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Discuss any sort of mechanical stuff here: positioning systems, gears, extruding methods, etc.
Re: Any Mach3 users on here? - 12 years ago
I use Mach3 when 3D printing. Whats your Question?by dean448 - Mach3
Re: Makergear hot end woes - 12 years ago
I'm also using a makerbot nozzle which works great. When running PLA I had the same thing happen. After pulling the nozzle I found very hard residue in down in the nozzle. I couldn't tell if it was cooked PLA or some contaminant that got pulled in with the filiment. using picks and a very small drill bit, I was able to clear it and it shot well since. I havn't had problems like this withby dean448 - Reprappers
Re: SeeMeCNC - Newbie Death Sentence 
- 12 years ago
Idelcrasher Maybe you can calm down for a minute and help explain the time line in all this. A simple search of you posts shows that you started posting just before thanksgiving last year. You are in the states. At that point you ordered a Huxley from Reprappro (for Christmas) than no more posts until April. I'm assuming thats when you got called to duty. Between Thanksgiving and theby dean448 - General
Re: SeeMeCNC - Newbie Death Sentence - 12 years ago
I have not purchased a kit from SeeMeCNC nor am I affiliated with the company in any way. I have checked up on what they offer from time to time, since they started producing kits. You can look at some our original discussions in the Mach3 forum. On the points originally raised: *Poor build instructions (poor accessibility, available late after printer release) *Your past use of traditioby dean448 - General
Re: Stumped, need help. - 12 years ago
I would try to determine if the problem is in the GCode generation or machine. Design a 20mm square with a .5 wall thickness. Something that would just travel in a square and advance up. Look carefully at the gcode and see that its does what you expect it to do. Next try dry running the machine. No filiment. Is it traveling in a square patten then up each time around. If the code looby dean448 - Printing
Re: any one please help me out ... - 12 years ago
There arn't any arduino based cnc controlers. Keep in mind that in order to control a printer you only use rapid and straight line moves. Also if a printer malfunctions no one will get hurt. A cnc machine has far more complicated moves requiring a high speed controller. Lets say you are talking a home CNC machine. You have the choices of Mach3 parallel to a stepper driver or mach3 toby dean448 - Reprappers
Re: Confused About PLA on Glass - 12 years ago
Surface coverings have been discussed in the past. The favorite tape on this site is Kapton used for electronics. I'm using Monocote, or something similar which is heat resistant. Any hobby shop that sells model airplanes has it. I really don't see any warping on my heated bed. I wonder if the difference is that I'm using 10V AC power it instead of DC. I'm using a transformer pluggeby dean448 - General
Re: Confused About PLA on Glass - 12 years ago
OK. My bed is mounted on a thin layer of cork. If it does rise the printing action easily pushes is down. Up to 50mm across the bottom of my prints seem perfectly flat. The message is that if glass is giving you a problem, this method is easy to try.by dean448 - General
Re: Confused About PLA on Glass - 12 years ago
Although everyone seems to print on glass I found that putting a covering right on the surface of the heated bed works great. The heated bed surface gets hot fast but it doesn't have to work hard to also heat a plate of glass. I use airplane covering over the bed that can be cut to any size and easily removed if it rips. The bed surface is flat enought for what I do. I also don't have tby dean448 - General
Re: Metric/Imperial Questions and Other Questions (New RepRapper) - 12 years ago
I live in the USA and I'm not sure why the interest in imperial dimensions. 3mm is very close to 4-40 but I think 3mm works better. Not sure what 4 is equivalent to but 8mm is very close to 5/16". I shop at Lowes all the time but they are not the source for cheap hardware like nuts and bolts. McMaster Carr is my go to for hardware. If your on the east coast shipping is fast. Buildinby dean448 - Reprappers
Re: Extruder Backlash - 12 years ago
Epoxy the nut in place. Lubricate the nut if you want to easily get it out later. Make sure its aligned and square as it driesby dean448 - General
Re: Anyone with experience getting raised script into 3D - 12 years ago
Not sure. There are dozens of them and I've seen a similar list in other applications on my computer. Could be drawing from a font library created by Win7. Its a free app, you can see for yourself.by dean448 - 3D Design tools
Re: Anyone with experience getting raised script into 3D - 12 years ago
Yes Autodesk123D does raised scriptby dean448 - 3D Design tools
Re: Is this a bad hobbed bolt? - 12 years ago
By only looking at the orginal photo the diamond pattern appears to be either ground with a small cutting wheel or made from a series of impressions. It does appear that the outer diameter was ground level to the orginal bolt diameter. Probably so it would go thru the bearings. I've only worked with 3mm filiment and, don't think I've ever experianced squashing of the filiment, but know thby dean448 - Mechanics
Re: Machined extruder - 12 years ago
You can easily give it a try on your machine. I'd recommend Slic3r that has a Mach3 output option. So the Gcode would be XYZA and all straights, just let the machine ignor the A moves. The challenge will be in the infil and possibly rapids. Also try long thin parts where the infill is a zigzag of no more then a couple mm. I have examples of this if interested. Adjust the feed rates anby dean448 - General
Re: Machined extruder - 12 years ago
I can't recall seeing anyone publishing extruder designs for use on CNC Routers. You might want to think about a design that goes from machine to nozzle insead of the other way around. Everything generally mounts to two horzontal 8mm rod used by typical printers. Some printers use stationary extruders but are mostly not open source. There also be speed limitations (or harmonics that dby dean448 - General
Re: Extruder calibration - 12 years ago
I would recommend calibrating the extruder with everything installed, at temperature and feeding filiment. start at a low feed rate of about 30mm/min. However, In my opinion that hot end won't hold up. When you heat it up the PTFE will soften under the heat and when you feed material into the lower section the force will pull the threads out of the PTFE. It might not happen as much on PLAby dean448 - General
Re: Best hot end - 12 years ago
The hot end of the extruder is critical. I feel the hot end used by Makerbot is simple and reliable. Its a nozzle, thermal core which connects the nozzle to the steel down tube and a PTFE liner. I'm using this design and rigidly connecting that lower end to a steel plate without using those outer connecting screws that pull the lower end up towards the extruder. Most are still usingby dean448 - General
Re: Wrong hobbed bolt? - 12 years ago
The thread is titled Hobbed but the subject part is clearly knurled. When you hobb something material is removed. When you knurl something material is not removed but deformed using a knurling tool (basically a raised cross pattern on two two rollers) using a lathe. So no matter what bolt you start with, that is close to 8mm, the knurled zone will be over 8mm. If you file it back to 8mm youby dean448 - General
Re: Is the Heat bed tape needed? - 12 years ago
I'm using RC airplane coverings directly on the heated bed. Its cheap and available in any hobby shop, comes in a veriety of colors and very large sheets, sticks very flat to a warm bed surface. As some have noted above prints don't stick very will after repeated cleaning with Acetone. Use window cleaner. Since it has no adheasive, it pulls off easily and what ever is left can be removeby dean448 - General
Norton Antivirius risks found on site - 12 years ago
I notice that after I browse a few forums I pick up a half dozen 'risks' in norton scans. This seems to be increasing over time. In other words I don't recall seeing any risks months back.by dean448 - Administration, Announcements, Policy
Re: What are the real advantages of Mach3? - 12 years ago
John, I've been using Mach3 to print for a few weeks now and havn't found anything to complain about, at all. If you are use to Mach3 and have a license it seems like the best way to go. There are a number of folks who might be tempted to try using their CNC wih lead screws and just swap out the spindle for an extruder. I'd love to hear if someone pulls this off. However I suspect that tby dean448 - Mach3
Re: Mach3 pauses on G92 A0 - 12 years ago
Absolute. Its actually a useful feature in that you can tell how much filimen has been used. I've run prints between 1 and 2 meters of filiment and the A axis keeps up with these large numbers without issues. I've read that Mach 3 views G92 as obsolete, yet Skeinforge still uses it.by dean448 - Mach3
Re: Holes in parimeter of print - 12 years ago
Good. Sound like M5 is a better way to go. So you think the filiment stripped on the M4 bolt and caused the lining to fail? The nozzle of the extruder will jam up if any PTFE tears away. Can you simply clean out the nozzle tip? Remove it, heat it and try to clean the material out thru the back?by dean448 - Printing
Re: Holes in parimeter of print - 12 years ago
I believe the first machines were made with M3, which is what I use. I've seen a trend go to M4 for some time. I tought I read that folks were having issues with the M3 stripping out. I think the issue wasn't in the pitch, but lack of pinch force. However you can easily see when its stripping out which happens as a result of some issue. A good extruder shouldn't strip out in normal opeby dean448 - Printing
Re: I should introduce myself / My machine - 12 years ago
I'm similar to you in that kits bore me and I'd rather build something from scrach. I have been amazed how few folks I've seen, maybe none except for you, use welding as a fabrication tool. I think either folks on this site are old enough to envision an iron worker on a building with a stick welder or too young to be into power tools of any type. Anyway for less then $500 you can pick upby dean448 - Reprappers
Re: Wades vs direct drive extrusion - 12 years ago
OK. My design is 8 cm above the center of the hot zone and I'm running ABS at 255. The goal in any extruder design is to try to get the temperature down as much as possible just above the hot zone. You will add additional drag on the walls of the down tube, the extruder oozes and you have less control over the filiment. It was very difficult to get ABS to stick to anything at 230. Extruby dean448 - General
Re: What are the real advantages of Mach3? - 12 years ago
I had to find out what Mach3 could do when running a printer so I built a second printer. Partly I was trying to not mess up my primary printer and I wanted to go much bigger then what a reprap could do. I have Mach3 powering a G540 which I'm borrowing from my router. Since the printer is sitting on the router it isn't missed. I'm also running ABS where the primary printer is all PLA.by dean448 - Mach3
Re: Wades vs direct drive extrusion - 12 years ago
I'm running a gear driven extruder where the stepper is running a just over 3X more then a direct drive would turn. 12/39 then figure that my hobbed bolt is close to the same diameter as a direct drive. So the stepper is running in a better speed range and has three times the torque. Also better resolution based on 200*16 steps per rev. The only disadvantage of gear drive is size. Soby dean448 - General
Mach3 pauses on G92 A0 - 12 years ago
I'm running a home built printer off Mach3 and a G540. My issues are that it takes a long time to upload the program into Mach3. And I'm getting blobing everytime the program hit a G92 A0. I modified dimension.py per this post that removes the resetting of the A axis. It works great. No pausing. Mach supportby dean448 - Mach3