Show your MODS

[clough42]

I have my printer sitting on a Travertine tile. The tile provides a flat surface so the printer is always square and doesn't twist when placed on different or flexible surfaces. The tile also adds mass to the surface, reducing the amount of sound and vibration transmitted to the surface. This works especially well with the Sorbothane isolator feet because it provides a vibration sink that improves the isolation.

You can get an 18" square tile at Lowes or Home Depot in the US, usually for less than $10. I put felt pads under the corners of the tile so it conforms to the table it's sitting on.


2014-08-12 09.10.26.jpg

[Roxy]

I have my printer sitting on a Travertine tile. The tile provides a flat surface so the printer is always square and doesn't twist when placed on different or flexible surfaces. The tile also adds mass to the surface, reducing the amount of sound and vibration transmitted to the surface. This works especially well with the Sorbothane isolator feet because it provides a vibration sink that improves the isolation.

You can get an 18" square tile at Lowes or Home Depot in the US, usually for less than $10. I put felt pads under the corners of the tile so it conforms to the table it's sitting on.


2014-08-12 09.10.26.jpg

Next time I'm at Home Depot I'm going to see if I can get a big, flat 18" tile. I'm thinking wiith a diamond bit in a Dremel tool and water pouring on it... I can drill holes in the right place to Tie Wrap it down hard to the tile. Then I might be able to safely move my printer around.

[clough42]

Next time I'm at Home Depot I'm going to see if I can get a big, flat 18" tile. I'm thinking wiith a diamond bit in a Dremel tool and water pouring on it... I can drill holes in the right place to Tie Wrap it down hard to the tile. Then I might be able to safely move my printer around.

I actually did this with my i3. The Travertine drills easily with a masonry bit. I eventually abandoned the zip ties when I added the Sorbothane feet.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Clough42 - I noticed you had designed and used fan shrouds and fans for the x axis motor and extruder motor. I just got my i3V printer and have only printed 3mm pla via J Head, however none of the motors get hot. I do have some other experience with stepper motors that have gotten hot in operation but these seem fine. What types of print/materials lead to the extra cooling being needed?

[clough42]

Clough42 - I noticed you had designed and used fan shrouds and fans for the x axis motor and extruder motor. I just got my i3V printer and have only printed 3mm pla via J Head, however none of the motors get hot. I do have some other experience with stepper motors that have gotten hot in operation but these seem fine. What types of print/materials lead to the extra cooling being needed?

It depends on your electronics and the current settings of your drivers. There's more information in this thread:

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...Specifications

If that doesn't answer your questions, feel free to ask there.

[RaySuave]

Clough42 - I noticed you had designed and used fan shrouds and fans for the x axis motor and extruder motor. I just got my i3V printer and have only printed 3mm pla via J Head, however none of the motors get hot. I do have some other experience with stepper motors that have gotten hot in operation but these seem fine. What types of print/materials lead to the extra cooling being needed?

I have the 10" i3v kit. All of my motors get hot when printing PLA or ABS. All of the motors are also at the recommended voltage. I turned the voltage down on the extruder motor from 0.39 volts to about 0.32 and it still gets hot, hot enough to soften and warp the extruder block after about an hour. I now have fans on all the motors except the Z-axis ones. The fans helped a lot, I can actually touch the motors now without pain in my fingers throughout full prints. With all settings relatively the same, seems like some people have hot motors and some dont.....not sure why.

[Zulfe]

I, like other people on this forum, really wanted my prints to be illuminated while the printer was operating. I first thought about going the adhesive-backed LED strip route, but thought that they would eventually unstick, which was exactly what happened to gmay3. I bought a cheap Adafruit LED ring that has individual drivers for each LED and its own custom library for programming the properties of each individual LED through the Arduino IDE. It fit perfectly around the J-Head, not at all tight. It might even work on your bulkier hot ends. I ran the power, ground, and data input wires to the back with the rest of the extruder block wires where I then connected it to a perfboard that had an Adafruit 5V Trinket (basically a mini Arduino that costs less than half the price of an Arduino-Mini, just with less pins). I also connected it to a latched switch that had an integrated LED ring so it looks nice and pretty. You can find the link with some pictures and a schematic below. As of 8-31-2014, there aren't any pictures of the actual LED ring in action, just some pictures of the components and assembly. I'll be adding a picture when I return home.

http://www.shawftware.net/2014/08/pr...d-mounted-led/