Bi-Cube contest: ends 11th May

I promised to try and set a new challenge to follow my success in Iceman's Caged Bird competition so here it is.
I was browsing on Thingiverse today and came across Ninosman's Bi-Cube ( [www.thingiverse.com] ).



Only two copies are showing on the 'I made one' section and I think it deserves more than that. I am working away from home again at the moment so I won't get a chance to print one for a while, but I'd love to see what other people come up with. Most impressive result wins.

Rules:
> prints should be 100% of original size or less - not larger;
> fine detail, smooth layers will impress me more than artificially smoothing with solvents;
> multicolour is OK;
> home printers only - no commercially printed copies;
> print settings must be stated including speed, resolution, nozzle size, material, temp, fill, and any other tips that might help beginners to calibrate their machines better;
> bonus points for photographing the print still attached to the print bed with no post-processing, removal of whiskers, etc.

Tips:
> the print will need good adhesion to the bed because of the small area of contact;
> using some Z-lift should help to prevent knocking the print over;
> go slow and steady; printing too fast will probably shake the print off the bed.

Good luck! And if your prints don't come out too well, why not show us anyway. There are plenty of people on here who can offer useful advice on how to improve quality.

Now that's a cool design! I feel a 50mm brim coming on...

Very good choice of model, that should be a tricky one to print, but everyone likes a challenge!

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

No one else may think so, but for a beginner with no real experience and just trying to bumble though setting his printer up. This is my first attempt at pretty much anything complex with over hangs. I'm chuffed even though there are plenty of issues. It seems this print shows up issues I didn't even realise I had. Maybe a bit more retraction would get rid of the string, but not sure why the profile of the section is slightly messed up on every thin point of the V. Will probably try again another day, suggestions more than welcome.

PLA White
Temp H190/B65
brim of 4mm
Scale 100%

; generated by Slic3r 0.9.9 on 2013-04-24 at 18:54:51
; layer_height = 0.2
; perimeters = 2
; fill_density = 0
; perimeter_speed = 25
; nozzle_diameter = 0.4
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.45mm

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2013 04:00PM by twisted.

Twisted - Top result in my view - well done.
Having had several goes at this, I am well impressed. One question - where is the brim on your photograph? Variations I have tried: some with no brim, others with 4mm and some with 7mm brim. Some on glass, others on blue tape. I am now playing with retraction settings and lift with a 7mm brim.
Given that "brim" is a Slic3r thing - and a necessary component (I think) - I am using Slic3r although Skeinforge is normally my slicer of choice. This has brought with it yet another variable to play with - the extrusion multiplier which seems to negate all the careful measuring and adjusting I have done with the E steps figure in firmware.

Alan

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2013 05:48PM by Alzibiff.

Great start, Twisted!
What are your current retraction settings (speed and length)?
And what is your travel speed (head movement when not printing)?

richgain

Alzibiff - Thanks for the nice comments. The brim is hidden by the object, its just 4mm around the place where it touches the bed. I've added a pic to this post which shows the brim a little better.

richgain - Thanks,

Retraction = 1.5mm @ 20mm/s
Travel Speed = when not printing 130mm/s

BTW, its an awesome Mendel90 from nophead. (well would be awesome if it wasn't me calibrating it )

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2013 06:52AM by twisted.

Got home from work last night about 11 PM and decided to give this a go. I finished my printer build about 2 - 3 weeks ago and have been having a good time printing "junk" to getit running well.

Machine: Mendel Max 1.5+ running Slic3r with a .3mm resolution
Extruder: 220c Bed: 75c (I have never run the bed temp any higher)
Speed: 30 Fan on: 100%
Small USB powered fan running for added part cooling for the entire print.
Using a 3mm brim, ABS filament, Pet tape on the bed, fresh coat of ABS juice.
Printed at a scale of 75% to save time.
Total print time was 2 hr. and 3 min.

I have a bunch of other pictures that I took during the printing process. I was not aware that I would be held to 614kb per picture in order to upload them to the forum. Is there a way that I can post pictures of the progress of the print somewhere so the print progress can be validated?

Milt

Both entries looking good so far! I've failed several times so far

I'll get there...

Here's my entry. Printed in Taulman 618 nylon on a nylon heated surface with a 4mm brim.

; layer_height = 0.3
; perimeters = 2
; top_solid_layers = 3
; bottom_solid_layers = 3
; fill_density = 0.2
; perimeter_speed = 30
; infill_speed = 50
; travel_speed = 130
; nozzle_diameter = 0.4
; filament_diameter = 3.05
; extrusion_multiplier = 1
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.60mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.60mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.60mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.60mm
; first layer extrusion width = 0.60mm

I printed at 60% of the above feedrates. Temps of 260 and 120 heated bed. Need to experiment with those some more.

This is the first totally successful print I've made in nylon. The first several layers were quite squished as the nylon print surface I am using is not totally flat. Total print time: 2:08.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2013 05:08PM by NewPerfection.

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That one was a copperplated B*tch to do.

Not only that but my bed MOSFET decided to take a break for a smoke.



was that bad ?




Still not there and dont laugh at the overly large brim, but no heated bed is really a handicap. The key seemed to print hot and hollow. Quality is so-so but the best i can do before repairing the bed.
PLA, extruder 0.4, 0.25 layers at 200°C. 25 mm/s. mirror + hairspray, my usual blue tape dont work nor the vinyl tape I use in hard cases. NO BED heater

Should have repaired in the week, will try again then

While testing the E3D hot-end I printed this bi-cube, standard settings on my (getting very worn out) MendelMax Black machine.

25% line infill - Bi Cube model 100% size
0.25mm Layers
65mm/sec infill speed
60mm/sec perimeter
2.5mm extruder retraction.
15 seconds minimum layer time - (needs to be a bit longer really - some curling)
Using the E3D Nozzle - 0.4mm / Stainless Steel
Gold PLA 1.75mm - 190 Degrees C
Small fan cooling the print - single object printed.
Two perimeters.

All images straight off the printer, not touched at all -



Heated (64 Deg C) Mirror-Glass bed with Hairspray layer





Brim to aid sticking to Heated Bed.





Some very fine hairs and curling up on the side that was not cooled - only using one small fan - really must print and mount a nozzle ducted fan guide for PLA printing at some point soon. - Really liking this Ultimaker one from Owen - Anyone using anything similar on a RepRap?

Will try a Nylon print soon.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

Finally, after many, many tries I got one to print, it wont win any prizes but I am happy.
Still many improvements to make though. Lots of curling and string still.
Been printing now for about 5 months, last week I decided to try out the .35 mm nozzle
for the first time, better prints but does take longer!

RepRapPro Mendel
Crystal Clear PLA 1.75mm
nozzle 0.35 mm
layer height .25 mm
perimeters 2
fill 0
brim 3 mm
hotend 190 C
bed 60 C to start then 50 C
speed 80 ( but I have reduced the firmware stepper rates! )
retraction 1.5mm at 30mm/s
travel when not printing 130 mm/s
size 100%
cooling 15 s layer time with a small fan
hot and fast does seem to be an answer

Well done to those who have done it, good luck to those still trying
Myles

100% 40mm cube
50% 20mm cube
25% 10mm cube
10% 4mm Cube

Black ABS, 100% infill, 2mm raft.

Edit:

Wooden Mendel variant, Wildseyed type hotend, Mach3 control.

.25mm nozzle
.2mm layer
10mm/sec
2 perimeters
1mm retract
230 degrees
no bed heat

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2013 02:14AM by Dirty Steve.

Dirty Steve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 100% 40mm cube
> 50% 20mm cube
> 25% 10mm cube
> 10% 4mm Cube
>
> ABS, 100% infill, 2mm raft.


Nicely done. Machine and print details?

Very impressive entry from Dirty Steve! Still plenty of time to enter though and no clear winner yet.
And if you do succeed in making one (or several) don't forget to click the 'I made one' link on Thingiverse and show Ninosman your support for the design.

richgain

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2013 04:07PM by richgain.

This really is quite hard, isn't it! Here's my second failure.
[youtu.be]
Black ABS at 230C, heated bed at 110C, 0.4 mm nozzle
0.2 mm layers with 0.4 mm extrusion width at 30 mm/s
2 perimeters, 0% infill
I'm still getting used to the new nozzle and missing my ducted fan

I'll keep trying.

Another day, another failure.
Has anyone succeeded in printing this object without using a fan? (Did I mention I'm really missing my ducted fan?)

Last chance time. Competition closes at the end of Saturday 11th.

Right, finally managed to get a finished print! A bit rough but I'm just happy it worked Never managed to get ABS to stick well enough but the PLA worked out ok anyway.



Mendel 90, no modifications, hotend 200 deg, bed 85 deg (around 64 deg top surface), with fan & duct as per Nopheads kit...

; generated by Slic3r 0.9.9 on 2013-05-11 at 13:38:00

; layer_height = 0.2
; perimeters = 1
; top_solid_layers = 3
; bottom_solid_layers = 3
; fill_density = 0
; perimeter_speed = 30
; infill_speed = 60
; travel_speed = 130
; nozzle_diameter = 0.4
; filament_diameter = 2.86
; extrusion_multiplier = 1
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.67mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.67mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.67mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.67mm

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2013 11:00AM by 3ddude.

Well, anyone who managed a successful print in this competition is a winner in my book. My complete failure to get past even the first level proved to me just how difficult it was, although I have to concede that attempting to print steep overhangs with out a part-cooling fan was rather foolhardy on my part, but my new E3D hot end with its active cooling and my Mendel90 ducted fan just don't play nicely together. I'll have to sort something out.

Twisted - for a new printer, this was a great effort and way ahead of where I was up to at that stage.
NewPerfection - well done for pushing the boundaries with a nylon print. I know it's going to take me some time to get used to.
RichRap - beautiful as always. Nice colour and very smooth lines. Another great effort.

But the winner this time is Dirty Steve. The black wasn't my favourite colour but the sharpness of the edges was the thing I kept going back to look at.
I know we didn't get a real close-up of the layers but it was hard to pick up flaws in the shot on the print bed, and the four sizes swung it for me.
Congratulations and very well done.

Thanks to all the entrants for taking part. I look forward to the next challenge and hope I've managed to sort my fan out by then!

richgain

Thanks richgain, I can post some better close-ups tonight, the 10mm one is pretty good, 4mm is a bit lumpy.

Well deserved win Steve, as one of the first people to help me when I started out 5 months ago, I am very pleased to see it was you who won.
I see you are still using the 0.25 mm nozzle and able to get layer heights between 0.05 and 0.2 from it.
Inspired by your print quality, this weekend I made my own nozzle, it is about 0.2 mm and I am now tweaking the settings at 0.1 layer height,
and shall try 0.05 when I feel brave enough.
Thanks to Richgain for a testing challenge, look forward to the next one.
Well done everyone.

Well done Steve, a great set of prints, looking forward to the next challenge, and thanks richgain for this one, it was a good test.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

Well, I got there in the end. I spent the weekend designing and printing a new fan duct with a larger hole and a lower profile that would fit the E3D hot end. I still had to tweak a few parameters to get the extrusion to cool flat but now it's working nicely again. It's good to be back!