Anybody here had any experience with any of the 3D StuffMaker range of 3D printers?
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Anybody here had any experience with any of the 3D StuffMaker range of 3D printers?
I've got a 3dstuffmaker Evolution, picked it up 2nd hand a while ago.
Has had little use beyond calibration, as its a bit noisy (motor noise) and the missus doesn't like that :p ... Also I was printing on the kitchen bench that borders the lounge room, probably didn't help things!
I could barely print a thing on the acrylic bed + kapton tape. But the whole print bed was slightly bowed in the middle from the previous owner, probably over time from the heat of the prints.
I had success printing small things on a piece of glass / mirror. Freshly cleaned with windex + microfibre worked well. As did a layer of strong hairspray on the glass.
I did have problems with larger prints popping off the glass once the bottom layers cooled down. Success rate was slightly improved with a heat lamp.
It could really do with a heated bed I reckon.
AFAIK I can use a reprap one, but first need to do something with the firmware with using an arduino or something? not sure.
If anyone knows the best way to upgrade the Stuffmaker Evolution to include a heated bed I think I'd get more use out of it... Especially after seeing someone else print one of these t-rex skulls. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:308335 ...and the No 1 Son being Dino crazy.
Looks like a PLA printer (no heated bed), and a .7mm nozzle is pretty much unheard of (practically everyone is using .4mm now)? Seems too big for fine details? But the basics appear to be there. As long as it is using some type of standard electronics, like a Ramps 1.4 or Rambo, it should be pretty easy to upgrade it to a heated build plate. With some mods it might be possible to get good prints out of it. If it were me, the first thing I would do is change out the plastic build plate!
Yeah .7mm standard. I'd definitely be looking to go to a .4mm nozzle in the future.
I saw a thread where 3DOZ posted some of his nicest prints and they were impressive (doubly so compared to the undefined blobs I"ve managed to print, haha) It got me excited again about my printer... Which has sat unused for the last 6+ months.
IIRC the electronics are pretty standard stuff, used by repraps from (probably) a couple of years ago. One firmware step below the Marlin maybe? that seems to ring a bell?
However straight out of the box the electronics are not as open/tweakable as the repraps... so you have to use an arduino or similar to expand its functionality.
I think a heated bed will be the biggest upgrade for me. I dont really know what the realistic options are (hoping 3DOZ will chime in with his mods)
I don't particularly need it to hook into the main electronics / be controllable from the computer software... I think I'd be equally happy with a heated bed with separate power/temp control ... probably, haha.
Mine came with a 0.4mm nozzle and the warped acrylic print plate was quickly upgraded to the 3D Stuffmaker heavy duty Aluminium print plate.
I have mounted a Rep-rap bed heater and seperate thermostat. It is possible to run a bed heater through the standard electronics but some firmware adjustments are required and I didn't want to mess with that.
Even though general consensus is that PLA doesn't require a heated bed I have found a massive improvement in adhesion reliability since using one running at about 60c.
The next element likely to cause you grief is the Bowden extruder which uses a fairly ordinary hobbed bolt to drive the filament which I have found to be a frequent cause of gouged filament and extrusion failure.
I have developed an extremely effective replacement extruder which has eleminated my extrusion failures but I can't share that with you just yet. Little bit of work to be done before I can release that to the world.
The Evolution really benefits from heated bed, a nozzle fan, an improved extruder drive and importantly making sure everything is kept tight. Many of the screws used for assembly have no nyloc or thread lock on them so the main case can work itself a little loose over time and it has a significant impact on accuracy.
I have printed one of those T-Rex's and it is quite possibly the very best thing I have printed to date. Very tidy.
Attachment 2939
That skull looks awesome!
Yeah I have a fan + printed attachment to blow over the hot end/nozzle, I haven't used it though as the prints just popped off the glass once the lower layers cooled a bit and didnt want to introduce extra cooling to the build - however I understand it does improve print quality greatly.
I'd love some details on the headed bed / how you mounted it / and how you control the temp etc.
You'd recommend getting the alu build plate for it? might see if i can find something locally, not sure what postage to Aus will end up being :/
Cheers
Deffinatly recomend replacing the acrylic print bed with the Aluminium one.
I bought mine from Stuffmaker at the same time as quite a few other items so frieght wasn't too bad.
For the heated bed I bought a standard 12-24V printed PCB heater pad from eBay for less than $20 and a cheap thermostat for around $15, again on ebay.
Like this...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-RepRa...item3cdaf029bf
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-LCD-D...ht_8417wt_1101
I had to cut some small notches into the edges of the heater pad (only about 1.5mm) to make it fit between the mounting screws and then I attached it to the bottom of my heavy duty printer plate (aluminium) with a small amount of silicone.Works brilliantly, I have had very few adhesion problems since.
Using some tips from you helpful lads I managed to print this part of the trex skull
This is my most successful print to date. Although the last 2 teeth didn't turn out. Need to muck around with the slicing and slow those layers down I think. I shrunk it 50% in size, which probably didn't help things detail wise :p
Blue painters tape is awesome. I should have been using this from day 1 !!
The painters tape on my glass/mirror tile, which is blutacked to the original (slightly warped) acrylic bed
I also "installed" the fan that came with it to blow over the nozzle. Installation involved pressing two bits of velcro together and plugging in the power brick. (all the hard work done by previous owner)
http://i.imgur.com/x7hdVlOl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6Gzonva.jpg
After I printed it I read that it was optimised for printing without supports :/
I'll reprint it and see how good it comes out next time :)
0.7mm nozzle seems to be good enough, but many are using 0.4mm now. but i recommend to change out the plastic build plate
I ordered my Evolution with the 4mm, and it gets pretty good detail, but I want to add a cooling fan, did you do that, and where did you connect it to the momboard, and did you add any instructions to the EasyPrint? Also, if you have finished your new Bowden assembly, can you reply with a thingiverse link or something?
Thanks!
Jim
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3D OZ