I use some from McMaster-Carr. Little pricey though. LINKby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
I have a bit of a low tech way to check how much force is needed to move an axis. This in not exact but gets you close enough to get a motor the right size. I use a piece of string and wrap it around the pulley several times and use a luggage scale to see how much pulling force is needed to move it. Like this one LINK The problem I had calculating things out the engineering way was each beaby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
These are a bit of overkill, but I like how smooth they work. SFU1204 LINK to Amazon they have 4mm pitch seemed a bit high, but using a regular Nema 17 stepper and had no issues. I replaced the 10mm one that came with my first kit printer and new one gave me much smoother movement. Old one was black steel; I have not idea where they sourced it but it sucked.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Drivers and info. Download Arduino IDE it includes the drivers. LINKby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Yes love not having to worry if I have a spare part if something breaks on one printer. When I got my first one I got lucky and noticed a part was failing put some glue on it and printed a replacement. After that I decided I wanted another printer. Now I guess most of having multiple printers for me is being able to get a project printed faster by splitting it between the printers.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Same here I love building things sometimes more than using them. I always have some project. Seems like Multirotor hobby has allot of 3D printer guys too.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Not sure where to start. So right now your end stops if you are facing the printer are on the front for the Y and Left for the X. That would be the Min endstop postions for both. So they should be plugged in the the First and Third set of pins on the RAMPS board. #define X_HOME_DIR 1 Your setting is backwards of where your end stops are. so I can see if you have this set and used the max enby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
I have found that 3D printing is very addictive, I started out borrowing one from a friend for work projects. After that I was addicted! Wondering if the hobby is going towards specific built machines now. Like small parts print best on the little printer with very light weight printhead. Printing stronger parts, there is a need for a larger nozzle more heat and just a bigger printer in generby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Not too hard to find just search for steps. Yours #define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,4000,500} New #define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,4000,410} Then when you are tinkering around with end stops. Type M119 and then click send in your tool of choice; it will show you the status of the end stops. I had to tinker with that on mine when I bought the ebay end stops. M119by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Oh, you may need to make some adjustments bed size and endstop information once you have those. Not sure which ones you have and the placement and how big the printer is.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Looks pretty good to me! Not sure about the steps per mm for your extruder. I think it is suppose to be about 400 for Greg's, but that is 1/16 microstepping. Since they are printed parts you may need to increase it slightly becuase the diameter is usually just a little bigger than the drawings. So maybe 410 would be a good starting point. Power supply I usually just choose "#define POWER_SUPby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Looks like that should work. One issue I have run across is the picture in Amazon not matching what you get. So you may end up with a motor without a plug.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Thanks Gordon. I will check it out. I ended up ordering these LINK Lipo balance extension leadsby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Thanks, going to look for the 4 pin cable ends to make it a little more solid.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Does anyone have a good sounce for extension cables for Nema 17 stepper motors? I have made some on my last project, but would be nice to just get them if they sell them cheap some place.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Sounds like you are on the right track lighten it up and figure out a way for the mount for the rods to be super tight. The rods will pull the mounts when they flex; you may want to print some tighter fitting ones once you get it working good enough, can always use a raft to get it working good enough to print some replacement pieces. Looks like the Z rods are pulled in slightly too, you may waby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
I second removing that extra tape and make sure the fan is directed close to the little gap between the heater block and the peek. That little gap is where most of them clog up the plastic melts up too high and jams it up aka heat creep.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Not sure if this will help you decide, but I made a heat block from mild steel so not the same really. I ran into issues with it though. The problem I had was it cooled down too slow, so what would happen is it would drip after the print which isn't a huge deal but it clogged more often during the start of the next print. I would pull out the plastic and a little white pieces would come out.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
I think I would try a more recent version of Arduino and use Marlin Firmware little easier to figure out the errors. There is probably somebody on here that knows the old stuff, but not sure how many people still use it. Here are the links to the newer firmware and Arduino IDE. Marlin Arduinoby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Thanks, I was looking at your post with the pictures using supported rails sounds like a good solution for larger gaps.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Yeah, guess the only way to really figure it out is measure, and trial and error. I do not see a clear way to calculate the length for droop. The manufactures really are not being very helpful in there descriptions, because the material used in the rod really has allot to do with it as well. Only reason why I started looking into it is I have some stainless rods 8mm x 850mm and had them onby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Can you show what the linear guid setup you used looks like, curious how you did it with only one rod screwed to that square tube.by AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Found this documentation on linear bearings and choosing shaft diameter. LINK Not sure if anyone else has suggestions of choosing the correct size shafts for a printer. Think the calculation in this document was helpful, so a shaft start to droop as it gets longer and the smaller the shaft the shorter distance it can span without getting a curve. The math they have is 24 X shaft diameter. Soby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Thanks, that sounds cool I will give it a shot and see how it turns out.by AquaticsLive - Printing
Hey there kre8 thought I would check out your post about the test part you trying to print. I use blower fan for part cooling wired to my control board so it changes speed when needed. Here is a Link to the type of fan I use. I had some laying around from old PC's on a video card so you might already have one.by AquaticsLive - Mechanics
Thanks those are pretty cool. My focus is to find something fun to print that when it fails I need to dig deeper and figure out what it wrong. I am also helping some friends build machines passing on some of my spare parts and things to help grow the hobby. I am trying to find something for them to print when they all get done. Three friends building new machines at the same time. Might be aby AquaticsLive - Printing
Seen the same thing before and like digital dentist said it was the motor actually, and mine was because the belt would bind up just a little causing the motor to make a sound like it the belt was skipping. I put paint marker line on the belt and pulley to test it out. The fix for me was to loosen all the pulleys and get it sliding smooth and then tightening them all down.by AquaticsLive - Printing
Wondering what are some of the favorite test prints out there. I have seen some pretty bad prints, but people don't relize they have an issue just used to it printing bad. I have been looking for something cool to print to check my settings and just show that everything is basically okay, may not be expert level precision but acceptable. Something to test it out every once in awhile. I haveby AquaticsLive - Printing
Thanks for the suggestion on the rods, yeah I was thinking bigger is better. But the weight of the items would cause issues too much mass moving around. So revising my cad with smaller rods and doing some testing with scrap rods laying around for flex and doing the math for longer distances. I also looked at the drive mechanics to reduce the weight on those to reduce them from working as a flyby AquaticsLive - Reprappers
Put my old printer in the Cabinet for now looks so small inside there. Actually the whole table and printer fit inside. I will pull it when I get ready to build it but thought it was fun to put it in there now. Check out photoby AquaticsLive - Reprappers