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Cheap camera for photogrammetry rig - any thoughts? - 2 years ago
This is to use on a scanner that I have built ( ) I am looking for something like:- Really lightweight - not much heavier than a small webcam. Decent resolution greater than 4 megapixels Good lens with no chromatic aberration Aperture adjustable above F16 for large depth of field Low noise sensor Most importantly, really really cheap - the last person I asked thought £1700 was really really chby leadinglights - 3D Scanners, Book Scanners, and Optics
Re: Report on under bed sensor problems - 2 years ago
What I have been able to do with a single underbed sensor is to determine not only the point of contact but also the quality of contact. The quality of contact is poor if there is any plastic on the nozzle or if the printing surface has a bubble under it etc.. A single underbed sensor works with no X, Y, or Z offset however I have not found any underbed sensor that can reliably map the bed withouby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: Report on under bed sensor problems - 2 years ago
Quoterq3 .......................... I recently got a report of someone using one of the TAP-100 sensors I invented on an Anet A8. He reported that it was the best sensor he's ever used, and this is on a bed slinger. Why pursue complexity (other than that it's fun)? Four strain gauges!? Hi rq3. I still have not seen any problem with the TAP100 probe so it certainly seems to be a candidate for topby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: Report on under bed sensor problems - 2 years ago
A new item I am exploring in this quest: A printer that uses 4 (yes four) sensors, each on the extreme corners of the build plate. A video showing this printer is on YouTube at Although the printer shown uses expensive and heavy strain gauges - and will need quite complicated support electronics, the placement of the sensors at the corners should reduce dynamic and sensor miss-match problems toby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Makers Central at NEC. Any good? - 2 years ago
I have seen adverts for Makers Central at the NEC (Birmingham U.K.) Has anybody been to previous ones? If so, Is it worth going? The video of past events looks too trivial, but if they have targeted the cutesy side of making hobbies perhaps that is all they could get into a short video. Mike. (been missing the TCT events and Model Engineering exhibitions)by leadinglights - General
Re: Thingiverse perhaps not great - 2 years ago
Thingiverse now seems to be catastrophically broken: New models seem only to be able to be viewed by their creator - and sometimes not even then. No attempts seem to be happening to fix it I have copied most of my things to Printables.com where there is a lot more activity and may abandon putting anything on Thingiverse. Mikeby leadinglights - General
Re: thermistor and heatsink compound - 2 years ago
Quotethe_digital_dentist Heatsinks normally don't get much over 60-70C. It seems unlikely that heatsink compound of any type is intended to work at hot-end temperatures,.......................................................................................... I disagree Note that I know nothing about this compound's electrical resistivity at hotend temperatures as my hotends use thermocouplby leadinglights - General
Re: thermistor and heatsink compound - 2 years ago
My guess is that it won't significantly affect the readings but it very much depends on the heat sink compound, some can be very conductive - e.g., Arctic silver, others less so. Unfortunately, hotends work in the temperature region where most compounds become somewhat more conductive than at room temperature. In most cases, this won't matter; but look at the specification sheets to see if they aby leadinglights - General
Re: Thingiverse perhaps not great - 2 years ago
I have been looking at Youmagine and Printables and would like to put all of my existing and future designs on one or both of these. I am a little concerned as I seem to remember that part of the T&Cs for Thingiverse was that they owned the sole right to distribute the files of anything that was uploaded there. Knowing that the spite of large organizations that feel offended is truly terribleby leadinglights - General
Re: Thingiverse perhaps not great - 2 years ago
Quotethe_digital_dentist I'm no fan of Thingiverse, but why do you need to upload a pdf file? You can't just copy and paste text, and upload a few pictures? Due to a poor upbringing involving education, military service, apprenticeships and so on, I tend to document everything I do. Looking back I realize that a much closer acquaintanceship with marijuana, chicks and rock and roll would have lefby leadinglights - General
Re: Thingiverse perhaps not great - 2 years ago
I appear to have deeply offended Thingiverse and the thing mentioned above now comes up as "404 - You have reached the end of the Thingiverse". I had thought that I reached what would be a method of publishing the assembly instructions by uploading two files, the PDF assembly instructions file without an extension, and a README.TXT file with instructions to add a PDF extension to the assembly insby leadinglights - General
Thingiverse perhaps not great - 2 years ago
O.K., everybody who uses this forum knows that Thingiverse is not great - indeed, saying it is f***ing useless would be quite charitable. As an additional little bit of not-greatness, they have now specifically stopped PDF files from being uploaded. I had a request for an amended file for a Thing I had on Thingiverse so I created the requested STL files and uploaded them to Thingiverse and tby leadinglights - General
Re: Sci-Fi table lamp - 2 years ago
A well made and interesting lamp, along with another whisky I have never heard of to add to the bucket list of drinks to drink. Mikeby leadinglights - Look what I made!
Re: Report on under bed sensor problems - 2 years ago
Hi rq3, I will have to modify my hotend to accept a diamond nozzle as all of my nozzles have M4 threaded unions, but it sounds like a modification worth using. The failure to trigger on dirty nozzles was part of why I started on this long investigation. Having two trigger points, one for a good contact and one for any contact allowed the detection of plastic on the nozzle. It was only after doinby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: Bonding GT2 belts - 2 years ago
I would worry that shaving the cords may substantially weaken them. Possibly using the same idea but feather edging so that the damage to the cords occurs mostly at the tips. Another way would be to cut the ends into long interdigitated teeth with the cords left intact. By the way, the back-to-back glued joints I used earlier in this thread are still working well. Obviously not useful if the joiby leadinglights - General
Re: Report on under bed sensor problems - 2 years ago
An update on the progress (or otherwise) of this project, but first a recap. I have used underbed piezoelectric sensors for several years now and have had no problems. Despite this, I heard occasional complaints that others had experienced areas on their print beds where they got no response at all and the nozzle kept pushing on the bed until the motor(s) stalled. To investigate this I mapped thby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: Notes on Pure Silver Heat Blocks and Platinum RTD's - 2 years ago
Quoterq3 At 225C, the original aluminum block with a Marlin Type 5 thermistor sensor required about 10 watts to idle at temperature (about 0.4 amps). Under the same conditions, but with a platinum sensor, same heater cartridge, the silver block requires about 4 watts (about 0.15 amps). This I cannot explain......... Some of the difference can be accounted for by the different emissivity of a pby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: Nitro´s A.R.P.E.G. 230°C Chamber printer for PPSU - 3 years ago
Quote1zhangvic Hi Max, Very wonderful project you have completed here and congratulations for winning. I was curious as to how you created the folds in the bellow (fiberglass fabric)? I am trying to do something similar but am unsure how to create those folds. Thanks, Victor I have made some odd bellows for milling machines etc. Although I can't find the original article I worked from, thby leadinglights - General New Machines Topics
Re: Magnetic ball joint: square tube mount ? - 3 years ago
I am not sure that I have seen a stated definition and the meaning "Maximum Holding Force" depends on how the joint is constructed. Counter-intuitively, the use of iron or steel seats for the ball is a really bad design choice for these joints. This is clear in the picture below. Full forum entry at but I have put a picture showing this partial failure here Since there is some movement with qby leadinglights - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Re: VENT YOUR PRINTER! DO IT NOW! - 3 years ago
rq3, that sounds and looks truly unpleasant. I hope that you will overcome the allergy and be able to get back to 3D printing. From a personal point of view, the testing of your TAP-XXX Nozzle Contact Sensors which was delayed by my own infirmities, and is now being further delayed by the weather will be less useful if you have been forced to leave the field. On another point, I find it alarmingby leadinglights - General
New year's resolutions - 3 years ago
What are people hoping to make in the coming year? Be warned though, any good ideas I see may be copied, modified, and shown off to friends and relatives as if my own. For myself, 2021 has been marked not only by the ongoing encroachment of Covid-19 into our lives but a full year of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. This has left me with a huge backlog of projects to catch up with anby leadinglights - General
Re: RepRap used for farming - 3 years ago
QuoteMechaBits av u got a problem with moles Mike When I say daft, I mean plants have been doing there thing for ages with just a little sun & water, but now we have to have robots to help them do it better, faster, cheaper?...and wipe out the income stream for a group of humans. ........................................ Moles I like, badgers not. Below is the sort of damage they cause. Iby leadinglights - Developers
Re: RepRap used for farming - 3 years ago
I think a high powered IR laser for killing mosquitos could also tackle catapillars on the crops,egg laying moths, slugs, snails and even bloody badgers* Mike * O.K., I know that this is politically incorrect as badgers are supposed to be nice but if you saw the damage they have done to my lawns you would agree that zapping is too good for them.by leadinglights - Developers
Re: RepRap used for farming - 3 years ago
The Farmbot that boylucky has pointed to is mostly for use at home and serves more to give fresh vegetables than any economic need. My interest is more in the allotments popular in the U.K. where I have some 18 vegetable beds of 2400mm X 1200mm as well as a bunch of fruit trees, grapevines etc. - about 1/4 acre or 0.1 Hectare in total. Something like the Farmbot would be useful here where it couby leadinglights - Developers
Re: RepRap used for farming - 3 years ago
Some quick thoughts having looked at some FarmBot info including and a YouTube page at , and also because I spend a fair bit of time at our allotment* First thoughts are that the FarmBot looks structurally flimsy, that it requires a firm base to be mounted on, that the use of extruded section is an unjustifiable expense when the required tolerances are somewhere between ±25mm and "dammit that iby leadinglights - Developers
Re: RTD Amplifier - 3 years ago
Quoterq3 Mike, your response prompts me to try a firmware other than Marlin. I've only used Marln since it became 32 bit capable, but I'm open to suggestions. Development is done on a delta printer with Chitu 32 bit STM32F103ZETA board. Keep in mind I am NOT a programmer. Analog and mechanical design, no problem. I went for Repetier long ago and would not change horses in midstream - but equallyby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: RTD Amplifier - 3 years ago
I had a similar problem with thermocouples as the bias and gain support was not evident in Repetier firmware configuration. I did however get a quick response from Repetier ( ) and it is now working well. Mikeby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: RTD Amplifier - 3 years ago
Is it possible to see a PDF of the schematic as I don't know what EDA program you are using? At the moment I use type K thermocouples with Adafruit pre-amps. So far very good but PT1000 may be better. Mikeby leadinglights - Tech-Talk
Re: 32-bit linux printer host software - 3 years ago
Quotethe_digital_dentist As my rustic grandmother in Tennessee used to say, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear". Another saying from even further back in time Mayhap not, but with a bodkin and some thread you can make a sows ear into a purse that is more sturdy than a silk purse while more resistant to the knife of a cutpurse and less flaunting of your wealth. Mikeby leadinglights - General
Re: TAP-XXX Nozzle Contact Sensor - 3 years ago
I had been intending to do a bit more research with the TAP sensors that rq3 sent me, but life got in the way and I have been delayed in this project – and a few other projects as well. While I haven’t got any rigorous results yet, I thought that I would note down the results that I got more than a month ago. I built a dummy bed (shown below) to mount above the existing bed and allow space foby leadinglights - Tech-Talk