Hangprinter version 3

back again with bag full of questions

as i said, i aim to order most of my parts from aliexpress, mostly from makerbase and trianble labs. Still as Tob's BOM asks for either too a general item or explicitly different item, Id like to confirm a few things before actually placing the order. Here comes...

1) Ramps + arduino mega 1.4/1.6 vs mks gen L
I know BOM asks for RAMPS plus arduino mega. wouldnt Makerspace's mks gen L (aliexpress) do just as well if not better though? I hear there's less hassle with it (plus i may use other hardware from them) but haven't heared of anyone from hangprinter community praising/using it.
if it may not be such a good option after all than should i get ramps 1.4 or 1.6?

2) mechanduino (clones)
makerbase, as you surely know, manufactures mechanduino clones that come hooked to nema17 42 steps stepper already (aliexpress). now, as it is a clone, it should behave the same way (although they told me some pins are weired differently). anyways, does anyone has any experience with them? would you recommend using them or would you not? (id appreciate (expert) guesses too

3) extruder+hotend
im looking at this triangle lab e3d volcano ripp (aliexpress) . i would like to get the whole "set 5" (need to scroll down to see the desription of various sets) which includes extreuder, hotend, motor, and fan. I read its a "good fake" as much of an oxymoron as it sounds. any voices against it?

Id be super happy if someone could get back to me with any opinion or experience. i should be fine with other bits of the puzzle for now, but really can't make up my mind on mentioned topics.

Best,
Mizu

Hello pvsfa!

1) The HP3 should work with any electronics that with 5 stepper drivers or more.
If you plan to use Mechaduinos/Smart Steppers, then you must also have access to i2c pins and step/dir pins. Not all electronics provide that.
Very few have tried anything other than RAMPS, so you might bump into something, but most probably not much.
I've used some RAMBO boards myself, and it was quite smooth. Just configure Marlin right, and it should work out of the box.

2) I haven't tried clones, and I wouldn't recommend them. You will run into some slight differences, and unless you're an electronics engineer, you'll have to ask for help and wait for answers... These boards are quite tricky to make right. I recommend proper Smart Stepper bought from misfittech.net

3) If you don't plan to print much with the HP, then a Volcano clone might be the perfect fit. I do recommend a proper SuperVolcano to anyone who plans to print more than just a few demo objects. The proper hot ends will typically perform much better. They will give you more nice looking prints with less hassle, and last much longer. It might be a super good clone, but it would be the first one that I ever saw. It is very very tricky to make these parts both good and cheap at the same time. If you have to prioritize because you really can't afford originals, then buy a genuine heat break, genuine heater cartridge, and genuine thermistor. You might need a genuine heater block to make everything fit as it should.

I will not be able to support you easily if you have cloned parts, as they could have a very wide range of hard-to-debug faults.

Best regards

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Hi pvsfa

Those extruder clones might come as a cheap ootion, but from my experience the extruder/hotend combo is a critical component where you really should invest in quality hardware. For example e3d or Bondtech. I once ordered e3d Titan clones from China and they were so badly manufactured that they were practically not usable. Since then I'm sticking with e3d. It saves you the hassle, trust me.

Hey

Do you have had similar issues with print quality than I had with the last project (still going on)?
The skin was partly separated from the printed object and that caused issues during post-processing (sanding, etc.) It affected only the outermost wall, the inner walls were connected as they should have been.
Here's a picture of the crime scene. Any suggestions are warmly welcome, since I'm about to start the next project soon.

Interesting! Haven't seen this issue before, at least not this much.

It would be interesting to know if the effector travelled in different directions on outer versus non-outer walls.
Could it be that the plastic trace will look different when going clock-wise versus counter-clock-wise?

Other than that, I would experiment with trying to make the nozzle mounting more rigid.

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The last project was sliced with cura 3.6 and the gcode wasn't as smooth as the code produced by simplify3d. The printhead jittered quite alot when printing the cura code. Also the print speed might have been a bit too high. But the biggest improvement so far has been the huge 1000 mm dia silicone heater mat, which I got installed a week ago. No more issues with first layer adhesion.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2019 01:49PM by atmark.

Quote
tobben
Could it be that the plastic trace will look different when going clock-wise versus counter-clock-wise?

Yes, this seems to be the case. Could this be an issue with flexing of the line spools since their axle is supported on one side?

Hello Tobben and others! A university on the East Coast U.S. is trying to build some hangprinters. Students at GMU's solar car team are trying to print a fairing for their car with one!

I'm trying to lend them a hand, but the documentation on hangprinter.org seems to be focused on a closed-loop build. They're trying to avoid buying Mechaduinos or the like, and I can't seem to find information on it. Where should I be looking?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2019 07:55PM by kenblu24.

Hello!

This thread and the facebook group contains most of the info. Tom's videos use closed loop. And all the blog posts I wrote before going closed-loop. Good luck with your builds!

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