Looks like cools stuff, but it's not available yet. Their website has preorders for a "start kit" where they say they will privide ~25G to try out but give no pricing... Guess i can sign up and see what happens. Thanks for the info. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
At around ~$0.015 a piece in PLA and the time to print, sure won't hurt to give them a go on the Z. I'm thinking that with some dry lubricant like graphite powder or the like, (a couple-3 $ at Lowe's), they could last a long time and give real trouble free operation. Next time I'm in town, think I'll pick some of the stuff up and test it out. To tell the truth, the Y kind of ballances on the Z,by markstephen - Smart_Rap
With a BIG thank you to madmike8, I'v got my printer going in the proper directions and while I had the glass of and messing with the motor wiring, I went ahead and installed the other 3 bushings and already I can tell there is a difference. Had another bearing going bad, (looks like the balls were jamming up almost side by side in their groves), so there was no time like the present. Think I'llby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Quotemadmike8 Backup your marlin then use my config.h and pin.h from above. Change to match your steppers and such. Thanks Mike, that one worked! Don't know what was going on but replaced the two files with yours and then set Configure.h up for the bed probing, full graphics LCD, soft limits, and auto home location (X_MAX/2 Y_MAX/1.5 - keeps it from getting leverage on the glass/Y mount. It wasby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Hi Mike, I'v come to the conclusion that it is the Y that is reversed on my unit as well. Following your directions above, when I comment out - #define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS - Y will not move at all. Leaving it as is, I have to then switch Y motor connections to get it moving in the right direction for the switch to work, but hitting home causes it to move away from the switch. Something is missinby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Uploaded a video showing the J-Head No Servo mount is action. Still haven't got the mirroe problem worked out. Last attempt at it, must of done something real wrong because I ended up having to start over from scratch to get the machine running again. Maybe I'll make another run at it tomorrow. It really shouldn't be this hard. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Quotemadmike8 Mind posting the triangle? I'd like to try to print it. Sure. Just note that this is scaled +2% (1.02) for calibration to my Smartrap, so if your planning on using it, adjust accordingly. Let me know if it gives you the leans. Everything else prints just fine, this part... not so much. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Last night I managed to learn a couple of things. The first is, it seems that the Marlin firmware does a MUCH better job when using the 4 point bed probing than it does with the 3 point. Once I switch from the 3 point to the 4 point grid, all of my bed leveling problems went away. The second thing I found, and this may be related, is that the firmware does not like print triangles. I printed halfby markstephen - Smart_Rap
I cut my tube with one end resting in the hole at the extruder and the other end when Y and Z were fully extended and the tube was not stressing on any bends. Think it came out to ~300 mm.by markstephen - Smart_Rap
Gave the new No Servo J-head mount more of a workout today. I can say that fan duct I printed out sure makes a difference, top stays nice and cool, bottom stays hot, PLA flows easier. not wanting to waste time and gas running into town for nothing more than a grub screw, I just cut one of my M3 16 screws and cut a slot in it for a jewelers screwdriver to fit and away we go. offset is 0.9 now... vby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Me too, all at 16th microstepping. motors run much smoother. I can see why you might think about taking the E to 1/8 step for a bit more torque, and I might even try that one my own self, but I can't see any reason for the Z to be at 1/8, it needs very little torque to move on the 0.8 mm pitch. Having the resolution on the Z can only help IMO. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
QuoteBackEMF http://www.ebay.com/usr/ohpakron Is the only source for J-head lite at this moment Yea, I'v got one, I was wondering if there was a "reasonable" source for the Huxley hotend.by markstephen - Smart_Rap
Yes, nice build, and no servo... Wish I had a Huxley hotend. I haven't been able to find one that the shipping alone cost more than a J-head light. Do you all have an "affordable" source for them? I think if your going to increase the capacity of a Smartrap, the X direction is the one to go hog wild on. Please keep us posted. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Yea Mike, mirrored X, left to right. I'll take a look at the two files and see if I can get it to go. I wonder why this happens? What did we do differently that brought this on? Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Well, I'm using the start code you provided in the CuraEngine plugin and it's working great. Thank you again! I only have one lingering problem now that I can't seem to figure out how to fix. All my prints are mirrored on the X. I have to mirror in my CAD or slicer to get the prints to come out right. Have you or anyone else experienced this and if so, what do i need to do to fix it? Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
OK, just got the new versions up on Thingiverse. You can check them out there. Haven't uploaded the CAD files, but I'll get them as soon as I get them cleaned up. The Left hand model works a treat! One of my fellow FreeCADers has written a nice CuraEngine plugin for FreeCAD and for now, has what looks to be the last bug out of it. So I modeled up a fan duct to keep the air off the hot side of tby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Printing now. As soon as it's done and I know everything works, I'll upload it. Maybe even include a video, but no promises... Had a bearing go bad on me of all things. Well, @ $7 for 12 of them... So I printed out a replacement and installed it so that was a bit of a delay. I think the balls were jamming or something because it was starting to cut a grove into the drill rod and it was causing thby markstephen - Smart_Rap
I'm maybe not so sure about the geared extruder... We'll have to see. I don't know about the retract speeds for the Bowden, if they will be fast enough. Might be, and a little playing with the gearing could fix any problems that may come up. Maybe regpye can chime in on that. I'd kind of like to try the rack & pinion mod myself and I may do the belt mod, though I am having good luck with juby markstephen - Smart_Rap
I have had some mixed results with the new servo-less J-head mount. This is because I ended up needing to install a spring to counter the pull that the Bowden tube was making on the arm. The tension of the tube wanted to pull the arm up into the switch and would pull enough to trip it on Y moves. Last night when I was testing the new end with the print below, (Golden Ratio Gears), it dawned on meby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Well, it looks like a simple G1 Z5 following the G29 in the starting Gcode did the trick. No more dragging the head across the plate. Still, the firmwair should take care of this... Only I suck rocks at programming and just can't figure out where or how to add that in. Going to try a new print here in a bit and I'll let everyone know how the new J-Head X mount works. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
OK, are you saying you do this bed leveling once, set and forget, instead of running the G29 at the start of every print? Humm, maybe I could add a Z lift after the G29 to the start Gcode? I'll give your method a try first and see how it goes. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Got the No Servo bed leveling mod done. Now all I need to do is figure out how to stop the nozzle from dragging across the plate after the probing. My post about that is here On the up side, this little printer is doing a bang up job on making prints. Most all my trouble is with the slicer settings and that's getting better with most every print. So far, I'm very happy with my Smartrap. Don't thby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Almost there... Got the parts printed out, and made a couple of little changes, (I'll post them up on Thingiverse later on today). Have everything mounted and now I am stuck! I can not seem to get the settings of the Z offset to work. when I give it the G29 command, it goes through it's probing just fine until the last probe. The z does not lift on it's move to start the print. The nozzle is druby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Quoteverteez Mark, I have made the microsteps today, but I have problem with them. My motors are 48mm, so I have picked them in Marlin. After doing the math, like you said: I'm having a 5 mm shaft and 0.30mm string, and 200 steps per revolution. If I not mistaken the result is 192,19 for me, but here's where the problem starts. In the marlin, after changing the motor to 48mm, the control-motionby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Hi there verteez. To answer your first question, the distance is set with Z offset. To figure out what this is, run the auto home. Once it has run go to prepare > move axis > move 0.1 mm > move Z and with a piece of paper used as a feeler gauge, move the Z down until the tip of the hot end grabs the paper. Take note of the height the head was before you started to move it down, (I thinby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Well, I haven't got the new parts printed out yet. Had/have a few calibration issues. First off, I recalculated the steps per mm for X&Y taking into account for the string dia and that is now working right. My prints had the leans to them like in the other thread, but a bit of tightening, (real tight) of the strings fixed that right up. You can play a tune on those strings now. So that is solby markstephen - Smart_Rap
Well, enough of that monkeying around with the CAD... Got my Smartrap under power and did an "Air Print". Woo-Hoo! So far everything seams to be going along just great. I did have both my X and Y moving in reverse, but a simple swap of the stepper plugs, (each winding has it's own 2 pin plug) and all was right with the world. Still have a bit of tidying up to do with the old PC power supply, liby markstephen - Smart_Rap
OK, got the arms and retainer that should work for the MK5 J-Head hotend. I did 2 versions of the arm, one for use with a push connect fitting and one for the use of a nut to hold the Bowden tube. I do not have one of these J-Heads, so use at your own risk. From what I can tell, they should work. Files are added to the Smartrap X End Mount For J-Head Light and MK5 repo on Thingiverse. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap
It's getting a bit late here, so if it would be OK, I'll do an alternative arm and retainer tomorrow for a standard J-head. The standard J-head is a bit shorter and should mount lower on the arm and the diameters are a bit different. That way, there will be arms that will cover most all lengths of J-heads. I believe the mounting height you have the original Smartrap J-head X end was a good heightby markstephen - Smart_Rap
That just looks fantastic. I just uploaded new, New_jhead_X.stl and New_jhead_X.fcstd files that include 2 holes to tie the string through AND provided a slot for a tystrap that should give clearance for the arm to move freely so long as the tystrap is not to thick... gave it 2.75 mm... so it should work OK. Markby markstephen - Smart_Rap