Can anyone help me with a question on z probing. Have tried much googling but still don't know. On my next printer design I want to have the probe pushed away from the microswitch when the bed touches, ie normally closed, open with bed touch. Ok so far? With my probe retract idea the switch will open again and may report bed touch. Will this be ignored if the probing routine is complete? I'mby Vince - Developers
I wish it were possible. As far as I'm aware all the current z probing only compensates for bed non-level, not for hills and valleys in the bed. I would like to see this implemented where the bed defects are blended out in the first few layers.by Vince - Repetier
Hi all. I had my printer working just perfect from a spare workshop laptop. Now my son has taken the lap top abroard. I thought there would be some settings file he could just send me to use on another computer but it seems not to be that easy. I was hoping to avoid having to fill in every field by hand. Any advice welcome on how to send the settings/config file. Would this also apply to the Slicby Vince - Repetier
Example of 30 mm test disk, removed from bed after first layerby Vince - Slic3r
Thanks Dave but its not bed gap. Over last few days have gone from hi to low and back again many times. I adjust my first layer 'in the fly' during the brim print so its pretty much spot on every time. Problem just started a few days ago. Have reversed my steps (not sure i did anything) but cant get it back right. Even the same after loading old settings. Thinking something in the firmware has gby Vince - Slic3r
Not sure this is a Slic3r problem but its my best guess after trying everything else. I am an experienced 3d printer user and my homemade machine has been prodicing beatiful prints up until a few days ago, indeed it still is but the first layer seems to be under extruding.a lot. First off have tried all the obvious things Bed gap Temp Extruder power adjustment. Slic3r is 1.1.7 Rep host 1.0.5by Vince - Slic3r
I was not thinking of anything that curved, just about trying to compensate for minor variations in my large (700mm x 400mm) glass bed. Getting that critical first layer down is proving difficult over such a large area.by Vince - General
Have I got this right? Z probing only ever assumes the bed is planar and just checks/adjusts for level? Is there any printing software that can compensate for a curved bed by checking multiple points across the bed? The repetier host quide suggests probing the bed at the edjes but surley it would be better to do it in the area of the object placement? One would hope that the bed non-level was notby Vince - General
I had a batch of small brackets (2cm square) to print and they came out really bad. Larger things print well so I thought its time for a nozzle blower to see if it helps. Mk1 used a normal axial mini fan but it didn’t take kindly to being restricted and almost nothing came out of the end so I have set up a new one using a centrifugal one, like this. It can be chopped down much smaller and produby Vince - Developers
A2, do you think stepper torque measurement is a reasonable starting point, if adjusted for temperature?by Vince - General
The first one looks like a simple 3 point z probe which is ok if your bed is flat (not level) The second one looks like it takes multiple points which is much better, however I was really thinking about using the extrusion pressure during the first layer skirt to sense the gap.by Vince - General
Im sure we all know how critical getting the first layer squished down is. My old Mendel has a fairly flexible bed and a powerful geared extruder which all means that plastic will always extrude even if the gap is zero. It sort of makes its own gap even if I have adjusted it too close. My new DIY printer is very different. The thick glass bed is very inflexible and the direct drive extruder willby Vince - General
Thats a serious bit of kit. Is that a gearbox and fume extractor (perhaps cooling air?) on the extruder? I wasn’t aware mach3 could be used on printers, I will take a look into that. I have just uploaded a brief tour vid of my unfinished machine.by Vince - Developers
Good info thanks. The 105deg enclosure temp is a little concerning as all the motors and most of the electrics will have to cook as well, also many of the ABS parts on the printer will begin to soften but I will experiment once the sides are on. I have just done a little experiment with CA, superglue, on part of the glass. I spread it about with a drop or two of water to set it off. Once dry itby Vince - General
Hi. I have a heated bed 700mm x 400mm made up of two layers of 6mm glass with nichrome wire in between. Its printing ’normal’ size multiple parts very well but larger ones always pull up at the ends. Its not entirely unexpected as my workshop is cold and draughty. The plan is to eventually enclose the entire printer. The bed (1.3kw 240v) will keep the inside warm so I will probably need an extracby Vince - General
Hi Roger, Ive been a bit busy with other stuff. (New job) From your pics it looks like I was lucky not to break through the brass while drilling. I drilled in from the top, not the side, and went in about 3mm. It is still working well but it defiantly under-reads in that position. Not a problem you learn what temp works well. Also that little direct stepper has some real pull. I have trouble hangby Vince - General
I ran some tests by sending the Z to max travel and back to 0.1mm of home (on the repetier screen) while the head was set up with a dial gauge. It was spot on every time not losing any obvious steps, even when I weighted the bed down. I will try increasing the Z lift to 1mm (now 0.5mm) but as you say it should clear anyway. My bed relies on gravity to keep it on the lead nut but as its 2 layers oby Vince - Repetier
Thanks for that. Im not much of a gcode expert so haven’t tried to look into that. I have noticed that the second of the two Z homes, just at the print start is affected by the firmware Z max speed, not the Z max home speed. I have turned it down from 5 to 3 and all seems OK. There is no apparent slowing of the Z movement during print but it has fixed this rapid moment. BTW, is there another Z lby Vince - Repetier
Hi. My printer is working mostly fine (own design) with the z never missing a step. Doing a Z home is never a problem. However, when I start a new print there is some Z positioning up and down and the last ‘up’ seems to be at a very high speed. I often get missed steps and motor buzz at this point. It seems to be the only time it tries to drive the Z that fast. It looks like its doing a double Zby Vince - Repetier
Part of my problem with the wide nozzle was that it was not perfectly vertical so one side dragged the new plastic. Worse in one direction obliviously. I have just slightly relieved the material immediately around the hole and its now very nice indeed. I seem to get a nicer finish with colder extrusion but the trade off is worse layer adhesion.by Vince - General
Hi. Im not sure if the developers read this forum but I have a couple of suggestions. I have two separate printers and the critical first layer gap often varies on both. I guess it’s the limitation of microswitch repeatability. However, if I observe the first layer is not going down well I often ‘tweak’ the z motor by hand, overcoming the holding torque to move it one step. It would be great toby Vince - Repetier
Hi. I am trying to tune both the bed and extruder on my DIY big printer. The extruder can easilly go well over 260deg but seems to settle about one degree below my set temp (220),therefore it dosent start the print. I have tried the values given by the auto tune and tried many manual values for all P,I,Ds. The EEPROM is not active so the values should be taken (others are). Nothing much changes tby Vince - General
That looks pants. In picture 2 its warped. There is no hot end so $59 for a stepper, some bearings and warped plastic. No thanks. OK that post was removedby Vince - General
Willdmo. I don’t think many people are listening. He wants to investigate if its possible to print the blades on a home printer, not what is the best way to make turbine blades. I guess you would print the sections so the z axis was along the blade axis. The filament would go around the airfoil shape right? Therefore you need quite a ‘deep’ printer. Did you say 1m in 3 sections, 333mm? Are you hby Vince - General
Roger, its really working very well now. I was convinced it was a 0.3mm nozzle but when I cleaned it up today there was a big 4 on the side. I reset the slicer to 0.4 and huge improvement. The next huge improvement was messing about with nozzle temp. I think my thermister is reading way too low. It still feeds down to 190 with ABS so I set it to 205. Much better prints now. So at the moment I caby Vince - General
Well the print has much improved throughout the day as various problems have come to light. The nozzle turned out to be 0.4 not the 0.3 I had set the slicer for! Also I think my hot end thermister is under-reading. The ABS still flows OK at 200deg and the print looks better for it. I am getting massive curl up on steep overhangs so may try to reshape the nozzle in the lathe tomorrow. The least noby Vince - General
As far as I can tell none of the software does this but please advise otherwise. Im suggesting that after a print when all the axes return to home stops any missed steps could be reported. X and Y missed steps are fairly obvious but not Z. A printer could operate for a long time without it being obvious that occasional steps were skipping. Or how about a test mode where the printer thrashes aboby Vince - General
So was that the result of trying different size flats and were you getting the smudging befroe you did this?by Vince - General
I can find much discussion about the end shape of nozzles and how it influences print surfaces. I have put one of those ebay extruders on my new (DIY) printer and it not going too bad really, however there is room for improvement. Thin walls and support material are printing beautifully but horizontal surfaces appear to be over extruded with lots of smudging and dragging. Im convinced its not ovby Vince - General
I am using Slic3r. Its not that, the same test pieces print fine on the Mendel but that is a 0.5 hole and this one is 0.3, or supposed to be but it does have a wide flat base which I am suspicious of. I read somewhere about using a layer height no greater than 60% of dia, is that right. I use .3 on the mendel and .2 on my new one I may start a topic on nozzle shape.by Vince - General