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Re: Looking for new contol boards and firmware - 29 days ago

I agree with the sentiment that the community writ-large has shifted towards commercial off-the-shelf options. Not that the concept of self replicating/repairing has completely died, but it is certainly no-longer the prevailing mindset of the 3d printing newcomer. I also generally agree that large percentages just 3d print as a means to an end. I personally spend much more time tinkering/designin

Re: Looking for new contol boards and firmware - 30 days ago

Given the popularity of hobby 3d printing, you'd think this forum would be booming. It would be nice to coordinate with some popular vendors to host official support subforums here to generate more traffic to the site and rebuild the community.

Re: Looking for new contol boards and firmware - 30 days ago

There is a pretty active discord server for klipper, it isn't as useful as a forum in my opinion, but you can usually get help there including the availability of the main dev.

Re: Flexidrive is Flex3Drive Early Birds - 4 months ago

Here is where you can contact Mutley3D Also, plenty of people still like to make/design their own stuff. So reprap is still alive in spirit, but splintered and obscured by all of the cheap Chinese turn-key options that people tend to start off with and the assorted communities on reddit/facebook/discord. It probably doesn't help that some of the old-dogs around here tend to be a bit intolerant

Re: Patents - 7 months ago

Re: Remote direct drive extruder question - 7 months ago

If you wanted to do something like a 1:1 gearing on a remote direct drive type setup, you'd need a gimballed motor with a telescoping spline shaft to drive the extruder hob, that is likely possible, but would come along with its own uniquedesign/engineering challenges.

Re: Remote direct drive extruder question - 7 months ago

I'm going to use some hypothetical numbers to help explain. Every flexible driveshaft will have different characteristics. Let us presume your have a flexible drive shaft which can twist up to 90 degrees at one end compared to the other. This is known as torsional deflection. 90 degrees of 'sloppy' rotation can be cause for a great deal of inaccuracy in a positioning system. But when you divide

Re: Patents - 7 months ago

and this thread has officially jumped the shark

Re: Remote direct drive extruder question - 7 months ago

The worm gearing is to compensate for twist in your flex shaft not to allow the use of a smaller motor. The smaller motor is necessary to meet the inertial needs of the high gear ratio at the hotend. I use a cheap pancake nema 1.8deg motor with decent specs for the purpose.

Re: Remote direct drive extruder question - 7 months ago

What I mean by low moment of inertia is a characteristic of the motor, not mass of the gears at the hotend. Low moment of inertia allows the motor to make rapid high velocity direction changes without lost steps. If you gear the flex shaft at the motor to reduce the motor shaft speeds involved, you could use a full sized motor. You don't really need high torque motors for this because the gear r

Re: Remote direct drive extruder question - 7 months ago

Remote direct drive extruders use high gearing and smaller, less powerful motors. The reason for that in my humble understanding is because of the motor speeds involved you need a lower moment of inertia to prevent step loss in high velocity direction changes. The gearing involved in 'remote direct drive', which is usually a worm gear, is used to mitigate the effects of mechanical variations th

Re: Patents - 7 months ago

I see very little real innovation in fff/fdm printing. Mostly rehashing of old ideas and concepts that on rare occasion hasn't been applied to 3D printing yet. So in that regard, I find patents counter-intuitive towards the existing phase of iterative progress/improvement I feel the hobby is currently in. Something truly innovative and new deserves a patent if the person who came up with the idea

Re: Thingiverse taking it's last breath? - 8 months ago

Thingieverse has had performance issues for years, yet it continues to be the go-to. Yes you have to filter through a bunch of barely functional designs that seen to be more concerned with aesthetics than performance. But I've yet to find a better alternative. I design all of my printer parts. It was a motivation if mine from day one after I got my first used printer. Did it cost me more? Yes. D

Re: Klipper: MCU which pins for step signal? - 8 months ago

Klipper allows for the use of multiple mcu's so that may be an option for you as well.

Re: Mosquito hot end...yes or no? - 9 months ago

Just go with Hermera, get quality, and save cash? Unless you've already ordered the bmg...

Re: Mosquito hot end...yes or no? - 9 months ago

In my opinion? The mosquito is nice, but it's also marketed hype and grossly priced. An E3D with a titanium heatbreak performs. I don't get stringing with PETG and my volcano and I'm using a Bowden setup. Tuning retracts was a pain but makes all the difference. That said, if you've got the money, and are willing to spend it you do you. I'm not a fan of groove mounting either but I hate slick m

Re: First Layer Adhesion - 10 months ago

White vinegar also works well for cleaning build surfaces. I heat my bed to 50c and gently rub the plates several times to get any residue and oils off the surface. The heat ensures it evaporates quickly to avoid any risk of damage from letting the vinegar stay on the surface too long.

Re: Supporting a build plate? - 10 months ago

If it's in your budget, 6mm cast tooling plate with a keenovo silicone heating pad would be better.

Re: The effect of deflected part cooling air on nozzle temperatures. - 10 months ago

Your results are generally in line with what I would have expected. Thanks for sharing the results of this test.

Re: Belt Securing Method - wanted opinion - 10 months ago

looks perfectly suitable

Re: Newb Looking for Pinter Advice Before Purchasing - 11 months ago

You're going to get mixed advice from the people here. However, I'd offer this: I agree with getting the Ender 3 to learn the ropes. There's a massive community of Ender 3 owners out there, including printable mods etc. 1. Whatever printer you buy, DO NOT commence with modifying the printer until you've learned how to print well with the machine and have learned it's strengths and weaknesses

Re: X carriage made of PLA? - 11 months ago

Why do you say ABS is MUCH better than PETG? Tensile strength is similar between the two materials. Carbon fiber PETG regains most of the tensile strength difference compared to PLA. ABS has better impact resistance, but 3d printers shouldn't experience a lot of impacts. Is the recommendation based on melting temps regarding operation inside a heated enclosure?

Re: X carriage made of PLA? - 11 months ago

I've been using the same x carriage made of PLA for two years without issue. If you are going to use a heated chamber, either figure out how to anneal it or use a different material like carbon fiber PETG. EDIT: Also, always keep a spare set of printed parts for your printer on-hand in case of any unexpected failures.

Re: Home Brew Printer Development - 11 months ago

I love it. It's an evolution of something other than the same regurgitated copies of copies of prusas, hypercubes and kossels. I also appreciate the concept of using the printer to make the printer better, which is a more common practice but you've certainly done a good looking job of it in my opinion. I assume it is working well for you. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Best Budget Mainboard for 3D printing? - 11 months ago

The skr boards aren't too shabby to be honest. Just don't expect any customer support.

Re: Shorter flex shaft for the Zesty Nimble - 11 months ago

Flex3drive is pretty much superior in every way. The nimble was always a copycat wannabe trying to leverage flex3drives design. The difference in recognition is due to marketing. I wouldn't pay more for an inferior product(aka Zesty Nimble).

Re: annealing filigree parts? - 11 months ago

Well crap. I can't believe I missed that information from the first post.

Re: annealing filigree parts? - 11 months ago

Annealing PLA is done at 60C: Ziplock bags are good up to 100C: foil would deform the surface of the print I still think a bad would be your best option.

Re: annealing filigree parts? - 11 months ago

QuoteDust The potential issue is the sand may stick to the plastic... Not if you stick the part into a plastic zipper bag. Or vacuum bag. Then put into bowl and pack with wet sand to ensure more homogenous heating. I mean, in my minds eye I see this working pretty well.

Re: annealing filigree parts? - 11 months ago

The sand idea may work. I would maybe place it into something like a ziplock bag to prevent the sand from texturing the part unless you find that a desirable possibility. I like Dust's suggestion too, but a fine sand would be easier to work with I'd be willing to bet.