4 beginner Questions.

I have a few questions that I can't answer my self:

1. Can I print directly onto the heat bed or do I need glass?

2. I've got a Budaschnozzle but my Extruder is made for the j-head, can I still use it?

3. Do I need to use MDF under the heat bed or can I use another type of wood (Ply Wood)?

4. Do I need to have flats on the moter shafts?

I hope someone can answer these questions for me!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2013 06:00PM by Jo1212.

1.) Glass would be a good idea because the heated bed flexes as it heats and cools, but glass stays flat. Also make sure that you are printing on a surface that your filament will stick to (Blue tape or sometimes glass for PLA depending on the PLA, Kapton or acrylic for ABS).

2.) As long as your extruder is a Greg's or Wades you're good, the Buda just bolts into the holes on the bottom.

3.) MDF is preferred because it is very rigid and flat, you could use other woods, but it would end up causing you problems if it doesn't meet that criteria.

4.) You don't have to have flats, but it is preferred due to the enhanced grip it gives the set screws.


Hope that helps, and have fun with your 3D printing experience.

P.S. Protip: aquanet hairspray and tresemme mousse are your friends for sticking plastic to the build plate (the stronger the hold the better).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2013 07:06PM by diytechshop.

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Through self sustaining actions comes freedom

DIY Tech Shop

Hey, thanks for your help.

Just to make sure,

1. Could I cover the glass with kapton tap and print PLA and ABS on it?

2. I think my Extruder is the Guidler Extruder. Does this matter?

4. Do I just make flats on all of my moters, or just some of them?

Do I need hairspray if I use kapton tape?

Thanks again!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2013 09:05PM by Jo1212.

1. You can put anything on top the glass that will stick to the glass.
2. Sorry, no help here.
4. Flats are actually not recommended for the Z motors. It is said they could cause the coupler to not center properly.

I have heard of people putting all kinds of stuff on kapton tape. Everyone seems to have success with different substances when it comes to sticking parts. The best results I've had have come with:

PLA - Glass cleaned with isopropyl alcohol, coated with three thin coats of hairspray (with dry time between), placed on bed, and bed heated to 60 degrees.

ABS - Glass cleaned with isopropyl alcohol, coated with one light coat of school glue stick, placed on bed, and bed heated to 110 degrees. (I couldn’t get ABS to stick reliably to hairspray and I haven't tried the glue stick with PLA yet, it might work great for PLA too.)

I have also done blue painters tape on glass with a cold bed for PLA. This does work, but it wasn't reliable as hairspray for me.

What do you mean by "Sorry, no help here"?

So just put flats on all but Z moters (3/5)?

Also, I would like to be able to just put something on the glass like kapton tape, maybe clean the tape with some type of cleaning alcohol before every print, heat the bed up to the right temperature, then print. Is this possible?

I have a nice roll of kapton tape for the printer.

1. Can I print directly onto the heat bed or do I need glass?

What is your print surface now?
Very flat level surface required for quality prints.
Glass is replaceable and you can level it to extruder, is your printing surface easily replaceable and able to be leveled?

2. I've got a Budaschnozzle but my Extruder is made for the j-head, can I still use it?

Can't help here I use QU-BD extruder or SeeMeCNC extruder with ED3 hotend.

3. Do I need to use MDF under the heat bed or can I use another type of wood (Ply Wood)?

What ever is under your heated bed should insulate what is below it and keep
heat up on printing surface and not smoke at 80 --110 dec C

4. Do I need to have flats on the moter shafts?

No but it is better or you can drill a small dimple on motor shafts for set screw to grip to.

Plywood will bend/retract/expand depending on humidity, more so than MDF which is more stable. MDF is basically wood powder and lots of glue.

"Sorry, no help" means he does not have an answer for you.

Quote
Jo1212
I think my Extruder is the Guidler Extruder.

Actually, the guidler is only the hinged part that replaces the idler. It's a "porte-manteau" word for filament guide and idler. See [www.thingiverse.com]

I'm not sure the default Greg's Wade extruder is compatible with the Budaschnozzle... I do have one, but I think Lulzbot modified the bolt holes on their version. You may just need to drill new ones, but I'm not sure. Can you post pictures of it? That way I could compare with mine.

Thanks For the Help guys!

Quote
cozmicray
What is your print surface now?

I was planing on putting MDF down, then heated bed. But now, I'm thinking I should put a sheet of glass on top.
Would the glass from a printer/scanner be fine (3mm thick)?

Quote
NormandC
I'm not sure the default Greg's Wade extruder is compatible with the Budaschnozzle... I do have one, but I think Lulzbot modified the bolt holes on their version. You may just need to drill new ones, but I'm not sure. Can you post pictures of it? That way I could compare with mine.

It looks like the holes are in the right place. I'll post some pictures of the extruder I have.

Here are the Pictures of the Extruder:

Jo1212 Wrote:
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> Here are the Pictures of the Extruder:
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Just to let you know, those images can probably only be seen by you as they link to your gmail account.

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Oh, sorry. How do I post pictures?

If you download the scad file for greg's wade extruder from thingiverse, you can see that there are options in the file for different hot end mountings. So just saying you have a greg's wade extruder is not enough to tell if it's compatible with your hot end. IN addition to the mounting holes location (or even presence) you need to consider the depth of the large hole on the bottom of the extruder.

I'd download the extruder scad, pull it into openscad, and render it on screen for the two hot end options to see how they compare.

BTW - I concur with appdev07's assessment regarding the flats on the Z motors. I am having trouble right now finding a coupler that will mount properly on my Z motors, and the issue is the flats are causing the coupler to be off-center therefore creating z wobble.

Jo1212 Wrote:
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> Oh, sorry. How do I post pictures?


1) Attach a file (up there above the buttons bar).
2) Once attached, click "create link in message".
3) Optionnaly if you want the image to be displayed in the post, instead of just linked :
3a) Click the "Preview" button down there.
3b) In the preview, copy the image location (usually a right clic option on all browsers)
3c) Click the "insert image url" button (small landscape icon in the buttons bar)
3d) Paste the previously copied url of the image. Remove the old link added at step 2.
3e) You can click preview again to see if/how your image will display
4) Don't forget to click "Post message".

That's a FAQ, but those forums lack a FAQ sticky section

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Ok, thanks.
I'll upload them soon.

Sorry it took so long, but here they are:

I don't think it will fit the Budaschnozzle. The first picture shows that the holes underneath are not spaced evenly in reference to the center of the hot end.

This is what the "Jonas Kuehling Greg's Wade Reloaded Extruder" made to fit the Budaschnozzle looks like. It's taken from the stl provided by Lulzbot here. Notice both holes are spaced 25mm from the center hole. Notice also that the center hole is much smaller, just enough to let 3mm filament through.

Aligning the inner and outer holes with the Budaschnozzle's holes, it looks like it will fit.

Also, the center is a big hole with a smaller hole inside.

I hope I don't have to get someone to print it too.

Look, clearly the holes on your extruder are not centered with the center of the hot end. You may have 50mm between the outer holes but they are not centered like in the screen capture I posted. Even if you can screw the Buda on, check that the filament goes in in a straight path, if it has to be kinked to go into the hot end I don't think it's going to be good.

Yes, the path where the filament goes (through the Extruder and the Hotend) looks straight to me.

Should I try it first, if it doesn't work, get the Extruder you posted printed?

Well if the path looks straight, I guess there is not much harm in trying it. But I am no expert, I still consider myself a newbie.

I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks!