Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to try the tri-flow. I've heard good things about it. Thanks too polygonhell; I noticed that the bearings just wipe off the lubricant. I don't look forward to disassembling the x axis, but I agree its needed.by jbernardis - Reprappers
I am in the process of building a new printer using wired1's OB1 design. The X and Y axes use 8mm smooth bar and the Z axis 10mm. Everything is going together fine, but the bearings feel a little rough on the rods. I've loosened it up quite a bit just by moving them back and forth, but they still feel like they could use a bit of lubrication. The question is what's the best thing to use. Shby jbernardis - Reprappers
Make sure that the wiring from the controller to board is sufficient gauge. I am powering mine at 12 volts and I am using 18 gauge. Also be sure you have a good solder joint to the board. My board would not get hot enough ABS until I re-soldered the wires. Now I get up to ABS temps in 10 minutes or so.by jbernardis - General
Just download the video from the RSS feed and watch it locally. I have a perl script running nightly on my nas that downloads this, and many other, RSS feeds. No commercials at all except for the ones recorded inside the video, but since I'm watching locally, I just fast forwardby jbernardis - General
Yes - you can enter it at any time - even while printing. It takes a few seconds for the buffer to be used up before the change in speed occurs. I do it all the time during prints - usually to speed things up on small layers when I think it's slowing down too much. BTW - there is another command - I think it's M221 which can be used to change the extrusion speed. I believe M220 changes both tby jbernardis - Developers
slower yes. I guess that could improve accuracy, but too slow means that there could be an increased chance of blobbing or having temperature issues.by jbernardis - RAMPS Electronics
pronterface allows you to enter raw gcode down in the lower right. print speed is controlled with the M220 command M220 S50 will print at 50% speed M220 S100 will restore it to normal speed M220 S200 will double the speedby jbernardis - Developers
Print speed - as a percentage. When you change it takes a while for the buffer to be used up before you see the result. This is essentially the same as the M220 command.by jbernardis - RAMPS Electronics
pronterface has an entry field (on the lower right I think) where you can enter Gcode commands directly and send them to the printer. M92 Exxx sets your extruder Esteps value to xxx. Out of the box, Marlin has EEPROM disabled (at least it did when I started with it). You need to make changes through the arduino IDE in order to turn it on. I think you'd have to assume it's not enabled, so theby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
FWIW, the reprap calculator suggests you keep the ratio above 2 or parts are easier to break. I have a 0.5mm nozzle and had been using a 0.3mm layer height (which I hated) and using the skeinforge ratio defaults of 1.5 and 1.8 (one's for perimeter and one's for infill - I forget which is which) and I was adjusting the feed and flow rates to correct issues. Based on this thread, I did some reseby jbernardis - General
gcoder.py is a relatively new addition to pronterface, but I'm not sure the problem didn't exist in the old code too. I adapted this code for my own use, and I seem to remember having to make a change. Recently I changed my code to use the (fixed) gcoder.py instead of the old code, so I've lost track as to whether or not I had to change this previously. In any event, you should probably downloby jbernardis - Skeinforge
Who is telling you 0 mm of filament - pronterface? There is actually a bug in the new gcoder.py module - it does not add in the filament that is consumed from the final E axis reset until the end of the print. I think for most average sized prints, skeinforge never resets the E axis, so this will result in 0 mm being reported. Slic3r seems to throw some axis resets in there, so it is only theby jbernardis - Skeinforge
You don't mention if you are controlling all 3 from the same PC. I assume you are. skeinforge supports multiple profiles. I only use them to differentiate PLA from ABS, but I believe you can name them anything you want. Look under your home directory and you will see a directory named '.skeinforge'. In there you will see a directory named extrusion and in there you will find a separate direcby jbernardis - Skeinforge
It's possible to change these values through the mechanism you are using, but it's probably easier to just do it through g-code. Through pronterface, or whatever host software you are using, you can change the E steps value on the fly with the 'M92 Ennn' command (you can do the same thing with the other axes) and then after you determine the best value, you can commit to it. If you have marlinby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
I have to admit that I've had some variation in first layer adhesion, but since I've rebuilt my z axis, it's been spot-on. Of course now that I have it working fine, it's time to move on to another printer build - but that's another story. Incidentally, when I rebuilt the z axis, I discovered that the X ends I was using - which I purchased on ebay - were not the proper distance between the smooby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
Have you tried repositioning the bed, or the endstop? When my Z is too low consistently, I try to correct it through mechanical adjustments rather than through slicing parameters. My strategy is to have the print head actually touching the bed at z=0. I achieve this by homing Z and if it is too low, I use my host software to raise it by 0.1mm increments, counting them, until the head lifts offby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
I love this proposed change to the LCD display.by jbernardis - General
Up until now I've been printing exclusively in PLA. Last night I started experimenting with ABS. The first time I tried a print, it failed miserably because I was using all default settings. Not know where to start, I copied all of the PLA settings over to the ABS profile except for the obvious things like temperature. Feed rates and flow rates are exactly the same as for PLA. This time, theby jbernardis - Skeinforge
Looks like a cooling (or lack thereof) issue to me. Does this happen more often with small items? Have you tried using a fan? What about your cooling settings in your slicer?. Both slic3r and skeinforge offer the ability to slow down if a layer prints too quickly otherwise. Have you tried enabling this? Basically you've got to get one layer cooled before you lay the next layer of plastic onby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
Actually, I was going to ask if you had a jhead, because this is a known problem when printing PLA with one. If that is the case, you need to disrupt the convection on the outside of the extruder with a small fan. It doesn't have to be large or fast, just enough to disrupt the convection. This need for a fan is well-documented, although the reason for it is not.by jbernardis - General
It looks like you lost some X steps on one of the earlier layers. Once that happens, all bets are off as to what the print will look like. Were you watching while it was printing, because you can usually hear when steps are being lost. If that IS what it is, it can be solved by turning up the stepper drivers a bit. You need to be careful though; too high and the motors start to overheat.by jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
I guess you're using slic3r as opposed to skeinforge. Ztop and ycarriage both had significant slicing issues with skeinforge, but sliced perfectly with slic3r. I was never really happy with my results when using slic3r, probably because I never spent any significant time with it, but maybe I should make the investment.by jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
using support is definitely an option. In the actual part being printed, the large hole is fairly deep. I thought it would be difficult to remove the support. It's not a big deal - with the solid infill the print was very successful. I'm just thinking of the more general case where I might want to do something like this on a larger scale where bridging might be more important.by jbernardis - Skeinforge
I just ordered a custom-cut aluminum sheet - 1/4 inch thick and 9.055 inches square - basically 6mm x 230mm x 230mm - from speedymetal.com. They quoted me $10 (plus shipping). I thought that was a fair price. I'm able to do the drilling at home, but I don't have the tooling to make clean cuts on something like this.by jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
Here is a simplified example. The two objects are identical except that the one over the origin has a membrane. Obviously with this simple example the objects can be flipped over, but for a more complex object this might not be possible. module x() { difference() { cylinder(r=5, h=10, center=true, $fn=30); translate([0, 0, 2.5]) cylinder(r=2, h=5.1, center=true, $fn=30); translate([0by jbernardis - Skeinforge
I am trying to print an object with a recessed bolt hole. The larger hole for the bolt head is printed first with the narrower shaft hole above it. In my openscad source code I put a 1 layer membrane between these two diameters so that the smaller hole would not be printed in mid air. Skeinforge properly sliced it, but it did not consider this membrane to be bridging - it did a normal solid fiby jbernardis - Skeinforge
Did you make that aluminum sub bed yourself, or is there a source? I like the look of it, but don't quite know how I'd go about making my own. I could probably rig up something close using aluminum strips, but it would be easier to buy if its available.by jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
You need some kind of spacer between the extruder and the carriage. Back when I used a maker gear hot end, they had a wooden mounting block that also acted as this spacer. I now use a jhead, and they have an aluminum mounting block that does the same thingby jbernardis - Reprappers
baslisks Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > the problem isn't drivers it works if I give the > commands manually but if I run a print I get a > problem. I think I need to mess with some > preferences. should be good tonight. What speed are you using when you enter manual commands. I've had my x carriage run fine with manual high speed commands, but staby jbernardis - General Mendel Topics
Thanks for the tip. I was a little overwhelmed at the McMaster site and was uncertain what I needed. Terra watt simplified it by having a packaged solution. I'm definitely going the, McMaster route. BTW, the rod I found was $17, not $7. Still a great deal comparatively. $25 versus $70.by jbernardis - General Mendel Topics