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thread-768 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/768 | Filament Guides Drag | 2016-03-15T23:30:58.747 | # Question
Title: Filament Guides Drag
## Backstory
I've had issues in the past with my drive gear "eating" my filament. It seemed that the filament quit extruding for one reason or another and the drive gear would slowly eat away at the side of the filament.
I eventually assumed it was the plastic filament guides causing unnecessary tension that the drive gear couldn't compete with, ultimately keeping the filament from moving forward. Thusly, allowing the drive gear to continue "trying".
My solution was to hang my spools above the machine to avoid using the filament guides feeding from the back of the machine up through the top.
## Question
Can the plastic filament guides really cause that much drag? What other variables can I expect to look out for?
*Machine:* **MakerBot Replicator Dual (1st Generation)**
# Answer
> 3 votes
For an easy test, try manually pulling the filament through the U-loop of guide tube. How hard is it to pull through? It should only take 1-2 lbs of tension at most.
Then do a "tug test" on the extruder. Start it loading and grab the filament by hand to try to stop it from extruding. The Replicator 1/2/2x extruder style can typically pull ~8-10 lbs of tension and it should be fairly difficult to stop the filament. When you do stop the filament, you should hear clicking/thumping from the stepper stalling, NOT quiet grinding as the drive gear chews through the filament. If the grip slips rather than stalls, your extruder hardware needs to be tuned or replaced.
There are three common causes of excessive feed tube drag:
* Use of polyethylene tubing instead of PTFE -- this makes a shockingly large difference in drag friction. You can use a heat gun or torch (outside!!) to tell the difference between PE and PTFE. PE will soften quickly and then melt fairly easily, whereas PTFE will simply go clear and eventually char without melting. Nylon is also sometimes used for feed tubes with acceptable results, but if you have any suspicion about the tube material, just buy new PTFE tubes from a reputable vendor like McMaster.
* Too many loops/curves in the tube. Total drag friction is an exponential function of the total amount of curvature in the tube. You should have one good U-loop, no spirals or floppy zig-zags.
* Excessive friction on the spool rotation. Any spool back-tension gets greatly magnified through the feed tube per the capstan equation. This can be caused by a bad spool holder, or if the filament is knotted on the spool due to letting the end of the spool loose during handling.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have a few hundred printing hours on a Monoprice Dual Extrusion, which is essentially the same thing. I've had a couple random issues that lead to filament stripping by the extruder motor:
* Clogs (either a buildup of material over time, or from over-retraction)
* Filament kinks around the spool holder
* Some other restriction of the spool's rotation
I suspected the guides early on, but the grips on the rotor are actually fairly strong and the guide tubes are smooth enough to not cause a problem by themselves; I'd recommend looking at the other ends of the assembly first, as they're more likely to cause a problem. If you preheat the nozzle, open the tensioner on the extruder stepper, and can't push the filament into the nozzle with your fingers, the motor won't be able to do it either.
# Answer
> 0 votes
The friction inside of the guide tubes is fairly minimal assuming that the lines are straight and there isn't anything else inside them. My guess would be that you may have another issue. Reducing the drag in the guide tubes while it may reduce the problem of clogged nozzle, might just be hiding the symptoms of another problem.
I've heard, but never tried adding a dab of Canola oil to the tip of your filament prior to feeding it into your extruder. Specifically for Makerbots.
Link my source: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/Wn-MKC1Ybm0%5B1-25%5D
---
Tags: filament, makerbot, hardware, drive-gear
--- |
thread-3428 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3428 | What are some conductive filaments that can be used in printing electronics? | 2017-01-18T22:38:32.910 | # Question
Title: What are some conductive filaments that can be used in printing electronics?
I'm very new to 3D printing, and I am very interested in printing electronics. I want to be able to print out circuits, so I've been trying to find a conductive filament. What sorts of conductive filaments are available to the consumer (me) and are of acceptable quality
Edited for clarity: I am not seeking a product recommendation, but rather am looking to know what sort of variety I can expect and more specifically which filaments are useful for printing electronics.
# Answer
> 2 votes
At this point conductive filaments are a very new thing. All the filiments on the market are PLA based that have been infused with Carbon or Graphine
However I worry you over estimate what you can do with this. You will at most be able to 3d print a simple wire and power a LED. You will not be able to run a microcontroller, and honestly I would expect a complicated print to have too much or too little resistance, maybe burst into flames.
You really should look into the Voxle 8 and other printers. The printer is really the driving factor. Using a conductive filament will not be enough. Note this printer uses a syringe not PLA plastic.
Here is a Voxle8 print.
---
Tags: filament, reprap, electronics
--- |
thread-3450 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3450 | Prusa i3 Stopping midprint | 2017-01-21T01:50:51.590 | # Question
Title: Prusa i3 Stopping midprint
I am trying to print an earbud holder with my Prusa i3. About an hour though the 3-hour print I left the printer for about 20 minutes and when I came back the printer stopped printing. The printer didn't display any errors on the LCD. The extruder and printing bed all cooled down but the z-axis didn't raise so the nozzle was stuck to the print. What could cause the printer to stop printing?
# Answer
There's really no telling why that happened if you weren't there to observe it.
A possibility is a temporary power outage, which would stop and reset the printer without any trace of it having happened. Even if there was not a power outage, maybe there was a temporary dip in power that caused the power supply to be unable to supply the required voltage (or perhaps the power supply was of poor quality to begin with and suffered some issue that caused the voltage to drop).
Another possibility is that you were printing via a computer, and the computer rebooted during the print. If this is not the case and you were printing via an SD card, maybe the SD card became corrupted and the printer read some invalid G-code and reset itself (though this latter case would probably come with some indication of a fault on the LCD).
> 3 votes
---
Tags: filament, prusa-i3
--- |
thread-3419 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3419 | Bad PEI plate adhesion to heated bed | 2017-01-18T00:44:39.150 | # Question
Title: Bad PEI plate adhesion to heated bed
I'm (surprisingly) having a problem getting my PEI substrate to stick to the heated bed surface. The ABS item being printed stuck great to the PEI surface. I've not seen anyone else post on this problem, but perhaps someone has seen it.
Note, this is the PRINT SURFACE warping, not the item being printed. That part went great with no delamination even on a large flat bottom.
I'm using 3M 468 adhesive to attach a PEI plastic sheet directly to the heated surface of my Flashforge Creator Pro printer. The heated bed is anodized black and the adhesive is a sheet cut to the requisite 6" X 9". It seemed fine and looked pretty good with few air bubbles when first attached, but the first print caused the edges of the PEI plastic to warp up from the corners of the bed.
It appears that the weak link is that the PEI detached from the adhesive. While this was not uniform, removal of the PEI sheet showed that 95% of the adhesive was still attached to the print bed.
The PEI has one glossy side and one matte side, and I chose to apply the adhesive to the matte side to get the glossy surface. Does this make a difference?
I applied the adhesive to the PEI surface just as it was after removing the protective plastic coating. I figured this was a clean as it was ever going to get.
I'd definitely appreciate some ideas on this.
# Answer
Perhaps this is due to the aluminum build plate warping/crowning as it heats? I use a PEI print surface on my Monoprice Maker Select (Wanhao Di3), which has an 8.5"x8.5" build plate, and I've had no issues with the PEI coming unstuck. However, instead of attaching mine directly to the aluminum heated build plate, I attached it (using 3M 468) to a piece of Borosilicate glass, which is then attached to my aluminum build plate using silicone thermal heatsink pads. The rational for using a Borosilicate glass print surface is that a heated metal build surface is going to warp or move some, as the heat is coming from one side; the glass will not warp and so you have a completely flat surface on which to print (and the heatsink pads help make up the difference in surface geometry). I used this 3dprinterwiki article as the basis for my glass bed mod, and applied the PEI/adhesive using another source (which I've forgotten, possibly the RepRap wiki). While the first link is Wanhao Di3 specific, it covers the idea. Make sure you tweak your z-endstops if needed on your particular machine, as adding the glass plat raises the bed height by several mm.
Please note that I'm theorizing - I did not ever try applying my PEI directly to my aluminum build plate, so I have no direct comparison. But the use of glass to eliminate build plate warping/crowning is fairly well documented. See also this 3DPSE Answer.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I never used one, but the thing that makes two parts stick together is the atmospheric pressure. The glue is just a thing that, even if it does not make any chemical bond, is keeping the air out. A pure example of that is if you put water in a glass and then put another one on it. Although the water is not glue you can't easily pull it up and if the surface is big you can't at all. It is the atmospheric pressure that keeps them together and the water keeps the air out ;). I suggest try the other side and see I'm just guessing . Good luck!!!
> -1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed
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thread-3465 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3465 | Cooling for big layers | 2017-01-25T20:09:41.100 | # Question
Title: Cooling for big layers
There is an option in Slic3r to disable cooling for layers that take more than n seconds.
What would be the disadvantages of having cooling on big layers ?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Warping. Especially with materials like ABS, you want the plastic to cool down as gradually (and slowly) as possible, to prevent the print from warping as the cooling plastic contracts. On small layers, cooling is usually mandatory: with really small layers, you just end up with a big glob of molten plastic if the previous layer hasn't solidified enough before the next layer is put on top.
You want *just enough* cooling that the plastic holds its shape, but no more than that. On a large layer, the plastic cools enough naturally without help from a fan.
---
Tags: slicing, slic3r, cooling
--- |
thread-2607 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2607 | Clean or wipe move for delta 3D printers | 2016-08-06T23:15:36.037 | # Question
Title: Clean or wipe move for delta 3D printers
I own a delta 3D printer. The problem is that, at the beginning of a print the extruder outputs dirty filament. I want a clean filament flow at the start of my prints!
How can I make the hotend exit the print surface (glass plate) by 10mm, extrude the bad filament and go back to printing again? Can this be done with G-code?
My Z high is 190 mm and the glass plate diameter is 120 mm. I'm using Marlin + Ramps 1.4.
I'm using Repetier-Host and CuraEngine as Slicer, but I really would like a G-code that can work on multiple environments like Cura and Repetier. I just want to add it to the start G-code and print!
# Answer
> 5 votes
You can achieve this using the `G1` command. I don't know your exact printer, but you should be able to use something like this (add to the start G-code in your slicer):
```
G1 X0 Y62 Z0.2 F9000 ; Move slightly past edge of bed
G92 E0 ; Zero extruder position
G0 E1 F100 ; Extrude 1mm of filament
G92 E0 ; Zero again
G1 X0 Y0 F9000 ; Move back to center of bed
```
The first line moves the extruder to slightly past the edge of the bed (since the diameter is 120, the radius is 60, and 62 is slightly past the maximum radius). I've set Z to 0.2mm to avoid hitting the plate, but you might be able to lower this.
The next 3 lines zero the extruder position, extrudes 1mm of filament, and resets it to zero (when starting a print the slicer expects E to start at 0).
The final line moves back to the bed center. This might not be neccesary (you might be able to replace this line with just `G1 F9000` to set the feedrate back to something that makes sense for travel moves) because you don't need to move back explicitly: the slicer will take care of moving the head in position to start the print.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Slic3r, and all other slicers that I saw, have an option called `Skirt` that enables your printer to print a number of lines around your object before it starts printing the object itself.
This should ensure that both the nozzle is filled with filament and the printer got rid of any burned / dirty filament when it starts printing your object.
If you use Slic3r as standalone, you have to activate expert mode in the preferences. If you use it through Repetier-host it should already be in expert mode.
You can see all available options in the Slic3r documentation for Skirt.
# Answer
> 5 votes
A lot of slicers will have a Wipe option. Here are some examples:
* See Unofficial Simplify3D Documentation. Go to the section talking about *Wipe Nozzle*, under the heading **Extruder Tab**
> Two more ooze-fighting options are Coast at end and Wipe nozzle. Coast turns off the extruder the specified distance before it normally would, to drain what would have oozed as the end of a line. This can help with ooze-induced blobs at the end of lines, but if turned up too high will lead to gaps in your print walls. Changes to this setting will be visible as gaps in the g-code preview.
>
> Wipe has the nozzle retrace over the start of a perimeter line at the end of a perimeter for the specified distance with the extruder off, to leave any ooze behind before proceeding. It is similar to Coast in that it moves the extruder without extruding, but wipe occurs after the end of the line while coast occurs before.
* Slic3r has some sort of coasting. But I think in their docs the option is there: Slic3r Manual - Fighting Ooze
> Wipe before retract - Moves the nozzle whilst retracting so as to reduce the chances of a blob forming.
As you asked for G-Code here you go:
* Reprap Forum - Wipe nozzle via GCODE
Example
```
;Sliced at: {day} {date} {time}
;Basic settings: Layer height: {layer_height} Walls: {wall_thickness} Fill: {fill_density}
;Print time: {print_time}
;Filament used: {filament_amount}m {filament_weight}g
;Filament cost: {filament_cost}
;M190 S{print_bed_temperature} ;Uncomment to add your own bed temperature line
;M109 S{print_temperature} ;Uncomment to add your own temperature line
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
M117 Auto-level...
G29 ;auto-level
;G92 Z-.01 ; Lower = Z Pos, Lift = Z Neg
M117 Preparing...
G1 Z10.0 F{travel_speed} ;move the platform down 15mm
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F100 E30 ;extrude 10mm of feed stock
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length again
G1 F{travel_speed}
;Put printing message on LCD screen
M300 S900 P160 ;start beep
M300 S1000 P160
M300 S2000 P160
M0 ;Wait for the user
M117 Printing...
```
* Lulzbot forum - Start GCODE Script for Wipe, in particular this post:
Example
```
G91 ; switch to relative positioning
G1 Z10 ; safe raise of z axis to ensure probe doesn't hit bed clamp
G90 ; switch back to absolute positioning
G28 ; home all axes
G29 ; level print bed
G1 X298 Y137 Z2 F5000 ; move to wait position right hand side of the table
G1 Z0.4 ; position nozzle
G1 E25 F300 ; purge nozzle
M400 ; wait for purge to complete
G1 X285 F1200 ; slow wipe
G1 Z0.5 F1200 ; lift
```
That should get you started.
---
Tags: print-quality, marlin, delta
--- |
thread-3478 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3478 | What is the best material for printing an anatomic bone model? | 2017-01-27T21:13:59.703 | # Question
Title: What is the best material for printing an anatomic bone model?
What is the best medium/material for printing an anatomic model for educational or study purposes? Specifically, I'm interested in printing intricate head and neck bony anatomy that requires fine detail to look at important holes and "cracks"/fissures.
# Answer
The Stack Exchange discourages "best" type questions, as any answers are going to be opinion based. There are going to be more opinions than types of materials and types of printing.
Your question regarding specifics is more on the mark, however, and has less to do with material than with method.
Consider that resin based printing, especially SLA printers will provide extremely fine detail at extremely fine prices. SLA printers are more commonly used for smaller models such as jewelry and dental applications.
SLS, Selective Laser Sintering is capable of nearly as detailed work as SLA and is better suited for larger models. One can contract for SLS work on the major 3D printing services. Pricing for SLS is also "up there." Use The Google to locate 3D printer services for a suitable resource.
In the FDM world, you'll find lower costs and lower resolution. My printer is capable of 0.100 mm layer thickness, which means barely visible layer lines, but they are still quite obvious, especially on sloped or slanted surfaces.
I suggest that you find a small scale or segment of the part you wish to have printed and send it off for sample returns in the above formats.
As an option, once you have the parts, you could consider to use them to create molds and cast in resin as many copies as you would need.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, 3d-design
--- |
thread-3471 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3471 | Why are my prints so defective? | 2017-01-26T16:32:33.657 | # Question
Title: Why are my prints so defective?
I received a Monoprice Maker Select v2 (I3 V2 clone) from my wife for Christmas. The sample .gcode files that came with the printer generally print great with no noticeable defects.
However, when I try to print miniatures for use with table-top gaming (D&D, primarily), I tend to get a lot of oozing and stringing. On top of that, bridge supports don't cool in time and tend to get fudged by the print nozzle, which results in oddities like arms being only half printed, sticking to the nozzle, and getting relocated to some other part of the print. If I use full grid supports with the most modest fill settings (8%) they end up being stronger than the miniature and are a real pain to remove.
My printer is calibrated, as level as can be (the desk it's on is slightly warped but I've got the printer in the center of the warp; there is no wobble or lean) and squared. The build plate is calibrated and set to the right height.
I'm using the version of Cura that came on the SD card with the printer (honestly not sure which one and I'm not at home to check). I've fiddled with print speed, extruder temp (ranging from 185 to 210), layer cooling, retraction settings, and tried switching to Slic3r (didn't go over well -- couldn't even get past the first layer).
I'm using Hatchbox silver PLA filament (1.75mm +/- 0.05mm). I don't have another filament I can test with to compare performance.
Even when I import the profile settings from one of the sample .gcode files I tend to end up with blobbing, pulling, and stringing all over the miniatures, in addition to missing or deformed parts. Notably, arms and hands -- most often overhangs -- tend to stick to the hotend and get repositioned, sending the whole thing out of whack.
I end up with similar problems when I use the Novice mode settings in Cura (Normal Quality, High Quality, etc).
Is there something I'm missing that I can do to improve the quality of small, detailed prints, or is the I3, as an entry-level printer, simply not up to the task? I'm especially interested in answers from users who have experience printing miniatures and their experiences in tuning for that type of print job.
A few things I've tried test printing:
Printer calibration test model v1
Printer calibration test model v3
Both of these came out very stringy, with lots of blobbing and layer pulling, especially towards the upper portions of the taller elements.
I have also tried printing these two models:
Knight with sword - high detail
Elf monk - high detail
All test prints of these two models had at least one missing hand due to it getting stuck to the hotend and pulling off the part, and both demonstrated lots of minor blobbing and pulling on otherwise smooth surfaces, with loss of detail in the more finely detailed areas. Here's a sample of the output for the knight model. Please ignore the fact that he has been dismembered, that was mostly my fiddling with it post-printing (I guess I don't know my own strength), though the left hand was not well-attached and fell off rather easily. He was printed with both hands and feet/base intact, but you can see the blobbing and pulling pretty well.
# Answer
I've not done much miniatures printing, but I have the same printer and I happen to have the exact same filament loaded. Also, I've been doing a lot of tuning lately, including this z-brace mod which has improved my overall print quality, so I thought I'd take a pass at printing the Knight from your photos and sharing my findings.
First, I've posted a series of pictures to show my findings. Overall, I'd say my print quality was better than what you showed in your photos, but still isn't good enough. I sliced with Cura 15.04.6, and printed from SD card. Here are my (Full) settings:
```
Layer height (mm) : 0.1
Shell thickness (mm) : 0.5
Enable retraction : Yes
Bottom/Top thickness (mm) : 0.3
Fill Density (%) : 20
Print Speed (mm/s) : 20
Printing Temperature (C) : 210
Bed Temperature (C) : 67
Support Type : Everywhere
Platform Adhesion : None
Skirts : 3
Filament Diameter (mm) : 1.75
Filament Flow (%) : 100.0
Nozzle size (mm) : 0.5
Retract Speed (mm/s) : 40.0
Retract Distance (mm) : 7
Initial Layer Thick (mm) : 0.2
Initial Later width (%) : 100
Cut off object bottom (mm): 0.0
Travel Speed (mm/s) : 100
Bottom Layer Speed (mm/s) : 20
Infill speed (mm/s) : 50
Top/bottom speed (mm/s) : 20
Outer Shell speed (mm/s) : 20
Inner Shell speed (mm/s) : 20
Min. Layer Time (sec) : 10
Enable cooling fan : Yes
```
I do most of my printing with a later height of 0.2mm, but for a detailed mini, 0.1mm is probably the largest that will look good (and probably the smallest possible on this printer. I normally set most of my speeds to 50 mm/s, with first layer at 20 mm/s; for this I slowed it all to 20 mm/s due to the fine details, and I think it helped.
Temps of 67˚C bed and 210˚C extruder are what I've found to work best on my machine for PLA, after much experimentation, but your machine may vary; I'm not sure how accurate the temperature measurements are on these machines. 67˚C gives me an observed bed temp of 60˚C, but that's at the top surface - I have PEI atop Borosilicate glass, adhered to the bare aluminum bed with silicone-based heat transfer pad.
I think I miscalculated the top/bottom heights and infill. I'm not used to printing at 0.1mm layer height, but 3 top layers over 20% infill is clearly not enough - see the closeup of the mini's base in my linked gallery. Next print, I'll either try 0.6mm top/bottom, or much higher infill.
The supports came off easily; I used a pair of sidecutters from my electronics bench. A little more cleanup with a sharp hobby knife, combined with a better base top layer would probably produce an acceptable result.
There were two major flaws. The first are the little blobs on many layers; see for example the inseam area on the picture of the knight's back. Ed Nisley at Softsolder.com calls these "Reveral Zits", and I think the name is apt. These happen when the print head needs to quickly reverse direction or stop-move-print, but filament continues to extrude. I use fairly aggressive retraction settings, and I think my print shows smaller zits than yours, but still far too many. Ed has explored this topic in some depth; it's possible my extruder stepper isn't keeping up with my settings due to mechanical limits. This is an area I want to pursue, but I don't have time at the moment. I plan to read Ed's work and try some experiments on my machine to see if I can get better results; I will update this answer if/when I do. As it stands, most of them are quite small, and could probably be cleaned up with a knife; the worst are those around unsupported areas, such as the back of the shoulder guard.
The second major flaw is the helmet. It's just... bad. I'm not sure the printer has much hope of nailing those horns, but overall the head is just bad. I'm not sure what can be done there.
To summarize: @disc0ninja's advice on Bed Level and Print speed are certainly the right place to start; You might want to try my Cura settings to see if you get similar results. Also, the Z-brace mod I linked to above has made a big difference for me; I rarely have to adjust my leveling anymore. I also plan to try slicing with Slic3r, which I haven't used previously, but have been looking into. You mentioned you couldn't print with Slic3r, was that USB or SD Card? I'd suggest trying via SD if it failed during USB printing.
**Update 30 Jan 2017:** It took a little doing, but I managed to slice and print this model via slic3r. I had some issues with the original STL in slic3er, which I ended up fixing with a free trial at makeprintable.com. I spent a lot of time fiddling with slic3r; it has a lot more knobs to turn than Cura, and I make no claims of having the best settings for this print. There are so many settings that rather than transcribe them here, I've captured them in my pictures of the slic3er print.
Overall, I feel like the quality is higher. The "reversal zits" are hardly noticeable; but the big remaining problem is one I didn't fully diagnose in the original Cura print - lack of support for areas such as the shoulders. Slic3r added more support than Cura, but it's also harder to separate from the base. The head isn't great, but much better than the Cura print; I don't think my photos show it as well as it looks. **This print has convinced me that there's plenty of quality still to be wrung from this printer**; I hope to make time to do some more slic3r prints of this model while tweaking the params to see what's possible. If I make any big leaps in quality I will update this answer.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I have an Alunar(Anet) Prusa i3 printer I bought from amazon 7 months ago. I have not done much for ultra high detail prints, but it does seem to print everything I've thrown at it quite well. It took sometime for me to get it dialed in. I've found that **Bed Level, Z-axis height,** and **Print Speed** are usually what makes the most difference.
I have only used Inland PLA (Microcenter brand) and can get good quality prints.
I would recommend double checking bed level, z-axis, and going through print quality trouble shooting. Re-measure your PLA thickness and make sure your print multiplier is adjusted appropriately, and try to slow down your print speed.
If you could post a link to a sample file that you're trying to print It may be helpful?
Simplify 3D has a wonderful trouble shooting guide you can check out here
> 3 votes
---
Tags: prusa-i3, print-quality, slicing
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thread-3482 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3482 | Slicer reports 1000s of errors not seen in Cura; Render is missing big chunks | 2017-01-29T00:21:44.513 | # Question
Title: Slicer reports 1000s of errors not seen in Cura; Render is missing big chunks
Brand new to Slic3r, I've been using Cura for a while, so not sure is happening. I tried to load this Knight model into Slic3er (v1.2.9 running on OS X), and it's reporting "Manifold: auto-repaired (11430 errors)", and the model looks incomplete. Hovering the model with the mouse shows more details:
Preview mode shows supports holding up the head, so I don't think it's just a screen rendering issue. But I loaded this same model into Cura earlier today, and it worked just fine; I've printed the resulting GCode. So I believe the model is fine. I wanted to print using Slic3r and compare the results.
Is this a known issue with certain types of models? Not sure what to try next.
# Answer
Cura and Slic3r are very different programs. You will not get the exact same print between the two. I find that of late slic3r will try to fill holes when older versions do not. So even versions will not behave the same. I will say I have less issues with simplify 3d, but the price is very high.
Following. When this happens I attempt to repair the model. There is obviously some unresolved issues in the model. I use Netfabb which has been exported to this online tool.
Really though. I would ask for my money back ;-)
> 3 votes
# Answer
The problem with the model is that of the basic elements that make up the model (fundamentally these are triangles), you'll find some that either cross over, or some that don't touch. This is called non manifold geometry.
The way this comes about is often by the designer dragging part of a model (to re-size it) in a way that one face of the model crosses into or out of another face. It is very common, and some of the slicers handle it better than others. Sometimes a tool can make a good job of repairing the model, sometimes it has to be fixed manually.
In fixing the model, a tool will be able to ignore small gaps and overlaps (which is fine, they are often below the print resolution anyway). Different tools will be more or less successful, it looks like your model here is a bit borderline for automated fixing.
> 3 votes
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Tags: slic3r
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thread-3486 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3486 | Font for cutting? | 2017-01-29T13:38:04.857 | # Question
Title: Font for cutting?
I want to print a text inside a box. I mean the text should be cut out (see through). Example:
As you can see the parts in "o" and "e" cant float.. it needs some kind of a support. Also the top triangle in the M can't be printed without a support. Here is something I found, I think this is what I need:
Can you recommend me a font or some app to make these fonts printable the way I need it?
The software I use is Simplify3D and all the free ones like cura.
# Answer
I did a quick search using The Google with the terms "stencil font." There were too many results to list here and the first link I clicked on provided some seriously ugly fonts. Stencil fonts by definition will result in supported center pieces. Windows has a native font named, surprisingly enough, Stencil which does the same, but it's not quite as imaginative as the ones found using The Google.
Here's an example from Font Squirell:
Octin Prison
How about something a bit more bizarre from the same location:
VanBerger Font
> 7 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design
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thread-628 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/628 | Practical concerns smoothing PLA print with chloroform vapours | 2016-02-23T10:53:12.347 | # Question
Title: Practical concerns smoothing PLA print with chloroform vapours
One way to give PLA prints a smooth finish is treatment with chloroform vapours (or other solvents, as mentioned in this answer). This method is even featured on Ultimaker website. I would like to try it on some of my prints.
What are the practical concerns I should be aware of using chloroform vapours? I am looking for advice concerning vaporisation temperature, time of exposition that makes for a nice finish, and any other experiences.
**Caution!** Chloroform is a moderately toxic chemical! I only approach this method as I have an access to a well-equipped chemical laboratory with a fume hood.
**Disclamer:** The question is not about the safety issues using chloroform vapours. It is about how obtain the best post-processing results with least trial-and-error.
# Answer
This Reddit post seems to have some good trial and error dialog.
This Thingiverse post, along with many other references online, suggest that the results are very similar to that of an Acetone treatment with ABS. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of how it works, but the general advice is to be conscious of what you're working with. A heat-induced vapor treatment seems to yield the best surface finish, but can be tricky to track down proper exposure times. It seems that the time required to achieve a desirable surface finish depends on the size and openness of the features on the object. By openness, I mean how evenly the vapor is able attach itself to the surface of the object as compared to other features. Some this variability may be reduced by streamlining the process. Perhaps if you found a way to rotate either the part or the vapor container during the process. This could ensure contact is made in small corners/features. Other variables to consider may be:
* If a gradual reduction of exposure is necessary (as is with most heat treatment operations);
* How much temperature effects time. Most pages I've read mention 100C as the temp to vaporize the chemical;
* Size of the "vaporization chamber" in accordance with how much of the chemical is available. I've used a gallon paint can lined with lightly dabbed paper towel with Acetone for part between 1"^3 to about 4"^3.
That's all I can think of, currently, that could potentially have the most impact on the process. Just as with 3D printing, there's not an easy way to definitively know how your parts will turn out. The sheer difference in the shape of your parts could throw out any "proven process" you come up with. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what things to look out for in starting out.
*Here's information about safety, before OP added disclaimer* ~~As with any chemical, **always** refer to the MSDS <sup>(Material Safety Data Sheet)</sup>! Whichever supplier you acquire the chloroform from, should ship an MSDS with the product. If one is not shipped, you should be able to request one. If they don't have one, don't use the product and don't purchase from them.~~
~~In most cases, you can get away with finding any MSDS online, but I'd recommend trying to get one directly from your supplier as they might theoretically have a different "strand" of the chemical. Therefore, reactions and safety precautions may be different than what you will find online.<br>~~
~~A quick search yields this MSDS which states that chloroform does have "carcinogenic effects" along with some other long-term, undesirable effects. As with any other MSDS it continues to go over best-practices and extremity limits.~~
> 3 votes
# Answer
Beside vaporizing with heat, you can use an atomizer and do cold vapor. The time is around 1-5 minutes at 45ºC for a 10x10x20 mm piece like a Marvin or a bot. I have done only gangster tests with it, so I have no larger piece info.
Passive vapor polish does not work with chloroform since it tends to crack. It needs a fast flash on the outside only.
> 2 votes
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Tags: pla, post-processing, surface
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thread-3479 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3479 | Melzi v3b firmware flash | 2017-01-27T21:31:13.130 | # Question
Title: Melzi v3b firmware flash
I'm trying to flash the repetier Firmware to my Prusa i3 3D Printer, which uses Melzi 2.0 board. I uploaded it successfully 2 days ago with same settings but now is failing always.
```
@avrdude -p m1284p -b57600 -c arduino -P COM%x% -e -U flash:w:%filename%.hex
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.02s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9705 (probably m1284p)
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "newa.hex"
avrdude: input file newa.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
avrdude: writing flash (114266 bytes):
Writing | | 0% 0.00s
avrdude: stk500_paged_write(): (a) protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x64
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
```
How do I solve this problem?
# Answer
I have had trouble before not using spacing between arguments. I think no spacing between `-b` and `57600` is causing the problem. Try
```
avrdude -p m1284p -b 57600 -c arduino -P COM%x% -e -U flash:w:%filename%.hex
```
> 2 votes
---
Tags: firmware
--- |
thread-3492 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3492 | Why would one choose 12 V from 24 V, from a safety standpoint? | 2017-01-30T13:42:55.383 | # Question
Title: Why would one choose 12 V from 24 V, from a safety standpoint?
I have seen many people saying on this site and many other 3D printing websites that 24 V systems are safer, compared to 12 V systems. By safer, I am talking in terms of fires or other electrical and component failures.
Why would a 24 V system cause less danger? I would think that 12 V would be safer because it is very common (automotive) and many parts have been around for a while that use it. Although there are an increasingly amount of boards that support 24 V, many don't or need fuses or other parts that do support 24 V.
Also, many parts that I have used are rated for 12 - 24 V. A 12 V power supply can go a bit over fairly comfortably. A 24 V power supply can't without partially going over the rating.
If I had to build a printer designed with safety as a main priority, what voltage would be best?
# Answer
The most important "safety" advantage when using 24V (compared to 12V) is that to get the same power, you only need half the current. A 192W heated bed would need 16A at 12V, but only 8A at 24V.
Since one of the most common safety issues is underrated screw terminals being used for the heated bed (just search for "3d printer fire"; you'll find quite a few pictures of charred plastic around screw terminals). For example, the screw terminals on RAMPs board are only rated for up to 12A. That would be okay at 24V, but well over the limit at 12V.
Since the wire gauge is dependent on current, you can also use somewhat thinner wires with a 24V system (or equivalently: wires that would melt in a 12V setup won't in a 24V setup). The power dissipated in a wire scales quadratically with current, so the same wire being used in a 24V setup would only waste a quarter of the heat of that wire in a 12V setup. There is also less strain on switching devices (such as MOSFETs or relays). The same applies here: power loss is quadratic with current.
> 8 votes
# Answer
From a pure safety standpoint there is nothing about a 24v system that is distrinctly more safe than a 12v system. I see you added comments about something involving wire sizes. This is not really a factor.. I would say not knowing what wire size to use is a whole other issue. There is nothing stopping you from putting on larger wires.
The following websites verify the fact that a 24v needs smaller wires. Though again the system it self is not safer because the wires required are smaller.
I will also note the size difference is negligible anyways. It is not a major difference.
Now one exception to this. If you had a 24v and a 12v compatible board. I would pick a 24v. The reason is not that the wire sizes needed are different. But for the reduced danger of the CONNECTOR that the wires attach to. I see quite often in the flashforge owner group boards that have caught fire due to a cheap connector that can not handle the load for the printer.
> -2 votes
---
Tags: electronics, switching-power-supply
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thread-3495 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3495 | Stepper Motor for Prusa i3 | 2017-01-30T18:52:08.427 | # Question
Title: Stepper Motor for Prusa i3
We have stepper motors with these specs:
* 1200 mA
* 4 V
* 3.2 kg • cm
Are these enough for building a Prusa i3 3D printer?
(I live in Turkey and these are the specs of the NEMA 17 they sell in here)
# Answer
> 3 votes
Awful answer, I know, but it depends... on where you are going to employ them:
* are they are all, or just some, of the axes, or;
* just for the extruder?
If they are for use in translating movement of the axes, then the weights of:
* the y-axis plate;
* the x-axis carriage, and;
* the print head,
will all come into play - amongst many other things.
With a torque of just 32 N • cm<sup>1</sup>, they seem, at first glance, to be a little underpowered - a torque of 44 N • cm (4.5 kg·cm) is the recommended minimum. Also, the current, of 1.2 A, seems to be a tad on the low side, 1.5 - 1.8 A is recommended.
There are some great resources on the RepRapWiki. See:
The minimum (recommended) specifications, for a Nema 17 stepper motor, are:
> * 1.5 A to 1.8 A current per phase
> * 1 to 4 V
> * 3 to 8 mH inductance per phase
> * 44 N·cm (62 oz·in, 4.5 kg·cm) or more holding torque
> * 1.8° or 0.9° per step (200/400 steps/rev respectively)
You may be able to get yours to work, but is it worth the hassle, just to save a few quid? Best to get the recommended, and most popular steppers, which are:
* Kysan 1124090/42BYGH4803;
* Rattm 17HS8401, and;
* Wantai 42BYGHW609
Obviously, you *don't have to* use one of these three motors - other stepper motors can be used. On the Nema 17 Stepper motor link, above, there is a table of a number of stepper motors, of various makes and models, that have been proven to work.
---
### Further Reading
Motors, a thread on the RepRap forums - specifically for the Prusa Mendel v2, so not entirely related to the i3, as the steppers for the *z*-axis are less than those for the *x* and *y* axes, but it is a good informative read nevertheless.
---
<sup>1</sup> I assume that you actually mean *either* 32 N • cm, *or* 3.2 kg • cm.
---
Tags: motor, stepper
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thread-3487 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3487 | How to unclog a clogged extruder? | 2017-01-29T14:39:53.090 | # Question
Title: How to unclog a clogged extruder?
I have a Wanhao Duplicator i3 v2 (A.K.A. Maker Select, Cocoon Create).
My extruder got clogged: I noticed that it wasn't extruding, so I stopped my print, removed the fan, heatsink and the extruder motor and I saw that the clog is at the heater block level.
This is a what I have:
As you can see, there is some PLA clogged at the very beginning of the 1.75mm hole in the extruder block.
I can see there is something white inside (a stone? something that is **not** PLA?). I tried to heat up the extruder to 250°C and pushing with an hex tool but the block did not move.
I solved a lot of clogged nozzle issues with the cold pull method, it always worked like a charm, this time I tried too but as a result the PLA filament broke and the "stone" is still there.
Does anyone know if there is a way to unclog the extruder in this situation?
Do I have to change it?
# Answer
I'm sure this is not the best solution, and if you have some ethyl acetate you should try that before going "the hard way".
Ethyl acetate is a solvent for PLA, so if you soak the extruder into it PLA should melt and free the extruder.
That said, this is the "hard" solution that worked for me.
---
You'll need:
1. A drill
2. A 1mm drill bit
3. A 1.5mm drill bit
Insert the 1mm drill bit into the drill. If your drill has a setting to reduce the drilling speed, take this to the minimum speed. If your drill doesn't have such options, you'll need to push the drill button very gently.
Put the drill bit on the pla block (be sure to not touch the cooling block, you might ruin it). Start drilling at the minimum speed and push very gently, until you get a side-to-side hole on the PLA (you know it because you feel no resistance at all while pushing the drill).
Take the 1.5mm drill bit and repeat the same operation. At this point my PLA block literally exploded (now I have some broken PLA inside my room, don't know where) and the extruder was finally free.
I hope this helps someone. Please notice that you need to be very gentle in order to avoid breaking parts of your extruder, but if I managed to do it, you can do it too ;)
As previously said, if you have ethyl acetate try soaking the extruder into it to make PLA dissolve before trying this. Try this solution only if all other options didn't help.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Steps:
1. Take the tip off, assuming it has a tip.
2. Heat up the extruder.
3. Take a length of plastic and push it though the extruder.
4. If the tip is clogged, then take a micro hand drill to clear the blockage.
> 1 votes
# Answer
This may not help, but I have a printrbot and when it clogs I heat up the extroder to 210C(for pla) or whatever the normal temperature is. Then manually push your filament through the hole till it's as far as it can go, then drop the hotend temp to 100 degrees C. When it is at 100C pull the whole filament out and hopefully your clog will come out too. After that just cut off the end of the filiment that has the clog on it. And you're good to go.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: filament, extruder, pla
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thread-3461 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3461 | Why does my domed print have a thin shell? | 2017-01-24T23:27:06.750 | # Question
Title: Why does my domed print have a thin shell?
I am making a "fun button", with a dome-shaped top. The vertical sides, top center, and raised lettering seem fine, but the more sloped outer parts of the dome are very thin, with some gaps and the infill pattern is quite visible. It's almost like the slicer isn't recognizing the sloped part as an exterior shell.
What is causing this, and how can I fix it?
The model was made in Fusion 360, sliced in Repetier with Slic3r, and printed on a Monoprice Maker Select Mini.
Edit: More information after checking values used and taking more photos.
This was my second attempt, after increasing the shell count already.
On my first print, I clearly had a low value for horizontal shells, top and bottom were both at the default of 3. I upped these both to 8. (Layer height is 0.13125.) The bottom of the button is now good. The "good" center area extends a little further out, so I think it's probably thicker up at the top of the dome. But the sloped sides are pretty much the same - this is why I'm thinking it's not being considered as a "horizontal shell".
Comparison:
There are some design iterations, but the top surface is the same shape.
**Update:**
I did a print using Cura, with 0.8 mm shells, and it looks great!
I cut the two bad prints with a hacksaw to see a cross-section. The bottom is clearly thicker. The top on the outer infill void is pretty much the same. The top on the other void is thicker most of the way across, but suddenly changes to thin.
# Answer
Slice with more solid top layers. I always use five with low-density infill.
> 3 votes
# Answer
You can either increase the shells, or you can increase the infill density. In addition different fill patterns will help. I would do 4 minimum for such a print.
> 1 votes
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Tags: print-quality, slic3r
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thread-3502 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3502 | How to make a steel mold from a 3D print in high detailed resin? | 2017-02-01T02:38:15.393 | # Question
Title: How to make a steel mold from a 3D print in high detailed resin?
I'm looking for information on how to make a steel mold from 3D print model using high detailed Resin.
My model is a custom made figurine/mininature of 6 inch.
Can anyone share companies that can make high detailed steel molds either in US or China.
Thanks, -Uday.
# Answer
Unless you have proven demand, you should start with aluminum tooling. It's *much* cheaper than steel, and (I'm assuming you want this for injection molding) you can produce quite a decent amount of parts from aluminum tooling if you handle it carefully.
Why do you want your tooling to be based on a 3D print model? Typically, for greatest accuracy, the tool and die company works from your original CAD work that you printed the 3D model from.
In terms of companies, Protolabs does plastic injection molding: https://www.protolabs.com/injection-molding/plastic-injection-molding/
> 1 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, 3d-models, 3d-design, resolution
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thread-3506 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3506 | How come firmware isn't uploaded? | 2017-02-01T16:11:42.370 | # Question
Title: How come firmware isn't uploaded?
I am calibrating my Kossel XL with a new Marlin firmware changing the `MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS` since I have modified my print bed.
I change the value in the Marlin code and upload it through Arduino (the editor on Windows 10). It has worked many times before with the exact same version of Arduino.
When I then use Pronterface and issue `G28` (home all) followed by `G1 Z30` (just to be on the safe side) it shows that Marlin wasn't uploaded at all. It is a the same height as before. It's a 22.2 mm difference so it is easy to see.
* I have tried restarting the Arduino board before and after upload.
* I have tried unplugging the USB cable before and after upload.
* I also tried two different USB ports.
* The computer has been rebooted.
* I have examined the Arduino editor's settings, so it uploads to the correct destination (COM3 in my case). It is as it should be. It, of course, reports "upload complete".
What can be the cause of this?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Are you sure that the firmware is not being uploaded? You can debug this changing the `STRING_VERSION` on `Configurations.h`. If the version is not being changed, I would suggest trying to use another computer to upload the firmware or even another board.
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Tags: firmware
--- |
thread-3483 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3483 | Print failing when connecting mains loads | 2017-01-29T02:11:14.410 | # Question
Title: Print failing when connecting mains loads
I am running the SeeMeCNC customized version of Repetier on a Rostock Max V2. I have experienced this problem with both the stock configuration along with an E3D The Chimera. Sometimes, when I am printing and connect a mains device, my printer will fail in some way. The first time this happened I was printing with ABS, so I connected my fume sucker (A ~25-50W fan) to an outlet. However, when I connected it, the LCD showed garbled characters and my software (MatterControl) reported an error. Restarting the printer returned it to the previous state. I had a ~15 foot (coiled) extension cord connected to a 3-way splitter.
Today, I connected a hot glue gun, and MatterControl reported that Repetier had switched to "Printer set into dry run mode until restart!" (no heat or extrusions). Looking at the firmware, this seems to be caused by a thermistor failure. I had everything plugged into the same setup as before, except for a surge protector at the end. The circuit that it is connected to has a 20A circuit breaker, with probably ~3A of it constantly used.
My theory for this is that an additional device causes a slight fluctuation in the thermistor wires, causing an error to occur. However, the Rostock Max is designed so that wires are inside of aluminum tubes, which I think would provide EMF protection. The power supply is a generic 12V 30A power supply that was included in the kit, usually seen in LED strips. Both of these occurred while printing. I have ordered a UPS for the printer: would its under/over-voltage detection help? Are there any other solutions for this?
# Answer
> 2 votes
I have had the same Issue with my Maker select prusa printer, the way I found that best combats this is to attach the printer to a UPS and avoid attaching any High draw devices from the same circuit. Every Time i'd switch something on, My TV, my lights, etc. The same would happen. Hope this helps!
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Tags: electronics, switching-power-supply, repetier
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thread-3518 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3518 | Will my Duplicator i3 be able to print this hole in the vertical wall without infill? | 2017-02-02T20:05:22.480 | # Question
Title: Will my Duplicator i3 be able to print this hole in the vertical wall without infill?
Will my Duplicator i3 be able to print this hole in the vertical wall without infill? The wall is 7mm the diameter of the hole is 24mm, the shell thickness is 0.8mm.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The answer is yes. However I notice that some knowledge is missing due your comments.
The walls of the part is formed by 1 or several lines, this lines are called shell.
The Infill is the part that fills all within the walls or shell; you can set the infill by 5% to 100% depending in how strong you need the printed part or set 0 to get an empty shell.
The printer can be able to print any part, but some areas will need **supports**, this suports is a kind of outerfill to support areas that could overhang basically walls with 45 degrees or less, this support can be easily removed from the final part
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Tags: pla, print-quality, infill
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thread-2843 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2843 | 3D printing related safety precautions for a baby rattle | 2016-10-05T15:20:36.943 | # Question
Title: 3D printing related safety precautions for a baby rattle
I've a friend who is expecting. There are several adorable weapon themed rattles on thingiverse. I am, however, concerned about safety associated with such a product in the hands of a baby who will gnaw on it. To me the safety concerns here are much larger than for most food handling applications.
What steps should be taken to ensure such a print is safe for use?
This includes: filament selection, pea material selection, wall thickness, smoothing, construction, etc.
My current thoughts are as follows: "food grade PLA", dried peas, sanding, and single piece construction
# Answer
> 8 votes
You're on the right track. Since you asked for "steps" here you go:
**Step 1. Choose a safe material:**
Consider chemical safety and physical safety. Food grade PLA should be chemically safe, but could be too brittle depending on the design you choose. PETG, T-Glase, or similar filaments (depending on dye) are normally also chemically safe and are less brittle than PLA so may be a better alternative. ABS is NOT typically considered safe for food contact.
**Step 2. Choose a safe design:**
If using PLA, be sure the design is robust enough to ensure it won't break. Broken rattles with sharp edges make baby...sad. Even less brittle filaments can still break with jagged edges if the design is fragile.
**Step 2a. Choose a single piece design:**
Choose a design that requires you to add the peas (or other safe filler) during the print such that the finished rattle is fully enclosed. This will minimize parts becoming loose or peas spilling and minimize choke hazards.
**Step 3. Consider post processing to improve safety:**
Sanding could reduce ridges and minimize crevices that could harbor bacteria, but sealing it with a food-safe sealant may be more effective. There are many sealants that the FDA considers safe, but polyurethane or food-safe epoxy finishes will work well with PLA. (If you use a different material, test to verify good adhesion.)
**Step 4. Test:**
Make a test rattle and run it through the paces. I guess you could chew on it, but since babies don't have teeth, this might invalidate your data...
**Step 5. Consider alternatives such as professional printing services:**
If your tests don't inspire confidence, professional services can offer additional materials (metals, ceramics, etc.) that could be safer than a typical fused filament printer.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Also consider the nozzle on your printer. Most nozzles are made of brass, which is not considered food safe due to the presence of small amounts of lead. Stainless steel nozzles are available which will not perform quite as well as brass but are food safe.
---
Tags: print-material, filament-choice
--- |
thread-3537 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3537 | Can I design or remix a model in SketchUp Make and legally share it via Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory or similar? | 2017-02-06T12:37:38.997 | # Question
Title: Can I design or remix a model in SketchUp Make and legally share it via Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory or similar?
SketchUp Make is licensed for non-commercial work only. This includes the output from the software.
> Trimble Navigation Limited and/or its affiliates ("Trimble") gives you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the executable version of the Software for non-commercial use only. Non-commercial use means: you may not sell, rent, lease or lend the output of the Software or the Services.
The above retrieved 2016-02-07. The full SketchUp Make license can be found on the SketchUp website.
In what ways does this restrict my use of SketchUp Make generated material with sites that allow the sharing of models (and deisgn files)? This would include sites such as Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory and 3D Warehouse.
---
For example, must I always set a non-commercial license for my designs? Thingiverse allows several different license choices to be selected.
Can I permit the design to be printed by someone for money?
Thingiverse has links to 3D HUBS and Print a Thing which can be disabled per model.
Obviously the SketchUp Pro license makes many of the restrictions on what can be done with the output go away, which would be much simpler. However I do not expect to generate anywhere near the costs of purchasing a license ($695 US at the time of writing) by tweaking a few designs now and then.
---
I want to comply with the licenses but I need to understand the limits of what I am permitted to do with SketchUp Make in order to do that. It may be much more prudent for me to invest my time in learning other tools that have no restrictions on what can be done with the output.
As this is a legal question it might matter what jurisdiction I am in and what jurisdiction the sites I may share to are in. I am based in the UK. Thingiverse is based in the State of New York. MyMiniFactory uses the Laws of England as a base. 3D Warehouse selects the State of California.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Again, I'm not a specialist in intellectual property law (or any other sort of lawyer), but I have a different interpretation.
There is a potential difference between the use of the product, and the use of the derivatives of the product. For example, GCC has a restrictive (open) license, but its OK (in some contexts) to use the compiled code in a commercial product.
Generally, you (as creator of a work) will own all of the rights to a work. The supplier of the tools you use does not *usually* gain any rights to the resulting work.
So long as *you* don't gain from your use of the tool, it is probably OK for other people to profit from the use. Sharing with non-commercial should be your safest option if you're worried - but be aware that this doesn't prevent people from taking your design to a print service indirectly.
Their license says:
> Non-commercial use means that you may not sell, rent, or lease the output of the Software
This implies that they are not making any claims to restrict how other non-connected persons might use your works. Its specifically talking about use as part of employment, or you making a gain.
I would also note that to me the language in the license does not look to have been drafted with a clear understanding of intent on this issue.
# Answer
> 1 votes
IANAL, naturally, so take this with that in mind.
From what I've read and been instructed, any software which is licenced as non-commercial cannot be redistributed or incorporated into any commercial software product. The other thing about "noncommercial" software licenses is that they can't be used for corporate design work -- as opposed to home user hacking.
Now, all you need to do is ensure that the license restrictions remain with the mixup files you post. There is no doubt that, so long as you do that, you are free from any legal problems that a downstream vendor may incur upon trying to sell the hardware produced.
---
Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, software, cad, legal
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thread-3545 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3545 | Print circle arcs without supports | 2017-02-07T14:13:32.897 | # Question
Title: Print circle arcs without supports
I'm still putting aside money for buying my first 3D printer and I'm designing all the things I have to print.
As I have **a lot of things** to print I would like to print as much of them as possible in a single print.
I have some arcs of circle (between 90° and 320° and 10/30 cm of diameter) and I'm going to slice them so I'll be able to print many of them, vertically, in a single print. I read in the internet that I cannot print over 45°... but starting from where?
The image below shows how I would like to print my (orange) things
I suppose I can print my things without supports because from Y-start to Y-end they are \<= 45° (as the green line shows) is that right?
The red line, instead, shows a case where the angle, starting from a (Y: 50%) point, is higher than 45°.
**So the question is**: Can I print my things in such way?
# Answer
There are a lot of variables here...
If you did at ..
1. higher resolution.
2. Calibrate your machine extremely well. Trial and error. Minimum temps and speed.
3. If you use a fan.
IE bad calibration. Good calibration at a slower speed and lower temp.
What is going to happen is you will get a lot of junk, lines, loops, stringers that you can later remove with clippers. See the first photo for an extreme case. It still printed.
Also if you use the right material as well. Some material, will do bridging better, IE ABS has a longer molecular chain than PLA so it tends to do overhangs / bridges better.
Images from ultimaker
> 1 votes
# Answer
This depends on your material, your nozzle diameter, and your layer height. In general, shorter layer thicknesses with wider path widths will give better overhangs. And note that the last bit of each of the larger arcs are nearly horizontal, and I do not expect them to work well without support material.
See the excellent answers at How can I improve the overhang angles my printer can successfully print?
> 1 votes
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Tags: 3d-design, support-structures
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thread-3547 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3547 | I'm searching for a tool to generate 2D PDF of one side of my model | 2017-02-07T20:26:56.007 | # Question
Title: I'm searching for a tool to generate 2D PDF of one side of my model
I've created a model in OpenSCAD, mainly some cubes (not really cubes, but lengthy braces using `cube()`) and cylinders with cylindrical holes in them, to hold several PCBs.
The barrels will accept a 3 mm PCB standoff, which will then hold the PCB.
I would like to print the top view in the exact measurements on paper, to check for alignment before printing the bracing on my 3D printer.
The tool I'm searching for should be able to generate a drawing of all edges seen from one side, like a technical drawing.
I've used FreeCAD and OpenSCAD for now, but any tool running on Ubuntu should be fine.
# Answer
> 6 votes
OpenSCAD has a great feature called projection which allows you to select a vertical location and effectively "cast a shadow" of the part. The projection becomes a 2D object scaled to the original model.
One can rotate, translate or otherwise transform the model prior to performing the projection function, in order to get the appropriate 2D drawing.
The resulting "model" is rendered using F6 and can be output as .DXF or .SVG as well as a number of other formats that might not be as useful to you.
EDIT: I've been recently using Onshape to create drawings from 3D models. It's also a free program, browser based which allows you to import your STL model (or other acceptable formats). Once imported, a drawing can be created with three-view and isometric, or you can edit to create only a single view. This can then be exported/downloaded as a PDF.
The screen capture image below is from a project I've recently created. The original STL file was imported and the result is quite clean.
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Tags: software
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thread-3550 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3550 | What is a w/t ratio? | 2017-02-08T05:11:22.170 | # Question
Title: What is a w/t ratio?
I have seen a few guides mentioning *w/t ratio* but I can't find anything which defines it.
I am using Simplify3D with a Wanhao i3.
# Answer
It appears to refer to calibration factor called *Width over Thickness*.
From Calibrate your 3D printer to print parts to fit
> Here is the list of necessary variables for this calibration to work,
>
> * Carve/Extra Decimal Places (float) : change to 5
> * Carve/Edge Width over Height (ratio) : nozzle diameter/layer height
> * Inset/Infill **Width over Thickness** (ratio) : nozzle diameter/layer height (initially)
> * Dimension/Filament Packing Density (ratio) : needs calibration (equivalent to the reciprocal of the extrusion multiplier in Slic3r)
> * Scale/XY Plane Scale (ratio) : needs calibration
> 2 votes
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Tags: simplify3d
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thread-3073 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3073 | Firmware Choice: Marlin vs Repetier vs Other | 2016-11-21T17:56:01.737 | # Question
Title: Firmware Choice: Marlin vs Repetier vs Other
We are custom building a Cartesian 3D printer to be used in a production 3D printing environment, with the following requirements:
* Intended Z resolution 0.13mm;
* Dual extruders (primary + support material);
* Four spools (two per material with y connector, perhaps add auto switch-over functionality later);
* Camera;
* Onboard 11" touchscreen for control & interaction, run by a Raspberry Pi 3;
* Custom board based on ATMega2560 to control the printer;
* Printer should gracefully handle conditions like "out of material", etc.
Question: How to select firmware?
Are there notable differences between the primary firmware options (Marlin/Repetier) for this setup? From the google code groups, I understand the Repetier has a much cleaner code base, and apparently gives smoother physical performance. Yet, from what I can gather, 95% of the community uses Marlin - is that correct?
Given that this printer will have the Pi3 to control "higher functions", is it worth considering a compact firmware like Teacup?
Edit 12/April/2017:
For others looking: After much review, Klipper was selected as the most forward firmware - all kinematic calculations are done on the host computer, instead of on the microprocessor, resulting is significantly faster/smoother stepper movement.
# Answer
Your choice of firmware depends on a lot of factors, but to name a few important ones: features, your driver board (RAMPS vs Sanguinololu vs Gen..etc), and G-code support.
Smooth/quiet operation is dependent on the motors and the driver chip's micro-stepping capabilities. The way the firmware interfaces with the driver chip plays a very minor factor in that.
Check this page for a list of firmware, their capabilities and compatible electronics (driver board):
http://www.reprap.org/wiki/List\_of\_Firmware
Would be useful to check G-code support of various firmwares also:
http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code
Also, as a note, a lot of the community uses Marlin, but for a lot of the commercial printers, the code has been modified slightly to fit their needs.
There is no perfect answer to this. Check the links and compare against your needs. Marlin is the safest bet since it has the most support, though you may need to modify or reconfigure it slightly for your custom board.
> 6 votes
# Answer
> Given that this printer will have the Pi3 to control "higher functions", is it worth considering a compact firmware like Teacup?
A few days ago I came across klipper.
It seems to do exactly that functionality split you mention
> 8 votes
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Tags: firmware
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thread-3532 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3532 | 3D prints keep suffering from warping | 2017-02-05T14:27:13.000 | # Question
Title: 3D prints keep suffering from warping
I have a Prusa i3 made by Geeetech. My 3D prints keep suffering from warping when printing with PLA.
Whenever I print something with a base at about 10 cm x 10 cm, at least one corner of the print would warp up. I've read numerous articles about warping and tried all sorts of methods. My printer's bed is level, and heated to 60°C. My bed is made from clean glass. I've tried all sorts of adhesives. I tried blue tape, and used hair spray.
The only way for me to combat this is gluing the base to blue tape with 502 Glue. I used brim and the whole brim just warps up. I sometimes leave the model printing over night. For the first few hours it's perfectly flat. When I go back to it the next morning I'd find one corner warped up. This is very dysfunctional to my prints.
Is there a reliable way to stop this warping from happening?
# Answer
> 6 votes
For ABS it will warp unless you build a heat chamber.
That said the tricks to reduce warping come down to:
1. Material, i.e. PLA is less likely to warp;
2. Use a fan, it helps so much;
3. Make sure you have temps calibrated well - Too hot is more warp;
4. Use a raft. The Makerbot uses a raft and no heated bed;
5. Make sure the room is not drafty. Having it by the window will result in warping;
6. Adding a large brim also helps;
7. I find good ol' glue sticks work the best at keeping the print to the bed;
8. SMASH the first layer. This one is controversial. I personally do first layer at 130% and print speed of 30%. You get elephants foot sure, but it's on the bed real good.
Tom is right. It is very very hard to print that big of a piece without warping. That said I have done very large pieces on my Ultimaker, using a fan, glue stick, MatterHackers PRO PLA and no raft. But again that's on an Ultimaker.
Note you can build a heat chamber pretty easily. Specifically a passive heat chamber.
# Answer
> 0 votes
For PLA, I use a brim. The other thing that makes a big difference is obsessive care in levelling the bed and setting the Z-origin. Ideally, the first layer extruded (including the brim), should be almost "squished" onto the bed rather than being laid down at a height that allows a near-circular cross-section.
If the extruder head is too low, almost no filament will come out. If it's too high, there'll be very little adhesion. FWIW, I think a heated bed helps here, as it slows the cooling of this first layer and improves the adhesion as the fluid-phase 'grabs' the surface.
# Answer
> 0 votes
It might be useful you confirm again the bed levelling. I had warp on big pieces despite I thought my bed was properly leveled but in fact, for some reasons, the bed was too far from the head on one corner. If you face the same issue, you should see the bottom part of your print is showing the filaments not well melted to each others on the 1st layer. I really make sure the nozzle is gripping my paper sheet (almost scratching it when I move the paper).
# Answer
> -2 votes
Source (at least in part):
> Curling
>
> As printed plastic parts cool the different areas of the object can cool at different rates. 1 Depending upon the parts being printed, this effect can lead to warping and curling. Although PLA has a much lower shrinkage factor than ABS, both can warp and curl, potentially ruining a print. There are some very common ways to deal with this potential problem, the most notable being a heated build platform. However, sometimes that might not be enough.
>
> 1. Use a heated build platform. A heated build platform helps keep the lowest levels of a print warm as the higher layers are printed. This allows the overall print to cool more evenly. A heated build platform, sometimes abbreviated as HBP, helps tremendously with just about any ABS print and large PLA prints.
> 2. Print with a raft. Rafts are a printing option in ReplicatorG and Skeinforge. They’re basically a large flat lattice work of printed material underneath the lower-most layer of your printed object. They’ll also help reduce warping and curling by allowing your printed object to adhere better to your flat build surface. Other variations on this are to print with a larger raft and/or a thicker raft comprised of more layers.
> 3. Calibrate your starting Z height. A good first layer makes all the difference. If your starting Z axis height is too high, the extruded filament won’t be able to make a good bond with the platform. If you think your Z axis starting height is too high, try lowering it by 0.05mm increments until you find a good first layer.
> 4. Get the right build surface. Some people have experimented with different surfaces such as steel, titanium, glass, different kinds of plastic, different kinds of tape, and foam board. However, I find both ABS and PLA seem to stick really well to hot or warm Kapton tape.
> 5. Clean your build surface. ABS and PLA stick better to a clean build surface. Keep it clean of dust, pieces of old prints, and any other debris.
> 6. Print slower. Printing slower allows finer detail, better adhesion to the build surface and lower layers, and gives the printed part more time to cool evenly.
> 7. Print cooler. Printing at a lower temperature isn’t always an option. Ideally, you should be printing at the lowest temperature required for extrusion and that allows good interlayer adhesion. However, trying lower temperatures isn’t for the faint of heart. Printing at a too low a temperature could cause harm to your extruder motor or extruder.
> 8. Eliminate drafts or enclose your robot. Forrest Higgs found that having his 3D printer too close to an open window caused very uneven heating across his build surface. This in turn caused the side of his prints closest to the window to curl. Since keeping the window closed wasn’t an option for him, he compensated for the window drafts by adding a heat lamp. Cupcake and Thing-O-Matic owners might have an easier time of eliminating drafts by simply enclosing two or three of the sides of their robots. It will also have a fortunate side effect of helping to control fumes.
> 9. Design with mouse ears. Zach Smith’s solution was to add little discs to corners of an object to help those corners stick to the platform. These essentially serve as “mini-rafts” to give those corners more surface area and better adhesion without having to print an entire raft.
> 10. Design with aprons to hold down corners. Forrest Higgs suggested adding “aprons” around an object to be printed, while that object was being printed on a raft. These low thick pieces of plastic help keep the raft flat and help prevent any curling or warping from affecting the desired printed object itself.
> 11. Design with surrounding thermal walls. While Forrest Higgs’ apron approach provides a mechanical advantage of essentially holding down corners with a chunk of plastic, Nophead has added thin surrounding walls to his designs to act as baffles to keep warm air around the printed object as it moves around. He’s postulated that a very thin surrounding wall could have the same beneficial effect as printing inside an enclosed build chamber. Interestingly, it seems that Nophead suggests that designing objects with more rounded corners might also help avoid curling and warping at those corners.
> 12. Reduce infill. When printing a model you can chose to print it hollow, completely solid, or some percentage between zero and 100. However, as Nophead points out even the plastic inside a model exerts a force on the entire printed object as it cools. It stands to reason that the more plastic you have, the more those pieces of plastic will pull against themselves and the build surface as they cool. By reducing infill there will a reduced amount of internal tension as the object cools. Reducing these internal forces by printing with a lower infill ratio can help reduce curling and warping as well.
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Tags: pla, warping
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thread-3557 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3557 | How do you 3d print from an existing part when you have no CAD drawings? | 2017-02-10T04:02:14.437 | # Question
Title: How do you 3d print from an existing part when you have no CAD drawings?
We have a toy with some broken parts, an Executivity Gear Master. I don't think it's made anymore. Some tiny parts were easy to break and we'd like to 3d print some replacement parts. We don't have CAD or any other 3D drawings file, just a few of the unbroken parts. What's the best way to get some of these printed? Do I have to turn this into a 3D file first? (Is there a quick way to do that from the part itself?) Or is there a way to do it where I just need the part, rather like getting a spare key cut from a pre-existing key being used as the template?
Here's a photo of the part I need to print. Placed next to a quarter for size comparison:
# Answer
> 6 votes
You can't print without a 3D model first. There are various ways you can go about this (or pay someone to do the same for you, ignoring any IP issues).
It is possible to generate a 3D model from a sequence of 2D photographs (there is even software which will allow you to do this freehand on a phone). Equipment exists which is specifically designed for this process, and you have likely heard of the services which allow you to get a 3D print of your own body.
You can take a 2D photo and import this into a 3D drawing package. Copy the features into a mesh, and extrude it. This might be a good approach for a complex shape, particularly if appearance is more important than precision.
For the shape you show here, the simplest approach for anyone with modeling experience is maybe to just draw it from scratch (with a few key dimensions). Your shape is only made up of a handful of primitive shapes.
Experiment in TinkerCad which is an online 3D editor to see if you can handle this yourself. It's not clear if you have your own printer, but this sort of part should cost less than $1 to print.
Strength might be a problem if they are already breaking...
# Answer
> 6 votes
Unfortunately, There's no easy way to go about this. The easiest solution is to model the part from scratch. A pair of (digital) calipers is an invaluable tool for doing that.
Given that the part is rather small and (presumably) needs to fit with something, you need very precise measurements. 3D scanning or photogrammetry (reconstructing the models from 2D photographs) are not suitable for this, as they generally result in a model that needs clean up and can't be printed directly (which would be more work than modelling from scratch) and moreover the dimensions won't be accurate enough.
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Tags: 3d-design
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thread-3552 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3552 | Prusa's P.I.N.D.A. XYZ axes calibration fails with generic message "Consult the manual" | 2017-02-08T22:25:01.630 | # Question
Title: Prusa's P.I.N.D.A. XYZ axes calibration fails with generic message "Consult the manual"
I have just built a Prusa i3 MK2 printer. One of its features is automatic XYZ axes calibration done using inductive probe which is located next to the nozzle.
In my case, this calibration procedure failed with the message:
> *XYZ calibration failed. Please consult the manual.*
The manual on this problem reads:
> 1. **XYZ calibration failed. Bed calibration point was not found.**
> Calibration routine did not find a bed sensor point. The printer stops close to the bed point, which it failed to detect. Please verify, that the printer is assembled correctly, that all axes move freely, the pulleys do not slip and the print nozzle is clean. If everything looks good, re-run the X/Y calibration and verify with a sheet of paper between the nozzle and the print bed that the print nozzle does not touch the print bed during the calibration routine. If you feel a friction of the nozzle against the sheet of paper and the nozzle is clean, you need to screw the PINDA probe slightly lower and re-run the X/Y calibration.
> 2. **XYZ calibration failed. Please consult the manual.**
> The calibration points were found in positions far from what should be expected for a properly assembled printer. Please follow the instructions of case 1).
My nozzle is new, therefore clean and I have already checked that all axes move without any problems. The manual does not seem to offer any additional advice.
I tried to put the PINDA probe lower. It had helped the calibration, but at the same time the probe was lower than the nozzle, which means I couldn't print with it being on the extruder.
What else can I check? How to find the issue? This is my first printer, so I'm totally clueless.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One thing, and the one that eventually solved my problem, is to update the firmware. Firmware update instructions: Upgrading firmware - Prusa3D
The only thing you might get stuck on is selecting the right COM port.
1. Go to the device manager (run `devmgmt.msc`)
2. In COM and LPT section, you should see port for your printer by name. Select that port number in the firmware update tool.
In my case, I had to run the calibration twice before it worked. I had no problems since then.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I suggest that you ask on shop.prusa3d.com and click the Forum tab button. The folks there are very friendly and knowledgable. I'm sure you can get some help. You can also email support.
There is also a question form at the bottom of www.prusa3d.com where you can ask questions.
I'm sure you can get it going. I have a MK2 also and it has done very well by me!
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Tags: prusa-i3, calibration
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thread-3569 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3569 | Turning off heatbed for the last few layers. Good idea or not? | 2017-02-11T04:25:59.960 | # Question
Title: Turning off heatbed for the last few layers. Good idea or not?
My heatbed won't let go off the prints until it considerably cools down. The cooling process takes decent amount of time.
I was considering putting the `M140 S0` (sets heatbed temp to 0) somewhere near the end of the printing process, so that when the printing is done the cooling is already in process.
Is that a bad idea? I am asking because if it was 100% perfect idea, slicer would probably do it already.
# Answer
It's not a bad idea, and you should try it. But only on prints with some height, because:
The goal of the heated bed is to ensure adhesion for the first few layers. Without the heat on the *bottom* side of the layer, the layers *above* will pull those layers with it as they cool, causing the warp that you see. When your bed is warmer than the layers above, those first layers stay with the warmth. This continues as the layers above are pulled into adhering to the bottom layer instead of going rogue.
Print some objects that are taller than 10 layers, and see. When you succeed, get scientific and dial down the amount of layers until you see warp. Then you'll know which object height you can employ this.
> 6 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, slicing, g-code, adhesion
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thread-3564 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3564 | Snapping to Ground - 123D Design | 2017-02-10T21:50:45.500 | # Question
Title: Snapping to Ground - 123D Design
It's my first encounter with 123D Design, and first time playing around STL/3D printing in general. I can't find much information about the grid. But I noticed, while trying to move it, you can actually raise it from the grid. Does this affect how it will be printed? Does the print have to be snapped to the ground for it to print properly? Or is the grid relative, used for approximation?
# Answer
> 0 votes
The position matters a lot if you use the default STL file without doing anything in the slicer. I've used 123D extensively and when I've inadvertently left a gap between the part and bed (and not snapped it to the bed in the slicer), the printer tries to print in mid air. Use "d" to "drop" the object to the grid. Different slicers have similar commands that will attach a face to the bed. I use Simplify3D.
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Tags: 3d-design
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thread-3579 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3579 | What kind of colors should I use to paint my PLA prints? | 2017-02-12T21:12:26.957 | # Question
Title: What kind of colors should I use to paint my PLA prints?
I'd like to paint my prints, which I printed using white PLA, with some colors. I have no idea what type of paint should stick to PLA well. I need paint that will not be soluble in water and will stick good enough.
What kinds of paints do people use to paint PLA prints?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Fortunately, PLA accepts many types of paints, most common of them is acrylic paint. Acrylic is water-soluble until it dries, then it becomes water-resistant.
Depending on the goal you plan to achieve, different types of paints can be used - oil paint, already mentioned acrylic, enamels or lacquers.
Keeping in mind that manufacturers may present different types of plastic under the same 'PLA' brand, it is always good idea to try selected type of paint on a print sample to ensure that it sticks well enough and not melts the print too much at the same time.
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Tags: pla, post-processing, color
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thread-3568 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3568 | What causes gaps in small region fills and how to prevent them? | 2017-02-11T03:09:37.180 | # Question
Title: What causes gaps in small region fills and how to prevent them?
I saw this cool Nuka-Cola bottle opener. I made it:
As you can see, nasty gaps have appeared in the text. What could've caused them? I am sure I set the filament diameter correctly. So why did the Slic3er not generate enough paths here to fill the letters properly?
I used Slic3er and Repetier Host. My printer is Prusa i3 MK2 1.75mm. The material I used was PLA.
# Answer
I had a similar issue as described in this question. Curiously, yours is almost opposite as my raised lettering was OK, but the surrounding areas were poorly filled.
I came to the conclusion that Slic3r was simply not able to properly handle the geometry in my part. I tried with Cura and had great results!
> 3 votes
# Answer
If you look closely at the slicer output, you will probably see that these regions just have outer shells, and no infill. What is happening here is that the part thickness is between 2 and 3 nozzle widths (or possibly between 4 and 5). If you ask for a 1 mm thickness, but only have a 0.4 mm nozzle, it is not easy for the slicer to split this into 2.5 passes.
One thing I found would sometimes help is to change the nozzle width setting in the slicer (to maybe 0.39 mm) and this sometimes helps (at the expense of needing to offset the extrusion rate to compensate).
Here are some rectangles of width 0.3 mm to 1.2 mm (increments of 0.1 mm) sliced in Cura 2.31. The first is 'normal', with wall count set to 2. Next is an inaccurate (small) nozzle setting of 0.38 mm, and finally the correct 0.4 mm nozzle, wall thickness of 1. The last setting shows infill (in yellow) rather than an inner wall (green).
Normal has a gap in anything over 0.8 mm wide.
If I reduce the nozzle width, I do get some inner walls, but only where there was already space for 2 walls.
When I only request one wall, the rest infill, (even though I have 20% infill), then the result is as expected. This seems to be a bug in Cura (or at least something which is improved in the version currently in beta).
There is a bit more detail in this question Missing top layers in Cura
> 2 votes
# Answer
The proper term here is Under Extrusion.
There are a lot of reasons this can happen. For my Ultimaker, over time it developed very bad underextrusion due to the build up of carbon. I had to do atomic pulls / increase the extrusion multiplier.
I would ...
1. verify that you move exactly the amount of plastic you think you are. Mark 200mm of material. Extrude 100. Fix the firmware steps per mm for Extruder if incorrect.
2. triple check the filament measurements. Try all along the length. See if the plastic has bad variance.
3. Verify that it is not printing as expected. Is your slicer generating the gaps? Letters are hard for slicing programs. If it cannot print a full line, it often will print a gap. You can adjust this by allowing greater line overlaps. This is probably what is happening.
> 1 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, slicing, slic3r, repetier-host
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thread-3582 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3582 | Where to find Z coordinate in G-code for Delta printer | 2017-02-13T14:23:53.913 | # Question
Title: Where to find Z coordinate in G-code for Delta printer
I´m currently writing my own firmware for a custom Delta printer. Therefore I also need to read G-code from programs like Slic3r. Even with a small example like a cube, I´m struggling to find out where the Z-coordinate is hidden in the code. Here is a small example of the code.
```
; generated by Slic3r 1.2.9 on 2017-02-13 at 15:08:01
; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.50mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.58mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
M107
M104 S205 ; set temperature
G28 ; home all axes
G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
M109 S205 ; wait for temperature to be reached
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M82 ; use absolute distances for extrusion
G92 E0
G1 Z0.500 F7800.000
G1 E-2.00000 F2400.00000
G92 E0
G1 X-31.893 Y0.000 F7800.000
G1 E2.00000 F2400.00000
G1 X-31.893 Y-25.001 E3.57871 F1800.000
G1 X-31.496 Y-27.307 E3.72646
G1 X-30.350 Y-29.347 E3.87420
G1 X-28.588 Y-30.886 E4.02194
G1 X-26.413 Y-31.748 E4.16968
G1 X-25.000 Y-31.894 E4.25936
G1 X25.000 Y-31.894 E7.41663
G1 X27.306 Y-31.497 E7.56437
G1 X29.346 Y-30.351 E7.71211 F1800.000
G1 X30.885 Y-28.589 E7.85985
G1 X31.746 Y-26.414 E8.00759
G1 X31.893 Y-25.001 E8.09727
G1 X31.893 Y25.001 E11.25470
G1 X31.496 Y27.307 E11.40244
G1 X30.350 Y29.347 E11.55019
G1 X28.588 Y30.886 E11.69793
G1 X26.413 Y31.748 E11.84567
G1 X25.000 Y31.894 E11.93535
G1 X-25.000 Y31.894 E15.09262
G1 X-27.306 Y31.497 E15.24036
G1 X-29.346 Y30.351 E15.38810
G1 X-30.885 Y28.589 E15.53584
G1 X-31.746 Y26.414 E15.68358
G1 X-31.893 Y25.001 E15.77326
G1 X-31.893 Y0.075 E17.34724
G1 E15.34724 F2400.00000
G92 E0
G1 X-22.715 Y-22.716 F7800.000
G1 E2.00000 F2400.00000
G1 X22.715 Y-22.716 E4.86865 F1800.000
G1 X22.715 Y22.716 E7.73745
G1 X-22.715 Y22.716 E10.60609
G1 X-22.715 Y-22.641 E13.47016
G1 X-23.607 Y-23.609 F7800.000
G1 X23.607 Y-23.609 E16.45155 F1800.000
G1 X23.607 Y23.608 E19.43309
G1 X-23.607 Y23.608 E22.41447
G1 X-23.607 Y-23.534 E25.39128
G1 X-24.500 Y-24.501 F7800.000
G1 X24.500 Y-24.501 E28.48541 F1800.000
G1 X24.500 Y24.501 E31.57969
G1 X-24.500 Y24.501 E34.67382
G1 X-24.500 Y-24.426 E37.76336
```
Here are some configuration details:
* G-code flavor: RepRap
* Nozzle diameter: 0,5 mm
* Filament diameter: 3 mm
* Layer height: 0,4 mm
* Perimeters: 3
* Solid layers top: 3
* Solid layers bottom: 3
I will also provide the full G-code.
# Answer
It isn't hidden at all. It's just that the Z-axis position only changes with each layer change, so the Z coordinate is only passed at layer change. On line 19 of your example G-code, it starts the first layer at Z=0.5mm:
```
G1 Z0.500 F7800.000
```
The next time you should expect Z to appear is on the next layer.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Your included code has a line which reads:
```
G1 Z0.500
```
I checked a couple of my G-code files for some of the past prints and I was able to identify the bed movement relative to the layer being printed. My slicer (Simplify3D) provides for the bed to drop during certain movements. I found `G1 Z0.600` followed by `G1 Z0.850` for one of the layers. When that layer was finished the `0.600` changed to `0.900` and the `0.850` changed to `1.150`.
This fit in with the model's layer height of 0.300 mm for that job.
I did not find more `G1 Zx.xxx` codes in your sample, but a larger file would contain those lines.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: slicing, slic3r, g-code, delta
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thread-3586 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3586 | Adding custom M Codes to Marlin | 2017-02-13T19:41:31.437 | # Question
Title: Adding custom M Codes to Marlin
If I wanted to add my own custom M Codes in Marlin - in which source code file would I do that?
# Answer
In the file `Marlin_main.cpp` on line 7131 there is a switch case:
(To turn on line numbers go to `File>Preferences` and click Display line numbers.)
```
case 'M': switch (codenum) {
#if ENABLED(ULTIPANEL)
case 0: // M0 - Unconditional stop - Wait for user button press on LCD
case 1: // M1 - Conditional stop - Wait for user button press on LCD
gcode_M0_M1();
break;
#endif // ULTIPANEL
case 17:
gcode_M17();
break;
etc.....
```
Adding another case with an unused number such as 5 and then the code you want followed by a break should do the trick. Ex:
```
case 5:
doABunchofCoolStuff();
myservo.write(thebestposition);
break;
```
-AC
> 4 votes
---
Tags: marlin
--- |
thread-212 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/212 | How do I determine the acceleration value for my printer? | 2016-01-13T20:46:13.137 | # Question
Title: How do I determine the acceleration value for my printer?
When the print head changes direction, the printer must accelerate and decelerate the print head. When calibrated correctly, the printer is able to do this quickly and without causing the printer to shake too much, without drastically slowing down the print process.
If I set it too high, my printer shakes violently, especially during infill. If I set it too low, print times are doubled or tripled.
What process can I follow to determine (or how can I calculate) the fastest acceleration value my printer can use without causing problems in my print?
I'd prefer a process I can follow over a formula I can plug values into, especially if the formula includes magic numbers.
# Answer
As Tom pointed out, binary search is the best way. In case that term isn't familiar to all readers, here's a little more detail:
1. Establish an acceleration value that you're sure is too low (call it $L$), and one that you're sure is too high ($H$). It sounds like you know such values already from experience.
2. Figure out the speed in the middle: $(L+H)/2$. Call that $M$.
3. Try printing at speed $M$. Something like a stepped calibration cube might be a good choice of object (plenty available on Thingiverse).
4. If $M$ is still too fast, take $M$ as your new high-speed limit (that is, reset $H$ to the value of $M$), and repeat from step #2.
5. If it's slow enough to work, take $M$ as your new low-speed limit ($L$), and repeat from step #2.
Each repetition will cut the range in half. Keep repeating until $L$ and $H$ get as close as you want; say, within 5 % of each other or so.
I wouldn't bother trying to get super-close, because the workable value will vary somewhat over time (friction from dust getting on various parts; slight voltage differences; different mass and pulling tension for the filament roll, temperature of motors, complexity of the object you're printing, behavior of the slicing program you use, you name it).
> 18 votes
# Answer
A tool that you might find useful for experimenting with acceleration is RepRap Centrals Acceleration Calculator (at the bottom).
By setting an *acceleration*, *length of travel* and *target speed*, you can see:
1. The theoretical speed that can be achieved during the travel with your set acceleration (yellow line).
2. The distance required to reach your target speed, and for how long it will hold that speed before slowing down (blue line).
For instance, setting `acceleration = 3000, length = 30 and speed = 150` means it will travel 4 mm before reaching its desired speed of 150 mm/s, while that same acceleration theoretically could give a speed of 300 mm/s for the given distance:
**Calculating speed, acceleration and jerk:**
In many cases your printer will have some limitation in maximum speed or settings given by your provider that can be used as a starting point. If not, trial and error is the most straightforward way of doing it.
I would separate speed calibration into three task:
1. First find the *maximum speed* your printer can tolerate. One way of doing this is to print an object with long travel distances, and vary the maximum travel speed.
2. Using the calculator above, increase the *acceleration* for various traveling distances until you get suitably smooth acceleration curves for your desired speed for medium to long traveling distances.
3. Adjust your *jerk* setting to allow for quick speedup on short traveling distances. Jerk speed is the speed that the printer will immediately jump to before taking acceleration into account. With a jerk of 20mm/s, the printer will make an immediate jump from 0 to 20 mm/s, and thereafter speed up to the desired speed by following the acceleration profile.
As a rule of thumb, it might be smart to then set the actual speed, jerk and acceleration approximately 20% below the the maximum found as a safeguard when printing.
Also, bear in mind that the strength of stepper motors lowers for higher speeds, so that the nozzle will not hold its path very well if obstructed. If this becomes a problem, consider lowering the speed.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Most printers use between 2000 and 5000 mm/s<sup>2</sup>.... extrusion moves are usually 2000 (on average, between different printers), travel is normally seen at 3000-5000, though for most lower end or duel direct drive extruder (heavy) printers, this value should be lower (some as low as 500-1000, some as high as 2000 for travel). Heavier extruders need lower values, as well a slower jerk values, to avoid the motors skipping. The jerk setting being set lower can actually be beneficial, as this makes for smoother extrusion after a corner or a hole (some people will see ripples near these areas as it accelerates out of the direction change - lower values make these ripples smaller, but slightly increase print time).
I've just modified mine with a prototype carriage design that I'm working on. It's added about 100 grams to the stock weight. It was finely tuned before, so this extra weight set it over that pillow of 20-30% in the setting, and makes the X and Y skip as it jerks around the plate; especially in high resolution models, particularly high resolution circles with 200 faces on the vertical axis, because the printer tries to jerk after each node - normally that isn't an issue, but in heavy designs, the jerk setting needs to be lowered. I had my jerk at 20 for XY, and its now at 4, after having tested and failed 8 and 15 values. The acceleration was at 2000 for both extrusion and travel (some firmwares don't allow separate values for travel and extrusion moves, but if yours does, it's best to have travel value about double the print moves - when your travel is twice the speed of extrusion moves - so use that 1-1 formula in relation to speed, scale it for each desired speed set in the slicer). Mine has been tested at 2000, 1500, 1000, and 800, failing all of them, with jerk setting of 5. Now testing 500 for acceleration, and beginning to get a little confused as to why this is happening.
Now I'm having second thoughts... After going as low as 800 from 2000, and still getting skipping (seemingly worse) am I getting this backwards here? Do I need a higher value if the motor is skipping on quick moves? My understanding is that lower is better for those problems, but perhaps I've confused myself.
> 1 votes
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Tags: calibration
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thread-3119 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3119 | 3D printing and coating of heat-resistant objects, such as a turbine blisks or blades | 2016-12-02T03:32:53.420 | # Question
Title: 3D printing and coating of heat-resistant objects, such as a turbine blisks or blades
Is it possible to 3D print an axial turbine 2 - 4 inches (50 - 100 mm) in radius, capable withstanding temperatures about 800 - 1000°C and rotation speeds of 100 - 120 x 10<sup>3</sup> rpm?
How expensive is that? Is it cheaper to mill such a turbine from a whole piece of alloy?
What technologies and materials should be used?
Are Inconel alloys suitable for 3D printing?
Are there any titanium alloys suitable for this task? I've read titanium is rarely used in rapidly rotating parts due to its ability to ignite if mechanical failure occurs and rotating blades touch the casing. Do titanium alloys still have this drawback?
Is it possible to make disk of titanium and blades of Inconel, and have them welded (considering heat expansion)?
How blades or blisks can be ceramically coated?
Thank you!
# Answer
You ask some very interesting questions! Firstly, when researching topics such as this, you will have far more luck using 'additive manufacturing' as a search term rather than '3D printing'. In the professional industrial environment, '3D printing' is not a term that is really used to describe the manufacturing you are talking about.
Selective laser melting is the additive manufacturing process most suited to metallic aerospace parts. Inconel alloys can be processed (e.g. IN718 being one of the easiest) along with titanium (almost exclusively Ti6Al4V). As for manufacturing turbine blades and similar parts, you might find this interesting: Additive Manufacturing - Breakthrough with 3D printed Gas Turbine Blades.
Titanium is not typically used in high-temperature sections of gas turbines, but will be used in larger, cooler components such as fan blades, where it's strength to weigh ratio is a benefit (less mass to rotate = better fuel efficiency).
Coating of high-temperature nickel superalloy components is usually performed with electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) or thermal spray such as high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF); each process has certain characteristics that dictate when/where is it used.
This is only really a surface depth answer to your questions, but it would be impossible to answer fully here!
(My experience: PhD student using selective laser melting with aerospace alloys)
> 2 votes
# Answer
This depends primarily on economics and on desired lifetime. Rather obviously you need a material whose strengths and melting points exceed the operational specs. Determining the various break strengths (shear, bending, etc) is an engineering problem, not a manufacturing problem per se.
Next, consider the production time and cost of 3D-printing vs. some typical assembly line process. Nearly always the 3D approach loses for large quantity builds.
Designing and operating devices like this can be extremely dangerous. Very tight tolerances are required. This site describes the difficulties, starting with material choice, moving on to tolerances, and so on. I don't think you want to go at this in your basement.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I would think it's definitely possible, steel 3D printers are most likely capable of printing with the kind of precision you need (I've had experience designing and printing barrels for handguns as part of a forensic science research project), but be aware that with most processes I'm aware of, you'll need to go in post-production and do some polishing or surface refinement, specially for a turbine application where those temperatures are already high and any surface flaws won't help durability.
Otherwise, I would just make sure you use a material with a track record of meeting your specifications. Likely easier finding extremely reliable and robust materials to mill but 3D printing would be possible in theory.
Financially speaking, though I don't have any experience comparing the costs on that specific kind of a component, milling is likely going to be cheaper as long as you can find someone who will do single unit production runs.
Personal opinion: I would go with milling. I've had a lot of experience with 3D printing and am a die-hard proponent of its merits, but given the lack of personal knowledge about how a 3D printed turbine would perform long-run, and the consequences of failure of something rotating at those speeds, I would be inclined to go the traditional manufacturing route.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Some companies are already on the move with this idea. I think I remember hearing that Pratt and Whitney and Boeing are 3D printing some of the smaller air foils.
The advantages being that they can achieve manufacturing of more complex, more efficient parts without the hassle of quality control, expensive fixturing/maintenance, and less hands on their proprietary parts and processes.
Most often, a metal alloy part is "printed" using SLA or SLS (commonly), but it's more or less just bonded. Bonding is either done via laser sintering or some form of epoxy for these types of printing processes. The part is pretty much useless for aerospace purposes at this point because you can just break it apart with your hands, as it is very brittle.
Once the metal is bonded in the desired shape, it goes in a furnace to either solidify the sintered material or the epoxy is replaced with another metal such as bronze or nickel. Also during this operation, the part is heat treated to receive the desired material structure. The changes to the material during this process can help set its strength and heat resistance.
A quick Google search on "Inconel 3D Printing" yields a couple companies that can 3D print "exotic" metals such as titanium and inconel. Chances are if a 3D printer can process inconel, it can print most other aerospace materials.
3D printing exotic materials, at this point, is really just gluing sand and baking it in the oven.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: material, metal-printing, applications
--- |
thread-3617 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3617 | White PLA prints frequently have rough sidewalls near top of the print | 2017-02-18T04:44:33.427 | # Question
Title: White PLA prints frequently have rough sidewalls near top of the print
This has happened a few times whenever I print with the white PLA (Hatchbox 1.75 mm). It seems that the print job produces smooth sidewalls for most of the part but at a certain point and above, the walls become rough as if the alignment is off or something. I've attached a picture to show the issue. Does anybody have any insight?
I'm using a Printrbot Simple Metal and some of the print settings are listed below:
* Slicer: Slic3r
* \[First\] Layer height: 0.2 mm
* Perimeters: 2
* Solid Layers \[top/bottom\]: 3
* Infill: 25%
* Fill pattern: Rectilinear
* Top/Bottom Fill pattern: Concentric
* Perimeter speed: 30 mm/s
* Infill speed: 80 mm/s
* Travel speed: 150 mm/s
* Acceleration (perimeters): 1000 mm/s<sup>2</sup>
* Acceleration (default): 3000mm/s<sup>2</sup>
* Default extrusion width: Slic3r chosen
* Print temperature: 220°C
I've noticed in the Slic3r rendering that the affected area seems to be the point where the infill switches from 25% to solid as seen in the included picture. If this is the problem, is there any way to enforce solid infill a few layers below this to eliminate the awkward transition, or specify a smaller extrusion width at this point?
# Answer
> 5 votes
If you want to change settings on some area of your part check out modifier meshes in Slic3r.
It looks like to0 much heat is delivered when solid infill starts and some melting occurs. See 3D Printing Problems #22: Extrusion Temperature Too High.
You can try:
* Lower extrusion temperature
* Lower filament flow
* Improve part cooling
* Lower print speed
# Answer
> 2 votes
Slic3r has an option of
```
Solid infill threshold area
```
which is the area that when you pass it (and start printing smaller than it), the infill becomes solid.
If you set it to a smaller number (or 0), then your infill won't become solid and the problem will vanish.
Source: Slic3r Manual - Infill Optimization
---
Tags: print-quality, fdm, desktop-printer
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thread-3621 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3621 | How does a layman get a 3D printed replacement part? | 2017-02-18T20:29:16.973 | # Question
Title: How does a layman get a 3D printed replacement part?
A plastic gear of an older DVD player broke. I always read about being 3D printing a "repair revolution". So I looked for a template to give to some printing service, but I found none (and nothing close to it).
Could you please explain me, what steps a layman should take to get the gear piece replaced using 3D printing?
# Answer
> 4 votes
If you have the remaining pieces of the gear and enough remains to determine certain measurements, one can either engineer the gear using a number of gear modeling designs, or one can take measurements directly from the parts and engineer a raw design.
If the gear you have is not particularly peculiar, it is possible to use a gear generator plug-in, template, or library to make the "foundation" of your gear. The modeling software would then be used to add the appropriate bosses and key ways required to complete the design.
If you are considering to create the part yourself, you have a wide selection of programs from which to choose. I'm fond of OpenSCAD, and it does have a number of gear libraries. Simple bosses and key ways are easily accomplished using OpenSCAD.
Another package available on the internet which includes the option of using a gear generator is Tinkercad which has a reputation of being easy to use. You'll find many tutorials for this program as well.
Tinkercad requires an "outside" program to generate the gear design which is then imported to the model workspace. Even a program as simple as Inkscape can create gear profiles to be imported into many design packages.
Fusion360 is available free for hobby or non-commercial use, but may not be the easiest to learn in a short time.
So many others as well. Use your favorite search engine for "gear generator modeling software" or similar wording and be overloaded with links.
# Answer
> 2 votes
This is not something "a layman" can do. If you want to replace that gear using 3D printing, you'll either need to go down the rabbit hole and learn a bunch of new skills, or hire someone to do it for you.
You need to have a 3D model of the part you want to replace. While 3D scanning is in some cases possible, it won't give you the resolution required to reproduce the gear with sufficient accuracy. This means your only option is to manually model the gear in CAD software. You'll need to take a bunch of measurements (outer and pitch diameter, thickness, mounting hole diameter) and figure out the tooth profile, and then build a model according to those measurements. A caliper is very helpful when doing this.
A neat trick that might help with a flat part like a gear is to scan it on a flatbed scanner, and then use the resulting photo to trace your CAD sketch over (but you'd still need to cross-reference it with measurements).
Unfortunately, most CAD software is quite complicated and "How do I model a gear" is not a question that can be answered concisely. @fred\_dot\_u offers a number of suggestions for packages that might work, and even offer modules specific to generating gears. However, if you are not interested in learning CAD for its own sake and really get into 3D printing, learning it just for the sake of replacing a gear in a DVD player is a very inefficient use of your time.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The only 'layman's' option is to find an existing design which solves your problem. If you are lucky, and the product you have has a common failure mode, someone else might have a) solved the same problem already, and b) posted their design online.
Sites such as thingiverse have plenty of designs, but finding the right thing might be hard. If you find something, you can then look for someone to print it for you. Its not clear if you tried this already, but maybe the answer helps someone else.
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Tags: 3d-models
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thread-3627 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3627 | Building a pivot linkage for servo steering with 3d printed parts. | 2017-02-20T07:21:00.953 | # Question
Title: Building a pivot linkage for servo steering with 3d printed parts.
This question is more of a mechanical rather than 3d printing, but I am assuming 3d Printing communty have already come accross this issue, therefore this is a good place to ask.
I am building a simple RWD vehicle using 3d printer parts. See the picture below.
As you can see from the picture, I am using 3d printed linkages for steering mechanism and I used regular bolt and lock nuts to secure them together (thats what I had laying around the house at the moment). The problem here is that, holes in the linkages are not exactly the size of the bolt, and because the bolts are threaded, it generates a lot of friction. Other than that, the bolt seems to sit loose inside the hole and creates an unstable pivot.
If I tighten the nut more, it just presses them together making it hard for the servo to operate. I am looking for a solution that will use simple bolts, nuts and washers which can be bought easily off the shelf (or even with the bolts and screws everyone has around there house). What can be done to make this joint stable in xy plane, rotating freely around the bolt, or whatever the connection could be. By the way, even though I used nylon lock nuts, it seems to loosen after couple of repetitive rotations.
Thanks for your help in advance and I hope ya'll have a great day.
# Answer
A correct length shoulder screw would work great in this application. They have a shoulder that is held to a precise diameter and a length. You can thread a nut on and tighten it against the shoulder to prevent clamping your pieces. They may be hard to find locally in stores but are readily available at places like MSC, McMaster-Carr, and Bolt Depot.
> 6 votes
---
Tags: 3d-models, pla, 3d-design
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thread-3619 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3619 | Scaling objects with constant wall thickness for 3D printing | 2017-02-18T12:03:27.493 | # Question
Title: Scaling objects with constant wall thickness for 3D printing
The question is how to scale an existing mesh without changing the thickness of the walls?
I am using Blender to create STL files for 3D printing. Let's say I create a shell for a model railroad car. Since 1/87th is the most common scale I make the walls of the shell just thick enough to make it rigid in 1/87 scale. Now, if I want to print the same shell in a larger scale, say 1/48, the wall thickness will nearly double and it will waste material printing walls that are thicker than needed. If I want to print in 1/160 the printing may fail because the wall thickness falls below the minimum the printer will support.
Any ideas?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Your question falls into two different categories, here at 3D Printing SE and there, at Blender SE.
I would consider that your objective would best be solved using some form of parametric modeling, an aspect that is rarely embraced by Blender. Even though the limitations of Blender make life interesting for you, there may be a couple of useful features within (and without) the program.
On Blender SE, a question of similar format exists, with a somewhat open-ended answer. A quick search using The Google, with the terms "Parametric Modeling with Blender" results in a number of different approaches. According to a quick perusal of the search results, some of the solutions involve free plug-ins or add-ons for Blender. More complexity rather than less, perhaps.
I'm familiar enough with the very simple basics of Blender to know I would not be able to make use of those answers. I'm also well aware that Blender's power extends beyond my own limitations with features supporting scripting, animation and so many other tools. Seeing the workflow diagrams/charts that make up some of the advanced portion of the program leads me to believe that one can accomplish your objective, but one must be a certified wizard with the program.
As an alternative, one could engage any one of the many parametric modeling programs available. I'm a fan of OpenSCAD, although the text/scripting interface can be daunting for some. If you've become skilled in Blender, a non-GUI format isn't necessarily the best route, although the GUI options are no less confusing, in my opinion.
# Answer
> 0 votes
The minimum scale of your model The modeling of your 3D file doesn’t necessarily require that you work with a given unit or scale. It’s particularly true with software like Blender in which you’re able to give proportion but no unit. This job will be done after the modeling phase when you send your model to a 3D printer. That’s why you need to pay extra attention to both the scale and the size of your model at that point. Creating a 3D print in millimeters instead of centimeters might very well result in a bad 3D print.
A powerful example of that can be found in architectural models. This is, in fact, one of the main issues we encountered while working with La Cité de L’Architecture on La Merveille’s reproduction. With architectural models, it can, for instance, be entirely possible to 3D print a scale 1/10 of something and just impossible to do the same at 1/250.
After a certain level of miniaturization, the details (present in the digital 3D file) are starting to vanish in the physical world because the 3D printer itself is no able to create them (or will create very fragile one). Quite often for architectural models, human intervention is necessary to decide which details will be kept and which won’t so that the 3D file doesn’t contain information that won’t be printable.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Make your model solid, then during slicing:
* scale your object
* set infill to 0%
* set desired number of perimeters (that will be the wall thickness) That way with just one model you may have any wall thickness independently of scale.
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Tags: print-quality, blender
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thread-3121 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3121 | Missing top layers in Cura | 2016-12-02T10:17:43.533 | # Question
Title: Missing top layers in Cura
I've just tried to make some small labels with embossed lettering. Base is 1.5 mm, with letters and a perimeter protruding by another 1 mm. After printing, I realised that Cura is not giving me a top layer, all I get is an inner and outer wall for the perimeter and the lettering:
The base is OK, with 4 layers, but there is no infill at the top. Presumably there is a setting that I've missed (I can appreciate that maybe this is a detail to the slicing which is model dependant). Layers are 0.2 mm, top and bottom set to 4 layers.
I had walls set to 1.6 mm, (4 layers) and the wall features here are 1 mm (i.e. 2.5x the nozzle). The features are solid so far as I know, not drawn as a hollow.
I found a relevant bug for Cura: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/1303 (and I also understand a workaround now, just need to write up an answer).
# Answer
> 2 votes
What is happening here is that Cura is struggling with the quantised extrusion width. This behaviour can be improved in the slicer, they have a issue tracked here https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/1303 and 2.4 beta has improved it.
There are some pictures in this answer which show how Cura 2.3 slices a rectangle of increasing width. I got nothing at the nozzle width, then a pair of overlapping lines up to twice the width (which I assume will be over-extruded due to the overlap). For anything wider than simply two sides, the result depends on the number of walls requested.
* One wall results in 100% infill for small regions (regardless of the infill setting). This is good, but maybe 1 wall is not apropriate for the whole model.
* Multiple walls seem to prevent the infill untill there is space for pairs of walls. So width of 3x nozzle has a gap. Small tweeks to the nozzle size can maybe push this quantisation point about, if 1 wall is not a good workaround.
For rectangular geometry, it's worth trying to quantize small parts in 0.8mm increments. For curves, setting 1 wall shell might be better.
# Answer
> 3 votes
What is your source model? Typically this "missing layer" effect happens if the source has a wall thickness less than the size of the extruder nozzle selected. Cura will view that part of the model as non-printable.
Meshmixer and TinkerCad (among many others) will allow you to set and change thicknesses in the model.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Try Cura 2.4.0-beta2: there is option named "Fill Gaps Between Walls" under "Shell" settings, set it to "everywhere". In stable Cura 2.3.1 this option is missing.
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Tags: slicing, ultimaker-cura
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thread-3633 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3633 | Infill pattern comparison | 2017-02-21T08:21:29.327 | # Question
Title: Infill pattern comparison
I'm relatively new to 3d printing, and wanted to get a few things understood. Firstly, I am unclear on how Hexagonal infill is stronger than, say, diamond pattern.
Can anyone explain how the different shape causes the structure to be stronger? I saw a few places that hex is stronger; usually, more vertices means 'weaker' shape (i.e. a triangle is stronger than a square), so how does that work with hex vs diamond?
Also, in small objects, where the printer makes only a single dot as the infill (a dot instead of a line in larger objects), does the infill strengthen the object at all?
EDIT: I am trying to understand the effect of the infill pattern on the *strength* of the print, regardless of print time.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Hex grids are used for different reasons than triangular grids (such as you often see on bridges and roof systems). Triangles are especially good at being *rigid*, while hex grids are very material-efficient for a given strength. The second reason ($) is typically more important for 3D printing.
Triangles do have fewer vertices than squares, but it's not always true that "fewer vertices" means stronger. Vertices are one kind of weak point. But in a triangle, vertex "angle-holding" failures simply don't matter. You can fasten 3 bars together with hinges or other joints that have little resistance to changing angle, and the triangle is still rigid.
In contrast, rectangular grids can (and do -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t9MpNTSbYg) completely collapse if their vertices aren't rigid enough. That combines badly with the fact that vertices concentrate forces, so have to be much stronger than sides in comparable settings.
A triangle cannot change without changing multiple things -- at least 2 angles and a side, or all three sides. Intuitively, the sides and vertices of a triangle work together for strength. This advantage of triangles doesn't transfer to hexagons, but hexagons have two other advantages: First, if you want to fill a space with a repeating shape, hexagons use less material than other shapes. And second, hexagons keep all the individual "walls" shorter compared to others shapes, which makes them less prone to bend.
The material efficiency was proven by Thomas Hales in 1998, according to http://www.slate.com/articles/health\_and\_science/science/2015/07/hexagons\_are\_the\_most\_scientifically\_efficient\_packing\_shape\_as\_bee\_honeycomb.html. His paper "The Honeycomb Structure" is available at https://www.communitycommons.org/wp-content/uploads/bp-attachments/14268/honey.pdf
# Answer
> 1 votes
Correction: I believe I found what you are looking for:
Report from EngineerDog.com
The author concludes that rectilinear infill with a zero degree offset is the strongest. However, I have not seen consensus for or against a certain pattern being strongest. I recommend more investigation .
My original answer:
> I don't know that one pattern is significantly stronger than another, provided they each bond well with other infill deposits as well as the perimeters.
>
> There are studies around. In 3D printing, strength is rarely the only consideration; one must optimize for strength *where needed* versus time to print.
>
> See this as an example of a report which supports the hexagonal or honeycomb pattern as the optimal balance between strength and print time. This one is more detailed, but only compares linear infill patterns of varying layer thickness and density. There are many such articles, some more scientifically conducted than others, available with a simple search.
---
Tags: pla, makerbot, infill
--- |
thread-3613 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3613 | Feasible 3D Printed Snap Connectors | 2017-02-16T13:15:45.913 | # Question
Title: Feasible 3D Printed Snap Connectors
I have Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printer and I need to print a piece that doesn't fit within the build volume of the printer. Even though it would fit I'd still need to print it in two parts because I'll need to fit some equipment inside. I could use glue to put it together, but I'll need to remove the equipment later.
So I'm trying to find some feasible solutions how to attach/snap it together. The wall thickness is currently 3mm.
Plane for cutting the part.
Cut cross section.
# Answer
> 1 votes
If the equipment has to be removable, then there's no point in trying to make a one-piece object in the first place. So it looks like you have two problems. The first is to decide what's the best way to split your container to facilitate both putting the equipment inside & removing it; the second is how to latch the two together. I can't answer the first since you haven't shown us the equipment.
As to the second: there are a number of plans for spring-latching connectors (such as used with straps, backpack covers, etc) on thingiverse.com. If you have no constraints on the exterior of your container, I would just merge the latching connectors into the container wall (e.g. with meshmixer) .
# Answer
> 0 votes
Thanks for your reply all. I think I have a solution for my need. Here are some figures!
More picture of the clip!
---
Tags: 3d-design
--- |
thread-3662 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3662 | G-code (M-code?) for Get Bed Temperature | 2017-02-27T23:49:41.503 | # Question
Title: G-code (M-code?) for Get Bed Temperature
I'm familiar with 3D printing, and the G-code concept. I'm also comfortable with programming.
Can anyone give me the G-code (or probably the M-code, actually) to read the bed temperature?
Is there an equivalent of `M105` (Get Extruder Temperature)?
# Answer
`M105` should give you the bed temperature.
For future reference you can find a general list of G/M codes here - RepRap Wiki - G-code.
Most firmware files include a list, Marlin has it in Marlin\_main. I have no idea how often the list is updated but they don't change often.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed, g-code
--- |
thread-3670 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3670 | What is the best color of PETg to use for outdoor durability? | 2017-02-28T13:20:35.137 | # Question
Title: What is the best color of PETg to use for outdoor durability?
I am doing a quad-copter now.
I am not sure what color is the best to use for outdoor durability, especially in sunlight.
They say PETg is the most durable material amongst cheap ones.
But what color to choose: white or transparent? Or it does not matter?
# Answer
Unless you plan to use your copter outside Earth atmosphere or expected lifetime is more than tenths of years, UV degradation should not be a problem for PETG. Some of the net sources indicate the **possibility** of degradation after significant time of **constant** exposure to outdoor conditions (mostly color change), which sounds mostly like absence of practical experience.
Yet if there are any concerns about losing mechanical properties from the sunlight, any opaque lacquer car paint can help to absorb unwanted radiation and add some nicer view to the model. Acrylic paint will also work (tried this once myself) but it may not be suitable for outdoor.
> 5 votes
# Answer
PETG might not be the best for long term UV exposure.
According to Midland Plastics, PETG doesn't hold up well in outdoor applications, and is susceptible to UV degradation. Unless you have an outdoor or UV rated PETG product which will have additional chemicals added to it, it may breakdown more quickly than you would expect. (the link I used was : http://www.midlandplastics.com/srtd\_petg.htm)
Polycarbonate on the other hand does hold up better in outdoor applications and is better suited for long term exposure to UV light. Most quads and RC products you see that have a nice slick looking shell on them, are made from Polycarbonate. That stuff is usually vacuum formed sheets. It does still breakdown but it is a much stronger material. The downside is that PC requires a higher nozzle temperature, than PETG. (The reprap wiki has more info: http://reprap.org/wiki/Polycarbonate)
That being said PETG is not going to dissolve in sunlight. It will likely last upto a year if not longer depending on usage. If this is your first quad you're making, then odds are you'll have a crash due to hardware failure before excessive UV degradation (at least thats been my experience with prototype aircraft).
Good luck!
> 1 votes
---
Tags: fdm, print-material, color, pet
--- |
thread-3493 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3493 | Bed design for magnetic easy release when printing PLA | 2017-01-30T15:53:33.413 | # Question
Title: Bed design for magnetic easy release when printing PLA
I print on a glass bed covered with BuildTak. Prints stick well, release is difficult. They sell a mod, self adhesive magnetic sheet that holds a steel plate which in turn you put the BuildTak on making it easier to get your prints off by twisting the flexible steel as opposed to chiseling your print off a glass plate while attempting to not peel chunks of the expensive Buildtak off.
Magnetic sheets have different strengths proportional to thickness in milimeters. I can get 0.03 mm locally which provides 85 lbs pull per sqft. and was wondering if this might work. It's hard to find the stronger pulls, 0.045 mm and 0.06 mm which can pull 115 and 145 lbs respectively.
I'd prefer cut my own new bed sandwich rather than pay 90 bucks for one.
* Has anyone made a bed using adhesive magnetic sheet\>
* What thickness magnetic sheet has worked for you?
* What thickness steel are you using?
Assume it has to flex easily to twist the part of and also flexible enough for the magnet to pull it flat.
---
With respect to the comment by tbm0115:
> I don't think you need that much magnetic pull for this application. Adhering basic coin magnets to a material in a large array should secure the material appropriately for a desktop printer.
I see where you are going with coin magnets. Have you tried this? In the original Makerbot Cupcake this is how it was done though with larger build surfaces you get warp on metal plates. Most metal sheet comes from the plant on a roll. Though your metal looks nice and flat, temperature changes will cause it to warp and as you know with SLA printers, a changing bed can cause a failure. This happened on the original Makerbot replicator 1st release followed by using a machined plate as a replacement.
# Answer
Follow up:
I used the 6mil magnet, cut a sheet of thin steel, (about .5mm) to fit, added a layer of Buildtak and now it's much easier to remove prints, build surface is very flat. I assume you could deform the metal beyond the magnet's ability to flatten it but it works quite well. The metal was cut with sheet metal snips, risky as they can bend the sheet. Probably better done with a saw though.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Try using buildtak flex. https://www.buildtak.com/product/flexplate/
or cheaper alternatives: http://www.printinz.com/printinz-plate-3d-printer-bed-upgrade/
> -1 votes
---
Tags: pla, makerbot, surface
--- |
thread-2930 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2930 | Slic3r mesh merging | 2016-10-19T08:33:29.357 | # Question
Title: Slic3r mesh merging
I frequently have to print a range of different parts each with different geometrical features. So far, I generate each part's optimum printing parameters manually. To be able to print such parts more efficiently, I am planning to create a "library" of individual geometries, each with its unique set of optimum printing parameters.
The issue I am facing here is in combining all the different geometrical features when slicing. (The geometrical features are individual STL files of different geometries). Slic3r does not seem to merge the meshes of adjoining or overlapping solids, making the joints between each different STL mechanically weak that can be snapped by hand.
I wonder why such meshing is not possible. I realise that if each solid on the plater is assigned different printing parameters such as layer height or infill pattern/density, merging would not be possible, however if we keep such incompatible parameters constant for all solids, and only vary, say, printing speed and the number of perimeter shells, merging should still be possible.
Is the only way to enable meshing of different STLs into a single solid by modifying the code of the slicer?
Thank you in advance!
# Answer
> 1 votes
Try using Autodesk Meshmixer. You can edit STL and OBJ files live and save changes. Additionally it has a feature where you can arrange parts on a printbed in the software and save the whole bed contents as a stl or gcode file. It can then be imported into a slicer software as any other model output.
The software is free to use. http://www.meshmixer.com/download.html
---
Tags: slic3r
--- |
thread-3641 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3641 | Assisted manual levelling with Marlin | 2017-02-22T11:23:49.293 | # Question
Title: Assisted manual levelling with Marlin
Marlin offers a bunch of different choices for auto-levelling and assisted manual levelling for bent build plates (mesh levelling), but for the moment I want to level things completely manually.
That is, I want to move Z to 0, disable steppers, and then move around the print head and adjust the distance between bed and nozzle at various points with a piece of paper.
With the old Repetier based firmware on my printer, selecting "home all axes" did not only home XYZ to endstops, but it also moved the head to position (0, 0, 0) afterwards. Then I could simply disable steppers via the menu and go on with my levelling. Note that in my case, the coordinates of the endstop positions are negative for all axes, so moving to the endstops alone isn't cutting it.
With Marlin, selecting the "auto home" option merely moves to the endstops and then to some positive Z position (+10). This means I have to use the menu to manually move Z back to 0, which is quite inconvenient, unless I have a PC nearby that allows me to enter G-code.
So, that leaves two related questions for me:
Is there some simple way to move to (0, 0, 0) with the menu?
Can I implement an assisted manual levelling (i.e. some procedure that simply moves the head between a number of different X/Y positions) easily? Does something like that already exist? If not, I wonder why.
# Answer
Write a few pieces of gcode to do this. Place it on an SD-card (I assume you have a reader) and select the file you want to execute.
Home all:
```
G28
G1 Z0
```
Do you really want to home it directly? I would say you want to take it down slowly and adjusting end-stops incrementally.
First:
```
G28
G1 Z10
```
Then
```
G28
G1 Z3
```
Then
```
G28
G1 Z1
```
etc etc
You can also move it around in the X and Y plane:
```
G28
G1 Z5 X50 Y30
```
> 2 votes
# Answer
The way I manually level my bed is by connecting a computer to the printer via USB. As far as I am aware, if you have a touchscreen this should be available on the printer options as well for marlin.
But if you connect a computer, simply run something like pronterface or any other manual control gui and:
1) home axes
2) disable motors
3) move printhead in x/y directions as necessary by hand
4) adjust z height manually with the GUI software. This should not affect your x/y positions or turn on their motors.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: marlin, calibration, z-axis, bed-leveling
--- |
thread-3688 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3688 | MakerBot replicator 2x glitches | 2017-03-07T08:15:34.147 | # Question
Title: MakerBot replicator 2x glitches
I have access to a MakerBot Replicator 2X which I use to try to print ABS + dissoluble (both are MakerBot's original filaments). It is really a pain and the filaments most often gets clogged (80% of the prints have to be thrown away). I a supposed to use the printer in a professional context, but at the moment it is really problematic and I feel pressure going up...
I have initially tried the default parameters provided by the machine for known filaments (ABS: 230°C / dissoluble: 250°C / plate: 110°C + 0.1mm layers). As the nozzle got clogged I have made many other attempts with varying parameters and up to (250°C / 270°C / 135°C), which slightly improves things but is far from being really usable.
Any idea of where this comes from? \- ABS being notoriously difficult to print? \- The Replicator 2x being old tech? \- A parameters problem?
Any advice on what I should do to improve the situation?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I don't have a profile that has settings for the dissolvable filament anymore, but this is one I use for thin layers (second extruder at 232C my first extruder isn't working so just ignore that one).
You may want to try printing small simple objects with each extruder independently first to confirm that you have good settings, then try both together after you know you have good settings. ABS is a pain but mostly for warping and sticking to the build plate. The dissolvable filament I believe is PLA if you're using Makerbot materials.
```
{
"_attached_extruders" : [ "mk8", "mk8" ],
"_bot" : "replicator2x",
"_extruders" : [ 0 ],
"_materials" : [ "abs", "abs" ],
"adjacentFillLeakyConnections" : false,
"adjacentFillLeakyDistanceRatio" : 0,
"anchorExtrusionAmount" : 5.0,
"anchorExtrusionSpeed" : 2.0,
"anchorWidth" : 2.0,
"backlashEpsilon" : 0.050,
"backlashFeedback" : 0.90,
"backlashX" : 0.0,
"backlashY" : 0.090,
"bedZOffset" : 0.0,
"bridgeAnchorMinimumLength" : 0.80,
"bridgeAnchorWidth" : 0.80,
"bridgeMaximumLength" : 80.0,
"bridgeSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
"coarseness" : 9.999999747378752e-005,
"commentClose" : "",
"commentOpen" : ";",
"computeVolumeLike2_1_0" : false,
"defaultExtruder" : 0,
"defaultRaftMaterial" : 0,
"defaultSupportMaterial" : 0,
"description" : "External Definition",
"doAnchor" : true,
"doBacklashCompensation" : false,
"doBreakawaySupport" : true,
"doBridging" : true,
"doDynamicSpeed" : false,
"doDynamicSpeedGradually" : true,
"doDynamicSpeedInteriorShells" : false,
"doDynamicSpeedOutermostShell" : true,
"doExponentialDeceleration" : false,
"doExternalSpurs" : true,
"doFixedLayerStart" : false,
"doFixedShellStart" : true,
"doInfills" : true,
"doInsets" : true,
"doInternalSpurs" : false,
"doMixedRaft" : false,
"doMixedSupport" : false,
"doOutlines" : true,
"doPrintLayerMessages" : false,
"doPrintProgress" : true,
"doPurgeWall" : false,
"doRaft" : true,
"doSplitLongMoves" : true,
"doSupport" : true,
"doSupportUnderBridges" : false,
"endGcode" : "",
"exponentialDecelerationMinSpeed" : 0.0,
"extruderProfiles" : [
{
"bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
"feedDiameter" : 1.820000052452087,
"feedstockMultiplier" : 0.9300000000000001,
"firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
"firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
"floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
"infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
"insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
"layerHeight" : 0.20,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.20,
"nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
"outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
"raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
"raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
"restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
"restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
"restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
"restartExtraRate2" : -1,
"restartRate" : 25.0,
"restartRate2" : 25,
"retractDistance" : 1.700000047683716,
"retractDistance2" : 0,
"retractRate" : 25.0,
"retractRate2" : 50,
"roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
"sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
"toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
"toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
"toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
"toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
},
{
"bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
"feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
"feedstockMultiplier" : 0.9300000000000001,
"firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
"firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
"floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
"infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
"insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
"layerHeight" : 0.20,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.20,
"nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
"outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
"raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
"raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
"restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
"restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
"restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
"restartExtraRate2" : -1,
"restartRate" : 25.0,
"restartRate2" : 25,
"retractDistance" : 1.399999976158142,
"retractDistance2" : 0,
"retractRate" : 25.0,
"retractRate2" : 50,
"roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
"sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
"toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
"toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
"toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
"toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
}
],
"extruderTemp0" : 228,
"extruderTemp1" : 232,
"extrusionProfiles" : {
"bridges" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"firstLayer" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"firstLayerRaft" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 50.0
},
"floorSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"infill" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"insets" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"outlines" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"raft" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
},
"raftBase" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"roofSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
},
"sparseRoofSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
}
},
"fixedLayerStartX" : 0.0,
"fixedLayerStartY" : 0.0,
"fixedShellStartDirection" : 215.0,
"floorSolidThickness" : 0,
"floorSurfaceThickness" : 0,
"floorThickness" : 1.0,
"gridSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
"infillDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
"infillOrientationInterval" : 90,
"infillOrientationOffset" : 0,
"infillOrientationRange" : 90,
"infillShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.70,
"insetDistanceMultiplier" : 1.0,
"jsonToolpathOutput" : false,
"layerHeight" : 0.1199999973177910,
"leakyConnectionsAdjacentDistance" : 0.0,
"maxConnectionLength" : 10.0,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.1000000014901161,
"maxSpurWidth" : 0.50,
"minLayerDuration" : 5.0,
"minLayerHeight" : 0.010,
"minRaftBaseGap" : 0.0,
"minSpeedMultiplier" : 0.30,
"minSpurLength" : 0.40,
"minSpurWidth" : 0.120,
"minThickInfillImprovement" : 1.0,
"modelFillProfiles" : {},
"numberOfShells" : 2,
"platformTemp" : 110,
"purgeBucketSide" : 4.0,
"purgeWallBaseFilamentWidth" : 2.0,
"purgeWallBasePatternLength" : 10.0,
"purgeWallBasePatternWidth" : 8.0,
"purgeWallModelOffset" : 2.0,
"purgeWallPatternWidth" : 2.0,
"purgeWallSpacing" : 1.0,
"purgeWallWidth" : 0.50,
"purgeWallXLength" : 30.0,
"raftAligned" : true,
"raftBaseAngle" : 0.0,
"raftBaseDensity" : 0.6999999880790710,
"raftBaseLayers" : 1,
"raftBaseRunGapRatio" : 0.8000000119209290,
"raftBaseRunLength" : 15.0,
"raftBaseThickness" : 0.3000000119209290,
"raftBaseWidth" : 2.50,
"raftExtraOffset" : 0.0,
"raftFillProfiles" : {},
"raftInterfaceAngle" : 45.0,
"raftInterfaceDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
"raftInterfaceLayers" : 1,
"raftInterfaceThickness" : 0.2700000107288361,
"raftInterfaceWidth" : 0.4000000059604645,
"raftModelSpacing" : 0.3499999940395355,
"raftOutset" : 4.0,
"raftSurfaceAngle" : 0.0,
"raftSurfaceLayers" : 3,
"raftSurfaceShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.6999999880790710,
"raftSurfaceShells" : 2,
"raftSurfaceThickness" : 0.1400000005960465,
"roofAnchorMargin" : 0.40,
"roofSolidThickness" : 0,
"roofSurfaceThickness" : 0,
"roofThickness" : 1.0,
"shellsLeakyConnections" : false,
"solidFillOrientationInterval" : 90,
"solidFillOrientationOffset" : -45,
"solidFillOrientationRange" : 90,
"sparseInfillPattern" : "hexagonal",
"splitMinimumDistance" : 0.40,
"spurOverlap" : 0.0010,
"startGcode" : "",
"startPosition" : {
"x" : -112,
"y" : -73.0,
"z" : 0
},
"supportAligned" : false,
"supportAngle" : 30.0,
"supportDensity" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportExcessive" : false,
"supportExtraDistance" : 0.50,
"supportFillProfiles" : {},
"supportLayerHeight" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportLeakyConnections" : false,
"supportModelSpacing" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportRoofModelSpacing" : 0.4000000059604645,
"thickLayerThreshold" : 0,
"thickLayerVolumeMultiplier" : 1,
"travelSpeedXY" : 150.0,
"travelSpeedZ" : 23.0,
"version" : "3.9.4"
}
```
---
Tags: filament, makerbot, replicator-dual
--- |
thread-3703 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3703 | Ugly 3D printing with high precision | 2017-03-09T19:43:20.960 | # Question
Title: Ugly 3D printing with high precision
I am a totally beginner at 3D printing and I have this question: I see many 3D printers (at amazon) with Z precision as low as 0.1mm! To me that's amazing but what does not amaze me is this: when I see the printed objects of those 3D printers you can easily with naked eye see the "vertical steps". How?
A precision of 0.1mm should be really almost impossible to see. If a person printed using 0.1mm precision how can I see the vertical steps?
I know there are some smoothin techniques to make the surface better but that shouldnt even be needed if the printer actually printed at 0.1mm in the first case.
# Answer
The 0.1mm refers to the thickness of each layer. However, it does not say anything regarding:
* How precise the layers are in the XY plane
* How precisely each layer is aligned with the previous in the XY plane
* How consistent the extrusion is: are all the layers printed with a consistent line thickness
No matter how fine the layers (and these printers that you refer to can definitely print 0.1mm layers just fine); if they're not well-aligned with each other, or the filament extrudes inconsistently, you're going to see the layer lines. It takes a rigid printer, with low-play bearings, a well-calibrated extruder and filament with a consistent diameter to get smooth-looking prints (but you will always see *some* layering, especially if you look up close). Also, since filament is extruded in a round shape, the sides of the object are not perfectly flat, but consists of many small arcs, which makes it easier to see the layer lines.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: 3d-models
--- |
thread-3700 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3700 | Can functional hinges be built with food printer? | 2017-03-09T04:34:54.063 | # Question
Title: Can functional hinges be built with food printer?
In trying to understand 3D printers, I have watched some YouTube videos where the crafters make items with hinges. That in itself blows my mind. It is hard to grasp how something with moving parts can be printed. But specifically I am wondering if the concept can be extended to food printers to make, for example, a sugar or chocolate telescoping lollipop (sucker)?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I don't know much about food printers. But at the very least, you should be able to print similar moving parts like hinges as you would with a standard FDM printer.
When printing things like hinges with a single extruder printer, the machine will typically be configured to include support structures. This is basically very thin scaffolding that higher layers of the print can sit on.
As Tom van der Zanden pointed out, though, this highly depends on the food medium you wish to use. With plastic, the material is heated to a less than liquid point, usually allowing the material to "bridge" across gaps. If your food medium is too thin (or close to liquid) you will not be able to effectively print supports as the medium will fall between the gaps.
If you are able to effectively print the supports for overhanging features, you should be able to knock off the supports with a small knife or toothpick. If it's a moving part, sometimes "shimmying" the part will knock the supports off.
# Answer
> 1 votes
When I was looking at your question I thought it was impossible But a bit of research shows a resounding yes. If one looks at what Hershey can do, I see no reason why you could not printer a hinge.
Hershey Tech crunch
Also keep in mind this is pretty fragile..
You can take a powder printer that uses sugar as its base and a simple binder, maybe water. Tada you have advanced hinges and the like. Here is Candy Fab open source Candy printer.
There are lots of ways people are doing this. Here is a SLS version where they just melt the chocolate with a laser.. SLS candy printer
---
Tags: food
--- |
thread-3702 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3702 | Arduino 3D printer sketch | 2017-03-09T18:04:22.330 | # Question
Title: Arduino 3D printer sketch
I'm building an automatic warehouse system using three NEMA 17 stepper motor.
My problem is to move the motors with precision, since I do not have any kind of encoder on the motor and so I cannot know the position of the axes. I thought that the system could be similar to a 3D printer, since neither 3d printers have encoder on the motor.
Where can I find a sketch for Arduino of a 3D printer, to understand how they work? How do they move with such precision without any kind of sensor?
# Answer
> 1 votes
\[For now\] most of the open source 3d printer firmware written for Arduino-based hardware. This means you can just download the source and look through the relevant pieces of code.
Marlin is the most obvious example.
# Answer
> 0 votes
A stepper motor is different from a typical electric motor. Instead of being "on" or "off", or running a some approximate variable speed, the controller sends a series of pulses to drive the motor one step at a time. This can be driven forward or backwards.
Based on how the motor and machine is designed, the machine will move a tiny amount. If for example, one step moves , say 0.1mm. If you send 150 pulses in the forward direction, the machine will move 15.0mm If you then send another 8 pulses in the reverse direction, the machine will be 14.2mm from the starting point.
To know the absolute position, you need to establish the starting point. Most printers have limit switches at their "home" position. To initialize the position, drive the motor until it hits the switch, and then set position as zero.
Then count the pulses up and down as you send them, you will will keep track of the machine's position.
---
Tags: diy-3d-printer, arduino-mega-2650
--- |
thread-3713 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3713 | Is it possible to print an object that has a "roof" without anything under it? | 2017-03-11T15:45:09.743 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to print an object that has a "roof" without anything under it?
I recently bought a 3d printer and right now i am printing a normal cube just to try it out. However I was wondering, when it has the last part left of the printing where it needs to create the roof, how will the filament stay there and not just fall down as there is nothing underneath?
Will I need to check the "Support" function in the print-settings before hand or is there something else i need to do?
Thanks a lot for the help/tips!
# Answer
> 4 votes
Sometimes a "roof" can be accomplished using the bridging feature of the printer. Depending on your slicer and on your printer's capabilities, the filament can extend from one edge of a structure to another without using support. The slicer will "recognize" the endpoints and the distance between and speed up the travel and possibly increase the fan cooling, allowing minimal sag between points. There are resources available on many model sites to print bridging test pieces to help determine the limits of your printer.
Expect some sag on the first layer, with a reduction for each successive layer. If you have, for example, five layers for the top faces, the last of the five may cover the sag of the previous ones.
Support is commonly used when there is no opposing endpoint to handle the bridging or when the distance exceeds the capabilities of the printer.
An example of a bridging test piece can be found on Thingiverse, although there are many to be found with a simple search.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you are printing a solid cube with infill, then the infill will support the "roof".
If you are printing a hollow cube, then indeed, you should enable "support" to print a support structure under any overhangs.
Depending on the angle, you may not need supports. Generally, FDM printers can print overhanging structures up to 45 degrees without the need for supports. The steeper (i.e. further from parallel with the print bed) the angle, the better the result.
---
Tags: fdm, support-structures
--- |
thread-3590 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3590 | Black goo from only one linear bearing - serious issue? | 2017-02-14T07:45:29.017 | # Question
Title: Black goo from only one linear bearing - serious issue?
I have a cheap cartesian printer with the usual arrangement - X axis with three linear bearings, build plate moving as Y axis on three linear bearings as well, Z axis with lead screws. After about 2 kg of filament printed, I can see that one of the linear bearings (the single bearing on one side of the Y axis) is leaving an almost black residue at the front of the axis. I have thoroughly oiled all of the bearings before mounting them and repeated that after about 1 kg of filament printed. No other bearing is showing this issue, and the black goo appears only on the front side of the rod, not the back side. What might cause this goo - is the bearing breaking up or is it just some residue from the manufacturing process that is slowly being pushed out of the bearing?
# Answer
> 1 votes
After completion of the print job, I was able to perform a closer inspection. The black goo contains metallic particles, and the rail the bearings are riding on has a visible groove - which means replacing both the bearings and the rail.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Your new oil butted out the old graphite lubricant.
Don't know about the metal particles though, might be dust, or your new oil caused damage to the bearings and/or rails.
---
Tags: bearing
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thread-3720 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3720 | Post processing FDM for strength | 2017-03-12T01:49:56.653 | # Question
Title: Post processing FDM for strength
I'm looking for a post processing method for increasing the functional strength of a 3d printed part originally made by FDM. I've tried printing my part with solid infill but the layer separation is still the primary failure point. I'm looking for a way to get something closer to a cast or injection molded part. Obviously less strength but there is a pretty big gap in material properties.
The only method I've thought of that might work is drilling a small hole, or series of holes in my part to inject an epoxy into the part. Haven't tried it.
I'm open to any possible ideas or advice if someone has tried something like this. Not sure if this is necessarily the best place but thought it's a good place to start.
# Answer
Recognizing that the posting party feels that FDM constructed parts are of insufficient strength for his purpose and allowing for proper layer bonding, one can understand that the model can be perfectly constructed and not reach the strength objective.
Filling a model with an epoxy or a casting resin will provide additional strength. Testing smaller, non-critical models is recommended to determine the level of increase. The design has to be re-engineered to provide for resin/epoxy flow within the model. Some epoxy and resin formulations generate heat when curing and may soften the model. The solution in such cases is to mix and pour small amounts, allowing for a pause between pours.
An alternative to filling a model is to reduce the perimeter (if applicable) and apply a reinforcing layer. I've constructed satisfactorily printed models with insufficient strength for my purposes, but then applied fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to the outside. A single layer provided the necessary strength in my case.
One could apply sufficient layers to provide all the necessary strength, effectively turning the model into a positive mold. This is commonly done with amateur-built aircraft of the Burt Rutan design style. More recently, an article appeared on the internet of a model being printed with wash-away support material only, covered in carbon fiber. The wash-away was washed away and the wing structure became the product. For your application, it may not be necessary or practical to remove the inner model.
Just as with the injection concept, one must re-engineer the model to allow for this type of reinforcement. Edges will have to be radiused or the sharp termination of reinforcement layer will become a weak point. Tight inside angles will have a similar problem.
Fiberglass cloth comes in various weights, measured in ounces per square foot (US). The lighter cloth is more capable of "turning corners" and fitting into tight angles.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Layer separation will always be the primary failure point of FDM. So your best action would be to design parts in such a way that forces are applied across the Z axis, not along it.
If layer bonding is too weak, this is a problem that should be solved during printing. Possible reasons are:
* Nozzle temperature too low
* Filament contains moisture from the air
* Filament covered with dust
* Inappropriate ratio of nozzle diameter/layer height. We usually use 2 (0.4 nozzle for 0.2 layer) while theory suggests it should be more than 3.
* Inappropriate cooling of part during printing, drafts.
If all this things are set right, no post-process treatment will improve the part. If not, you could reduce inner tensions by blasting the part with hot air gun, but it is better to solve the problem, not the consequences.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: fdm, post-processing
--- |
thread-3733 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3733 | Extruder temp is too high | 2017-03-12T20:57:22.407 | # Question
Title: Extruder temp is too high
I am using Simplify3d software to print my first object, I set the temp to 230, but I notice that the temp some times reaches to 300 c, any help, here is temp plot
here is the communication code of last process
```
SENT: G1 X190.134 Y143.078 E11.6837
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.230 Y157.981 E12.6300
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.239 Y158.007 E12.6312
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.399 Y158.378 E12.6494
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.541 Y143.236 E13.6109
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.928 Y143.415 E13.6301
READ: ok T:224 @:193 B:0
SENT: G1 X175.569 Y158.774 E14.6054
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.618 Y158.887 E14.6109
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.759 Y159.150 E14.6243
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.315 Y143.594 E15.6122
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.702 Y143.772 E15.6313
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.955 Y159.519 E16.6312
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.069 Y159.733 E16.6421
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.163 Y159.878 E16.6498
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.627 Y143.413 E17.6953
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.910 Y143.696 E17.7133
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:225 @:191 B:0
SENT: G1 X176.384 Y160.222 E18.7627
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.588 Y160.538 E18.7796
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.608 Y160.564 E18.7810
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.283 Y143.889 E19.8398
READ: ok T:227 @:205 B:0
SENT: G1 X193.869 Y143.868 E19.8662
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.854 Y160.883 E20.9467
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.100 Y161.203 E20.9648
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.403 Y143.900 E22.0636
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.520 Y143.918 E22.0689
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.728 Y143.970 E22.0785
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.854 Y144.014 E22.0845
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.362 Y161.507 E23.1953
READ: ok T:227 @:143 B:0
SENT: G1 X177.631 Y161.804 E23.2132
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.239 Y144.196 E24.3314
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.313 Y144.239 E24.3352
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.460 Y144.347 E24.3434
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.562 Y144.438 E24.3495
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.909 Y162.091 E25.4705
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.202 Y162.364 E25.4885
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.825 Y144.741 E26.6075
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.862 Y144.792 E26.6103
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:231 @:120 B:0
SENT: G1 X195.957 Y144.955 E26.6188
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.026 Y145.105 E26.6262
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.495 Y162.636 E27.7394
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.519 Y162.659 E27.7409
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.810 Y162.887 E27.7575
READ: ok T:233 @:146 B:0
SENT: G1 X196.164 Y145.533 E28.8595
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.178 Y145.587 E28.8620
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.213 Y145.810 E28.8721
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.230 Y146.033 E28.8822
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.127 Y163.136 E29.9682
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.273 Y163.251 E29.9766
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.456 Y163.372 E29.9864
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.210 Y146.619 E31.0503
READ: ok T:236 @:97 B:0
SENT: G1 X196.196 Y146.982 E31.0666
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.304 Y147.090 E31.0735
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.797 Y163.597 E32.1217
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.072 Y163.779 E32.1365
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.143 Y163.817 E32.1401
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.587 Y147.373 E33.1843
READ: ok T:235 @:88 B:0
SENT: G1 X196.745 Y147.531 E33.1943
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.129 Y148.146 E33.2334
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.206 Y148.320 E33.2419
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.508 Y164.017 E34.2387
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.874 Y164.217 E34.2574
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.379 Y148.712 E35.2420
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.553 Y149.104 E35.2613
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.263 Y164.394 E36.2321
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.655 Y164.568 E36.2514
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.726 Y149.497 E37.2084
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:237 @:66 B:0
SENT: G1 X196.793 Y149.648 E37.2158
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.882 Y149.906 E37.2281
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.065 Y164.723 E38.1690
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.485 Y164.869 E38.1889
READ: ok T:239 @:50 B:0
SENT: G1 X197.027 Y150.327 E39.1124
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.106 Y150.555 E39.1232
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.159 Y150.761 E39.1328
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.919 Y165.001 E40.0370
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.368 Y165.117 E40.0578
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.274 Y151.211 E40.9409
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.344 Y151.484 E40.9535
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.376 Y151.675 E40.9622
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.834 Y165.217 E41.8221
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.317 Y165.299 E41.8441
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.457 Y152.159 E42.6785
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.503 Y152.430 E42.6908
READ: ok T:240 @:15 B:0
SENT: G1 X197.522 Y152.660 E42.7012
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.819 Y165.363 E43.5078
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.340 Y165.408 E43.5313
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.566 Y153.182 E44.3077
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.583 Y153.385 E44.3169
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.584 Y153.730 E44.3323
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.889 Y165.425 E45.0750
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.453 Y165.427 E45.1003
READ: ok T:243 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X197.584 Y154.295 E45.8071
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.584 Y154.344 E45.8094
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.538 Y154.907 E45.8347
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.065 Y165.380 E46.4997
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.435 Y165.350 E46.5164
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.705 Y165.306 E46.5287
READ: ok T:244 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X197.465 Y155.546 E47.1484
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.352 Y156.225 E47.1793
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.382 Y165.195 E47.7489
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.137 Y165.005 E47.7839
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.163 Y156.980 E48.2935
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.113 Y157.176 E48.3026
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.893 Y157.814 E48.3329
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.970 Y164.738 E48.7725
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.047 Y164.712 E48.7762
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.214 Y164.653 E48.7841
READ: ok T:244 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X190.935 Y164.339 E48.8194
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.496 Y158.778 E49.1726
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.415 Y158.961 E49.1816
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.958 Y159.804 E49.2246
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.812 Y160.027 E49.2366
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.188 Y163.651 E49.4668
READ: ok T:247 @:0 B:0
SENT: G92 E0
SENT: G1 E-1.0000 F1800
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.126 Y164.098 F3600
READ: ok
SENT: G1 Z0.870 F1000
READ: ok
SENT: G1 E0.0000 F1800
READ: ok
SENT: G92 E0
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.259 Y164.568 E0.0443 F1875
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.356 Y164.963 E0.0886
SENT: G1 X189.423 Y165.283 E0.1328
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.467 Y165.524 E0.1771
READ: ok T:249 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X187.494 Y165.686 E0.2214
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.510 Y165.766 E0.2657
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.164 Y165.768 E0.2813
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.527 Y165.765 E0.3099
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.544 Y165.682 E0.3542
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.571 Y165.518 E0.3985
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.616 Y165.274 E0.4427
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.684 Y164.952 E0.4870
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.782 Y164.554 E0.5313
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.914 Y164.081 E0.5756
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.624 Y163.893 E0.5912
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.094 Y163.541 E0.6197
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.316 Y162.933 E0.6641
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.593 Y162.263 E0.7083
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.928 Y161.535 E0.7526
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.323 Y160.753 E0.7970
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.133 Y160.464 E0.8125
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.790 Y159.929 E0.8411
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.323 Y159.059 E0.8854
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.931 Y158.154 E0.9297
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.615 Y157.220 E0.9739
READ: ok
SENT: M105
SENT: G1 X174.377 Y156.263 E1.0182
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.220 Y155.290 E1.0625
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.143 Y154.304 E1.1069
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.141 Y153.958 E1.1224
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.148 Y153.323 E1.1509
READ: ok T:250 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X174.235 Y152.339 E1.1953
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.403 Y151.368 E1.2396
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.651 Y150.413 E1.2838
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.976 Y149.483 E1.3281
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.378 Y148.583 E1.3724
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.855 Y147.715 E1.4168
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.042 Y147.425 E1.4323
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.396 Y146.898 E1.4608
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.009 Y146.123 E1.5052
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.690 Y145.393 E1.5500
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.735 Y145.349 E1.5528
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.478 Y144.684 E1.5976
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.266 Y144.089 E1.6419
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.101 Y143.562 E1.6863
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.976 Y143.105 E1.7306
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.886 Y142.723 E1.7749
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.825 Y142.418 E1.8192
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.786 Y142.191 E1.8636
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.763 Y142.045 E1.9079
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.748 Y141.980 E1.9523
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.735 Y141.997 E1.9966
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.717 Y142.096 E2.0409
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.688 Y142.276 E2.0852
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.641 Y142.536 E2.1296
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.568 Y142.874 E2.1739
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.867 Y143.474 E2.2381
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.518 Y142.823 E2.2795
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.105 Y143.410 E2.3167
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.821 Y143.318 E2.3492
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.266 Y143.309 E2.3691
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.514 Y143.327 E2.3803
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.805 Y143.374 E2.3936
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.033 Y143.431 E2.4041
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.292 Y143.522 E2.4164
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.490 Y143.613 E2.4262
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.716 Y143.745 E2.4379
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.883 Y143.867 E2.4473
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.072 Y144.038 E2.4587
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.210 Y144.191 E2.4679
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.362 Y144.398 E2.4795
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.469 Y144.581 E2.4890
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.581 Y144.824 E2.5010
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.655 Y145.036 E2.5111
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.724 Y145.312 E2.5239
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.762 Y145.553 E2.5348
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.785 Y145.855 E2.5484
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.779 Y146.212 E2.5644
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.685 Y146.990 E2.5996
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.225 Y147.531 E2.6340
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.534 Y148.222 E2.6779
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.110 Y149.524 E2.7418
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.432 Y150.457 E2.7861
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.676 Y151.413 E2.8304
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.841 Y152.387 E2.8748
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.923 Y153.371 E2.9191
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.924 Y154.358 E2.9634
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.843 Y155.342 E3.0078
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.681 Y156.316 E3.0521
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.439 Y157.273 E3.0964
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.118 Y158.207 E3.1408
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.721 Y159.111 E3.1851
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.250 Y159.979 E3.2294
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.709 Y160.805 E3.2737
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.101 Y161.583 E3.3181
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.454 Y162.285 E3.3610
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.729 Y162.953 E3.4052
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.950 Y163.560 E3.4496
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.661 Y163.751 E3.4651
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.126 Y164.098 E3.4937
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.331 Y164.442 F3600
SENT: G92 E0
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.434 Y164.927 E0.0458 F1250
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: M105
SENT: G1 X190.501 Y165.336 E0.0915
SENT: G1 X189.537 Y165.667 E0.1373
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.549 Y165.916 E0.1830
READ: ok T:252 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X187.543 Y166.083 E0.2288
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.527 Y166.166 E0.2746
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.164 Y166.168 E0.2909
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.509 Y166.165 E0.3203
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.493 Y166.079 E0.3661
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.488 Y165.909 E0.4118
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.501 Y165.657 E0.4576
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.538 Y165.324 E0.5034
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.606 Y164.913 E0.5491
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.710 Y164.425 E0.5949
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.405 Y164.228 E0.6112
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.859 Y163.866 E0.6406
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.057 Y163.237 E0.6864
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.309 Y162.545 E0.7321
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.621 Y161.793 E0.7779
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.998 Y160.986 E0.8237
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.798 Y160.683 E0.8400
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.445 Y160.131 E0.8694
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.963 Y159.233 E0.9152
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.557 Y158.298 E0.9609
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.231 Y157.333 E1.0067
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.985 Y156.344 E1.0524
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.822 Y155.338 E1.0982
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.743 Y154.321 E1.1440
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.741 Y153.958 E1.1603
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.749 Y153.303 E1.1897
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X173.838 Y152.287 E1.2355
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.012 Y151.283 E1.2812
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.268 Y150.297 E1.3270
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.604 Y149.335 E1.3727
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.019 Y148.404 E1.4185
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.511 Y147.510 E1.4643
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.708 Y147.206 E1.4806
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.073 Y146.663 E1.5100
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.705 Y145.862 E1.5558
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.403 Y145.114 E1.6017
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.461 Y145.057 E1.6054
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.224 Y144.375 E1.6513
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.038 Y143.760 E1.6971
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.901 Y143.215 E1.7430
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.806 Y142.743 E1.7888
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.747 Y142.348 E1.8346
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.717 Y142.032 E1.8804
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.710 Y141.798 E1.9263
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.720 Y141.647 E1.9721
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.738 Y141.580 E2.0179
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.759 Y141.598 E2.0637
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.774 Y141.700 E2.1095
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.777 Y141.886 E2.1554
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.762 Y142.155 E2.2012
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.721 Y142.504 E2.2470
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.782 Y142.994 E2.2995
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.518 Y142.257 E2.3462
READ: ok
SENT: M105
SENT: G1 X193.249 Y142.988 E2.3926
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.791 Y142.918 E2.4172
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.276 Y142.909 E2.4390
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.561 Y142.930 E2.4518
READ: ok T:252 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X194.886 Y142.982 E2.4666
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.147 Y143.047 E2.4787
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.443 Y143.150 E2.4927
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.676 Y143.258 E2.5042
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.935 Y143.410 E2.5178
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.136 Y143.557 E2.5289
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.355 Y143.755 E2.5422
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.521 Y143.938 E2.5533
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.696 Y144.178 E2.5666
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.824 Y144.395 E2.5779
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.952 Y144.673 E2.5917
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.039 Y144.921 E2.6035
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.116 Y145.232 E2.6179
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.160 Y145.507 E2.6303
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.185 Y145.843 E2.6455
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.179 Y146.239 E2.6633
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.105 Y146.845 E2.6907
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.791 Y147.531 E2.7342
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.011 Y148.311 E2.7838
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.482 Y149.377 E2.8361
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.816 Y150.342 E2.8819
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.068 Y151.331 E2.9278
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.238 Y152.337 E2.9736
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.323 Y153.354 E3.0194
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.324 Y154.375 E3.0652
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.241 Y155.392 E3.1111
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X198.073 Y156.398 E3.1569
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.823 Y157.388 E3.2027
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.491 Y158.353 E3.2485
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.080 Y159.287 E3.2944
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.594 Y160.184 E3.3402
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.034 Y161.038 E3.3860
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.406 Y161.842 E3.4318
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.737 Y162.568 E3.4762
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.988 Y163.259 E3.5219
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.183 Y163.885 E3.5677
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.880 Y164.085 E3.5840
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.331 Y164.442 E3.6134
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.387 Y163.328 F3600
SENT: G92 E0
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.574 Y160.515 E0.1786 F2000
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.418 Y160.279 E0.1914
SENT: G1 X176.083 Y159.757 E0.2192
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.739 Y159.114 E0.2519
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.801 Y164.177 E0.5734
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.933 Y164.248 E0.5801
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.809 Y164.635 E0.6231
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.834 Y164.644 E0.6243
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.269 Y158.079 E1.0412
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.248 Y158.032 E1.0435
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.973 Y157.217 E1.0821
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.699 Y164.943 E1.5727
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.714 Y164.948 E1.5734
READ: ok
SENT: M105
SENT: G1 X183.460 Y165.138 E1.6080
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.775 Y156.453 E2.1595
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.711 Y156.195 E2.1714
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.639 Y155.752 E2.1916
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.159 Y165.272 E2.7962
READ: ok T:252 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X184.586 Y165.344 E2.8156
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.817 Y165.364 E2.8260
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.545 Y155.092 E3.4782
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.498 Y154.479 E3.5058
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.434 Y165.416 E4.2003
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.542 Y165.425 E4.2052
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.012 Y165.427 E4.2262
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.482 Y153.897 E4.9584
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.488 Y153.340 E4.9834
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.488 Y153.338 E4.9835
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.570 Y165.420 E5.7507
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.093 Y165.377 E5.7742
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.534 Y152.818 E6.5717
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.573 Y152.383 E6.5914
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.586 Y152.305 E6.5949
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.604 Y165.323 E7.4216
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.089 Y165.242 E7.4436
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.669 Y151.822 E8.2958
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.736 Y151.440 E8.3133
READ: ok
SENT: M105
SENT: G1 X174.760 Y151.347 E8.3176
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.562 Y165.150 E9.1940
READ: ok
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.014 Y165.036 E9.2149
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.876 Y150.898 E10.1127
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X174.976 Y150.513 E10.1306
READ: ok T:253 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X174.997 Y150.453 E10.1334
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.456 Y164.912 E11.0516
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X189.878 Y164.768 E11.0716
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.144 Y150.034 E12.0072
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.290 Y149.615 E12.0271
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.294 Y164.619 E12.9799
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X190.688 Y164.447 E12.9991
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.464 Y149.223 E13.9658
READ: ok
SENT: M140 S60
READ: ok T:259 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X175.639 Y148.832 E13.9851
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.081 Y164.274 E14.9656
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.109 Y164.262 E14.9670
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.450 Y164.077 E14.9844
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X175.833 Y148.460 E15.9761
READ: ok T:257 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X176.034 Y148.095 E15.9948
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.817 Y163.879 E16.9970
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X191.953 Y163.806 E17.0039
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.169 Y163.665 E17.0155
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.244 Y147.740 E18.0268
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.326 Y147.612 E18.0336
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.469 Y147.399 E18.0451
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.512 Y163.442 E19.0638
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.751 Y163.284 E19.0767
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X192.846 Y163.210 E19.0821
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.699 Y147.064 E20.1074
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X176.949 Y146.748 E20.1255
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.164 Y162.963 E21.1551
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.482 Y162.715 E21.1732
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.198 Y146.431 E22.2072
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:259 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X177.267 Y146.345 E22.2122
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.465 Y146.132 E22.2252
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X193.778 Y162.446 E23.2611
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.073 Y162.174 E23.2791
READ: ok
SENT: M104 S0 T0
READ: ok T:260 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X177.738 Y145.840 E24.3164
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.934 Y145.630 E24.3293
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X177.968 Y145.596 E24.3314
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.017 Y145.553 E24.3343
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.355 Y161.891 E25.3718
READ: ok T:264 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X194.626 Y161.597 E25.3898
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.315 Y145.286 E26.4255
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.614 Y145.019 E26.4435
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X194.893 Y161.298 E27.4772
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.141 Y160.980 E27.4953
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X178.930 Y144.769 E28.5247
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.252 Y144.526 E28.5429
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.389 Y160.662 E29.5675
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.432 Y160.607 E29.5707
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.617 Y160.325 E29.5858
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X179.583 Y144.291 E30.6040
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:262 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X179.930 Y144.072 E30.6224
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.841 Y159.983 E31.6327
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X195.958 Y159.804 E31.6423
READ: ok T:260 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X196.053 Y159.629 E31.6513
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.277 Y143.853 E32.6530
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X180.649 Y143.660 E32.6719
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.252 Y159.263 E33.6626
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.415 Y158.961 E33.6780
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.446 Y158.891 E33.6815
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.021 Y143.466 E34.6610
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.121 Y143.414 E34.6661
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X181.412 Y143.291 E34.6802
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.619 Y158.498 E35.6459
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.791 Y158.105 E35.6652
READ: ok T:262 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X181.810 Y143.124 E36.6165
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.005 Y143.042 E36.6259
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.223 Y142.971 E36.6362
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X196.938 Y157.686 E37.5706
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.082 Y157.265 E37.5906
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X182.650 Y142.832 E38.5071
READ: ok T:262 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X182.917 Y142.745 E38.5197
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.088 Y142.705 E38.5276
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.203 Y156.820 E39.4238
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.317 Y156.368 E39.4448
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.546 Y142.597 E40.3192
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X183.851 Y142.525 E40.3333
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.015 Y142.501 E40.3408
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.407 Y155.892 E41.1911
READ: ok T:264 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X197.488 Y155.408 E41.2132
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.507 Y142.427 E42.0375
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X184.799 Y142.383 E42.0507
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.015 Y142.369 E42.0604
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.539 Y154.893 E42.8557
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.582 Y154.370 E42.8793
READ: ok T:269 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X185.546 Y142.334 E43.6436
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X185.756 Y142.320 E43.6530
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.104 Y142.326 E43.6686
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.584 Y153.806 E44.3976
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.583 Y153.385 E44.4165
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.570 Y153.227 E44.4237
READ: ok T:270 @:0 B:0
SENT: G1 X186.680 Y142.336 E45.1152
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X186.715 Y142.337 E45.1168
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.305 Y142.397 E45.1434
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.518 Y152.609 E45.7919
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.503 Y152.430 E45.8000
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X197.422 Y151.947 E45.8220
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X187.962 Y142.487 E46.4227
READ: ok
SENT: M105
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.612 Y142.608 E46.4524
READ: ok
SENT: G1 X188.662 Y142.622 E46.4547
Total build time: 4.48 minutes
READ: ok
READ: ok T:269 @:0 B:0
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:267 @:0 B:0
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:270 @:0 B:0
SENT: M105
READ: ok T:270 @:0 B:0
Disconnected.
```
# Answer
> 2 votes
What printer are you using? I had a friend who encountered this problem, at first we thought it was the slicer. Turns out, the wires for his extruder heater block and hot end fan were shorting, so whenever the extruder was turned on, it would keep heating no matter what the temp was set to. To test if this or something similar is happening, first unload your filament. Then, open up a small file in Simplify3D and set the temp to something low, like 100C. If the extruder turns on and just keeps heating, check your wiring. Make sure no wires are shorting and there are no bare/exposed connections.
---
Tags: simplify3d, heat-management
--- |
thread-3754 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3754 | Structural Analysis | 2017-03-17T01:43:29.620 | # Question
Title: Structural Analysis
I have some files for 3d printing that I want to do structural analysis because I plan to apply loads on them. I know there is a Solidworks analysis module for this purpose called Simulation, but according to what I have read about this software it is not very effective for analyzing parts that have been created by layers such as 3d prints.
Does anyone work with this and could describe important features to make a good structural analysis?
# Answer
For running an analysis on FDM printed parts Solidworks Sim would be extremely difficult to use. It's not really designed for running this type of analysis and is at the fairly low end of FEA analysis packages. An FDM analysis should be treated almost like a composite structure and you'd have better luck running something like ANSYS, or NASTRAN but those are by no means the only two. To get good (and accurate) results from FEA you'll need to model each layer, the bonding between each and the internal structure.
I've never done it myself but i've looked into doing it. The mesh required for even a fairly simple part looks pretty massive. Certainly possible and certainly doable, but you'd need to weigh your expectations against how much time it would take to model everything, set up the mesh and then run the analysis. In my experience, given that most FDM prints are pretty quick to build, it always seemed to be more efficient to build a few parts load them up and watch how they fail in a structural test. 20 hours of printing and then an additional 10-15 of setting up and running the tests were faster than running a proper FEA.
For a quick and dirty FEA, i'd use the solid model of my part and only consider loads that acted normal to the Z-Axis of the print. Any loads that act in shear apply a huge FOS. The closer to pure shear the larger the FOS you'd want to have. And any thin, tall parts i'd assume can take no loading outside of pure compression.
Edit: Just noticed that this question had a tag on Heat-management
As far as a Heat loads go, it'll depend heavily on the infill type and density you have on your model. Everything from above will still apply, but the loads would then be thermal loads instead of structural. Particularly with FEM at best your first analysis will only be within about 50% of true values and you will then need to update your thermal model with the results from your first verification test.
Depending on the accuracy required from the analysis you could get away with modelling a hollow part with the walls of the part being the thickness of the printed shells. Higher accuracy analysis you'll have to model all layers as they are printed. If you're just looking for a 'will it melt' analysis, thin walls will work fairly accurately assuming you're confident in your material properties.
> 6 votes
---
Tags: support-structures
--- |
thread-3521 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3521 | 3D printing a boat hull | 2017-02-03T20:36:47.677 | # Question
Title: 3D printing a boat hull
I am wondering if it would it be feasible (at an affordable price) to 3D print a boat hull (small dimensions, maybe something like 60x40x20 cm).
I am mostly concerned about:
* **durability** (against salty water, UV rays, extreme temperatures (under the sun or in a cold ocean)
* **strength** (the material should be able to resist some chocs and maybe a little bit of pressure if a wave was to smash on it).
* **waterproofness**
Those characteristics should *last* during extended periods of time in water (at least several months, maybe more, about a year or two).
**Is there any easily accessible 3D printing material that would match those characteristics?**
# Answer
You will really need to specify your constraints better because the short answer is **yes, what you describe *is* entirely possible**, but without knowing whether you are limited to a particular budget, process, or aesthetic, it's not a particularly useful answer.
Some machines (ex. Stratasys Connex 1000) will print models up to 1m in length, so sure, you could print an entire hull with the dimensions you specify.
**Pros**:
* Monohull construction
* Excellent surface finish
* Many resin options are UV and salt water resistant with decent enough durability
**Cons:**
* Ridiculously expensive machine with decently expensive resins
* It will waste plenty of support material in printing (which means added cost too)
* Not really *easily* accessible, but some design studios will have them and will print things for you, for a cost
Other machines (ex. Ultimaker 2 Extended) will print models up to 30cm along the vertical axis. It would require some assembly in the end, but you could segment your build and get a boat hull in the end.
**Pros:**
* Easily accessible
* Fairly low cost (Maybe under \\$1000 for the machine vs nearly \\$1M and many filaments cost 1/10th that of polyjet resins or sintering powders)
* The materials themselves can be UV resistant and salt water resistant
**Cons:**
* Joinery and seams create passageways for water ingress, so you'd need secondary sealant
* The FDM process itself isn't always watertight, so you'd need sealant anyway
* Low interlayer adhesion limits the tensile strength along one axis and the shear strength in one plane, so you'd either need composite hull panels with varying print orientations (in which case, just do a composite layup instead) or a fairly careful analysis of principle hydrodynamic stresses
There's significantly more to the discussion as well, but without really understanding your design constraints, it's difficult to give any concrete advice.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Something similar has been done in ABS already, although I don't expect it gets left in the water for years. See the video, showing a kayak being printed in many ABS sections of about one cubic foot, then bolted together and sealed.
> 4 votes
# Answer
It is totally fine, it is what I did a lot at my previous job. I 3D printed cases for underwater stationary equipment, mini-submarines and simple buoys, and almost all of them work fine. In fact, most of the failures I had were the breach of sealant. Or someone forgot to close the lid. For example this thing I've made.
To make watertight objects, follow the rules:
* You may use PLA. Over the course of a few years in water it degrades only in color, unless exposed to direct sun heat for prolonged times.
* Obviously, use several outer shells.
* If you are making floating thingy, and there is a free space in your hull, do NOT leave it empty! Instead, make it solid in the model, and set slicer to use sparce hexacomb infill with a solid layer every 20-30 layers. This way, your model will be made of hundreds of isolated pockets of air, so a breach of a hull in some place will not sink it. You can also drop lead pellets into those pockets as they are made to weight the ship properly.
* Set nozzle diameter to layer height ratio to more than 3. It will produce nice thick layers welded shut. For example, use 0.7 nozzle for 0.2 layer or 0.4 nozzle for 0.1 layer. The last one can be a bad choice if your extruder can't provide that little flow and tears layers. In general, obtain those bigger nozzles for technical parts. 0.4 nozzle is for toys, really.
* Remember that wires conduct water just as well as electricity - water runs between the isolation and the copper core. No wires should go through the containment.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Probably feasible, Affordable or simple probably not. To start from an affordability perspective, kayaks normally weigh around 20 kg, they kayak in the video mentioned in the other answer weighs in at 30kgs. Assuming you print all your parts perfectly, your using \\$15 a kg filament, and you use 25 kg of abs you are looking at a minimum of \\$375 in material just to print the kayak. After this the cost would only go up because now you need the parts to fasten it all together, the seat ect... In other words, it will probably be no cheaper and a whole lot more time intensive then buying one.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I would give it a try, but dont expect it to be watertight. Print the hull and paint it with some epoxy and you will be fine. (outdoor paint job, epoxy is bad for you)
> 1 votes
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Tags: material
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thread-3758 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3758 | Is it safe to print a rotor insert for a centrifuge using a makerbot? | 2017-03-17T16:25:49.350 | # Question
Title: Is it safe to print a rotor insert for a centrifuge using a makerbot?
Laboratory centrifuges have buckets that hold the sample tubes in inserts.
The buckets are the black things on the rotor in the upper left corner holding the bottles. Examples of inserts are shown below (the colorful containers with slots for tubes). These fit into the buckets and I'd like to print them since these are expensive.
Is it safe to 3d print these using a makerbot given the g-forces these rotor inserts will be subjected to (potentially 150g's under our settings), or will the inserts deform and unbalance the rotors under the stress?
Additionally, is the precision of the printing good enough that the inserts can be expected to be well-balanced (the correct weight, with a symetric design having even weight distribution)?
We have a basic makerbot that makes little plastic robots.
# Answer
It's difficult to determine if the buckets are fully enclosed, but I suspect that they are. The enclosure into which the inserts are placed will provide some structural support.
3D printed objects have relatively low torsion strength, but a reasonable compression strength, especially with high infill levels. One could consider that the item placed into the insert will transmit force to the bucket, but likely not compress to the point of destruction.
Allowing also that the forces on a swinging bucket centrifuge are "downward" or when in use, "outward," the primary location of force will be the bottom of the insert you create. It appears that the main function of the insert is to keep the tubes separated, rather than to keep them supported.
Create your inserts, but leave an open bottom. Attach a suitably strong panel to the bottom of your created model with epoxy.
Another thing to consider in this project is the mode of failure. What can go wrong? The tubes in the insert should not explode, but if they do, is it merely cleaning up that follows? I suppose one aspect of the inserts is to keep the tube walls in column, to keep all forces linear to the tube cylinder, rather than out of line. It's easy to keep pennies in a stack under pressure, but don't push on them edgewise.
You can and should perform a test on a 3D printed insert. Make one that is relatively flimsy, say a six-tube unit and spin it without tubes in place. Test it prior to the spin for tube fit, then test it after the spin. If there is deformation, you would not be able to insert the tubes after the spin.
> 4 votes
# Answer
It is my understanding that you are looking to print the insert not the gimble bucket. The gimble bucket portion would be difficult and have high risk. Fdm 3d printing looks like it would be a good solution for the inserts.
3D prints have a high strength-to-weight ratio especially in compression and will easily hold their weight and 150g. If the insert is properly drawn in cad with good tolerances the wall and floor of the gimbal bucket will help support the insert. You can experiment with infills but i am sure anything upwards of 30% will do well.
In my experience with printing on a reprap fdm printer, the same gcode and same fillament yeilds exactly the same weights. If you switch fillament types, have some extruder hangups, or modify the gcode and have some small variation; just hit the top of the heavy ones with a belt sander till they all measure the same. Make sure to not sand the bottom because the distance of the sample to the bottom of the gimble bucket needs to be consistent.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The primary printer I use is a makerbot, and my gut is saying no.
150G's of loading even in the XY axis seems pretty excessive for a part made on a Makerbot. Also, given that this is a rotational, the weight and balance will need to be held to a pretty high tolerance otherwise you'll end up having an off-balance centrifuge which could damage a pretty expensive piece of equipment. Admittedly I haven't checked the reliability for weight and balance of a part I've made for the loading condition you'd be going through but I'd be pretty hesitant about trying to run any FDM printed part under a loading case like that Makerbot or a high end printer given the speeds you'll be at.
If it's your only option though, I'd suggest running your centrifuge at a very low speed first with the part in it and check it to see if you're picking up any transient vibration from it. Increasing the speed as you feel comfortable. My gut says that it'll fail before getting up to full speed from out of balance CofG of the part and the centrifuge starting to shake. Sounds terrifyingly fun to try though. IF you do try and run it,c an you post what happens? I'd be very interested in hearing the results.
> 1 votes
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Tags: makerbot, safety, print-strength
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thread-3659 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3659 | Print is not properly laminated at certain height | 2017-02-27T15:52:54.077 | # Question
Title: Print is not properly laminated at certain height
I have a Wanhao Duplicator i3.
I have done many excellent prints with this printer, and have first hand experience that it can do a pretty much flawless print.
But... Recently, I am experiencing weird results. My "flow" seems uneven. When laying down the first layer of the raft, I can see it looks like it "beads" in some places. Thin lines with little "beads" here and there (which seem to be in a constant pattern) i.e. -------()-----()-----()------()------ etc.
I initially thought, wet filament... But drying the filament had no noticeable effect. Further more, all my prints seem to be horribly laminated at a certain "height" of the print. This is really strange as it will print perfectly and only at a certain height, mess up about 5mm of layers (height wise), and then print great again. This seems to be a constant now.
I dont understand how/why this could happen, as the whole z-axis is on a linear spiral shaft. Unless there is a gcode issue somewhere that I am not aware off. I am using CURA as my slicer and I feel that even if there was an isnturuction hidden somewhere at a certain height, it would possibly effect a single layer, and not 5mm worth of layers.
Any ideas?
I have tried:
Different filament Pushing flow % to 105 and 110% respectively Cleaned extruder gears and print head Oiled z-axis shafts
What baffles me, is the weird delamination (or rather lack of lamination) at a certain height. I have not measured this height exactly, but from guestimating, it looks like roughly the same height on every print where the issue is visible (about 3/4 up in the attached image). My support structures are also VERY messy, whilst they were very precise and perfect previously.
Thanks
# Answer
Thanks to all the replies. Whilst all of them may be valid in some scenarios, my case seemed to have been a combination of things, that relates to most of the replies here.
I had my spool holder on the side of the machine, and I noticed some friction as the filament feeded over the "arm" on top of the printer into the extruder. I sat and looked at this for a while, and it seemed apparent that as the extruder moves up, the angle of the filament over the "guide arm" on top changes to a more severe bend. This may have been why it always battles to extrude nicely at a certain height, and then maybe recoveres after that to an extent. (SO yes, under extrusion may have been the issue)
I have now moved the filament to on top of the printer to feed straight down. I have also slowed down the travel to about half of what it was (40 now, was 60). I also dropped the infill speed a bit as that was also a mess most of the times.
So far I have had excellent results! I am not sure if its the travel speed drop or the extruder feed that helped the most, but I am a happy chappie again. (So far).
Thanks for all the input. It really made me re-look at all of this from a different view.
> 1 votes
# Answer
This looks like a heating or retraction issue. I also have a Di3, and I encountered a similar problem a while ago. I have found that leveling the bed very well and making sure the z-axis is aligned fixes most problems with this machine. Re-calibrate your printer and try out a different slicer. This link from the 3D Printer Wiki is very useful.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I had a similar problem with my prusa i3 variant i built. I found that this issue would decrease in occurance when retraction was disabled however would not completely disappear.
After much experimentation I found this to be a **feed** issue with the extruder. In other words the filament was not being pushed hard enough to the teeth of the hobbed bolt to have enough traction to pull the filament down as fast and easy as the extruder would to pull the filament up during retraction. Even without retraction enabled, my extruder's drive gear teeth would not dig deep enough into the filament to pull a consistent amount of filament for the same *x* amount of distance per instances of a similar timeframe.
Essentially because retraction speeds are much faster than normal extrusion **and** there is not enough force required to retract compared to having to pull filament from the spool the retraction and extrusion settings would yield results that do not match actual expected filament travel distance.
My recommendation in your case:
1) tighten your extuder idler so it puts more force on the filament. What might appear tight to you does not necessarily mean is tight enough for consistent pull. If yours uses the two long screws on springs for force maybe consider getting longer and tougher springs.
2) Be aware of your extrusion steps/speed. You don't want to grind your filament when retracting.
> 1 votes
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Tags: filament, prusa-i3, print-quality, delamination, wanhao
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thread-3776 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3776 | FDM, ABS Post-processing methods | 2017-03-20T00:12:31.033 | # Question
Title: FDM, ABS Post-processing methods
I have built a few parts that have printed 'pins' on them (2mm diameter 1.5 cm length). Due to the orientation that the build requires the pins have to have support material on them. (The part has to be printed with the pins parallel to the build plate for strength reasons and the orientation can't change).
The problems i'm having is that the surface of the pins are quite rough. The pins are designed to press-fit into a soft rubbery tube, and the pin surface roughness is cutting into the softer tube. The roughness is due to both the layer edges of the print, and that the support material leaving some 'burrs'. I'd like to smooth the outside of my pins with some type of post processing technique. Ideally I'd like to keep the pins as close to dimensionally accurate as possible, but I realize they won't be perfect.
The two methods I've considered are sanding the pins by hand and placing my part in an acetone vapor chamber for a while.
Sanding, I think, is the best option of the two so far but it's a bit tedious, and is quite difficult to do, due to the size of the pins, their location and my fingers are pretty big relative to the space I'm working in.
I don't like the idea of using acetone because the few times I've tried doing this in the past, my parts always came out warped or misshapen I think due to the relief of stresses. (or I did it wrong, both seem plausible).
If anyone has a third option (or more) I'd be glad to hear. Or if there is another approach altogether that I haven't considered that can be done on an FDM style printer that would also be appreciated.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Your objective is quite a challenge, considering the limitations within which you have to operate. Small diameter of an appreciable length is daunting indeed.
I would consider to use a regulated heat source such as a soldering station, one with removable tips. After electing an appropriate tip to handle the dimensions, a hole drilled into the tip to accept the pin diameter and length would be the next step.
There would be consideration needed for the plastic material pushed ahead of the soldering tip, as well as angular stability while pushing the soldering iron onto the pins.
To improve these circumstances, a sharp edge ground at the end of the soldering iron tip would give a better shearing of the excess plastic.
The temperature control would be critical to prevent destruction of the pin within the tip and to provide optimum removal via the cutting end.
Directly related to the above, but without the heat would be the equivalent tool to be used in a rotary grinder such as a Dremel. The bore of the custom-made cutter would match the pin and the sharp cutting end could also have serrations such as those found on hole-saws. Low speeds and a steady hand are required!
If either of the above suggestions do not remove sufficient plastic roughness, one would make the pins of a larger diameter and ensure that excess is removed to specifications.
EDIT: Additional thoughts. Hobby stores and online equivalents will sell very small diameter tubing. It might be an easy matter to find 2 mm inside diameter tubing of brass or even stainless steel. A few passes on a piece of sandpaper while the tubing is chucked in an electric hand drill and you have a sharp cutting edge.
---
Tags: abs, post-processing
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thread-3767 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3767 | Brief very slow moves near top layers | 2017-03-18T18:31:39.540 | # Question
Title: Brief very slow moves near top layers
I've been trying to change to the latest Cura (v2.4) from the older v15.04 (I'm sure there's a good story about why they reset the numbers).
There's an annoying behaviour in my prints now, and I can't track down what is happening. Everything goes fine, but during the print (maybe mostly near later layers) there are these moments when the print head doesn't move with the normal 30-50 mm/second, but perhaps 1-2 mm/second.
Watching the filament closely, it appears to retract filament at that moment, then the head moves *painfully* slowly around the part. Then 10 seconds later it goes flying around again.
Can't see a "print speed during retraction" setting. I see a speed at which the filament is retracted setting - I'm guessing that's unrelated.
I'm worried these frequent slow move sections are having two effects:
1. The hot print nozzle sitting on the part is deforming the surface features;
2. The hot print head is overheating the filament feeding into the nozzle and I get jams or sometimes swollen filament that won't go back into the nozzle as it tries to proceed further, causing a jam.
Any idea what makes these super slow movements? The older Cura never caused any of them.
I'm using a Monoprice Select mini printer, with six months of good results before this showed up, and only with G-codes created with new Cura 2.4.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Are the layers where this is happening smaller than previous layers? Many slicers have a minimum layer time setting where if the layer takes less than X time, it will either slow the layer down or possibly pause until the time is reached.
This can be useful to allow the previous layer to cool down and harden up a bit before more hot plastic is added. If you're not having issues cooling the print then you could disable this. I've only ever used Slic3r, KISSlicer, and Simplify3D so I'm not sure where the setting would be in Cura but those slicers all had/have the option.
---
Tags: hotend, speed
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thread-3748 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3748 | Initial auto-leveling configuration | 2017-03-15T22:43:59.033 | # Question
Title: Initial auto-leveling configuration
I'm near the end of a full electronics swap of a dead 3d printer. I'm using an MKS Gen 1.4 board with Repetier firmware. This is my first try at attempting to set up auto-leveling from scratch.
I've got the inductive probe mounted, positioned and calibrated so that running a G30 (single probe) works perfectly and returns valid results.
However, when I try a G28 (home), then G29 to do a full auto-leveling sequence, just prior to each probing, the Y axis lurches forward (roughly)70 mm, and stays cumulatively out of position by the amount it lurched forward. Since 70mm x 3 is bigger than the depth of my bed (200x200) the Y-axis bangs and grinds against it's physical limit. Additionally, that puts the Z-probe beyond the edge of the bed, which causes the firmware to go into error mode, because the actual z-low limit switch is hit without ever tripping the Z-probe. Which, annoying sends the Z-Axis moving up, until it ultimately crashes into its physical limit and grinds until I kill the power.
1. Why is my config causing this lurching behavior? How do I fix it?
2. Can the error behavior be configured/changed to NOT attempt infinite movement in the Z+ direction? (It might not matter once #1 is fixed, but I don't like the idea of my printer going into a mode where the Z-stepper could burn itself out if the power isn't flipped.)
Here is the Z-probe section of my config.h:
(Note: I have tried changing Z\_PROBE\_Y\_OFFSET to -75, to see if I was entering the offset incorrectly. It didn't seem to change the behavior noticeably.)
```
// #################### Z-Probing #####################
#define Z_PROBE_Z_OFFSET 0.2
#define Z_PROBE_Z_OFFSET_MODE 0
#define UI_BED_COATING 1
#define FEATURE_Z_PROBE 1
#define Z_PROBE_BED_DISTANCE 8.0 // Higher than max bed level distance error in mm
#define Z_PROBE_PIN ORIG_Y_MAX_PIN
#define Z_PROBE_PULLUP 0
#define Z_PROBE_ON_HIGH 1
#define Z_PROBE_X_OFFSET 10
#define Z_PROBE_Y_OFFSET 75
#define Z_PROBE_WAIT_BEFORE_TEST 0
#define Z_PROBE_SPEED 5
#define Z_PROBE_XY_SPEED 150
#define Z_PROBE_SWITCHING_DISTANCE 1.5
#define Z_PROBE_REPETITIONS 5 // Repetitions for probing at one point.
#define Z_PROBE_HEIGHT 22.68
#define Z_PROBE_START_SCRIPT "m117 Autoleveling..."
#define Z_PROBE_FINISHED_SCRIPT "m117 Autoleveling Complete"
#define Z_PROBE_REQUIRES_HEATING 0
#define Z_PROBE_MIN_TEMPERATURE 150
#define FEATURE_AUTOLEVEL 1
#define Z_PROBE_X1 20
#define Z_PROBE_Y1 00
#define Z_PROBE_X2 160
#define Z_PROBE_Y2 00
#define Z_PROBE_X3 100
#define Z_PROBE_Y3 120
#define BED_LEVELING_METHOD 1
#define BED_CORRECTION_METHOD 0
#define BED_LEVELING_GRID_SIZE 5
#define BED_LEVELING_REPETITIONS 5
#define BED_MOTOR_1_X 0
#define BED_MOTOR_1_Y 0
#define BED_MOTOR_2_X 200
#define BED_MOTOR_2_Y 0
#define BED_MOTOR_3_X 100
#define BED_MOTOR_3_Y 200
#define BENDING_CORRECTION_A 0
#define BENDING_CORRECTION_B 0
#define BENDING_CORRECTION_C 0
#define FEATURE_AXISCOMP 0
#define AXISCOMP_TANXY 0
#define AXISCOMP_TANYZ 0
```
# Answer
Well, I´m using marlin for my printers and normally the offset is negative, this difference is from the 0.0 Z value sensor and nozzle.
For example, I have an aluminum plate, so this material is less inductive and I'm getting a height of nozzle 1.2 mm; normally this value should be above 5mm, but my printers reads 1.2mm
So my offset is 1.2mm (this values is dangerous for me) because I can bend the plate if sensor stop working.
the safety z height on G28 is 4mm and also for auto probing G29, the speed testing for Z is lower than travel X and Y.
```
#ifdef AUTO_BED_LEVELING_GRID
// set the rectangle in which to probe
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 8
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 156
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 156
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 8
// set the number of grid points per dimension
// I wouldn't see a reason to go above 3 (=9 probing points on the bed)
#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_GRID_POINTS 2
#else // not AUTO_BED_LEVELING_GRID
// with no grid, just probe 3 arbitrary points. A simple cross-product
// is used to esimate the plane of the print bed
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_1_X 15
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_1_Y 156
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_2_X 15
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_2_Y 20
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_3_X 156
#define ABL_PROBE_PT_3_Y 20
#endif // AUTO_BED_LEVELING_GRID
// these are the offsets to the probe relative to the extruder tip (Hotend - Probe)
// X and Y offsets must be integers
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 //25
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 //29
#define Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER -1.2 //-12.35
#define Z_RAISE_BEFORE_HOMING 4 // (in mm) Raise Z before homing (G28) for Probe Clearance.
// Be sure you have this distance over your Z_MAX_POS in case
#define XY_TRAVEL_SPEED 7000 // X and Y axis travel speed between probes, in mm/min
#define Z_RAISE_BEFORE_PROBING 4 //How much the extruder will be raised before traveling to the first probing point.
#define Z_RAISE_BETWEEN_PROBINGS 4 //How much the extruder will be raised when traveling from between next probing points
```
I hope this help to understand your settings.
I have set the values to Zero instead 25 and 29 because I pre defined the testing points manually to 8 and 156; of course the center of the nozzle is moved 25 and 29 mm from the plate center, this avoids collision to X0 and Y0. And I just the level using 4 points once, if your bed is warped so is needed more internal points
```
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 //25
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 //29
```
> 1 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, repetier
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thread-3799 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3799 | Thoughts on designing and printing 3D miniature house | 2017-03-28T15:37:15.300 | # Question
Title: Thoughts on designing and printing 3D miniature house
I've done a few 3D designs in Sketchup and Fusion 360. Prints were done in PLA on an FDM and an SLA machine that I have access to. Generally I am quite happy with the results. Now the description of my question.
I would like to create a 3D model of the house and yard that my wife grew up in, print it in miniature then assemble it into a snow globe to be given as a Christmas present. Quite a challenge I expect. The final thing does not have to be exact but a fair representation so that she can actually tell that it's her house. Some specific questions:
1. The house is brick, would the brick texture actually be noticeable on the printed model if it is say only 1 to 1.5" on a side with either SLA or FDM?
2. Same for roof shingles?
3. Or should I just rely on adding these details artistically in the painting process ( I will have to find an artist to do all that )
4. Thought on trees/ bushes? Again I hope to rely on artistic license when designing these parts.
5. Thoughts on software: "Which would be best to design in?" It has to be free (or not expensive) since I am not doing this professionally and don't have the money to buy expensive 3D software? Someone suggested Blender. Fusion 360, Sketchup. Others?
6. Thoughts on best printing method ?
A lot of questions I know and I truly appreciate any feedback on any of this.
# Answer
Answering your questions in turn:
1. On the scale you're trying for, printing brick with FDM won't show up - you'd have much better results, and could be possible, with SLA. You won't see every brick, but you will see the texture at least.
2. Same as for brick, You wont see shingles, but you can differentiate that there is a texture difference. If you were to paint it after the fact the color plus the texture will make it clear.
3. Yup, but both won't hurt.
4. Doable if they're big enough. SLA would be required I think to make them look good.
5. For something like this I'd suggest Blender, if your modelling skills are pretty solid. If not, Fusion-360 would work really well. But that's purely opinion based.
6. SLA if that wasn't clear as of yet.
Sounds awesome. I think the hardest part on this is going to be the modelling, the structure I'm picturing isn't all that complex so it should be doable.
> 3 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, software, print-material
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thread-3795 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3795 | Z axis at print is lower than when I home | 2017-03-26T22:28:04.593 | # Question
Title: Z axis at print is lower than when I home
I replaced the controller board in my Monoprice Select Mini with an Arduino/Ramps setup and compiled an uploaded Marlin 1.1.0-RC8 to run it. I've got most everything calibrated and working with one exception.
I tell the printer to home for xyz and then level my bed with a piece of paper then start a print and the nozzle consistently drops too far down into the bed and nothing can extrude. If I adjust the bed and put 1-2mm gap between the nozzle and bed then it prints fine.
I can't find anything in Marlin to adjust for this and I'm kind of stumped. I'm printing the original cat gcode that came with the printer that should just work fine as it always has and shouldn't have anything that a slicer would put in there to screw things up.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
This is the output of M503
```
Send: M503
Recv: echo:Steps per unit:
Recv: echo: M92 X93.00 Y93.00 Z1097.50 E99.00
Recv: echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
Recv: echo: M203 X300.00 Y300.00 Z5.00 E25.00
Recv: echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
Recv: echo: M201 X3000 Y3000 Z100 E10000
Recv: echo:Accelerations: P=printing, R=retract and T=travel
Recv: echo: M204 P3000.00 R3000.00 T3000.00
Recv: echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s), Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s), E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
Recv: echo: M205 S0.00 T0.00 B20000 X20.00 Y20.00 Z0.40 E5.00
Recv: echo:Home offset (mm)
Recv: echo: M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
Recv: echo:Material heatup parameters:
Recv: echo: M145 S0 H180 B70 F255
Recv: M145 S1 H240 B110 F0
Recv: echo:PID settings:
Recv: echo: M301 P26.15 I2.74 D62.35
Recv: echo: M304 P231.09 I45.21 D295.34
Recv: echo:Filament settings: Disabled
Recv: echo: M200 D3.00
Recv: echo: M200 D0
Recv: ok
```
I also wanted to test whether the nozzle is actually moving closer. I did a G28 and manually put a piece of paper's width gap between the nozzle and the bed at all points. Then I started a print with no filament but with the sheet between the nozzle and bed. When it got to temp it homed all the axis and moved the nozzle to the first position. I would expect the paper to maintain the same gap but it tightly presses into the paper. The first gcode move that includes the Z before extruding is :
```
G0 F3600 X42.228 Y46.985 Z0.3
```
Which you would expect would put even more space between the nozzle and bed for the first .3 layer of filament but it isn't.
I printed directly from the SD Card to hopefully rule out Octoprint running gcode before the print so I really think the culprit is Marlin at this point.
# Answer
I found the issue. When the hotend and bed are at temps for PLA everything works fine but at temps for ABS the Z offset would get all messed up. After a bunch of testing I was able to track it down to a single gcode statment `G1 Z15.0 F6000` At the higher temps my Z stepper skips steps at that feed rate.
The "Custom FDM printer" machine settings I used for my printer in Cura had that statement in it and so did the cat gcode that was on the card from the factory. I changed the feed rate to 200 and was able to print in ABS.
I was surprised Marlin didn't have a 'limit the feedrate for Z to this number' setting.
> 3 votes
# Answer
If nozzle sets lower than it should, after heating up, then you may need to calibrate with heater turned on.
Another (although less likely) reason can be an incorrect Z steps number. However, if the print, after adjusting the first line height, does well, this should not be the case.
Fast track solution is to use `M206` (something like `M206 Z0.3`) command to adjust nozzle offset, in your case Z position. This does not fix the root cause but should allow you to mitigate the problem.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: marlin, ramps-1.4, arduino-mega-2650
--- |
thread-3804 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3804 | Best gear STL to print with ABS | 2017-03-29T17:34:57.417 | # Question
Title: Best gear STL to print with ABS
I spent the last days trying to make the best gears I could but they are not "smooth" nor good. I searched at thingverse with "gear" but I see no set of gears. I would like someone to point me a good set of gears (with 5, 10, 15... teeth for example) so I can use this STL file with Google Sketchup.
Do you guys know any good matching gears that I could print?
I will be using this gear in a fast spinning matching so it would be nice these gears to be well designed to support some fast moving.
Also, I think in my case I would like to use gears with this shape (the white gear). Any idea why is this gear design better than the usual?
# Answer
This type of gear is known as a "herringbone" gear. A traditional straight-cut gear is strong, but can cause more vibration as each tooth engages and disengages. A helical gear (slanted tooth) reduces that vibration as the tooth engagement is more uniform. However the angle of the teeth causes a sideways force that may be undesired. A herringbone tooth design effectively cancels the sideways forces but gets the uniform tooth engagement.
A search for "herringbone" on Thingiverse comes up with many gears of this type.
Regarding the quality, if you are not happy with the results of your own design, that's OK - gears are shockingly complex, and people make careers of gear design! However, if you have a good CAD model that just isn't printing well, it's not likely a bad STL.
An STL from a different source is likely to have similar quality with the same slicer/printer setup. You might be able to improve print quality of your design by changing settings on your slicer or adjusting your printer. I'd suggest asking a question with your current setup and specific print quality issues.
> 4 votes
# Answer
As for high speed gear ideas why don't you design your own if there aren't any good ones. I will admit sometimes there will be surprising lack of content in some areas and I dont know what you expect, sometimes you do have to do some things your self to bridge the gaps. Maybe try looking into automobile transmission or even jet engines which use two shafts for high speed compressor and low speed fans. Jet engines spin pretty fast over 35k RPM. They may end up using a planetary gear I would think, the forces are well balanced. But you haven't said the purpose of this gear, is it power transmission on separate parallel axis? Speed reduction/change? In engineering, structurally things which use pointy edges can perform poorly under stress, the stress is highly focused geometrically. Instead if manufacturing constraints and design volume allows it, rounded, chamfered, or filleted edges reduce high stress points. Also adding material distributes loads where possible. Smaller teeth may increase vibration frequency but reduce amplitude. Ideally you would want to minimize the relative velocities of the contacting surfaces to reduce waisted force from friction converting to heat. Also heat can reduce strength and increase wear, decreasing life span of the gear.
> -1 votes
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Tags: 3d-models
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thread-3809 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3809 | How to remove adhered nylon from build platform? | 2017-03-31T21:18:46.847 | # Question
Title: How to remove adhered nylon from build platform?
As the title suggests, I am looking to remove nylon that has adhered strongly to my build platform. Mechanical methods (ex. scraping) haven't yielded results, so I was hoping for a solvent or something that would remove the adhered nylon.
Also, the parts themselves remove well enough, but some areas have a bit of nylon that simply persist.
# Answer
One important and missing aspect of your question is what is your build platform? Glass is likely to give you the best results, while aluminum has some risks, depending on your choice of solvents.
My hasty research at first showed Glacial Acetic Acid to be a candidate, but as a very strong acid, it will require some care in use.
I found a pdf document with a comprehensive chart of possible solvents for nylon. The above noted solvent (100% acetic acid) lists with an Unsatisfactory result. I read this at first as being unsatisfactory for dissolving, but the correct interpretation is that nylon is unsatisfactory for being resistant to this solvent. Additional notes show nylon will dissolve in this solvent. I have a bottle of white vinegar (acetic acid) but the panel reads as five percent concentration, almost certainly ineffective for your purposes.
There are other solvents listed as unsatisfactory, which points them in the right direction for your purposes. A couple of them are in the chlorine family and no reference is made regarding concentration. Chlorine of even weak concentration will attack aluminum very quickly.
Despite the weak concentration of the white vinegar, I've dropped a segment of 3 mm nylon to see what happens overnight and may report via an edit here later.
> 2 votes
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Tags: build-plate
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thread-3814 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3814 | Why 3d print has an ugly surface? | 2017-04-01T18:54:27.047 | # Question
Title: Why 3d print has an ugly surface?
Lately I'm having some issues with white PLA.
It sticks nicely to the print bed, but the very last layer of the print comes out really ugly.
I'm not a native english speaker, I don't know what is the proper term to describe what I see, so I'm attaching two pictures instead:
As you can see, the surface has wrinkles. If you touch it, it feels like a jaggled surface. What is causing this? I've never had this kind of issue before with the same PLA roll, what can be the issue?
I have a prusa-style printer, 45°C printbed, 225°C hotend, 10% hexagonal infill, 30mm/s print speed. The object stays on the surface without warping, I can tell for sure that it isn't detaching from the bed and coming up towards the extruder.
It happens only for infill, perimeters are just perfect.
What can be the issue here?
# Answer
> 8 votes
This appears to be the result of your hot end (nozzle) temperature being slightly too high.
I'd recommend lowering your nozzle temperature by a few degrees and retrying the print. If the quality improves you're good. If it doesn't improve significantly try lowering a few degrees more.
If you lower the nozzle temperature to the point that you start having other adverse effects, try going back to the lowest temperature that works and check your infill and shell settings. The top shell of your part may be too thin given the span (top surface, maximum travel length). i.e. the strands being printed on the top of your part are sagging between your infil hex's, by thickening this part in the slicer settings the next layer on the roof won't sag as much as the previous.
By increasing your number of shells or shell thickness (or roof thickness, i'm not sure on the exact terminology) you could effectively hide the effect you're seeing by thickening this section of your part.
Best guess though is nozzle is a bit too hot.
# Answer
> 0 votes
This looks like the air trapped inside the print is expanding, causing wavy surfaces. This can be solved by lowering nozzle temperatures, and turning on the fan.
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Tags: pla
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thread-3820 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3820 | What kind of aluminium grade for a heated 3D printer bed? | 2017-04-03T14:15:28.790 | # Question
Title: What kind of aluminium grade for a heated 3D printer bed?
I'm replacing my standard MK3 Aluminium printing bed with a custom sized bed paired with a silicone heater. I came across a few on Amazon and they all have grades such as 6061, 3003, 5052 etc. I know these mean the composition of the Al alloy and their end purpose but I'm not sure what they mean in terms of being used for a 3D printer. Can anyone here advise me on this?
# Answer
Various grades and alloys of aluminum will have characteristics related to ease of welding, resistance to corrosion, malleability, and other aspects. For a heated bed on a 3D printer, you'd really want to have something resistant to warping and something that can be assured to be planar across the surface, that is, flat.
The terminology you'd want to use for your search is "MIC 6 Cast Aluminum Tooling Plate" and the results are many.
From a rather comprehensive web site:
Flatness tolerance is maintained within .015" on 1/4"-5/8" thickness and .005" on 3/4"- 4" thickness. Thermal Cycling can be performed up to 800° F under controlled conditions.
You would want to confirm from the seller that the surface has been prepared, as some sites appear to sell un-finished tooling plate, but I've not been able to clarify that. Most appear to provide either no specifications regarding flatness or give a figure such as that above.
> 4 votes
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Tags: heated-bed
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thread-3810 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3810 | Delta Kossel 3d Printer Heatsink issues | 2017-03-31T21:38:52.067 | # Question
Title: Delta Kossel 3d Printer Heatsink issues
I feel stupid for asking, but could it cause issues if the Heat sink/Heater block/Extruder tip can spin freely in a Kossel Delta 3d printer? I went to remove the extruder tip the other day, and noticed that all of the assembly is free spinning. I am new to the 3d printing community.
**Clarification:**
It's the whole assembly rotating as a single piece. The heater block, heat break/sink and extruder tip are all rotating together, in the effector.
# Answer
> 2 votes
When assembling the hot end tip, make sure you screw in the extruder tip to the aluminum block first, then screw that assembly to the heat sink fins. On my Kossel, I did it the other way around, and had very poor results.
If the whole assembly is spinning, then the clamp screws are either too long and can't tighten properly, or the holes might be stripped, or they're just not tight.
And yes, any movement in the hot end can cause problems, since we're dealing with steps as small as .1 mm.
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Tags: delta, heat-management, kossel
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thread-3526 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3526 | Can K-type thermocouple disconnects be used with thermocouple based 3D printers? | 2017-02-05T05:07:54.933 | # Question
Title: Can K-type thermocouple disconnects be used with thermocouple based 3D printers?
I currently have a Replicator 2 and a couple of clones. I'm a fairly experienced 3DP user and builder but one issue that I have over and over again is the very brittle screw type thermowell assemblies that get damaged whenever you try to replace a nozzle or repair your hot end.
I'm wondering why I don't see more of the quick connect type thermocouple assemblies, like this K-type male.
It would be a great help on 3D Printers allowing easy disconnect of screw type thermowells without damaging them. Is there a reason that these are not being used?
I was hoping someone with experience with these could tell me if they are worth trying out on some of my builds without risking some kind of dangerous situation.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Not sure if this is the reason, or just A reason, but thermocouples create a pretty small voltage for a given temperature, whereas thermistors have a larger (easier to read) change in resistance. I would expect that a thermocouple would require slightly more sensitive instrumentation to read it than a thermocouple. And seeing as space requirements aren't that significant on a 3D printer using the easier to read thermistor, despite its size, seems like the better option.
I prefer thermocouples myself, since they don't need calibration and effectively lifetime guaranteed (aside from mechanical failure). However almost every project I've ever worked on, the Sparkies always seem to push for thermistors rather than thermocouples.
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Tags: makerbot, replicator-dual, repair
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thread-3838 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3838 | Why does the Ultimaker 3D Printer has a Heater + Heater transfer plate (aluminium) + Glass? | 2017-04-10T19:01:24.930 | # Question
Title: Why does the Ultimaker 3D Printer has a Heater + Heater transfer plate (aluminium) + Glass?
Why does the Ultimaker 3D Printer has a Heater + Heater transfer plate (aluminium) + Glass?
I wonder why a glass plate, and if is possible to remove the glass and print directly in the aluminium plate adjusting the heating.
Link to the ultimaker.
Pictures:
# Answer
Printing directly onto aluminum is something I've never seen before, likely due to the fact that PLA (and other materials) do not adhere reliably to aluminum. Instead, many opt to use blue tape, kapton tape, PEI, buildtak/commercial build surface, or an additional build surface, such as glass. When heated, clean glass can be directly printed on. The use of a glue stick, wood glue, isopropyl alcohol, the above adhesion aids, and others can help adhere your part better hot or cold.
Can you remove the glass, add any of the above to the aluminum plate, and print on that? So long as it's a clean, flat surface, yes. But it'll be more work for you to replace or clean the build surface, as you won't be able to simply remove the glass and replace it. You're not gaining much by taking out the glass. A slightly faster bed heat-up, perhaps.
As for *why* Ultimaker went with an aluminum transfer plate, that is a slightly more engineering oriented question.
> 2 votes
# Answer
According to this page, heat transfers more evenly across an aluminum build plate than with just glass. But as Kevin pointed PLA adheres better to glass because it doesn't flex as much as aluminum under heat.
The link above shows that aluminum has a much higher thermal conductivity at 205 <sup>(W/(mK))</sup> vs glass at 105 <sup>(W/(mK))</sup> at 25 °C <sup>(77 °F)</sup>.
Because of this conductivity difference, you may find that it takes longer to heat the glass plate, but it should heat more evenly.
> 5 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, ultimaker-3
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thread-3837 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3837 | TAIG CNC - Z axis getting bound | 2017-04-10T13:07:30.243 | # Question
Title: TAIG CNC - Z axis getting bound
*First of all I apologize if this stack exchange site isn't the proper spot for CNC questions but I do not see any other ones that are close. If the community feels this is too far off topic then just let me know and I will remove this question. Even though this is for a CNC machine, the same issue could exist for a 3D printer. I do know this is very specific to the TAIG CNC.*
Currently I have the TAIG CNC machine. Recently it has been getting bound when going up in the positive Z direction. It will go down no problem but when going up, at certain points the motor will make a high pitch noise like it normally does when it hits a Z extreme. At these points if I manually try to crank (with the controller off) it is very hard to move up. This indicates that it is a mechanical problem.
I took apart the Z axis and understand that there is a jib inside. I do understand how the jib works, tightening and loosening the top and bottom screws to move the wedge. I have tried with the wedge all the way up (biggest gap) and all the way down, along with in between in small increments. It will go up when the jib is all the way up but if I press down with my hand barely then it gets bound so I am thinking it is something other than the jib? I am not sure which other parts I can adjust or would get stuck. I did follow the directions on youtube of setting the brass insert that is attached to the threaded rod, where I tightened it to the point of where the motor couldn't move and then backed off a little bit. Has anyone had binding troubles like this?
I am a pretty new member on this forum so I apologize if I missed anything but feel free to ask any questions too.
# Answer
> 0 votes
So inside the Z axis is a brass component that is connected to the threaded rod (lead screw). This brass component has 3 screws and depending how tight / loose, determines how much it will bind up. You of course don't want it too loose otherwise the enclosure will "jump" off of the track at times. In my case, the two screws were too tight. The way I determined how tight to go was taking the entire Z track off of the back, tightening both screws just to the point of binding and then backing off 1/2 turn on both.
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Tags: mechanics
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thread-3784 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3784 | Resetting the zero position of the X axis on a RepRapPro Mendel Mono | 2017-03-23T10:47:35.790 | # Question
Title: Resetting the zero position of the X axis on a RepRapPro Mendel Mono
My **mono mendel** 0,0 position is on the left of the bed, when the nozzle is at the position of the green dot in this image.
I would like to move that point to the left a bit, in order to print a slightly larger part (the bed has about a centimeter more space to the left). I know I can just allow negative values but I'd rather not to, for safety reasons.
However I cannot find where the offset of that point from the endstops (home position) is declared. There is no offset set in either pronterface or Slic3r, and unless my board came preloaded with different firmware than the one reprappro publishes, the `*_HOME_POS` variables in their Marlin repository are all equal to 0.
```
// The position of the homing switches. Use MAX_LENGTH * -0.5 if the center should be 0, 0, 0
#define X_HOME_POS 0
#define Y_HOME_POS 0
#define Z_HOME_POS 0
```
https://github.com/reprappro/Marlin/blob/master/Marlin/Configuration.h#L290
Any ideas how I should go about it?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I think the cleanest option is to move the X-endstop back about a centimeter to match, and then increase the size of the bed in both Slic3r's and the printer's settings.
You could also try using M206 to set a persistent offset after homing.
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Tags: marlin, g-code
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thread-3841 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3841 | Weight Reducing Design Change for Extruder Driver | 2017-04-11T10:05:07.007 | # Question
Title: Weight Reducing Design Change for Extruder Driver
I'm considering removing the driver motor from the extruder assembly, and placing it on a stationary mount point instead, and then using a flex-shaft type connector from the motor to the extruder assembly to actually drive the extruder. The motivation for this change is to reduce the overall weight of the extruder driver and hot end assembly, allowing for quicker movement of the carriage on it's associated axis(one of X,Y).
Would it be better to run a pair of drivers (one for each direction) to manage reversing the filament pressure or would it be better to use just one driver and reverse the motor as usual?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Very cool idea,
One motor would definitely be more than capable of producing the required torques even through a flexshaft connector. For any normal sized 3D-printer the torques required, and the speeds you'll need for rapid response are well within the capabilities of any off-the-shelf stepper motor.
Just a note on the idea though, with a normal, 'rigid', connection there is essentially no winding or unwinding, and only the backlash between the gears and the filament to consider, and that is effectively zero. With a flex-shaft though, the stack-up of twists and flexing will be much greater. The system will require more rotations at the source to effect the same amount of torque at the end effector as the flex shaft flexes and bends under the load. For tiny torques with short flex shafts, this wont be an issue as filament pressure is pretty minimal. But if you scale up this project or start working at much higher speeds, you may run into some issues with this design.
I have no idea how big or fast you'd need to be working at for this to begin to become a problem. I'm imagining pretty big though. Just something you might want to keep in mind if you try turning this into a huge, super fast 3D-printer.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you're talking about a common 3D printer stepper motor and driver, then one driver is perfectly capable of driving the motor both forward and backward.
The flex tube setup you describe sounds like a Bowden extruder.
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Tags: extruder, fdm, extrusion, extruder-driver
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thread-3850 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3850 | My anet a2 auto-homes incorrectly | 2017-04-13T08:12:55.093 | # Question
Title: My anet a2 auto-homes incorrectly
I just made my anet a2, and when I hit auto-home it goes off the board makes a loud clacking sound going down a bit (under the heat bed but off to the side). Any suggestions?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Your limit switches are not working properly - they should always hit.
Do the following steps:
1. Move axis in all possible directions, both positive and negative;
2. Check limit switch wiring;
3. Limit switch output.
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Tags: printer-building, desktop-printer, anet-a2
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thread-3431 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3431 | What causes bubbles in extruded filament? | 2017-01-19T14:11:02.343 | # Question
Title: What causes bubbles in extruded filament?
I've noticed this on almost ever print I've ever had. On the initial first line that clears the extruder nozzle tiny little bubbles/craters seem to form on the line. While I don't think these are causing any issue with my prints I'm curious to know the reason why they form at all.
Is this due to water absorption in my filament that turns to steam, which then bursts through the molten plastic? Is it due to air bubbles in the filament that are cause by the manufacturing process of the filament? Or is this more an indication that my nozzle is damaged or clogged in some way?
This image was made using ABS plastic and a heated build plate. I've noticed these same 'bubbles' appearing using PLA, and Nylon.
Edit: Nozzle temperature 240°C, build plate temperature 150°C, Nozzle diameter 0.4 mm, filament diameter (measured 1.75 mm) retraction distance 1.7 mm. Using the Makerbot Desktop Slicer.
The first line that my printer extrudes, where I'm seeing these 'bubbles' is a nearly full line. Makerbot starts from the right side of the image, extruding to the left.
# Answer
Oh yeah, that's simple. You are printing too hot and are literally boiling the plastic. Else you have water. However if it was water you would hear Crackling as it printed. If it is too hot you will not hear nearly as much. I am 87.341% sure you are printing too hot.
Looking at your printing temps you are without a doubt printing too hot.
From this link on 3d hubs.
> PLA (Only on Replicator 2) Print temp: 210°C (at 100m/s) Notes: heated bed optional between 40 and 60°C
>
> ABS (Only on Replicator 2X) Print temp: 230°C (at 100m/s) Notes: heated bed at 110°C
> 8 votes
# Answer
In my experience, bubbles like this are caused by the filament absorbing moisture, which then cooks out at the high printing temperatures.
See: http://reprap.org/wiki/Print\_Troubleshooting\_Pictorial\_Guide#Material\_Handling.2C\_Material\_Contamination\_01
> 8 votes
# Answer
I had a similar issue with my Prusa i3 mk2. In researching what could cause extrusion to be nonuniform, I found that it could be due to a number of things:
* Nozzle height
* Flow rate
* Bed/Nozzle/Ambient Temperature
* Improper bed leveling
* Dirty reservoir or filament
* Low quality filament
* Hardware failure
* etc...
For me, the problem happened to be a hardware failure where the screw that held the pulley in place on the extruder motor had stripped somehow and the pulley was slipping as the printer was trying to extrude. I temporarily fixed this by using a slightly bigger screw, but was able to get a new pulley/screw piece from Prusa Research to replace the part.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I have spent many hours testing my Anet A8 to resolve the popping issue. The symptoms are similar to yours, Diesel. Both ABS and PLA, different manufactures, good packaging, as well as various sizes of nozzle, are producing bubbles.
I was experimenting mainly with two variables: nozzle temperature and retraction length. Other related parameters I kept fixed:
* Material: ABS
* Nozzle size: 0.5 mm
* Retraction speed: 45 mm/s
* Travel speed: 50 mm/s
* Print speed: 40 mm/s
### Retraction length
Originally it was set to 4.5 mm. I found it to be impacting the amount of popping significantly, especially in the range of 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm. The optimal value appeared to be in my case 0.8 mm. A lower value would produce even better results in terms of surface quality, but would also start producing oozing.
One important side note is that at the retraction length of 4.5 mm, leaking of the material during idle moves was significant and was becoming even a bigger contributor into gaps in the print strikes (immediately following the idle moves), than popping. This observation is kind of contradictory, but I am making no mistake here. Too large of a retraction apparently may have the inverse effect on leaking/oozing.
### Nozzle temperature
Originally was set to 250°C. 260°C produced significantly worse results. 240°C is where I stopped.
Based on some other research, including talking to my friend who successfully uses the same plastic at 260°C, I made the conclusion that the quality of my print head assembly is not perfect, and that it is the main cause of the problem. By finding the perfect retraction/temperature combination I simply mitigated the air sucking in the head, which could be not happening at all if I had used a better quality extruder and nozzle in the first place.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The temperature is too high or your keep your filament in open for days. So that filament observe water from air do the following steps:
1. pla 190-220 abs 220-240
2. If temperature in range then bake your filament at 50-60 temp.
> 1 votes
# Answer
There is only one way to find out, which is by isolating any reasons, starting from the simplest one:
* Firstly, clean and check, or change, your nozzle;
* Secondly, if that does not work, then change the filament, or find a way to get it dry (some people, with some filaments, use an oven to get moisture out - careful, don't burn it);
* Finally, change filament brand and get a better quality filament or another type of filament.
Another reason that it does not extrude consistently, is that what you mention as \[appearing to be\] bubbles maybe \[intentional\] gaps \[in the print\].
> 0 votes
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Tags: filament, print-quality, makerbot
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thread-3854 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3854 | Is there any reason *not* to use a steel nozzle for printing all materials? | 2017-04-13T14:41:27.853 | # Question
Title: Is there any reason *not* to use a steel nozzle for printing all materials?
I know that for printing some materials like the carbon-fiber filled PLA it's recommenced to use a steel nozzle since it'll wear-out a standard brass nozzle quickly. Is there any reason to prefer using a brass nozzle for 'simple' plastic-only filaments instead of just printing everything with steel?
# Answer
Thermal conductivity of brass is approximately twice as better than steel (not stainless). Given that the size of nozzle is relatively small, it should be able to transfer enough heat for a medium-speed prints at least. I have printed PLA and ABS using "steel" nozzle (brand of steel unknown) at the speed around 80 mm/s without any visible differences compared to brass.
However, an ideal nozzle (I see) is made of tempered bronze with polished inner channels. Bronze is known to have better friction coefficient and tempered one should be enough to resist carbon-type filaments more efficiently.
> 8 votes
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Tags: filament, print-quality, nozzle
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thread-2665 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2665 | What is the best 3D modeling software for a beginner on a 3D printed mini barrel project? | 2016-08-21T14:31:02.263 | # Question
Title: What is the best 3D modeling software for a beginner on a 3D printed mini barrel project?
My goal is to 3D print a 5 liter miniature barrel with a side stand, similar to this wooden one on Amazon. I want it to have a removable top so that a boxed wine bladder may be put inside, and there should be a hole on the top as well so that the spigot may stick out and be used. I have no experience with 3D modeling or printing, but I have access to a public 3D printer at my local library. I know you can print parts individually (ex. curved wood-colored sides with staves and holes to interlock and make up the body of the barrel, the metal-colored hoops to go around the barrel). I don't know what software to use, though. I was thinking of starting to learn Blender? Would that be effective for this project?
# Answer
> 17 votes
Your question begins in an inappropriate format for StackExchange, but you've ended it with one more appropriate by asking if Blender would work.
If you are willing to take the time to learn Blender, you are certain to discover that it will do as you require, and much much more. Your referenced model could be created using engineering-type design software such as Fusion 360 or SolidWorks or many of the free packages, but the free-form aspect is more suited to the flexibility of Blender.
> 2020 UPDATE: Fusion 360 now supports a sculpt feature, which combines organic modeling with the engineering-type for which it is previously known.
Even though Blender is not an engineering-type program, it has internal support for precise modeling. Should you learn to use those features, you get the best of both types of software.
If you construct your model in the software in segments/pieces as you suggest, your result will have greater flexibility at the printing stage, specifically with respect to color and filament choices. Instead of wood-colored sides, you can use wood-simulated PLA filament! Depending on the printer at the library, you could also use filamet, a filament containing 88 percent metal for the hoops.
I use Blender for some aspects of modeling, often importing the STL into Meshmixer to address things I've not yet learned in Blender.
I hope your reference to 5 liter is the original size and that your model will be a miniature of it. A 3d printer with 5 liter capacity would be a wonderful asset at the public library!
# Answer
> 4 votes
I recently purchased a 3d printer and have found that freecad suited me really well http://www.freecadweb.org/ and its open source.
I believe its very similar to onshape in its a parametric modeller but runs locally rather that online.
Using the Parts view i have made most of my models using basic shapes and boolen subtractions.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you have any programming background at all, consider OpenScad. It is a functional type of programming language that lets you do a lot of things quite easily without art skills. OpenScad skills are useful for building customizable things on Thingiverse.
Here is a place to start
# Answer
> 2 votes
We get this question a lot in the facebook groups I manage.
The usual answers do not include blender as it has a stupid hard learning curve. That is overkill for what you are looking to do.
Look into 123d from autodesk. Free if you do not make money. I find this one to be the easiest.
http://www.123dapp.com/design
Also there is Google sketchup, with SLT out plugin. I find this one is pretty sub par due to the fact it does not create printable models well (ie missing triangles so it wont create solids, hard to fix)
http://www.sketchup.com/
I think this one pops up. I haven't used it and I think it costs, but worth a mention.
https://www.rhino3d.com/
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think Autodesk Meshmixer is the best, as you can easily make parts with boolean operations(if you're more of a cubic thinking guy) or drag-and-sculpt(if you're more of a freeform guy). (And thoses videos are old but still working).
If you want to get better reflexes in CAD engineering, I think Solidworks is the best (but **really** expensive if you aren't an enterprise), if you want to get better knowledge in 3D design and animations, maybe blender is good but surely not for CAD people neither for beginners in 3D (even if it's well-documented).
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm no expert, but have done some research on this question and it seems to me that Fusion 360 is currently your best bet. It's designed to do exactly what you're planning, from start to finish. **Design** (Sculpting and precision modeling), **Test** (fitting/animation analysis), and **Fabricate** (CAM and 3D printing) all wrapped into one program that has a logical workflow, and is WAY easier to learn than Blender. It's free for hobbyists and startups making less than $100K/yr. There are a bunch of free tutorials online, professionally produced by Autodesk. By the time you get through those, you should be able to complete your project.
(Edit): I don't know anything about onshape.com. Like I said, I'm no expert.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You can check out Tinkercad. It is an easy to use, online editor.
Even though it is not as powerful as Blender or Rhino3d, for easy 3d models it is more than sufficient.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I would highly recommend you checkout Onshape for your design.
https://www.onshape.com/
It is the easiest to use, full featured, free 3D CAD program. It is made (and in active development) by the creators of Solidworks, the most widely used CAD program out there for good reason! And it runs in the cloud, so you don't need a high powered PC with an amazing graphics card, just a decent internet connection.
Onshape looks like it's going to be the future of mechanical CAD whereas other programs like 123d and Sketchup are simply lightweight versions of "real" CAD.
Unless you want to get highly involved in organic, complex shapes, I would avoid Blender, you will spend so much time learning it you could have whittled your barrel from a log instead.
# Answer
> -1 votes
To the people saying 123design. I can only say I have been a blender user way before 3D printing was a thing and just cant get around learning 123design. It just feels so limited as it only have a few tools. Yes blender might have a hard learning curve but it does pay off in the future as you wont be limited to 3D printing models and its crucial to make more complex models
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Tags: 3d-design, software, blender
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thread-3859 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3859 | How to join pieces automatically using interlocking or similar? | 2017-04-15T01:58:53.287 | # Question
Title: How to join pieces automatically using interlocking or similar?
I have a piece, which I need to cut into two different pieces, see image 1.
**Image 1**
Then I need to make *interlocking joints* or similar, see image 2.
**Image 2**
How can I do that automatically, using Solidworks or another program?
It's an `*.STL` file so I can easily manipulate all parts without any errors.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not qualified to advise regarding Solidworks, but can suggest a process and concept from which you may be able to adapt to your software.
As you have the two pieces currently in STL form, it makes things only slightly more difficult. Consider to align them parametrically so the faces contact and the edges are coincidental. The block STL will appear as a single cube, in the example you've provided.
Create and place a mating cylinder piece in the desired position as you've shown in the second image. It is a common feature of many 3D modeling programs to be able to perform a subtraction of one part from another. It is equally common to be able to merge two parts into a single manifold part.
Save the file containing the three parts.
Select either block and the cylinder. You can delete or otherwise hide or deselect the unused block. Perform a subtraction on the remaining pair. Save this file under a different name.
Reload the three parts file.
Select the other block and cylinder, perform a union of the pair. Save this file under a different name.
Rather than saving the three parts in a file, one can frequently save the joined or subtracted part and perform an undo until the three parts return. This is a faster more convenient method.
I have performed the above steps in Meshmixer and know that it can be done in Blender, if one is skilled in these programs.
I've performed an internet search for "perform boolean subtraction solidworks" and found multiple results for this process. One link references the "cavity" feature for subtraction. I did not search for boolean union and leave this as an exercise for the reader.
Consider also to plan for this activity in the future by leaving the block intact, unsliced, place the cylinder, perform the boolean action, then slice it as desired. The sequence of saves and/or undo actions will be different from above, but may be easier than re-aligning a previously sliced "block" or item.
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Tags: 3d-design
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thread-3874 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3874 | What do the pink colors in Slic3r preview signify? If it signifies a problem, how do I fix it? | 2017-04-17T15:16:58.367 | # Question
Title: What do the pink colors in Slic3r preview signify? If it signifies a problem, how do I fix it?
What does the pink color in Slic3r preview mean? Yellow is my model, green is support, and pink is..?
If the pink color is some kind of warning, how do I fix it?
# Answer
In slic3r preview, salmon (pink) represents infill, yellow represents perimeters, and green represents support material, including skirt and brim.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Having had direct experience with Slic3r, I can offer up this information. Your model is composed of bottom layers, top layers, outside layers, infill, rafts, brims and perhaps something I've missed.
The program provides for color coding of these features. In the case of your image, the pink represents a top layer, but may also represent a type of infill, depending on "context."
Consider to slice the model, select the preview tab, which you have showing here, then using the slider control to the right of the image window. As you move it from bottom to top, you can observe the construction of the model and each feature as it appears, layer by layer.
> 1 votes
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Tags: slic3r
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thread-3863 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3863 | Is there a technique for turning an image into a 2d model? | 2017-04-16T15:19:56.283 | # Question
Title: Is there a technique for turning an image into a 2d model?
The overall goal is to create a print of the liberty bell. No clapper is needed. The support beam is not needed. I am just looking to mimic the outside shape of the bell. After an application of Google-fu I found this image. It has been cleaned up and cropped a bit.
In OpenScad the surface function was applied to the png to generate a height model. I subtracted out a few cubes, and eventually got it down to a layer of about .1 height.
My Evil (pun intended) plan is to get it down to a 2d model. Then by shifting a copy of model from itself, and subtracting the two. That should leave just the curve. Then rotate\_extrude the curve to generate the actual bell at the desired thickness.
I see the problem coming. If the model is layered down to zero height it will vanish. Leaving me nothing to rotate.
So on to the question.
**Is there any tool or technique to turn the image into a 2d openscad object or failing that is there another way to approach the problem?**
The direction that fred pointed me at is viable. I didn't use the actual image shown here, but a manually generated one from OpenScad. As a proof of concept the technique works well.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As you are already familiar with OpenSCAD, consider to use the projection() function to accomplish your goal.
If you allow for an interpretation that one can cast a shadow of the part on a surface below, it becomes a 2D representation of the part. This is effectively how projection works in OpenSCAD.
Note that the part image below is centered in x, y, z and the cut/projection action takes place at the z = 0 plane:
When the function is applied to this model, the result is a non-contiguous 2d image:
When the cut parameter is ignored or set to false, the image which results is effectively an orthogonal shadow of the entire object, rather than a selected slice:
It gets better, of course. In OpenSCAD, the translate, rotate and scale functions apply. One can tip a model over, resize it, spin it around, combine with the cut parameter and get any combination of 2d image from the original model:
It's important to note that OpenSCAD does provide non-zero thickness to these projections when rendered, or maybe when previewed. I always get those two swapped around. As your objective is a 2D result, you may be able to select from PNG (save as image) or Export as DXF or SVG.
Re-reading your post, I also missed part of a more useful answer. Once you have the profile you desire, you can use the rotate\_extrude function on the profile you generate. Despite the non-zero thickness, it uses the zero-thickness aspect to create the model from that function.
That aspect of the answer is left as an exercise for the reader, as the options are many and results can be complex.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Two options:
1. Use `TRACE2SCAD` (http://aggregate.org/MAKE/TRACE2SCAD)
2. For the more adventurous: Dig up the old pull-request for the suggested `trace()` module: https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/1110
# Answer
> 0 votes
You could have done that with OpenSCAD, there are instructions for extruding.
Personally, I'd just do a 1 altitude copy with Image 2 STL 2 Heightmap Mesh Converter Generator, then rotate in OpenSCAD. It's called `rotate_extrude()` and is used for seashells.
In MeshLab you can use *Laplacian Smooth* to depixelate/antialias it.
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Tags: 2d, openscad
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thread-3041 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3041 | Installing Slic3r on Kubuntu 14.04 with NVIDIA | 2016-11-12T22:55:29.563 | # Question
Title: Installing Slic3r on Kubuntu 14.04 with NVIDIA
I am running crazy trying to install Slic3r on my Kubuntu 14.04. It is a fresh Kubuntu and I downloaded the Slic3r package from them.
At first it worked well but then I changed the display driver to NVIDIA instead of the default Nouveau. I have repeated this operation a couple of times and I am almost sure that the NVIDIA driver screws up my system.
I have read and followed several "SOLVED" posts but none of them gave me a solution.
Any ideas?
# Answer
There is a huge problem with any linux distributions and Nvidia drivers. I have tried countless times to get that driver to work but it crashed my systems time after time. If your slicer works with the default driver i would not try to change it. If it doesn't then you may have to go to windows where the driver is guaranteed to work. I know this is not the answer you are looking for but unless you can code a new driver to work for Linux thats the only solution.
> 1 votes
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Tags: software, slic3r
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thread-3585 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3585 | Marlin: possible to set ZMin limit when ZProbing? | 2017-02-13T18:35:33.250 | # Question
Title: Marlin: possible to set ZMin limit when ZProbing?
Question: Can a "ZMin-while-probing" be set? Meaning a minimum Z height the printer bed can move to, while Z Probing.
Purpose: For safety reasons should the probe switch not fire for some reason.
--
in Marlin Configuration.h, I see you can set the height of the Z Axis before deploying the ZProbe:
`#define Z_PROBE_DEPLOY_HEIGHT 35`
In the context of this question, this is effectively a "ZMax-while-probing", i.e the lowest possible the print bed will be before Z Probing commences.
I am looking for a "ZMin-while-probing" equivalent. The reason for this is just an added safety check - I know that if the probe switch doesn't fire by Z\<=25, then it is not going to, and with this particular printer configuration, that would result in the Z Probe being driven into the printer bed.
Does a setting already exist to create a sanity-check here?
# Answer
You have not stated the version of Marlin you are using. I will assume we are discussing the latest Marlin 1.1 RC8.
There is no longer any *Z\_PROBE\_DEPLOY\_HEIGHT* but in earlier Marlin versions it did not function as you think; it was used to signify the amount of Z travel to execute prior to Z probe deployement. This is to ensure available space for servo-mounted, sled, or other types of "stowed" probes. This was not a limit to the Z travel, but the amount of Z travel to always execute before begining homing. If a printer without *Z\_MAX\_ENDSTOP* is left at maximum travel position, using non-zero *Z\_PROBE\_DEPLOY\_HEIGHT* could crash a bot into the Z maximum end position.
In these previous versions of Marlin, the homing height was computed by a combination of the above constant adding and subtracting to/from some others, which has since been replaced by the simpler and singular *Z\_HOMEING\_HEIGHT* (which works indpendant from the new *Z\_CLEARANCE\_DEPLOY\_PROBE*):
```
//#define Z_HOMING_HEIGHT 4 // (in mm) Minimal z height before homing
(G28) for Z clearance above the bed, clamps, ...
#define Z_CLEARANCE_DEPLOY_PROBE 10 // Z Clearance for Deploy/Stow
```
The absolute value of the maximum bed positions are used in Marlin as sanity check to ensure no axis moves greater than this amount in one movement in either positive or negative direction:
```
#define Z_MAX_POS 200
```
If your probe does not function correctly, no ficticious *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* will prevent a faulty probe from causing a head crash into the bed, so it is not implemented, allowing the *Z\_MAX\_POS* sanity check to prevent the Z axis stepper from continuing to run indefinitely during a fauly probe condition.
If your *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* were implemented, if the printer were powered off (or Marlin crashed, etc) with the head at any Z distance greater than *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* there would be no mechanism to begin a print on the next poweron, since Marlin will never move in the negative Z axis except during G28 probing and after probing completes successfully. The only way to recover in this case would be for someone to continually attempt to both home the printer then power-cycle, moving the head *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* closer to the bed each iteration. This would be an unacceptable user exerience.
Further, if *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* were implemented, the only percieved safety measure it would add is that during probe failure, the Z stepper would crash into the bed and continue to run for only *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* stepper rotations instead of *Z\_MAX\_POS* rotations. Regardless, the bed would be impacted so there is hardly any additonal safety added and a stepper driver should not overheat or cause any more damage (other than what was already done to the bed) in a single *Z\_MAX\_POS* length of rotations.
For more piece of mind during homing, you may use the *Z\_MIN\_PROBE\_ENDSTOP* feature with a normally-closed limit switch wired to an available pin on your control board:
```
// Enable Z_MIN_PROBE_ENDSTOP to use _both_ a Z Probe and a Z-min-endstop on the same machine.
// With this option the Z_MIN_PROBE_PIN will only be used for probing, never for homing.
//
//#define Z_MIN_PROBE_ENDSTOP
```
Then use the *Z\_MIN\_WHILE\_PROBING* feature to move the head above the *Z\_MIN\_PROBE\_ENDSTOP* home position to perform probing. This will ensure that the printer will crash for only *Z\_PROBE\_OFFSET\_FROM\_EXTRUDER* Z stepper rotations if the probe malfunctions:
```
#define Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 // Z offset: -below +above [the nozzle]
```
In summary, to prevent the head from crashing into the bed, you must ensure your Z probe is functioning correctly :)
> 2 votes
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Tags: marlin, z-probe
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thread-3887 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3887 | Printing shells and pouring filler | 2017-04-19T13:36:54.377 | # Question
Title: Printing shells and pouring filler
I had this idea for bulky parts for just printing the shell (PLA) then pouring in some kind of filler in to make up the bulk/strength.
Printing bulk .2mm at a time line by line is slow and subject to warping!
So I though precision print a shell and fill it with 'something' - has this been done by anyone? What is a good something to use?
Yours hopefully!
# Answer
> 2 votes
I've looked into doing something similar to this before and love the idea, never had the chance to follow through on it yet. This is sort of a hybrid method between cast molding and 3D printing.
The accepted answer to a question I had a while back had some very good points by fred\_dot\_u
Post processing FDM for strengrh
Short version, Epoxy is a good option but you may have to consider heat generated from it. Urethane is another really good option (cast urethane is a pretty standard process). Chem-Eng isn't my area of expertise but there is a huge range of material options out there that can be mixed as two parts. I think there are enough options out there right now that you can choose your material properties you need and then select the material from there.
You could also consider going the chopped-fiber composite route. (carbon, glass, etc) and then combine with whatever the appropriate resin is for those materials.
I see the most difficult part of this is getting the shells to print properly. When I had looked into doing this, I considered modeling my part then hollowing it out completely. Then going back into the hollow part and designing in minimal internal structures for the purpose of supporting the thin-walled shell model. Printing that, and then drilling and filling the part after the fact. This approach I see as being a good option however the location of the drill points would be critical otherwise you could get voids as your fill material is injected in. And, the additional modeling time wouldn't be insignificant, however the saving I expected would come from having a ridiculously strong part, with complex geometry and be significantly cheaper than even a cast-urethane part.
If you get some good results, please post a link to them! This is a huge interest of mine!
# Answer
> 1 votes
Or you could use a second head to do low-density infill with very thick layers, like a 1.5mm nozzle and 1.2mm layers.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Not exactly the same, but MakerBot Industries is making improvements to their programs by allowing users to do away with standard infill practices (patterned infill). Their approach is to treat infill similarly to how they treat outer support structures, the "infill" only exists in the interest of supporting roofs.
Check out MakerBot's article about it.
This method achieves the same time-savings that you describe in your question, but will not necessarily provide as much structural integrity, depending on your approach.
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Tags: filament, quality, warping
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thread-3886 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3886 | Embedding nuts and washers into print | 2017-04-19T13:05:37.113 | # Question
Title: Embedding nuts and washers into print
I am creating a 3D printed part which will act as an attachment between a plate (actually a strain gauge) with two M2.5 bolts and a 2kg load with a single M4 bolt. I wouldn't be happy with tapping a screw thread into the print itself so I want to try embedding the nuts into the print itself - so I'll pause the print at the right layer and then insert the nut and, hopefully, the print will resume.
I'm wondering is it worth also including washers? It's a major pain because, while a nut can be captive in a hex space, a washer is circular. So it needs to be glued down on insertion in case it rotates while the printer is printing on top of it.
For a 2kg load I don't believe the nut will attempt to pull through the part but there isn't a whole lot of support between the bore hole and the edge of an M2.5 nut though, only about 1mm.
Edit: I'll add an image of my initial design. The strain gauge is one of a set pulled out of a weighing scales (from Lidl, €5.99. You can buy each separately on the internet for 20 euro, so I saved 74 euro!). The gauge itself is mounted on the narrow "neck" of the gauge. The whole block will drop into a holder that grabs the outer edge of the gauge.
# Answer
It could depend on how well your printer-filament type combination can bridge. If you can generate bridges wider than the washer diameter, then print not only the hex recess but a disc recess for the washer, then print over both.
However, my preference would be to redesign the part so that the washer&hex nut are on the far side of the part so that you don't need to deal with printing over&around them. This has the added advantage that you can replace the nut if it ever gets worn or stripped.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I've had good luck with just leaving a hex-shaped hole in the print, and press-fitting in the nut afterwards. You'll want the axis of the bolt to be along the z-axis, and to use a fair amount of infill and shells. I usually use PLA, so YMMV slightly.
You may also want to consider your strain gauge setup carefully. If you're doing something like making a hook out of the ABS and the plate is acting as a lever arm, you need to make sure the lever arm length is the same every time, or your calibration will be wrong.
> 4 votes
# Answer
There isn't any structural issue with having it allowed to rotate. If you were to print the part without the washer embedded and then put it on afterwards the washer would still be free to rotate. Friction from clamping would hold it in place.
Ideally you want your washer to be in contact with your nut to properly spread out the loading of the bolt compression to a larger area (the purpose of a washer). If you put the part between the nut and the washer then the washer is effectively acting as a spacer and your part is being loaded only where the nut contacts it.
> 2 votes
# Answer
If your nut will be exposed, you can simply insert it into the printed cavity and then seat it in place by heating it with a soldering iron.
> 1 votes
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Tags: abs
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thread-3900 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3900 | Parts printing out bigger after changing controller | 2017-04-21T14:31:08.510 | # Question
Title: Parts printing out bigger after changing controller
I changed my original HICTOP controller for one which actually has some fuses.
I tried to print a part last night - the resultant print looks significantly bigger.
Do you need to recalibrate the stepper per unit after you've changed your controller?
# Answer
A quick search for your specific controller brought up the following link: hictop wiki page in which a reference is made that some printers were shipped with incorrect firmware, specifically in error by a factor of six. If your prints are about six times larger, this may apply to you. The same page contains a link to the firmware.
You should also be able to "look inside" the firmware using any number of programs providing terminal access to the controller. Pronterface is one, Simplify3D (not free) is another. I'm fond of using OctoPrint, but it requires some "gymnastics" to install.
Once you've installed your selected software, open the terminal feature and type M503 to display the current settings. You may have to turn off some automatic terminal display features, as some controllers will repeatedly send data to the screen, causing inconvenient scrolling.
I attempted to locate the correct code sequence for your printer, with limited success. Consider to scan over the wiki page for the appropriate information and correlate it to your specific controller and printer: Firmware reprap codes
You'd want to confirm a specific M-code to change the stepper figure to match that which is for your printer. I've done my extruder steppers recently, which is M92 for my controller. My quick scan of the codes in the above link shows M350 might be the one for you, but don't take my word on it, get a confirmation from another source specific to your printer.
> 1 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer
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thread-3842 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3842 | Reprap variants with servo motors rather than stepper motors? | 2017-04-11T10:41:05.527 | # Question
Title: Reprap variants with servo motors rather than stepper motors?
In a discussion about motors with a friend who used to work in the robotics industry, he told me that he despised stepper motor systems, as every stepper based system he had worked on required a bunch of hacky software fixes to make the system perform to the required level.
He said that servo motor based systems had their own foibles, but at least they could generally be tuned out and you always knew that if the encoder said you were in a given place then you would be (to within the constraints of the backlash compensation).
Because of this, I was wondering if there were any options for using brushless DC motors + encoders + drive electronics instead of steppers + drive electronics.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You can get "stepper replacement" servo drives that supposedly put all the needed control in the drive, and accept ordinary stepper inputs. Those should make the servo-drive a "drop-in" option on anything that uses stepper drives.
That said, I've seen an affordable CNC router system based on steppers turned into a much more expensive system based on servos, and I still have the "obsolete" stepper version, as the servo based system is MUCH more expensive and I could not keep up with the "upgrades" and never would have bought it at the price it now goes for. I'm in fact considering changing that to a reprap control system (still as a router, not as a printer, as I currently think.)
Given some practical limits to printhead speed in additive 3D printing based on the material solidifying, there may not be a lot of benefit in the considerable added expense of servos. They can move faster, but how much of that will translate to actually printing faster? How fast can you melt and pump plastic and have it stay where you put it?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I think using these technologies is possible, and may be better than stepper motors, but by using these you loose the main advantages of the steppers : the simplicity and the cost.
When you use steppers, you assume your motors are strong enough to don't loose any step, and you "just" command them. Steppers are not so expensive and are compacts, so your 3D printer is "simple".
If you use separated motors and encoders, you can do better job, but your 3D printer will be a lot more expensive, harder to tune, and harder to program.
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Tags: stepper, servo
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thread-3872 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3872 | Difficulty getting good precision | 2017-04-17T14:12:03.163 | # Question
Title: Difficulty getting good precision
I have a reprap printer with 0.3mm nozzle. It prints quite well, I am really surprised with quality of all the surfaces and the general precision of the parts printed. BUT I HAVE a problem: when making (for example) a 10mm x 10mm x 10mm cube with a 2.8mm diameter hole from top to bottom (to fit a screw) after I print it gets a size of 3mm diameter.
I know this is related to extrusion width but cant the slicer software (I am using s3d) know that it is using a specific extrusion width and compensate for that in order to get the diamter right?
OBS: this printer is supposed to get 0.05mm precision.
# Answer
It's a generally accepted fact that FDM/FFF printers will have deviations when it comes to holes and perimeters. Typically, holes print smaller than designed and external surfaces end up larger than designed.
In your case, it seems to be the opposite: the hole is too big. It could be that you're just printing too big overall. You might want to make sure that your printer is printing the 10mm X/Y dimension in you example correctly. If it's too big, part of it may be just the typical oversized perimeter, but some of it might be due to incorrect firmware X/Y 'steps/mm' or extrusion like you mentioned.
See also: "Are you printing undersized holes?"
> 3 votes
# Answer
This is a common problem with many different types of 3d printers. When ever you print something the physical object will never be the exact same size as it is in the computer. However, you can get it to be very close to what you need. By tweaking certain things you can get the sizes almost perfect. It could be something slight like your stepper motors are mis-calibrated even a little bit. The distance between the build plate and the extruder could be off causing your print sizes to vary. Also the temperature of your extruder and your build plate could be affecting your overall size after printing. How long your print takes to cool and what temperature it is at at when it prints can affect sizes of your print.
This link could be of some assistance:
```
https://ultimaker.com/en/community/11526-problem-with-correct-size
```
> 1 votes
# Answer
Simplify3D has a feature that makes holes a little bigger or smaller (for adjusting tolerances).
I don't remember what it's called, I think it's something-offset (if someone can help me with this in the comments I'll update the answer).
It's possible your silcer is set to enlarge the holes and the printer is just fine.
> 1 votes
# Answer
For one thing, the entire part generally shrinks, as it's printed (at whatever precision of nozzle location) as molten plastic, and then cools and solidifies.
Given that you are getting a bigger hole in the finished part, I'd start by measuring the part's actual overall outside size, as printed (is that 10mm, or might it be 10.5 or 11mm?), and suspect some calibration tweaks are needed.
If the outside of the cube is actually 10mm, then you may simply need to find the right fudge-factor for hole sizing - if 2.8 is becoming 3, you might need 2.65 to get 2.8 as printed - or 2.63, or...
Alternatively, plan for drilling when a precision hole is needed, and print a deliberately undersized hole with a thick shell so it can be drilled out precisely.
> 0 votes
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Tags: reprap
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thread-3909 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3909 | How does a SolidWorks file get converted to be 3D printed? | 2017-04-23T17:10:04.950 | # Question
Title: How does a SolidWorks file get converted to be 3D printed?
I've done *some* research on this matter however I cannot find any clear answers.
How does a SolidWorks CAD file get 'converted' into a file format suitable for 3D printing, in detail?
# Answer
Any and all CAD files can be converted to STL (Standard Triangle Language). In this file format, surfaces are parsed to be combinations of triangles. For example a flat rectangular surface gets represented as two triangles in the same plane.
As the complexity of the solid increases more triangles are required to adequately approximate the surface. Flat surfaced models are simpler to convert and will have smaller file sizes whereas curved solids will be more complex and larger file sizes (for the most part). The dimensions of your part do not translate to the STL file technically. The STL version of your part is based on unit vectors and a scaling factor is included in the file. So none of the vertices of the STL file are dimensioned, but the file is then scaled appropriately when opened.
If you think of something as simple as a large diameter cylinder, you would need a relatively large number of triangles to approximate the curved surface. With a low number of triangles the curved surface would come out quite blocky, however increasing the resolution and the number of triangles used the blocky surfaces begin to approximate a curved surface. In theory if you had infinite resolution your curved surface would be exactly represented. The resolution of the file is something that you can choose when you save the file in STL format. The higher the resolution the more triangles will be required and the file size will also increase.
The specific algorithm on how to complete this task will be proprietary to each CAD software, however if you're just curious on the math involved or the general process of converting them, I did a quick google search for "STL format algorithm" and found several useful links on the first page that could be useful.
Here are a few links to a few sites with good information:
> 4 votes
# Answer
When you convert it to, let's say, a .stl (3d object file) file, I believe it converts the geometry of the parts into binary and saves the sets. These matrices can be used by the software of 3d printer in order to give the appropriate Trajectory for the extruder. And then the motion of the extruder is 'divided' amongst the available stepper motors and it generates equations of motion for the motors in electrical signals. That's what I've learned so far by using a 3d printer.
> -4 votes
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Tags: print-quality, file-formats
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thread-3749 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3749 | How do I repeat the layers of Slic3r for every 3 infill layers with different angles? (Might need some programming knowledge) | 2017-03-16T03:06:33.303 | # Question
Title: How do I repeat the layers of Slic3r for every 3 infill layers with different angles? (Might need some programming knowledge)
I'm working on developing alternative infill layers to print at different angles, using Slic3r. Using Slic3r's rectilinear infill, printing at **specific angles for 3 layers then repeat**.
I'm working towards finding the code in the source code where they alternate the layers and change it to alternate it for every 3 layers.
I know I will need some C++ knowledge to fiddle around with the Slic3r's source code, but if there is someone who can point me in the right direction I would gladly appreciate it!
# Answer
Slic3r is available on Github.
I think the section you'd be looking for is here
> 1 votes
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Tags: software, slic3r, infill
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thread-3913 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3913 | Best way to start building a 3D printer of my own | 2017-04-24T07:32:44.170 | # Question
Title: Best way to start building a 3D printer of my own
I've been using a 3D printer - Makerbot Replicator 2, since almost a year now. I'm quite good at operating and solving somewhat difficult problems with it. However I'm looking forward to build a 3D printer of my own, during the Summer break of 40 days. Where's the best way to look for a start (except for Instructables) and build it in my given time? And how should I proceed? Also what will be its approximate cost?
PS: I don't know coding but I'm a really proficient designer and a good knowledge of electronics too.
# Answer
Building a printer isn't that difficult due to RepRap (meant for rapid prototyping) but there are many factors that decide the price, difficulty, and abilities of a custom build.
Using a Melzi board (a glorified Arduino Mega with motor drivers) helps a great deal and Repetier firmware is built to integrate many different types of hardware so those take a lot out of the engineering part. While you might not have to learn C++ to configure the firmware, it helps a great deal. There are plenty of sites that walk you through everything.
After that, lead screws, GT2 belts, steppers, sensors, extruder, wires and the frame can be found very reliably from dozens of sites online.
Cartesian style printers are much easier to build than delta type printers. There are countless numbers of custom builds that people document and put online. Check out as many as you want and draw ideas and inspiration from what they do. Listen for problems and solutions.
And one of the most important things: there is a difference between cheap and inexpensive. Make sure you understand that. You don't want to burn your house down just to save a few pennies.
> 2 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer
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thread-3577 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3577 | Easy way to create honey comb filling for a generic printer/onshape | 2017-02-12T10:22:17.747 | # Question
Title: Easy way to create honey comb filling for a generic printer/onshape
This is my second 3D model, be forgiving... ;)
I have constructed a 3D model with some bigger solid parts with FreeCAD. After uploading it to shapeways, it turned out to be too expensive to be printed like that.
Googling around, gave me the solution to make it hollow and use a support structure. If you know which exact printer model is doing the print, Slic3r can do the job. But as I want to print with shapeways, I just know the material, and they are doing the slicing. Obviously without creating support structures in solid parts. Hence, this way does not work in my situation.
Searching for an other solution, I found this article, FreeCAD: Perforated Sheets and HoneyComb, describing how to create a honeycomb structure by a little piece of code. I would have to make my part hollow by subtracting a shrunk version of the model and fill it with the honeycomb structure. This sounds feasible to me, but is quiet a certain effort.
Is there an smarter solution to achieve a hollow piece with support structure?
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you want to have a specific infill density, you can design the infill yourself as part of the solid model. (Note I use these two methods to design parts for strength, but it's basically the same thing that you're looking at doing)
I have two methods for doing this as follows (I use Solidworks, but the features exist with most CAD software)
# Method 1
# Step 1
Design the part for the geometry that you'd like as you usually would. (check the volume of the part)
# Step 2
Hollow out your part and set your wall thickness to the desired dimension. In solidworks, you can use the shell command for this. (check the new volume of your part)
# Step 3
Create a pattern for the print orientation you want and make the thickness of the pattern set to a variable you can easily change. For example if you want a hex pattern, then create a hex pattern that covers the footprint of your part.
# Step 4
Extrude your pattern from the bottom surface to the upper surface. (depending on how complex your part is you may have to iterate between steps 3 and 4 to fill the part completely, but that's half the fun).
# Step 5
Close the part off. The Shell feature hollows out a part, and removes most of one flat surface. You just need to go back in and close this surface off again once you're done, generally with a single extrude.(check the volume of your part again)
# Step 6
Now you can compare the volumes of your part, this may require you to change the thickness of the hex pattern, and may require several iterations to get an exact density that you want.
This process wont necessarily work for every part you come up with but it's a good start for fairly blocky parts. It's also relatively quick and easy to do.
The second way is as follows
# Method 2
Step 1: Create your part as usual and save as a unique file (lets call it "Solid file")
# Step 2:
Create hollow the part out and save as a unique file (lets call it "shell file")
# Step 3:
Create a new part that is your hex pattern, but instead of modelling the walls that will be in your final part, create the hex voids as a solid. Save this as a separate unique file ( lets call it "Void profile")
# Step 4:
Create a new part and import both the "Void Profile" and the "Solid File".
# Step 5
Subtract the "Void Profile" from the "Solid File"
# Step 6
Import the "Shell file" and merge it with the result of step 5
This process I like a bit more, but it takes longer, creates more files and is a bit messier I think. However it gives you a lot more control over how your voids will work and you can delete sections of the voids if you want different parts to be more solid that others.
If you're using solidworks shell model and you have very tight features sometimes it gives you errors, and you may need to suppress small features and then add them back in after all of this. Just a heads up, it can be a bit of a flaky feature to use sometimes.
Now that you have your 'designed' internal structure don't forget to print at 100% infill, otherwise a slicer program *may* hollow out your designed infill pattern.
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Tags: support-structures
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thread-3275 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3275 | Printer changing temperature after selecting file | 2016-12-25T21:04:16.493 | # Question
Title: Printer changing temperature after selecting file
I have just got a Monoprice Maker Select 3d printer (which is really just a Wanhao Duplicator i3).
I want to print a model that came on the included SD card (`1.gcode`) with ABS filament. I first press "`Preheat ABS`" and wait for the display to show the correct temperatures, 245°C for the extruder and 90°C for the print bed. Then, I mount the SD card and select the file to print.
However, once I do that, the "goal" temperatures change to 195°C for the extruder and 50°C for the print bed, and the temperatures reported by the printer gradually go down as the printer waits for it to match the "goal" temperature. This results in a failed print, with the filament sticking to the extruder in a clump.
What is going on here? I am trying PLA with the same file, and it seems to work fine, although the temperature change still occurs.
# Answer
> 5 votes
The demo files are gcode files generated for use with the sample PLA that comes with the printer. If you want to print it with ABS select the file and set the temperature manually afterwards.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If you want to use the demo files, you can probably pause the print as soon as it starts, and manually set the extruder temperatures before resuming the print. Easier to generate new g-code though.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If you want to print the demo files with ABS rather than PLA, as the files are designed to do, I recommend loading the file into CURA and saving out a new gcode file with the adjusted temperatures. You can load the file from gcode, which will give you the basic settings that are included in the PLA file. I would also recommend slowing down the first layer a bit as adhesion of the initial layer is much more important for ABS than PLA, as ABS tends to warp more. Also you should reduce, if not turn off your cooling fans. Then once all the settings are where you need them to be for ABS, just export out a new file and probably change the name to include \_ABS so you know the difference when you're mounting the card.
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Tags: abs, monoprice-maker-select
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thread-3915 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3915 | E3D-v6 hotend on MK8 extruder | 2017-04-24T12:35:13.747 | # Question
Title: E3D-v6 hotend on MK8 extruder
I have an MK8<sup>Makerbot(?)</sup> extruder on my HICTOP branded printer.
The problem with the E3D hotend is that the heatbreak is shorter and doesn't protrude through the top of the heatsink. Therefore I can't mount it to the motor mount.
Any ideas?
# Answer
For reference, I have the same printer and am speaking from my experiences.
You have two routes you can take with this, but both are effectively the same result - you need to replace the X carriage.
If you want to re-use your existing extruder components you can pull the MK8 extruder off the X carriage and use it as the extruder to drive a bowden configuration, then all you need is a length of PTFE tube and the couplers between the E3d and the MK8 to hold the tube. This is probably the best solution as it takes a lot of weight off of the X-carriage resulting in significantly better print quality, the only downside is that printing with flexible filaments is a *lot* more difficult with a bowden configuration, if you intended to do a lot of that.
The other option (and the one I took) is to print an entire new x-carriage/extruder assembly. Because the Anet A8 is based off the Prusa and the Z/X carriage assemblies are *basically* the same as the original Prusa I3 you can just take any design for the Prusa and fit it onto the Anet, I did this with a gregs wade extruder & E3D hotend mount I found on thingiverse.
I didnt look too hard, but if you are adament on wanting to keep the MK8 extruder on the X-carriage and couple it direct-driven to the V6, you can probably find some x-carriage that lines the two up for this purpose (or you could even design one yourself if you are interested in doing so). I didn't look in to this route myself, so cannot give much guidance.
> 1 votes
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Tags: e3d-v6, makerbot-mk8
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thread-3889 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3889 | How can I avoid that a small bit of filament sticks out of the nozzle during heating? | 2017-04-19T15:29:40.200 | # Question
Title: How can I avoid that a small bit of filament sticks out of the nozzle during heating?
So when my Prusa I3 is heating up, a small bit of filament is coming out of the nozzle, forming a small string at.
When the printing starts, this results in a small plastic ball on the bed, impacting the overall printing process.
How can I avoid this?
# Answer
> 7 votes
On my Kossel Mini I programmed it to go to the edge of the bed and purge a small amount of filament which creates a dot. I purge enough to get the dot to stick to the bed and then go on with printing, when the head moves the dot stays attached and usually pulls excess material off the nozzle. This can be added to the "Starting G-Code" section of your slicer.
# Answer
> 9 votes
I normally print a skirt. This acts as a quality check for: flow rate; bed adhesion; bed level; and proper zero position in the Z.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I just go and pull it off the print head with pliers when it's about to start and sometimes shortly after it starts printing, but its probably not the safest way to deal with the problem. Printing a skirt, brim, or raft should help to fix the problem.
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Tags: filament, prusa-i3
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thread-3961 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3961 | Is this what a 0.1 layer height should look like? | 2017-04-28T01:49:03.847 | # Question
Title: Is this what a 0.1 layer height should look like?
I've done 0.1 before and I think I've gotten better and more smooth results than this:
I think that my printer is having some sort of problem, or the print bed it too low because this was printed at a 0.1 layer height. I think the print should look a lot more smooth than that. I'm using the Monoprice Select Mini.
# Answer
> 4 votes
This may be an effect of the not using a "Magic Number" for your layer height. The Monoprice Select Mini has a z-resolution of 0.04375mm, so layer heights should be multiples of that. (See What are the “magic numbers” on a Monoprice Select Mini?)
If you slice with a layer height of 0.1mm, each layer will be a little smaller (0.0875mm) or bigger (0.13125mm) to get close the the ideal height. The extrusion won't change, causing some layers to be thin and overextruded and others to be thick and underextruded.
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, g-code
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thread-3965 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3965 | For a larger build volume, what lengths of 2020 aluminium do I need? | 2017-04-28T18:30:24.857 | # Question
Title: For a larger build volume, what lengths of 2020 aluminium do I need?
### TL;DR
How do I upscale a Wilson II? What lengths of aluminium<sup>1</sup> do I need in order to achieve a particular (increased/reduced) build volume?
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The design of the Wilson II is scalable (source: RepRapWiki - Category:Wilson):
> ...the design has a parametric build area, meaning it is relatively easy to scale the X, Y, and Z axis within reason.
What does *parametric* mean exactly, in this scenario? How does one scale up from 200x300x200<sup>1</sup>? Also, how would that affect the Repetier/Marlin firmware?
Is it simply a matter of maintaining the ratios of the lengths of the X, Y and Z axes constant, or can the ratios be ignored? Is there a formula, or set of formulae, for this?
Has anyone gone beyond the 200x300x200 build volume? I have seen the Scalar M and XL series printers (with the XL having a print volume of 400x300x300) which, while they are not based on the Wilson, also boast of scalability:
> Scalar Family 3D printers are "scalable" printers. Reviewing the idea of a reprap printer, a printer that can auto replicate and scale, we wanted to propose a 3D printer with plastic parts for you to print, and with a way to "scale" easily.
Can one (within reason) arbitrarily section various (supersized) length for the three axes and then modify the firmware accordingly, or is there a set of rules which govern the relationship between the lengths of the three axes?
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### A simplistic view
As an example, the lengths (in mm) of the 2020 aluminium corresponding to the build volume of 200x300x200 are 330, 500, 400 for the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively.
Obviously, there are some constants to consider for the stepper housings, and idlers, for example. So, assuming that for X, Y and Z axes respectively, the constants are:
* 330 - 200 = 130 mm
* 500 - 300 = 200 mm
* 400 - 200 = 200 mm
If I wanted a build volume of, let's say, 400x500x300 (XYZ), would the new XYZ lengths of 2020 aluminium simply become (by adding the respective constants):
* 400 + 130 = 530 mm
* 500 + 200 = 700 mm
* 300 + 200 = 500 mm
or is there more to it than that?
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<sup>1</sup> I appreciate that 3030, en lieu of 2020, extruded aluminium may be required to maintain rigidity for larger print volumes
# Answer
Long story short: ratios can be ignored. You only need to let your firmware know actual size, if it needs so. However, using golden ratio seems quite reasonable.
When talking about rigidity, keeping it will become a real issue at some point and may not be always effectively resolved by merely changing 2020 to 3030. Using 4020 or double 2020 could be better solution to compensate the most common forces during printing.
> 3 votes
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Tags: printer-building, diy-3d-printer, wilson
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thread-3322 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3322 | Out of order operations on AnyCubic Prusa-I3 clone | 2017-01-04T21:37:25.970 | # Question
Title: Out of order operations on AnyCubic Prusa-I3 clone
Another thing I'm seeing with my new build. Late in a small print, the unit appears to perform operations "out of order" occasionally. Here's a picture where it's running a layer across the model.
These "skips" can start in the middle of a line. It always comes back and fills them in before starting the next layer - more or less accurately. But from my very limited understanding of gcode, it doesn't seem like this should happen.
When watching the print closely, I'll occasionally see small glitches, where the head jogs very slightly as it runs a line across.
This was sliced with Cura - I'm going to try a different slicer and see if I get anything similar. Thanks!
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is just your slicer doing this. If you inspect the G-code file, you will see that the printer is faithfully doing what the slicer told it to. Most slicers use a fairly simple heuristic for determining the order in which lines are processed, which sometimes comes up with sub-optimal solutions like these.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I have seen this in Cura 2.5 when selecting different printers, then altering the specifications to suit. Changing the printer seems to change the slicing behavior. As yet there is no specific printer set up in Cura for the MEGA so you will probably have to find something that fits your needs, unless someone has the full settings. For example, is the Machine Center at Zero? Maybe try the Prusa Mk2?
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Tags: print-quality, prusa-i3
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