I've gotten this to engrave straight lines on aluminum using manually entered G code. I tried the maximum setting (which generates the maximum vibration) and didn't have any problem with wavering. I chose to print a two-part structure with the inner tab able to slide out for height adjustment. Screw pockets and nut traps are designed to work with M4 or #6. The tool is held in place against the vby papergeek - CNC Routers, Mills, and Hybrid RepRapping
Thanks for your reply - you pretty much confirmed what I suspected. I've been thinking about a tweaked heated bed design that provides more constant heating, though... I've attached a screenshot and one picture of the final assembly. I ended up printing it standing upright with support structures enabled. I had no warping on the support structure for this one but for the larger fork assembly Iby papergeek - Printing
There may be something I've missed somewhere that covers this exact topic, but I've seen a lot of discussion over adhesion to the print bed (temperature, glue, hairspray, etc) but I'm wondering about a specific problem. The attached FreeCad model is something I'm trying to print in ABS. It was designed to be printed laying on its back. The problem is that when I print, the corners of the slab tby papergeek - Printing
Usually to check current with a multimeter you have a separate terminal to attach one of the leads for current measurement (sometimes two) but there is usually a limit, often 10A (on my Amprobe, for example). You have to connect the positive wire inline so that current flows through the multimeter. This won't work for a heated bed which may often exceed 10A at 12V. I'm not sure whether you can geby papergeek - Printing
Interesting... I never thought of using automatic transmission fluid but it makes sense. It's metal nuts so I'm lubricating metal on metal but I suppose Vaseline works for just about anything.by papergeek - Printing
Recently one of the Z-axis threaded rods on my Prusa i3 started making noises. I added a small amount of silicon grease (the type used for garage door screw mechanisms) to the part of the rod which comes in contact with the nut and that seemed to help. The rod may have come with a very light coating of oil but it could have been worn off with all the finger contact as I've calibrated several timby papergeek - Printing
I also put together a Prusa i3 and I think you may be using an inadequate power supply. I started out with a generic 400W ATX power supply which worked ok except that it could not heat both the bed and nozzle enough for ABS, even though it claimed to provide 20A on the +12V rail. I don't think that 360W power supply you linked to would work even if it worked according to spec. I bit the bulletby papergeek - RAMPS Electronics
I have an i3 and also haven't figured out a good place to mount the power supply. I did install a set of Molex 0.093" connectors to get the two separate 12V rails from the power supply so it's fairly easy to detach the power supply if I need to move the unit. As far as your choice of power supply, a word of caution: I started out with a 400W power supply which appeared to be rated for 20A outputby papergeek - Printing
Thanks for the replies - all fascinating. There are so many possibilities. I've been looking at all the techniques for resist etching including scribing a wax coating. At some point I'll probably want to try etching PCBs but for now I'm focused mainly on engraving smooth plate (copper, brass or glass) for art. I got the dremel engraver since it was cheap (USD $20) and tried it out. As I suspeby papergeek - CNC Routers, Mills, and Hybrid RepRapping
I'm curious to hear from anyone who's done this before... It's quite easy to remove the hot end and extruder from my Prusa and I can put something like a Dremel rotary tool or engraver in place with vertical gravity feed (with a little effort). I'm assuming that most of the people who do this are more interested in CNC in wood and other materials whereas engraving copper (and other flat metals)by papergeek - CNC Routers, Mills, and Hybrid RepRapping
The silicone foam sounds like a good idea. Looks like you can get it from Grainger here in the US in 1/8" thickness. I'll give it a try. I'm not sure my measurements were precise - I mostly used the IR thermometer for spot checking and didn't bother taping down multiple thermocouples. Right now my biggest problem is with the hot end and PLA...by papergeek - General
I've been having similar problems using 3mm PLA. I'm using the Magma nozzle which seems to suffer from heat travelling up the filament and causing it to jam. I've seen recommendations to tighten the idler more but that doesn't seem to help. Even without jamming it's fairly easy to have the hobbed bold gouge out the side of the filament so it stops moving. There seems to be some dissatisfaction wiby papergeek - General
I just got started with a Makerfarm 6" Prusa i3. I've gone through calibration but did some checking on the heated bed and found significant differences between the thermistor readings (on the bottom of the heated bed PC and the temperature on top of the glass. When I set 60C for printing PLA, my actual temperature on top of the glass ends up significantly lower. To get an actual temperature betby papergeek - General
I'm using a Prusa i3 with the Magma hot end (all metal). Despite setting up the fan to be always on, it doesn't seem to cool the top (cold) part enough for PLA. I get jams about 30 minutes into a print run when using PLA. I'm going to try adding a heat sink in addition to the fan. I have found some interesting things taking thermocouple and infrared thermometer readings in various places. I'veby papergeek - General