I'm wondering whether a large aluminum heat bed like this stays flat when heated? If so, do you have to mount in some special fashion (slots on one end or something?) Have you used a heat bed like this? What has been your experience? I'm thinking of using a silicone heater with a simple aluminum plate this size, but wondering if I have to make special provisions for thermal expansion. -Matby mkeveney - General New Machines Topics
Helps a lot. Thanks much! (Big fan of the online calibration calculator, btw.). -Mattby mkeveney - Delta Machines
Quotedc42 Les, how big is your printer? If it isn't too small, you could consider using a mains-powered bed heater (easy to do safely on a delta), then you can use a single smaller PSU and fit both the electronics and the PSU under the bed as I do: Ping dc42, I realize this is an old post, but I'd like to know more about this approach. My web searching found a lot of scattered, incomplete aby mkeveney - Delta Machines
By the way.... I left my micro-stepping jumper in the 16x position. My printer is configured and running fine. Do you folks use 32x? Has anyone tried both and seen a significant difference? -Mattby mkeveney - Controllers
Just wanted to report that my MKS-SBASE board was indeed defective. The MKS folks repaired and returned it. A bad controller chip I understand. It took over four weeks to ship from US to China via USMail... If you need to make a return, I recommend you find another option. Shipping from China back to me was just 11 days. Otherwise it all went smoothly. MKS handled it well with good communicby mkeveney - Controllers
I've done a bit more experimenting. With a variety of firmware versions and configuration files, the alpha stepper turns in only one direction. I connect with Pronterface and command small steps in positive X; then negative X... the alpha (or X) stepper turns in the same direction in every case. I'm convinced I have a bad board. I'll contact the MKS folks and see if I can exchange it. Anyoneby mkeveney - Controllers
Hey all, I'm trying to set up my new MKS-SBASE board on my delta. I cannot reverse direction of the alpha stepper motor. I've tried setting alpha_dir_pin to 0.5 or 0.5! No change. I was able to successfully change the beta and gamma steppers, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing it right. I swapped the plugs for my alpha and beta motors, just to be sure there's nothing wrong with the stepper itseby mkeveney - Controllers
Ping AndyCart, Is the CAD Source available for the Pi IIIs? I want to make a custom effector part for my PI, but my modeling program doesn't work well with imported STL files. Actually, I think all I really need is the center-to-center spacing of the sockets, if that's easier. -Mattby mkeveney - Delta Machines
Thanks, I've seen the Github page. To be clear, I'm not interested in the hardware design source files; just the firmware source. I would think that allowing others to develop alternative firmware for this device would only help drive your sales higher. What's the downside? Is there some other reason you can't release the source? -Mattby mkeveney - Controllers
ping flyway97, I'd like to experiment with the TFT32 board. Is the source code available?by mkeveney - Controllers
Ah... I forgot all about that. How should I configure the zprobe.probe_pin value? 1.28v or 1.28^ When tested independently, voltage reads positive 3.9 volts on signal with respect to ground. Unfortunately, I'm out-of-town for a week and won't be able to test immediately. Thanks! -Mattby mkeveney - Controllers
ping ManniK I saw this query you made last March: Did you ever get your inductive probe working? I have the same kind, wired much the same way with slightly different resistor values. It worked fine on my old RAMPS board. It still works when tested independently: signal-to-ground measures about 3.9V normally; 0V when triggered. I can't get MKS-SBASE to recognize it, no matter how I configuby mkeveney - Controllers
Delta Calibration with Escher3D calculator. Hi gang. My Cherry PI has been printing for a while, but I've been struggling over the last few weeks to get it really dialed in. I built and measured everything as carefully as I can, but I could still only print on center 100mm or so. I could not get the nozzle to track the whole bed reliably. In my frustration I installed an inductive probe andby mkeveney - Delta Machines
My newly complete Cherry PI IIIs, with various modifications from this thread. Uses RAMPS with Marlin 1.1.0 RC3. I had to patch a line to get M666 to work properly; will document that soon. Still not completely dialed in, but I couldn't resist trying something real. I have a heatbed on order; gluestick is too much of a PITA. Manual configuration wasn't too tough, once I got Marlin fixed. Viby mkeveney - Delta Machines
I'm thinking about which version of Marlin to use. I saw the earlier post about "Rich Cattell's new Marlin version" But the comments suggest that his changes all have to do with auto-leveling. I'm planning to skip that for now. If _not_ using auto-level, is there any advantage to Cattell's fork (vs the mainline Marlin branch)? -Mattby mkeveney - Delta Machines
I've printed my parts, and am waiting for hardware and electronics. I've used the IIIs parts, with substitutions from this thread for E3D clone effector, and OpenBuilds extrusions. I've read through this entire thread, and appreciate all the input. Thanks for all the hard work; especially the original design. I have a few questions: * what is the 'extruder insert' part for? * I've printedby mkeveney - Delta Machines
I just found this hot end on ebay: I haven't seen one like it before. DId I miss it? Where can I read more? -Mattby mkeveney - General
I'm looking at a Kossel. It seems that this is the evolution of the Rostock, and I've had better luck finding documentation. I particularly like what I see from this site: Their instructions are quite nice, and I like the look of their 'wheels-in-OpenBeam' option for linear slides. See the Kossel page for the basics, and check out all the links. One is a PDF prepared by a kit vendor that seeby mkeveney - Delta Machines
> Here are two threads discussing the CPU impact ... Good reads. Thanks. I think I'm probably sticking with the cheap text display, simply because I can't find any compelling reason to 'upgrade.' I'm still hoping to hear from anyone with experience of both, so if that's you, please respond. I'll continue to monitor this thread. -Mattby mkeveney - RAMPS Electronics
Thanks. I couldn't find the thread, so if you can I'd be curious to read it. But anyway, performance is really tangential to my original question, namely: Is there any practical advantage? Does the graphic version (or any other LCD variant out there) give me any more information than the cheap 4 x 20 LCD? -Mattby mkeveney - RAMPS Electronics
> ...IMO the graphics "should" take more code to draw ... I am considering a delta. I took a quick look at the Marlin code. They do use a graphics library and are a bit busier when configured for a graphic-display, but it looks like the refresh happens no more than 10 times a second in either case. I'm guessing we could reduce the refresh rate if it was too much overhead. But my gut saysby mkeveney - RAMPS Electronics
I’m considering a new RepRap build and think I want to add an LCD/SD card reader this time. I used a Printrboard before, but nowadays it looks like RAMPS can be had for a bit less. So for LCDs with RAMPS, there seem to be a few different options: Cheapest is the ‘Smart 2004’ text-only: For 13 bucks more I can get the ‘Smart controller 12864’ graphical display: And there are other optioby mkeveney - RAMPS Electronics
Thinking about a Kossel build, and found this video: He discusses an interesting assembly option, gluing the Traxxas fitting inside the pushrod tube. Can someone who has a Traxxas 5347 fitting handy please put a caliper on it and give me the shank diameter? TIA! -Mattby mkeveney - Delta Machines
re: ...one thing which I need is a geared step motor... I used a direct-drive extruder, the vertx: . With 1.7mm pla, a normal Nema17 stepper has plenty of torque. The Vertx was the best choice I could find, but is still a bit awkward. I think I'll be designing something new, but similar.by mkeveney - Look what I made!
..(oops. error. why can't I delete a post?)by mkeveney - Look what I made!
The dimensions I listed are the external dimensions of the machine. The print volume is much smaller; roughly the same as the Mendel. I'm only getting about 140mm in X right now, due to my constrained axis. Also, I manage to remove the part without ruining the tape each time... the tape lasts from 1 to 10 prints, with no apparent rhyme or reason.by mkeveney - Look what I made!
The exploded view on the original page should give you a good sense of the size. About 380mm wide; 470mm high; 480mm deep. I've made my Y carriage a bit differently and may have a bit more Y range than the original. At the moment the X range is severely limited by my awkward X carriage setup. I might want a heated bed someday, but honestly, I think that day's a long way off. I'm doing veryby mkeveney - Look what I made!
Well, actually 'completed' seems like an awfully strong word. Are they ever complete? Details on thingiverse: -Mattby mkeveney - Look what I made!
I just saw that product too, & was wondering the same thing. Does anyone know of a source for a larger version?by mkeveney - Controllers
Update: according to this Misumi page, the recommended tolerance is g6: Interestingly their part number is LMU8. Is this the same thing as LM8UU? ..Is there a standard way to read the code? -Mattby mkeveney - Mechanics