Wanhao Duplicator i3 .... my ramblings

[proto-typer]

Well....been learning a LOT about how my printer works.

Just finished making a fully articulated warrior bug from Starship Troopers. Looks great...but the body was a real challenge.

Started off printing without a raft, and that proved how important it was to keep the bed clean and free from finger marks. Greasy paw prints are bad for adhesion...and bad adhesion results in ruined prints. I also discovered a few thigns about supports. You need to THINK about where you put them. Think about hte direction the print head is moving, and where the support is needed. It anchors extended parts of a print as well as supporting them. Where a poart was at the 'back' of the print, a support beyond that helps prevent it being dragged out of place.

I have also been playing with some of hte other features a bit more. Now I have the basics I am fairly confident I can get results....which is encouraging me to push the boundaries a bit more.

I have also finally got a USB adaptor for micro SD, as I can't put the printed where I can use a cable, so all my G-Code is going on the card. Should have got one of these from day 1!!!! It's just an E-Bay cheapy...but it works.

I also found that the body of this bug was impossible to get to print well without lots of supports, and lots of supports means a messy finish. So...I put my 3D modelling skills to the test, exported the STL file into Blender, and sliced the mesh in half. Printing on the bed without a raft I got a very crisp edge, and when I glued my halves together, it looked great! Gave me a chance to look at scaling and how the model's mesh was done.

I am finding this 3D printing lark rather addictive!

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