You are the man Syd!
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Quick question about the spool holders.
When I was installing the holders, I noticed each rod had two nuts on one side and one on the opposite side. I used the side with two nuts to attach it to the back of the machine, sandwiching the back panel (spool holder | nut | back panel | nut). This leaves a single nut on the opposite side. Is this correct? I saw some documentation that looks like they want you to use a nut to tighten the actual filament spool against the body (on the holder). However, with the two spools QIDI Tech included, the diameter of the spools are too large and the width of the holders are too narrow to able to be secured.
Thoughts?
Goto my post #56 here it has several links to thingiverse that you should print first that will help you get started.
The one that specifically address your question go here and print them.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:571760
@sygyzy
3. I'm using MakerBot software too and the same happen but luckily i had filament loaded in the right extruder so I noticed it was doing the raft with right nozzle then main object in left nozzle. You have to got to settings in MakerBot then Custom -> Mult Material Printing -> Set 'Support Material Extruder' and 'Raft Material Extruder' to the correct ones. Then also make sure the object is using the correct extruder by clicking the big 'i' icon in bottom left of screen twice and selecting object then extruder type. Note sometimes if after making this change I enable or disable support or raft then options change. The best way to confirm it is using correct extruder is to click preview before every print. It will show left extruder in red and right extruder in white. This way you can see what the raft and object will use.
Also how did you set default extruder to left?
4. As above confirm with preview it is correct before printing.
5. I choose Replicator Dual
@g.gregory8
I don't think there's a way to set a default extruder. I know about the "i" icon and selecting the object and choosing extruder. However, even though I chose "Left" for the object, nothing was coming out. I think what was happening is this: since I chose to print the object with a raft, it was trying to use the right extruder (which was empty) to print the raft. Then it was going to use the left head to print the main object. The thing is, the raft does not show up in the program (ie there is no visual representation of it). So, when I click on the "i" icon to choose the extruder, I could only select and see the object and select a head for that.
I went to Custom | Multi Material Printing and was really confused about how I can set 'Support Material Extruder'. Annoyingly, Makerbot software decides to name the extruders Left and Right on some screens and 1 and 0 on other screens. What the heck?
It's pretty clear now that Makerbot considers the right extruder to be the "default". With that said, I might decide to just swap my spool over to the right. To be honest, I was hoping to use the left because my starter spool had the label on a certain side that made sense to load it on the left holder.
Last but not least - I've read one of the main reasons for a dual extruder is to have the raft material be different the main object. Since PLA and ABS prices are the same, what sort of "cheap" raft materials area out there?
I've always considered the right side the primary. Don't know why maybe because I'm right handed.:)
Traditional support material was called HIPS I believe.
BTW I haven't used rafts for months most of my prints haven't needed them.
Only objects that have a very small base surface compared to the top need the extra support of a raft.
Good to know rcleav. I guess I dont understand rafts as much as supports. For supports, anytime I see something with overhang I assume it needs some supports. No big deal on left vs right. When I get home, I'll make PLA on the right (primary) and ABS on the left.
@sygyzy Yes it would have been trying to print the raft with the right extruder. You have to change the 'Support Material Extruder' to 1 for left extruder (if you hold mouse over box it gives you an explanation).
Rafts and supports won't show up on the main view but if you click preview it will slice and show you a preview of exactly what it is going to print, including every line and layer. It also shows in red (left extruder) and white (right extruder). This is very helpful to see exactly what is going to be printed and a must when doing more difficult prints with lots of support.
As rcleav mentioned you don't normally need rafts for most prints. On my old DIY printer I never used rafts. But as it was the default for MakerBot I left it on. Also as I haven't got my glass plate installed yet it helps with slightly out of level beds.
Thanks for your tips guys. Now for a bed leveling question. I noticed the Flashforge Creator's leveling program is a lot more interactive and interesting than ours. It actually moves the bed to different locations. I just want to make sure I am doing it right on the QIDI.
With the machine on, I activate the leveling program which moves the bed up and the nozzle to the start position (I forgot where this is or why this particular area is the start). Anyway, with the head in the start position, use a piece of paper to check distance. Now, do I want noticeable resistance or have the paper rub the nozzle and the bed but really not give any hesitation when moving through them?
Then, with the machine STILL on, I am supposed to use my hands to move the head to different points and recheck level with the wingnuts? Which positions specifically? All four corners? What about the center of each side (NSEW)?
Also, since it's called Bed Leveling, is there any use in use a bubble level and making it "level"? Or does that not matter?
Using a bubble level will only help if your machine is also perfectly level. Even then its a bit of an overkill.
When I level I start with nozzle over front 2 mounting points, then the rear mounting point. Once all 3 of these show good I will double check the center point and a couple random edge points.
You want a tiny bit if resistance, not much. A folded bit of standard paper will do, but I'd strongly suggest getting a feeler gauge with a .4mm slip. They are fairly cheap and much more accurate then paper will ever be.
Honestly I don't use the leveling program, I just tell it to home all axis and then go from there manually.
Actually Sailfish is what makes you have to move the extruder carriage around by hand. What Flashforge is using is an older procedure and what my older Qidi did before the Sailfish upgrade. Evidently it has been decided by those that write Sailfish that the manual way is better. I heat the build plate up then go into the leveling operation.
I start in the front center adjusting the two front adjustments so the paper barely touches the nozzle tips. I then move to the center rear and adjust that one the same way. While doing this you can check that both nozzles are the same. I then goto left center, right center and finally center. Hopefully by then everything is level. I'm sure there are other ways to do it but as long as the plate is level when done it doesn't matter.
Thanks guys. I just ordered a set of metric feeler gauges. Just curious - What is the purpose of the command to bring all axis home? IIRC it just raises the bed then moves the print head to the back right corner. In what situation is this useful?
I switched my PLA roll to the right and printed a part and it worked after about 4 failures. Anyway, now I put some ABS on the left side and setup the Makerbot Desktop software to print with JUST the left side (including the rafts and supports). The annoying part is that it still heats up both extruders which causes some PLA to come out of the right during printing and the motion of the head going back and forth drags this PLA nobbind messes up the first few layers of the print. It's so annoying that they don't make it easy for you to use the left extruder. It's like they want you to use the right for everything.
If you're willing to edit the g-code, using the left extruder only is pretty easy in Slic3r. Just got the printer today. 3rd print is already looking pretty good (PLA).
Homing the axes is to reset the zero position of the stepper motors.
Attachment 8894Attachment 8892Attachment 8893
After hearing all this I'm glad I spent the little extra on S3D. Its near mindless to set what extruder is used for what material.
I have been reading things from others printing on glass plates. Most saying single can of cleaner and single can of aquanet lasts month or so. I'm a week in and through half a can of both.
How often do yall clean your glass?
I have been scraping, rubbing with alcho, and reapplying the hairspray after every print. Am I going way overboard?
Also, what lube yall using for the rails? I would typically use graphite powder for something like this, but I'm guessing that would not be good for 3d printer.
It seems a coat last for several prints with maybe a quick shot over the area that the last print was on.
If the surface of the glass starts to get a little rough or you have adhesion problems clean the glass and start over.
A can a month sounds about right.
People seem to like Superlube used very lightly.
Ok an update to my Makerbot Desktop issue. I found that when I enter the Custom Settings and made a custom profile for my settings, sometimes it would cause the program to fail with an error message when previewing or printing. I think there must be some sort of combination of settings in my profile that Maker doesn't like. This is a bug because if two things can't be true or causes a processing error, it should give a warning message. If I use the standard profile or one of the default custom ones like (Standard) it works fine.
Another thing I learned is how to better control the extruders in the Maker software. There are many places to set it and you have to be aware of what each thing means. For example, if you want to print a part with the left extruder that has supports or rafts, and you want those supports to be in the same material (same extruder) you to choose Mixed Material Support. That's kind of strange right? I would think that if I checked that box, it would print the object with one extruder (say PLA) and the supports with the other extruder (ABS). But in this case, Mixed Material Support means "use the same material / extruder for the entire print"
Does anyone know how to adjust the print speed in Maker? There's a menu for extrusion speed but it's split up into Bridges, First Layer, First Raft Layer, etc. Which one is the "main" print speed for the rest of the object? Is it Infill?
For those printing on glass or with any sort of material over the actual metal bed, do you measure temps to make sure the heated bed temps are correct? What I mean is, surely a piece of glass sitting on a heated bed is not going to be the same temp as the bed. There's some loss to to inefficiencies right? So your heated bed at 60C might give a glass surface temperature of 50C. Is this important to compensate for?
The temp reading on your machine should be withing few deg of what your glass actually is.
The machine is reading temp of heatplate via thermostat in the plate, as the glass leaches heat from the plate its internal thermostat will reflect this and machine will adjust accordingly.
If your using the right type glass and its secured to the plate the loss during the transfer is very minimal.
Hey just received my Qidi and am pretty much ready to power on and print. Can someone tell me what the extra chip is for? I included a pic.Attachment 8907Attachment 8908
Yep it's an extra stepper motor driver. You have 5 of them on your main board.
Sure wish I had gotten extra feed motor driver. Think the one driving right extruder is having issues. I keep getting jams and prints with not enough material.
Thanks rcleav
Going to do a glass plate build on mine, anyone know the size and type of the screws on the corners of the bed?
So, been messing around with combat grade boot-style knives today. These are the first prints I have used a honeycomb infill for, also first for using such a high infill % (80%) and so many outside layers (6t, 6b, 8o).
My machine is shaking very badly doing the infill on these test blades.
Was wondering if something like http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1391749 is worthwhile to counter this.
@Syd_Khaos - thanks for the info about the glass. It makes perfect sense.
Mine shakes pretty violently during infill too, especially if the model is smaller and it has to go back and forth very fast.
Does anyone know why the machine seems to play computerized musical tones during printing? I am no talking about the finish tone but like while printing it makes some high pitched sounds that sound computerized and not just normal printing sounds. Am I imagining things?
I have a CTC and it shakes like crazy for the infill as well; although utilizing Simplify3D and Sailfish 7.7 firmware has helped with the print speeds / accel and helps the shaking by a huge margin.
The "musical tones" I believe is just the stepper motors?
All the hardware in the heatplate is M3 yes? just different lenghts right.
Yes it looks like all of the build plate screws are M3
I am going to pick up a piece of 1/8" (3.175 mm) glass. I can find 1/8" shims for the Z-Axis or at least figure out how to remix 1/4" ones down but for the life of me I can't figure out how to get 1/8" corner clips. All the versions I've found are for 1/4" glass and my TinkerCAD skills are not up to snuff. No matter how I try to resize the height of the glass hold portion (not the entire clip), it won't let me. Does anyone have any advice or can anyone help me resize the gap on this one to fit 1/8" glass? http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:613685
I have the original version of this set: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1291106 but I'm going to get these made for me using higher grade filament for heat resistance via 3dhubs.com
Hi Everyone,
I'm brand new to 3D printing. This will be my first purchase. I'm leaning toward the Qidi Tech 1. Is there any reason to spend the extra money on the Flashforge Creator Pro?
Thanks,
Joe
None I can think of
I purchased the Qidi as my first printer just over a week ago. Looked at printers for solid 2 months before deciding. After all the research the only thing I was cautious about with the Qidi was customer support.
The machine is awesome. Great quiality, easy to use. I was printing within couple hours of opening the box, and I had issues leveling the plate at first. Much faster than I expected. And their customer service is very prompt and helpful.
I would also suggest getting Simplify 3D software along with the Qidi machine.
A week with my first printer and I'm doing complex setting tweeks and really dialing in what this thing can do. That's partly due to how easy to use and work on the machine is, and how easy and streamlined S3D seems to be for making adjustments.
How are you guys getting your Z axis stop limit shims to stay put? I printed two separate ones so far and they are nowhere close to being the right size. The hook arms don't stay snug around the cylinder sleeve and the width of it is odd in that it sort of hangs halfway off the back. Am I missing something?