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thread-4836 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4836 | Do I need to manually enter in gcode to turn off the bed and nozzle? | 2017-10-29T20:01:51.683 | # Question
Title: Do I need to manually enter in gcode to turn off the bed and nozzle?
I got into 3D printing back when it was very much an art and not user friendly, and I have not been keeping up with it very much. My Slic3r profile required me to manually put in the GCODE to turn off the nozzle and bed. I'm experimenting with Cura and I can't seem to find a place to enter in GCODE. The program is way more polished than I am used to, so it's possible that it's an automatically enabled feature.
Does Cura automatically turn off the bed and nozzle after a print is complete, or do I need to manually enter the GCODE somewhere?
# Answer
Using Cura 3.0.3 to create the GCODE and OctoPi/OctoPrint 1.2.7 to print: By default the printer turned off the nozzle and bed, and also homed the X and Y axises.
You can set start and end GCODE in the preferences for the machine, like so:
> 4 votes
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Tags: ultimaker-cura
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thread-4832 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4832 | My Anet A8's filament isn't extruding properly | 2017-10-29T14:58:33.517 | # Question
Title: My Anet A8's filament isn't extruding properly
So after a *lot* of work I finally got my Anet A8 printing but then disaster struck. It has stopped working again but with a new problem. The first few strokes of printing are fine but then it goes really stringy and the lines are very very thin so the result is a very stringy mess with holes and gaps everywhere. I am also using PLA from RS and my G-code and some images are below:
G-code: https://www.mediafire.com/file/p4odlic1372q78z/xyzCalibration\_cube.gcode
# Answer
> 1 votes
The most likely problem is that you have a jammed nozzle. To fix this heat the hot end up to about 140°C then insert some PLA filament push it through and then pull it out forcefully. That should solve your problem.
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Tags: filament, pla, ultimaker-cura, anet-a8
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thread-4835 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4835 | Slicing adds holes/cracks to my object | 2017-10-29T20:01:20.977 | # Question
Title: Slicing adds holes/cracks to my object
I recently got started in 3D printing but here's an issue I can't seem to find a solution for (I don't know what exactly to look for).
Here's what I did:
* I used InkScape to convert an emoji in to a svg and imported it in to Blender
* Used the Solidify modifier to make the curve a solid and converted it in to a mesh
* Extruded the mesh a bit, fixed a few non-manifold vertices and erroneous faces and saved the whole shebang as STL
* Imported the STL in to my printers software:
* After slicing it looks like this:
Is the software making a mistake during the slicing? Or is my mesh screwed up?
I have a FlashForge Finder and using the software that came with it: FlashPrint.
Edit: I uploaded everything to Thingiverse for those who are interested.
# Answer
here is just a addenum to Tom van der Zanden's answer
this is (an example of) what you may design - nice object with virtual outline, and virtual fill so this is what you see (and what you potentially expect)
but here is what you get (and probably not really expect)
red parts are the areas which are not covered by fill because nozzle cannot reach there
solution is
* to redesign your object in smart way or
* to use smaller nozzle or
* to use smarter app (like Slic3r)
and of course you can use all 3 options together to get best results ;)
**EDIT** here is simple explanation why smarter app could do the thing
and here goes the difference
green parts are new covered areas
not much but somthing extra
> 5 votes
# Answer
This is likely not a problem with your mesh. It's a problem in the slicer software.
Because your 3D printer prints with a (for example) 0.4mm nozzle, it lays down lines of plastic that are around (for example) 0.5mm wide. The slicer has to create a pattern, consisting of 0.5mm wide lines, that fills in your object. The gaps shown in your object are likely smaller than this, and thus can't be filled.
I am not familiar with the flashforge software, but different slicers have different ways of dealing with this. Some offer a "gap fill" option that uses tricks to be able to fill in these very tiny gaps by rapidly moving the extruder back and forth over the gap. However, even then, it is sometimes unavoidable that tiny gaps remain. Some gaps are just too small to fill with the comparatively large nozzle.
> 1 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, slicing
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thread-4831 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4831 | Step motors vibrate, don't move at all (Prusa I3) | 2017-10-29T10:40:33.143 | # Question
Title: Step motors vibrate, don't move at all (Prusa I3)
Recently, I changed my RAMPS 1.4 card (because there was a problem with the power output).So I bought this new one, and an Arduino Mega.I didn'T change the code (Marlin 1.3.3).I used the same stepsticks (a4988).I plugged my motors to the Ramps card. When I give them the command to turn they started to turn but didn't stop.Stepsticks got hot.After some time I tried it again and they just vibrated.The stepsticks got insanely hot after just 5-6 seconds.I used a different stepstick RAMPS card and Mega, they worked perfectly.But when I plugged the stepstick to the new card, the motors did te same thing again. What can be causing this and how can I fix it? (I've measured the voltage input, it is 12V and stable)
# Answer
Usually if they get too hot you have to adjust the amperage by turning the little potentiometer on the A4988 (turn left until you can move the motor by hand, turn right until you cant, add a little bit like 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn).
But this:
> I used a different stepstick RAMPS card and Mega, they worked perfectly.
it is not completely clear, so:
* the A4988 work on another board -\> your new board is broken
* another A4988 worked -\> the A4988 is broken
HTH
> 4 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, ramps-1.4, stepper, stepper-driver
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thread-4843 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4843 | A free simulation program | 2017-10-30T14:36:29.160 | # Question
Title: A free simulation program
With some of the items I am designing I would love to put them through a simulation. Like crushing, for example. I want to know how well my object can handle any situation I put it through so I can make changes before I print out the object, only to find out there was a weak spot.
I have been trying to learn ParaView but it is a little complicated off the bat, I would like something easy to use.
If anybody knows of a program that would be fantastic!
# Answer
Fusion 360 will do finite element analysis (simulation), although I haven't used it. Whether it will perform the type of analysis that you are looking for, I do not know. Check Autodesk's tutorials.
One problem that you will encounter is that items printed using FDM technology are highly anisotropic. In other words, they have a grain, and are stronger/weaker in some directions than in others. I do not think that Fusion 360 can take account of that in its analysis.
Autodesk: Fusion 360
> 3 votes
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Tags: 3d-design
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thread-4849 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4849 | How do I 3D-print fair dice? | 2017-10-30T16:47:28.023 | # Question
Title: How do I 3D-print fair dice?
As 3D printers become more and more reliable, their prints get better and better. But FDM printers do have their problems too: you print tiny ovals that smooch together at the edges, and infill makes it awkward at times. So, how do I make a 3D-printed die fair (as in: not favoring one side too much)?
# Answer
> 22 votes
This is going to become a 3-step answer, as 3D Printing uses 3 different steps: *Design, Slicing & Material choice* before I elaborate alternate ways to some fair dice. Yet, we start with the material, as we need to know about it first. In this case it does impact everything from design to slicing and the print.
# Variant A: Printed perfect(?)
## Step 1: Know your material
Let's face it: most materials used in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) face an non-homogenous shrinking between XY plane and Z axis. But if you know these specific properties for your printer/filament/temperature combo, you can compensate for that. **Know your material** \- you will need that for slicing. Run a test print of a 10x10x10 mm cube and measure - the offset of the 10mm on each axis is what you need to compensate for via your slicer.
## Step 2: Design fairly
### Platonic bodies
When designing your STL, try to **design as fair as you can**. Either indent the numbers as little as you can while maintaining readability, or, if you have a 2 color printer, fill the numbers with same density material but from the other color.
Another thing to consider: indent the same surface area on each face of the body. That way you remove the same volume and thus same weight from each face, making it somewhat fair in the design, as the Center of Mass should be mostly in the center of the body now.
### Prism-"dice"
A cylindrical (or rather: prism) design that is rolled over its "cylinder" surfaces might be the most easy to be designed fairly and be reasonably easy to slice, without having to resort to specialist slicing methods and tons of different compensations to keep in mind or having to assemble the object after print. It might be made with or without a "fall over" cone/elipsoid shape at both ends. Or it might be made like a dreidl, having only one conical/elipsoid tip for easy printing, possibly even havign the 'stem' printed as a different object and then assembled after print.
## Step 3: Slicing
Now, there is a pretty fair design... but what settings to use when printing it?!
Infill will make it wonky, so there are 2 options: solid (100% infill) and fully hollow (0% infill). Solid is easier to print and heavier. Hollow saves (depending on surface sides) 95% or more of the material in contrast to solid but can fall victim to sagging flat surfaces or wall thickness being not the same as flat area thickness.
Now, after we chose the infill settings, we need to choose some other things. We want to print fairly delicate stuff, so we should use a smaller layer height than normally (0.05 mm, for example), and better a smaller nozzle - 0.2 mm or even less, if available. This again means, calibrating the printer/material combo for these two settings (XY / Z shrinking).
After calibration, finally print! The dice should be pretty ok in fairness with that, but they are still not totally fair...
## Extra-step: Postprocessing
You might make a test for bias by floating it on a salt water layer under tap water... if you managed to get it solid enough to reduce the air inside it to make it sink between these layers. That way you can slightly sand the heavier side until it is unbiased.
If you manage to print somewhat fair and hollow, you might consider filling the cavity with some kind of resin (for example epoxy) to give the objects a bit of weight. This has some caveats on its own though: you'll have to leave a filling hole and you'll have to coat the inside equally or refill it several times to ensure a complete fill as most resins shrink when curing. Also, most resins heat up in curing, though usually not to the degree it melts FDM. As you work with resin, **Wear gloves** as it is aggressive to skin!
BUT! 3D printink can do more!
# Variant B: Printed Perfection
FDM is home printer stuff, but maybe you have access to something more... industrial. They are tricky in their own way, and you better know what you do with them.
**SLS (solid laser sintering)** You just need to know your material shrinking coefficients in that case... and no, you don't need to think about infill, you only can do solid, 100% filled objects this way. But you will also have virtually no air in your print. Having SLS at home is rare though. This is however likely what you get when you order printed... but remember: the SLS powder is highly hygroscopic and will need to be sealed. Also, it does turn yellowish over time if it starts white. Using reused powder to a large degree degrades print quality also. And *never* look into the working machine.
**DLMS (Direct Laser Metal Smelting)** is quite new and pretty much the metal variant of SLS. If you make your dice in that way and get them almost indistinguishable from cast metal. Polish the surfaces a little, don't sniff the breath the powder and don't look into the laser.
**DLP/SLA (Direct Light Processing/Stereo Lithography)** Printing the thing from curing resin actually is pretty much close to SLS, but it has some resemblence to FDM in parts... biggest benefit: you can make very delicate details, and your layer heights get really thin - and you have a huge array of colors to choose from. But you have to take in mind, that you might want to either make the dice solid or design them with a hole in each of the sides or corners to allow surplus resin to flow out. You get perfect surfaces and can reuse the resin for quite a bit<sup>depending on printer and storeage</sup>, but remember: SLA is a stinky thing, never look into the printing machine & the resins are very agressive to skin, so *use gloves* when working with the printing and the print until properly cleaned.
# Variant C: Lost Print
But wait, what if you don't actually print the dice but just print a positive of the dice and then make a negative mold from that?
Yes, that can be done. You know lost wax casting? There you go. Here's your step by step:
* Print your dice.
+ maybe even puzzle the positive together from several faces printed all in the same orientation for maximum equality in the print.
* Add a casting inlet and air outlet to the print.
* cast the positive in either a clay material or gypsum. Allow it to dry/set.
* Burn/melt out the positive, you get a hot and empty negative form.
* cast in liquid metal or a resin
* break mold, remove the inlets, polish some and... voila!
If you are good at green sand casting, you might use that instead of lost wax casting - and reuse the positive for a second casting. Or, if you are good, you can make two-part molds that are reuseable.
## Variant 3b: mold it!
If we can print a positive and make a mold from that, we might as well print a mold directly. We can just cast in "cold" materials then, but if you have something that can be cast that way (some resins or wax) you can make either the dice or casting sprues for lost wax casting that way. Designing here will be different on the last steps though: after doing your wanted object, use this as a "tool" to cut out from a more or less square block that surrounds it. cut out the inlet/outlet for material and air from the block. Then cut up to your liking, if you want a reusable multi-part mold. You might want to add a roove to add wire or a rubber band around the print to keep the mold together while casting.
Or we go industrial with that model, grab a CNC and make the mold halves that way and give up on printing the dice...
# tl;dr:
Know your printer, know your material, design for your printer's requirements, design fairly, maybe avoid printing the actual dice but print a positive to be molded and cast or print a mold.
# Answer
> 4 votes
## Honestly, I wouldn't.
You can find dice templates at places like thingiverse, but with my (admittedly limited) experience of affordable 3D printers, I would be highly skeptical that the machine tolerances are up to snuff for producing a fair die.
See this discussion from the 3d printing exchange, especially these two answers.
If you're really bound and determined to do this (we all have our geeky little passion projects!) I'd advise trying to find a template which the authors claim to have tested with chi-square, then find out what (type of) device they used. If you can replicate that, go for it... and then do the chi-square test yourself. It's ridiculously easy to set something up wrong, or forget something (like the possible effects of internal orientation.)
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Tags: print-quality, 3d-design
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thread-1 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1 | How to obtain high resolution prints in a shorter period of time? | 2016-01-12T18:45:19.963 | # Question
Title: How to obtain high resolution prints in a shorter period of time?
When I've printed an object I've had to choose between high resolution and quick prints. What techniques or technologies can I use or deploy to speed up my high resolution prints?
# Answer
You could experiment with slicing. For example, you might not need high resolution all over the object, but you can speed up some straight parts by using greater layer high there. See a part of Slic3r manual about such thing.
It is also possible to print thicker infill every Nth layer, see Infill optimization in Slic3r.
Other slicers might have those features as well.
> 8 votes
# Answer
For FDM technologies in general with a single extruder, slicing modifications is your only options. However there will be a trade off between quality and speed. For ABS, changing to a machine with a enclosed build (such as a zortrax) chamber may help and a heated build chamber (Stratasys machine) will help the quality and reliability but not the print speed directly. As ABS has a tendency to warp vase mode is not the best idea either.
If you only need high resolution and not strength then reducing the infill percentage or even using vase mode will speed up the print. Also changing to a material that you can print at higher speeds like PLA will magnify any of the previous settings.
If you have two extruders then changing to a wider nozzle and using that for infill may speed up the print, heating and cooling time during extruder changeover may actually make it slower.
For other technologies there are lots of options digital light projection (DLP) and stereolithography (SLA) both provide significantly higher resolution then FDM, with DLP being the faster of the two, comparison. Take the review with a grain of salt though as the technologies are far from standardised, for example out DLP at work offers far higher resolution and speed then our SLA which is quite old.
Sintering or melting technologies can scan the outline every layer then perform a infill of multiple layers at once to speed up the process.
> 2 votes
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Tags: resolution, speed, quality
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thread-4852 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4852 | My print did not turn out as I expected. Where can I start troubleshooting? | 2017-10-31T00:55:27.567 | # Question
Title: My print did not turn out as I expected. Where can I start troubleshooting?
I am trying to modify this thing. It's prints OK, but there are some design choices I don't like, so, since the previous makers uploaded their source files, I tried my hand at Sketchup.
My latest round of changes have produced a weird phenomenon, and I'm not sure how to describe it. The slicer sees the GCODE as I intend, but for some reason the printer is printing something different than what the slicer is showing me. I am primarily concerned with the top of this case, but the base does not have the additional screw holes I made, so the phenomenon, whatever it is, is not limited to a single part.
* Sketchup v17.2.25555
* Cura v3.0.3
* OctoPi/OctoPrint 1.2.7
* PrintrBot LC custom
* Grey Inland PLA+ @~180C, bed @~60C (my temps are higher than the software thinks they are, so I have to put the temp lower in the software)
You can see the parts in Sketchup:
The corner on the left was giving me no end of trouble! I left it with a messed up hole because I could more easily clean it up with a drill bit than spend another few hours futzing with that corner.
This is in Cura, after I have sliced it. Looks fine to me! There is a bit of red in that problematic corner, but I only noticed that after the print came out weird.
This is the output of the printer. Notice how the edge near the GPIO pins is shorter than the rest, and how the hole is inverted into a protrusion. This is the opposite of what I want, and the opposite of what I see in the other softwares.
# Answer
# first issue
bed inclination. it has to be heavy issue :)
if you have any other printouts then please reveal them so we could see if it's the problem
# next issue
inversion of hole into solid object
i would say it's caused by wrong calculation of normal vector to some face(s)
algorithm uses normal to calculates what is "inside" and what is not
it's hard to say if it's an issue of
* object itself
* application in which you modify it (even if duplicating or joining with other objects)
* slicer engine
to fix the issue, you can try edit your object (recreate this hole)
but first - definitelly i'd align your bed properly ;)
**EDIT**
after closer look i bet it's the issue of bad object. it looks like pointed line is kinda remnant of some operations made on object in the past
in other words - it's possible place where normals are reverted and doesn't "create" inside but outside
all above this line is reverted. **part of body disappeared and part of hole appeared**
this is the issue for sure!
> 3 votes
# Answer
Looks like you are over extruding.
check out this visual guide for example (I like it a lot):
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide
For the protruding thingy, it seems (as the other hole is filled up with over extruded filament, it seems) that it's the "hole" printed. For the rest of the "wall" where that hole should have been, it seems it was just not printed. What size is it (if too thin, the slicer might just discard it, doesn't seems like it but you didn't tell nozzle size etc).
I don't know, but I think you should start with calibrating your machine first so that you actually *can* print small holes like that.
For the missing wall, what does the slice result look like?
> 1 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, software, ultimaker-cura, slicing
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thread-3566 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3566 | Slic3er throws "AMF parsing requires XML::SAX" | 2017-02-11T00:45:50.530 | # Question
Title: Slic3er throws "AMF parsing requires XML::SAX"
When I try to open prepared `.amf` plate with some items to print, Prusa's Slic3er release throw's this error:
The slicer version is 1.30 distributed for Prusa's i3 MK2 1.75 printer.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The slic3r software is written in Perl, a programming language that can be expanded with local libraries. XML::SAX is one such library. CPAN is a tool which can be used to retrieve libraries from the CPAN repository (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, I believe).
I use CPAN is something I do infrequently, so I would be doing a disservice by trying to list the steps here. Better answers are, no doubt, on stackexchange. Nevertheless, these may help:
From your command line, start Perl running the CPAN module, and invoke the CPAN shell (your input in **bold**):
\> **perl -MCPAN -e shell**
cpan\> **install XML::SAX**
cpan\> ... several lines of output ...
Done!
XML::SAX is up to date (0.99).
cpan\> **quit**
\>
With that done, try using slic3r again.
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Tags: prusa-i3, software, slic3r
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thread-4690 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4690 | Is my 3D printer totally dead? | 2017-10-02T16:29:13.293 | # Question
Title: Is my 3D printer totally dead?
The last few days my 3D printer has not been working, despite the fact that the LCD Screen has been working perfectly (since the problem the LCD bright potentiometer went very sensitive, so the brightness set to the maximum although before the problem it was perfectly calibrated).
The problem arrived when I was unplugging the fan from the board because it wasn't working while the printer was on, suddenly the LCDs brightness set to the maximum so I turned the printer off as fast as I could. When I turned it on again, I had to recalibrate the LCDs brightness and when I tried to move the steppers the weren't working, some of them made strange noises and didn't move. I have to say that now every time I turn on my printer, an orange LED flashes, but I cannot remember if it was normal or not.
My 3D printer: Geeetech I3 Pro B 3D Printer DIY Kit - Black US Plug 1
The board I'm using: XCSOURCE® Kit de impresora 3D con RAMPS 1.4 Controlador + Mega 2560 Board + 5pcs A4988 Controlador de motor de pasos con disipador de calor + LCD 12864 Controlador gráfico de visualización inteligente con adaptador para Arduino TE621
# Answer
*I would have posted this as a comment, since it is not a definitive answer to the question, but it was too long for a comment.*
Since you were unplugging the fan when the problem started, I would suggest that it is a wiring problem.
The first place I would look is to check the ground connection between the processor board (probably the ATMEGA Arduino), and the board that carries the stepper motor drivers. If the ground connection is faulty, the board may still work due to sneak ground paths through signal lines.
A simple way to check is to measure the voltage from the GND pin on the ATMEGA to the ground of the driver board. That voltage should be very close to 0.0 Volts. You might also check the resistance (using an ohm meter) with the power turned off. The resistance should be 0.0 ohms, or if the meter is not perfectly calibrated, it should be the same as you measure with the probes connected together.
If either of these readings isn't zero, search for a broken connection.
One sign that ground may be broken is the LCD brightness control sensitivity. I don't have the schematic to refer to, but if the ground reference for the pot is broken, the output of the pot will be too high.
Another sign is that the stepper motors still make some sounds when they should move.
If you don't find a problem there, check through the other power and ground connections. Be sure that all GND lines are well connected, all +5 lines are well connected, and that all +12 lines are well connected.
> 2 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, troubleshooting, geeetech
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thread-4858 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4858 | What can I do about a printjob in progress that starts to warp/curl on the edges? | 2017-10-31T09:15:01.853 | # Question
Title: What can I do about a printjob in progress that starts to warp/curl on the edges?
I currently have a print job that is about 50% done, been running for 2 hours with 2 hours remaining. One side is curling/warping pretty bad, and I'm afraid there's no possible way this is going to finish without serious problems if I don't intervene.
So what I'm doing is either brilliant or idiotic, I'm not sure which: I've paused the print job, stuck some elmers glue below the curling part (with toothpicks, careful not to budge anything else), added a couple degrees to the heatbed (for pliability hopefully), put a small book on top of it to smash it on the glue and let it rest for a little bit (I'll report back if this was a horrible idea or not).
**So my main quesiton:** Is there any other techniques that you folks can recommend for a scenario like this? McGuyver'y techniques to repair your in-progress print jobs? Has anyone tried this technique I'm attempting and if so how successful was it?
In case it matters, I have an ANET A8 and generally send my print jobs to Octoprint (Raspi) from Cura with a Octoprint plugin (Windows). Printing with PLA filament. I've done quite a few successful prints recently, but this is the first one that goes from corner-to-corner on the heatbed (this specifically). Printing at 207c with 60c heatbed (bumped up to 64 while glue settles). It's in a cooler room of the house, and doesn't have an enclosure so I'm afraid the cool temp is affecting it.
Thanks
Edit, last maybe significant (or maybe not) details: printing on glass with glue stick applied to it - been doing it for weeks and works quite well for the most part. Also, printing on a raft.
Edit, here are a few pics. Both are from the back of the printer looking forward. I have one cam almost exactly level with the glass so I can see the hot-end extrude filament and another one slightly above it. Sorry for the bad lighting. Also included screenshots of my slicer settings for this print.
Btw, I've since resumed printing after glueing it down, so far so good - but as you can see in the first pic it may have some possible structural defects and still has a slight curl:
# Answer
Putting a large brim on it can help, I've seen people rescue prints with larger brims by literally adding weights to the brim around the areas that are peeling up. I've done it by taping brim edges down carefully as the print goes.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Three thoughts:
1. bed temperature
2. rim width
3. bonding agent
Bed Temperature:
Often the edges of a heated bed are not as hot as the center. Making the heat pass through an insulator (the glass) makes the temperature profile on the corners more relatively cool compared to the center than if you were printing directly on the aluminum bed.
To offset that, you could:
1. Increase the overall heated bed temperature.
2. Wrap some insulation (such as ceramic felt) around the edge, keeping it out of the way of the print.
3. Add insulation to the underside corners of the bed, to reduce heat loss.
Rim Thickness:
I see that you are using a rim. Since the rim was also pulling up, rather than the print pulling out of the rim, you might benefit from making the rim broader.
Bonding Agent:
It looks as if you are printing on blue tape, but that might be the picture. IME, gluestick and blue tape aren't often used together. If you are using only blue tape, the condition of the tape is critical. Any grease or rubbing of the tape (such as by resting your hand on the bed when making other prints) can reduce the holding power.
If you haven't tried it yet, you might try printing PLA with the PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) gluestick. I use the "purple until dry" Elmers gluesticks with good results.
> 2 votes
# Answer
More glue to hold it down and lower in-fill percentage will reduce the warping. Or adding more cut-outs to the design like you have further up the shaft.
> -1 votes
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Tags: print-quality, warping
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thread-4845 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4845 | Where or who could I hire to assemble a 3d printer that came in a kit for me? | 2017-10-30T16:55:58.880 | # Question
Title: Where or who could I hire to assemble a 3d printer that came in a kit for me?
I planning on getting a resin 3d printer kit, and I don't want to take any risks building it myself. Where, or who, could I hire a professional capable of constructing a 3D printer kit? They don't necessarily have to specialize in constructing 3d printers, I just need someone qualified with the mechanical and technical skills for the job.
# Answer
If you have a makerspace in your area, you'll likely find individuals with reasonable mechanical skills suitable for simple kit assembly. Most kits are engineered to be reasonable assembly, not rocket surgery. Makers are by nature capable of construction, often from raw materials, and kits are typically not particularly challenging comparatively speaking.
Resin 3D printers are also simple in construction, as the component count is less than that of an FDM printer, or quite close in count. SLA designs involve laser modules, mirrors and alignment, while DLP designs involve light projection and light masking. Both designs involve vats and movement mechanics.
Even if you do not have a makerspace local to you, consider to contact one that might be nearer than farther away, as those spaces may have leads for you to locate a suitable victim/candidate.
Our local library makerspace often farms out contacts to me or other makers with the necessary skills to meet a patron's requirements.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I agree that a local makerspace is a good option, but I will say this...
Buying a kit and building it yourself, even with some frustration and learning curves, will help immensely with your ability to calibrate and troubleshoot issues later. If someone else builds it for you, chances are if something goes wrong, you'll need to seek out that person for help fixing things.
I just recently bought my first 3D printer (FDM) as a kit. Building it was a slight learning curve - I'm a technophile and have built things with Arduino before, but never a printer and the specifics that come along with it. Getting it to actually print reliably took me about two weeks. However, I'm MUCH more confident now to take care of issues as they arise, and keep it running smoothly. The value of this experience can not be overstated.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: sla, dlp, services
--- |
thread-4869 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4869 | Ramps 1.4 and extruder | 2017-11-02T19:47:54.820 | # Question
Title: Ramps 1.4 and extruder
I have ToyRep printer (RepRap), with RAMPS 1.4 on the board. And I am powering in from ATX power supply with 12V. And the problem is it doesn't heat to 230(for ABS), max value was 173 degrees by Celsius. Is it bad extruder or not enough power?
# Answer
1. Make sure that your heating device (resistor) is for 12v, not 24v (resistance is \< 10Ohm)
2. Check if the temperature readings that you get in your system are (at least roughly) the same as actual temperature (thermocouple with multimeter or any other device that can measure ~200C will help)
3. Check if connections are good enough. Low voltage at hotend is an indication of possible problem. ATX power wires are often too thin to transfer enough current. Consider replacing them with at least 2.5mm<sup>2</sup> (AWG 14)
> 2 votes
---
Tags: extruder, abs, reprap
--- |
thread-4868 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4868 | How to edit G-code created in Cura to begin printing at a specified layer height? | 2017-11-02T12:37:12.347 | # Question
Title: How to edit G-code created in Cura to begin printing at a specified layer height?
I have an issue with implementing a G-code to print a large 3D object using the Creality CR-10 printer. The print went well for over 30 hours but the filament broke off during the print and stopped at a height of around 172 mm of a total height of 256 mm. 1753 layers total , stopped at layer 1170.
I want to restart the print so the extruder begins printing at a height of 172 mm rather that from the start.
I have tried several sites online and had removed the previous 1169 layers and also changed the start position of the extruder to the code below:
```
G1 X20 Y20 Z385; Center extruder above bed
```
The problem I have is that when I start the print, the extruder moves to the middle of the plate and begins moving upwards but I need the extruder to stay near the edge of the build plate and move upwards past 172 mm and *then* begin printing as it would have for layer 1169 and continue the print. At the moment the extruder moves upwards and towards the middle of the plate and will impact with the existing printed material (see picture attached) and this stops it from correctly positioning.
Can anyone help with the start code for the G-code that I could use ? I just need the x,y,z to home and then for the extruder to stay near the edge of the build plate but move past 172 mm in the z direction before then beginning to print. Any advice would really be appreciated , first question on this platform so apologies if the detail isn't there. If you need anything more please don't hesitate to get in touch.
# Answer
Well this is a little complicated since nozzle height could collides with the part if the line 1169 has had started to be printed (part of the line), so the overlap will be the main problem, however adding the initial parameters to heat the extruder and getting the `X0` and `Y0` with `G1 X0 y0 Z385` I recommend to **increase Z by 3 or 5 mm**, so the extruder will travel from a higher position **to avoid the crash going for example, from `Z390` to `Z385`**.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, 3d-models
--- |
thread-4877 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4877 | Meaning of G1 -2.000 F2400.000 | 2017-11-04T01:47:44.363 | # Question
Title: Meaning of G1 -2.000 F2400.000
I am working on g code for my homebrew 3d printer and i have found the line `G1 -2.000 F2400.000`. From what i understand there should be an axis before the number and x and y shouldnt have negative. I am using grbl which is for cnc milling but and i have been deleting this line with no problems but i am wondering what it does because i will be upgrading to a "real" 3d printer asap
# Answer
> G1 -2.000 F2400.000
Is not valid G-code. As you note, `-2.000` should be prefixed with an axis (X,Y,Z or E).
Marlin would ignore the `-2.000` bit and simply treat the command as equivalent to
```
G1 F2400.000
```
which doesn't perform any movement, but sets the feedrate for any future moves to 2400mm/min.
> x and y shouldnt have negative
Not necessarily. Even though normally printing is done in the positive quadrant, negative values can be valid. Not only in relative movement mode, but even in absolute mode (for instance, if you set the center of your bed as (0,0) or if you use a negative z-axis offset the bring the nozzle closer to the bed).
> 2 votes
# Answer
G1 indicates a movement and -2.000 the distance, F2400.000 the feed rate mm/min, normally the **(-)** values are for retraction on extrusion **E**, for example:
G0 X12 (move to 12mm on the X axis)
G0 F1500 (Set the feedrate to 1500mm/minute)
G1 X90.6 Y13.8 E22.4 (Move to 90.6mm on the X axis and 13.8mm on the Y axis while extruding 22.4mm of material)
```
1. G1 F1500
2. G1 X50 Y25.3 E22.4
```
In the above example, we set the feedrate to 1500mm/minute on line 1, then move to 50mm on the X axis and 25.3mm on the Y axis while extruding 22.4mm of filament between the two points.
```
1. G1 F1500
2. G1 X50 Y25.3 E22.4 F3000
```
However, in the above example, we set a **feedrate of 1500 mm/minute** on **line 1**, then do the move described above ***accelerating to a feedrate of 3000 mm/minute*** as it does so. The extrusion will accelerate along with the X and Y movement, so everything stays synchronized.
***So, in your case if some axis is not defined the feed rate applies to all motors.***
*(part of this content is from reprap-wiki)*
You will see negative numbers if your starting point is on the center of the bed just like rectangular coordinates.
```
G1 X-50.318 Y8.849 E11.70313
G1 X-52.606 Y3.087 E12.26689
G1 X-53.240 Y1.297 E12.43953
G1 X-54.398 Y-2.097 E12.76562
G1 X-54.683 Y-2.995 E12.85132
```
> 0 votes
---
Tags: diy-3d-printer, g-code
--- |
thread-241 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/241 | Issue with weird heated bed temperature fluctuations | 2016-01-14T06:44:51.050 | # Question
Title: Issue with weird heated bed temperature fluctuations
I have a strange issue with my heated bed. It has been working well for a long time, but recently it has developed an issue where the temperature reported by the thermistor will occasionally jump by around 10 degrees.
My setup is a 600W, 240V silicone heater mat, with integrated 100k thermistor, that is switched with a solid state relay. The mat is fixed to a 4mm thick aluminium plate. It seems unlikely that these fluctuations are due to bad PID tuning since the reported temperature changes much more quickly than is physically possible.
I've checked the wiring, tried using a different thermistor port and making sure the connector was properly plugged in, but to no avail. The fluctuations are brief enough that they don't cause any problems when printing, but I'm worried about the issue getting worse.
I have a RAMBo board 1.1b, and I've tried using both the integrated 5V SMPS supply and an external USB supply.
The issue is not limited to the start of printing, the temperature reported can be stable for a long time before the issue pops up. The issue also occurs during cooldown (further confirming that PID has nothing to do with it):
In fact, the issue seems slightly more common during heat up and cool down, but is not limited to these times.
I would like to know what might be causing this issue, and if there's a way to solve it without replacing the thermistor (which would be a pain, since it's integrated into the heater mat).
# Answer
It really looks like either a bad thermistor or bad electrical joints. Are the connections to the thermistor itself crimped, or soldered? Are there connectors near the thermistor that can get heated up by the bed?
Electrical connections that are mechanical in nature (such as crimped, or using a connector) can degrade quickly in heated situations, particularly when the heating is intermittent. Consider replacing crimped connections with soldered joints where possible, and where not possible use gold plated connectors and crimps to avoid oxidation issues. Oxidation and poor mechanical connections will change resistance based on movement, giving you apparent increases or decreases in sensor readings even when the sensor output is unchanged.
Chances are good that the thermistor itself is fine, but that the connection nearest the thermistor, between the wires and the thermistor, is faulty. If it's crimped, you may be able to simply add flux, then solder it to increase the bonding between the wires and the thermistor and decrease future issues with oxidation.
Note that soldering is really only useful for the thermistor on the bed. The head thermistor must be crimped, as the head temperatures can exceed solder temperatures depending on the target temperature and the solder alloy.
> 4 votes
# Answer
It sounds like EM interference to me, though Adam's points about connections are also a good bet. I would try re-routing the thermistor wires far away from other wires. If that helps, then either leave them re-routed, or shield them. In any case, please let us know what you find.
> 3 votes
# Answer
From the decay curve of the temperature graph, it appears that the firmware is filtering the temperature signal. Since it jumps up so quickly, I suspect that the thermister is indicating a much higher than 10-degree temperature change, but after filtering the result is a ten-degree change.
If the problem were a bad connection to the typical thermistor, the temperature would appear to be much lower, not much higher.
An electrical fault that would cause a typical negative temperature coefficient thermistor to indicate an intermittent high temperature could be a short circuit or some other condition that could cause 0 voltage across the thermister.
Your circuitry may be different, but I would suggest that several circuits I've seen on 3D printers to sense temperature have one side of the thermistor connected to ground, with the other side connected both to a pull-up resistor to Vcc (+5 or +3.3 depending on the electronics) and to an analog input which samples (measures) the voltage. If the powered thermistor line shorts to ground anywhere, it will show 0 volts. If the pull-up resistor is disconnected from the power source, it will show 0 volts. If either thermistor line has extra connection resistance or has a bad connection, the voltage will be closer to Vcc than it should be.
You could check this possibility by connecting a voltmeter or oscilloscope to the non-grounded thermister line, and then monitoring the voltage. The voltage should always appear to smoothly change (limited by the thermal physics of the bed. Try moving the bed and/or head through the range. Try tapping the bed, cables, and electronics while looking for a change. Any sudden change indicated a connection problem. The voltage going up indicates an open circuit to the thermistor. The voltage going down indicates a short.
> 3 votes
# Answer
So it seems it's neither the PID, nor the outside wiring. It also seems unreasonable that these temperature jumps reflect reality (too quick both up and down).
You say that you have a heater mat with:
> with integrated 100k thermistor
This seems to be a thing you haven't checked out, if it's broken / got its wires pulled out a bit, it could explain these jumps in temperature.
Try using another thermistor, at least to see if those temperature jumps occurs with it or not.
HTH
> 2 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed, electronics, hbp
--- |
thread-4873 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4873 | Using the end of a spool | 2017-11-03T13:12:05.397 | # Question
Title: Using the end of a spool
I've seen several Q&As on recycling and reusing plastic from failed prints, but what have you done with the last few meters of filament? I've been keeping the ends of PLA (or sections I needed to cut) to maybe use for friction welding pieces together, but I only need so much for that. I've considered just shoving the last bit in the tube and using a new roll to push it through (so long as retractions aren't necessary).
This is especially a concern for more exotic filaments where friction welding isn't useful and the price is higher for that 1m section (something like Copperfill).
Note: I have a Bowden extruder. I imagine this is less of an issue with DD extruders.
# Answer
The welding option is only appropriate if you have the tool needed for it, the lighter welding is really hard to do and if your printer allows it you could just watch for the moment the spool runs out and push the new filament as the last of the previous one gets extruded, that's what I used to do on my bowden extruder reprap and apart from a really negligible retraction problem on one layer it just works
Or you could go the cool way:
* Use the last of the filament for friction/iron welding to fix or glue 3D printed parts together
* Use it as regular filament with a 3D printer pen to fix 3D printed parts
* "Use it for pin/studs/rivets/hinges in prints." as tjb1 said
* Stock it with your failed/ waste 3D printed parts and use them in a recyclebot later to make new filament or simply melt it in an oven to make plastic boards/injection molding material
* Throw it away but that would be a waste over time
> 5 votes
# Answer
* Weld the fragment to the beginning of a new spool and use it that way. Most are made from metal so they aren't that easy to make at home. Here is another answer that lists other methods to weld filament including using heat shrink tubing.
* As you mentioned, you can use it for friction welding.
* Use it for pin/studs/rivets/hinges in prints.
* Throw it away. 1.75mm * 1Kg is about 330m of filament, 3mm * 1Kg is about 110m of filament. The leftover isn't worth much when you consider how much is on a spool.
> 8 votes
---
Tags: filament, pla, recycling
--- |
thread-4885 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4885 | What happens when I print a 0,6mm thick wall with a 0,4mm diameter nozzle? | 2017-11-05T21:51:25.553 | # Question
Title: What happens when I print a 0,6mm thick wall with a 0,4mm diameter nozzle?
The wall thickness is 1,2mm but the lip is only 0,6mm thick. How will the 0,4mm nozzle solve this?
Alternatively I could choose a 0,8 mm thick lip, but then the connecting end should be 0,4mm that is too thin.
# Answer
I'd say you should experiment with Slic3r
it can manage extrusion in very sophisticated way
it can overextrude if you need a line wider than actual nozzle size as same as it can underextrude if needed it can even change extrusion continuously while extruding one line
here are simple examples
i use mattercontrol
take a look here - this is the same object the same layer and the same settings
**please notice - this object has wall thicknes exactly 2 times nozzle diam**
here is what i get with
* native MatterControl slicer engine which gives this slice
* and Slic3r engine which gives this slice
> 5 votes
---
Tags: nozzle
--- |
thread-4878 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4878 | Z motor not moving during auto home | 2017-11-04T02:49:45.947 | # Question
Title: Z motor not moving during auto home
My Monoprice maker select recently fried its melzi board. So I went out and purchased a ramps 1.4 kit. I've wired it all up and Flash the firmware with marlin(most recent build). When it boots up it boots up fine I go to prepare. And then I go to move axis I can move the X Y and Z axis and the access is moving in the correct direction. I go to auto home and the X and Y axis home properly but the z-axis does not move at all. Even though I can move it manually. Does anyone have any suggestions. I checked the end stop for the z-axis even though I know it probably has nothing to do with it and it has continuity when the end stop switch is depressed.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Alright, I have figured everything out with the help of #reprap IRC community.
Issue #1 - Z axis not moving during zero. Just as tjb1 suggested the issue was that it thought it was hitting the endstop, I needed to invert the logic of the endstop within the configuration.h
```
const bool Z_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING = true;
```
Issue #2 - No Heated bed controls. The issue resided with the configuration of the heated bed within the configuration.h. The bed was not defined correctly(I do not have the solution for this one as I found a pre-configured configuration.h for the Monoprice maker Select and after loading the firmware it worked
Issue #3 - The extruder motor would not move. This was the biggest issue and came down to it being a cheap RAMPS/Arduino. E0's pinouts were not working properly so I took off the driver and wiring from E0 and put it on E1 then altered the pins\_RAMPS.h and swapped the values for E1 and E0 pinouts. after reloading the firmware the extruder then moved fine.
```
#define E0_STEP_PIN 36
#define E0_DIR_PIN 34
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN 30
#define E1_STEP_PIN 26
#define E1_DIR_PIN 28
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN 24
```
---
Tags: marlin, z-axis, ramps-1.4, monoprice-maker-select
--- |
thread-4809 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4809 | How to modify G-code or a better place to get it | 2017-10-25T22:57:43.777 | # Question
Title: How to modify G-code or a better place to get it
I have built a 3D printer from salvaged/purchased parts. I am using an Arduino Uno and three easy driver stepper drivers with 3 CD-ROMs drives and a PC power unit. I ordered a 3D pen and have it mounted with a transistor to switch it on/off. Everything works but when I try to run code that I got from makercam.com it seems like it wants to fill in the shape rather than build up.
I followed this tutorial YouTube - How To Make A Cheap 3D Printer and after modifying the G-code I am unable to get any successful prints.
# Answer
Download an stl file from Thingiverse.com
Put your .stl file in a slicer program like cura
It will output gcode for 3d objects rather than 2d.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I would typically shy away from downloading gcode and printing it directly. Always slice it yourself since, inevitably, every printer is different. What happens if the gcode is setup for ABS (higher temps) and you are printing with PLA? If it's setup for a build platform larger than yours and you just hit endstops?
Definitely go with Aaron's idea, download a model (Thingiverse is great, but there are SO many sites where you can get files), configure a slicer for your print settings (I prefer slic3r to Cura, but both are great), slice it and print away.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: g-code
--- |
thread-4894 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4894 | Octoprint “using Google's DNS server” | 2017-11-06T18:55:24.293 | # Question
Title: Octoprint “using Google's DNS server”
octoprint seems to have a setting that involves googles DNS server.
my question is is that server used to access octoprint over the internet via printoid "android app" or via browser? if not then what does it mean?
# Answer
The program is pinging that address to check the internet connection to "prevent resource intensive operations if it's already clear that they won't succeed anyhow". It checks for connectivity, if it has it then it will check for update otherwise it won't check for an update.
> 2 votes
# Answer
That's just Google's DNS (name resolution) server. 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 are the Google values. Your ISP will also have a DNS server that you could use, which is what it says to use Google's "if you don't know what to set here".
Using the Google values are your best bet since they'll pretty much absolutely always be online and available.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: octoprint, raspberry-pi
--- |
thread-4896 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4896 | How to tell machine how far travel limits without switches | 2017-11-06T20:05:52.997 | # Question
Title: How to tell machine how far travel limits without switches
I have a 3d printer that is homebuilt with salvaged parts. Occasionally there is some kind of error and when i start my code the minute it starts it max out on x and y axis and continues to do it until i kill the connection and reset everything. I have found that when i put G21 G90 into the first line of the file it doesnt do this anymore. But I'm wondering if i can "teach" my machine how far it can go before it stops? I am using "grbl controller" to send g-code to my arduino uno woth grbl loaded onto it.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Since 3D printers works with coodinates and the gcode generator requires the origin point and bed shape and bed size. knowing this your programs never will be out of the printing area.
My printer has a printing area of 16.5 x 16.5 cm, so I set this parameter to CURA, Slic3r and 3dsimplify and I can't generate the gcode if the part does not fit on the bed. So I print parts with 15cm maximum
Also the firmware has this limits to 16cm, the 0.5 cm is just for safety
Of course if I send a command with pronterface or any other gbrl controler I can go over the limits due the X0Y0 could be out of position (offset), but if you respect the origin point and don't try to go over the limits by yourself the machine will be ok.
---
Tags: diy-3d-printer, g-code
--- |
thread-4909 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4909 | Is Marlin capable to work with binary G-code? | 2017-11-08T05:26:57.463 | # Question
Title: Is Marlin capable to work with binary G-code?
I want to use a binary protocol like Repetier uses.
Can Marlin work with this/such a protocol?
# Answer
> 3 votes
No. Marlin only supports ASCII G-code, and does not (currently) support binary format. According to the List of Firmware, Repetier is the only firmware that supports binary G-code. Moreover, verifying with Marlin's source code, shows that the G-code parser can only handle traditional G-code.
---
Tags: marlin, g-code, repetier
--- |
thread-4907 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4907 | How to tell if A 3d printing kit has a replaceable nozzle | 2017-11-07T20:11:57.840 | # Question
Title: How to tell if A 3d printing kit has a replaceable nozzle
I was looking at the prusa i3 3d(the original i3, not the mk2) on sale and I wanted to know how I could tell if it(and printers like it) had a replaceable nozzle, since I wanted to try out different nozzle sizes, and I need to be able to use a .1 mm nozzle for micro armor 3D printing(8mm height miniatures, I'm not too picky about their appearance) so anyways, does anyone know how to tell if a printer has a replaceable nozzle?
# Answer
Prusa has a replacable nozzle. Usually all printer does have an replacable nozzle. Since this is a part of a printer which could get jammed during a printer life.
As written here: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prusa-i3-is-now-1-75-mm/ The Prusa i3 uses an E3D Hotend. This Hotend has many diffenez nozzles. You can search on E\**ay for E3D V6 0.1mm nozzle and you will find a lot of offers.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: prusa-i3, nozzle
--- |
thread-4876 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4876 | 3D print leans in Y-axis | 2017-11-03T21:51:33.737 | # Question
Title: 3D print leans in Y-axis
I have made a custom 3D printer with RAMPS electronics. I have printed a Benchy (ship) well, but when I try to print anything with teeth (spiral vase), gears (bearing), or a circle (rocket), the Y-axis skip steps in a regular rate giving 70-60 degrees skew along the printing the Y-direction, but each layer is perfect, this happen when printing gear bearing.
* I have checked Y-axis ball bearing, motor, tension belt and I have replaced my 6 mm glass with 1 mm without any difference in shift.
* I have once make it work, but I don't why or how (I have lowered speed to 50 and did some random things).
* I have printed from Pronterface and when I pause it, then home Y, the skipping in Y is corrected.
* If I drive my X/Y-axis with no microstepping, then the skipping is much larger.
* I only use Slic3r for G-code generation.
question:
* What is the cause for that skipping?
* If there is more than one possibility, how could I check them separately?
* I have changed my Y-axis motor with no change.
* I have swapped X&Y connections with no change - still Y skips.
* I have lowered jerk and max. speed and it prints gear bearing well and it is spinning, but when I tried to print spiral vase Y motor skipped.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I would assume it is either the stepper driver or the stepper motor. Try switching the motor wires for x and y axis and see if the problem stays with the motor or the driver. If its not physically getting hung up then this is likely. I had the same problem with my y axis and after switching the motor it was gone. It would only skip steps in one direction and that seems to be exactly whats going on. Most likely it was caused by bad windings on 1 of the 2 coils inside the stepper motor.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Maybe your motor skips?
I had my Z motor skip sometimes, this was the reason:
1) Acceleration was too high
2) I needed to tune the "amperage" (the current) of the pololu driver
3) Speed was too high
So, you can try to lower acceleration, speed and tune your driver:
Power on everything, see if you can turn the motor by hand (you shouldn't). Turn the small potentiometer on the driver board counter clockwise until you can turn the motor, turn it back until you can't turn the motor any more and then add some 1/8 - 1/4 turn.
You might also want to check your 'jerk' settings so they are not too high either.
---
Tags: diy-3d-printer, motor, y-axis, mechanics
--- |
thread-4917 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4917 | Acetone smoothing not working on ABSPlus-P430 | 2017-11-08T12:28:51.957 | # Question
Title: Acetone smoothing not working on ABSPlus-P430
I am using a STRATASYS Fortus 250mc to 3D print some parts. I have read a lot on internet and also on some scientific literature that Acetone dissolves ABS and cold/hot vapor has been successfully used to smoothen the surfaces. But it doesn't work for me.
I followed the instructions: soaking some papers with Acetone and putting the parts in a closed container with a fan for some time. But it had no effects. Then I tried dipping the parts in Acetone and I observed that they do not react to the substance at all!
Has anybody ever had a similar experience? Maybe ABSPlus-p430 is not soluble with Acetone? in that case what is a solvent for it?
I asked the same question here on Reddit.
# Answer
Make sure that your acetone is actually acetone. According to the MSDS, ABSPlus-P430 is indeed "ABS resin" so acetone smoothing should work. Some companies sell confusingly-labeled products that might be mistaken for acetone, but are actually "eco-friendly" alternatives such as 2-butoxyethanol. While these alternatives work for some of the uses for which acetone is normally used (such as cleaning or degreasing), they don't work for smoothing ABS.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: abs, smoothing, vapor-smoothing, acetone
--- |
thread-4908 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4908 | Anet A8 - first couple of layer are trash | 2017-11-07T21:18:06.827 | # Question
Title: Anet A8 - first couple of layer are trash
I just got an Anet A8 and I'm pretty happy with it except for one small detail:
All my prints start like this. I tried to :
* pre-heat the printer ❌
* add a smaller height of the first layer ❌
I’m kinda new to this and i did not find a correct answer to my problem so here’s my Cura configuration:
# Answer
I think your issue is bed leveling.
I recently got my Anet A8 and the biggest kill for my print quality is bed leveling. If its too far from the nozzle, I get something like your picture. You might want to try the paper test where you manually move the nozzle to each corner of the bed and adjust the bed till the paper cannot move freely between the bed and nozzle.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, anet-a8, layer-height
--- |
thread-4924 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4924 | Always keep printer hot and ready to print | 2017-11-09T16:37:45.607 | # Question
Title: Always keep printer hot and ready to print
We are using a Prusa i3 MK2 printer in a structural design firm to print the buildings we design as well as print individual panels and components. Projects can have 100s of pieces that need to be printed quickly, but the printer cools of quickly after the print finishes. When we go to start the next print we have to wait 10-15 minutes for the printer to warm up again.
We tried preheating it using the built in function hoping that it would keep the heaters on after the print is complete but had no success.
Is there any way to set the printer to stay warm after the print to be able to quickly print back to back?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Just set values in your end code for your slicer. Set the bed to the temp you use, set the nozzle to roughly the Tg temp of the filament you use. Typically the bed heatup time is the worst offender here. I wouldn't keep the nozzle at extruding temps, though.
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Tags: prusa-i3
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thread-4552 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4552 | XYZ calibration without PINDA probe | 2017-08-26T13:50:56.717 | # Question
Title: XYZ calibration without PINDA probe
I have been happily printing with my Original Prusa i3 MK2S for a few weeks now. I have been thinking about replacing the PINDA probe with a BLTouch tactile sensor.
If I do so, how will I be able to do the XYZ calibration? I believe that the tactile sensor would only be able to do Z calibration. If I need to redo the XYZ calibration in the future for some reason, is it possible to do manually? Or would I need to remount an extruder with a PINDA probe temporarily?
# Answer
> -1 votes
If you want to replace the PINDA probe (whatever reason for) then you can go with the BLTouch Sensor but only for certain operations.
It will be good for leveling the bed before printing because here, only the bed level is important and not the skew of the bed.
If it comes to calibration of the skew itself, the BLTouch Sensor will not be usable because the PINDA Probe detects the boundaries of the copper circles on the print bed. The BLTouch cannot detect these copper areas.
The PINDA Probe is a proximity sensor.
If you want to do a recalibration you have to mount the PINDA again.
Therefore, it is possible but not recommended.
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Tags: prusa-i3, calibration, z-probe
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thread-4799 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4799 | Cura going to 204C instead of 200C | 2017-10-25T14:48:03.300 | # Question
Title: Cura going to 204C instead of 200C
So I started using Cura a few weeks ago, and when I print it goes to 204 Celsius instead of 200. It doesn't really affect my print quality but I just want to know if there's a fix for it. My printer is a Da Vinci Jr 1.0.
# Answer
Its mainly due to the regulation loop of the PID Regulator implemented in the Firmware of the Da vinci jr. The P-Factor is a little bit too high. This is the reason why the temperature "overshoots". Because the Printerhead and Nozzle has some volume which is heated up. It takes time to cool down after it has detected an overshoot.
here you can find additional informations about it: https://innovativecontrols.com/blog/basics-tuning-pid-loops
> 3 votes
# Answer
That's called PID overshoot. All control loops have varying types of outliers like this. Sometimes, you can't overshoot, sometimes you cant undershoot. But it's a remnant of the math.
The solution here, is to PID Tune. Once you get an established Kp Ki and Kd constants, then you can either save it to eeprom or you can recompile your firmware with this change.
It's pretty common, especially if you have different hotends without known profiles. PID tuning also works on heated beds as well. But usually those use what's called Bang-bang.
> 1 votes
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Tags: print-quality, software, ultimaker-cura
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thread-4904 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4904 | Filament not extruding | 2017-11-07T17:12:26.207 | # Question
Title: Filament not extruding
I've recently bought an Anet A8, and haven't been getting good prints with it. I noticed there was filament leaking from the top of the hot end and pooling, eventually dripping over onto my prints. I took the hot end off to clean it, and when I put it back on and tightened it, my printer wouldn't extrude anymore. I took the motor apart, and there was a lot of filament shavings inside. I tried tightening the screw that splits the bearing and gear that feeds the filament since I thought it may be getting caught in there.
I can manually push filament through and it works fine. There's no jam, so I'm thinking it IS something to do with that, but I don't really know what to do. Now that I've done this also, I feel as if I've screwed up the e steps.
Any ideas?
# Answer
> 1 votes
The spindle screws on the gear are shipped not tight enough. Try taking the fan off and make sure the gear is seated properly and tighten the screws down. Here's a video that might help. https://youtu.be/zkZKzF3J3NA
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Tags: prusa-i3, extrusion, anet-a8
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thread-4927 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4927 | Hot end jamming very quickly | 2017-11-09T17:33:13.327 | # Question
Title: Hot end jamming very quickly
I have built a 3D printer out of parts from my tip, a ramps board, arduino mega, and a hot end. However, after doing a test extrusion some plastic was spewed out and then the print jammed un-expectantly and my homemade extruder no longer had the strength to push the filament.
I took the filament out and what I found was that the filament going into the extruder had formed a cylinder at the end. Then after pushing the filament through by hand to eliminate the possibility of my weak extruder, I found that the filament was expanding coming out of the filament, and then cooling down unable to go through. I cut the filament, removing the bloated end, pushed it back into the extruder and then again after 30 seconds the same problem occurred. After researching, I came to the conclusion that maybe there is a gap allowing filament to go out of the heating area, expand and then cool down, or even my wooden direct to bowden adapter is stopping the filament cooling causing it to clog. However I am not sure.
I am becoming frustrated as I am doing this for a school project, I only have two weeks left to finish and everything seems to be failing. Any help would be much appreciated.
For reference this is my hotend: link to amazon I brought the cheapest one available on amazon, so it has no fan and no way to connect a bowden tube. I have created a basic adapter between the thread and a bowden tube holder, out of wood. It's not good but it does the job.
Here is a picture of my hot end and what the filament looks like after I removed it. There appears to be a spiral shape on some of them.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You are suffering from what is called "heat creep". Molten filament is creeping up the heat break and into the bowden tube, where it is causing a jam. You need to install a proper radiator block that is cooled by a fan, not just a lump of wood as a "cold end". The cold end is not just a connector, its primary purpose is to act as a cooler. A hot end on its own is not enough. You also need a cold end. Here is my extruder disassembled (fan omitted). The radiator block is the red item.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Hello it's seems that your hotend's barrel get's too hot when your ar printing, have you try to make a heat sink on the barrell, with some washers and nuts? That worked for me, like this
I Took that idea from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvICpdVONXM
Also make sure that the hotend's aluminum block is properly insulated, you could do this with some Kapton Tape.
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, hotend, extrusion, nozzle
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thread-4934 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4934 | Can't connect printer to repetier-server on RPI3 | 2017-11-10T16:45:53.553 | # Question
Title: Can't connect printer to repetier-server on RPI3
I'm struggling to connect a K8200 printer to a rpi3 running repetier-server 0.86.2 armhf.
Everything works fine on a PC with the 0.86.2 windows version, but on the Rpi i'm stuck on the second step of the printer setup :
I define my firmware, Marlin, my baudRate at 250000, then I tried every port that seems involved (/dev/serial/by-id/usb-FTDI\_FT231X\_USB\_UART\_DA00DDXD-if00-port0, /dev/serial/by-path/platform-3f980000.usb-usb-0:1.2:1.0-port0, /dev/tty/USB0, /dev/tty/AMA0, ) but whatever I may try, I'm stuck on "En attente de connexion", that forbids me to go to step 3, as to see my printer connected.
I tried to use the reset button on the printer board, as unplugging-plugging the USB, with no more luck. /var/lib/Repetier-Server/logs/server.log don't shown any error.
Note : CartesianVirtual port still works fine...
What else can I do ? Is there other relevant logs anywhere ?
I'm unsure if this question should have been adressed to rpi, 3d printing or linux community, I'm sorry if I offend anyone :)
# Answer
> 2 votes
Thanks to the repetier team on git hub, we found that the problem came from a permission issue on /dev/ttyUSB0, as the user `repetierserver` couldn't access it.
Other people reported that these commands solves the problem:
`sudo adduser repetierserver dialout`
`sudo adduser repetierserver tty`
but in my case it seems I need to run : `sudo chmod 777 /dev/ttyUSB0` in order to solve this.
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Tags: marlin, repetier
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thread-4941 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4941 | Double Image Along X Axis | 2017-11-11T01:24:13.490 | # Question
Title: Double Image Along X Axis
Recently my printer has been creating double images along the X-axis, I just printed a calibration cube after checking all of my rods to make sure nothing was catching and here was my result: It looks like there is another X to the right of the X that is supposed to be, would this be a retraction problem, or could it be a problem with the filament because I printed a calibration cube with another filament a couple of weeks ago and there was no double X.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I agree with @FernandoBaltazar. You have several things going on. If the problem is recent, you may have loose belts, but you may also need to perform acceleration and jerk tuning. Reducing your print speeds may also help.
# Answer
> 1 votes
There are several problems, but lets start with a method for discovering them.
The first thing to do is look for any looseness or slop in the mechanism. Try wiggling the hot end, looking for any free movement. Try moving along the axes that move. You haven't specified the machine, so I can't suggest the specific points to try moving. If the bed moves, try wiggling the bed. If the extruder moves, try wiggling the extruder on each movement axis. Nothing should move at all until the motors skip.
If the mechanism is fully tight (and from this picture, I expect it to have some "wiggle room"), you could follow by slowing the machine, including reducing the acceleration settings. If you find something moving, you'll need to investigate why -- what is allowing the movement to happen. On a belt-driven machine, the belts can be loose, but one can also get movement from loose set screws, motor mounts, hot-ends which are coming apart, or loose thrust bearings or nuts on threaded shafts. Applying force to the parts that move during printing and watching for movement is the best diagnostic.
In the future, when asking questions it can be helpful to include the type of machine, any modifications you've made, and information about the printing conditions.
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Tags: prusa-i3, pla, ramps-1.4, calibration
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thread-4935 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4935 | Y-axis slipping causing failed prints | 2017-11-10T18:34:40.830 | # Question
Title: Y-axis slipping causing failed prints
My Y-axis on my Monoprice maker select running ramps 1.4 and Marlin makes a thud noise when moving every now and then. I have noticed a 1 to 2 mm shift in the print when this occurs. I tighten the belts and alas no joy. I ordered new bearings which should be coming Monday. I also tried slowing the print down and still get the same result. Anyone have any ideas.
# Answer
The issue was the X-axis top smooth rod came out. this caused the extruder to bang around and shift on the Y-axis when it shifted forward. thank everyone for their help.
> 2 votes
# Answer
A thudding noise is usually a belt slipping through its end-restraints. A clicking noise is usually a stepper motor missing a step. Seized bearings could be the cause.
> 3 votes
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Tags: marlin, ramps-1.4, y-axis
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thread-4948 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4948 | It seems my filament is burnt when I use PETG | 2017-11-12T14:23:07.923 | # Question
Title: It seems my filament is burnt when I use PETG
I use the Cura; nylon default(recommended) settings for PETG. Upon my filament's box is written 200-240 for nozzle and 75-85 for bed. So I tried 245/80 - 220/80 - 220/60 - 245/60.
But I got same result as you can see in the pics:
My printer is PrusaI3 (actually a chinese kit that I assembled it myself). Also I had good print results with PLA before this. I was using 190/50 for PLA).
# Answer
> 0 votes
It looks like you have a clogged nozzle/hot end. I use 225°C @ 40mm/s for PETG with 235°C @ 30mm/s for the first layer.
If you print at 245°C, you risk burning the PTFE liner in your hot end. You really need an all-metal hot end to print at such temperatures.
It is possible that you have already damaged the PTFE liner, and this may be the cause of your problem. However, I would check for a clogged nozzle first.
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Tags: prusa-i3
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thread-1247 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1247 | Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend? | 2016-06-01T08:56:51.677 | # Question
Title: Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend?
Sparked by this question, I wanted to discuss the most efficient and also the easiest ways of thermally insulating the heat block of the hotend.
I have seen Kapton tape insulations as done here with a very conclusive resumee about its usefulness.
In the links of the named article, a method with insulating material from a heatbed is described, however without giving quantitative results.
Additionally, I know that in the guys over in the german reprap forum produce their own silicon covers for the heater block. As I understand there is a large spread between people's reports, from 'almost negligible' as insulator (but helpful for other things) to very useful. No quantification, though. Also, these seem to come with a certain amount of effort to produce.
Are there additional solutions and/or comparisons between solutions?
# Answer
The "quick and dirty" approach is to just slap a bunch of Kapton tape on there. The more the better! (Until you need to dismantle for maintenance, anyway.)
I find pre-cut ceramic tape + kapton tape "blankets" to be easy and effective. E3Dv6 and Replicator 1/2 style hot blocks should be compatible. Or you can cut your own using a sharp hobby knife.
http://www.fargo3dprinting.com/products/makerbot-replicator-2-ceramic-insulation-tape/
The main downside is that they don't insulate two sides of the hot block. But covering the top and bottom provides much of the practical benefit, and you can always add a few more wraps of Kapton tape to cover up the rest of the surfaces.
Another good option that has recently started to become popular is fiberglass heat shield tape. It has a silicone adhesive, woven fiberglass mat, and shiny aluminum surface. (The reflective surface reduces heat radiation.) It's often used in automotive applications around mufflers and the like. You can cut it up into little rectangles for each side of the hot block, or wrap the block similar to Kapton.
https://shop.raffle.ch/shop/insulation\_material/
Main issue is quality -- not all brands have adhesive that will hold up to high temp printing. It may smell when initially "burned in" due to the adhesive cooking a bit. I also find that you need a couple layers to get as much insulation as the ceramic+kapton blanket when there's a lot of airflow around the hot block.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I ask myself why people hassle with kapton tape when it is so easy to use teflon sealing tape to isulate the hotend. This tape is slightly foamed to allow better sealing when used for sealing "tube threads". It can be purchased anywhere for very little money and can stand up to 260° Celsius constantly and 300 ° for a short time (according to its data sheet) This shoud be sufficient for most applications. Water installation PTFE tape is very easy to apply because its soft and can be stretched to the right form. And it sticks for its own without extra glue. No hassle like with the stiff kapton tape. And the isolation is much better because of the air bubbles inside the tape. I did that on my extruder and it works perfectly. My extruder heats now up about 20% faster. I applied this tape in installed position within 5 minutes - easy !
> 8 votes
# Answer
I am using high temperature RTV. I just load it up and smooth it out like frosting a very small cake. I leave the top of the heater block clean and cover it with a piece of cotton insulation. I don't care about power consumption, I just want it to stay hot when the workpiece cooling fan comes on.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I just came up with my own solution before I read this discussion. (Monoprice Select v2.1 - Wanhao i3 Clone).
I ~think~ I have a Mk8 hotend.
I had some silicon rubber sheet (about 1.4mm thick) which started life as a cookie sheet, but I gave it a new purpose in life, LOL. I cut two pieces to length to wrap around the hotend, and made a double thick sandwich.
I then used adhesive backed aluminum ducting tape\* (SEE EDIT BELOW!!) (NOT duct tape, ALUMINIUM tape) and wrapped the sheets in it, then used needle nose pliers to shape it to fit the heater block. The aluminium tape helps it hold shape.
I used 3M 468MP to tape it to the hotend, as I currently have no kapton tape. Just did this today, if I have adhesion issues I'll TRY to remember to report back here. :) If it does pops loose, I'll use a bit of stiff wire twisted around to support it.
**EDIT**: Welllll ... sometimes one gets too clever for their own good!
**USING THE ALUMINIUM TAPE IS NOT A GOOD SOLUTION, DON'T DO IT!!!** It seems the adhesive on that tape emits noxious, and perhaps POISONOUS fumes when heated! I had to vent the room to the outside for a couple hours with dual fans and the hotend at temp to clear the air! Ooops. LOL
It's good now, it baked off.
**The idea DID work**, and I'm sure would be fine if you use regular heavy duty aluminium foil. Be sure to mount it with the seam on the INSIDE and the 3M tape should hold it closed just fine.
> 3 votes
# Answer
After having seen this answer to this question, How can I insulate my thermistor?, I ordered these, from eBay, 5PCS 3mm Thick 3D Printer Heating Block Cotton Hotend Nozzle Heat Insulation EW, for around £0.40
Blurb from the item's description
> * Thickness: 3mm
> * Dimension : 75mm\*21\*3mm +/-0.2mm
> * The heat insulation cotton is used for 3D printer nozzle keeping warm;
> * The heating insulation cotton is made from heat-resistant ceramic fiber;
> * The product sizes can be customized according to customer needs;
> * The benefit for keeping the key parts of the 3D printer heating aluminum block warm;
> * Is making the internal temperature flat, saving power,and energy;
> * This High temperature resistant cotton can work for a long time in high temperature of 900 degree.
Other images:
Granted, these look suspiciously like the strips in Ryan's answer, but use cotton, en lieu of ceramic tape.
> 1 votes
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Tags: extruder, hotend, heat-management, efficiency
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thread-4953 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4953 | How to increase the printing quality when using abs (slicer config)? | 2017-11-13T15:30:04.047 | # Question
Title: How to increase the printing quality when using abs (slicer config)?
I have checked several different sites giving different configurations for the slicer. Let's say that the average extruder temperature is 230°C. I know that the complexity of the object matters a lot for the printing quality. What I am concerning is the deposition rate (mm/min), and, the infill type (e.g. honeycomb, rectangular). Which impact the inner infill has in the printing quality? Due to time reasons maximal allowed infill is 50%.
I have a Geetech Prusa REpRap I3.
Thanks for you help guys!!
# Answer
maybe this will help you out...
Iam using a Ultimaker 2+, **only** with ABS filament, and the software Cura. Cura is a good software but you cannot edit every option like in other slicers, Iam just using the default ABS profile.
Most of the times Iam printing in 0.2mm quality, speed varies, smaller objects get printed slower. My max speed when printing is 40mm/s.
The Buildplate heats up to 90°, I tend to increase the heat to 98° - 100°. The more I increase that the lesser warping I will get. But Iam using bluetape also, so warping is no big issue anyway. The noozle should be heated to 260°, thats the cura default.
On very small or thin parts I activate the fan immediatly, on big parts Iam not using the fan. I also print the small parts really slow.
I had no problems regarding the outer-walls and the infill (no cave building or stuff like that), but this is maybe dependent on the outer-wall-thickness. I mostly use a wall-thickness of over 1mm. Iam always using rectangular pattern, and mostly an infill under 30%.
I get good quality prints, and nearly no warping because of the bluetape.
Otherwise I didnt change any options in Cura, the flow rate is default.
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Sorry for the late edit, here are my default cura settings:
> 1 votes
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Tags: abs, slicing
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thread-4960 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4960 | What is this called and where can I buy a replacement? | 2017-11-14T05:16:41.043 | # Question
Title: What is this called and where can I buy a replacement?
In the image, there is an object circled in blue on the anet a8 printer that I need to buy a replacement of, however, I can not find it online, please help.
# Answer
This is the throat block for direct drive extrusion, Anet8 is a cheap clone of Prusa printers, so it's easy to find parts for Anet printers.
This is one extruder kit that may help your needs, 1 Unidades Impresora 3D makerbot MK8 Extrusora De extrusión de Aluminio Bloque de DIY Kit para Reprap i3. This is a link for Aliexpress - of course there are other dealers.
> 5 votes
# Answer
This is part of filament drive. Anets do not sell it separately, only as a part of extruder assembly, but other manufacturers may make incompatible parts: of different size (not fitting into bracket), filament channel position, etc.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Like @ZuOverture said the name of this component is the filament drive. Most of the manufactures sell the whole extrusion device already assembled, to avoid mismatches between the components of the extrusion device. If your device is somehow damaged, and without possibilities to be used in the printer the easiest solution would be to buy a new extrusion device. If financially is unfeasible for you, you may have the option to generate the 3D model of this piece and share the file to someone who could print this component for you.
> -3 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, extruder, anet-a8, repair
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thread-4900 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4900 | Extruder motor not running during print job but working after I preheat the extruder and test it | 2017-11-07T04:01:31.617 | # Question
Title: Extruder motor not running during print job but working after I preheat the extruder and test it
I have a Prusa i3 (from FLSun). I have assembled the printer, calibrated it (fairly decently), and have successfully demonstrated extrusion manually. However, when I try to run a print job (the G-code clearly contains E commands), the extruder motor never rotates. Is this a common problem? Any suggestsions for how to resolve/troubleshoot?
I can confirm that the extruder was pre-heated for PLA (up to a generous 220 C).
I load an STL file into Repetier v.1.0.2, use the built-in slicer (Slic3r) to generate the G-code. I include a sample of that below:
```
; generated by Slic3r 1.2.9 on 2017-11-08 at 10:54:07
; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.50mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.72mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.72mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.72mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.72mm
M107
M104 S200 ; set temperature
G28 ; home all axes
G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
M109 S200 ; wait for temperature to be reached
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M82 ; use absolute distances for extrusion
G92 E0
G1 Z0.350 F7800.000
G1 E-2.00000 F2400.00000
G92 E0
G1 X76.952 Y76.952 F7800.000
G1 E2.00000 F2400.00000
G1 X78.055 Y75.850 E2.04824 F1800.000
G1 X78.650 Y75.324 E2.07282
G1 X81.121 Y73.387 E2.16997
G1 X81.780 Y72.933 E2.19472
G1 X84.467 Y71.309 E2.29186
G1 X85.167 Y70.940 E2.31635
G1 X88.143 Y69.602 E2.41730
```
As an update, I can no longer reliably get the extruder motor to run (even when I pre-heat) from the LCD. Sometimes, it works fine, but other times it doesn't seem to. Will confirm whether switching the motor connector to the z-axis to test the motor works when I get home this evening.
I can confirm 1) that there is no tension pulling on the cable connections during the run, 2) the mainboard and motor connector aren't burned, cracked, and the mosfets have heatsinks on them, and 3) the extruder gear is fixed and rotates freely on the motor axis (I tested this by switching it over to the z-axis connection temporarily and confirming rotation).
Here's a photo of my motherboard:
# Answer
According to all the information:
* No reassignment of the extruder in the Gcode
* You can extrude if you push the filament by hand
* Extruder motor works when switched to Z driver
* Z Motor works
I come to the conclusion that some of your electronics or the motor have fried.
What have fried? I tried to make a step by step check:
Switch drivers between E and Z, but plug the motors as usual:
1) Does the extruder extrude?
Yes: Your driver has fried
No:
2) Were you able to move the Z motor?
No: Motherboard And driver has fried
Yes:
3) Plug in the E motor on the Z driver, can you make the E motor turn?
Yes: Motherboard fried
No: Motor fried
HTH and keep us updated if it worked or not!
> 1 votes
# Answer
This should have been a comment: when you say "manual extrusion", do you mean moving filament by hand or using extruder position commands from printer menu? Is extruder motor working at all? You can for example plug it instead of a Z-motor to check.
Suggested points to check:
* Motor wire connections, both on extruder and mainboard. Are plugs experiencing tension (being tilted, pulled out) from improperly fixed cables?
* Hardware on mainboard next to motor connector. Does it look burned, cracked, lacks heatsinks on mosfets?
* Is extruder gear not fixed and rotating freely on extruder motor axis? You will hear sound of working motor, but it will look like it's not pulling the filament.
> -1 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, extruder, extruder-driver
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thread-4965 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4965 | What is the meaning of extruder's knocking sound? | 2017-11-14T10:25:01.993 | # Question
Title: What is the meaning of extruder's knocking sound?
I have a Prusa i3 printer with mk8 extruder. I am using PETG with (200-240/75-85) degrees recommended temp on it's box. but when I do printing i hear some knocking sound that means there is a problem in extrusion. last time I did increase my temp up to 270 degrees!! maybe this sound solved! but it damaged my extruder's screw's inner Teflon and I forced to change it!
Now I have a new nozzle and extruder's screw, but again I can hear this sound during the printing! I thought maybe it's because of very close distance between the nozzle and the bed, but when I increase the distance, the filament starts to warping!
My nozzle is new and it can't be for clogging. so I decreased the print speed from it's default 60mm(in Cura software) to 50, but didn't solve this sound. Also when I use pronterface and do extrusion manually, it works nice with 200 degrees! but I can hear the sound in 190 degrees. But when I do printing I hear the sound even in 200 degrees! Is this mean I must increase the temperature for printing? how much?
By knocking sound I mean the sound you can hear when you have a clogged nozzle and the extruder's stepper motor can't push the filament into it and rotates with knocking sound!
# Answer
The extruder motor may be skipping steps because of insufficient current. Typically, the stepper driver will have a small potentiometer that lets you increase or decrease the current. Increasing the current will give the motor more torque/force, but also cause it (and the driver) to heat up more.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It sounds like your filament is not hot enough to be extruded, which will cause the stepper motor to 'skip' (and produce a knocking or clicking sound). 200°C sounds rather low for PETG, and I do not get good extrusion below 215°C. I normally print at 225°C, with the first layer at 235°C. I also print slower than I do for PLA -- 40mm/s and 30mm/s for the first layer.
Note that thermistors can be inaccurate, and may report temperatures several degrees lower or higher than are actually being achieved.
> 3 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, print-material
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thread-4956 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4956 | Cement or another solid pore filler suitable for ABS? | 2017-11-13T16:09:55.073 | # Question
Title: Cement or another solid pore filler suitable for ABS?
I want to paint my ABS parts. But I foresee a problem that will arise from 0.16mm layer - those layers will be perfectly visible, even with primer. Sanding them wouldn't be a good idea, because walls are just 0.8-1mm thick, and probably acetone bath isn't right thing too. I want to use some sort of cement or paste, and cover parts with it using some paint scraper or knife before painting. Do cements suitable for this task exist? Would they stick to ABS?
# Answer
Consider these moments:
* You can sand primer coating. Every layer adds about 0.1-0.2mm, and somewhat levels the surface by itself because surface tension forces primer to fill cavities more. Primers can be sanded after thorough drying and are guaranteed to stick to plastic if applicable for that sort of plastic. Though, with transparent primers it's hard to tell whether your surface is smooth even after sanding.
* Acetone vapor won't bend thin walls if applied shortly, but will make surface sticky. If you apply powder coats (say, cement) right after acetone vapor treatment, then it will create really good base for paint, primer, or basically any coating, because the powder will be embedded into surface. Clear ABS surface is quite tricky to paint, but if you contaminate it a bit, you might end up with better results.
Hope this helps.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Some quick research shows me that ABS can be slightly affected by the composition of polyester resin. Automotive body repair filler, commonly called Bondo (brand name) is mostly polyester resin. I've found in my reading that some consider the "slightly affected" aspect to mean that it adheres well, others believe that the material will weaken and damage the ABS.
You could, of course, purchase some body filler and perform tests. It sands well and would certainly remove the layer lines.
If you determine that such material is not a good solution or would rather not take the gamble or perform the tests, you have an option with another product called microballoons or microspheres. It is a product that has an accurate description. The material is hollow spheres of glass of such tiny dimensions that they will blow away if you breathe on them.
The primary purpose of this product is to fill gaps, create fillets and similar structures without adding appreciable weight. One would use them with thin epoxy resin and mix to desired consistency. Some descriptions include "mayonnaise or peanut butter" depending on the application.
With both of these products, easily sanded is also in the description, although your choice of epoxy will also contribute to that aspect. Because the microballoons are mostly air, they do sand quite cleanly when mixed to heavy or thick consistency.
> 1 votes
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Tags: abs, post-processing
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thread-4974 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4974 | Why some corners aren't sticked well? | 2017-11-14T18:49:29.200 | # Question
Title: Why some corners aren't sticked well?
Is this a leveling problem? or it's because the bed temperature isn't equal in everywhere?
If it's because of leveling, it means the distance between nozzle and bed in this not-sticked corners are lot and should be decrease?
EDIT: material is ABS, and it's recommended temp is 190-230/80-100. But I use Cura high quality ABS default settings with 225/80. (But I had this problem with PLA with 190/60 degrees too)
EDIT2: I have a cooling fan for my Arduino/ramps board. But there was a wire between it's blades and it didn't work. today I saw it and tried to fix but it's plastic duct broke. So I tried to put it by hand as how it's air can cool both the Electronics boars and the bed(you can see my fan in one of the pics in left side). And I got a nice printing results for the same part printing:
So the cooling fan for printing part is very important to stick print to bed and I will print a duct for extra fan very soon!
# Answer
You can clearly print but there are also some problems it seems.
To see if you're about okay when it comes to leveling, I recommend to activate the 'skirt' in your slicer soft. Slic3r has it and I think most others too, it just makes the printer do a big one-layer all-around 'perimeter' around what is going to be printed before starting. You'll see quickly if there is not enough or too much space between the bed and the nozzle. You might catch other problems too (I love it because when the hotend drips a bit when leveling it get's smeared out far away from where the print is going to happen).
Your print looks like it is not optimal (overextrusion? no print-cooling? ...) so start with slowing down, first layer 20-25mm/s (Look at it when it's printed, it's very telling!). Then for the following ones, don't go over 40-50mm/s for starters.
Last but not least, you are printing ABS (but you said you had the problem with PLA too, hence my post), I have never printed ABS but for what I have read, you'll need a heatbed and a heated chamber(enclosed printer) to not have this kind of problems.
But for PLA especially; If you have a heat bed, don't put on too much heat when printing, I went from 60°C to 50°C, first layer, 30° then, and my prints now stick like they are melded onto my plate instead of skidding around.
> 2 votes
# Answer
For ABS, I use kapton tape, 90 degrees for the bed. You can also try acetone/ABS mixture (can be very thin). If you haven't got acetone, clean or new tape so there is no grease on it.
You can also try a higher nozzle temp for the first layer, sometimes that helps.
You can also try lowerimg the nozzle slightly, but it doesn't look bad. Increase flow rate to 110% probably wont do any harm - basically focus on the details before trying to print complicated parts.
> 1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, nozzle
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thread-709 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/709 | Print sketchup files (STL) on makerbot | 2016-03-08T18:52:33.760 | # Question
Title: Print sketchup files (STL) on makerbot
One of the local libraries has a new small Makerbot 3D printer. I have been submitting Sketchup files converted to STL files for printing.
The tech guy who runs the printer for patrons is having trouble getting a project of mine to come out to be the right size. I need this item go be 2 inches wide. The tech guy sizes the item on the screen to 2 inches. I watched him do it. But, the item is printed with a base of 2 inches, and the item itself comes out smaller.
Does anyone have suggestions about this? I can get more info if someone can give me the right questions to ask. The tech is open to taking suggestions. He wants to get the printer running smoothly for patrons.
I submitted a file with my own base with supports made in Sketchup. But, the tech guy said he needs to set the printer to create it's own base and supports.
Additional info:
When I printed it by letting Makerbot create the base and supports, it came out to be 1 3/4" as shown here: https://flic.kr/p/EashnD
Printer: Makerbot Replicator with Smart Extruder (not Plus). (I am now at the library with the technician.)
Here is a screenshot of what I am trying to print. It is a replacement clip for a messenger bag. So, it has to be 2 inches across. https://flic.kr/p/EtdM6s
Here is the printer: https://flic.kr/p/E5F1M6
I used a website to convert the DAE file exported from Sketchup to an STL file. It was GreenToken.com.
If I open the object's STL file in Tinkercad, the object appears two inches wide. And, if I open the file in one of the 3D printer websites in Tinkercad, the object appears two inches wide (in cm).
The security on the library's computers do not allow me to apply plug-ins to Sketchup. The library's Tech staff is going to eventually put the plug-in in there.
If it is resized to 2 inches wide in the MakerBot software to be sent to the printer, why is it printing the generated base 2 inches wide and not the object? Are there some settings the tech guy in the library is missing in this set up window?
Additional notes: The library now has the latest version of SketchUp on Macs. They are working on installing the STL plugin. (Security issues)
My process for producing an STL file to print is now this:
1. I create something in SU and export it as a DAE file.
2. I have found that meshconverter.com produces better STL files than greentoken.
3. I then upload/fix the STL file at the netFabb website.
4. I then import the STL file into TinkerCad to view it. If there are problems in the file, I can see them. And, I run it through netFabb again. I can also modify the file in TinkerCad. It is no where near as sophisticated as SketchUp. But, it doesn't claim to be.
I have found that there is a way to export the STL file to 3D printer hubs through TinkerCad. You can see the prices, the material available and the location of the company/person doing the printing. You can contact the printer ahead of time and they can look at your file to give you advice.
**Update**
I just wanted to add that the netFabb website does not export STL files after it fixes them. It now gives you a 3MF file format when you upload an STL file. I am not sure why this happens. But, this has put a big wrench in my process. I can no longer fix SketchUp STL files with netFabb. When I bring them into TinkerCad, I see errors in the object. It seems like there are issues with complex curves.
# Answer
> 1 votes
It appears that you have scaled the object after the raft and supports were added. As you can see in your photo of the raft, the clip is approximately 7/8ths (1.75/2) the size of the raft.
Edit: As a side note, STL files don't actually have a concept of units. Each axis is defined in arbitrary units. That's why when you export and import it you have to set the scale appropriately.
# Answer
> 1 votes
When exporting from SketchUp you have options for what units you want to export the STL as. Pronterface and Slic3r use millimetres so for these you should export as millimetres.
You can run into issues when designing a part in inches and then pulling it into printer software which might be expecting millimetres. In this case you may have to scale the part by 25.4 in all three axes.
As an example, if you have a 1" test cube and you export it as mm the STL will have six faces that look like this
```
facet normal -1.0 0.0 0.0
outer loop
vertex 0.0 25.4 25.4
vertex 0.0 0.0 0.0
vertex 0.0 0.0 25.4
endloop
endfacet
```
You can see there are no units anywhere. If you import this into a program that is expecting inches you will get a test cube that is 25.4 inches cubed. Scaling by 25.4 can fix this OR you can just tell SketchUp to export as inches.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I´m using sketchup 8 and I had the same error under makerbot, and some times with slic3r. After testing some programs to fix mesh I realize that some faces are inverted on STL file, so this can be detected on preview under pronterface, or simplify3D. before sending to print is needed to check this point; not all STL from a repository is working or is with the right size. If you detect a GRAY surface is time to invert that face to get que correct fill.
# Answer
> 0 votes
My advice is to use a micrometer (i.e., sliding dial caliper) accurate to within .001" and measure the printed object. If it is 1 7/8" for example, you would open the STL file in Makerbot software and use their scaling tool to scale the object to 1.0666666...., which is what you get when you divide the desired size (2") by the actual printed size (1.875"). I have found that it is much simpler to do that than to reinvent the wheel and try to figure out what each software engineer was thinking on each program and each conversion process and try to make it work right every time. Chances are that the same conversion factor might work right for any file originating from the same source and going through the same conversion software package. Also, 3D printers in general don't like edges that aren't completely "welded", or continuous seams. With Sketchup if you keep zooming in on an edge you almost always get seams that are stitched at intervals determined by Sketchup algorithms. They are "unwelded" seams. Some 3D printers can handle them. Many don't. I have used various 3D software packages, including Sketchup, and the best one so far has been Rhinoceros 3D. It handles multiple complex curvaceous planes and can radius adjoining curved edges and can "weld" them. Aeronautical and boat building companies use it for CAD/CAM applications.
... The STL file converter you mentioned is probably taking the Sketchup file and "cleaning it up" so Makerbot likes it. You would almost have to know exactly what algorithms each developer uses. to try and 'fix' it mathematically Like I said, do your own measuring and scale accordingly. BTW, it's better in my opinion to let Makerbot do the rafts and supports. Their engineers typically do a pretty good job. Where I have had issues is on things with a shallow angle (almost horizontal) hanging out into empty space. If you can re-orient the object in the makerbot software so those types of angles are minimized, the print is alot cleaner.
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Tags: makerbot
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thread-59 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/59 | How to recycle filament material from printed parts? | 2016-01-12T20:37:19.573 | # Question
Title: How to recycle filament material from printed parts?
Is it possible to re-use ABS or PLA filament material from printed parts?
If so, what is the techniques to reform it?
# Answer
There are a few options.
1. Machines are available which grind the used plastic into fine pieces, melt it down, and extrude it as filament to be reused. Filabot is perhaps the most well known.
2. Depending on where you live the local recycling programs may accept PLA or ABS. They will then shred it and melt it down for reuse.
3. PLA is bio-degradable so you can put it in the compost.
4. I put scrap ABS in acetone which results in a slurry which can be used as a glue to attach ABS parts, fix cracks, and hold parts to the bed.
> 32 votes
# Answer
If you're more interested in the recycling and reuse aspect than the re-print aspect, you could melt all the scrap filament onto a cookie sheet or into a bar (like in a bread ban). You could then manually work the material, or use a CNC machine to carve out your next thing.
This Youtube video refers to HDPE, but the same concept will apply to other thermoplastics:
This Youtube video uses a cookie sheet and failed prints:
> 11 votes
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Tags: pla, abs, recycling, filament-production
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thread-4950 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4950 | Strange leveling problem by PrusaI3 | 2017-11-12T17:15:32.713 | # Question
Title: Strange leveling problem by PrusaI3
I have a PrusaI3(Chinese kit that I assembled myself). my strange problem is that: when I try to leveling the bed, upper-left and bottom-right corners of the bed, are more far than the nozzle, respect to upper-right and bottom-left.
I don't know why, but I can't level them with the screws(because upper-left and bottom-right screws goes to be free sooner than their opposite side screws!!). I thought maybe the heated bed is not flat but I use a glass upon it! and it's not possible both of them are not flat!
EDIT: I can remember the last time I used my printer, there was a knocking sound when Y-AXIS was moving about the half of it's way. I very tried to find the cause of knocking sound but I couldn't. now, I have opened the heating bed and there is no sound when I move Y-Axis by hand. I hope you can understand me and help me too!
EDIT2: I did measure the rods and bed corners, I found that this corner(pointed by finger) is about 2 millimeters lower than other 3 corners! (It seems the bed part is not flat).
How can I fix this?
# Answer
I could solve my problem by this strange system for both opposite sides but I couldn't find the really reson of this problem!:
> 0 votes
# Answer
The Prusha I3 design uses two rods to guide the Y axis, which moves along the rods on linear bearings. If the rods are not strictly planar, there will be movement of the bed as it moves to and fro. You would not be able to correct this with the leveling screws.
Be sure that the rods are planar, and that there is no torque on the bed from uneven rods. Even if the bed doesn't flex, the frame may flex if the rods are not planar.
> 1 votes
# Answer
How did you measure the bed corners (caliper, ruler, spirit-level)? I had a similar problem in my 3d printer (Geetech Prusa REpRap I3) I solved by using an indicator (distance amplifying instrument). what I did was to set-up my heating bed completely, with the glass, screws with spacers, springs. I had fix on the z-axis my indicator set to 0, and I started moving the printer with small increments to each corner of the bed, slowing adjusting each corner screw to keep my bed on level. It is a very dull and time consuming process, but, now I have an offset from one corner to the other of just 30 µm.
Keep in mind that during a normal printing, the heating bed due to thermal expansion may increase the deviation of your calibration step.
If you have any doubts do not hesitate to ask! Cheers
> 1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed
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thread-4985 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4985 | Where is the "slice" button in Cura? | 2017-11-16T01:48:51.287 | # Question
Title: Where is the "slice" button in Cura?
I'm relatively new to Cura, having just installed it a few weeks ago. I have 3.0.3 and I'm running on Windows 7 64 bit. I noticed the auto slicing setting while poking around the settings. Auto slice almost always works.
A couple times now, Cura won't auto slice. I can't seem to find the slice button. How do I manually slice? I found an article on how to disable auto slicing, but it doesn't show how to manually slice.
Where the button "save to file" is is greyed out and just says "Print with Octoprint".
Closing Cura and re-opening it will fix the issue.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If auto-slicing is disabled, the button in the bottom-right corner of the window toggles between "Prepare" and "Save to File" depending on whether the model needs to be re-sliced or not. While slicing is in progress, it changes to "Cancel".
If auto-slicing is enabled, the button always reads "Save to File", and is greyed-out when slicing is being performed (it does not change to "Cancel").
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Tags: ultimaker-cura
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thread-4987 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4987 | I am looking for STL files of my Prusa i3 printer? | 2017-11-16T11:32:10.390 | # Question
Title: I am looking for STL files of my Prusa i3 printer?
This is my 3D-printer, and I am looking for it's `.stl` parts to print. Also I don't know which kind of Prusa is it?
# Answer
I would try Googling your specific make of the i3. For example if you have a Geeetech Prusa i3. I would type in Google "Geeetech prusa i3 stl parts" and I'm sure you should fine plenty of things.
If that is unsuccessfull. I guess try this one. It looks similar but it lacks that hole on the bottom middle to the right of the motor holes. So if its not important, I would look at this. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1103976. Might be a good idea to replace the entire X axis system with a new printed one to make sure it all fits and works.
@Tom van der Zanden is correct that without your specific version it is impossible to find the same part since small variations such as the distance between the two X axis smooth rods may differ between parts. While it is almost standard for the i3 design, you will find minor changes between variations.
I would also try scrolling through here. https://www.thingiverse.com/groups/prusa-i3/things
> 2 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, axis
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thread-4973 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4973 | Knocking/Clicking sound when Y-Carriage passas trough the middle of rods | 2017-11-14T18:28:58.097 | # Question
Title: Knocking/Clicking sound when Y-Carriage passas trough the middle of rods
Here is a video about 30MB, that shows my printer and it's sound during printing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wj5\_Uwv4X8SoLaouxBi1FHFi4x4Uoegd/view?usp=drivesdk
I guess the reason of this sound is the bed. Because I couldn't level my bed with screws and upper=left and bottom-right corners of the bed were about 1.5mm lower than the opposite sides. So I added two nuts behind the springs of these two sides! I don't know really if it could help but know I can print almost good.
So i think the knocking sound is because of these nuts and my bed carriage is not 100% flat(although it seems flat by eyes). Or maybe my rods aren't parallel(although they seems parallel by simple ruler measurement).
By the way, I like to know does anyone experimented same problem? or can guess the real problem or suggest a way to solve it?
And IMPORTANT question: May this problem break my heated-bed? Or causes new problems in future?
# Answer
> 2 votes
I don't think the sound is coming from nuts and springs.
I can think of 3 possible sources.
**Y axis rod bearings**
Those four bearings that are mounted onto your bed frame may be binding through rough spots on the smooth rods. Usually printer kits don't give you the best quality stuff and those rods may not be perfectly the same diameter throughout its length or may be bent so slightly. Your best bet to test if this is the problem is to remove the belt from your bed and slide the bed back and forth and see if you can recreate the sound trying different speeds and pressure while doing so.
**Y axis pulley/idler**
I think it's probably this because I have heard a similar noise and this part has failed on me. Usually these are either a plastic pulley, two bearings, two bearings inserted into a plastic pulley, or one larger bearing inserted into a plastic pulley. If your printer uses a bearing here, I recommend taking that part off and inspecting that bearing. I've had mine destroyed and the little balls went everywhere. You can test this by just trying to hear for it. Turn off the printer motors and move the bed manually, see if it sounds like it is coming from the idler.
**Nozzle hitting print**
I doubt this but sometimes when prints are over extruded or curl up, the nozzle hits the print as it passes over so maybe your hearing individual collisions clicking. Again I really doubt this.
---
Will this break your heated bed? Probably not. Will it cause problems in the future? If it is a fault with the bearings, most likely they will fail eventually but nothing else should get damaged in the process. But no worries, parts are cheap and readily available online or even at some hardware stores.
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**Note** : My mechanic taught me this when trying to figure out which bearing was making noise in a car. Take a long screw driver, preferably with a wooden handle, and place the tip on the part you think is making noise and place the handle to your ear. Usually this amplifies the noise when your making contact with the faulty part. Using this I was able to figure out which bearing was squeaking among the half dozen points where the belt would spin. Not sure how well this works for a printer and be careful not to have the mechanical moving parts(such as your printer bed) hit the screwdriver into your face.
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, print-material
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thread-4916 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4916 | Connecting my OctoPrint to a Google drive folder | 2017-11-08T11:10:32.850 | # Question
Title: Connecting my OctoPrint to a Google drive folder
Is there a way where my upload folder on my OctoPrint server would be a folder on my Google drive so that I could save my G-code that was generated using Simplify3d to an existing folder on my desktop at which it would then automatically be uploaded into my RPi via the internet.
Or maybe a watched folder that can be accessed via internet?
# Answer
> 3 votes
You could mount your google drive using gdrivefs on your pi following this tutorial: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=109587 However, I have to ask: why send the file to the internet? Is your printer/pi on a separate network than your desktop where you are slicing?
If they're on the same network, you'd be better off setting up a samba share on your raspberry pi (https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/samba-file-server/) and then mounting that directory from your desktop (https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-connect-to-linux-samba-shares-from-windows-10/).
In either case, you could set the directory (the gdrive directory or the samba share) as the watched folder in octoprint's config.yaml (http://docs.octoprint.org/en/master/configuration/config\_yaml.html#folder).
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Tags: octoprint, simplify3d, raspberry-pi
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thread-4999 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4999 | Oven/Food safe Filament? | 2017-11-19T02:07:12.230 | # Question
Title: Oven/Food safe Filament?
I just backed a 3d printer on kickstarter, called "Mooz", and I was wondering about some of the possible applications of it. I realized it would be cool/helpful to be make cookie models, and bake cookies to that shape. The cookies can be baked as low as around 250 °F, **So is there any food-safe and heat resistant filament that can withstand those temperatures?** (I know many filaments are printed above those temps anyways, but in my case I don't want them to even warp.) Google has failed me on this one, so I hope someone here can answer it for me! -Thanks in advance :)
P.S. My 3d printer will have a heated bed, so it can print more types of filaments. The highest bed temp is 100 °C, and the highest hot end temp is 250 °C. I don't really mind using some sealant, but I'd rather not use something toxic like ABS.
P.P.S I'm a newbie to this stuff, so I apologize in advance if I asked a really stupid question.
# Answer
Don't try to bake cookies inside a plastic mold; the plastic will smoke even if not melt. If you need to bake cookies use a cookie cutter made of plastic (your own design or copy) obviously printed on your new printer then bake normally. here is a link from thingeverse to get a cookie cutter .stl file
:) enjoy cutting cookies these holidays
Here is another link from hacks from one person is making the same to show his idea.
> 4 votes
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Tags: filament, food
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thread-5001 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5001 | What type of fire alarm/smoke alarm should my printer have? | 2017-11-19T09:17:31.420 | # Question
Title: What type of fire alarm/smoke alarm should my printer have?
I know you should, like an infant, never leave your printer without surveillance.
But sometimes we all do, trusting our double thermistors and heat runaway configurations. But electronics fry and who says there is no danger even after the print job has finished and it's cooling down, still hooked up?
I have searched but smoke/fire detectors come in a wide range of varieties:
They can be battery powered or hardwired, they detect different things: carbon monoxide, heat, smoke..., they thus also have different detectors like photoelectric sensors, ionization sensors or both. We also print with different materials...
So what's the best safeguard for my 2 year old (CoreXY ^^)?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Since some prints can take literally days, I would use a combination of techniques if you're worried about a fire. According to The Internets, firefighters are willing to inspect your stuff to see if they pose fire hazards. You could ask your local firefighters what they think of your risk with yoru 3D printer.
## Keep your workplace free of dangers
Don't keep flammables, explosives, or similar stuff near your printer. If it does catch fire, these kinds of things will make it worse. There are plenty of valid 3D printer supplies that fall in this category: alcohol, alcohol pads, acetone, acetone pads, various glues, various cleaners, hairspray, etc.
## Periodically inspect the high amperage parts of the system
Inspect crimps, but splices, solder joints, relays, etc for burn marks, loose connections, or other problems. Solve the problems before they catch fire.
## Alarm
One or more smoke alarms should detect a fire. However, they may give false positives for ABS, because ABS gives off that burning plastic smell. I would experiment with the super-cheap ones and one or two more expensive models to see what kinds of false positives you get. You'll probably want to put at least one of them directly above the printer. If your printer is enclosed, put a sensor in the enclosed area.
I think smoke alarms should be sufficient, but I'm **not an expert (or even hobbyist)** on fire alarms. I have not come across any information that states Carbon Monoxide or Radon are a worries with 3D printers. Area-affect heat sensors may give many false alarms because of how hot printer stuff gets. However, you could use contact heat sensors for parts that should not get too hot and monitor them with a microcontroller or Raspberry Pi. Reading this article, it seems you may want some ionization sensors for the printer, and not photoelectric. My WAG (link) is that the plastic (or electronics) would smolder long before catching fire, so you want sensors that would detect the smoldering.
## Camera
OctoPrint/OctoPi make it easy to use a webcam to monitor your printer. However, if your printer is on fire and you're remote, it may or may not be able to shut the printer down. Even if successful, you still have a fire to deal with.
## Fire extinguisher
You should have a fire extinguisher available to someone to put out your printer should it catch fire. Printers will need at least an extuingsher of Class C rating, and since we're working with plastics, you probably want Class B as well. Most of the fire extinguishers you can find in consumer stores are going to be ABC rated, and powder based. The powder will make a mess and wreak havoc on electronics. CO2 or Halon will not themselves damage the electronics, but are substantially more expensive than their powder based brethren. For example, I get 5lb Fire Extinguishers for ~$30 at Costco, but an equivalent in CO2 would be several hundred.
## Automatic suppression system
As a maker, you could build a reactionary fire suppression system. I imagine it would be cost prohibitive to hire someone to do it for you. Basically, you would use the alarms or special sensors to activate one or more fire extinguishers. You should over-engineer this so that your fire suppression system completely overwhelms any fire that occurs. According to The Internets, firefighters are willing to inspect your stuff to see if they pose fire hazards. You could ask your local firefighters what they think of your risk and suppression system.
## Firefighting Robot
You could build a robot to detect fires about put them out, as sort of an advanced automatic suppression system. Something like Tony Stark's robot, or something emulating what is actually in service (US Navy (CNN), Australia tracked firefighter).
# Answer
> 1 votes
According to http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/smoke-alarms/ you have these two choices:
> **Ionisation**: These are the cheapest and cost very little to purchase. They are very sensitive to small particles of smoke produced by fast flaming fires, such as paper and wood, and will detect this type of fire before the smoke gets too thick. They are marginally less sensitive to slow burning and smouldering fires which give off larger quantities of smoke before flaming occurs. They can also be too over-sensitive near kitchens.
>
> **Optical**: These are more expensive but more effective at detecting larger particles of smoke produced by slow-burning fires, such as smouldering foam-filled upholstery and overheated PVC wiring. They are marginally less sensitive to fast flaming fires. Optical alarms can be installed near (not in) kitchens, as they are less likely than ionisation alarms to go off when toast is burned.
Although 'overheated PVC' might tend to point to the optical sensor being best, any fault on a printer is likely to be quite different to a domestic installation fault (I think you're less likely to detect the early warning from a damaged connector since the fault will be physically small).
I have an ionisation sensor next to/above the printer, and the only time I had a false-alarm was when I temporarily placed it on the desk.
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Tags: electronics
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thread-5013 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5013 | What are the safest temperatures to heat different filaments to? | 2017-11-22T02:13:33.930 | # Question
Title: What are the safest temperatures to heat different filaments to?
I recently backed a 3D printer on Kickstarter, and I would like to 3D print parts for high-temperature applications. So I have two questions;
1. What's the highest temperature polycarbonate can be safely heated to without warping or releasing toxins?
2. If there's a filament with better temp-resistance I can print could you tell me? (If you know the highest temperature it could reach safely, that would be helpful too.)
My 3D printer will have a heated bed up to 100°C, and an extruder temp of up to 250°C.
# Answer
> 6 votes
* Polycarbonate is heat-resistant up to ~120C. Above this temperature it will gradually become flexible and may irreversibly bend. It will not generate any toxic fumes all the way up to ignition temperature (630C), because it's fumes are not considered harmful. Note though, that with your temperature limit you may not be able to print with polycarbonate, or only do so at a very low speed.
* According to the sheets of commercially available printable plastics, PC has the highest printing temperature and heat resistance among them, seconded by nylon. This refers to the FDM printers only. SLS printers may be able to use other materials, even metals like aluminum or titanium, so if you really wish to get temperature-resistant prints, you may look for workshops that have SLS printers and ask them.
# Answer
> 2 votes
All plastics have two temperatures to consider for operation and evaluation:
1. Melting point = the temperature that plastics starts to get soft; this can be considered for maximum temperature operation.
2. Flow temperature = normally used for molding process and this have a wide range of temperatures depending on PPM´s and mixtures to meet a purpose like coffee cups. Here a link for filament temperature guides
Polycarbonates are the most plastic used for industrial and kitchen appliances. Due higher temperatures support and hardness, so I think is not possible to use polycarbonates in 3D printers due its temperatures are from 250°C to 320°C.
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Tags: filament, health
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thread-4919 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4919 | Inexpensive 3D printer for medical applications | 2017-11-08T14:56:14.000 | # Question
Title: Inexpensive 3D printer for medical applications
We need a 3D printer, that can print with plastic suitable for medical applications. We have about $5000 for the printer. What printers can we choose? I am not a specialist in 3D printing, so please answer in detail.
We need to print breathing tubes with cuffs. The tubes should be flexible, but rigid enough in order not to collapse. The cuff material should be thin and collapsible, but very strong. Breathing tubes are inserted through the mouth and stay in contact with mucous membrane for many hours.
# Answer
I am not an expert but I think you will find that because 3D printers use a layer by layer construction method, and the boundary between the layers creates grooves along the surface or leaves a rough texture on the surface. That the textured surface left by 3D printer construction would trap microbes and make 3D printed objects not suitable for medical applications where you need the product to be sterile.
It might be possible to treat the printed object or post process it. By vapor smoothing or painting/coating, but I doing think this would work for flexible materials.
If you are considering 3D printing because of the ability to customize the design, then I would suggest considering combining 3D printing with molding or casting. You could then use a cheap 3D printer to create the mold and use a flexible resin to create the object you want.
I have heard of SLA 3D printing being used to create molds for casting fake teeth. There 3D printing is used to create a custom shape and the print is used to make a mold and the final product is cast using the mold to get the quality and finish needed.
And I have head of FDM printing being used in used in remote areas to print clamps for umbilical cords. But I believe this was because not no other option was available.
> 3 votes
# Answer
## Not in that price range
5000 USD might sound much, but it is far outside of the scope of an industrial 3D printer. You ask to print parts that are safe for implantation, so you need a machine that is allowed to produce medical implants. A machine that makes medical products needs to have them certified by the authorities. These demand strict tests on quality control and the materials allowed are specifically listed.
Machines that could work with these materials in the quality demanded are expensive. For example I found with a quick search a nice article: there are SLS printed bones out there - yet an industrial (certified) SLS printer costs several times the budget you have at hand. The same article suggested that 3D Bioprinting has had enough advancements recently to produce heart valves, but the product is undergoing medical tests still. So pretty much both of these examples (and most others on that site) are out of bounds for the finances at hand or are not approved for use on humans.
There are some medical tool application that can be 3D Printed though: the mentioned umbilical cord clamps or other solid one-way articles like clamps or spreaders could be made safely from medical grade plastics, yet your chosen material and designed parts will need to undergo medical safety testing - and thus from prototyping to allowance to use it you will spend months or years waiting. This makes this over all much more expensive than using standard one-way baloon cuffed endotracheal tubes. These do contain one unprintable part even: the balloon.
Non-implant/non-invasive medical aides like the prothetics of enabling the future project are one of the safe applications for 3D printing in medicine at the time of this writing, and they are doable inside a 5000 USD budget.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Find another medical facility that is doing it, and ask what equipment and filament they use. They may also have a source for medical related models.
I would expect medical stuff to be regulated by the FDA, so there are probably limitations on what you can get.
> 1 votes
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Tags: material, medical
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thread-5002 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5002 | Z Steppers just hum, vibrate and don't move at all | 2017-11-19T12:47:11.750 | # Question
Title: Z Steppers just hum, vibrate and don't move at all
As I said in the title there is some issue with my z axis steppers. They will make a humming sound and vibrate a little but won't actually spin. I'm fairly sure this is an issue with the firmware (but I might be totally wrong) since they turn when the wires are switched with the ones for the Y axis and swapping the driver board for a spare had no impact on them. Any help would be appreciated. I am using RAMPs 1.4 and marlin firmware.
# Answer
Try connecting Y-motor to your Z ports. If Y-motor will behave like Z-motors, then there's problem with your Z ports, be it hardware or software. I'm not a RAMPS user, but have heard that there is voltage regulator for every motor port. Sounds like your motors may be underpowered.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Let's tick off the factors you have already checked for.
It isn't the driver board, because the Z driver board drives the Y motors. It could be the Z motor itself (or the cable), which you could test by plugging the Z motor into the Y driver board. If only one of the two motor coils were being energized, it would cause vibration but generate no motion.
@ZuOverture suggests it could be the drive current setting on the motor driver board. Possible, especially if the Z motor requires more current.
It is also possible that the output pin from the Arduino Mega board may be bad, or not connecting well.
To investigate, find the step and direction inputs to the stepper driver board. Use a voltmeter, logic probe, or oscilloscope to verify the signal levels. If the signals don't jiggle when moving the motor, then follow the wires and check at each point along the way.
You could also plug in a replacement Arduino, which you have programmed with the firmware, and check if that works.
If the Arduino pin is bad, you can keep it in your junk box for future projects.
Looking at the firmware angle, one would check the speed and acceleration settings for the Z axis. When in doubt, try slower speed and lower acceleration. Z-axis performance doesn't make much difference in the printing speed.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Hello it's seems to be the voltage regutaltor on the steppers drivers for the nema motors. Check to adjust the voltage with a multimeter connecting the red pin from the multimeter on the voltage regulator on the driver and the black pin on the GND pin on the ramps 12v connector.
Also make sure that you have connected the jumpers to setup the microstep resolution:
Full step,Half step,Quarter step,Eighth step,Sixteenth step
Best regards.
Rodrigo
> 0 votes
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Tags: z-axis
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thread-5009 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5009 | I am looking for laser cut cads for my prusa i3? | 2017-11-21T11:07:05.870 | # Question
Title: I am looking for laser cut cads for my prusa i3?
I have this prusa i3 printer(I don't know what model is it):
My bed part is broken. And I am looking for the cads to laser cut them! this is my bed pic:
# Answer
> 0 votes
This is not exactly my part, but the holes place are true. I think if someone measures the bed dimensions( for me it's 21.9mm * 21.9mm) and orders a plate in this size, he can also make holes later with drill(I did it before for another part of my plexi to attach the power supply).
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1310778
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Tags: prusa-i3, cad
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thread-4944 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4944 | Z motors work synchronously ToyRep | 2017-11-11T11:22:26.400 | # Question
Title: Z motors work synchronously ToyRep
I have a problem with Z direction. As you know it has two motors. And my problem is that one sometimes goes to the different direction (so basically one is screwing and another one unscrewing). It is like random, sometimes it is ok, sometimes this one goes to the different direction. Could you help me, please? Wiring is like in building tutorial. The tutorial is here http://reprap.org/wiki/ToyREP\_Build\_Manual . I am using Marlin and Pronterface. Code I took here http://reprap.org/wiki/ToyREP\_User\_Manual
# Answer
The problem was in the wiring of the motor. According to different sources it says to check wiring, everything seemed ok, but I've found one wire was damaged.
> 2 votes
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Tags: ramps-1.4, reprap, z-axis
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thread-5030 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5030 | Project help, printing a Neopixel enclosure to secure to a car rear windscreen | 2017-11-26T18:29:55.927 | # Question
Title: Project help, printing a Neopixel enclosure to secure to a car rear windscreen
I haven't purchased a 3D printer yet, I've been working on the software and electronics for my project and now I'm about ready to get a printer, haven't decide on which yet.
Recommendations welcome.
My project will put 3 rows of Neopixels on the windscreen of my car, attached to the top inside. I intend to print the container in sections that will slow together.
I want to allow for the curvature of the windscreen in the design of the container and this is my question, I want to design a container that will hold 3 rows of Neopixel strips, thats the easy part, I want the container to fit neatly against the windscreen with no gaps, how do I work out the curve of the windscreen so I can put this onto the enclosure ready for printing?
The enclose will be as wide as the read windscreen and split into printable sections that will slot together for installation.
The car this is going into is an Audi A5 2012.
# Answer
There's a handy tool for replicating curves that use a series of plastic or metal fingers in a sliding mount. One presses all the fingers to one side, then presses the bracket to the desired surface until all fingers are in contact. The opposite side now represents the measured curve and can be traced into a modeling program.
For your purposes, that is unlikely to work, as the tool is perhaps six inches long, far too short to span your windscreen.
Consider the following:
Attach a string to each edge of the windscreen or wedge a thin rod from one side to the other. This provides you with a straight line reference. Measure as nearly as possible to perpendicular from the reference string to the windscreen surface. I have a laser measuring device that has 1/16" or 1 mm accuracy above certain distance, which would not work well in this case as you approach zero at the edges.
Start in the center, record your measurement, and move an appropriate distance outward. I suggest you need only approximately 20-30 mm spacing as you are collecting points on a curve, which are likely to be relatively uniform and easily reproduced in software.
Your graph now has zero, zero on the left, and say 750 mm, 40 mm on the right, with matching numbers in the middle. On real paper, turn it into a graph, or use a suitable vector editing software such as Inkscape and duplicate it there.
Depending on the shape of your window, you may have to replicate the process at different heights in order to get a proper representation of the curve of the glass.
Once you have the dots, run a Bezier curve through the dots. The resulting like can be extruded or otherwise converted into the segments necessary for your 3D printing project.
> 1 votes
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Tags: enclosure
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thread-5034 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5034 | Should I be doing PID auto-tuning with my fan at 100% (Anet A8) | 2017-11-27T12:20:48.767 | # Question
Title: Should I be doing PID auto-tuning with my fan at 100% (Anet A8)
I'm using an Anet A8 with Marlin 1.1.6.
I've read countless guides on PID auto-tuning and never saw that the fan needed to be on, but when I look at the Marlin source code's ANet A8 configuration (here: example\_configurations\ANet\A8\Configuration.h) it states:
```
...
// ANET A8 Standard Extruder at 210 Degree Celsius and 100% Fan
//(measured after M106 S255 with M303 E0 S210 C8)
#define DEFAULT_Kp 21.0
#define DEFAULT_Ki 1.25
#define DEFAULT_Kd 86.0
#endif // PIDTEMP
```
So, should activate the fan before running the auto-test if I wish to update the PID values in Marlin for my Anet A8?
# Answer
> 7 votes
You should run the fan at what you expect it to be at the majority of the time it is printing. If you tune at 100% fan and never use a fan then it will be too aggressive, if you tune at 0% fan and use the fan then you will struggle to maintain/reach temperature.
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Tags: marlin, anet-a8, cooling
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thread-5037 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5037 | Adding points to a point cloud | 2017-11-27T14:29:51.583 | # Question
Title: Adding points to a point cloud
I made a scan and got a cloud point file, but the cloud point is not that good, but I need to print it in a 3d printer as soon as possible, just to see how it would look.
Basically it's missing some points that were not scanned properly due to it being transparent at those points. I'd like to add those points manually (using meshlab preferably) and create a surface with them .. something that makes this file printable.
I know I could edit this file manually since it is an ascii file with the values of xyz .. but that is a lot of trouble and certainly there is a faster way to do this with a free tool.
# Answer
> 3 votes
A good free tool for editing meshes would be Blender. Linux, Windows, Mac are supported. It has a serious learning curve, and is somewhat counter-intuitive in use (right click object to select) unless you customize it.
Plenty of online video tutorials to learn the basics, though, and if you have a membership for Lynda.com, those videos are the best (opinion).
I've used it to pull edges and vertices together, to chop out pieces that weren't supposed to be there, etc. The flexibility and power of the program is amazing, considering the price.
Many artists use the program for creating 3D animations and full length movies. Amazing talent, well beyond my capabilities, but it shows what the software can do.
The website also has links to tutorials and the manual, which is also a work of art.
If you can devote the time to learn the program, anything 3D modeling related will be within reach.
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Tags: 3d-models, scanning
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thread-5035 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5035 | How to remove internal part of a hex grid | 2017-11-27T13:36:44.387 | # Question
Title: How to remove internal part of a hex grid
I am modelling a few cut templates to be used on an hexagonal grid (honeycomb) material using OpenSCAD. Basically, from a reference cell, I need to select all cells that are within a given range and given angle.
I implemented this by creating an in memory grid that covers an area larger than what I need (extra range, 360 degrees), and then testing each cell for both the distance and angle requirements, extruding only those that test positive for both conditions.
Everything works as expected...
...but now I would also like to add the possibility to have the outer contour of the template without having each individual cell within it (so, a single thin line going around the whole "pizza slice" above).
I'm pretty new to OpenSCAD: what would be the best approach here? (I'm happy even with a solution that requires to re-implement what done until now).
# Answer
> 3 votes
I ended up finding a reasonable solution myself:
Basically, I diffed two identical, non-hollow geometries, in which the first one had the cells larger than they needed to be (so overlapping with others), and the second one had them exactly of the right dimension:
```
difference() {
base_geometry(range, angle, infill, extra_padding = 2);
base_geometry(range, angle, infill, extra_padding = 0);
}
```
This way the only portion of the solid remaining was the `extra_padding` on the outer edges of the geometry.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Unfortunately, OpenSCAD does not have a 2D hull() transformation, although it has been requested. You might be able to find a pre-written package that implements a 2D hull. However, if all you want is a hexagonal grid with a border of some arbitrary shape, could you not cheat, and get your slicer to generate the grid for you? All you would need to do is generate the envelope, and then slice with a hexagonal grid as in-fill, and request no top or bottom layers. Most slicers will do hexagonal in-fill.
If you want to do it all in OpenSCAD, then I would go about it like this:
1. Create a 2D grid, similar to what you have now.
2. Create a 2D outline of the shape you want, undersized so that you can add a manifold (as a perimeter).
3. Duplicate this shape.
4. Add a manifold to the first copy.
5. Create an intersection of the second copy and the grid.
6. Create a union of the two copies.
7. Extrude the union.
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Tags: 3d-design, openscad
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thread-5044 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5044 | How can I prevent my nozzle catching on my print? | 2017-11-28T18:09:44.930 | # Question
Title: How can I prevent my nozzle catching on my print?
I have created a budget 3d printer using parts of old computers, specifically I used the CD drive mechanisms for the x,y and z axis. This printer is similar to the curiosity E-Waste printer, as seen here: Link
After quite a bit of time working on it I have got to the point where my printer should be able to print, but unfortunately, I have encountered an issue. The layers in which the printer prints fluctuate in height, and so when the nozzle travels over the lower layers to do the next layer, it hits a bump, misses some steps and becomes mis-aligned. I have never owned a 3d printer before, but I think that it is likely that the problem I have which causes the prints to not be flat is likely a common 3d printer problem. However, with commercial 3D printers, these bumps would probably only cause a drop in the quality of the print and not a complete fail; it is only due to how weak my motors are that the nozzle will miss a step with even the slightest force against it.
I have thought about why the layers may not be flat and I have come up with a few possibilities that I think are the problem. I do not know if these are in fact the source of the issue, but these are the things that I have considered so far.
1. The nozzle height when starting the print. If I lower it then the layer height will be smaller, and so there is less chance for it to be higher in different places. However upon testing this I found that, due to the reduced height upon the first layer the nozzle would get stuck.
2. When the nozzle changes direction, for example at the edges of the print, there is significant vibration and it is possible that this cause the filament to overlap and not be flat. The vibration is due to the nature of my printer and would be very hard to reduce. A solution could be some kind of software fix, but I do not know enough about this to do so.
3. Maybe the speed at which I am printing is not good. I'm printing currently at an incredibly slow 40mm/s.I have tried different speeds but at low speeds there is over extrusion and at high speeds, the vibration is too much.
4. I have tried experimenting with flow rate (100%,75%,and 50%) and at the moment I am using 50%. This is because my extruder motor is a bit weak and often misses steps, also the filament requires considerable force to push it through. Is this normal?. My idea is that maybe there is too much filament being extruded and so if I lower the flow rate the print will not create bumps.
5. The filament curls slightly when it comes out of the nozzle and I have tried to fix this by cleaning it and printing faster but it is only reduced. I'm printing at 200° currently; Will higher or lower print temperatures cause the filament to curl less and be more easy to push through the hot end?
As you can see there are a lot of factors in which I need to consider if I want my printer to be able to print correctly. And unfortunately, with my printer it is either perfect or a failed print; there is no in between. Due to the weak motors everything has to be exactly right, or the nozzle will get stuck.
I am not sure how to add videos here so I will instead. add some photos of the prints, and three photos detailing how the prints fail.
Below is an image containing the 6 most recent prints in which I played around with the different factors mentioned above. The top middle one is the most recent one. The object i am trying to print is a simple cuboid.
This is what the first layer of my most recent print looked like. There is some kind of gap in the middle for some reason, but I don't think that is the source of the error. The print appears to have adhered well, at this point and it is relatively flat.
This is what the second layer of the print looked like, notice how the lines are wobbly and not very neat. There is also a small area of higher height in the bottom left corner which inevitably causes the nozzle to get stuck.
This is the print after the nozzle hit the now cooled down blob, missed some steps and then was misaligned. It then goes on to print the next layer in the wrong place and gets stuck very badly.
Thank you, for reading this. Any help would be much appreciated
# Answer
> 3 votes
A printer must be working very well to not have the problem with the head hitting against small verticle protuberances and losing control of the X and Y positions.
Some factors I've found that make bigger bumps. If you have any of these, fixing them will make the problem better. From observation, it is ultimately the power of the motors, the ability fo the nozzle to melt through small bumps and the resilience of the mechanism (not something that is otherwise helpful) that let decent prints proceed.
1. The first layer may not be the height you expect. First layers are typically 100% filled. If you are extruding too much plastic for the layer height, it has to go into a bump. To fix this, check your vertical height. Measure with calipers the height of the flat portions of a 1-layer print, and compare that with your slicer expectation. Adjust the vertical offset to make the actual meet the intended.
2. You may be extruding too much plastic. Depending on your slicer, you can adjust this by tweaking. I user slic3r, and can adjust the filament diameter. Overstating the diameter causes under-extrusion. Understating the diameter will cause over extrusion.
3. Sometimes the bumps come mostly at changes of direction. This is possibly caused by several things, but I'd look first for backlash. The mechanism should be tight, and not move under moderate side-to-side or front-to-back force. If it jiggles, it will can cause problems. Wiggle it. Look at what moves. Should it move? If belt driven, the belts should be tight. If driven with a lead screw, the nut should not move and the screw should not move. If they do, fix it somehow.
4. If you are running the motors near the maximum speed and/or acceleration, their torque will be lower than if they are running slower. Try slowing everything down by a factor of two and see how the problem changes.
5. It might help to print at a higher temperature, so the nozzle can melt through the bumps with less force. This could cause other problems, but if you are marginally cool now, warmer might work better.
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Tags: print-quality, extruder, diy-3d-printer, fdm
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thread-5033 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5033 | My 3D printing part starts to bending after about 1 cm height and blue tape separates from bed | 2017-11-27T04:19:56.243 | # Question
Title: My 3D printing part starts to bending after about 1 cm height and blue tape separates from bed
I use a Prusa i3, and this is ABS printed part with 225/90°C. Why did this happen?
I tried to print this part again with new settings on Slic3r (I used Cura for previous print), but I got the same result. I found that the problem is because the model starts to bend after about 1 cm height. Also the blue tape starts to separate from the bed.
I don't use the fan for printing part (although the MK8 extruder's fan works all the time), and the temperature for the new part was (225/85°C first layer and 220/80°C for other layers). Also I must say that the adhesion of the model sticks to the bed is very good and strong, but it is bent!
# Answer
> 4 votes
Multiple problems here. Let's try to isolate them.
* Blue tape. Good for PLA, not suitable for ABS. ABS works fine with kapton tape, glue stick, hair spray, ABS juice over glass, aluminum or PCB epoxy composite board.
* Always use at least brim feature to ensure good adhesion along the edges (your last photos have none). For parts with small hotbed contact area use raft.
* Hotbed temperature should be 100°C+, because at 80°C adhesion is weaker. If you can't raise hotbed temperature to 100°C, think about thermal insulation.
* Layers of plastic don't stick to each other. Either plastic comes from extruder being already cold (check that there are no draughts of cold air nearby), or you're printing too fast (50 mm/s should generally work, if not try 30 mm/s).
* No infill between walls. Either it is set to 0 or optimized out by some option.
* Round walls aren't round. Either printing speed problem, or your belts are loose.
* Underextrusion. Bottom of your first print looks like mesh rather than solid surface. Check that plastic flow is around 100%.
Also check that your thermoresistor measures the actual temperature of the extruder (i.e. is in direct contact with it). Otherwise you will get overheated plastic extrusion, which looks like your first photos.
Also, print a 1 cm cube first. Don't do anything complex, just cube.
# Answer
> 2 votes
My best results with ABS have been with a hot bed (100 degrees C), and using the "acetone/ABS slurry" to stick the print to the bed.
I was not able to get ABS to stick well enough to blue tape at low bed temperatures, and at high bed temperatures the blue tape would sometimes separate from the bed.
The ABS slurry is applied to the cold bed, and gives you an ABS film intimately attached to the bed. It will be a thick enough film to carry the color, so it is best to make the slurry with the same color as you will be printing with. There is no absolute ration of acetone to ABS that should be used for the mixture. In service, the acetone evaporates. A thicker slurry will leave a thicker coating.
I use flux brushes (sometimes called acid brushes) to apply the slurry, although one can also use a watercolor brush, or just pour a small puddle on a bed if it is level enough to not run off the edge.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Try putting your printer into a heated chamber, and when the print is finished, slowly decrease the temperature of the chamber. I would also recommend using putting something like buildtak or printbite onto your buildplate. If you are not able to do that I would recommend putting some purple gluestick onto the bed, or a few spritz of hairspray should do the trick.
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Tags: prusa-i3
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thread-3793 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3793 | Printing coarse threads | 2017-03-26T16:44:21.083 | # Question
Title: Printing coarse threads
I have a makerbot, and am using their slicer program. The part I am printing has an extremely coarse thread, 5 threads per inch with a 2 mm thread height. The thread face is at a 30 degree angle (15 degrees of overhang)
I have printed external threads like this without issue and without support material before for various gardening tools (a flow straightener for example). I'm now trying to print an internal threaded part however the rest of the part needs to have support. I've played with the settings in the makerbot software but can't find a combination that will acomplish my goal.
I'm looking for an idea, a setting, or an alternate way of printing the threads without support, but still have supports for the other sections of the part that I know do need them.
Perhaps there is an alternate software that can do something like this, or is best practice to modify the part to have weak structural elements to support the extremely overhanging sections that I'll then break off afterwards and print the part with no supports?
# Answer
> 5 votes
There are some software tools that let you manually design support structures so you can target the areas that need them, and avoid others.
For example, Meshmixer can be used to add supports into your STL. I believe you still use a separate slicer.
Some slicers also have the ability to manually add support. I have found that CraftWare and Simplify3D have this kind of feature.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Consider to create an externally threaded part to mate with the internally threaded part, perhaps with a tenth of a millimeter clearance. If possible, configure that part to have minimal structure, making it easier to break away. The externally threaded part will possibly provide support for the portions of the main body while preventing interference with the internally threaded part.
I believe it's not possible to segment a multi-part print for different levels of infill, but if the above fits your requirements, it would be a thin-wall cylinder, thick enough only to support the mating threads. This would allow easier break-away.
An image, sketch, drawing, model, link of your project would make this answer easier or possibly invalidate it completely.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I feel a little ridiculous that I didn't try this earlier, but in the Makerware software you can set a minimum overhang to print support material. I've been working to this point (3 years now) assuming they've been measuring the angle from the vertical, not the horizontal. I was wrong.
The solution that I came up with was to calculate the maximum overhang of the internal threads inside the helix, and then not use breakaway support below that angle.
Not the prettiest print I've ever done, but the threads came out useful at least. I'll need to lay with the settings a bit to make sure the part isn't going wonky from the minimal support but as of now it seems to be working well.
A better slicer would've made this whole process MUCH easier, and I'm going to look into them pronto
# Answer
> 0 votes
Try using simplify 3d. It's a very powerful slicing software compatible with almost every 3d printer. It does cost 150 dollars, but that would be the only drawback to using that software. You can manually place supports around your model without having he software mess it up. I think this is exactly what you're looking for.
---
Tags: 3d-models, makerbot, support-structures
--- |
thread-5053 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5053 | What infill settings and material type do I need? | 2017-11-29T16:07:25.517 | # Question
Title: What infill settings and material type do I need?
I’m trying to have this bracket printed, but I don’t know what settings I should use.
The project details say 50% for infill, but is there a reason why I wouldn’t get 100% for making it sturdier? I imagine the developer used 50% because he used his own printer and wanted to preserve more material. The 3D printer service I’m using doesn’t charge more for 100%.
But I’m more concerned about the material I should select. Should I select PLA or ABS? The developer didn’t specify this.
# Answer
> 3 votes
For such a small item and the small load it will carry, even 50 percent is substantial. Keep in mind that one hundred percent infill is not necessarily stronger. If you need to know why, consider a 'net search for "why not use 100% infill" for more detailed information. The primary foundation for not using 100% infill is that the stress is better distributed over the structure of a non-100% part, while the completely filled part has more intra-layer stress failure. Another link suggests that there's a possibility of increased warping with full infill.
Because the load is small, it matters very little if you select PLA over ABS. PLA is more brittle compared to ABS and will crack or fracture or break under loads that might otherwise cause the same part in ABS to bend.
If you need yet more strength, select PETG or nylon, although I suspect either one would be more expensive from a service.
If you select ABS, you can use acetone smoothing later to make a shiny surface, but that's cosmetic, not structural.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You should use PLA at 215 °C (for better layer adhesion) with 35 percent infill and a shell thickness of 2 mm. Shell thickness is what's crucial here, not necessarily infill. The thicker the shell, the stronger the part. This has a much bigger influence on strength than infill does.
---
Tags: pla, abs
--- |
thread-5049 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5049 | Acceleration with Marlin | 2017-11-29T05:59:45.217 | # Question
Title: Acceleration with Marlin
I expected that the movement of an axis would start slowly, become faster and then run at a constant speed when reaching the maximum speed, then slow down slowly and arrive at the target point at the lowest speed.
At my DIY machine, however, I achieve a constant, very low speed at the beginning, then jumpy change to the maximum speed, finally a also jumpy change to the low speed, which also happens at the beginning.
I've been working on the Marlin settings for days, but I haven't had the slightest success.
Why don't I get any rising and falling ramps, why the sudden change?
These are my current Marlin settings:
```
G21 ; Units in mm
M149 C ; Units in Celsius
Filament settings: Disabled
M200 D1.75
M200 T1 D1.75
M200 D0
Steps per unit:
M92 X800.00 Y640.00 Z800.00 E500.00
Maximum feedrates (units/s):
M203 X200.00 Y200.00 Z12.00 E25.00
Maximum Acceleration (units/s2):
M201 X5000 Y5000 Z1000 E10000
Acceleration (units/s2):
P<print_accel> R<retract_accel> T<travel_accel>
M204 P3000.00 R3000.00 T3000.00
Advanced: S<min_feedrate> T<min_travel_feedrate> B<min_segment_time_ms> X<max_xy_jerk> Z<max_z_jerk> E<max_e_jerk>
M205 S0.00 T1000.00 B20000 X10.00 Y10.00 Z1.00 E5.00
```
What's the secret of a beautiful ramp?
# Answer
Your steps/mm settings are very high. Assuming you are running an ATMEGA based controller, like RAMPS, you will only be able to move at very slow feed rates (\<20mm/s). There are also many *hardware* factors that influence your maximum speed at a given steps/mm (which is typically referred to a your maximum step rate):
* **Supplied voltage**. Using too high/low voltage can cause poor stepper performance or create unexpected faults at high/low step rates.
* **Motor specifications**. Stepper motors come in a dizzying number of models with varying specifications. This is because each one is tailored to a specific use case.
* **Stepper Driver**. There are a bunch of driver designs and manufacturers out there and none of them should be considered equal. It also matters how you setup the driver in terms of current/voltage limits, microstepping, decay modes, heat syncing, etc.
* **Wiring**. At high step rates the inductance of the wires between your controller and motors start to matter more, as does interference to/from other electrical devices.
If you aren't sure how to set/select/tune the things above it's best to just mimic what is done on common printers like the Prusa i3, which have robust designs.
In more direct regard to your Marlin settings, your acceleration and feedrate values are very high for an untested printer. It's best to start with conservative values (Accel ~500mm/s^2, Feedrate \<10mm/s) and work your way up 10% at a time until you start having issues, then back off ~20% from there.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: marlin, acceleration
--- |
thread-5068 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5068 | Empty space in model is getting filled | 2017-12-02T21:52:21.840 | # Question
Title: Empty space in model is getting filled
I drew a fairly simple model in Google SketchUp. I exported it as an STL. I imported it into Cura and exported as gcode. Then I printed the model.
All of the bottom layers of the model cover the entire space instead of leaving the two open gaps that should exist. I don't know why it's happening. Do I have some weird setting in Cura?
The section that is filled, but shouldn't be, isn't a raft. I printed without a raft because my model goes to the max extent that my printer can print and I don't have room for a raft around the edges.
Here is what it looks like in SketchUp:
Here is what it looks like in Cura. The two empty areas are shaded darker than the other empty areas of the build plate. Is that an indication of my problem?
Here is what was printed. The empty areas are solid and filled in as if the center piece extended to the inner edges of that area. (The jacked up corners are due to the model warping a bit and no longer being in the right position for subsequent layers.)
Here is a video of the layers according to Cura, and Cura clearly knows the gaps should be there:
https://youtu.be/r0a9gGFerHI
# Answer
> 3 votes
I suspect, as I am wont to do, that your problem lies in the STL created by SketchUp. It's an unfortunate aspect of that program that it creates non-manifold models which creates troubles such as this.
Consider to load your STL file into a program suitable for showing flaws (and repairing them) to determine where the failure points lie. I'm fond of Meshmixer, but there are many others such as Netfabb with which I am less familiar.
If you don't want to check your STL file, attach it to your post and I'll take a shot at it.
You would also want to consider to learn a new program if you intend to perform such 3D modeling. Fusion 360 has a popular following. I'm a fan of OpenScad, but use Fusion 360, Meshmixer, Blender (only a tiny amount) and anything else I can utilize for model repair, creation and editing. Build a large repetoire of different programs and get the best of all worlds.
SketchUp has a strong following primarily because it's rather easy to use. The same can be said of a few other programs, but SketchUp really generates trouble when it comes to 3D models.
TinkerCAD is very much like SketchUp and will give you better final results. OnShape is another popular modeling program, but I have zero exposure to that one.
It's not out of the question that there's a bug in Cura that's causing this problem. You are not limited to one slicer program, and you can check the results of another slicer such as Slic3r, Craftware or others.
# Answer
> 0 votes
You have a problem with your STL file. Check the orientation of the faces of your 3D model, if that is not the problem, search for a software to fix your stl file. Just a tip, give Fusion360 a try, it is the best!
---
Tags: 3d-models, ultimaker-cura
--- |
thread-3398 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3398 | Extruder skipping/clicking (brand new printer) | 2017-01-14T21:42:08.230 | # Question
Title: Extruder skipping/clicking (brand new printer)
I just got a GeeeTech Rostock 301 mixer head delta printer and am having trouble honing in on why the extruder is struggling with my first spool of ABS.
Being the main parts of the printer came assembled I am unsure of where to start taking things apart. I have a read a multitude of possible causes and am hoping for some direction on which is most likely so I can start there.
## Symptoms:
Extruder clicking. The extruder makes a low grinding noise every time it tries to extrude more than 1mm of filament using the manual controls. Again I am working with ABS so I have the hotend heated to 250 degrees C. The extruder had no trouble when I was first putting the filament in and using the extruder to push it thorough the Bowden tube.
But when I tried using the manual controls to extrude a small amount of filament it seems to be fine, just a small time delay between the extruder moving and the plastic coming out of the hotend.
## Things I have read to try
Again this a kit printer and the involved components came assembled (see below) so I am not sure what I should look at first. I assume that if it came pre-assembled then it is most likely done correctly.
1. Clean out the hotend, do a cold pull
2. Take apart the extruder and realign the driving cog, check for shaft slippage
3. Replace your Bowden Tubes
4. Tweak slicer settings
For the first 3 I think its new so it should be clean, in working order. And for number 4 I put what was in the manual except for the temperatures (because the settings shown in the manual were for PLA but it is a PLA or ABS printer)
## Assembly:
The printer being a kit came with the print head completely assembled as shown in the picture.
Not shown in the picture it also had the Bowden tubes in place. It also came with the extruder assembled as shown in the picture.
So aside from wiring and mounting these pieces the only thing I did was cut a clean edge on the Bowden tube and connect that to the extruder.
# Answer
> 2 votes
First you have to see if nothing jams the filament (blocked nozzle or anything in its path, PTFE tube not good, etc).
Second, the temp for ABS is about 225°C to 230°C. At least that worked for me.
If none of the above, then go for the motor. The problem could be from bad settings, low power or a motor malfunction. Maybe the motor is no good to begin with.
Good luck !!!
# Answer
> 1 votes
This is worth pointing out as it hasn't been said yet, make sure your stepper driver isn't overheating. If it overheats, it will cause the stepper to temporarily shut down, and it will click when it happens. This could be caused by inadequate power or by insufficient cooling.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I've had the same problem, nozzle was just too close to the bed and motor required a little bit mode power so I turned a little bit a pot on stepper controller. Since then no problem, also is good to rise a bit a temperature ;)
---
Tags: extruder, abs
--- |
thread-5078 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5078 | SVG to STL conversion to make symbols recognisable for visually impaired users | 2017-12-05T09:46:31.103 | # Question
Title: SVG to STL conversion to make symbols recognisable for visually impaired users
I work on communication devices for people with disabilities that prevent them from speaking. This can be anything from a board with symbols on, to a relatively sophisticated app.
Some potential users also have sight issues and have to distinguish symbols by feel (these particular users have cognitive disabilities and so braile isn't useful) . Currently the solution is to, by hand, stick items onto the buttons. Like this:
This is effective, but takes a very long time.
There exists open symbol libraries like this, that include nice svg images like this one (not uploaded, because SO doesn't like svg, but here's the screenshot:
A friend converted some of these images into 3d prints like so:
This was amazing, and useful, but I understand quite time-intensive for him - and there are thousands of these symbols.
Here's what I want to know: given that SVG is a relatively simple structure and the symbols are very simple, what are the steps for writing the script that says: "Take the svg, map it to a plane, raise everything that is black by 2mm, everything that is gray by 1mm and add height for the rest of the colours according to this table" ?
Bonus points for something that I can reasonably get going on a set of 10000 svg files and come back to later...
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you install inkscape, pstoedit and ghostscript version 9.21 (not the latest as pstoedit is incompatible) you can get the file into a format that openscad can import using two commands in a cmd file
```
"C:\Program Files\Inkscape\inkscape" -E "traffic lights.eps" "traffic lights.svg"
"C:\Program Files\pstoedit\pstoedit" -dt -f dxf:-polyaslines "traffic lights.eps" "traffic lights.dxf"
```
then in openscad
```
linear_extrude(3) import ("traffic lights.dxf");
```
will import gives me
With a thickness of 3mm - you can see the model needs some scaling but its seems possible although - I can't see an option to scale based on color -
# Answer
> 0 votes
Nothing thats works via scripting BUT is really simple and easy.
1. register on tinkercad.com (I know register is a bummer but its a great tool)
2. open a new design
3. import \*.svg file
4. adjust height or size of the converted object
5. download .stl
Thats going to take a while for 1000 files but its so simple, printing the stuff will take forever, so you´ve got some time :P
Edit: Maybe edit the topic to something like "SVG to STL conversion" which would make the thread more likely to be found.
---
Tags: 3d-design, stl
--- |
thread-5087 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5087 | Prusa Mk3 filament detection sensor, can you access the image data? | 2017-12-08T02:11:42.683 | # Question
Title: Prusa Mk3 filament detection sensor, can you access the image data?
I have seen that the new Prusa Mk3 design has a optical mouse sensor that can be used to detect if the filament jams. Optical mouse sensors are just a really low resolution camera with no color. I am interested in finding out if it is possible to get access to the image data coming from that sensor? Could I add a rgb led and interpolate the filament color by comparing pixel intensity under different lighting conditions? And I was interested in seeing if the image data could be used to measure the filament width?
# Answer
> 3 votes
> I am interested in finding out if it is possible to get access to the image data coming from that sensor? And I was interested in seeing if the image data could be used to measure the filament width?
No. The sensor is the PAT9125EL. The only output it provides is the movement in the X and Y directions. There is no way to get image data out of it.
> Could I add a rgb led and interpolate the filament color by comparing pixel intensity under different lighting conditions
No. The sensor uses laser light of a specific wavelength. It's likely not sensitive to any other wavelengths. On a positive note, there is an "average frame brightness" register that can be read from the chip, but I don't think it's likely to work with RGB LEDs.
---
Tags: prusa-i3, firmware
--- |
thread-5090 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5090 | Cherry 3D printer Nema upgrade | 2017-12-08T21:27:30.200 | # Question
Title: Cherry 3D printer Nema upgrade
I'm currently attempting to build the reprap Cherry 3D printer. I'm doing the Nema 17 upgrade for the printer. I realized that the instructions online are optimized for the 28byj-48 stepper motors. Has anyone built this machine with the Nema 17 upgrades and know what size screws would be best to use?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Cherry 3D printer with Nema 17 = Small Prusa i3, so the screws are the same M3 with the length you need according your mounting upgrade.
---
Tags: reprap, nema-17
--- |
thread-5094 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5094 | Model stuck on base | 2017-12-09T19:35:44.960 | # Question
Title: Model stuck on base
I've printed the same model at least twice and both times it was impossible to separate from the base material it was printed on.
I'm using a QIDITECH dual extruder, when I start the print it uses the right side extruder to print a base layer, which is not part of the original model, it seems MakerBot issues this instruction to the printer.
Once the initial layer has been printed it then prints the model.
Both extruders are loaded with PETG. In the left side I am printed with a transparent material. The model I am trying to print is a flat rectangle 2 mm thick.
The problem is that once it has completed printing I'm finding it impossible to separate from the initial layer it put down.
How do I solve this problem?
# Answer
> 2 votes
The "base" you are referring to is normally called a "raft". It's not very common to print with a raft these days (it was originally used to help with bed adhesion, but the current-day standard is to use a heated bed if available in combination with some surface preparation (hair spray, PEI sheets, etc...) to aid adhesion); you might consider just disabling the raft.
Alternatively, you could consider (since you have a dual extruder) to print the raft in a different material that is more easily removed from the main material. There exist materials that are specifically formulated to break away easily from your print, and another option is to use a (water-)soluble material for the raft and any supports.
---
Tags: 3d-models
--- |
thread-4493 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4493 | Why are Carbon 3D are not selling a home version? | 2017-08-14T15:09:16.510 | # Question
Title: Why are Carbon 3D are not selling a home version?
Carbon 3d made a 100x faster printer which has a simple and cheap mechanism using a Teflon layer. It appears to have a 20mn in RnD Costs and $7000 mass market production cost.
The only access method for one is a USD$ 161,250 yearly subscription.
Their printer is not available in shapeways... Is there something wrong with Carbon 3D so that it does not view consumers as a direct market, and has no market news on it's website?
How can they spend 222 million in investment money and not have a 3d printer in shapeways or public access?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I will take the question seriously, and consider reasons why Carbon 3D might choose to offer their technology through a yearly subscription, rather than building a product accessible to the consumer market. These reasons are speculation and do not reflect any specific knowledge about Carbon 3D, the details of their technology, or anything unique about their corporate mission.
1) The mission of a company, especially in the beginning while competition makes it possible, to make as much money as possible. If the technology is unique and brings good value to a large enough set of interested customers, it can easily consume the full attention of a company to service those customers. The price those companies pay for access may be higher than others would pay because their derived value is higher.
2) If a technology is new, and perhaps still somewhat immature, there may be very high support efforts and cost required. Through this time, the learning curve does it's job, the technology improves and matures, and the costs go down.
3) If the technology is immature, and perhaps is evolving quickly, it could be to the advantage of a supplier to only offer the technology on a service rather than capital acquisition basis. It simplifies replacing components.
4) If the technology is immature, selling the service may be easier than selling the hardware. It simplifies the acquisition process, and makes it easier for customer's to expand their usage since the supplier's capital is used to finance the machines instead of the customer's.
5) Even with a mature, proven technology, it can be advantageous to maintain a higher price point. The game is optimizing the profit on volume times price. The point they operate at is influenced by their perception of the market.
6) In the early adopter phase, it is critical that the customer experience be stellar. They may be limited in how rapidly they can scale in some critical dimension -- consumables supply chain, manufacturing capacity, trained installation technicians, local service offices, or many other limits. Anything going wrong makes for a bad customer experience.
It doesn't surprise me that they aren't going after the consumer market at this time.
But, I'm not in the CEO's office, and I don't see where his pain comes from. My purpose here is only to propose some plausible reasons why the company has not launched a consumer facing product.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It looks like they have only one innovation: their resins. Everything else looks like standard SLA.
All the things Carbon 3D are pitching on their website are more about having a dedicated support team than some fancy printer, and that's what they're selling.
As to why they don't make a home version: why would they? It's *at best* a distraction from their core business.
---
Tags: uv-printer
--- |
thread-4911 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4911 | How to implement wall thickness Analysis for my .net project | 2017-11-08T08:15:56.103 | # Question
Title: How to implement wall thickness Analysis for my .net project
I have .stl for the 3d printing. And I want to analysis wall thickness of this model before printing. I have no idea about any tools. Can I create any console or wpf app for calculating wall thickness and cost of the printing. Please help me.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If your talking about a hollow object, such as a cube with a hollow center. The wall thickness is determined by the model.
If your talking about a solid object, the wall thickness is determined by your nozzle diameter multiplied by your # of walls. This is all adjusted by your splicing software. If you have a nozzle of 0.5mm and you print at 3 perimeters, your wall should be 1.5mm. If you want the wall to be 2mm, then you will adjust your perimeters to 4. Everything within those walls will be whatever you choose for infill.
I work with ASP.NET, Windows Forms, and Console Apps myself. I'm sure you can find libraries capable of taking 3D models but I don't think it would matter because the printed thickness is determined by your splicing settings.
Also for cost of printing, I recommend just using Cura which you just have to plug in some cost information about the filament and it will tell you estimated cost, mm of filament usage, and time.
# Answer
> 1 votes
If your concern is that the stl file may have walls that are too thin to print on your printer, MeshMixer is a great tool from Autodesk to help check and fix mesh issues (including wall thickness). It is free to Makers and Educators.
There are lots of helpful tutorials Here is one https://all3dp.com/meshmixer-tutorial/
# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm not completely sure what you want to do but I will add some information that I think will help and then hopefully you can figure out what you need to know or ask another question.
When you are asking about wall thickness there are two different things you could be referring to. A wall in the model, so you could be talking about trying to print a thin wall coming out of the model. For analysis thin wall setting some slicers will change the extrusion amount to print thicker or thinner lines, and to find those settings you would need to look at the g-code. Or you could be talking about the shell of the model, the outside surface, and for this you could also analysis in the slicer settings by looking at the number of perimeters the slicer will try and print.
For calculating the cost of the print you will want the amount of material used, this will also be in the g-code file. You can eather calculate this by going through each G1 command and finding out how much filament was extruded for each move the printer made. (Not some slicers reset this to zero after each layer and this gets tricky when the printer starts retracting the filament while traveling). Or most slicers have a commented out line of g-code at the beginning or end of the file listing how much filament will be used.
If you do analysis the .stl file you also might find that you need to repair the model file as well, Because alot of .stl files are made for 3D graphics and not for printing and so they can have intersecting triangles and not be water tight.
Not all .stl files are the same they can be text or binary files, this is some c# code that will read both formats into a list of the triangles in the file for you.
```
using System.Numerics.Vectors;
void Main(){
var facets = readStl(@"C:\stls\teapot.stl");}
public class facet
{
public Vector3 norm = new Vector3();
public Vector3 vecA = new Vector3();
public Vector3 vecB = new Vector3();
public Vector3 vecC = new Vector3();
public facet(Vector3 A, Vector3 B, Vector3 C, Vector3 N)
{
norm = N;
vecA = A;
vecB = B;
vecC = C;
}
}/* facet */
public static System.Collections.Generic.List<facet> readStl(string file)
{
// check if binary or text fomat
//Console.WriteLine("the middle");
bool isText;
System.Collections.Generic.List<facet> facets = new System.Collections.Generic.List<facet>();
using (System.IO.BinaryReader reader = new System.IO.BinaryReader(System.IO.File.Open(file, System.IO.FileMode.Open)))
{
//Console.WriteLine("Checking if binary");
string fileHeading;
fileHeading = new string(reader.ReadChars(80));
if (fileHeading.Contains(@"solid"))
{
isText = true;
//Console.WriteLine("isText true");
}
else
{
isText = false;
//Console.WriteLine("isText false");
}
if(!isText)
{
// process binary file
Console.WriteLine("Is binary");
uint numberOfTriangles = reader.ReadUInt32();
//Debug.Log("Number of Triangles: " + numberOfTriangles.ToString());
System.Console.WriteLine("Number of Triangles: " + numberOfTriangles.ToString());
for(int i = 0; i < numberOfTriangles - 1; i++)
{
Vector3 normals = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecA = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecB = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecC = new Vector3();
System.UInt16 byteCount = new System.UInt16();
normals.X = reader.ReadSingle();
normals.Y = reader.ReadSingle();
normals.Z = reader.ReadSingle();
vecA.X = reader.ReadSingle();
vecA.Y = reader.ReadSingle();
vecA.Z = reader.ReadSingle();
vecB.X = reader.ReadSingle();
vecB.Y = reader.ReadSingle();
vecB.Z = reader.ReadSingle();
vecC.X = reader.ReadSingle();
vecC.Y = reader.ReadSingle();
vecC.Z = reader.ReadSingle();
byteCount = reader.ReadUInt16();
facets.Add(new facet(vecA, vecB, vecC, normals));
}
}
}
if (isText)
{
// read text format file
Console.WriteLine("Is text file");
//Console.WriteLine("reading text file");
using (System.IO.StreamReader reader = System.IO.File.OpenText(file))
{
string line = @"";
string fileHeader = @"";
line = reader.ReadLine();
fileHeader = line.Substring(line.IndexOf("solid") + 5).Trim();
line = "";
System.Console.WriteLine(@"file header: " + fileHeader);
bool endOfFile = true;
while (endOfFile)
{
line = reader.ReadLine();
if (!reader.EndOfStream)
{
Vector3 normals = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecA = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecB = new Vector3();
Vector3 vecC = new Vector3();
string[] nums = line.Replace("facet", "").Replace("normal", "").Trim().Split(' ');
normals.X = (float)System.Double.Parse(nums[0], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
normals.Y = (float)System.Double.Parse(nums[1], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
normals.Z = (float)System.Double.Parse(nums[2], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
line = "";
line = reader.ReadLine(); // outer loop
line = reader.ReadLine(); // vertex
string[] vecsA = line.Replace("vertex", "").Trim().Split(' ');
vecA.X = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsA[0], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecA.Y = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsA[1], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecA.Z = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsA[2], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
line = "";
line = reader.ReadLine(); // vertex
string[] vecsB = line.Replace("vertex", "").Trim().Split(' ');
vecB.X = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsB[0], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecB.Y = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsB[1], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecB.Z = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsB[2], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
line = "";
line = reader.ReadLine(); // vertex
string[] vecsC = line.Replace("vertex", "").Trim().Split(' ');
vecC.X = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsC[0], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecC.Y = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsC[1], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
vecC.Z = (float)System.Double.Parse(vecsC[2], System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float);
line = "";
line = reader.ReadLine(); // endloop
line = reader.ReadLine(); // endfacet
facets.Add(new facet(vecA, vecB, vecC, normals));
}
else
{
endOfFile = false;
}
}// while loop
System.Console.WriteLine("finished reading file");
}
}
return facets;
}/* readStl */
```
---
Tags: 3d-models
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thread-4144 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4144 | PLA filament not feeding correctly with Ultimaker 2+ | 2017-05-27T15:59:45.830 | # Question
Title: PLA filament not feeding correctly with Ultimaker 2+
I've got the following PLA filament that is not feeding correctly into our Ultimaker 2+
It starts to feed and then all of the sudden, the wire 'eats' (read *breaks, but not entirely*) the plastic filament as you can see on the picture below:
Any hints are more than welcomed.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The photograph and your description indicate that the drive gear is eating the filament because the filament has stopped moving. The least likely problem would be that something is jammed at the spool or between the spool and the entry to the drive mechanism.
The more likely problem is that your nozzle is clogged. It is simple to determine if that is the case. If you have a direct drive mechanism (not a bowden tube type), remove all the filament and release the wheel or bearing that presses the filament against the hobbed pulley, which is the part connected to the motor or driven gear if you have a geared mechanism.
Heat the nozzle up to correct temperature for PLA and attempt to push filament through the nozzle. If it does not move, your nozzle is clogged and has to be cleared.
A nozzle clog can be caused by a too-low temperature or a too-high temperature resulting in burned material becoming jammed in the nozzle.
If you have a 0.40 nozzle, find that size of nozzle tool or use a 0.40 mm drill bit and carefully push and turn it into the nozzle.
Also consider to use nylon cleaning method. This involves heating the nozzle to the correct temperature for melting nylon filament, forcing it into the hot end, then allowing it to cool. Reheating it while pulling on the filament will remove some of the debris. Eventually, it will pass through the nozzle and will also pull out clean, with no debris on the end of the filament. It is suggested to research "nylon cleaning method" to learn correct temperatures.
I have used the nylon cleaning method and have removed debris from overheated filament in the past. I have been able to shine a bright light from below and see the open nozzle after completing the process.
The above steps are identical for bowden type systems and require to remove the bowden tube to access the hot end more effectively. The tube can be removed from either the hot end or the drive end, but force is more effectively applied if the tube is removed from the hot end.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I had a clogged filament. I heated up to 240 C, and pushed a wire up through the nozzle. It took some effort, and much patience is expected. I left the wire inside, as it helped soften the PLA. Then I pushed the filament by hand from top. After some efforts, the needle moved, indicating the movement of the PLA clog. Once the PLA starts pushing the clogged area, some material comes out the nozzle. Keep pushing and after some hours of effort all is flowing fine! The idea was to transport heat to the clogged PLA by using the needle (from the nozzle end). But it certainly requires patience!
# Answer
> 1 votes
It looks like your nozzle is jammed, since the filament is being chewed. You can fix this by heating the extruder up to around 220 C ( or just about 15 degrees above the recommended printing temp for your filament), then attempting to push some filament through the extruder. If this doesn't work, use a small wire and push it through the nozzle a few times, then run some filament through it.
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Tags: filament, ultimaker-2
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thread-4923 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4923 | How to concave a cylinder with Onshape? | 2017-11-09T12:59:46.333 | # Question
Title: How to concave a cylinder with Onshape?
If I have a 3D cylindrical extrusion (in Onshape), how can I scoop, carve, or indent a concave/parabolic curve in one of the ends?
The yellow surface is the target. Here is the basic shape I'm trying to bore out (like a satellite dish, parabolic antenna, or even a contact lens.. You get the idea).
# Answer
As is typical with many CAD type programs, a feature in Onshape known as revolve may be your solution. As you have a clear formula for the cross-section, half of the work is complete.
You would generate a sketch representing the curve, then use the Revolve feature with the axis oriented to vertical. According to the Onshape video, you can generate a solid or a surface from the options that appear when selecting that feature.
As you can see in the images above, the axis selected in the tutorial video is horizontal. Other features of revolve are covered in the video. Your post suggests it will also be necessary to perform a subtraction action on the assembly in order to get the scoop/concave result.
> 3 votes
# Answer
There is no tool to create a parabola in a sketch in Onshape but you could use a 3 or 5 point spline to create a similar curve. If you knew exactly the curve you wanted you could create it with another cylinder but let's skip that for now and use a spline.
Once you have the curve, add a line to close it until the geometry is shaded in light gray. I would try using the project command to select the smaller circular edge of your part.
Now draw another line perpendicular to the first line, from the midpoint of the first line up to the curve. If you used a spline you can now use this second line to make the points of your spline symmetrical across that line so you can control your parabola-like curve. Once you're happy w/ your curve, select the split/trim command and delete the half of the curve and half of the first line until you have half the shape you want to cut out. Now complete the sketch.
Now use the revolve tool, select the sketch, select the second line you drew as the axis, and make sure that "remove" is selected and that the original body is selected for merging.
This will create the desired effect.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Create a midplane going through it, and then sketch half if a profile for what you want yo carve out on it that plane, and in the spot where you need it to carve out. Now revolve that profile around it's Central axis and this should cut wlthe piece you want out.
> 0 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, extrusion, cad, surface
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thread-5119 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5119 | How easily can I remove/replace the nozzle of the prusa i3? | 2017-12-13T22:10:49.067 | # Question
Title: How easily can I remove/replace the nozzle of the prusa i3?
I'm considering getting a prusa i3 after my da vinci jr. fiasco, with that said, how easily can I remove/replace the nozzle in order to clean it?
# Answer
Assuming you have a typical setup: nozzle threaded into heater block, use a socket wrench on the nozzle and any wrench or vise-grip on the block, and unscrew the nozzle. Now, if your system is fully clogged, you may want to heat the head to melt all the residual gunk (which otherwise will strongly resist your unscrewing force). Obviously take care not to burn yourself if removing the nozzle while hot.
Alternatively, don't bother removing the nozzle. Raise the extruder as high (Z-axis) as you can, heat, and use a properly-sized stiff wire to ream out the nozzle. You can use the back end of a microdrill bit. Hot or cold, you can use the drill itself to ream, but be very cautious as you may widen the nozzle itself doing this.
I should add that you may well have gunk in the feeder tube, and that's considerably wider diameter. Remove the nozzle and gently drill out the feeder with a matching drill.
> 1 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, nozzle
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thread-5128 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5128 | Makerbot layer thickness | 2017-12-15T12:41:20.943 | # Question
Title: Makerbot layer thickness
I'm using PETG, the thickness of the filament is 1.75mm, in MakerBot there is a setting for "Layer Height", the default is 0.1mm, I've had lots of messed up prints with this material and I'm thinking it could be this setting that needs adjustment.
What layer thickness should be used?
Found this: http://forum.makergear.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2593
# Answer
Unlike PLA, PETG does not like to be "squidged" down, it likes to be *laid* down. If you use too small a layer height, there is the danger of the filament sticking to the nozzle, rather than the bed (or filament already laid down). Try using a larger layer height -- between 0.2mm and 0.3mm, if you have a 0.4mm nozzle.
> 1 votes
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Tags: replicating-printers
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thread-5132 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5132 | Powder 3D Printer | 2017-12-15T22:08:48.253 | # Question
Title: Powder 3D Printer
I purchased a Z Corp Printer more than 10 years ago and wonder what I can do with it now. Everything has gone to the Extrude method rather than the additive method. Am I the proud owner of a fancy boat anchor.
# Answer
A quick search of the interweb shows that 3D Systems purchased ZCorp many years ago. A short review of the printer prior to the purchase also shows that the printer had, as one of the many negative points, a problem with sourcing printing supplies, as it is considered proprietary.
Additional searching brought up articles suggesting that one could create the media using common materials or by mixing other common materials, but the article I found did not expound beyond referencing gypsum powder and a couple other "normal" items.
If you have working software and perform a search for the specific model number combined with the words "printing supplies," you may find additional insight into creating your own media. One article suggested that you could print with sugar, a rather novel concept.
The killer with devices of this type is the proprietary handle.
This appears to be the sort of device that appears on Craigslist or abandoned in an estate sale. If you were local to me, I'd make an offer for the value of the internal components, although I'd also take a shot at printing with sugar or similar granular material. The idea of a laundry detergent Benchy comes to mind.
> 1 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer
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thread-5116 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5116 | Is Simplify 3D really worth it? | 2017-12-13T14:52:45.907 | # Question
Title: Is Simplify 3D really worth it?
I've heard alot about simplify 3D recently. It sounds like it's a great software, but 150 dollars!? The only thing that seems too different from other slicers is the placable supports, but Z suite has that now as well. Cura must be coming out with placable supports soon if they're going to stay in the game. It does also have dual extrusion, but so does just about every other free slicer out there. I just don't understand what makes it worth 150 US dollars.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The free slicers are catching up with Simplify3D, and are even overtaking it in some areas, so purchasing it may not make much sense to hobbyists. However, for professional print shops, where printers may cost twenty times as much (or even more), 150 dollars is nothing (especially since it is 150 dollars per PC, not 150 dollars per printer).
# Answer
> 0 votes
Well, simplify 3D has more than only placeable supports and I'm very happy with it. I Made my 3D printers and I had headaches with free slicers due I had to review the final result on pronterface, of course this programs was unable to run perfectly on P4 PC's with XP.
When I started to change for other programs I recurr to use Cura, getting a nice prints but I had problems with Z offsets and a lot of burrs or "spider threads".
Then I could get simplify 3D, since the first printing I never changed again to other slicers and even Cura. I have set multiple setting for diferent filament types according their better flow temperature and printer type since I use the same program in one PC for 3 printers and planing to get 2 aditional printers.
Printers are almost free, software not.
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Tags: simplify3d, support-structures
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thread-5099 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5099 | Fusion 360 M3D Slicer | 2017-12-10T20:44:48.570 | # Question
Title: Fusion 360 M3D Slicer
I have created a design with fusion 360. I tried to print it with my M3D Pro printer but it seems the designs have a flaw.
If I try to print the bottom part, the second layer is wrong. It seems to have moved to the left by a few centimeters.
Here is the link to the `.stl` files and pictures of how the first few layers turned out.
https://seafile.fmk.me/d/09e43aa7fc8e416ab187/
The `bottom.stl` file can be loaded and viewed in the m3d software but leads to faulty print after the first layer. The `top.stl` cannot even be viewed in the M3D software.
Other 3D files from thingiverse etc. can be printed without a problem. Do I need to enable any special features to be able to print those files correctly?
Yours, Felix
# Answer
> 1 votes
Apparently my x belt and/or my x motor is broken. Getting replacement parts fixing the problem!
# Answer
> 1 votes
FMK, I loaded the two STL files, top.stl and bottom.stl into Meshmixer. Using Analysis, Inspector, no errors were found in the models. I then loaded the STL files into my slicer, Simplify3D. Due to common Y/Z exchange, the models were loaded in a vertical orientation. It was simple enough to use "Place surface on bed" to get things "squared up."
The g-code preview showed also no failure points.
My first suggestion would be to ensure that you have your model flat to the bed. I've run into too many Thingiverse models that the creator made with a non-zero planar reference, that is, the model was tilted a few degrees.
You say that you created the model in Fusion 360, which would imply that your model is square to the plane.
I'm not familiar with M3D software, but if you have the option to use a different slicer, use Slic3r or Cura to see if you have the same results.
As it stands, I'd consider no fault in the model files.
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, software, slicing
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thread-931 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/931 | Carbon fiber instead of smooth steel rods? | 2016-04-03T19:47:40.877 | # Question
Title: Carbon fiber instead of smooth steel rods?
I have a long 8 mm smooth steel rod of about 55 cm long. This rods bend easily due to the length. If I replace them with 8mm solid carbon fiber rods, will the bending reduce? Will the bearings wear off the carbon fiber rod? I couldn't find too much information about this.
# Answer
Steel is the best material for a linear rod when you have a fixed cross-section. It will have the least flex of any rod (aside from some exotic metals) of the same size.
Carbon fiber's material properties might seem superior at first sight, but the stiffness is very anisotropic -- it's very stiff along the grain and not very stiff across the grain. So multi-axis stresses like bending aren't necessarily going to perform up to the theoretical specs. Carbon fiber has exceptional stiffness-to-weight ratio, but the stiffness-per-area isn't necessarily superior in this application.
People do occasionally use carbon fiber for linear rods/rails, but only in much larger sizes than 8 mm. Think \>25 mm.
And that's really the problem here. 8 mm diameter at 550 mm long is well outside what's reasonable for bending stiffness. Bending deflection increases with the CUBE of length, and this is simply far too long for the size of rod. The general rule of thumb for precision motion applications is length \< 25\*diameter. That's a conservative rule, but it's the right ballpark. You really shouldn't be going over 200-250 mm or so with an 8 mm rod.
> 12 votes
# Answer
I agree that steel is the best material for rails but the info provided on carbon fiber is just wrong.
When making a carbon fiber part, whether a tube or any other shape, you lay the fabric in the orientation you need for the direction of the forces. If multi-directional strength and stiffness is needed then the fibers are laid in multiple directions. Nobody who knows what they are doing lays all the cf in one direction...
In general, carbon fiber is stronger than steel by both the strength to weight ratio and by volume. I say "in general" because parts need to be designed in the right way. A poorly designed carbon fiber part or a low quality steel can easily be weak.
There is a great video on YouTube showing a strength and stiffness comparison of a carbon fiber drive shaft vs the same part made in steel. The steel drive shaft bent and snapped with 3 times less force while the cf drive shaft had no visible bending until it snapped.
The main reason why steel is a better linear rail material is surface hardness. Linear rails have bearings traveling up and down continuously. The rails need to be hardened to prevent them wearing out too quickly. The surface hardness (how easy it is to scratch or penetrate) of cf is far lower than steel. There is no comparison.
Cf is great material for the frame but not the rails. For stiffer rails, I suggest buying some square THK rails. 15mm the rails will be plenty stiff enough for most 3d printers.
> 9 votes
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Tags: printer-building, carbon
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thread-5139 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5139 | Proof that Slicing Plane/STL intersection will only produce Closed-Loop Polygons? | 2017-12-17T09:01:34.023 | # Question
Title: Proof that Slicing Plane/STL intersection will only produce Closed-Loop Polygons?
I am writing my own slicer and wonder if there is a mathematical proof that proves that the intersection of the slicing plane with the STL file will only produce closed-loop polygons for every given slicing plane?
Thanks!
# Answer
You can't prove that because it isn't true. An STL file is just a collection of triangles. There is no guarantee that an intersection with the slicing plane will consist of closed-loop polygons. To be suitable for 3D printing an STL file should represent one or more closed, disjoint polyhedra (which would yield closed-loop polygons) but this is not always the case. Many slicers have heuristics to try and "fix" bad STL files on a best-effort basis. Especially considering the possibility of rounding errors, it is important to at least detect polygons that are almost (but not quite) closed and connect their endpoints together.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I am also trying to write my own slicer and so I would just like to offer some additional information.
What you will find is that .stl files just store triangles and don't validate that the triangles assemble to create a printable model so a lot if not most .stl files are going to have data that isn't exactly what you want it to be. So you will want to have additional steps before you get to slicing, to fix up the data you get from the stl file.
A lot of stl models are designed for 3d graphics where intersecting other triangles and not being manifold isn't an issue. So you will probably want to write some code to test your models before trying to slice them.
For example if you just sliced the layers of the Utah Teapot and don't repair the model for 3D printing first you will get two different types of errors. The handle of the teapot does not actually attach to the teapot and is a separate model. And the spout of the teapot is a separate model that intersects the teapot. Both the handle and spout are also open at the ends and not water tight.
> 2 votes
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Tags: software
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thread-5138 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5138 | Are 3D printed gears applicable for industrial use? | 2017-12-16T15:41:51.290 | # Question
Title: Are 3D printed gears applicable for industrial use?
Are 3D printed gears applicable for industrial use?
I want to print some gears with ABS.
* What will their lifespan be? How long will they last if I use them, for example, every day?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Survivability of parts is a very tricky topic, because a lot of factors go into it. While ABS is a common industrial plastic for molding, FDM introduces quite different challenges that can impact the time a piece lives. I can't estimate a lifetime for you, but I will illustrate why we can't estimate it for you, giving you things to think about in your design process:
## Problem 1 - What's the printed internal part geometry?
FDM introduces boundries in 2 (**r**,**z**) dimensions . Not just the **z** layers above each other do have boundries that can and will become plane of failure, each layer consists of one filament<sup>1</sup> that was deposited side by side to itself. These neighboring pieces (distinguishable by **r** in cylindrical coordinates) have a boundry that is not of the same strength as staying on the same piece and following it around (and changing **ψ**) a solid chunk of ABS (as you would get with molding). under stress, these boundries can crack. If you want to force your piece to have such a fate just to see how it looks: mount a 0.4 mm nozzle in a machine calibrated for 0.35 mm and run a 0.35 mm sliced print - it should be easy to crack it apart into a long snail of filament. Or declare your filament to be 3mm in a 1.75mm machine. The Horrible underextrusion and lack of pressure against already deposited filament makes it possible to unravel the whole filament at times.
## Problem 2 - What is the intended use?
Use is not the same as use. Yes, it might sound unintuitive, but depending on *how* a piece is used, stress on the part is different. Let's take the same two gears. We put one of them in a hand mixer and a superlight drone. In the mixer it will spin rapidly against medium to tough loads (depending on dough) over medium periods (the timeframe here is usually minutes at max) of time. In the drone it will have considerably less load, but it will spin for much longer, maybe up to hours if the pilot is very capeable and the batteries last. In both cases wear and tear will be quite different.
## Problem 3 - What determines strength?
Strength of the part is not only determined by the filament used, it is ALSO determined by tons of other variables. Print orientation. With enclosure or not. Humidity during print. If the surface of the part is sealed or not after the print. If it was postprocessed somehow to increase capabilities. If the piece is printed hollow or solid. How long did it cure or harden after the print... There are so many variables, that each guess would be quite wild.
## Problem 4 - How to get the lifetime now?!
You can't guesstimate the reliability of a product from its design and makeup only. That is why design departments create prototypes: **To rigerously test the products.** This is how they learn how safe or sturdy their product is. They make prototypes and *purposefully* put them under various kinds of stress until they break. For gears this involves spinning them in a gearbox for hours nonstop until they break, force them against a blokaded gearbox till they break, run the gearbox dry, hot or freezing, and also under other very destructive conditions. Part of this destructive test is an accelerated life time test that, just like other tests in this stage, tries to find out the maximum parameters it is useable with. A common test for hand mixers apparently is to run them 2 minutes against some gooy substance, then stop some time before repeating.
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1 - For the math inclined: the filament can be represented as a function in cylidrical coordinates, f(r,φ,z)=r(ψ)\*φ(ψ)+z(ψ), where ψ the path-parameter of the filament - or in other words the length already traveled. To some degree, a G-code is generated by first creating such a function and then creating the tool path from this.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Well, to determine the time life of the gears you will need to do a test called ALT (Accelerated Life Time) but the parts should be last for a long time (not years) however this can be determined by thickness.
The torque required is not than much like a tuning up the radio volume, so if you are going to create a gear box to increase torque, just grease the parts to reduce heating on friction.
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Tags: 3d-design, abs, quality, mechanics
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thread-5157 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5157 | How to draw cube with cone (Dreidel like), using Onshape? | 2017-12-20T18:55:06.917 | # Question
Title: How to draw cube with cone (Dreidel like), using Onshape?
I want to draw a cube with cone using Onshape.
I need the cone to "shave" the corners of the cube, till it gets to the middle point.
This is diagram I made:
What is the best way to do it?
# Answer
> 4 votes
After rejecting the intense interrogation process for signing up with Onshape, I've settled for a general description based on common practices in 3D modeling.
You would create the rectangular solid representing the cube, as well as another rectangular (or cylindrical) solid slightly larger than the first one.
Create also a cone shape with the dimensions appropriate to the segment you wish to have remaining on the first solid.
Using Boolean operator or the equivalent, subtract/difference the cone shape from the second solid, resulting in a "pencil point" shape of empty space in the second solid.
The skirt of the cone is barely visible in the image above and is transparent, the TinkerCAD™ version of subtraction.
Once grouped in TinkerCAD™, the entire cube becomes a subtractive body.
Place it in the appropriate position over the first solid and perform a second subtraction/difference or Boolean equivalent.
As one may note, the original cube was not tall enough and had to be stretched to provide the desired result. Not visible in this image is that the subtractive shape was not centered on the cube and resulted in an off-center final solid. Easily corrected with alignment tools, but an important aspect when performing Boolean operations. Control-Z is your friend.
The above steps work with OpenSCAD™ as well as Fusion360™ and even within TinkerCAD™ but the specific steps/sequence varies from one program to the other, of course. This example was performed in TinkerCAD™ because it was the fastest method. Fusion360™ would have stretched my abilities to accomplish the same result, due to my minimal experience with that platform.
I am not surprised to discover and easily locate an exact tutorial for OnShape™ that covers the boolean subtraction process. The images are complex within the tutorial, but the process and concepts are identical. The video accompanying the tutorial is also well done and explains clearly the steps involved.
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design
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thread-5062 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5062 | How to make walls thicker using meshmixer or meshlab | 2017-12-01T21:18:41.577 | # Question
Title: How to make walls thicker using meshmixer or meshlab
I have been working at converting game files into 3d files that can be printed, but many of the models have very thin or walls. I was wondering if there was a way to increase the thickness of the walls using meshmixer or meshlab.
# Answer
I figured out how to do it by using the make solid tool.
Edit: I selected the whole model using control and selected make solid. Set the mode from fast to accurate. I set the solid accuracy and mesh density to anywhere from 300 to 500. Then I slowly increase offset distance until the holes are sealed. I leave the minimum thickness at 0 because it doesn't appear to help much. When I'm satisfied, I click accept. I usually use the reduce feature to make the file smaller, but it isn't required. Sorry about leaving an unhelpful answer. Hope this helps people.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Only today, I learned of a solution for this sort of objective, but it uses Fusion 360 rather than Meshmixer or Meshlab. As your question does not include that program, I'll toss the Meshmixer method.
This image is of the model prior to modification:
When you load your STL file into MM, use Edit, Generate Face Groups. This will cause the surfaces to change color. Click Accept.
With face groups created:
If you can be assured of all one surface, use Select, then double click on the interior. This should turn the entire interior red. If you discover unselected surfaces, simply click on those surfaces until all is completed. If you select a surface in error, use Shift-Click to clear that one surface.
Once selected, the select menu gives you a new edit menu. Use Edit, Offset for yet another menu. As you make changes in the menu settings, you'll see the results on the model. Ideally, you won't have an overly complex model with too many facets/triangles, as it can really bog a machine down.
This particular model has a nearly uniform interior. Double clicking on the inside surface caused the full cylinder (not the bottom) to be selected (turning red).
Low accuracy offset, with surfaces still selected:
For smoothest results, keep the accuracy high. Any protruberance in the interior will give very strange results.
High accuracy results, surfaces selected:
Experiment with the settings, aim for the best result and click accept. As long as you don't export the model over your original, all experimentation is a learning experience and not a destructive one.
> 4 votes
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Tags: 3d-models
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thread-3184 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3184 | 3D printers for ceramic clay? | 2016-12-13T10:33:24.760 | # Question
Title: 3D printers for ceramic clay?
Are there any extruders and printers that do a good job with ceramic clay?
I assume the clay has to be fine grained and with enough water added to be able to be pushed out through the extruder's nozzle. I also assume the print speed would have to be arther low for the already printed layers to gain stability before printing the next layer. Perhaps some extra equipment on the printer to spped up this drying process?
At the same time, the print speed can't be too low: if the bottom starts to dry enough to start shrinking, the object will crack.
Also, some solutions I've seen tend to result in rather low resolution/thick layers, which is negative.
So, what equipment is "out there"?
# Answer
> 2 votes
What you are looking for is the Frostruder style extruders.
Here is a link to a thingiverse file for it.
You honestly cannot expect fantastic results but it will get the job done! There are many other types. Quality will depend on the size of the point. However with something as high viscosity as clay I would not expect you to be able to push the quality very high.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Here is an open source clay extruder from standard parts, that i designed https://www.stoneflower3d.com/projects/clay-extruder-prototype/ Different designs of 3D printers, pumps, extruders etc. for clay are posted and discussed in the Google Community "Make Your Own Ceramic 3D Printer", driven by Jonathan Keep (https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109375785524125994679).
# Answer
> 1 votes
I cant speak for the quality or type of clay, but there are several designs out there that print in clay. Here is the first one that popped up on my google search.
http://www.wasproject.it/w/en/wasp-launches-the-new-professional-clay-extruder/
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Tags: extruder, print-material
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thread-5160 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5160 | How to automatically add support and "base" to the model I am printing? | 2017-12-21T12:07:04.233 | # Question
Title: How to automatically add support and "base" to the model I am printing?
Most of time my prints fail due to lack of support and "base" for the 3D model. I'd like to know if there is any software that can automatically check my model, and add support and a "base" to it, if required.
# Answer
This program type you seek for is called a slicer. However, you got to manually choose support structure and rafting - the tricky part is getting the configuration right for your build. To my knowledge there are no slicers that decide automatically to raft unless you configure to raft always and you have to enable support.
> 5 votes
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Tags: 3d-design, software
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thread-5117 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5117 | I found a filament that can be used for really precise FDM printing, Who could I hire to create a custom nozzle for it | 2017-12-13T18:32:53.267 | # Question
Title: I found a filament that can be used for really precise FDM printing, Who could I hire to create a custom nozzle for it
I found this low temperature filament for 3d printing, Low Temperature Filament 0.5kg 1.75mm, White
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure I can use it for a *really* precise nozzle because it's so runny at normal printing temperature, the thing is, you obviously can't get nozzles at the size I'm taking about, so with that said, who could I hire to make one?
# Answer
> 6 votes
You won't need specialized nozzles, you understand the material wrong:
The benefit the properties of this material grant is not super fine prints (which you can get with small nozzles like 0.1 mm already), it is that you can print at super low temperatures. Printing it at standard 200°C will mean, that it won't solidify in the time the printer needs it to, and your walls will all melt down - in worst case it boils off and degrades into useless goop!
You might print PCL onto an already completed print made from a different material with higher printing temperature (if your slicer lets you do that...), like to make a form-shaped piece.
It's low melting point also means you could print parts with it that you *want* to deform under low heat, like a standard shaped flat shin and then just dunk it into 60°C water or put onto a (towel shielded) pocket heater before molding it around the patient, making perfect fits from easy transportable (flat) parts. Or you print "rivets", which you heat, put through the holes in other prints and then flatten with a pair of pliers.
Also, it is one of the cheaper conductive filaments. You might find this article or the RepRap Wiki enlightening.
Beware though: Many printers have a MinTemp set! For example the Ultimaker at 175°C, and you have to force the machine to ignore this with M302.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have been looking for some where that could make a custom nozzle and the only place I have found so far that I think might be able to is: https://www.emachineshop.com/
You would need to draw up the design of the nozzle in the software on their web site and see if they could make what you want.
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Tags: print-material, nozzle, pcl
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thread-4609 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4609 | Is there a way to get more horizontal coverage out of "Vase Mode" in Simplify3D? | 2017-09-12T01:14:27.913 | # Question
Title: Is there a way to get more horizontal coverage out of "Vase Mode" in Simplify3D?
I like using "Vase Mode" (or single outline corkscrew printing mode) for quick nonfunctional prints, but it tends to leave gaps in horizontal or near horizontal surfaces. I understand why it does this, but is there a way (beyond printing with no infill\*) to get a little more horizontal coverage out of it?
\*Is the answer to this literally just "Try to print without infill?"
# Answer
Version 4 allows you to have multi-process vase mode prints -- do the vertical surfaces in vase mode, then switch over to normal mode for the horizontals. This lets you have the best of both worlds in the same print. :)
> 3 votes
# Answer
Vase mode is what it is... As it prints one perimeter there is just one extrusion. Try increasing extrusion rate to see if that will fix the gaps.
but yes, printing without infill will do the job better than vase mode.
> 1 votes
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Tags: print-quality, simplify3d
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thread-4643 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4643 | What is causing this "ribbed" texture on my circular prints? | 2017-09-22T04:43:04.440 | # Question
Title: What is causing this "ribbed" texture on my circular prints?
I am having this problem with my printer. It doesn't print smooth circular objects. The objects are typically "ribbed" or ridged... never smooth. I am not sure how to fix this.
I have tried fixing it in Meshmixer, I've tried *Sli3r* (I normally use *Cura* 2.7). I've tried turning down acceleration as low as it will go (500 in my printer's case), tried slowing down the actual print and travel speeds. Short of just replacing the dang thing (not an option at all), I have no idea what to do... I'm at a total loss for words here.
My printer is a TronXY P802MA. Auto Level, runs *Marlin* firmware. I use Octoprint as my print server. The picture shows the odd texture. It's at the bottom of this particular model. For some reason, within the pictured model, the problem isn't reproduced in the partial spheres.
# Answer
Any deviation from smoothness is caused by irregularity in the material feed, the motion, or both. In this case, I would suggest both.
The problem is that current 3D printer control firmware (If someone has a counter-example in the hobbiest space, please add it) prints in linear segments. This starts as @senthil-j-prakash shows in the conversion of the CAD object to an STL file. STL files are made of triangles, which are linear structures. There is no curvature in a triangle, only straight edges and flat faces. Making the triangles as small as possible helps, but it exacerbates the next problem.
The second problem is that each line segment is passed as a separate command to the control firmware. No matter if this is stored on an SD card, or transmitted through USB from the PC to the control firmware, each command defines a short, linear movement. In an ideal world, the printer would precisely reproduce each of this short, linear motions, which would flow smoothly from one to the next.
Unfortunately, the "flowing smoothly" part is difficult to implement, and in some cases isn't actually what you want. If the angle between segments is sharp enough, you don't want to round the corner. When printing approximations to circles, however, one could move continuously, if the commands were sent enough ahead to analyze, and the firmware were clever enough to combine two segments into one smooth, curving motion.
This computation is very difficult to perform on an 8-bit microcontroller, and historically has not been done.
I am using a 32-bit ARM microcontroller and the RepRap firmware, which also does not smoothly merge motion between two low-angle linear motions into one smoother motion.
But, it's not just merging two into one. One must merge a long series of short, linear moves into a long sequence of curved moves. We could be doing motion planning based on splines rather than segments.
But then, we need to cap how much the control processor may change the path because the slicing software needs to predict very closely where each extruded element will lie. Adjacent elements (additional perimeters and infill) must be placed to touch those elements for bonding and strength. if the control processor has moved an element too far, it could either not connect with, or interfere with, an element that is placed later.
But, enough of that rant about the technical difficulties.
For your particular machine, it is likely to be moving in fits and starts because of the short, linear commands. Anything you do that improves the print quality will help with the ribs, and make them look more like facets.
Check the belt tension, the backlash, and the stiffness of the whole machine. Try using slower speed and acceleration settings. If you are printing from a PC through USB or the network, try printing from an SD card. (If printing from an SD card, try printing over USB or the network).
Good luck, and keep printing! Tell others of your experiences.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Thank you all for your valuable input. I have come to find out that the issue was because of a host of movement related issues.
1. Print speed is too fast. I have since reduced it.
2. There were some firmware related settings that needed adjusting.
I found after making the appropriate changes, my circular prints came out beautifully!
> 2 votes
# Answer
Did you try to use different infill? Denser or less dense?
You can also try to reduce overlapping infil with outlines.
Try to set 2 or 3 outer perimeters / outlines.
> 1 votes
# Answer
When you are saving a CAD file to STL format to print, there are options on resolution. Coarse and Fine. Basically coarse would give that ribbed/flats effect.
I am not sure what CAD package its created but normally all the CAD packages allow the user to specify the deviation about from a design curve.
> 1 votes
# Answer
If your flowrate is not that well controlled it may introduce the little bulges at every corner. It helped my printer when I lowered the "jerk" value in the machine settings on the printer. The "jerk" determines how fast it approaches and leaves a corner.
> 1 votes
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Tags: print-quality, tronxy-p802
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thread-5045 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5045 | Printing a part from two materials | 2017-11-28T19:56:17.623 | # Question
Title: Printing a part from two materials
I am trying to print a large part from PolyPro but can't get it to stop warping when I remove it. It also doesn't stick well. I have tried playing with printing speeds, temps, extrusion % etc. Even tried putting packing tape on the bed (which helped it stick but didn't prevent the warping).
I thought I might try printing a base layer (2 mm) of PLA, the print the rest of the the part in PP right on top of it. The PLA hopefully will stick and keep the walls of the part straight. My question is how to do this. Is it as easy as cutting off the bottom 2 mm of the part and telling the design software that the part rests 2 mm above the bed, then tell Cura not to print a support?
# Answer
You could just let it print the 2mm you want for the base, then pause the print and change the filament to PP and then resuming the print after you change the filament.
> 2 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3
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thread-5183 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5183 | OpenSCAD to Flashprint ruins model based on number of fragments | 2017-12-28T09:06:54.543 | # Question
Title: OpenSCAD to Flashprint ruins model based on number of fragments
I'm trying to print a cylinder with Flashprint. Problem is, that the .stl file i created (with OpenSCAD) is totally ruined once loaded into Flashprint. With ruined I mean the round outline is now with spikes and steps everywhere. And by loaded I mean directly after loading, not even creating the .gx files. The output of OpenSCAD looks fine, also in other stl viewers I tried.
I figured out the problem occurs more when using certain number of fragments ($fn). If its very small, loading works better. But for numbers that make it acutally look like a round circle (eg 50), Flashprint is unable to load them correctly it seems.
It's obvious that its no slicing or printing problem, but simply a loading one, since the shown object (which does not look any round) also prints the way it is shown in flashprint before slicing.
Does someone know a way to load a cylinder with flashprint correctly, or do I have to switch to different software? I already installed some but am unfamiliar with the printer settings which I do not know in detail. I really though a cylinder should'nt be too complex for any 3D software.
Here is the OpenSCAD Code for Cylinder, just create .stl and load into Flashprint to reproduce the Error:
```
rotate_extrude($fn=70)
translate([0, 0])
square([20,2]);
```
See also this image (tried native cylinder code, problem remains the same however):
# Answer
While my first try with slic3r was really bad, due the required manual setup and my lacking experience (which was the reason I really wanted to stick with Flashprint), I actually found a solution to my problem. Its more a workarround but im perfectly happy with it for now.
I just load the OpenScad .stl with slic3r, use it's "Export STL..." feature, and load the resulting stl with Flashprint. Looks like a charm.
So the problem is really the OpenSCAD specific .stl files being misinterpreted by Flashprint.
Hopefully this helps some of you as well and save you some trouble.
> 0 votes
# Answer
Your image is very helpful. I think you might find that the rendering in your slicer is intentionally degraded to minimize use of system resources. The image you see may not be an accurate representation of that which would be printed.
If you wish further confirmation, consider to create the g-code from the slicer and view it in a text editor. An even better option would be to use an online g-code viewer and observe the results of the created g-code.
The image above is the first line of print for a Marvin, showing that the base curves are smooth and clean. Your cylinder should appear in a similar manner, confirming that your slicer is degrading the image.
> 0 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, software, resolution
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thread-5191 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5191 | If I have a nozzle clog, can I easily get rid of it by simply replacing the nozzle? | 2017-12-30T22:28:28.170 | # Question
Title: If I have a nozzle clog, can I easily get rid of it by simply replacing the nozzle?
I'm getting a Prusa i3 with a replaceable nozzle.
If I have a nozzle clog, can I easily get rid of it by simply:
* replacing the nozzle, or;
* removing it and submerging it in acetone, or;
* removing it and cleaning it with a blowtorch, or;
* removing it and cleaning it.
*Or* can the clog get so bad that the whole extruder has to be cleaned, and if so how could I clean it?
# Answer
The nozzle on a Prusa i3, if a genuine Prusa, would be part of the E3Dv6 assembly and is removable. It's wise to heat the nozzle to 150°C or higher, and handle with the care necessary for something that hot. When loosened, be prepared for it to fall onto the surface below. A catching tin would be a good idea, at the very least.
Once removed, you can test that it's the nozzle that is clogged by pushing or extruding filament via the control panel to confirm that the rest of the system is clear.
Consider also to perform a nylon cleaning of the nozzle before you perform the above disassembly. I've performed this process more than a few times and disagree with one aspect of the process. The process describes heating the nozzle to 250°C and forcing nylon filament into the hot end. I suggest doing so manually, not via the extruder controls, as it give you better feedback and control.
Once you've forced as much through as you can, allow the hot end to cool. Not included in the steps reference above is a part of the process that is semi-automated on my printer. Heat the nozzle to about 140-150°C and carefully and slowly pull the filament back out of the hot end. The above link suggests yanking it sharply. The article also includes a caution that doing so is brutal and could damage your machine. Carefully and slowly will not damage your machine. I have to use pliers to get sufficient grip on the nylon but that's a trivial aspect.
The nylon will come out with debris and previous color filament. Clip off the debris and perform the task again. Repeat until the nylon is clean and you have good flow through the nozzle.
Acetone will not dissolve PLA filament. Extreme heat may carbonize the material in the nozzle and render it useless. The nylon cleaning method is nearly universally successful unless you have a physically damaged nozze.
There are kits to be purchased which are described as nylon cleaning kits, and include a small length of nylon filament and sometimes a cleaning drill. Using such a drill may damage the nozzle and is contraindicated. If you can afford to purchase a half-kilogram or full kilogram of nylon in the diameter specific to your printer, it will last quite some time. You can share segments with friends and/or members of your local makerspace and improve circumstances for many.
Nylon absorbs moisture more quickly than any other filament, making storage for extended periods challenging if you intend to print with nylon, but for cleaning, it matters little that there's moisture boiling out of it as you clean your nozzle. I've found the little bubbles in the extruded nylon to be a sign that I'm getting clean nylon through the nozzle and can expect good results.
In the worst case I've had thus far, I've had to push nylon four times to clear a clogged nozzle. I had some overheated PVA support material jam the nozzle and once cleared, everything flowed properly.
> 7 votes
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Tags: extruder, nozzle
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thread-5171 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5171 | XYZ cube's layer is shifted, How can I check my TEVO Tarantula axis? | 2017-12-24T09:42:04.190 | # Question
Title: XYZ cube's layer is shifted, How can I check my TEVO Tarantula axis?
I just bought new TEVO Tarantula and tried to print xyz cube. I found that my cube's layer was shifted as showed in picture. How can I fix this ?
# Answer
The two most common things to check:
1) make sure your belts are properly tensioned. If there's significant slippage in the y-drive you could get the results seen.
2) Make sure the base layer is well attached to the base plate. you've got plenty of reference pattern on the plate shown, so check whether the lower chunk of print moved relative to the imprinted pattern at some point.
> 1 votes
# Answer
* Do your belt goes *Sproing* when playing it with a finger (actually it doesn't really need to make a noise, but it should be somehow reasonable quite tight). If not, tighten the belt.
* Try with lower speed, for example, it is usually hard to start off with 60mm/s or more. Try 40mm/s or 30mm/s for starters.
* Up the current on your drivers! You do this by turning the potentiometer on the driver (here the X-motor driver):
To adjust the current on your stepper driver, this is a classic scheme:
With power on:
1) Turn the potentiometer on the driver counter clockwise until you can move the motor by hand.
2) Turn clockwise until you can't turn the motor by hand
3) Continue clockwise until you can turn the motor again (as soon as you feel it can't hold really hard anymore, stop).
4) Turn 1/4 of a turn (or maybe a bit less) counter clock wise.
Done!
If the current is too low, it will skip steps, especially when traveling / accelerating fast/hard.
If the current is too high, the motor will be, really, hot. A bit hot is okay, like 50°C can be considered a really safe maximum (it all depends of course, some motors can run at 80+ others could bake your electronics because it's placed badly etc.).
If this doesn't cut it, you want to check your drivers; If you can, switch X and Y driver:
* If now the Y layer doesn't work, it could be the driver.
* If it still breaks the X axis, your motherboard might be fried.
I also encourage you to post more information about print speeds, temperature and so on. It seems like it's a Prusa i3 clone and there are a lot of people having them and they can probably help better if this didn't cut it so please post all data available!
> 1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, calibration, axis
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thread-5197 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5197 | How should I make my PTFE tube smaller? | 2018-01-01T12:48:08.313 | # Question
Title: How should I make my PTFE tube smaller?
So, some background. I bought a e3d Lite6. When assembling the hotend, the PTFE tube does not even go in 1/4th of the way. I found out that the issue was that the PTFE tube was too wide. It measured 4.26mm (outer diameter) and the heat break is only 4.1mm (inner diameter). How should I make my PTFE tube smaller?
# Answer
I would advise buying a new tube for a few reasons:
1. PTFE tubes should be either 4 or 6 mm external diameter (for 1.75 or 3 mm filament respectively). Chances are that if your external diameter is that much off from the nominal value, the inner diameter will also be inaccurate, and this could cause a lot of problems during printing, as the filament will likely bend slightly and unpredictably within the tube and the pressure in the nozzle will be unstable, as well as retraction may work inconsistently.
2. A non all-metal extruder is designed with the assumption that the inner and external sections of the PTFE tube are concentric. This may or may not be the case for your tube, but it is likely that any hand-made modification to the tube will cause the above *not* to be true.
3. PTFE tubes are pretty cheap (around 2€ per metre or less, when bought online).
That said, should you still want to manually modify your tube, I would proceed like this (beware: untested!):
1. Insert the end of the tube onto a drill bit that fits snugly into it.
2. Insert the drill bit into a drill press or a drill held in a vice or otherwise immobilised.
3. Let the drill spin the bit/tube at a moderate speed
4. Move a piece of fine grit paper up and down the portion of the tube on the bit, trying to apply consistent pressure.
5. Check your progress with a caliper or a micrometer often, and reduce increase the grit while approaching the desired result.
Best luck! :)
> 2 votes
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Tags: hotend, ptfe-tube
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thread-5176 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5176 | Where to find information on 'fast' or 'professional' 3D printers? | 2017-12-26T11:29:35.203 | # Question
Title: Where to find information on 'fast' or 'professional' 3D printers?
I work for a company that makes items from plastics.
Many or our current runs are between 500 and 5000 copies, but knowing the company, if we find a good method to do smaller runs, they are willing to see if it is a good commercial option.
At the moment we do use several different methods but the technical people are not yet looking into 3D printing.
While I am not sure printing is the right option just yet, I would be surprised if it will not be in the future.
At this time I am interested in finding information to convince the tech people to look into the abilities of printers and what would impress them to look further would be printers that can produce in short times or at multiple stations so the overall run will be relatively short term.
Our current items are mostly simple in shape, (disks with relief print) and small in size (no bigger than a 2 pound coin).
Do you know an online magazine where the tech people can look or can you suggest a (few) printer(s) to look at right now?
Links to online general information or names to search for will be great.
Knowing our current bunch of tech people they will likely prefer commercial available printers but proven 'home build technology' might be useful as well.
# Answer
Since your company specializes in small objects, SLA printers seem to be a good choice, since it has better detail but small printing area. However, SLA printers tend to require lots of post processing.
If you need a printer for rapid prototyping, you should be using FFF or FDM printers which don't need any post processing. At most, you could sand surfaces to have a smoother finish.
If you need fast printers on the other hand, Delta type printers could be something to look at. Kossel or Rostock printers are faster than standard XYZ printers/CoreXY printers.
As for magazines, Make Magazine features 3D printers and 3D prints if that's what you're looking for.
Terms you can look up online (this includes some names of popular printers): FDM printers, SLA printers, Kossel printer, Rostock printer, CoreXY printer, Prusa i3, Formlabs Form 2, Ultimaker
If you have any questions and/or I got anything wrong, please notify me.
> 5 votes
# Answer
3D printing may absolutely be a viable technology for what you are trying to achieve. The term you should search online is **printing farm** or **3D printing farm**. A typical farm looks like this.
The reason **you normally want to set up a farm** is that - despite 3D printing being often associated to the expression "rapid prototyping" - 3D printing is anything but fast, and operating several machines is an easy way to increase the throughput. (On a side note: the term "rapid" in "rapid prototyping" refers to the fact that there is little to no overhead between the design and production phases, as opposed to the need to create a mold, or send out technical drawings to a machining shop, for example).
**The right technology to be used** (i.e.: what types of 3d printing you would need in your farm) is entirely dependent on the requirements and characteristics of the printed parts. There are so many different 3D printing technologies, and each technology has so many variables attached to it that it would be silly for me anybody else to state with certainty which one would be best for you (your "tech people" will likely spend *a lot* of time evaluating their choices), but to give you a sense of the complexity of the problem, I could mention that FDM/FFF printers are very cost-effective, quite slow, can print in a variety of materials, have limited resolution, suffer from wear, produce anisotropic parts while SLA printers have incredible resolution, can't print large parts, struggle with solid objects, emit toxic fumes, are expensive to buy and operate, etc...
Be advised that the list of 3D printing technologies is not limited to those two (especially when it comes to industrial settings): FDM and SLA are the most known technologies as there are several consumer-grade printers using them, but DLP (Digital Light Processing), SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), SLM (Selective Laser Melting), EBM (Electronic Beam Melting), LOM (Laminated Object Manufacturing), BJ (Binder Jetting), MJ (Material Jetting) and others are also available... each with its own pros and cons.
When it comes to **source of inspiration and information**, I have to disagree with the suggestion made by another responder that Make Magazine would be a good resource for forming an opinion. Make Magazine is a magazine targeting hobbyist, and as such it pitches and explores technologies that are geared towards enabling creativity. What you should be after is information on 3D printing in a commercial setting / on an industrial scale, as the requirements of a hobbyist printing their own drone are very (very!) different from those of a company needing to meet quickly, reliably and consistently a customer's specifications.
3D printing technologies evolve continuously and quickly, so - if you are after printed material - it is essential for you to get hold of something published recently. Off the top of my head, The 3D Printing Handbook: Technologies, design and applications that came out a couple of months ago seems to be an excellent match for your current needs of forming an opinion / acquiring information (the link is to Amazon, and allows you to browse its index online). Keep in mind it was put together by 3D HUBS the largest network of manufacturing services in the world... so it is not some random guys' opinion!
A couple of **additional considerations** that I would also keep in mind:
* If you are planning to enter the 3D printing space be ready to fight off an established but ever-growing competition. One of the cool things about 3D printing is that being highly automatised, having a low cost of entry, and not requiring access to huge amount of energy or raw material, it is often available as a service locally. There are often global networks (e.g.: 3D Hubs, mentioned above) that make easier for potential customers to find a local printing facility, and that - conversely - make difficult for an isolated manufacturer to be discovered.
* If you are considering setting up a 3D printing farm, I would spend a lot of time also considering its operation (extraction of fumes, backup energy sources, automatic/early detection of printing failures, replenishing of the raw matearial, etc...), as it will be a seizable part of the operating costs and associated risks.
* If you are working with extremely small batches of small parts, also consider large printers over printing farms. The risk profile is different (larger investments, single point of failure) but the economics of running a single machine may prove more efficient overall.
* If you are producing functional parts (i.e.: parts meant to be loaded / exposed to mechanical stress) be advised that some printing technology (most notably FDM/FFF) requires designing the parts with the printing process in mind, as the mechanical properties of a FDM printed objects are not the same along all of its axis. This may require additional training of your staff.
Hope this helps! :)
> 5 votes
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Tags: rapid-prototyping
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thread-5198 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5198 | Flexible filament frozen | 2018-01-01T20:52:19.030 | # Question
Title: Flexible filament frozen
I was thinking about what would happen when flexible filament is frozen. Would it become brittle or still be rather tough\*. A situation I think of would be a ice tray in the freezer. It is nice to have some flex to get the ice out, but PLA and other filaments wouldn't work, but will flexible filament work?
\*when I say 'tough' I mean having similar properties when unfrozen.
# Answer
The behaviour of "frozen filament" will entirely depend from the specific formulation of it.
The term "flexible filament" encompasses a variety of different polymers as for example: thermoplastic elastomers like TPE and TPU (e.g.: ninjaflex), copolymers (e.g.: bendlay), copolyesters (e.g.: Ngen Flex), polycaprolactones (e.g.: PCL), etc...
Even in those broad classes of chemicals, the amount, type and quality of additives will affect the physical properties of the filament a lot. In fact rigid.ink even produces a *flexible PLA* that proves the point of additives radically affecting the properties of the main material.
In general, all materials lose elasticity at lower temperatures (a Space Shuttle came down because engineers failed to account for this). Polymers that do not contain water are unlikely to crystallise though, so I would expect it to become stiffer but not to fail catastrophically at 0°C.
> 3 votes
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Tags: filament
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thread-5199 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5199 | Anet A8 filament not coming out | 2018-01-01T21:02:01.313 | # Question
Title: Anet A8 filament not coming out
Our Anet A8 seems to be working but the filament won't come out of the extruder. We can manually push it through though. The gears seem to be working fine and it's warming up. I have read the other answers on this site but none seem to fix our problem.
# Answer
> 1 votes
From the comments/answers to your main question, the likely culprit is the hobbed wheel not catching the filament firmly enough.
The hobbed wheel I am referring to is the yellowish one at the centre of the picture. The problem could be due to:
* the wheel being of poor quality, with blunt teeth
* the wheel being of the wrong diameter (too small)
* the spring squeezing the wheel against the filament being too weak
* \[judging from the picture, I don't own the A8\] it could even be that the nut on the lever that is pushed by the spring (top right of the picture) is too far down on the threaded rod, and prevents the lever to move far enough to push effectively.
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Tags: extruder, filament, anet-a8
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thread-5200 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5200 | What do you do If the whole extruder is clogged? | 2018-01-01T23:09:19.817 | # Question
Title: What do you do If the whole extruder is clogged?
I have a prusa 13 that's shipping in the mail, and I intend to make good use of it, one also own a da vinci jr. and the one time it got so clogged that the extruder itself was filled with pla, with that said I replace the extruder, for the da vinci, but besides that, as for my a prusa, what should I do if the extruder, not the nozzle gets clogged that badly?
# Answer
> 1 votes
If you are good at being patient and extremely careful, you can clean out the feeder tube by using a small drill, manually operated. Use a bit with diameter smaller than the filament in use.
I recommend first removing the nozzle. Then,from the top, hold the drive gear open and gently work the drill bit down, removing often to clean off debris. If the bit is long enough, sooner or later it'll project out the hole where the nozzle fits. If not, gently work from the bottom up.
Since you have the nozzle out, it's easy to see if there's gunk in the upper chamber of the nozzle; either drill that out or use heat-methods to liquify, and clean out with any soft tool.
Usually any clog in the narrow orifice can now be removed by re-assembling, heating the extruder head to operational temps, and pushing the remaining gunk out simply by guiding fresh filament all the way in. I do not recommend trying to use a micro-drill bit as that can easily damage or open up the orifice. If you can get a piece of stiff wire (e.g. 0.375 for a 0.4 nozzle), try that once the head is at operational temperature.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The extruder is not a single component, but a collection of components. From the top, you may have a bowden tube or a direct feed type of design. If the former, there's the bowden tube which extends into the heat sink. If it is a direct feed and not an all-metal design, there will be PTFE tubing inside the heat sink.
The heat sink is a finned assembly, usually cylindrical, sometimes other shapes. Attached below that will be a threaded coupling called a heat break. Both the heat sink and heat break will be configured to have the same inside diameter, to allow the filament to pass through to the next stage.
The heat break passes into the heater block. The nozzle passes into the heater block from the opposite side. The two items contact each other when properly assembled.
If your nozzle is not blocked, but there is a blockage somewhere else, it would indicate that the PTFE tubing has become damaged or a piece of debris has managed to fall into the opening when filament was removed.
The items are easily disassembled and the pathway for the filament can be cleared with a suitable tool.
If a portion of the extruder assembly has previously filled with filament, the nozzle was not solidly secured to the heat break, or the PTFE filament had slipped back or was not fully inserted into the heat sink.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Typically, any unclogging technique involves melting the plastic around the piece of debris causing the clog (what happen next can differ, depending if you are using a needle, cold pulling, or a total disassembly of the extruder).
If the clog is localised to the hot end, one can usually achieve the melting via heating the nozzle as if one were to print. Clogs that are not localised at the nozzle, are usually a symptom of a severe malfunction of the printer (damaged PTFE tube, loose assembly, broken parts...) and - while unclogging is still of essence - they should be investigated further.
In case of clogging that is not localised at the hot end, chances are you will be able to disassemble the extruder in its components (heat sink, heat break, heat block, nozzle, etc...) while cold, and clean each part mechanically, possibly having administered some heat.
Should the cold disassembly not be an option because some parts got stuck together thanks to the molten plastic having acted as a glue, use of an external source of heat may be required (just heating up the nozzle wouldn't probably work, as the extruder is designed to prevent heat propagating above the heat break). Many people use a butane torch or a heat gun in these cases, and proceed to the complete disassembly of the extruder while hot.
If using an external source of heat, be mindful that torches and heat guns could very easily over-heat the extruder, and damage it (so: make quick passes, and stop heating as soon as you can see/feel the plastic melting). Also cabling and other electronic components (e.g.: thermistor) could be easily damaged, so it is advisable - if possible - to remove them from the assembly prior to heat it.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Disassemble the hotend (always disassebble when hot), When you seperate the heat block, nozzle and the heat sink parts of the extruder if you are lucky the parts clogging the non-nozzle areas will be easy to pull out.
Replace the nozzle, nozzles are cheap and not worth worrying about.
The heat block should be clear because, in most hotend I know about, the filament should transfer from the heat break to the nozzle without touching the heat block directly - if this is not true in your model then it's the same as for the heat sink below, if there's plastic where there shouldn't be you didn't screw the nozzle of heat break (or both) all the way in.
If the plastic doesn't come out of the heat sink easily it's time to replace the teflon tube if there is one, in an all-metal hotend it's possible the inside metal tube is damaged and you need to relace the hotend.
In any case, if the plastic doesn't come out with just a tiny bit of force stop before you damage anything, heat the componene to above the melting temperture of the plastic and then try again.
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Tags: extruder
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