There is a limit to the level of detail that can be acheived using FDM. It has a lot to do with the viscosity of the material when it is being laid down. As you print, and the nozzle moves around, it tugs at the plastic, causing the details to blur. Yes, you can go to a finer layer height, but you have the bed, and each previous solidified layer to help keep everything in place. There is no sby jcabrer - General
The basic idea is to use a long tube with an I.D. of 8.5mm (crayons are ~8.25mm). The tube holds your feedstock. In this case, it would be crayons. Most of the extruder can be made of ABS because the glass transition of crayon wax is really low. The wax would be extruded similar to a paste, and would only require enough heating to soften it, not melt. The image I posted shows a crossection wby jcabrer - General
I've been toying with a crayon revolver idea for an extruder. The temperature does not need to be so high as to melt the wax. You just need to soften it enough to push it through the nozzle. The revolver idea I will probably abandon in favor of a vertical feeder tube. Originally, I was going for a multi-color design. Walk before you run. I'll throw my stuff up on the Wiki if anybody wants tby jcabrer - General
Start with a fresh copy of the Marlin firmware. Get everything hooked up. D8 Hot End, D9 Fan, D10 Heat Bed. Open your host software and send the G-Codes to turn on each of these. If the results are predictable. Look more closely at your slic3r configuration.by jcabrer - General
I'm still trying to get my forum user name changed back to wildseyed LOL I don't think admins exist.by jcabrer - General
The RepRap cannot "Print" circuit boards, in the same way that it can print a 3D object in palstic. I can be used in various ways to assist in the process. Some have use etch resist pens to draw the traces on copper clad. Others have managed to mill the copper off with a small rotary tool. I've heard you can even cover the copper with kapton, and use a vinyl cutter blade to slice your traces.by jcabrer - General
I'm not going to speak to the quality of the MakiBox. I have never used one. @Dark Alchemist: There is no odd reason. Reprap is a project about plrinting with plastic first and foremost. These other methods you mentioned are not being "researched". They have been around about as long as FDM. The method used with the Rearap may not produce the highest resolution, but it does produce the mosby jcabrer - General
The extruder does not need a holder. The J-Head slips into the hole, and is held in place with either a pair of screws, or one of my clips . PM me your mailing address.by jcabrer - General
ABS recipes can vary in the amount of styrene, acrylonitrile, and butadiene. The percentages can affect melting point, rigidity, hardness, etc. Adding color can affect the recipe in unexpected ways, given that different colors must by nescecity, use various chemical components to acheive the right shade. Given all that, it should come as no surprise that results can vary from one color to theby jcabrer - General
You might find the buildlog.net laser fits your needs.by jcabrer - General
Getting support to release is an art. I cannot imagine that Slic3r has enough low level controls to make this easy. Skeinforge has lots, but they move around, depending on the version. Temperature and flow rate ratios are what you want to look at. I have always found ABS to be easier to peel off. PLA is just too sticky. Depending on the object you are going to print, you can opt for using wby jcabrer - General
A little more information on what brand of computer, and which OS may help to find the cause. As Repetier mentioned above, a ferrite bead on the USB cable can help, if the problem if from EM interference.by jcabrer - Repetier
Try disabling Comb in SF. I get this with some models if I have Comb turned on, which I do most of the time.by jcabrer - Repetier
It's a matter of will, or the lack of it, I should say. There is nothing even remotely complicated about how the Thingiverse web site functions now, or in the past. Plenty of us on this forum are fully capable of putting up such a site. Is anyone willing? I don't think so. Using git hub is a copout, if you ask me. Let's not forget that part of RepRap's goal is to bring 3D printing to the reby jcabrer - General
What electronics are you running?by jcabrer - General
You are probably using Slic3r for your G-Code. It does this thing where it waits for temperature to reach a certain level before allowing the printer to begin. If some settings on your printer are not set properly (I am referring to the PID control), the printer will never meet the criteria for starting. This is actually a good thing, because if your printer hast trouble maintaining a steady tby jcabrer - General
This doesn't ring a bell... What kind of electronics are you running on your machine? If it is arduino-based, then you should install the arduino drivers that match. Pronterface itself doe not require the installation of any drivers. There is a PySerial thing, but that's something else.by jcabrer - General
My guess would be that you are using the printer near a window with direct sunlight. This is not good for the optical flag. Any direct light for that matter might cause similar problems.by jcabrer - General
All of the information you are missing is found on The Azteeg X3 Wiki page of reprap.orgby jcabrer - General
> Jamming; 1. Be sure to use Heat Sink Compound on your hot end resistor and thermistor, to get the best heat transfer and measurement possible. 2. Buy you filament from a reputable source that has consistent quality. 3. If using PLA, switch to ABS. 4. If you don't have glass on your bed, GET IT! > Kapton tape breaking apart; 1. If you use kapton on your build platform because you doby jcabrer - General
The J-Head from hotends.com. Don't get it from anywhere else, because I cannot be certain of the quality of clones. Some are reporting problems. Don't go for the smaller diameter. Stick to the 0.5mm nozzle. Keep the temperature reasonable around 230°C with ABS.by jcabrer - General
I agree. PLA does not easily dissolve in acetone. In any case, printing to glass is not hard at all, if you follow the correct advice. You don't need to sand it, or add kapton, or buy special glass, or anything like that. 1. Make sure the glass is securely attached to the bed. You can use kapton around the edges, or a couple of binder clips. Use glass that is at least 1/8" ~3.3mm thick. Yby jcabrer - General
I would suggest you go with the 0.5mm nozzle if your surroundings are particularly dusty. Also, you want to stay away from temperatures that can harm your hot end. I would say, stay at or below 235°C. If you find that you cannot get the filament to melt and continuously at any temperature, it is possible that enough dust has collected in the hot end, and formed a partial of full clog behind thby jcabrer - General
If you want my advice, replace your extruder and hot end ASAP. Bowden extruders like yours were designed to reduce the mass of the printhead, in order to allow faster printing. This would be fine, except that there are MANY more variables to adjust before you can get decent prints at high speed. The bottom line in most cases is that the best quality prints are the slow ones. You being new toby jcabrer - General
That's a tough one, but not impossible to figure out. First see what happens if you swap the bed and hot end thermistor connections. If the problem moves, your issue is in wiring, or the thermistor itself. If the problem stays put, you could have misconfigured pins, or worse, a damaged Atmega.by jcabrer - General
It works really well with Repetier, although LED control is not there yet. The circuit is comparable to that of the Adafruit RBG shield. I've been working with a couple of Roys prototypes, and they do look great in action. I've designed some mounting options for ViKi. I'll be posting them on TV soon, for those who get one.by jcabrer - General
If you are using 5/16 rods, and 5mm-8mm flex couplings, you now know where the problem is. Those 8mm couplings have to be tightened pretty hard to clamp onto 5/16, and it makes for an off-center fit. As a temporary fix, you can try adding a turn or two of aluminum, or copper tape, or in a pinch, kapton to the threaded rod, and then clamp it only lightly. Also, if your rod is captive at the othby jcabrer - General
In case anyone is interested, there is a Kickstarter campaign for the panel I mentioned earlier.by jcabrer - General
When you are printing really big parts, even on the smaller available platforms, the only consideration is cost. 1. How much filament are you willing to sacrifice to tune in the settings? Sudden USB fail, Warping, Z-Wobble, Layer Separation, Miscalibration, Missed Steps, Blobbing, Adhesion to print bed, Print Bed Even Heating, Nozzle Drag, back lash. These will all need to be addressed in a lby jcabrer - General
You will be on the bleeding edge of 3D home manufacturing if you go there. Be prepared to fail a lot (because that's how these technologies eventually succeed).by jcabrer - General