Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[DarkAlchemist]

Wow, fast response even at 8pm. Didn't offer a 2nd spool but that's OK.

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If only Qidi was like that. I hear Makergeeks is that way but I cannot find an email address to them or even a phone number on their website (it is a yahoo store) and I have been tweeting them for two days but no answer yet they are Tweeting.

Anyone have a point of contact for Makergeeks?

[Syd_Khaos]

Interesting enough my latest print has the same problem that you described. The plastic is from Orb Polymer and it is their Snow Leopard PLA. Before now the spool has been a nice white color but near the end of my last 15 hour print the white has turned to a light pink. I have contacted them and am waiting for a response. We will see how they respond and if their service is as good as MakerGeeks.



I have been really happy with Orb Polymer and for me it prints really well. I haven't tried MakerGeeks plastic yet, not sure why you say Orb is more expensive as I see on the MakerGeeks website that the spools are $24.55 and at Orb they are $19.47... if you buy 3 then you get free shipping in the US.

I say Orb is more expensive on per roll basis.

To order a single spool from Orb for me it totals $33.46....$19.47+shipping.
To order a single spool from MakerGeeks for me it totals $24.99....they do free shipping an even a single spool.

It's my opinion that the MakerGeeks is of better quality, though not by much. Orb makes some darn good stuff.
There is also a good diff in color between the two. Orb does alot of wild colors, and many are semi-tranclucent giving finished print an awesome reflective quality. MG has colors more common..more homeish so to speak ya.

I consider MakerGeeks and Orb Polymer my main suppliers...almost never look elsewhere. I do order more for makergeeks, but I think that has more to do with me being at the point in my buisness that Im ordering 1 spool more often than 3+ spools.

MakerGeeks site: http://www.makergeeks.com
MakerGeeks support e-mail: supportdesk@makergeeks.com


So....seems like I am gonna develop my own I3 clone. I am def gonna be shooting for something with a larger print bed than the Qidi.....maybe double.
If everything works out and I can actually get one built for a reasonable price I will make it into a kit and toss it on my website.

If yall know any good sites to source the parts I'm gonna need from that would be awesome of ya to share here or send em to [email protected]

[cncartist]

I did on both accounts but I offered, numerous times, to send this boat weight back to them at their expense (please issue me a call tag for return I kept telling them) but they declined.

I am not sure why they would decline except the cost factor because I priced the cost from me to them and it was 1100 dollars for the cheapest route (60 pounds and the box is oversized) and I freaked out about that especially after all of the nonsense with them with the bent/bowed rod, the glued in belts (and endstop), the hotend/thermocoupler/mightyboard/sailfish (I am unsure what was the cause), and seeing the price if I had to pay shipping back to them that I immediately called eBay.

It was eBay who initiated the process after I explained everything to them and without hesitation they started it and told me, over the phone, that they had. Apparently I am not the first one who had issues with Qidi via eBay.

Sounds like a bad experience and I hope you can find a machine that works for you. What did you end up doing with the extra parts from the printer that weren't sent back?

Well, I just printed my amazon return shipping label. It's a shame, so many seem really happy with it. I'm not willing to give up a weekend to fix something (that bent rod) on a brand new printer though.

I used sewing machine oil (to fix bearing creaking noise) as outlined in a previous post and that's worked great so far with no issues even though the rod is still a little bent. I agree with Qidi that the rod being bent doesn't cause an issue to the print quality but I can't say it's handled in the best way as I think it's something that could be avoided.

[DarkAlchemist]

Sounds like a bad experience and I hope you can find a machine that works for you. What did you end up doing with the extra parts from the printer that weren't sent back?




I used sewing machine oil (to fix bearing creaking noise) as outlined in a previous post and that's worked great so far with no issues even though the rod is still a little bent. I agree with Qidi that the rod being bent doesn't cause an issue to the print quality but I can't say it's handled in the best way as I think it's something that could be avoided.

Yeah, print quality may eventually end up getting affected due to, at least in my case, the rod being so bent it was popping each time Y changed direction. After I took it apart to replace the rod that is when I saw the eaten into bearings and plastic holder. Eventually that sucker would have been chewed through.

As far as the spare parts I just chunked them in with my i3 spare parts.

Oh, speaking of the I3 I just saw Prusa's I3 MK2 and I am in love but the price is too steep in my opinion. He really has made that printer come a very long way from the first vanilla version for sure. FINALLY, leadscrews and a, roughly, 30% larger bed with Ultem PEI on it (I would kill for that bed on my i3). http://prusaprinters.org/original-prusa-i3-mk2-release/

Syd_Khaos: Thank you for the information.

[rcleav]

I say Orb is more expensive on per roll basis.

To order a single spool from Orb for me it totals $33.46....$19.47+shipping.
To order a single spool from MakerGeeks for me it totals $24.99....they do free shipping an even a single spool.

It's my opinion that the MakerGeeks is of better quality, though not by much. Orb makes some darn good stuff.
There is also a good diff in color between the two. Orb does alot of wild colors, and many are semi-tranclucent giving finished print an awesome reflective quality. MG has colors more common..more homeish so to speak ya.

I consider MakerGeeks and Orb Polymer my main suppliers...almost never look elsewhere. I do order more for makergeeks, but I think that has more to do with me being at the point in my buisness that Im ordering 1 spool more often than 3+ spools.

MakerGeeks site: http://www.makergeeks.com
MakerGeeks support e-mail: supportdesk@makergeeks.com


So....seems like I am gonna develop my own I3 clone. I am def gonna be shooting for something with a larger print bed than the Qidi.....maybe double.
If everything works out and I can actually get one built for a reasonable price I will make it into a kit and toss it on my website.

If yall know any good sites to source the parts I'm gonna need from that would be awesome of ya to share here or send em to [email protected]

You may want to look at this site if you haven't already. http://www.openbuilds.com/

[Syd_Khaos]

You may want to look at this site if you haven't already. http://www.openbuilds.com/

Nope..had not found this one yet. Thanks for link, site looks awesome.
Sure with they had the examples in some other format than SketchUp. For some reason I can't seem to install extensions to Blender anymore.
If anyone uses SketchUp and would be willing, I sure could use the 20x20mm V-rail example in any of the formats Blender takes on import:
.obj
.stl
.fbx
.3ds
.ply

few others

Thinking of going for build volume of 400mm width, 400mm, depth and 450mm height. Gonna mimic the current I3 clones...build platform moves along Y axis, X and Z are done with v-rail trolly.
I do not like the way the buildplate mounts on most these clones though. I plan on doing a 3 bar system like whats in the Qidi (but horizontal of course) and much wider...darn near wide as the plate.
Like the only thing I need that the OpenBuild site does not have on the shop is bar bearings. But those should be easy to source....I'd prefer ones with z-nipples on em, how else ya supposed to grease a closed bearing ya.
I have started the design today...but mostly so far that's just been me fighting with blender to install extensions with no luck.

[DarkAlchemist]

Yep, been on that site for a couple of years now and most of the printers on there will run you around 1k-2k. I designed an entire printer using wheels (way preferable to LM8UU bearings) and just the wheels alone was going to run me around 240 dollars. My only gripe is the costs of those wheel kits since we need at least 3 per axis. My design I managed to get to 31 or it was 32 wheels times around 7 a piece.

[Syd_Khaos]

My design will use a total of 18 wheels. Not wheel kits, but 18 single wheels. Their wheel kits are designed to make money...you don't need 2 wheels per contact point, just use wider wheels =P Same contact area to the rail, same grip, less bearings n such.

edit: honestly I don't like the current trolly setup of the popular I3 clones. It makes it so that both the wheels and the drivebelts are bearing the load of the trolly. Using larger wheels that fully seat into the v-rail would allow them to be tightened to a point where they are bearing the majority of the load, leaving the belt to only bear the load of movement, as it should be.

I think I can get a kit together to do the build area I want for around $800-1k. That site is great for some stuff, but some things (like the bearing and wheels) can be gotten for better prices elsewhere. I do really like the rail and plates they have on that site though, that's good stuff.

I am planing on using V-rail for the gantry systems. Thinking of making a bolt together base of hardwood though. The thing is that v-rail can't have much weight to it, I think a hardwood base on the machine would be a cheap and effective way to add some weight, and that will help with vibration and such. I think spreading the 2 smooth axels the plate trolly will ride on out will help alot with buildplate vibration too. Imagine if those 2 axels in your Qidi were as wide as the plate trolly...

[jfkansas]

If I did anything it would be Core XY.

[DarkAlchemist]

My design will use a total of 18 wheels. Not wheel kits, but 18 single wheels. Their wheel kits are designed to make money...you don't need 2 wheels per contact point, just use wider wheels =P Same contact area to the rail, same grip, less bearings n such.

edit: honestly I don't like the current trolly setup of the popular I3 clones. It makes it so that both the wheels and the drivebelts are bearing the load of the trolly. Using larger wheels that fully seat into the v-rail would allow them to be tightened to a point where they are bearing the majority of the load, leaving the belt to only bear the load of movement, as it should be.

I think I can get a kit together to do the build area I want for around $800-1k. That site is great for some stuff, but some things (like the bearing and wheels) can be gotten for better prices elsewhere. I do really like the rail and plates they have on that site though, that's good stuff.

I am planing on using V-rail for the gantry systems. Thinking of making a bolt together base of hardwood though. The thing is that v-rail can't have much weight to it, I think a hardwood base on the machine would be a cheap and effective way to add some weight, and that will help with vibration and such. I think spreading the 2 smooth axels the plate trolly will ride on out will help alot with buildplate vibration too. Imagine if those 2 axels in your Qidi were as wide as the plate trolly...

The problem is finding larger wheels that will also fit into the tracks. I prefer the three wheel approach myself as two wheels, unless taking up the entire width of the plate (meaning one wheel would equal the width of what is currently two wheels including the space between them), is not enough.

Oh, and just the wheels themselves are hideously priced imo.