If your Z axis is too high it will do that. The PLA needs to be squeezed between the bed and the nozzle. There should be just enough room between the nozzle and bed to slide a piece of paper between them with a little friction.by tmorris9 - Reprappers
If you don't see the port when you go into printer settings then it could be a few things. First easy suspect is the USB cable. Next, are you going through a hub? If so try direct connection. It's also possible that there is a problem with the printer board. Do you know what type of board it is? And was it already setup with firmware? In other words did you build the printer and not upload the fiby tmorris9 - General
Yea I am a Mac user and my 3D files are mostly in 1 folder (terrible system). When I do important projects I do create a sub folder but it's still not the most ideal method. Sorry I don't have any real suggestions for you.by tmorris9 - General
If the oil is based on crude oil (petroleum) then it will slowly dissolve, soften the ABS. If it's a plant based oil instead then it likely will be fine.by tmorris9 - General
Look for Noctua fans, they are very well made and some of the quietest fans available. They should have one to fit your specs. You do need to watch whether you need a 2 pin or 3 pin variety though.by tmorris9 - General
Thanks to a bad batch of ABS I have had a lot of clogged nozzles lately. Instead of just whining about it I saw it as an opportunity to learn which way works best for me to get them unclogged. Now, I print almost exclusively in ABS and with a .35mm brass nozzle (TAZ 5). First few times I tried to unclog nozzles in the past it was hit and miss, I tried soaking in Acetone, tried .35mm drill bitsby tmorris9 - General
So I bought one of these $88 laser engravers off Gearbest. I'm not expecting much but they showed a video of it running on a Mac with a third party program called DBeam. I can't find that program anywhere. Anydoy use this machine on Mac or have any idea where I can get software to run it?by tmorris9 - Laser Cutter Working Group
I had a similar problem years ago printing PLA, came here and someone told me to turn my fan down as it 'was' cooling it too quickly, turned the fan down and it solved my issue 100%. Just passing on wisdom I learned here. If your fan pushes enough air PLA can indeed cool too quick. Maybe not on your machine but it did on mine. And it might on the OPS. The person that told me that started out byby tmorris9 - Printing
Your cooling fan may be set too high. If PLA cools too quickly it curls upward and corners are more susceptible to this. If you have it at 100% try 60% then 50....by tmorris9 - Printing
The real cure for the issue is to build a heated enclosure for your printer. This has stopped all my ABS warping and shrinkage issues.by tmorris9 - Printing
Update: I got my acupuncture needles today. I ordered .25mm and I know it's undersized but will still work for me. First off these things are scary thin and sharp but also cheap ($8 for 100). Now the reason they work for me is that I use ABS almost exclusively and when I do get a nasty clog I soak the nozzle in acetone but bout half the time I still can't get the last little blockage out (assumby tmorris9 - General
I remember on this forum some time back someone actually made a heated tube (short) that also had vacuum on it in the hopes of doing what you want. They said it worked and found by accident that it worked just as well without the vacuum. It was fairly high temperature for only like 50mm long.by tmorris9 - General
I actually just looked up on McMaster Carr and found music wire (piano wire) and it's very strong and flexible and available in all the needed sizes. I did not think Piano Wire was available in such small sizes but it is. And it's fairly cheap.by tmorris9 - General
So the k-file thing, is the tip smaller than .35mm? that is the nozzle size I use the most.by tmorris9 - General
Quite interesting information on here. I actually had some an issue that I think is due to nozzle geometry but not 100% sure. Here is my story. I have a TAZ 5 with a Hexagon hotend. Recently my nozzle clogged and I could not get it cleared out. I could not find anyplace that had that exact nozzle in stock (except China) but someone mentioned the E3D V6 nozzles worked in my hotend so I orderedby tmorris9 - General
My thought is more of just poking them into the orifice to remove a single blockage (like junk that was in the filament) not really cleaning it out like a brush. I print mostly ABS and will soak tips in acetone but something is in there that won't dissolve so I think it's debris in the nozzle that I just need to "poke" out. I even thought about sewing needles but I think they are too thick.by tmorris9 - General
I have micro drills but it seems like 50% of the time I use them to clear out a nozzle jam they break off in the nozzle (too hard and brittle) but I noticed acupuncture needles seem to be flexible and they come in many sizes in from .40mm to .12mm and lots in between including .35mm & .30mm & .25mm. I use .35mm nozzles but was thinking of trying some .30mm or even .25mm just to poke outby tmorris9 - General
I print on PEI and I set my bed to 110c for the first 2 layers then down to 95c. Having a perfectly level bed is important with PEI, also you can hit it with very fine sandpaper (400 - 1200 grit) to get it to bite a little more, clean it with a little isopropyl alcohol. Also with ABS you really do need a heated build chamber to keep the part warm thought the print to prevent warping. It's well wby tmorris9 - Printing
What about a small permanent magnet motor with a rubber pinch wheel over the filament (a lot like the extruder) and simply hook a small LED to the motor, it will intermittently act as a generator causing the LED to blink when the filament moves. If you see it's not blinking then it's jammed.by tmorris9 - General
I've used all 3. PEI works great but you need to learn that the level and Z axis height is critical to be set properly and Z axis height will be different for ABS and PLA. This is my go to bed material. BuildTak, it works a lot like PEI but I destroyed it way too easy when removing parts. I went through 5 sheets in 3 weeks then went back to PEI. My PEI lasted 2 years. PrintBite I tried and triby tmorris9 - General
I second the Nyloc Nut suggestion. Every printer I have owned came with one.by tmorris9 - Reprappers
I am using the PCB Linear bearings on my TAZ 5 and I love them. Been using them almost a year (it's a TAZ 4 converted to a TAZ 5).by tmorris9 - Reprappers
It could be that your filament has absorbed moisture. PLA can print badly when it has moisture and if one side of the real got more than the other that would also explain the banding. Put it into an air tight container with an ample amount of the desiccant bags and leave it a day or two and see if that helps.by tmorris9 - General
So I have a TAZ 5 printer and mostly print ABS. I just bought a roll of PETG to try out and while the print looks really good the top is horrific. I used the same basic settings I use for ABS except the temperatures. .35mm nozzle bed 70c hotend 240c, 235c 10% infill Perimeters 3 Bottom Layers 4 Top Layers 6, 8 So on the left cube I thought it looked a little hot and maybe not enough layers sby tmorris9 - Printing
If I am not mistaken hard chrome shafts are hardened steel that are then chrome plated. That is the best shaft for linear bearings.by tmorris9 - Reprappers
it looks like you rinse it with Sodium Hydroxide.by tmorris9 - General
QuoteMrBaz Is the Simplify3D software going to become more affordable anytime soon? I hope not. You see I want them to make big bucks so they have an incentive to keep making the product better and better. If they lower the price that means they need money and that usually means they would cut corners and release fewer updates and add fewer if any new features. I hope it goes up in price with gby tmorris9 - General
Has it worked before? Layer height 0? Z axis defective (motor or drivers) Z axis not setup properly in printer... When you ask for help it really helps to give as much information as possible like make / model of printer, settings, new problem or new printer, settings used and most of all photos of the issue.by tmorris9 - General
2 hours of drying later.....by tmorris9 - General
Our humidity is around 50% most of the time. You cannot see the damage with the naked eye but the extrusion feels a bit rough. It takes a lot longer for it to affect ABS than PLA but it can.by tmorris9 - General