A friend and fellow Mendel90 user. I'm in the habit of tagging people on G+ by typing their names...not quite as effective hereby ashleywebster - Mendel90
I have had three blocks crack in the same way. One of them is still in use. So yes, you can definitely keep going, just check it periodically and if the crack starts to run all the way through or changes direction and heads for the top of the block, then it's time to replace it. There are definitely some strong forces at work in that little part. The bearings alone are a tight fit and put pressurby ashleywebster - Mendel90
I check Google+ far more often than this forum simply because it's integrated into my phone. When I'm on my laptop, I'm usually working and don't have as much time to engage here. Nophead is pretty responsive on the 3D Printing community and has always piped up when I've posted Mendel90 questions there. If you set one up, it must be moderated and I'd be happy to help. The upside might be to getby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Your screw diameter and pitch determine the steps per mm along the z axes. Assuming you have set that in the firmware correctly, it is not relevant to setting the z height. Use the Prusa Calculator to get your steps/mm values. As for setting the z height: M114 will tell you the current position. . So move your nozzle down to touch a measuring tool of known height, and then issue M114. Then modiby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Excellent prints. I finally got back into printing ABS but with an enclosure and am getting great results. But this is a fantastic bit of knowledge about the thicker layers. I will definitely try it out.by ashleywebster - Mendel90
Thanks Nophead. Yes, not aluminium, my mistake. Just tinned copper. About the spares (I've got way more than 3 spares), having it joined directly to the +12V coming out of PSU and not going into the Melzi, wouldn't that have the bed always on? Or no because the voltage is controlled by the ground side which is still going through the terminal. What is the benefit to doing that?by ashleywebster - Mendel90
Speaking of the importance of a solid terminal connection, I learned that first hand working on the printer at my hack space last night. It's a "homemade" Prusa with wiring everywhere. One of the power connections had come lose in the terminal and fried the Arduino and all the drivers. So yes, good point. At any rate, I'm likely over thinking this whole thing. Based on what you said, there is reby ashleywebster - Mendel90
I'm not sure if my power supply uses thicker wires but it feels really sketchy trying to fit 12 ground wires into the single Melzi terminal. On my first build I connected each of the power supply bundles to two of the same gauge wire and put that into the Melzi, so 6 +12V wires -> 2 wires -> Melzi, and 12 COM wires -> 2 wires -> Melzi. I checked the wires and the terminal frequently fby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Kudos for figuring that little quirk out. I might never have thought to try entering a non zero value when homing. And although it's a tad awkward, it is helpful since it gives me a command that I can manually input at the start of each print job. I just have to update my start code from G28 to G28 Z. Then before I hit print, I send M206 Z and it should be ready to go. The values won't be random,by ashleywebster - Mendel90
I have been looking for a better way to tweak the z offset. I use different build plates for different materials or bottom surface finishes, sometimes glass with blue tape, sometimes plain glass, sometimes garolite, and each has a different thickness which means a different z0 position. So far I have been setting z offset in the slicer. This works most of the time but falls short in two regards.by ashleywebster - Mendel90
Quick update. I finally received the cable after waiting nearly a month for it to come from ebay. I strung it up this week and am very happy with it now. Everything is straight and tight and the motion is very smooth. Fix one problem, though, and you uncover the next. The filament drive worked well enough loading but it just ground away when it hit the hot end. It took a while to figure out butby ashleywebster - Tantillus
I have also been eyeing Simplify but three things have been holding me back. 1. The price. For the money, I'd rather purchase Kiss now that Jonathan has apparently been contacted and is still developing. 2. Lack of developer presence in the forums 3. It doesn't, at the moment, support firmware retraction. Also, I think Sublime would argue the point about other slicers not getting accurate dimby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Yes, I agree about printers and hackspaces. We'll also run workshops, make it like the laser cutter which requires training, and put together a manual. Apparently 3D604 has been considering moving their meetings to Vancouver and emailed the VHS to see if they could host there, so hopefully we can just generate more know-how among members. I was also considering something like Octopi so that peoplby ashleywebster - Tantillus
Good to know that some deflection is ok, even if it does offend my sense of orderliness. It sounds like the best solution in this case is to get cable long enough that I can create more clearance, which will also make things straighter. I was thinking about replacing the cables anyway because they're a bit frayed and kinked - so perfect solution all around. Where do you recommend buying cable froby ashleywebster - Tantillus
Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to 3D printing but studying hard. I joined the Vancouver Hackspace after learning they have a Tantillus which has apparently not worked in a year. The axis ends were all broken along the tensioner, so I printed new ones. The thermistor had fallen out and the hotend was jammed, so we tore it down, cleaned it, and wrapped the nozzle back up with silicon tape. Hopefuby ashleywebster - Tantillus
I'm relatively new too but what I see is inconsistent material flow: look at the infill, it's dense and then suddenly not dense at all. On the bottom layer this can mean your nozzle is too close to the bed (ie z height too low) causing the flow to jam and then suddenly break loose as pressure builds up. However, this pattern seems to continue on the second layer so something else may be causing aby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Very cool. Thank you Neil.by ashleywebster - Mendel90
Thank you for doing this! Any chance you have included the volumetric extrusion and firmware retraction changes that whosa whatsis recently added?by ashleywebster - Mendel90
I should elaborate. The conversation I referenced began with a similar question to Neil's, about parts being too small (in this case on the inside only), and then led into testing whether Slic3r placed paths in the correct place. It delved into the whole issue of square vs rounded extrusion profiles and whether the error introduced on the perimeter from assuming a square extrusion profile could aby ashleywebster - Mendel90
After reading this conversation, it seems that fine-tuning esteps based on the thickness of a single perimeter object (or even a double perimeter object as I have been doing) is not an accurate method if you are using a slicer which assumes a square extrusion profile and doesn't allow different perimeter and infill flows. Am I understanding correctly?by ashleywebster - Mendel90
I've been grappling with this for the last few weeks also - everything is consistently a bit too small, about the same amount as Neil although a bit more so on the y-axis (most likely due to backlash). I printed a 100mm frame (seen attached) with an outer square and an inner square. As you say, the outer is a bit too small and the inner is a bit too large - so the solution is to adjust the flowby ashleywebster - Mendel90
Whosa Whatsis recently updated Marlin to adjust retraction and un-retraction speeds in firmware. I'm not sure if this is preferable to having these set in the slicer but it's possible now at least.by ashleywebster - Mendel90