Final attempt, I promise... Here is how you should approach this problem: "I need to heat a massive piece of metal and glass, 1m^2, to 150C in a reasonable amount of time. How much power will it take to do so?" I used my bed heater as an example- 450W applied to a 1 sq ft x 1/4" aluminum plate heats it to 105C ABS print temperature in about 5 minutes. If you want to heat a plate that is aboutby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Assuming you have some means by which to attach the nichrome wire to an aluminum plate and you have some means by which to keep the aluminum/glass flat enough to print on, let's run some numbers: Your wire's resistance is 26 Ohms per foot and you have 100 feet of it. That's a total of 2600 Ohms. My printer has a 450 watt heater for a 1 sq ft plate, so let's say you have about 9 sq ft of bed arby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
It makes no difference if the bed is stationary or moving. Maintaining flatness is an issue in a large bed because all materials are flexible and all will sag under their own weight. If, for example, you use a 1/8" sheet of aluminum that is 1m square, you can count on the center to sag unless you provide a support system for it. Even glass will sag. You haven't said anything about the print lby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Do you work for Misumi or sell Misumi products?by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
QuoterowowI agree its a cheap and easy solution, but too cheap, and I later want to add insulation to prevent cracking, so aka having a case. Using a foam bed would not prevent adding an enclosure to the printer. In fact, you could use the same PIR foam material to insulate the walls of the enclosure. See: As has been pointed out, keeping a 1m square surface flat, level, and hot is going to bby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
Quotefrankvdh However, just as you can use a Yugo to get the parts of your Ferrari together, you can use a cheapo printer to make the parts of a good one. And, whilst a Ferrari is necessary sometimes, for a lot of the time you can get by with a Yugo. The analogy also isn't fair in another sense... 3D printing today is like motoring in the 1900s... back then, if you owned a car, you either needeby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
For many many years people who had never used any other OS were under the impression that it's normal to have to reboot a computer every hour or so and to have to reinstall the OS every 6 months or so to keep a computer working. Likewise, many people have only experienced bad 3D printers so they think it's normal to have to struggle with leveling and zeroing and getting prints to stick to the beby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
The 120C bed temperature used for PET is there to get the print to stick to whatever the bed surface is. ABS is normally printed on a 105C bed. It doesn't matter. I have only tested ABS but I would bet that just about any plastic you can squirt out of an extruder will stick to PIR foam because it forms a mechanical attachment where the molten plastic flows into tiny voids in the foam. Of courby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
You can print ABS on a room temperature piece of polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam. It is fire resistant, and prints stick very well. No power supply, no heater, no SSR, and no bed leveling system are needed. The extruder nozzle is buried about 1mm or so into the foam for the first layer, and you print on a raft. The foam is readily available and cheap- about $0.50 per sqft in the US for a 1" thickby the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
If the frame flexes anything that produces lateral forces, such as a bent screw, an off center shaft coupler, a crooked motor mount, etc., will cause Z axis wobble in the print. Threaded rods have imperfections in the threads but they are probably pretty small and not going be be of much consequence in print quality, especially not compared to the effect of the screws being bent. You'll see claby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
You'd have to try hard to find a "frame" design that is more flexible than the design you referenced. The i3's are a little better, but only a little. Flex in the frame is one sure sign of poor printer design/construction. Instead of thinking about your budget first, think about what you want the machine to do for you. What sort of print quality is acceptable? Do you plan to print nothing buby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Upgrading just the Z axis screws may help, but part of the problem is the flexibility of the frame and Z axis guide rails. Bent threaded rods pull the X axis back and forth if the guide rails and/or frame are flexible enough to allow it to happen, and in machines using threaded rods, they usually are. Fixing Z axis problems should include stiffening up the guide rails and frame. A flexy frameby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
You can always put the 8020 frame members on a milling machine and mill flats into the surfaces. You won't have to cut deep at all (probably less than 1mm) and then you'll know you have a good flat surfaces for the linear guides.by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics
I thought you were designing something yourself. Never mind. Linear ball bushings should only be used on hardened steel guide rails. They will destroy anything softer. The printer "design" you have chosen is a poor one and will cause you nothing but heartache. It is incapable of producing quality prints. See for a little education before you start buying/building.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Thanks! I'm far from being an expert on this stuff, but I tried to learn from the many mistakes I made along the way. I had very valuable help from people at the Milwaukee Makerspace who are experts, but my machine is still an amateur effort. Very little real engineering went into it- it was mostly "if you're not sure it's good/rigid/precise enough, it isn't" which resulted in the sort of overby the_digital_dentist - Look what I made!
Mounting rods and ensuring that they are parallel can be tricky. Look into used linear guides on ebay- you can use a single linear guide for the X axis and either a single wide one or two smaller ones for the Y axis simplifying the mechanical stuff considerably. Linear guides have almost no detectable play in the bearings and will yield very high print quality. They're easier to mount, more coby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
All that time, effort, and expense, and for what? Now you're stuck with that impractical and uninteresting machine. Just think of all the Yoda heads and iphone cases you could have printed if you hadn't wasted so much time on that monstrosity. I'll give you $200 for it if you can pack it up and ship it to me.by the_digital_dentist - General
The processor only spits out step and direction signals. The motor driver chip/module interprets the step pulses as full steps or microsteps depending on jumpers or programmable settings (A4988, DRV8825, etc), or dip switches (external modules). Varying the step size on the fly will require the CPU to perform additional processing (as well as PCB modifications). If you're already concerned aboby the_digital_dentist - Stepper Motors, Servo Motors, DC Motors
You might try raising the bed temperature a bit. I wouldn't recommend shutting it off or the whole print may break loose. This is one of the problems with glass plates (thermal insulators) on the print bed. A glass plate will have uneven temperature over its surface with some spots cooler than others. We looked at the glass bed on a Taz with a FLIR camera recently and found 20C variation in tby the_digital_dentist - Slic3r
by the_digital_dentist - General
You could wire the limit switch(es) in parallel with one of the printer axis limit switches and turn on the "halt on limit switch" function in the firmware. That should stop the machine, including the extruder, at its limits.by the_digital_dentist - General
ABS or other material? Make sure the bed is flat, leveled, zeroed, and clean before printing. If it's a sharp corner, round it. If you can't round it, use a brim or raft when you print. If your printer isn't enclosed, make an enclosure. Print the first layer slow and thick.by the_digital_dentist - Slic3r
If the first layer lines are separated, try moving the nozzle closer to the bed for the first layer. When you replaced the controller board did you load it with your old config files? Turn on your spelling checker!by the_digital_dentist - General
As I understand it, you're trying to replicate the function of a RRD GLCD module that is wired with a PCB by haywiring all the separate components to the RAMPS board. If you can't understand the schematic diagram that was posted, what makes you think you'll successfully wire all those parts to the RAMPS board and get it working? I suggest you save yourself the trouble and just hit your thumbby the_digital_dentist - General
Are you trying to use the round rail as a linear motion guide, as an axle for pulleys to drive a belt, or both?by the_digital_dentist - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Printed circuit boards, especially two or more layers, have been a PITA for hobbyists since PCBs were invented. Some things are worth paying a few dollars to have someone else make. I realize you have all the necessary parts, but the PCB (actually two PCBs for this thing) is a part also and a very important one. Making PCBs is a messy process, a difficult one to get right, and not necessarilyby the_digital_dentist - General
JB Weld is epoxy. I built a carbon fiber bicycle held together with epoxy. I've been riding it for 8 years. It can hold a 3D printer frame together.by the_digital_dentist - General
I don't see why it wouldn't work, but there's no taking it apart if you decide you don't like something later.by the_digital_dentist - General
Quotedc42 The other reason is to protect whatever is under the bed from overheating, as is the case here (soft plastic parts under the bed) and on my delta (electronics and PSU under the bed). Oh yeah, there is that...by the_digital_dentist - Mechanics