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Printing issues ...
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With any filament extruder you will need to discard the first few feet of filament. The diameter won't be consistent until the conditions of extrusion reach a steady state. Once it has started to coil on the floor, is the diameter consistent? It works best if there is enough open space below the extruder that it can coil in a circle with the nozzle at the center. If there are table legs or ot
by
IanJohnson
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Plastic Extruder Working Group
It might be easier to stick something on the side. It would be easier to line up, you wouldn't have to worry about the ends matching up perfectly.
by
IanJohnson
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General
If you are using bearings, it's vital that they are parallel, or else the measurement will change if the filament moves sideways. I opened up the gauge, pulled out the slide, and drilled a hole in the housing for the screw that holds the fixed bearing. I made the hole small enough for the screw to cut the threads. The spring should be as weak as you can get away with. It it is too strong, th
by
IanJohnson
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General
Here is a version I did, using a tire tread gauge. The pcb has the same level shifting circuit you used, and an ATTiny to read the caliper. It is just using PWM to mimic the voltage output. There is also a hall sensor to count the filament feed. I haven't tried running it with a printer, this was intended for logging diameter from a filament extruder. I didn't like using a voltage out for fi
by
IanJohnson
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General
Instructions for color changing dessicant I have bought recommends baking in an oven, but adds that the door should be propped open so the moisture can escape. Sticking something like a wine cork between the door and the frame is sufficient. If it is a convection oven, the door can be left closed.
by
IanJohnson
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General
Feeler gauges aren't much fun when the bed is heated. A business card is more friendly than a 90C metal feeler gauge.
by
IanJohnson
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General
Somebody has done this with markers-
Kikai Labs
Youtube Channel
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IanJohnson
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General
Would this be difficult to implement in firmware? It would be simple to add a filament-out detector to an extruder. Just run the filament over a limit switch so that when the filament runs out, the switch is released. When Extruder 1 runs out of filament, Extruder 2 takes over and finishes the print. This would be a good way to use those spools that still have a decent amount of filament, but
by
IanJohnson
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Repetier
The Winbook tablets have a micro USB you can use for charging, and a full sized USB 2 port. They are $130 for the 8" from Microcenter, and $180 for the 10".
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IanJohnson
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Repetier
It may be an extruder/hot end combo issue. My Solidoodle 1 had a geared stepper, and didn't have the moire. SD2 and above came with a direct motor with no gearing, and you can see the moire in almost any Solidoodle print. Switching to 1/32 microstepping, 400 step motor, or a geared extruder like the Bulldog is guaranteed to make it go away. It's possible that it might have something to do wit
by
IanJohnson
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Prusa i3 and variants
I just wanted to run this idea by, and see if it might be worth serious thought. Low temp alloys like Rose's metal or solder aren't good for extrusion because metal is runny, and doesn't have an ooze stage where it can be melted and hold some shape. What if instead it was used in dual extrusion. Use HIPS in the first extruder to lay down perimeters, then use the second extruder to pour in the
by
IanJohnson
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General
A .9 stepper can make a big difference in print quality as the extruder stepper. If you are using a 1.8 stepper with a non-geared extruder and a good hot end like the E3D, the steps will show in the extrusion as a slight pulsing, even at 1/16. This manifests in the surface of the print as a rough moire pattern. Tuning the Vref can minimize, but not eleminate it. Using an 8825 driver that can
by
IanJohnson
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General
I've noticed a decline in the print quality of my Ord Hadron, and I can't pin down the cause. Flat walls used to be perfectly smooth, but now I'm getting ridges. Not very pronounced, the light needs to hit just right but often it's pretty obvious-
The temp graph is completely flat, and I've tried a few different filaments from different suppliers. I've also tried both Bowden and direct set
by
IanJohnson
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General
It is harder to precisely control the amount of plastic being fed into the nozzle. Given the size of pellets and the space between them, you may not get the exact same number of them into each flight of the screw. If you have a long enough melt zone it might all average out, but keeping a constant, known pressure is more complicated than driving a single strand of plastic of known length and cro
by
IanJohnson
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General
The wavy edges look like typical Solidoodle moire. The steps/mm of the extruder are low enough that the stepping shows up in the print as pulsing in the extrusion. It usually becomes more pronounced after installing an E3D because that hotend is precise enough to show that effect more than the stock hot end. You can dial it down by adjusting the vref. There are plenty of threads on that at So
by
IanJohnson
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Prusa i3 and variants
It doesn't look like it does terrain, but then they were doing New York which is flat. You would probably need to use some other method and try to match them up. If you can get terrain mapped with aerial photography, use could use the texture as a reference to line up the buildings by eye. I know there are tutorials on how to get terrain from Google into Sketchup, but I've never done it. The
by
IanJohnson
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General
Here is a video about getting the buildings out of Google Earth. It uses a program that pulls geometry and textures from windows using DirectX, kind of like a 3D screenshot. It outputs .3DR which 3DSMax can import. There may be something else out there that can read and convert it as well.
Export buildings from Google Earth
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IanJohnson
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General
I have one from Reprap discount. I'm guessing the trimmed corners are to accomodate bed mounting screws. It also has a glossy side and a textured side which I like. Sometimes I like a matte finish on the bottom of the print rather than shiny. I still have to use hairspray, but not as much. I can still get warping with PLA in some instances, and for ABS it seems to be equivalent to glass. Th
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IanJohnson
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General
Dremel did a Q&A at Reddit about their new printer, which was detailed and very interesting. They said part of their interest in getting into 3D printing was seeing the widespread use of their tools to finish prints. Smoothing prints with power tools is tricky because it is easy to just melt the plastic from the friction, especially with PLA. They said they have people currently working on
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IanJohnson
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General
I tried the steel shot in a tumbler as in the video, and didn't have too much effect over 24 hours. I switched to ceramic and saw a much bigger change. I also found a post by Nervous Systems where they use ceramic cylinders in a vibratory with a water flow through. Basically just a few drips a minute so a 5 gallon bucket lasts 8 hours. I just bought the 18lb tumbler from Harbor Freight which
by
IanJohnson
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General
I think it would be very difficult to come up with an extrusion rate that is as consistent as you get with filament, since there is a slight variation in pellet size, and you might not always get the same number of pellets into each flight of the screw. In filament production, inconsistent pressure in the extruder can be countered by leaving the filament unconstrained so it can speed up or slow
by
IanJohnson
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General
Supposedly the blender will work if the plastic is extremely frozen. If you drop it in a cooler with some dry ice for a while, it should become brittle enough for the blender to break it. Better to try it out with a cheap thrift store blender at first.
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IanJohnson
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General
Mine came within a couple of weeks as promised.
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IanJohnson
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General
Why not say who you got the filament from?
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IanJohnson
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General
Sounds like the firmware for the Robo3D has a max temp shutoff to prevent damage to a PEEK hot end like the J-Head. You can go to something like 350 with the E3D, so you will need to change the temp limit in the firmware. This is something that should have come up in installing the E3D since the last step is to heat to 300 and giving the nozzle and extra bit of tightening.
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IanJohnson
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General
Couldn't you just model it as a solid object and let the slicer generated fill create your cross hatch? Set the the perimeters to whatever number will give you the wall thickness you need.
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IanJohnson
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General
Could you use resistor networks in place of the rows of identical resistors? That would save some space and assembly time.
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IanJohnson
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General
Printing with 2-part thermosetting polymer
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IanJohnson
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General
I noticed that of the printers that were running, none seemed to be going more than about 30mm/s, even the ones I knew should be easily capable of 100mm/s or more. It seemed like none of the exhibitors were confident in their printer's ability to make a quality print at higher speeds, and kept them slow to ensure the prints looked the best. That said, I was surprised to find a sample print at t
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IanJohnson
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General
3D Printer World Photos
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IanJohnson
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General
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