3D Printing

[Shorty]

Yes but there's a few issues. Firstly one corner won't typically touch the paper at all, the handle will fully unscrew before it gets level. I can fix that by adjusting the z-axis by hand but that seems less than ideal and throws everything out. After getting all four corners roughly level, I'll typically find the centre is way too low, touching the glass even. I flipped it and that didn't really change. I think this has all come down to having an issue with the right lead screw during installation, which lead to me needing new couplers.

Anyway, I'll try adjusting that again and I've also bought a hictop printing surface from amazon that might help.

 

[Happenstance]

Well I hope you manage to get it sorted. It really sucks having something like this not work properly. I wish I could help more but to be honest I think I've just been really lucky with mine not to have these kind of issues (although the motor does already sound like its dying when I start the printer up).

[Happenstance]

Some updates on my latest nerdy prints. I still really need practice with my painting but its slowly getting there. Annoyingly the Tricorder kept having issues with the hinge breaking. This photo was from my 3rd attempt and I just gave up after that. The Mass Effect pistol still has some work that needs doing to it but thats mostly stencil stuff so I need to create those later.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Happenstance

[Shorty]

Sometimes startup noises can be fixed by swapping out a relatively cheap fan inside the box, or even just oiling it a bit.

Another tip I read was to buy an extension for the micro SD card because they're prone to breaking and you're in a mess if that happens.

I also set up octoprint with relative ease on a spare Raspberry Pi which gives you a web interface to control your prints (and means you don't need the SD slot at all)

[ArtMediocre]

I couldn't get a 3D printer. My house would be filled with poorly made anime figurines. It would be bad for my mental health. 

Really loving the nerdy prints though, @Happenstance! Good job on the Groot and the Mass Effect Pistol

[Happenstance]

 

@Shorty this might be worth watching to see what kind of print beds are worth upgrading to eventually. I haven’t swapped out the glass that came with my CR-10S yet but it’s something I definitely plan to do.

[Shorty]

I actually bought some HICTOP surfaces at £20, just stick them on the glass, but they made things worse.

Eventually though I have gotten things working well! Took a lot of levelling and relevelling and experimenting with temperatures but here's Baba Lysaga's Creeping Hut for my D&D game.

[Happenstance]

How's your printer going @Shorty? Managed to sort any of the problems or print anything new?

 

[Shorty]

I bought a mirror tile from Ikea that has helped a lot, much flatter than the glass it arrived with. And then I stuck the Hictop surface layer on top of that, no longer a waste of money now it has the mirror to sit on. With that on, I don't need glue sticks or anything else anymore. I also bought some new nozzles, and have been printing my D&D miniatures out with a 0.2 nozzle at 0.05-0.08mm layers although that takes a very long time. Some of my friends have bought their player character pieces custom designed from Hero Forge and I have been printing those out. I'll get a picture of the whole lot soon!

[Happenstance]

Decided to make the Witcher medallion. Just need to try and fix my primer spray can next otherwise I'll have to buy another one before I can start painting it.

[Shorty]

Printed this guy to live on my desk at work

Here's some D&D miniatures

 

They look a bit rough, they could do with a wet n dry sanding, but they're very very small so the roughness isn't too noticeable irl. They were printed with a .2mm nozzle.

Also printed my SO a phone case that came out pretty well, added a pattern to it using tinkercad.

[Happenstance]

Looks like you are getting some good quality prints now.

That Witcher one was my first I've printed at 1.2 layer height and also the first I've manually added supports instead of allowing programs to add them automatically.

[Shorty]

Oh really! I’ve been adding my own supports all along as I’ve not typically found the software smart enough. Some even occasionally leaving impossible surfaces with no supports at all.

Anyway here’s another successful print!

And I’m now printing the most first world thing I could think of with my big first world toy: a wall mounted hanger for my aeropress.

[Happenstance]

You might be interested in this as well @Shorty. I'm gonna try and get some tests done to see how well I can get it to work. I've wanted a good way to scan 3D objects in for a while now but never looked too hard into it.

https://www.prusaprinters.org/photogrammetry-3d-scanning-just-phone-camera/

[Happenstance]

Witcher medallion finished. I can finally start officially witchin!

[V. Amoleo]

Are you guys printing with PLA or ABS? 1.75mm or 3mm? What software are you running on the printer and which slicing software?

I’ve had my printer for just over three years now and I’m looking to move to a Prusa i3 mk3 before the end of the year. I’m in no real rush though as my current one is working fine at the moment.

I installed a capacitive auto-leveller about two years ago and that was the best upgrade I’ve made. Also if you’re using PLA with a heated bed, spraying lemon juice is a good temporary adhesive to use.

Worst upgrade I’ve made is for multi colour. I’ve tried multi-nozzle, it’s a nightmare to get them exactly level, and single-nozzle, a nightmare to do the retraction.  Multi-nozzle is incredibly useful for printing supports using PVA. Drop them in water and it dissolves leaving just the model.

[Happenstance]

I'm printing PLA 1.75mm. Using either Cura or Simplify3D depending on which does the best job for the model.

[V. Amoleo]

I stayed away from Simplify3D for about a year because of it's closed source approach and used Slic3r with Repetier.  But I finally caved and paid the ~£100 for it and it's definitely worth it.

1.75mm seems to be the size to use these days.  I've still got a load of 3mm lying around from before I converted over.  So when I do get the Prusa i3 Mk3, I'm changing my current one back to 3mm just to use it up.

I need to start painting my prints like you guys.  I can't find a suitable base layer for it though and painting directly onto the model leads to it running all over the place.

[Happenstance]

I've just been using Plasti-kote primer for mine but I'm thinking about switching over to Rustoleum's version as I got some of their normal spray paint and it turns out quite nicely.

[Happenstance]

Trying out some Star Trek ship prints. The Voyager one sliced ok but I'm having trouble with the others, there are gaps in the design that don't look right.

As for this one, I'll be using some wood filler on it later and then some sanding to try and get rid of those ugly seams.

[Happenstance]

Did a Thanos bust yesterday. I did start trying to do a statue of him sitting in his throne but the supports failed quite early so I had to stop. Reworked the file so hopefully it'll do better next time but as its around a 14 hour print I need to start it again when I can leave the printer on all day.

[Happenstance]

Finally managed to finish a Tricorder from Star Trek and actually have the hinges work instead of snapping!

[bob]

Finally managed to finish a Tricorder from Star Trek and actually have the hinges work instead of snapping!

Does it go 'widdely-wee'?

 

[Happenstance]

3 minutes ago, bob said:

Does it go 'widely-wee'?

As long as I make the noises under my breath

[Shorty]

Sounds like the Ender 3 is a much cheaper printer that does a better job than the CR-10 in many ways! Can't say I'm not a little disappointed by that. Anyone want to buy a CR-10S?