Thanks Nophead. I have another question though before this extruder is genuinely working: How might i set my firmware to have a negative E_STEPS_PER_MM value? I have a new extruder and it has different gearing such that the shaft needs to turn in the other direction to extrude. It extrudes quite nicely if i just check the reverse box on repsnapper, but that won't work for skeinforge G-code or anby Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi, i'm back again. This is embarrassing... My resistor had slipped half-way out of the block, and barely had any contact so it couldn't heat it. Anyway, your issue is probably your hobbed bolt. Have you tried tightening your idler? Also, you may have bad plastic. On one of my other extruders i was plagued with slippage issues for months. If i didn't extruder incredibly slowly or use pliers tby Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi, so i just edited this post rather than making yet another. Anyway, the old post is below, but i have one new question: How might i set my firmware to have a negative E_STEPS_PER_MM value? I have a new extruder and it has different gearing such that the shaft needs to turn in the other direction to extrude. It extrudes quite nicely if i just check the reverse box on repsnapper, but that won'tby Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
I'm having issues with a similar (same?) design. It's the all in one kit off mendel-parts.org for .35 mm nozzle. It can only reach a pitiful 68 C currently. Although i couldn't find any instructions for it... (the .pdf on mendelparts is broken for me, all the diagrams are too large and go off the side of the page) so i don't know if i'm supposed to have any sort of thermal paste on the resistor tby Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
@MikeyK, if it sticks well it can't warp.by Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
To solve your cracking issue, perhaps you could try a larger hobbed bolt? A larger surface area pushing the filament should reduce slipping no? I've been considering this to speed up my extruder, because i have very soft filament that tends to just strip if i tighten the idler much at all. However I opted to buy a new .35 mm extruder instead, and my new 1.5 mm filament is much firmer.by Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Perhaps, but i had a difficult time understanding SF41, and SFACT has stuff actually explained. Also, how do i tell it to craft parts in a different orientation? I have 2 parts here that are both attempting to print up-side down, when they would have much smaller overhangs right side up. speed worked, thanks.by Parker - Skeinforge
Alright, so SFACT is amazing. I'm on all default settings except for dimension, and my printer prints beautiful parts now, but i have one issue with it. When moving to a print, it moves at F7800! This is fast enough that first of all it shakes free parts in other areas of the bed which can be an issue, and second i don't feel my reflexes would be fast enough to pull the plug if it messed up at thby Parker - Skeinforge
RepRap parts are very not waterproof, as there are pretty large gaps between bits of filament. (ok tiny, but large to water) I imagine you could waterproof prints by filling those holes with something, perhaps some sort of epoxy?by Parker - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
I'm compiling the firmware to fix Z_STEPS_PER_MM, but first i didn't change anything to ensure i don't mess anything up. my unchanged compile, however, seems to have made it so the home buttons in repsnapper/ reprap host don't send the extruder home anymore. i'm on gen6 electronics, does anybody know the cause of this?by Parker - Firmware - mainstream and related support
ah, thanks for the multiply tip, very helpful. Now, where exactly would i go to change my firmware settings? i'd love to get this Z_STEP issue sorted too.by Parker - Skeinforge
so, i've had my printer since christmas and have gotten it to print somewhat respectably in repsnapper and PLA, but repsnapper is a pretty cruel mistress... it doesn't have any sort of function to extrude a square around your base layer before printing to get the extruder working smoothly first, which i know skeinforge does with a plug-in. it turns out that's an extremely vital trick, because iby Parker - Skeinforge
I have a similar problem except it occurs every 15 layers or so. i have mendel-parts.com electronics and nophead's RP parts, how might i solve this? I haven't changed firmware at all nor messed with skeinforge yet, i'm just using repsnapper so far.by Parker - General Mendel Topics
So i'm just wondering, has anybody considered a bowden type granular extruder, perhaps with some sort of valve on the end for print control? IE, use 2 wheels to shove a bunch of plastic in whatever form (come to think of it such an extruder could take filament too) down a ptfe tube to a hot section, open and close nozzle of hot section to print? the idea's been kicking around my head for a whilby Parker - Plastic Extruder Working Group
hmmm, alright so i got the nozzle to an appropriate height (i just used feeler guages to get .271 mm and it seems to work pretty perfectly, so i'm sticking with that for now) and replaced my tape, now i can print drastically better, so on to some smaller problems. has anybody worked with autodesk inventor and repsnapper in conjunction? Either inventor is exporting things far too small, or repsnaby Parker - General
hmm, I replaced my kapton with blue painter's tape, i don't know if it's M3.... i use it to mask things for spraypainting? it's sort of thin blue paper with tiny wrinkles on it? anyway, what's the generally accepted distance between the tip of the nozzle and the bed? my feeler guages go up to .025 inches, but i think i have larger ones if that's too low. currently i have it at about .0145, or .by Parker - General
I should have elaborated more, I'm printing onto an aluminum bed which i've covered in kapton tape. It's not heated in any way, and i'm using 4043D PLA. I'll try messing with my feed rates and layer thickness some. out of curiousity, what does changing the layer thickness modify in repsnapper? I mean the distance between your layers is defined largely by the size of your Z step isn't it, so thby Parker - General
Every one of my prints has been sliding mid print, and it's starting to bother me. The problem i presume is just the part curling, which everybody has, but i cannot for the life of me find any documentation on this problem either on the wiki or these forums. What basically happens is the printer will sometimes finish maybe 5 layers, or sometimes not even one, a few times it almost finished the paby Parker - General
i can't find anything with a quick search, so has anybody considered using a parabolic dish, some large fast charge capacitors and a xenon flash tube (probably the bulb shaped ones, just to make focusing easier, unless somebody has a good idea for focusing a long tube shape into a point?) to melt powders? it's my understanding that these tubes are involved in some of the largest lasers on earth,by Parker - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering
I have two questions pertaining to my first successful test cube. the first is, i presume, rather simple. I've been using repsnapper by Kulitorum rather than the regular reprap software because frankly, i find it far easier to use. I imported a 40 mm cube stl into it, converted to G-code, and printed it. This all works well and good, except that the cube was far too tall. It reached about 60 mmby Parker - General
Hi, i called you a little bit ago and said i'd send you a mail... but it doesn't seem to be listed here, PM me maybe? or just email me who_am_I9512 with yahoo.comby Parker - For Sale
Hi, i can't seem to get a hold of you through PM.... is this still at the 140$ price? i'd like to buy a kit either way.by Parker - For Sale
Botmill.com will sell you a complete and very nice aluminum kit for 750 i believe it was. under 800 for sure. they sell fully assembled ones too for 1500, but thats a total rip-off. i'd go the botmill route but i'm quite short for cash with this project myself.by Parker - For Sale
I'm sorry but i'm dead set on a full sized Mendel. i'll CNC or buy online some of the more complex RP parts, but it seems like a terrible waste of money for me to buy my frog, the frame vertices, or the other simpler parts online when i have thousands of dollars in machinery in my garage. and just to clarify, i'm trying to get the scale of .svg files, not the 3d files, the 2d ones for lasercut mby Parker - Wanted
alright, i've decided to simply cut my own lasercut mendel. i understand the holes in the pieces must be very exact, but how important are the actual shapes? could i just jigsaw them? i do have more exact machines but they're a hassle. also, what scale are these files?????? i need to print them to cut them out, but i don't know how big they actually are.by Parker - Wanted
reprap doesn't print itself. it prints about half of itself. you still need to buy electronics, motors, and some metal parts, and fasteners at home depot. that being said, BotMill sells complete ones for 1500 dollars. or complete kits for 800. i'm currently planning on having a friend cut out the lasercut mendel's parts for me on his CNC machine, and i already have the stuff you get from Home deby Parker - Wanted
hi sebastian. i'd love to build one of these more experimental designs later, but the mendel seems to be the most widely known and generally well documented. i will look into that lasercut mendel though, my friend owns a machine shop, maybe he could make the parts i can't get at home depot for me. on that note, which parts (besides fasteners and bearing obviously) are available from the regularby Parker - Wanted
hi, i live near San Jose California and i'd really like to get a mendel.... but finding parts is horrendously difficult. So one of two things please: Does anybody have all the parts required to build a mendel for under $600? if not, can somebody find me all the parts required to build a mendel for under $600? in return once i get it built i would happily print parts for a new extruder you'veby Parker - Wanted
hi wade, i'm in northern California, so pretty much straight south from you. i don't suppose you have another set? getting ahold of the parts is starting to seem dramatically harder than assembling the machine.by Parker - Wanted
hi, i'd like a mendel for my teenage son, he's had his eye on it for a while i guess.... but this whole forum and parts list is kind of complex. how much would you charge to just sell me one of your mendel machines entirely unassembled? this seems like an easy way for me to get all the parts. I want him to build it for himself and understand it if i do buy this.by Parker - For Sale