Printing Intricate/Moving Part

[DrZ234]

Completed my Makerfarm Prusa 10" a few days ago and have basically perfected getting good prints using PLA 3mm filament, .4mm hexagon hot end, and the stock Slic3r settings v 0.9.9.

I tried printing this guy yesterday and no matter the scale I use the arm, leg, etc joints will not move. I had a similar issue with a scraper that was supposed to hold a razor blade but the thin space for the blade wasn't formed properly.

Anyone have suggestions as far as how to improve the precision of the prints?

[gmay3]

Welcome to the forums DrZ234! Glad to hear you got your printer up and running!

I think you maybe "over extruding" and more plastic is coming out then desired.

Check out a few of the basic calibrations procedures in the thread below to help fine tune your extrusion:

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...nd-Proportions

[HSV]

It took me 4 prints to get that guy to print properly, and I still broke his neck on my best one (a screw from the bottom reattached his head). In the end I used Cura, I scaled up the 65% version by 33%. As gmay3 said you will need to calibrate the extruder, but keep in mind that each roll of filament will vary slightly. So use the filament you calibrate with.
After printing you will want to run a razor blade along all the joints to help separate them. Then gently work each joint backwards and forwards until they free up (robot rehab).
I printed it using a 0.5mm jhead at 0.2mm layer height with ABS.
Good luck

[DrZ234]

It took me 4 prints to get that guy to print properly, and I still broke his neck on my best one (a screw from the bottom reattached his head). In the end I used Cura, I scaled up the 65% version by 33%. As gmay3 said you will need to calibrate the extruder, but keep in mind that each roll of filament will vary slightly. So use the filament you calibrate with.
After printing you will want to run a razor blade along all the joints to help separate them. Then gently work each joint backwards and forwards until they free up (robot rehab).
I printed it using a 0.5mm jhead at 0.2mm layer height with ABS.
Good luck

It seems like in general people are getting better results with Cura over Slic3r. Is it worth making the switch so early on in my 3D printing expedition?

[Mjolinor]

It seems like in general people are getting better results with Cura over Slic3r. Is it worth making the switch so early on in my 3D printing expedition?

Yes, slic3r is brain damaged at the moment.

[DrZ234]

Yes, slic3r is brain damaged at the moment.

Anyone have a good Cura settings file for a 10" makerfarm with .4mm hexagon hot end for 3mm PLA??

[Starlord]

This something I was curious about. I was interested in making peristaltic pump . But I do not understand how it would not end up a solid lump.

[Roxy]

There is a link to some Open Scad code for the item. My bet is there is a #define (an equate) to set clearance between the gear teeth.

UPDATE: Oh how did I know that something written in OpenScad would be nice and logical? Here are the first 9 lines of the source code:

// Planetary peristaltic pump (customizable)
// by Drmn4ea (drmn4ea at google's mail)
//
// Released under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
//
// Adapted from Emmett Lalish's Planetary Gear Bearing at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451


// --------  Printer-related settings ------------

// Clearance to generate between non-connected parts. If the gears print 'stuck together' or are difficult to separate, try increasing this value. If there is excessive play between them, try lowering it. (default: 0.15mm)
tol=0.15;

[DrZ234]

There is a link to some Open Scad code for the item. My bet is there is a #define (an equate) to set clearance between the gear teeth.

UPDATE: Oh how did I know that something written in OpenScad would be nice and logical? Here are the first 9 lines of the source code:

// Planetary peristaltic pump (customizable)
// by Drmn4ea (drmn4ea at google's mail)
//
// Released under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
//
// Adapted from Emmett Lalish's Planetary Gear Bearing at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451


// --------  Printer-related settings ------------

// Clearance to generate between non-connected parts. If the gears print 'stuck together' or are difficult to separate, try increasing this value. If there is excessive play between them, try lowering it. (default: 0.15mm)
tol=0.15;

SMART. Going to try calibrating the printer tonight, then mess with that setting to see if I can get more precision. I am finding with multiple models that have small slits or holes they are not precise enough to be used properly...

[Starlord]

I was more interested in the mechanics of it. What keeps a part above another one from fusing or at least dropping down so that there is no gap?

There is a link to some Open Scad code for the item. My bet is there is a #define (an equate) to set clearance between the gear teeth.

UPDATE: Oh how did I know that something written in OpenScad would be nice and logical? Here are the first 9 lines of the source code:

// Planetary peristaltic pump (customizable)
// by Drmn4ea (drmn4ea at google's mail)
//
// Released under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
//
// Adapted from Emmett Lalish's Planetary Gear Bearing at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451


// --------  Printer-related settings ------------

// Clearance to generate between non-connected parts. If the gears print 'stuck together' or are difficult to separate, try increasing this value. If there is excessive play between them, try lowering it. (default: 0.15mm)
tol=0.15;