[Closed] Cheap 3d printer kits - Experiences?

Also that looks great WCA. How do you find the petg? Is 230 the temp you usually use with it? I'm off to read up about petg and its qualities.

I'm itching to print something else.. Need to get some pla ordered 😀

Oh, do you remove the filament each time you stop using it? If so, while the nozzle is still hot? I let it all cool down then remembered about removing the filament so heated the nozzle back up to 185 and pulled it out.

Oh, do you remove the filament each time you stop using it? If so, while the nozzle is still hot? I let it all cool down then remembered about removing the filament so heated the nozzle back up to 185 and pulled it out.

Yesterday perfect, today with identical setting I get snot.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39045329825_9520ce0ac2_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39045329825_9520ce0ac2_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22uiweP ]20180128_113158[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I wish the bloody printer was consistent. trying again at half speed for the first hour or so.

papamountain...for the bed levelling and the slightly lower centre, I cut a load of 50mm squares of alu foil and played around with the quantity under the glass until it was nearer the level of the extremities. It seemed to work well and was a quick and easy thing to try. I think I started with 5 pieces stacked up, but have just been playing with the bed levelling and have taken a piece out.

I think I'd got a bit over concerned about the nozzle being mega close to the bed. Just running another calibration cube now and the base looks a heap squarer (no visible elephants foot). Will be interesting to measure and compare to yesterdays one.

One thing I am finding quite annoying is that the bed seems to need levelling every time i print and some times it several iterations to get it spot on, which obviously adds time.

Yeh I think I'll try that first and see how it goes. I think the sweet spot is just feeling some vibration on the paper, not actually dragging.

Do you level with bed and/or nozzle hot or cold?

I hate this "bit of paper" stuff, I know it works but it's so open to interpretation, give me a feeler gauge ffs.

papamountain
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Yeh I think I’ll try that first and see how it goes. I think the sweet spot is just feeling some vibration on the paper, not actually dragging.

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Do you level with bed and/or nozzle hot or cold?

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Yeah, that was the conclusion that I came to; rather than have the paper dragging, just wait until you can feel the fan vibration through the bed.

I have been setting the bed height with everything hot.

Northwind

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I hate this “bit of paper” stuff, I know it works but it’s so open to interpretation, give me a feeler gauge ffs.

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Yeah, I keep meaning to dig out my feeler gauges from the garage!

PS - Quoting with this new forum format seems a bit erm, tricky!

Okay, I give up. This is the third attempt at Baby Groots body.

I used the same settings as I used for the head. One of the hands lifted.

I used some hair spray on the taped bed and it seemed better but after I watched the first few layers go down I left the room and it looked much like it does in the picture.

This time it was printed at 80% speed and still failed after I left the room.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/39291946814_0bf7dea05e_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/39291946814_0bf7dea05e_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22S6uSS ]20180131_114607[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I am not sitting watching it for 9 hours so any suggestions please. It is PETG.

I am thinking of dropping the nozzle temperature 5 degrees as there are burnt bits in the ruined print. I think these are actually caused by the PETG sticking to the nozzle instead of the model though.

Help!

I think these are actually caused by the PETG sticking to the nozzle instead of the model though.

It is design I downloaded from Thingiverse and my computer isn't capable of changing the model. The head had brim when I downloaded it, the body didn't.

I know the first print failed because the base layer shifted but the last two failed prints were definitely well stuck. I watched the base layer going down and there was no lift or curl.

I am re-slicing with first layer filament temp of 230 and subsequent layers at 225 to see if that helps.

Unfortunately the laptop I have is so old it takes about 30 minutes to slice each time. That is why I am asking for suggestions on what settings to fiddle with. Each experiment takes and hour or so to slice, start printing and then fail. Given the full print is estimated at 9 hours and I don't want the noise of the printer overnight I don't get too many chances each day.

Blimey - sounds tough. Brim should be in the slicer under adhesion.
But if you think it was stuck well, that might not be the problem.
I found PETG best with very little part cooling (allowing the layers to stick better to each other).
I don't know what else to suggest as the head came out so well.

I printed PETG at 235, but I thought that was low compared to most.(My hot end has a PTFE throat, so doesn't like going hotter).

I generally find to sort out these problems, you need to watch it, so you can see what causes the problem. 30 mins to slice tho!!! I just sliced it to see if I could see any issues, I won't tell you how many seconds it took. I did notice there are a few overhangs, while this should be fine, if you haven't got your settings dialled in they do tend to compound over each layer.

I've found if I'm chasing my settings and prints aren't consistent then its usually the material. Also if you have had a few bad prints and the nozzle has dragged over cooled material, there maybe a tiny blockage in the nozzle. Best way to find this is buy extruding some material and if it spirals or goes off to one size, rather than directly down, then its usually got a small blockage. eSun Cleaning material is great for this, the Atomic method also works with this, I also use it when changing material.

Still slicing....

I had used works PCs before but the new security clamp down prevents all personal use so I have a knackered laptop from 2004 or 2005.

When I get some cash together I will be getting a new one - perhaps an upgrade to a ZX Spectrum 🙂

Repetier had crashed but the error message wasn't being displayed until I tried to use it. Oh well.

What I tried to use it for was to extrude some filiment to see if it appeared to snag but looks fine to me.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/40003156641_4698120449_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/40003156641_4698120449_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/23WWCMg ]20180131_134400[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

OMG how dirty is your nozzle, that is supposed to be brass colour! I think something is wrong though, if I extrude like that it ends up in a nice coil on the bed, not tangled up, but I have a different printer.

Rather than slicing the whole model, can you slice the first 10mm as the problems seem to occur by then? Will reduce the slicing time down by quite a bit I would think!

looks fine to me

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Milkie
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OMG how dirty is your nozzle, that is supposed to be brass colour! I think something is wrong though, if I extrude like that it ends up in a nice coil on the bed, not tangled up, but I have a different printer.

Rather than slicing the whole model, can you slice the first 10mm as the problems seem to occur by then? Will reduce the slicing time down by quite a bit I would think!

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If you haven't tried it, you can do this in Ideamaker - another free slicer. I downloaded it last night  & had a quick play with it.

You can choose a cut line which splits the part. You can then treat them like separate models, so could just delete the portion above the cut line.

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I have yet to print anything too demanding, or encounter any major problems. I am dreading seeing an image like WCA's failed Groot prints! I hope you sort it out soon...

Surely, if the failed portion is not warped/curled or coming away from the bed you can rule out first layer adhesion?

Right, I have just bought a new computer with a graphics car. Got through most the installation and set up stuff so now trying to remember what the 3D printing software I was using. on the old crap laptop.

From memory Repetier Host (or something like that) and Slic3r.

both free which was the main point. Any other recommendations for free software that is easy to use and FREE. I will check out IdeaMaker.

Also recommendations on free and easy to use CAD software to start creating stuff would be good.

I use Simplify3D, but that's not free, but pretty awesome at the time I bought it.
Cura is free.

Here is a list:
https://all3dp.com/1/best-3d-slicer-software-3d-printer/

Fusion360 is what I use for designing. Loads of tutorials on it on YouTube.

Oh wow!

How frickin fast. It is like I have just moved from riding a mule to flying a jet plane. I know the printing will still be slow but I don't even have time to drink coffee while it slices.

I will be playing lots while I recover from the ankle op.

Can't edit old posts - now should I mention that...

I realised that the really quick slicing was using Cura with default settings ending with a model with predicted 2 hour 27 minute print time.

Just running Slic3r to do the same thing and it takes about twice as long. Still less than a minute though and gives a model print time of 3 hours 18.

both significantly less than the 9.5 hours previously.

That'll be a lie. It'll be close to a 9hr print.

They'll be overestimating the printers travel, acceleration and jerk settings.
You'd do well to obtain a Printer profile and a PETG profile for your printer from a suitable facebook group or forum. Then you'll a) get reliable prints and b) accurate time estimations.

Cura is excellent in my experience.

Thanks - I will google some settings. Happy to use Cura

Cura sliced the model in a few seconds on the new computer after I had adjusted the settings for PETG and my printer.

I then realised I wouldn't be able to print it before going into hospital so sliced another smaller model which gave me time to print before leaving.

It started printing with a 2 hour estimated print duration. An hour and a half later and it is a 1:15 duration remaining.

Looks like it should be okay print though, just a little scorching at one point

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4713/25148731707_e77b4cbff7_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4713/25148731707_e77b4cbff7_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/EjiPLx ]20180201_110816[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

My son's printer finally arrived (and not Vat or duty to pay!)

[img] [/img]

(apologies for crap pic)

Good stuff wwaswas - I would move that black cable bundle around the back of the printer - alongside the bowden tube

he's read the instructions now and a number of assembly changes have been made 🙂

lol

Well, this afternoon I decided to do my first functional print. It's a shim for our rotary washing line as the pole in the ground has a larger ID than the OD of the drier pole, so it flops around again.

Quite a learning exercise so far!

Because the last print I did (calibration cube) came out so well I didn't bother levelling the bed. I figured that it can't be sensible to have to level it every time so would just leave it be.

First print was a messy curl of plastic that refused to adhere to the bed, so stopped print, cleared the bed and gave it a really good clean and another dose of glue.

Second print was better, but still lifting in places. I thought I'd let it run and see what it looked like. About 15 mins in I realised it was going pretty badly, so stopped it.

Ended up levelling the bed again which took ages and trying again. I don't get how it can drift from print to print. Hey ho.

Finally I don't think I have my settings very well tuned for this print. I really wanted it to be printed with no infill because the walls are so thin. But it is trying to put an infill in which appears to be 1 nozzle width wide. This is making it massively slow as it's basically laying a dot in each infill position.

And I think as a result of this, the rest of the layers aren't going down very well. There are thin areas on the outer walls in places and it generally looks a bit shite..

I'm leaving it to run because I think it will be a valuable learning experience. And to be honest, as long as it's dimensionally accurate it should do the job anyway.

But - there's quite a lot to this printing malarky to get good results! When it goes well, it seems so easy. But when it doesn't go well, so many factors come into play!

Maybe this troubleshooting guide will help.

https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/

Yes there is a lot to learn to get good print results. Good settings for one model will not be the same for a different model. You'll find you have settings for great quality another set for overhangs, etc. It really depends on the finish you are happy with.

Cheers, Milkie. I'll have a look! Although I have spent a lot of time looking at various 'how to' guides.

I think this particular print was not helped by the thin walls.

I have created another shim model that biases the two tubes over to one side, rather than an even thickness around the entire gap; it's more of a wedge I suppose than a shim. There is no requirement for the tubes to be concentric, so it probably makes more sense to do it like this.

It did actually finish the print last night, but doesn't look terribly good. I haven't measured it yet but it looks circular & the sides seem to have stayed square to the bed. There are quite a few zits and blemishes to remove before trial fitting it.

I have made a new (non-functioning) version today that is thicker 1.6mm wall thickness, so I'll see if the slicer will allow me to slice it as a complete solid. I've also cut it down to ~10mm so I can print it fairly quickly & compare it to the first one.

Here's a couple of pics of yesterday's attempt:

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/40029337261_53c6c187be_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/40029337261_53c6c187be_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/23ZfPng ]IMG_20180201_222854[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4605/39319148244_6b8baecc22_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4605/39319148244_6b8baecc22_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22UuUV3 ]IMG_20180201_223031[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

Something's amiss. Very hard to narrow down as I'm a relative newbie too.
I would post those on the CR-10 facebook group.
Are you using a Cura profile that's known to be good? A thin wall shouldn't cause too many issues. Vase mode (single perimeter) produces the cleanest prints of all usually.

When it's going around the perimeter, does the printer bed seem to move smoothly?

Those dots on your skirt look like under extrusion. I don't think you need to increase your extrusion multiplier, while it might fix it I don't think it is the root cause.

It could be cause by a little nozzle blockage, especially if you are noticing it on one side the print. Or it could be the coil is tangled slightly. This is assuming your settings are correct and its slicing it correctly.

Did you design it yourself? If so, these tutorials might help with designing for 3D printing.
https://www.stratasysdirect.com/resources/design-guidelines/fused-deposition-modeling
https://www.3dhubs.com/knowledge-base/how-design-parts-fdm-3d-printing

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

AlexSimon. I did post these on the FB page and got no real responses above what I didn't already know.

I am convinced that the main issue is caused by the slicer attempting to add infill when there wasn't really room for it. I made a cut down version of it today with 4 walls and that has sliced with zero infill - just solid extrusion. I am gonna print that tomorrow if I find time.

The bits of my part where there was a constant extrusion going down look fine. I think some of the poor appearance is down to me saving quite a coarse STL.

I think I might have sliced this with a slightly tweaked Cura profile. I've been playing with Ideamaker quite a lot and so am a bit lost what I sliced where!

Milkie, yeah I did wonder if that was a bit of under extrusion. I hadn't pushed much filament through the nozzle after loading it though, so I presumed that was the reason.

The thing is...the thicker section of the part looks fine. It's only the thin walled bit with its dotty attempt at infill that looks poor.

I've got some prints planned tomorrow that will hopefully help me see what's what.

If I struggle with these, I will investigate a clogged nozzle.

Yeah, all designed by me. I'll take a look at the tutorials, thanks.

FWIW, the ID and OD are very close to the designed dims, so it should be a functional part. I need to give the inner diameter a light sand to remove some blobs, but then I'll give it a trial fit.

I'd have thought if it's dimensionaly correct, the blobs and imperfections will make it a nice interference fit when pushed home. Not like it needs to look nice for that application.

So, the thin walled shim was almost there, but not quite.  It fitted perfectly into the larger dia pipe in the ground, but the pole for the rotary drier was too tight a fit to get the shim onto; I think it was due to the fairly large blobby seam that went up the inside of the shim.

I could have sanded it back a bit more to get it properly flush, but decided to try the crescent shaped shim that I did at work yesterday.

I did another print this morning - 2 objects. One is a crescent shaped 'wedge' type shim to bias the two tubes over to one side. The other is just a test piece to confirm whether or not it was the thin walls causing the issue.

I thickened the walls of the original part up to 1.6mm (4 line widths) and chopped down the base & most of the height.

I changed the print settings last night with a much slower first layer speed. Adhesion was much better & the parts printed loads better. I think I need to fiddle with my retraction settings because I am getting quite a lot of blobbing, particularly at the seam. And, the skirt isn't coming away from the print bed as a homogeneous piece, but is still in it's individual lines (you can see this in the pic below). So, I think I need to calibrate the extruder to check whether I am actually getting the right number of filament out of the nozzle. Pushing the filament through manually is no issue & it comes out nice & straight, so I don't think it is a clog.

Anyway, here's some pics of the test thin walled shim (with wall increased to 1.6mm) & the crescent shim, which I've fitted & works well. It could probably do with being 2x as long as it is but that's a job for another day.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/39161724595_3edf1e462b_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/39161724595_3edf1e462b_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22EA5mc ]IMG_20180203_140011[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/40060281881_081ae35488_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/40060281881_081ae35488_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/242Zq8c ]IMG_20180203_140215[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/28280884909_912934f2b9_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/28280884909_912934f2b9_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/K65VMX ]IMG_20180203_140242[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

White is not an easy colour plastic to photograph!

I have to put my foot up for a while ( http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ankle-update-with-gory-pictures/) so decided to use the time and new computer to learn Fusion360 and design something useful to me. Like Stumpy I am currently going through the prototyping stages and here is prototype 1 with the completed big baby Groot next to it.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4659/39350473734_f8afda488e_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4659/39350473734_f8afda488e_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22XgsTG ]20180203_155916[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

The printer seems to work so much better with a more powerful computer so I guess the crap laptop was causing many of my previous problems.

Amnyway, i am sure you are wondering what the prototype actually is for. Well, it is a wrist rest for my crutches.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/39162480375_89877e2523_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/39162480375_89877e2523_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22EDX1T ]20180203_160000[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

normally the standard grey plastic wrist support doesn't fit well. It is either too tight or in this case, too loose. This means that as you walk along the back of top of the crutch presses hard against our forearm with all the pressure in one place.

The idea is that this piece will clip over the shaft of the crutch and provide a nice large contact area to reduce the pressure on the forearm. The side you reest your arm against is glass smooth. Not sure why the top side is so rough, it is as if Fusion360 or the Cura slicer hasn't stuck the final layers on it.

anyway, as you can see, I didn't bother measuring and the clip for the crutch is in the wrong place. I updated the design to move it closer to the crutch and further from the arm rest. I also added some fillets for strength and chamfered the edges of the plate for comfort.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/25189051537_53971f3199_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/25189051537_53971f3199_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/EnSts2 ]20180203_160043[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

Currently printing V2 having carefully levelled the bed

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/40061160811_6671681d59_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/40061160811_6671681d59_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2434Vpa ]20180203_160113[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

Grrr... Well into the print and then the back corner lifts.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/39350938594_0cf5f55104_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/39350938594_0cf5f55104_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22XiR5w ]20180203_163018[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

Hairspray on glass, same as for the successful print. All the same settings just different results..

Do we think turn the bed heat up or down, or keep the same to begin with and then lower it?

The last option is what I did with Slic3r but haven't seen the option in the Cura Engine that comes with Repetier yet. I will investigate further while I await your advice.

Bed temp raised to 70 degrees

28 minutes and layer 8 and the front corner is just starting to lift. Let's see if it sticks

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/25190607287_6fcc62410f_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/25190607287_6fcc62410f_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Eo1rVi ]20180203_173425[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I think this one is going to fail too. The infill is pretty crappy so i might try reslicing with a different pattern

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/39352141144_1994d3918b_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/39352141144_1994d3918b_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22Xq1y9 ]20180203_174321[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

I have stopped the print and am calling it a day for today.

You an see that the infill never really worked and for some reason there appeared to be no 'top' to the top of the piece. I am wondering if this is something I am doing wrong in the Fusion360 model so will investigate that tomorrow.

You can see the beginning of the square for the crutch clip is beginning to form but because of the lack of a top to the surface it has nothing to build on so there are big gaps

I suspect that this failure is something in the model, as I said, so will look their before wasting more time. You can see the solid, smooth bottom of the original piece, same on the failed one, which is laid down properly before the infill starts.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/39352446344_e254290a75_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/39352446344_e254290a75_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22Xrzhd ]20180203_180228[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

Yowzer, what material is that?

The infill looks like it isn't bonding and is just crumbling away as the nozzle passes back over it.

I have only used PLA and I use a really old glue stick (I found in an old pencil case) for bed adhesion.

If you are using PETG, do you need to keep the ambient conditions warmer to reduce warping?

My procedure today and last night that seems to be working is:

Turn printer on and manually set bed and nozzle temp.

Clean glass bed with window cleaner and kitchen roll.

Give it 5 mins and check bed level.

Load filament and manually squished out a few seconds worth.

Run glue stick over approximate print area.

Re-home and start print.

Given how thin your part is and it's purpose, I would probably use a higher infill percentage. Does it really have to be that thin?

I haven't had a part lift yet but given how small the Z-axis movements are, I think that as soon as the part starts to lift, you are in bother.

Do you review the print steps once sliced? I find this quite useful to look for potential issues.

The only thing I can think of for PETG is that fan cooling wants to be much lower. I had mine at 0, but some use it 20% or so.

The first layer looks so good and most slicers will have cooling completely off for the first layer.

Petg. No cooling. Cura automatic infill pattern. The main part is 2mmthick

i have modified the model to put a face on the top where it appears to be missing and then projecting it 1mm back into the model. Hopefully that makes sense and we shall see what tomorrow brings.

Got the printing working today so put together a short video. 

It it shows the printer working i it not the failed prints. I fiddled with some Cura settings and it seems to have worked. All the settings I used are shown in the video if that helps anyone

An actual use for it WCA 🙂

I got some new filament in and started printing the big bed leveling knobs for cr-10 that everyone loves. First one on top, notice anything wrong? Looks like the leaning tower of Pisa...

[img] [/img]

A quick google on leaning brought up mention of belt slippage. Had a look at the X axis motor and found the grub screws were loose.. hmm it's got to be this I thought. After tightening them I printed again and it was perfect (bottom one) phew!

Unlike my benchy though, this was a bugger to get off the bed.

Stumpy, these are well worth printing. Make adjusting bed so much easier. - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2408748

Agree about the big adjuster wheels. I actually successfully adjusted the bed for one of my prints while it was doing the first layer and I realised a corner was high.

i have another useful design and print planned for the near future. Possibly another video if you think it is worth me bothering

Keep it coming WCA, we are all learning from each other! Why are you using petg over pla?
I was going to print the other three wheels tonight but feeling a bit nauseous for some reason and can't be bothered. Will do them tomorrow hopefully.

Petg is harder wearing like ABS but easier to print with. It is also food safe so if small children decide to chew the Baby Groot I printed they won't die as quickly. I want to print some stuff that will be used outside and PLA degrades quite quickly.

it seemed the best compromise for ease of printing vs durability

papamountain - yeah, bigger adjustment knobs are on the to-do list....

These ones;

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2644549

I printed the squash ball vibration feet at the weekend but will be fitting then to an 18mm MDF board, rather than directly to the printer. Just need to chop up the board, paint it up and get some squash balls...

Dunno why but the bed level seems to have stabilised and it took very little effort to get half decent prints running.

I think I just need to fiddle about with the retraction settings now.

WCA - I'm thinking a setting somewhere in the slicing is incorrect. Are you using a profile for your printer? It looks like it is under extruding on the infill, which could be the printer not being able to print that fast, most slicers will speed up the infill compared to the outline. Try slowing the infill speed down.

EDIT: Just seen your video, I think those print speeds are about the fastest it can print, trying bringing the infill speed down.

Top/Bottom Layers - This should be set to about 5-8 depending on the layer height. What you are seeing in your print is pillowing, but this is also be because the infill isn't being laid correctly
Shell Thickness - Increasing this will help retain the detail in the print, especially if there are overhangs and things. I usually always print with a minimum of 2, but you do have a nice simple print.
Skirt - Increase this to 2 or 3. This will mean you can level the bed while it prints this, giving a you a bit more time to get it level. You'll be able to judge if the lines are too thin or thick after a few times.

Buy yourself a roll of PLA, the last thing you want to do is spend hours chasing the settings and find out it was a bad roll of filament.. Trust me, I've been there!

"i have modified the model to put a face on the top where it appears to be missing and then projecting it 1mm back into the model. Hopefully that makes sense and we shall see what tomorrow brings."
When designing models, always make the part solid, your slicer will then replace the solid part with infill/top bottom layers based on your settings. You can always put the model on dropbox and I can run it through my slicer to see if the model is the problem.

I will slow the infill as I agree it seems unable to keep up with itself.

On the other bits of the print I get the occasional clicking from the feed wheel which I think is because it is trying to push through too much filament sometimes. I thought this might ause over extrusion but haven't worked out if it is causing any problems at the moment so I am just leaving it alone.

Why PLA instead of PETG? I know it is easier to set up, I had a very small sample roll with the printer but PETG seems a better material for what I want to do. It is not as dificult to print with as ABS and much more rugged than PLA. I would like to get my printing working with this unless there is a good reason not to.

The filament was supplied by www.real-filament.com. I have a second roll in black that I will be using for my next project so we will see if that behaves differently.

When I designed the model in Fusion360 I thought I was designing everything as a solid so everything would have a surface. I only guessed at the issue being caused by the 'extrude' function causing an issue. In Fusion360 all sides, edges and planes of the model look solid. I think the issue with the infill may be the real culprit and I was guessing wrong.

The thing I am modelling now is giving me a headache. Just trying to work out the correct approach to start the design when everything is either curved , angled or not parallel. I might post a picture if what I am trying to do a bit later if I don't make much progress but right now I am learning a lot from doing things wrong, redoing then, scrapping that and trying it differently etc

Clicking on the feeder reel usually means its skipping, therefore will under extrude. Causes for this could be, hot end not hot enough or partial blockage, or the feeder wheel needs cleaning out.

PLA would be easier as the optimum settings are a wider range. You don't need the settings bang on with PLA to get a half decent print. I agree PETG is a better material but harder to dial the settings in, especially when you don't have the experience yet.

This has inspired me to dust of my printer, update my OctoPi and print a few things for my sim rig! 😉

My best piece of advice for designing 3D models is there is no right or wrong way, just might be a quicker way. 😉

V1, 2 and 3 of my design starting furthest away

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/26225958808_1f4173cff4_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/26225958808_1f4173cff4_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/FXuTRA ]20180205_160513[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

V1 proved the concept was sound but the clamp wasn't raised far enough from the main part. The poor surface was caused by bad infil settings I believe

V2 was better but the clamp was slightly too high this timer and the wings of the clamp were a bit flimsy. Also that back edge of the clamp dug into the wrist a bit.

V3 has stronger clamp plus two holes to wire it in place if needed. It also has the bas plate extending backwards beyond the clamp bracket to remove the pressure point

And once fitted the crutch is much more comfortable without having to wrap it in scarves, socks etc...

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/40100617821_8cbeaeeed6_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/40100617821_8cbeaeeed6_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/246y9Ar ]20180205_160604[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

The video explaining the update is now available on my channel :  https://youtu.be/eWfsXhpFy98

Milkie - I kicked off the second print before seeing your comment about the clicking. I suspect 235 for the hot end might be a little low. The clicking isn't always there but is often enough to know it isn't right. I will knock the temperature up on my next print.

My next print will be this and will be printed in my black PETG filament :

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/40100892831_bc37a0d2c6_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/40100892831_bc37a0d2c6_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/246zykZ ]20180205_162817[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/25228575937_15fdc1ced3_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/25228575937_15fdc1ced3_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Ern3Fc ]20180205_162827[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

It is the roof rail end cap from my Range Rover. I am really 'enjoying' trying to model it at the moment but am learning a fair bit as I go along.

None of the sides are parallel, none of the surfaces are flat  and none of the faces are parallel which is a challenge.

I am starting from the bottom where there is the nearest to flat edge. 2 rectangles (not parallel) down each side the width of the thickest bit of the plastic and a thinner rectangle at the back joining them. Extruded that up to the height if the wedge/ramp you can see on the inside each side. Used lines to mark the wedge/ramp and remove the unnecessary material. Added the little tag at the bottom.

I hope that this correctly matches the bit of the fitting that slides onto the roof rail, basically the bottom bit of the fitting. I have then just extruded up to create the rest of the box without caring about size or style as I just want to check the 'slide fit' first. In fact, I will probably remove most of the box I have created before printing it, just to save time.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/39389203114_a6a7977394_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/39389203114_a6a7977394_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/231FXMC ]20180205_165156[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr 

Once I have got the bottom fitting correct I will fous on the front edge with it's recess to meet the other part of the roof rail, angled differently on each side of course. Once that is sorted and looks okay I will mirror it and print two. That way I can ignore the original one and be sure that the two I fit will match.

I am having to do all this either laid on my belly or my back with my ankle elevated so the picture angles are all to co. Please trust me that the model looks more like the proper fitting than it does in the photo.

V3 looking good WCA 🙂
3D design seems to be bloody annoying lol. I spent hours the other night designing a door handle for the freezer. Scrapped it in the end... More practice required.

Stumpy, I've now decided against the squash ball feet. Seems to make the whole rig shake a lot more from what I've read. Make sure you get the least bouncy squash balls you can get - triple yellow spot.. Let us know what you think.

Milkie, so what does the OctoPi bring to the table? I keep seeing it mentioned but haven't looked into it yet.

Also, I could do with some kind of cover to throw over the whole thing to keep dust etc off it when not using it. Why isn't there one..

What tools are people using for designing their models? What file formats are needed for online printing facilities?

What sort of profiles are needed for strength? For example I want to print a 100mm cube but have it hollow so that I can bolt stuff into it. Ideally it would also have latticed sides so you could see into it. What width "edges" would I need to make it pretty strong, as in strong enough to be able to pass it around?

What tools are people using for designing their models? What file formats are needed for online printing facilities?

Fusion 360 is free for hobby or startup use. It can save STLs no problem.

What sort of profiles are needed for strength? For example I want to print a 100mm cube but have it hollow so that I can bolt stuff into it. Ideally it would also have latticed sides so you could see into it. What width “edges” would I need to make it pretty strong, as in strong enough to be able to pass it around?

For stuff I need to be strong, I choose 50%, for visual stuff, I tend to choose 10-15% depending on complexity of the top surface.

BTW: If you print a hollow cube, the top surface is doing what is called 'bridging' and can be a problem on long spans - it's basically laying plastic down in thin air and it wants to droop. So some kind of support structure would work best here, if your design can accommodate it. Some printers/materials can bridge very well though, so it depends on where you get it printed.

SammyC - there are loads of free design solutions out there. Plenty already mentioned in this thread: Tinkercad, Fusion360, Onshape, Sketchup.

For online printing facilities, I would suspect that they require stl files.

I can't really envisage what you are trying to achieve with the cube you mention, but it sounds achievable with 3D printing. If it's just a display part that is needed to show a concept, the 'edges' could be pretty thin. It depends if you want the whole thing to be a lattice structure, or just part of it. You would also have to consider the areas where things will be 'bolted in'. How will you bolt them (e.g. a hole with a nut & bolt passing through, or perhaps a threaded hole in the plastic).

"Milkie, so what does the OctoPi bring to the table? I keep seeing it mentioned but haven’t looked into it yet."

OctoPi is for controlling your printer, slicing, live viewing the print, creating a timelapse. I use it for uploading my gcode files to the printer SD card, pre heating and remote viewing with a Pi Camera. I also have a touchscreen that you can control the printer with, but I prefer using my iPhone. It has Cura built in with the capability of slicing. I think I have it setup so I get a notification on my phone when a print has finished.

TimeLapse with this would be great, but I need to find a location for the camera that doesn't interfere with the head, doors, rods, belts and has shorter focal length than the Pi Cam. I need about a 20cm focal length.
EDIT: Just found our you can rotate to Pi Cam lens to reduce focal length.

papamountain
<div class="bbp-author-role">
<div>Stumpy, I’ve now decided against the squash ball feet. Seems to make the whole rig shake a lot more from what I’ve read. Make sure you get the least bouncy squash balls you can get – triple yellow spot.. Let us know what you think.</div>
</div>

Hmmm. Only just seen this.
Well, I've bought some 18mm mdf sheet to cut to size & mount the feet on the bottom of, rather than directly to the bottom of the printer. Hopefully the added mass will stop it wobbling around. I did wonder if the squash balls would have enough stiffness to combat the translation off the axes (mainly the Y-Axis, I guess).
No great loss if it doesn't work. I should probably have just bought a 4-pack of Sorbothane feet in the first place.

Definitely need to cut the noise down. The printer stands on a cheap old wooden computer cabinet , which sends the vibrations straight onto the varnished floorboards. These then send the noise throughout the rest of the house!

I'm curious to try the Nema stepper dampers that seen like a popular 'upgrade' on the X & Y axis. There seems to be an equal number of people who think they work with no detriment to quality versus those who think they definitely reduce quality.

What software to design?

I used Fusion360 and learned everything I needed to design and print my crutch modification (ooo-err) by watching 3 YouTube tutorials. Here is part 1 : 

I spent the first few months with a computer that wasn't powerful enough to run any software and just downloaded designs from Thingiverse which gave me a chance to get a bit more used to printing things.

There are definitely two very different skills required. 1 is to design stuff and 2 is to print stuff. They are related as a good design is easier to print and a good printer will work around some of the issues of a poor design but don't think of them as the same thing.

I can highly recommend Washing Machine Anti Vibration Pads:

https://www.floormats.co.uk/washing-machine-mats?gclid=CjwKCAiAweXTBRAhEiwAmb3Xu-rcrTQFjQ4xXnZlZYevC98Z6h0lgTSVHfvY8del0MugWL-XIg8IyhoChloQAvD_BwE

I have a couple of 20mm thick ones on a sim rig and it cuts the vibrations down by quite a lot and there is a lot of vibrations with the bass shakers. I haven't bought one for my printer though. I'm also using an old TV cabinet for my printer with a couple of paving slabs on the bottom shelf which has helped reduce any wobble the printer creates.

WCA - Your print is looking a lot better! Have you solved the infill issue now?

Thanks all, very useful info.

The cube needs to be taken apart for fitting stuff into it so I think I'll design it as a set of flat panels that are then screwed together. I was thinking of adding holes for self tapping screws, I'm assuming that because it will be plastic that is fine as long as the screws have a deep enough thread to grip?

Slowing the speed solved the infill issue - than ks.

Now struggling with Fusion360 and 3D modelling the roof rail end shown earlier. I designed the base and printed it to check it slid in correctly. So far so good. I had added the top of the piece which doesn't line up with any of the edges of the bottom.

I now need to build the walls to connect to bottom to the top but am struggling as there are no common planes and Projection doesn't seem to do quite what I want but I suspect it is the right thing.

The back edge (left as you look at the picture) leans forward about 2cm to reach the back of the top piece.

The left edge (top as you look at the picture) leans in about 1cm but also projects forward from the front of the base be about  1cm.

The right edge (bottom as you look at the picture) leans in about 2.5cm and again, about 1cm forward of the base.

Each of the edges is 2.5mm thick.

Also wondering if Lofts are relevant. No idea what they are but the picture looks similar to what I want.

I shall persevere, sod all else to do.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/39218932135_9b7f8004e9_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/39218932135_9b7f8004e9_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22KDha6 ]How to Join[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

It was Lofts I wanted but I had forgotten to select the New Body option.

An entire day spent on this and I have decided to scrap it and start again in the morning as there are so many sketches and deletions that the whole thing is a mess.

Hopefully I can apply what I have learned and do it much more quickly and cleanly in the morning

I changed from yellow PETG to black PETG. Both rolls of filament fromt he same supplier but dramatically different results.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/40132506151_143e00e30f_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/40132506151_143e00e30f_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/249nzTe ]20180207_115521[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

In the photo I am holding the top of the hot-end with the nozzle facing up and left. I guess I have some cleaning to do.

I'm just using my M3D (original) for the first time in maybe 6 months.

Used it almost daily printing anything and everything but then ran out of things to fix / modify / make.

A bit leaner. Now to re-assemble, re-calibrate and re-try

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39233700465_7ba634ae54_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/39233700465_7ba634ae54_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22LWYgt ]20180207_121945[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

Podge - If you are bored and want a go at the Range Rover Roof Rail End in the earlier photo's I can share the dimensions...

Thanks, not sure I have the build volume at around 100mm cube.

Currently fixing / improving the boy's Brio set and tipper truck.

I think you've dissuaded me of any ideas I had about buying a 3D printer WCA. Looks like a WCPITA to be frank.

tthew - Yep. A great experiment for £150 but unless you spend more and spend more time learning how to configure it and do everything properly it can be frustrating. If you want to design stuff and then get it printed so it is useable you are probably better off getting it professionally printed.

The main reason I have spent so much time with mine for the last few days is that I am stuck in bed with my leg elevated so there is sod all else to do.

Trying to learn Fusion360 for the modelling has been fun but the RR Roof rail is stretching my talents. Having said that, the crutch modification is great and I am really happy with that. I guess the trick is to design things with parallel flat surfaces and simple shapes. Complex stuff can be bought more easily.

Refreshingly honest! Nothing wrong with learning new skills either, I'm having a bash at programming using Python at the moment.

As an aside, I reckon a Raspberry Pi would make an ideal homebrew 3D printer controller, but that's WAY beyond my skill set!

WCA- shapes like that are fairly complex to reverse enigneer. I do some of that through work- we have a package called Geomagic which is very good for CAD from scan, but it's frighteningly expensive and we have 3D scanning kit to back it up.

One thing you could try is using photogrammetry. I've not done much of it for detailed work but some people are doing pretty astonishing things on fairly impressive budgets. I mentioned it on another thread but Agisoft Photoscan is a good one to start with but does cost money after the demo. Colmap got a good review here- [url] https://pfalkingham.wordpress.com/blog/ [/url] . It doesn't appear to be as 'end-to'end' as agisoft though.

For an idea of what you can do given a lot of time and a fair amount of cash this is a very interesting page- [url] http://www.pi3dscan.com/ [/url]. I'd like to make a mini version for 'things' at some point when I find the time! Something like MeshLab should be able to handle the final mesh cleaning and closing for 3D printing (although I confess I have no time on it). Alternatively I think fusion 360 has some mesh editing tools.

That would give you the outer shape of the roof bar end in mesh, then you could shell it before print.

(I've been lurking on this thread for a while, found it very interesting. I've thought as few times about buying a 3D printer for home as we have industrial grade stuff at work. However, I have a friend who is a few years further down the line so thought I'd be better off following the 'scan' process so we have complimentary skills).

I tried an Autodesk scanning app, it captured what I wanted but the quality was poor and in a format I couldn't edit.

Was that 123D catch?

Yeah possibly, I think they binned / merged it shortly after I used it

It wasn't the best, as an app at least. Good for novelty. I think the engine behind it was good and you got more control if you used the desktop version. Also got the option to use a better camera. You can get some fantastic results if you know what you're doing (my experience with it has not been in the 'fine detail' field).

Thinking about it I believe fusion360 has some photogrammetry capability in there somewhere.