Summary of Stuff that I have Designed and Printed

The very first thing that I designed and printed.   All of these things are available on Thingiverse.

 

Then I did this thing.   In both cases these were prints that helped me with the printer itself.   I also printed a number of improvements designed by other people such as hot bed adjustment wheels and a Z-axis adjuster.

 

Then I tackled this which was really a large part of the initial motivation for getting a 3D printer in the first place.

This was a spin off from the above as I wanted to mount the encased LCD on the side of the printer.

Then I got onto the theme of organizing things.   There was actually a critical piece of work prior to the below, namely some pieces that allowed me to hang a very heavy mirror in our spare bedroom.  Not very easy to take pictures of though.   The designs are on Thingiverse as a 'Heavy Object Hanger' with the rest of what is shown here.  My motivation for that design was not just to hang the mirror but also to demonstrate how useful having a 3D printer can be!

This design was an evolution of the first version from the top of the page.

Another organization thing.   This one has also been used under the kitchen sink for a towel hanger and a place to put the washing up liquid.

Yet another organizer thing!   And another thing to demonstrate to Sara how useful a 3D printer can be!

One last organization thing.   This one for me.

Still Working on Print Quality / Speed

Here is a photo of two calibration prints and screen shots of the Slic3r settings for speed that I used for the tests.

The test case on the left takes almost 70% longer to print than the one on the right but the quality is obviously a lot higher.

I have tried a lot of individual changes to the speed of printing but it seems that the whole thing needs to be SLOW to get the quality that I would like to achieve.

The question is...what mechanical issues are greatest contributors to the reduction of quality as speed increase?

 

Finally printing with some really good quality...and...SMOKE!

New Project - Combining Disciplines

My latest project combines 3D printing with a Raspberry Pi driving a couple of servos and the Pi Camera Module.

Not completely sure of the application for the creation at this point...but more to come.

Some 3D Printing Projects to Date

I am using Thingiverse to publish many of the things that I have designed for, and then created using, my 3D Printer.   All of these designs are available with their source (I am using Sketchup).

Detailed Photos of Prusa I3

In response to a request, here are some detailed photos of my Prusa I3 including some of the enhancements that I have implemented on top of the original kit.

 

Not the neatest electronics stack in the world by any means!

 Z-Axis end stop.  I used the mount that came with the kit but it is not bolted as there was not room for the entire mount and some cutting with a hot knife was involved.   You can also see the bottom part of the easy Z-axis adjuster knob which is one of the printer enhancements.

 Here is the complete extruder assembly.   Some detailed photos will follow later.

This is the X-axis end stop.   I did not use the mount that came with the kit as I could not get the optimal positioning that I was seeking.  So, horror of horrors, I used some epoxy to put it where I want it.   I want to switch to Hall Effect end stops so no physical contact will be necessary but have not spent the money yet.

Cooling fan for the electronics stack and a master power switch.   The power supply can be powered on and off via gcode but I wanted a hard wired switch as well.

Close-up of the cooling fan for the hot end.   Trying to use a small fan to keep the hot bed from cooling too much.

Two enhancements at the top of the extruder assembly.   First one to make it easier to change hot ends (though not as eloquent as some would do with a plug and socket arrangement) and the second being a filament cleaner that also lubricates (found it on Thingiverse).

Original power supply was the LED strip variant.   Replaced with a PC power supply as it offers an on/off feature via grounding or ungrounding the green wire that you can see above.  Connected to the switch shown above.

Y-Axis endstop.  Again I was not able to get the exact positioning that I wanted from the mount that came with the kit so printed this one (and used some more epoxy).   For a while the endstop was actually stuck to the servo...

X-Axis tensioner (found it on Thingiverse).   The Y-Axis had a workable tension adjustment but the X-Axis did not (unless I installed something incorrectly).   This does the trick though.

My solution to reducing friction of filament feeding from behind the printer (available on Thingiverse).

My solution for reducing Z-Axis wobble.   I still don't have this licked but this did help.

An elastic band to help keep the hot bed cables from jamming under the hot bed mechanism.   You can see where the cable cover had meed damages from said jamming!

Securing the extruder assembly to the X-Axis.  Could never get the right tension just with the cable ties so added the tensioner shown above.

Two enhancements shown here.   First being a corner adjuster for the hot bed.   REALLY makes the job of fine tuning the bed easier than without said adjuster  (found it on Thingiverse).  The other enhancement that might be obvious to some, but was not to me, is that you need to insulate the bottom of the hot bed if you are going to use higher temperatures needed for ABS.   I have some cork on order but this photo shows some aluminum foil wrapping a couple of paper towels.  I use the same thing on top of the bed during the initial heat up.
  

Y-Axis tensioner as shipping with the original kit.   Works fine.

3D Printer - Some Lessons Learned

I am sure that I am no where near done having my printer learn me lessons but thought that I would take a minute to capture some of those learning's to date:

• Seems obvious, but, turn things off when making hardware changes!   As in unplug the power and the USB connection!
• Probably obvious to someone that knows electricity, but, unplug the printer before soldering something (like a control or power lead) that is connected to the printers electronics!
• When doing calibration prints keep a careful record of each print and the conditions for that print.   You might even want to go so far as to save individual config files for the slicer you are using.
• Don't mix PLA and ABS in the same nozzle.  I am not completely sure this is backed by any one else but I am convinced that I had a mega clog as the result of this practice.
• "ABS Goop", which is some ABS dissolved in acetone, makes a good bed prep for printing PLA.
• A clean bed results in a clean printed surface!
• PLA is a lot easier to work with than ABS.  In my case I had much less issue with warping, adhesion, and as a bonus everything was faster given a lower bed temperature.
• Printer enhancements for ease of adjusting the level of the bed early is highly advised!
• Once you have done the above you can do a rough adjustment of height using the piece of paper method and then print a bed leveling exercise to get the rest of the way.  I print this file pausing to adjust the overall bed height then resuming while often adjusting corners with the printer running.
• Timing belts should be tight.  This is another thing that might seem obvious but I ran for quite a while with belts that were a lot looser than they should have been.

It feels like I am missing some things ... which I will come back and add as I remember them.

Random / Occasional Axis Slips

My printer is in it's terrible twos.   It went through a period of printing stability and still has its moments.....until an axis decides to randomly slip or skip.  I have been working on this for weeks and have tried everything that I can find on this board (at least I think)!  As I said, the printer will have moments of stability where it will print for hours with no issue and pretty good quality.  The X-axis is the favorite to slip but the Y and Z will occasional join the fun.  It does not always happen on a long print as it has been known to happen early in a print as well. 

Here are the things that I have tried and/or ruled out:

I have adjusted the trim pots from just over stall to a quarter or more turn past stallI have swapped stepper drivers
I have moved the x-axis to the second extruder slot
I have upgraded power supplies
I have added a big cooling fan to the electronic stack
I have ensured that my timing belts are not slipping
I have made sure that the carriages move with minimum resistance
I have slowed everything down when I slice the part

 What else is left to try?!?!?   Could it be the Ramp board ... or the Arduino?  They are the only things that I have not replaced or been able to rule out!   Frustrating!

One thing that occurs to me, that is easier to remedy than a swap out of electronics, is connecting the printer to a cleaner power supply.   I just happen to have one (that also converts from 220V to 120 and offers filtered power at 220V) so that is in the circuit now.

Someone on the RepRap Forum has suggested possible EMI issues, if not in power, then I don't know how I would solve!?!?

[Update] I have gone ahead and replaced the Ramps board and the printer has been behaving since including finishing a seven hour print with no hiccups.   Fingers crossed.  

[Final Update] Printer has been stable.  It was either the Ramps board, or possibly, a wiring fault that got corrected when I replaced the Ramps board.   Not sure if I will ever know!