Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[caall99]

I actually haven't printed with ABS in about a month. My wife mentioned that the basement was starting to stink so I switched to just printing with PLA until I get my fume extraction closet set up. When I did print with ABS I was just using the hairspray on glass which seemed to work well. I think I was at about 100-105°C on the bed.

Not sure if I'm going to send the MagHold back since yours is the same way. I'll try the glass on top of it first, my adhesive tape should be here tomorrow.

I haven't taken a true flat edge to it yet, but just speaking from my experience leveling the MagHold plate, it does appear high in the middle and low in the corners. I prefer ABS for its light weight and toughness. Most everything I build is functional parts that may be subjected to adverse environmental conditions.

Regarding the cable chain you printed for the Qidi, did you notice any issues with the stepper motor bolts applying to much pressure to the cable chain mount? I printed mine in .3mm layer height with 20% infill, and it seems weak around the eyelets for the bolts. Worried that I might crush the eyelets when I torque down the stepper motor bolts to fasten it.

[Don Pedro]

Subscribed! Hey guys. New to this forum but have been printing on a CTC Dual for about a year now. I've gone through a set of extruders already and have upgraded to the Mk 10's, added the Y-axis pillow blocks, added a FlashForge glass bed, LED lighting, and am using Simplify3D. I've printed a little over 5000 meters of Hatchbox ABS filament so far. My CTC churns out awesome prints but I'm looking at buying a second printer to ease my print production schedule. I had narrowed it down to the Qidi when I found this thread. Great thread! It confirmed what I was already thinking which is that the Qidi is the way to go. I'll pull the trigger on that purchase today. Thanks again.

[KludgeGuru]

Regarding the cable chain you printed for the Qidi, did you notice any issues with the stepper motor bolts applying to much pressure to the cable chain mount? I printed mine in .3mm layer height with 20% infill, and it seems weak around the eyelets for the bolts. Worried that I might crush the eyelets when I torque down the stepper motor bolts to fasten it.

I printed the cable chain in PLA, 0.2mm layer height, don't remember the infill (most likely 20-30%). The stepper mount seemed pretty strong when I installed it, haven't had any problems and it has been a few weeks.

[KludgeGuru]

Here is quick update on my 12mm rod upgrade. The 12mm rods are installed and I've been printing on them for a few days. They work and the platform seems more steady while printing. There is definitely less side to side movement. I haven't noticed a huge increase in print quality, the quality wasn't that bad to start with and it is still pretty good. I tried to do a before and after test print but it looks about the same, not sure If my test print was the right structure to see a different.

So was the upgrade worth it? I only spent about $45 on the upgrade. It was kind of a pain to disassemble the entire machine (I had to do it about 3 times to get the adapter parts designed right). It was kind of fun to do so yes I think it was worth it, at least for me. I'll try to get the parts posted to Thingiverse in the next week or so, maybe somebody else can do it and figure out better test structures to test before and after.

Here are some pictures:

Bearing adapters (Also designed a new shim for 1/8" glass to fit the new bearings)
20160405_212014.jpg

Bottom adapter
20160405_212048.jpg

Top adapter
20160405_212119.jpg

[Geoff]

Here is quick update on my 12mm rod upgrade. The 12mm rods are installed and I've been printing on them for a few days. They work and the platform seems more steady while printing. There is definitely less side to side movement. I haven't noticed a huge increase in print quality, the quality wasn't that bad to start with and it is still pretty good. I tried to do a before and after test print but it looks about the same, not sure If my test print was the right structure to see a different.

So was the upgrade worth it? I only spent about $45 on the upgrade. It was kind of a pain to disassemble the entire machine (I had to do it about 3 times to get the adapter parts designed right). It was kind of fun to do so yes I think it was worth it, at least for me. I'll try to get the parts posted to Thingiverse in the next week or so, maybe somebody else can do it and figure out better test structures to test before and after.

Here are some pictures:

Bearing adapters (Also designed a new shim for 1/8" glass to fit the new bearings)
20160405_212014.jpg

Bottom adapter
20160405_212048.jpg

Top adapter
20160405_212119.jpg

I upgraded my CTC to 10mm from 8mm rods, and while the wobble was gone, the print quality only was improved near the top 10-14cm of the print, the first 10cm you wouldn't know the difference. Seems the bed wobbled worse during print when at the bottom of the machine printing max height.

I am really interested in these printers now, I can't say I've seen anyone complain about bad service and for the price, gee, you can't really go wrong there can you.

[kaznad]

Firstly, thanks guys for the advise.

I would check your local forums to see what people in your area are using on glass. There are other hairsprays that may work.

I tried looking at local forums didn't manage to get any info on this.

The reason the purple can Aquanet works is its the all weather formula. In order to make it such there is a polymer compound in the spray.

There is a bonding agent in the hairspray that sticks to the glass, and the print sticks to the polymer compound in the spray. Any hairspray using a polymer should work, and is typically found in 'all-weather' or 'max hold' hairsprays. Go to the store and se if any hairspray sold says all weather on it and try it out.

Thanks, I was looking around shops and did find some hair spray with polymer compound in them. Will try one of them out.

Also try to find one that is unsented, it will probably smell better when heated up.

This is the thing I couldn't find. All of them had fragrance added. No unscented ones so far.

I have yet to receive any of the build platforms I ordered, but using the stock blue plate I am kinda getting the hang of getting builds off. I found using the long tools in the iFixit Kit to be very helpful in slowly prying off the build.

[rcleav]

Firstly, thanks guys for the advise.

I tried looking at local forums didn't manage to get any info on this.



Thanks, I was looking around shops and did find some hair spray with polymer compound in them. Will try one of them out.



This is the thing I couldn't find. All of them had fragrance added. No unscented ones so far.

I have yet to receive any of the build platforms I ordered, but using the stock blue plate I am kinda getting the hang of getting builds off. I found using the long tools in the iFixit Kit to be very helpful in slowly prying off the build.

Sorry to hear that I would have thought some one locally may have found something for you to use.
I found a single edged razor blade attached to a handle I printed works great for removing prints from glass.

[rcleav]

Here is quick update on my 12mm rod upgrade. The 12mm rods are installed and I've been printing on them for a few days. They work and the platform seems more steady while printing. There is definitely less side to side movement. I haven't noticed a huge increase in print quality, the quality wasn't that bad to start with and it is still pretty good. I tried to do a before and after test print but it looks about the same, not sure If my test print was the right structure to see a different.

So was the upgrade worth it? I only spent about $45 on the upgrade. It was kind of a pain to disassemble the entire machine (I had to do it about 3 times to get the adapter parts designed right). It was kind of fun to do so yes I think it was worth it, at least for me. I'll try to get the parts posted to Thingiverse in the next week or so, maybe somebody else can do it and figure out better test structures to test before and after.

Here are some pictures:

Bearing adapters (Also designed a new shim for 1/8" glass to fit the new bearings)
20160405_212014.jpg

Bottom adapter
20160405_212048.jpg

Top adapter
20160405_212119.jpg

Nice work I think 1/8" glass is perfectly acceptable and defiantly a lot cheaper.

[Syd_Khaos]

Just got some yellow ABS, and no matter what I do it clicks as it feeds through the machine. This happens on both left and right extruders. Have cleaned nozzles and PTFE tubes.
Any ideas?

[rcleav]

is this a different brand from what you have used in the past?
I hear different colors even from the same mfg. can have slightly different temp settings.
Also check the Dia. of the filament.