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Ender 3 with BLTouch prints slanted lines I'm having a problem getting a clean first layer on an Ender 3 with BLTouch auto bed leveling. Thickness seems to fluctuate all over the bed, but in a consistent (repeatable) way. Here's my attempt to print a single layer 5 square bed calibration test:
I stopped the print midway through filling the first square, but you get the idea. Lines go from too low so no filament comes out to too high.
I printed this several (many) times with slight settings tweaks and it looks pretty much the same every time; the ups and downs aren't random. For example, the center square always is always too low on the left and too high on the right:
The printer is a SainSmart Ender 3 Pro with a BLTouch V3.1 and Creality glass bed, otherwise stock. I flashed a bootloader and Marlin 2.0 using the instructions and pre-compiled firmware from 3D Printing Canada. I'm using the glass bed upside-down on the plain glass side (no coating).
I pre-heated and leveled the four corners manually using the paper method. I auto-homed and then lowered the hot end until it would just catch a piece of paper and used that height to set the Z offset using M851 and saved it with M500. It's currently set at -2.80.
I added G29 to GCode start in Cura, and it does a 3x3 probe before the print starts. Here's the output when I run M420 V:
Bilinear Leveling Grid:
0 1 2
0 -0.207 +0.172 +0.162
1 -0.100 -0.160 +0.220
2 -0.118 +0.215 +0.295
Here's what it looks like in the Bed Visualizer plug-in in Octoprint:
If I understand this right (dubious) it's showing that the glass is lower toward the front and left, highest at back-right. But it's only 0.4mm from the lowest to highest points. And the whole point of mesh leveling is to compensate for this anyway.
At Paulster's suggestion I turned off mesh leveling using M420 S0, leveled manually, and printed again. The result is pretty similar (note that this time I let it run all the way through):
Where should I start looking to diagnose this problem?
Update
I noticed my X-axis belt was a bit loose, so I tightened it up. It seems to have helped with the odd Z slanting. My test print is still not great though, so this may not be the whole problem. Also I've never seen this effect listed as one caused by loose belts, so it's dubious as the cause. Here's the current test print after tightening the belt:
It's flatter, but I'm still getting (I think) under-extrusion and some odd wobbles at the corners. | This turned out to be a problem with the tightness of the rollers at the left and right sides of the X-axis gantry (that roll up and down the Z rails).
Z-axis motion is driven by a single stepper motor on the left side, so the rollers have to be just the right amount of tight to keep the right side in sync. If the right side is tighter or looser than the left then it lags behind, which gives the gantry a slight slant which changes as it goes up and down.
If the gantry is changing pitch throughout the print, no amount of bed leveling will help. Even auto-leveling is worthless, because the readings the BLTouch takes become immediately out of sync with the gantry as soon as it moves again.
The solution is to adjust the eccentric nuts in the rollers on the left and right. The best description I could find is that they need to be just tight enough that there's some resistance if you roll the top wheel with your finger, but loose enough that you can roll it without forcing the gantry up and down.
I ended up putting a magnetic digital level on top of the gantry rail so I could see exactly how much its incline changed. Send gcode to slide it up and down, then adjust the eccentric nuts a little bit, then repeat. Once I got it so the level didn't change, I re-leveled the bed and printed a beautiful first layer.
That was almost a year ago and it's been working ever since. I've had to re-adjust the eccentric nuts periodically when things start to get off, probably due to thermal expansion when the weather changes. |
Test print coming out spongy I acquired an Anycubic Chiron yesterday. I went through the leveling procedure and I think the level test print came out okay so I printed a 20 mm calibration cube and a benchy. Both of these came out with a sort of spongy consistency.
I have no idea what could be causing this so some advice would be appreciated.
I'm using Ultimaker Cura 4.0.0 and printing in PLA. | It turned out I had the wrong filament size set in Ultimaker Cura. Fixing this resolved the issue. |
Why do I have problems trying to get Slic3r to load a config file? I decided to fire up my 3D Printer again after a while. I have new PCs, so I had to download Slic3r fresh, so I got the latest version (1.2.9). Then I went and found my old config file. It's really old, from 2013!
And Slic3r did not load it when I told it to, and consequently, when Octoprint was telling my Printrbot LC (custom) to print my things off Thingiverse, it was not in the bed, and the x axis skipped a few nubs, as would happen when you tell it it's too far away.
I recall having to double and triple check Slic3r to make sure that it actually loaded the configuration I spent time crafting and honing. However, it's obviously been 3-4 years since I last played with this stuff, and this is a very low level feature that should have been fixed at Day 0 or 1.
I presume that I'm doing something wrong. Do I need to stand on 1 leg and hold my mouth just right? I don't even know how I could screw it up...
Update
I changed from "Simple" mode to "Advanced" mode, and the config imported fine. Though, I don't think it was my most recent config. C'est la software! | I changed from "Simple" mode to "Advanced" mode, and the config imported fine. Though, I don't think it was my most recent config. C'est la software!
Also, I switched to Cura after this. |
OpenSCAD linear_extrude from multiple path svg import In OpenSCAD, I am trying to make a linear_extrude on a shape imported from an svg. The svg file contains multiple path. I would like to scale each path separately. I have tried the following code, but the whole import is considered a single shape resulting in the image below.
linear_extrude(height = 5, center = true, scale=1.2)
import(file = "xxx.svg", center = true, dpi = 96);
How can I have each of the letters to have 'its own pyramid' ?
I know I could create one SVG per letter. But for simplicity sake I would like to have only one SVG file, as I want to create much more complex motives in the future. My final goal is to create stamps from SVG drawings.
Edit:
Alternative tried after Mick's comment (same result):
module pyramidChildren(height){
for ( i= [0:1:$children-1])
linear_extrude(height = height, scale=1.5)
children(i);
}
pyramidChildren(5)
import(file = "xxx.svg", center = true, dpi = 96);
I have tried to use the basic svg (multiple paths) and also to group each path (with only itself) without changes in the result. | Lame solution: creating stepped pyramid with offset. I realized that scale will not worked for motives with holes inside. Offset seems then more appropriate than scale for my application (creation of stamps)
It takes ages to render, but it could be enough for simple patterns. Any better solution are still welcome...
module buildPyramidalExtrude(height,maxOffset,nSlices){
heightIncrement = height/nSlices;
offsetIncrement = maxOffset/(nSlices-1);
for(i=[1:nSlices])
linear_extrude(height=i*heightIncrement)
offset(r = maxOffset-(i-1)*offsetIncrement)
children();
}
buildPyramidalExtrude(4,2.5,20)
import(file = "Farm/cow.svg", center = true); |
Does filament have to be stored in an airtight environment? For standard ABS and PLA filament, most distributors recommend storing the filament in an airtight bag. Does not doing this actually make print quality worse? I have left mine in the open for a year and have had no noticeable problems. | It makes a difference where I live, and I'm not in a particularly humid climate (California). When printing with wet filament, you'll sometimes hear it popping and see steam coming out of the extruder (it's usually only this extreme with nylon). With most other filaments, when they're wet, the extruded filament will have small bubbles in it and the surface finish of the parts will be rougher, with breaks in the layer lines. It can also lead to more oozing and stringing. Air print a few centimeters of filament and look at it closely to see if there's any bubbles, if not, it's probably dry enough. Whether the filament absorbs enough water to be noticeable in a few hours, in a day, or in a week depends a lot on the filament (and I assume the humidity too). I'm mostly noticed problems with nylon, ABS, and NinjaFlex, less with PLA and PETG (though I avoid leaving any filament out for more than a day).
If you're not seeing any difference between, then I wouldn't worry about it. Storing filament dry is a hassle. |
What causes this "stringing" and can my print recover from this? Here's what it looks like
This is the model
thingiverse linky
It looks like it couldn't print the edge, but this happened many many hours after printing the brim.
This did not happen with my 1st attempt at this print. The last print lost adhesion and I had to scrap it. This time, adhesion looks good so not sure why this happened.
Printing with Monoprice Select V2 with ABS, sliced with Cura. 100C bed / 250C extruder. 15mm/s initial layer speed. 60 mm/s print speed.
Update
It looks like the printer is starting to smooth it out like so. Still not sure if this will lead to an ok print or will fail because of this layer.
And it seems the stringing area does not have a brim underneath it. Did Cura just not calculate the brim size correctly?
Update2
Here's a few screenshots from Cura to show that the model is lying completely flat.
I let the print go on overnight and here's where I stopped it
It almost seems like the print shifted completely after printing the initial layer. Have you ever seen anything like this or is there anything in my Cura model that would make it do this? | No, your problem is not related to slicing, this is a hardware problem. Your complete print has shifted, this is called layer shift.
This could happen when the nozzle hits an obstruction while printing while the Y stepper continues. This could lead to skipping teeth on the belts, slipping of the pulley or missing steps. This results in printing over air as the print progresses. This manifests itself as stringing, but in fact is unsupported printing (in the air). In this case it is unrecoverable as the printer has lost the reference frame, it just continues to print with the new reference frame caused by the layer shift.
A Prusa MK3, or any printerboard using trinamic stepper drivers would be able to recover (if the belt and pulley are correctly attached, and steps are missed) as the skipping of steps is detected, in case of a Prusa MK3 the machine will re-home when it detects skipped steps and continue printing. See also this answer for more details.
Possible solutions are increasing the belt tension, increase the stepper torque by increasing the current through the stepper drivers or re-tighten the pulley on the stepper of the Y belt. |
Problem in 3D printing of an empty model I'm new to 3D printing. I modeled an empty bird in Blender (the stl file of model is presented). I tested the model in Blender (using 3D printing tool) and also the Netfabb software. They don't show any error. However, when I load this model in Ultimaker Cura for printing, as shown in the last image, the result is only a cylinder shape bird. I have seen many 3D printed empty models on internet. Why can't my model be printed correctly?
the download link of the model | You have modeled your bird. So far so good, but you likely only modeled a single surface and not a closed surface body. The crucial step was forgotten, as your pictures 1 and 2 show: you have designed a single surface for most of the object, not a body. To turn the bird into a printable object needs it not to be a single surface but a surface enclosing a volume that has some thickness.
At the moment, it looks like this: 640 vertices, NO enclosed space.
To achieve an even thickness object in blender:
A to choose the whole model
E for extrude Region
Z Z to constrain movement to Z axis
type in the wanted thickness
remember, that the grid in Blender is usually in cm, while slicing programs reference in mm!
close the edges by creating faces there (chose 3 and F)
A to grab everything
W then R to remove doubles, increase the merging distance to 0.05 (it takes away hundreds of superfluous, slightly shifted vertices!)
CTRL+N to recalculate normals
Make sure to check the slicer, because we have some strays, visible in red... where are those? They are faces hidden in the body!
Hide the underside (Select nothing, allow viewing through the object, 3 > B > draw a box around the lowest layer > H)
If you have the normals visible, you'll see the iffy areas now. Fix them by removing the superfluous faces and flipping those that are not superfuous but just inside out (W>F). One example area I highlight in the next picture
In the end, it should look like this in cura:
Make sure to check layer view and possibly thicken some areas manually - or make a box-part for the top, so you can ensure printability. As you'll see, at some scales, some walls are too thin due to how we extruded along Z only.
Alternate ways
As noted in the comments, instead of the Z-Extrude, a model with very vertical walls could benefit from using the solidify modifier. You will have to add it via object mode, modifiers and then choosing solidify and setting a positive thickness. To properly convert the visible modifier into an actual change of the model for the export, you will have to Apply the modifier.
Afterwards, go back to hunting stray internal surfaces and flipped faces. |
How to configure Marlin to enable auto-fans with dual extruder I have successfully assembled my custom-built 3D printer and configured Marlin for two extruders and one heated bed. Here is a picture of the printer.
My heated bed runs on a linear axis with ball bearings. When the printer has been running for an hour or so these parts get really hot and I am afraid that the plastic parts will melt if I print any longer or with higher temperatures. So I decided to add fans below the heated bed to keep them cool.
A known problem when using two extruders and a heated bed is, that all three power outputs D8, D9, D10 are in use (in my setup D8 belongs to the first extruder, D9 to the bed, and D10 to the second extruder). If you want to have software-controlled fans on top of that, you need to use a workaround. I bought the RRD fan extender which does exactly what I need. You plug it into the RAMPS 1.4 board and get two new outputs D6 and D11.
Currently I have configured the firmware as follows:
#define E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN 11
#define E1_AUTO_FAN_PIN 6
This automatically enables the fan of the left extruder E0 when its hotend exceeds 50 °C. The same goes for the right extruder E1. The fans are plugged into the fan extender's outputs D6 and D11. It all works fine.
Now to add fans to the heated bed, I have modified the firmware so that D11 controls both extruder fans. As long as at least one extruder is hot, both fans are running. For that purpose, I connected both extruder fans in parallel to D11 and modified the firmware as follows:
#define E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN 11
#define E1_AUTO_FAN_PIN 11
That part works fine and was quite easy to achieve. What I would like to do next is connect the other pin, D6, to the temperature sensor of the heated bed, so that the fans underneath the bed become active when the bed is at 50 °C or more.
I made several attempts to trick the firmware into believing that there are three hotends, registering the heated bed as E2.
#define E2_AUTO_FAN_PIN 6
I manually defined the temperature sensor of the bed for E2 and commented out some sanity checks and conditionals to enable some parts of the firmware that control the auto-fans. While I get the code to compile, the printer usually halts immediately after it is turned on or as soon as an extruder or the bed is activated. The error messages are not very helpful ("killed, please restart" etc).
Does anybody know a good way how to achieve my goal? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. | After trying many different things, I found out that the solution is really simple and requires only a few lines of code. I'll answer my own question in the hope that this will help someone.
First, I defined a few constants (macros actually). To keep my own stuff separate, I created a new file for them called myconfig.h:
#define MY_BED_TEMP_THRESHOLD 50
#define MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN 6
#define MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_SPEED 255
The pin constant corresponds to D6 which is the green marked output of the RRD Fan Extender where I connected the fans under my bed.
Second, in the file temperature.cpp of the Marlin Firmware, I included my file and added four lines of code:
#include "myconfig.h"
...
#if HAS_AUTO_FAN
void Temperature::checkExtruderAutoFans() {
...
HOTEND_LOOP() {
if (current_temperature[e] > EXTRUDER_AUTO_FAN_TEMPERATURE)
SBI(fanState, fanBit[e]);
}
// --- start of my code ----------
if (current_temperature_bed > MY_BED_TEMP_THRESHOLD)
digitalWrite(MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN, MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_SPEED);
else
digitalWrite(MY_BED_AUTO_FAN_PIN, 0);
// --- end of my code ------------
...
#endif // HAS_AUTO_FAN
...
Now my fans are automatically turned on while the bed temperature is higher than 50 °C and are turned off again after the bed has cooled down far enough. |
What causes this characteristic pattern and what is it called? I am using a Qidi Tech 1 (Flashforge Creator Pro). There is no auto bed leveling and I have done my best to tweak it by hand using the screws underneath the heated bed plate.
What is causing this characteristic pattern? This while printing the first layer of some test pattern. I don't know what the end result is supposed to look like. | These "stretch marks" are typically the result of a nozzle that is a little too close to the build surface. Next time levelling be sure to use a thicker piece of paper or allow for less drag when moving the the paper between nozzle and bed. |
Prusa XI3 Extruder Calibration I have done the calibration for the x, y, and z axis and everything works fine there. However when I went to do the calibration for extruder things got a little weird. The original number programmed on the board for the step per mm was 98 When I did my first measurements I used 120mm as the mark on the filament then extruded 100mm then remeasured the mark it was 37.66. Then by using the new_e_steps = old_e_steps * (100/(120-distance). I would use the new number and upload it to the printer which was 119.0187. After that I took another measurement, the new measurement was 61.27mm after marking 120mm then extruding 100mm of filament. Using the formula it came out to be 202.6540. Then the new measurement was some where around 80 some MM. It seams that the more I do the calibration the less accurate it gets. What am I doing wrong here?Triffid Hunters Calibration is the guide I have been using and this link is to the specifications to the printer HE3D Prusa XI3. | It is really strange that although you increased the steps per mm, the amount extruded was less. I can think of two possible explanations:
You are extruding too quickly, at a rate at which the extruder can't keep up melting the filament fast enough, causing the filament to slip or the extruder to miss steps: try lowering the feedrate (a feedrate like 100mm/min is typical for 1.75mm filament) and make sure that the temperature is appropriate to your filament.
You are in absolute coordinate mode, and when you try to extrude 100mm it actually extrudes a different amount (based on the previous "position" of the extruder). Enter relative coordinate mode using G91. |
MakerBot replicator 2x glitches I have access to a MakerBot Replicator 2X which I use to try to print ABS + dissoluble (both are MakerBot's original filaments). It is really a pain and the filaments most often gets clogged (80% of the prints have to be thrown away). I a supposed to use the printer in a professional context, but at the moment it is really problematic and I feel pressure going up...
I have initially tried the default parameters provided by the machine for known filaments (ABS: 230°C / dissoluble: 250°C / plate: 110°C + 0.1mm layers). As the nozzle got clogged I have made many other attempts with varying parameters and up to (250°C / 270°C / 135°C), which slightly improves things but is far from being really usable.
Any idea of where this comes from?
- ABS being notoriously difficult to print?
- The Replicator 2x being old tech?
- A parameters problem?
Any advice on what I should do to improve the situation? | I don't have a profile that has settings for the dissolvable filament anymore, but this is one I use for thin layers (second extruder at 232C my first extruder isn't working so just ignore that one).
You may want to try printing small simple objects with each extruder independently first to confirm that you have good settings, then try both together after you know you have good settings. ABS is a pain but mostly for warping and sticking to the build plate. The dissolvable filament I believe is PLA if you're using Makerbot materials.
{
"_attached_extruders" : [ "mk8", "mk8" ],
"_bot" : "replicator2x",
"_extruders" : [ 0 ],
"_materials" : [ "abs", "abs" ],
"adjacentFillLeakyConnections" : false,
"adjacentFillLeakyDistanceRatio" : 0,
"anchorExtrusionAmount" : 5.0,
"anchorExtrusionSpeed" : 2.0,
"anchorWidth" : 2.0,
"backlashEpsilon" : 0.050,
"backlashFeedback" : 0.90,
"backlashX" : 0.0,
"backlashY" : 0.090,
"bedZOffset" : 0.0,
"bridgeAnchorMinimumLength" : 0.80,
"bridgeAnchorWidth" : 0.80,
"bridgeMaximumLength" : 80.0,
"bridgeSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
"coarseness" : 9.999999747378752e-005,
"commentClose" : "",
"commentOpen" : ";",
"computeVolumeLike2_1_0" : false,
"defaultExtruder" : 0,
"defaultRaftMaterial" : 0,
"defaultSupportMaterial" : 0,
"description" : "External Definition",
"doAnchor" : true,
"doBacklashCompensation" : false,
"doBreakawaySupport" : true,
"doBridging" : true,
"doDynamicSpeed" : false,
"doDynamicSpeedGradually" : true,
"doDynamicSpeedInteriorShells" : false,
"doDynamicSpeedOutermostShell" : true,
"doExponentialDeceleration" : false,
"doExternalSpurs" : true,
"doFixedLayerStart" : false,
"doFixedShellStart" : true,
"doInfills" : true,
"doInsets" : true,
"doInternalSpurs" : false,
"doMixedRaft" : false,
"doMixedSupport" : false,
"doOutlines" : true,
"doPrintLayerMessages" : false,
"doPrintProgress" : true,
"doPurgeWall" : false,
"doRaft" : true,
"doSplitLongMoves" : true,
"doSupport" : true,
"doSupportUnderBridges" : false,
"endGcode" : "",
"exponentialDecelerationMinSpeed" : 0.0,
"extruderProfiles" : [
{
"bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
"feedDiameter" : 1.820000052452087,
"feedstockMultiplier" : 0.9300000000000001,
"firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
"firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
"floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
"infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
"insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
"layerHeight" : 0.20,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.20,
"nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
"outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
"raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
"raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
"restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
"restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
"restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
"restartExtraRate2" : -1,
"restartRate" : 25.0,
"restartRate2" : 25,
"retractDistance" : 1.700000047683716,
"retractDistance2" : 0,
"retractRate" : 25.0,
"retractRate2" : 50,
"roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
"sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
"toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
"toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
"toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
"toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
},
{
"bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
"feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
"feedstockMultiplier" : 0.9300000000000001,
"firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
"firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
"floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
"infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
"insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
"layerHeight" : 0.20,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.20,
"nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
"outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
"raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
"raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
"restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
"restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
"restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
"restartExtraRate2" : -1,
"restartRate" : 25.0,
"restartRate2" : 25,
"retractDistance" : 1.399999976158142,
"retractDistance2" : 0,
"retractRate" : 25.0,
"retractRate2" : 50,
"roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
"sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
"toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
"toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
"toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
"toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
}
],
"extruderTemp0" : 228,
"extruderTemp1" : 232,
"extrusionProfiles" : {
"bridges" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"firstLayer" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"firstLayerRaft" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 50.0
},
"floorSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"infill" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"insets" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 40.0
},
"outlines" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"raft" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
},
"raftBase" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 10.0
},
"roofSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
},
"sparseRoofSurfaceFills" : {
"fanSpeed" : 0.50,
"feedrate" : 90.0
}
},
"fixedLayerStartX" : 0.0,
"fixedLayerStartY" : 0.0,
"fixedShellStartDirection" : 215.0,
"floorSolidThickness" : 0,
"floorSurfaceThickness" : 0,
"floorThickness" : 1.0,
"gridSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
"infillDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
"infillOrientationInterval" : 90,
"infillOrientationOffset" : 0,
"infillOrientationRange" : 90,
"infillShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.70,
"insetDistanceMultiplier" : 1.0,
"jsonToolpathOutput" : false,
"layerHeight" : 0.1199999973177910,
"leakyConnectionsAdjacentDistance" : 0.0,
"maxConnectionLength" : 10.0,
"maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.1000000014901161,
"maxSpurWidth" : 0.50,
"minLayerDuration" : 5.0,
"minLayerHeight" : 0.010,
"minRaftBaseGap" : 0.0,
"minSpeedMultiplier" : 0.30,
"minSpurLength" : 0.40,
"minSpurWidth" : 0.120,
"minThickInfillImprovement" : 1.0,
"modelFillProfiles" : {},
"numberOfShells" : 2,
"platformTemp" : 110,
"purgeBucketSide" : 4.0,
"purgeWallBaseFilamentWidth" : 2.0,
"purgeWallBasePatternLength" : 10.0,
"purgeWallBasePatternWidth" : 8.0,
"purgeWallModelOffset" : 2.0,
"purgeWallPatternWidth" : 2.0,
"purgeWallSpacing" : 1.0,
"purgeWallWidth" : 0.50,
"purgeWallXLength" : 30.0,
"raftAligned" : true,
"raftBaseAngle" : 0.0,
"raftBaseDensity" : 0.6999999880790710,
"raftBaseLayers" : 1,
"raftBaseRunGapRatio" : 0.8000000119209290,
"raftBaseRunLength" : 15.0,
"raftBaseThickness" : 0.3000000119209290,
"raftBaseWidth" : 2.50,
"raftExtraOffset" : 0.0,
"raftFillProfiles" : {},
"raftInterfaceAngle" : 45.0,
"raftInterfaceDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
"raftInterfaceLayers" : 1,
"raftInterfaceThickness" : 0.2700000107288361,
"raftInterfaceWidth" : 0.4000000059604645,
"raftModelSpacing" : 0.3499999940395355,
"raftOutset" : 4.0,
"raftSurfaceAngle" : 0.0,
"raftSurfaceLayers" : 3,
"raftSurfaceShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.6999999880790710,
"raftSurfaceShells" : 2,
"raftSurfaceThickness" : 0.1400000005960465,
"roofAnchorMargin" : 0.40,
"roofSolidThickness" : 0,
"roofSurfaceThickness" : 0,
"roofThickness" : 1.0,
"shellsLeakyConnections" : false,
"solidFillOrientationInterval" : 90,
"solidFillOrientationOffset" : -45,
"solidFillOrientationRange" : 90,
"sparseInfillPattern" : "hexagonal",
"splitMinimumDistance" : 0.40,
"spurOverlap" : 0.0010,
"startGcode" : "",
"startPosition" : {
"x" : -112,
"y" : -73.0,
"z" : 0
},
"supportAligned" : false,
"supportAngle" : 30.0,
"supportDensity" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportExcessive" : false,
"supportExtraDistance" : 0.50,
"supportFillProfiles" : {},
"supportLayerHeight" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportLeakyConnections" : false,
"supportModelSpacing" : 0.2000000029802322,
"supportRoofModelSpacing" : 0.4000000059604645,
"thickLayerThreshold" : 0,
"thickLayerVolumeMultiplier" : 1,
"travelSpeedXY" : 150.0,
"travelSpeedZ" : 23.0,
"version" : "3.9.4"
} |
Where to find z coordinate in G-code for delta printer I´m currently writing my own firmware for a custom delta printer. Therefore I also need to read G-code from programs like Slic3r. Even with an small example like an cube I´m struggling to find out where the z-coordinate is hidden in the code. Here is a small example of the code.
; generated by Slic3r 1.2.9 on 2017-02-13 at 15:08:01
; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.50mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.58mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.58mm
M107
M104 S205 ; set temperature
G28 ; home all axes
G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
M109 S205 ; wait for temperature to be reached
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M82 ; use absolute distances for extrusion
G92 E0
G1 Z0.500 F7800.000
G1 E-2.00000 F2400.00000
G92 E0
G1 X-31.893 Y0.000 F7800.000
G1 E2.00000 F2400.00000
G1 X-31.893 Y-25.001 E3.57871 F1800.000
G1 X-31.496 Y-27.307 E3.72646
G1 X-30.350 Y-29.347 E3.87420
G1 X-28.588 Y-30.886 E4.02194
G1 X-26.413 Y-31.748 E4.16968
G1 X-25.000 Y-31.894 E4.25936
G1 X25.000 Y-31.894 E7.41663
G1 X27.306 Y-31.497 E7.56437
G1 X29.346 Y-30.351 E7.71211 F1800.000
G1 X30.885 Y-28.589 E7.85985
G1 X31.746 Y-26.414 E8.00759
G1 X31.893 Y-25.001 E8.09727
G1 X31.893 Y25.001 E11.25470
G1 X31.496 Y27.307 E11.40244
G1 X30.350 Y29.347 E11.55019
G1 X28.588 Y30.886 E11.69793
G1 X26.413 Y31.748 E11.84567
G1 X25.000 Y31.894 E11.93535
G1 X-25.000 Y31.894 E15.09262
G1 X-27.306 Y31.497 E15.24036
G1 X-29.346 Y30.351 E15.38810
G1 X-30.885 Y28.589 E15.53584
G1 X-31.746 Y26.414 E15.68358
G1 X-31.893 Y25.001 E15.77326
G1 X-31.893 Y0.075 E17.34724
G1 E15.34724 F2400.00000
G92 E0
G1 X-22.715 Y-22.716 F7800.000
G1 E2.00000 F2400.00000
G1 X22.715 Y-22.716 E4.86865 F1800.000
G1 X22.715 Y22.716 E7.73745
G1 X-22.715 Y22.716 E10.60609
G1 X-22.715 Y-22.641 E13.47016
G1 X-23.607 Y-23.609 F7800.000
G1 X23.607 Y-23.609 E16.45155 F1800.000
G1 X23.607 Y23.608 E19.43309
G1 X-23.607 Y23.608 E22.41447
G1 X-23.607 Y-23.534 E25.39128
G1 X-24.500 Y-24.501 F7800.000
G1 X24.500 Y-24.501 E28.48541 F1800.000
G1 X24.500 Y24.501 E31.57969
G1 X-24.500 Y24.501 E34.67382
G1 X-24.500 Y-24.426 E37.76336
Here some configuration details:
G-code flavor: RepRap
Nozzle diameter: 0,5mm
filament
diameter: 3mm
general:
layer height: 0,4 mm
perimeters: 3
solid layers top:3 bottom :3
Here is the full G-code | It isn't hidden at all. It's just that the Z-axis position only changes with each layer change, so the Z coordinate is only passed at layer change. On line 17 of your example G-code, it starts the first layer at Z=0.5mm:
G1 Z0.500 F7800.000
The next time you should expect Z to appear is on the next layer. |
Layer 1 won't adhere anymore I have a new Tevo Tornado, which I have completed two good prints with, a 20x20 test cube from the supplied SD and the spool holder also from the SD. I say this to note that the printer was capable of producing a good print.
Print 3 was a design I created in Fusion and it printed badly, very disappointing holes missing. Stringing gaps between material just rubbish. I downloaded a simple print from Thingiverse just to see if it was my poor design skills or the printer and that came out just as poorly: lots of strings between details. Both of these were sliced in Cura. As that doesn't have a tornado driver, I downloaded one from the support group and the prints have not even started properly, see pictures for example.
I might be going down rabbit holes here but this is what I have found and tried:
1 relieved bed - done to ridiculous degree of accuracy, cold gross levelling then bed and nozzle at PLA working temp using feeler gauges. I have done 0.1 mm, 0.15 mm, 0.2 mm
Now I have added to the suspicion the z axis coupler see images below:
YouTube videos, that I have seen, show couplers that are not a spring - any thoughts? I would certainly appreciate the time anyone has to impart their knowledge.
EDIT 1: (Additional information posted as comment, now moved to question)
The print bed is brand new from Tevo the unit has only done a few prints most aborted, and I also thought perhaps a residue from the feeler gauges had contaminated the bed, but I have cleaned it with alcohol wipes and also tried putting prints on to unused parts of the bed. You are right the g-code from the test print was from an unknown slicer, no doubt tuned by the manufacturer the part I designed in Fusion was sliced by cura. I have since tried the original test piece and it fouls the extruder nozzle almost straight away.
The main differences and there are not many between the set up parts, are that the Cura code does a G92 E0 G1 F1500 E-3.5 before starting layer 0 (both set z0,3). The test piece just does a G92 E0 G1 F7200 the feed rates are different the cura print sets M204 S500 and the test sample sets no acceleration. I assume there is a default in the Marlin firmware.. there is no doubt some globs of PLA stick like in dots between the strings, but the extrusion between direction changes do not kind of like join the dots where dots stick and joins don't.
I am going to change the coupler because, well, I don't know what else to do. Replacing it with a better one can't help. Other things I have thought about - PLA temps - I have gone up the whole range according to the manufacturers bandwidth in 5 degree increments no difference I have also done some bed changes but neither hotter nor colder (it's 30°C and humid at the moment, so maybe a materials property issue, but then again no difference in conditions between a successful first test and all the messes). I am storing the PLA in a gel bead box to reduce humidity. still basically stumped!
EDIT 2: (Additional information posted as comment, now moved to question)
Thanks for your observation, it's a new bed and I clean down with alcohol wipes ( isopropyl) I don't think I have ever put a finger on the bed - very aware of that. While I don't know what I am talking about on the one hand I am semi convinced it is not the bed, anyway I am going to get a glass bed in part to deal with the protruding screw head issue. | The "springs" connected to the stepper motors aren't a problem. They are special shaft couplers which allow some relief if the motor mounts are not strictly perpendicular to the lead screws. They are very rotationally stiff and allow just a little bit of misalignment between the shafts.
The first two prints were from the SD card. You didn't talk about slicing from an STL file, so it is possible that they were pre-sliced for this machine. Every G-code file has introductory code that initializes some aspects of the operation. Check the "preamble" code at the front of the files you have sliced. Are there commands that look different? Is the Z parameter for the first layer different from the pre-sliced files? Are there G-codes missing from the files you sliced?
If you are trying to understand what the G-codes do, this resource may be helpful. Some possible commands could be commands to limit acceleration, jerk, speed, or introduce offsets. Also check that the temperatures are being set correctly in the G-code you generated.
If you had sliced the files on the SD card, then double check that the parameters were the same. Try re-slicing the object and comparing the G-code that is generated. |
What pins do I use for UART control on a RUMBA board for tmc2208? I have been looking in the Marlin firmware for about an hour or two now to find what pins I should use for UART for my tmc2208 drivers and I have come up with nothing.
Does anyone know what they are or how to assign them? BTW, I am using the regular version of the RUMBA board not the RUMBA+ version.
For somereason i didn't put that i want to control my stepper motor drivers through uart they are tmc2208 | The RUMBA schematic is available on the RUMBA wiki.
From the schematic, I see that UART3 (with +5V logic levels, not RS232) is presented on the EXP3 connector. I don't know if Marlin firmware can be controlled through a UART other than UART0, which is converted to USB through an FDDI chip. The Arduino bootloader is not expecting another UART, so you may still need to program it through the USB port (and UART0). |
ANet A8 running Marlin v1.1.9 Auto Bedlevel with ROKO SN04-N I'm trying to get the ROKO (SN04-N) sensor to work with my Anet A8. First of all, while trying to screw it to the extruder, I tightened it too much and sort of broke the acrylic plate... sort of. I had to use a very thin steel plate with two holes to enforce the acrylic plate. It still works.
Now, I followed instructions in this video. (Please note that the video is not in English.) After the first "Auto Home" operation, the guy draws on the bed and then measures. My measurements are slightly different.
At the 19-minute mark, the guy is hard-coding the values but I don’t understand how he calculated them? My measured offsets are: X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 16 and Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 58. In his video, his calculations were 18 mm for the X offset and 57 mm for the Y offset. Either way, I’m not able to compile the code as a sanity check fails:
`static_assert(FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION >= MIN_PROBE_Y, "FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION is outside the probe region.");`
Here are the sensor limitation values from the configuration file:
// Set the boundaries for probing (where the probe can reach).
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 20 //MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 200 //(X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 47 //MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 200 //(Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
What am I doing wrong?
Note that I'm using Marlin Firmware v1.1.9 | Too bad you broke the acrylic plate (nice temporary fix though), but you can easily print a replacement part once your machine is up and running.
Probe positioning is defined in the Marlin configuration as:
* +-- BACK ---+
* | |
* L | (+) P | R -- probe (20,20)
* E | | I
* F | (-) N (+) | G -- nozzle (10,10)
* T | | H
* | (-) | T
* | |
* O-- FRONT --+
* (0,0)
This implies that your sensor is located on the back-right when facing the machine and need to have the following constants set:
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 16 // X offset: -left +right [of the nozzle]
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 58 // Y offset: -front +behind [the nozzle]
#define Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 // Z offset: -below +above [the nozzle]
In order to calculate the correct limits of travel for the sensor, you need to subtract the offset values from the bed size at the max limits.
An additional offset may be required for some sensors, so please add an additional offset in the configuration by defining:
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE 10
As the sensor is off-center with respect to your nozzle, one can only assume that you have no extra space to move the whole printhead and therefore need to confine the head within the limits of the max/min bed size (there should be some extra space, this can be seen from the offsets for the origin as in values for X_MIN_POS and Y_MIN_POS, but for the sake of simplicity these will not be taken into account).
Basically, your positive Y and positive X offset result in the following schematic.
Or, if you include the #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE [value]
Bed limits for the sensor then will need to be calculated based on the values of your offset of the sensor. E.g. when your nozzle is at (X=0, Y-0), or (0, 0), your sensor is at (16, 58). If you don't want to move the head further left and forward (to respect to origin as limit!), this is the minimum position of the sensor. When the sensor is at the back-right position of (220, 220), the actual head is at (220-16=204, 220-58=162).
This means that the limits for the sensor without a minimum offset are (16, 58) and (220, 220):
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
would translate with a MIN_PROBE_EDGE = 0 to:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 16
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 220
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 58
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 220
and would translate with a MIN_PROBE_EDGE = 10 to:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 26
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 210
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 68
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 210
The assertion in code: FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION >= MIN_PROBE_Y would now translate to (58 >= 58) (or 68 >= 58), in your case it was (47 >= 58) which clearly is not true.
Please look into this answer, this answer or this answer for more information. |
How to prevent bend (or warping) with M3D printer? Hello is there a way to prevent bend on print with M3D printer? | You can to print a brim, a thin layer on the bottom connected to the model. This will help hold it in place. Since it is thin (one or two layers) it will not warp itself.
The brim is not the same thing as a raft. A raft is under the model. The brim is on the same layer as the models bottom layer but outside the model. It looks something like this:
I assume that you use a heated bed if you have one?
Also, it is imperative that you get a good first layer. Calibrate your machine carefully. |
What is the thermal conductivity of various 3D printing filaments? Thermal conductivity is how well a plastic conducts heat. Most plastics don't conduct heat very well at all, which is what allows them to be 3D printed. That being said, there are a lot of potential use cases for highly thermally conductive filament, assuming you could print them. A commonly discussed one is computer heatsinks. Similar heatsinks could also be used for stepper motors and extruders in 3d printing.
To get a good picture which plastics are useful in such an application (like mentioned in question: "Water-cooling stepper motor with aluminum block"), I need to know what is the thermal conductivity of the commonly used thermoplastics. | All values are in W/(m*K).
PLA: 0.13
HIPS: 0.20
ABS: 0.25
PETG: 0.29
PEEK: 0.25
PLA with copper: 0.25 (see discussion)
PETG with 40% graphite: 1.70 (ansiotropic)
TCPoly: 15
Steel (not a 3dprintable plastic): 10 - 50 |
I am using a stereo 3D pen. What surface should I use? Using a 3D pen I printed a small box. However, I was doing it on plain paper and of course the paper didn't come off the plastic very well. It didn't matter for that specific case, but if I want to print something else, which non-sticky surface would you recommend? Is there any way to use transparent surface (so that I can put a paper with picture as a guide under it)? | You could use a piece of glass, that's what most people using 3D printers have as a build surface. An easy source of glass for pen use would be a picture frame but the edges are likely sharp so be careful. Acrylic would also work and is easily obtained in small pieces from places like Lowes/Home Depot, I used Acrylic for some time on my Kossel. The plastic can stick to Acrylic very well but I had no issues using it with my printer, just test it out and see what process works if you go that route. |
Hot end considerations for 300+ °C and greater than 1 mm nozzle size for polycarbonate I need help with finding what properties or designs I need to look for. I know that I will need these characteristics to work with the material of my choice:
Can reach 300 °C or up
Can handle nozzle size larger than 1 mm
Can be used with polycarbonate filament
I plan to use it in a custom RAMPS 1.4 3D printer running the Marlin firmware, in case this changes something. | Handling a 1mm nozzle implies a desire to reduce the overall print time (otherwise why use a large nozzle), so you will need to consider not only the maximum operating temperature but also the rate at which plastic can be melted. (See also this question and one on overheating to compensate)
Using 1.75mm filament is a good start, this has a better surface area to volume ratio, but you're likely to see issues with both the heater cartridge power (so a 40W heater is probably going to help), but also the size of the melt zone and the thermal mass of the heater block.
As you need to push a reasonably large amount of heat from the cartridge to the filament, it is important to minimise the thermal resistance - so using a steel nozzle would be a disadvantage here (but since polycarbonate is abrasive, you will need to consider wear resistance as part of your trade-offs). You can get longer nozzles and larger heat blocks designed to work better in high flow applications.
Also remember that your extruder needs to work 6 times faster to achieve the same linear speed compared to a 0.4mm nozzle (with at least as much pressure), so this also might need to be upgraded (or driven a little harder).
If you can however tolerate a somewhat slower print speed, you might not need to reach 300°C to print PC. |
1st layer problems with .1 layer height I re-read my question and realized I made a confusing one, so I am rewording a LOT.
So the software I use is Craftware. When it comes to the first layer I have it set to .25mm, with the following layers being whatever I specify otherwise. And because of this there shouldn't be a difference with the first layer even though I choose different layer heights based on the project. But for some reason it is not the case.
When printing .2mm layer height everything works great. The print adheres amazing, the nozzle is at a really good height. Everything simply works.
When printing .1mm the first layer does not stick. A lot less plastic is coming out the nozzle. And it is a disaster. Have tried increasing the amount of flow a bit, but didn't help (I might need to raise it a lot more)
So I don't understand what is going wrong. The first layer is supposed to be set at .25mm no matter what the layer height is otherwise. What do I need to do or look at? | You likely need to re-calibrate the Z-height of your nozzle. The reason that a lot less plastic is coming out of the nozzle at 0.1mm is that the actual gap is likely smaller than 0.1mm. This makes the print bed act essentially like a partial "lid" on the nozzle which occludes the outflow of molten plastic.
Simplify3D has information on their website regarding the issue which can be found here: https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/#not-extruding-at-start-of-print. Hope this helps! |
Is it possible to print a resonator for a musical instrument? I play a berimbau for Capoeira. One of the most fragile (and most expensive) bits is the cabaça, a hollow gourd used as a resonator.
I'm not very familiar with the qualities of the resin used for 3d printing. If I were to take this to our local Maker Lab and have them scan and print a copy, how likely is it that it would work? My fear is that the plastic would be too sound deadening.
If you want a less exotic parallel, imagine the body of a guitar. That's a resonating chamber. | I can't answer this from a technical 3D printing angle. But, from a musical angle:
Where the body of an instrument has the primary function of enclosing a vibrating air column, the material has often been demonstrated to perhaps make a difference, but only a subtle one. As an example, a recent range of plastic trombones, although not first-class instruments, have proved extremely playable (and have the great advantage of being virtually indestructable).
I suggest you try this. Play your instrument, dampening vibration of the cabaça with your hand or with a piece of cloth. Just damp the shell externally. Don't obstruct the hole or put anything inside. Now, fill the cabaça with cotton wool or similar. If the first makes little difference, you're probably good to go with a plastic cabaça. Of course, if the second makes little difference either, we might have to suspect that the cabaça is mainly decorative!
You could also experiment with alternative resonators of a similar size and capacity, available 'off the shelf', not worrying too much about a cosmetic match. They might sound even better! |
How to start cycle by using push button Can any one help me out that how to start a cycle by just using a push button.
Note: Using Marlin firmware, Arduino Mega, Ramps 1.4
I haven't tried altering the Marlin code (as I am new to coding), I was just thinking of adopting this feature as it will be very easy for CNC DIY maker using Marlin code to run a cycle in a loop. | Unless you know the structure of the Marlin firmware pretty well, are good at coding (in C/C++), and are familiar with programming microcontrollers, then I wouldn't attempt to do this, IMHO. Adding new features can cause a number of issues elsewhere in the code and need rigourous planning and testing as well as discussion with the Marlin community.
You could however make a request (i.e. raise an issue) to the Marlin community on Github, however, I would seriously suggest posting to the Marlin forum, on RepRap, first, as random suggestions and issues raised on Github aren't really appreciated, without checking on the forum first...
If you really want to get into coding, then I would suggest buying an Arduino Uno and some components and messing about with those first, as well as visiting our excellent Arduino Q&A site on StackExchange as well as the Arduino forums. |
Laser LA03-5000 wiring to RAMPS 1.4 I'm totally lost. I have been searching about two days how to correctly wire Blue Laser LA03-5000 to RAMPS 1.4 board.
This laser has 12 V input and separates PWM/TTL wires. I have found out how to control laser with no PWM (just hook it to D9 same as a fan), but how do I correctly wire this type of laser? I really want to wire it correctly for safety reasons. | Please look into this question, this is a very similar question and also involves PWM and a RAMPS 1.4 shield.
In your case you connect the top red wire on the right bottom connector to the D4 pin and adjust the firmware accordingly as described in this answer.
The bottom 2 wires of the lower right connector should be connected to ground and 12 V (resp. black and red). |
How to generate a STL from a rotational solid of two equations? I have a solid of revolution defined by two equations, and I want to generate a STL file for printing from the difference of the two equations, revolved around x=0. I can get a good visualization when I query this on Wolfram Alpha, but I cannot figure out how to download an STL of this. I know there is a way to do this via Wolfram's Development Program but I'm not sure how or if that is the best way to do this. Solutions do not have to involve WA. | The Wolfram Alpha "Data Download" feature supports STL format, but is only enabled with a Pro Account.
When I click your link to Wolfram, I see the visualization of your equations at the bottom of the page; when I hover over the image, several buttons show below it. One of them is "Data", with a download icon. This gives a number of download options. The File Format drop down includes "STL". |
Bed wobbling on Ender 3 I have an Ender 3 3d printer. It has a bed that wobbles because it came with only 1 bed support beam.
Every model I print, I must print vertically, because the closer it gets to the edges of the build plate, the less adhesion it has.
Is there anything I can to to fix this problem? | If the V roller wheels aren't tight on the Y axis beam, it means the eccentric nuts are not adjusted correctly. Two of the rollers are mounted centered on the holes in the carriage frame, but the other two are on eccentric nuts which displace them from center slightly depending on the orientation the nut is turned to, to allow tightening and loosening of the grip on the beam. Since the Y axis ones are hard to see under the bed, look at the X or Z ones to get an idea what to expect.
Note that the bolt through the whole roller assembly can loosen when adjusting the eccentric nut. You can probably avoid this by figuring out the right direction to turn it and only going that direction (continuing around just under 360 degrees if you go too far). If you do loosen the bolt then the eccentric nut will move on its own under vibration, so you need to re-tighten it. For the Y axis this might require taking off the bed or taking the carriage off the beam (by removing the belt and tensioner). |
Ender 3 nozzle homes off the bed in the Y axis I just received my new Creality Ender 3. I was going through and checking/adjusting everything for alignment, and I noticed that when you "auto home" the print head, the nozzle stops off the front of the print bed by 5-10 mm.
Is that normal?
Is it perhaps by design to allow purging the nozzle without dumping on the bed?
It doesn't appear that there is any way to adjust the Y stop switch without making modifications to it. It also didn't look like there was any easy way to move the bed either. | Yes, this is the "intended" behavior, as the home in relation to the physical limit position is not placed correctly about 7.5 mm into the bed in both X and Y.
to correct this, please look at the Recalibrating Home-position for the Ender3 |
Prusa i3 Z axis not moving up I just got a Hictop Prusa i3 printer and I have it fully assembled. When I tested out the motors to check them the Z-axis motors were not moving and it was making a grinding sound. I have lifted the screw rods out of the coupling to see if the motor would move the coupling would move and it did. I can move the screw rods manually and it works. How can I make the Z-axis work?
Thank you in Advance!
Edit
Here is the vidoe of the problem https://www.dropbox.com/s/93g0pg0qfhq965d/IMG_0369.MOV?dl=0 | Welcome to the group! A video would help. Or at least some photos.
Are both the motors connected? If you remove them from the coupling do they move? Likely it is binding (too much friction, not level etc) or you need to adjust your voltage controller. I am going to say 80% confident you need to play with the voltage.
Chances are it's just the voltage. I do not know what electronics you have but if they are RAMPS 1.4 then you are looking for these
Also here is the wiki on the 1.4. Just turn the screw gently. One direction will give it more power. The other less. When it has too much power your motors will start making a thud noise.
EDIT post adding the video
Oh yeah that is binding. If you wouldn't mind putting the video on youtube to that the video can help people for years to come? Dropbox is a bit volitle.
I would also in addition to my advice in your other question take a bubble leveler to all the rods. It could be a distortion on your camera but it looks like the rod is a bit bent. Also in my Prusa (original) I used to have to make the motor mounts lose, as it did not fit all that well and had binding issues. Try making the screws loose enough so that they float and can move around a lot. The lead screws are less important to the overall stability. |
Why am I not seeing an effect from an M42 command on Marlin? I'm trying to use one of the RAMPS GPIOs to control an external device that requires a 5V low-current logic level signal from Marlin. In order to do this programmatically, my host software (Octoprint) is sending an M42 command. I am using the following syntax:
M42 P4 S255
according to the pinout in the following image:
However, the pin appears to not be driven to a logic HIGH level. Is there firmware-level configuration I need to do as well, or is my syntax/pin number incorrect? | I looked at the current Marlin code and the P24 command should work as you expect it unless the pin you are trying to use in listed as the "SENSITIVE_PINS" list:
#define SENSITIVE_PINS { 0, 1, \
X_STEP_PIN, X_DIR_PIN, X_ENABLE_PIN, X_MIN_PIN, X_MAX_PIN, \
Y_STEP_PIN, Y_DIR_PIN, Y_ENABLE_PIN, Y_MIN_PIN, Y_MAX_PIN, \
Z_STEP_PIN, Z_DIR_PIN, Z_ENABLE_PIN, Z_MIN_PIN, Z_MAX_PIN, Z_MIN_PROBE_PIN, \
PS_ON_PIN, HEATER_BED_PIN, FAN_PIN, FAN1_PIN, FAN2_PIN, CONTROLLER_FAN_PIN, \
_E0_PINS _E1_PINS _E2_PINS _E3_PINS _E4_PINS BED_PINS \
_H0_PINS _H1_PINS _H2_PINS _H3_PINS _H4_PINS \
_X2_PINS _Y2_PINS _Z2_PINS \
X_MS1_PIN, X_MS2_PIN, Y_MS1_PIN, Y_MS2_PIN, Z_MS1_PIN, Z_MS2_PIN \
}
These pins are printer specific; so, without access to your Marlin build, I can't see if pin 4 corresponds to one of these. If this is the problem, the command should be returning an error. If there is no error, I would look closely at the hardware. |
Poor adhesion on new layer - Monoprice mini select On my Monoprice Mini Select v2 there is poor adhesion when the print head goes to put down a new layer on the bed as seen in the photo. Does anyone have a fix for this? | You could try a higher bed temp, but also check to make sure bed is levelled all round as this can sometimes cause this to happen |
Configuring of MKS_GEN_L V1.0 I've bought a new "MKS GEN_L V1.0" and I'm trying to configure it with Marlin 1.1.X. I changed motherboard in configuration.h from previous:
#define BOARD_RAMPS_13_EFB 33 //RAMPS 1.3 (Power outputs:Hotend,Fan,Bed)
to
#define BOARD_MKS_GEN_L 53 //MKS GEN L.
I'm getting this error:
pins.h:268: error: #error "**Unknown MOTHERBOARD value set in Configuration.h**"
#error "Unknown MOTHERBOARD value set in Configuration.h"
^
In file included from sketch\MarlinConfig.h:42:0,
from sketch\G26_Mesh_Validation_Tool.cpp:27:
SanityCheck.h:58: error: #error "MOTHERBOARD is required. Please update your configuration."
#error "MOTHERBOARD is required. Please update your configuration."
^
SanityCheck.h:786: error: #error "**Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN requires the Z_MIN_PIN to be defined.**"
#error "Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN requires the Z_MIN_PIN to be defined."
^
SanityCheck.h:942: error: #error "**LCD_BED_LEVELING requires an LCD controller.**"
#error "LCD_BED_LEVELING requires an LCD controller."
^
SanityCheck.h:1084: error: #error "**HEATER_0_PIN not defined for this board.**"
#error "HEATER_0_PIN not defined for this board."
^
exit status 1
#error "Unknown MOTHERBOARD value set in Configuration.h" | The motherboard definition in configuration.h should be written like:
#define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_MKS_GEN_L
actually the word MOTHERBOARD was missing and there is no need to write 53 //MKS GEN L at the end.
The number definition is declared in boards.h - you just confused the two files, indeed you should not forget to define the motherboard constant itself. Do note that this is basically a RAMPS board, see pins_MKS_GEN_L.h. |
How to fix bulging first layers of print? The bottom 1-6 layers of my prints always bulge, like an enlarged elephant foot effect. I've tried all the fixes for elephants foot to no avail. I'm using:
XYZPrinting DaVinci Jr 1.0 Pro with their own brand filament (1.75 mm), nozzle: 0.4 mm, tried various layer heights 0.1-0.3 mm, with temperatures 190-205 °C. It has a non-heated bed, using tape as an adhesive.
Problem can be seen here: | You specify that 1 to 6 layers are expanded.
Does that match with the number of bottom perimeters you ask for? If so, then I would suspect over-extrusion.
If not, it could be a combination of two problems:
The head is too close to the bed, and
The head has too much vertical compliance or springiness.
In this scenario, the head being too close puts additional upward pressure on the head. The springiness allows the head to displace upward, but it is still too close. Being too close, the extruded bead is spread out too far. With each additional layer, the head is relatively less close, and the effect reduces until eventually the head is not displaced by the extruded bead, and the object prints normally. |
How to solve ABS deformation at the bottom? I am printing small mechanical pieces in ABS:
100 ºC bed temperature
70 ºC Room temperature
250 ºC nozzle temperature
0.4 mm nozzle, at 0.15 mm per layer.
100.8 % scale to compensate ABS dimensional innacuracy.
The first layer is printed correctly, but later, corners warp and first 10 mm get deformed (See images).
How do I solve this? Unfortunately, I cannot increase room temperature over 70 ºC
Here is a picture while printing, we can see that the edges get warped even far over the first layer. (Sorry, the picture quality is not so good): | The up-curling of overhangs is frequently seen when printing PLA or PETG when the just deposited layer hasn't been cooled enough. The residual heat will allow the curling as the plastic has not been fully set (above the so called glass temperature) because of insufficient part cooling.
Knowing that ABS doesn't need much cooling (to improve the inter-layer bonding), you most probably will not require full power of the fan (depending on the cooling power of the fan). You do need a little cooling though, but not for the first (few) layer(s), so keep the fan off at the first layer. Be sure it is up to speed at the layer you require the cooling as the first few percentage of the fan is generally not enough to rotate the fan. E.g. my fans start spinning at about 20-25 %. |
G-code wait for extrude command to finish I have following G-code to prime the nozzle before start of the print.
G28 ; home all axes
G0 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
G0 X30; move to X30
G28 Y; home Y
M420 S1; turn on bed leveling
M109 S220; wait for hotend temperature
G1 E20 F1800; extrude filament 20mm
The idea is to extrude a strand of filament outside of the bed and then start the print. The strand catches on the bed a tears off. So the ooze does not mess up the first layer.
The problem is that the G1 E20 F1800 does not wait for the move to finish and the controller goes to next move immediately. This means the nozzle is going to start the first layer, while spewing filament along the way.
Is there a way to wait for the move to finish?
I have tried M400 which seems not to help. I'm using Marlin Firmware. | Are you sure the move didn't finish? That would be very unusual, not the way 3D printer firmware normally operates. A new G0/G1 move command does not execute until the previous one finishes, whether it's extrude-only, travel-only, or a print move (mix of extrusion and travel).
What's probably happening for you is that the amount of material you're trying to extrude cannot melt and pass through the extruder at the speed you requested. At 1800 mm/min, assuming 1.75 mm diameter filament, you're requesting over 72 mm³ of material (nearly a whole cubic centimeter!) of material to be extruded per second. According to some back-of-the-envelope calculations I just did, It would take more than 300 Watts to continuously raise PLA from room temperature to extrusion temperature at that rate, which is not happening without an extreme hotend and power supply.
So, what you're getting is pressure building up between the extruder gear and the hotend (until it starts slipping), causing the material to continue to ooze for some time after the E-axis move finishes, until all the pressure subsides. If your goal is to prime the nozzle for printing, this is not how to do it. It will just end up oozing material all over the start of your print.
You can somewhat fix this by just reducing the feedrate in your command, but that's still not necessarily going to give you great results. The right way to prime is to extrude at nearly the maximum rate your hotend can handle, then retract and wipe before traveling to where the print will begin. |
How to design a worm-gear in FreeCAD? I want to print worm gears for my robot arm. I would like to design it in FreeCAD. Normally, I would use involute gear for regular gears. However, this tool cannot be used for worm gears. I can't find any add-ons for this.
Is it possible to produce a worm gear automatically? If not, how can I make it manually? | As far as I know there is not a workbench capable of producing the design you want with a single click "new worm gear". But it is a rather simple affair to create the part you want from scratch.
What you want to do is to sweep a sketch along a helix. It is a very similar process to the one you would follow to create a thread documented in the official tutorial (it's the "method #3" on that page). This is how it should look like:
Since helices are subject to a few limitation in FreeCAD, I recommend to read the section called "tricks to success" and the following tips, as it is very likely you will incur in problems otherwise. |
Which 3D design softwares make multi-material amf or other design files that slic3r will slice? I'm looking for suggestions for 3D design software which support designing multi-material parts.
I will be printing on a multi-extruder machine based on RepRap firmware. The printer will handle the files when given a proper g-code file. Slic3r will produce a proper g-code file given the right input. STL seems to be single-material, so I am looking for something like AMF files, or any alternative.
My question is, what is available for 3D design software which will produce a geometry file which slic3r (or some other slicing software) will properly process? I'm not asking for opinions on which software is best.
I believe this is my first question in any StackExchange forum, so if I have trespassed on community standards, it was not my intention. | A Scriptable Process for Generating Multi-Material STL Files:
I am now using interactive CAD software to define the more complex features of the object I am printing (in the current case, clock faces), and then using OpenSCAD to do the boolean volume operations.
To print the composite object, I need three STL files, one for each material I am using. The three parts are the clock body, the translucent optics to conduct the LED lights, and the clock numbers.
I need:
one STL for the body minus the LED optics and minus the numbers.
one STL for the numbers minus the LED optics, and
one STL for the LED optics.
The CAD package supports the operations, but every time I change anything, I have to jump through several hoops to combine the three parts, manually and recreate the three objects.
I had used OpenSCAD to make the optics and the numbers, and they were never in the same coordinate system as the clock body from the interactive CAD package.
So, I scripted it and used OpenSCAD to read the clock body STL and being it into OpenScad. I transformed it into the common coordinate system. I then did, one by one, based on a command-line parameter, the boolean operations, rendered the result, and exported the resulting STL file.
When I read the three files into PrusaSlicer, the lined up perfectly and everything worked simply, without and precision hand-eye coordination, and with no drama.
Scripts and command lines work for repeatability far better than squint, drag, and guess. |
How to implement wall thickness Analysis for my .net project I have .stl for the 3d printing. And I want to analysis wall thickness of this model before printing. I have no idea about any tools. Can I create any console or wpf app for calculating wall thickness and cost of the printing.
Please help me. | If your talking about a hollow object, such as a cube with a hollow center. The wall thickness is determined by the model.
If your talking about a solid object, the wall thickness is determined by your nozzle diameter multiplied by your # of walls. This is all adjusted by your splicing software. If you have a nozzle of 0.5mm and you print at 3 perimeters, your wall should be 1.5mm. If you want the wall to be 2mm, then you will adjust your perimeters to 4. Everything within those walls will be whatever you choose for infill.
I work with ASP.NET, Windows Forms, and Console Apps myself. I'm sure you can find libraries capable of taking 3D models but I don't think it would matter because the printed thickness is determined by your splicing settings.
Also for cost of printing, I recommend just using Cura which you just have to plug in some cost information about the filament and it will tell you estimated cost, mm of filament usage, and time. |
My 3D model is printing with missing parts when sliced in Ultimaker Cura I have been working hard the last year on the model below. I am new to everything 3D that is modeling and especially 3D printing. I have however successfully concluded quite a good number of 3D prints which I created in blender with my Creality Ender 3 Pro so I have a bit of experience.
All this new experience for me started with the desire to do this project I have been working on for all this year. A complex 3D model of a knight's tomb which I would like to print.
As you can see Cura is clearly indicating that there is a need for supports in these red areas. The model will be printed in a 15 cm size. I have also managed to resize the model from a 22 million face mesh full of holes to a 900k manifold model.
However, when I slice it I get this.
As you can see supports are only generated for the outer column part. None are generated for the arches which are totally absent when the model is sliced.
I have tried to alter the model's orientation but with no result. I will try to separate this mesh in parts but it would mean restarting all from scratch since I found no good software to slice it precisely.
I am quite sure that the main problem lies in the fact the Ender 3 pro is an FDM printer an that the vertical lines of the arches are too thin. Since I tried to upload my model on 3D printing services to see if it could be printed in other materials and could be printed in finely detailed resin.
I would like at least to know if I am right in my problem spotting or if there could be any solution to the present problem so that not to go wrong if I will redesign this part. | There's a setting in Cura to Print Thin Walls. It's turned off by default, and IIRC correctly there's a good reason it's off by default. But for this item, you should turn it on.
Update
Looking again, I see this is vertical, so I'm not sure how well this setting will help. Even if it does create the gcode to include the walls, this would be a tough print. If possible, you may want to rotate this 90° for printing, though I also see the gap on the right that would become a long bridge. |
How can I extend silicon hotbed wires safely? I'm in the middle of building a D-Bot printer, and have run into a bit of an issue when it comes to the heat bed wires. The heated bed is an aluminum plate with a silicon heater attached to it, and the heater wires are not long enough to make it through the drag chain when the Z-axis is fully extended.
The silicon pad is 120 V AC / 750 W and will be turned on/off by a Fotek SSR. The heater wires are cloth-covered and are probably 22-24 AWG. (Gauge is not labelled)
I suspect I'll need to extend the wires by putting in some sort of coupler at the top of the drag chain, but I'm not certain if there are specific requirements for the wires for an AC powered heat bed.
To this end, I was wondering:
Is there a specific wire gauge that I should use for the heater wires, and should it have a specific cladding?
What type of connector would be best for connecting the wires together securely in this case?
Thanks in advance! | 750 W at 120 V is 6.3 A. 22-24 AWG is on the thin side for this. I would recommend 18 AWG or thicker. You don't need a specific style of insulation for this (other than something that is rated for the voltage and temperature the wire will need to withstand, but most commonly found wire should be good).
A good way of connecting the wires would be to solder them. If you do not want to solder, there are many products on the market for connecting wires. A butt connector that you crimp could be a good option, or you could use a WAGO clamp. Whatever option you end up using, be sure to provide adequate strain relief as the connection point (be it soldered or with a connector) is more likely to fail from fatigue. |
Is this fuse a good choice for my Prusa i3's power supply and RAMPS 1.4? Wondering if this fuse is safe to use in this switch/plug to turn on /off a 12V DC 30A Power Supply 360W Power Supply that will power a RAMPS 1.4 board for a Prusa i3 with an external led display that contains an SD Card Reader.
I found the suggestion to use it here. | No, do not use this fuse. The current rating is too high to be reasonable for your printer. It will "work" in the sense that your printer will get power, but it won't provide anywhere near as much protection as a lower-rated fuse.
10A is a lot of current for mains voltage. Depending on what else you have plugged in, there is a fair chance your home's 15A breaker will trip before this fuse does, which kind of defeats the point of having it.
Even for "fast" fuses, it takes a significant amount of time for them to blow when conducting their rated current. The internal fusible link has to heat up and melt before the fuse stops conducting. The less the overload current exceeds the rating, the longer that takes. A 10A fuse conducting a 10.5A short might take 30 seconds to trip. In the meantime, your printer is melting. Lower-rated fuses will trip faster for the same short and thus provide better protection.
You need to size fuses as small as possible for the required current draw if you want to have any hope of rapidly cutting off an excessive-current event.
I would recommend a 4A fuse in the USA for this 350w power supply. (Note: the listing title says 360 but the photos show 350.) I use 4A fuses in several printers with 120v / 350w PSUs and they do not trip. But you can do the math for yourself:
350 watts / 120 volts / 80% efficiency = 3.64A
The smallest fuse you can find that is larger than this value is what you should use.
Now, we can argue over whether 80% is the right efficiency value... it could be lower. The PSU label says 6.5A input is required, but that amount of current draw implies either a <50% efficiency (which is quite poor for this kind of PSU) or would only occur for abuse/surge scenarios like starting very large motors. Such short-lived inrush events generally won't trip a fuse unless you do something dumb like lock the rotor. And none of that applies to the small microstepping-driver stepper motor systems we're working with here. This PSU should not draw more than 4A in normal 3D printer use.
Looking at this on the other end -- how much damage will 10A do versus 4A? Lots. If the short is in the 12v system, and the PSU's short protection doesn't trip in (because it's a cheap knock-off) you would roughly multiply the AC fuse current times 10 to get the DC current. And 40A is a downright scary amount of current! Depending on wire gauge, putting 40A through heatbed wiring may make it smell and smoke. Whereas putting 100A through heatbed wiring will almost certainly start a fire.
You're much safer with a 4A or even 6A fuse for this PSU than a 10A fuse. |
What is needed to create dwg from drawing? Does anyone know of an accurate method for building a dwg file from a scan of a scaled drawing or plan. The dwg files will also be referenced for or made into 3d models so pulling the information straight into a modelling software would work too if possible. | It's not an easy task and according to my knowledge there is no way to do it fully automatic (I might be wrong of course).
You have options as follows:
Read scans and
recreate it manually in CAD application
recreate it using digitizer (in the old days they had puck - kinda magnifier with crosslines to digitize from printouts/blueprints)
create 3D object omitting 2D drawings
convert bitmap to vectors in 2D app
use scannig service like this (would be expensive)
Depending on complexity of your schemas, the easiest way, would be option 1 or 3. Option 4 is very doubtful (even if it's the most automatic way, it won't create useful data)
The most of CAD apps have option to import bitmap and then work on such "background". For example in AutoCAD use command Imageattach |
What stepper motor to use in heated chamber I want to build a 3D printer with a heating chamber of around 90 °C with build area 200x200x200 mm. I have never build a CoreXY system, so my design is currently an XY system with moving X motor (mounted on Y). Since it has a heating chamber I can't use normal stepper motor (there's a way, but I have to provide forced air cooling like NASA did, or water cooling). Extruder is Bowden type. I have already sourced almost all components, but I'm stuck at choosing the motor.
I could find high temperature stepper motor in India (that's where I'm from), but it cost too much. I found one at the Visionminer website, they're the dealers for Intamsys printers, which has a chamber of 90 °C and they are providing replacement stepper motors as well.
Comparing the cost, the motor I found in India costs three times as above. Even with shipping I will save a lot. But one issue is they're not providing any details about torque and current rating. There's one image in the website and it says,
MOONS STEPPING MOTOR
TYPE 17HDB001-11N
60904162 18/04/12
I thought it might be a MOONS motor, so I contacted them, no reply so far. I tried to find the motor by part number, but failed. I tried mailing Visionminer as well.
Anyone have any idea which motor is this? or know any high temperature motors?
Also they use Gates belts, which is rated for 85 °C. How reliable will it be in 90 °C chamber? | "Since it has a heating chamber I can't use normal stepper motor" Sure you can, the interior doesn't get all that warm unless you really seal it up tight, and that's not really needed. I have an enclosure around my 200x200x200 mm MIGBOT (early Prusa clone with direct drive extruder), printing PLA with 60 °C bed, the interior only gets a few degrees warmer. The motors can take a lot more heat than you think they can.
I have a couple pictures in this thread.
The front & back panels are 18x24 inch polycarbonate from Home Depot, I 3D printed the corner brackets, and added a couple of pieces of wood for some stiffness. The entire front hinges up. The top is 24x24 inch, and the back 6" hinges up to access the SD card that is on the display/control panel. |
Extruder doesn't retract on inner wall lines thereby causing stringing I am trying to stop the stringing that occurs on one of my prints, I have set it so that it retracts the filament which does stop it during the extrusion of the outer wall layer, however when it comes to print the inner lines of the section it does not retract at all (the extruder gear does not move back).
I am using Cura as my slicer and I cannot find any setting that would change this. My current retraction settings are as follows:
Enable Retraction - On
Retract At Layer Change - On
Retraction Distance - 7
Retraction Retract Speed - 40 mm/s
Retraction Prime Speed - 30 mm/s
Retraction Extra Prime Amount - 1 mm3
Retract Before Outer Wall - On
I am not sure how to stop this from happening, any suggestions that you can make will be greatly appreciated. | Cura has a setting called Combing that is enabled by default. This stops the printer from retracting if the travel is contained within the walls. It does this to speed up the print but you get oozing during the travel since the plastic is still in the melt zone. You can change this setting to no skin which will stop it from combing on the skin layers or turn it of completely. |
What exactly is the relationship between Flow/Feed Rate and (Print) Speed? Newbie alert...
On my Ender-5, when I go into the "Tune" menu during a print and adjust the "Speed" value, that value will later be shown in the display next to a label saying "FR". I can also adjust that value by simply turning the knob during printing (and thus started to think of it as the "speed dial" ;) ).
As far as I was able to tell so far, the "FR" percentage value is being applied to all four stepper motor movements and thus allows me to slow down or speed up printing on-the-fly, e.g. to make up for sub-optimal speed settings chosen during slicing (after all, I'm still learning).
I only recently learned that FR is actually short for "Flow Rate" (or is it "Feed Rate"?) and that seems to imply that this is probably about more than just motor speed... Also, there seems to be no equivalent to the Speed setting in Octoprint: All I have on the Control tab are two distinct sliders for "Feedrate" and "Flowrate". Would I always have to move both to achieve the same effect?
Can anyone clarify? What implications of changing FR/Speed might I be missing? | By turning the knob in the main screen, you're adjusting "feed rate".
This is essentially a factor that all g-code speed settings are multiplied with - "speed dial" seems an appropriate name for it.
"Flow rate" is something different altogether - this is multiplied with the extrusion commands. It has the same effect as changing your extruders steps-per-mm.
You can adjust under- / overextrusion with this on the fly. |
Still getting "no layers detected" after repairing model in PrusaSlicer console I tried to slice an stl file using the PrusaSlicer console and I got the No layers were detected. You might want to repair your STL file(s) or check their size or thickness and retry. message. I tried repairing the model with 3 different services and I still get the same error. When I load the fixed stl file into the PrusaSlicer gui, it doesn't say that the model is broken. How can the console and gui give 2 different results and how can I fix this?
Here's an image of the model being loaded into the gui version. It states that the model is broken but was automatically fixed.
Then I manually fixed the model using Netfabb and the model is no longer broken according to the gui version.
Yet when I try to slice the repaired model using the console, it fails again.
PrusaSlicer version is 2.3.0 on Windows 10.
You can find the stl and repaired stl here. | Still don't have an actual answer as to why repairing the stl file didn't seem to work, but since my stl file was a combination of different stl files I tried repairing the individual stl files before combining them, which resolved the problem. |
Which material "creeps" (plastic deformation) the least (or nothing at all) under pressure after being printed? I would like to build a standing shelf where the supports which hold each successive plank are 3D printed (to obtain special shapes).
However, I read that PLA flows under constant stress/pressure. Still, this doesn't stop the author of the article from using PLA for a hanging shelf, which obviously is subjected to constant negative pressure.
Which material suffers the least from plasticity/non elastic deformation under stress?
Answers with data for multiple materials are welcome.
I found that the phenomenon is called "creep" and is related to ISO 899, but I couldn't find any data for the common filament plastics and I don't know the theory behind it, so I'm not sure whether it's unavoidable or it appears after a threshold stress is reached.
Information: it's a living room shelf which will hold books and other stuff and is supposed to last a decade. I will of course add a safety factor and I could even fix the planks to the wall (in hidden places), but ideally the 3D printed material should have NO creep. | Your question can not be answered theoretically -- only empirically.
You need to print some trial brackets with materials of interest and measure them. The question is: under what conditions should you test them?
The problem is that creep involves both compression and tension, and the behavior may be different. It is also impossible to fully translate material specifications into component behavior without a really good model that includes the details of the infill, adhesion to peripheries, and all the microscopic detail of a real 3D-printed part.
The problem with typical PLA may be the low temperature. Raising the temperature of a normal PLA printed object to 160°F (70°C) softens it to the point of nearly being limp. I have used this for force-fitting PLA parts by warming a pot of water and placing parts in it for a few moments. That temperature is hotter than your room, but a hot summer day in the sunshine could soften the part to the point of failure.
For anything load bearing, I would want a material with a higher plastic temperature.
There are PLA formulations which are annealed after printing. This is claimed to allow the PLA to slowly recrystalize and become both stronger and usable at higher temperatures. I don't have experience with this.
Depending on your printer, you can also consider using a higher temperature filament, such as ABS or PC (polycarbonate). PET-G is a little better than PLA, but it softens at a lower temperature than ABS.
As important as the material itself is the anisotrophy of the printer parts. Be sure to print the parts so that the major stresses are along the strongest axes, typically X and Y, and not along the weaker Z asis. Choose your infill to contribute to the strength, and use plenty of it, or design the part so that the infill is not intended to contribute to the strength. |
G04 dwell period control parameters I have a 3D printer that I built and I'm having trouble with some g code. I have to stop and start the extrude motor when the z axis moves up to the next layer. When I do this the 3D pen I am using goes back a little bit to prevent dripping. When the motor starts again the filament is not at the tip yet and I am trying to add a dwell time before it starts moving again to give the filament time to come out. When I enter G04 P100 after each M3 command (the code I have to use to start my motor) it dwells way longer than 100ms and P10 seems to take around 10 seconds. On Wikipedia it states the control parameters for ms is P and the one for seconds is X however the reprap wiki states the proper control parameter for seconds is S. So my question is what is the correct parameter and how precise can I be with seconds i.e. .0000 how many zeros can I have after the decimal. I am trying to calibrate and get accurate prints so any help would be greatly appreciated. I am using grbl version .8 with and arduino uno. The software I am using is Grbl Controller 3.6.1 | Basically you are fighting against oozing. So a retraction, or as you call it:
the 3D pen I am using goes back a little bit to prevent dripping
needs to be undone. You can do this by extruding an amount to get the filament back at the tip. Command G1 Exx.xx where xx.xx is a number where the retraction is is added on top of the existing value. Furthermore, most slicing software have parameters available to influence the extrusion/retraction. E.g. "coasting" is an option to prematurely stop extruding and make use of the pressure buildup in the nozzle (this prevents blobs where perimeter end meets the perimeter begin), "extra length on restart" (replenish the nozzle chamber with extra filament) or "Retract on layer change". In principle all these actions are set and handled by the slicer you use for making a print file. There is no need for a "dwell time", in fact dwell is just a pauze. It seems a bit strange that you want to control the filament flow yourself, while all this is done for you by the slicer software. |
Installed bed leveling probe, now Z homing moves to center I installed a BLTouch bed leveling probe on my printer which uses Marlin 2.0.5.3.
Now the printer seems to be of two minds when it comes to finding the origin. Homing XY moves to the lower left as it always has, but homing Z moves not only to Z=0, but also to the center of the build plate. The printer knows this is (100,100,0) and is not mistakenly thinking it is (0,0,0).
This causes some issues such as now the nozzle wipe at the beginning of a print happens right in the center of where the print is supposed to be.
Is this expected behavior? | This is a consequence of enabling Z_SAFE_HOMING:
Z Safe Homing prevents Z from homing when the probe (or nozzle) is outside bed area by moving to a defined XY point (by default, the middle of the bed) before Z Homing when homing all axes with G28. As a side-effect, X and Y homing are required before Z homing. If stepper drivers time out, X and Y homing will be required again.
Enable this option if a probe (not an endstop) is being used for Z homing. Z Safe Homing isn’t needed if a Z endstop is used for homing, but it may also be enabled just to have XY always move to some custom position after homing.
My default Cura start G-code contained this sequence:
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
I changed this to
G28 ;safe homing
G90 ;absolute positioning
G0 X0 Y0 ; move to bottom-left corner for nozzle wipe
However any oozing will still happen at the center of the build plate, which is a problem. |
Mushy small top layers? I just added a fan to my printer because very small layers seem to come out very badly. For example, the 5mm PLA cube that's the top level of the test shape shown below. Watching closely, I can see that the newly-extruded fiber is pushing the previous layer(s?) around pretty freely. And when the object is finished, the little top cube is bulging, rounded, and still soft to the touch.
The 2nd-to-top level of the object is also quite small and quick, but often comes out nicely (if anything, it was better before I added the fan).
The fan is a squirrel-cage with about a 2.5cm square outlet, pointing at the nozzle from about 5cm away, running full speed. The extruder is a Mk9 from http://www.makergeeks.com/duexretopr.html.
I also tried telling pronterface to wait if a level was too brief, but that setting seems not to do anything.
What else can I try? It seems like this is a not-enough-cooling problem, but perhaps something else too? | Layer Times
See my answer to this question and pay particular attention to my suggestion about a minimum layer print time. I'm not sure if all slicing engines provide this option, but I know MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop and (possibly) Slic3r allow this setting.
Basically, when you're extruding smaller features like this, the previous layer(s) are still very hot and possibly very pliable. So, as your nozzle moves around above the previous layer, the nozzle may (and probably will) push some of this molten plastic around. Chances are you can see it to a certain degree while it's printing. You can definitely see this in a most drastic state if you print a tall and small diameter cylinder. You'll notice that the part will become almost exponentially unstable the higher it goes.
By increasing the time your printer takes to print a single layer, you are allowing the previous layer(s) to cool closer to the ambient temperature of the build space, and hopefully not as molten.
Please refer to this calculator or a similar one for material cooling times. For a standard shell setting of about 2-3 (0.4mm nozzle) will yield about 130sec to cool down to room temperature. I would recommend (for ABS/PLA at least) about a 15second minimum for each layer, possibly longer depending on the size and spread out of the features.
Also note that this can be cheated by simply printing multiple items in the same build plate with the same heights (ie. multiples of the same part). Naturally, it will take longer for the machine to print the rest of the parts and therefore allow each layer to cool slightly before being printed over.
Active Cooling
Again, some slicing engines have an Active Cooling setting. I don't personally have this option setup on my machine, but I believe it regulates the flow of air directed at your nozzle (usually by use of a mounted fan). This can help cool the layers a bit faster. With ABS, this might result in some pretty bad warping mid-print.
Feedrates
Try bringing down your feedrates to provide the printed portions of the current layer more time to cool if the above options aren't available. Note that you might also bring down your hotend temp to shorten the time it takes to cool the plastic.
All else fails
My only other suggestion is stated above, try printing duplicates on the same plate. My diagnosis is that the previous layers aren't cooling down enough before the next layer begins. |
How to switch motor outputs and use E1 as X, in Marlin firmware? I broke up my electronics and now the output for X is not working. The stepper is OK.
There is any simple solution to remap the output pins? I want the E1 output to act as the X output. | When using Marlin firmware you could easily change the pin layout of the extra extruder (E1) with the broken X stepper pins by changing the pins_RAMPS.h file.
Download the firmware and open the firmware project in Arduino IDE. Navigate to the "Steppers" section of the pins_RAMPS.h file and replace:
#define X_STEP_PIN 54
#define X_DIR_PIN 55
#define X_ENABLE_PIN 38
#define X_CS_PIN 53
for:
#define X_STEP_PIN 36
#define X_DIR_PIN 34
#define X_ENABLE_PIN 30
#define X_CS_PIN 44
and also change:
#define E1_STEP_PIN 36
#define E1_DIR_PIN 34
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN 30
#define E1_CS_PIN 44
to:
#define E1_STEP_PIN 54
#define E1_DIR_PIN 55
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN 38
#define E1_CS_PIN 53
When the file is changed an saved, build and upload code to your board and plug the connector of the X stepper into the E1 header. |
For a larger build volume, what lengths of 2020 aluminium do I need? TL;DR
How do I upscale a Wilson II? What lengths of aluminium1 do I need in order to achieve a particular (increased/reduced) build volume?
The design of the Wilson II is scalable (source: RepRapWiki - Category:Wilson):
...the design has a parametric build area, meaning it is relatively easy to scale the X, Y, and Z axis within reason.
What does parametric mean exactly, in this scenario? How does one scale up from 200x300x2001? Also, how would that affect the Repetier/Marlin firmware?
Is it simply a matter of maintaining the ratios of the lengths of the X, Y and Z axes constant, or can the ratios be ignored? Is there a formula, or set of formulae, for this?
Has anyone gone beyond the 200x300x200 build volume? I have seen the Scalar M and XL series printers (with the XL having a print volume of 400x300x300) which, while they are not based on the Wilson, also boast of scalability:
Scalar Family 3D printers are "scalable" printers.
Reviewing the idea of a reprap printer, a printer that can auto replicate and scale, we wanted to propose a 3D printer with plastic parts for you to print, and with a way to "scale" easily.
Can one (within reason) arbitrarily section various (supersized) length for the three axes and then modify the firmware accordingly, or is there a set of rules which govern the relationship between the lengths of the three axes?
A simplistic view
As an example, the lengths (in mm) of the 2020 aluminium corresponding to the build volume of 200x300x200 are 330, 500, 400 for the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively.
Obviously, there are some constants to consider for the stepper housings, and idlers, for example. So, assuming that for X, Y and Z axes respectively, the constants are:
330 - 200 = 130 mm
500 - 300 = 200 mm
400 - 200 = 200 mm
If I wanted a build volume of, let's say, 400x500x300 (XYZ), would the new XYZ lengths of 2020 aluminium simply become (by adding the respective constants):
400 + 130 = 530 mm
500 + 200 = 700 mm
300 + 200 = 500 mm
or is there more to it than that?
1 I appreciate that 3030, en lieu of 2020, extruded aluminium may be required to maintain rigidity for larger print volumes | Long story short: ratios can be ignored. You only need to let your firmware know actual size, if it needs so. However, using golden ratio seems quite reasonable.
When talking about rigidity, keeping it will become a real issue at some point and may not be always effectively resolved by merely changing 2020 to 3030. Using 4020 or double 2020 could be better solution to compensate the most common forces during printing. |
Prints are mirrored in X-axis and inverted in Y-axis direction My custom 3D printer prints everything inverted. I guess this is a homing problem as the motor moves in correct direction.
In Pronterface,
if I press -Y — bed moves forward (towards the Y endstop)
if I press +Y — bed moves backward (away from Y endstop)
if I press -X — hotend moves left (towards the X endstop)
if I press +X — hotend moves right (away from the X endstop)
on RAMPS 1.4:
X endstop is connected on the 1st pin
Y endstop is connected on the 3rd pin
Z endstop is connected on the 5th pin
(Pin 2, 4 & 6 are not used (are these for MAX_ENDSTOP ?))
Below is my Marlin config
#define X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define Y_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define X_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING false // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define Y_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING false // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define Z_MAX_ENDSTOP_INVERTING false // Set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
#define Z_MIN_PROBE_ENDSTOP_INVERTING false // Set to true to invert the logic of the probe.
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1
#define INVERT_X_DIR false
#define INVERT_Y_DIR false
#define INVERT_Z_DIR false
I have attached 3 photographs.
Shows the Home position of hotend. Y Motor on back and Y endstop at front.
Shows inverted print.
Pronterface screenshot (shows actual G-code file)
I tried flipping the motor cables, but that inverts the motor direction
I also tried INVERT_Y_DIR true, but no luck.
Please help me. What am I doing wrong? | For most Cartesian printers, the homing position is at the front-left corner of the build plate. End-stop switches can be at either end of each axis (and even both), but the firmware must be configured accordingly.
A common arrangement is to have end-stop switches at X-min, Y-min and Z-min positions. You will see this on pretty much all budget printers, but things may be different on high-end machines. For the Y-axis on a cartesian machine, this mean placing the end-stop switch at the rear of the printer. A CoreXY machine on the other hand has the Y-min sensor on the front left corner.
So, unless your intentions were otherwise, you have simply got the Y-axis end-stop switch in the wrong position. For your design, it should be at the back of the printer, triggered by the bed in it's most backwards position. You will also need to reverse the direction of the Y-axis stepper motor, do that +Y moves the bed towards the operator (like you have it now).
If you want to have the end-stop switch at the front of the printer for some reason, you will need to re-configure the firmware accordingly - it is an Y-max sensor in that position! |
When to use Wave Bonding vs Raft on a 3D print? I use a Micro3D printer, running on OctoPi (yay!) (although this question should be relevant to any 3D printer that offers these features) and have options for raft and wave bonding.
Are there best case scenarios for when it is appropriate to use (or not use) either? Can/should they ever both be used at the same time? | After additional research, it seems that using both at the same time is ill-advised (more like pointless).
Wave bonding is best suited for larger prints, primarily to prevent warping of the initial layer.
Rafts appear to be recommended regardless, other than for advanced users. |
Issues with my print I am currently making an ironman helmet but running into a couple problems.
Whenever I start my print it starts off fine, but then after it builds the bottom support and starts on the build itself things get really wonky. It seems that the build gradually builds away from the support and starts to float in the air.
I also see an issue where the model starts to curve and the filament isn't sticking to the support instead it makes a straight line through the curve.
Lastly the support column on the bottom left starts to clump up.
I am using an Ender 3 printer and Cura. | You are experiencing layer shifting, please check the tension of the X-axis belt, driver current.
A more elaborated answer is found here. |
Using a MakerBot Replicator 1 dual (or clone like FlashForge Creator) with Cura I have a Monoprice architect which is a barebones clone of the FlashForge Creator Pro, or Replicator 1 Dual. I have upgraded the power supply and added a heated bed and, after getting fed up with MakerBot software, I've started using Cura to slice then post process with GPX.
I did a lot of searching and finally found someone who posted their start and end G-code for this particular printer. The only catch is that his code only works on version 15.04.
Don't get me wrong, 15.04 is a huge upgrade compared to MakerWare. But, I would really like to start using a newer version like 2.5 or anything relatively new.
Here is the start code I found. I have tried it in 2.5 with error in post processing. Any help is appreciated!!
; -- START GCODE --
M136 ; start build
M73 P0
G90 ; absolute coordinates
;
; set temperatures and assert Vref
M140 S{print_bed_temperature}
M104 S{print_temperature} T0
G130 X118 Y118 A118 B118 ; set stepper motor Vref to defaults
; let the Z stepper vref stay at eeprom level (probably 40)
;
; home and recall eeprom home position
T0 ; home on the right nozzle
G28 X Y Z ; home all axes at homing speed
G92 X0 Y0 Z0 A0 B0 ; set all coords to 0 for now
G1 Z5 F500 ; move Z 5mm away so we can carefully hit the limit switch
G161 Z F100 ; home Z slowly
M132 X Y Z ; recall stored home offsets for XYZ axes
;
; wait for heat up
G1 X110 Y-72 Z30 F3300 ; move to waiting position
M116 ; wait for temps
;
; purge and wipe
G92 E0 ; set current extruder position as 0 so that E15 below makes sense
G1 X110 Y-70 Z0.2 F2400.0 ; move to just on the bed
G1 X110 Y70 E15 F1200.000 ; extrude a line of filament along the right edge of the bed
G92 E0 ; set E to 0 again because the slicer's next extrusion is relative to this 0
;
; Sliced at: {day} {date} {time}
; Basic settings: Layer height: {layer_height} Walls: {wall_thickness} Fill: {fill_density}
; Print time: {print_time}
; Filament used: {filament_amount}m {filament_weight}g
; Filament cost: {filament_cost}
; -- end of START GCODE -- | Edit: After looking at GPX more I'm not sure what you are doing? Are you trying to slice something in Cura and use GPX to make the X3G file or use the starting g-code from Cura in Makerware? The code you posted above is used in Cura to generate the g-code and it appears you should be giving GPX the g-code file made by Cura.
You didn't specify which error you are getting or where but if I had to guess it's from the information in the curly braces. Everything in curly braces "{}" is a variable in the slicer used to generate the g-code.
All the information below is useless to the printer and I would start by removing it to see if you still get an error.
; Sliced at: {day} {date} {time}
; Basic settings: Layer height: {layer_height} Walls: {wall_thickness} Fill: {fill_density}
; Print time: {print_time}
; Filament used: {filament_amount}m {filament_weight}g
; Filament cost: {filament_cost}
If you still have an issue after removing that then you could remove {print_bed_temperature} and {print_temperature} and hardcode those values to something to see if the process completes.
If it's successful at that point then look at a different starting g-code and find those variable names and replace them. |
Is there a spiral lid mechanism I want to put a spiral lid on top of a container. When the lid opens, then the spiral mechanism will rotate into the container. Is there a name for this mechanism? If not, would something like this be possible? | It sounds like you're talking about an iris diaphragm. This has many parts that slide against each other, and would best be printed as separate parts, then assembled. |
How to change pin of thermo sensor? The thermoresistor on my Anycubic Mega displays nonsense temperatures (e.g. 700 °C), since the resistor in the hotend is working fine the problem is 100 % in the board (Trigorilla RAMPS 1.4). Someone suggested switching the pin of the thermoresistor from T0 to T1, so I soldered it this way. Now I have to cook a personalized firmware for making it work. I opened a custom firmware in VSCode but I do not know what parameter I have to change, any idea? | If there are 2 slots for temperature measurements, you don't need to solder anything, just plug the thermistor from one into the other and switch pins in the firmware. This board is basically a RAMPS 1.4 board, it includes the pins_RAMPS.h header file, so in order to switch the T0 with the T1 temperature port, you need to change:
//
// Temperature Sensors
//
#ifndef TEMP_0_PIN
#define TEMP_0_PIN 13 // Analog Input
#endif
#ifndef TEMP_1_PIN
#define TEMP_1_PIN 15 // Analog Input
#endif
to:
//
// Temperature Sensors
//
#ifndef TEMP_0_PIN
#define TEMP_0_PIN 15 // Analog Input
#endif
#ifndef TEMP_1_PIN
#define TEMP_1_PIN 13 // Analog Input
#endif |
Makerbot Replicator 2 Halts during print I am running a MakerBot Replicator 2. During the print, the printer just stops executing and I am running out of ways to troubleshoot.
After restarting, I can load and extrude filament.
I have replaced the SD card, and even borrowed one from another working replicator, and the freeze still occurs.
Likewise, I've regenerated the x3g file, and that did not work.
The panel does not freeze, I can cancel the print during the freeze.
I've made sure Z pause is off. It tends freezes randomly on the first layer.
In general, it looks as though the print is "in progress" but not making progress (Timer ticks up, % completed does not)
Does anyone have any idea as to what could be causing the problem? | There are a few options. First your board could be overheating etc. That is harder to verify without some overpriced replacements. So to start lets take everything apart (photo and labeling is Strongly recommended). Then simply put it back together. Hopefully it is just a loose connection. |
Raised shell edges on ocarina print. RF1000 sliced with Cura Engine I am trying to print a 12 hole Ocarina I found on thingiverse. When printing I have to stop it around 25-30 layers because the edge of the shell is higher then the infill.
G-Code of first 30 layers
I tried changing the infill, wall size, speed and retraction settings to no avail. The settings of the example print were:
100% infill
0.2mm layer height
40mm printing speed (average)
1mm shell thickness (results in 2 layers)
Automatic infill patern
Printed at 210C with 3mm PLA (like this one)
Printed on a RF1000
Sliced with CuraEngine in Repetier-host V2.1.6.
Does anyone know what might cause this and how I can prevent it from happening?
Any help is greatly appreciated! :) | Managed to solve it by lowering the temperature to 190C. I also lowered the infill down to 25%. Thanks for the advice!
I posted the make with results and settings on thingiverse. |
Can Polycarbonate be used as heated bed This is more about using polycarbonate with silicon heated pad as the bed itself, and not as a material that goes onto an existing aluminium bed; i.e. I am not intending to use it as a flexible build surface (although that could be an option as well). | Since Polycarbonate (PC) has glass transition point of 147°C (according to wikipedia) where it starts to melt, you could in theory use it as a heated bed for PLA or even PETG. BUT, there are other characteristics:
PC is quite good heat insulator, which would result in uneven heat distribution in the heated bed.
Also it expands quite a lot with rising temperature, which could result in warped bed.
And as per usual with thermoplastic polymers such as PC, heating them and cooling them repeatedly can cause material degradation. That would result in the material becoming brittle, deforming, or changes of other properties....
Next problem would be that it is not stiff enough. Depending on the size of the heated bed you would have to support it on multiple points (I would say at least 5x5 grid for 300x300mm bed) and even then it would be unpredictable.
To sum it up: yes, you probably could use PC as heated bed, but it is much better to stick to traditional materials like aluminium or glass fibre sheets (PCB material), because PC would be very inconsistent and therefore hard to level.
I hope this helps.
Note: I am basing this on my theoretical knowledge, I have not tested it and thus do not know if my assumptions are correct or not. |
How to upload my works to Thingiverse without making my real name public I want to upload some of my works to Thingiverse without making my real name public (displaying it on the profile page).
I think it is OK to register my name to the site unless the make it public, and it is required by the terms to provide truthful and accurate information.
I tried creating an account on the site, but I deleted it because I couldn't find the way to hide my name (set another one) from the profile page in a short time.
I see some accounts that doesn't seem showing their real name (for example, their name on profile equals to their account ID, or at least not in two parts: first and last name as required on registration), so I guess this is archivable.
examples:
http://www.thingiverse.com/Darkcheops/about
http://www.thingiverse.com/ruaridh/about
https://www.thingiverse.com/Torleif/about
How can I set my name for profile page on Thingiverse after registration and logging in? | To change your displayed name (as opposed to username) in Thingiverse:
Go to your profile page
Click "Edit Profile" on the info column on the left
At the top, next to "Thingiverse Settings" is another link/tab called "Makerbot Settings". Click that.
Change the First Name and Last Name fields, and save.
Note that neither First nor Last Name is required; if neither is provided, your username will be displayed in place of your display name. |
Ugly 3D printing with high precision I am a totally beginner at 3D printing and I have this question: I see many 3D printers (at amazon) with Z precision as low as 0.1mm! To me that's amazing but what does not amaze me is this: when I see the printed objects of those 3D printers you can easily with naked eye see the "vertical steps". How?
A precision of 0.1mm should be really almost impossible to see. If a person printed using 0.1mm precision how can I see the vertical steps?
I know there are some smoothin techniques to make the surface better but that shouldnt even be needed if the printer actually printed at 0.1mm in the first case. | The 0.1mm refers to the thickness of each layer. However, it does not say anything regarding:
How precise the layers are in the XY plane
How precisely each layer is aligned with the previous in the XY plane
How consistent the extrusion is: are all the layers printed with a consistent line thickness
No matter how fine the layers (and these printers that you refer to can definitely print 0.1mm layers just fine); if they're not well-aligned with each other, or the filament extrudes inconsistently, you're going to see the layer lines. It takes a rigid printer, with low-play bearings, a well-calibrated extruder and filament with a consistent diameter to get smooth-looking prints (but you will always see some layering, especially if you look up close). Also, since filament is extruded in a round shape, the sides of the object are not perfectly flat, but consists of many small arcs, which makes it easier to see the layer lines. |
Marlin menu navigation slow while printing My Kossel Mini printer (delta) has RAMPS1.4/Arduino Mega electronics configured to use a standard 20x4 LCD display with Marlin during printing.
Often, navigating the menus during print can be painfully slow, and I occasionally end up making the wrong selections due to lag.
Without starving the actual printing process of CPU resources, is there any way of speeding up the menu navigation? | A Delta printer requires constant complex calculations to produce straight lines while printing. The firmware, therefore, spends most of its time figuring out the step and timing sequence, and only the little remaining time between interrupts and these calculations is given to the user interface.
Marlin doesn't document any configuration parameters that would improve the user interface responsiveness, and in any case such improvement must necessarily come at the cost of printing speed and/or accuracy. The processor is being used to its maximum capacity. The only thing you might be able to do is dig into the firmware and try to change it yourself, as this is not a clear option within Marlin.
If working with the user interface while printing is important to you, your next step should probably be to change to a faster 32 bit processor. There are a few firmwares available for ARM and other architectures which may resolve your situation. |
Filament Variation Detection I'm trying to find out how "normal" filament (not super expensive filament) varies in diameter (or more accurately cross sectional area) over the length of the filament. I've looked around and the only thing I can find, that many filaments are sold with the tolerances, not how "fast" they vary along the filament. A +- 0.1 mm over 1 meter is after all qite different from the same alteration over 0.1 meter.
I am mainly interested in this, as I want to build a printer with very small Z-height steps, thus a small variation in the filament diameter will lead to a rather large variation in the extrusion width. While I thought over the project, I came to the idea of using some kind of capacitance measuring device to detect the cross-sectional area, however it is only possible (or rather feasible) to measure the average cross-section over a rather long section (10cm+). Hence main part of the question: How "fast" does the filament change diameter?
The other part is obviously: Are there other (cheap) ways to measure the cross-section? I could use light, but then I would only get the diameter at one point (pretty sure the filaments aren't perfectly round) and using multiple sensors would quickly become expensive. And then there's the issue of transparent filaments. Most mechanical solutions have the same issue, only measuring one point and might have issues with certain types of filaments such as very flexible filaments. | You would want a thickness gauge with the ability to communicate via serial. Once you managed to modify Marlin to talk to it, and you engineered a system of rollers for the filament to pass through, then you could automatically compensate for the thickness of the filament.
https://www.amazon.com/Neoteck-Digital-Thickness-Electronic-Micrometer/dp/B07Q33RSH6?th=1 |
Extruder clogs randomly during print I don't know how to say this but during the print, the printer will randomly have difficulty extruding the filament. I will have to give the filament a boost for it to keep going. Once I done the boost, the extruder keeps going perfectly fine for a while.
I am using a Prusa I3 clone bought second hand. I am using the settings that the previous owner gave me (I personally know him). He previously printed a lot of stuff with those settings and they seem to work well. I also bought the brand of same filament as he did for my first roll.
My question is:
Has anyone had this problem or anything similar and if they did, how did they resolve it?
If anymore precision or clarification is needed, please ask.
EDIT
When I say boost I mean that I have to push it down a bit more for it to countinue extruding.
I am using 3D branche filament (it's a local store in Montreal).
I do sometime hear it click before the print. When it does that. I stop the print and restart it. | Check your retraction settings. I had a similar issue and it was caused by the retraction, It retracted just about enough so the gears couldnt hit the hole properly to feed the filament into the nozzle. To fix that I lowered the value of mm on the retraction settings. |
Help installing my Anet A8 printer to my computer I am a complete noob when it comes to the 3d printing world. I just finished assembling my printer and I plug it into my computer with the included usb cable and nothing happens. My computer does recognize the printer being plugged in but it just says "unrecognized device in com 4". Nothing else past that. Somebody please help me with the following steps that need to be taken to get my CPU talking with my printer. | Your question addresses (USB) computer connection, so that will be addressed in this answer. For connection to the printer, you need 2 things (apart from the apparent things as computer, printer and cable):
A working CH340 driver installed on the computer for USB communication with the board,
a piece of software to talk to the computer at a bit transfer rate the printer understands.
The cheap Arduino based boards rely on the CH340 chip for USB communication. You should check whether you have correctly installed this driver. These drivers are erroneous and prone to cause problems. Sometime re-installation works, once did work for me.
The SD card supplied by Anet contains a folder (on my SD card: .\A8\A8资料\Software\CH340G Drive) with the installer file of the driver. Once installed properly, you should be able to connect various applications to the A8, provided you use the correct baud rate of 115200.
All this said, are you asking the correct question? Why do you need to connect to a computer, as you can print just fine by putting sliced .stl files (.gcode files) onto the SD card (when inserted in the computer using the adapter) and reinsert the card again in the printer to select the file using the menu buttons of the printer. Printing from SD card is considered safer then printing via the computer over USB as the print will stop when the PC is shut down or crashes. |
Difficult to remove support material I'm having a lot of difficulty removing support material without damaging the print.
Are there any tips/tricks to doing this or is it just a case of sanding, cutting, chopping and then cleaning it up as best I can?
Settings
Printer: Monoprice Ultimate
Filament Temp: 200 °C
Plate Temp: 60 °C
Material: PLA
Slicer: Ultimaker Cura
Placement: Everywhere
Angle: 20°
Pattern: Concentric | Print/material specific settings
If you are printing too hot with too less distance, the support just fuses to the print object. Extra cooling, lower print temperature and support distance should be in balance to create easy to remove support structures with respect to an acceptable print object surface. If temperature and cooling cannot be balanced to prevent fused support structures (e.g. for high temperature filament materials that cannot take too much cooling as that would result in less structural solid prints), there is an option in Cura to override the fan speed for the first layer above the support (Fan Speed Override). If this fails to produce easy removable supports, you can resort to changing the support distance between the support and the print object.
Support settings
Most of the used slicers have an option to determine how much distance (in terms of layers) you want between your support and your product, you could add an extra layer as space to try out if that works better for you. E.g. the default Cura setting for Support Bottom Distance (which is a sub-setting of Support Z Distance) is the layer thickness specified in Layer Height. If you have a layer height of 0.2 mm, the Support Bottom Distance is also 0.2 mm. For the top, option Support Top Distance this is two layer heights, so 0.4 mm in this example. These options are visible in the expert mode, you can search for them in the search box, see image below.
Why should you want air in between your part and the support?
You'll soon find out when you want to remove supports, if no gap is used, the support will fuse to the print part. This is only interesting (no gap between print part and support structure) when you use a different filament for support like PVA or break-away filament; e.g. PVA dissolves in water in a dual nozzle printer setup (not that you can make the biggest part of the support except the top and bottom layer from the print object material, e.g. PLA for the main part of the support and PVA for the bottom and top layer: settings First Layer Support Extruder, Support Interface Extruder, Support Roof Extruder and Support Floor Extruder). |
3d print lean in Y-axis I have made a custom 3d printer with ramps electronics. I have printed benchy(ship) well, but when i try to print any thing with tooth(spiral vase), gears(bearing), or circle(rocket), Y-axis skip steps in a regular rate giving 70:60 degrees skew along the printin the y-direction, but each layer is perfect, this happen when printing gear bearing.
I have checked y-axis ball bearing, motor, tension belt and i have replace my 6mm glass with 1mm without any differnece in shift.
I have once make it work, but I don't why or how(I have lowed speed to 50 and did some random things).
I have printed from pronterface and when I pause it then home-Y, the skipping in y in corrected.
I drive my x/y axis with no microsteeping and the skipping was much larger.
I only use slic3r for G-code generation.
question:
What is the cause for that skipping?
If there is more than one possiblity, how could I check them seperately?
Update:
*I have changed my Y axis motor with no change.
*I have swaped x&y connections with no change still Y skips.
*I have lowered jerk and max speed and it prints gear bearing well and it is spinning, but when I tried to print spiral vase Y motor skipped. | I would assume it is either the stepper driver or the stepper motor. Try switching the motor wires for x and y axis and see if the problem stays with the motor or the driver. If its not physically getting hung up then this is likely. I had the same problem with my y axis and after switching the motor it was gone. It would only skip steps in one direction and that seems to be exactly whats going on. Most likely it was caused by bad windings on 1 of the 2 coils inside the stepper motor. |
Ready to use objects instead of 3D-printing them I hope this kind of questions are tolerated here. Otherwise, please tell me in the comment and I will delete the question - no needs to downvote.
For a new job I need to create a lot of objects like this one:
To have an idea of the dimensions:
height: 60 mm
cylinder diameter: 12 mm
inner hole: 3 mm
lateral slots width (2 at 90 degress): 3 mm
I'm able to make such an item with either a 3D printer or even a standard 4-axis CNC.
But because I need to make 100+ of these items I wonder if there are something similar out there.
But I have no idea of how it might be called. I tried with "spacer with slots" without any useful results. | If your printer is reliable enough I would suggest printing multiple parts in one go. Since the cylinders are only 12 mm in diameter you can easily fit over a hundred of them on a standard 20 x 20 cm built plate with a couple of millimeters spacing in between. |
Great prints then suddenly terrible quality I've been printing with my Ender 3 for a while now and it's been great. I've had very few problems - depending on my settings, these are my typical first layers:
However with no settings or temperature changes and attempting to print the same files, I am now getting this issue with every print - The lines lay down and adhere fine, but if I watch carefully it looks as if the nozzle is causing the previous line to lift and warp. I have checked belt tensions, calibrated all axes.
The prints come out fine in terms of dimensions - all within 0.1 mm overall size on large prints - but the quality is now terrible. I'm using the same roll. Prints were back-to-back and humidity is at 20 % in the room I store and print in. I've checked the nozzle, checked the belts, tightened everything, rest the printer settings and put them back, regenerated the G-code with multiple slicers... I'm at a loss now.
Any ideas, thoughts, comments, etc would be greatly appreciated. | After watching it countless times, I found out that it was the magnetic mat on the bed that has worn out. It no longer adheres to the bed completely flat and some of the texture was worn down more than in other areas. It wasn't visually detectable - I found it by checking the nozzle height with various feeler gauges in multiple random locations. |
Converting .nii file to .stl file I'm trying to convert a .nii file to a .stl file using this tutorial.
Since my computer runs Windows, I'm running FreeSurfer (Linux) on VirtualBox. I was unable to allow Guest Additions, so I downloaded my .nii file by email. I ran this command to extract the data from the file using FreeSurfer: recon-all -s mybrain -all -i /home/fsuser/Desktop/brainscan.nii
Unfortunately, it did not work, and I received this error message:
"WARNING: tcsh v6.17.06 has an exit code bug! Please update tcsh!
ERROR: Flag -i/home/fsuser/Desktop/anat_stripped.nii unrecognized. -s mybrain -all -i/home/fsuser/Desktop/anat_stripped.nii Linux xubuntu-VirtualBox 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:41:14 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
recon-all -s mybrain exited with ERRORS at Fri Jan 25 20:08:01 EST 2019
For more details, see the log file To report a problem, see http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/fswiki/BugReporting"
I think the problem is that I don't have an application in VirtualBox that can open a .nii file. I tried to download Mango, but when I unzipped the file, there was no executable. What should I do so my .nii file can be converted to a .stl file? | Looks like you didn't include a space between the -i flag and the file, though you did include the space in this question. Try running the command but include spaces between your flags and file directories:
recon-all -s mybrain -all -i /home/fsuser/Desktop/brainscan.nii |
Print parts fail mid-print I am trying to understand what could cause a misprint after several layers. It acts as if the extruder head bump to the PLA after a while. Thus moving the parts and then, it fails because it is not printing at the right location anymore.
The expected result, for one "pyramid" is the following:
The whole model is the cube gear:
I checked the extruder multiplier coefficient parameter. The width of the filament is ok: 1.75 mm. The Y axis seems to be properly calibrated, and if it was the problem, I would expect it to fail before anyway. But I don't have any idea of what could cause that aside from that. And the problem seems to general and "quite" repeatable based on this print and some others (I do not guarantee the same height of failure, but...).
I got a better result by printing layers by 0.3 mm with a 0.4 mm nozzle. But this failed print was with a 0.2 mm layer.
My configuration: I have a prusa i3, with a bowden extruder. It has a slight multiplication of the extruder size, because during my calibration, I noticed that not enough material was pushed. I also calibrated my Z axis as carefully as I could. So what could cause the problem?
During my prints, I also have a problem of small strings everywhere, that I didn't manage to solve completely with the hotend temperature, nor the withdrawal parameter set to 2 mm. And I don't have a fan blowing at the end object (I plan to add one eventually). And the bridge speed is supposed to go at 60 mm/s and non print move at 100 mm/s, thus fast enough I think to avoid strings. | Your printer basically has 2 problems;
stringing, and
layer shifting
The second problem is most probably the result of the first issue. Excessive stringing leads to a lot of material outside the print object, when this clutters, the nozzle could get caught up and cause hindering of movement of a certain axis to result in a shifted layer print as the printer is not aware of this shift, it will continue the print from the shifted reference point.
From your second experiment you see that a larger layer height does not show excessive stringing and the print has therefore not been hindered by caught-up material to finish the product without layer shifting.
It is key to solve the stringing issue; stringing is the result of filament being extruded by pressure build-up in the nozzle that "leaks" out of the nozzle on travel movement of the print head. You will probably not see this happening when you print a single product; it is typically seen when printing multiple objects on the build plate. This usually implies that the printer need to be properly tuned. It is up to you to find the correct settings; test print objects, like calibration prints, help you find these correct settings.
Important print parameters to fight stringing are:
retraction, (do you retract enough prior to movement?)
coasting, (do you stop in time with extruding to make use of the overpressure in the nozzle?)
travel speed, (do you move fast enough to minimize the amount of filament leaking out?)
print temperature, (do you print at a temperature where the filament doesn't get too fluid?)
print part cooling, (do you have sufficient cooling?)
Once you optimized this, the stringing should be gone and the change of layer shifting should have reduced. |
Weight Reducing Design Change for Extruder Driver I'm considering removing the driver motor from the extruder assembly, and placing it on a stationary mount point instead, and then using a flex-shaft type connector from the motor to the extruder assembly to actually drive the extruder. The motivation for this change is to reduce the overall weight of the extruder driver and hot end assembly, allowing for quicker movement of the carriage on it's associated axis(one of X,Y).
Would it be better to run a pair of drivers (one for each direction) to manage reversing the filament pressure or would it be better to use just one driver and reverse the motor as usual? | Very cool idea,
One motor would definitely be more than capable of producing the required torques even through a flexshaft connector. For any normal sized 3D-printer the torques required, and the speeds you'll need for rapid response are well within the capabilities of any off-the-shelf stepper motor.
Just a note on the idea though, with a normal, 'rigid', connection there is essentially no winding or unwinding, and only the backlash between the gears and the filament to consider, and that is effectively zero. With a flex-shaft though, the stack-up of twists and flexing will be much greater. The system will require more rotations at the source to effect the same amount of torque at the end effector as the flex shaft flexes and bends under the load. For tiny torques with short flex shafts, this wont be an issue as filament pressure is pretty minimal. But if you scale up this project or start working at much higher speeds, you may run into some issues with this design.
I have no idea how big or fast you'd need to be working at for this to begin to become a problem. I'm imagining pretty big though. Just something you might want to keep in mind if you try turning this into a huge, super fast 3D-printer. |
How can I see what errors Slic3r have repaird? I have an STL-file that Slic3r thinks has errors. They are not visible in the 3D view. I have had them anazlyzed in both Blender and netfabb. Both of these programs say that the model is good. I don't want to leave this to chance. Since I sell STL-files I need the STL-file perfect.
Is there any way I can find out what the problem is. I encounter this from time to time. Often I can go back into blender and find the error by analyzing the mesh. But not always. It would be very helpful to have slic3r tell me what it repaired. | Slic3r uses ADMesh internally to validate and fix mesh. You could try to use ADMesh directly to see a limited information about what was changed. Note that Slic3r bundles it's own copy of ADMesh and depending on your Slic3r version and edition, the behavior of it's ADMesh might slightly differ from the standalone one. (For example Slic3r Prusa Editon patches it's own ADMesh very heavily.)
Using ADMesh CLI:
$ admesh cube_bad.stl
ADMesh version 0.98.2, Copyright (C) 1995, 1996 Anthony D. Martin
ADMesh comes with NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are welcome to
redistribute it under certain conditions. See the file COPYING for details.
Opening cube_bad.stl
Checking exact...
Checking nearby. Tolerance= 1.000000 Iteration=1 of 2... Fixed 0 edges.
Checking nearby. Tolerance= 1.000173 Iteration=2 of 2... Fixed 0 edges.
Removing unconnected facets...
Filling holes...
Checking normal directions...
Checking normal values...
Calculating volume...
Verifying neighbors...
================= Results produced by ADMesh version 0.98.2 ================
Input file : cube_bad.stl
File type : ASCII STL file
Header : solid cube (repaired)
============== Size ==============
Min X = 0.000000, Max X = 1.000000
Min Y = 0.000000, Max Y = 1.000000
Min Z = 0.000000, Max Z = 1.000000
========= Facet Status ========== Original ============ Final ====
Number of facets : 12 12
Facets with 1 disconnected edge : 3 0
Facets with 2 disconnected edges : 0 0
Facets with 3 disconnected edges : 1 0
Total disconnected facets : 4 0
=== Processing Statistics === ===== Other Statistics =====
Number of parts : 1 Volume : 1.000000
Degenerate facets : 0
Edges fixed : 0
Facets removed : 1
Facets added : 1
Facets reversed : 2
Backwards edges : 0
Normals fixed : 2
The statistics should give you some idea about what happened.
Using ADMeshGUI:
Find ADMeshGUI at github.com/admesh/ADMeshGUI.
Open the file and click the REPAIR button in bottom right. See the changes. |
Will the TMC2130 V3.0 stepper driver work with the Ramps 1.6 Plus board? I want to buy the board Ramps 1.6 Plus. The description in the link says that is compatible with the driver TMC2130, but I found that there are two versions soldered in SPI mode.
BIGTREETECH TMC2130 V3.0. Where the diagnosis pins are soldered as well
TMC2130 V?. In this other product those pins are not soldered and I believe it will fit in the board
As you can see in the image other boards like the SKR 1.3 have some socket to plug in the diagnosis pins. But I don't see something similar in the Ramps 1.6, which has male pins instead.
Should I remove those pins in order to plug the driver? Or is there a better way to proceed?
I don't really know what the diagnosis pins do, are they really necessary? Should I buy the second option without those pins soldered to avoid problems? | Well I found that I can use a DuPont cable to connect the diag1 pin to the right endstop
There is also a beta functionality in the Marlin firmware I haven't tried: Just uncommenting SPI_ENDSTOPS definition
* SPI_ENDSTOPS *** Beta feature! *** TMC2130 Only ***
* Poll the driver through SPI to determine load when homing.
* Removes the need for a wire from DIAG1 to an endstop pin.
*
* IMPROVE_HOMING_RELIABILITY tunes acceleration and jerk when
* homing and adds a guard period for endstop triggering.
*/
#define SENSORLESS_HOMING // StallGuard capable drivers only
#if EITHER(SENSORLESS_HOMING, SENSORLESS_PROBING)
// TMC2209: 0...255. TMC2130: -64...63
#define X_STALL_SENSITIVITY 8
#define X2_STALL_SENSITIVITY X_STALL_SENSITIVITY
#define Y_STALL_SENSITIVITY 8
//#define Z_STALL_SENSITIVITY 8
//#define SPI_ENDSTOPS // TMC2130 only
//#define IMPROVE_HOMING_RELIABILITY
#endif |
Why does OpenSCAD fail to cut holes in polygon sides that are exactly the width of the wall? I'm trying to make a frame for a lithograph that I plan to 3D print for my wife for Mother's Day. I typically will have my differences be exactly the right size (rather than oversizing it for the sake of the preview) because it gives me a good feel for how accurate my math is (particularly when I'm accounting for the horizontal margin created by the compressed filament coming out of the nozzle).
In this case, however, it came back to bite me. I debugged this issue for quite a while assuming I had miscalculated something or that I had confused my order of rotations somehow.
Eventually, I oversized my cutout and sure enough, the holes appeared correctly. After poking at it, I realized I only need 0.000005 mm on either side of my cutout for it to render correctly!
I've created a minimal reproducible example of my issue here:
outerRadius = 100;
height = 40;
wallWidth = 2;
innerRadius = outerRadius - wallWidth / sin(60);
apothem = innerRadius * cos(180 / 6);
// change this to 0 and see what happens!!
holeSizeCorrection = 0.00001;
module holes() {
for (face = [0:5]) {
rotate([0, 0, face * 60 + 30])
translate([apothem - holeSizeCorrection / 2, 0, height / 2])
rotate([0, 90, 0])
cylinder(h = wallWidth + holeSizeCorrection, r = height / 4, $fn = 4);
}
}
color("orange") difference() {
$fn = 6;
cylinder(h = height, r = outerRadius);
translate([0, 0, -height/4]) // because if it's exactly right, you can't see inside
cylinder(h = height * 2, r = innerRadius);
color("blue") holes();
}
When the holes I'm trying to cut in the polygon are exactly the width of the wall, it renders the preview correctly but the rendered output is incorrect. To verify that the shape was correct, I moved the holes out of the difference and it looks like this:
The preview (aside from the strange exact cut issue that usually happens) is correct as well. But, when I render it, it looks like this:
But, if I have the hole shape stick out 0.000005 mm on either side, it renders just fine!
Now that I know to look for this kind of thing, it'll probably save me debugging time in the future. :) But, it would be nice to know if I've done something wrong as well. | openSCAD simply allows having surface solutions that result in a wall of 0 thickness. The walls appear to clip in those areas and can at times be seen from both sides, like in your example:
A 0 thickness wall is also exportable into an STL as a set of triangles spun up by vertices that are in each other's plane but have inverted normal vectors for the two sides - which means that the construct exists for the computer - and I have used this in 3D designs for a hologram-effect, even if it does not result in a physically possible property set.
An example of that effect is this cube (made in blender), that has the back wall purple, all others are grey - and the internal wall is at the same X-value as the back wall. You see the grey wall clipping despite the normal of it pointing to +X while the normal of the purple wall is into -X.
By having your cookie-cutter extrude not just to but through the back wall, you force a solution that disallows the 0-surface solution and thus solves the problem of creating those artifact walls.
Note that the 0-surface wall persists in the slicer preview:
But rest assured: almost all slicers ignore walls that are too thin to be printed, and a 0 thickness wall especially is ignored: |
What precautions to take when flashing Marlin 2.0? I was just informed via a comment that the TH3D Unified firmware a version of Marlin that's no longer updated and considered obsolete (1.9.X in this case) and that, since I'm flashing my firmware to fix my default e-step settings, I might as well flash a non-obsolete firmware.
However, something in the back of my mind is telling me that I can't use Marlin 2.0 because of some hardware limitation.
I'm using the Creality CR-10S printer (with the Creality 2.0 board, I believe) which is an 8-bit CPU. What should I look out for before upgrading to Marlin 2.0?
Marlin's Install website suggests that 8-bit AVR printers can use it (flashing via Arduino IDE). SO I guess I'm double checking before I do something that could potentially brick my printer. | It wasn't advised to use the version 2.x because it was in development for 32-bit micro processors. Now that it has been released as the official version, you can use it for 8-bit micro processors.
But, it totally depends on the amount of options in Marlin you activate (bed leveling, advanced menu, M5xx, etc.). Luckily you can see how large the installation is after you have built it e.g. in PlatformIO. Also, in the configuration files frequently is mentioned how much extra storage activating an option costs (search for PROGMEM in the Marlin sources). Unless you want all options active, you'll be fine. I'm running it on an AVR (MEGA2560) for a CoreXY with bed leveling and some more options; it runs fine. |
Ender 3 - extruder stepper skipping I have a problem most likely very similar to some reported by other users: extruder stepper is visually skipping a step from time to time. It rapidly rotates in the direction opposite to the one it is supposed to rotate.
I noticed the following:
The extruder stepper jumps totally randomly - there is nothing specific in the pattern printed, position etc.
Stepper jumps more often on the infill, rarely on the walls.
Details about print:
PLA (Devil Design - various colors, they doesn't matter)
Filament guide installed on top, but not yet before the extruder (it is printing right now, I'm waiting for the ball bearings too)
Filament mounted on the top - in the place defined by Creality
Extruder is already replaced with the aluminium one
The mainboard is SKR E3 mini V2 (replaced recently)
95% flow set in Cura
Printing on glass, leveled bed (the jumping occurs on all layers, not only first)
215 °C hotend temperature, 60 °C bed temperature
Stepper motor current settings (from Marlin menu): 580 for X, Y & Z, 650 for E1
Other observations:
What's interesting is that extruder motor jumps even if I manually unwind some filament, so that the only force that it has to overcome is only pushing filament into the head.
I did a quick DIY wooden spool holder, so that the filament was fed almost horizontally. This actually seemed to make things worse - stepper jumped more often. I moved spool to the top again and it reduced jumping a little.
Prints are done beatifully (after changing the motherboard, that is) - no lost lines or layers, walls connected with infill, perfect first layer etc.
What may be the cause of stepper motor jumping? How can I solve it? Does it pose a threat to the motor or stepper? I need to print filament guide and spool holder with ball bearings, so that I can minimize force required by the extruder motor, but then the stepper will probably jump during the prints. I already damaged the original mainboard because of stuck filament, I don't want to destroy another one.
This is how regular extruder retraction looks:
(10 seconds)
This is how stepper skipping looks:
(13 seconds)
Today I replaced the whole heat block (radiator, heater, thermistor and nozzle) to a new one (original, for now) and motor stopped skipping - at least on the calibration cube. I will see, how will it perform on more complex prints.
However, even having the prior one in hands, I couldn't find the reason, why motor was skipping - other than the fact, that I couldn't extract the bowden tube from the radiator (so maybe some filament indeed was dripping inside?) | I have a problem most likely very similar to some reported by other users: extruder stepper is visually skipping a step from time to time. It rapidly rotates in the direction opposite to the one it is supposed to rotate.
These two sentences are saying something totally different, and the latter is not what a skipped step looks like. It sounds like retraction, which is totally normal. |
Is a heated bed necessary if printing with PLA? I'm looking at getting this printer, the da Vinci 1.0w 3D Printer, very soon as my first printer. Since this is an enclosed printer, from what I can tell from the pictures, and given that it is a PLA Printer (I'm assuming that is the filament it prints with), is a heated bed necessary? Especially since this printer doesn't have one? Or should I look at a ABS printer instead?
I plan on printing 1:1 scale props. | There is problem with sticking to bed without preheat, PLA is possible to print on Kapton tape with no-heated bed. Or there are other tapes dedicated for printing. da Vinci 1.0w is good for small models with PLA. ABS is not possible with no heated bed. |
Is there any way to shrink 3 mm filaments down to 2.85 mm? Some 3 mm filaments seem to actually be 3 mm - is there any way to shave off the excess and use it as 2.85 mm? | I would not recommend you to try and somehow re-size the filament, since even the smallest of irregularities and error in diameter occurring from such a process would ruin your prints with sporadic over and under extrusion. Rather, if you have the tools available, you could grind the filament into pellets, and use a filament extruder to make it anew with your desired diameter.
Alternatively, depending on your printer setup, you might very well extrude true 3.00 filament with your 2.85 mm filament printer. If you try to do that, make sure to:
Adjust filament diameter in your slicer
Check that your filament isn't getting squashed by the extruder wheel
Check that all mechanical parts actually can pass through your filament freely
I do not own a 2.85 mm printer myself, and therefore have not tried this procedure. There are, however, several people who seem to have done this successfully. |
Bad print quality on Creality Ender 3 About 1.5 months ago I changed the springs of my printing bed and since then I have had the same problem again and again. Strangely enough, it only happens sometimes.
I have already realigned the printing bed several times, cleaned it etc. Maybe one of you can tell me what my problem is based on these pictures.
I have also already tried out various underlays.
I print with an Ender 3 , PLA, quality: 0.2 mm, speed: 25 mm/s, initial fan speed: 0 %.
I'm not sure if it helps but on the pictures I tried to print: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3495390. | From the images you can see that the filament is not squished to the bed, e.g. the extruded skirt looks as if a round rod lies on the bed. The bottom picture shows that the skirt is even dragged (top left); this indicates that the initial bed to nozzle distance is too large. Please decrease the distance or look into your slicer if there is a height offset active. |
Heated bed for the XYZprinting da Vinci mini w Anybody ever tried to retrofit a heatbed to the da Vinci mini w with the proper dimensions (165 mm x 165 mm or 6.5" x 6.5").
Where can I find a heatbed that fits and a corresponding power supply / PID controller? | Instead of replacing the bed, you could invest in a silicone heating element and top it off with a piece of (Borosilicate) glass.
If the printer board has exposed headers to attach a heated bed, which is possible, but not certain, you could use an SSR (solid state relay) to power the bed using the signal from the board to set the temperature. Alternatively use a thermostat for an incubator to create the signal for the SSR. Note that all these parts can be sourced from those typical online websites.
In case the wires of the silicone heater stick out, use a layer of cork where you cut out space for the cables and thermistor. |
Raft warping (Makerbot Replicator+) Quick thing: Please tell me if I misuse any of the terminology
On a replicator+, I have been printing successfully for a while, when suddenly the raft started to warp. I was doing a bunch of models that covered the whole tray, so I shrunk to just a small area, but It still warped I read up on how to fix, but most covered how to fix warping in the model itself, not the rafting. Some said to lower the temp, would that work? smart extruder at default settings, 215 C. The printer does not have a heated base, nor have I treated it with anything, and I am using it with the stock program (makerbot print). Otherwise, I am using it as it came out of the box. | I'm not sure I am reading your post correctly, but if you are doing a batch of small prints, I would recommend to space them enough so as each of them has its own mini-raft, rather than all of them sharing the same large one.
If you are using cura, you can tweak how much the raft goes past the footprint of the part. Unless you are printing very small parts, you don't need that to be a lot.
In general, you should think to a raft as a print in and by itself: the larger it is, the more prone to warping, although the way filament is layered with gaps makes the raft bend and warp a lot less than a regular print of the same size. |
overlaying epoxy resin on PLA I've been experimenting with FDM 3D printers and PLA for about a year now.
I'm at the point where I'd like to produce something considerably stronger than PLA, and was wondering if there is a faux-pas list, or general instructions on how to coat PLA with epoxy resin, or even fibreglass/carbon fibre and resin to add strength and a surface to sand and paint.
I would have assumed that I'd need to coat the PLA object using a brush and epoxy resin, but I've also seen blogs where the epoxy mix has been heated enough to become liquid and then the PLA object was submerged in it.
Obviously the fibre coating would most likely have to take place manually by adding sheets, unless I decide to go for shredded fibres (which probably won't provide the strength I'm interested in).
Has anyone tried it, or have a guide on how to do this? | I have used Styrol based Polyester resins on prints and they created the usual stench as well as a surefire bond and it is easily useable with unstructured fiberglass, as that fiberglass has usually a binder that will react with the styrol and bond the mat.
Epoxy resins also bond nicely to PLA and don't have the styrol smell, but they are not bonding that nicely to normal fiberglass, you want to use them with fiberglass weave.
Either resin is a quite viscous fluid. When you cast a flat surface, it will try to smooth out to a good degree under gravity. When coating a curved surface, you should make sure to align it in way that the lowest point is either the top of the dome or the lower edge, so it settles equally. You can aid in this process by providing heat as this will lower viscosity. An airstream will also aid as it presses onto the surface helping to smooth out unevenness. |
Printer Crashes at the Beginning of a Print I am converting an old Makerbot Replicator 2 to Marlin Firmware and everything works. The printer heats up, auto bed levels, and starts the print. However, after a couple minutes (usually after the 1st or 2nd layer), the printer crashes and stops. It does not continue printing and I have to restart it again. It crashed for every single print, I have not had any successful prints yet.
Here is a video showing the issue:
The camera was started right when the print started. After about 1.5 minutes, the printer crashes, and the lcd screen freezes.
Here are photos of a couple of prints that crashed:
I have all of my code here: https://github.com/RosalieWessels/Marlin_MakerbotReplicator2
My models are sliced with Cura and printed in PLA.
I tried hotend temperatures of 200, 210, and 220 degrees. My print speed is around 50 or 60 mm/s.
Here is a sample sliced file that was used:
https://filebin.net/df33a3jjwgemz0m8
Thank you! | I see a couple likely culprits for a hardcrash like this
problems with the power supply. If the power supply does not provide enough voltage an/or current to the board, this can lead to a lockup of the board.
temperature issues of the board. If the board overheats, it could fail to execute properly, leading to abort. make sure that the board is not overheating.
faulty firmware. recompile your firmware and reflash it.
faulty board. |
Is PLA filament conductive? I am planing on printing something that will make contact with PCB boards. The print will be most likely to be in PLA. I don't want to fry the PCB board so I want to know if 3D printed PLA objects are conductive.
I googled and found out about special non-conductive PLA and conductive PLA. But what about the conductivity of normal PLA? | Normal PLA is non-conductive. You can take an $\Omega$-meter to a test part if you're really concerned somehow you have some PLA that is conductive.
There is a caveat that your color may include metal flake or graphite of some kind. Depending on the density it may be conductive. But I've tested my silver on hand and it gave me infinite resistance. |
How to sharpen cookie/clay cutter edge I’m new to 3D printing and have the Creality Ender 3 Pro. I work a lot with clay for earrings and wanted to design my own cutters with a sharp edge to create clean shapes.
I use PLA and have been using the speed and nozzle (0.4 mm) that was already set when I bought it. It’s been creating fine edges but I’d like to make it a lot sharper. Using the instructions from videos I saw online, I created the following u shape (extrusion of .5 mm Is the “cutting edge”. I started getting some weird bubbles too and am not sure what has created that either (see pic).
I use fusion 360 to make the cookie/clay cutter and then send it to Ultimaker Cura to slice.
Any help with how to make it sharper and more clean cuts would be great! | An extrusion width of 0.5 mm is too wide for making a sharp outline, I do use this sometimes for extrusion width for the infill.
Note that you can sand plastic (e.g. PLA or ABS) to sharpen the edge. |
First 3 mm prints poorly, then fine after that I have an Ender 3 that I have been pretty happy with so far, however it recently started an odd behavior and I can't figure out what's causing it.
What happens is that the first ~3 mm of the print comes out "sloppy". After that, everything clears up and it prints fine for the rest of the print. (Although it perhaps looks a little under extruded on the top layer)
It looks almost like it's over extruding. But if that's the case, why would it only be for the first 3 mm? Then the top layer looking under extruded makes that possibility even more unlikely.
This is consistently happening regardless of what I am printing, the brand of filament (I only print PLA), or the bed temp or hot end temp. I've tried tweaking with the bed leveling and giving a little more gap on the first layer, but that doesn't seem to change anything either. I also calibrated the extrusion multiplier and it's spot on now.
I use Ultimaker Cura 3.6 as my slicer. I tried resetting back to defaults to see if maybe I had inadvertently changed something but that didn't help either.
I have done a few upgrades - Marlin firmware, Capricorn tubing, glass bed, replaced the (broken) plastic extruder with one of the metal ones, new PTFE fittings. I didn't notice the problem until recently so I can't say if it started corresponding with any of those upgrades.
When I first got it, the prints came out beautifully from the first layer, so this is really frustrating me. I'd like to get it back the way it was.
Any suggestions on where to look?
Update: I did some slightly more controlled experimemts and I did get it looking a little better. It does seem related mostly to bed tempurature. The cooler I make the bed, the better it looks. However as it gets cooler, the prints are also starting to warp and break loose, so the print ends up failing completely. I had a hard time getting a successful print below about 45 degrees, and even at that temperature it still isn't completely clean. I'm using glue stick for adhesion and it just doesn't seem able to hold it without some heat. I traditionally have run around 50 degrees before this problem started though, so it seems odd I have to drop below that now.
Also, for more info, the cube dimensions are pretty close in the X and Y, but were about .5mm short in the Z. So the layers do seem to be settling.
I did check the bed temp with a non-contact thermometer and it was consistent with what the printer reported, so it doesnt seem to be a bad thermostat throwing things off. | After much trial and error, I think I finally figured out the solution.
Even though I could get better prints by tweaking with the temperatures, I could never totally eliminate the problem. The better I made it look by cooling down the bed, the more likely it would break free and the print would fail completely.
At one point though I happened to print something taller, and interestingly enough a similar band of ugly layers appeared higher up in the print as well.
So I started a closer inspection of the Z axis rollers. The Ender 3 has a funky setup where there are 3 rollers at each end of the X axis. Two are fixed and one can be adjusted to change the tension of the rollers against the Z rails. What I discovered was that a couple of the non-adjustable rollers weren't terribly tight and could be turned by fairly easily with my fingers. At the same time, the adjustable rollers are starting to wear a groove.
On a hunch, I decided to try re-adjusting the tension so that I could no longer turn any of them with my fingers. It definitely had an effect...now the bed was too high and it would no longer extrude the first layer because the nozzle was too close. This required going through the complete bed leveling process to get it back in spec.
Once I got it re-leveled, low and behold it's printing like new! The height is coming out spot-on too.
I suspect what was happening is that the rollers were too loose and at certain heights they we allowing movement in the Z axis. Perhaps there is a flat spot that was allowing the X rail to droop, then once it got past the flat spot it would print cleanly again.
I haven't printed anything tall enough yet to see if the bad layers still show up higher in the print, if they do, I think it is probably a sign that I need to replace some rollers. In the mean time, I'm thrilled to be getting decent prints again!
Update: This ended up NOT being the solution to my problem. However it does seem to be related. As I mentioned in the comments, the problem returned after a few days of the printer sitting unused. I have since been able to get it printing better by going the opposite route - loosening up the Z axis bearings. At the moment it is printing somewhat better, but still not perfect. I am also having under extrusion issues when may or may not be related. I have ordered some new rollers to see if that helps since some of them had a pretty good groove worn in them.
Another Update: I replaced several of the Z rollers that had become grooved with some that claimed to be a little harder material. So far this seems to have mostly cleared up the issue. I have now completed several large print jobs and the first layers have been coming out pretty good.
I also ended up taking out the Capricorn tubing on the extruder. The extruder skips were becoming quite bad and causing under extrusion issues throughout the print. The Capricorn has a little smaller inside diameter than the stock tubing and I wondered if it was too tight on some filaments. I went back to some plain white cheap PTFE and that problem mostly went away as well. I still hear the "click" once in a while, but it is fairly rare. I may try tweaking the motor current a little to see if I can get rid of that. All in all though, the printer seems to be printing about as good as it ever has. |
Fixing temperature Issues on I3 Mega / Where to find spare part I have an old Anycubic i3 Mega printer which started having issues keeping the hotend-temperature. The peak at the start of the diagram was when I was touching the cable on top of the hotend:
It also sometimes disconnects completely with a MINTEMP-Error
So it is fair to assume it might be an issue with the cable/plug to the hotend.
My problem is that I cannot find that cable anywhere on the Anycubic spare parts site. Is this maybe a "standard" cable that I can get anywhere else? | The plastic looks ok. If you get the tools and pins to work on the connector, you could replace problem pins. Many of us build our own cables. If we verify the connector is Molex, you might need calipers to measure dimensions to get the correct size. You won't need expensive ones. I've seen digital calipers from \$10 to \$20.
Have you already verified your sensor and heater aren't an issue? Maybe you've tried a new hot end, or a new heater block with a new heater and sensor.
You can visually inspect the pins on the connector to see if they have a loose connection. See the solution at Proper hotend heater for Reprap x400 Pro V3
What is strange from you graph, you seem to be loosing connection to both thermistors. Do the thermistors to the bed and hot end share one common connection, so that one pin could affect both?
If you haven't already tried it, one quick fix to try is unplugging the cables and plug them in again with the printer off of course. |
Manual Color Changing Ive been experimenting will multiple color filament but the colors a more or less blended. Is there are filament that goes from one color directly to another without having transition color ex. red to green immediately.
I've been tinkering with Filament Hub Filament and it is very good (some of the best I've ever used) however I've had to essentially melt strands of one filament to the next and this is unsustainable.
Anyone know any filaments or methods to have an immediate color change | It takes at least a few cm of extrusion to purge the old color before switching to a new one due to mixing in the melt zone, and possibly much more depending on the particular pigments. If the old color is something bright like red and the new one is white or something close, it can even take many tens of cm before you get a clean new color.
Multi-color extrusion setups either use separate hotends per color or fancy retraction setups where each color can be retracted separately, along with purge towers. You cannot get a clean color switch in the print just by having one in the input filament, and this is probably why all the mixed color filament that's sold is blended - so customers don't get disappointed when it doesn't work like you expect. |
How to move Z up after printing in Cura? Simple question, I want to move my printer head up when the print finishes instead of to the side.
Where's the option to do this in Cura? | Go towards the right top corner. Click on the printer name. From the drop down, select, "Manage printers". You will get a dialogue box in the middle of your screen. Your current printer's name will be shown in italics. On the right side of the dialogue box, click on, "Machine settings". This will open another dialogue box. In the lower left, you will see a text box with the heading, "End G-Code" scroll down to where you see the line, "G1 X0 Y0". This is the line that moves your print head to the lower left corner. G1 is the command for a linear move. X0 and Y0 are move instructions to move the the 0 coordinate for the two axes. Change this line to G1 Znn where "nn" is the number of the coordinate you wish to move to. Close this dialogue, close the previous dialogue and all newly sliced file will now use this code.
If like to keep track of any changes you make, you can put a semi-colon at the beginning of the line. This turns the line into a comment and will not be actioned. Then press enter and on a new line, put the line, G1 znn. |
Where to define grid for bilinear levelling in Marlin I'm using firmware Marlin 2.0.3 on an Anet A8 printer. I'm using a Roko SN04-N NPN bed leveller. I've managed to set up 3 points bed levelling but I wanted to try the bilinear levelling.
Issue is, the sensor goes out of the aluminum bed ever so slightly during levelling, resulting in the printing head crashing on the bed.
Where can I set the grid for the bilinear levelling in the config file? I didn't find the option in the file and Google wasn't of any help this time. | If you have managed to setup 3-point levelling, you should be able to enable bi-linear levelling in the firmware.
From the configuration.h file for Marlin firmware you can find the following options:
/**
* Choose one of the options below to enable G29 Bed Leveling. The parameters
* and behavior of G29 will change depending on your selection.
*
* If using a Probe for Z Homing, enable Z_SAFE_HOMING also!
*
* - AUTO_BED_LEVELING_3POINT
* Probe 3 arbitrary points on the bed (that aren't collinear)
* You specify the XY coordinates of all 3 points.
* The result is a single tilted plane. Best for a flat bed.
*
* - AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR
* Probe several points in a grid.
* You specify the rectangle and the density of sample points.
* The result is a single tilted plane. Best for a flat bed.
*
* - AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR
* Probe several points in a grid.
* You specify the rectangle and the density of sample points.
* The result is a mesh, best for large or uneven beds.
*
* - AUTO_BED_LEVELING_UBL (Unified Bed Leveling)
* A comprehensive bed leveling system combining the features and benefits
* of other systems. UBL also includes integrated Mesh Generation, Mesh
* Validation and Mesh Editing systems.
*
* - MESH_BED_LEVELING
* Probe a grid manually
* The result is a mesh, suitable for large or uneven beds. (See BILINEAR.)
* For machines without a probe, Mesh Bed Leveling provides a method to perform
* leveling in steps so you can manually adjust the Z height at each grid-point.
* With an LCD controller the process is guided step-by-step.
*/
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_3POINT
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_UBL
//#define MESH_BED_LEVELING
If you are using 3-point levelling you enabled constant AUTO_BED_LEVELING_3POINT by removing the comment characters (//):
#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_3POINT
to enable bi-linear levelling, you should remove the comment characters before constant #define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR:
#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR
Definition of the grid is done by specifying how many point you want to have using constants GRID_MAX_POINTS_X and GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y:
#if EITHER(AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR, AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR)
// Set the number of grid points per dimension.
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 3
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y GRID_MAX_POINTS_X
The code above shows the default definition of a 9 point (3 x 3) grid.
Note that this will only work well if the area for the sensor to reach safely is correctly defined. If the sensor is missing the build plate, you have not correctly defined the limits for the sensor. Question "How to set Z-probe boundary limits in firmware when using automatic bed leveling?" has an accepted answer that describes how to define an area on the plate that the sensor may reach (the answer on this question also discusses Marlin 2.x).
In the specific case of the OP (after posting the config files)
From the posted configuration files your probe position can be obtained:
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { 25, 55, 0 }
So your probe is at the right-back when facing the printer. Also your bed area attempt (commented) and the current active bed area can be obtained:
#if PROBE_SELECTED && !IS_KINEMATIC
//#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT 5
//#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT 200
//#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT 55
//#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK 200
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#endif
From these excerpts it is clear that the bed limits are incorrectly defined.
Following the theory from this answer the probe is only allowed to visit the following (dark red) area:
This area is defined as:
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT (PROBE_OFFSET_X_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT (PROBE_OFFSET_Y_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
which translates to:
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT (25 + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT (55 + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
As seen in the commented //#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT 5 and uncommented #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT MIN_PROBE_EDGE (equals 10) left probe limits, you are at least respectively 20 or 15 mm short, hence the sensor is not on the plate on the left. |
Upgrading to higher torque extruder motor creality ender3 So according to E3D customer service, the V6 is designed to have higher back pressure than the MK8. This leads to underextrusion with PLA and all kinds of problems unless you increase the temp by 30 - 50 °C so it will heat the filament faster and reduce the back pressure. They recommended getting a geared extruder such as the titan when I contacted them. Why none of this is mentioned on the V6 product page I have no idea, but I am not about to spend the cost of the V6 again on an E3D extruder unless it is truly the only option. I would imagine one could just replace the stock extruder motor with higher torque.
Does anyone know the max amperage motor you can replace the stock extruder motor with?
Is a 2 A NEMA 17 too much?
Will a 2 A stepper give any more torque than the stock one (I know it is rated at a higher oz-in but does that actually translate to more torque)?
Finally, where are the specs for the Ender 3 stepper drivers listed? | So the 'obvious' answer to this problem is to run a slower print speed, so it isn't so much as a case of information being missing, as there being a non-trivial trade off between speed, quality and cost.
Using the E3D products as examples, a double length NEMA17 can indeed deliver twice the kg×cm as a standard one, and a slimline a little less. E3D suggest that 'standard' A4988 drivers are capable of supplying 2A, but this is right at the limit of their performance (and you would certainly want to consider heatskinking/forced cooling).
E3D also list a standard stepper motor with a 5.18:1 reduction gearbox. This should give a good 4x increase in driven torque, and if you can find just the gearbox, that might be the cheapest option. You don't need such a high reduction, but this is limited by the physical size available.
In the absence of any better specs, a physically similar motor might be a good reference. You can check this by comparing various parts from different manufacturers. Regardless of the current capacity, more torque generally means a larger sized part. |
What is retract speed & length? On a 3D XYZ printer extruder, I found two terms I have no idea about:
retract speed
retract length
What are these and why/how should they be set? | Retraction is the reversal of the direction of the filament and is generally used when moving from one non-contiguous point of the print to another, in order to prevent stringing and oozing of the filament. If retraction is not employed then the filament still coming out of the nozzle, after the last point was printed (and paused), will stretch, thus creating a fine string, as the print head is moved to the next position where printing is to recommence.
The retraction speed is the speed at which the filament is retracted, or pulled back (by the extruder stepper), and the retraction length is the amount that is pulled back.
These settings are dealt with in the XYZware User manual, on page 43, section 11.5 Retraction
11.5 Retraction
11.5.1 Retract Length
In printing object, before large movement of print module, print
filament will be drawn back, such that slight negative pressure
occurs in print nozzle, preventing material from adhering to
the object while moving, improving surface quality of print object
11.5.2 Activate Threshold
Such setting will allow users to set up retraction mechanism
activation style. For setup mode, users usually specify the
minimal print module movement distance for retraction mechanism
activation
11.5.3 Lifting height for extruder withdrawal
After retraction, the print module will be elevated slightly with such
setup value. Such action prevents material from adhering to the
object, and makes a more orderly final print stop point. However, it
should be noted that excessively large elevation will extend print
preparation time for the next print layer, and portions of angles may
results cooling and difficult to bond conditions between layers
11.5.4 Add Extra Filament after Travel < Retraction
Material compensation may be used to improve upon holes or
poor extrusion due to excessive extruder withdrawal
Retraction speed isn't dealt with in the above section though. In section 3.3, of the XYZware Pro. User Manual, it is mentioned:
Retract Speed
The speed for pulling filament backwards. Refer to the function introduction in the next chapter for more about retraction.
Hint:
Cooperation of retraction speed and other print speeds will affect feeding stability directly in printing. A print speed slightly faster than the retraction speed would prevent material squeeze from interrupt.
However, the manual doesn't then go on to give any setting. However, the default settings should suffice, unless you are experiencing issues with stringing and/or oozing.
A further explanation can be found here, Stringing and oozing:
Reason 2: Retraction Length
The retraction function includes two setting options. One is
retraction length and the other is retraction speed. The retraction
length determines how much melted filament will be pulled out of the
nozzle. In general, the more plastic that is retracted from the
nozzle, the less likely the nozzle is to ooze while moving. As for the
issue, the default setting in the expert mode is enough for you to
solve the problem. If you encounter stringing with your print job, you
can increase the retraction length slightly to test again to see if
the performance improves.
Reason 3: Retraction Speed
The retraction speed determines how fast the filament is retracted
from the nozzle. If the speed is too low, it will make no difference
to your print job., the melted filament will still drop down through
the nozzle and leave on the model. On the contrary, if the speed is
too fast, the filament will be back to the nozzle and cannot be
extruded out in the next movement of printing. As for the retraction
speed setting, users can reserve the default setting which is perfect
for almost every models.
Testing your settings
As 0scar has reminded me, there are a good number of retraction test prints available (cubes, towers, bridges), which will help you check that your settings are adequate. These prints provide models that have a lot of print breaks (points between which printing is paused and then resumed), which can cause stringing to be exhibited. See RepRap Wiki - Oozebane:
Oozebane
Objective: stop material oozing out of the nozzle during
'non-printing' moves.
Many extruders will emit (ooze) plastic even when the extruder motor
is not turning. To overcome this your slicing software needs to
'retract' the print medium during head movement when not printing. The
retraction creates negative pressure within the hot end heating
chamber which effectively sucks the print medium back up through the
nozzle, stopping it from oozing.
Calibration Object: oozebane-test.stl
The calibration object prints two towers about 30 mm apart. The head
must move between each of the towers at each layer. If your printer is
not set correctly then you will see many fine filaments (or strings)
between the two towers. You can eliminate these filaments by
eliminating ooze.
Calibration Object 2 (Variable sized towers for testing ooze): variable_size_ooze_test_nobase.stl
This is a simple model to help tune reversal parameters for a stepper
extruder (using much less filament before actually testing the
ooziness). It consists of a number of towers with different
thicknesses, with different spacing between each tower. A well-tuned
bot should be able to produce even the smallest towers.
A simple google search, thingiverse retraction, shows up a lot of examples, such as:
10 Minute Mini Calibration Test for Oozing/Retraction at Different Distances
4 Cube Retraction Calibration
Retraction Tower Test or String retraction tower test
Check out the following (suspiciously similar) tags1, for even more examples:
retraction_test
retraction-test
retraction
Additional note for Bowden setups
As Trish notes in the comments:
According to my experience2 it is generally a good idea to add 2 to 4 mm of retraction to a bowden setup in comparison to a direct drive when dialing in the perfect retraction. This is, because some distance is "eaten" by the flex of the Bowden tube.
1 It seems as if Thingiverse could benefit from tag synonyms
2 and Thomas Sanladerer's advice during a stream |
"Missing" rows on 64x128 LCD after flashing Marlin 1.1.9 onto Monoprice Maker Select v2 I've successfully flashed Marlin 1.1.9 onto a Melzi v3.5 board (the stock board for my Monoprice Maker Select v2 (v2.1?, a white-labelled Wanhao i3 Duplicator).
Initially after the flash succeeded the LCD displayed was "garbled". The right side, in particular, had lots of pixels out of place. I was able to resolve this by experimenting with some delay variables. Prior to the flash the LCD was 100 % working; to my knowledge no damage happened while I had the machine apart.
Here's my changes to Configuration.h from Marlin 1.1.9, excluding anything to do with X/Y/Z/E, etc (irrelevant stuff).
#define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_MELZI
#define SDSUPPORT
#define REVERSE_ENCODER_DIRECTION
//
// LCD for Melzi Card with Graphical LCD
//
#define LCD_FOR_MELZI
// Increase delays to fix garbled LCD
#define ST7920_DELAY_1 DELAY_NS(0)
#define ST7920_DELAY_2 DELAY_NS(100)
#define ST7920_DELAY_3 DELAY_NS(200)
The display is much better, however there are about 4x rows of pixels through center of the display running left to right that mostly don't display. There are little sections--perhaps 20x pixels (maybe 3%) that do appear to be displaying.
Here's a photo of the problem:
Are there any other typical culprits? Based on what I've read it sounds like this is a recent(ish) issue with Marlin, and perhaps would be solved with an older version or a different firmware.
Here's a photo, if you look closely you can see the 'dead' rows, with about 6x pixels work
PS. While troubleshooting I added shielding to the LCD's ribbon cable (foil wrapping the cable, grounded, and wrapped with electrical tape). It didn't help, but I left it on. | Possibly unrelated to the firmware? This happened to me when I tightened the mount screws on the LCD, after I backed them off a bit it was fine. |
Arduino 3D printer sketch I'm building an automatic warehouse system using three NEMA 17 stepper motor.
My problem is to move the motors with precision, since I do not have any kind of encoder on the motor and so I cannot know the position of the axes. I thought that the system could be similar to a 3D printer, since neither 3d printers have encoder on the motor.
Where can I find a sketch for Arduino of a 3D printer, to understand how they work? How do they move with such precision without any kind of sensor? | [For now] most of the open source 3d printer firmware written for Arduino-based hardware. This means you can just download the source and look through the relevant pieces of code.
Marlin is the most obvious example. |
What is stopping us from mixing 3D filament colors in an Extruder? This came up in one of my groups today. That we could not color bend, or mix 3d printing filaments. I have researched but I am not finding anything talking about Plastic mixing in an extruder.
Why is it that we cannot take say a Diamond hotend, or a hotend with 5+ inputs, and mix any color we want? (assuming all the same type, ABSm, PLA). I think it would be interesting to at the least get a gradient effect on prints.
The best I have seen is natural plastic and a marker system. Or a powder / advanced / out of hobbyist price range process that sprays ink. The only Color Bending I know of is with Recycled plastic that uses multi color. Not quite what I am looking for.
Thanks! | I just started with google and phrase "3d printing color mixing" and on the first place (in fact first two were valueless adverts) I got this Instructables - DIY Full Color Mixing 3D Printer.
How it works?
It uses magenta / cyan / yellow filaments and mixes it while printing with Diamond hotend.
It definitely does what you are asking for and it's exactly the same idea you come up with ;)
Overview
Getting the controller board ready for three extruders... I hacked
a RAMBo board to drive three extruders, however, you can use any board
you want... (most people use a RUMBA due to it having all the
pins/components needed for 3 extruders native on the board)
Rewriting Repetier firmware to get color mixing working on your
machine.
How to install, configure, and use the diamond hotend - tips /
tricks / lessons learned / etc...
My original Bowden extruder design and various ways to mount the
three extruders for your set-up
My universal magnetic effector plate and accompanying hotend mounts
for quickly swapping various hotends. (delta specific)
How to design multi-color models and making STLs that can be
exported and used as a individual STLs or combining them into an AMF
file for slicing...
Configuring color mixing in Repetier and Slic3r to print above
mentioned multi-color models.
Anything else I can think of later that I can't think of now.
Comprehensive overview of Quantum Mechanical Entanglement as it
pertains to multi-color printing (just kidding, I don't understand
that... But I will cover multi-color printing throughly) |
Thread pitch of Ender 3 bed leveling screws What is the thread pitch of the Ender 3's bed leveling screws? The diameter measures about 4mm. Are they M4 0.7 (coarse) pitch or 0.5 (fine) pitch? I'd like to develop rigorous formulas for the amount to turn the knobs by after measuring (or visually inspecting, since I can see an accurate 0.2 mm first layer decently well) leveling-test patterns in the corners rather than using a closed-loop tune-and-retry approach. | I measured mine with a thread gauge and it says the pitch is 0.7 mm.
So, as the stock adjustment wheels have 14 bumps around their circumference, turning by one of those is an adjustment of exactly 0.05 mm (assuming no backlash).
I can't speak for anyone else's, but due to the availability of replacement height adjustment wheels which don't specify alternative thread pitches, I guess that's the only one in use. I encourage you to verify my finding before relying on it. |
Hemispherical Bowl : how is it possible? I was reading up about how to extrusion print an overhang greater than 45 degrees, when something weird stuck me.
I see lots and lots of 3D extrusion printed bowls that have perfectly printed hemispherical surfaces. However, given that there is some deformation expected as part of the print process, how is it possible to get a perfect hemispherical bowl - where both inner and outer surfaces are perfectly hemispherical?
Note: I am not talking about surface smoothness, but about the shape of the bowl itself. I understand that surface smoothing will make the bowl look great, but it will not fix a deformation in the shape of a print. | There are several factors playing together. For example orientation, printer & slicer settings and more.
Reminder
First of all, not all overhangs of greater than 45° need support. Many printers manage up to 60°, even 70° is not unheard of - with the right settings. Pretty much all printers manage tiny 90° overhangs.
U-Bowls (open side up)
Let's look at bowls that shape like a U - the dome is at the bottom. With a flat contact surface only the next areas need support, and with PVA or other easily removable support structures on the rise, it is no problem to use support and leave no trace. With support, there is no sagging, so the bowl gets its "perfect" look even though there are overhangs and support used.
n-bowls (open side down)
The other way around - dome on top - is probably the more "smooth" one, using different tricks to get it set.
The outer wall now sits on the infill like the inner we had before, perfect, but we used that for the inner wall before. But what about the inner one?! Well, we need no support for the sides till we reach, let's say 55° angle. Can we go further without support? Yes... if we are tricksy!
Print the walls from the center to the outer wall, as then the inner walls stand on the lower layer and can hold the new, neighboring, floating wall
Have more than 2 walls! Why? Well, simple math: You go up by $z$, and out by $(n-1)\times d$ where $n$ is the number of walls. We have a maximum overhang angle of $\tan^{-1}(z^{-2}\times((n-0.5)\times d)^2)$ before our walls don't stand on the wall below by more than a half wall. As one can see, $z$ and $d$ are fixed in that calculation while a higher factor $n$ directly increases the value of the angle. As long as there is support for the wall (like the neighboring, already printed wall), you get some kind of dome.
Print thinner layers. If you decrease $z$, you also increase the maximum angle that has one wall standing on half a supporting wall.
Print slow. Printing slower allows the material to cool and harden while still somewhat held up by the cohesion to the filament that comes from the nozzle. This can support a higher overhang angle.
Cooling. Together with slow printing, you might want to use an extra strong cooling solution to speed up the solidification. Aim well.
Print narrow1 domes. Why is it much easier to print more narrow domes than wider domes? Part of the answer is how much geometry does not need to be supported by itself, another part is the weight of the full structure: A narrow dome spans a smaller distance. This means it has less area of a high angle to the last layer, and the overhangs, in general, are shorter. This can result in better printing.
1 What counts as narrow is printer and filament dependent. It is no problem to print small spherical hollows in a print if they are just small enough as the overhang then is just short enough so it can carry itself. At some point it gets too much though. |
Lead screw holder - shall I buy metal or just use a printed one? I am on the way to building my own printer using 2020 profiles, TR8 * 500mm lead screw for the Z-axis. Still thinking if that will be a h-bot or coreXY, but this is another story.
As the printing table shall be mounted in a stable condition I am using this Tevo TornadoCube transformation as a base for the Z-axis. The guys are using metal housing for the lead-screws, but I am wondering if I just print this housing, lead screw mount, from thingiverse and add a 608 bearing - would that be acceptable?
Update:
As per Oscar's comment, my bed will have a set of linear guides next to the lead screw, for stabilization.
This is also a nice solution for the Z-axis. In that case, I have same question: Can I print bearing housing and rely on it, or it is better to use metal ones? | Update:
To answer your question, you could use either metal ones or printed ones. Metal housings are way more heavy that printed parts. The housing you refer to is not attached to the platform, but a static part connected to the frame. Weight is not an issue, stiffnes, strength and temperature stability should be of higher importance.
For metal housings attached to the Z platform weight may be an issue (if have many microsteps where the incremental torque may not be enough to raise the Z platform). Printed parts can be made stiff enough to house the linear bearings. In my experience printed bearing housings can be just as effective, I use those on my platform for my CoreXY printer as well as using leadscrew and linear guide rails brackets made of printed parts.
Old answer, before question update:
With platform movement (or printer head Z movement for Prusa designs) you face a few challenges related to the quality of the parts you buy. Note you want smooth operation of the platform (or head) without wobbling. It is customary to add linear rods or rails to guide the platform up and down, this is their sole purpose, therefore these rods need to be very straight and bought from a local trustworthy vendor (the Eastern oversea specimens are usually of less quality as I know from experience). Securing these linear guide rods could be done with printed parts, the plastic is stiff enough to hold the rods in place, and temperatures are usually not that high to play a large role (if so like in boxed up printers, print in high temperature resistance material), personally I use black PETG.
Secondly, the drive of the platform. Note that leadscrews are not perfectly round, nor is the coupling 100% in the center of the screw. From a mechanics point of view you should never constrain the leadscrews at both ends. This results in an over-constrained (indeterminate) system (of forces) that can induce even more problems. Optimally you fix one end close to the stepper, or the drive of the belt), it is arbitrary whether you use a metal or a plastic part for that unless there are constrains on size and thickness for a requested rigidity and leave the opposite side free. For Prusa clones I use lifting parts that house the lead screw nut rather than embedding the nut in the x-y idler coupler (this separates eccentric x-y movement from z movement and a handy advantage is that if something goes wrong in z min direction, the head will not destroy the glass or bed as it is not fixed to the lead screws). Something similar can be done for your platform. For my CoreXY however, I have not done so, it uses 4 linear rails of 12 mm and 2 leadscrews. PETG stepper mounts at the bottom drive the leadscrews using plum, not spring, couplers (the springy types should be avoided or a ("fixate-able") bearing or KFL08 mount should be placed at the other side of the driven side of the coupler and correctly mounted to the frame). Furthermore, I use Delrin or POM anti backlash nuts on a mount connected to the platform. All tall prints I make are perfectly straight, no wavy or wobbly vertical walls. |
Slicing software and Sidewall I am new to FDM RP. I've done a lot of work on ZCorp and Connex.
The question is can vectors curve drive an extrusion nozzle? Within a 3D volume I can generate curves that I want the print nozzle to follow. Is this possible or has it been done? If so, what software or is there a hack?
Another question is, can you print a part with no sidewall or containment boundary? | Just for the fun of it and perhaps to contribute to this question, I opened my recent task in Simplify3d slicing software. Setting the perimeter walls and top/bottom surfaces to zero did not generate an error as I expected.
The print preview, essentially a g-code viewer, presented the model as only the honeycomb infill for which it was configured. Having zero layer thickness for the top/bottom also prevented features from printing that were composed of only walls without infill. Small details that otherwise print well were lost completely.
I can see that properly designed models printed with certain infill patterns and percentages would be quite artistic.
With respect to the first question, one could create a program to accomplish the desired result if one were an experienced programmer. It would be a matter of converting a specific set of vectors into g-code for the printer. I'm familiar enough with g-code to know that a well defined curve is easy enough to create in g-code but only if the mechanicals support arcs. If not, it's not so easy. The conversion from a vector format file to g-code would require a talented programmer indeed.
I suspect there are talented programmers "out there," but one must be suitably skilled and equally suitably motivated, yes? |