Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[jcoahran]

Those of you considering installing a glass plate, should also consider using a sheet of PEI. On the advice of a friend, I installed it, and it's amazing how well it works. I printed a PETG part last night that took the entire length of the bed and about 3 inches wide, and after about 2 minutes of cooling, it just popped off. Preparation is nothing more than a quick wipe with paper towel and alcohol. I've used it with PLA and PETG with never a stuck part.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o09_s00

One sheet is enough to do the bed two times.

By the way, this printer loves PETG

And a question. Does this design fit the QiDi printer?

Upgraded Extruder
Plate: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1396391

What about the part fan?

Cheers,
Joe

[DJalin1]

Those of you considering installing a glass plate, should also consider using a sheet of PEI. On the advice of a friend, I installed it, and it's amazing how well it works. I printed a PETG part last night that took the entire length of the bed and about 3 inches wide, and after about 2 minutes of cooling, it just popped off. Preparation is nothing more than a quick wipe with paper towel and alcohol. I've used it with PLA and PETG with never a stuck part.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o09_s00

One sheet is enough to do the bed two times.

Cheers,
Joe

Do you stick it to the Print Bed if not how do you secure it? Is it removable?
I have seen installation of PEI by using double stick tape and securing it to the Print Bed. I would prefer a way to keep it removable.

I have loved using glass but I have actually run into a problem with the loss of 1/4 inch of z-axis. A Dice Tower that I want to scale up.

[jcoahran]

I used this two sided tape:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o09_s00

I agree it would be great to make it removable. I'm thinking about a way to do that using magnets maybe?

[KludgeGuru]

A million times yes! It's very hard to find a proper 1/8" shim that fits the QIDI Tech. I've tried slicing off 1/8" from the standard 1/4" shims but due to how they are modeled (or my bad editing), it produces "thin ceilings" sort to speak.

OK, I created a new shim that works for 1/8" glass. Try it out and let me know if it works.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1427953

fe6a4bc378b3e14472b4ab446b5df81e_preview_featured.jpg

On a side note, I dropped my glass plate and shattered it right after printing this. Guess that is a drawback to glass. So I'm probably going to go get some glass locally and I may end up with 1/8", at least I have a spacer for it now. I may try a mirror also.

[DJalin1]

I used this two sided tape:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o09_s00

I agree it would be great to make it removable. I'm thinking about a way to do that using magnets maybe?

So what if you combined it with the Maghold
http://www.amazon.com/Maghold-Magnet...ds=maghold+9x6

You could tape the PEI to the top of the Maghold and have additional plates.

[DJalin1]

Anyone who has purchased and installed the MagHold Plate, can you link the one you purchased?

Thinking about combining PEI top with MagHold Removable Plate. Don't get me wrong I have loved building with Glass, but I have a few builds that need the additional z-axiz space I am losing.

Thanks,

[dspdrew]

On something that small a .3mm nozzle would help and set the extrusion width to about .25mm. No real reason to print slow, due to the size the acceleration parameters will slow it down enough. 1-2 shells and 100% infill will work. .2mm layer heights should be fine.

I printed it with those parameters, and it printed just fine. Then I tried again, and it was a completely different story. Now nothing I do will get this thing to print right. Everything just turns out to be a big blob of melted plastic. I have tried everything to get it to stick to the platform and it just won't. I tried that glue stick, but that doesn't do anything but make lines of glue across the bed and seems pointless. I now have that blue sticker off, because it got too hot, and bubbled up. I put painters tape on the aluminum, which everyone says works great, but still, nothing is sticking to it.

I did get it to stick one time for the first couple layers, but it looks like the whole thing is melting, and then it eventually comes loose and turns into a plastic blob on the nozzle.

I'm printing PLA, and my bed is 50C, and my nozzles are 210C. What am I doing wrong?

[rcleav]

I've never used blue tape but I think your suppose to clean and let it dry with alcohol before printing.
I run PLA bed temp at 60C.
I had no problem getting your model to stick with glass and Aquanet at 60C.
Just don't drop them.

[dspdrew]

I've never used blue tape but I think your suppose to clean and let it dry with alcohol before printing.
I run PLA bed temp at 60C.
I had no problem getting your model to stick with glass and Aquanet at 60C.
Just don't drop them.

Why would the whole thing just keep melting though? The other times I printed something, it seemed to harden pretty quickly after being printed. I even have the blower fan running.

Edit: Never mind, it looks like it was just because it kept coming loose and sticking to the nozzle. I cleaned the bed with alcohol like you said, and now it's sticking and printing nicely so far. I really need to get this glass mod done, I just thought maybe I could print out a couple things first, but it's been three days and I think I've gotten two things to print right.

[jcoahran]

Since I'm printing quite a lot, what are the typical parts that will wear out first? I'd like to go ahead and order some less expensive parts.