Hi, I've built two 3D printers from kits, and now I'd like to build a RichRap 3DR delta printer from scratch. My question is about sourcing of the smooth rods. I have two questions: 1. Do these need to be stainless steel or just steel (such as drill rods)? 2. Where is a good source for 6mm smooth rod? It looks like the standard 3DR needs a total of 6 smooth rods, each 450mm long. If I went withby JohnSL - Delta Machines
The whitening with some solvents is pretty well-known in the plastic modeling community. For example, alcohol will cause the same effect with polystyrene, and is often used as a weathering effect. Clear coats hide this effect, and modelers often use a matte finish, like Testor's Dullcote. Since ABS contains polystyrene, I would guess the same approach would work here.by JohnSL - General
Nicholas, Watching your very cool video, I heard you mention that 5mm bolts are hard to get here in the US. If you have an Ace Hardware store near you, they might have a good supply. I have one about a mile from my house, and their selection is far better than the big box stores. They have most of what I need.by JohnSL - Delta Machines
What printer is that on? Is it by chance a Printrbot Simple? If so, there are a number of threads on printrbottalk.com about this issue.by JohnSL - General
It looks like you have to add four stepper motor drivers at $11 each to have a fully useful board, so total is $64, which is still a really good price.by JohnSL - General
I've been printing on my MendelMax 2.0 with PLA using the heated bed and it's super reliable. I did have some problems initially with print quality before I had the settings dialed in, and my bed leveled and at the correct height. Now I'm very happy with the quality. Here is an example of one of the parts I've printed (this is about 3-1/2 inches wide, and layer height is 0.3mm): PLA sticks reaby JohnSL - General
Hi Steph, I posted a more detailed reply over in the Google group: For others here, my main point is that my negative reaction, and I suspect that from others as well, was from the large amount of hyperbole on the web set, and the lack of information that would allow me to judge for myself. By the way, Steph had a really great post on the Google discussion about the design of their linear systby JohnSL - General
I have a Mendel Max 2.0 printer, and I'm very happy with it. I built the kit, and if I remember correctly, it took me about 10-15 hours to build the kit. I could probably have built it faster than that, but I took my time. It's a solid, fast printer with a nice-sized built platform.by JohnSL - General
iquizzle, thanks for the link to the Google group. I've joined the group and posted a message (but I'm waiting for my post to be approved). I noticed on the Google group that they said the quality of their prints speaks for itself. Hmmm. They don't have that many photos, and I didn't find any close-ups that show me what the surface quality looks like. The closest I found were the Lego-style bricby JohnSL - General
Today 3ders.org had an article on a new printer called the Isis3D, and the text makes it sounds like an amazing jump in 3D printing. However, when I look at their printer, it looks a lot like a MendelMax 2.0, but without the linear slides. I can't find anything in the design that look really new, or that supports the marketing hype. Am I missing something? -- Johnby JohnSL - General
The following line is producing the error: E 1.5; extrude 1.5mm I believe you want this instead: G1 E1.5; extrude 1.5mm. By the way, here is a little hint on reading the output from Reptier: 09:06:26.728 : N143534 E0 *31 09:06:26.729 : N143535 G92 E0 *82 09:06:26.732 : N143536 G1 X0 F900 *41 09:06:26.735 : echo:Unknown command: "N143534 E0 *31" I've highlighted the line number, whicby JohnSL - General
I've found that not all blue painters tapes are created equal. Some stick too well and some don't stick well at all. It seems like some have a non-stick coating. A quick swipe with alcohol seems to remove that coating, and then the PLA sticks quite well to the blue tape, and sometimes too well. Note, this is with a non-heated bed on a Printrbot Simple. I also have a MendelMax 2.0, which has a heby JohnSL - General
I ran into this exact same issue a couple of days ago with a RAMBO card and Repetier. I tried resetting the board and restarting Repetier, but neither one fixed the issue. Then I restarted my computer, and after that everything worked correctly. The only thing I can think of is that there's a bug in the serial to USB driver, and rebooting reset the driver.by JohnSL - General
I know what ABS juice is, but what's PLA juice? Do you have a heated bed? I've been printing PLA directly onto glass with the bed heated to 70C. This works very well most of the time. I've recently started to use PVA glue (white glue) diluted 1 part glue to 4 parts water, and that helps even more. Once the bed cools down to about 40C, the parts just pop off the glass. But at 70C, they're stuck rby JohnSL - General
Do you have a fan for cooling the part? For small parts like this, you need either a fan that will blow on the part, or you need to slow down the printing. Slic3r has a number of controls for cooling. You can also set a minimum time per layer. If the layer would print in less than that time, it will slow down the federate.by JohnSL - General
One thing I noticed in the IMG_0409.JPG picture is that the bed is not level. The bottom layer is really thin on one side, and a little thick on the other side. Getting the bed level relative to the print head is really important for a number of reasons, including getting the first layer to stick. Another thing I noticed is the tape. Not all tapes perform the same way in terms of holding down thby JohnSL - General
Ah, that would be an issue unless you have something like Parallels on your Mac. Here is another option, which is probably a little more expensive, but still perhaps cheaper than the quotes you got: They have both CNC machining and also sheet metal operations. And you just upload a file to get a quote, so no special software required. I used them many years ago for some 3D printed parts, beforby JohnSL - General
Have you tried eMachineShop? Here is a link to their site: They can do laser cutting, CNC milling, water jet cutting, etc. And they specialize in low volume, low cost (kind of like Shapeways). I've never used them, so I don't have first-hand experience with them.by JohnSL - General
I've printed parts on an Up! with both external and internal threads, and had great success (I haven't tried yet on my MendelMax). On the Up!, I did NOT use support material. Looking at your picture, I suspect you could probably print this part without support material and have it turn out better.by JohnSL - General
I'm just curious, what is unsatisfactory about the Blender and Paraview renderings? Also, can you explain more about what the differences are between the previews and the prints that are inaccurate? I've been using Repeater for previews with good success. I do find I sometimes need to adjust the width to height ratio in the settings to get a better preview.by JohnSL - General