Why not just build the printer so the bed doesn't need to be leveled and zeroed frequently?by the_digital_dentist - General
Cut-off wheels and abrasive blades on chop saws are not for cutting aluminum. Aluminum will melt and clog up the blade. If you want to cut aluminum get a blade for non-ferrous metal or use a carbide blade on a table saw or a metal cutting blade on a jig saw.by the_digital_dentist - General
I'll be interested in hearing whether the smoke from the normal operation of the hot-end triggers that thing. I'm still trying to figure out how you'd use it to kill power to the printer.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
I don't think you've experienced anything fishy. I think you're misunderstanding a lot of things all at once. Your test techniques, too, leave a lot to be desired. Motor torque required to do the job is proportional to the load (which can have a very complicated definition). Motor torque produced is proportional to coil current. Both the motor and its driver have to be up to the task at handby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
I thought we were talking about peanut butter...by the_digital_dentist - General
When peanut butter starts behaving like a gas, then it will apply. Maybe when the oceans boil and the rocks melt...by the_digital_dentist - General
All the little stepper driver modules I've seen that look like the ones you have, have a small pot to adjust the current. You should be able to get more than 0.57A from them. What is the power supply voltage that you're using for this test? I use a pair of these drivers with 32V power supplies to drive the X and Y axis NEMA-23 motors in my printer.by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
If you had a bicycle that required you to reposition the handle bars or adjust the brakes every time you went for a ride, would you come up with a motorized mechanism that senses the poor position of the handlebars and rotates the fork in compensation? Would you add a longer lever to the brake so you could apply more mechanical force? Not likely. I'll bet you would figure out what the problemby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Do you suppose that appdev7's 300+ posts over the last two years have all been spam? And yet he/she has managed to evade the vigilant eyes of the moderators? Put away your pitch fork. You'll find no witches here. Shall we now purge mention of any and all commercial products from our posts? Please tell that to the thousands of people who keep mentioning Prusa i3 printers. It's tiring to readby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
I believe you are attempting to refer to the ideal gas law (PV=nRT) which applies to compressible gasses, not to peanut butter, which is behaves more like an incompressible fluid than a gas.by the_digital_dentist - General
Why are you so concerned about testing the motor torque? You mentioned a "heavy design big" printer. I suspect you're doing what so many others do- you buy a cheap motor first and build the printer around it and fail to understand why it doesn't work the way you want it to. The normal way to design a machine is to define the moving masses and performance requirements and then select a motor anby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
You can always wrap it with aluminum foil before inserting it into the block...by the_digital_dentist - General
There's no shroud on the fan, so a lot of the air is blowing against the print. You have to stop the air blowing on the print. The noise you hear is probably caused by the extruder motor current being set too low.by the_digital_dentist - General
Motor torque specs are based on current in the motor's coils. Your test is meaningless until you know that the current in the motor matches the motor manufacturer's spec. The only way you can know the current in the motor is to measure the current. Don't assume that measuring the reference voltage of the driver (or the voltage across the motor coil) will provide an accurate indication of the mby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
How do you know how much current was in the motor?by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Did you use the rated current? Was microstepping on or off?by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
How fast are you printing?by the_digital_dentist - General
For aligning axes in cartesian machines: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/alignment-and-calibration-cube Measure diagonals in each plane- XY, XZ, and YZ to check orthogonality of axes. There's a spreadsheet that calculates the error angle and required correction. You can also use it to calibrate steps/mm in all three axes.by the_digital_dentist - Look what I made!
The Y axis rods probably sag more than the X axis rods in the i3, and a 1/8" aluminum "plate" is unlikely to actually be flat. Being able to print edge to edge requires a flat bed (milled tooling plate, for example), flat travel paths for the X and Y axes (best achieved by fully supported rails or linear guides), and careful and stable alignment of the axes, all of which are problems inherent inby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
You can use high temperature gasket material to lock the thermistor into the heat block. It isn't especially thermally conductive, but it's more conductive than air, and locking the thermistor into the block helps prevent fires caused by the thermistor coming out of the block during a print. Any time you alter the thermistor mount, including by this method, you should rerun the PID autotune andby the_digital_dentist - General
Look into linear guides- very simple and compact, but much better for both the X and Y axes. I have fully supported linear guides in my printer and I haven't had to level or zero the bed in months. The bearings are very precise so print quality is fantastic, too.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
If I may suggest, before you buy into a $300-400 kit, have a look at this to learn a little about what you're giving up to get to that price point. If nothing else it may help you develop a more critical eye toward evaluating different kits before you send someone your hard-earned cash.by the_digital_dentist - General
I don't think that upscaling a printer is quite the difficult thing that some make it out to be (I did it on a smaller scale than this). I think FDM can be useful in any size as long as you can live with the limitations. I doubt the intent is to print 50um layers with this beast, so if it flexes a little, it really doesn't mean it's useless, it just means they'll need to use thicker layers- butby the_digital_dentist - General
1) Yes, definitely. People do it all the time. Designing and building a printer isn't rocket science. Customizing the firmware is easy for the most common mechanical configurations. 2) Think about inertia and the masses that will be moving. In general you want to minimize moving mass but not to the point where things become flexible enough to affect print quality. If you can't reduce the masby the_digital_dentist - Extruded Aluminum Frames
I've been using a BullDog XL with E3D v6 hot end daily for 7 months to print 1.75mm ABS and have not had a single failure due to an extruder/hot-end problem.by the_digital_dentist - Developers
It probably takes a lot of pressure to move peanut butter through the extruder and tube. If the nozzle diameter is smaller than the tube, you probably have pressure building in the tube causing it to stretch. Once the pressure is released, the tube tries to return to its normal size by squeezing the goo out the nozzle. Try measuring the diameter of the tube at multiple points with a caliper, tby the_digital_dentist - General
When you start designing the new monstrosity, you may find some useful info here: I wish you continued luck with your i3!by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Post a computer render of one of the figures and/or a photo of the print.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Check your local scrap yards for 8020- it's used in a lot of industrial machines and frequently can be bought for pennies on the dollar. You can afford to get the much stronger/stiffer 1.5" square stuff instead of paying a higher price for lighter/floppier 20mm stuff.by the_digital_dentist - General
Have you ever checked to see if the axes are orthogonal? With those i3 machines, having two motors on the Z axis allows the X axis to get out of alignment VERY easily.by the_digital_dentist - General