Hello all, Does anyone know the approximate population of this forum? I just need some values for a survey I'm doing. Thanks in advance, Andyby andychang28 - General
Hello everyone, Ideally, a product's country of origin should have no relevance to its quality or price. This may unfortunately be the case in reality, but I see no reason why "Made in China" should be as important a factor as "Made in the USA" when purchasing products. Innovative people can come from anywhere in the world, and so can corrupted business owners. Chinese cloners are a great examplby andychang28 - General
Hello, @Qdeathstar: Once again, I am not in any way complaining about the commercialization of 3d printing technology, or any technology, for that matter. I wholly support the marketing of 3d printers as long as the technology does not become a single company's property. As others in this thread have brought up, illegitimate clones are a threat to the development of technology as well. Businessby andychang28 - General
Yes, businesses need to make money. Yes, the majority of people just want a machine that works. Yes, Makerbot has machines that work. However, no business should ever stand in the way of scientific development for the business' own benefit. Make money off of science, but don't destroy science in the process. Best Wishes, Andyby andychang28 - General
Hello, Thank you Traumflug for taking an opposing stance. I take no offense from you actions; rather, I feel like having an opponent adds spice to the situation. Let's get on to your first post, which included refutes to many of my original points. - "Not more than hammers and screwdrivers are used to make prosthetics." Sure, hammers and screwdrivers are used for prosthetics, but can you makby andychang28 - General
Hello, Many people reading my original post seem to be under the misconception that I am against any bonding between marketing and technology. If it was not clear enough in the OP, I support businesses in technology to a certain extent. I entirely understand that marketing is technology's "bridge to the people", and that new technologies would never take off without businesses. However, I stopby andychang28 - General
The consensus seems to be that we should sit idly by and watch more than fifteen years of work be eaten by businessmen and Chinese cheap labor... This is honestly saddening to see.by andychang28 - General
Hello, reifsnyderb, thank you for bringing up an excellent point in that people shouldn't buy products based on price alone. When I opened this thread, I intended to bring attention to the ring of consumers who support Makerbot products based on nothing but marketing, regardless of exorbitant costs. As you've shown, the other end of the pricing scale is home to yet another threat to developers:by andychang28 - General
@gmh39: People will always try to exploit the market for personal gain, but does that really mean that developers like us should sit back and let our work be abused? How is technology best used; to benefit people, or as a businessman's source of income?by andychang28 - General
@ DjDemonD: 1. All I'm asking is for us to defend 3D Printing from monopolization in any way we see fit. 2. Makerbot innovated a lot of the technology we currently use, but they never would have risen to where they are now if it hadn't been for us. However, do you see the RepRap Project turning its back on its creators, like Makerbot has? I am calling for a boycott of Makerbot due to:by andychang28 - General
Business and technology have become closely intertwined with each other in recent years. While this has helped to bring technology closer to people, it has also led to some potentially disastrous situations. Fortunately, it is not too late to save developing technologies like 3D Printing from these dangers. 3D Printing can benefit everyone. Every Reprapper knows the potential of 3D printers to bby andychang28 - General
I'm using Repetier firmware, and just a minute ago my printer started giving me a calibration nightmare. The nozzle is perfectly level with the bed in the center and in front of my Y tower. In front of the X and Z towers, however, the nozzle is some 2-3 mm off the bed! What is going on here, and how can I fix it? BTW, does anyone suggest using Marlin or other firmware? Thanks in advance!by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Hey pkm, thanks for the quick reply. I'm using Slic3r, and I have Z lift enabled on layer change for 1mm. It did fix some problems when I turned it on. However, this does nothing to combat the nozzle running into blobs in the middle of the layer print.by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Hello everyone, Thank you all for a wonderful (more or less) first successful print! I have created a new extruder piece for my printer. While it turned out quite well, I've been having some noticeable issues with my printer dragging the hotend randomly across the printed part, which results in the nozzle getting caught on blobs left over by the previous layers. This causes a shift in the x orby andychang28 - Delta Machines
Thanks dc42, diagonal rod length worked this time. Anyways, I be running into some issues where the scale on my x/y axis is too small. However, the z axis is fine, so if i change the steps_per_mm, the z axis will be scaled too large. Kinda annoying when i'm trying to print precise objects. By the way, I managed to create one of the most peculiar jams i have seen in a long time. The filament somehby andychang28 - Delta Machines
P.S. I seem to have my delta_radius settings off. I have a severe bowling effect in which the hotend rises around two or three millimeters near the edges of the bed. Therefore, I can only print small objects.by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Success! Well, kind of. After weeks of tinkering, I've finally gotten my Rostock Mini Pro from 3DPrinterCzar to print something. I printed a 1x1x5 cm rectangular prism, and it came out quite well except for minor issues with the first layer not sticking. However, one of the big problems is that the extruder motor is practically not moving at all while printing perimeters, and even during the infiby andychang28 - Delta Machines
Hi again, I believe I have spotted another problem with the printer. The extruder motor pushes the plastic forward like it's supposed to, but every once in a while it seems to pull the plastic back as well. Over about thirty seconds, the motor will pull the plastic back so far that there is no longer any filament inside the hotend! Is this due to poor calibration, or is my extruder wired backwardby andychang28 - Delta Machines
@dc42 I'm not particularly sure what you mean by "push fit pneumatic connector". I have a printed plastic part with the end of the bowden tube screwed into it. Is this what you were referring to?by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Sure. Currently, the three main issues I'm having are as follows: 1. A J-Head MK V hot end that seems to be constantly jammed 2. A noticeable bowling effect that causes the hot end to rise around two millimeters near the edge of the print bed 3. A bowden tube that always pops out of the plastic holder after a few seconds of extruding I tried lowering the hot end temperature from 200C to 160C, anby andychang28 - Delta Machines
Hi again, I took apart my hotend, and I have visual confirmation that the teflon liner is present. It is a small, roughly one inch long white cylinder with a small hole going down the middle. My hotend seems to be working fine whenever I push plastic through manually, but it won't print squat when the extruder motor tries. What is going on with my printer?! Thanks, Andyby andychang28 - Delta Machines
I have a J-head mk v clone with a plastic vented shroud around the upper half, does that mean I don't need a fan? If the absence of a fan isn't the problem, what else could be causing the hot end to become jammed constantly? Thanks, andyby andychang28 - Delta Machines
What I gather from these comments is that I need a fan for my hot end, or at least the gray area with vents above it. How much would this fan cost, and would there be any other way to keep the plastic cool? P.S. Is it possible that defective filament could be causing the white tube thing holding the plastic to pop out of the extruder motor housing?by andychang28 - Delta Machines
I've got a small fan that came with the printer, but I don't see any way that it could cool down the hot end. Why would plastic melting too high up be a problem?by andychang28 - Delta Machines
ugh. another problem. The hot end seems jammed whenever the extruder motor tries to push the filament through. The plastic just gets stuck right near the hot end. A little bit comes out at first, but after that nothing. If I turn the exto motor some more with manual control, the tube thing holding the filament pops right out of place. When I push it through manually, it's fine. Any suggestions?by andychang28 - Delta Machines
K, Thanks anyway dc42. I think all i had to do was increase it by more, if any more problems come up i'll post again.by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Sorry about that, I'm on Repetier Firmware and Host. I increased both by double the error measure, and I see major improvement, but there's still a one or two millimeter gap. Is that normal?by andychang28 - Delta Machines
Just to clarify, I should be changing the parameter "DELTA_RADIUS", not "DELTA_MAX_RADIUS", correct?by andychang28 - Delta Machines