New Botmill Glider 3.0 Experience

@DeuxVis Again, no worries... I am pretty even keeled about stuff.. I learned a very long time ago to not take forum posts personally and to not get upset. I am just trying to contribute to and learn from the Reprap community now.

Mike

mchenetz Wrote:
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> @brnrd No Worries... I wasn't offended. I am
> learning that it is pretty hard to make objects
> that are big because of warp factors anyway.
>
> Mike

Yes, this is really bad for ABS. You can reduce this significantly if you enclose the whole printer in a box. The heated bed and the rest of the electronics is enough to raise the temperature between 40 and 50C. This allows you to build bigger and taller parts with little warp. You have to be also careful with the trimpot settings in your stepper drivers since the motors will run hotter. I've been running my printer like this for almost a year already and it has held up so far. I think putting fans on the motors protect them and the plastic mounts is a good idea. So far, I've only done this on the extruder.

Don't do this if your plastic parts are made of PLA since they soften under this condition.

Botmill kits.

I ordered a kit about a month ago, the axis. It came shipped, in my opinion poorly, kind of stuffed in a box, some packing material, bubble wrap, and then things were sort of loose in the box. But it did arrive without any damage. There was a spool of red abs missing, which I still dont have but I guess they are trying to ship it today, june 2nd.

My experience might be very different than someone who orders a completed printer. I wanted to know how it worked and saving a few hundred dollars was what seemed like a good idea. It still might be but the jury is still out.

If you get a printer from any company I suggest that the major issue is not the kit, or the finished product, it is a good set of documentation. This is the most important factor in a product like this and relying on the wiki and other on line resources is a very tedious and time consuming process. Again, I started with a box of parts, some of the build was easy and some of the instructions on the botmill site were adequate, but that is not good enough. No matter the size of the company, I am not sure these folks strive for high quality. I have dealt with two people, Gil and Shaan, and they have been very nice, and responsive, but the entire concept of a kit needs to be much better is what the builder is supposed to do, and the process of steps need to be well explained. I built parts and then at a later point, rebuilt them due to changes or new information.

This is not for the weak of heart, its the beginning, sort of like building my first computer 10000 years ago. You are on your own for the most part. I have gotten the printer to print but there are so many questions, that no doubt everyone has and the answers, are not sitting right there, you have to go find them, and like I said, its no easy task. Part of the process is knowing what questions to ask, once you figure that out, it does get a bit easier.

All in all, I went with botmill for price and they could ship the printer kit in a few days. Looking back had I purchased a complete system, pre built, I would know a lot less than I do and when that day arrives where something breaks, I know my way around these bolts, nuts, wires and assorted rods. This is definitely not yet a consumer product, that is for sure.

I am considering starting a company that assembles all the parts but has spent the time to make sure that everything is very clear, very well explained and dedicated to the concept that you can do this. I have built for fun lots of cool radio controlled toys, from companies like Tamiya, and Koyosho, great products with fantastic explanations on how, and even why. A comprehensive doc, that guides you to success is needed. At least for kit builders, and maybe even for those who choose to get the completed kit.

Its fun, and botmill, is trying. They could try a bit harder to get the process much more in order for the consumer.

Just my 2 cents. I doubt that any printer company is any better, the process sucks and that is where the companies that want to be number one will find the path to do so.

Mike

vegas mike Wrote:
> I am considering starting a company that assembles
> all the parts but has spent the time to make sure
> that everything is very clear, very well explained
> and dedicated to the concept that you can do this.
> I have built for fun lots of cool radio
> controlled toys, from companies like Tamiya, and
> Koyosho, great products with fantastic
> explanations on how, and even why. A
> comprehensive doc, that guides you to success is
> needed. At least for kit builders, and maybe even
> for those who choose to get the completed kit.

This could be a very lucrative idea with all the recent 3d printer startups. I have 1200+ kits on my wait list and there is no way that I can build that many kits in a reasonable time frame without outside help. (hint hint)

-billy

I bought a fully assembled Glider and it might as well have been the kit since all the axis needed to be taken apart, aligned and calibrated. I was taking the extruder apart and reassembling it at least twice a week until the hotend failed for good. I replaced it with a MakerGear hotend and haven't had any problems since. Mine came with a heated bed powered with a 12V laptop power supply that could only get the bed temp to 50 degrees. I eventually replaced the electronics with a Gen6 Deluxe board from mendel-parts with a heated bed controller built in. I'm running marlin firmware on it now. The regular Gen6 board that came with the glider made a high pitched squealing noise that was driving me insane. I replaced the 12V heated bed supply with a universal laptop supply that can be switched from 12 to 24V and can handle 9 Amps so now I can get the bed to 100 degrees to print ABS. I'm happy with the machine now that I've got the firmware tuned in and made those other changes.

FWIW, while I eventually got satisfaction from Botmill, it took many months from last autumn until last spring and I have not seen any comments on the reprap forums indicating the circumstances have changed.

I would recommend the Up! from 3dpp or Makergear's Mosaic to people who wanted prebuilt or low-hassle. I don't have either but have seen prints from Up! printers and everything else I've purchased from Makergear's causes me to expect their Mosaic to be of equal quality.