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Top-Down SLA Printer Bulging Issue I have designed and built a top-down SLA 3D printer that uses a 405 nm 500 mW laser along with some galvanometers. I filled the vat with glycerin and then topped it off with about 2.5 cm of resin. I designed a wiper system for creating an even layer of resin quickly even on layers wit... | Let's look at the problem mathematically:
The bed has a 0 that puts the surface some distance $d_0$ above the surface of the resin, the wiper does put the first layer on that height.
after curing, the printer moves down distance $d_d$ to coat the top surface.
afterwards, the bed lowers back up to $d_0+d_l$ - a thickne... |
Taking a new hotend into operation (cleaning, forming, etc) When installing and using a new hotend for the first time, which steps of action should be taken before. This will probably be more applicable to chinese clones than to authentic products (is the statement true?): Should a certain cleaning procedure be carried... | I haven't done anything special to set up mine. But it's probably worth doing a general cleaning. I'd swab it off with alcohol, including running a q-tip or similar inside the fiber feed path. Then blow out the nozzle with compressed air to make sure it's clear.
You could measure the nozzle diameter by fitting fine dr... |
What are the pros and cons of using a BLTouch in place of a limit switch? This is about practicality. I'm hearing that people are using their BLTouch not to adjust the Z offset, but as the limit switch for the machine! Why is this so? What are the pros and cons of using a BLTouch (or any touch sensor for that matter) i... | Touch sensors (or inductive or capacitive sensors) are generally used to probe the bed to determine the bed shape. For metallic beds that are not perfectly straight this works excellent. But, if your bed is straight and level (e.g. when you are using a straight slate of glass), you do not need to probe the surface as i... |
Why is pressure advance usually implemented in firmware rather than in slicer Recently I started looking on pressure advance and how it works and I'm a bit confused about where it is usually implemented.
My Idea of 3D printer was that its firmware is fairly dumb and only replays GCode, not knowing anything about the ob... | In addition the E axis is no longer controlled directly by the GCode, but it's motion is almost independently determined by the firmware.
This is the case even without linear advance. G-code does not directly control the movement of any of the axes. G-code only specifies the path the axes should travel, but not the ac... |
Why does jerk have units of mm/s rather than mm/s³? In 3D printing firmware and slicers, jerk settings are expressed in units if mm/s. This is contrary the physical definition of jerk, which is in units of mm/s³, being the second derivative of speed with respect to time (or the third derivative of position). What is th... | The jerk setting in 3D printing G-code and firmware represents a concept similar to, but distinct from, the physical definition of jerk. Rather, it's a [limit on] instantaneous change of speed.
Mathematically, one way to make sense of this is to think that, rather than being the second derivative of speed with respect ... |
PETG nozzle clearance and extrusion multiplier I've started printing PETG recently and I'm happy with results so far, awesome strength and good looking (except for stringing). But I've noticed that PETG prints better with more distance nozzle-plate than usual, and under-extrusion make parts looking better than both nor... | Here is the mental framework that I use to reason about PETG: In a nutshell you want to avoid nozzle contact.
Unlike most other plastics, PETG sticks to hot brass really well and every time the nozzle moves through material it will pick up some of it. Material around the the nozzle then sticks to a random place creati... |
Flat heated bed replacement for uneven bed So the heated bed I got with my anet a8 is not entirely even. The middle of the bed is lower than the outer edges of the bed, which always causes issues with the first layer, especially with a larger print.
I know I could do mesh bed leveling but I don't want to have to do t... | Several things to consider:
Nothing is perfectly flat. It is flat within a tolerance. The bed you have now is flat to within a tolerance. If you want a flatter bed, you are going to have to specify how flat.
As @mac mentioned, aluminum is bendable; so, what once was flat can be made un-flat and the other way aroun... |
New Ender 3 power supply turns on but the controller board does not I just got an Ender 3 a day or two ago and was really excited being that it was my first 3D printer.
I got to work putting it together with little issue. I go to turn it on and the power supply starts up just fine (the fan on, the internal light on) bu... | I prefer to check basic power connections with multimeter. But indeed if you are not in an emergency, it would be better to send it back. The wires may come loose, I mean on the main board. |
Question about the MK8 Extruder I am trying to make a 3D printer (Prusa i3 model). I was testing all steppers and all steppers are working, however the Mk8 extruder (direct drive) is not working and I don’t know why. Can someone help me? | It’s either because you haven’t connected it properly or you have not mounted it the correct way. This could lead to the damaging of the part and failure to work again.
Check your connections with the stepper motors and hotend power wires. Make sure the connectors are in fine condition and cords are not frayed. Ensu... |
Can't get print to stick, no matter what I try I'm new to 3d printing, so I might be missing something obvious. If so, please let me know.
I printed my model successfully yesterday, but today I'm trying to print the same model and the first layer refuses to adhere, which means at best several layers after that are me... | Your nozzle is clearly too far from the bed. The plastic should be squashed down slightly. Some firmwares have an option where you can adjust the height of the nozzle "live" during the first layer, in Marlin this is called "babystepping". This can be very useful because you can get the height correct without having to ... |
Spiky hotend and bed temps I recently rebuilt my A8 printer to have a metal frame and replaced the board with a GT2560 reva+. I'm having problems with the temp readings from both my hotend and hotbed. Using marlin 1.1x and Its possible I have something configured incorrectly. I can get successful prints with good quali... | I had a similar problem and there could be three reasons(if the connections are ok):
thin wires to the hotend
one of the MOSFETs was fried
the termal sensor wasn't good enough insert into the hotend
Try to measure the hotend heating element voltage while printing. |
Adjusting Z-axis (Monoprice Maker Select) Have a Monoprice Maker Select v2 and have recently changed to an Anycubic Ultrabase glass plate. In Cura, the model I am printing is in the middle, as shown here:
but the printer puts it around 2/3 of the way up in the Y dimension:
Further investigation: I now believe the... | I sawed off about 2 mm from the (bed) screw in the photo so it wouldn't catch on the screws of the Y endstop. It now works as before.
If somebody has a more cerebral solution I will gladly `accept' it. |
Convert G-code to SVG This question is a bit of an edge case for what 3D Printing SE covers, but it has to do with topics most closely related to 3D printing.
I've found a plethora of ways to convert SVG (vector graphics) into G-code, but I can't seem to find any way to take a series of G-code movements and convert ... | There are a number of programs available which will convert g-code to DXF, a common drawing format. If your device does not support DXF directly, there are a number of programs to convert DXF to SVG. I would paste links but a quick search with your favorite search engine should give you useful results. The better conve... |
How to 3D Print 5-pointed star object that doesn't have flat bottom and hole in the middle? I'm new to 3D Printing. I've created this star from Blender3d. As far as I know, most printers require a flat bottom.
As you can see (blue line is Z-axis, red line is X-axis, green line Y-axis), the star doesn't have any flat s... | Typical FDM desktop 3D printers might struggle with this model as it requires you to either print large overhangs and use support structure (when printed laying down), or lacks a natural flat bottom surface to get good print adhesion (when printed upright). A couple of suggestions:
Some FDM printers are great at prin... |
RAMPS 1.4 losing power with more than 3 drivers mounted I am rebuilding the electronics for an old Reprap with a RAMPS 1.4 setup.
If I plug in just the Arduino/RAMPS board into either 12 V or USB then it starts up fine, I can see this when I have the screen plugged in. However, when I start to add driver boards,... | Your power supply may not be able to provide enough current. Check it's output voltage, the input at the RAMPS and the supply voltage (both VMOT and VDD) on each driver.
If the supply is good, you can suspect the polyfuses on the RAMPS board. These are yellow rectangles, designed to protect against over-current. They ... |
Problem with BLTouch on Ender 3 Pro I'm having some problems with my BLTouch.
Yesterday I got the 4.2.7 silent board delivered as well as the BLTouch and a glass bed. I was able to install the silent board without a problem and according to the many, many diagrams I've looked at, I also have my BLTouch installed corre... | For anyone who has this problem in the future my solution was to loosen the screw on top of the touch just a little bit |
Ender 3 first print some area is smooth but some is rough? Please check following image, Dog looks smooth from left side but its rough from right side , similar on back too.
What could have caused this ?
Can it be due to moisture due to Air Conditioner in my room ? | It is most likely caused by inadequate part-cooling due to poor air-flow. Fit a [better] part cooling fan. There are plenty of designs on Thingiverse.
You may also be able to resolve the issue by adjusting the printing temperature, but the easiest solution is to install a good part-cooling fan. |
Reprap variants with servo motors rather than stepper motors? In a discussion about motors with a friend who used to work in the robotics industry, he told me that he despised stepper motor systems, as every stepper based system he had worked on required a bunch of hacky software fixes to make the system perform to the... | You can get "stepper replacement" servo drives that supposedly put all the needed control in the drive, and accept ordinary stepper inputs. Those should make the servo-drive a "drop-in" option on anything that uses stepper drives.
That said, I've seen an affordable CNC router system based on steppers turned into a muc... |
Anet A8 - hot end temperature still same I've recently purchased Anet A8. First print went well, but now, the hot end temperature stays at ~230 °C. When I touch it, it is still cold. I tried the thermistor, and it correctly changes resistance when I blow on it (from 100 kΩ to ~70 kΩ). The vol... | In my case, I had a bad resistor on my board. R41 had only 2.2 kΩ instead of 4.7. I replaced it and everything works now. |
Stuttering extrusion after layer change I am currently encountering a problem where under certain circumstances, the extruder stutters when it starts a new layer. I am printing on an Anycubic i3 Mega and am slicing with Cura 3.6.0. The problem seems to occur in the main part of prints, as well as in supports. However i... | You retraction settings may be too high. Direct drive extruders require less retraction than Bowden style extruders. Typical retraction settings for direct drive are 1.5mm at 50mm/s and for Bowden, 4mm at 50mm/s. The speed usually makes more of a difference than distance beyond a certain point.
You can get away with s... |
What are the appropriate ranges of gear ratios for 1.75 mm and 3 mm filament extruders? Most 3 mm (mostly are actually 2.85 mm) filament extruders have some kind of gear reduction. Many 1.75 mm extruders are direct-drive / ungeared but some do use gears. What kind of reduction ratios are suitable or opti... | $ \frac{(2.85\ mm)^2}{(1.75\ mm)^2}=2.65$ which is the reduction you would want assuming a 1.75 is direct drive.
In this answer I am comparing the amount of filament flowing though the extruder by using $ \pi \times r^2$. Dividing the 2 values gives the ratio of the 2 speeds. A gear ratio is them used to change the ... |
Problem With large prints on Lulzbot Taz6 I have got a Lulzbot TAZ6 3 days ago. Last night I started a print which is 21 hours long and when I returned check on it this afternoon it was a complete mess.
These are the objects that I wanted to print:
I used Cura LUlzbot edition for printing this, the settings I have op... | Unluckily - for as much information on your settings you share - it is very difficult to diagnose the problem without knowing how the print failed. Did a piece become dislodged? Did the nozzle caught onto a printed piece? Did the head began extrude in mid air? ...?
However this are my guesses:
From your temp settin... |
Bowden-direct hybrid I've got a direct drive extruder printer, that I have equipped with a Bowden-tube to give it a nice and defined filament path from my spool and to protect it from moisture when it exits my drybox. I've noticed that this 1 m Bowden tube adds quite a bit of friction to the system. I am keenly aware o... | A Bowden tube is by design fairly small diameter to match the filament within, constraining the forces applied by the remote extruder mechanism. As you've noted, friction is a consideration.
For your application, you would not have to have such a tightly constrained diameter. You could use a Bowden tube for 2.85 mm fil... |
How is the extrusion rate matched to the movement speed? A typical line of (depositing) G-code seems to set a maximum speed (F), a new position to move to (X, Y, Z) and a new extrusion distance (giving a filament distance for the move). The F is common for the line of code, and I understand gives a maximum for the XYZE... | I'm not sure what you mean by "XYZE combined speed", but I wonder if it's the same misconception as in Details of Marlin's feedrate calculation. The feedrate is a regular 3-dimensional velocity in XYZ space which is the maximum rate the printer will attempt to achieve, subject to individual axis feedrate ... |
Best gear STL to print with ABS I spent the last days trying to make the best gears I could but they are not "smooth" nor good. I searched at thingverse with "gear" but I see no set of gears. I would like someone to point me a good set of gears (with 5, 10, 15... teeth for example) so I can use this STL file with Googl... | This type of gear is known as a "herringbone" gear. A traditional straight-cut gear is strong, but can cause more vibration as each tooth engages and disengages. A helical gear (slanted tooth) reduces that vibration as the tooth engagement is more uniform. However the angle of the teeth causes a sideways force that may... |
Ender 3 Y-Axis Stretched (I don't believe it's layer shifting) I've got a peculiar issue today, and was looking for some help with it.
Of the six Ender 3s I manage at my college, one of them seems to be stretching the Y axis of all the prints I make with it.
Some points about the issue:
It's variable, but is much m... | If an axis doesn't print the sizes you command it there are basically 2 options causing this.
The printer is incorrectly configured,
The printer has an hardware issue.
To find out which of the 2 is applicable, you need to look into your setup and into the firmware settings. E.g. from the printers display you can re... |
Graphite self-lubricating bushings performance? I'm about to start building a CoreXY style printer and can't decide which bearings/bushings to buy. My first printer was a Delta with belts and opendbuilds wheels, so I'm lost regarding this matter.
Anyone tried these self-lubricating graphite bushings?
How do they perf... | Bushings will be quieter than linear ball bearings. Some online discussions complain of the linear bearings becoming noisy, and (in what I think is a failure of the balls to circulate properly) for the balls to develop flat spots. If the balls aren't moving properly, you will end up with a bushing. You might start w... |
Lack of isolation between axes Sometimes I notice that if I manually command a single axis movement (typically Z, when I want better access to the extruder), I observe that several channels move together (and they maybe move slower than I expect). After one 'coupled' movement, subsequent commands have the result I'm ex... | This is easily explained - it's the stepper motors getting powered up. Stepper motors even if not moving are constantly powered up and actively hold the position they are in exactly at the stepping point where they are.
If you power down the machine or if the board disables the stepper drivers to save energy or becaus... |
Problems with X axis movement I have been printing with no problems. I have finished the spool of filament and removed the remaining filament from the Bowden tube and hotend. Before loading the new spool of filament, I decided to level the bed using the installed BLTouch.
Probe grid 3 x 3. Centre point of the build pla... | After many hours tinkering, pulling things apart, testing them and re-assembling them, it turned out that the problem was a broken wire for the X_Min endstop. This has now been replaced and the problem is resolved. |
Sealant to increase Water-Resistance of SLS print We are attempting to print some single-use prototypes using an SLS printer. The parts must be somewhat water-resistant for short-term usage, but do not have to been waterproof entirely.
According to this page, Post processing for SLS printed parts - Water tightness, a... | SLS prints from nylon are somewhat porous. This means, that they will let a stabilizer soak into the outer surface to some degree.
What kind of stabilizer is needed is depending somewhat on the properties you want, but generally I believe these might be useable depending on the viscosity:
2-component resins could be... |
How do I wire the z-axis motors in parallel on the Prusa i3? There is a little circuit board, or breadboard or something in the diagram of the wiring for the i3.
And it's mentioned that the z-axis motors need to be wired in parallel but beyond that they don't give you much detail about parts or how the wires go in.
... | In the diagram, they do show the wires connecting together, which is right. You can accomplish that just about any way you like, so long as you pair up the wires correctly from one motor to the other.
I'm assuming both "Z" motors are the same type and have the same color-coding for their wires. If not, you'll need to ... |
Can the filament tube be outside of the nozzle? I bought a few new nozzles expecting them to come with that little tube that comes out of the nozzle. They didn't come with them after all, so I tried to reuse the tube I originally had in the printer. Turns out my old tube is 4mm OD and 2mm ID, but the new nozzles have 2... | Let me clean up a little nomenclature
The PTFE tube is either a Bowden Style Setup delivering the filament from the extruder down through the cool-end and to the heatbreak or just a liner in the cool-end and heatbreak for direct drive. In both cases they are to prevent clogs. In most setups it is not pushed into the no... |
How to use a multimeter to test how many amps RAMPS is pulling? This is in with my other question about components and the other question about electricity; how can I check to see how many amps are being pulled? Can I check a component at a time to make sure I'm not going over the limit, and then just add them all in ... | To measure amps (current), the meter has to be wired in series with the item to be measured (for this reason, ammeters are designed to have very low resistance).
This has the down-side that you have to disconnect the component to put the meter in line with it. That makes it hard to do the "check a component at a time... |
Spindle DC motor and drill bit specifications for Circuit etching CNC machine I'm making a Circuit etching machine (CNC) and I need a good DC motor and drill bit for the spindle.
My machine should be able to etch, drill, and cut:
Etching: take copper off the surface like chemicals or a laser would
Drilling: drill h... | There are several sources of PCB "etching" bits. They tend to be single straight flutes and high angle, very pointy bits.
For the motor, high speed is good. Look for 30k+ RPM. The main thing to be concerned about is the amount of runout, or wobble in the tip. With a tiny tip, you can't afford much runout at all. ... |
Good methods to clean extruder gear (hobbed) from filament pieces? I'm using a CraftBot original to print PLA, but some of the filament has become stuck in the teeth of the extruder gear on its way into the hot end. I'm having issues with the gear becoming stuck and "clicking" instead of turning, and I suspect it is b... | If your gear skips at the same place each time I have found on my machine that the gear does not fit the motor shaft properly and has a larger gap between the gear and the idler roller.
Check to see if there is a thicker buildup on one side of the gear than the other.
On my machine what I had to do was to use a spare... |
3D printers for ceramic clay? Are there any extruders and printers that do a good job with ceramic clay?
I assume the clay has to be fine grained and with enough water added to be able to be pushed out through the extruder's nozzle. I also assume the print speed would have to be arther low for the already printed laye... | What you are looking for is the Frostruder style extruders.
Here is a link to a thingiverse file for it.
You honestly cannot expect fantastic results but it will get the job done! There are many other types. Quality will depend on the size of the point. However with something as high viscosity as clay I would not expec... |
How to print a 6" wheel in ABS? I'm using a Flashforge Pro and attempting to print a wheel about 6mm thick to serve as a platform. In other words, the wheel doesn't have to be solid, but spokes won't do the job. I've experimented with different temperatures, but, because of ABS' thermal expansion, I don't think that ... | If you can, set your slicer to do honeycomb fill. Depending on the weight requirement choose maybe 10% - 20% fill. That ought to do the trick. It won't be solid, but it should be strong enough.
What are you going to put on the platform? |
Why does hairspray work as an adhesive for ABS? Since I have a 3D printer, I worked primarily with printing ABS. I tried multiple methods for adhesion (various soluble glues, ABS juice) but always had the most success with hairspray on clean borosilicate glass, as long as I print with a bed temperature above 75 °C... | First of all, not all hairsprays work. The chemicals in hairspray that causes the bonding is "VA/Crotonates Copolymer", it is also called "vinyl acetate/crotonic acid copolymer". Most commonly known as PVA, which is also a filament used as water soluble support material. This is a synthetic polymer ... |
High temperature flexible filament I need to cool some liquid (250 °C) while it’s flowing through a tube which has to be able to bend and flex.
My idea is to make a flexible tube with a second tube spiraling around it through which coolant will flow.
I’d like to 3D print this tube if possible so I wonder if there... | Ok, so to answer the primary question: What flexible filament will operate consistently at 250°C?
Man... this is a tough one. Some filaments, like PEEK and ULTEM 1010 can operate up in the 200c range.... but they're not flexible at all.
Silicon might be able to work, but you're still pushing boundaries.
Now.... I'm luc... |
Printrun doesn't connect when 12 V is on I'm able to connect to Arduino+RAMPS through USB. I can even check end stops with M119. However, if I plug it to the power supply, my MacBook goes crazy and restart itself! Things I have tried:
Uninstalled OSX, installed Ubuntu, I get readiness error when PSU is connected.
Bou... | It sounds a bit like you are having (additional) grounding issues1. Are your MacBook and the RAMPS using the same ground, i.e. are they using the same mains circuit?
If you are using the same power strip, then the next thing to check would be that the PSU on the printer correctly grounded (at the bottom of the unit).
F... |
LCD for SLA 3D printer resin curing I'm doing some research on what types of LCD displays can be used to filter and pass UV light for resin curing - specifically in the context of building a DIY 3D SLA printer.
The community commonly uses the Sharp LS055R1SX03 module. Looking through the datasheet, there doesn't seem ... | Hmm I seen videos off people pealing filters off of lcd screens to let uv pass through.
I believe the sharp unit maybe popular because not all lcds have square pixels and have poor pixel alignment towards the edges, (the focus of the eye can only take in so much information why waste materials producing inperceptable ... |
Which is more durable to sunlight/weather - PLA, ABS or PETG The backstory: I'm installing a pigeon net in my home. Because of the shape of the opening I'm installing the net in and the material on the sides it's difficult to anchor the net using the normal means but I can print clips that will hold the net in place.
... | Ok, I tried all 3 materials.
PLA failed after less then one day, I believe it deformed from the constant pressure and fell out (I didn't find the part but I didn't really search for it, there's some tall grass below the window)
ABS lasted about a year, it fell strait down and I found the part, it looks ok if probably... |
Filament material for chemical application I am doing laboratory experiments and need to print some components.
I am working with different aqueous (water) solutions containing sulphuric acid (H2SO4), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), separately and in combination. The pH of the solutions are in t... | There are two issues you have here, one is temperature stability and the other is chemical reactivity of plastics. I can't help you with the chemistry side, but I can help with the temperature.
Application 1 (Temp < 40 °C)
Any FDM plastic will perform reasonably well under these temperatures. I would suggest trying ... |
Gaps in top layer of prints I have a Monoprice Maker Select Plus (Wanhao Duplicator i3 clone) and I'm having issued with the top layer of my prints. The bottom surface and the sides always come out perfect but my top layer is left with gaps in it. I have tried adjusting the print temperature, flow rate, print speed and... | This is probably caused by too few top layers in combination with a too low infill percentage. Increase skin layers and increase infill percentage.
If you have multiple layers already (at least about 4 for 0.2 mm layer height, for smaller layer heights even more), you might be printing at a too high temperature and or ... |
12v 25A 300x300 Heater bed Mosfet I'm building a 3D printer from scratch (My first one, so yeah, tall order), so I'm buying all the parts separately, now one of the things I bought was a 300x300 12v 25A Silicon heaterbed (Yeah, I know, should have gone for a higher voltage, but that's the only one I could get at the ti... | I have looked over the 20 or so most expensive MOSFETs in that shop, and none are suitable.
It might be easier to go with a DC Solid State Relay rather than a bare MOSFET.
If you do want to go with a bare MOSFET instead, a TO-220 package MOSFET can dissipate around 1W without a heatsink, and around 3-4W with one. For... |
Tips for making parts that push/snap together I would like to make some parts that will fit together. Specifically, I'm making an array of holders for small glass vials, which will stack together vertically to make a kind of extensible spice rack, for a scientific application.
Of course, I could just give each module ... | There are many different ways too approach this and the question may be too broad, but here's a stab at it...
Here are a few different ways that I've made parts that connect in the past:
Example 1: Utilize the elasticity of the plastic by creating a semi circle to fit around another object. When fitting the part to t... |
Ultimaker original X-axis not moving - possible electronics problem I'm writing this question here hoping someone will be able to help me with the fixing process that I'm currently involved in!
Last week during a printing session my Ultimaker original unexpectedly stop working. The problem was on the extruder step mot... | I'm not sure I know exactly what is wrong or what steps you've taken so far, but it seems like your extruder motor is broken and you've narrowed the problem down to electronics.
If so, replacing the Arduino, motor, and driver leaves only the Ultimaker PCB as the source of the problem. I would suggest ordering another ... |
Connect to 3D printer via internet without router My problem:
I need to connect to my 3D printer via the internet from an Android app (using IP address and API key).
My 3D printer is based on Marlin firmware latest and connected to a Raspberry Pi running OctoPi. I don't want to use a router and port forward it, because... | There are a few solutions, but each one needs to match same criteria: an open network socket visible outside the local network.
So from TCP/IP protocol theory, we don't even need to have an IP address to send a packet to another computer as we can use layer One which is just the MAC address to identify the receiver. B... |
Why is 2 / -2 / 2 equal to -2 in OpenSCAD? (Mathematical Order of Operations) Recently I have been doing more complicated math in OpenSCAD and I have run into something that I find strange. Take a simple math expression: 2 / 2 / 2. By any programming language this will equal 0.5 (1/2), and OpenSCAD agrees. Something li... | I suspect the behavior you are seeing is an undocumented feature (aka, bug) of OpenSCAD. I've found in the latest stable release that if the - is placed on either end, the result is -0.5, but in the middle, my results are the same as yours. Surrounding the -2 with parentheses results in a correct answer, however.
It a... |
Z-axis steppers and bed alignment problems I've actually solved this, but I think its still a useful question which I don't think is easy to answer with existing questions.
As soon as I'd built my ANET-A8 (Prusa i3 DIY kit), I found I was having problems with the extruder crashing into the bed. Although I thought I'd ... | I assume you did everything according to the instructions but here is a checklist of what could be possibly wrong:
Friction - check if you can rotate/move parts without lot of resistance
Screws - check if screws on couplings are tight and they don't slide over a shaft or thread
Stepsticks - check if they are cooled p... |
parts for autoleveling Prusa i3 I am following this video series to add auto-leveling to my Prusa i3. https://youtu.be/awsI9bMndJA
I have printed the parts I need and have the servo and ss-5 endstop in my cart at Amazon. What I need to know is what wiring I need to connect the endstop to the RAMPs board? I bought t... | You just need some wires, nothing special about them. You can use any wire that's flexible enough. For the endstop you'll need 2 wires, for the servo (if you need to extend the cable) 3. The connectors on the end are known as dupont connectors. |
What exactly does calibrating a 3D printer do? I’m building a 3D printer and need to understand what calibration and bed leveling is, and I was surprised to see there isn’t a clear explanation on the internet anywhere. Does bed leveling compensate for an uneven bed? So then, what does calibrating do? Is it the same thi... | First, welcome to the 3D Printing Stack Exchange!
On bed leveling
Bed leveling, or more accurately bed tramming, adjusts the bed so that it is even in relation to the print head. Typically it is done by sliding a paper between the nozzle and the bed when Z = 0, or the print head is at its lowest. The amount of fricti... |
Where is filament thickness setting in Cura? I don't see filament thickness in Cura. How can it work without it? | There are two important settings related to filament thickness in Cura 4.8.
They are in Preferences window (open menu Preferences > Configure Cura):
Printers > Machine Settings > Extruder 1 > Compatibile material diameter - this setting will influence visibility of materials available on the list in next p... |
Which software do I need to start print something? I'm still new to 3D printing and I want to print something. I expect that I'll mess it up since I find nothing to adjust it but it is now laying around for 4 months and I'm sick of it.
So my question is where do I find Windows software to print something and of course... | First; find a model!
To print something you require a model (usually this is in STL format, look into websites called Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory for examples). Once you have a model file, you need to make it readable for the printer firmware.
If you can't find suitable model, then you need to design a model yourself... |
What are various types of supports required in slicing the CAD model? Also, a visualization of the various types of supports required in slicing the CAD model is a plus.
I'm just getting started with Rapid prototyping and I had no idea about that. Is there any type of support we can select in the software settings or ... | Support structure generation depends on the type of slicer you use to convert your model (STL model file) into printable code (G-code) for the 3D printer. Different options and solutions exist to add support depending on the slicer software applications. Alternatively, you could add your own supports to your models in ... |
Bolt hole terminology for "tight" and "loose" bolt holes When a hole is created for a bolt, it might be "tight"; the intent is for the hole to be tapped. Or it might be "loose", and the intent is for the bolt to slide into the hole and attached to a nut on the other side.
What is the terminology for... | A hole designed for a screw/bolt to slide freely through is called a clearance hole. A hole that is designed to be tapped could be called a pilot hole. |
How to log more than 300 lines of the OctoPrint terminal? Is there a way to view more than the last 300 lines in the terminal tab on OctoPrint? Or is there a txt file of a log? Or even a setting/plugin that does either?
I keep finding my prints pausing as if I said to change the filament even though that wasn't set in... | Yes, you can show more than 300 lines in the terminal; just disable auto scrolling (reference).
Disabling Autoscroll now completely disables cutting off the lines (so
you can have way more than 300 lines while that's disabled), filtering
has been improved too and doesn't cause scrolling anymore.
Note that wit... |
How to correctly print an object with supports I'm trying to print the following model in my Prusa printer using its Slic3r PE software.
Ferment Air Lock
In the comments of the model it says that the way to print is the with the filler opener downside to the printing board.
This is how I have it in Slic3r:
When... | You need to put a check mark to enable supports in Slic3r as you cannot print in mid-air.
This option is found under "Print settings" with header name "Support settings". Please look at the Slic3r manual for more options. |
Ender 3 Won’t Start - flashing screen and blue LED on main board Just received my second Ender 3 (see my other questions for the problems that first one developed). Figured it best to have a spare while I upgrade my first one with an ABL.
I assembled it as normal, without any issues, but on applying power the LCD scr... | Just after I posted this I tried swapping various components with my other Ender 3.
It turns out a faulty power supply will produce this effect. When I swapped out the power supply it started normally. |
Can't connect Cura to my Anet A8 on OSX 10.11.6 I finished the mount of my Anet A8, tested everything and apparently it was ok. I installed the driver that came with it, CH341SER_MAC, turned on the printer, connect USB cable, but nothing happened.
In Cura, I tried to add a printer many times and this message always a... | There are a lot of problems with the CH340 chipset drivers to be found on 3D SE and various forums on the internet. To use this cheap CH340 chip that is used by a number of Arduino compatible (clone) boards to provide USB connectivity (a USB bus converter chip that converts USB bus signals to serial interface) you need... |
Is endstop / z-probe wire required for BLTouch installation on CR-10S I am confused about installing BLTouch on CR-10S.
This is my motherboard:
Below is a screenshot for the wiring of the BLTouch sensor:
See the circled sections in yellow.
Notice that the Z- socket is also used (black and white BLTouch wire) a... | A touch sensor is also a height limiting switch, so you sacrifice the Z- limit switch in favor of the touch sensor (or an inductive sensor). Furthermore, all your concerns are taken care of by the firmware. You configure the firmware so that the nozzle homes Z in the center of the build plate after X and Y are homed fi... |
What is the difference between tuning the speed on the Ender 3 panel, and the Cura Print Speed setting? I'm printing a lot of draft parts so I don't care if they fall apart in my fingers, I just need the shape. I can scroll to the Tune menu on my Ender 3 Pro console and set the speed to 200% and it doubles the speed. B... | You can look under Cura setting to set ' Initial Layer Print Speed ' and ' Initial Layer Travel speed ', you may appropriately set you print speed as you required |
What is the correct way to export SVG in order to convert to STL? I made a simple logo using Inkscape, after saving as an svg file, but when I export that file into Fusion 360 something strange happened.
Multiple times I convert some images (png, svg) to svg file. The process I use is this:
Scan logo image (scanner or... | Considering the simplicity of your sample design - i.e. basically only two different Z-levels, easily distinguished by color - I'd recommend one of the online image-to-3D model converters. Here are two I've used now and then. You may have to save your image as png or jpg instead of svg.
selva3d and 3dp.rocks |
Is having 4 bed leveling adjustment points rather than 3 problematic? My Ender 3, and I think lots of printers, have 4 bed leveling adjusstments, one at each corner. It seems to me that having 4 points produces an over-determined system, making it confusing to get the leveling right - adjusting one of the four may have... | Similar reasoning as for question "3 vs 4 bearings for y axis travel"" holds. If you introduce a fourth point, it is more difficult to make a flat plane.
Provided that your bed is stiff, e.g. a flat piece of glass, or a thick metal plate is used, you do not need more than 3 screws. Both my custom built printers use pi... |
Bumpy first layer with PETG When I print with PLA, I get a perfect first layer.
However, when I print with PETG, the first layer looks like this:
I've read all the info that suggests reducing the temp, speed, and increasing retraction... I've done all that which has improved things a lot, but I still get this... I ... | One thought I had, does PETG need a different clearance between the nozzle and the bed than PLA?
Short answer: "Yes, for some it does".
The results from your image are typically seen when the initial layer height for PETG is too small. PETG likes an additional gap on top of the usual that is used to print e.g. PLA... |
Replacing jerk with ridiculously high acceleration? After a string of one problem after another with both classic jerk and junction deviation in Marlin, and coming to understand that the whole mathematical model for both of them is rather bogus (as I understand it, there's nothing to keep jerk from junctions of multipl... | In order to evaluate whether this is possible, it's necessary to realize that following a curved path with zero jerk (in the classic jerk sense) requires stopping and restarting at each junction point in the piecewise-linear approximation of the curve that occurs in the gcode. This is because there's no way to accelera... |
Where did Marlin get its name? Does anyone know how the developers of Marlin decided to name it that? | As far as I know Erik van der Zalm started Marlin. He is from the Netherlands and Zalm translates to "salmon". One of the design goals of Marlin was to make it faster than the other firmware available at that time. And a marlin is a very fast swimming fish.
Some firmwares developed after Marlin also joined this fish t... |
No Z hop in Dual extruder, print getting disturbed at retraction point I'm using a Lulzbot KITTAZ with V2 Dual extruder(0.5mm). When I'm printing anything, the front left side of the print is getting disturbed because whenever the tool head switches the action between the extruders, they stop at the front left point of... | It appears as though you are using (or used) an old version of Cura. More recent releases allow you to insert G-code commands on changing the extruder. You could insert a Z-hop in these sections.
Extruder End G-code: First set the extruder in a relative mode, move up 2 mm, set absolute again:
G91
G1 Z2
G90
Extrude... |
3D Print something as flexible as a cloth with PLA? Would it be posible to design something that is as flexible and that can be printed with PLA that would work as a cloth? I did some research and found that there was a company named Electroloom but that didn't make it. I'm not looking for anything fine, just something... | Maybe you would be better off with TPU or some other type of flexible material...
I have been able to print PLA and have it flex quite a bit, but that was an ~0.2mm single layer print, I guess maybe up to 0.3-0.4mm should still be a little bit flexible, but not much. Also since you want it to wipe things, maybe you sh... |
What causes my Bowden tube to melt on the side? I run a 3D printer farm and I have to replace my Bowden tubes on the printers after about a month or two of use(roughly 1000 hours of use). The Bowden tubes continually melt on the side of the tube very near to where it pushes against the nozzle. I am running Ender 3 Pros... | If the tube is PTFE, the tube is not likely to be melting unless your hotend temperature is out of control. You would probably notice the PLA cooking.
So, perhaps they aren't PTFE, or perhaps it is wear.
If it wasn't PTFE, you should be able to tell by the texture, slipperiness, and bending force.
The four thinned ... |
SLA printers: food-safe resin parts I've actually read that resin printed parts are not food-safe in Reddit and Formlabs guide. However, it also says that food-safe can be achieved applying some kind of food-safe coat to the printed parts, or even printing with ceramic resin.
As an owner of a Elegoo Mars Pro, I've sear... | Resin basics
Resins are tricky, but probably less tricky than FDM as the manufacturing process is much less likely to include contaminants in the shape of contaminated air, particles, or adding lead into the print. This is all due to the whole process of creating the polymer happening under the protection of the resin,... |
PLA support material suddenly a problem on Ender 5 I have an Ender 5 that I meticulously calibrated with good success and was regularly getting great print quality with PLA. I stopped using it for a couple of months and when I resumed (without having changed anything), anything I print with support material is a real p... | As the commenter suggested (thanks, 0scar!), the culprit appears to have been a Cura update and a change to the support material settings.
In my case, the defaults for Z distance and even the X/Y distance for support material, in addition to the density, was creating very effective supports, but very tricky to remove... |
Thermal degradation of 3D printed ABS (and other plastics) The short version of my question is:
Are 3D printed parts made of ABS likely to survive for one year in an incubator at 80℃?
Please read on for more details.
I am printing some parts that will be used inside an incubator in a lab. They are likely to be u... | To answer your question briefly: No, ABS will not survive for a duration of at least one year at 80-100°C.
If you look at the chart above (from Tiganis/Burn), you'll notice, that the blue line (ABS 90°C) is decreasing. I did an eyeball calculation of the graph and arrived at the equation (J for break energy, h for ho... |
Speeding up the heating of the heated bed Currently I am using a 12 volts, 20 amperes power supply (Model S-240-12)
The stepper motors and the extruder need 5 amp, and the heated bed build plate needs 11 amp.
Technically you only need to use a 12 Volts, 16 amperes power supply, but I understand that you use the... | Changing the PSU with one with a higher amperage will not make the bed heat up any faster unless the PSU is underrated for the amperage required and the voltage is dropping as a result of the load. This can be checked by measuring the output voltage with a multimeter (when the PSU is loaded e.g. by a heating heat bed).... |
Is this articulated Turtle print failing because of over extrusion on a Taz Workhorse? I've been working on calibrating my Taz Workhorse, and was dealing with some under-extrusion issues, despite checking the e-steps on the extruder and relatively modest retraction settings (2.5 mm at 25 mm/second).
Lulzbot ... | It looks to me like you have corner curling on overhangs, which can be contributed to by a mix of:
overextrusion (poor dimensional accuracy of filament or wrong filament diameter setting)
uneven extrusion (due to changes in the print head motion faster than the flow response to changes in the extruder)
uneven cooling... |
How to change E0 to E1 on Marlin 1.1? I have the same problem as this person but I don't have those lines in my RAMPS.h file as seen here.
I've recently burnt my potentiometer on E0 so the motor isn't working properly anymore. I want to use it on E1 instead. If you have any better idea how to fix this instead of chang... | Another posting already discusses how you can change the pins to use spare stepper controllers for broken controllers by changing the pin layout. Assuming you are using a RAMPS board and using Marlin firmware, you should look at the pins_RAMPS.h file.
This file requires changes to address E1 to E0 and vice versa, plea... |
Proper wire gauges for extending all CR-10S wires I want to extend all my CR-10S wires. I have two long wire types: 22 and 18 AWG wires. I've done some research and found the following:
Extruder heating element: 22 AWG or lower.
Extruder thermistor sensor: 22 AWG or lower (Doesn't really need much amp).
Fans: 24 A... | If my calculations are correct, a typical ceramic heating element for the extruder heating block runs 40 W. At 12 V dc, that equates to 3.33 A. A 24 awg wire is rated for 3.5 A, which means it barely covers the draw from the heater. A high torque Nema 17 motor will draw 2 A (which is probably heavier than most standard... |
Would PC be considered food-safe in this setup? I have one 3D printer with Makerbot mk10 extruder and I would like to print my custom cup for tea or coffee from PC.
Other than that, I came across idea that FDM printer will always leave small holes on a surface, so they will be a perfect place for bacteria and make the... | I also print coffee mugs. I have used ABS for a long time, and, given the statements here and elsewhere about bacterial growth sites, have been attaching my life to a thread. That's fine for me, but I don't make mugs for anyone else.
There are three areas of concern I've found so far:
The plastic may be toxic,
The... |
default axis steps per unit Makerbot replicator 2 I can not find anywhere default steps per unit for Makerbot replicaor 2. I'm using Ramp V1.4 instead original board and need to know default steps :/ | The Replicator 2 and 2x use 18 tooth GT2 pulleys, 1/16 microstepping, and 200 steps/rev steppers. That makes the proper steps/mm value 88.888889.
Note that Makerbot used ~88.56 steps/mm in their defaults, which is the value you get if you calculate from the belt+pulley pitch diameter from the Gates GT2 specs. But thi... |
How do you send G-code from a USB port with Python? I'm working on a project for my masters where I'm trying to detect print errors using object detection and I want to be able to pause the printer when a potential fault is detected. However I can't seem to figure out the correct way to send G-code to my printer from a... | The process is pretty straightforward, you open a serial connection and send the instructions over the serial connection. The printer reports "OK" when received (not when the command has been executed).
You can use pySerial to connect to a USB port with the correct speed, then send the command you want to exe... |
The first layers while printing look strange I own a Geeetech i3 Pro W and I started printing today. Amazing how it works.
I just recognized while printing my first bigger model something very strange: At the beginning some parts are missing and there are huge holes. However when I keep it printing the following layer... | From the first layer image it can be seen that your nozzle to bed distance is just too large:
the lines of deposited filament e.g. in the brim are not touching,
deposited filament lines are not "squished" or "flattened" to the build plate,
filament is cutting off corners as it is dragged while being hot and not stuck... |
Why did my extruder motor stopped working? Before it stopped working, the stepper motor worked very well and didn't show any problem. I experienced this after I fixed a filament problem. The filament got stuck soI retracted to pull the filament out of the heat nozzle. But when I finished this, the extruder didn't work ... | I have found an answer. So dumb♂️♂️. It need to heat up nozzle before use extrude or retract command |
What is the best way in SketchUp to align the bottoms of all objects to the x-y origin plane? A single object slices OK in Slic3r. However, when I copy the objects and paste onto a guide point on the y axis to put five objects in the drawing, the slicing leaves out parts. The worst object is below the y-axis by 0.01 ... | I would like a better answer involving automatic alignment, but this was my solution.
Make the object a single component.
Make sure the guide points are accurately located.
Cut and copy the first component to the origin.
Copy the component to the guide points.
What also worked better was to break the grouping of comp... |
3D print Configuration Cura - Anet A8 I'm new with my 3D printer, I just print two different pawn pieces from thingverse. I just used Cura to convert the files to be readable for the printer. Is my problem with the pieces has to do with the configuration from the Cura software? or with my printer itself?
Update:
I... | That looks like horrible underextrusion. Either the extruder steps/mm are way off, but more likely is that your nozzle is clogged (because I wouldn't expect the steps/mm to be this far off). It's also possible that the temperature you're printing at is inappropriate for the filament you're using. Also, make sure that t... |
Monoprice MP Mini Delta - How to get started? I just got a Monoprice MP Mini Delta from an Indiegogo Campaign, but it came with no printed docs.
How do I get started? | Updated Manual
Turns out an out of date manual was on the sd card that was included with the printer. But it was definitely out of date, as it referenced UI items that don't exist, and files that weren't on the SD card.
An updated manual can be found here
or possibly out of date here
Resources and sample files
A v... |
Recommended settings for ColorFabb Copperfill Filaments on a 0.25 mm Nozzle? I switched out my 0.4 mm Ultimaker 2+ Nozzle the other day for the 0.25 mm and started using a ColorFabb Copperfill 2.85 mm filament. I am having some issues with it clogging and sticking to the bed for larger prints:
Current settings are:
... | It looks like a problem with feeding filament. It could be good to know if you did try such big printouts before but even if - from your picture it looks like on far end there is too less filament but on near end it's too much of it (because of 110%). And near the big circle it looks better even on far end. And there a... |
Could I 3D print an airbrush? Could I 3D model and print a working airbrush in
PLA? | The problem with this I see is that the PLA takes and holds paint super well. I have painted it with acrylic a lot and it works great for models you want painted after printing.
I know next to nothing about airbrushing, but it seems to me like keeping a printed airbrush clean for re-use would be a big pain. It looks l... |
Problems with Z-axis: Z-axis raised not enough at the beginning My printer had some Z-axis issue. Here are the details:
When I was printing a model, the bottom of the model got bumpy edges(as shown in pic), and the height of the model was a little bit shorter(about 5% shorter).
I thought it might be caused by the Z... | Here are my problem and my solution. Hope this will help others.
As @R.. suggested, I checked my carriages and as well as z-axis guide wheels(I think it is called guide wheel). And I found that the guide wheels were too tight. I can't rotate them will my fingers. So I used a spanner to adjust the eccentric nuts until ... |
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