I'm using two of these: in my printer, with 32V power supplies. These drivers can handle up to 50V supplies. The inputs are optoisolated, so you can safely connect to the RAMPS board without fear of destroying it. You need to pull the step, direction, and enable signals and a ground connection from the stepper module sockets.by the_digital_dentist - General
You're asking the right questions! What's really going to bake your noodle is thinking about what happens when the guide rails and the frame of your machine flex... Quoteo_lampe Hi guys, I got these couplings with my prusa i3 kit. I was surprised how soft they were and how easy I could compress them vertically. Now I´m wondering, if that would reduce z-axis accuracy? Imagine your extruder isby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Kudos for recognizing the difference between lead screws and threaded rods! We need more of that around here... Are you planning to lift a cantilevered print bed with a single screw? How big/massive is the bed?by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
You can check squareness by measuring diagonals with a steel ruler- no expensive instruments needed. If opposite diagonals measure the same, the frame is square (or at least the part of it you're measuring). If you build the frame square and verify it by measuring diagonals, you can align the axes to the frame using metal spacers between the frame and the guide rails and know that they too, wilby the_digital_dentist - General
It doesn't have to be about "money is no object". It's simply a matter of recognizing compromises that are made in order to keep the cost where you want, then living with the consequences of those compromises. Over the last two years I've probably spent $500 on parts that have been in and taken out of my machine. Once I had it printing I started looking at all the things I thought were wrong wby the_digital_dentist - General
The effect of the error has been experienced by everyone here- if the nozzle is too close, the extruder jams. If it's too high the part doesn't stick. Ignoring flatness for a moment, adhesion depends on the surface material of the bed, its temperature, the size and shape of the object, the material being printed, hot-end temperature, and environmental factors like temperature and air movement.by the_digital_dentist - General
People keep trying to squeeze cost out of these machines pretending that it doesn't affect the quality. There's no magic or voodoo. Precision parts cost more than junk parts. The solution to the problem of a flat bed is to spend a few more dollars and buy a flat, thermally conductive aluminum plate. Stick a heater to it, slap some Kapton tape on it, and move on. If you were going into massby the_digital_dentist - General
Yes, just Kapton tape. I use 5 mil thick stuff because it is much tougher than the usual 1 or 2 mil stuff and doesn't need replacement very often. I use 2" wide tape so I can replace only the part that is damaged instead of recovering the entire bed. Cost? Let's see... Frame extrusions, drawer, side panels, feet, maybe $250 Extruder: $150 Hot end: $60 Y axis motor: $50 Bed plate, heater, powby the_digital_dentist - General
QuoteJamesK That 1/4" plate sounds nice, but it will add a lot of mass to a moving print bed design. The simplicity of the Prusa layout is very appealing, but I keep finding myself drawn to a core-xy layout with the bed motion confined to Z. Maybe next time. I was wondering about epoxying some pieces of aluminum U channel to the heat bed to increase flatness and rigidity, but I have my doubts abby the_digital_dentist - General
Cast aluminum tooling plate comes milled flat. It doesn't have the same crystal structure as extruded plate so it doesn't warp appreciably when heated. I don't know why you'd want to stack a bunch of stuff on the bed and hold it in place using clips or other clamps. Anything that stands above the surface of the bed is a hazard for your extruder. I use flat head screws that are countersunk intby the_digital_dentist - General
The bed has a kapton heater stuck to the bottom side of the plate. heated bed plate A little kapton tape is a lot lower mass than a piece of glass... Since you're into ABS printing, you might want to try building an enclosure for the printer. If you print anything more than a few cm tall you'll have delamination problems. Keeping the build area warm prevents delam. 45-60C is sufficient, butby the_digital_dentist - General
For what it's worth, I print on a 12" x 12.5" x 1/4" aluminum tooling plate bed covered with Kapton tape. Tooling plate is usually pretty flat stuff and adding a piece of glass only increases the moving mass. ABS sticks to kapton tap just fine without any augmentation. I'm not so sure about PLA or other materials.by the_digital_dentist - General
Auto-tramming is mostly used to compensate for poor construction that results in a printer's inability to maintain the bed position and/or imprecise repositioning of the extruder. Your's appears to be more solidly constructed than most printers. Do you really need auto-tramming? If the bed is warped, maybe it would be better to replace it with one that is flat.by the_digital_dentist - General
High temperature silicone is the way to go.by the_digital_dentist - General
What is this, a controller for ants?by the_digital_dentist - Controllers
Exploring further, look at other printers construction and at print quality with a critical eye. Try to understand the mechanisms and their limitations so you can correlate print quality with consturction/architecture. Delta's and Cartesian machines produce different types of flaws. Poorly made machines exhibit different types and degrees of flaws compared to well made machines. Learn from otby the_digital_dentist - General
If you're using Marlin, I don't recall if you can set those from the LCD, but the variables are located in the config.h or configadv.h file. You'll have to edit the file and recompile the firmware to make the changes permanent.by the_digital_dentist - General
Try a different slicer and see if it gives the same result.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Nothing "best" is "easy" or cheap or quick.by the_digital_dentist - General
The most important thing you need to know is what you want to do with the machine and what sort of print quality is acceptable. Set goals and then pursue them, solving one problem at a time until you've solved all of them and the machine you end up with meets your goals. You'll learn everything else you need as you go. Persistence!by the_digital_dentist - General
Congratulations! You have rediscovered "Z wobble". Please see the article here: on page 29.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
I have found Slic3r to be unstable- when it works it's great, when it doesn't it's a PITA. I have also found that it seems to work most reliably when you compile the source code under linux.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
If you ever played with a linear guide you wouldn't be surprised at all. Especially not preloaded guides.by the_digital_dentist - General
I get my 8020 (typically 1.5" x 1.5") from my local industrial scrapper for $2 per lb. Find your local scrappers and get to know them. If you live near a medium to large population city, there's probably a place where you can get this sort of thing very cheaply. They often have other linear motion parts you can take off machines for pennies on the dollar.by the_digital_dentist - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Switching power supplies are rated for a maximum power (in Watts). When you crank the voltage up, the maximum allowable current goes down, but at the same time everything connected to the supply will draw more current because of the higher voltage. You can easily exceed the power supply's maximum rated power by turning the voltage up a little. For example, let's say you wisely ordered a generby the_digital_dentist - General
If you want to print at 100 mm/sec I suspect you'll need something larger than a NEMA-17 motor. Preload on the linear guide, while great for precision, looks like friction to the motor and is going to require extra torque just to move the bed at ANY speed. My print bed is the same size as yours and rides on preloaded linear guides. I use a ball screw to drive it and calculated it would requireby the_digital_dentist - General
Most CNC machines are going to need more powerful motors than the smoothie or any other integrated board can handle. You typically use higher torque (higher current) motors, DSP based stepper drivers, and higher voltage supplies for CNC work, and it's easy to connect to smoothie because they bring the step/direction/enable pins out to 4 pin headers. You can connect most stepper drivers withoutby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
You can try playing with the acceleration and jerk settings, but you may have to slow things down quite a bit to get it to print reliably. I use NEMA-23 motors in all axes. A massive bed running at "normal" speeds/accelerations requires a lot more torque than you can get from most NEMA-17 motors. You can run a lot of NEMA-23 motors using the RAMPS board- I was using it that way for 2 years witby the_digital_dentist - General
Have you calibrated the extruder? You may have under extrusion due to a calibration error. If you calibrate it to work properly at 50um it should also work properly at 200um, but not necessarily the other way around - what looks good at 200um might actually be a little under extruded and it becomes a problem at 50 um.by the_digital_dentist - Slic3r
Check the gate voltage when you switch heat on and off in software. If it swings normally (near zero to near 5V), the MOSFET is shorted and should be replaced.by the_digital_dentist - General