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If it’s literally just splitting the model into parts for printing you can probably do this in whatever slicer you use. You can do it in Slic3r (which I use, and is free)
Cheers stumpy.
Possibly I used to just do it in slic3r, I'm using Cura now- not even sure why I changed! And it doesn't have an easy way to do what I want here.
I got round to installing the Bullseye Fang on Saturday night after half a bottle of red wine!
It was very easy to do. My main concern was yanking some of the wires & breaking something, but I actually had no problems.
The results are, erm......hmmm, I think I need to do some tweaking of the placement.
Good news:
- nozzle visibility is massively improved.
- print quality is marginally improved. And I mean cigarette paper thin marginal improvement.
I printed 3 items before changing & re-printed them after with the same gcode.
A bridging test, which looked surprisingly good before making the change. I expected a mass of drooping filament, but it was mainly OK. After changing, it is a bit better, but barely.
The Celtic skull keyring thing - there are a few droopy bits of filament around the back of the jaw, which I thought might be improved. But they are virtually identical. Without having labelled them, I would not be able to tell the before & after apart.
The knurled nut & bolt - here there is a difference. The pre-fang one is strange in that the nut will screw onto the thread one way, but if you flip the nut then it won't screw all the way down.
The post-fang print works both ways, so i suspect it is a bit more dimensionally accurate, but the overall action of the thread is not as smooth.
Looking at the comments on Thingiverse, it could be that I have mounted the fang a bit too low & need to raise it up a bit. I might scooch it up a mm or so and see what happens.
Anyway - obligatory pic overload:
Fitted & printing
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7888/46218576645_9c542623ca_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7888/46218576645_9c542623ca_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2dqbhB8 ]IMG_20190217_000245[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Celtic Skulls - there's a band at the same height that I need to investigate.
For reference, that part is only about 25mm high.
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7811/46218671735_b80217df04_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7811/46218671735_b80217df04_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2dqbLSB ]IMG_20190218_090543[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Knurled Nut - I think it's an M10.
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7909/46218671855_434426283e_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7909/46218671855_434426283e_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2dqbLUF ]IMG_20190218_090729[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Bridging Test - can't really see any difference from this distance at all. Even close up, it's subtle.
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7860/46218671845_d8b954f891_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7860/46218671845_d8b954f891_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2dqbLUv ]IMG_20190218_090847[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Nice. Did a similar thing with my printer. Worth it for the extra visibility on the nozzle alone!
That bridging is pretty remarkable on both!
Had the day off, and after having an idea, and discussing it on the Trans con facebook page, when someone else had a similar idea and posted it, I've been making the prototype of a bike accessory!
I originally bought the printer to make bike parts for myself, but so far have only manged to make 1, the rest being anything but bike parts!!
Please excuse the naff photos. Its a tri bar brace, or will be when the carbon bar turns up, to hold a go pro and front light.
Funny isn't it, that as soon as you print a design, you can see design alterations taht could work!
That is the beauty of owning a 3d printer though! just tweak the design & run off the next version!
Funny isn’t it, that as soon as you print a design, you can see design alterations taht could work!
That's part of the benefit of it, I reckon!
Many times at work we design stuff, get it sent off for manufacture & it takes ages & costs a bomb, then as soon as we have it in our hands we realise it would have been so much better if it had been Y instead of X......
There's not a great deal we can do in 3-D printing with regard to functional prototypes where I work as the parts are either too big, need to withstand v high temperatures or are too high precision for what a current FDM printer can achieve - often it's all 3 of those.
But, every now & again we get something that is the perfect candidate for printing. The best thing is when we have a request from someone who has no real expectation, but just wants something they can print out to get an idea of how big it is, how easy to hold/manipulate or whatever.
They are always surprised at how good the part is & it normally spawns a whole heap of suggestions for modifications/improvements etc.
Nice Stumpy. Where's the second fan? Do you have the link for it? Is it from this? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2759439
Which of the files did you need? Thanks.
I put stepper dampers on the other day. Still prints fine, quieter now obvs. Really need to sort the control box fans now, they are the next loudest bit!
papamountain Member
Nice Stumpy. Where’s the second fan? Do you have the link for it? Is it from this?
Yeah, It's from the Thingiverse item you link to. Basically, he has optimised the duct design for the smaller output stock fan, rather than one of those large 5015 blower fans, that to be honest I can't be bothered soldering in place.
As for files, I think I used:
Bullseye__Base_Creality_9.27
Bullseye Duct_9.27
3rd & 4th ones down in the file list.
If you download the 'creality_files_to_print_11.3' pdf file then it should be pretty clear from that.
He's got a website with some nice details & videos etc.
http://www.dpetsel.com/because-you-asked.html
You need a few new screws & nuts - M3 nuts & I think M3x12 screws. These are detailed in one of the pics on the Thingiverse page.
The second fan is sitting behind the part cooling fan. Here's a pic that should show it a bit clearer:
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7903/46218576655_95fca73fe5_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7903/46218576655_95fca73fe5_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2dqbhBi ]IMG_20190217_000124[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
I keep meaning to get some stepper dampers. Did you mount also print out the Y-Axis brace to support the Y-Axis stepper? Without it, I think the damper fails quite quickly, as it shears.
Something like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2701747 although you need another damper on the back-side I think.
Another thing I keep meaning to get round to, is sorting the control box fans. There is a stand available that takes 120mm cooling fans - so you remove the base of the control box & sit it on some larger fans. I'll probably print that & wire some fans up.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2729888
What strategies does everyone use in terms of fire prevention/suppression? I've seen a fair few reports of fires online (mainly on the Anet A8) and last week a mate had a scary one where his got to the smoking point after a mosfet stuck on. I had a heater cartridge fall out of my Tarantula a while back but didn't think much of it as it failed pretty quickly and did no damage.
From this I found the thermal runaway and all the safety checks had been disabled in my firmware.
This has now been rectified, and I've got a smoke controlled relay in the post to cut power in the case of a small fire and have a flame activated fire suppression ball (explodes powder when exposed to flames) sat just above the printer in the worse case scenario. What I am wondering is if my Correx enclosure and sitting in on a plywood shelf is a good idea!
Since reading about the fires I have stopped using my printer when I'm not in the room and I want to get back to the point where I'm happy to at least go into other rooms for more than 30 secs!
oliverracing Subscriber
What strategies does everyone use in terms of fire prevention/suppression?
Currently - nothing. Hmmm. Not great, I know.
I need to update the firmware to enable the thermal runaway stuff, but for the CR10-Mini this required an Arduino & plenty of fannying about, which I predictably haven't got round to.
I have a degree of confidence (perhaps misplaced) in my printer, as I have put plenty of hours through it & am generally quite diligent when it comes to checking for frayed wires/wear etc.
I have considered one of those fire extinguisher balls - ideally I'd stick the printer & ball in an enclosure, so if it does go off, I don't completely trash the room it is in.
Definitely something to think about.
I did google a while back, only found one substantiated report of a proper fire and this was the exact cause. So just don’t do this and you should be ok 😀From this I found the thermal runaway and all the safety checks had been disabled in my firmware
I think the risk is massively over exaggerated, no more likely than any other electrical item spontaneously bursting into flames, so take no special precautions with my 3D printer. I do monitor it via webcam when I’m away from it although that’s more so I can stop it if there’s a problem with the print.
Mosfets failing on is another known cause of fires, in the case of my friends it was only his quick thinking that saved it (walked into garage full of acrid smoke so killed the power). The bed had got hot enough for the pla print to be a pool of plastic dripping on the hot power wire (the cause for the smoke) and it had completely warped the plastic frame and left black scarring on the wooden bench where the wires were. I guess the wires were under rated to have been able to get so hot even with a stuck on mosfet.
Will see if he took any photos as I know he dismantled and binned it all to hide the near fire from his wife!
Thanks for the fang details Stumpy. Let us know how you get on with it.
No, I didn't print a y-axis brace for that stepper. I can see what you are talking about and it's seems plausible. Will see how it goes, they only cost a cpl of quid so if it breaks ill get another or two and go with the brace.
That control box fan thing was what I was looking at too. Would be nice if it actually screwed to the box, I think the box just sits on top. There's a remix which addresses this but it's a one part print which is too big to print on our beds I think. I'll probably just go with the first one.
papamountain
Member
Thanks for the fang details Stumpy. Let us know how you get on with it.
Will do. A friend has sent me some fairly complex parts to print for his work, so I'll be making some tweaks & then giving those a bash.
I'm sure I set-up pronterface on my laptop (need to check) which should give me the ability to send code to the printer to turn the cooling fan on & off to check where the duct is actually blowing.
That control box fan thing was what I was looking at too. Would be nice if it actually screwed to
the box, I think the box just sits on top.
I initially thought this, but then in reality I figured it probably isn't a problem. I was going to re-model it, but it's a lot of work for small changes. I'll probably just run some hot melt glue around the edge if it seems too unstable.
I'll probably wire the fans directly into the PSU.
Thread resurrection alert! 😀
What's the current thinking on a good value beginners 3D printer?
I fancy getting one.
One of the most important considerations is print bed size...how big do you think you'll need?
The Creality Ender3 is a very popular choice and is dirt cheap. But has a limited print bed - I think it's 200x200x300 off the top of my head.
I went for a Creality CR10-Mini as I thought a square print are (in X and y) might be limiting. The Mini is 210x300x300 high and I use a decent amount of that area regularly. The Z height to me is less important...
A lot of this will depends on your budget. A colleague at work has just bought the latest Prusa. It prints well, but cost him getting on for a grand.
stumpy01 a grand!!! I'm going full on cheapskate as I don't know if I'll find it useful or not 😃
spursn17
Member
What’s the current thinking on a good value beginners 3D printer?
Ender 3 and a glass bed. It's not the best, but it's great value and has fantastic user and aftermarket support.
It's probably more or less time for something else to knock it off its perch mind but right now it's probably the best choice. As long as you don't want to print huge things, it's limited to 235x235x250.
I've gone through a few printers over the years and I love my Ender 3 Pro, enough that I bought another one in the creality sale. It doesn't really have many upgrades over the standard Ender 3 (the magnetic bed should be an upgrade but the Enders <always> have warped beds which are best fixed with a glass bed) but it's also not that much more expensive.
If you want to do resin stuff- minatures and whatnot- then the Elegoo Mars looks shit hot, very tempted.
I bought a Prusa mk3 about 10 months ago (£700 ish for the kit which if you can do a Lego technic set you can put together no bother). It’s the only printer I’ve got experience with but I’d certainly recommend it - it’s been going virtually every day since I got it, no problems at all except the occasional self-inflicted user error!
I basically bought mine for work & wasn’t expecting to get into it as a hobby, but I’m totally addicted now! It’s so interesting & useful. Latest print, some vent things for my parents’ roof that they’re having done at the moment:
[url= https://i.ibb.co/CVLnQvP/25-F4-AF6-D-C0-EB-4159-8047-04-F79-B1-E6528.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/CVLnQvP/25-F4-AF6-D-C0-EB-4159-8047-04-F79-B1-E6528.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.ibb.co/9VJR0cj/B6-A563-EC-D3-AE-4-FD4-A2-E3-E77158-C1-EBA2.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/9VJR0cj/B6-A563-EC-D3-AE-4-FD4-A2-E3-E77158-C1-EBA2.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I made these bits for a broken clip on our Vax...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300763_4651395061_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300763_4651395061_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hr64yp ]IMG_20190914_103756[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Broken Clip with surfaces sanded to key them
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300813_0cfde03c17_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300813_0cfde03c17_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hr64zg ]IMG_20190925_211633[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Fitted and hopefully good for a couple more years...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300768_ff6102990e_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300768_ff6102990e_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hr64yu ]IMG_20190925_212639[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr
Awesome, love seeing functional prints 👍
zilog6128
Awesome, love seeing functional prints
Yeah, I have to say most of the novelty stuff people print leaves me cold. Don't get me wrong; there's some impressive stuff out there and some real skill involved in the design, printing and finishing of these parts.
I really like the prints where people have solved a problem to a specific issue they've had. Or, produced your own version of something available because it's available and convenient.
I have to say most of the novelty stuff people print leaves me cold.
This
Just got to think of something to print that will justify buying it.
Going by the facebook groups I'm on, most owners just use them to print little statues of sexy ladies.
spursn17
Just got to think of something to print that will justify buying it.
Are you looking to design and print? Or just print stuff you find online?
If you are intending to design and print, I think you'll constantly find new uses for it. I've got a list of projects I just don't have time to fit in.
If it's more a case of finding 'cool' stuff to print that someone else has designed...I can't help but feel it won't be long before you are either printing stuff for the sake of it, or it just ends up sitting idle.
Could be wrong, but that's my take on it....
Definitely design and print. I need about 6 different size hose adapters to fit different tools for my garage vacuum, so that'll be a starting point.
I wouldn't rule anything out... you might find you enjoy downloading & printing random crap! Sometimes it's helpful to see what design techniques people have used, and if nothing else they make good gifts/giveaways! I have lost count now of the number of little articulated lizards I have printed & given out as everyone loves them! 😃
Probably print 50/50 my designs/downloaded ones. I like to keep my machine running all the time so it provides a bit of visual interest as it's at work, so if I've got nothing "useful" to print I'll just go online and find something cool to rattle off.
The results one of the guys I work with is getting with an ender three that’s near stock compare surprisingly well to the fortus 400 we have at work, for simpler parts at least. I want one, but for the moment I wouldn’t use it often enough so I pay him in beer. Last print was a seatstay mudguard brace for my cross bike.
I’d say there’s no point buying an expensive one until you’ve had one of the cheap ones that’s ‘good enough’ and found you actually use it.
Anyone on the fence and yet to buy a 3D printer, Prusa have just announced a mini version! Just ordered one myself, £288 (+Vat if you’re buying it privately). If it’s as good as their other printers it is a steal at that price! Get in quick if you want it this side of Xmas as I suspect they have had a LOT of pre-orders already (and they are notoriously bad at sticking to their shipping schedules too!)
That looks pretty awesome, the mk3S has just always been a bit too far above my price range but that could tempt me... Though I'll wait till the community's had at it, if I do
Having said all that I've got the Ender crapping out ABS parts with no fuss at the moment, if I could just get my overhangs a wee bit more dialled and the tree support bed adhesion just slightly better I could call myself completely happy with it. I say it a lot, but, it really is incredible how far these have come... It took more effort than this just to get my Tarantula to print anything, never mind anything good. And Cura's pretty awesome now as well.
Should really sell the Ender 2 I have in bits 🙂
If anyone is after an Ender 3 Pro then mine will be up for sale. Sat on my desk not getting much use.
I wish you hadn’t said that as I might have to think about eating my words. Roughly how much would you want?
I was a bit fed up with my Wahoo bar mount rotating on the bars so I designed a steerer tube spacer mount that is angled up enough to clear the top of my stem. This should keep it nicely protected by the bars as I don't think that the road 'out front' mount is very good on a mountain bike as it's quite exposed.
Designed in SolidWorks:
Printed on a Markforged Mark Two:
Fitted to Bike:
Also, I'm forever losing stuff at home so I've created some mounts for my lights and my wahoo which I will screw to a mounting plate somewhere in the kitchen so that I can pop my tech on there when they're not on the bike.
I'll get another pic once they are installed.
Anyone tried the UV resin printers like the Elegoo Mars? We had an uktimaker at work which was great, but kept running into limitations of what we could make it do.
Now that I no longer work there I quite fancy a printer for use at home (and tbh I reckon if it made better prints I could sell them back to my old boss).
I've had an Anycubic Photon for a couple of months. Much smaller build volume than these FDM printers, but way better finish. Been using it for model railway stuff, pleased with results thus far.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48880402783_f59cdbb45b_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48880402783_f59cdbb45b_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2htoQMe ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/46244709@N04/ ]njee20[/url], on Flickr
So for a complete noob who just wants to tinker,
and some filament?? I shouldn't need anything else to get me going? I know the glass bed is an optional/recommended upgrade. Any other recommended bits?
timnoyce - dunno if it's just me, but your pics aren't appearing.
coppice - The Ender3 is considered a very good starter machine. slackman99 up there is selling one. Might be worth sending a message?
Have a think about whether the build volume & whether it will be big enough - it should be for most tasks. I went for a CR10-Mini with a rectangular bed to give me a 'longer' axis.
I am not sure about the glass bed compared to just using what it comes with. I use a glass bed as that's what came with my printers. These 'flexi build plates' weren't that wide spread around 18 months or so ago.
If you want a glass bed, you can always just get a local glazier to cut you some mirror glass or borosilicate glass to size.
The printer should come with a small roll of filament to get you started, but it can't hurt to have more. I've had good results with PLA from Hobbyking, Ziro (via Amazon) & Technology Outlet.
If you do end up with a glass, you will probably want something to help bed adhesion. I started off with a glue stick, but you end up with a lumpy bottom surface.
3DLac works well, but is quite pricey (we use it at work on our Ultimaker).
I have lately been mixing a fairly thick PVA/water mix (bottles of PVA are dead cheap) and just spreading it on the bed with a finger. It dries nice & flat & you can get several prints out of it before you need to wash it clean (warm water) and start again.
"know the glass bed is an optional/recommended upgrade"
Aye, it's not always but the Enders have pretty reliably bent heated beds so a glass bed is an easy fix for that. Annoying but no biggie.
The ender actually works pretty damn well as standard, but I would 100% recommend the followign:
Metal extruder. This isn't an "upgrade", it's just a metal equivalent of the stock plastic one, as it tends to break the tensioning arm.
Rubber spring replacements. This is for the 4 springs that hold the bed. Most people say "get the yellow springs", and they are pretty good but this is just better. You lose a lot of the movement of the bed but you don't need it.
And a bunch of cheap spare nozzles, because they do block up. And that's it, for starters anyway. And some PLA- I tend to suggest esun PLA+ for your first roll, just because it's super easy to print with. It's also too expensive, but that's worth paying when you're starting out.
And stumpy mentioned 3dlac. I'm a big fan of this, it's literally just a hairspray variant designed for printing, £9 is kind of expensive but the can lasts a very long time. You can print on plain glass with no treatments at all but, this is easy mode.
Good post Northwind.
I've not seen those rubber bumpers before. Are they just to firm up the bed? I have to say, I haven't had any loosening of the springs or issue with bed levelling wandering off but I do see the springs as a source of movement. I might give them a try.
Nozzles - I have to say, in almost 2 years of owning my printer I am yet to block a nozzle. i do think I should probably replace it, as it probably isn't 0.4 anymore.
A colleague recently gave me a 0.6 nozzle to try - you get quite a nice reduction in print speed for parts that don't require tons of detail. I've not actually used it yet, because I'm wary of fiddling with the printer - if it ain't broke etc.
3DLac - last time I looked it was £14 a can - £9 is a much better price point - although I'd still love to find out what hairspray it is, as I bet it is much cheaper!
stumpy01
Member
I’ve not seen those rubber bumpers before. Are they just to firm up the bed?
Yeah, they just add more tension to the spring setup and more stability to the bed overall. It's not a massive difference but worth it.
I'm pretty sure 3dlac isn't just hairspray- though I think it's pretty much hairspray with some stuff taken out. It's made by a cosmetics company 🙂
thisisnotaspoon - did you see Tomas Sanladerer's video from last week?
Looks great if you can cope with the mess and safety issues of working with resin. Even the prices of the Elegoo resin look reasonable on Amazon UK.
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I haven't posted many updates recently, but basically my 3D printer has done exactly what I wanted it to do, in that it's become a part of my thought process for designing and making and I use it whenever helpful to achieve my goals alongside my CNC router and other tools.
Not sure I've got many photos, but we've used it in a campervan build for a few things and also making board games, fixing things around the house, my son's school projects and a couple of aspects of furniture design.
Window frame in van (hidden, but couldn't fit square corners)
Van seat catch, adjustable feet insert and box section end caps
The Mars does look the absolute bollocks tbh. I've done a few prints where there's one or two parts that'd be much better done in resin and it irks me. So tempting.