That's the power of the internet for you...by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I'm in Ilam and have a home built rock solid i2 machine in my workshop and a smartrap derived wobblebot as a portable demo machine the packs down into a briefcase - see links in my sig. PM me if you want to visit and get another opinion. The cantilevered (wobblebot) layout isn't all doom and gloom. It can make for a cheap, simple and compact design - but like any machine, it requires some careby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I'd be keen. I'd bring along my briefcase 3D printer. My main machine is much less portable now that it is in a plywood enclosure in my workshop. CoreXY is on my to-do list for a larger format machine but I have too many projects in front of it to become a reality anytime soon.by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I was tempted to buy one of these: Elide fire ball for peace of mind that my machine won't burn down my workshop when running long unattended prints. In the end I opted for wiring in a photoelectric smoke alarm to my house alarm system - with the alarm sensor on the ceiling near the 3D printer. This will ring my cell if it is triggered. I like the look of those melting plastic tube triggered fby n.glasson - Safety & Best Practices
Your measure of best is a bit limited. For my money "best" should include: accuracy reliability low cost readily obtainable materials high printing speed large build volume easy to build, calibrate and maintain robust/transportable without loosing calibration compact (relative to print volume) easy to enclose (for a heated chamber for ABS or to exclude dust) capacity to add multiple extruders,by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I am a big fan of soft copper washers for keeping PLA in. I am tempted to make up my own diamond hotend but with only two extruders so I don't need to update my electronics too. My main machine has a separate second extruder and I only ever use it for printing either one filament or the other. Two colours is just too much hassle with mediocre results due to one hot end dribbling while the otby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I'd be up for that. My first machine stays in the shed now but I could bring along my briefcase 3D printer.by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Thanks enif - all seems to be working fine now. Much appreciated.by n.glasson - Controllers
It looks like the fix for the rotary encoder isn't quite 100% yet. I still find it works the wrong way in some places. For example when I am printing I can turn the speed up by twisting the knob upwards (at the front) when I am on the info screen, but when I select speed from the tune menu the knob needs to be twisted down to increase the speed. I'm sure the programming can be properly sortedby n.glasson - Controllers
Not all bad I hope! I'll pop along sometime for a show and tell - and to check out what else is happening at the robotics club.by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Thanks for that Enif. A few minutes effort using your instructions and I now have it working perfectly. I'd imagine that a more elegant coding could be applied that limits the edits to the main config files in Marlin but I suppose that involves getting properly involved with collaboration in Marlin development. I manage to maintain some control over my meager efforts at editing firmware by addby n.glasson - Controllers
Thanks Zerker The portability of the briefcase printer is really great. It is continually evolving and improving all the time. I still use the steel framed machine pretty regularly - whenever I want to do large stuff or ABS. It is hard to beat the heatbed for big footprint PLA parts. Next on the list for the briefcase printer is to convert it to toothed belt drive and banish slipping fishiby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Hey Zerker You do realise that nobody will believe that you have it sorted until you post photos and/or video evidence :-)by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
More progress on the SD card issues I was having. Without the thermocouple module connected (using the original thermister for the hot end), I found that I was still getting weird behaviour when printing from the micro SD card on the Tiny OLED display controller. Symptoms were occasionally the X or Y axes would travel to zero and back again. The print would get very messy because the nozzle woby n.glasson - Controllers
I doubt that it is an electrical noise issue as I have been using the machine without this problem for a few months with a reprapdiscount graphics smart controller attached. Connecting the MAX6675 introduced the problem and that has a very short ribbon cable. The machine behaves fine if I print from a computer. It is more likely a conflict between the SD and MAX6675 on the SPI. I understand tby n.glasson - Controllers
I am close to having my machine running properly with a Max6675 thermocouple module and a TinyOLED display controller with micro SD card. I am running with RAMPS 1.4. To get the Max6675 working without bootup errors, I have loaded the latest development version of Marlin. All now works as it should except that whenever I am printing from the SD card, the printer freezes mid print. When I prinby n.glasson - Firmware - mainstream and related support
I have just finished making the TinyOLED 1.4 for my briefcase 3D printer. Fantastic work Enif. An amazing effort in such a short space of time. An added complication I had was that I was also trying to get a Max6675 thermocouple module working properly as well. I managed to get the thermocouple module almost working with a reprapdiscount graphics smart controller by loading up the latest deveby n.glasson - Controllers
I am using DU bushings on my briefcase printer. DU bushings are rolled steel cylinders with a teflon lining. They are cheap, compact and light weight and because the seam is not welded, you can easily tweak them with a tapered punch to make sure they slide easily on your smooth rods before you fit them. I prefer them over the LM08UU bearings because they do not require hardened, chromed, preciby n.glasson - Smart_Rap
If the belt error is consistent, you would be able to compensate for it. It sounds like it is not consistent i.e. the pitch varies on a length of belt. This could explain you getting ovals even though your X and Y axes appear to calibrate accurately. This would be the case if the circle you are printing is not being printed in the region where you calibrated your axes - and your belt pitches aby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
My understanding is that 1.75mm allows a printer manufacturer to make the machine simpler and cheaper because they can use smaller/ungeared steppers whereas 3mm filament works best with a geared stepper. So 1.75mm is best for a cheaper 3D printer and 3mm is best for cheaper consumables. I have tried cheap imported 1.75mm filament that makes it more affordable but you pretty much get what you paby n.glasson - Plastic Extruder Working Group
If your pulleys are tight on your stepper shafts and your steppers are not skipping steps, it sounds to me like you need to adjust steps per mm on either the X or Y axes. Measure your oval in X dimension and in Y dimension and then scale the steps per mm of one or the other to make it produce a circle. i.e. if the STL is 100mm outside diameter and your part prints measuring 100 in the X dimensiby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
You could also send an M302 code to the printer in the start of your G code by putting it in start codes of your slicer. That will allow the extruder to feed even if the hot end is cold. It is generally not a great idea to override safety interlocks but if you just want to experiment it will be fine. It doesn't involve changing any firmware settings so you can revert to cold extrusion preventiby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
My other machine weights about 16kg and because of it's weight and size it is a struggle to carry from my car and up the stairs to a regular meetup I go to. It will also be handy if I want to take it on holiday or demo it anywhere away from home. I am thinking that there is room in my life for a total of three 3D printers 1) my original based on a Prusa Mendel i2 but much more rigid with a weldby n.glasson - Smart_Rap
Check out my newly finished 3D printer in a briefcase, which owes much of it's design to the Smartrap. I went with 8mm rods throughout because that was what I had but I might switch to 6mm for X and Y to make it a bit lighter. The eventual plan is to swap out that large 30 amp power supply for something more compact so that I can fit a small spool of filament inside the case as well. At presenby n.glasson - Smart_Rap
3mm Ninja red extends from 150mm to 159mm with a 1kg load suspended. Actual diameter (un-stretched) is 2.9mm so Young's Modulus is close to 25 N/mm². See the attached spreadsheet for the calculation and a link to describe it. Anyone else able to do these measurements on other filament?by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Comparing the elasticity of flexi filament could be as simple as suspending a length of filament from something solid, putting two marks on it say 300mm apart, then suspending a weight or using spring scales (say 1kg) to extend it then measuring the extended length between the two marks. I have some Fenner Drives ninjaflex and their new semiflex filament that I'd be happy to test this way if anyby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
As expected these two code examples are identical except for the 3 lines of end code starting at line 80. On line 80 of the first G-code you have G91 F150. This is not correct. G91 is a stand alone G-code that switches to relative positioning, it should not have the Feedrate code after it In my example on 20 Jan the four lines of code suggested here are: G91 ; relative movements G1 F150 ; sloby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
How about loading this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:684485 into your slicer, switching loops, minimum extrusion distance and brim to zero in print settings then compiling the G-code. Open resulting G-code in notepad and copy and paste into a message here. Then the assembled experts can see what your start and end codes are.by n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Thanks for that AgentX. I knew there would be a smarter way to edit Marlin codeby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group
The Arduino environment shows the files on tabs along the top of the screen. Unfortunately those tabs don't scroll sideways and the drop down menu on the right hand side doesn't scroll vertically (I'm using 0023 so can't comment on more recent versions). When you have a lot of files in a project like Marlin, it is difficult to access the files that are off screen. I use ctrl-alt-right arrow toby n.glasson - New Zealand RepRap User Group