# 3D Printing > 3D Printers (Hardware) >  Heaven help me - I've just bought a delta kit :-)

## curious aardvark

I don't really need another printer, and I probably can't afford one lol

But for £193 inc free delivery, I've just ordered a he3d k200 with auto levelling and heated bed from 3dprintersonline store.com
Got it from them because some of the other places selling didn't include the levelling kit and there was also  $40 coupon that got knocked off at the checkout.
Also i think that's where I got the ciclops scanner - the scanner is pure junk, but the service was good and they don't make the scanners just sell them, lol

I'll probably have between another £30-40 to pay to the highway robbery that is the inland revenue. They charge £10 for the privilege of chraging you 20% of the list price on the package. Hopefully the sellers will limit that to $100. 
The bastards revenoo, ignore the denomination and will charge me for a value of £100. 

Taken this step for several reasons. I love watching deltas, they just look like proper manufacturing robots. Plus they can do things that cartesians struggle with. Like single strand curved surfaces, matchstick prints, brush heads and most likely a bunch of other stuff. 
Plus this thing is the same price that a tiko would have been on kickstarter. But has a build volume of 200mm by 300mm. 
I had  a play this morning and it gives you a square base of 140x140. At 50mm width you get 180mm length.  The 300mm height is also pretty impressive. 

So cheaper than the tiko would have been and much larger build volume and also using standard kit that looks pretty easy to put together and modify. 
e3d hotend, aluminium frame with peek injected parts. 
One reason I got the heated bed was because it also upgraded the power supply and these days I always use heated bed.
Plus I get the whole make it from scratch education and it doesn't take up much space on my desk - so I can throw some crap away and it'll fit :-) 
I can make any bits that need making - first job looks like filament holder that sits on top of the machine

With luck it should get here in a week or so - it's shipped via dhl (and free, makes you wonder what the kits actually cost the factory)

So there you go, I'll be into firmware and gcode and all that malarkey before you know it :-)

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## Davo

Pics or it didn't happen!

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## curious aardvark

Well all i've got at the moment is a receipt. https://www.3dprintersonlinestore.co...3d-printer-kit
there you go, click that :-)

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## Davo

Sure. Let me show you pictures of my yacht.  :Smile:

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## curious aardvark

Not crowd funded. Just the latest kit low cost delta kit.

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## curious aardvark

In hong kong and on it's way to the uk :-)

***

12/05/17 - still in hongkong - come on put it on a plane !


I'm not impatient or anything ;-)

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## curious aardvark

On a plane, on its way to the uk.
claims it will be here sometime wednesday :-)

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## curious aardvark

In the uk. Should be delivered tomorrow :-)

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## curious aardvark

Arrived about 10 minutes after i got back with dogs. Fortunately my mate was here and signed for it as It's piddling down with rain to day and I was still drying dogs lol

So for davo - here are some pics: 

Big Box Of Bits. 
boxofbits_640x480.jpg

Heated plate with printbite overlay. Hopefully I can make it easy to remove as I dont want to stick it permamently on the glass plate. 
hotplate_640x480.jpg
printbite_640x480.jpg

It's going to be a big sucker ! Judging by the length of the main aluminium rods. 
bigsucka_360x480.jpg

Checked all the boxes and it all appears to be here. Only one issue so far. 
The cradle for the extruder has been 3d printed - everything else is injection moulded. 
And it's bloody awful quality. Looks like a 1mm nozzle at around 0.4mm layer height. 
3dprintedpart_308x600.jpg

As all the rods attach to this, I'd like to reprint at higher settings and better quality.  Must be an stl file around somewhere. 

Other than that I'm as happy as a nile croc in the wildebeest migration season :-)

Just wondering, If I got longer rods and longer filament guide tube and longer belts. Would it be that simple to increase the print height ? 
I do have a friendly aluminium engineering firm I do work for. So the rods would most likely be free. Already got filament guide tubing and how expnesive can the belts be ?  

It's a thought anyway :-)

Ramps 2 plus board. Everything is nicely labelled. Looks pretty straightforward. The control screen takes a full size sd card. I don't think I'll use the 'sandisk'_ (yeah right)_ copy that came with it. The fake label has fallen off already :-)  I've built a few thousand computers over the last 30 odd years. This just looks like more nuts and bolts. I'm pretty sure the fun part will come when I try and fit the belts and then when I start calibrating :-)  

Planing on fitting the extruder upside down so I can feed filament in from the top. A filament holder that sits on top will be my first mod. Have to keep the overall footprint down so it will fit on the desk with the flashforge. 
Updates as and when.

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## Davo

Excellent news! Happy printing, and let us know how it goes.  :Smile:

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## Marm

Even if you can't find a stl for that piece, reverse engineering it would be a snap.  Might even be easier than clicking page two of the google results looking for a stl.

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## curious aardvark

Know what you mean. But if someone printed it then the fil is out there somewhere. With some fine sanding this can be made smooth. Just be better to start with a decent print. 
Probably be a few days before i get that far anyway :-)
just about to empty box and lay it all out on the table.

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## curious aardvark

Right had quite a good go yesterday. After mounting a stepper motor the wrong way round - twice, I called it  a night. 

I tell you what though - she's a big girl ! 
Not fat, just heavy boned ;-) 

Here's the bits laid out on the table. Leaving everything in the relevant boxes till I need it. 
bits_640x425.jpg

And here's where I stopped last night. Frame isn't actually bolted together yet, I just loosely stuck it together to see what she looked like. 
That's a litre bottle of Russian standard vodka for size comparison :-) Best vodka money can buy !
Top and bottom are done. pulleys and stepper motors mounted. Just needs 9 bolts to make the frame solid. And loosening bottom of base so struts fit. See point below on not tightening every thing up too soon ;-)   
framedone_253x480.jpg

So far it's been pretty straightforward. The corner pieces are very solid injection moulded, I presume abs.
I absolutely love the way the weird shaped nuts grip the channels in the aluminium struts. Need to find somewhere to buy these from as I can see myself bolting all sorts of things to the outside of the frame in the future :-) 

So far I've just been using the video guide to building. Once I get to installing the ramps board and upgraded psu (which will not, no way, no how fit inside the base) I'll start using the other videos out there. It'll have to attach to the outside somehow and I'll need to make a cover for the contact area. 
There are only a few wires to connect to anything and clearly labelled on the board. 

Two pieces of advice so far: 
1) do not tighten the bolts when building the top and bottom frames untill you have the entire frame together. Otherwise you'll just end up having to re-loosen them every time you add something else. Yep, learn from my experience lol

2) if you have a small child around - use them. Fitting the stepper motors in particular would be much easier with really tiny hands.  

Oh yeah - this only comes with an american plug. So if you don't live in the states you'll need to supply a plug and cable yourself - like me. 
If you don't go for the heated bed option - I think all you'll need is a travel adaptor. I have to wire the cable directly into the psu, so I need a plug and cable. 

Everything so far has been good quality and gone together with a minimum of fuss. It's all quality and heavy duty. The printed extruder carriage is interesting in that while it was printed, all the holes were clearly drilled afterwards. 
Weird. 
Wendy from reprapmall is going to send me the stl file so I can print a higher resolution version. 

Won't have time to do anything else today, but tomorrow should have time and the weekend's clear. 
I envisage the biggest issue will be the belts and sliding carriages. We'll see. 

Including the printbite _(which has got a lot more expensive since I bought the last sheet)_ and import taxes,_ (cost was listed at $99 - so they weren't too bad)_ I'm currently in for almost exactly £250:- £193 for the machine, £26 for import tax and charges for the privilege of paying it and £30 for the printbite. If I didn't already know how good it was - I doubt I'd be tempted to try it at todays prices. Personally I think they're going to price themselves out of the market if the cost continues to rise at this rate.
 All In all I'm happy with the cost - assuming she actually works :-)

I did look around on amazon and ebay and an equivalent kit sourced from the uk - but with smaller (much smaller in some cases) build volumes would have cost me well over £300
With the upgraded psu and heatplate - nearer £350.

I think, the closest in build volume was 180x250. 
Bear in mind the k200 is 200x300.
At 0.3mm layer height it'll take a 1000 layers  to build something the full 300mm height !

Oh yeah the auto calibration 'kit', consists of a piece of wire with a plug at one end and  a pressure pad at the other that fits over the extruder nozzle.  That's going to be an interesting experience :-)

Right, more as it happens - but most likely over the weekend.

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## BoozeKashi

Well, I think that photo provides a lot of information. Good size reference, and very likely the reason why you mounted the stepper motor the wrong way round. LOL

You can buy packs of those aluminum channel nuts on ebay or aliexpress, just double check the size & style you need. They usually come in M4, M5, & M6 sizes (M4 & M5 more common) and the style I believe you have you can drop in from the front of the channel, it will then self-lock after half a turn.  The other style has to be inserted at the end of the channel and slid into place, which sucks if there is already something else mounted.

That calibration kit you describe, does it possibly have more components to it? Under the bed perhaps? Like FSRs? Or is it just the contact switch setup?

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## curious aardvark

these are m4s and you just insert in the channel and tighten and they turn and lock. Great things. 
Took me a while to figure out that's how they worked though :-) 

The calibration kit is just a wire with a pressure sensor one end and a plug the other end.

This is the tutorial video. 



Have to admit I wasn't expecting all the calculations that goes with it. Oh and he's stuck it on with a bit of tape. Presumably it doesn't fit very snugly over the nozzle. 
Hmm there was a longer video where he does the bed touching thing and then gets  a calculator out and gets all complicated. I'd have thought the software would automatically do that kind of thing for you.  

Wondering if simplify3d or indeed slic3r or cura - as this is a pure gcode printer - can use this to auto calibrate without all the attendant maths. That would be the ideal situation.
I'll have to ask on the s3d forum. 
I would have thought it would all be handled in the firmware. Can i use different firmwares with this ? 
I have absolutely no clue - yet, lol 

The other thing is that the heat plate is mounted on adjustable long bolts with springs to hold it well above the motherboard - presumably so it doesn't fry the board. 
So that's not going to be as level as the non-adjustable glass plate - or it might be more level lol. 
I think initially I'll just build it with the glass plate and leave the hotplate off till I've got my head round how it all works and calibrates (ah maybe I can't might not have the bits.) Cross that bridge when I get there. 
I have to get it out of the dining room by tuesday - so the simpler I keep the initial stages the better :-)

Oh and thanks for telling me what to look for:   aluminum channel nuts.
I often find that buying anything online is 90% knowing what the people selling it actually call it.
:-)
(looks on ebay) bloody hell those things are pricey ! 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M3-M4-M5-d...M3eFMZ-2CXVxFQ
Around 40p each. I did wonder why there weren't any spares in the kit. At the margins these guys must be working on, I wouldn't have added spares either. 

edit: found cheaper ones: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-50Pcs-S...3D172600311187

That's not too bad. nearer 12 pence each. I can live with that. 50 nuts will attach an awful lot of crap to the frame :-) 

I do have an aluminium engineering firm I do work for. Might drop round and see if they ever use them or the struts and then 'borrow' some nuts and see how much the struts cost for the future 'how tall can I maker it with longer struts and belts' experiment  :-)
In all honesty I'm not expecting to pay for the struts, I like to keep the favour balance well in my favour with firms. If they have to order in, then at worst I'll pay cost with the firms discount. 

New carriage currently printing at 0.2 layer height. Be interesting to compare the two.

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## curious aardvark

Right 2 sessions later and I've finished the actual physical build. Does it work ? I have absolutely no clue. Haven't connected mains power yet - reasons for which will be plain later :-) 

So wiring stuff up. The board fits in quite nicely and has a couple of little legs that support one end while the other end is bolted onto the frame. 
wiredup_800x554.jpg

Have a think about how and where the wires run before you plug anything in. The plastic wire wraps press into the strut conduits good and tight. 

You also need to consider the wires coming out of the extruder. I added a couple of cable ties to lift them to the horizontal so that they can't interfere with printing. 
extrudercablelift_800x529.jpg 

Will the cable ties melt when it's heated up. I don't know. If they do, then I'll replace with wire - just didn't have any in the room when I was doing this. We'll see. 

Now one thing I feel this kit is desperate for are feet and a baseboard.  This is what the underside looks like when you've tidied the wires by stuffing them under the board. 
underneath_662x600.jpg

So that's going to be one of my first mods. I'll print some polyflex feet and then bolt a base on, probably just cardboard with some metal skewer reinforcements. 
I have a number of spares including 7 of the locking frame bolts and nuts. The feet I'll probably just push into the struts.
I did feel the wires could have been shorter, as some are ridiculously long  - but then again, if they were too short, I'd probably have complained about that too and they are most likely standard cables that work with a variety of different kits :-)

Now as I bought the heated build plate, I have an actual power supply, rather than a simple power adaptor. I like to keep things neat _(those who have seen my workshop, will now be rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably)._ So I wanted to attach the psu to the frame to keep the printer a single piece and also protect the connector on the psu. 
Used one of the strut bolts in  a convenient hole to attach a bottom corner and then used a cable tie to attach to a strut. 
It's surprisingly solid and doesn't budge when you pick the printer up. 
psubolt_800x600.jpg

psucabletie_800x600.jpg

I've got the extruder mounted quite high for a couple of reasons. 
1) it gives a straighter path for the filament. Never used a bowden before so tried to make it as easy to push the filament through as I can. 
2) I can attach a filament holder to the frame below the extruder, fairly easily and needed the space for  a full size reel.

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## curious aardvark

So here's views from all three sides.
allthreesides_800x529.jpg

And a big one from the front. 
finished_334x600.jpg

Now I did have some spares leftover. But I also have a bag of springs that I have absolutely no clue why I have them, let alone what they could be for.
springs_800x514.jpg

Any ideas ? 

So does it work - I have absolutely no idea. 
The one thing I haven't done yet is attach a mains cable and plug it in. Couple of reasons.

1) there is no on/off power switch anywhere. So before I plug it in, I would like to fit an actual on/off switch to the power supply. Seems like an obvious thing, but this kit doesn't have any power control. 

2) my mate is a sparky and I want him to check I'm not going to fry anything. I am notoriously crap at wiring plugs up. I mean totally wireblind. 

So hopefully we'll get that done in the next day or so. 

So my thoughts on the actual build itself. 

I love the main how to build video. Being able to see all the nuts and bolts for each part from a variety of angles, beats am obscure 2d diagram, hands down.  I'd recommend setting playback to 0.25x and checking each part several times before making or attaching. 
The extra videos are also very good. 
All the components come across as well made and substantial - apart from the extruder carriage - why that isn't injection moulded abs or perspex like everything else - I have no idea. 
The wire routing could cause problems with novices. I've spent the last 30 odd years building computers, so that kind of thing is second nature to me and with a little thought you can make the whole thing look pretty neat and tidy. 

Criticisms

1) lack of an on/off switch. having to pull the mains to cut power is just mental. 

2) Would have been good to have some kind of feet and base cover, to protect the wires if nothing else - there's really nowhere else for them to go.

3) Mounting options for the upgraded power supply. Okay so it took me a minute or so to come up with one. But back in the day I was used to cutting sections out of cases to fit components as case manufacturers and motherboard makers never actually talked to each other.  Given that the contacts are essentially uncovered, you want it somewhere they are protected from stuff being put on them. 

4) the control panel comes with a circuit board cover and a turning knob and a basic bleep speaker. But while there is a cutout for the push button there is no actual button to go in the hole. You literally put your finger through the cutout and press the switch directly on the base board. Again it's something you can make yourself. But just seems daft not to include one.  

With the exception of an overall on/off power switch. They really are very minor and cosmetic issues that can be easily done yourself. 

I built it in three sessions. Overall time probably somewhere between 10-12 hours. It's my first printer build so I was taking my time and making sure that - as much as possible - I only had to do each thing once. 

The kit and instructions are great. 
I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone who'd never done anything like this before. But most makers shouldn't have any issues with the build. And once you'd done a couple, you could probably knock one out in 3-4 hours. 

So that's part one done. 

Part two is where it gets interesting. 
Does it work ? 
Will it print ? 
Can it be auto calibrated ? 
Will I be able to switch it off ? 
Can it predict the lottery numbers ?

For answers to these and many more questions, you'll just have to wait :-)

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## curious aardvark

Apparently you don't have to wait very long :-) 

So after a chat with my mate I realised that what i needed was a cable for a bedside lamp, and I also realised that I had such a thing upstairs attached to the bulb holder for my old biltong making box. 

10 minutes later we're all wired up :-) 
mainscable_800x599.jpg

Securely fixed the cable to the top of the psu so that it can't pull on the actual contacts. Did I mention I was paranoid about electrickery ? 

It Lives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
itlives2_561x600.jpg

And that's exactly everything you can do with the control panel. 
The thermistors are working and the endstops register. 
And no matter what you twiddle or press it doesn't do anything else. 

So my first question. Can you get a delta version of sailfish that runs on a ramps 2 plus board ?

I'm used to an onboard firmware that actually lets you do stuff with the printer, not just a glorified readout. 

Pleased that it works, but disappointed that you can't do anything practical without attaching to a computer.

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## curious aardvark

right got pronterface, attached usb. 
And by george it works ! 
So far I've just been playing with moving the head around.

heated the bed - that works. 
Hmm, extruder doesn't work. 
But hey, the rest is good :-)

Had thought - maybe extruder won't feed till it's heated up. 
That seems to be working - heats up super fast too. 

Yep that was it - everything working :-)

Had a play. Did extrude some plastic, but not much. 
Think it's having problems pushing it through the tube. 
Probably have to move the extruder and shorten the tube again. 
Figure I can mount the filament on the neighbouring strut and bring it across and up slightly. 
Might also switch to the 0.5mm nozzle. 

But all in all - everything works. Just need the tweaking and furtling to get it where I want it. 
Had simplify 3d moving the head around. Wouldn't do a phantom print, but that's most likely a gcode issue. 
Need to update the s3d on this computer and load it in as a new printer. 

Overall I have to give it two thumbs up :-)

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## curious aardvark

So my mate and i both reckoned the extruder wasn't 100% straight. 

My first extruder carriage attempt had minor warp so got thrown. 
Just re-printed and installed and the extruder now looks straight :-)

Also re-did the carriages with the bolts and washers the right way round. Much tighter and smoother rolling with no play. 
Also sealed the base  off with some cardboard and sellotape (to protect the wires) and just about to print some fairly basic feet. 
Basically a round edged cube with cylinder sticking out the top that should push into the centre hole in the strut. 

We're getting there - one of these days I'll even try and print something. Still got to clear space on my desk.

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## curious aardvark

Feet printed in black polyflex - for near indestructibility - and fitted. 

Currently just about to start printing an experimental strut mounted filament holder

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## curious aardvark

Filament holder works a treat. When i'm done with initial 'essential' modding I'll pop any models up on thingiverse.
The feet are pretty basic, I'll do better ones when i get round to it :-)

Currently doing a filamentless test print.  Sort of a burn in. Just making sure that it will all run for a decent length period off the sd card, without wires getting caught, filament tube catching on the cradle, the whole thing going up in smoke etc
So I'm 'printing' a thin walled cylinder 250mm high by 150mm diameter. At 0.4 layer height and 80mm/s print speed. I doubt I could extrude reliably at that speed anyway :-) 
Have discovered that I need to move the power supply and mount it vertically on the back of a strut, 'cos where it is the print head hits it at anything over 175mm diameter.  Shouldn't be a problem. 
Also discovered that I need to set a fairly large horizontal offset. 
And that the heat bed removes 32.55 mm from the overall print height. So call it 267 rather than 300. 

Other than that - the basic mechanics seem to be working well and the profile I set up in simplify 3d is doing the job nicely. 

I even found a use for the 6 springs. Put them on the arms where they attach to the extruders. Seems to remove the tiny bit of wiggle I had there. 
might not be what they were meant for, but at least they're being useful :-) 

Oh yeah and I discovered the rest of the control panel menu - turns out if you push the twiddly knob in, it acts as a button ! 
Who knew ? Not me :-) 
So while it's not quit as good as the menu on the replicators, it's a helluva lot better than I thought it was.
So that's good :-)

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## curious aardvark

Right pretty sure I've finished the actual initial build and mod now. 
Power supply now securely mounted vertically on the back of a strut, made a couple of minimal brackets. 
It's got polyflex feet and a strut mounted filament holder and a shiny name tag made from aluminium filament. 

The extruder is as optimal as I can make it with guide tube as short as it's practical to make it. 
I've got the end stop screws within a couple hundredths of a mil of each other, I've set up a simplify3d profile and run filamentless prints for a few hours. 

The only issue is the hot end side of the process. It simply won't print for more than a few minutes without jamming. And it creates a little bob of plastic at the end of the filament that will not fit back through the tube, so unloading is a real pita. 

It's like there is a little chamber in the heat block that form a pool of melted filament that just clog everything up. 

The filament just doesn't feed through to the nozzle cleanly or - as far as I can work out - in a narrow feed tube. 
Whether or I can somehow fita ptfe guide tube in there I don't now. 

Until I can extrude reliably, I haven't bothered facing the enormously complicated delta calibration process. 

So whiole I'm happy with the kit and the instruction video/s. A 3d printer that won't extrude, is pretty pointless.

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## Davo

That's unfortunate. Without a good nozzle design, the rest is just a pet project.  :Frown:

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## curious aardvark

lol yeah. 

There seems to be a gap between where the filament feed tube ends and the nozzle throat begins and it's slightly wider than the filament feed tube. So after a short while you get back pressure build up and the extruder can't push through the congealing pool of plastic and it also puts a blob on the end of the filament that prevents it from being removed via the filament feed tube. 
So you have to yank the whole thing out the top of the hot end, cut the end of the filament and pull it back through the feeder tube. 
Think I'll need to clean the extruder hobbed bolt as well. 

It's not an inherent issue with the bowden process, definitely hotend design failure. 

I'll strip it down and see if I can get some ptfe tube in there to narrow the choke point. Got some spares for the replicators that should do the job. 

Other than that I'm impressed with how fast the bed and hot end actually heat up :-) 

I'll get some more pics up soon.

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## Davo

Understood. This is why we have our own nozzle design, which mates with the appropriately machined PTFE delivery tube. No voids, no buildup.

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## curious aardvark

yep, that's what i need to aim for. 

Seems daft to me putting a kit together with good quality parts and then using a flawed hotend. I've got no issue at all with anything else.

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## S550Stang

I think I know where the springs go...  can the rods that make up the arms be slipped into the end loops? (ball joints removed) I think they remove any play in the ball joints by pulling the parallel rod arms together at the ends...   I followed a similar post on a delta and they fella used elastics as the end effector has some play due to poor quality ball ends.

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## curious aardvark

yeah, I saw someone doing that on a thingiverse picture. So that's what I've also done with them.

And it did take all the wiggle out of the extruder cradle.

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## curious aardvark

Right. Extruder is now modded with ptfe tube. 

Extrudes, loads unloads - in short it works. 
Now knowing that without this 'mod' (read: essential operation) the extruders simply do not work. Why on gods earth would you sell one to someone without the necessary 40-50mm (did not measure it) of ptfe tube already installed ?
Particularly when you consider how much attention to detail has gone into everything else.

Insanity. 

Anyway, she's currently printing a large test cylinder. Not calibrated so actually plate of spaghetti :-)
BUT, she is now ready for calibration and actually printing something :-)
everything-working_496x480.jpg

Also good to see the filament holder also works well and is in the right place. 
The thing is though, if I didn't already have a couple of printers that use ptfe tubing - this would have been a real pita. 
It's a shame as it drops what would have been a  5 star review down to about 3. A 3d printer is no good without a working extruder - and that's what this kit lacks. 

I mean I'm happy, but there will be an awful lot of people out there who won't be and won't have the requisite bit of tubing lying around in the workshop.

Right, I do believe that is the actual build 100% finished !
I'll add pics of the mods: psu clamp, feet and filament holder.
And I'll make the stl files available on thingiverse. 
Oh yeah and the 0.5,mm nozzle extrudes at a consistent 0.52 mm diameter at 210c - my standard temp for pla.
So that's pretty good. 
Also looks like it'll print at 0.4mm layer height. 
So my plan is to use it for big stuff printed fairly quickly :-)

More when I've tackled the calibration and bed level process. 

Calibration and printing is next !

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## BoozeKashi

I'm still hoping Wendy will chime in and say you received a defective extruder or something. That just doesn't sound right that they would even ship a kit like that.

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## curious aardvark

well, apparently if you can force the filament feed tube all the way through the extruder so it actually stops flush against the top of the nozzle. It will work. 
Now I'm not a wimp and I pushed that tube as far as it would go - and it was nowhere near the top of the nozzle. 

I just feel for the sake of a couple of cents, why not ship the extruder with the ptfe tube in place and be 100% certain it's going to work. 

Now, my next problem. 

You cannot calibrate the heated bed with the z probe. 
why ? I'm glad you asked. :-)

The heated bed is mounted on long bolts to - presumably - stop it from frying the motherboard and stepper motors. This reduces your print height by about 30mm _(which I don't have an issue with, as at some point I will extend the print height quite considerably anyway)_. But more importantly, it's spring loaded. 
So when the z probe presses down on the plate, the springs compress and the bed tilts and dips quite a lot before the z-probe registers it's hit a solid object.  The probe is not a sensitive bit of equipment, it's cheap and cheerful and on a solid, unmoving glass bed - perfectly adequate.
The standard calibration process _(which makes no sense to me anyway)_ cannot work with a sprig loaded printbed.
And even if it did, it would be registering a point somewhat below the actual surface of the print bed. 

On the other hand, adjusting the levelness of the bed is very easy.  It just screws up and down.

So I now have to try and find an easy to follow guide on how to calibrate a delta without a z-probe. 

I did contemplate removing the hot bed and trying it with just the glass bed, but I don't intend to print anything with this machine without a heated bed - so that's a non-starter.

And no, as far as I can see there isn't a tutorial video on how to calibrate the k200 with the heated bed installed. 

I still like the kit, and for the money it's really good value. But under no circumstances would I recommend it to anyone as a first printer.

Just too many little issues that would frustrate a beginner to 3d printing. 
For me this was always as much about learning as getting another printer, and it's been ideal for that lol

If it were me, I would add another $10 to the price of the kit and get the extruder carriage injection moulded, throw in some feet and a base cover and include mounting brackets with the psu upgrade kit and a strut mounted filament holder (all of which I will upload to thingiverse at some point). 
And stick the tube in the hotend so you know it will work all the time for everyone. 

Do that and you'll have one really really nice delta. And as soon as I work out how to calibrate the thing, I'll prove it :-)

----------


## Davo

Why would someone spring-load a build surface?

----------


## curious aardvark

to be fair I actually like that aspect of it. 
Particularly with a new type of printer I have no idea how to calibrate. It does mean that any head crashes, shouldn't damage either the print nozzle or the bed. 
And it does make it easy to actually level the plate. 
I presume it was the easiest way to keep it a decent distance above the motherboard. 
It does take a fair bit of pressure to move it. so under normal printing conditions, it'll be plenty solid enough.

And I could screw it down a bit more to make it firmer if necessary. 

My main issue is how do I set the three x,y and z zero positions. I can use the head position to level the bed, but how do I tell the printer where the bed is in relation to where the three carrigaes are. 

I could really do with z-height and z-stepper motor.  Given that the three towers are designated x,y &
z, but that z is also used for the relative height of the head as well. 
Maybe they should have been labelled: w x y and just use z for relative height above the board. 
Anyway people have been doing it for a few years, so there'll be a procedure somewhere :-)




Hmm, that is NOT what happens on mine. maybe I just need to fettle the z probe thing  a bit. The one in the video is way, way, way more sensitive than mine. When mine pushes down the bed goes down about 5 mm before it registers the probe contact. 
You can see the heated bed setup though davo.

Gives a nice air gap above all the electrickery things that are generating heat.
And coming from a pc building background, I'm all about air flow :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Well it gets weird. 
2 days ago when i was trying to get my head around calibration. the G29 command moved the head down and it pushed down at 3 points round the bed. 
yesterday and today - it no longer does that. At the moment all g29 does is cause the printhead to move slowly to the centre of the print bed, touch with the probe and then return to the top of the printer. It does that 3 times and then stops. 

Pretty sure I'm going to hav to abandon this auto (thought not really) calibration process. 
But why has the g29 command changed ?

***

well if I send g28 and then g29 - it works again. 
ll three results are within 1/100th of  a mm. 

So is that it ? 
I have no idea.

----------


## curious aardvark

And then i thought: sod it. 
Levelled the bed with a sheet of paper. Set z=0 at the centre of the plate. 
And currently printing a small stamp for putting words into clay sling bullets - yes it's a thing lol
Pretty sure the text won't come out as it's thin for a 0,4 nozzle and I'm using a 0.5. 

Turned out better than i thought. Anyone know the gcode for Home all ?
M105 it looks like. 
Give that a go :-) 

Bearing in mind I don't have a print area cooling fan - it's looking pretty good. 
Sometimes a little common sense works better than wading through reams of calculations that make no sense :-) 

Next job, cooling fan for print area.

*** 
G28 ; 
if anyone is interested. Added that to my end script and works a treat. 
So printed a couple small things - now going for a full hour and a half print. 
Same print at full speed would be about 2.5 hours on the replicaotr clone. 

Curious to see how well this orints at speed.

***

lol she's going like the clappers ! 
75mm/s at 0.3mm layer height with a 0.5mm nozzle. 
With a cooling fan - should be able to do 0.4mm layer at same speed. 

Wonder how fast she can actually go. 
75 just looks like relaxed cruising speed. :-)

Oh yeah I also ordered some belt tensioners.

----------


## curious aardvark

Well hot damn and colour me Impressed !

90mm/s and she just looks casual. 
Started print again, not her fault I had 'don't cross model' switched off and a ridge was building up. 
Turned that on and the new print is as smooth as a babys backside.  A lot smoother than the one from the flashforge.
Dimensionally it's at least as accurate as the flashforge too.
Printbite is working  a treat. Got it on 50c - usually have it on 60.  Extruder 210, bowden system working a treat. 
I'm wondering just how fast she can go. 
I'm saving over an hour on this particular print versus the creator clone, and it's much better quality to boot !


https://www.facebook.com/alex.aardva...3651470403721/

I'm  a very happy Aardvark :-)

Good job I know how to level a build plate the 'old fashioned' way lol

Now I just need to work out just how much taller I can make her. 
Now I've got tensioners belt length isn't much of an issue and the timing belt is cheap enough. 
Very little vibration - so that's not going to be an issue. 
I'm tempted to try and take her up to about a metre print height. 
Got a bunch more testing first :-) 

See how she handles pet-g - as the flashforge is just blobbing all over the shop with it.

----------


## curious aardvark

Cheers for that. 
have to say that wendy at reprapmall.com has been extremely helpful. Both in answering questions quickly and accurately and in supplying me with the .stl file for the single extruder carriage. 
From what i can work out - reprapmall are the actual manufacturers of the kits. So she didn't mind that I bought it from someone else, lol
So one thing you do get with this kit is excellent support and customer service - can't fault that in any way. :-) 
Very helpful and very fast response times to any questions. 

Right I'm off to see just how fast Alexa can print pet-g and work out what the maximum speed for pla actually is !

----------


## curious aardvark

Pet-g currently running very nicely at 70mm/s, 240 extruder temp and 60c bed. 
I think this roll of pet-g was from e-sun before they found new uk distributors and practically trebled their prices. 
Not sure what they were thinking of there.

Given just how little vibration this machine produces and with no print area fan at the moment. There's almost no chance of a print detaching before it's finished.  
be interesting to see how this compares to the 90mm/s pla print.

So next test will be to see if she can print with polyflex. 
It's that bit stiffer than ninjaflex. have to slow right down, but might work at low speeds. We will see :-)

I just love how fast she can rip these moulds out though :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Added belt tensioners. 
2 to each belt.  Get them from china and they're crazy cheap. Feeling Impatient and get them from england, they're a whole 30 pence each. So I splashed out for the expensive ones. lol 
doubletension_292x480.jpg

Belts are at least as tight as the ones on the flashforge now.  It all helps ramp up the quality and precision. 

Next job, get some little cable ties and lock the springs in place on the carriage arms. They have a tendency to walk up the arms. Just looks untidy :-)

----------


## Davo

Very nice.

----------


## curious aardvark

Hit first bump last night. 
one of the stepper motors has stopped working in one direction. 
Hoping it's just a dodgy plug or wire. Going to dismantle and check today. 
Does explain a couple things. The first print was amazing, but they've been going downhill since then. 
This looks like why, obviously been gradually starting to fail since that first print. 
More later.

----------


## S550Stang

hey thats a clothespin spring.....

----------


## curious aardvark

It sort of is. But smaller and easier to fit. 
These are specifically designed fior the 6mm gt2 timing belts. 
But, yep basically the same design :-) 

So after checking cables, swapping cables and testing, I'm 100% certain I have a dead stepper motor, well terminally ill anyway. It tries to turn but there's just no oomph there. It will bring the carriage down, but not up. And I'm pretty sure it started to die immediately after my first print. 
Changing over connections on the board makes no difference (well it confuses the hell out of it as the wrong endstops are being hit) so it's not the stepper controller or the cable. 
Sigh.  Given that they are the most awkward part to fit, it bloody would be wouldn't it.
What do these things cost ? 

***

Well that was interesting.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/XCSOURCE-4-...=stepper+motor
1 stepper motor was £9.99 with amazon prime next day delivery (which i have) 
Promotion, buy 2 get 1 free.  So I bought 2.
Get to checkout and total cost is £5.99 -  makes no sense, but I am not arguing :-) 
So that's £5.99 for TWO stepper motors and I should get them tomorrow. 
stepperbuy.JPG



I am so looking forward to fitting it - NOT ! 
:-) 

It's also the motor on the x axis and all my prints have been mirror reversed on the x-axis. 
Wondering if the thing could somehow have been causing that as well.

Guess I will find out.

Hmm, wonder if I should get another couple - at that price it seems almost daft not to. 
I'll wait to see if they fit and work first I think.

----------


## ralphzoontjens

Those belt tensioners are brilliant, hacked straight out of the mainstream production line

----------


## curious aardvark

So if you think your stepper motor has died, there is a check list. 
Check the cables, check the motherboard. 
Oh and be very very sure that you check the grub screws on the hobbed bolt have not worked loose faint.gif

Because the last thing you want is to dismantle the printer and have that lightbulb moment when you've spent the best part of an hour removing the mounting bolts and the motor tilts and the hobbed bolt just slides off by itself. 
I didn't actually swear, but I did call myself a pillock, among other things :-) 

Have you ever tried to straighten an alan key with nothing but a small hammer and gator grip pliers _(go back to that hour thing above)_ ? 
It's pretty much the only way you can get at the motor bolts without a total frame dismantle. 
So hey at least i now have a specialist tool to remove the motors. 

the other thing to bear in mind is that stepper motors pretty much NEVER fail. So if you have a dodgy motor, make bloody sure before you start taking things apart :-) 

On the other hand I have three machines, with 14 motors between them - couple of really cheap spares can't hurt, so given what they cost - I'm not bothered about that. 
And the learning curve for this build extends that little bit more. 
Yes I have made sure the bolts on the other two motors are bloody tight. 
I guess the belt tensioners were the last straw . I think I didn't have it seated 100% on the flat part of the motor shaft, so it gradually slid down. It was obviously slipping when that carriage was low and the belt was under extra tension.  Which explains the results I was getting

So now I've made damn sure that's what the issue was (all three now working perfectly) I'm going to take the belt back off and try and get the other two holding bolts back in.

After all this the bloody thing better start printing like the original print again ! 
Still got that hammer handy ;-)

Spent the last few years telling people to double check the mechanicals and simple stuff before assuming it's something more complicated. Just goes to prove I know what I'm talking about - just need to listen every once in a while :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Right, finally got everything back together and we're printing again. 

Decided to do the same part at the same settings that I did the first print. 
Fingers crossed it comes out the same. 

If it does - I can go back a week and start again seeing just how fast she will print :-) 
Also see how she works with different slicers and if she will print with polyflex. That will be slow, but might work.  Also start costing up a vertical extension. 
Also need to try more than one thing at a time, get full plate calibration sorted, sort a print area cooling fan, etc etc :-) 

Oh yeah. As the little motor mounting bolts were such a bastard to fit. I ended up using a couple of longish cdrom mounting screws. Fit perfectly and sooo much easier to fit with a long thin crosshead screwdriver.

Right that's looking pretty good. 
I need food !

----------


## curious aardvark

Simplify3d has caused me a couple issues, that I've now either fixed or found a work around. 

So, things I've noticed:

Bowden setup doesn't seem to make any difference, works really well, I got zero stringing when printing multiple parts - s3d just won't do sequential printing, which is annoying, but as there's no stringing. Not a big issue. 
One thing that has surprised me is how well she prints without a print area cooling fan. 
I'm getting cleaner prints than the flashforge. I think the fact that there's more natural airflow and a consistent air gap round the part being printed is having almost as much of a cooling effect as the fan on the flashforge.

I'm printing twice as fast with cleaner results. 

Prints require a lot less stick to stay stuck. 
What i mean is that as the delta has almost no vibration and the head can't catch on anything, prints that would have worked free over time on the makerbot clones, just work.  So not only can she print a lot faster and make larger prints, but I've so far had zero adhesion issues and I'm using a lot less 'smush' on the first later. I think the polyflex feet might have also added a little vibration damping. 
Which means I can print more intricate items without worrying about the first layer fusing.  

I know the printbite is expensive. But it genuinely takes all the hassle out of 3d printing as far as prints staying stuck goes. 
Running it at 50c for pla and 60c for pet-g. As it requires a lot less stick than the flashforge, I can use lower temperatures without any issues. 
Also had no warp. And on the parts I'm printing I have had a little on the makerbot clones, when I didn't use smush and  a brim. On the delta I can print the same parts  without a brim and with almost no smush. 

Just love this machine :-) 

Decided I'm going to design and print a bolt on base plate to replace the cardboard and sellotape. 
That'll be a real test as it'll need to print thin edge down to get the full size in one print.  Also going to see about putting perforations in for some extra airflow. 

That'll be a fairly impressive print. pics when i've done it :-)

----------


## S550Stang

For whst its worth, and you may already know this company, check out misumi.com lots of mechanical components... good prices

----------


## curious aardvark

I will have a look. 
But these days I generally buy most things from amazon. Good choice and decent prices and I have amazon prime - so next day delivery as standard, even at weekends. 

Just having a go at the base plate. 
160mm wide at the base by 4mm deep, 224mm high and tapering to 50mm at the top. 
No raft or brim :-) 
There's no way I'd ever try and print something like this on the makerbot clones. certainly not without a serious brim. It would definitely try and warp. Plus only 150 mm build height. 
I have no clue if it will work. 
But I have faith in her :-)

The lack of vibration, or any of the general rattle and hum you get with the makerbot, makes all sorts of things possible I'd never dream of trying on the makerbot clones. 

Looking good. It'll bolt into the extrusion slot at the wide end and I'll make a bracket to hold it in at the narrow end.

Ah - I forgot the ventilation holes ! 
Bugger - have to start again :-)

Crude but effective - looks like mutant swiss cheese: 
baseplate.JPG

----------


## S550Stang

interested in seeing how this turns out. ever think of videoing the plate build?

----------


## curious aardvark

you must be psychic. 
I'm doing a timelapse on this print even as I type :-) 
Got about an hour to go - looking pretty scary. 
Very very thin and lots of under and overhangs in the holes.
I can't see any stringing, but then I'm not going that near. Don't want to disturb either the camera or the printer.
Got to admit I'm seriously impressed with the hotend, extruder and the bowden setup. 
The extruder is about as basic as it gets: three pieces of metal and a spring. 
One of the things about this printer I really like is that you can see everything working. 

I am still printing at 0.3mm, 210c and 90mm/s max print speed. S3d tends to apply lots of different criteria to print, so you rarely print anything at full speed. 
That said - it's 747 layers in 200 minutes. 
That's pretty good going by any standards :-) 

I did also apply a small amount of 'smoosh'. But I didn't wimp out and use a brim :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

At 90% and definite slight wobble - I genuinely can't watch lol
alexabaseplateprint_723x600.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Well i came back into the workshop for the last 1%. 
This is genuinely the most impressive thing I've yet to see an fdm printer do ! 

baseprint1_478x480.jpg

baseprint2_231x480.jpg

Fitted. Ended up with a bolt into the frame at the wide end and as that was pretty tight, I just used a plastic coated wire tie at the other end.  Gathered the cables in the center below the motherboard and loosely held them with another tie_ (obviously, i did that first)_. They're just as effective as cable ties, but can be easily undone and redone. 
fittedbaseplate1_418x480.jpg

fittedbaseplate2_627x480.jpg

And I believe that is the last piece of the puzzle :-) 
Looking at it I could have made the wide part wider and the narrow end wide enough so stick a frame bolt in as well. Maybe at some point in the distant future I'll print a wider one.  For now I'm more than happy with what I've got. 

Now as I bought the heated plate and that attaches with three long bolts. 
 Printbite comes with a self adhesive backing. Should i need the glass for some  reason, a couple of bulldog clips will easily do the job. 
So the seven short bolts and frame nuts that should have held the glass plate to the frame, weren't needed.
I used 2 on the filament holder, 2 on the psu mounts and 1 on the baseplate. I still have 2 spare :-)

And can we hear some applause for Printbite as well.  
Stayed stuck, despite the slight wobble when it got tall !  
So, yes if you are building a delta - Printbite IS worth the money. 
And at the end of the day is £30 a lot for something that will last as long as the printer and means you never have to use tape, glue, sprays, scrapers or any of that other crap most of you deal with every day :-)

Right off to have a play with the timelapse video.

----------


## curious aardvark

https://youtu.be/tUN_YI46MjU

----------


## curious aardvark

Yep. 
Printbite does give good stick. But it's mainly down to the lack of vibration on the delta. On some of the outlines between the holes you could see a tiny bit of wobble once it had some height. 

If I ever print another one, it'll be wider at both ends and I'll probably use a brim :-)
Impressive as it was, it was pretty nervewracking towards the end !

Got to see if I can mount the camera on the frame somewhere. Loved the way the filament spool was spinning round. 
Didn't help that it started early evening and went through to just after it got dark, so i lost the natural light.

----------


## Davo

Very nice.  :Smile:

----------


## curious aardvark

Hyrel definitely needs to make a delta. 
Fewer parts to go wrong, larger build volumes made cheaper.
Much more fun to watch and nobody has done one with lots of interchangeable heads yet. :-) 

Couple on kickstarter with a laser head and one that seems to have vanished that also claimed to have a built in 3d scanner. 
If I can find the software to convert a black and white image and produce the gcode to drive the laser, I'm pretty sure I can bolt the 1000mw laser from my tiny engraver onto the print head. Already got a power socket on the motherboard labelled: 'laser'. 

It's worth a think anyway :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

My thingiverse page with the mod files on.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628

----------


## S550Stang

That print was super impressive...

If I were you (and I'm not) and had that printer and idea (which I dont) and had the guts to print that and walk away (which I dont) here is what I would have done...

instead of being flat, I would have given it a wavy profile (like cardboard innards) instead of a straight profile. would be much more rigid also.

I love it!!!!  I am rethinking this printer now... wavering this or the prusa style from folgertec.......

----------


## curious aardvark

it'sa flat 4mm sheet that's just there to hold the cables off the ground. 
Strength isn't an issue. I could just have easily made the majority 2mm, and used a brim. 
I only used 4mm because that's the ideal thickness for the short bolts and strut nuts _(that phrase just sounds so rude: 'strut nuts')_  to be easy to fit and get a real good grip without the end of the bolt touching the back of the channel. And I didn't think anything thinner would print like that. 

I've got two cartesian style printers and until I got this machine I thought they were pretty impressive. This delta blows them out of the water, both for speed and quality and build size. 
It's also a lot less complicated with fewer parts. So in the long run ought to be more reliable. 
And if something does go wrong, it's much easier to see what and why. 

I've clearly detailed all the issues I had and mods the kit needs.  
Which amount to not much. 
Would I buy another delta ? 
In a heart beat ! lol
I'm also rethinking whether to make alexa larger: 3x 1 meter struts, 10metre roll of gt2 belt and some connectors to splice in longer cables. That would give me around a 2 foot build height. which with the 1.75m filament is realistically all you can expect the bowden setup to do, and I don't want to start buying 3mm filament alongside 1.75. 
My other thought is to buy another complete kit and the extra expansion parts and just build the larger machine from scratch. 

The other mod I did, which I'm not sure I've covered. I made a power cable with an inline switch - took about 5 minutes and £3 for the switch. Used an old computer power cable.  
One of the things this kit doesn't come with is an on/off switch.   

So I'd recommend you make your own. 

Now none of the extras and mods are difficult - but add it all together and I still think it puts this kit out of bounds for complete beginners. 
I will also detail how I level the heat bed at some point. The z probe is pretty much useless.
You need a small phillips screwdriver and digital calipers. 
I've been mostly doing it by eye and experience, but I will write up a standardised method at some point. It's much much easier then playing with the z probe and messing about with numbers and plate tilt modelling. 
If you simply make the plate level and zero z in the centre, you don't need to bother with all the complicated and clever stuff.

----------


## S550Stang

Excellent! I thought you were mounting something to it other than cables. Now you got me swaying toward the delta..  As for skill, it would be my first one but I am not worried. I've been doing mechanical design work for 20 years and I can hold my own when it comes to getting my hands dirty..
turned this
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/y...psd1c898d1.jpg
into this
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0xcdkc0l.jpg

 :Stick Out Tongue: 

I'll be following your progress with this machine and I hop you continue as I find it entertaining and very informative!

-Mark

----------


## curious aardvark

yes but just pm wendy and give her your email address, she'll send it to you. 
Actually I'll stick it on my thingiverse page. Print it fairly dense and make sure you get zero warp. 
There ya go. It's on my k200 page.
Oh yeah I also enlarged it by 1% and the bolt holes were pretty much bang on. Tight, but you could still turn the bolt to engage the hexagonal nut. 
He3d had actually drilled their holes after printing. So I figured a little extra room was probably needed :-)

Now I am currently super excited and there's nobody here I can tell who will understand why   !!!!

She WILL PRINT FLEXIBLES !!!!!!!!
Yes she will :-)))))))))))))

So I started easy with polyflex. 
20mm/s - ha !
I topped out at 60mm/s - no problem. 
That is to say I stopped testing at 60 - there was no obvious difference in print quality between the 20 and 60 print. 

On the makerbot clones 30-40 is as fast as I can print polyflex. 
Yep the bowden printer prints flexibles FASTER than the direct drive machines. Ain't life grand :-)

I'm currently printing with filaflex, is she bothered ? Not my Alexa ! 
Currently printing trolley tokens as they weigh about 1/3 of a gram but show precision quite well. 
So 20mm/s 235c - unheated bed. 0.3mm layer height.
Yep :-) No problem ! 
going to skip 30 and head straight for the heady heights of 40mm/s ! 
here we go....

Just to put this into perspective I have never been able to print filaflex or ninjaflex on my makerbot clones. But because there are no gaps anywhere in the feed system on Alexa where the filament can bend or get tangled. the only way it can go is out the extruder.  I have the top feed tube right down to the hobbed bolt and the teflon tube I actually sanded slightly so that it actually goes a tiny way into the feed tube. 
extrudersetup_452x480.jpg

Okay 40mm/s is looking a bit 'ruff'. 
So that's fine. I reckon she'll do 25-30 without any problems. 

That said the final token doesn't look awful. But I'll stick to 25 I think for the ninja and filaflex. But because this stuff sticks to just about anything like glue, you can up the first layer speed to 50% which saves a lot of time. 
(a little later) actually I'm doing my first proper filaflex print, 25mm/s and decided to do the first layer at 100%  Plus I usually print these things at 0.2 layer height and 3 layers. This one I'm doing at 0.3 and 2 layers. Cuts it from 2.5 hours down to 30 minutes. 

My delta prints filaflex :-) 

I need to get that on  at-shirt - talk about nerd-wear :-)

The white ones are the different speed polyflex and the 2 red ones are filaflex. The good one was 20mm/s the slightly dodgy one 40mm/s. 
alexaflexitokens_640x378.jpg

squashtoken_640x480.jpg

Don't forget I'm using the 0.5mm nozzle. But i can't see there being a problem with any of the smaller sizes. 

@s550stang - wow, that is some job on the bike ! And come on ! A delta that prints even the wobbliest flexible filaments - the prusa is slower has way more movement and vibration and doesn't look anywhere near as cool as a delta plus the prusa has  a lot more to go wrong with it. It's a no brainer ;-) 

@number40fan - any questions, let me know.

----------


## curious aardvark

says 110 - but unless you enclose it, there's nothing you're going to print that's likely to need anything above 60 - that's all I had it on for petg. 
But remember I'm using printbite. 
I'm well known to be anti-abs on 3d printers, so I'm not even going to bother testing it on alexa. Hate the smell and the reliance on acetone and the fact that in an unenclosed printer it's just weak and crap anyway. 

I've looked up the aluminium extrusion. 
Realistically 1metre struts are as tall as it would be sensible to go with a 1.75mm feed system. 
It currently has 680mm legs, so with the bit you lose for the heatbed the extra 320mm would take her to a total of 590mm printable height. 
I'm in no hurry. Currently got zero need for printing anything that tall. 
It's just interesting to work out how to do it :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

They are sensibly metric, as all precision measurements should be :-) 
it's 2020 aluminium extrusion: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aluminium-E...nium+extrusion

Or to be more accurate: 
*2020 Aluminium Extrusion Profile 20mm T Slot/ Slot 6*



So we move on from building to slicer settings. 
Here's why you need to make sure you have 'don't cross model' switched on. 
whyyouneednotcross_538x480.jpg
Now the weird thing is that I don't get any stringing when printing multiple objects, just when its crossing the model. 
The head movement is so fast and smooth that having it go the long way round is not an issue. 

I've just changed my simplify3d settings to these: 
avoid crossing.JPG
So that's today's lesson :-)

Part 2: well that didn't work. So I've just upped the 'avoid crossing outline' setting to it's 999 maximum. 
see if that works !

***

That's more like it. So todays lesson. Don't bugger, about just set it at 999 and forget about it  :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

why ? 
They actually walk their way up the arms anyway.

And I think if i re-tick 'force retraction between layers, it might also get rid of the stringing.

----------


## curious aardvark

they also do that at the bottom. if you slide them up to the top (just tried it) they will rub and catch on the belts - and that's probably a bad thing :-)

Given that my carriage is rock solid and she prints like a machine costing 5x more - I'll leave them at the bottom ;-)

----------


## wkarraker

Excellent documentary on your delta, congrats. I have a SeeMeCNC ROSTOCK V2 (previous version of this - https://www.seemecnc.com/collections...rinter-diy-kit), just love the delta configuration. It has a spring gizmo on the arms but it attaches to the same set of rods instead of the next arm over. Maybe I'm not seeing it correctly from your photo, I guess if it works for you then don't mess with perfection.

If you are having problems with the springs 'walking' maybe you can print a 'c' shaped clip and snap it over the ends of the springs to keep them from moving.

C-clip2.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

little cable ties are what I'm using to stop the springs walking. Cheap, and effective. 
I know it'e tempting, but sometimes non-3d printed solutions are easier :-)

I've got the springs at the v's where the pairs of arms meet and on the three pairs as well. 
It works. There was a small amount of play before I fitted them and none now.

My next job is to make a cooling fan bracket. Made a pet-g tool last night, the broom handle socket is pretty rough. But who prints pet-g at 75mm/s and no cooling fan ? lol 
It was also the first 0.2mm layer prints - no problem.
So I'm wondering if I can print 0.1 layer height at 150 mm/s  Now that could be interesting :-)

So as the fan fits on the heat block and that gets pretty warm, I've decided to simply get a thin sheet of metal, drill a few holes, bend it and attach a fan to that. Most of the deltas I've seen have a similiar arrangement with the cooling fan just held up and at an angle at the side. 
Seems pretty straightforward. 
Just need to look at the board and see if I need a three wire fan or a two wire job. 
Also check that standard computer screws will fit the holes in the heat block, as I've got no more of the bolts left.

Oh yeah i also made the simplest mod yet. a 20mm wide, 4mm thick, 100mm long bar that simply bolts onto a strut and you clip a webcam on the end. 
Gives me a pretty decent angle for build videos, no vibration so the camera doesn't wobble, and because it sticks out to the side, the carriage doesn't block much of the view. 
Still playing with best position, but works pretty well.  Using the free version of video velocity for time lapse videos. Probably acquire the pro version at some point for hd recording.  Very comprehensive and easy to use software.  Pretty much the only limitation on the free version is that the video is limited to 640x480.

Camera mounted on top of the printer:
camera-top-mount_640x313.jpg

Using it side mounted: 
camera-sidemount_355x480.jpg

And before anyone asks, I have no clue what make the webcam is. It was on my desk. Someone probably gave it to me as I don't remember buying it. 
Nothing special, but does the job.

I use wondershare dvd slideshow deluxe to make my final videos. Very easy to use while at the same time having pretty much every feature you could want. 

I've just ordered a 25mm 12v 2 wire fan. The trick is going to be keeping it close to extruder. With the extruder at the full 200mm diameter the carriage is pretty much touching the rive belts.  Going to have to think about this. Couple of available screw holes on top of the extruder carriage. Maybe a duct with small nozzle that comes down between the bolt holders on the carriage. 

Got a busy long weekend so can't see my getting this done before next week. 
Plus fan might not get here till monday. 

Thinking time :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Meanwhile, back at The Aardvark Burrow, I think I've worked out how to use the 1watt laser from my super tiny laser engraver, with simplify 3d to use the printer for laser engraving. 

Looks like it's a simple gcode command to switch the ramps board into laser printing mode.  A black and white image can be extruded. print the first layer, theoretically it should work. 
Just got to extend laser wires and make a bracket for it. 
Once it's in laser printer mode. It will burn on g1 moves and not on g0 moves. Which is presumably how the printer handles plastic extrusion anyway. So it _ought _ to be as simple as creating a seperate profile in s3d with laser on and laser off in the start and end scripts. The printer profile should do everything else.  
Sounds too easy - so we'll see, lol

Actually looks like if I mount it on the side of the heat box cooling fan with a cable tie (I'm all about hi-tech), I can leave it there. The only other place would be where the cooling duct is going to go.  Plus on the side of the heat box - which will be off when lasering - it'll get a little active cooling as well.
Might have to drop my top print speeds  a little, but can't see these two add ons being too heavy for her.

Hell I could probably print and engrave the wood filament in one operation.

We shall see. 
Stay tuned....

----------


## curious aardvark

Hit a snag. 
The laser has a simple red and black two wire connector.  
The laser socket on the board has three connectors. 

What's the third one for and if I stick the two wires onto a three pin connector, which pins do i stick which one on ?

Is there anywhere I can get an actual manual for the:  Bt 7200V 1.8.26  Ramps plus 2 board ?

I'm hitting a complete blank on internet searches. 
Ramps 1.4.2 exists but not 1.8 or plus 2 boards. 

I know it exists, I've got one and so far I'm pretty impressed by it. 
But a manual would be pretty useful, or even just the pin-outs for the laser connector :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Laser aside for the time being. My little 25mmx10mm fan arrived. 
Hooke dit up to the 12v fan socket on the board. Used the fan speed slider in simplify3d - yep, fan works and has variable speed and a fair bit of airflow - excellent !
What i want to do is fit it on top of the extruder carriage, with a slimline duct going down through the gap between the arm attach sockets. 

The issue is how to attach it to the extruder carriage. 
If I drill a couple of new holes I can bolt it from the bottom. Just comtemplating loading the carriage stl into openscad and doing some modifications and print a new carriage with different holes. Did contemplate adding the duct to the carriage, but that means you can't print it flat. And flat is crucial. 
Stay tuned :-)

Definitely going with redesigned carriage, and will try and make a clip on setup so the fan and duct just clip on for ease of removal, adjustment, improvement etc. 

Going to be a busy night :-)

***

you know how difficult it is to measure  amounted carriage ? very. 
So printing out a spare carriage to measure and try things out with. 

Probably my biggest issue with openscad is that there is no way to measure an imported object.
Seems like it would be a simple thing to add as the model contains that information, just needs to be a tab where you can access it.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol but I can't draw freehand, so any cad software that relies on you drawing stuff, leaves me cold. Plus I haven't found anything I can't make with openscad yet. 

Where do you envisage putting your fan ?  You duct has no input point. If you lay the fan flat, most of it will be blocked by the carriage. 

Currently thinking about a clip built into the top of the carriage, so the fan can just clip down, standing vertically and the duct can clip onto the front of the fan. I can also stick something in the gap to keep the duct fairly stable. 
I'm thinking more about a straight shaft with an angled exit, rather than a right angle. You need to blow down towards the bed and area being printed, not just across at the tip. You also don't want the duct on the same level as the nozzle as that could interfere with prints. So it has to stop above the nozzle and blow down and slightly across. 

It does help having the printer in front of you :-)

Oh yeah, even the pla carriage I knocked out last night at 0.3 layer height, 75mm/s with no cooling fan - is way better than the one it came with.

----------


## curious aardvark

just a normal fan. 
You need to move your fan enclosure onto the actual carriage otherwise the arms will clatter into it. 

You basically have the space between the hotend bolt heads and the edge of the gap to place both your fan and the shroud. The duct can go down between the arms, but even my 25mm fan is much too wide to sit that far forward. 
Which is why it's actually easier to redesign the carriage with the fan clip already in place than try and make something to attach.
I'm also thinking about the fan and duct just slipping over the top of the fan and clipping into place somewhere (there may well end up being tiny cable ties involved :-)

Currently being mulled over in my hind brain, which does all the hard work :-) Also need it to print without supports, 'cos I've never designed anything that needed supports yet and don't intend to start now :-)
I also want it to look cool, so some organic curves wouldn't go amiss.
We'll see.
One option was to make the duct and shroud out of polyflex, so i can bend the duct into place.

----------


## curious aardvark

what's an effector ? 
I'll take some pics later :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

lol not round here it isn't :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Like the design, BUT you cannot stick anything out further than the edge of the gap: 
carriage gap_620x600.jpg

The arms come across the gap when you print at extremes. 
Now they don't come across much, so you can put fairly low things there. But not the full fan shroud. 
armscross_800x600.jpg

But with it being a 25mm fan you might get away with it. 
If you make the hole cover plate 1mm thick It might fit. 

Drop me the stl and I'll try it out :-)

Oh yeah, just measured fan - they sent me a 30mm after all. Despite that option being greyed out when I bought it, why I ticked 25mm in the first place. 
Go figure.  Wonder how big the 30mm fans are lol

----------


## curious aardvark

nah - bear with me. 
It will fit, you just have to think laterally ;-) 
right just about to try first fan clip that's integral to the carriage.

carriageclip1.jpg
carriageclip2.jpg

The fan slides in from the back. The bolt heads will lock it in. 
Just about to print a test. 
The duct will fit with pegs that push into the screw holes on the fan. Definitely going with polyflex which will make the pegs really tight. 
The back of the heat block stays cool when printing, so don't worry about duct touching it. 

Once I've got the clip in the right place, and the fan's a good tight fit. I'll reinforce it and work out the duct.
Hopefully I can move it back a little from where it is at the moment. 

Just printing clip and a mm of carriage.

Going to try and make the whole thing bolt free. :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

It's an idea. 
Not sure how it would look though. 

And apparently I did buy a 30mm fan. Think the 25 was on amazon and I ended up getting it from ebay. 
Looking at it the 25mm would probably be better.

Second test print underway. Previous clip was 2mm too narrow.

If I reverse the wires on the fan - will it reverse direction ?
or melt ?
I could do with it being the other way round, lol always the way :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

yes but then it would blow the wrong way. 
The indentations in the fan that I'm using to lock it in place, only go 7mm deep. 
If it clips in without breaking the clip - all well and good. If not, I need to reverse the fan direction so i can turn it round and slide it into the clip :-) 

Mk3 clip coming up - this one should do the trick.

The bolts lock it in nicely, can't fall out.

What is interesting, the 'live' preview on simplify3d is always ahead of the actual printer.
As these test prints just take 15 mins, running over usb.

That's 100mm/s at 0.3 layer height, imagine what she'll do with a cooling duct !
Might be able to risk 0.4.

Anyway that's it for tonight. off to find food :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

bloody hell that was quick work ! 
As far as the g29 business goes - it just made no sense. And when I entered the 'figures' nothing changed. 

Plus with the heated bed I've got height adjuster bolts round the edge, so it wasn't a problem. I'm used to bed levelling by instinct :-) 

As far as the cooling fan goes - mine doesn't 'need' it. 
But it'll give sharper prints and better bridging. 

My 0.4 nozzle was fine. I just like the idea of the 0.5 more :-) 
Much speed and fastness of printing !!!
And the reason mine didn't extrude initially was because it needed a ptfe tube in the hotend.

That's a good idea using the limit stop instead of the pressure pad. I can think of a couple better ways to mount it :-)  Should only need one small bolt, which I've got. 
I'll wait to mess with that once I've done the cooling duct. 
Great idea to use it for levelling though !
I ignore the math and just adjust the height bolts till I get the same result from all three points on g29. Bed levelled.

----------


## curious aardvark

well you set the middle point as z=0
Long as the bed's flat - you shouldn't need to measure it. 

the fan bracket works quite well. currently working on a 2 part duct system. 
First part screws into the fan with bog standard pc screws, and comes just below the carriage, the second part will glue to that and be the final nozzle. Just makes it easier to print. 
currently test printing part 1.

I actually quite like the free filament. 
Nearly used all the blue :-)

**

The slicing algorithms in s3d really need to be looked at. 
rectangle. 10 mm wide, 50 long. Has to be roofed
Instead of the first layer of bridging going horizontally, which is an 8mm gap, it did it lengthwise a 50 mm gap - which obviously did not work. 

I really need to have another look at cura.

----------


## curious aardvark

that's what they're for. 
Figured it was a different type of socket. 
I'll have to get a set - cheers :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

> How do we keep this thing from splooging all over the center of the print when warming up the hot end?


I just pick the filament off. 
it goes down fairly slowly so you can pull the string off just before it hits the centre. 
I always use a 2 line outline as well. 

The bed takes a few minutes to heat up. But the print speed more than makes up for that :-)
For some prints it's saving me hours over the flashforge creator.

Plus with the new printbite, I find that I only need 50c for pla and 60c for petg. The flexibles don't need the bed heated at all. 

Ah ha - found a bridging setting that makes it a lot more sensible. Plus added a wall down the middle to help as well.

----------


## curious aardvark

just remember what you paid :-) 
And the meaning of the word 'budget' ;-)

Like i said for me it's not an issue.

----------


## curious aardvark

just one zip tie, around a cooling fin, keeps the wires out of the way, and doesn't have a heat issue. 

Ended up with similiar duct design to yours. But keeping the fan clip on top of the extruder carriage, that works a treat and once you've screwed the duct in place the whole thing is rigid while weighing about 4 grams. 
You just need 2-4 screws holding the duct to the fan. And as I count spare computer screws by the lb, those i have :-)

Also going to have a seperate nozzle. That way i can play about with different designs without having to reprint an entire duct.

Actually, with your design you don't need the majority of that mounting plate. 
If you just use the the two spare bolt holes, you can cut the mounting plate down by about 80% and still keep the same design. While not needeing to unbolt the extruder to change fans. 
Hmm, now I'm thinking about doing that that instead lol
But you do still probably need to move the actual fan and cover onto the extruder platform. 

Oh yeah, should you grab what looks like a mostly used roll of black pla off the shelf. Check it's not a sample of ninjatek's armadillo filament before printing a carriage with pla settings. 
It almost worked too, but needed about another 30c printing temp I think :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Yeah noticed with a test print that the springs will be an issue. Need to slide them all up a couple inches and lock them in place. 

Well finally got simplify3d to bridge horizontally. Don't really understand why. But apparently it won't willingly bridge a perimeter wall unless part of that wall is considered infill. 

So if you have a 1mm wall on a 55mm long by 7mm wide duct. You have to set it to 1 perimeter  for it to know it can bridge the 7mm gap. If you have 3 perimeters, it prints the 1mm wall exactly the same - but tries to bridge the gap lengthways. Which do not work. 
Logical ? Apparently to matheticians - which I am not. 

Now i just need to get it to retract better to reduce stringing. 
Although fan clips in nicely. And blocks the holes. 
So, I'm going to use the first two hot end bolts. Don't think it' necessary to use all 4.  
Once I've added that it's on to designing interchangeable nozzles. 
And seeing if the pound shop has got the teeny tiny cable ties in stock yet. 

I'm getting there lol

Okay this should be the final design. It's for a 30mm fan, uses the first 2 hot end bolts. Fan just fits over the columns and push fits good and tight. but can be removes fairly easily too. 
So this basically doesn't use ANY extra screws or bolts at all :-) 
fanductmk2-1.jpg
fanductmk2-2.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

my retraction settings are 1.8mm and 60mm/s. 
Retraction distance isn't as important as the speed and making sure the slicer actually does use retraction any time it crosses any open space. Also found that making it retract between layers also helps. 

It's making sure s3d retracts every time it crosses open space that's the only issue. Should have that cracked with current print. Set minimum distance before retraction to 1mm. (yep I can hear the difference, way more 'zzzppp' retract noises).
If I print more than one object at a time there is absolutely no stringing between models. 
High travel speed seems to help as well. 
Although that's curently only set to 100mm/s. 

Don't think that gap is an issue. Given how well she prints, I'm not going to mess with the arms :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

lost me - you saying there is a setting somewhere that you tell how wide the carriage is ? 

Anyway, latest prototype. Needs a few adjustments and I'll probably print the final piece on the flashforge. 
But on the whole, good solid fit, duct plus eventual nozzle will be 7-8gms. 
Once i move the springs, it'll be clear of any potential collisions.

testduct-inplace1_444x480.jpg

testduct-inplace2_356x480.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

what did you enlarge ? 
I did meaure the widths. 
So how did you adjust it ?

----------


## curious aardvark

if you run it over the top the tube will be too long and will kink when printing tall things.  And that's why I lifted the hotend cabling up and out of the way with a cable tie :-) 
I also chopped my tube down by about 5 inches. 
Given that it will happily print filaflex at 20mm/s _(limp rubber spaghetti)_ - the length and positioning is pretty much perfect. 

You also need to put the wrapped hot end cabling in the groove on the base pointing away from the y-strut _(probably, I no longer have a clue which one is which)_ 
My feed tube doesn't catch on anything, the cabling shouldn't either - why are you calling the carriage the effector ? 
It's weird and makes no sense :-) 

But cheers for the file.
I'll print one up and see how it goes :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

lol, don't look now, but you are being followed ! 
:-)
Hmm, so presumably I can enlarge the fanduct, duct a bit more. Cool.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol 
Actually it really doesn't take much air blowing on the print area to make a huge difference. 
The 40mm fans I have on the makerbot clones don't feel like there's much air going down there, actually feels like more comes out the back of the fanduct - but the difference they made in my prints was quite astonishing. 
Great design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:537918

One reason I'm going for swappable heads - different designs for different types of print.  Put your hand under these ducts when they are running and you can barely feel anything. 
Bear in mind the parts that will benefit most are the ones the slicer slows the speed down most for, so even a little diract air makes a big difference. 

It's too bloody hot here to cut the grass today, so I'm off to the workshop to change carriages over and redesign duct (again) forget that as the EFFECTOR (who and what is it effecting ?) is now bigger, the bolt holes are further away from the edge - doh ! 
Also need to do the fan wiring. 

Now here's a question for you - the hotend cooling fan is permamently on - is there a way to switch it off when you're not printing or like the makerbots, only swutch it on when the hotend hits 60c ?
It buzzes and is annoying whenyou're not printing.
I figure there should be an option somewhere in the firmware - just can't find it.

----------


## curious aardvark

well my flashforge has a smaller overall print area and a 2mm thick aluminium heat bed. 
The k200 has a 3mm thick aluminium heatbed. 
So if you figure just over 1.5 mass, I reckon heat up time is proportionally about the same. Even though the flashforge is 24v throughout.

----------


## curious aardvark

but bear in mind smaller surface area - the k200 hotbed is actually 22cm diameter and 3mm thick. Fair chunk of metal to heat up. 

Right got your effector in place. Springs now about halfway up arm pairs and locked in place with glued cable ties.

Removed the springs between the pairs, carriage seems to be rock solid, so we'll see. 

Fan duct still needs work - think I'm measuring weird for some reason :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

yeah that's why I just upload photos directly to forums. 

You can always just sand the extra 0.4mm off the fan.

----------


## curious aardvark

as far as heating p goes. The flashforge bed heats up quicker but the delta hotend is much faster to heat than the flashforge's. 

Currently printing another duct, with angled end and designed for clip in nozzles. 

Now to design some parametric nozzles. :-)
Far as nozzles go - happy with the 0.5. 
Haven't noticed any major quality differences, and I'm sure it helps with the flexible filaments.
And at the end of the day the delta is mainly for printing bigger stuff faster. 

So how have you got your fan setup now then ?

----------


## curious aardvark

bloody hell - guess that explains why you set your print volume at 141 rather than 200.  That's a massive fan setup !
I'll stick to a lighterweight and possibly less effective solution. Though it was blowing a fair bit of air through yesterday. :-)

And 250 height ? 
Even with the hotbed, I've got a clean 265. Gives me 5mm for the nozzle to lift off once finished. 

Have you tried printing any text yet ? 
interested to see if it comes out the right way round :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

no idea where that build volume info came from.
You tell it you have a delta, tell it the diameter - job done. 

140 is the biggest square you can print, but so what ? 

Haven't tried text for a while.  But it has been giving me issues.

----------


## curious aardvark

Currently printing different sized nozzles :-) 
would post pics but camera battery dead. 
I'll get this one started and go change battery :-)

Printing at 0.1 layer height. Something I don't usually do - working fine :-)
Don't half take a long time though. When this one's done I'll try one at 0.2mm with and without the fan on. 

Got a fairly slim 12v 40mm fan might be worth trying. Has three wires though. 
If I left the white one out - do you think it would still work ? Far as I know that one just measures rpm speed. 
But probably wrong on that :-)

Oh yeah, one of the local discount stores had  a set of the ball ended allen keys for £1.88. Go from 1.5mm up to 10mm (that's a chunky hunk of metal and no mistake). 
Fairly short handles. So was thinking maybe get another set chop most of the handle off and fit them into long thin handles. Figured leave a couple mm of angled end, slot on handle and once fitted fill the gap in with my 3dprinting pen - handheld plastic extruder. 

Good job for the delta :-) 
Love that you can print tall things standing up on really tiny ends.

----------


## curious aardvark

Here's a job for you. See if you can slice this with simplify3d. 
Just crashes on me everytime. 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1385312

It's the ideal model for the delta. 
Reckon I could knock one out in about 8 hours. 
Plus i have lots of the right sized ball bearings :-) 
Only thing I've ever come across that crashes s3d though.

----------


## curious aardvark

what layer height did you slice it at ?
Interchangeable nozles work great :-) 

Used an 8mm to print a 12mm, using the 12mm to print a 16mm lol

Prints for these small parts are as good as I'd get from the flashforge. Might not be a hurricane - but it's definitely doing the job !
And I love the way i can turn it on and off and adjust power. Just got manual switches on the rep clones. 

Added gcode to endscript to switch fan off when print finished. Weirdly s3d lets you control fan for individual layers from the cooling tab. But leaves the fan on once print is finished.

----------


## curious aardvark

haven't tried that yet. get this next nozzle printed and I'll have a play,

----------


## DaveB

> Here's a job for you. See if you can slice this with simplify3d. 
> Just crashes on me everytime. 
> https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1385312
> Only thing I've ever come across that crashes s3d though.


Loaded & sliced no problems.  Maybe you've got some bad memory or a broken copy of S3D?

----------


## curious aardvark

lol I have an actual official version of s3d. Reinstalled fairly recently
This is the only model that's crashed, also the most complex I've ever tried to slice, thinking maybe I need more memory in the computer. 
Should be some on the shelf. 

Yeah spends a long time 'initializing preview data' and then drops out. So probably memory related. I'll drop some more in and see if that makes  a difference.
The fact that 'initialising' is incorrectly spelt with a 'z' could also be the problem ;-)

Doubled ram to 4gb - doesn't make any difference. 

I will try and slice it with cura.

That works, must  be my s3d install.

----------


## curious aardvark

Final fan duct setup: 
complete duct_356x480.jpg

Duct without nozzle: 
duct-nonozzle_370x480.jpg

Top down view of carriage and duct.
topdownduct_557x480.jpg

16x9x10 nozzle.
16x9x10-nozzle_247x480.jpg

As long as you use a 10mm or less height and length, the nozzle stays clear of the printbed. 
You could have more height and less length. But 10x10 is pretty optimal. 
can'tcatchmodel_640x332.jpg

I'll upload files to thingiverse after lunch. 
Including just the clip so people can add their own nozzles. 
Might seperate the nozzle modules and see if I can make it a thingiverse parametric script.

This duct is designed to fit number40's larger carriage. Not going to post the file for the smaller carriage - as people should be using the larger one anyway :-) 

No extra screws, bolts needed. Fan push fits and is a good tight fit. Mounts using existing carriage bolts and nozzles just clip in and out, again a good tight fit, but easy to change. 
I added a wire extension, wrapped round the main cable conduit and plugged into the fan socket on the motherboard. 
So I've got complete control of the fan - which is pretty neat :-) 

All in all, pretty please with it.

Without the fan overall weight is about 7gms.  It's all 1mm walls except the bolt plat which is 2mm for better strength and a really solid fit.

----------


## curious aardvark

> You think you can get that printed in 8 hours?


yeah, cura says 10 - I reckon if it would slice it, I could fettle s3d to get it down to about 8. 

Just a bunch of stuff cura won't do or I just can't find. 
I remember it being  a lot more user friendly  a couple of years ago.

I can probably print at 150mm/s on a 0.2mm layer height.

----------


## curious aardvark

0.2mm and 150mms :-) 
Definitely not switching off retraction. 
moot point - for some reason it won't slice on this machine. 
I'll wait for the next s3d update and see if that fixes it. 
No big deal :-)

What autocorrect spelling ? 
The red underlines ? 
As many american words are incorrectly spelt anyway - I tend to ignore them :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

pictures should be showing up now

----------


## curious aardvark

weird they show up for me. 
Anyway added to thingiverse now: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628
I'll go upload them again on here.

----------


## curious aardvark

Absolutely does not need to blow out  a candle.
Cooling on a 3d printer doesn't need to be particularly powerful. Just needs to be able to cool the filament a few degrees faster than it would normally. 
So no, won't blow out candles, won't blow down houses of straw or sticks. 
But it will cool down filament enough to significantly improve quality of prints. Which is actually, what it's for :-)

Plus the filament on a delta cools down faster than on most other machines - the stuff I've been able to print without a fan has proved that.
The extra cooling this adds does the job :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

ah - don't think I've got any 4gb dimms in stock. never usually need more than 2gb on my workshop machines. 
Given that nothing else I've sliced has ever given me issues, it's more like to be a windows/memory issue - I only build machines with ssds, so virtual memory should be pretty quick. 
That said - cura sliced it without any issues. 

Tell you what though. Currently printing my first proper thing with the fan. A radiator pressure valvey thing for a plumber mate of mine. Doing in pet-g - the ones i did without the fan were pretty rough. The one it's printing at the moment looks bloody amazing ! 
Mind you i took amaprof's advice as well and knocked 10c off the printing temp. 

I'll do one without an as well just to compare. 
But it's looking really really clean and sharp. 
I'll take a pic
radiatorwidgetbeing printed_454x480.jpg

printing at 0.2mm layer. I mean come on how smooth is that ? 
The layer alignment on that column is bloody amazing. 
The larger carriage is probably helping as well.  
Cheers mate :-) 

This machine rocks !

***

The surface finish on this thing is bloody phenomenal ! 
I reckon Alexa is finally 100% finished :-) 
It's sun-lu pet-g at 230c.  Which is the lowest end it says to use on the label.
Accordig to amaprofessional, it actually bonds better at lower temps. 
We'll see. This thing is screwed directly into a radiator valve, so is subjected to some serious sideways twist and torque. 
The 245c ones were fine. Interesting to see how this one at 230 compares.  Plus I've extended the bit that screws in.

Right started the one without fan. 
(sticks finger on fan) yep definitely off.
Be interesting this.

----------


## curious aardvark

So does the fan make a difference ? 

Oh hell yeah ! 
Guess which print is which. Only difference is one was printed with fan on and one with it off. All other settings were unchanged. 
fantest3_448x480.jpg

fantest1_441x480.jpg

fantest2_640x131.jpg

The surface feel is even rougher on the non-fan one than it looks. 
fantest4.jpg

The one with fan isn't quite as smooth as injection moulded - but damn it's close :-)
With some light sanding - you'd be pushed to tell the difference. 

Think that proves my point on cooling fans quite nicely ;-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Printed one at 0.3mm and 100mm/s - looks almost as good :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

that looks like a quarter of something. 
What is it ?
10 hours ? 

What settings are you using ?

----------


## curious aardvark

lol I'm currently doing the first quarter of a viking helmet. 
I sneer at your palfry 67mm/s and reply with a 150mm/s , 0.3 3/3/3 and 15% infill :-) 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2135965

Full size is 235mm diameter. Damn so have to print it in quarters. 
2 hours 37 minutes per quarter. 
Never seen a 3d printer run so fast. 
Got a reel of horrible chcolatey brown. Figure if the helmet works i can spray paint it silver anyway :-)

And the reason i'm Printing a viking helmet is that I look like a viking :-) 
Great big ginger beard and all. People keep telling me I need  a viking helmet. 
So why not :-)


Oh yeah you're right about the weird 140x140 x and y settings.

If you've had a failed print on this thing - you need to get some printbite :-) 

150mm/s - I'm grinning like a loon. It's like watching a time lapse video of a normal 3d printer in real time.

----------


## curious aardvark

I'm pretty much just using s3d default retraction. 1.8mm - 60mm/s
Not getting stringing - so it works.

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## curious aardvark

lol mine is already on steroids :-)

Even doing a 1/4 at a time my viking helmet would  not fit in the flashforge. 

Right off to get some food. 

Much as I enjoy watching alexa at work - I need food :-)

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## curious aardvark

I use teamviewer for all my remote control and support. 
Even runs on phones and tablets :-) 
www.teamviewer.com

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## curious aardvark

Currently starting part 2 of 4. 
First quarter looks pretty great. 

One thing to remember when printing fast - remember to slow the first layer down proportionally !
Had few false starts with number 2. Dropped first layer from 10% to 5 (so 7.5mm/s) and it's looking perfect this time :-) 
And as we all know: getting the first layer right is 90% of getting the whole print right. 

vikingpt1_640x480.jpg

How cool is that :-) 
Going to print a couple small ones to try out colour schemes on. 
I can knock a 1/4 size one out in 40 minutes.

Still trying to decide on a colour scheme.  I've got some white filler that i can use to give the horns the right  colour and texture of actual horn/bone. Was thinking about spraying the bands  and 'bolts' silver and leaving the rest the brown of the filament.  Would look more like a reinforced leather helmet that way.

Tested for size and should be plenty big enough for some interior padding - got masses of leather in my workshop,
Given the huge overhang, almost 90 degrees at the top - the fan is doing a good job even at speed. 
Because I'm using the 16mm wide nozzle, it basically covers the whole print area. 
Might make one with two 'horns'. 
With the clip setup messing around with nozzle designs is a doddle :-)

Sizewise, hadn't thought about making the heat bed larger. I can get aluminium discs for free gratis and nothing - cut to any size I like :-) 

And using the existing vertical struts for side pieces is a great idea. 

Main issue with that would be getting the carriage arms the right length. 

I think, if i bother, I'll get another k200 kit to play with. 
Now I've got alexa dialled in - particularly with the flexibles - I'm reluctant to stick a longer bowden tube on that might bugger that up.

Need to make some money first anyway :-)

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## curious aardvark

pc psu's - got a few - even a mini-itx one from an itx case that's now on my sisters desk in canada :-) 
Cost me £50 to get her a 120volt one - same psu would have been £15 over here. 
Watching alexa print this overhang is pretty amazing. 

Oh yeah when I'm wearing the helmet this is pretty much exactly what I'll look like - though I'm more a quarterstaff and axe man than swords.

Don't have the costume but I do have the big ginger beard :-)>

Might have to paint my pla viking axe as well lol _(it's what i use to knock prints off the printbite when i can't be arsed to let it cool down)_

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## curious aardvark

wow 6mm aluminium bed ! 
why ? That's massive overkill, plus would take all damn day to heat up. 
3mm should be fine, 4 at a push, what am i missing ?

Plus if I'm using a pc psu for the bed, why not use it for the board as well. 
Easy enough to use a 500watt. 

Also why 1.8m vertical struts ? Current struts are 680mm. so to extend print height to 600mm I would only need 980mm verticals - you'd use 1metre lengths, just to save messing about chopping little bits off. If you go any taller you'll need to switch to 3mm filament and life's too short to have to buy two different filament thicknesses.

You're talking about a 1.5 metre build height. That wouldn't even fit in my workshop, unless I left it on the floor lol

The struts I'd have to buy, but any plate would be free. 
These guys are clients of mine - and I like to keep the  favour ratio in my favour :-) 
http://www.jskaluminium.co.uk/engineering.html

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## curious aardvark

Thinking about it, pretty much the only thing you can't buy off the shelf or easily make are the corner pieces. I love the multi use design of those. 

But I guess it would be simple enough to design something much easier to print. 

Wonder what it would cost to do it completely from scratch.

The arms are only aluminium rods in sockets. So might be able to get them free as well.

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## curious aardvark

lol yeah but can you get it off again ? 

That's the real beauty of printbite, not only does stuff stick to it - but it comes off without any hassle as well.
And as I've had prints richochet around the room in the past - getting it to stick is not as important as being able to get it off afterwards.

Getting struts cut to size - not a problem I've got a bandsaw, but in reality I'd just pop round to jsk and get them to do it :-)

At the moment if I'm going to build from scratch I'll probably have a go at the inverted delta first. 
That looks like fun :-)

Helmets looking good. Although at thye moment looks like a standard bmx helmet.  Guess the last 3 bits make the difference.
And the painting. 

Spotted need for another mod. 
The carriage wire bundle really needs to be held either up or out a lot more on larger prints. 
The second set of helmet quarters are the other way round, and i can see the cable catching it at later points in the print. 

The cable really needs to go almost straight up with a flexible rod to hold it away from any prints.
At the same time you've only got a few cm if it's at the edge of the plate and near a strut or belt. 
Hmm, I'll have a think :-)

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## curious aardvark

printedvikinghelmet_507x480.jpg

That's the easy bit done :-) 
had the annual visit with my accountant yesterday. she has way more good ideas than I do. 
So she reckons find someone who already does craft shows and fairs and let them sell widgert and things for you. 
So that's one thing I'm going to try. 

You're missing the point of printbite. You don't have to bugger about bending the plate. once it's cooled down - the print is no longer stuck, at all. Tpu sticks to pretty much anything and just peels off - so that's probably the worst test you could possibly do. 
If they can show me printed polycarbonate sticking to something and then easily releasing - that I'd be impressed with.

So plans for the helmet. 
File the joins as flat as possible, glue. Then run round the seams with the printing pen and sand flat. Should give a reasonably seamless finish. Currently about to print a couple mini helmets to play with.

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## curious aardvark

here's the 2 small ones:
minihelmets1_640x452.jpg

minihelmet2_528x480.jpg

Given that they were knocked out at 150mm/s and 0.3. Not bad. The inside at the top is pretty good. 

The quarters at the apex were actually building out on the horizontal. Bloody impressive. 

Need to get some silver/metallic paint now :-)

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## curious aardvark

where'd you get the bearings ? 

And have you got pictures :-)

So I'm thinking what is the actual physical speed limit of the printer ? 

If she can do 150mm/s at 0.3mm - she should be able to do 200mm/s at 0.2mm layer height. Same volume of plastic right. 
Or will that make her explode ! 

How fast can the stepper motors turn ?

I think it's something to do with inverting the y axis. 
It used to be fine, just printed what showed in the preview. then when I installed version3 it started showing text reversed in the preview but printing it fine. 
But with the delta it doesn't seem to matter what shows in the preview it always prints it reversed. Which is bloody weird.

Sod it going to give it  a go :-) Also test if text is right way round yet.
right here goes super speed !

***

well that works, still got text issues. doing it again with no inverted y. test looks mirrored on preview, so might print right way round. 

The fine detail isn't brilliant - but i reckon it would be good enough for that marble run - if I can ever slice it lol

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## curious aardvark

how'd you get 3 colours ?

Looks neat. 

I'll try the visualisation thing :-)

200mm/s is pushing it a bit - kinda loses the edges a bit. 
I'll stick to 150 I think.  :-)

***

yep that works - looks like crap, but doesn't crash. 

layer height 0.25 and 20% infill gets it down to exactly 8 hours. 270gms 
Hmm, dunno if I've actually  aroll with that left. I will see. 

weird.
Cheers - good call :-)

***

found a full roll of blue ingeo pla. The good stuff ! 
This could end  up being the biggest plate of spaghetti I've made to date, lol

Holy crap it's 1.68 MILLION lines of g-code !
45mb text file. average novel is around 0.3mb

Wow.

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## curious aardvark

Hmm, I think alexa is having problems counting up to 1.68 million. 
Just locked up. 

we'll have another go. 
Ah that's better, think it was s3d disconnecting that locked her up. 
here we go :-)

I was playing with printed bearings a short while back. Got it down to about 1.5 cm. Didn't work. 

I reckon you could go down to about an inch and get it to work. 
Nozzle thickness not as much of an issue as getting the gap between gears right.

Worth a play when I've done the marble run :-)

Easily the single largest print I've ever done, as well as the most complex. 
1.68 MILLION instructions - I'm not getting over that in  a hurry lol

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## curious aardvark

nope, what actually happened was that she stopped about an inch or so into the job. 
No jams, not a power cut, just stopped. All settings were fine when i went in yesterday morning, still heated, just waiting for the next instruction.

I have been using the dirt cheap sd card that came with the printer. So presuming somewhere in the 1.68million lines of gcode, it got corrupted. 
Got a few brand new 4gb sd-cards lying around, I'll try again tonight with a new card.

And the marble run will definitely print at 0.3 layer height. The bit that was done was at 0.25. No issues at all bar some stringing. So a furtle with the retraction settings, drop speed down to 120 and up layer thickness to 0.3.
It'll probably need some blowtorching - to kill the cobwebs :-) 

Might have a go at painting a helmet to day. 
Though if my cases arrive, I have got a couple of base units to build for actual paying customers.

Time lapse wise - remembered I got a better webcam with the ciclops 'scanner' (yeah right) so I'll dig that out of the box and find somewhere permament to attach it.  Also need to source the professional version of the software.

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## curious aardvark

yeah I was thinking that. Plus proved that you don't need to print it on silly resolution settings. 
unfinished marblerun_557x480.jpg

Just unticked: 'only retract on travel'. Should get rid of a lot of the thicker stringing.

Under tools, options, machines. the y axis box is ticked for flip table axis.
There are four combinations of this as you can have it on and off both from the tool/options/machine AND from the gcode page in the printer profile. 

I have tried all four combinations - and none of them worked. 
When i first got simplify 3d what i saw on the preview screen was what printed. Then when I upgraded to version 3, the text on the screen showed mirror reversed but the text printed normally. So that wasn't an issue. 

But with the delta, it doesn't matter whether the preview shows normal or reversed text it just prints reversed. 
I've got a vague feeling that playing with the 'x' axis inversion is what sorted the printed text. 

No cases yet so I'll have another play with the settings.

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## curious aardvark

well sometimes the gods smile on you. 
Cases just arrived and after unticking both y axis - text both displays and prints normally. 

But when you go into tool-options it says I'm using a non-right handed coordinate system. 
weirdos. 
I'm more than happy with widdershins if it works :-)

yeah, that is ticked - otherwise it gets confused between which orinter you're using. Or something like that. That's always been ticked, as far as i can remember.

So basically what obviously happened was when it updated to version 3 - it automatically ticked the invert y axis box. Seems a bit bizarre to me. 

But working now anyway :-)

Right off to build a system.

----------


## curious aardvark

Surely you need 6 tubes. 
how much more expensive are carbon rods over aluminium. I've got no issues with the aluminium rods. 
And how about magnetic sockets and bearings ?

----------


## curious aardvark

not yet. Keep forgetting to bring a new sd card into the workshop. 

The mirrored weirdness continues. Printed a couple of those plastic strut nuts. Thought this is odd they are the wrong way round.
Had look at thingiverse page, had look at s3d preview. s3d has reversed the y axis.
I mirror the mesh they look right. 
They printed brilliantly and i've got  a bag of m3 nuts.:-) 
Tell you what that filament that came with the printer is really really good stuff. 
Might buy a bulk batch from reprapmall. 
Think if you buy 8 rolls it's free postage. Plus they've got the good metallic stuff as well. The aluminium one is just like metal. 
Nah no free postage :-(

So I can have mirrored prints with text, or non-mirrored prints but with mirrored text. 
is that in any way logical ?

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## curious aardvark

Ah the strutnuts print fine , but are too thick too fit in the struts and turn to lock.

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## curious aardvark

It's something to do with version 3. before that I had no problems. And it's not just on the delta either. 
The flashforge shows reversed text but prints fine. 

Yeah the nuts need to be about 1mm thinner to actually turn in the channel. 
Other than that, they look great and are certainly strong enough to hold most things. Printed at 0.2.  3 minutes per - saves 20p per knut :-)
Damn fine idea.

I loaded up the basket at reprapmall with about $100 worth of filament, but wanted another $74 for postage. Which begs the question how the hell do they offer free postage on the printers ?

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## curious aardvark

that's clever. so normal flat rare earth magnets on the base of the carriege and normal non-magnetic ball bearings on the top. 
Very neat ! 
I think the ones I've seen have been spherical magnets - which obviousuly would cost more. 

I like that balloon - so how do you do the change filament thing - via the printers control panel or through simplify3d ? 
Something i've never done.

Saw those cable clips. Looked quite good. 

I wonder if part of the size issue is that those things are designed for abs. I only ever design for pla, and dimensions are either pretty close or slightly smaller than I designed. As these are generally too large - could simply be that they've already factored in the abs shrinkage.

----------


## curious aardvark

for the magnets, why not set them in the actual hole itself so the ball contacts it directly. Just cut a slot so the magnet pushes in from the side. 
It'll give the same amount of movement but with a much stronger attachment.

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## curious aardvark

Think I'll have a play with the laser tonight. See if i can't set fire to the workshop or blow something up :-)

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## curious aardvark

Nah going to check voltage on the laser socket and use that. 
The gcode specific to repetier switches it on and off. So I want to try both. 

measured the strutnuts and they're designed too large. 
I'm slightly smaller (few huindreths of a mm) in all directions - which is what I've always found. So it's the design that's wrong.

Got an idea to try for a sort of 'supercharger' nozzle as well

----------


## curious aardvark

what do you model with ?
software I mean :-) 

And worth a look at how tevo do that suspended extruder trick on the little monster. You can get some pretty lightweight stepper motors that would be fine for the job.

It's suspended by gt2 timing belt that attaches to the carriages, so just moves with the hotend - would be a simple adaption. Trying to find the assembly manual in pdf.
But can't see any problems in duplicating it. Genius idea ! 
suspended-extruder.jpg

topdownsusex.jpg

build height is only limited by the amount of wire you have and the length of the struts :-)
Really bloody clever.
Looks like they're just using standard nema 17's for everything.
Pics from here: https://www.tevousa.com/products/tev...3d-printer-kit

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## curious aardvark

well they claim 150mm/s print speed for the little devil. And none of the reviews I saw and read mentioned it as a problem. 
It's not actually attached to the 'effector' and the carriages are held steady by the belts and motors. So even if the extruder wobbles, it can't effect the print. 
It's damn clever I tell ya !

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## curious aardvark

the magentic setup is brilliant ! 
Plus it also has the added bonus of keeping the drive belts locked in. 
About the only thing that concerns me is if a belt works it's way out of the grooves, and you've sorted that. Mind you mine are that tight, it's unlikely. 

here's a dinky little motor that would do the job for suspended extruder :-) 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcingmap...+stepper+motor
And if you print the parts for the extruder instead of the solid metal ones, they'd still work fine but be a lot lighter. 
It's a great little extruder, don't think you'll get one much simpler. 

I'll have to set the endstop z-probe up at some point - still levelling by instinct, using the Force - as it were :-) 

It works, but it'd be nice to do it mechanically lol

Probably work up a clip on/off holder for the switch. Nozzle won't be heated, so no reason can't use the throat to clip onto. 

Love the magnetic arms - has it made any difference - either better or worse to print quality  ? 

So thinking back - about the only things we've not covered are the corner joining parts and the actual wheeled carriages themselves. Other than that I think we can now build a delta printer of humoungous size, from scratch with almost no size restrictions. 
Hot diggity :-) 
I just need a spare month or three to get it done :-)

So let's assume we build a delta with a 1 metre print height and say 350mm heated build plate - could go bigger but then you've got all day to wait for it to warm up. 
We'll resize and print the strutnuts. The ones I've done are pretty tough and i can use pet-g if necessary. 
I'll do some field trials when i get the time. 

So printed parts, looking at: 
9 corner pieces, 
effector
3 vertical roller carriages
3 magnetic arm addons
filament holders, extruder parts, fan duct, various little stuff

Non printed

2020 strut for verticals and diagonals
heat pad for aluminium bed (aluminium, just because I can get that free)
springs and bolts for bed - I like the suspended setup. 
15-20 metre roll of belt
3 nema 17s + metal gear cog thingies
1 nema 14
4x endstops - might as well keep the z-probe as one, cheaper and works.
Motherboard: I'd like to use the same board as the he3d 200, just like the design - but is there cheaper and better ? I have no clue on this.
500 watt pc psu - cheap as chips and easy to hotwire - plus has on off switch. 
And mount all the crap on the top rather than at the bottom. makes more sense, gives better access and you can always put a dalek head over it if you wanted to :-) 
hotend - be nice to have one that runs up to 300c but a bog standard 260 e3d would be fine too.  
Top plate - I can probably get an aluminium one cut to size and shape while they do my plate. Either that or 5mm plywood painted black. That would make mounting stuff as simply as using self tapping woodscrews of which I have an abundance :-) 

What did I forget ?

----------


## curious aardvark

got sidetracked by work. 
Looks like the motherboard connector kicks out 7 volts. 
My mini-engraver machine is 5 volts as it's powered by usb ports.

So figured I'd look around and see if there were any cheap 500 or 1000mw 3 pin lasers on the chinese vendor sites. 
plus why i have the gcode to switch the printer to non-printer mode. Can't figure the code to turn it back to printer mode. 
Not a big issue i can just turn the printer off and on again. Just be more elegant to do it in the gcode.

If I find a 3 pin connector I'll maybe plug it in, but I'd prefer one that was already setup for the board.

Oh yeah was thinking about the arms. How well are the balls attached to the shafts ?
If just glue they could easiyl work loose over time. So was thinking why not print a piece that captures the ball with a shaft that glues into the end of the carbon tube for a much more secure connection. 
this kind of thing: 
ballholder1.jpg
ballholder2.jpg

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## curious aardvark

lol yeah I've spent some time scouring the net as well. 
Only thing I can figure is that he3d have them custom made or they are so new nobody else has seen them yet. 
And looking around, I can't see anything that covers everything you need as neatly in a single compact board. I've seen a few thousand motherbaords over the years and the layout and design on the k200 is really good. Easy to wire, properly labelled and seems pretty reliable. 
It's not a ramps 1.4 and there's nothing anywhere about a ramps plus board. 
or a ramps 1.8 - which is what it seems to be. 

None of the boards they sell on reprapmall are the same. It's pretty weird. 
It's like they mated a mega 2560 with a ramps and this board is the mutant offspring.
But it's a single piece and everything else I've seen is the two boards stuck together like lego.  

From what i found out, laser wise last night (and bear with me electrickery is not my thing) the right hand pin is red and the other two are both black. So connecting the red probe from my multimeter to the right pin, either of the other two give me 7 volts positive with the black (I can never remember which is + and which is -). 
So i was just thinking attach my red wire from the laser to right and black to left and leave the middle one alone. 

I'll pull a 3 pin connector from one of the dead pcs in the workshop.

Oh yeah and you only need 6 corner pieces as stepper motors sit on top.
PLus use either plywood or aluminium for a twin top and bottom plates. which will help stabilise everything. 
And all the corner pieces have to do is hold the belt pulleys and attach to 2020 struts. 
So nothing tricky to print.

----------


## curious aardvark

found it ! 
they've got it listed under mainboard for the tricolor i3. 
http://www.reprapmall.com/index.php?...product_id=175
$100 !

So if that's $100 by itself - how the hell are they making ANY money on the delta kit ?

----------


## curious aardvark

lol - yeah the dimensional accuracy is pretty cool on vertical cylinders. 
But would you trust them in serious use ? Nope. 

Those boards look pretty good. Not exactly the same but pretty close and cheap as chips too :-) 
Oh yeah:
hagar.jpg

roughly glued, needs tidying a fair bit of work.  But it's definitely me, lol

And I have no clue what the mystery part is.

----------


## curious aardvark

right update for the list of parts: 

So printed parts, looking at: 
  6corner pieces, 
effector
3 vertical roller carriages
3 magnetic arm addons for roller carriages - unless you can do an all in one desig that incorporaes cable locking as well as magnetic arms. 
filament holders, extruder parts, feet, fan duct, various little stuff
flying gantry for suspended extruder
Stepper motor 'cages'.

Non printed

top and bottom - 10mm plywood for rigidity and ease of attaching stuff to. I could go aluminium, but so much easier to screw stuff to plywood than bolt it to aluminium. 

2020 strut for verticals and diagonals
heat pad for aluminium bed (aluminium, just because I can get that free)
Short length of tubing for extruder. 
springs and bolts for bed - I like the suspended setup - easy to adjust and level. 
10 metre roll of gt2 belt - 3 x 2.2(ish) metre and three little bits for suspended extruder
3 nema 17s + metal gear cog thingies. 3 for motors and 3 for lower belt support.
1 nema 14 + hobbed bolt and groove roller thingy. 
4x endstops - might as well keep the z-probe as one, cheaper and works.
Motherboard: Probably MKS GEN of some kind.
500 watt pc psu - cheap as chips and easy to hotwire - plus has on off switch. 
And mount all the crap on the top rather than at the bottom. Keeps wires short, so no extensions necessary longest wires go to extruder and hotend - and they'll  be pretty much standard length anyway.
hotend - be nice to have one that runs up to 300c but a bog standard 260 e3d would be fine too.  
Carbon rods for diagonal arms, plus 8mm ball bearings and magnets.
4x stepper motor controller chips + heatsinks.
Bag of strutnuts - the metal ones are pretty cheap in bulk. 
3 & 4mm bolts. From my local hardware store as they have phillips heads which are way better than bloody hex head allan key jobs and come in decent sized bags of all lengths for £1 a bag.
wheel sets for roller carriages

----------


## curious aardvark

how easy is the carbon fibre rod to cut to length ?
looks fairly cheap to buy. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-3k-Car...QAAOSwwE5WVTJU

And whats the equation to work out length needed (obviously minus length of end pieces). 

Right go look for wheels.
best buy looks like around £1 per wheel includign bearing. Bolts extra. 
The swivel to tighten thing is neat. But I dropped them down from the top anyway. so that's not actually necessary. 3mm bolt and printed insert/washer will work just as well.

So we'd be looking at 3 x 1.5(ish) metre struts
and 6 x ?

----------


## curious aardvark

nope. 
Only 1 watt. 

what's wrong with printed effectors ? 
You're just trying to make stuf cost more :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

lol 
bottoms up ! 

magnet wise I've got quite a few. 
Duct wise, yep a bit more width and depth wouldn't hurt the airflow :-)
No clue if the turbo nozzles work or not. definitely no air coming out the holes, but even a small bit of tissue doesn't stick, which you assume it would if there were a vacumn being generated. 

As far as hot glue guns go - I'm not a big fan. Rather use epoxy putty or uhu all purpose glue. Particularly for something as smooth as a ball bearing. 
For the arms I'd probably go with the uhu glue. the magnet would hold the ball tight to the tube while the glue set, which is pretty quick. 
Dunno what solvent they use but it even eats pet-g :-) 

Dogs back - gotta go wield a towel :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

what are you printing on ? 
350mm printbite runs at around £40. 
Your print surface seems to work just as well, presume it was cheap :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

well the round parts, don't actually need to be round.

Make the round parts square and move the bar back, then lay it on it's back to print. 
The other approach is the flatten the bottoms of the round parts slightly, move the holes up the same amount and use support under the cross bar. 

Also....

The clip-on kid strikes again ! 
z-stopclip1_634x480.jpg
z-stopclip2_273x480.jpg

Does it matter which wire I connect to which ? 
IE: one of the z probe wires is white and red and the other is just white. Both wires on the end stop are white.
Tell a lie, if you turn it over, I got a red and white and a white as well - seems obvious put like that :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

inline with nozzle. 
inlinewithnozzle_470x480.jpg

Now got to go look up the gcode thing for nozzle touching.  I did the wires the same way round - just to be sure :-)

I'll upload to my thingiverse collection. 
It's an entire 5, short lines of code in openscad :-) 
At the very least we might get something out of wendy ;-)

Right lets see if this works.

----------


## curious aardvark

Yep that works !
just 3 100ths of a millimetre between all three points. 
I can live with that :-) 
Much better than it was before. I knew one screw was off, but this really helped put it right. 

clip unclipped. Need to make a holder for it. 
Right redo z=0 and job done :-)

One of these days I'll have to try and work out how it's supposed to work.

That's enough for one day.

----------


## curious aardvark

The springs are fine. It's the crappy one bolt connectors to the frame that let it wobble. 
Should be easy enough to make a connector that mounts with two bolts so it can't move.

----------


## curious aardvark

0.1 layer height ?

And yep, good print :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

seems to work :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

light for the printer - or something else ?
There is a 'light' connector on the board.

About to try some wood filament. - Works great :-)

Also it's occured to me that unless you include a touch in the centre of the build plate as well as the three outside touches - how can you calculate any kind of topography map ? 
Just won't work.

----------


## curious aardvark

acorn badges_589x480.jpg

Not sure about the wooden one. Maybe varnish rather than colouring the cup green. 
Got a couple more printing. 
Unfortunately the brown filament has been discontinued. No idea why it's my all time best filament ever. 
And because it's  semi-translucent, it really catches the light. Was reprapper tech ltd wood filament. The same stuff now just looks like chocolate. Completely different.  
My design and not shared :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

I'll have a look - but the wire wasn't an issue when i was printing the viking helmet - thought it might be, but nope. The cable tie lift I'm using seems to do the trick. 

Curious to see this thing as the drawing made no sense to me :-)

***

it's huge ! 
you don't do delicate do you ? ;-) 
Can't see how it would fit with the fan duct though.

----------


## curious aardvark

My wire doesn't come out of the y strut. 
That the best picture you got ? That could be almost anything, anything at all
Definitely MIB - lmao

Ah ! does it attach to the side strut and point up ?
I can see the value of that. make it a bit smaller and out of stiff black rubber - of which I have an abundance, and we've got something. Black polyflex would also work. 
But I haven't tried the rubber on alexa yet :-) 

Also not sure if the acorns are better coloured or au natural: 
2xwoodacorns_640x480.jpg

originally I was going to copper coat real acorns for selling as badges. After a number of attempts, came to the conclusion that it would be easier designing and printing an acorn instead. 
This wood filament is good stuff, they genuinely look and feel like wood. If I sanded the shine off the back, nobody would know any different - or have the slightest idea how they were made :-)  
Oh and it'll stick to cold bed as well :-) 
Weirdly the first layer goes down better at 15% than 7%. Still printing at 100mm/s. 
I'll try one at .16 and see if it's any difference to the standard 0.2. 

Sort out some packaging and should make some money from these. The original model is full acorn, earrings maybe :-) 

Now where did I put that copper filament ?

----------


## curious aardvark

You have to remember all three of my struts are in use. 
The right one (y?) has my filament and webcam holders
Left has extruder and my psu is mounted on the back of the z ? one.

So the cable bundle is just pushed into the left side top horizontal strut  - I like your idea, needs refinement and possibly the addition of bolt free clipping and flexible filament :-)
Well why stop now lol

And how do you change filament on the balloon ? 
Not something I've ever done. 

And when you sand the shine off the back and smooth the edges - I'd defy almost anyone to know it wasn't made from wood :-) 
Which means I can sell them for more money :-) 
Helps that i live in the heart of the new english national forest for the blurb:_ ' Custom Made and Hand Finished in the Heart of the National Forest with Wood.'
_And not a word of that is a lie :-)
Print up a little Curious Aardvark Designs, leaflet find some little cheap boxes and I reckon these could go for up to £10 a pop.

Now where the hell did that copper filament go ? 
'cos: 'made in the heart of the national forest with real copper' - also sounds pretty expensive ;-)

*** 
Damn ! you're right about the .16 layer height. Only take a few minutes longer and wow - huge improvement over 0.2. 
That one looks even more like wood than the others ! 
Get sequential printing working and we're in production !

I owe you a beer - look at this sucker:
wooden acorn_362x480.jpg

lol if you didn't know you would swear that was carved from actual wood. Get some light varnish and you'd never tell the difference. 
Might even see what it looks like with a dab of walnut oil. 

Now logically if .16 is better than 0.1 or at least as good, then 0.32, should be better than 0.3 !
Let's try that.

----------


## curious aardvark

huh, just like that :-) 


The .32 is a little worse than the 0.2 So 
we'll stick with 0.16 - found the copper filament - both samples :-)
this should be good :-)
And also prints on  a cold bed.

Umm, but probably better with heated bed lol

----------


## curious aardvark

Third wire on the laser socket lets you change the power. 

So don't need that. 
So should still work with just the on/off setting and wires. 
right enough for today.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol yeah the base plate I did was real scary at the end. 
Balloonj look fantastic - is it part of a 'scene' or you just like balloons ?

----------


## curious aardvark

inside the balloons :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Excellent !

----------


## curious aardvark

Already done :-) 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628

Currently printing the cable snake out of black flexismart. It's basically rubber tpu. 
When printing with super flexible rubber filaments up your extrusion rate to around 120-130 % and print real slow 10-15mm/s
One of the features of flexismart is that it sticks to printbite like a limpet on steroids. So I can run the first layer at 100% speed and not need the nozzle that close to the printbed - and also don't need to heat the printbed. 
That pretty much goes for all tpus. 
bendycableholder.jpg

Only just fits on the printbed, if the bit that bolts to the strut wasn't angled to keep it away from the hotbed, I'd have to do it on the klic-n-print. 
flexismart is the cheapest rubber filament by quite a long way. Thats aid it's also the least stretchy and the weakest. It's probably the closest to tire rubber in surface feel, stiffer than ninjaflex and filaflex. 

Useful for all sorts of things :-)
Don't think it's available in the us yet. But polyflex is cheaper over there, so it evens out.

----------


## curious aardvark

hanging spool below extruder is awkward as you've got to move the the wrapped extruders wires - well wrapped mine :-) 
Plus where my printer sits it just wouldn't fit. 

As long as the cables aren't in the way - can't see why not though.

bendy cable snake looking quite good, Interesting to see how well it builds out the angled square. Probably shouldn't have gone for 0.3mm layer height. 
Probably should have added extra process just for that part. 
But I'm always in a hurry lol
Ah well we'll see.
You can't see the grooves that well in the picture, but they run along both sides and the top - hopefully it'll articulate at those points. 

I've got a 50cm 3mm aluminium disc that's used in my portable balearic slinging target. 
Sized a 350 (actually 370 as you need screw holes to mount it) disc against that. 
Holy crap it's big ! lol

With a 350mm build plate you can actually fit a 100mm x 340 rectangle Or a 245x245 cube. 
That should be big enough, Figure I'll need some kind of run out of filament alarm thing as well

----------


## curious aardvark

cablesnake_542x600.jpg
cablesnake2_608x480.jpg

Well it's a bit rough in places, but should work and black hides a multitude of sins. Might have to cut it a bit shorter. Not got time to mess about tonight, I'll fit it tomorrow evening.  The cable fits good and snug too :-)

See my spool holder looks simple - but it will fit every spool on the market, right down to the bastard taulman 10mm ones :-)
The spools can't come off, the filament won't get trapped and it take about 20 minutes to print :-)

I actually prefer the spool holder on the right hand strut. Keeps the filament under deceht tension and leaves the underside of the extruder clear for fettling about when loading filament.

----------


## curious aardvark

this picture thing is weird. 
They show on the machine I upload them from. I;ll do it again in abit.

----------


## spegelius

That cable snake thingy looks great, I might borrow the idea  :Wink: . Need to tidy cables on Dollo and looks like it's just what I need

----------


## curious aardvark

I can drop you the openscad file if you like. 

Not parametric and my scripting is 'individual'. But I'm going to post the stl file anyway, so it's not confidential :-)

----------


## spegelius

Openscad file would nice, thanks.

Parametric stuff is nice when it's properly done, but I do like to see the actual code to understand what it actually does so I'm good with individual stuff  :Smile:

----------


## curious aardvark

So what is it ?

----------


## curious aardvark

pictures, power, cuttings size - you know informations :-) 
How on earth does it cut perspex ?

40 watts ! Bloody hell, don't stick your arm in there ! 
It's water cooled. 



> Suitable to rubber, plastic, crystal,  Plexiglas, acrylics, bamboo and wooden, marble, granite,ceramic, glass, china,  paper, garment, jade article, glass, shell and other non-metal materials.


It'll etch glass ! 
Cut 3mm perspex. 
That's a serious bit of kit ! 

Any chance of dropping the software across ?

----------


## curious aardvark

Just fitted the cable snake - yep that works :-) 
cs1_216x480.jpg

cs2_627x480.jpg
cs3_560x480.jpg
cs4_329x480.jpg

I fixed the cable in at the bottom with a small black cable tie. Was going to do the same at the top - but doesn't seem to be necessary :-) 

I'll upload stl and scad to thingiverse :-)
Looks great in operation - moves back and forth. As i tunrs out I could actually have got away with a much steeper angle on the connector tab. Which would have printed cleaner. 
Who cares, it works :-)

I'll change it for the stl upload.

Changed it from 30 degrees to 50 - yep that'll print a lot easier :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

cheers :-) 
well if you don't want the engraver I'll happily pay postage to ship it to me :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

So I've got  a new kingston 4gb memory card and I'm trying the marble run again with the flashforge translucent red. 
Done a few prints at 0.1mm and I'd set the first layer to 200%, which seemed to work. 
Printed keyboard feet - 0.1 layer and 150mm/s print speed. 
great looking prints and in 20 minutes :-) 

So for the marble run I'm going with 0.24 layer height, 150mm/s and 15% infill. Reckons 8:49 hours.
But I forgot to reset the first layer height.
Does alexa care ? 
She does not ! 
She's currently printing the first layer at 0.48mm layer height ! 
And it looks super smooth. Sort of  a nonremoveable raft.  
Mind you since I levelled the bed with the z-probe, first layers have gone down superbly.

So the thing is, will she do an entire print at 0.48 layer height and at speed ? 
I will find out !

----------


## curious aardvark

just first layer at .48. 
rest was .24. 
looks great works. 
Had  a few real thin spider threads. couple of minutes with a bendy straw and all four tracks work great. Got to make the rest of it now :-) 

The flashforge filament is really good. 
8 hours 49 minutes.

mm1.jpg
mm2_561x480.jpg
mm3_423x480.jpg

Yep printed that at 150mm/s Good innit :-) 
Currently just started to print the other three parts. Going for a sedate 100mm/s and 0.16 layer height as they need to be a bit more precise.

----------


## curious aardvark

that one is for the 9.5mm .38 cal balls. 
As i also have a some 6.35 mm balls I decided I could scale it down and print one for the smaller balls as well. 
That will print in under 5 hours for all 4 parts. I'll run that at 0.16 and 150mm/s overnight. 

Got about an hour left in the big one :-) 

I'll make videos when they're done.

ha ha - works a treat. 
At first  thought it was random which route (there are 4) the balls went down. 
But if you only use one ball - it goes down each route in turn. That's clever !

----------


## curious aardvark

The little one is 16% in. 

Very cool thing :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

So alexa has developed a weird rattling sound. It's not apparently effecting the print quality.
It's not coming from either of the fans - though it sounds like a rattling fan. 

(has epithany and holds finger against duct nozzle) Ah ha - it's the bloody nozzle. Right that's getting changed. 
Jolly good that's that sorted - just doing the small parts for the mini marble machine. 
All 4 runs work, just need the spiral and turner. Neither one liked being printdr at speed lol Redoing at 75mm/s 
Looking good so far :-)
minimarblerun_588x480.jpg

It's interesting that the 0.5mm nozzle hasn't appeared to effect my being able to print small detailed items in any way. 

I wonder how large a nozzle you could get away with using ?

----------


## curious aardvark

was thinking 1mm nozzle. 
Though you'd need to print slower so not sure whether you'd make any significant gains in time or not. 
And you'd risk slumpage. 

first2_640x375.jpg

3ball_321x480.jpg

Found some bb's  - how small can this thing go :-)
We shall find out !

----------


## curious aardvark

nah just a k200 clone. 
The extruder is in entirely the wrong place and the filament placement makes no sense at all given where the extruder is.
The 4020 is interesting, but think I'll stick to the 3030. it's the cheapest I've yet seen. 

The marble machine - bb size is 64mm by 54 high. 2.5 inch diameter by just over 2 inches tall. 
Printing the spiral screw is going to be interesting. 
Assuming the track actually works :-)  Slicing looks fine.

Oh yeah if you print this - do the spiral screw by itself. Even little spiderweb bits of filament give it issues - at the smaller sizes anyway.

----------


## curious aardvark

So one issue I do have with Alexa, she's overly friendly and easily distracted_ (In fact, exactly like her namesake lol) ._ 
ie: if she's printing from the sd-card and the usb cable is plugged in and you switch the computer on. 
She'll immediately start talking to the computer and completely forget she was supposed to be printing something. 

Note to self - if you intend to come back during a long print - unplug the sodding usb cable before turning the computer on ! 
Had to start the bb marble machine again. 
The 50% that was printed looks great and works well. The smaller these things get, the better they seem to print lol

I do a lot of short prints over usb, so it is usually plugged in. Sigh.

On  a completely different note. 
nema14and17_266x480.jpg
Nema 14 stepper motor next to it's big brother the ubiquitious nema 17.
Cute little buggers these 14's 
130 grams versus the 17's 230.
Perfect for a flying extruder.

Was a bit concerned at first, as the shaft looked smaller - checked and it's same length and diameter. Which is a relief :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Yep just need the hobbed bolt and grooved wheeley thing and I can start designing the extruder.
what size those carbon fibre rods ?

----------


## curious aardvark

you're settings are up the creek then. 
Even at lower settings - 75 is my lowest for alexa, she blitzes anything the rep clones can do. 

Have an odd issue at the moment. 

Trying to do a sequential print with bits for the bb marble run. 
First attempt looked like working but model didn't stick. 
So slowed first layer and lowered start point by 5 hundredths of a mil.  Things I alter reguarly.
It now starts printing at the top of the printer in mid air and the y (x or z - hell I don't know) carriage don't do nothing.

Pick another file on the sd card - everything works fine. 

Going to restart s3d and see if that helps lol

8mm internal or external ?

Gears no problem - they'll be bendy, that's kind of the point of rubber filament :-)
pet-g is very good for gears. What you want gears for ?

----------


## curious aardvark

okay this gets even weirder. 
scrapped the sequential and used my normal one print profile via usb.

Turns out it's printing the first layer at z=269, then goes down to the bed for the rest of the print. WTF ?????????
Curious to see if the spiral prints anyway.  But what the hell is going on.

I changed nothing but start height and first layer speed. Which i do a lot. 
Bizarre.

----------


## curious aardvark

what motherboard baseplate ? 

Those tubes should only take about 10 minutes. 




> maybe you have it set to print so low that it can't and starts over at the top?


I've had it set lower. just depends how tight I calibrate z=0.

I'll have a play later.

----------


## curious aardvark

ah didn't know you'd made a baseplate. 

Okay, I'll do  a dry run when I go back in the workshop.

----------


## curious aardvark

So the first of my mystery parcels arrived today. 
It's a colour touchscreen control panel thing: mks tft32_l v2.0

Now thing about buying cheap electrickery from china via ebay, is that you don't get any instructions for anything - ever. 
And in this case only one of the two cables needed. 
It's from Makerbase, who aparently are MKS - until seeing the two things together on the back of the screen I did not know they were the same company. 
As I've ordered a mks motherboard, that's probably  a good thing :-)

I'm going to plug it into Alexa later and see what happens. Now just need to find somewhere to get these little 8pin plugs.  They look suspiciously like old school serial connectors, so might be something I can use in the workshop somewhere.

***

Well that didn't work. He3d use 10 pin connectors for the control panel and the mks touch screen uses 8 pin connectors.  You cannot plug a 10 pin connector into an 8 pin socket - without using a hammer.
Just have to wait for the mks board to arrive.

----------


## curious aardvark

She's working normally again today. weird. 
Those cylinder things. 
can do both in 34 minutes if I drop the speed down to 75mm/s and layer height 0.32. 

Little one by itself at 0.16 and 75 would be 23 minutes. 
big one is an hour. 
Or do both together in 1 hour and 5 minutes. 

It's because of the individual layer speed and the time s3d allows for cooling. you can adjust those settings in the Cooling tab on the right. 
I've currently got it set to allow speed reductions down to 20 %. 
If I change that to 50% the one prints in 23 minutes at 75mm/s and 0.16 layer height.

Adjust that upwards until you've got the best quality versus speed setting.

Still not decided how to do the hotplate yet lol

Just bought 10 metres of gt2 belt for £6.69 and some dual purpose drive pulleys and idle pulleys. They were £1 each, threw in some belt tensioners, 20p each
And some 0.5mm brass nozzles for the e3d jhead. and some compression springs, for extruder and bed mounting. 

It's just the big stuff and shafts left I think. 
Going to be a month or 2 before it all arrives anyway. 
up to £109 - still need wheels & shafts, psu and heatpad. Although the psu depends on what heatpad setup I decide on - if I ever decide on one that is :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Currently printing a wall tile holder that is just shy of 200mm wide and 190 tall. So too big to do on the rep clones and on the edge of what alexa can do. 

I need a big printer :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Nothing. whatever was going on the other night - isn't going on today. weird. 
Should probably have named her after My dog rather than my niece. Phoebe is a lot more stable ;-)  

Wide load coming through:
wide load.JPG

----------


## curious aardvark

printed_449x480.jpg

loaded_406x480.jpg

Just need to print the end piece and it's done.

Glue drying :-) 
gluedrying_436x480.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Oh yeah I have found a filament she just can't use. 
polymaker's polyplus pla. It's roughened, presumably to give better purchase for extruders. But the downside of that is that it just generates an awful lot of friction in a tight bowden tube. To the extent, that it just will not print. Shame as the stuff I have is a translucent light orange and would have been perfect for the tile holder. Tried a couple times, but just would not work. 

It's expensive stuff too - so bear in mind if looking for quality filament. polymaker polyplus pla does not play well with bowden printers.

----------


## curious aardvark

mks gen1.5 motherboard arrived today. Short usb cable and what do you know - they included two 10 pin control panel cables. 
So apparently the screens they make are not compatible with the motherboards they make, that they claim the screens will work with.
Bum !  :-(

And no sign of any 'manual'. I start to wonder if the chinese actually have a word for 'instruction manual' in their language.

Have to look at the makerbase website.

The board itself has the stepper motor drivers on the circuit board. Just add heatsinks. 
Looks good, compact - lots of connectors for who knows what (back to the manual issue lol).
Just pissed off that the screen they make won't plug into the board they make despite claiming it would.

----------


## curious aardvark

doesn't matter if it does. The sdcard socket is 10 pin - 8 pin on the screen. 
The board has 3 10 pin sockets: Aux 1 and Aux 2 - also has a 10 pin for wifi module
Aux 2 is the sdcard connector. So any way you look at it yu need 10 pin connectors on the screen which is also the card reader. 
As far as I can see All the mks gen boards have 10 pin sockets. So why do they make a screen with 8 pin connectors ? 



> MKS-TFT32 is a colorful touch screen LCD, it is suitable for many main board, such as MKS BASE, MKS GEN, MKS SBASE, etc.


I'll go get the board - so you thnk the 1 8pin cable might do it all ?

You're right - got an 8 pin connector labelled Aux 1. 
So why do I also have another 8 pin connector on the screen labelled 'sd' ?
Unless that's for an external card reader.  A standard usb header would probably fit in there.

Forget a manual a sheet with simple labels for what each socket was for would do. 
The people who make the boards must know - so why not let other people know as well :-) 
The git thing I was looking at this morning recommed smoothieware for the firmware. 
That lets you continue an interrupted print I believe. 
Though quite what you do about the rock hard blob that forms where the extruder stops mid print - I don't know :-)

Cheers - mate, got faith the screen might work again :-)

Plus been to jsk to sort johns emails out after bt buggered them up - so getting my custom aluminium parts made not going to be a problem.

There's even a utility that converts stl files into dwg so you can access them in autocad. Which makes life easier.

----------


## curious aardvark

yeah all the basic connections are the same. 
Also quite a few I have no clue what they're used for.
And no I'm not dismantling Alexa any more.  Well until I design the new heat bed mounting connectors anyway (to stop it wobbling about). 
She's done and deserves a break :-) 
Once I've sorted heatpad and psu I'll hook it all up.

As far as I know it doesn't have any firmware installed.

So it's not a quick or straightforward setup. Going to be easier to have the psu set up on a workbench with bits plugged into it while I'm buggering around with firmwares and the screen.
I'll want it all working before I actually install it on the frame :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Yep - the one with the coloured connectors. 
Aliexpress won't let me pay for stuff. 
Just won't accept my visa card. I have no idea where my mastercard is as I don't use it or carry it. 
Have to dig it out for future purchases. 
Webmoney wants a cell phone - don't have one of those either :-) 
And for some reason they don't use paypal - so that's me scuppered. 

So asked my mate to get the heat pad - he's bought stuff from alibaba which is the same company. 
350mm silicon pad with 3m glue, 12v 270 watt - $40 delivered. can't argue with that.  Around £31.  Same thing over here is more than double the cost. 

Just ordered psu from amazon. 600watts, 25 amps - £15 ! 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Should do the job :-)
Buying psus for lighting is cheaper than buying for 3d printers. Even though they are the exact same type of psu. 
Go figure. 

So just struts, wheels and shafts left I believe. £155 paid out.
Definitely going to end up well under £300, without compromising on stuff either. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MKS-Base-V...72.m2749.l2649

try that link.
(reads page) 
Ah apparently it's supplied with marlin firmware. 
So when I get the psu I should be able to fire screen and board up  without any initial buggering around. 
Still leaning toward smoothieware - as that's what they;re using on the tevo little monster.  Which I'm essentially ripping off :-)

Going to stick heatsinks to those chips anyway (bought them gonna use them lol). Been building computers for 30 odd years - No such thing as too much cooling.

Oh and you were right about the negative z being why she was doing weird things. Knocked it back to -0.15 prints normal. Put it back to -0.2 - weirdness.

----------


## curious aardvark

probably use one for motherboard cooling. 
Everything on top of the BB, will eventually be covered/protected. 
There are a bunch of connectors I have no idea what they do. 
No idea where the z-probe/calibration connector goes. 
Got to be some kind of spec sheet somewhere. 

Any idea what the ones I've circled do ? 
whatheydo.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Ah ha- ame thing being sold on amazon.com has  abunch of links to data sheets :-) 
https://www.amazon.com/OSOYOO-Contro.../dp/B015SKY19M
$99 - they're having a laugh !
:-)

Looks like i can power the board up with screen attache dwith the usb cable alone. 
That makes life easier. 
Can do that now ! 
brb

***

boardandscreen_500x480.jpg

Touch screen bright and very responsive. 
But can you spot the immediate problem ? 
Yep it's all in chinese. 
Can't find a language selection option either.
Picture/buttons are fairly self explanatory - but nothing suggesting language selection. 
Probably have to load up english firmware, recall reading something about that somewhere. 
Other than that - fairly impressed :-)
I mean, it does work !

Doesn't appear to read sd card or usb though. 
have to go find that thing I read.

----------


## curious aardvark

Osoyoo.com is the dogs bollocks :-) 
english touchscreen_640x398.jpg

Right next job - how do i tell the motherboard It's running  a delta ?
Plus it looks like it's the screen/card reader that restarts the print after a power cut. Nothing to do with the board :-)
Icon bottom left - the 'continue' button.
To read from a usb stick you just set it to read from usb not sd. 
Doesn't automatically switch to whichever is plugged in. But seconds to change over. 
Now that is bloody useful ! 

So all these super expensive 3d printers that are boasting about power cut continuing. It's a £29 screen that's doing it lol

Just had a look and can't see anyway of plugging one of these into Alexa's board. Which is a shame, she'd look good in colour lol

Basically downloaded a file from here: http://osoyoo.com/2016/07/25/mks-tft-2-8-touch-screen/
Unzxipped to sd card. put sdcard into screen, rebooted screen with reboot button. Automatically updated to english firmware. 
Took a couple of minutes. 

It's got to get more complicated from here. 
Also has auto levelling options. Now that would be cool if it just did it without all that buggering about. 

So, yep you need one of these. 
Also says you can add your own boot up graphics.
I will be playing with that !

Repetier host talks to it :-) 
That said I currently have no clue how to get it to change board settings. 
Have to read the manual I guess :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

So where does that lurk ? Never managed to find one for alexa.
Or figure out how to change it, etc

Anyway suns out, not raining. Going to walk the dogs - that's plenty excitement for one afternoon ;-)

----------


## curious aardvark

the screen firmware has configuration.txt. Changed a bunch of settings, re flashed. 
Doesn't look any different and no ther way if testing. But should do the job. 



> #--------------------------------------------------------------
> #########Printer type setting############################
> #mainboard firmware setting(marlin:1; repetier:2; smoothie:3)
> >cfg_firmware_type:1
> 
> #machine setting (Normal:1; Delta:2)
> >cfg_machine_type:2
> 
> #baud rate setting(1:9600;2:57600;3:115200;4:250000)
> ...


Some interesting options.

just enabled 3d effects - curious to see what that does.

----------


## curious aardvark

Definitely not messing about with Alexa. Learnt many years ago that once a thing works - stop messing with it. 

Wasn't uncommon on the old days for me to fix a  computer and just do one last thing - which buggered it up. 
So now if what i have works the way I want it to and does what it should. Leave it well alone. 
One reason I absolutely will not let microsoft dump whatever crap they like on my computers.

Might clone the harddrive and do all the stupid updates at some point to see if I can get s3d 4.0 working.
No joy so far. 

I'll mess with the new board. As if that gets totally buggered up - it's no big deal. Just £25 up the swanney, rather than a dead printer.  
If Alexa gets messed up - I'll cry ! 
lol

I'm curious to see what differences there are in the display and control options with different firmwares. And I know this board is compatible with marlin, repetier and smoothieware. You have all three options in the configuration file.  
Saw something yesterday that recommends swapping marlin - apparently old version - the board comes with for the latest smoothieware. 
So sometime over the weekend I'll give that a go. 
I know it's the screen that does the continue print after power failure. So no matter what I'll keep that. 

What I don't know - is which socket I plug the z probe into for auto calibration. 
Going to have three spare endstop sockets as I've got two for each motor. Can't see anything else that I could use. So probably the z- one I'm thinking.  The top of the machine is z + (I think). 
That's easy to test with repetier host anyway. Hold the swith in send the command. Tells you if it's found it.

----------


## curious aardvark

Psu just arrived. 
Sucker is rated for 50 amps and 600 watts !
Big cooling fan.
Other than that, identical type to the he3ed one. 
£15 delivered :-) 
Plenty of mounting holes too. 
inline switch not getting here till monday most likely. So until I can make the switchable power cable. I'll leave it alone :-) 
Uk based supplier - so actually send backable of it dies. 
Feels really solid.

Looks like it could easily power a 400mm heatpad too, hmm. lol
So if anyones looking to buy a psu for a 3d printer build - look at led lighting psu's NOT 3d printer psu's. Same thing but much better prices and specifications :-)

----------


## spegelius

I may be wrong but Smoothieware is only for 32-bit ARM CPUs and that mobo has only MEGA2560... would need either Smoothieboard or Re-ARM for RAMPS (and the RAMPS board of course). Repetier on the other hand should work fine. I've been meaning to try Repetier firmware for a long time, but there's always something else on to-do my list  :Smile: . Also Marlin does work well, with auto bed leveling etc. so there's not much reason to switch, only curiosity...

----------


## curious aardvark

Ah good point - (checks) it's the screen that has the 32bit arm chip.  Knew I'd seen one somewhere :-)
That little screen is way more powerful than the actual motherboard. 
Okay, for the time being then I'll leave it with what it has. 
Pretty sure It is ramps compatible - it's a combined ramps and mega blend. At least that's what it says somewhere, I think lol
What do i care, as long as it works. 

lol 
my issue with dismantling alexa is 2 fold_ (and what did the romans ever do for us....)_.
1) it's completely unnecessary.
2) I have to unplug her and move her to the other workbench, just no room to maneouber on the 3d printer table and it's not necessary. 
3) I'll have all the bits to build the Big bastard in a few weeks anyway, so what's the rush ? Still got to design all the plastic parts, make the ball bearing shafts etc. Trust me I've got enough to do. 
I've also decided to make a mini-itx case as my previous mini-itx computer is now in canada on my sisters desk nd alexa can print large enough to make it in a base and lid :-) And I need a basic work machine for the other work bench. Also going to make a 3d printer board and screen mount for messing about with them. 
Also need to upgrade the 64gb ssd on this machine to a 128 as I'm running out of space and I'm about to start buggering about with autocad, which gives me a 64 for the new machine. 
In between that: life, work, sleep, food, dog walking - I'm good :-) 

Oh yeah: 

4) Do Not Mess With That Which Already Works !

----------


## curious aardvark

Just bought wifi module, seemed a shame not to. Plus the big printer won't be anywhere near a computer. £12.99
Seemed like a good idea :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

They look like good magnets. 

Hot end arrived this morning. All the way from malaysia. 
Good bit of kit - the actual hot part is all metal. 
But I really need to start looking at pictures and youtube videos before I buy such expensive things (lol). No mounting hole. Needs a sort of neck clamp which I'll need to build into the effector.
Other than that for £6.58 - Looks good. 
The heater block is identical to the he3d - just the heatbreak which is different, looks a bit more efficient too. Nozzles are interchangeable. 

As far as I know on a brief perusal - the wifi module allows you to upload files directly to the sdcard and start printing from the sdcard. 
Not sure if it lets you remotely monitor the ongoing print or not. 
If it doesn't at the moment - then future firmware updates for the screen will most likely let you. 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-printer...QAAOSwAuNW2qq~

I'm sure s3d has a network printer option somewhere. Vaguely remember finding it a while back. 

The printbite is going to easily be the most expensive part - around £60 delivered. However it does look like i can add my own custom graphic to it. Which ameliorates the cost a little. 
That's probably going to push me over £300 and nearer £350. Although currently only on £164 - still a fair few bits to buy. 
c'est la vie. 
The interesting thing is, that although I'm doing this as cheaply as I can - it's going to be a really serious bit of kit. 
The 'bells and whistles' seem to be standard on even cheap kit these days.

Oh yeah the super mini bb marble run. Does not work. The screw just won't lift the balls. 
Shame as it'd be a cool cheap print to sell. 

Might load the screw into openscad and resize it properly. It prints with gaps and they trap the bb's and stop it turning.

----------


## curious aardvark

it's about 2 inches by 2.5
The run, and top bits are fine. But reducing the spiral that much in s3d makes the walls too thin. 
Needs to be reduced properly in a cad program I reckon 
Might have a go this afternoon.

----------


## curious aardvark

IT has a specific 'neck' designed for a clamp. Not looked for existing clamps yet. Seen a few that (like autowhiz's) are basically a square clamp that bolts on to the effector/extruder holder.  That would probably be the simplest way to go. That said with magnetically attached effector would be easy to change effectors for different extruder heads.  A future project I think lol

What is interesting is that the filament guide tube butts tightly into a socket right at the top of the heatbreak. And a removeable metal tube goes all the rest of the way down to the nozzle. So technically an, all metal hotend - can't see any gaps for filament to pool in. Haven't unscrewed nozzle yet though. But looks sound.  The little clip on cooling fan for the heatbreak is very neat. Still can't believe how cheap these things actual are. 
Might hook it up to the board and check it heats up. Going to make my power cable today.   

Think it's still rated at 260c
But I guess you could just upgrade the heatblock to change that. 
Also spotted some stainless steel nozzles - for that crappy carbon fibre infused filament. 
Might go for them anyway. Mind you also looking for larger diameter nozzles - up to 0.8 & 1mm would be good. 
Probably need upgraded cooling for them - but should be a large enough effector to use a couple of turbo fans.

It's all starting to look wonderfully modular :-) 

So pics of your boxed delta are due I feel :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Just bought some 50mm turbofans. £5 for three - seemed like a good idea :-) 
Might even be able to fit one on alexa, if I turn it sideways across the effector.

----------


## curious aardvark

The he3d one ?
nope, it too big, you can see how far it projects out from the effector. Thats going to catch on belts and rods.
Like the side mounted filament holder - they don't seem to think it all the way through.

Enclosed printer useful for lots of filaments apart from abs. Polycarbonate, nylons, polyamides etc
many of which i have :-)

So how long did it take to heat the box to 80c ?

----------


## curious aardvark

Ahh fahrenheits. 
So not hot at all really.

100f was based on mrs fahrenheits arm pit. :-)
is it worth it for that low a temperature ?

----------


## curious aardvark

In case anyone wants to convert an stl file to a dxf (autocad compatible file) 
here's what i just used: http://www.cadforum.cz/catalog_en/stl2dwg.asp

Imported into autocad and it was all there. My knowlege of autocad is limited at best. But as far as I can tell this works perfectly :-)

And a printing tip. If printing at low layer heights like 0.1 - 0.16 - double the height of the first layer.

----------


## curious aardvark

here you go: http://timeguy.com/cradek/stl-to-dxf

----------


## curious aardvark

lol if they're coming from china - you need patience. Some of this stuff tkaes a month or two.
Just had some hypo-allergenic earring hooks arrive. Just about remember ordering them. But when you consider I paid just over £1 and there's enough to make 50 pairs of earrings - what's a few weeks travel time between friends :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Be thankful you don't live in canada - parcels to my sister go missing regularly. 

So this is my first ear-ring. 
small-acornearring_250x480.jpg

Came out quite well. Added a capture slot to my acorn model and went as small as openscad would let me.  
And also got me back to thinking about copper plating. 
It's got a built in hanger and conductive connection to the acorn. 
Should work pretty well. 

Also going to try a little varnish on the acorn cup. 

One of these days I'll have to try the 0.2mm nozzle and see just how fine the detail can get. 
But on the whole quite pleased with this.

----------


## curious aardvark

pair-acornearrings_640x480.jpg

Pretty much only stuff sent to canada we've lost.

----------


## curious aardvark

128 ssd arrived yesterday. So decided to I'll clone my existing 64 over and then do my best to destroy the existing os setup by running several years of windows updates.  Just to get simplify3d 4.0 working. 
I suspect that there are probably only a few updates necessary, but have failed to find a list, so going to go for the extreme option.  
It doesn't help that I only get poor internet in my workshop. 
Could take a few days and i doubt the system will work afterwards :-( 

Why couldn't simplify3d have just kept using c++ 2012 that was used with every other version of the software ? 
That worked on all os's and never gave anyone any hassle.
Probably a recent windows 10 update mandates you can only use 2015. This would be deliberate to make stuff unreliable on the earlier and infinitely better os's.

I do somethimes wonder if microsoft are either paying or threatening software development companies to sabotage their own software. 
It happens more often than you'd think.

----------


## curious aardvark

learn patience :-) 

Currently got the board, screen and wifi module _(top tip: stuff come a lot quicker from hong kong than from mainland china :-) _ and a nema 14 stepper motor hooked up to a 5000mah power stick :-)

Just got to change the settings to get it to run the motor.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol just you wait, as soon as you buy nmore the original ones will arrive :-) 

Discovered that while you can run the board and other electronics of any 5v usb power - you do have to have the main psu hooked up to run the motors and hot end. 
It will detect the motors, just won't run them without the 12v feed. 

The wifi module is pretty interesting, it's actually a little router. Have to go through the instructions again, but had no problem connecting to it  as a router with my tablet.
Going to sort out the struts this week, I think. Much easier to sort the rest out once you've got a basic structure to attach things to.

----------


## curious aardvark

Link does not go to picture just tiny pic sign up screen :-(

Got my turbo fans today. Haven't looked at them properly yet.
Also discovered that I neglected to bookmark the link for the 30x30 strut people. So have to find that again. 
Been designing the corner pieces (it's all done in my head in 3d). Going to put floors/lids in them so the struts can't go all the way through. 
It should help keep everything lined up. I'll also have a short socket for the sidepieces that engaged the slots on three sides, as well as bolts to keep those lined up better. 

If you print the pieces with a solid floor for the strut socket - you don't need bolts to keep them aligned vertically with each other.  And you could probably have built in feet if you print them upside down. But I think I'll make seperate rubbber feet anyway, as I want the floor as flat as possible for best alignment. Plus I prefer rubber feet.

----------


## curious aardvark

yep same as alexa - it comes with an adhesive back. So just stick directly to the aluminium plate. 
The new stuff is apparently a lot thinner, given how tough it is not sure that'll make any real difference.
Hopefully it won't get bent in the post. 

Bought some silver insulating tape - so I'll do alexas bed at some point. See if it speeds things up at all. 

From what i can see the cheapskate carriages still use plastic wheels, as well as having a rear support plate. As long as your wheels are tight in the slot, that shouldn't be necessary.  Plus I like having the back of the struts clear for sticking stuff on :-) 

So what do the finished magnetic arms look like ?

On a side note - having a helluva job buying a a filament guide, roller thing for the extruder (got hobbed bolt). 
Realised last night that I can dismantle the extrduer on the right hand head of the flashforge - haven't used it for years. So with luck I'll have my fixings to make an extruder from that. Got to make all the bits as the nema 14 motors are a lot smaller than the 17' and I have yet to see an extruder set for a nema 14. 
Hell might as well remove the motor as well. 

The extruder motor shouldn't get that hot, so an all plastic setup should be okay. We'll see.

----------


## endure

> yep same as alexa - it comes with an adhesive back. So just stick directly to the aluminium plate. 
> The new stuff is apparently a lot thinner,


Apparently it's possible to cut it with scissors according to Jason. I asked because I want some for my M200.

----------


## curious aardvark

The original sheet i bought a couple of years ago, you scored and snapped. 
Not sure I'm overly happy you can cut it with scissors, we'll see.

----------


## endure

No it's a Malyan M200

----------


## endure

It's my first. I'm still getting to grips with it but it's good fun. Well worth the money.

----------


## endure

Thanks very much

----------


## curious aardvark

what is it with gearing ? 
Why would I need gearing ? 
Even running at 150mm/s the extruder motor doesn't exactly turn fast.  The shaft is the same diameter as the 17, as is the hobbed bolt.  So the same gcode should make it turn at the same rate. 
I'll be astonished if it hasn't got the torque to pull filament from a reel and push it through a heated hotend from about 6 inches. 

What am I missing here ?

----------


## endure

> If you ever decide to drop $250 on another printer, read this thread from start to finish and pick up an He3d K200.  With a little tweaking, slight math, and a few upgrades that you can print on your M200, you'll have one heck of, and fast, printer.



Is it sensible for a beginner to tackle a delta printer kit?

----------


## curious aardvark

Very easy to build. Everything else we've covered, in detail in this thread :-)

----------


## endure

I must admit they do look very graceful in action. Are they 'better' than Cartesian printers?

----------


## curious aardvark

In my opinion - a lot better. 
Very quiet, only the print head moves so very little vibration, which means faster and sharper prints and prints stay stuck to the bed better. 
Very simple - easy to trouble shoot.

I'm a convert :-)

----------


## endure

I've been reading this thread and while I appreciate the recommendation I'm not sure that 44 pages of mods make it a printer suitable for noobs   :Wink:

----------


## curious aardvark

well to be fair, probably the first 20 or so pages were us making things. 
The rest is us making other things that aren't necessarily anything to do with the he3d 200 :-) 

I'd say that of the stuff on my thingiverese page for the he3d 200 - the effector &  fan duct are essential. 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628
The feet, cable snake, endstop bracket, filament holder, base cover and power supply brackets are all optional extras. 
They do turn the basic kit into a really impressive machine, but optional :-)  

So what's with the gearing thing then #40 ?

----------


## endure

> well to be fair, probably the first 20 or so pages were us making things. 
> The rest is us making other things that aren't necessarily anything to do with the he3d 200 :-) 
> 
> I'd say that of the stuff on my thingiverese page for the he3d 200 - the effector &  fan duct are essential. 
> https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628
> The feet, cable snake, endstop bracket, filament holder, base cover and power supply brackets are all optional extras. 
> They do turn the basic kit into a really impressive machine, but optional :-)  
> 
> So what's with the gearing thing then #40 ?


If I were considering buying one of these (I'm not honest, I'm broke) where would be the best place to get it? I'm in the UK.

----------


## endure

> The original sheet i bought a couple of years ago, you scored and snapped. 
> Not sure I'm overly happy you can cut it with scissors, we'll see.



It's just arrived. It's quite bendy. More cuttable than scoreable I think. It's 0.6mm thick.

----------


## curious aardvark

Insulated the bottom of the heat bed today with some foil tape. Used 2 layers
Definitely seems to heat up faster. 

Also remembered some one saying If you set the temp past where you want it, it will heat up faster. 
Yep. 
I did time it to 70c the other day. took 12 minutes. 
However if I set the target temp at 84c - it hits 70 in 2-3 minutes ! 
Not sure how much is due to less heat lost and how much just to setting it past the actual temp. 
When set to 70c, It basically surged to 65c and then ground to a halt, and crept up very slowly. 

Going to experiment to see how much past the actual temp you need to go.

----------


## curious aardvark

don't know how much use it is. But it is interesting to see how careful the system is to get the right temperature.

Mind you that said, it usually settles on 54c on  50c setting :-)

***

well tape definitely makes a difference. Instead of her usual 54/50 running bed temp. 

She's currently settled at 59/50
Kinda weird. 

Presumably this means I can set the temp at 40 and it'll run at 50 :-) 
lol
Having a go at a print in place iris box. 
running at 60mm/s - slowest I've ever done pla on alexa. 
Curious to see if it makes any difference.

Also thinking about a cheap chinese knock off bl-touch. 
The genuine ones all come from south korea. If you see one for £10 less that's shipping from china - It's not genuine. But might still work. 
And on the bltouch website it does say that it's based on opensource technology. So can't really complain when someone copies it. 

If you don't want your stuff to be copied - don't make it opensource :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

simplify3d 4.0. 
Is starting to really annoy me. 

Having backed up my hardrive, I unleashed 168 windows updates on my poor computer yesterday. Approx 14 hours later, everything installed and to my astonishment - the computer still works and, so far, nothing crashes and nobody snuck windows 10 installer on it either. Amazing !  

But does simplify3d 4.0 install and work ? 
Don't be daft, you're having a larf, of course it doesn't. 
That said I did just do a straight install. 
Not sure if it was still installed.

So probably need to uninstall s3d, uninstall c+2015 then install c++ 2015 seperately and then try a reinstall of s3d.
But, I mean why ? 
Every other version just went on and worked. 
I realise it's most likely microsoft telling people that if they want it to run on windows 10 they have to use c++ 2015. despite the myriad of issues it has. Just do a quick search online and you'll see just how much hassle it causes. 

I'll go back and have another go in a bit, when i'm thinking happy thoughts again :-)

***

Finally ! 
So it works, now to see if it was worth the effort of installing it.

----------


## curious aardvark

So I'm going to do another iris box. 
After a lot of effort, hittign it with an axe etc, I eventually went back to thingiverse and read the instructions. 
Turns out there are 16 little tabs you have to break to get the damn thing to work. 

So - yes I does work, really well. 
So just sliced same file with s3d 4.0, curious to see if there's any discernible difference. 
Got to admit, the model limitations aside - it was a really clean print. 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1817180

Be aware that once you've remove the tabs you still have to work your way around the base with a screwdrive, levering till it clicks. The irises were fine, no fettling needed there.
I'll add some pics in a bit. 
But on the whole a very impressive print and one - that like the secret heart box - you won't print unless you're printer is dialled in properly. :-)

Oh yeah. After i'd removed the bed and taped it up and put it back. I didn't calibrate or redo z. And she still printed a working iris box :-)

iris1_447x480.jpg
iris2_455x480.jpg
iris3_444x480.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Few more pics. 

taped bed: 
tapedbed_640x480.jpg

Used a stain/varnish on the woodfill acorn brooches. There is no way unless you told them that anyone would think these were anything but carved from wood. 
walnutacornfront_388x480.jpg
wanutacornback_402x480.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Both iris boxes identical, took same time to print. No issues with either.
So far no obvious differences or improvements in s3d 4.0 over 3.1

----------


## curious aardvark

don't see why - you can get usb cables 3m long that still work. 
Same sort of data transfer and voltage. 
I'm probably only looking at 60 cm or so. 
The holder will clip onto either the top or one of the supporting cross pieces. 

Ordered the struts last week - hopefully should turn up soon.
150cm three mains and 415mm for the 6 side pieces. Basically just scaled everything up from the k200. 
Once I've got them I'll start making the corner pieces and get the build plate cut. 

Should have probably gone to pick it up, but can't spend that long in a car at the moment.

----------


## curious aardvark

nah doesn't work when you click on it - why not just upload to the forum ? 
makes life a lot easier.

The little pics look interesting :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

They look bigger on this tablet.
so you've just got them on magnets, no actual guiding cup ?

----------


## curious aardvark

so did you drill the 10x15's out then ?

----------


## curious aardvark

so the black and silver wheel is printed ?

----------


## curious aardvark

Ah ha - okay, also found the threaded m4 10mm ball bearings. 

okay under £5, altogether, for 12 threaded 10mm ball bearings and 12 magnetic cups :-) 
Bought m4 bolts yesterday as i found some really cheap t-slot nuts with m4 thread. 

Have to admit I like getting all these little packets from china. 

Currently thinking about a volcano hotend with 3:1 gearing - like what autowhiz uses. Not cheap, but I'd like to use my little nema 14 motors. Haven't tried one yet, might not need gearing. 
Struts should get here today.  

So with threads balls and magnetic cups - should work really well.

that perspex on the carriages looks very thin and flexible. Is that a good idea ?

----------


## curious aardvark

10mm with a hole in the middle ? 
can't weigh more than a few grams.

----------


## curious aardvark

does it matter what the shafts weigh ? 
No idea what you've done (no pics ;-) 
I'm just thinking those magnetic cups on the effector and carriages and a ball each end of the shafts. Love the fact that i can just print a glueable insert to stick a 4mm bolt in and just screw the ball bearings on the end of the shafts. 
Much more secure than trying to attach complete ball bearings.

I can cut the heads off the 4mm bolts with my bolt cutter dead easy. Tap that into a shaft insert, dab of superglue to lock the ball bearings in place -  jobs a good one :-)

Oh yeah, missed delivery guy - so struts getting here tomorrow. 
I'll ductape it together for a pic and to get some idea of the sheer size of the Big Bastard :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Unless you're going up to a much larger nozzle size - can't see it making much difference. 

Got my struts:

She going to be tall :-) 
longstruts_176x480.jpg

30x30 seriously heavy duty feel to it.
horiz1_640x150.jpg
horiz2_640x372.jpg

And standard 6mm t-slot nuts work just fine
6mmt-nutswork_640x480.jpg

Corner pieces are going to be beasts, on reflection should probably have got longer horizontals. 
we'll see. 

Leg's improving slowly, so i can actually sit at the desk a bit longer each day. 
I think I'm just missing wheels and belt gears now, and all the stuff in transit from hong kong and china :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

as far as I know lol 
Any reason they shouldn't be ? 
IT was seriously well packed. 
They all line up and look perfectly straight. 
They didn't come from china - just about 30 miles down the road. 

I actually went for the lighter extrusion - but even that's seriously heavy duty, and about £20 cheaper.

Bolt a couple spikes to the 415mm lengths and you've got a seriously heavy duty hand weapon. 
Lengths are all bang on for the shorter struts.

----------


## curious aardvark

like I said they look straight. line up with no obvious gaps.
This isn't cheap chinese or american manufacturing - proper british engineering mate - they are straight ;-)

----------


## curious aardvark

> 16:37:28.475 : N19 M105*31
> 16:37:29.630 : N20 G29*32
> 16:37:31.533 : N21 M105*20
> 16:37:34.606 : N22 M105*23
> 16:37:35.199 : Info:Autoleveling disabled
> 16:37:37.664 : N23 M105*22
> 16:37:40.004 : Z-probe:80.64 X:-66.00 Y:-38.00
> 16:37:40.721 : N24 M105*17
> 16:37:43.779 : N25 M105*16
> ...


so what am I supposed to do with these ? 

Plate is physically level - just 1, 100th of a mm difference between all three points.

There is an autolevelling option on the printers control panel as well.

But from what i can gather you have to move the head around manually and Ive never had much joy with that either :-)

Okay i tried it once and seemed like a pita.

----------


## curious aardvark

> Z tower endstop offset in the Eeprom settings round off to the nearest number.


lost me there. 

Have yet to mess with that kind of thing. No the the first clue where that lot is.

Given that it never actually probes anywhere but three points on the outer rim - i there actually any point in doing a topographical 'level' with so few points ? 

First test corner piece came out perfect :-) 
Strut is snug as a bug in a rug !

----------


## curious aardvark

I'll give that a go when I'm not printing something. 
cheers

Got me calculations way off for the first cornerpiece. 
Ended up with internal angle of 120. So currently printing - hopefully - a 60 :-)

Next need to work out where the belts are going to go.

----------


## curious aardvark

Corner piece comparison: 30x30 struts for the Big Bastard versus 20x20 on the he3d k200.
And yes i know the holes don't line up on that corner piece- they will on the next one :-) Why they're called - 'test pieces'

cornercomp1_640x360.jpg

cornercomp2_640x480.jpg

cornercomp3_530x480.jpg

cornercomp4_640x213.jpg

Have to admit, till I did a direct comparison just now - I hadn't realised just how much larger the 30x30 is :-)
Cue manic laughter: _'hahahhahahhaha !!!!!! She going to be a monster !'_

----------


## curious aardvark

these are just test peices. 
Each one is currently different :-)

The third one will have wedge shaped rails for the horizontal struts.
Just to lock them into place. 2 Bolts each side ought to do it. 
Might end up with more - depends if I have to make the base much bigger. Still not convinced the struts are long enough. 
Looking at build plate I reckon I can extend each side by at least another 10 cm if necessary.

Mind you once you stick a couple struts into the corner pieces it looks pretty big :-)

The vertical strut does not need anything else. I have to hammer it in and out. This flashforge pla is tough stuff. I had some aluminium powder come out the last time - pla isn't scratched at all :-)

Been banging it on the floor to get it in and against the underside of the table to get it out. 
Need a rubber mallet :-)

first 2 printed at 100mm/s - thought I'd do the 3rd one at 150 - just to see if it's still dimensionally accurate. Plus it cuts the print time down to 1 hour :-)

Meanwhile using flsshforge to make some 30x30 strutnuts :-)

Sorted :-) 
3mm strutnuts1_640x480.jpg

3mm strutnuts2_640x480.jpg

Lock really nicely in place and can be tightened pretty much as much as the metal ones. 
These use nuts for 3mm bolts - not sure if 4 mm nuts would be too big. 
I'll see :-)
Nope - nuts don't physically fit the 6mm channel. 
No problem I have  a lot of of 3mm nuts and my local hardware store does well cheap different length 3mm bolts. 
Given that these are sized for 30mm extrusion - not going to bother posting the stl. If anyone wants it - pm me :-)

They're actually better than the strutnits meant for the 2-x20 as they fill the slot and give a lot more surface area to grip with. 
I'll see if I can break one.

Yep. Left a fairly deep gouge in the aluminium mind you. 
I'll use the metal ones for structural joining. These will be fine for anything not under a lot of stress.

----------


## curious aardvark

> In Repetier Host click on Config --> Firmware Eeprom Configuration.  List pops up.  Scroll down to the X, Y and Z tower offset.


Ah ha ! 
who knew that was all there (not me lol).

So what does the: Bed Heat manager do - 0-3 currently on 3. 
If I change that will it heat up quicker ? 

911 metres printed !

----------


## curious aardvark

Houston - we have a problem. 
houston_640x412.jpg

The glass disc is the unused 200mm glass bed from the k200 - just for a bit of perspective :-) 
The cardboard is 370mm - which once you add 10mm for bolts to the 350mm print area - is the size the aluminium plate will be. 
somewhere down the line I bogged the maths up_ (are we surprised ? didn't think so :-)._ 

Corner piece redesign I reckon. 
Looks like If I make them a bit wider, it should do the job. Although making the strut holders longer would be a lot easier. I'll try that first.
I will measure it - but hey, I did that last time. 
doh !

Oh yeah made a bunch of strutnuts: 
strutnuts_473x480.jpg

***
added 45mm to length of struts - basically lining struts up with end of corners adds 45mm and is bang on size wise. So extrusion should have been 460 not 415. 
Oh well, plastic cheaper than aluminium and there will be an aluminium baseplate as well. So it's not losing anything structural integrity wise. Right hope the new corner piece fits the printer bed.

Yep - and the 150mm/s print was just as good as the 100 and 75's - so that's good :-)


More once I've printed the new corners.

----------


## curious aardvark

Calculation wise I just scaled up from alexa. 1.7 something I think it was. 
Would have been better making a cardboard mockup first. Or finding out if there was a standard calculation already online somewhere. 
Well we live and learn :-) 

given how much cornerpiece there now is, plenty space for the belts. 
Hell, all it needs is a crosspeice and a hole - the crosspiece will further reinforce the corners as well. Can get them pretty close to the uprights without any problems.
Need to do the carriages first, I think. 

Bought some £10 kg filament a few weeks back, that was supposed to ship from the uk. No sign of it, so presumably it's on the slow boat from china. A lot of amazon suppliers lie through their teeth about stuff like that ;-)
Shame as I'm running out of flashforge filament. Mind you, plenty of other stuff lying around. 

Sliced the larger corner for the flashforge last night: 60mm/s - reckoned 6hours 54mins. Given that alexa knocks them out at 1 hour 48, didn't bother doing one on geraldine lol

***


bigcorners_640x349.jpg

So that's the right size. 
Now need to move the upright sockets inwards and reshape the cornerpieces. 

I'm getting there, slowly :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

So I ended up with this: 
corner piece test.jpg

Somehow the non-rounded corners make it look more industrial - or maybe that's just me :-)

Anyway it will keep the sturts the right distance, while having the upright a lot nearer the horizontals _(see, I do listen ;-)
_It's also 40gms lighter, hour 23 print time. I also made the upright socket a half mm larger in both directions. Primarily because it's cold and wet out there and I can't be arsed to go all the way down the garden to get the rubber mallet out of my shed :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

given the sheer heavidutiness_ (yeah it's a word)_ of the 30x30 struts and corner pieces and the fact that I'll have reinforcing bars about 2/3 of the way up (also necessary for the control panel if the printer is on a desk) and an aluminium plate on the base. Also the commercial units will have a top aluminium plate as well. The BB will have a plywood top, so I can move stuff around easily. 
Definitely only need one set of horizontals. 
Don't forget, all the gear: steppers, psu, motherboard, will be top mounted. 
Probably go for a side mounted filament holder, you won't want to stand on a chair to do it. 
The only thing going at the bottom is the heated bed, which will be manually adjustable. After the recent threads - going to avoid topographical mapping completely.  It's definitely not necessary as long as you have an adjustable bed.

Until I get the cupped magnets and wheels and pulleys - don't know how big the carriages will be - so won't finish the corner pieces with the pulley until I get those. 

It does mean I'll need to print an extra set of corner pieces - but at 480 grams a set - I can live with that. 
Finally found some decent priced wheels last night. Sets of 9 - so bought 2 - came in at £6.80 - so about 38p a wheel (under 50 cents).
White with bearings. 
Haven't decided on final colour scheme yet - but probably go with white pla as it contrasts well with the silver aluminium. Plus it's really hard to see the print lines of white pla :-) 
Or I might go with black - or red. 

I don't really do colours lol

Currently contemplating whether to buy a set of metal nema 17 brackets or print plastic cages. 
Probably go for the metal, for longevity. Plus they aren't exactly expensive. 

Cost is currently at £270 and I think, just the printbite (and motor brackets) to go. Though I am also thinking about a volcano hot end with gears. 
But should still come in under the £350 mark and that's with upgrading almost everything compared to the k200.  

I'll get the frame up this week and cut the top board and maybe get the aluminium cut as well.

----------


## curious aardvark

So I can actually fit 2 of the new cornerpieces on alexa at one print - 3 hours at 150mm/s.
And one on the flashforge at 3 and a half hours at 65mm/s.
Looks like the 0.5mm nozzle also helps a bit too :-)

Got them down to 67gms.

----------


## curious aardvark

So here's the thing. 
Printing stuff at speed with a fairly large bead - in this case 150mm/s at 0.3mm leyer height and a 0.5mm nozzle - is almost entirely down to how good your filament is and possibly what colour it is. 
Must have wasted a couple of hours trying to get yusu black filament to do this.  
Not  a hope in hell. It's thick ad blobby and clearly only for use i fairly slow prints. 

The mystery roll of red pla I bought a while back and was supposed to be sunlu - but clearly isn't, is now cranking it out with no problems. 
Also ordered more flashforge as it's gone down to £12 and next day free delivery with my amazon prime. 
The red flashforge is easily the best pla I've used since the original wood coloured reprapper-tech stuff stopped being made.
So threw in a roll of flashforge white and black as well. 

Now the more I use different filaments, the more I believe it's actually a lot more to do with colourant, than it is with manufacturer, 
For example Green filaflex and ninjaflex, prints easily on my replicator clones. But red tpu just won't print at all.
Alexa will print any of them. Which is counter indicative as she's a bowden. 

Thinking there is something in the red colourant that lets filament flow better and keeps it that little bit more flexible. 
But as no manufactuer currently lists pla ingredients - it's just a theory based on the last 3 1/2 filament usage. 

And anyone who still believes pla is brittle needs to take a 30x30mm aluminium strut, wedge it into a pla corner and bang it up and down - hard - on a concrete floor. 
I also threw one of the old corners up i the air and let it crash down on the floor - still concrete - it bounced, of course it did :-)

Got a little warp on the flashforge corner - forgot It was set up for printing really small things (strutnuts) and it needs a bit more smoosh for larger items. 
Might work - we'll see.

----------


## curious aardvark

You still need the probe to manual level. 

This mystery filament not as good as the flashforge. 
dropping speed to 120 for next two pieces.  :-(
lol  still twice as quick as the flashforge. Plus I don't think I've ever had anything warp, even a little bit on alexa.

----------


## mjf55

So my CFO ( my wife ) just approved the purchase of my second printer, and based on both curious aardvark's and number40Fan's praise of the HE3d K200 printer, that is my choice.

A couple of  questions:
1 - is 3dprintersonline store.com the best place to purchase it.  I know that CA had good experience there, how about you, number4Fan?

2 - I trust you guys will be available to provide support as I build this?  This is my first kit.

Thanks.

----------


## mjf55

Thanks for that.  Ball ended allen wrenches seem to have the all on the long side, is that ok or is the short side preferred?
I already made my effector ( printed this one https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2417445 ) .  Can you recommend a z-probe holder?

Whats your thoughts on dual extrusion?  Is it worth while?

----------


## curious aardvark

get the long ones. It's for reaching under and through the corner pieces to get to the fram bolts. Seriously fiddly. 
I actually swapped some of my screws for phillips computer screws so i could use a long screwdriver. 
Since got the ball ended allen keys and they do help :-)

Dual extruder dual extrusion I am not a fan of. Causes a lot more hassel than it solves. 
Get the hot bed - that's a given - also means you never have to tackle the topographical mapping. 
If you need dual extrusion - you can always add a 2-into-1 extruder at some future point.  Which in my opinion is the way to go for a delta. And independant extruders for a cartesian. 
The side by side setup, just causes nothing but hassle. 

I just like the information and service side of 3dprinterstoronline. The tracking was brilliant. Everytime it moved from one warehouse in hong kong to another - they updated it. 
You pay the same price, no matter where you buy it from - so why bother going elsewhere ? 

If you go back and read through the thread, hopefully it will reassure you. Your's should also come with an injection moulded effector - check the size, you might still need to print #40fans - though to be honest, not sure it makes a huge difference. I did a fair bit of printing with the original sized effector.  
Get a 30x30 12v fan and print my duct setup, might as well install as you build. I've looked at reprapmall's double turbo fan duct and it will definitely catch the carriages and belt on larger prints - the effector almost touches the belts if you print right out at the edge as it is. Not sure what they were thinking.  Likewise their filament holder looks flash - but mine is better :-) 
lol

Looking around - for the money this is probably the best quality delta around.  All you need is the video and motherboard wiring diagram. 
Oh and get some belt tensioners. Cheap and take the hassle out of trying to fit the belts really tight. 

I'd also recommend printbite - but it's pricey, so optional. IF you're happy with the glue, spray, tape and scraper approach - fair enough. 
I can't foresee ever going back to all that crap :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628

it's all on there :-)

----------


## mjf55

Thanks guys.  I expect to order shortly.
Belt tensioners?  Do you mean the spring things like this?https://www.amazon.com/Mercurry-Tens.../dp/B01E913IJK

Print bite may have to wait.  I m happy with green frog tape now, but we will see...

I have read the complete thread.  Thats why I decided on this printer.  :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

lol that's the boys. Little clothes peg clips. 
Actually the main issue i had with tape was that it stuck too well. 

Now i know how to adjust the z-height from simplify3d (and cura if anyone wants to know) tape should work quite well, just make sure there's very little smoosh :-)

So after reading the whole thread - have you now started therapy ? ;-)  

So an update.
When you order filament and it's cheaper than it was last time - make sure it's the sane size roll. 
Yeah, I bought 3 600gm rolls for £12 each, when the 1kg rolls are £14. 
Doh ! and face palm. 

I have also just changed Alexa's nozzle_ (ow er missus !)
_Had a couple odd prints that seemed to have stopped about half way. Figured it was gcode misfire. But came in on her printing in midair this afternoon. Ah ha ! 
After almost 1 kilometer of filament, it does look somewhat worn. So restarted print with new shiny nozzle. 

Oh yeah, I know they all tell you to heat the nozzle up before unscrewing. Don't !
For one thing you'll burn your fingers, for another all that does is expand the metal and lock it in place. I've changed a fair few nozzles over the years and never yet heated one up. Just remove the filament, let it cool down and unscrew.

----------


## mjf55

Therapy, yeah, the wife must think i need it.  I tell her she has multiple sewing machines, but somehow that doesn't count.  I just got cura (2.7) running good on my other machine ( a da vinci jr ) so if you have the configuration, that would be great.  The simplify 3d file also, just for comparison.

I plan to start with pla, because that is what i have and it will be good to dial in.  
How do you like petg?  I assume this can do them all.  
Also, any particular brand of filament you like?

thanks.

EDIT: oh, the electronics are the same for a single vs dual extruder right, I can add what you suggested without a board replacement?

----------


## mjf55

Just placed my order.  Cant wait

----------


## curious aardvark

Yep board will need a plug in stepper motor module, about a dollar. But that's it. 
At the moment my favourite filament is flashforge. Prints clean, fast and is super strong. Pet-g prints a bit slower, but had no problemS. The two before and after nozzle pictures I used for the fan duct are both petg. 
Flexibles print pretty slow, but that's the same on any machine.

----------


## curious aardvark

Had some odd prints recently. 
And sods law would have it be the corner pieces for the BB. 
Changed the nozzle over and while the doucle corner piece print still stopped printing at around 25% it started up again a few layers later. So while the print finished, each corner was in 2 halves. 

Only thing I can think is that at that orientattion on the build plate the bowden tube hits some sort of contortion that massively increases the friction and stops printing for a short while. 

So turned the print round on the plate and currently having no issues with one corner. 

Stripped the extruder down. 
The hobbed bolt is clean, no issues with the filament feed. Weird. 
The old nozzle did look out of true, but still weird.

----------


## curious aardvark

Knocked off 3 coerners in a row with no issues. Did drop speed to 125 - probably not necessary but only made 10 minutes difference.

So today been making the top - or base depending on how you look at it :-)

Was going to measure stuff - but in the end just put base on top of box and drew it. 
Then used the cardboard template to draw on plywood and cut that out. Which is why the cardboard is a much better fit and shape than the plywood one :-) 
Plus I'm not terribly good at getting straight lines with a bandsaw. 
Fast, dirty and functional, have always been my woodworking watchwords :-) 
Precision, not so much, lol

So got the mounting bolt holes drilled and plywood top is now firmly attached. Those plastic strutnuts do a pretty good job. Just as well no sign of the metal ones yet. 
But I do need some shorter bolts. 

Corner pieces and cardboard build plate
cornersandcbuildp_640x423.jpg

Cardboard top/baseplate
cardboardtoptemp_640x444.jpg

Plywood top bolted on.
plywoodtop_640x347.jpg

Also decided that I only need a top with short legs to get the rest designed. So no need to print another 3 temporary cornerpieces and fight with a full size frame. 
So the:_ ' holy crap dude,  that thing is huge !'_ picture will have to wait until I've done a fair bit more designing and fitting :-)

Next job is mounting board, psu and motors so i can finally see how it all fits. 
Did think about cables going through the centre of the plate. But will probably work better at the side with a rubber cable snake to keep everything out of the way of the arms and suspended extruder.

----------


## curious aardvark

question. 
both pulleys and motor pulleys arrived to day. 
Are different sizes. Obviously that's no good. 
The pulleys are 12 mm diameter by 13mm long. 
the motor pulleys are 10mm by 7.5 (ish).
Given that I'm using 6mm gt2 belt, I presume I need smaller pulleys. 
Assuming also that smaller pulleys will give a better precision.
I also think they are different tooth numbers. 

One of thees days I'll actually think about what I;m buying and check it's the right thing.

So is there somewhere in the marlin firmware config file where you tell it how large the pulleys are ?

----------


## spegelius

Wouldn't that be controlled by steppers steps/mm? Don't know how it's done for Delta setup, never configured one...

----------


## curious aardvark

yep - but bear in mind that the diameter of the driving pulley, determines how much belt is moved per step. 
A pulley with a smaller diameter will move less belt per step. 
So the firmware must need to know the diameter of the pulleys.



Here's an interesting fact. I can print four mounting brackets for the psu and the mounting plate for the motherboard on Alexa, an hour faster than I can print just the motherboard mounting plate on the flashforge. 

So haven't bothered printing the motherboard plate on the flashforge lol

Just ordered some metal nema 17 mounting brackets. I'll make some plastic ones for testing, but use the metal ones on the final build.

----------


## curious aardvark

Screwed the board and psu to the top.
Screen works - but apparently isn't talking to the board as can't get a motor to move.

I guess this is where the fun part begins :-) 
Just downloading a bunch of arduino related stuff.
More as it works - or doesn't :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

So I get as far as telling ide to read the marlin.ino file. The instructions then say: 



> There might be some warning error message during compiling, just neglect those message.


There is no skip error option and if the '//' them out it just keeps bringing up new ones. 

So not particularly impressed with that. How do I copy alexa's firmware to the new board ? 
At least that way I'll have abetter idea what I'm dealing with.

***

Ah ha - if we rewind back to page 39-40 of this thread - john has kindly supplied both file sand instructions. Currently following those.

Seemed to work - currently attempting to change custom logo on the tft screen.

Yeah, that doesn't work. Would help if the img2lcd program on the instructions was: 
a) in english and not chinese
b) the same version I downloaded. 

There's a setting mismatch somewhere.

----------


## curious aardvark

Well, no signs of life so far. 
Can't get the marlin off the oosooyoo website to load at all. 
I did get #40fan's repetier from his k200 to load. 
But back on repetierhost, the eeprom line is still grayed out. 
Suggesting it can't see that part of the board. 

And I can't get a motor to move.

Help !

----------


## mjf55

Well my K200 arrived this morning.  Time to watch the videos and read this thread again.  
Did you guys compile your own firmware for the K200 or do you have a file I can use?

Sorry Mr Aardvark, I cant offer you any help.  I am at the bottom of the learning curve.

----------


## curious aardvark

I have never touched the k200's firmware - I suggest you don't either till you get a problem with it :-)

It comes fully working.
As I don't see how my prints could improve - I've left it well alone.

----------


## mjf55

So I started building my printer this evening.  with a broken hand, the going was rougher than it should have been.  Some observations and a question
First, You really do need the ball end hex keys. Those screws in the corners are a nightmare.  I was warned ahead of time, but did not order them.  I have corrected that this evening and will have them tomorrow. ( love same day delivery of amazon)
Next,  the effector is still 3d printed, and as curious aardvark noted, of poor quality.  I already made a new one based on information already provided here and will use that.
Third, The instructions are not the best.  The provided sheet lacks detail, along with the animated YouTube on the 3dprintersonlinestore site.  What seems to be much better is the series of videos where you see someone actually building the printer.  However, the animated video and the live video does not match.  I am going with the live video.   

Now that leads me to my question.  What is the order of spring washers, wheels, spacers on the carriage part.  They differ in the 2 videos and also with the printed sheet.  What I think is correct is screw, 2 spring washers, spacer, carriage acrylic and finally nut.  For the other side: the screw, 1 spring washer, wheel, eccentric nut, acrylic carriage and the nut.  

Can you guys provide some guidance?

----------


## curious aardvark

the he3d video is brilliant for everything but the wheels. 
I like it because you can run it backwards and forwards and see the part from lots of different angles. 
There is a correction for the wheels on the he3d website. 
Also here: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/K200
wheels :


he3d faq: http://www.reprapmall.com/index.php?...log/blog&id=41

That lot should do it. :-)
We did say those bottom frame bolts were fiddly :-)

I put the carriages together the way it showed in the video - can't say it made any difference doing it the right way afterwards :-) But it makes a lot more sense.

I didn't do it qyite like they did. 
I assembled the carriages and then dropped them down onto the struts. Much easier than trying to add them after you've put the top on. 
The adjustable nuts aren't really necessary. 

So build carriages, attach arms, drop onto struts, tighten, put top on, attach arms to effector. 
Is the easiest way to do it.

The animated video and the circuit diagram are all you need. 
And a tablet for the video is also helpful.

----------


## mjf55

Thanks for the picture.  Thats how I built it.
Well, got the mechanical completed.  Will start mounting the electronics.  I think it is right. 
What is the proper amount of bet tension, or should i not worry about it when I put in the belt tension springs?
EDIT: I just read in the facebook group that the arms are different and should be paired?  Is that true, I did not check mine.  Should I take them back off and check?  Thanks
he3d-k200-day2.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Arms all identical far as i know.
an awful lot of crap on that facebook group.
Tension wise get them as tight as you can in the fitting, then use two tension springs per belt - well that's what i;ve done.

----------


## mjf55

Thanks CA and number40Fan, I just measured and they are all the same.  
It sounded wonky, that's why I ran it by here.  

Hope to finish build this evening.  I adjusted the belts using the method in the He3d K200 D8 tutorial 8 at the 2 minute mark where you make the belts tight as you can then move the top frame member up using the adjustment screws at the top.

----------


## mjf55

> Right. Extruder is now modded with ptfe tube. 
> 
> Extrudes, loads unloads - in short it works. 
> Now knowing that without this 'mod' (read: essential operation) the extruders simply do not work. Why on gods earth would you sell one to someone without the necessary 40-50mm (did not measure it) of ptfe tube already installed ?
> Particularly when you consider how much attention to detail has gone into everything else.
> 
> Insanity.


CA, exactly what is this mod.  Is the gap near the top where the ptfe tube from the bowden connects to the top of the extruder, or is it near the bottom of the extruder, near the heater / cold break.  I had a little difficulty pushing the ptfe tube in as much as the video series says to ( almost the total length of the extruder) , but when I took off the top, I could see a ptfe tube down there.

EDIT:  I took abart my hotend/extruder.  There is a small ptfe tube in there running down to the bottom of the steel tube (heat break?)  I make sure that the nozzle butts right up against that so there is not gap.  I also pushed the long ptfe tube in the top until it meet the internal one.  So no gaps there.  I think thats right.  any comments?

----------


## mjf55

So, after 3 evenings, my k200 stirs awake.  Other than a faulty extruder thermistor issue ( typical shorting causing a 'DEF' error on the display )

I can zero the axis and the extruder goes to the top. 

Still have to install the springs.  How far up the rods to they go?

Time to figure our the software and start printing.

Anyone have a s3d, or cura configuration / settings theey can pass to me.  Thanks

----------


## mjf55

Thanks number40Fan.  I did find the fff file, although I think I will load the info into cura.  I'm kinda getting use to it.  On the springs, zip tie above and below to hold in place or do you have another way?

And the big question.  How do I calibrate and bed level this thing.  I was able to level the bed using g1 commands to move in 4 locations ( center and 3 by the bed screws ) and had a z=10 where the paper was a little tight.  How to I record those z-offset values so it stays?  I did an auto calibrate after that and every thing ( well z-offset ) changed.  I clearly dont fully understand.   Do you have a step by step method to calibrate ?  Thanks for the help.  I m real excited to get printing.

EDIT: Oh, do you use the glass to print on or just tape on the aluminum bed?

----------


## mjf55

Leveled the bed to the horizontal extrusions.
Ran the G29 calibration.  here is the result

03:39:52.432 : Info:Autoleveling disabled
03:39:54.271 : Z-probe:50.76 X:-66.00 Y:-38.00
03:39:57.698 : Z-probe:50.39 X:66.00 Y:-38.00
03:40:00.877 : Z-probe:49.50 X:0.00 Y:66.00
03:40:01.832 : Z-probe average height:50.22
03:40:01.835 : Info:Autoleveling enabled
03:40:01.837 : X:0.47 Y:65.95 Z:50.165 E:0.0000

Please explain what you are doing with this info

Played some more, and this is where I am at.
04:43:04.498 : Info:Autoleveling disabled
04:43:06.296 : Z-probe:47.74 X:-66.00 Y:-38.00
04:43:09.161 : Z-probe:47.78 X:66.00 Y:-38.00
04:43:11.908 : Z-probe:47.76 X:0.00 Y:66.00
04:43:12.690 : Z-probe average height:47.76
04:43:12.692 : Info:Autoleveling enabled
04:43:12.695 : X:0.47 Y:65.95 Z:50.165 E:0.0000

So, I think I got it. The data show ( I think ) that the bed is level (47.74 - 47.78 , just .04 low to high ).  So I put double paper on the bed, baby z-stepped ( What about Bob ) down to where the paper just drags a little, then using the control panel, set z=0 ans saved to eeprom.  That appear to to be it.  I did not do the auto bed calibration, as that 
Anyone disagree, please let me know.  Also, I see people mention 'the math' and i dont know what that means.  If anyone knows, please let let me know.


When using Repetier-Host,  if the printer is at home, and I press the home button again, I get a pop-up saying "00 Your printer requested a pause.  When I hit continue printing, I get a slow z movement down along with space music from 'Close Encounters Of The Third Time' until I reset the machine.  Whats up with that?

----------


## curious aardvark

have you got the heated bed ?

----------


## mjf55

> have you got the heated bed ?


Yes I do. (why do you ask? (I needed at least 10 characters))

----------


## mjf55

How did you guys get the springs to say on the rods.  The semi-open ended side ( 90* to the coil ) just pops off.  Whats the magic.  
Other than that I think I am ready.  Did a dry ( filament-less) print and it went fine.  Sings a funny song ;-(

----------


## curious aardvark

I bent the ends and locked in place with small cable ties. 
Didn't have an issue with them coming off.

If you have the heated bed then you don't need to mess about with topographical mapping (it's NOT levelling) 
Just keep doing the g29 and adjust the three levelling screws until the three numbers are within a few 100ths of a mm. 

Then use the control panel to zero z - and that's the entire levelling process. Plus it actually physically levels the bed, the weird way maps the surface. 

Yep they do make a pleasant noise.

----------


## curious aardvark

Oh and when you're printing a test holder for cupped magnets and it's a  great super tight fit first go - make sure you can get the bloody thing  out again ;-)   
Currently dismantling the holder with a knife. MKII with hole in the base to push the magnet out, is printing lol

had to melt the bugger out. Second one works perfectly, pushes out easily. 

Just need wheels and threaded ball bearings and I can start on the shafts and carriages. 
Dab of glue and those suckers are never coming out :-)

----------


## mjf55

How do you load the filament?  I know to push it into the bowden and down to hot end as far as it will go, but what about the rest of the way, so that the start of the print will not be missing any material?  Is there some special g commands or simple g1 Exx?

Trying a small test print now.

----------


## wendy

> Thanks for the picture.  Thats how I built it.
> Well, got the mechanical completed.  Will start mounting the electronics.  I think it is right. 
> What is the proper amount of bet tension, or should i not worry about it when I put in the belt tension springs?
> EDIT: I just read in the facebook group that the arms are different and should be paired?  Is that true, I did not check mine.  Should I take them back off and check?  Thanks
> Attachment 11067




Please reverse the fan , the fan lable should be inside

----------


## curious aardvark

If you have thd filamdnt path correct if pushes through all the way to the nozzle. If it won't push thst far, you need to check why.

----------


## curious aardvark

So got the latest tct magazine this morning. Mono price talking about a mini delta - news to me. Apparently launched back in may.

It's tiny ! 110mmx120. 
Very compact and tidy. And it's got me thinking. How much of a tiny portable delta could you 3d print ?

I reckon, pretty much everything bar: psu, board, motors, rods, z stops, extruder and linear bearings.
arguably if you used wheeled carriages, you could even print the wheels.

The frame could be printed in 2 pieces (frame and top). 
Nema 14s or similiar small motors should be fine.
you could even print an unheated bed. Useblue tape which is pretty sticky cold. I reckon under £100.

Can't find anyone selling the mp mini delta. But apparently it's well under $200.
Got me thinking anyway :-)

----------


## mjf55

Hi Wendy, I did notice that I already reversed it.  Thanks.

----------


## mjf55

I started making a few low layer count prints and they are coming out very nice.  I started a Benchy today and around layer 30, (.2 mm height ) the bed had an some slight movement / shifting.  the glass to aluminum bed is not moving, but the spring adjustment mechanism is.  What would cause that.  How tight is your bed on the springs, and do you guys have any modes to secure it better.  Seems like a problem.
I have attached a photo of the x and y springs.  The seem like they are fairly far inserted.
Also, my cura engine settings are 
print speed:50
outer perimiter speed :45
infill speed: 80

I do need to connect my nozzle fan...
The bed is level according to the output from a G29 command.
11:33:15.580 : Z-probe:59.96 X:-66.00 Y:-38.00
11:33:20.881 : Z-probe:59.91 X:66.00 Y:-38.00
11:33:26.066 : Z-probe:60.01 X:0.00 Y:66.00
11:33:28.072 : Z-probe average height:59.96

How accurate is the stock z-probe.  Should I use the extra z-stop switch

I also know that my glass is somewhat wavy near the edges.  number40fan replaced his glass.  What is a good source of new glass?

Any help is appreciated

----------


## mjf55

CA, how is your design / build of your giant delta printer going.  Any updates?

----------


## curious aardvark

first off - your bed is not that level. 

Ideally you need all three to be the same, or at least within 1 or 2 100th's of a mm. 
Not that hard, just takes a few g29s and some patience :-)
Running the first layer at 150-200% thicknss gets round that and doubles as a non-destructive raft.

Second make sure the little plastic bed mounts are really tight to the corner pieces. At some point I'll design a better mount that can't move and bolts directly onto the aluminium extrusion. 
Then screw the springs down till they are really tight. This will help and also make sure your bed stays level longer. 

No idea on the glass, never used glass. 
Mirrors are supposed to be pretty good. 
The heatbed itself should be properly flat, so use that rather than the glass. My printbite is stuck directly to the heatbed. 

As far as the BB goes. Still waiting for some bits from china. Had a really good look at all the big and medium sized deltas (WASP make one large enough to print a couch or small garden shed). 

So I'm definitely going for a flying extruder, probably even with a nema17 rather than my 14. There were some half the size of bb with that setup and no issues. The weird thing was they used stretchy rubber/silicon tubing to attach the extruder to the carriages. Possibly to act as shock absorbers in case the extruder motion effects the carriage movement.  So I'll have a think about that. Might print some connectors out of filaflex.
Also, now changed the way I'll be making the magnetic arms and attachments. 
Instead of the balls on the ends of the arms, you mount the magnets on the arms and the balls on the effector and carriages. Given my balls have threaded sockets _(lmao, just reread that statement)  _ that is actually very easy to do. 
It gives you a much wider range of movement on the arms and considerably less chance of one detaching. 

Also considering getting a more expensive arm based motherboard. Still no sign of eeprom on the gen base 1.5.
Worth going to the show for those few things alone. 

My printbite is on it's way, still need to pop over to jsk and get the base plate and aluminium bed made. Might need to make the bed mounts first so I know where the holes need to be drilled. 

Currently got some actual paying work - wahey ! 
So bb not a current priority. 
But, yep the final design is almost there in my head :-)

----------


## mjf55

Re-leveling my bed.  Got these numbers:
15:07:54.370 : Z-probe:71.90 X:-66.00 Y:-38.00
15:08:02.066 : Z-probe:71.90 X:66.00 Y:-38.00
15:08:09.656 : Z-probe:71.89 X:0.00 Y:66.00
15:08:12.848 : Z-probe average height:71.90
15:08:12.848 : X:0.00 Y:66.00 Z:40.000 E:0.0000

If I rotate the glass, they change.  I am sure the glass is uneven.  It also moves a little.  Put one of those big paper clip on it to hold it.  Need to make a better clamp than I have.  Trying another test print.....

Layer height = 0.2
First layer height = 0.3
First layer extrusion width = 100%




> The heatbed itself should be properly flat, so use that rather than the glass.


  If this does not work, I'll just try tape on the heatbed.



> Currently got some actual paying work - wahey !


  :-)

----------


## mjf55

The big paper clamps did not work, maybe too small.  I have bigger clamps that I am using and they appear to work fine for holding.  The Benchy turned out crappy.  200*c, 50*c bed, 50 mm/s print speed, NO cooling fan.
20170927_183005_crop_492x604.jpg20170927_182932_crop_756x836.jpg

Time to install your cooling fan.

----------


## mjf55

Now this is interesting.  The side facing the cooling fan is MUCH better, almost perfect.  The side away from the fan, a little better.
20170927_185252_crop_436x320.jpg

Lowering temp to 190.  I am open to suggestions.................

EDIT1: 190* did not look good.

EDIT2: noticed fan min speed was set to 50% and that was what it was running at.  Bumped it to min 75 and re-trying at 200*  Also noticed bed is running 5* hotter than set point.  So I lowered bed to 45 , expecting ~ 50* actual. ( actual is 51)
Here is the result.  Better, but still messy on the leeward side.  
20170927_192748_crop_398x424.jpg

EDIT3: All this editing is not doing my post count any good ;-)
This will be at 195*, bed at 44* (actual is still 51*) and min fan speed at 95%

----------


## mjf55

So the final tests at at 195* 50* bed, fan at 95% and like all good skippers, heading into the wind (fan).  Now the front looks good, and the stern is bad,
Attachment 11082Attachment 11083

So, any advice?  CA?

----------


## curious aardvark

always found anything below 200 is too cool for pla. 
go back to 210, make sure the fan is on 100% - it's not really got enough power to bother running at anything less.
1st layer - 0, 2nd layer onwards 100% 

which size fan nozzle are you using ?

I've defaulted to the 9mm with holes. 

Temp stability is not perfect, don't worry about it. 

have found that the hotend doesn't like running hotter than 250. Been playing with some new filament types I got at the tct show. 

New type of abs from innofill. Still smells, but less shrinkage. However they seem to have achieved this by making it super weak. 
printed trolley keys in three materials. innofil abs fusion +. Prints okay but is too weak for anything that needs any strength or rigidity, or flex. 
Also did some in colorfabbs ngen - pretty good. Took a while to snap it in two. 
flashforge pla as control. Snapped cleanly, but took at least  twice as much effort to do so than the ngen.

Both the ngen and fusion plus run at high bed temps and high nozzle temps. Alexa was not happy. Could not maintain 255c hot end and 90c bed temp. 
Lost 10c on both. 

Don't have that trouble at 210c and 50c, or 225 and 60 (pet-g). 

But the point is that a few degress either way is not an issue, it'll never be perfect all the time :-)

Oh yeah, stop wasting time and plastic printing bloody benchies. 
Use one of these instead: 
testcube.JPG

Tests everything a benchy does, but with a lot less plastic and a much faster print time.
openscad script: 



> $fn=100;
> difference() {
> cube(25,center=true);
> sphere(d=33);
> }


Adjust the sphere size to get thicker or thinner struts.

Attached stl is for a large cube. just resize in slicer to 25mm cube. 

haven't tried one of these on alexa yet. 
see how a 25mm comes out. 1.23grams of real bastard print :-)

I'll try my usual 75mm/s first. 

Going to do a video review of the k200 in the near future. 
suggestions for what to include welcome :-) 

Not really a youtube type person. Can't stand all the idiots who invariably just swear in the comments sections. 
So comments will be disabled.

----------


## mjf55

In my hot end, there is ptfe tube in there.  Doesn't that limit the filament types.  I thought 255 would melt it?

I am going to check which fan nozzle I am using.  I know it at least is the 'super charged' ones.  

I'll go back to 210, but to be honest 195 looked ok.

Interestingly, I printed the 'he3d cooling fan' and they came out very nice.  Maybe  the boat really does stress the printer.

----------


## mjf55

Ok, So I have your sc-nozzle-16x9x10.stl on there.  At your suggestion I will use:
-- sc-nozzle-9x9x10.stl at 
-- 210*/50*
-- 0% fan first level, 100% for the rest

EDIT: So like a knucklehead, I changed 2 things at a time.
The round nozzel and I sliced in Cura2.7 ( as opposed to the cura engine in Repetier Host V2.0.5.

So the results are MUCH better.  Will have to retest with the cura engine / repetier Host to see what made the improvement.
200-50-roundnozzel-newCura.jpg

200-50-roundnozzel-newCura-1.jpg
EDIT2:
Found what I believe to be the issue, well maybe a few.
Main issue is the cura engine (15.0) in Repetier host has a single switch called *Enable Cooling.* 
When I look at the gcode, the M106 values range all over the place.  So the cooling was not what I thought it would be.
In cura 2.7, I can set Layer 0 cooling and then the rest (layer 1-xxx).  That works as I expected it.

So that is why the print looks as good as it does.

I also think that my little fan could be a little stronger.

Thanks for your help on this.  
Now I am trying your stl above.

----------


## curious aardvark

Good luck with the stl. I probably made the sphere too large. Not syre it's actually printable when resuzed to 25mm. 
Ah you're using cura. 

haven't looked at the latest release, but don't like the layout. 
Got a beta copy of vshaper to try. Impressed with the demo i got at the tct. 
Although not entirely sure it'll run on my 32bit windows 7
horrible feeling i might have to stick 64 bit windows on for it to run.

Interesting to see how you get on with the he3d fan duct, looks like it will catch the belts to me. But haven't bithered to actually print it. I do have some turbo fans.

----------


## mjf55

Yeah, the stl didn't survive the printing.  It got extremely thin in the center, not fully adhered at the very center and that let it start to wobble at the top, then at about 95% complete, extruded in mid air.  It was fun trying.  Perhaps at full size, the verticals would hold. 

I am using windows 10 64bit, and it is ok.  Worst part is that it updates when you dont want it to.  It's as good as W7, in my opinion.  But I do prefer Linux to all this windoz stuff, but its hard to find all the tools,  and I need excel w/ vba..  oh well.

I get the turbos Saturday.  Will let you know how it works out.

Keep the BB bulid updates coming.  I am very interested in them.

EDIT:  I created what I think is a better Hotbed Mount Bracket.  I know you are thinking about a more robust one that connects to both sides of the corner bracket.  If you think it worthwhile,  feel free to add it to your modification collection .  
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2558378

EDIT2: what do you use to control the printer after slicing in S3D?  Directly from S3d, Repetier host / Server, Pronterface?

One last thing, when you say your printing at 100mm/s, what speed is that referring to: Overall, infill wall?

----------


## curious aardvark

S3d has all that stuff built in. So tend to use the printer control panel for that kind of stuff.
sppedwise i'm talking about overall maximum speed. I leave everything else to s3d. Never changed any of the default slow down speeds. 
My mantra: if it's not broke, don't try and fix it :-)

You can switch off the updates in windows 10. 
Right click start button, go to control panel, view large icons. Go to administrative, cluck services. Go down to windows update, right click, select properties, disable on startup and shutdown. 

And no it's not a patch on 7 :-)

Mount wise i intend to use the metal struts Not the corner pieces. Fix the mount with 2 bolts and strutnuts - so they cannot move, and attach the springbolts to those. 
Currently trying to decide how to mohnt a 350mm by 5mm (probably) bed.
will 3 5mm bolts and springd be enough. Or should i go for a 6 point mounting system. Weight wise it'll probably never have to suppirt more than a couple of kgs and the springs i have are pretty heavy duty. But when you look at the heatpad and printbite, it's going to be a seriouschunk of aluminium.
My bolts and springs are much shorter than the k200. all my electronics are roof mounted, the the springs are simply for physical bed levelling. They will be screwed up pretty tight.

Can't see how your bracket helps. The only real problem is stopping the bracket moving. If it's still only attached at one point and not locked into place, how is it an improvement ?

----------


## mjf55

Thanks for the W10 thing.  I'll check it out.  As far as my versions of the bracket, I am not sure it actually helps, but I like the fact that the spring is captured, at least on the bottom.  This printer so far is a journey, so if a newer better bracket comes along, I go with it, ( at least it (the printer) reaches the level of perfection your Alexa reached.  Then, like you , I will be hesitant to modify it.  Again, if it ain't broke, dont mess with it )

My fans came in today, so I installed these part ducts (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2479638 ) and I did not like them.  As you said, they interfere with the x and y belts, and they also don't point correctly.  They point directly on the heater duct not the nozzle.   Interesting experiment.  I went back to your solution.   I do think that your solution would be better with one of those turbo fans.  Any desire to modify yours or release the design file.  You design in openscad, correct? 

Many pages ago you mentioned that the cooling fans were always on and asked if there was a way to turn them off.   did you ever find that out?

It is weird re-reading this thread with so many posts gone.

On your BB, thats some chunk of aluminum bed.  Do you know how you will heat that?  
3 vs 6 mounting points, If you use 6, how to you level that.  You have 3 point down pat.

Any pictures of the BB?


EDIT:  I tried S3D at 60mm/s , 200/60 , 0.2mm on 0.4mm nozzle printing a benchy ( I know, but i like them and have enough to compare ). WOW.  Near perfect. I can even read the printing on the stern.  Only slight issue was incomplete filling of top layer on smoke stack.

I think I am a convert to S3D.  Damn, its windowz based. ;-(  

I do have stringy output from the extruder while it is heating up so the skirt has a trail of string while printing and can get caught anywhere.  How do you combat that?  retract at end of prior print and then prime on the start Gcode?

I think I'll try that next print.

Also time to get off of PLA any try PET-G

----------


## curious aardvark

you pick the oozed filament away from the nozzle when it starts going down towards the bed. 

And yep 50/60 at 200 does give amazing prints. That's what i did the iris boxes on. And as far as I can see most people have to seperate the middle leaves with a knife - I didn't :-)

wondered why I'd lost 3 pages of this thread, so john deleted all his comments ? 
That's some level of paranoia. 

bb wise, with the three printers on the other workbench I'm down to one and got a couple systems to build for next week. 
So we'll be at this stage for a while yet: 
bb-top_640x480.jpg

I think the only thing left to buy are the carbon fibre shafts. Now I know I'm putting the magnets on the ends - getting the exact size isn't quits as important. 
Also the plastic motor mounts are temporary, got metal ones in the post. For around £1.50 each, seemed worth the investment.

Yep openscad. 
drop me a pm with your email address and i'll send the duct file over. 
I'll probably be using the turbo fans on the bb - so need a decent mount for them - havem't plugged one in yet to see what the airflow is like. 
Was thinking of seeing if I can adapt for current mounting. 
With the k200 you just can't extend beyond the edge of the effector. Just looking at the he3d design, you can see it'll cause issues for larger prints. And I've done a few prints that come right to the edge of the printbite. 
The shafts are pretty much staright down at that point.

Might be able to mount the turbofan transversely across the effector. 
Might have a play this afternoon. 

One of the things I like about he3d k200. It'll print superb quality prints at lower speeds and knock out large 'rough' prints at high speeds. 
Alexa's not quite perfect yet - I really should have a look at simplify3d's speed settings for different print areas. Having them the same as the settings for the flashforge doesn't actually make much sense.  

softshaper seemed to install okay yesterday, but not had chance to see if it will run yet. Got interrupted :-) 
As far as I can see the only 64bit aspect was the c++2015 they used, but I already had the 32 bit installed, so might work :-)

----------


## mjf55

Man, BB is huge, it dwarfs the power supply.  Cant wait to see it in operation.  
How are you figuring the length of the rods?  Scaling Alexa or using some calculations?  I happen to find Jay Couture's youtube on calibrating a delta, but he also ( at the very beginning ) shows his visual calculator for delta designs.   Looks interesting.  Just wondering if you saw it.

Oh, PM sent.

----------


## curious aardvark

there's an actual calculator ? 
Oh yeah that will be useful :-) 

I tend not to spend much time youtubing these days. 
I was going to use a combination of scaling up the k200 settings and measuring stuff. 
Basically the shafts plus the carriage attachments, plus the offset from the effector - which I think I can make a decent size, given the gaps between the corner pieces and the bed itself - are equal to the diameter of the bed - plus whatever adjustments you have to make for the distance of the struts from the edge of the bed. 

I still have no clue how you tell the motherboard what all these measurements actually are. 
Also thinking about changing to an mks sbase so i can use smoothieware (and 'borrow' the tevo little monster firmware). Also having 32bit arm. processors on both the screen and board seems like a better idea.
It's a few more quid, but think I'll still be below £400. 

This will give you a better idea of the size of the printbed - my 350mm printbite with custom graphic. The yellow goes away when you peel off the adhesive backing - not making a loser sign with my right hand - holding the camera lol:
printbiteforbb_282x600.jpg

----------


## mjf55

Nice graphic.  Thats a big plate. 350mm = 247mm max square build ( is that right?)  Nice.  So for the calculator, cant tell if you are joking, but here is the link to the youtube -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDB4hE6nyYI&t=575s  and his openscad visual calculator link -> https://github.com/Jaydmdigital/mk_visual_calc 

Seems useful.

was going to ask a question, but I just forgot.  Memory is the second thing to go....................

----------


## curious aardvark

not joking about that :-) 
Don't watch much youtube. 
the internet connection on the work machine in the workshop is dodgy. Not the wireless adaptor or router. something in the windows networking morass. tried a few different adaptors, no change also no difference after all the updates. 
If only I knew a computer expert .... lol

weird thing about the mks sbase boards. I can get a board for about £41. OR a board and lcd screen for £46. 
having a spare screen seems like a good idea. So I'll probably go for that option.

----------


## mjf55

Can't edit a post in my phone.  So I looked at the board a little and seems like it will work , 32 bits and all, quite an improvement.  Looks like you use the latest smoothieware.  Single config file makes it easier and then firmware updated in power cycle.  Very Kool.

Speaking of boards, do you have any documentation in the k200 board.  Can't seem to find anything except an mechanical outline

----------


## mjf55

Quick question , I'm about to try PETG for the first time.  What do you recommend for temp and speeds for a first try on the k200.

EDIT, re-read the thread.  From what I can see:
PETG: 240*/60*; 70mm/s

How about others, flex?  Super flex rubber? Speeds and temps, any advice?

Thanks

----------


## curious aardvark

flexible - you'll need to print slowly. 
around 20-30mm/s for polyflex or the stiffer flexible pla's
and 5-10mm/s for the flexible tpus. 

Also i've found that increasing my extrusion to 120-130% is also a good idea for the tpu's. 

Temp wise, pretty much what it says on the reel. Aim for the middle of the temp range initially.

You can have the first layer at 100% and for the all the flexibles I've tried (except polyflex) you don't need a heated bed. For polyflex treat like pla at 50c. 

Yeah pet-g prints alittle slower than pla and a little hotter.

----------


## mjf55

Thanks for the guidance.  I now return the control of this thread to you. (probably)

----------


## curious aardvark

lol - pet-g temps were adjusted after discussion with amaprofessional. Currently print them at around the 225-230c mark. Apparently layer bonding is actually better at the lower temps - weird, but apparently true. 

We were trying to change the wind out awning on the motorhome and I made a scraper to get under the glue on the old one. My dad managed to damage a little of the 0.3mm leading edge, but the rest is ridiculously strong. 
Also the radiator nozzles I made are as good as the original injection moulded ones. 
Even printed vertically the layer bonding was exceptional as the thin pointy end gets directly screwed into a metal thread, they were also water and pressure tight. 

Made them just after the fan duct - reminds me. 

So I took the he3d turbo fan duct and a turbo fan. The fan sort of pushes into the duct, but there's nothing to hold it in place and it's not a great fit. Can't see the fans staying put without something else to hold them in place. 

You get the feeling that whoever is designing the he3d add-ons for the k200 and takes the pictures, has never actually used the printer or seen it working. 

So going to look at other turbofan ducts and see how people are keeping the fans in place. They are an odd design.
The only sockets on the fans are a couple of small cylinders - I'm thinking cable ties might have to be involved :-).

----------


## mjf55

> You get the feeling that whoever is designing the he3d add-ons for the k200 and takes the pictures, has never actually used the printer or seen it working.


100% agree, and also without regard for the build volume. Might not be an issue for the BB ;-) , but with ONLY a 200 mm diameter, something to preserve.

Look forward to your thoughts on a design.  Cable ties are fine.  

Meanwhile, using the printer.  Love it, Speed is incredible.  Have not yet moved to PET-G yet, but soon.  Too much fun with PLA.

----------


## curious aardvark

pla is vastly underrated, I've had bird feeders and poop bag dispensers outside all year round for at least 3 years, with no noticeable degradation. 

It's also the hardest of the currently available materials, so better suited for most printer parts than abs. 

I still find it hard to believe that cheap decent desktop printers have only been around for 5 years _(when the replicator clones started to flood out of china)_. When you look at how fast the industry has grown and the plethora of new materials coming out every month, it's amazing. 

One of the cutest printers I saw at tct was the new mini-delta from monoprice. Only 120x110 volume, but full featured and small enough to take with you anywhere. You could probably rig it to run from a decent sized power bank or 12volt lithium battery.  90% of the stuff I print regularly would fit in that build volume. 
monopriceminidelta_411x480.jpg

They reckon it'll retail in the uk for around £160. 
Not even sure it's worth building one for that :-)

----------


## mjf55

So I accidentally purchased a roll of ABS (Glow in the dark for some halloween  items ) eSun.  It has good reviews.  Is it going to require an enclosure or will small items print ok?  Not sure if I should return it.....................   Have to stop buying ABS.  
Pay more attention while ordering 
Pay more attention while ordering 
Pay more attention while ordering 
...  996 lines later
Pay more attention while ordering

----------


## curious aardvark

Try it.
bed at 90c, fan off for first 3 layers, print 240. 
Calibrate really tight as well. 
It should work, and ideal for halloween :-)

Got three 300gm rolls of abs fusion at the tct. Prints fine, but is soft and incrediblt weak. No clue what i can use it for.

Reminds me, probably got some on the shelf  - wonder if it still glows

----------


## mjf55

Ok, Tried for the first time today.  Used your settings, 240/90, fan off until layer 4.   Skirt and initial outline failed to stick.  Aborted.   Cleaned green tape ( gotta change it out, its been on there too long (~ 140 M of pure printing fun ) with isopropyl alcohol and tried again.  Still some skirt adhesion issues, but kept going........  Outline sticking, interior sticking.... looks like a go.

18 minutes later, my first ABS print.  ( small skeleton ) pictures in a minute.

Observations:
Takes a long time time for the heat bed to get up to temperature.  
As you previously observed, it really creeps up to the target temp, last 5 degrees really slowly.  
Heatbed cools off quickly.  Most of the print it was running at 87.5*.  Could not keep up.  Ambient temp in house about 75*F (~24*C).   Might try your foil tape insulation, or a small partial enclosure (removable ) in plexiglass.  Maybe a firmware setting to help?
I preset temp to 100.  When it got to 91* ( got there faster then when set to 90 ( but you already noted this ), then started print, which overrode the preset value
Smell of ABS is there, but not too bad.

EDIT:  here are 2 pictures of my first ABS print.  I'm very happy with them.  
Front:
ABS-skeleton-front.jpg

Back:  You can see in the feet that my bed is not level.  I have to correct that.  
ABS-skeleton-back.jpg

The eSun ABS glow in the dark filament was a good choice.

EDIT2:  Started using Octoprint as I moved the printer to it's home in my office.  I like it.  Easy to slice in S3D on my laptop, and then in Octoprint ( on my RPi ) upload and print file and monitor the print job.  Have to get a webcam to watch it live.  Very nice.

----------


## curious aardvark

you have to remember I use printbite, so no stick or unstick issues - tend not to think about it these days. 

so what does octoprint actually do ?

----------


## mjf55

> so what does octoprint actually do ?


It allows remote control (network) of your printer.  Alot like the S3D control panel while on USB; you can  upload and print, store file on sd card or server, temperature graphs and setpoints, manual control like ponterface, terminal access ( i.e. send gcode commands to printer ), print status, webcam support to watch print.  

It's pretty kool.  If you like, I can provide screen shots while in action.   Here is there site.  Spend a few minutes  http://octoprint.org/

----------


## mjf55

Did I mention that the ABS prints are a #$@! to pull off the green tape.  Hot bed, cold bed, does not matter.  wind up cutting / ripping, unsticking , all of the above , the tape.  Time to seriously consider printbite.  About 45 usd delivered.  Probably going to do that.

----------


## curious aardvark

try pva stick glue - think I used abs with it. works well for pla. 
Gave up on tape quite early on, was always leaving blue marks on prints.

so octoprint is just software ?
I had the impression it was a box you plugged into the printer. 

And would it work with a raspberry pi b ? Got one I've never found a use for.
Though I don't think it's wireless. But I do have some tiny usb wifi dongles around

----------


## mjf55

> try pva stick glue - think I used abs with it. works well for pla. 
> Gave up on tape quite early on, was always leaving blue marks on prints.
> 
> so octoprint is just software ?
> I had the impression it was a box you plugged into the printer. 
> 
> And would it work with a raspberry pi b ? Got one I've never found a use for.
> Though I don't think it's wireless. But I do have some tiny usb wifi dongles around


I'll look for the pva glue stick.  Never had issues with bits of tape sticking to the part.  But I use the green frog tape, sticks to the bed better, at least until ABS
Yes Octoprint is just open source software.  It will run on * Raspberry Pi A, B, A+, B+, B2, 3, Zero and Zero W.*. 
 here is a straight download image for Octopi, https://octopi.octoprint.org/ 
Astroprint, an earlier fork of octoprint, customized for user friendliness, and they offer a hardware / software solution.

----------


## iamthebest22

I would strongly suggest octopi over Astroprint. Don't get me wrong, Astroprint works and is easier to set up than Octopi, but in my opinion, Astroprint is like Apple, in the sense that it's easy to setup and it just works, while Octoprint is sorta like Android? Not the best comparison, but Octoprint will allow you to do so much more than Astroprint, like right now I have both, but I am liking octo more because of filament sensor, which astroprint can't do. However, I believe Autowiz has a Repetier Server? I want to try that because having one octopi for each printer (4 raspberry pis already) is fine but money consuming, and I want to try using just one Raspberry pi 3 model B to control both my TEVO tornado and upcoming Hypercube EVO, but I can't quite find the instructions to do so (sorry if I've sorta off-topic this, think I'll post this in my own thread). But yeah that's my take on Octoprint vs Astroprint. Astro to start off, but Octoprint in the long run.

----------


## mjf55

> .... but in my opinion, Astroprint is like Apple, in the sense that it's easy to setup and it just works, while Octoprint is sorta like Android


Oh, no Apple-Android war?    ;-)   

Just kidding, I like Octoprint.  With the current guides, easy to set up.  For RPi, there is even OCTOPI, a complete image for the pi.  I like control over things.  I also like opensource ( one reason i dont like M$, Apple )

----------


## curious aardvark

if it's like apple - I'll steer well clear. the computers suck, the tablets suck and the phones break all the time - and suck ;-) 

I will have a look at octopi cheers. 

Currently trying to get softshaper to work. 
got a clean machine, clean windows 7 64bit install, ran all the updates. Installs okay.
Just crashes  when you try and use it lol

Shame, as when it works, it looks like it could be a real challenge to simplify3d - but obviously not, if you can't use it :-)

I'm even contemplating sticking windows 10 on to see if that helps (has to be a first time for everything).

----------


## mjf55

> if it's like apple - I'll steer well clear. the computers suck, the tablets suck and the phones break all the time - and suck ;-) 
> 
> I will have a look at octopi cheers. 
> 
> Currently trying to get softshaper to work. 
> got a clean machine, clean windows 7 64bit install, ran all the updates. Installs okay.
> Just crashes  when you try and use it lol
> 
> Shame, as when it works, it looks like it could be a real challenge to simplify3d - but obviously not, if you can't use it :-)
> ...


It is only beta.  If it was MS, that would be a released product ;-)

Note on octiprint, noticed slow prints (at least I think so) wheen uploading gcode to server and then print.  alternative is to upload to sdcard and print.  I will do a comparison and report back.

----------


## mjf55

Trying an octiprint speed test.  The model is the Tyrannosaurus Chip clip from thingiverse.   S3D said it would be a 14 minute print ( 100mm/s print speed in settings, looks like this model tops out at about 80 mm/s (per S3D)
Upload to Octiprint server took seconds (1.6 mb file) BUT upload to the SD card took a wopping 11 minutes.  WOW.  I knew it would be slow, but this is crazy.
Did SD card first.  Took 14m, 11 secs from start to finish
Doing std Octiprint -> USB print now.  
To Be Continued............

Completed the Pi-> USB print, 24m, 55 seconds.  WOW.  While I noticed a slight amount of pausing while printing, not enough to account for an additions 10m40s.  The print is only 37 layers.  640s/37 = OVER 17 seconds a layer longer.  No wonder my 500 layer print last night took forever.

I know a USB cable can cause this.  But I never noticed this using the same USB cable on S3D control panel or Repetier Host software.

UMMM I got to get to the bottom of this.

----------


## curious aardvark

uploading to sd cards is always slower than reading from them. Plus tThat sounds like you're transferring at the serial connection baudrate - which will be very slow. 
Thing to remember, is that although you have a usb cable the actual communication to the printer is via a simulated old fashioned serial connection. 
Why cnc and the like still use serial transfer - I have no idea, but unfortunately they still do. 
Hopefuly my touch screen and it's wifi module will operate at more modern speeds. It's only the connection from the screen to the motherboard that should still run at serial baudrates. 
So I should be able to upload wirelessly to the sd card at a decent speed. 

Just ordered a couple of mosfets (cheers autowhiz) for offloading the heated buildplate power draw from the board. 
Bought an expensive one for £7.60 and a cheap one for £3.60. Ostensibly the exact same thing.
Figure I can use the cheap one for alexa, as it's obvious the motherboard just can't handle the load transfer when the beds over about 80c and the extruder is over 240c.

Apparently the bb will be drawing around 27 amps - my electrician mate is impresseed lol
My psu is rated for 50 :-)

No sign of the wheels yet. once I've got those I can do the carriages and start on the shafts. Once I know how far apart the shafts are, I can make the effector.  At which point things ought to start speeding up.
If I get a quiet day next week, I'll go get the buildplate and bottom plate made.  Done a fair bit of remote support for them recently :-)
Just not sure if I need 10mm or 15mm spare at the edge. Thinking 5mm aluminium with 5mm blots for the springs. That only leaves 2.5 mm at the edge if I have 10mm rim. 
I'll ask darren, they'll have a much better idea of necessary tolearances than I do.   

Also promised wendy a k200 review on youtube. 
Almost finished the viking helmet - padded the interior, taped the horns and bits staying brown and spray painted the 'metal' bits chrome wheel silver. Also painted my axe head silver - nordic themed meal at the restaurant of our local tech college next month, all I need now is a dead sheep to throw across my shoulders :-) And maybe another axe lol
Keep meaning to make a larger one on alexa.

Got a mate who does renacments, he's austrian and about the size of a mountain. He's got a huge fleece that would fit the bill. But a long way to go to borrow it lol

----------


## mjf55

It just seems too slow, at least the printing part of it.  This issue does not exist using my laptop , Windows and S3D control panel.  Could be the dirver or the way the RPI is wired.  We will see.

Where did you order the wheels from, are they iver due.  Hate when parts are late.

On mosfets, I thought about that for the k200, think it's a good upgrade?  You definitely need it for the BB.

Make sure you post a picture of you in the Viking outfit.  

Looking forward to your YouTube review.

----------


## curious aardvark

Wheels taking the slow boat from china, they'll get here when they get here :-)
yep think the ssr on the k200 probably a good idea.

Finished painting helmet today. Let it dry and remove masking tapd tomorrow. Also sprayed my rolled up newspaper axe handle black.

Set a bigger axe printing a couple hours ago. 0.4mm layer height 100mm/s.
no idea how well it'll print, using flashforge white, for first time.
could just be a mess, could be a bigger axe head - one of the things i like is that when leaving a print to itself, you never really know what's waiting for when you go back :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

and the result is: A bigger axe head ! 

So that's one more thing alexa can do - fast printing at 0.4mm layer height and 100mm/s 
I think 60 at 0.3 was over 4 hours, 100 at 0.4 was 2 hours 20. For something 200mm tall and almost as wide as the bed - that's pretty damn fast. 
Clean print, no obvious issues with the layer height. And the flashforge white is a good solid colour, one of those white pla's where the print lines are almost non-existent.  Might actually make a wooden handle for this one, think I've got some dowel in my shed. Certainly should have something in the big box of bits that should do the job.

It's not exactly the smoothest print around, but those settings are not for intricate prints. 
Couple minutes with a file and a sanding block cleaned it up nicely. 
I'll spray it this afternoon. 
The small one is the largest I could make in the flashforge. The large one could actually go another 6 centimetres taller if I wanted. 

smallaxe-bigaxe1_557x480.jpg

bigaxesmallaxe2_371x480.jpg 

hat-smallaxe_266x480.jpg

Helmet sits a little high, need to remove some of the centre padding. Should be able to just melt it a bit. 
The rolled up newspaper handle painted black, looks pretty good :-)

Can I be arsed to make a shield ? nope.

----------


## mjf55

CA, looks good.  Go with the real rood handle, the roughen up the handle ( maybe even the blade ) to make it look well used.
Maybe a sword also.  Or a large knife.   Looks like it should be fun.

----------


## curious aardvark

Don't do swords - strictly an axe and blunt object man :-)
The bigger axehead is abloody good size. If you're wondering why the odd shape. 
1) it saves on metal.
2) mounted correctly it creates a hook you can use to grab opponents shield, arm or leg. 

Adtually did some sling training with the Uk vikings - largest renactor group in the uk.
I went down to one of their missile training weekends as a sling expert :-)
Good fun !

----------


## mjf55

So I am working on bed leveling some more.  I am having problems with larger prints adhering to the build plate.  I have completed the standard g29 with adjustment to make all three x,y,z points within 0.02 min-max.  I then did the same ( really it was ok after the g29's) with G32 S2 which calculates and stores the z-plane.  The next step in the process is to generate a bed height map (tools-> Bed height Map in repetier host), then generate a distortion correction map using G33 ( video shows g29, but this was replaced by g33 in firmware 92.8 ).  So the generating the map went ok   (except for a glitch? in the first point (still need to understand that)) but when I went to do the G33, it was unrecognized command.  Apparently, the firmware for the K200 choose not to compile it in.
Now that leaves me trying to get the exact configuration.h file used to generate the existing code loaded, so I can make a simple modification.

I guess the point of all this is 3 fold:
1- Do you have a contact for Wendy at reprapmall (?) so I can contact her and request this information?
2- Do you happen to have this?  I have looked on facebook -. K200 group, but not sure what the origin of the files are.
3- Any other thoughts?  how 'smooth, distortion free' is thee print bite?  Ever run the bed height tool?


My output of the bed height tool:


```
   
 X:        -55.00    -27.50    0.00    27.50    55.00
y:55.00        79.49    79.94    79.89    79.85    79.84
y:27.50        79.79    79.81    79.76    79.71    79.73
y:0.00        79.73    79.73    79.74    79.74    79.74
y:-27.50    79.84    79.77    79.81    79.87    79.89
y:-55.00    50.26    80.11    80.14    80.19    80.16
```

----------


## raylo32

LOL, nice work, guys.  I did one of those helmets the old fashioned way back in the 80s with cardboard and paper mache, and some red yarn for hair.  Also made a wooden sword and a tunic of sorts.  It has seen better days, now with a little duct tape, but still works to scare the kids when they come 'round.  May need to reprise this with the 3d Printer.

----------


## curious aardvark

Printbite base is smooth, with a very faint dimpled pattern. You can see it but you can't feel it. And it is really flat.
never needed to do anything but the physical - actual - bed level.
All the topographical system does is compensate for a non-level bed. My bed is level, so no compensation needed. 

Just pm wendy, she's perfectly friendly :-)

Raylo - pics need re-uploading. Interesting to see your viking helmet.

***

Ah ha pic showing up now. 
lol that's more of a minotaur hat than viking - love it.

----------


## curious aardvark

Metal motor brackets arrived today, still waiting on wheels. But I think I've now got all the bits to do the belt setup and finish the cornerpiece design with sprocket (?) holder added and some more bolt holes.

Oh yeah had a company call me this morning who want my old dead crap - uh, used computers. 
So with luck that'll clear a fair bit of space in my workshop. Particualrly as most of the old dead base units are being used as 'shelves' for more crap, which I will be forced to throw away to get at the base units.

The stack of dead laptops is up to about 3 feet tall, the dead harddrives are probably in triple figures and I have - literally - no clue how many dead base units there are, 'cos they're covered in piles of junk everywhere you look. 

I've got to send some pics of the crap, hopefully that won't scare these guys off. 
Local council tip won't take dead pc's from professionals, won't tell me where to dump them and the only other people who've contacted me wanted paying to take it away. This morning's call said they'd do it for free. 
Not sure how much recoverable gold and and the like there is in these things - but if they help clear my workshop, then they are more than welcome to it :-)
Hell I'll even throw in some dead motherboards and whatever new parts are no longer useable. 
I did have a stack of isa network cards at one point, no clue if I've still got them or not. 

So fingers crossed :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

0.4mm layer height. My new favourite layer height :-) 
Runs nicely at 210c and 100mm/s, ideal for my 0.5mm nozzle.
Makes big things fast and as long as there's no complex over or underhangs - looks pretty good. 
Currently using it for my clay glande moulds.
78 cubic cm in under 3 hours. Dimensions are bang on too :-)

The interesting thing about these moulds is that the two halves slice completely differently. 
The tongue half is always super smooth on the inside, while the groove always has issues - if you print them seperately. 
If I print both together, both are equally smooth, and no stringing either.
3sizes1_640x330.jpg

The numbers refer to the length and diameter of clay cling bullet they make. The 70x46 could probably be used for hunting elephants. It's a big glande.

----------


## mjf55

hey ca, quick question, in S3D, what do you have your build volume set to?  140x140?  I had mine at 200x200, but that is obviously too big.  S3D says diameter * .707 .  

With the 0.5 mm nozzle, how is the detail?  Got a close up print of your latest setting ( 0.5 nozzle with 0.4 layer height???

----------


## curious aardvark

140x140
mouldcloseup_640x407.jpg
Hmm, keyboard needs cleaning :-)

Fine detail wise, go find the iris box pictures., few pages back i think.
Also the acorn brooch.

Honestly I've not noticed any difference between the 0.4 and 0.5 as far as quality and detail goes.
But if you tryn and print 0.4 with a 0.4mm nozzle simplify3d complains. It does still work, but there's some reason you shouldn't do it. You don't get that issue with the 0.5. 

I've actually got a 0.8mm nozzle that I'll have to try out at some point. Bought a bag of cheap 0.5's, asI'm on the second nozzle already. 
Nearly up to 1.5km of filament used on Alexa !
Which is around 5kg, I think.
Not bad for just over 4 months and primarily small items.

----------


## mjf55

> Hmm, keyboard needs cleaning :-)
> 
> Fine detail wise, go find the iris box pictures., few pages back i think.
> Also the acorn brooch.
> 
> 
> Nearly up to 1.5km of filament used on Alexa !
> Which is around 5kg, I think.
> Not bad for just over 4 months and primarily small items.


I saw the iris and broaches.  They look great.  And that was a .5 mm nozzle?  nice.

5 kg of filament is a lot for 4 months.  On my first printer, I think I did a kg a month for the first 34 months.  
This one, not so much yet.

Spent the last several days trying to get the bed level.   Could get the 3 points no problem, but it was far from smooth and level.  the center dipped and the area between x and z was high.   I now have 6 points around the perimeter level but the center is still down 0.1mm.  Have to live with it for now.  Had to get rid of the glass, as that was causing some issues.  
Probably need the print bite.  
Also will have to (want to ) compile in the distortion correction feature in repetier.

----------


## curious aardvark

So here's the thing, printing fast at fairly large layer heights is ENTIRELY dependant on the filament. 
So far the flashforge filament has done absolutely everything I've asked it to - flawlessly. 
So someone asked for a yellow mould. 

I've got some dayglo yellow from reprapper tech. 
Complete and total bastard ! 
Dropped to 0.3mm and 75mm/s - and it's still not brilliant. I have finally got it to stick and apart from a slightly dodgy corner it's currently looking quite good.
I'd forgotten what it's like to have first layer issues

I was talking to the last filament manufacturer in the uk at tct, and we got on to how colourant effects filament behaviour. 
he was saying the filament extruders run all day and you add colourant for whatever colour you want, you don't stop the machine when you add the colour. 
Unless you add yellow and then he said it'll pretty much always jam. 
After 2 hours fighting this stuff last night - I know exactly what he means ! 

This is the first and last yellow mould !
lol
had to up the print temp to 220, slow it right down and smoosh it to the point that I was just barely beyond the point where the nozzle is blocked. 

The only other time I've used this stuff was a couple of years ago, And that was just little pumpkins, much easier first layer to print. 
Can't remember if I had problems then or not.

----------


## mjf55

> I'd forgotten what it's like to have first layer issues


It is a sad club to join / be in.  very frustrating.  




> Unless you add yellow and then he said it'll pretty much always jam.


Sorry ca, can you explain what a little more?  Is he saying it will pretty much jam up in the extruder?   Cause adhesion issues?  I don't quite follow.

----------


## curious aardvark

when MAKING filament on an industrial scale, you run the filament making machine all the time, you don't stop when adding colourant. 
But when he adds the yellow colourant, it invariably jams up the machine. 
Basically whether you are making filament or printing with it, yellow is a bastard :-)

Oh yeah and those he3d glass build plates, if you happen to knock one onto a concrete floor - wow they sort of explode. 
A bit like windscreen glass in a car, it just shatters into hundreds of tiny squarish pieces. 

Spent the last 2 days clearing out my workshop, and that was one of the casualties. 
So this was my workshop with 15 years of accumulated dead laptops, base units and other computer related crap and just plain crap. It's not a large room, basically a converted one car garage. 
workshopstart_640x480.jpg

What came out and got taken away by a fantastic company from yorkshire: http://tmreuse.co.uk/
They collect your electronic waste - FREE OF CHARGE ! This is important as everyone else who's ever phoned me, wanted lots of money to do the same thing. 
stuffthatwent_640x480.jpg

Some of the actual rubbish that went to the local tip: 
workshopclear-rubbish_640x440.jpg

Took me all of tuesday and a couple hours wednesday morning to clear the workshop. Think a complex 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle that's taken 15 years to build. 
Even found 3 vhs video recorders !
3 old dvd players and more redundant cables than you can shake a boa constrictor at :-)

Then all of wednesday to put the workshop back together - complete with my new shelves :-)
Given that the 15 or so base units had been acting as 'shelves/tables' - I had an awful lot of stuff with nowhere left to go, so couldn't do anything till I'd bought some shelves and put them up. 
So I now have space for the BB to live once it's built :-)

More importantly, when i again start to accrue other peoples discarded computers, I've got a wonderful woman called Lorna to call who'll arrange for it to be taken away and recycled :-)
Interestingly they even send me a certificate to say that they have crushed the old harddrives (about 60) - presumably part of the data security act. 
They also offer to crush them on site if you're particularly paranoid.

So while no actual work got done, last 2 days been pretty productive.

----------


## mjf55

You forgot the most important picture, your workshop AFTER the cleanup  ;-)

Is BB moving along?  Get those wheels?

Another question, What is your setup with Alexa?  You print via S3D control panel, with the USB connected?  Do you know if that is slower than printing from the SDcard ( not counting the time to transfer the file to the SD card )/

Im still poking at the Raspberry Pi USB speed thing.  It add a lot of time being connected via USB , or so it seems.  I'll have to do a real speed test.

Also moving back to Crua 3.0 , or trying to.  got bit last night on a 5 hours print with the S3d weird slicing issue I posted about in the other thread.  I think I'll open a S3D forum thread on it.  See what they say.

----------


## curious aardvark

Depends. anything under about 20 minutes usually use usb cable. Otherwise sd card. 
loading to the sd card might take 3 seconds :-)

These days i usually leave the usb cable unconnected unless specifically printing something. reason being, even if it's printing from the sd card - if i start or shutdown the computer the printer reboots and stops printing. Bloody annoying, so 90% is from sd card with printer unconnected by usb. 

No wheels. Hoping they'll arrive before the new motherboard and the mosfets.

On another note entirely. Got a roll of Vanish - soluble filament this week. 
So rather than expose the whole reel to the atmosphere, plus with all the stuff i got at tct. Needed some new spools for shorther lengths of filament. 

0.4 layer height, 100mm/s :-) 
I'll upload the design to thingiverse in a bit - just want to check that 0.8mm is strong enough for the bottom rim, might have to up it to 1.2. You can't tell till you start to wrap the filament round it.  

bigsample spool_580x480.jpg

new sample spool_462x480.jpg

100mm central cylinder so you don't have to bend the filament too much when wrapping. 
Take an hour and a half to print and 30 gms of plastic. 
Should easy take 50 metres of filament. locking holes at top, and holes at bottom for loose end. 
Tempted to add holes in the top to cut down on plastic usage. N idea how well that would work, guess I'll have to suck it and see :-)

Using clear pla got from amazon £12 a kg delivered. 
Bloody good stuff !

----------


## cowy

good luck with your new printer!  :Big Grin:

----------


## curious aardvark

wheels have landed ! 
also couple packets of smaller bolts. 
Wheels smaller than I was expecting, no biggee - they'll probably look neater anyway. 

Thinking about screw in clamp for the belts, carriages will be 2 part anyway, so a simple bolt together clamp would make adjusting and thightening the belts a lot simpler, probably. 

Not going to get much chance to start the latest round of part designs till next week anyway, working all weekend. 
But pretty sure I now have everything to finish the frame, belt and carriage setup.

Updated spool with holes in top part and thicker base with reinforcing around the connection points to the central cylinder. 
Down to 26 grams :-) 
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2597201

----------


## curious aardvark

Added 115mm spool for people with little printers :-)
16 grams !
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2597201

----------


## curious aardvark

So I'm on a speed kick. Loving this Surreal transparent pla. 
Currently still printing spools - I've got a LOT of samples from the last 2 tct shows - got it down to 1 hour 20 by running at 150mm/s and 0.3 layer height. 

So what with s3d adjustments, it's not actually printing that much faster. sooo, can I knock one of these out at 150 and 0.4mm ? 
That would make it around an hour. 
OR maybe 0.3 at 200mm/s !
Hmm, hell why not lol
(runs slicer) 
150 at 0.4 is a minute faster than 0.3 at 200. 
So we'll try that first :-)

These things don't have to look nice or be smooth. Just work :-)
Made the filament holes 4mm, so even with fast sloppy printing they're still large enough for a good fit.

----------


## mjf55

So the question is, if you set the print speed to 200mms, what is the actual speed you are printing at, i.e. what does S3D show in their speed color chart.  I found that at 150mms, very little was that fast, most was 100mms.

----------


## curious aardvark

well at 150 and 0.4mm the spools print fine_ (not pretty, but 100% functional)_ and in an hour and 6 minutes. 
Generally the actual print speed probably averages about half the maximum.  For this particulay item, only the 2nd and third base layers are printed at maximum speed. The rest is all outline and given that it's all underhang and overhang - figure half speed is damn good. The little turbo nozzle for the fan setup is obviously doing a good job. Cooling those outward sloping layers at that resolution and print speed is not simple. Plus upped the print-temp to 215.  

But getting a thing 50mm high and 150mm diameter in an hour - is no mean feat :-)

First mosfet arrived today. I have no clue if this is the £3 or the £6 one.
Have to wait for the second one and see if there are any discernible differences.   

The cheaper one I'll fit to Alexa.

----------


## mjf55

Adding a mosfet to Alexa , I'll be interested in that.  Post some pictures as you do that.  What mosfet did you get?

----------


## curious aardvark

cheapest one off ebay and and one that was about standard cost. 
they both look exactly like this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printer....c100506.m3226

We figure the BB's heatpad will draw around 27amps :-) 
Well I say 'we' - My mate dave, who is an electrician, worked it out and went: 'bloody hell that's going to pull 27 amps !'
At which point I started to think running it through the motherboard probably wasn't that great an idea and recalled autowhiz's posts about ssr's (really mosfets) :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

The mks sbase arrived a short while ago. Looks good. Huge (relatively speaking) heatsinks already in place on the stepper drivers, that's pretty unusual in itself.  Standard lcd screen - well it was about £3 so why not. 
So need to find the info page for that now. 

Got the wheel spacing and test carriages sorted last night. The little white wheels are smooth as you like. 
I'm still surprised when i change a measurement by 0.05 of a mm and it makes a noticeable difference :-)
I can actually just press fit the wheels and require a hammer to remove them. 
Adjust the diameter down by 0.05mm and they're an easy fit that would need screwing tight. 

I'll try both methods, the screw has really thin walled cylinders until the screw is inserted. So we'll see. 
Next up belt gripper, decide how wide to make the ball attachments which will determine the relative size of the effector - which is the next job. Still no clue how to fit this j6 round necked extruder. 
But with test carriages sliding up and down the strut like oiled silk - it just feels like a major step forward :-)

Just downloaded the tevo little monster firmware, hee hee :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Well damn that works :-)
wheelsetup_640x480.jpg

Self taps right down to the base of the column, locks the wheel in place, super tight :-) 
Going to try a 4 way now :-)

And that's all you need. Correctly spaced wheel holders and a 3x16mm bolt. 
No washers, eccentric nuts, spacers - it ain't necessary :-)
Made the holes 3.25mm - gives a perfect fit for a 3mm bolt. Really tight, but with room for the thread to cut without breaking the plastic. I'm quite pleased with myself :-)

You get a hard plastic shell with a solid metal core and 7mm solid column for the first couple of mm to the base plate. That's strong.

If you ever need to remove the carriage, just remove the bolts from one side and pop the wheels off. Shafts will be attached magnetically, so just pop off. 

Right walk dogs while the 4 way prints.

----------


## mjf55

Its looking good. Little Monster.... Nice I like that machine.   MKS Sbase board.  You need the 32 bits for BB?

----------


## curious aardvark

According to autowhiz, yes :-)
Plus you can't run smoothieware without it and that does seem to be the way to go for delta's.

Here's the 4 wheel test rig. I did think about maybe wimping out and using the standard 3 wheel setup. But this is absolutely rock solid, no movement in any direction but sliding. You can put a lot of vertical pressure on the flat side of the carriage as well, would work really well for the bed on an I3.
He3d definitely got this right. 4 wheels is significantly more stable and solid than 3.
4wheelstest_473x480.jpg

4wheelstest2_310x480.jpg

----------


## mjf55

yeah, I agree with the 4 wheels.  That was one of the reasons I picked HE3D over other delta's ( Not to mention yours and #40fan's glowing comments and upgrades. )

----------


## curious aardvark

I'm beginning to hate stuff without manuals. 

So the new board seems fine, talks to the computer to the extent I can access the card on the board through the computer. 
Firmware seems to works and I can talk to it through repetier host. 

But the fracking touch screen does not come on. The one thing I had absolutely no issues with on the board that i couldn't get firmware on. 

There are two jumpers, I have tried both in both positions. No difference. I think one changes steps from  16 to 32. The other is labelled 3v3 and 5v and doesn't seem to make any difference whichever it is in.
AAAARRRGGGHHHHHH  !!!!

I will try the cheapo lcd now.

Well that powers up - but doesn't display anything and through the little speaker it sounds like a ghost screaming. 

Is it me or what ? 

Oh yeah the cheapo lcd doesn't work in the other board either. 
See if I can find any info. Autowhiz he just plugs the screen into the board and it works. I wish, lol
***

So I had a thought (it occasionally happens) maybe becasue the sbase is a bit bigger and has more oomph, the screen will only work when the boards is hooked up to 12v. 
I was right. Fired up right away :-)
So that's good. 

Also the smoothieware comes with a really good manual that explains what you measure and how to get the arm lengths and spacing settings correct. 
With pictures no less !

So that's all good :-) 

Cheapo lcd screen still just screams. Figure that's doa and write it off. 
When i take alexa apart for the mosfet I'll try it on her. But pretty sure it's a goner.
Board works, that's what counts :-)

So I better get on and build the rest !

oh yeah heres' the two boards side by side (kinda) 
23dpboards_445x600.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

Ordered some 500mm carbon fibre shafts. Only need 400's but you can buy 1metre, 500mm 300mm or 200 mm. Got 10 so I can practice cutting them. 
Think I've got a really height tpi belt for the bandsaw that I've never used - that should do the job. 
They'll have inserts to hold the magnets, so I can make the length adjustable to a small degree anyway. 
One issue I will have is measuring the length accurately.

The digital calipers only go to 150mm, my steel rule goes to 300. I need a something that both goes to 500mm and is accurate on tenths of a mm.

----------


## curious aardvark

shafts arrived. 
Look good, got 10 so i can aford to breaka couple lol. Just need to work out how long. 
I figure 400mm and adjust if necessary with the magnet holder.

----------


## ir_fuel

I apologise for not reading all 39 pages here (stopped at around 15  :Big Grin: ), but could you tell me if this printer works with Octopi? Thanks!

----------


## mjf55

> I apologise for not reading all 39 pages here (stopped at around 15 ), but could you tell me if this printer works with Octopi? Thanks!


the HE3D K200 printer works fine with Octoprint on Raaspberian(Jessie).  It should with Octopr

----------


## ir_fuel

Ordered one  :Smile:

----------


## curious aardvark

actually after the middle of the thread it kind of morphs into my building a very large delta competely from scratch. So I reckon you've probably read most of the he3d k200 relevant stuff :-)

Standard gcode and usb connection - so no reason for it not to work with any of the external print managers :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Got the magnetic holder shaft connecters done. 

Now here's the thing. I made these so the cupped magnets would simply clip into the holder.  I'm reproducing my plastic connectors to a really precise set of measurements, but the chinese magnet makers - not so much, lol 
First one - the one I measured - clips really clean and tight, it's not coming out short of breaking the holder. I know this as I had to break the test print to get the magnet out.
Second magnet, is slightly smaller and tilts ever so slightly and will need a dab of glue as it has the potential to come out over time. The ledge holding the magnets in is only 0.25 mm wide, which with the correct sized magnet - is all it needs to be :-)

Camera appears to be elsewhere, I'll take some pics when I find it. But the balls go in and can hang at 180 degrees, which is probably 10 degrees more than they'll ever need to :-)
Currently printing some black shaft ends to match the shafts.

----------


## ir_fuel

How come there are a lot of posts no longer visible in this thread? When reading through it's like one big monologue because the posts of other users seem to have disappeared?

----------


## mjf55

> How come there are a lot of posts no longer visible in this thread? When reading through it's like one big monologue because the posts of other users seem to have disappeared?


A previous member stopped coming by and decided to erase / remove all his posts.  It was not a monologue a few months ago.  Oh well.  
Do you have any specific question that you need help on?

----------


## mjf55

CA, did you camera ever show up?  Hows your progress?

----------


## curious aardvark

been busy working this week. 
Currently working out how to reverse engineer a software installation for a client with a dying hardrive and no access to the original install media. 
Tricky doesn't come into it :-)

But progress wise, next job is to go back to the corner pieces and finish them off, then get the build plate cut, design mounts, put it together and work out how long the shafys need to be. It's probably around 400mm-ish. 

And yeah #40fan going home and taking his posts with him, was both a weirdly extreme reaction to his so called 'privacy' and bloody annoying from a thread point of view.  Why post something you know you'll only delete at a later date ? 
I have no clue.

I did look through it recently and fortunately I'm a little verbose (you hadn't noticed ?) so it still mostly makes sense :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

Okay so here are the shaft ends. I'm using 8mm carbon fibre shafts. The internal diameter is 6mm but a bit haphazard, so i decide to make the shaft end a cap rather than an insert as the 8mm outer diameter is a lot more consistent. 
shaftend1_502x480.jpg

shaftend2_640x479.jpg

Once I've got the shafts the right length I'll glue the magnets in the ends and the ends to the shafts. 

On the software reverse engineering end - not a hope in hell. Even with tracking down ALL the files and registry entries, it still won't work. 

So tonight I'm 'playing' with virtual machines in the hope I can run the original os setup on the new machine. 

Give that the new machine runs amd and windows 7 and the original was intel and an early windows 10 - the odds are not great lol
Currently using a paragon tool to convert the vhd image to run in oracles virtual box. On the positive side the paragon software didn't say it couldn't do it. 
Fingers crossed.

Well hot diggity damn ! 
It freaking works !!!!
Colour me happy lol

Even on my basic workshop machine with just 2 gb I can run a virtual windows 10 quite happily :-)
The clients machine has 4gb and amuch batter processor (32 bit os) so should run this at least as quick as the original 8 year old machine.   

The impossible I can do immediately, miracles take a little longer :-)

----------


## mjf55

Nice Progress.  Glad you found your camera.  
Cant wait to see how the magnet connectors work out; not to mention the completed BB.  I find I am a little constrained by the 200 mm diameter, but could not have afforded anything larger at the time.

VirtualBox is amazing.  I have many different linux images, but never got a windows 10 image that I could stand.   
What client are you using?   (if win7, dont let it upgrade ;-))

----------


## mjf55

So I am having problems with my part cooling fan, the 'vortex fan for cooling prints' according to http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/e...ng_diagram.jpg (which is the same as provided in the kit )

I first noticed that the fan always appears to be running, but could not tell how fast.  So I did a little digging.
I would issue an M106 S0 (turn off fan ) and the fan would spin to full speed.  A small thread by the fan duct exit shows a lot of breeze.
I would issue an M106 S255 (turn on fan full speed) and the fan would ramp down.  It would not turn off completely.  A small thread by the fan duct exit show a lot of breeze.
I would issue a M106 I1 (fan disable) and the fan would ramp down.  It would not turn off completely.  A small thread by the fan duct exit show a lot of breeze.  This works as it should (except the fan is not completely stopped )
I would issue an M107 (turn off fan ) and the fan would spin to full speed.  A small thread by the fan duct exit shows a lot of breeze.

So the issue is that the control of the fan seems to be inverse to the command issued. (except for the disable fan (I1) command)

Any thoughts?

----------


## curious aardvark

it doesn't come with a part cooling fan. 
You have to add that yourself. the diagram just shows where you plug the fan in - once you get it. 

did you wire it up in reverse, as you have to add your own extension cabling ?

bizarre thing with the virtual machine. The program starts up, shows you a list of cars manufacturers, lets you pick a car and engine type - so at that point it's clearly accessing it's database properly, then just won't let you progress from there. 

I did clone the original - poorly - drive and make the image from the clone. 
So Going to try and image the original drive tonight. Also check it still works in the original machine. 

Weird is what it is.

----------


## mjf55

I added the part cooling fan and your fan duct work.  I did reverse the wiring to try to figure this out, but the fan would not start at all, neither the S0 or S255 would start it.  Tried another fan  ( blower type this time ) and same behavior.   A HE3D facebook member suggest just to reflash it.  I am not convinced, but will give it a try.

EDIT:
So I reflashed, and no difference.  Will open a service ticket.

----------


## mjf55

> bizarre thing with the virtual machine. The program starts up, shows you a list of cars manufacturers, lets you pick a car and engine type - so at that point it's clearly accessing it's database properly, then just won't let you progress from there. 
> 
> I did clone the original - poorly - drive and make the image from the clone. 
> So Going to try and image the original drive tonight. Also check it still works in the original machine. 
> 
> Weird is what it is.


Could be a corrupt data base in the clone, what about memory, does it have enough?

----------


## curious aardvark

don't think memory is the issue, everything is running on ssds so virtual memory almost as quick and plenty of that available. 
Plus the original machine only had 2gb. 

Until I've reassembled the machine and checked it does still work - I'm not going to get any nearer I don't think. 
In two minds whether to run a chkdsk, it's got a couple hundred bad sectors and probably isn't long for this world, chkdsk could simply move too many bits of software. 

I'll see how much memory it pulls on the original machine.

----------


## mjf55

Can you export just the database and see if that is ok on a different machine ( either vm or host)

----------


## curious aardvark

Dunno, my brain hurt last night, so I called it a day - I'll get back to it over the weekend, or friday night. 

My aluminium engineering mates had a slight problem, so while I was there I got the build plate and bottom baseplate cut. 
build plate is 5mm - we went for 380mm in the end, gives me plenty edge to drill in for the 5mm bolts, or larger if necessary.   It's a serious chunk of metal !
I'm assuming the printbite will loose that yellow tint when I take the backing off.  Currently leaving the backing on the build plate as well till I'm ready to stick the printbite to it. 
buildplateandpb_640x480.jpg 

3mm Baseplate, solely to add rigidity. Once I've got some idea where stuff goes on the top, I'll get another one cut.
alubaseplate_640x389.jpg

The white is the protective layer, on the right of this pic you can see the plastic covered side of the disc that I'll print on.

What I'll do with the plate is use 2 bolts to fix a mounting bracket to the strut and the spring and 5mm bolts will go into the bracket screw up really tight so there's only a tiny amount of play in the spring.   I should be able to keep the whole arrangement rigid, so none of the wobbling issues you get with the long thin bolts on the k200.
There shouldn't be enough heat going through the bolts to ever melt the plastic. 

I'll check, worst case scenario I can get some aluminium ones made :-) 
The balance sheet is still currently in my favour.

I think all i got left is to finish the corner peices, carriages and effector _(all, lol_), build it, make it work and then get the top reinforcement bars/control panel mounts made and the top aluminium plate fitted. And a myriad of other 'little' jobs: control panel and wifi unit housing, extruder_ (although that might not be an issue as I've got the one I took from the flashforge and as I'm now using a nema 17 and flying extruder it's a straight fit)_ still need to make the suspended 'cradle', Filament holder, cable routing, endstop mounts, measurements for the smoothieware, thread the end holes in the uprights etc :-)

Once I've got it working properly (optimism :-) I can make the - probably two part - cover for the top that will protect the psu board, motors etc. 
It'll probably have a face of some kind - I like to anthropomorphisise all my stuff. :-)

Practically done ;-)

----------


## mjf55

CA, whats happening with your build.  It been 10 days and no update.  You know I am living vicariously thru your BB build.  Anything new?
Question:  I noticed that your PrintBite is slightly smaller that the aluminum heat bed.  I ASSUME that is the actual build size.  Is there any reason that you did not cover the whole bed plate, and just make (drill ) holes for the mounting adjustment screws?   I am about to order my printbite ( had to use vise grips to remove a small circular build :-(   ) for my K200 and wondering if I should use 200 or the full 220 mm diameter and drill out the mounting adjustment holes.

----------


## curious aardvark

you need to leave a gap round the edge for mounting holes. 
you only want the 200mm printbite.

Printbite is not cheap so only buy what you need. 
I've left a 15mm rim on the build plate for mounting purposes, 5 or 6mm bolts. 
Likewise the heatpad is also 350mm.

Currently been sidetracked by another project. 
Building a full size sling target from 40mm polypropylene pipe: http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1510836848

My current balearic target is made from wood and really heavy and takes about 20 minutes to put up and take down. Hopefully the new one will be at least as strong, but is really easy to carry and put up and take down. 
As england's only half decent slinger, I desperately need to get some target practice in before the international in Mallorca next march. Hopefully this will help :-) 
There's a giant austrian, In particular, I've made it my goal to beat next year.
Met my goals for this year, but next year I'd quite like another trophy - and the only way to do that is to practice, practice and then practice a bit more. 
Most of the competitor have somewhere they can leave a permament target set up. I don't.
Anything left in my friends field would vanish overnight. 
So I desperately need a tough, lightweight, easy to deploy full size balearic target. 
I'm in some of these videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/davidmorningstar/videos

Still got an angled bracket to make and then I can start screwing things together for the back supports :-) 

In other news, my mate acquired a 6mm thread tapping kit for me - so I'm been threading the ends of the main struts. That way the corner pieces and feet can be bolted on for a really secure and solid fit.
Haven't really looked, but also possible I can get a bolt through the corner piece to the side pieces as well. Which would be good. 

Once I've got the slinging target made I'll be back on the BB - I'd like to get it made before new year :-)

----------


## mjf55

You certainly have interesting hobbies / sports.  Have fun and good luck on your new movable target.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol just do a  general search for 'curious aardvark'  I get around :-)

I'm also the only brit on the worlds most popular bbq/food smoking forum. 
www.smoked-meat.com

One of the very first things I made when i got a 3d printer, were stuffing tubes for my sausage stuffer :-)

----------


## mjf55

> lol just do a  general search for 'curious aardvark'  I get around :-)
> 
> I'm also the only brit on the worlds most popular bbq/food smoking forum. 
> www.smoked-meat.com
> 
> One of the very first things I made when i got a 3d printer, were stuffing tubes for my sausage stuffer :-)


Yeah, kind of noticed your footprints around the web.   ;-)
My sons are into smoking meat.  Just had a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.  It was great.  The oldest made a ( well 2) smoker out of a 55Gal drum and other parts.  They both work great.

----------


## curious aardvark

drum smokers are actually really good and most garages will give you empty drums for free. 
The most basic is just a couple hanging rods at the top, slightly raised charcoal basket at the bottom and a couple air inlets. 
Even seen them turn out decent ribs, which is weird as the ribs are hanging down and you'd think there would be significant temperature differences. 

It's on my list, lol

So after diagnosing a poorly keyboard on laptop, took it apart to discover there is no way to remove the old keyboard short of destroying the top plate. The bastards have caged the keyboard beneath a metal sheet that is plastic riveted to the top plate, no screws at all ! 
 The keyboard keys poke through holes in the top plate. 
Why????????????????????????

Had a quick go at the corner piece to end the day on a positive note. Added long channels so that the side pieces can actually be bolted in on the long axis. Between that, the side rails and the two side locking bolts, should be plenty rigid. Once you add the aluminium base and top plates, I'm wondering if I'll still need the extra supports I was going to add about 2/3 of the way up the frame.

----------


## mjf55

Drum smoker - they have a rack for charcoal mid way or so, and a rack for meat up top.  Used a round grill cover for the top.  Adjustable air vents at the bottom.   Looks and works great.

I would continue to add supports.  Even though your using 40x40(?) aluminum, extra bracing cannot hurt anything except your wallet.

Oh, and I ordered Print Bite.  200 mm.  Cant wait for it.  Probably a week.  Also going to change the firmware to the 1.0 Dev level for the bed distortion correction, although I doubt I will need it with the PrintBite.

----------


## curious aardvark

yeah uds - ugly drum smoker. Good cookers.

Supports won't cost anything, aluminium :-) 
I'm using 30x30
Just to be awkward :-)

So on the 1.0 does it actually do an auto calbration ? Or is it the same nonsense with the numbers thing, that doesn't actually work ?

Didn't you buy the auto calibration software ? or was that someone else ?

----------


## mjf55

> yeah uds - ugly drum smoker. Good cookers.
> 
> 
> So on the 1.0 does it actually do an auto calbration ? Or is it the same nonsense with the numbers thing, that doesn't actually work ?
> 
> Didn't you buy the auto calibration software ? or was that someone else ?


No, I did not buy any auto calibration SW.

So on the Dev 1.0 level, there are multiple fixes to the distortion correction function.  The way I understand it to work (once enabled ) is you use the bed height map tool ( in repetier-host tools) and that maps the distortion on the bed.  Once completed, you save it in the EEPROM with a G command ( which is not currently our firmware.    Then the firmware will automatically correct for the delta z for about the first 1 mm of layer height.  see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9URtv2LqKc 

Here is the configuration utility words on it.  
Capture.jpg

----------


## curious aardvark

riiiiiight. 
Still not exactly a one button: calibrate.

You see how thick that guys build plate was !

----------


## mjf55

So, any update on BB?

Oh, Still no Printbite.  Ordered on 11/27.  Took 2 week to 'process'  Still did not arrive here.  Cant seem to get the tracking # from Flex3d.  They are not the best at communicating.

----------


## curious aardvark

lol no he can take a while to answer his emails. 

Been cutting threads in the uprights, yeah. when bits of aluminium get caught in the threads of the cutter it buggers up the thread. So I've got one end with a great thread and one with about 3mm that'll need a longer bolt. Need to rethink the process. 

Also been doing stuff on the sling target. Switched from petg to cheapo flex pla for the brackets, then ended up modding the flashforge for flexible filament. Which worked brilliantly !

So next job is finishing the carriages and corner pieces. 
I dislike this time of year. All the lights get taken down and it's still short, dark, wet, miserable days. Kind of lack motivation lol

----------


## curious aardvark

So back to Alexa for a post. 
here's the thing. 
I had a failed print ! 
Yeah i was shocked. 

So figured probably time to level the printbed - haven't done it for 4 or 5 months. 
Yep that needed doing, one at the back was way off. Now have all three bang on identical ! 
So that's that done for a few months :-)

And then I have a brain fart. Instead of zeroing z like I've always done in the past: Cold bed, thin paper. 
I decided to do it like I do on the flashforge, with a hot bed. Also I didn't have paper to hand - I'd have had to get up, walk a couple of yards and remove a sheet from a printer and walk all the way back. So I used a sheet of thin card instead, 'cos I could reach that :-)

Aaaaaaannnd the next three prints all failed about 40% in. Are we surprised ? Yeah well we shouldn't be lol

So just re-zeroed with cold bed and thin paper. Same print now steaming along, way past where it came unstuck before. 

Moral of this story: Don't change stuff that works :-)

----------


## Roberts_Clif

> here's the thing. | I had a failed print ! | Yeah i was shocked. 
> 
> Moral of this story: Don't change stuff that works :-)


Well I changed the way I was 3D Printing it could be considered that it was the right thing to do.

I have been printing on Vinyl Transfer Paper Tape for you who do not know what this is.
("It is a adhesive backed Paper used to transfer Vinyl lettering from it's adhesive backing and transfer it to it's Permanent location back lite sign, Wall, Window ect... have been printing on this for over a year now. ")

I had purchased a Build surface could have been a fake or not fake bed surface, long story short could not get two prints back to back to stick to the Bed Surface.
So I stayed with sticking the Vinyl transfer Paper Tape on top of this bed surface. Then printing on the Tape, go with what works right (well maybe).
A few weeks ago I went ahead and purchased different a bed surfaces from 2012hictech. I have been printing on this surface for over a couples of weeks now and it works, could not believe this bed surface actually worked.

Is it better than the Vinyl Transfer Paper Tape yes and no. 
The Bed surface leaves no tape residue that can be washed with pure water.
Has the nozzle got to close to the surface and left marks in the Bed surface. yes!

Moral of story 

We All make mistakes, And We All learn from our mistakes. If we never take a chance an try we never learn.

----------


## curious aardvark

An that's why I use printbite :-)
No it aint cheap - does it work ? yes.
Is it exceptionally hard wearing and extremely difficult to mark ? yes.

The sheet on the flashforge has been in constant use for over 18 months. 
Still as good as the day I fitted it. Considering some of the trauma it's been through. I genuinely took a hammer and metal chisel to it to remove the mymat nylon, did not mark it in any way
It's super duper tough !

Because both the delta and flashforge beds are mounted on springs, should the head 'crash', printbite is hard enough that it won't get marked before the springs depress. 
Certainly with brass nozzles. Not sure how you'd fare with a hardened steel nozzle. 

Totally fixed beds just seem a bad idea to me.

----------


## mjf55

> An that's why I use printbite :-)
> No it aint cheap - does it work ? yes.
> Is it exceptionally hard wearing and extremely difficult to mark ? yes.


Difficult to get, you bet, at least for me.  
Ordered on 11/27.  He misplaced it in the end of year rush.  Finally shipped Jan 8, 2018.   Sat in Heathrow for a week.  Now sitting in Kennedy .  Tomorrow I will file a missing package with the US Postal Service.
Next Monday I will tell Flex3Drive it never arrived and request repayment.

Not happy............

----------


## curious aardvark

Ah I am in the same country so that really helps. 

I did see some cheap pei on amazon (or ebay)  - £9 for  200x200 square. You'd have to trim it, but be interesting to see what the differences are. 
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk..._sacat=183062a

Having some bloody annoying issues at the moment. 

Got a mould to print and ship. 
Made lots in the past. At the moment the last 3 have had a slanted top. Sides are straight and the moulds would probably work - but I'm selling these and they need to be right.
I can see more or less what's happening. About the 1/3 mark it looks like a layer slides sideways and creates the slant. Which sort of travels up the model as it prints and results in the uneven top. The sides are perfectly straight - it's really odd. 
Doesn't look like anything up with the carriages, as that would produce a different effect. 

Just printed a tall cylinder and tall cube - both absolutely fine. Both taller than the moulds and no sign of any issue. So it's not something that happens at a specific height.
I've generated the stl file  a few times and it previews perfectly. 
Printed a some small pieces out - perfect. 

Now, I do rotate the models to put the retraction point at the bottom corner where it can't effect anything. 
So I'm now trying one without rotation and also no retraction during layer change. 

usually I print these in a pair. and I was just getting lots of spaghetti and failed prints every time. Guess as a pair once the layer slippage occured the tops of the models were uneven and the nozzle or fan caught and knocked the back model off kilter.

Totally bizarre.
used different filaments as well - just in case. 

First time since I've had the printer that I've had any kind of persistent issue.

----------


## curious aardvark

well that worked - also matches up perfectly with one of the other halves. I have no clue how. But they line up both ways round and the ends are flush. 


I'm thinking the ghost of mc escher passed through my workshop a few days back.

----------


## mjf55

> well that worked - also matches up perfectly with one of the other halves. I have no clue how. But they line up both ways round and the ends are flush. 
> 
> 
> I'm thinking the ghost of mc escher passed through my workshop a few days back.


So what do you think fixed it?  Sounds strange to me.

----------


## curious aardvark

The weird thing is neither part looks straight, but they match perfectly - either way round. 
It is weird, but I can at least post them :-) 

But I've definitely got an issue. did some sheriff's badges last night (going to cowboy themed meal wednesday) and the big one definitely had some offset layers. 
Have to check the pulleys on the steppers. Can't think what else it could be. 
I'll lock the motors and see if any of the belts still move.

----------


## curious aardvark

pulleys and belts absolutely fine. 

Just been watching it print s deputy badge and tthe bed is moving. 
It looks like the head is catching and moving it, but damned if I can see on what. 

The bolts and springs are almost at maximum extension, so probably make sense to screw them right down which should make it considerably more stable.

At the moment there is almost no compression on the springs so the bed moves really easily. If I screw it right down, the springs will be a lot tighter and upward pressure should hold the bed a lot more stable. 
Might also make a spacer for the cable holder, that also might be pushing the bed.

----------


## mjf55

I had bed movement when I assembled mine, and I tightened the screws anout half way.  That did stop the movement.

----------


## curious aardvark

got a free evening tonight, so will do it then. 
It's annoying as I've got it levelled with all three readings identical, lol

I can take it right down, my workshops is fairly cold and there's plenty air flow over the board and steppers, so not concerend about frying anything. 
Might redesign the cable holder to make it more flexible as well.
We'll see.

----------


## curious aardvark

well that should have worked. 
Got an extra 5.8 mm and the bed is absolutely rock solid. 
Can't move it by hand with out proper serious effort and a hammer :-) 
see how she goes :-)

----------


## mjf55

> well that should have worked. 
> Got an extra 5.8 mm and the bed is absolutely rock solid. 
> Can't move it by hand with out proper serious effort and a hammer :-) 
> see how she goes :-)


Doesn't that take the shock absorption out of the sprints?  Is that a side purpose of the springs, or are they there just to level the bed?   

GOOD NEWS, Finally got my PrintBite today.  Actually got 2 as Jason put an extra one in for my troubles.  Cant wait to try them.  

I have been working with the tech at HE3D for my inverse fan issue.  It seems to have them baffled.  He was going to try a firmware 'fix' but I dont want that as it will limit the firmware I can use. ( I am thinking of Marlin as it can autolevel, but not decided. )  Now he wants detailed photos of the top and bottom side of the board in the fan connector area.  Doing that tonight, then relevel the bed ( tight like you did) and install PrintBite.

I have figured out how to correct the issue with our 42mm effector that I reported here http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...slicing-in-S3D .  What I did was run the part thru Netfabb 2018 Premium trial ( 15 days left ) ( and I assume that the standard free netfabb 2018 would do it ) and somehow merged both parts into one, so the 'inner square' is now joined with the outer and all slicers (S3d, KISSlicer, Slic3r and Cura ) slice it correctly ( well at least without the box walls ).  Do you want it to put in your package of Mods for thingiverse? 

Replaced my first nozzle yesterday.  Was not printing good, I think the wood filament I used (Hatchback, about 2/3 spool ) helped ware it out.  Put in a ss 0.4 and so far, I like it.

Thats my updates for the last few weeks..............

----------


## curious aardvark

try a 0.5mm, lets you print 0.4mm layers without hassle. 

With the printbite most things will need a heated bed. My standard is 50c for pla. 
But some will print on a cold bed. 

Flexibles don't need heated - but since I fettled the creator's extruder that's now my goto printer for flexibles, leaving alexa for all other single extrusions. I think I do use heated for colorfabbs wood filament (brilliant stuff)  but pretty sure you could get away with printing it on a cold bed. 
It does stick like a limpet. 

And should you ever get any, under no circumstances attempt to prnt mymat nylon on printbite. Talk about a permament bond lol

----------


## mjf55

I think I will invest in a couple SS nozzles, adding 0.5 into the mix.  I do usually use 50*c for PLA.    Thanks for the heads up for the nylon, but I do not see that material in my future.

----------


## curious aardvark

well all I have to say is: AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH !!! BASTARD ! 

Still got weirdly slanted moulds if I do them in a pair. 
Cannot find anything mechanically wrong with her. 
Just printing out an ssd caddy - see how that turns out. 

The other odd thing is that the moulds still work. Slot into each other and slide - no problem. 
It's like one side has been shifted up slightly. But without any horizontal shift. First layer goes down clean, flat. 
So how can it make a slant on the vertical axis without one on the horizontal as well ? 
I have no idea, but it is.

****

ssd bracket printed perfectly, as did the two tall test prints I did when this started: a cylinder and a rectangle. So it's not necessarily an issue with the printer.   
weird it is.

----------


## mjf55

One at a time prints ok, but a pair causes a slant, weird indeed.  How does it look in the slicer, layer view prior to printing?  If you pass me the STL and or the gcode, I will give it a shot on my printer.  ( unless its too big ).

So I took my printer apart again to get to the board to get to the bottom of my fan issue.  I was able to capture a good clear photo that shows a burn mark and rework on the MOSFET driver for the fan.  Hopefully, HE3D will now send a replacement board as I cannot repair it ( my skills are not up to it )..  Attached snippet of the photo.

HE3D-Bad-Component.JPG

Finishing the install of the PrintBite.  Got acetone and will be heat soaking tonight.

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## curious aardvark

heat soaking ? 
Just stick it to the bed, over time all the air bubbles will disappear. 

I'll stick a pic of the moulds up later, it's really bizarre.

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## mjf55

Yeah, heat soak.  Instructions say to heat bed to 110*c with a wet cloth on top of it for an hour.  let it cool and do it again.  

Funny, the hotbed could not get past 90* with that wet cloth on it.  Anyway its done.  Re-calibrated the flatness and levelness of the bed.  First 3 point manually level ( with screws )and then 6 point ( 5 perimeter and center ) , only one point of the 6 is 0.05 mm off.  Check Flow ( Extruder Multiplier) at 95% for best single line width.   Probably do dimensional calibration tomorrow as on a 50 mm square, one side is 50.12 and the other is 50.5 .  I guess I like to tinker.

Right now, I like Printbite.  Once the printer was fairly calibrated, PLA ( @ 50* ) it sticks well and actually releases when cooled back to ~ 30*.  No more chiseling the part off.

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## curious aardvark

yep - after a short while you forget all about the print sticking and releasin part of 3d printing and just get on with the 3d printing. 
All the messing about with glue, freezers, tape etc - just not necessary :-)

I genuinely am not getting paid to recommend it - I just think everyone should have it to take most of the hassle out of 3d printing. 

How'd you do the 6 point calibration ?

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## mjf55

OOPS 7 point.  Basically followed this http://escher3d.com/pages/wizards/wizarddelta.php and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDLbqLve128 .  It is all manual as you use manual controls/ gcode to lower the head to the plate and use paper as a thickness gauge.  I choose 85 mm as my print radius.  Enter the results for each of the 7 points remaining z-height when you have the appropriate z height clearance. The result will suggest changes to delta rod length, delta radius, tower angle changes and end stops.  I use it the first time and make suggested changes.  The second time, it seems to get worse.  So what I do is keep measuring the nozzle height error ( i.e. remaining z-height ) and calculate the end stop steps required to make the x,y,z tower positions equal.  When you have the 3 tower points ok, usually the in-between tower points are ok and just correct the center.  Delta rod length effects this.  Too long of a rod causes a dip in the center ( appears that the bed has a dent in it.  see http://boim.com/DeltaUtil/CalDoc/Calibration.html

Clear as mud.  I can explain better if you like.

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## curious aardvark

lol I'll stick to the three point and screws until it stops working :-)

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## mjf55

> lol I'll stick to the three point and screws until it stops working :-)


That how I start the calibration.  3 points and manually level using the bed screws.  Then by using the  endstop correction, which in Repetier is measures in steps, I can make fine tune changes of 0.0125 mm per step which is better than I can do with the screw.

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## curious aardvark

screw is infinitely adjustable. 

I've got all three within 2 100ths. It's good enough. 

Got some i3 parts to make for someone, interested to see if they come out okay.

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## mjf55

Post the pictures when you print them.  Always interested in seeing results.

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## curious aardvark

I'm getting paranoid. Test part looks fine, but I keep trying to see the slant. lol

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## mjf55

Get a speed square to double check. 

 Remember, just because your paranoid, it doesn't mean they are not following you, or in your case, slanting when your not looking.  ;-)

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## curious aardvark

I'm still not entirely sure. I used my angle ruler thingy (it's a weird looking bit of kit) and I still can't say for certain if it's actually slanted. 
Oh yeah and the flashforge decided it wasn't going to print last night. 

But for not tall stuff alexa is fine: 
dragonbadges_938x768.jpg

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## curious aardvark

Well I'm still not sure if there is an issue with alexa or not. 
If there is it seems to be proportional to the layer height. 

ie: if \i print at a lower layer height, there is no discernible slant - and none on small items anyway. 
The larger the layer height the greater the potential for slant - but again not on small items. 

Oh yeah and I've got extrusion issues on the flashforge now. So have to dismantle the extruder tonight. 
Stuff feeds and loads, but almost nothing comes out on a print. 
No rest for the wicked. 

I have booked my tickets to mallorca for this years international slinging event - so need to print a bunch of flexible sling pouches. Also want to make a printable template for my leather sling pouches. 
It's all fun :-)

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## curious aardvark

Just knocked out a 100mm statue of ganesha at 0.24 layer height (try to keep it in multiples of 8, the stepper motors prefer it apparently). 
Bang on - zero signs of any issue. 
I mean none - got a hindu mate who's just bought a new house so thought I'd make him a ganesh :-)
It's as clean and smooth and shiny as any print you'd see.

Meanwhile I can find nothing wrong with the flashforge's extruder. If I feed from the control panel it extrudes a straight piece of filament with no problems. So the nozzle hasn't got an issue.
But when i go to print, it just grinds to a halt about halfway through the first layer.

Am I in the twilight zone ? 

Right going to try a ganesh in wood now.
You can never have too many elephant headed god statues :-)

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## mjf55

So Alexa seems to be ok at 0.24, but when does it start the slant?  What if you just use the multiples of 8 at a thicker layer, say 0.48, is that an issue.  This is a strange one.

On your flashforge, could the heater be weak?  i.e. what would happen if you feed say 100 mm of filament.  Will it work ok?  Seems to me you can overrun the heating ability if the feed is too fast for too long.

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## curious aardvark

yep, I can feed as much as I like, temps are stable. 
The tubes I added to the extruder are fine, nothing's getting stuck on them. 
Plus it's doing it on both normal pla and flexible pla. 
I've fettled around with the bed levelling and z gaps - it's not that. 
different models, etc

Could it be somethig to do with the steper motor at slower speeds. Dunno. 
It's annoying as I could do with having it working at the moment. 
Off to the world slinging international in a couple of weeks and I want to take a load of flexible plastic pouches with me. 
Guess I ought to just buy printbite for the knp, mod the extruders and start using that more.

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## curious aardvark

Currently printing a 2 part 'thing' (one of my inventions I sell - so no, I'm not telling you what it is :-) - doing both parts at once - no problems. 
One is about 30mm tall - still on 0.24.
It's fine. 

I'll try a glande mould tomorrow at the same resolution. Which is kind of annoying as you gain nothing by printing these at anything but the thickest layer you can. 
But I'll try it. 
And if that comes out fine - I'll print the i3 parts.

Oh yeah I've upped my retraction to 3mm - still at 70mm/s.  Absolutely zero stringing and I kept the parts really close to test it.

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## mjf55

This is an interesting read on print slant.  Long story short, it was his belts.  http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?178,731246,page=1

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## curious aardvark

well I'm over halfway through the i3 parts and no issue so far. 
IMG_20180222_143634_crop_510x432[1].jpg
IMG_20180222_143614_crop_663x504[1].jpg

Belts are tight. Also bear in mind I have two belt tensioners on each belt - so all three are at the exact same tension. 

Even if the belts did stretch, the tensioners would take up any slack and you would have a visual indication as the arms on the tensioners closed.

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## curious aardvark

Printed a big mould set last night. 0.4mm layer height, 100mm/s - came out perfect.  Did it in clear pla - which can be tricky. No problem.
New retraction settings give me completely string free multiple prints. 3mm at 70mm/s (I think - I'll check when I'm back on the workshop computer). 

So it seems to have sorted itself - weird, but good.

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## mjf55

Glad it is sorted out.  I will need to check my settings.  I THINK it is about the same

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## mjf55

Just confirmed, my retraction is 4mm @ 70mm/s

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## curious aardvark

3 seems fine for me.

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## curious aardvark

so after something of a break, I'm back on the big bastard. 
What caused the hiatus was cutting 6mm threads in the ends of the aluminium extrusion. 
I had been using the thread cutters in my drill. But stopped after stripping threads in one hole and completely jamming the threads in the cutter. Fortunately It didn't strip all the way down, so I've added a bit more length by hand and it'll just need a slightly longer bolt.  My mate did drop off some 8mm cutters as well - but don't think they'll be needed after all. 

My mate dropped his manual cutter holder off last week - so much easier to use. Have now done all three uprights, and just need to dismantle the prototype base/top and do the three short struts in that. I've remodelled the corner pieces with bolt holes, and tested. 
Makes a super rigid structure. 
Added the cross piece for the belt cog/holder/spinny thing (can't remember what it's called at the moment).
Also made the corner pieces a bit wider so the edges of the build plate line up with the slot in the extrusion.
I've left a wide gap for the bottom belt holders, so once I've got the stepper motor mounting where I want it on the top. I'll probably make some spacers to stop the thing moving horizontally. With a 1.5 metre height, I think it needs less opportunity for movement than on the k200, where tension is the only thing that keeps it in place.  

Once I've got everything threaded, I'll knock up some feet and put the frame together.  That'll be interesting. Give me some real idea just how big it is and where It can live :-)
At that point I can also finish the bed and work out wiring. 
Still need to design the effector - seen some interesting magnetic ones with angled holders for the ball bearings. Also need to add the belt holder and arm holders (magnetic again) to the carriages. 
Had a quick check and the arms are more than long enough - no matter what else I do. They'll need to be cut to size. But that's supposed to be fairly easy with a fine toothed hacksaw and i do have a disc sander for fine adjustment.

I'd quite like to get to the point where I'm tearing my hair out with the settings and configuration for smoothieware in the next month or so. 

More as it happens :-)

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## mjf55

Glad to see you are back at it.  Cant wait for some more progress and pictures.

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## curious aardvark

not going to be quick - each corner piece is now up to about 5 hours printing. 127gms. 
so i can get 7 and a bit from a reel of filament. 
If I take infill from 25% to 20% - I can get 8.
(quick slice) plus looks good. 
I'll do that for the rest :-) 

Took me a while to get the settings right for a perfect print. 
Ended up with 75mm/s, 0.3 layer, 5% for first layer and a fair bit of smoosh. 
Fan off till layer 3, 210 print temp and 50c bed temp.

They're almost edge to edge on the print bed. Big solid suckers. 
Sticking with the flashforge red, which does have a very slight tendency to warp at the edges on large prints. 
2 got scrapped and 2 I could file enough to get a very tight fit (mallet job). 
last night's, with the above settings, was perfect :-) 
Just started another one with the remnants of the previous roll of filament - not sure if there's enough. Chancing it anyway :-) 
even if I don't get full height, as long as the bolt holes are there, should be enough for  a test fitting.

Given how tight the sockets are for the horizontal struts and how solid the bolts hold them. There actually isn't any point in the strut nuts at the sides as well. 

Once I've got 3 good ones I'll check I've enlarged them enough. And if not - start again lol

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## curious aardvark

so put most of the frame together for the first time last night.
I'm beginning to think building a printer I have to stand on a chair to do the electronics - maybe wasn't such a good idea after all :-) 
bigbastardframe_261x600.jpg

And then this happened: 
iwantout_686x600.jpg

Still got two crosspieces to go. Annoyingly it snapped as I was unscrewing. The thread is cut. 
Hoping either my mate or the aluminium engineering firm I do work for, can drill it out. 
But it's hardened steel. Not sure how well it'll drill.  

These things are sent to try us :-)

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## curious aardvark

Marked out and drilled prinbed today. Then decided might as well attach printbite.  Keeps it safe and flat. I'll wait to attach the silicon heatpad till I'm messing about with the board and motors and the like. Keep it protected till I need it. 
printbitedplate_561x480.jpg

Corner piece with belt pulley and prototype carriage - purely for getting wheel spacing correct. 
cornerpiecepullerprotariage_301x480.jpg

Not really a desktop printer ;-)
notreallyadesktop_171x480.jpg

I know what you're thinking. 'Those bolt holes don't line up with the grooves in the struts. 
Nope, were never meant to. 
The bed will be mounted on 5mm bolts, that will be spring loaded and attached to very solid bases that  will bolt directly into the struts. 
This will give me more versatility in levelling and should keep the plastic mounts cool even with very long print runs (which is what this monster is for).

Right off to design feet :-)

OH yeah, ordered 5 metres of 3mm bungee cord for a different project and then thought. That would be ideal for suspending the flying extruder. As it's not rubber, shouldn't rot and will be real easy to attach. Figure push measured amount through 2.5mm hole, and fix in place with small cable tie.

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## mjf55

That some big b*...   What are the dimensions?  Sorry to see the broken tap.  Did you get it out yet?  Are you using oil when threading?

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## curious aardvark

Oil ? Nobody mentioned oil to me - bugger :-(
makes sense, but dave never mentioned it -  it's all his threading kit, so it must be his fault lol
He knows I don't do much metal working. 
Guess that's the difference between brute strength and ignorance and brute strength and proper practice. Unfortunately I was using the former.

I will oil in future lol
Got lithium grease and 3 in-1 oil in here with me.  Just never occured to me.

The vertical struts are 1.5 metres tall, the frame struts 420mm 
aluminium bed is 380mm diameter, printbite 350mm. 
I figure I'll get at least 1.2 metres printable height. 

Currently making feet from sienoc flexible pla.  Essentially identical to polyflex - but half the price !
prints great from Alexa. 
25mm/s print speed for flexible filament on a bowden tube :-)
Plus you can run the first layer at 100% - so actually prints stuff pretty quick.

Got to do one at a time though, one thing flexible pla is really really good at is stringing. Can't be avoided so you try not to give it the chance. 

I reckon this stuff is what spiderman's webbing is made of :-)

I'm going to drop into my aluminium engineering mates tomorrow and see what they can do. Hoping they'll drill it out and offer to finish the threading as well. Fingers crossed :-)

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## mjf55

Best if they can finish it.  Maybe a pint or two at the pub.  Anyway, cutting oil, go slow, and back out often to clear debris.  More oil.  I don't do it often, but that's what works for me.   Excited to see you working on it again.  Definitely not DESKTOP.  
I'm ready to try some flex filament.  
Do you worry about moisture in your filament?  Do anything to remedy it?  

Can't say enough good things about PrintBite.  I still smile when the print just pops off.  Thanks for that pointer.

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## curious aardvark

alas I showed darren and he said 'you need an engineering firm for that'. 
Apparently even though it says engineering in their frim title - they don't have any of the right gear. 
Don't even have a clamp for their pillar drill that will hold it in place. 
His idea was a centre punch and a big hammer. 
So I passed :-) 

So I think I might, knock the bit off that's sticking out of the hole with a hammer and figure out some way to clamp it so i can have a go with my pillar drill (change it to it's slowest speed) and a titanium nitride coated drill bit.
Logical - to my way of thinking - would be to start with a very small drill and work my way up. 
Failing that, every time I see these things on a shopping channel I'm tempted to buy them: https://www.drillallsales.com/
probably not as good as they claim. But I only want it for the one job :-) 
Bugger it - bought a 4.5mm bit. If I hurt it, they say they'll send me another one.  So we'll see :-)  
Figure at £5.99 it's worth a punt. Cheaper than postage would be on another strut anyway.

I reckon I can clamp the strut in my workbench and put the drill on that with the head offset . 
Should be fun lol
I'll have another go at cleaning the aluminium out of the grooves of the other two threading bits and use oil :-) 

Oh yeah my big laser engraver arrived yesterday. 30x40cm. Has a sort of user manual, but no build instructions or links to software, instructions etc. 

On the postiive side. There was no customs form or value on the parcel, so no import tax. I think it's been shipped to the uk in a container, massively undervalued and then delivered with hermes - a budget uk delivery firm who clearly don't ask daft questions like: 'you pay import tax on this? '. 
So that's good :-) 
Did find a build video on youtube which looks like the same kit.  Very strange way of using the belts to move stuff.  Not something I would ever have worked out for myself in a million years. 

What I really need is work, running out of money :-( 
I do have a shed full of tropical hardwood (that's not an exaggeration) and a bunch of woodworking gear. So custom engraved plaques, mats coasters etc are definitely in the future.

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## mjf55

I hope you get some work.  Need that money to pay essentials, then a few toys.  Are you skilled in woodworking, kool if you are.  Good money in that.  Also consider cabinet making.  
Back to the broken tap.  Consider reverse left hand drills bits.  They will provide some torque to help remove the tap as you are drilling.  Yes, you instinct is correct.  Start with making a small flat spot on the break as close to the center as you can.  Then take a sharp punch to make a small indentation to hold the drill bit from wondering.  Then us a small bit to drill a hole and work you way up.  Use that cutting oil to keep your bit sharp.  If you use easy-outs, be careful as that have a habit of snapping also.  Good luck.

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## curious aardvark

3mm bungee cord arrived today. 
Going to be perfect for the suspended extruder. 

I still don't know why it needs to be elasticated. But as every suspended large delta I've seen has an extrduer suspended by elasticat material. I guess it's been tested and proven a good idea. 

Even more reason I think to beef up the belts as th extruer bouncing around has to put extra stress on the carriages and belts. 
You'd think anyway. 

Currently waiting for 50 tennis balls to arrive so I can go test my new slinging target. 
Also invented a tennis ball picker upperer. 
The flexible tennis ball valve was printed with flexible pla on the he3d k200. 
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1523898343

Think the flexbile socket brackets were done partly on the he3d and partly on the flashforge before it got ill.

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## mjf55

So CA, how is your BB going?  We need a progress report. ;-)

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## curious aardvark

haven't got round to buying a new horizontal strut yet. Currently spending most time on the laser engraving. 
Also come to the conclusion that I need to buy pre-threaded struts. 

Plus it's bloody hot in my workshop. 
:-) 
It's not abandoned - i could really have done with it for a mini-itx case that I've had to break down into 4 parts. 
Plus money's been tight recently as well. 

I need to get moving on the struts - probably need 2. 
it's 28c in my workshop and even with a big fan blowing on me - there's only so much you can take lol

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## mjf55

CA, are you still working on BB?  Any progress?

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## mjf55

CA, Any hard lessons I should learn from you BB adventure.  I am thinking of building a 300 mm build plate diameter delta ( not quite as tall at yours.)

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## curious aardvark

yes - get the aluminium extrusion pre - threaded by the suppliers. 
The build kind of ground to a halt when i broke the threading bit. 
Then maneged to strip the threads on another strut and ran out of money to get new - pre threaded struts. 
Plus since then I've been messing about with the ctc 13 pro b. 
Not fully operational yet - as the print bed isn't actually affixed to the print frame in any useful or solid way (how it's designed). Basically if you move the printer - at all, it goes out of calibration. I'm going to bolt the whole thing to a rigid aluminium base - which will sort that issue out. 

So still learning stuff that will all go into the BB when I recommence it's build. 

What i would say is make your build plate larger. 
The extra cost is minimal, and a 350mm round plate will accomodate a 250mm square. I know this as I spotted the files recently :-)
Once I've eventually got the top and bottom frames made the rest should be pretty quick. 
I've got all the bits, even some 3mm bungee cord for the suspended extruder. 
I keep seeing ideas at printer show I can incorporate :-)

Given how cheap a large format printer can now be had - the original idea behind the bb is probably not going to work. So it's been relegated to a hobby build.

Quick update on the he3d k200. 
After a brief halt last year when the hotend ptfe tune broke in situ - still no idea how that happened. And a wee bit of hassle replacing it - she's now back to full working order and still my workhorse machine. 
Plus I now have a lot of ptfe tubing for the future :-)
And given how many moulds she's knocked out, I do believe she's actually paid for herself now as well :-)

She's Still on original board and firmware, hotend and extruder - why change what works so well ? 
Pretty much all the problems I see on the facebook groups are from people who have changed stuff - for no logical reason I can see - and have caused their own problems.

I did have adhesion issues with the printbite - but have now upped the bed temp to 65c - and it's sticking better than ever.
One thing I love is that she gets to temp reasonably quick - but once there the temps are nailed down. I might get a few tenths of a degree wobble on the extruder, but the bed temp is ALWAYS rock solid.

Just goes to show if you take the time to set a cheap printyer up properly and make the right mods - it#ll pay you back in spades :-)

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## mjf55

Thanks CA.  Yeah, Still love the K200.  Its printing like a champ.  I wonder why so many folks don't like it.  Probably can set it up correctly.   I had gotten a clone E3D a while back ( like last year ) and designed / modified the effector to use it, dual part cooling fans and optical sensor probe.  Waited a long time to install, but finally had a major molten blob on my print head, so the opportunity presented itself.  I have to say, there is marginal improvement vs the stock setup.  I do like the auto probing / distortion correction.  Need ( well could use) a few improvements to my design but over all, i'm happy.  Finally re-tried PETG ( was not happy with original results last year, but now I have it dialed in.  TPU is next.  
Yeah, the bigger delta build is a hobby type build, I just wanted a bigger build surface area.  Your recommended 350mm is huge.  I love watching the delta do its think.  Mesmerizing.   I may just take the easy rout and get a Creality CR-10 or Tevo Tornado.   Build are I want, Good price, large support group.  I keep hearing the Borg say "you will be assimilated; resistance is futile"      Ehhh, whats the fun in that.

Wonder whats up with your PrintBite.  Mine is still working great, even at 50*, but you use it more than me.  Wonder if it eventually goes bad.  May want to contact the manufacturer.  I still highly recommend it, thanks for pointing me to it.

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## curious aardvark

well I suspect the printbite issues were as much climate and cheap pla related as anything else. 
Just run through a roll of black esun pla that came with the klic-n-print. Switched back to some flashforge red yesterday, printed a cooling nozzle for the ctc - wow, that stuck about twice as hard as the esun !

350 does look huge. But like i said, it's a 250mm square with added rounded corners. Doesn't cost any more, so why not :-)

----------


## curious aardvark

just changed my nozzle, I believe this is the 3rd 0.5mm ! 
They are dirt cheap brass - so I don't expect them to last forever. They're averaging about 1,75km a nozzle. Which doesn't seem unreasonable.
Not bad for over 5 kilometres of filament in 2 years ! 
Just thought I'd update this and say the he3d K200 is STILL my best printer. Still running all stock firmware, electronics and mechanicals, still capable of running all day - every day. 

Thought I had a serious issue tonight. Couple of small prints were under extruded ! 
You what ? that's bloody weird. Changed nozzel, current print back to it's normal impeccable self :-) 

The 2 year old printbite is still as good as new. 

This setup is how all 3d printing SHOULD be. 
:-)

****

well sunavabeetch ! 
Turns out it's the new roll of silver filament that WAS the bloody. Looks, It's just gone and clogged my new nozzle !

This is the firast time I've ever had a filament that does this. The previous roll of this stuff was some of the best filament I've ever used. 

Must be some big unmeltable particle is this roll. 
well *&&&**^^%%$%^^&&*()**&&^%$£### and **&*())_~###(*&^%%^& as well !

----------


## curious aardvark

Well I guess i just jinxed myself. 
The ptfe tube was buggered, So drilled that out, fitted new one and managed to twist the end off the nozzle leaving the thread in the damn hotend !

So children, tonight's lesson is simple: ALWAYS heat the heatblock before screwing your nozzle in or out !

Right, where do i get replacement heat blocks............
Hmmm - the one on the ctc i3 looks remarkably similiar, I think we have a plan !

That said, think I'm out of 0.5mm nozzles, sheesh lol (well you got to laugh).

----------


## curious aardvark

Alexa's_ (It and my niece were named long before amazon stole the name)_ back up and running. 
And looking new and shiny. 

So here's the thing. 
I wanted a single heatblock. 
ended up buying a pack with 4 heatblocks, 4 metal 'throats, bunch of 0.4mm nozzles for £10. 
NObody just sells a single heatblock. And this pack was the cheapest I could find.  Shame the metal throats don't fit alexas cooling block - but I've got plenty ptfe liner.
I guess at some point the extra bits will come in handy. not the same size heatblock (not quite a sdeep), but works just fine. 
Nozzles - okay let's talk bloody ridiculous. 

I could get a single 0.5mm nozzle from ebay for about £2.50 and a weeks delivey time. I wanted at least 2.
In the end I bought a mixed pack of 20 nozzles with next day delivery from amazon containing 2x0.5mm nozzles for £4.
Sheer insanity. 
I'll probably play with the other sizes at some point. But how crazy is that pricing ? 20 for less than the price of 2 !

I know people don't like amazon. But where else can you order stuff at 22:30 and have it delivered the next day - on a saturday - before 13:00 and still pay less than ebay ? 

The new nozzles are slightly narrower with a longer pointy end. Looks good and prints well. 

Currently knocking out an alignment block for my new laser cutter. 
After 5.5km of filament it looks like Alexa appreciates the new parts :-)

----------

