Heaven help me - I've just bought a delta kit :-)

[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 ?