3d printing anyone?

It's pretty nice. I only have to run a skirt. I only use a raft when doing tall, thin parts.

 

When you all print functional parts, do you go with 100% infill or vary it to reduce print time?

 

for me it just depends on what it'll be doing. But typically speaking, from my test prints I will add an extra top/bottom layer or two along with extra walls, infill can vary but it's usually a high percentage.

 

15% with three line widths. FAR better than single line with any percentage infill.

 

Depending on the part.i rarely use 100% infill though.

For instance the battery shaped tool holders i printed up for the tools, those were done with 60% and are stupid strong.

 

I default to 3 top/bottom and 3 walls and adjust my infill as needed but also keep an eye on print time.



I've got a new fan shroud running right now. 2.8hrs at default values and 20% infill.

 

I am talking about infill line count, not bottom/top/wall count. Believe Cura refers to it as 'infill line multiplier.'

 

Oh. I don't use Cura and misunderstood. Matter Control doesn't give me that option.

 

Give cura a try, its free. Its ridiculously good, with very deep settings if you want to get out of the standards.

I do not have experience with matter control however.

 

I've been tempted. It's definitely a popular software. I'm sure I'll bend the knee.

 

I'm working on a thin profile part right now.

First print failed 10% in because my fan cold shot my nozzle.

I've sped up my feed to 40mm/s and decreased the fan to 30%. So far so good.

And if it works out, I'll cut my CT down from 4h to 1.5!

Is it worth upgrading my existing duplicator i3 or just doing a custom build?

 

I'd say that would depend heavily on use goals, finances, and ability. Only you can really decide.

If the machine you have now does what you need, maybe just some upgrades. Maybe its a feature you can add, that you want. I dont know anything about that printer myself. But from googling it, it could really benefit from an enclosure with temp controls.

 

Your first post confuses me. You said something about a build based on a VMC. To me that acronym is 'vertical machining center.' It implies a subtractive process, is Cartesian-based, and moves the head up/down (not the bed). Contradicts what you were getting at.

But speed is a matter of a ton of factors... If you are churning out onsie-twosies for fun, why do you need to exceed 60mm/sec? Hell, I've had prints last days. It would be nice to have complex stuff done faster, but I'm not a print farm.

 

Vertical mills only have 1 z drive and dont carry another axis (speaking purely on 3 axis vmc's) , until you get into the larger gantry mills. I haven't seen any printers where x sits on y and z is independent. All the Cartesians I've seen always have x riding on z.

I'm not looking for speed specifically. More along the lines of rigidity, ease of use, and reliability.

 

I follow you now. I get the argument for subtractive with heavy tool loads, but on additive it's just about frame stiffness and head jerk. Almost seems like the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Especially considering you'd have to write new firmware. Open-source vs sole means a drop in reliability to me.

Also, have you looked into the kinematics of BAAMs? It's been too long since I was at ORNL to remember their setups, but I could reach out to a few friends if you actually got serious enough and couldn't find enough info online.

 

To further the tool load driven kinematics idea, I'm looking at the desktop mill I have next to my printer (3020 Pro Max), and Z rides on X. It's obviously a light duty setup but Z isn't independent. Only once you get into the benchtop mills does Z go independent.

 

You've lost me. I'm not good with acronyms.

I'm still in the design phase. Once I have a frame and hardware figured out, I'll jump into the firmware. It's obviously doable, but at what expense...

Mills also have "jerk" but the weight, rigidity, and acceleration of the drives tweaks it out.

If you have any more info and resources about firmware, I'd love to read it.

 

BAAM = big area additive mfg

Jerk = time derivative of acceleration. I wasn't using lingo, it's a physical quantity.

The amount of time it'd take to develop firmware for a custom kinematic machine vs what you get wouldn't be worth it to me. Hence my arguments about tool load. But if you wanted to opensource, it was worth a damn, and you had the time for a passion project - cool, go for it. I personally would shoot for a dual coreXY before going down the rabbit hole you're discussing.

Last I read, folks were shying away from LinuxCNC for 3DP support, but maybe in this case would be worth looking at given you want to copy a mill. Immediately would be better than having to write your own code.

 

Why would anyone settle for 60mm/s? If the ability to go faster as equal/better quality, why not?

 

So I ended up buying a creality cr-10 that arrived last week. I finally had some time to assemble it yesterday and tried to print a calibration cube twice. No dice. About 1/2 way in it went haywire, likely he'd adhesion.

I tired the glue stick on top of masking tape and printed a dog (to try something different) without issue. Printed two dust collectors that worked well so decided to move on.

Presently printing a replacement latch for my Plano crossbow case that I cannot find a replacement for anywhere online. Turns out there is one in thingverse so we'll see how this turns out

 

Glass bed on that one? If not, it makes a difference.

I use hairspray(whatever is cheap on sale at the grocery store). It's sorta messy, you have to be careful with the spray (stick to the area you are going to touch the bed), it sticks like no tomorrow. No tape needed

Cleans off the (glass) bed easily once dried with a bit of iso and a razor blade to scrap it. once every few prints, I scrape & wipe with iso on fresh microfiber.

Good luck with the crossbow latch!

 

I'm telling y'all, find some PETG sheet instead of glass. It is a plastic so when you heat the bed you soften the petg and create a tension surface to stick to. Part removal is as easy as flexing the sheet a bit.

 

I bent the knee and I'm on day 2 of running an ender 3 pro. It's AMAZING. Out of the box it's better than the duplicator i3.

I'm currently running both printers at the same time. I haven't done any upgrades for the e3p, but they are on the list. Right now I'm playing with my new toy.

I'm already considering another e3p....

The i3 has an all metal hotend, all metal extruder system, and a new thermistor and heater cartridge will be here Saturday.

 

Yeah, glass bed that requires manual leveling. I thought about the cr-10S for the auto level however for the price I got this for, I couldn't complain

 

So the latch ce out near perfect. The bottom that adhered to the glass is slightly bowed which I find odd. I noticed the same thing happen with the flat piece I had made earlier, almost like the edge of the flat part constricted as they cooled?

Anyways, one replacement latch that almost looks like the OEM

 

That bowing along the edge is from differential rates in part cooling.

Try turning the fan down. or set it to ramp up a bit later in the print., or keeping the environment temp more controlled.

 

Latest is a Ender 3 NEO, First wa aduplicator i3, also have a Geetech A10M that has blending extruder. Next will be a larger format.
Use Cura to slice. AutoCad to draw. For someone starting out ther eis still an install package fro Autodesk123d out on the internet. Very easy to learn.

The imprinted creality glass plate is incredible. And the silent motors on the NEO are quiet a feature.

This is a simple piece (a holder from my modular bayonet reack). This is very close up to show the layer quality AT about 10-12 inches the layers disappear.


On a more Tundra Theme.

 

I love my Lulzbot Mini 2 but could definitely use a larger build envelope. I design in Fusion360.

 

Always had good luck using blue painters tape with PLA and PETG, but splurging for the Wham Bam PEX system was worth it. Really helped with corner lift as I still print in the open.

 

So I re-leveled the bed and played with the temps. I printed a hanger for my out cordless shark handheld vaccum that turned out great (derived from a stl for headphones). I decided I wanted to test things out so I am presently trying my largest build, a holder for my cordless screw driver that is in mid flight. So far so good