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  1. #1
    Technician
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    67

    The CTC "How To" Mini Guide -- Or, How I Turned My CTC Into a Printing Beast.

    I'm really happy there is such a following for the CTC brand line of 3D printers; and these style of cartesian printers in general (FlashForge, et al). I think they are great little machines and definitely a contender for best "cheap" 3D printer out there on the market today. In my opinion, these CTC printers straddle the line between "Ready made" and "DIY" perfectly.

    Now, considering this CTC was my first ever foray into 3D printing and printers in general, it has helped me learn a great deal about the process of 3d printing and troubleshooting these printers immensely. So I wanted to share my experiences and results with the community which has in the past helped me out with some of said issues before. I hope this "mini guide" can help those who may already own a CTC printer or are looking to buy a 3D printer, and perhaps even help with troubleshooting their CTC and getting the best possible results from it. Let's begin!

    Author's Note: This mini guide is based on the composite wood frame CTC 3D Printer.


    1. Necessary Upgrades

    I put this one first because out of the box, the CTC, while a good, decent printer, may have a lot of weak points where prints could go (catastrophically) wrong. Although I jumped the gun and went out and upgraded as much as I could with my CTC, I do recommend the first timer try printing first on their CTC and then upgrading afterward (to get a better picture of their before/after prints).

    -Z-Axis Guide Rods
    In my opinion, this should be the first and primary upgrade for all CTCs. This current iteration of the printer utilizes 8mm Z-axis guide rods alongside the ACME threaded rod, all of which can be wobbly and unstable. I have these two upgrades on my printer: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:496298, and http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:497923. Unfortunately I didn't realize the bottom pieces could also be replaced, and I ended up gluing the bottoms of the rods to the base permanently (Oops! More on the glue later).

    -X-Axis Carriage/Cable Guide
    Another "must have" in my opinion, is the carriage and cable guide upgrade for the X-Axis. I read somewhere a while back that the CTC's tend to have issues with the constant movement on this axis, causing strain on the cables which leads to failure. To combat this, I printed and installed this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:119814

    2016-03-23 16.27.32.jpg

    -Extruder Nozzle Upgrades
    This is not necessarily an issue relating to only CTC printers, but 3D printers in general. I'm a firm believer that to get consistent, quality prints, you need to have quality extruder parts installed on your printer. That is why I upgraded my extruder nozzles to stronger, wear resistant nozzles, which let's me print with any materials, such as Carbon Fiber. (http://www.amazon.com/High-Lubricity.../dp/B00ZMVCYUG).

    Also, I upgraded the nozzle tubes/barrels with these, and they have PTFE tubes inside for better friction control: http://www.amazon.com/Barrel-Nozzle-.../dp/B00LPAT3DE
    Note on the barrels: If you change your extruder style from the default direct drive blocks, make sure you do both sides, otherwise you may end up with one extruder nozzle higher/lower than the other.

    Thirdly, I installed PTFE tubing all the way from my enclosed filament box into the extruder itself with this upgrade: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:340031
    This is a critical mod that will help get your filament into the extruder and reduce/eliminate damaging humidity issues.

    2016-03-23 16.27.05.jpg2016-03-23 16.26.37.jpg

    -Heated Bed Upgrades
    Another necessity I feel is, throwing away the kapton/blue tape crap on the aluminum heat bed and installing a borosilicate glass plate (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NY8F172) (shown below). You will also need a shim for the back of the Z-Axis. The one I am using is here (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:836670). Additionally, a way to secure the glass bed: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1296854. For keeping the prints stuck to the bed, I use Elmer's Glue (Non-Toxic Purple kind) found here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PV3MNA.

    2016-03-12 22.43.40.jpg

    -Enclosure Upgrade
    I bought an Acrylic Enclosure Kit from http://criticalmods.weebly.com/ctc-style.html
    Now for some reason the acrylic panels I received seemed a bit off in their size... and I had to use double sided sticky tape to adhere it to my printer, but I managed to make them work

    With these essential upgrades to your CTC 3D Printer, they should eliminate most, if not all, of any problems you have or may have regarding different Axis issues, printing issues, wobbling, ABS issues, et al. Now we move on to the less critical, but still important modifications.

    2016-03-23 16.10.37.jpg
    Last edited by cjalas; 03-23-2016 at 09:06 PM.

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