like starting very large motors. Such short-lived inrush events generally won't trip a fuse unless you do something dumb like lock the rotor. And none of that applies to the small microstepping-driver stepper motor systems we're working with here. This PSU should not draw more than 4A in normal 3D printer use.
Looking at this on the other end -- how much damage will 10A do versus 4A? Lots. If the short is in the 12v system, and the PSU's short protection doesn't trip in (because it's a cheap knock-off) you would roughly multiply the AC fuse current times 10 to get the DC current. And 40A is a downright scary amount of current! Depending on wire gauge, putting 40A through heatbed wiring may make it smell and smoke. Whereas putting 100A through heatbed wiring will almost certainly start a fire.
You're much safer with a 4A or even 6A fuse for this PSU than a 10A fuse.
> 9 votes
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Tags: electronics, prusa-i3-rework, switching-power-supply, ramps-1.4
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thread-341 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/341 | Updating firmware on Monoprice Architect printer | 2016-01-19T21:21:46.710 | # Question
Title: Updating firmware on Monoprice Architect printer
I just received this printer and while it seems to talk to Makerbot Desktop software I'm not sure if I should be trying to update the firmware.
The printer comes with firmware v7.2 and while Makerbot Desktop offers an upgrade to v7.5 I'm not sure if it's a good idea with this non-Makerbot branded printer.
I've also seen information on upgrading this printer to Sailfish v7.5, is this the same thing as Makerbot firmware v7.5?
# Answer
> 5 votes
The Monoprice Architect is is a bare-bones FlashForge Creator that has been re-badged for Monoprice. The Creator line is a very popular set of printers, so there is lots of good advice out there. The FlashForge Google Group is a good community to join: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge
The entire FF Creator line, in turn, is cloned from the original Makerbot Replicator 1. So you can use Makerbot slicing profiles for the Replicator 1. Just keep in mind that Makerbot does not generally test new software revs with their older printers, and DEFINITELY does not test new software revs with competitor knock-offs. Sometimes they appear to break functionality for non-Makerbot machines on purpose. So recent versions of Makerbot Desktop may not "play nice" with your FlashForge. **The most recent "known good" free slicer you should use with this printer is Makerware 2.4.x. You can find links by searching the FF Google Group.**
On that note, you may have received instructions to use ReplicatorG with your printer. But RepG is abandonware: development stopped years ago. It should only be used for firmware updates, not as a slicer. You should also only use the most recent version posted on the Sailfish page on Thingiverse:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084
Using older versions of RepG with newer firmware revs will corrupt your EEPROM! Only use the version downloaded from the link above.
The firmware that comes with the printer is FlashForge's slightly-customized build of either Sailfish or Makerbot's Replicator 1/2/2x firmware. But here's the trick: Makerbot's Rep1/2/2x firmware is just an old, out-of-date, slightly customized version of Sailfish. Makerbot stopped keeping up with bug-fixes and feature additions a long time ago. **Everything is Sailfish:** just different versions. You should use the most recent official release version listed at:
http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/
Follow the instructions in the Sailfish manual from the link above, and RepG will automatically pull the right builds from the official mirror and populate a list of printer options to choose. The trick here is which build to download. As of 1-21-16, there is not an official Monoprice Architect build yet. Which would mean editing a machine xml profile to avoid the firmware throwing warnings. I STRONGLY recommend getting used to the printer using factory firmware before trying to fight with custom machine profiles... But here is the basic process to pick a Sailfish firmware build when you're ready:
First: which Atmega processor version do you have? The large chip in the middle of the control board will either say 1280 or 2560. You need to know which version you have. Bad things happen if you load the wrong version.
Second: What is the tooth count on the X and Y drivetrain pulleys? To my knowledge, FF always uses 17-tooth pulleys, which matches the Replicator 1 and FF Creator profiles. The Rep2 and 2x use 18t pulleys, so only use those builds if you have those pulleys. People often mess this up and their prints end up with dimensions ~5% off in X and Y.
Third: The Architect has one extruder and no heatbed, so firmware builds that expect those to be connected (Rep 1 Dual, Creator, etc) will throw errors if loaded. You can fix this from the LCD screen or RepG, but that's a whole separate question. Do some printing and learn about the printer before attempting any firmware update so you'll know what to do if you pick a build with the wrong parts.
Fourth: This one is just for the sake of completeness. Some FF models were shipped with off-spec heatbeds that require special firmware builds to prevent drawing too much current and overheating / overloading the power supply. The Architect doesn't have that, but firmware builds for those printer models (eg I believe the FF Creator 2560) will under-power regular heatbeds. This is just something you need to know with the Architect if you decide to install a heatbed later. But it's a really critical safety warning for people with those off-spec heatbeds.
If this all seems complicated, that's because FlashForge (and in turn Monoprice) relies heavily on the open source Sailfish project to maintain the software ecosystem behind this line of printers. FlashForge has some internal builds that they use for flashing new bots, but these are not kept particularly up-to-date. Nor does FlashForge release the source files, so it's quite opaque where exactly the stock firmware differs from mainstream Sailfish. In the long run, you should install mainline Sailfish. But it's ok to stick with the factory firmware until you get used to the printer.
To summarize: Because there is not an existing Sailfish build, you're going to need to do some investigating and some experimenting to figure out which build will work. Don't try that until you're familiar with the printer. Post on the FlashForge Google Group when you're ready for help.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Since the printer has no heater, I'd advise some sleuthing
1. Look at the motherboard. Find the big black square chip and see if it is a ATmega 1280 or 2560. Likely it's a 1280, but you never know. This will impact which firmware build you use.
2. If you will eventually add a heater PCB, then figure out the size (wattage) of the power supply. It may be big enough now for a heated platform, or maybe not. I guess you can cross that bridge if/when you add a HBP (heated build platform). However, it can make a difference as to which firmware build you load as some builds of Sailfish will intentionally serialize heating so as to not put too high of a load on the power supply (PSU).
Armed with the above info, you can then decide if you want a 1280 or 2560 build of Sailfish. And if you want a build which will serialize eventual use of an HBP or not.
Serialized: MakerBot Replicator 1 Single & Dual (implied ATmega 1280), MakerBot Replicator 1 with ATmega 2560
Non-serialized: FlashForge Creator I, II & X (implied ATmega 1280)
For a non-serialized, 2560 build know that the FlashForge one is for a poorly behaved heater PCB and you likely won't want it. That sort of leaves you without a good, non-serialized choice. In a pinch you can use the ZYYX 3D build for a 2560. Or you can contact the Sailfish team directly: speaking with very certain knowledge, I can assure you that they'd be happy to do a targetted build for your machine. However, at present they lack info to do so (e.g., build volume, distances from endstops to center of build platform, etc.).
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Tags: firmware, makerbot, monoprice-maker-architect
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thread-372 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/372 | Maintaining fine details while applying smoothing methods | 2016-01-22T06:03:58.597 | # Question
Title: Maintaining fine details while applying smoothing methods
I've been reading and experimenting with Acetone vapour smoothing on some printed ABS parts. My problem is that I need to selectively smoothen the printed parts which vapor smoothing doesn't allow. In particular, the cogs, whose sides I was trying to make smooth ended, up with smooth rounded tips, which was a disappointment.
An example of what I was trying to smoothen is would be something like this:
So how can I maintain fine details (like the cog tips in the image above) while applying smoothing methods to printed parts?
# Answer
A technique I've used in the past is to make a acetone slurry of the same filament used to print your object, and carefully paint the details you need to smooth. You must be careful and only do a very thin coat or you may damage your print. You can add extra coat if needed to make sure the acetone has evaporatored from the previous coat of ABS filaments slurry.
> 4 votes
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Tags: abs, post-processing, smoothing, vapor-smoothing
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thread-389 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/389 | In the standard PC Cable Wire that goes from the wall outlet to the switching power supply, are they standard and what are the wire specifications? | 2016-01-25T14:01:51.620 | # Question
Title: In the standard PC Cable Wire that goes from the wall outlet to the switching power supply, are they standard and what are the wire specifications?
What are the specifications of the three wires inside a PC cable that is used to connect the switching power supply to a US AC outlet.
The positive, negative and ground appear to be the same gauge stranded cable, and I've heard that it can handle 10A, but beyond that I don't really know what the rest of the specifications for the wire are.
# Answer
*Very* basically speaking, electricity works like this:
1. There's some source that delivers a certain **voltage**.
2. You have a device that operates at a certain voltage. **The device voltage and supply voltage should always match.** No, don't put that 120V US device in a 230V outlet in Europe.
3. The device does something. By doing something it draws **current**. Most devices also draw some current when not doing anything.
4. How much power your device draws is the product of these two values:`voltage x current = power`
So far, so good. In your case:
1. > US AC outlet.
the **voltage is 120V**.
2. On this other question of yours you linked to this power supply on amazon. Besides being available gift-wrapped, it states the following feature:
> You can choose the input voltage (110V/240V) by switch.
110V ≈ 120V, which means the **device voltage matches your supply voltage**.
3. The supply can deliver 30A at 12V on the DC side which means 360W. If it could transform the electricity ideally, without any inefficiency, that would be **3A** at 120V on the AC side. But your supply is unlikely ideal. Wikipedia suggests 60-95% efficiency. Let's be super pessimistic and assume 50%. That means half the power that goes into the switch power supply is turned into heat. In order to still get the 360W out, you have to insert 720W. That means **your device draws 6A** on the AC side.
What does this all mean for your wire? What wire size do you need for this supply?
Coincidentally, the above link to the amazon website showing your power supply also suggests the following PC ATX power supplies to me:
Let's get this straight: You can buy a power supply for a PC and plug it into your outlet without even thinking about what a wire size is. You'd just plug and play. **That PC power supply will potentially draw more current** than **the power supply of your 3D printer**. A standard wire would be able to supply either one of the PC ATX power supplies linked above and would not have a problem delivering a lower current to the power supply of your 3D printer.
The switching supply doesn't have a plug like a PC ATX supply, but that on its own doesn't make it any less secure (if wired up properly). It's just less common for household appliances.
> Ultimately, I'd like to avoid a fire, or damage to the house wiring.
That's a good and valid concern.
PC Power supplies deliver 12V and supply more than enough current (like the examples above). They are probably in use in your house already and did neither set it on fire nor damage the house wiring.
A switching mode power supply is just as secure and if bought from a known brand unlikely to do you any harm either if used properly and within its specifications.
**Ultimately**, this is not a question of secure electricity but a trade-off between secure electricity and the price to pay for it. The standard wire and it's specifications have little to do with this.
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Personally, I also use a cheap switching power supply made in china for my printer. It's very noisy and I pull the plug when I leave it unattended.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It's somewhat unclear what you mean by "standard PC cable", but virtually all desktop computers use IEC C14 sockets/IEC C13 plugs. Such connectors/sockets are rated for 10A 250V and thus you can safely assume that the cord itself will also be able to handle this voltage and current. 10A is what is specified by the IEC, certain North American standards agencies rate C13 cords for up to 15A.
The IEC standard also specifies that the conductors inside of a C13 lead have a cross sectional area of at least 0.75mm^2 and at least 1mm^2 if the cord is longer than 2m.
> 4 votes
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Tags: switching-power-supply, wiring, printer-building
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thread-394 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/394 | When building a RAMPS 1.4 based printer, can I safely plugin just some of the components to test if they are working? | 2016-01-26T05:38:44.720 | # Question
Title: When building a RAMPS 1.4 based printer, can I safely plugin just some of the components to test if they are working?
If I need to test out some of the components of a RAMPS 1.4 based 3D Printer, can I only plug some of them into the board (not all of them) and test them out?
I'd like to test out the NEMA 17 motors without testing the heated bed or extruder. Is this safe and why?
# Answer
> 8 votes
If by components you mean motors, fans, or heated bed, then yes. This is even suggested in the Final Setup instructions on the RAMPS wiki.
> If you think you may have mistakes (in your setup) you can install only one stepper driver during initial testing and risk only one stepper driver.
There are also printers using RAMPS with no heated bed and other machines that have no extruder at all. Furthermore, from an electronics perspective: if nothing is connected across a terminal no current will flow and therefore there is no damage that can be done. Obviously if you short out the unused connections there will be problems.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Yes, you can. By leaving components unplugged you would simply have some pins powered that are not in use. But even with all your components plugged in, you would still have some unused, powered pins on your board, so I wouldn't think too hard about that. In some cases it might be needed to mount e.i. fans to cool your electronics while running, but for testing a few stepper motors, you will be just fine.
Exactly how you would address each individual motor depends on your setup, however. My best bet would be to simply rely on your "default" firmware (such as Marlin), and then run commands for testing through Pronterface/PrintRun or similar.
Alternatively, you could upload your own sketch/firmware to the Arduino, and manipulate each stepper driver individually. This is a somewhat more advanced option, though.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As others have also said, this is generally fine. The main things I'd avoid are:
* Don't plug or unplug "heavy" items (mainly motors and heaters) with power on; turn everything off first. This is especially true for motors, whose coils produce a hefty back-voltage when disconnected.
* Be extra careful about stepper *drivers*. For example, some printers use 2 motors for Z, so if you test each axis against one driver, the current requirement may be quite different for each axis.
* Plugging in a limit switch backwards on RAMPS is likely to short +5V straight to ground, which is worth avoiding.
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Tags: ramps-1.4, prusa-i3-rework, printer-building
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thread-401 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/401 | Can general purpose polystryene (not HIPS) be used for 3D printing? | 2016-01-26T16:45:11.463 | # Question
Title: Can general purpose polystryene (not HIPS) be used for 3D printing?
High Impact PolyStyrene (HIPS) is a frequently used filament in 3D printing. It has been touted to have simular properties when printed to ABS and is especially useful for support structures (if the user has a multi-nozzle 3d Printer) as it is soluble in Limonene.
General Purpose PolyStyrene (GPPS) is frequently used in disposible cups, cutlery, etc. I don't believe I have seen it as a 3D printing filament. This is not styrofoam for the purpose of this question despite the identical chemical properties as the incorperated air makes it difficult to recycle.
Would filament produced from GPPS, be usable on most FFF 3D printers that are capable of using ABS, PLA, and HIPS? Are that any particular issues observed with such filaments that would not be observed with HIPS (besides the implied decrease in impact resistance)?
Note: For the purpose of this question, I am assuming that the filament can be produced and am concerned about whether the filament would be usable for support structures and infill.
# Answer
> 6 votes
In principle, it should work fine as a filament, since it's used extensively in the plastic extrusion industry, but I don't think you'd get great material properties out of it. ABS and HIPS incorporate polybutadiene into a graft polymer structure for a very good reason: the butadiene sections in the long molecular chains kind of "stick together" as a distinct solid phase to produce what amounts to micro-bubbles of rubber inside a matrix of hard styrene or acrylonitrile-styrene plastic. This compound microstructure is what gives HIPS and ABS favorable impact toughness and some minor flexibility.
The flexibility is important -- the stiffer a filament is, the more it will tend to warp while printing. Based on chemistry alone, I would expect styrene to be somewhat more prone to warping than ABS. And it would certainly be more brittle. So there doesn't seem to be much reason to use it as filament.
Interesting sidenote: PLA/PHA has very favorable mechanical properties because the PHA forms a very similar flexible microstructure inside the hard PLA matrix. PLA/PHA is good stuff because it mimics ABS and HIPS!
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Tags: filament, filament-production
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thread-318 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/318 | Can MeshMixer export models for color 3D printing? | 2016-01-18T02:24:45.413 | # Question
Title: Can MeshMixer export models for color 3D printing?
I have captured several models using 123D Catch and Autodesk ReCap 360.
I do all my "clean up" work in MeshMixer to prepare the models for printing, and while exporting to STL works great for printing on my home FDM printer I haven't been able to get color files exported.
I would like to export scanned models from MeshMixer and upload them to an online printing service (i.e. Shapeways or iMaterialise) and have them printed on high end color machines.
My current workflow goes as follows.
1. Export raw model (OBJ) from 123D Catch or ReCap.
2. Open model in MeshMixer v10.10.170.
3. Remove unnecessary parts of the model.
4. Export model as OBJ, OBJ with per vertex color, or VRML.
5. Zip model and exported texture files and upload to an online service.
The file in MeshMixer looks great, but ends up with either jumbled or nonexistent textures when it's uploaded to an online service. I'm guessing I'm exporting the file wrong for 3D printing, or possibly that I need to do some post-export editing to make everything line up correctly.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Color is only displayed if you set MeshMixer to render VertexColor:
```
MM menue/View/MeshColorMode/VertexColor
```
Color should be visible if VertexColor is active.
* Meshmixer is a sculpting program, so it isn’t made for taking exact measurements, creating mechanical parts, or creating architecture models.
* Basic rendering options make pretty screenshots, but advanced users might want to add in backgrounds or set up custom lighting.
Also, you can read more about this matter on **this link.**
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Tags: 123d-catch, obj
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thread-410 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/410 | How to choose a right 3D printer filament type? | 2016-01-27T14:30:41.597 | # Question
Title: How to choose a right 3D printer filament type?
There are a big variety of them that can be found at the market. Some of them have similar characteristics, the other varies from each other.
What are props and cons of cheaper filament vs expensive filament?
How to choose which filament to use?
# Answer
1. Determine what properties you need the filament to have.
There are a very wide variety of filaments because they all have somewhat different properties. You need to determine what properties you need your final print to possess. For instance, ABS can be smoothed used acetone and PLA is biodegradable. More exotic filaments could be conductive or be extremely flexible. Do not neglect to consider safety of the plastic in your application. A full list of properties is too broad for an appropriate answer from this site.
2. Determine what you printer is designed to handle.
Most printers can handle PLA and ABS with little issue but higher temperatures are required to use some materials such as nylon and polycarbonate. Determine beforehand what your printer is designed to handle. This includes determining whether you have and appropriate heated bed or other accessories.
3. Determine what you can afford.
Printing not only requires the cost of the weight of filament in the final print but all of the support structures and misprints you produce. Not only should you look for inexpensive filaments, but you should look for ones that are good enough quality you don't waste time and money fighting problems with the raw material.
All in all, this will vary case by case. I would recommend that you start with PLA or ABS as they are common and relatively easy to work with but that you do your own research into what each individual filament type has to offer..
> 10 votes
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Tags: filament
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thread-413 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/413 | Methods for smoothing 3D objects | 2016-01-27T16:25:12.577 | # Question
Title: Methods for smoothing 3D objects
How do I smooth 3D printed objects? What is the best / common method to do this?
# Answer
Abrasive blasting is the only other method I can think of which you haven't said you don't want to try.
It is certainly the easiest method provided you have access to one.
Different forms of abrasive blasting include:
* shot blasting (metal shot) - I suspect it would be far to abrasive but I've never tried it.
* sandblasting - you have to be careful but this is basically sandpaper attached to a wand. I've used it with great success.
* bead blasting - using plastic beads. It might actually be the best option but I've never tried it.
* media blasting - usually uses ground up shells. Might work but I've never tried it.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Get a rock/jewelry tumbler and some tumbling media such as stainless steel shot, and try tumbling your print.
For 3D printed plastic, your print will (a) need to be sturdy, and (b) not have any fine details or small parts that you don't want to be worn away. With metal you will tumble it for hours in order to smooth and semi-polish the surface. With plastic, I would recommend a much shorter time period.
One person tried this using screws as his tumbling media, and has some interesting results to show for it. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Basically, you can get a metallic coating on your plastic print that is made up of tiny bits of the tumbling medium. You'll need to add a protective coating to keep it from rubbing off, but it's cheaper than buying metallic filament.
(Thanks to Mark Walter's comment for the linked articles)
> 2 votes
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Tags: post-processing, smoothing
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thread-402 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/402 | How to use a multimeter to test how many amps RAMPS is pulling? | 2016-01-26T17:45:57.233 | # Question
Title: How to use a multimeter to test how many amps RAMPS is pulling?
This is in with my other question about components and the other question about electricity; how can I check to see how many amps are being pulled? Can I check a component at a time to make sure I'm not going over the limit, and then just add them all in together once I've summed the amps to make sure it's safe to hook everything up. The amps shouldn't change right?
What settings should my multimeter be set to? And to check how much it's pulling, do I just put the multimeter's leads on the green terminals on RAMPS 1.4?
# Answer
> 7 votes
To measure amps (current), the meter has to be wired in series with the item to be measured (for this reason, ammeters are designed to have very low resistance).
This has the down-side that you have to disconnect the component to put the meter in line with it. That makes it hard to do the "check a component at a time" method you mentioned.
An ammeter measures *actual* current flow, so you really can't test a component for it in isolation. Components can have wildly different "current draw" depending on the situation. For example, motor current varies with torque and speed; current through a resistor varies with the voltage across it; and so on.
There are special "clamp-on" current meters that just clamp around a conductor and report the current by using induction. Very nice if you have one.
If you just want the total current the entire RAMPS board is pulling, put the ammeter between the power supply and the RAMPS power input connection(s). Be *very* sure not to have the meter set to read volts or ohms when you do this (it might or might not survive).
# Answer
> 3 votes
The easiest method is to use a Clamp On amp meter on either the hot or neutral of your power supply.
In most cases clamp on meters only work with AC xor DC power so you would only be able to get the reading on one side of the power supply.
Multiply this number by the voltage and you get the wattage.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you don't want to stick a multimeter on the wire, I recommend getting a kill-a-watt meter. Pretty much, you plug it into the wall, and plug the printer into the meter, and it has a little screen that shows the result.
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Tags: ramps-1.4
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thread-386 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/386 | Making your own filament | 2016-01-25T01:51:24.097 | # Question
Title: Making your own filament
I"m considering making my own filament, with a device like the one at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380987. Partly because it's another machine to build, which is cool, but also to save money on filament.
Has anyone here tried to make their own filament? My main questions are:
* Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's good enough to use without a lot of frustration?
* Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.
* Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?
# Answer
1. Quality depends on 3 things:
1. Quality of pellets (purity, fillers, color)
2. Where/how they are stored before and during the extrusion (humidity, contaminants)
3. Have a filter in your extruder to get rid of random junk and air bubbles ending up in your filament (250 micron wire mesh filter)
There's no secret formula the filament producing companies have, they just have very efficient and very fast filament producing machines (of course very expensive, too). But when it comes to vanilla ABS or PLA, it's almost the same content.
2. Personal experience: no. If you get the same pellets, store it in the same place and run your extruder in the same place, it should behave the same.
3. I don't think there is some filament mixture you won't be able to find anywhere, but you might be able to make it yourself cheaper. Example: mixing strontium aluminate powder for glow in the dark filament (come in many colors, not just green).
I'd recommend this design: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-3d-printing-filament-factory-Filame/ It produces filament pretty fast (one full 1kg spoon in 3-4 hours). Just make sure you have enough experience to not electrocute yourself while assembling this as the heaters use mains power.
I personally think the commercial "hobby" extruders are not worth the money. I also own the Filastruder and it's just no different and slower than the above, unless you care about a pretty plywood case for your extruder I see no advantage and since it uses off-the-shelf parts itself why bother buying a kit like that than sourcing the parts yourself?
> 8 votes
# Answer
You can basically use any machine that pulverizes your pellets into small pieces.
**One guy on 3dhubs, explained it in details.**
My conclusion is that you can recycle everything using this data gathered from research up in link there.
Also, you can use any plastic material and pulverize it into pellets (even from the bottles) and you can try to do this process. Only thing that matters is quality of product.
I was thinking about pellets from vinyl records. I bought one big collection before one year, and there was around 500-600 records that are completley useless. So, you can pulverize them and repeat the process, because process of making vinyl records and process of making bottles is completley different, and uses different kind of plastics.
So to draw a conslusion: everything depends on quality of pellets.
And to answer on your three questions:
> Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put
> another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's
> good enough to use without a lot of frustration?
No, it isn't Your filament would be lower quality if you don't get a great pellets.
> Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.
Yes it does. Check the link up there.
> Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?
Again, it all depends on type of filament you like to use. I wrote about plastic filaments.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Producing own filament is a challenging task. I see main pitfall in producing filament so it has same quality as you get in shop. You have to:
* constant round-shape diameter
* diameter tolerance ±0.05 mm
* avoid bubbles and other defects
* avoid object in filament (depends on pellets quality)
* store pellets properly (high humidity is a problem)
Additionally you have to deal with spooling, because it affects the diameter too (if you roll filament too fast then you reduce its diameter).
It takes a lot of time and frustration to develop such a machine. If you would like to produce own filament, consider buying a filament machine:
If you would like to use different material then ABS/PLA then take a look on Strooder documentation - they confirm usage of PP, PET, HDPE, HIPS, PE, even wood filament.
Is it not better option to print directly from pellets? Take a look on Universal Pellet Extruder for RepRap (model).
> 5 votes
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Tags: filament, recycling, filament-production
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thread-458 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/458 | Is it necessary to have both hot ends on a dual extruder printer at the same height? | 2016-02-03T09:30:32.887 | # Question
Title: Is it necessary to have both hot ends on a dual extruder printer at the same height?
I'm thinking of another extruder on my printer, and I'm curious about this one....
Is it necessary to have both hot ends on same height? Why yes / why not? (if there is not)
# Answer
> 7 votes
I have a dual extruder Replicator 1 and having the nozzles at the same height is a must and albeit a bit of a struggle otherwise. At one point, I had to disassemble my extruder head and the nozzles didn't line up quite right. There after, printing with the lower one obviously didn't have any troubles, however, printing with the high extruder made it so the lower extruder would scrape the molten plastic layer. This made my surface finish horrible and almost impossible for support structures to be printed.
Instead of fighting with my stock nozzle assembly to get everything perfectly lined up, I just shimmed the one side with some stacks of paper cutouts. This brought my extruders very close to even.
Also, you'll want to make sure excess plastic is cleaned off of **BOTH** nozzles when printing with either nozzle. I found that some prints would fail because of a small discharge from a previous print on the other nozzle.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I don't have dual extruder printer myself, but to my understanding having both nozzles leveled at the same height is critical for getting successful prints.
For typical FDM printers, the lowest point of the end effector should always be the nozzle. If you, for instance, mount a fan lower than the tip of your nozzle, it will eventually collide with the printed object.
The effect of having unequally leveled nozzle tips for a dual extruder printer will be exactly the same: one of the nozzles will either drag against or collide with the model during print; or, one of the nozzles will be to far away from the model, giving poor layer adhesion. Either way, the result will be sub-optimal.
So, leveling both nozzles equally is probably a good idea. You might want to have a look at this question on some advice regarding how to do it.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If your printer has no way to move the heads up and down, or otherwise out of the way, and your slicer isn't able to detect collisions and account for head height differences in the produced G code, then they must be at exactly the same height *from the bed*.
If extruder A is hanging lower than extruder B, then when B has printed at a certain level, and A moves across that area, A will hit the material B has printed.
Unfortunately, this is further complicated for newer printers because some of them rely on digital bed leveling. If your bed isn't parallel to your X and Y axis movement, then you have to work very hard to make sure the heads are parallel to the bed, and with some mechanisms this isn't possible without making the mechanism itself parallel to the bed, so just mounting the new head at the same height as the other head might not be sufficient if your printer isn't perfectly calibrated already.
I have not yet seen a printer or slicer that manages heads of different heights, but I suppose it's possible to manage the problem with additional intelligence. For instance, if the printer can move the heads up and down independently, it might move one down for printing, and the other up and out of the way when it's not printing, and then the opposite when it switches. I can't think of a good reason to do this, though.
Another option would be to develop a slicer to generate G-Code that will prevent such collisions. The printer would necessarily be limited in what it could print depending on the location of the second head, as there are some situations where it would need to print in a certain area, but a collision prevents it from getting to that area.
At any rate, no one has developed such software or mechanisms yet, so if you had good reason to mount the heads at different heights, you'd have to account for all of these factors and develop the complete solution yourself.
# Answer
> 0 votes
To add to the above answers, besides the obvious point that one hotend might collide with something another hotend positioned lower than it has printed, you also want both hotends to be positioned X microns above the bed at minimum height so your filament will stick to the bed properly. Position one a bit higher than the other and what it prints won't stick to the bed very well, position one a bit lower and it will hit the bed and clog/be unable to print the first layer. The only reason I can think of when you'd want one hotend to be higher is a situation when you're not using both hotends and don't want the second hotend to drag on and deform a layer the main hotend has printed and is still warm and deformable. If that's an issue (I doubt) then sure, move it a bit higher.
If there are other reasons for what you would like to have the hotends at different heights, please add that to your question. I can't think of one myself.
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Tags: printer-building, hotend, dual-nozzle, calibration, layer-height
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thread-450 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/450 | Broken Print Bed | 2016-02-03T01:01:00.623 | # Question
Title: Broken Print Bed
I have a Robo 3D. However A while ago, the print bed was fractured, and now it has a long crack cutting it in half. The bed still works because it is held together, by the screws holding the bed to the tracks. So I want to continue using it, because it still is fairly good, the heating element works fine, and a replacement bed is 80$, and I am unsure if the one sold on the RoBo 3D website will be compatible with my printer as I don't have the R1, but a version before that.
So my question is: How can I best align the two glass fragments, to provide as flat a print surface as possible, and two how to best hold these two pieces in place, or if it would be best to invest in a new print bed?
EDIT: Here is a image of the heating element as well to explain the situation with how it is attached
EDIT: The RoBo 3D team have said that I just need to upgrade my y-axis with a object on thingiverse and then buy their new build plate. So I am going to experiment with a glass replacement, and if that fails to succeed then I will go along with their suggestion, and buy the upgrade. Thanks everyone for their help.
# Answer
A little chip is fine, but I wouldn't print with that big of a crack. **However**, that doesn't mean you need to spend $80 on a new sheet of glass.
Option #1- If you want borosilicate glass, you can get a sheet from either McMaster (about $40+shipping for a 10"x10" piece, less for smaller) or from a local glass maker (the price varies a lot, so you should check that also if you want to go that route). However, you won't be able to drill holes (tempered glass *will* break of you drill a hole). Borosilicate glass has the advantage of being *extremely* heat-resistant, so it won't break from thermal expansion. If you go this route, you should pick up a few binder clips also to attach the sheet to the heated bed.
Option #2- You might be able to get picture frame glass from a hardware store. It's super cheap (mine was $3 or something from lowes) and they'll often cut it to exact size. You might be able to drill this, but you have to be extremely careful. Sometimes, the hardware store can drill holes in the sheet for you if needed. If you don't want to drill, a few binder clips will work just as well.
Just a note for if you are using binder clips: you might need to (depending on how your hbp is set up) get a piece of glass that is slightly smaller to allow for any bed leveling screws to have room. If you're going with the picture frame glass, you should make sure that the glass will be entirely within the heated part so that there isn't any heat gradient (that's how glass cracks/shatters).
> 4 votes
# Answer
Replacing your bed is the safest option, especially if you have a heated bed. Cracks and chips in the glass create an uneven surface for your prints, and can become a safety hazard; additionally, while borosilicate glass is very resistant to thermal shock, it can continue to crack or shatter when subjected to rapid/uneven temperature variations after damage. Borosilicate glass tends to break in large pieces rather than shattering (snap instead of splintering), but it's still a safety hazard.
It sounds like you have the Kickstarter version of the Robo3D R1; the current glass bed on the Robo3D uses magnets to hold the bed in place, so you'd probably need to replace your Y axis rails along with the bed. I would contact Robo3D support to see what options you have available for upgrading the bed and rails through them.
Aside from Robo3D, you have a few options: \- If you plan to continue using the bed, Kapton tape is an effective surface application for general printing. It's very thin, but provides an effective surface for ABS & PLA adherence, works with heated beds, and is compatible with secondary adherence items (blue masking tape, PVA glue, ABS slurry, etc). Kapton tape can be damaged after several prints, so plan on having several sheets on hand. \- You can replace your current borosilicate glass with a new sheet of borosilicate glass from a secondary source \- Aluminum plates are an effective replacement \- Lexan sheets also make an effective replacement, but I wouldn't recommend applying heat to them.
> 4 votes
# Answer
IMHO your best bet is to use some kind of a tape. I do not have any experience with robo3dprinter but, I have been using glass with PET tape on in for past 4 years.
I have seen guys using Kapton tape as well. Never tried.
The main disadvantage on this solution is increasing the bed thickness, I am not sure if you are able to tinker with the Z level endstop, in case not this migh be an issue.
The other solution you can try is replace your bed with piece of glass and then apply PET tape or any other kind, I am also not sure if you are able to replace the bed print surface of not.
When using glass and PET tape, you need to get the surface of PET tape rough using sand paper, and you might have to apply so called Acetone Juice to make sure that your ABS prints will stick to the bed.
Acetone juice is basically Aceton with disolved piece of Natural ABS plastic this created sticky layer on your bed that helps to hold your prints on the bed while printing.
> 3 votes
# Answer
If your heatbed itself is aluminum/copper/other metal: Get a glass cut and replace it. The current one is probably attached to the heatbed with adhesive glue. If it the adhesive is cyanocrylate based, you can remove by rubbing with acetone. If silicone type, it will come off by some force. Don't worry, you won't damage aluminum. THe heating element is either inside the aluminum or under it. If it's not alumunum it's likely a PCB heatbed. Then I wouldn't suggest to use acetone or some "antiglue" and would just try to apply a little force and see if the glass moves a bit. If no, don't bother, PCB heatbeds can break too. Then I'd just suggest to apply some epoxy to cover the holes surrounding the cracks and keeping the glasses uniform.
Also, about replacement glasses: picture frame glasses are very cheap. McMaster sells some high quality bearings and rods, but for glass there's no point to waste money. $5 is typical for that size borosilicate glass, if you're in USA (I'm not) I think your local Home Depot will cut it for free for you as well.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I agree with several others that your best bet is to replace the glass entirely. But short of that, you might try something like Loctite "Glass glue", which is essentially crazy glue for glass. Be sure to level and clamp well while drying, or you'll end up with it permanently *not* straight of course. You'd want it clamped to a very flat surface, and clamped pushing the broken edges together. But I think I'd just replace it.
> 1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, hbp
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thread-461 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/461 | Printing multiple materials with different properties on the same device | 2016-02-03T10:39:03.100 | # Question
Title: Printing multiple materials with different properties on the same device
I have searched the internet and found various 3D printers with different advantages and materials which they can print - some even multi color.
However, I cannot seem to find a printer that can print multiple material with different properties; for instance, simultaneously printing PLA and metal. Is there currently such a printer available or in development?
# Answer
Yes and no.
> for instance simultanious printing of plas plastic and lets say metal. Is such a printer available or in development ?
Practically speaking, no. Metal printing requires significantly higher temperatures than plastic, and the two processes are so incompatible that there is currently no good solutions that would allow one printer to print both in the same print. Whether extruding filament, laser sintering, or curing resins, the materials involved have to be fairly similar in processing environment to print adjacent to each other without issue.
There are many printers that are intended to print multiple materials by changing the print head. You might, for instance, use a ceramic paste extruder, then change the head for the next print using plastic.
There have been efforts in the past, and some efforts are ongoing, to resolve this. For instance wood's metal, a low temperature alloy, can be poured at temperatures compatible with plastics, so it's possible to create a printer that prints plastic, leaving troughs or voids in the plastic, then the same printer during this print would pour molten woods metal into these areas, which then solidifies into an internal metal structure. These are intended for circuitry and electrical use, however significant problems still exist because the thermal expansion differences in these materials lead to stress and result in poor reliability.
So while some of these processes are being developed, this is still just in the experimental stage and there are significant problems to overcome before printers can print widely different materials in a single printing session.
Of course you can find plastics with such a wide range of characteristics that they can be seen as printing different materials. Plastics imbued with wood fibers, printing next to conductive plastics with graphite, printing next to flexible plastics, etc, etc are now possible, and depending on your requirements they may meet your needs.
> 7 votes
# Answer
For the most part, you can achieve this with a dual extruding printer. However, dual extrusion is best for either multi-color printing or printing with support material. For example, printing the part with PLA and all support material with water soluble PVA.
In practice, printing two completely different materials is not sound engineering practice as they have the potential to not make a well enough bond to each other. So, the case of pure metal and pure plastic, the two materials will not bond well because they will not both be in the same physical state together at any point in time.
However, your best option would be a printer like the MarkForged which uses a composite approach by combining a common binder (ABS, PLA, Nylon, etc.) and a strong material such as Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, or Kevlar.
> 3 votes
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Tags: multi-material
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thread-502 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/502 | How to properly use Polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam with the heated bed? | 2016-02-04T23:34:54.153 | # Question
Title: How to properly use Polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam with the heated bed?
From what I understand, it takes a really long time for the heated bed to heat up using an MK2a heated bed. I've heard some people suggest that using Polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam (insulation that takes quite a bit of heat to catch on fire) can be used under the headed bed to make it heat up faster.
Now of course there are other methods for doing this too, for instance using a larger power supply, but at this point I'd rather just use the parts that I have without re-soldering many of the components on the RAMPS board.
I was wondering what a proper way to attach this to the bed would be for instance, should the springs go on the bottom or on the top of the bed? Do I need some extra parts? Are there any other considerations for doing this?
# Answer
> 4 votes
An alternative solution that is used with some Kossel Mini models, is a simple cardboard covered with aluminum tape (docs).
This solution has the added benefit of actually improving heat-up time, since the reflective surface of the aluminum tape *reflects the heat back into the bed*, instead of getting absorbed.
It is also a very simple solution, without costly materials. I guess mounting it properly could be an issue depending on your printer, but this is a fine solution for the Kossel models, at least.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If you use a seperate powersupply for your bed (or if your controller has a built in voltage regulator so it doesn't damage at higher voltages) you can sometimes find an small potentiometer near the connection terminals of your powersupply, turning this potentiometer up can raise the outputvoltage of your powersupply by a few volts max. In my case the potentiometer was orange and allowed me to turn up the voltage by almost 2Volts!
If your printcontroller is running from the same powersupply and is critical about input DON'T do this since it will damage the electronics. Better option then is to find a higher voltage powersupply and power the bed Seperately.
A buddy of mine runs his MARK2a bed on 19V and it heats up very fast. (he uses an obscure 15V powersupply that was able to be cranked up to 19V). And he doesn't use insulation at all!
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Tags: heated-bed, printer-building, hbp, mk2a
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thread-507 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/507 | Will I see a noticeable difference switching from a .4mm to a .3mm nozzle? | 2016-02-05T22:18:16.727 | # Question
Title: Will I see a noticeable difference switching from a .4mm to a .3mm nozzle?
I currently print with a .4mm nozzle on my extruder, and my prints seem to come out fairly accurate; would I see much of a difference if I went to a .3mm?
What are the pros and cons of larger and smaller nozzle sizes?
# Answer
> 14 votes
1) Smaller nozzle advantage: sharper "corners" (higher X and Y resolution)
2) Larger nozzle advantage: faster 3d printing (because you can print the shell faster as each perimeter can be thicker so you'll need less perimeters to be printed to get the same shell thickness. Same true for infill).
3) Smaller nozzle disadvantage (varies, debatable): higher risk of clogging. There are of course other factors which can result in clogging, but this can also affect it as even finer particles in less quality filament can get stuck now.
4) Smallel nozzle disadvantage: since less plastic can come out at a given duration of time, it means less speedy printing of larger layer heights, if at all possible.
I feel like I should get back to (1) and explain why it is so. When companies market their 3d printer they usually talk about the layer height (the Z resolution) completely ignoring the X and Y. This makes sense for marketing. Luckily it is not hard to explain what is usually left out and what is important for one of the answers to your question on what are advantages of smaller nozzles:
The Z resolution depends on two main things: 1) The stepper motor driver accuracy of your 3d printer's motherboard. Pretty much all are the same now. Claiming your 3d printer can print at 20 micron layer height doesn't say anything, pretty much any 3d printed today can. 2) Nozzle/extruder quality, nozzle diameter. The latter surprisingly does not determine much. Because of how FFF/FMD 3d printing works, the perimeters of your 3d print can be way thinner than your nozzle diameter. This might sound odd but there's a simple explanation: the molten plastic coming out of the hotend is squished and stretched when the head moves. Because it is stretched, it can be made thinner as you increase how much it is squished. There's not much experimentation done on this and available online, only from personal experience I can say I can print perimeters 50% thinner than my 3mm nozzle. So I suppose if you wanted thinner perimeters than that, you would need to swap to a thinner nozzle. Why would you want thinner perimeters? To get sharper corners or in other words better X and Y resolution for your 3d prints which is ignored by most unlike the overstated "layer height" (Z resolution). Here's an illustration to help you visualize how fatter perimeters and less sharp corners/edges on your 3d model result in "lower X/Y resolution" (the illustration is a 2d cutout, viewed from the top):
# Answer
> 3 votes
My understanding is that the only difference is your range that your layer height can be. For example, the optimal layer heights for a 0.4mm nozzle fall between 0.1-0.3mm. So, we can assume a smaller nozzle will yield a lower range. Keep in mind that varying sizes in the nozzle could produce complications more prominently than with a standard size. Things such as ooze, clogging, and filament backup may occur with a smaller nozzle size if your slicing engine is not setup correctly.
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Tags: fdm, extruder, nozzle
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thread-510 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/510 | How thin can my extrusion be from a 1.2mm extruder? | 2016-02-05T23:53:48.623 | # Question
Title: How thin can my extrusion be from a 1.2mm extruder?
I always assumed that the smallest diameter that you could extrude was equal to the diameter of the extruder tip itself. Recently I heard that you can actually extrude a line that's as little as half the width of the nozzle opening.
Is that true in theory? In practice?
My printer's 0.3mm nozzle broke recently, and the only replacement on hand was a 1.2mm nozzle. The prints have been fast, but really coarse and imprecise. I've dialed the extrusion diameter down from about 2mm to 1.2mm for some smaller, more intricate parts, and it worked fine. Can I go down to 0.9mm or 0.6mm extrusion diameter without it screwing up my prints?
If I can't do that, what *does* happen if I try to print 0.6mm out of a 1.2mm extruder nozzle?
For this question, let's assume an FDM printer using PLA and/or ABS filament.
# Answer
The main issue with very narrow extrusion widths (less than the nozzle size) is that you get really poor "nozzle squash." The plastic isn't pressed down very hard as it's extruded. That causes poor layer bonding and weaker prints.
The flow of molten plastic coming out of the nozzle must be drawn down by tension in order to end up smaller than the nozzle opening, and that drawing effect makes it difficult to get good contact with the previous layer. So you end up with a "stack of logs" structure kind of like this:
(This photo actually shows layer height = extrusion width = nozzle size, which is another no-no, but the end result is similar.)
What you want instead is something very "mashed together" and strong like this:
How finely the the strand can draw down -- versus smearing or breaking apart into blobs -- will depend greatly on the type of filament and the printing conditions. For example, nylon draws down extremely well because it experiences a large degree of strain crystallization, and actually gets stronger and stiffer as it's stretched. PLA tends to get more brittle when strained and may break into stringy blobs. ABS doesn't change terribly much because it's highly amorphous. Polymer type, blending agents, print speed, printing temperature, and cooling will control the drawing behavior of the filament.
Another factor to consider is what the strand spacing is within the print. If you set the extrusion width equal to half the nozzle width, depending on the slicer, adjacent strands may be placed with pitch equal or slightly less than half the nozzle width. So after the first strand is printed (say an unimportant inner perimeter) **the *next* strand will be printed with the nozzle partially overlapping the previous strand.** This effectively creates a constriction to force the plastic out of a smaller opening to one side of the nozzle, which is not too different from printing with a smaller nozzle. Subsequent perimeter strands may then tend to "heal up" even if the first is low quality. This effect doesn't completely fix the problem, but it helps account for why under-width strands seem to work better than they ought to.
Of course, even if the strands turn out ok, it's arguable whether there is any benefit. If the goal of a smaller extrusion width is more precision and sharper corners, you may not actually accomplish that goal. When the filament is being drawn down by tension in the cooling polymer, it may tend to "cut corners" and get pulled into a rounded arc when the nozzle changes direction. That may defeat the point of using a thinner extrusion width in the first place. Generally I only recommend using under-width strands to capture thin-wall detail that is only a little bit too thin for the nozzle, not as a way to improve overall print quality.
In comparison, having the extrusion width equal or wider than the nozzle ensures the plastic is firmly squished downward into intimate contact with the lower layer. You can fudge this a bit and still get decent results, but it's *usually* best to keep the extrusion width equal or larger than the nozzle size. There's no hard cutoff where it will / won't work.
> 7 votes
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Tags: print-quality, extrusion, nozzle
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thread-343 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/343 | Cura with Pronterface UI stops printing | 2016-01-19T23:02:39.743 | # Question
Title: Cura with Pronterface UI stops printing
When I use Cura with the Pronterface UI it sometime just stops printing.
When it stops the printer just stops, the UI looks like it's still printing but nothing is moving in the printer, also, trying to control the printer from the UI does nothing.
It always stops early in the printing process, usually during the auto-leveling process or while printing the skirt, the latest it happened was during the first solid layer of a raft.
Usually closing the printing window and re-opening it solves the problem but not always, this never happened to me with the basic UI, I couldn't find any settings that makes the problem better or worse, it just happens randomly.
Anyone knows how to stop that from happening?
My printer is a Robo 3D R1+
**Update**
After installing a screen on my printer I discovered Pronterface is sending a "Wait for user" G Code to the printer.
Because this changes the question too much and invalidates the existing answer I've asked a new question at What makes Pronterface wait for user?
# Answer
After installing a screen on my printer I discovered Pronterface is sending a "Wait for user" G Code to the printer.
Because this changes the question too much and invalidates the existing answer I've asked a new question at What makes Pronterface wait for user?
> 1 votes
# Answer
A problem I have come across when using Pronterface is that the operating system starves the resources of the program if the program's window is not in the front.
If I, for instance, started a print, then started browsing the web, it would sometimes suddenly stop. When bringing Pronterface back to the front, it would take a few seconds, and then continue (if I remember correctly).
On OS X - which I am using - I believe this is called *app nap*, while a similar mechanism exist for Windows. I ended up printing form an SD card myself after this, but you might want to try manually setting the resource priority for Pronterface in your OS.
In Windows, you could trying to increase the resource allocation for Pronterface by going to `Task Manager -> Details -> Right click the Pronterface process -> Set Priority`. I would be careful to set it too high, since you are basically allowing the program more juice to potentially do something wrong.
In OS X you could try to disable app nap for Pronterface.
> 1 votes
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Tags: software
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thread-519 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/519 | How to improve face that are printed on support? | 2016-02-07T15:03:18.640 | # Question
Title: How to improve face that are printed on support?
Is there anything I can do to improve the bottom side of surfaces that are printed on support?
I always try to rotate the model so that surfaces that need to look nice are on the sides or top, and, if possible I divide the model into smaller parts to minimize the amount of support.
But sometimes there is an object that has an irregular shape that need support no matter how I rotate it and can't be broken down into smaller objects with no support.
And then, after removing the support I get a very ugly ridged face that takes forever to sand.
To clarify, I'm not asking about making supports easier to remove, I don't have a problem with this, I'm talking about making the surface that touched the support better looking after removing the support.
Is there anything I can do to improve the look of the face that is printed on supports?
I'm using Cura to do the slicing and printing, I'm using the "lines" support type, my printer is the Robo3D R1+
# Answer
> 5 votes
The basic answer to your question is to create better **bridging** or **overhangs** on your machine. Bridging is when you are printing between two solid pieces (like a bridge). Overhangs occur when printing off of a single solid piece and coming back. Most slicing engines allow extra settings for speed, fan power, etc for these parameters, just refer to this terminology.
A very common and simple solution in getting features to 3D print properly is to just slow down! If you're not a in a rush to get the part done, you bring down all of the feedrates in your slicing engine. MakerWare has mine at 90/150 mm/s for print and rapid. Typically I'll bring that down to about 50/90. My reasoning is the more time you give the plastic to cool, both while and after printing the layer, the more rigid that layer will be for the next one. When briding or overhanging, there will typically be a sagged area in the print. You can minimize this by providing the plastic more time to cool. Also keep in mind that printing on supports is still technically bridging (printing between two solid pieces).
Another thing to keep in mind is adhesion from one layer to the next matter just as much between the current layer and the previous as the current strand to the one next to it. So, in some cases, increasing your shell could possibly make it easier for the infill/roof/floor strands.
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Tags: print-quality, support-structures
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thread-518 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/518 | What makes Pronterface wait for user? | 2016-02-07T14:13:33.580 | # Question
Title: What makes Pronterface wait for user?
I'm using Cura with the Pronterface UI to slice/print and sometimes printing just stops - always in the first layer - when it happens the printing screen shows "Waiting for user", when I press the button on the printer printing resumes.
I don't know when this happens, it just happens about once every 5-10 prints, when this happens if I close the printing window and immediately click "print to usb" to reopen it the problem doesn't repeat.
This only happens with the Pronterface UI, it doesn't happen with Cura basic UI or when printing using an SD card.
Not using Pronterface isn't a good option because when I'm fine-tuning a model it much more convenient to send a test print from the computer and not copy the gcode to an SD card and print from the printer.
My printer is Robo3D R1+
# Answer
> 1 votes
That's the temperature problem that you've encountered.
The temperature of bed and hotend is reported every few seconds. Per default, first that sets is the bed temperature, then you need to wait for the bed to reach it, then warm up the hotend, and then start printing.
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, robo-r1+
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thread-516 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/516 | What parameters affect cylinder regularity? | 2016-02-07T00:33:09.337 | # Question
Title: What parameters affect cylinder regularity?
I'm printing cylindrical pins for a spool holder, but all my pins have irregularities on the external surface of the cylinders (see photo for partially printed pin with irregularities).
It's hard to tell for sure, but it appears that the hot end will occasionally move a piece of soft plastic it previously laid down.
I've tried decreasing print speed, travel speed, and layer height but I still get the irregularities.
What parameters are most likely to effect cylinder regularity?
# Answer
> 4 votes
This is probably a result of bad quality filament. If you haven't changed much in your setups, haven't changed slicers, but may have changed spools, then this might be the result. I would try using another spool and perhaps switch suppliers. I know it's expensive and there seems to be a stigma around it, but MakerBot Industries provides quality PLA (some ABS also).
Other than that, you've done some of what I would suggest in this case which are the following:
* Speeds
* Layer height
My only other suggestions would be:
* Check how level your build plate is
* Check material requirements. ie ABS is ideal between 230-240C according to MSDS with about 110C build plate temp, PLA between 210-230C. Sometimes too hot of a hotend can result in overextrusion or ooze.
* If the cylinder is smaller, try changing your slicing settings to have a time minimum for each layer. In my experience, a material like ABS will begin to flare out with variations in the print environment. When the material flares out, as the nozzle comes across the area again, the flared areas will be pushed aside. If you adjust your slicing settings to about 15 seconds (refer to this calculator), then the material will have time to cool slightly from its plastic state. You can cheat this slightly by adding another object somewhere further on the plate with the same height, since the time it takes to rapid to the area and print the layer might be enough time for cooling.
I would also recommend doing some in depth maintenance to eliminate in obvious problems (such as cleaning your nozzle, rods, belts, etc.)
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Tags: print-quality
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thread-383 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/383 | Filament extrudes at an angle | 2016-01-24T12:34:09.723 | # Question
Title: Filament extrudes at an angle
On one of the nozzles on my printer, the filament comes out at a 45 degree angle. It seems that this causes problems with adhesion to the bed and overall quality.
* What caused this problem?
* How do I fix it?
* How do I prevent it from happening in the future?
# Answer
I've personally had this happen when I had a minor clog in my nozzle.
My first steps to fix this would be:
1. Make sure the exterior of your nozzle is clean. I've had bits of plastic pull at the extruding filament and change it's direction.
2. Attempt a "cold pull" or "atomic pull". On my Replicator 2 I do this by removing the extruder motor, heating up the hot end, manually pushing a length of filament through the nozzle, letting it cool slightly and tugging the filament (and hopefully the clog) out of the nozzle.
> 7 votes
# Answer
If you're extruding into the air, it's actually quite normal for the filament to come out in seemingly random directions. This shouldn't cause problems because the filament should always be getting squished onto the bed/layer underneath (or during bridging, getting stretched). The way the filament comes out in free air doesn't reflect how it behaves during printing.
If you are experiencing troubles then perhaps the nozzle is clogged with a small piece of debris (or, unlikely) the nozzle is actually damaged. There's little you can do to prevent that apart from using high quality filament and being careful not to damage the nozzle.
> 6 votes
# Answer
You very likely have partial clog in your hotend (the side which is clogged is the angle the extruding filament bends to) or have some plastic somehow stuck on the nozzle surface which the extruding plastic almost sticks to, like two droplets of water merging into one.
If its the latter, clean the hotend. It's easier to remove the plastic on it while its hot and soft, but don't burn yourself.
If it's a clog, that's more complicated. First, you can make sure if it is indeed a clog or not by extruding into the air and measuring the wire with a caliper. If it's thinner than it should be and your slicer settings are fine, then its a clog.
Ways to get rid of clog:
1) Replace the nozzle with a new one.
2) Break the clog with a sharp wire.
3) Take the hotend off and clean the nozzle with acetone ("acetone bath").
4) Blow torch on a removed nozzle. Dangerous thing to do for some but it works. If you're not confident or experienced to do this and the previous two solutions don't help, then go with option 1.
> 1 votes
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Tags: maintenance, extruder, extrusion
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thread-548 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/548 | Printing a CV joint | 2016-02-10T14:52:38.880 | # Question
Title: Printing a CV joint
Fair warning: I am a complete novice in 3-D printing. This will, hopefully, be the first thing I've ever printed.
I want to make a Constant Velocity Joint for a camera stabilizer I'm making. I've been looking at different options, and it seems that a double cardan joint would be easiest to design/make/print. However, the intended use involves force being applied along the shaft, into the joint, which I think in a double cardan will cause "buckling" (forcing the joint into a 90° zig-zag).
Also, perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't see it rotating very smoothly (pretty essential for camera stabilization.)
So my next idea is a Tracta type, with bearings. The question is:
Can you print bearings inside their housing? or do movable parts have to be printed separately?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Based on information provided in the comments I can say that yes, you can technically print bearings inside their housing. However, you must consider the capabilities of the technology.
Typically an FDM printer, such as a MakerBot Replicator, can yield undesirable results depending on how small you need the objects and how close each object is to another (ie bearings to the housing/each other). If you have a dual-extruding FDM printer, you could utilize a second support structure material. For example, you could print the bearings/housing in PLA and print the raft/supports using water soluble PVA. This provides a solid structure while printing without worry of having excess material in the housing (defeating the purpose of a bearing).
On the other hand, using the powder printer is most likely your best solution for creating the bearings (and less frustrating). Naturally, you will not need to worry about support structures as there is support inherently created as the powder is lain out for each layer. You just need to be sure that the tolerance of your model adhere to the capabilities of this machine and its post-processing.
Regardless of which technology you use, be sure that your design incorporates a means of allowing support material to be taken out after the print is complete.
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Tags: 3d-design
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thread-540 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/540 | Mushy small top layers? | 2016-02-09T19:47:43.250 | # Question
Title: Mushy small top layers?
I just added a fan to my printer because very small layers seem to come out very badly. For example, the 5mm PLA cube that's the top level of the test shape shown below. Watching closely, I can see that the newly-extruded fiber is pushing the previous layer(s?) around pretty freely. And when the object is finished, the little top cube is bulging, rounded, and still soft to the touch.
The 2nd-to-top level of the object is also quite small and quick, but often comes out nicely (if anything, it was better before I added the fan).
The fan is a squirrel-cage with about a 2.5cm square outlet, pointing at the nozzle from about 5cm away, running full speed. The extruder is a Mk9 from http://www.makergeeks.com/duexretopr.html.
I also tried telling pronterface to wait if a level was too brief, but that setting seems not to do anything.
What else can I try? It seems like this is a not-enough-cooling problem, but perhaps something else too?
# Answer
## Layer Times
See my answer to this question and pay particular attention to my suggestion about a minimum layer print time. I'm not sure if all slicing engines provide this option, but I know MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop and (possibly) Slic3r allow this setting.
Basically, when you're extruding smaller features like this, the previous layer(s) are still very hot and possibly very pliable. So, as your nozzle moves around above the previous layer, the nozzle may (and probably will) push some of this molten plastic around. Chances are you can see it to a certain degree while it's printing. You can definitely see this in a most drastic state if you print a tall and small diameter cylinder. You'll notice that the part will become almost exponentially unstable the higher it goes.
By increasing the time your printer takes to print a single layer, you are allowing the previous layer(s) to cool closer to the ambient temperature of the build space, and hopefully not as molten.
Please refer to this calculator or a similar one for material cooling times. For a standard shell setting of about 2-3 (0.4mm nozzle) will yield about 130sec to cool down to room temperature. I would recommend (for ABS/PLA at least) about a 15second minimum for each layer, possibly longer depending on the size and spread out of the features.
Also note that this can be cheated by simply printing multiple items in the same build plate with the same heights (ie. multiples of the same part). Naturally, it will take longer for the machine to print the rest of the parts and therefore allow each layer to cool slightly before being printed over.
## Active Cooling
Again, some slicing engines have an Active Cooling setting. I don't personally have this option setup on my machine, but I believe it regulates the flow of air directed at your nozzle (usually by use of a mounted fan). This can help cool the layers a bit faster. With ABS, this might result in some pretty bad warping mid-print.
## Feedrates
Try bringing down your feedrates to provide the printed portions of the current layer more time to cool if the above options aren't available. Note that you might also bring down your hotend temp to shorten the time it takes to cool the plastic.
## All else fails
My only other suggestion is stated above, try printing duplicates on the same plate. My diagnosis is that the previous layers aren't cooling down enough before the next layer begins.
> 21 votes
# Answer
I believe you might be having an issue with insufficient cooling. Remember the suggestion to have wait times per layer to let the previous layer cool? Well, I think with your setup and print not only do individual layers overheat, but individual parts of each layer. You either need to try more direct or dual fan cooling or maybe use a nozzle with thinner outer diameter which will have less surface to heat the layed down plastic surrounding it.
> 2 votes
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Tags: fdm, print-quality, maintenance, cooling
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thread-557 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/557 | Autodesk Spark Print Manager Operating Systems? | 2016-02-11T17:54:03.270 | # Question
Title: Autodesk Spark Print Manager Operating Systems?
What operating systems are available for running the Autodesk Spark Print Manager? (https://spark.autodesk.com/developers/reference/printer-manufacturers/integrate-your-printer/integrate-your-printer-model)
I'm finding the documentation a little difficult to parse. It does *seem* that there are only build options for Windows or Mac, but I want to confirm.
Thanks!
# Answer
I checked https://spark.autodesk.com/developers/reference/desktop-applications/print-manager. It seems that Print manager is a application written in JavaScript and its source code is available on github.
So you have to install node.js to run it. So you can use all major OS (win, mac, linux, ...).
> 3 votes
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Tags: print-api
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thread-554 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/554 | How to upload my works to Thingiverse without making my real name public | 2016-02-11T01:41:53.370 | # Question
Title: How to upload my works to Thingiverse without making my real name public
I want to upload some of my works to Thingiverse without making my real name public (displaying it on the profile page).
I think it is OK to register my name to the site unless the make it public, and it is required by the terms to provide truthful and accurate information.
I tried creating an account on the site, but I deleted it because I couldn't find the way to hide my name (set another one) from the profile page in a short time.
I see some accounts that doesn't seem showing their real name (for example, their name on profile equals to their account ID, or at least not in two parts: first and last name as required on registration), so I guess this is archivable.
examples:
How can I set my name for profile page on Thingiverse after registration and logging in?
# Answer
> 5 votes
To change your displayed name (as opposed to username) in Thingiverse:
1. Go to your profile page
2. Click "Edit Profile" on the info column on the left
3. At the top, next to "Thingiverse Settings" is another link/tab called "Makerbot Settings". Click that.
4. Change the First Name and Last Name fields, and save.
Note that neither First nor Last Name is required; if neither is provided, your username will be displayed in place of your display name.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You can put whatever name you want in when you make an account - You decide what your name is, people go by pseudonyms in 'real life' all the time, this is perfectly acceptable. There are actually very few places where you have a legal obligation to provide your name as it appears on your birth certificate. Opening a Thingiverse account is not one of them.
To answer the other part of your question, yes, it is possible to change the name displayed after you have created your account. I would be surprised if they bother to actually keep an archive of past names though.
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Tags: makerbot, 3d-models
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thread-572 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/572 | What is the best length of the melting zone in the hotend? | 2016-02-13T20:50:47.553 | # Question
Title: What is the best length of the melting zone in the hotend?
There are many hot end designs out thee and one difference is the length of the melting zone.
The melting zone is that part of the hotend where the pushed in filament is heated up and therefore starts to melt. Is it better to have a short melting zone, or a long melting zone? What are advantages of each solution. And are there materials that benefit from a short/long melting one more than others?
# Answer
Short melting zone melts material in small amounts which is suitable for thin layers with small nozzles. In opposite, long melting zone can heat a big amount of filament which is needed for fast printing and thick layers.
## short melting zone
* less amount of melted material
* thin layer heights
* quality printing with details
* give more precise volume control with less flow/pressure lag and better retraction performance (thx @Ryan-Carlyle)
* nozzles: 0.25-0.8 mm (available for E3Dv6)
## long melting zone
* more amount of melted material
* thick layer heights
* fast printing with less details
* nozzles: 0.4-1.2 mm (available for E3D Volcano)
## Example
Example of those hotends are E3Dv6 and E3D Volcano
E3Dv6
E3D Volcano with a much longer melt zone than v6
Speed comparison video:
Speed comparison graph:
## Update
CNC Kitchen YouTube channel did a review of 0.1 mm nozzle, where the author discusses problems with very low material flow. The main point is the usage of high-quality materials (he uses Polymaker PolyMax PLA) and avoiding materials like PVA, which tend to crystalize under heat.
> 13 votes
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Tags: hotend, 3d-design
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thread-577 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/577 | How to create a web-based PHP that can print to multiple printer(when idle) using silent printing | 2016-02-15T02:25:57.177 | # Question
Title: How to create a web-based PHP that can print to multiple printer(when idle) using silent printing
The print job connect to the database. When there is an idle printer, the print job directly goes to it. It need to connect with print server too. How do i start? Can someone help me... Thank you.
# Answer
I'd recommend starting with connecting your printer(s) to OctoPi. From there, try to find either an API or way to create your own plugin. Then just set up a workstation that will manage your print queue and delegate the prints using some form of web request.
I personally don't recommend creating your own slicing engine. If you want to do everything directly from "the workstation" try looking into Skeinforge (most popular from ReplicatorG slicer), Cura (I believe from Ultimaker), and/or Miracle Grue (from MakerWare) as your slicing engine. You can most documentation/source on GitHub.
In the meantime, try to narrow down the general sense of **how** you want to accomplish this and edit your question. As a reminder for more technical questions regarding code, please use Stack Overflow. For example, "How to create/use REST request?"
> 1 votes
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Tags: desktop-printer, printer-building
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thread-543 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/543 | Dimension SST Printer Broken parts | 2016-02-09T22:41:07.057 | # Question
Title: Dimension SST Printer Broken parts
My company has an old Dimension SST printer that is out of commission due to a few broken pieces. I have contacted the Stratsys folk and they won't do anything until we purchase a multi-thousand dollar service policy. I also have a Makerbot that I can use to create spare parts however, can't find pictures of the original configuration. The broken pieces are the Toggle Bar and Z Foam Sensor and whatever parts used to hold them in place on the head. Toggle Bar circled in red View of my printer where the toggle bar used to be
Two Questions: Does anyone know of a location to purchase spare parts? Does anyone have detailed pictures (360 view) of the print head they are willing to share so I can recreate the parts/attachments.
Thank you so much for any help!
# Answer
Seeing as how no one has been able to find a solution yet and I'm not familiar with your machine, I would recommend reverse engineering the part to the best of your abilities. If you don't have the right tools, try finding a local machine shop and ask if you can use their measuring equipment. Sometimes you might get lucky and they will have something more intuitive than callipers, such as a CNC CMM or CMM Arm. As far as acquiring the part, try asking the machine shop if they can produce it, or get it 3D printed via 3D Hubs, MakeXYZ, or some other peer printing service.
I'm sorry I don't have a more direct solution, but hopefully it at least a general sense of what options you may have.
> 1 votes
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Tags: replacement-parts
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thread-582 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/582 | How small can I expect FDM 3d printers to print? | 2016-02-15T16:26:24.543 | # Question
Title: How small can I expect FDM 3d printers to print?
**I was wondering if this printer(daVinci 1.0) had the ability to print very small objects, like insects, coins, or small nuts. (About the size of 1 -2 cubic centimeters)**
Here is a link to the printer on the website.
The reason I ask is someone asked me if it was able to, but I have not been able to access the actual 3-D printer for use at this time, just manuals which I have looked through.
**So if the 3-D printer was able to print small objects, would a novice be able to do such a thing?**
Please let me know if any additional details are needed.
# Answer
> 8 votes
1) If we're talking about FFF/FDM printers:
Accuracy of the electronics and motors allows it, yes. But how FDM printers work it might be very hard to lay down layers of molten plastic so small as to preserve little details in the X and Y axis, not much of a problem doing 20 micron layer height though (Z resolution). Check this answer to find out what the X and Y resolution is and what it depends on: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/509/381
You'll need both a small enough nozzle, as well as somehow cool the plastic because since the printed objects are so tiny the nozzle keeps contact with the surface surrounding it and heats it longer, which might melt the whole object or even char it.
I've seen very few people do tiny prints with success. And the smallest nozzles I know are 250 micron. Not trying to dscourage you, just letting you know. If it was easy to do I think more people would be doing it and more companies would be advertising their printers as capable of such a thing
So you'll have around 20 micron Z resolution and around maybe 200 in the X/Y. If that's enough for you, then you could try. Calibrating it all won't be easy, tiniest backlash will be noticeable.
2) It's a lot easier with curing resin 3d printers (SLA or DLP). Most of them actually have trouble printing larger objects, ironically (trouble sticking to the bed and cracking of the 3d print). Even here badly calibrated lasers would prevent you from doing this and even many Form 1 users have reported their lasers being assembled poorly resulting in poor beam profile.
Size of the laser beam profile (aka laser "spot size") is what determines the X/Y resolution for SLA 3d printers. With the Form 2 its 140 micron, unless you'll get a badly calibrated printer. For DLP printers it's easier, it's the resolution of the DLP projector divided from the size of the print area.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Strictly by looking at the technical specifications of an FDM printer, there are a few things to note regarding the *maximum print quality* you can expect to achieve:
* The **minimum layer height** \- here given to be *0.1 mm*
* The **nozzle diameter** \- here given to be *0.4 mm*
### Minimum layer height:
On a finished print, the minimum layer height will affect how visible the horisontal lines of the print will be. Printing at a lower layer height can dramatically increase the smoothness of the finished part, while equally increasing the printing time - among several other things.
A minimum layer height of 0.1 mm is fairly common for low-cost desktop FDM printers.
### Nozzle diameter:
Just like the layer height defines the vertical resolution of a print, the nozzle diameter defines the sharpness of horizontal features of a print.
When printing with a large nozzle diameter, all sharp edges and corners of the model will have a slight roundness to them: the larger the nozzle diameter, the more rounded sharp corners will be, and vice versa. You might think of it as making a detailed drawing with a blunt pencil.
A nozzle diameter of 0.4 mm can perhaps be considered the standard for desktop FDM printers today, and will allow you to print "fairly accurate" parts.
### Will the daVinci work for you?
Since I've never worked with the daVinci printer before, I cannot make a statement on it's user friendliness, or actual performance.
In general, if you intend to use it to print fragile, complex models such as insects, I believe a resin based printer might be more right for you, since they typically will allow for much higher reproduction of details than FDM printers. Printing solid/compact structures like coins and nuts, on the other hand, can typically be handled by a well calibrated FDM printer.
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Tags: desktop-printer, print-quality
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thread-573 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/573 | Gnarly filament: just one of those things, or grounds for complaint? | 2016-02-13T21:17:30.833 | # Question
Title: Gnarly filament: just one of those things, or grounds for complaint?
everyone.
I'm a relative newcomer to 3D printing, so I don't know what constitutes an unacceptably bad spool of filament.
About 1/6 of the way into a roll of PETG (and maybe 4 hours into a 6-hour print), an over/under wrap brought things to a screeching halt. I aborted the print, then snipped the filament and started unspooling it, looking for more cross-wraps. I found a ton of them, along with a ton of kinks.
I stopped about 1/3 of the way into the spool, still finding kinks and cross-wraps, and said to heck with it. The only way to use it would have been to run the entire length onto another spool, carefully avoiding cross-wraps, and hope the kinks wouldn't affect the print quality.
I complained to the supplier but never even got a reply, so now I'm wondering if this is just one of those things I can expect from time to time. Any thoughts & opinions would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Glasseyed
# Answer
Filament should come off of the roll without overlapping itself. That being said depending on what you paid for it would determine if you should complain. Normally you get what you pay for. If you paid \\$10 for it, I would think that is why it was so cheap, but if you paid \>\\$25 it should be nice stuff.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Sorry to say it, but MOST wrap-unders are caused by end-users releasing the free end of the filament when handling the spool. It is mathematically impossible to introduce a knot during initial spooling, and all the reputable filament vendors these days have pretty careful free-end control when the spool is taken off the spooler and sent to packaging.
Where you may get knots straight from the filament vendor is if they're respooling very carelessly and let go of the free end. You should only see this with very cheap filament.
So, it's possible that your vendor messed up, but you should probably rule out your own handling practices first. It's not hard to prevent losing the free end. The nicer spool styles these days have holes on the side-flanges for securing the free end during handling/storage. Or you can print one of many, many filament clip designs from Thingiverse or your favorite model site.
If you're very careful with handling and still get knots, switch suppliers. Anyone sloppy enough to repeatedly mis-handle new spools is likely also using extremely cheap material, and there have been a lot of anecdotal reports of very nasty industrial chemicals being mixed into the colorants of low-cost filament.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Knot happens when you loosen the filament yourself and then leave it like that or try to manually re-spool it. To avoid this kind of situation as well as the curly filament coming off the spool and getting tangled there, try to not loosen it and also build or print a "spool guide" for your 3d printer: http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=filament+spool+guide&sa=
> 0 votes
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Tags: filament-quality
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thread-588 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/588 | Is it possible to use an aftermarket controller on a MakerBot? | 2016-02-16T18:37:23.413 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to use an aftermarket controller on a MakerBot?
I've got a dead MakerBot Replicator Dual and I'm not really interested in fixing it with about half the parts being proprietary, discontinued, and therefore very expensive. So, I'm wondering if it's possible to use a controller board used on some of the other RepRap machines.
I'd assume that it's all relatively the same, mostly need a means of routing/regulating power to the servos/fans/etc. based on a g-code. If that's true, then I'm also assuming the next step is ensuring the slicing engine spits out the right format for the board (.s3g, .x3g, .gcode, etc.) and that the slicing engine knows the proper bounds for the machine.
Side question, if I used an another controller board, would I be able to still run MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop? So far, I've preferred the MiracleGrue slicer, but I've used Cura on Octopi and it'd suffice.
# Answer
> 8 votes
You can put pretty much any controller in pretty much any printer, with a few noteworthy details you need to keep in mind for a Replicator 1.
1. Makerbots use thermocouples. Most RepRap style 3d printers use thermistors. So you would need to replace the extruder temp sensors, or choose a new controller with thermocouple support.
2. Makerbots use 24v heaters and fans and PSUs. Most RepRap style 3d printers run on 12v (although this is slowly changing because 24v is better for performance and safety.) You can either pick a new controller that is known to be compatible with 24v, or replace all 24v-rated components with equivalent 12v-rated components.
3. The existing heatbed thermistor circuit is probably not the same kind of circuit that your new controller will expect. Older Makerbots use a small voltage divider circuit on the HBP PCB to convert the thermistor resistance to a voltage signal, whereas RepRap style controllers typically have this circuit on the mainboard and thus need only a simple thermistor hookup. You could add a new thermistor, or modify the existing circuit, or get an entirely new heatbed.
4. The existing endstops are full +5v,GND,Signal style mechanical switches with debounce capacitors and LED indicators. These *should* be compatible with *most* controller boards given proper firmware setting, but you may need to do some creative wiring if there isn't a suitable three-pin endstop port on your chosen board.
5. The LCD and 5-button panel will not work with other boards. You'll need to replace that or just run a remote host via USB.
6. Connectors may be different, of course. That's always an issue with any board swap.
7. You will need to export RepRap style gcode instead of .x3g files. Makerware/Desktop can export gcode but there may be some minor differences in Mcode assignments from what most RepRap style firmware will expect. I couldn't tell you offhand whether this will work, but to be safe, it would probably be best to use a more traditional RepRap slicer (Slic3r, Cura) or Simplify3D.
So that's a healthy to-do list. At a certain point you're practically building a new printer. **But there is a significantly easier approach** than installing a RepRap style controller: replace the dead Makerbot Mightyboard with a compatible community-designed Sailfish board like the Azteeg x3 by Panucatt or new CloneBoard Mini by Carl Raffle. Or, if you're ok with Chinese sourcing, a FlashForge Mightyboard will be a near 100% drop-fit replacement for your Makerbot Mightyboard. Any of these options will give you fresh new electronics with minimal hardware changes in the rest of the printer.
Either way is fine and you'll end up with a working printer. Using another Sailfish board will certainly be easier, if you don't object to staying within the Sailfish/x3g toolchain and Makerbot/Clone parts ecosystem. Makerbot does have a very bad community reputation these days, but it's important to remember that the Replicator 1 Dual is a completely open-source machine from the "pre-evil" days, and compatible spare parts are widely available from literally dozens of vendors. The Rep1-derived Makerbots and Clones collectively comprise the most popular single "flavor" of 3d printer in the world (totaling as much as perhaps a quarter of all consumer/hobbyist 3d printers sold to date) and many/most of the spare parts for Replicator 2/2x's and clones will also fit in a genuine Rep1.
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Tags: fdm, makerbot, replicator-dual, makerware, fff
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thread-442 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/442 | Whats the difference between a basic rapid prototyping machine and a 3D printer? | 2016-02-02T10:35:52.800 | # Question
Title: Whats the difference between a basic rapid prototyping machine and a 3D printer?
In general 3D printers are compact and smaller than RP machines. That's ok. But, what's the difference? 3D printers can be used as RP machine too.
# Answer
All rapid prototyping means is automatically producing a physical part from a cad model. 3D printing is a way to achieve rapid prototyping. There are 2 main methods of rapid prototyping: additive, and subtractive.
A 3D printer is additive- you add materials to an object layer by layer.
Usually, when people talk about a subtractive machine, they are talking about a CNC mill (or lathe), which tend to be extremely large (most are over one ton). You start with all the material there, and you subtract the material that you don't want. This might be what you are thinking of.
> 5 votes
# Answer
To add to the above answer, a very simple way to say it is that FMD 3d printer is a rapid prototyping machine which has a component called an extruder which pulls and melts plastic which the machine then lays down.
> 0 votes
# Answer
A sintered metal printer is a version of a 3D printer that is rapid, but expensive. Seen 1 for 800,000$aud Uses laser to melt metal particles like titanium.
> -1 votes
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Tags: rapid-prototyping
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thread-590 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/590 | How to make your own 3D printer? | 2016-02-17T00:27:13.077 | # Question
Title: How to make your own 3D printer?
I am wondering if I can get some electronic and mechanical layout of the machine.
Is it possible to make 3D printer components with 3D printer?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Yes, look at http://reprap.org for a project that's been doing what you're asking about for about a decade now.
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Tags: printer-building, reprap
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thread-594 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/594 | What kind of filter do I need for the enclosure of a 3d printer? | 2016-02-17T14:42:23.657 | # Question
Title: What kind of filter do I need for the enclosure of a 3d printer?
I've heard alot about the need for ventilation when using 3D Printers lately. Is there any special sort of filter that would prevent the toxic gases from leaking out of the printer while it's printing it's filament? Is printing outside a solution while I build an enclosure?
# Answer
For the most part, a consumer 3D Printer will only need proper ventilation when using potentially harmful materials such as ABS. (See duplicate question). If you're printing with primarily PLA, then you don't need to worry. I print mostly with ABS and keep my machine close to a window and I haven't experienced any issues.
> 2 votes
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Tags: filament, abs, pla, ventilation
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thread-512 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/512 | Why does my MKS Base not recognize my thermistors? | 2016-02-06T13:53:01.323 | # Question
Title: Why does my MKS Base not recognize my thermistors?
I recently upgraded my Geeetech Acrylic Prusa i3 with a MKS Base V1.4 and it would not recognize the thermistors (100K {type 1}) even though they worked fine with the Arduino Mega 2560 with the RAMPS shield.
After changing the thermistors for the 4th time it began to work, but the model printed was quite distorted. Then without warning it suddenly does not recognize them again. The board does create the USB port, but does not appear to communicate with my computer.
Is the problem more associative with the board or my computer?
# Answer
You should:
1. Ensure that firmware has proper thermistor configuration. For details see this video tutorial.
2. Verify that your thermistor works properly. Measure voltage on it. It should be around 5V on this particular board.
3. There is possibility that the board is defective. Replace it.
Temperature sensor possibilities for Marlin firmware:
```
// -2 is thermocouple with MAX6675 (only for sensor 0)
// -1 is thermocouple with AD595
// 0 is not used
// 1 is 100k thermistor - best choice for EPCOS 100k (4.7k pullup)
// 2 is 200k thermistor - ATC Semitec 204GT-2 (4.7k pullup)
// 3 is Mendel-parts thermistor (4.7k pullup)
// 4 is 10k thermistor !! do not use it for a hotend. It gives bad resolution at high temp. !!
// 5 is 100K thermistor - ATC Semitec 104GT-2 (Used in ParCan & J-Head) (4.7k pullup)
// 6 is 100k EPCOS - Not as accurate as table 1 (created using a fluke thermocouple) (4.7k pullup)
// 7 is 100k Honeywell thermistor 135-104LAG-J01 (4.7k pullup)
// 71 is 100k Honeywell thermistor 135-104LAF-J01 (4.7k pullup)
// 8 is 100k 0603 SMD Vishay NTCS0603E3104FXT (4.7k pullup)
// 9 is 100k GE Sensing AL03006-58.2K-97-G1 (4.7k pullup)
// 10 is 100k RS thermistor 198-961 (4.7k pullup)
// 11 is 100k beta 3950 1% thermistor (4.7k pullup)
// 12 is 100k 0603 SMD Vishay NTCS0603E3104FXT (4.7k pullup) (calibrated for Makibox hot bed)
// 13 is 100k Hisens 3950 1% up to 300°C for hotend "Simple ONE " & "Hotend "All In ONE"
// 20 is the PT100 circuit found in the Ultimainboard V2.x
// 60 is 100k Maker's Tool Works Kapton Bed Thermistor beta=3950
//
// 1k ohm pullup tables - This is not normal, you would have to have changed out your 4.7k for 1k
// (but gives greater accuracy and more stable PID)
// 51 is 100k thermistor - EPCOS (1k pullup)
// 52 is 200k thermistor - ATC Semitec 204GT-2 (1k pullup)
// 55 is 100k thermistor - ATC Semitec 104GT-2 (Used in ParCan & J-Head) (1k pullup)
//
// 1047 is Pt1000 with 4k7 pullup
// 1010 is Pt1000 with 1k pullup (non standard)
// 147 is Pt100 with 4k7 pullup
// 110 is Pt100 with 1k pullup (non standard)
```
> 2 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3-rework, prusa-i3, arduino-mega-2650
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thread-597 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/597 | What is the cheapest 3D printer that you can get right now? | 2016-02-17T23:19:15.463 | # Question
Title: What is the cheapest 3D printer that you can get right now?
What is the cheapest (**desktop**) 3D printer that you can get right now?
Is there a current price list (with different vendors)?
# Answer
The peer-based 3D printing service called 3D Hubs conducted a survey of its users and which printers they use and suggest. This survey's results are here.
I recall a similar Google Group conducting a similar survey a year or so ago, I'll search for the link to that as well a little later.
> 2 votes
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Tags: desktop-printer
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thread-603 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/603 | Using an Arduino Mega with burnt voltage regulator | 2016-02-18T15:14:56.080 | # Question
Title: Using an Arduino Mega with burnt voltage regulator
Due to a not-given compatibility with Makerbot mechanical endstop wiring (and carelessness on my side) I ended up burning the voltage regulator on my Arduino Mega 2560. Now, powering the Arduino separately from a USB power supply, I can operate the electronics, however, I am still unable to receive any signal from the endstops and I don't want to hook up my replacement Arduino until I see that my wiring is correct.
Could I have burnt anything else on either the Arduino (pullup resistors were firmware disabled) or the RAMPS 1.4 which makes it impossible to receive a singal from the endstops?
# Answer
Take a look at Ryan's answer to my question. I believe the MightBoard is based on the Mega 2560, so it is possible that some of the other components could have been damaged. If you look at the comments below Ryan's answer, we discussed the possibility of the processor itself being damaged. I had attempted this fix on two different MightBoards and they both ended up turning on, but the firmware wouldn't boot. So, it's safe to say that in my case, the processor on the Arduino was shot.
All and all, I'd recommend not using MakerBot's endstops as they seem to be the main culprit for this issue and has been for years (it happened to me twice since I got my machine in 2012).
> 4 votes
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Tags: reprap, ramps-1.4, electronics, arduino-mega-2650
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thread-605 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/605 | What is the MightyBoard 1280 IO used for? | 2016-02-19T05:42:02.453 | # Question
Title: What is the MightyBoard 1280 IO used for?
While I've worked on fixing my voltage regulator on my MightyBoard, I've noticed an extra set of pins available labeled Atmega 1280 IO. I've tried finding documentation on what these pin can be used for to no avail. I'm curious if there is any use for them within the scope of MakerBot's Conveyor service or even what sort of functionality with regard to the board itself.
Any links to documentation on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you check the Mightyboard RevE files on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:16058/#files) you will find the schematics and PCB files (.sch and .brd) for the version of the board used in Replicator 1s and (with some minor mods) most clones. The Atmega 1280 IO header section is a bunch of breakout pins for debug functions. There are eight sets of signal/5v/gnd groupings. Four of them are currently driving debug LEDs that show flash codes for particular firmware failure modes. The other four are unused as far as I'm aware.
The ninth and tenth pins shown in the schematic are located on the opposite end of the board, near the 8U2 chip, to give some hacking access to that chip as well. (The 8U2 handles USB comms and firmware flashing the Atmega 1280.)
If desired, you can build your own firmware using these pins for other purposes, such as signaling to external equipment. But building Sailfish is a little more difficult than just running the latest Arduino IDE (for compiler stability reasons) so the vast majority of Mightyboard users never bother modifying their firmware.
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Tags: makerbot, mightyboard, arduino-mega-2650
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thread-445 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/445 | What are some good FOSS or free tools for editing STL files for 3D Printing? | 2016-02-02T20:34:06.663 | # Question
Title: What are some good FOSS or free tools for editing STL files for 3D Printing?
I'd like to customize and modify some parts on Thingiverse, beyond just simple scaling for 3D printing.
I've been looking for some tools that convert the STL files into something that is easily edited, but so far all that I've found are really buggy and crash frequently as soon as one loads a reasonably complex model.
Are there any free open source software tools that people can recommend that handle STL importing and editing? If not FOSS, what about just "free or nearly free for hobbyists, ed, non-commercial?
# Answer
You can use OpenSCAD. It's a script based powerful CAD open source software under GPL. On Thingiverse, a lot of things are made with this CAD software (the `Customizer` flagged ones) and you can just download their source code (`.scad`) and directly edit them !
You can also import existing STL and edit them like they were a primitive shape like a cube. You can then interact with them by doing binary operations, adding parts, etc.
It is hard to start with if you have never coded, but that's worth it :
> OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD models. It is free software and available for Linux/UNIX, Windows and Mac OS X. Unlike most free software for creating 3D models (such as Blender) it does not focus on the artistic aspects of 3D modelling but instead on the CAD aspects. Thus it might be the application you are looking for when you are planning to create 3D models of machine parts but pretty sure is not what you are looking for when you are more interested in creating computer-animated movies.
> 9 votes
# Answer
If you want to do basic edits to an STL, a program such as MeshMixer might be right for your. It offers the ability to combine and subtract models, add custom supports, and similar, in a fairly straight forward manner.
An alternative that allows your to do complex editing of STLs would be Autodesk Fusion 360. Here you can import STLs into meshes, which you then may convert into solids for further editing. It is more work to use, but a very flexible solution; you can i.e choose to only convert certain faces to solid, or use the mesh as a reference point for other designs.
As far as I know, neither of these are FOSS (free and open source), but both are free for non-commercial use.
> 6 votes
# Answer
There is no argument that the most successful FOSS 3D editor is Blender. It can both import and export STL files and export to STL or many other formats (DAE, OBJ, 3DS, FBX, DXF, WRL) so you can both use it to edit STL models as well as just use it as a STL converter. https://www.blender.org/
> 4 votes
# Answer
I have used Wings 3D (http://www.wings3d.com) for just that purpose. It is very easy to use, and has many other useful functions built in. Not only can you reform the mesh, but you also you have the ability to import and export many other meshes such as .obj, and etc. When you have completed your modifications you can export them in one of several formats (I find it easier to just keep it in .stl) and then use netfab (also has a free version with some limitations as compared to the paid version) to fine tune the mesh if it is not printable in its current format. Wings will export your modifications in .stl format, but you may have to fine tune to get rid of holes blemishes and etc., and you can view your changes in several views such as Gaussian and other forms.
If you decide to try Wings 3D you need to go through the tutorials, since there is a multitude of possibilities, including making your own meshes, beginning with several basic forms such as squares, cubes, cylinders and several other basic geometrical figures.
Using these two programs I have been able to modify many meshes and arrive at a very printable object. One of the features of Wings which has been quite valuable is the smoothing app which reduces the sharp division lines on some models.
Since both programs are free you can try them and uninstall them if they do not fill your needs. Blender is also an excellent free program, but I find Wings to be much simpler to use.
Hope this helps
> 2 votes
# Answer
If you want a WYSIWYG-style editor and are not content with OpenSCAD, I found 123D Design (Autodesk, definitively not FOSS but free for hobbyists) to have (on a Mac) a compromise between power and ease of use that most appealed to me.
If you insist on FOSS probably Blender comes closest, but I found it to be too idiosyncratic in interface and tools to be usable.
> 0 votes
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Tags: software, open-source, 3d-models
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thread-610 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/610 | Hictop 3d printer upgrades? | 2016-02-20T02:28:11.740 | # Question
Title: Hictop 3d printer upgrades?
Where can I go to upgrade this printer? It's a hictop prusa i3 3d printer. Where do you buy heated beds suitable for ABS and PLA? Also, what kind of extruder do you guys think I should buy?
This is were I bought it from. http://www.amazon.com/HICTOP-Desktop-Accuracy-Self-Assembly-Tridimensional/dp/B00N7I1ZVU
# Answer
Assuming your electronics are open source (such as RAMPS), you can buy upgrades and spare parts from pretty much every 3D printer spare part provider out there, as long as they suit your needs and the specs of your printer.
In other words, if you want make a headbed upgrade, find some bed that i.e.:
* Fit the size of your printer
* Can be mounted properly
* Can be used with your current electronics (and possibly software)
In general, most DIY hobby desktop 3D printers today use more or less the same components mounted in various ways.
> 1 votes
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Tags: abs, heated-bed, prusa-i3, hbp
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thread-614 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/614 | What types of pigments can be used when making your own filaments? | 2016-02-21T11:27:12.620 | # Question
Title: What types of pigments can be used when making your own filaments?
There are many types of pigments made for paint, food, fabric, cosmetic and finally plastic pigments. I guess we need pigments made for plastic, or at least pigments which won't decompose, burn or lose their properties at the temperatures inside the filament extrusion machines (around 240C).
So what type of pigment are we looking for (does that type have a name?) and where can they be found (off-the-shelf from some specialized paint store or is it a more specialized pigment for plastics which is harder to source)?
# Answer
> 6 votes
The normal way pigment is added to filament (or any other extruded plastic product) is by mixing "masterbatch" pellets containing a high concentration of dye with the raw resin pellets. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterbatch) This is significantly easier and more reliable than trying to mix raw pigments into the plastic -- the likelihood of clumping and other issues is greatly reduced.
You can buy these masterbatch pellets and mix up colors in whatever ratios you want to achieve specific output colors. Just make sure the masterbatch pellet carrier material is compatible with your resin. There are a wide variety of vendors, including ebay.
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Tags: filament, filament-production
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thread-14 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/14 | How to print metal-like parts? | 2016-01-12T19:22:14.277 | # Question
Title: How to print metal-like parts?
I would like to print parts (e.g. jewellery) for use which I don't want to look or feel like a plastic, but metal-like, so briefly people won't see much difference.
Are there any specific type of home-printers that can achieve that? Or it's rather kind of filament that you should use?
# Answer
> 14 votes
If you'd like to print on RepRap like FDM printers, you cannot print from metal, but you can use some filament that tries to look like metal. I have good experience with Bronzefill, but there are plenty of others, just Google for *metal filament 3d printing*. Note that sometimes the parts need to be post-processed with a *rock tumbler*. There are several open source DIY tumblers you can build and use.
If you actually want to print from metal, you would need SLS (Selective laser sintering) printer, which is much more expensive.
# Answer
> 8 votes
The Colorfabb metal filaments are the most metal-like filaments I've used (copper, brass, and bronze) and probably the ones that would make the most sense for jewelry. While not as dense as solid metal, it's about 3 times as dense as regular plastic and when polished the metal shows through. Print at 100% infill to make it heavier. Bronzefill is about 3.9g/cm³, about 80% metal by weight, maybe 30-40% by volume. I wouldn't say the polished result feel like solid metal, but it feels even less like plastic.
There's also Filamet, which promises to be almost entirely made of metal and can be sintered into solid metal, but it hasn't been released yet.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Especially for smaller parts, I would suggest looking into electroplating. You can get a really nice, copper, nickel, or even gold finish using it.
The biggest issue is that to electroplate something, it must be conductive, but there are many conductive paints on the market which you can use to apply a very light coating to make the plastic conductive. I heavily suggest priming well (2-3 coats) before applying the conductive paint, as it will help to minimize the amount of conductive paint needed.
Here is an instructables link on a cheap, diy, electroplating solution. It's assuming you are doing it on a metal, but once you apply the conductive paint, it's effectively the same thing.
Also here is an amazon link to a fairly well priced conductive spray paint which would do the job just fine.
# Answer
> 4 votes
> parts ... I don't want to ... feel like a plastic
This is harder than looking like metal. Plastic doesn't have nearly the density of metal, nor the thermal conductivity of metal. So by touch people will be able to tell the difference between almost any metal item, and a plastic item that looks similar.
For jewelry, as long as the wearer doesn't mind that it's not metal (they will be able to tell) you can fool most viewers with proper finishing. Sanding/smoothing, and then painting the printed part will work for most things.
For things which dangle significantly, the swinging and action of the item may give away its density, but some objects people expect to be hollow metal can be printed in solid or high density plastic and give the same weight, though they are lower density.
> Are there any specific type of home-printers that can achieve that?
For things which feel metallic, no, except for very small items where the weight and thermal conductivity won't be significant. A laser sintering printer could make real metal parts if this is needed, but these don't fall into the category of home machines.
If you don't mind a multi step process, you can make molds of the printed object, then cast real metal, or very high density epoxies, to accomplish your goal.
Beyond that, a high resolution machine with a lot of hand-finishing work is going to get you as close as you'll get to looking like metal.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You have several options:
1. **Printing with filaments made up of plastic and metal powder mix**. Bronzefill is one example.
While most may argue it doesn't look much like bronze or copper and rather clay, it can made to by some automatic polishing methods:
Some don't like the idea of having a plastic and metal powder mixture and they say if it's not pure bronze/some other alloy it might as well be painted. Which is the second option:
2. **Spray painting an ABS or PLA print with metal color spray paint.** You might need to sand or acetone bath the print first for the paint to be applied evenly.
3. **Metal plating** can be done for more realstic texture.
The 3d print should again be sanded/polished first.
4. The first method of getting actual metal object from a plastic object: **Printing with a metal clay**, then firing it in a kiln. You'll need an appropriate extruder which can extrude paste instead of filament:
There are 3D printers that can do that officially.
You'll need a kiln...
5. Second method of getting actual metal object from a plastic object, via **metal casting** ("lost polymer casting"). From all the above options this is the most dangerous if you're not experienced, skilled and careful.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In addition to the aforementioned enriched filaments which give an excellent result, ABS can be plastered, painted and even chrome plated.
# Answer
> 1 votes
There's also an interesting discussion of printing with specially-designed solder alloys, at RepRap: Blog - A new approach to printing metals.
The author settled on 57.5%Sn, 41.3%Bi, 1.2% In, which begins to melt at 130 °C and finishes by about 170 °C. This has much better viscosity after melting, so it doesn't just drip away or bead up, and whose melting point is low enough that it can be applied directly on top of PLA or ABS.
Brass nozzles corrode quickly, however, so another material is needed (anodized Al was an improvement). It sounds difficult but feasible.
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Tags: filament, metal-parts
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thread-620 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/620 | What and how much does coloring in the filament affect in the print? | 2016-02-22T00:13:50.737 | # Question
Title: What and how much does coloring in the filament affect in the print?
Are there general rules on how much a colored filament vs. vanilla filament affects the print results, what is affected and how those values should be changed in the slicer to achieve more similar results between different color/colored vs. pure filament spools?
# Answer
> 5 votes
At this point in time I don't think there is a need to be concerned with purity of filaments based on pigmentation.
For the most part, variations in filament quality due to coloring should be the least of your concerns compared to some of the other variables such as quality of the pellets, extrusion temperature (when manufactured), cooling rate (after extrusion), handling/storage, etc.
Also, assuming your focused on consumer 3D printer use, the typical hardware components aren't equipped to be accurate enough to make fine adjustments with regard to the quality range driven by filament color. Even if there were capable, accurate extruder(s) installed, I think you would need a well designed feedback loop to ensure that you're reading temperatures along the full extrusion process (drive, melt, extrude, etc).
I believe what you're asking involves more material science expertise, from a design aspect.
However, I believe that the more "color" you have obviously reduces the purity of the material and thusly the material properties can suffer. Such properties as thermal resistance found in PLA and ABS. So theoretically if you have Black filament, you'll want to extrude with a lower temperature than you would with a natural "White" filament. I would think that the necessary difference in temperature would be a few degrees (Celsius). However, there are many other factors, such as moisture and manufacturing techniques that can take precedence over color differences.
My advice, figure out how to "cheaply" analyze your material and ensure you have an accurate temperature feedback loop. If can you do that, you'll be able to drastically change the quality of consumer 3D printing.
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Tags: filament, color
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thread-623 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/623 | Real life stepper speed | 2016-02-22T12:08:59.097 | # Question
Title: Real life stepper speed
I am wondering about the speed that my steppers should achieve in regular operation and what the determining factors are, from theoretical hardware facts/limits to software limitations that can influence performance.
I do know about the basic properties of stepper motors such as the torque relation with speed, which I read some while ago from this source (for anyont stumbling into this question later): https://www.geckodrive.com/gecko/images/cms\_files/Step%20Motor%20Basics%20Guide.pdf
So far Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper\_motor) easily turns up the following statements with regard to my question:
> Thus when controlled by an L/R drive, the maximum speed of a stepper motor is limited by its inductance since at some speed, the voltage U will be changing faster than the current I can keep up.
and for chopper drivers:
> This requires additional electronics to sense winding currents, and control the switching, but it allows stepper motors to be driven with higher torque at higher speeds than L/R drives
Obviously the amount of steps/revelation will change the speed, too
However, all this does not help me to determine what the real life speed of my stepper should be. Additional firmware parameters clutter up my (beginner's) brain even more (and I haven't had a too deep dive into that yet). In general I understand that the frequency we use to send the steps to the stepper is the main determining factor, also 'reduced' by microstepping, if applied. We cannot keep the current up as much as needed due to timing/inductive/electronic properties of the motors, so we lose torque or finally steps. A higher voltage helps to bring the current up faster, so the steepness of the current increase can also limit the maximum applicable frequency. The frequency itself is given from the controller board to the motor driver, hence is set in firmware.
All in all, apart from what makes sense to utilize in a 3D printer setup, what are the determining factors of the stepper speeds that can be realized and how to they transform into real life values for our printers? Also I'd be interested in how the determining factors influence the reliability and print quality regardless of the mechanical difficulties that arise with print-speed.
/edit:
I found these to exist on electroncs SE:
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/71270/maximum-speed-of-stepper-motor
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/129064/slow-down-stepper-motors-speed-using-stepper-driver-drv-8825
However, I think the question here is relevant and specific enough for 3D printing to exist here alongside.
# Answer
The four main motor speed limits in a 3d printer are:
* Firmware step generation frequency limits
* Firmware motion planner effects
* Loss of torque and precision due to motor coil inductance and back-EMF effects
* Mid-band resonance
**Step generation rate limits** will depend on the firmware and controller board used. There is a significant range, particularly when 32bit firmwares and RTOS-based platforms like MachineKit are compared to 8bit firmwares running on Atmega AVRs. Some examples:
* Marlin on a 16 MHz 8bit Atmega can only run the stepper interrupt at 10,000 hz without bogging down the processor and blocking other critical algorithms (like motion planning). It can fire step rates up to 40,000 hz by pulsing the step line two or four times per interrupt, which effectively drops the microstep level in software and runs the motors rougher/louder.
* Repetier on the same Atmega can run the stepper interrupt at 12,000 hz, because it is optimized more for execution speed than Marlin.
* Repetier on an 84 MHz 32bit ARM Cortex-M3 can run the stepper interrupt at 80,000 Hz.
*These limits typically only affect actual stepper speed when relatively fine microstepping is used.* Consider an example based on a very typical Marlin printer configuration. Microstepping of at least 1/4 is strongly recommended to avoid resonance issues, so let's start with 1/16 stepping. This allows quad-stepping to effectively output 1/4-steps. Starting with finer microstepping will drop our top speed, and coarser microstepping will be louder and may encounter resonance, so this is a good starting point. Then asssume a typical 32mm-per-rev pulley on a 1.8 degree (200 steps/rev) stepper motor. This system has a resolution of 200\*16/32= 100 steps/mm. At 40,000 Hz total stepping rate (quad-stepping at 10,000 Hz) we can theoretically travel at 400 mm/s before hitting Marlin's hard cap. That's probably going to be a higher RPM than we want to run the motor anyway, so it's not a very impactful limit.
In comparison, if we started at 1/128 stepping (such as with the THB6128 driver chip) our top speed with 8bit Marlin would be 50 mm/s. That's quite slow.
**Firmware motion planners** can further limits motor speed by ramping up and down to traverse turns and corners. If the model geometry has lots of sharp turns, the target speeds commanded by the gcode are likely to never actually be reached. Only long, straight line paths will have enough ramping time to hit the speed target. You can see this yourself by printing a very small model at a variety of feedrates and timing the actual print duration: at a certain point, increases in the commanded speed will make no difference on actual print times.
Another constraint some firmwares enforce is requiring the ability to safely decelerate to a stop within the length of all the motion commands in the planner queue. This allows the printer to gracefully handle a sudden loss of input, such as as if the host computer stops transmitting USB commands, or if the SD card experiences a series of read errors. If the printer just abruptly stops from full speed when it runs out of commands, it is likely to lose position and ruin the print. Whereas if it can decelerate to a safe stopping speed, it may be able to resume after the command stream resumes.
In terms of actual motor behavior, the **inductance and back-EMF** introduce significant limits because they decrease motor torque at higher RPMs. This produces a torque/RPM curve that drops off at higher speeds:
http://www.geckodrive.com/support/step-motor-basics.html
Note in the picture that there is a flat "constant current" region on the left side at low speeds. This is the range where the chopping driver is limiting coil current. On the right side of the curve, current is not able to reach the target before it must be switched back off for the next step. That reduces field strength and thus torque.
There are two separate effects to consider here:
* Motor coils are inductors, which means there is a first-order lag between applied voltage and coil current. A standard bipolar stepper motor with a microstepping driver must raise the coil current from zero to max or from max to zero every full step (eg every sixteen 1/16th microsteps). At high step rates, there is not enough time to fully charge the coil to its max current before the next step requires dropping the current back down. Without developing full coil current on each step, torque is lost.
* Every motor is also a generator, and spinning the rotor generates back-EMF voltage within the motor coils. That voltage waveform gets overlaid on top of the drive voltage waveform with a phase shift dependent on the rotor position relative to the coil energization position. *In simple terms, this voltage attempts to brake the motor:* it always does whatever will slow the motor down. This means it opposes the applied drive voltage when the motor is applying forward torque, or assists the applied drive voltage when the motor is applying brake torque.
For a practical discussion of speed limits, we can simplify the situation by assuming back-EMF voltage opposes the drive voltage applied to the coils. This means there is less effective voltage raising/lowering coil current, and it takes longer for the current to change, and less coil current is developed than would be the case without back-emf. This further depresses the torque/RPM curve of the motor. And when the back-EMF voltage is around the same magnitude as the drive voltage, significant motor instability can result because of complex feedback effects between rotor position and effective coil voltage.
You can play with these effects using different motor configurations and speeds for a few popular 3D printer stepper drivers using my stepper driver simulator: https://github.com/rcarlyle/StepperSim
In closed-loop applications with position feedback and high-end drivers that can damp various instability modes, it may be ok to run the stepper all the way down the torque curve at very high RPMs. In more typical open-loop 3D printer applications, it's generally best to stick to the low-RPM part of the torque curve before inductance and back-EMF really take over the motor behavior. Losing too much torque can easily mean skipping steps and losing position, ruining the print.
Another important effect for steppers is **mid-band resonance**. This is not a normal mechanical resonance, but actually an electromechanical resonance effect. It's quite complicated, but the short explanation is that a stepper has an intrinsic 90-degree phase shift between position and torque, and when speeds rise to a point where coil inductance introduces an additional 90-degree phase shift between coil current and applied voltage, the electromechanical system has a highly-unstable 180-degree phase lag and thus creates a negative feedback loop. This can rapidly drop motor torque until the motor loses synchronicity with the driver's applied voltage and stalls.
Mid-band resonance only occurs when coil current is limited by inductance. It cannot occur in the constant-current drive range because there is not enough phase lag between applied voltage and coil current.
http://www.geckodrive.com/support/step-motor-basics.html
Unfortunately, measured torque curves available from manufacturers almost never show resonance zones, because the curves are produced by loading motors with friction-brakes that damp any kind of resonance effect from building. Whereas a 3D printer drivetrain load is almost entirely inertial (accelerating a mass) which is much more prone to resonance.
High-end drivers can automatically detect and damp mid-band resonance, but typical low-cost 3D printer drivers do not have this capability.
It is generally prudent to avoid entering an RPM range where mid-band resonance may occur. This is easily accomplished by sticking to the left side of the torque curve, in the constant-current operating region. This ensures high torque and good stability.
For a concrete example, consider the popular Kysan 1124090 stepper with a 24v power supply.
https://ultimachine.com/content/kysan-1124090-nema-17-stepper-motor
To maintain high torque and avoid mid-band resonance, we would want to keep the RPM to about 400 or less. For the same 32mm-per-rev pulley mentioned above, that would limit speeds to around 200-240 mm/s. Higher speeds are possible, but may encounter reliability issues.
This speed, of course, assumes a 24v PSU is used, to match the measured torque curve: a 12v PSU would have a significantly lower top speed before inductance starts to limit coil current, around half as fast. Higher supply voltage *greatly* increases the top effective speed for the motor.
Again, you can easily simulate this effect (using https://github.com/rcarlyle/StepperSim). This simulator output chart shows how inductance and back-EMF are keeping coil current from reaching the target:
For practical drivetrain design, a motor/driver simulator is really the best tool in the toolbox for finding the point where performance will start to degrade due to inability to hit current targets. It's simply too complex to apply simple equations or rules of thumb with any accuracy. These electrical effects and the firmware step generation limits are likely to be the two main restrictions on motor speed for most printers.
Of course, how fast you can melt plastic will tend to limit printing speeds significantly below the true motor speed limits, but that's a different discussion. For the moment, we can simply say that top motor speed tends to be unimportant for print moves in typical Cartesian printers. However, there are a few instances where they are likely to drive printer performance:
* Linear Deltas, where carriages may need to run several times faster than the effector for certain move directions
* Geared extruders with high reduction ratio (eg much over 5:1) for high retraction speeds
* Short-pitch lead screws (or all-thread) that need high rotation speeds to achieve moderate linear speeds
> 13 votes
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Tags: electronics, speed, stepper, microstepping, motor
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thread-78 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/78 | How can I stop my print bed tape from sticking to the filament? | 2016-01-12T21:30:33.083 | # Question
Title: How can I stop my print bed tape from sticking to the filament?
I made a test print for a small gear (~ 1.5 inches in diameter) a few months ago, with a hole through the center. On the first try, the filament (ABS) fused to the print bed, meaning that I had to spend ten minutes scraping off material to loosen it. One solution to this is to use painter's tape spread across the print bed.
This yielded a good print during the next run. The problem with this method was that some of the tape subsequently fused to the backside of the gear; it was so tight that I had to discard the prototype. Multiple varieties of tape made no difference.
Is there a way to continue using this tape without having it fuse to the filament?
# Answer
> 5 votes
This can highly depend on the slicer you are using. Some software such as Makerware and Slic3r allow you to adjust the settings for the first raft/part layers. I might suggest adjusting this "Z0" point to about 1/4-1/2 of your layer height. Essentially the first layer (or two) will not adhere as well.
This is just one suggestion of many solutions. Here are some other variables I could think of off-hand:
* Type of build plate tape (ie masking, painters, kapton, etc.)
* Type of material. I've noticed that PLA is very stubborn if you let the part completely cool after printing and that it's much easier to remove the part from the build plate/raft right after it's complete.
* Type of build plate. Are you applying too much heat (if you have a heated bp) for the material such as PLA?
* Try lowering your layer height. This will ensure that each strand does not have too much surface area and therefore less chance that it will create a vacuum affect with the build plate. This can, however, result in a worse surface finish.
# Answer
> 1 votes
My very first thought was you didn't re-calibrate your Z0 after adding the blue tape. It sounds like the print head was too close to the print bed to begin with, and adding the blue tape just made it that much worse.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One thing that I do to keep it from sticking to the tape. Is to add glue from a glue stick down on the building pad in an even coat on top of the tape.
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Tags: abs, filament, maintenance
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thread-631 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/631 | How are delta movements calculated? | 2016-02-23T18:14:24.317 | # Question
Title: How are delta movements calculated?
On a Cartesian printer movements are really simple. If we assume the printer has 100 steps/mm on each axis, then a move of 10mm on a axis is just 1000 Steps on that axis.
Movements that are not aligned with one axis are also simple. Moving from x,y = 0,0 to 10,10 would be 1000 steps on x and y.
On deltas even for simple moves more than one motor has to move. And just calculating the amount of steps on each axis needed to reach the destination probably gives a curved move.
So what is the algorithm to calculate the steps for a given move for a delta printer?
# Answer
There are two main special steps to the technique used by most open-source 3d printer controllers:
1. Divide each linear gcode segment into lots of very small subsegments ("Segmentation")
2. Use some basic trigonometry or the pythagorean theorem to tie extruder position to carriage height for each of the three towers ("Inverse Kinematics") to find the target position for each small segment
The inverse kinematics are surprisingly simple. A virtual 90 degree triangle is constructed from two known lengths to solve for the unknown third length:
* The fixed delta arm length is the hypotenuse of the triangle
* The horizontal distance between the column joints and end-effector joints is calculated from the XY coordinates of the nozzle and the fixed position of the column, to determine the length of the lower side of the triangle
* The length of the upper side of the triangle is calculated from the previous two via the pythagorean theorem
* The length of the upper side is added to the nozzle Z height to get the necessary carriage height
I think the best open-source reference here is Steve Grave's Rostock Kinematics document, rev3 available for download here: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/deltabot/V6ATBdT43eU/jEORG\_l3dTEJ Some relevant pictures:
These inverse kinematics calculations are performed for each carriage to get a "carriage space" target position, and this is performed for every path sub-segment.
The results from these steps can then be reinserted back into the standard linear path interpolation techniques for the printer, in which it fires steps in the necessary ratios and at the necessary rates to produce the desired straight-line motion and acceleration/velocity profile. (How THAT is done is a different question.)
The net effect is that the printer will move through a series of small "linear" carriage movements (linear meaning constant\* speed with respect to time) that collectively approximate the necessary curved (quadratic position with respect to time) carriage motions required to produce a straight-line end-effector move.
\*(*Constant speed before acceleration slowdowns are applied in order to obey dynamics constraints, anyway. Again, that's the subject of a different question.)*
Segmentation is very similar to the process of using a polygon to approximate a circle. If the facets are small enough, the polygon is a good approximation. Higher Segmentation rates produce less path-following error. The primary conceptual difference between drawing circle arcs and Delta motion paths is that the so-called "faceted arc" with Delta Segmentation is constructed in height-vs-time coordinates instead of the X-vs-Y coordinates you'd use to draw a circle on a computer screen.
This system is used in large part because support for Delta style printers was originally bolted onto GRBL-based motion planners which were written exclusively for straight-line motion paths in Cartesian printers. It was a relatively minimal modification to the existing codebase compared to implementing full quadratic path interpolation.
Techniques have evolved over the years. And alternate approaches are often used: for example, the dc42 fork of RepRapFirmware performs exact path-following without segmentation, by recalculating the proper time for the next step *after every step*. This is functionally equivalent to approximating a circle with a polygon facet count *so high that every pixel on the screen gets its own facet*. So it is exactly as accurate as the positioning resolution of the motors allows. The downside is that this segmentation-free technique is fairly processor-intensive, so it only works on relatively fast controllers, not the older 8bit Atmega AVR that powers most existing consumer/hobbyist printers today.
Other techniques are possible. The academic parallel robotics control literature is a whole other world of mathematical techniques and complexity in order to produce generalized control algorithms that work for a wide range of robot mechanisms. The version we use in open-source 3d printers is quite simple and application-specific in comparison.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I am describing how this is done in the Marlin firmware.
The first step is to split a linear movement from (x, y, z) to (x', y', z') into many discrete segments. To this end, the amount of time the move would take at a given speed is calculated, and the value *delta\_segments\_per\_second* is used to calculate the number of segments used.
This is done in the function *prepare\_move\_delta* in the file Marlin\_main.cpp. The endpoints of each of these segments is then passed to the function *calculate\_delta*:
```
void calculate_delta(float cartesian[3]) {
//reverse kinematics.
// Perform reversed kinematics, and place results in delta[3]
// The maths and first version has been done by QHARLEY . Integrated into masterbranch 06/2014 and slightly restructured by Joachim Cerny in June 2014
float SCARA_pos[2];
static float SCARA_C2, SCARA_S2, SCARA_K1, SCARA_K2, SCARA_theta, SCARA_psi;
SCARA_pos[X_AXIS] = cartesian[X_AXIS] * axis_scaling[X_AXIS] - SCARA_offset_x; //Translate SCARA to standard X Y
SCARA_pos[Y_AXIS] = cartesian[Y_AXIS] * axis_scaling[Y_AXIS] - SCARA_offset_y; // With scaling factor.
#if (Linkage_1 == Linkage_2)
SCARA_C2 = ((sq(SCARA_pos[X_AXIS]) + sq(SCARA_pos[Y_AXIS])) / (2 * (float)L1_2)) - 1;
#else
SCARA_C2 = (sq(SCARA_pos[X_AXIS]) + sq(SCARA_pos[Y_AXIS]) - (float)L1_2 - (float)L2_2) / 45000;
#endif
SCARA_S2 = sqrt(1 - sq(SCARA_C2));
SCARA_K1 = Linkage_1 + Linkage_2 * SCARA_C2;
SCARA_K2 = Linkage_2 * SCARA_S2;
SCARA_theta = (atan2(SCARA_pos[X_AXIS], SCARA_pos[Y_AXIS]) - atan2(SCARA_K1, SCARA_K2)) * -1;
SCARA_psi = atan2(SCARA_S2, SCARA_C2);
delta[X_AXIS] = SCARA_theta * SCARA_RAD2DEG; // Multiply by 180/Pi - theta is support arm angle
delta[Y_AXIS] = (SCARA_theta + SCARA_psi) * SCARA_RAD2DEG; // - equal to sub arm angle (inverted motor)
delta[Z_AXIS] = cartesian[Z_AXIS];
}
```
This function takes care of the delta geometry and calculations needed to convert the (x,y,z) coordinates of the segment endpoints to corresponding positions for the carriages. The translated coordinates are then passed to *plan\_buffer\_line*, which calculates the steps needed for each stepper motor and actually makes these steps happen.
The exact kinematics used in this function are explained in much more detail at the Marlin github.
What is important to note is that plan\_buffer\_line moves the carriages linearly, and the printhead thus describes an arc and not a straight line. A straight line move is thus approximated by many small arcs.
> 2 votes
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Tags: delta, algorithm
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thread-636 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/636 | Scalable 3D Printer | 2016-02-24T19:24:06.583 | # Question
Title: Scalable 3D Printer
Is there a definitive scalable 3D printer?
I've seen examples of Chinese companies printing entire houses, and I'm curious as to printers / filaments that are intended (or at least able) be scaled up for (very) large print jobs.
Since most hobby printers can take hundreds of hours for something that can still be held in our hands, so I'm curious if there are any designs for printers that are meant to extrude material efficiently with a easily scalable printing area.
Open sourced / free is preferable; though I'm interested in **any** designs that exist, commercial included.
# Answer
One big challenge with scaling anything up (or down), is that not all properties or characteristics scale linearly.
Consider a trivial case: a small cube. If you double the size, you've quadrupled the surface area and octupled the weight.
If you take a desktop-sized 3d printer design, and just double the size, it will weigh 8 times as much. But all the bolts holding it together are only 4 times as strong. So weight-bearing bolts are effectively under twice the strain (per unit of cross-sectional area); the exact factor depends of lots of things (orientation, leverage, etc).
If you scale up by 10x, they'll potentially be under 10 times greater stress, and probably snap.
Many, many parts will have similar issues: Drive belts that are twice as wide and twice as thick will still have 1/2 the (relative) strength -- and stiffness for the motors to overcome.
The stepper motors have to move 8 times the weight, *and* you'll want them to move far, far faster. But steppers lose torque when you spin them faster.
My main printer is pretty much a MendelMax 2, but the Y axis is about 6 times bigger (X and Z are normal). On MM2 the whole build platform moves along Y -- on my printer it weighs far more than on a regular-size MM2 -- it's 6 times the mass just because of size, besides that it has to be much stiffer to avoid sagging over that distance. I went to a larger motor, but it could still barely move the axis. I eventually got it to move at pretty normal speed, but to print long objects it really should be 6 times faster or so.
That would require an amazing motor -- and really big electronics to drive it.
Another challenge is the printing material -- 20mm diameter PLA fiber would be really impressive, but a little hard to find, and a spool would be hard to lift. The power needed to melt it fast enough would be impressive, too. Bridge and house printers I've seen in reports, use pumped concrete through about a 100mm wide nozzle (I have no idea what the nozzle is made of, to stand up to the abrasion). See Watch this giant 3D printer build a house for some cool pictures and video.
Scaling up is a fascinating project -- but it's harder than it looks.
> 13 votes
# Answer
If I understand your question correctly, it sounds like you're looking somewhere within the RepRap realm. The RepRap community is mostly responsible for the boom in consumer 3D printing in the past 10 years, and that's most likely because it's **open source**. RepRap designs are mostly dynamic (and most parts can be 3D printed), so you could theoretically build a larger frame for your machine and use a slicing engine that allows you to set the build volume. I believe Slic3r allows you to customize the build space, I'm not sure though.
> 5 votes
# Answer
As far as I know, right now, all the "3D printers" that can print houses, bridges, etc. are experimental models (and sometimes, vey elaborate art projects) - they just don't exist except as one-off creations designed as a proof-of-concept showing this can be done.
Maybe some of those project published their plans and code but they are not designed for mass production or general use, even if you manage to build another copy of one of them it will probably be able to print just the same project the original printed.
You specifically asked about speed, material and build area:
**Speed:** the speed really depends on the size of the printer's nozzle, the typical desktop printer has a 0.4mm nozzle, if you replace it with a 1mm nozzle the printer will be approximately twice as fast (1.25 nozzle area vs 3.14 nozzle area, assuming you have an hotend designed for larger nozzles that can melt the plastic fast enough).
Now, the "house printer" does not use a standard desktop hotend (see material below) and buildings don't have fine details so you can make the head much larger.
However, as far as I know the early prototypes are still much slower then conventional construction methods.
**Material:** houses are typically not made of plastic, the printers I know of have welding equipment instead of an hotend and extrude steel
There are probably other methods but I bet all of them use typical construction materials such as steel and not thermoplastic.
**Size:** and last but not least, it's obviously not practical to build a printer with as house sized platform, the house printers are actually relatively small robots that travel across the construction project, leaving material behind them and then climb over the previous layer to print the next part.
> 4 votes
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Tags: filament, speed
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thread-650 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/650 | Are there any software packages that can open and edit 3MF? | 2016-02-25T12:55:10.843 | # Question
Title: Are there any software packages that can open and edit 3MF?
I am trying to find programs that can import and export 3MF file formats. I know that Cura 15.10 beta can open 3MF formats, but I am looking for a program that open, edit and save 3MF files. I am very interested in finding a more portable file format for my 3D designs.
If you are not aware the 3MF format promises to provide a "replacement" for STL files that contains the complete model information, theoretically allowing us to slice and edit the same file.
http://3mf.io/
# Answer
Microsoft 3D Builder should have support for this format.
Solidworks 2015 has support too. A software adoption list is placed on 3mf pages.
> 5 votes
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Tags: software
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thread-647 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/647 | Is Arduino Due a worth buy as controller electronics for deltabots? | 2016-02-25T05:27:25.533 | # Question
Title: Is Arduino Due a worth buy as controller electronics for deltabots?
Over the times I hear people saying delta inverse kinematics push atmega2560 to limits. I see in my local supplier Arduino Due and RAMPS-FD is the cheapest 32bit alternatives. But there's not much documentation on it so any opinion or personal experience are welcomed.
* is it really 2560 based electronics so laggy that printing quality is compromised?
* does Marlin4Due has a good support for auto calibration?
* anything else to caution against besides a ramps1.4 is a no-no?
(I'm planning my first delta. 2560 seems to work perfectly with my previous xy bots though. )
# Answer
An 8bit Atmega can provide bare-bones delta performance with Marlin (eg 40mm/s print speed) or pretty good performance with Repetier (due to more optimized algorithms). ***For a small and simple delta like a bare-bones Mini Kossel, 8bit may be fine. If you want to do high-speed printing or use any of the fancier features, you should go with 32bit.***
The big issue with 8bit comes up when you want to do something that taxes the MCU. Delta kinematics already add a lot of extra math on top of all the normal printer functions like command parsing, motion planning, and heater control. For example, adding any of these to an 8bit Delta can cause issues:
* **Bed tilt compensation "auto-leveling"** -- the coordinate space rotation transform adds a lot of extra floating point calculations to every movement segment. That really taxes the 8bit Atmega since it does not have native floating point support. (Note that pre-print auto-calibration such as in the RichCattell Marlin fork is not the same as bed tilt compensation and does not add any run-time processor load.)
* **Full graphics LCDs** -- refreshing the LCD screen for animations and status reports takes a surprising amount of horsepower. 8bit Marlin is widely known to suffer from stuttering and print quality issues when running a GLCD on a delta.
* **Highly faceted (smooth) curves, particularly over USB** -- the high rate of gcode command processing sucks up a lot of clock cycles, particularly in firmwares that run USB comms as a top-priority interrupt.
What the Due (or other 32bit board option) does for you is de-bottleneck the MCU so you can push the printer harder or utilize features that add processor load. Here's why they're so much better:
* In simple clock speed terms, the SAM3X8E in the Due/Duet/Alligator/etc is about 5 times faster than the Atmega 2560, and the LPC1769 in the Smoothieboard/MKS-SBASE/etc is about 7 times faster. But they're actually MUCH higher performance than clock speed alone would suggest, because the 32bit architecture and native floating point support mean far fewer clock cycles are required for complex calculations.
* They also have more RAM, meaning the the firmware can manage more features and look farther ahead when motion planning.
* They also have more program space, meaning the firmware can, if desired, be compiled as a single full-featured build that covers all possible printers (as RepRapFirmware and Smoothieware do) and thus end-users don't have to edit and compile code in the Arduino IDE to configure the firmware. The Atmega line requires hundreds of conditional compile statements in the firmware to exclude unused features from the binary to get the memory footprint down.
All that said, the switch from an 8bit Atmega AVR to a 32bit ARM Cortex-M3 is still just an upgrade from a late-1990s processor to an early-2000s processor. Neither is "modern" by any stretch. *(For example, the BeagleBone Black used by Redeem and MachineKit utterly blows away the Due in processing power and memory. But those options have steep learning curves at the moment.)* The Due can still be bogged down by printing very fast with lots of features enabled. It's a **big** upgrade on an Atmega, but I predict it's going to be replaced by much faster controllers within the next few years. Announcements of upcoming next-gen controller boards are already trickling out.
**To summarize, the answer is yes, a Due-type board is a good buy if you want a high-performance printer. It will meet 99%+ of user's needs today.** But it will be replaced in a few years, just like the Atmegas are being replaced now.
**As for specific Due shields, I strongly recommend NOT going with RAMPS-FD.** It was cloned for sale by Asian companies before the design was finished, which seemingly caused the original designer to abandon it before working out all the bugs. RAMPS-FDv1 has some nasty design flaws such as heaters turning on while flashing firmware. RAMPS-FDv2 is better, but can experience unreliable and oddball behavior due to unresolved issues in the circuits intended to make it compatible with both 3v3 boards like the Due and 5v boards like the Mega. (For example, the thermistor voltage reference circuit needs modifying to work right, and there appears to be timing issues in the 3v3-5v level shifters.)
**RADDS is a good Due shield.** It is a simpler, more reliable, more compact version of RAMPS-FD. It is very popular in Germany and has recently (late 2015) become available for sale in the US.
I also recommend purchasing the Due R3-E instead of the regular Due R3. Anecdotally, the "E" version appears to eliminate some firmware bootup issues that can occur when the board is first powered at lower than nominal voltage.
One possible downside to the Due is that Arduino just announced they are no longer manufacturing it. So all new Due boards from here on will be made by 3rd parties. That's not necessarily bad, since it's open source and many other companies will surely continue making them, but there won't be any more made by Arduino.
For single-board options using the same SAM3X8E processor as the Due, the Duet 0.8.5 is becoming quite popular. (It runs RepRapFirmware, which has some great Delta features.) The Alligator runs Repetier. There are several other beta/experimental/development boards in the works too. The community appears to be moving towards the Due and Due-compatible boards over the other various options.
> 6 votes
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Tags: electronics, ramps-1.4
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thread-657 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/657 | Proper settings for printing rubber and rubber-like materials? | 2016-02-26T18:25:06.273 | # Question
Title: Proper settings for printing rubber and rubber-like materials?
I am struggling finding how to print complex shapes made of rubber, tpu, tpe... Are there any clear guidelines on how to print those materials without deforming and uncontrolled retraction?
The printer is not a problem, I can print on:
* Delta WASP (the one I am specifically looking advice for)
* Makerbot 5th
* MB Z18
* Sharebot NG
* Ultimaker 2
Thank you!
# Answer
First off, **you need the right extruder design**. Specifically, the filament path between the drive gear or hob and hot end must be extremely well-constrained. 1.75mm TPE filaments (thermoplastic elastomers) will buckle in an instant if given the chance. That means they will try to squeeze out of any little opening in the filament drive path rather than being forced through the nozzle.
* Is there a gap \>1mm *anywhere* between your extruder drive gear and hot end? *Including the groove in the drive gear itself.* If so, either change extruders or print something to fill the gap. Many popular extruders already have Ninjaflex conversion parts uploaded on Thingiverse or Youmagine.
* Are you using a 1.75mm bowden drive? You probably shouldn't bother with the softer TPEs like Ninaflex. Harder TPEs like Semiflex may be ok, but it's still difficult. 3mm bowden drives may perform ok. Direct drive extruders are highly recommend.
* TPUs (thermoplastic urethanes) in particular can be sticky in the filament feed path between the spool and extruder. Try to minimize corners and turns (even inside PTFE tubes) between the extruder and spool. As a general rule of thumb, don't exceed 180 degrees of cumulative tube curvature in the entire path from the spool to the nozzle.
Once your filament feed path is fully enclosed, the filament will be constrained and unable to squeeze out the side or wrap around your drive gear. That's the most important step.
The next problem is simply **loading** the filament. Purging out PLA or ABS with a soft TPE can be challenging because of the force required to purge the old material. Many default loading routines are actually too fast for TPEs and will cause the TPE filament to bunch up rather than purging the previous material. It tends to extrude better when there is nothing else in the way. Some tips:
* Do some cold-pulls to clear out the hot end as much as possible before loading the TPE. (Nylon is ideal for this. Preheat to nylon temps, run through some nylon, let the extruder cool to ~180C, and then forcefully pull out the nylon. If you can't pull it out, pull hotter. If it leaves nylon behind, pull colder.)
* If you have a high-melting plastic like PET or nylon in the hot end, purge with a lower-melting solid filament like PLA first. This will reduce the viscosity of the old material when inserting the TPE.
* If your printer has a fixed loading speed, consider making a gcode file with nothing but a preheat and very slow extruder move as a custom loading script.
* If you fail to load and jam up the TPE, try again! Sometimes it takes a few load/unload cycles to get the old material purged and a clean feed going.
The final issue is **print settings**. You ever hear the saying, "you can't push a rope"? That's kind of what you're fighting with TPEs. With a properly constrained feed path, you can push rubber, but not very hard. So minimizing extrusion force is the name of the game.
* Print SLOW to start. Like 10mm/s. You can dial it up once you're getting good results. This will minimize nozzle back-pressure and reduce the amount of "pushing a rope" that the extruder drive must do.
* Retract as little as possible. Turn off "optional" retractions in your slicer, such as during layer changes. Some people even print with no retraction at all, and use high travel speeds and coast/wipe features to minimize stringing. That's overkill, but it can help with marginal extruders. I personally add about 50% to my normal ABS/PLA retraction distance.
* Print on the hotter side of the recommended range to start, then dial down the temp as needed to reduce stringing and oozing. Printing hot will reduce nozzle back-pressure.
With all that, it should be possible to print the softest TPEs with reasonable success. But if you really can't get it working right, plenty of higher-durometer TPEs are available now that are significantly easier to extrude.
> 3 votes
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Tags: filament, fdm, quality
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