The peculiar world of 3D printing. Printers and CAD in a world of Craft Knifes and Pencils.

[Stabliofarmer]

I might as well start the topic I've spoken about in the purchases topic. If admin want to do the fancy thing where they move posts to different threads then I think what was discussed in the purchases topic would make a nice start to this one. 

Anyhow, in the mean time... 

Printer 

Printing

Printed wheels

Edited October 5, 2021 by Stabliofarmer

[Tractorman810]

2 hours ago, catkom3 said:

Congratulations Sean, Now convert that video into something we can all see, How did it go, was the build reasonably straight forward, and how did you get on with the bed levelling, which unless to remove the magnetic plate frequently  you shouldn't need to do again for quite a while.

Regards

Joe.

to be honest,it had a very simple to follow set of pics/destructions in the box,which i went by, all the bolts ect are clearly marked in the bags, so no way to mix them up, what looked daunting was nothing near as bad.i missed one of the plugs for the axis motors,as it was tucked up inside the base,which didnt take long to find,just threw me when looking at the pics.   i did look at a vid about the bed levelling, as theres nothing about that, quick home set ,removed the stoppers,,then leveled to a bit of a4 paper thickness, one tip it did mention was getting another set of the wheels ,or some bolts, and using them to lock off the bed,that way apparently you will not need to do it that often at all, claims it will go a good 10 prints before it will need tweeking again ? compared to all the videos i saw,its very quiet ,glad i didnt upgrade the mother board to the “ quiet “ one at 60 odd quid, suspect it would have been no different .

[catkom3]

Good the first printer I built also forgot one of the cables, But a socket with no plug suggests somethings amiss, As for the SD card lots of guys save their pieces straight to the card as gcode files, Not sure of the difference, but I always save mine to my stl folder and print them as stl files unless it's a long print 15 / 16 hours or so, after you slice an item you get the chance to chose .stl or gcode, James might shed some light on that.

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

got about 30 mi s left,so once done i will locate the slice software off the card, hopefully its apple friendly,otherwise i will need to go and look for some .

[Stabliofarmer]

4 hours ago, catkom3 said:

Good the first printer I built also forgot one of the cables, But a socket with no plug suggests somethings amiss, As for the SD card lots of guys save their pieces straight to the card as gcode files, Not sure of the difference, but I always save mine to my stl folder and print them as stl files unless it's a long print 15 / 16 hours or so, after you slice an item you get the chance to chose .stl or gcode, James might shed some light on that.

Regards

Joe.

I've seen stuff about Gcode for printing before but never really understood it. I just save the file direct from splicer (chitubox) onto a USB, plug the USB into the printer and hit print from the touchscreen menu. Use a cnc router at work that requires direct Gcode and just alot of hassle these days to be honest. 

[Tractorman810]

mm i am having great fun here, seems i cant get a splicer for i pad,only mac,which is apple but different, so i am having to transfer to the laptop,via the sd card,  i think i have now got the lower half of the trailer done, but i think in doing so i have now lost all the grain top and silage sides???? so a fair bit of work gone, can not seem to get it back either?? so right now i think? hope? pray that the predicted 18 hour print is actually going to be some thing,even if its not what i wanted fully. this was always the part i didnt want to do,use windows, but unless i am going mad,i cant find any ios slicer software thats i pad friendly, only mac.they also dont tell you taht you need to reformat the sd card either,took me a while to figure out why the files werent on the card,despite the software saying it was . i so hate windows stuff,more than i do john deeres 😀😀😀😀

[catkom3]

12 minutes ago, Stabliofarmer said:

I've seen stuff about Gcode for printing before but never really understood it. I just save the file direct from splicer (chitubox) onto a USB, plug the USB into the printer and hit print from the touchscreen menu. Use a cnc router at work that requires direct Gcode and just alot of hassle these days to be honest. 

Good, it isn't just me that doesn't know the difference then

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

the software i used saved as a g code?? not what i thought it would

[catkom3]

3 minutes ago, Tractorman810 said:

the software i used saved as a g code?? not what i thought it would

When you slice it you'll get the option to choose .stl or gcode, your printer will print gcode direct from your SD card, And check this out for running Cura on ios.

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/f0p3u6/ive_ported_cura_to_ios_so_you_can_slice_your/

Regards

Joe.

[catkom3]

18 hours, what is the print speed in your slicer, I would set that at somewhere around 50mms and Dynamic quality and start with the basic chassis upside down,

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

its all upside down joe, so i have every part with 1 flat side to work off, its putting some dirty great base down at the mo i think? no sign of parts or anything, i assume that the slicer software puts everything level on the template? for a base print, speed wise, no idea what its going at. same as the test print looking at it. this was always the part i was dreading, using a windows system, can not belive i cant find a slicer thats i pad compatable, 

[catkom3]

Did you check the link I put up, didn't read it myself just enough to see it was helpful, The test print is all done from the SD card you can't alter any of that, And I just realised you probably don't know where to look for actual settings so I've taken a screengrab of my setting to show you, Notice it is set to PLA Generic don't panic about these setting most never get changed except quality infill and print speed.

Regards

Joe.

[catkom3]

Apparently there are two systems you can use to send files from your ios device to your printer, both Cloud based I think,

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/astroprint-for-3d-printing/id1152378866

https://octoprint.org/

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

Think i may have sussed it now, have tried parts direct to bed and a few lifted and it went wrong, so i have put it on as bed print now, shes currently putting that down then the parts go onto that, apparently gives a better finish as well?? Showing as 6 hours on cura and 2 days 23 hours on the machine, who knows, next attempt will be a brim bed? what ever than means  Which is an hour less

[Tractorman810]

Theres parts in that there printer bed 😆😆😁

[catkom3]

Looking good almost, what you should have on that bed is the parts you sketched up, What I see there is all the parts with a very substantial brim around them already, no wonder your prints are takeing so long, and useing three times as much filament, I'm in the middle of a print right now but once it's finished I'll print a stand alone object with no brim so you can see what it looks like, If you like you can easily run that through Meshmixer which will separate all those parts into individual parts.??

PS, this is what we get when clicking on your video link, ???????

 

Regards

Joe.

Edited February 12, 2022 by catkom3

[Tractorman810]

it gives me 3 options when i save the g code files, none,which i tried and they just got dragged around, something called brim, not tried this yet or this one,bed, which does mean the parts all look nice and flat on all sides so it says, the next ones going on the brim setting, see what that does, then i may try none again, but at the mo, i am happy to waste a bit of plastic, the whole things only 34 g’s at this setting apparently . just happy i have actually sussed the file movement and settings for now

[catkom3]

Looking good almost, what you should have on that bed is the parts you sketched up, What I see there is all the parts with a very substantial brim around them already, no wonder your prints are takeing so long, and useing three times as much filament, I'm in the middle of a print right now but once it's finished I'll print a stand alone object with no brim so you can see what it looks like, If you like you can easily run that through Meshmixer which will separate all those parts into individual parts.??

Regards

Joe.

[catkom3]

I forgot to submit that after editing it, Am I right thinking you are useing Cura as your slicer,

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

3 minutes ago, catkom3 said:

I forgot to submit that after editing it, Am I right thinking you are useing Cura as your slicer,

Regards

Joe.

yeah, its on the laptop , i just need to get the hang of that part now, biggest result is its actually printing, which i was beginning to doubt, its only print no1 , so the learning walls being climbed 😀 the next one i will try the brim option, which i think means it just beds for each part,rather than a whole sheet, it seems these two are better for doing fine parts, going by bits i have watched and read via google and youtube .so when i try the grain top, i will try none as the setting, as thats a bigger part.

[catkom3]

It is a steep learning curve for sure all new terminology etc, but you will get there been better if there was an ios slicer, but such is life, When your in Cura you can use the Preview button Top centre, that will let you see if there is a brim or skirt or raft, most flat print like yours should not need any, you only need one or other of them to print tall thin things, like the round rollers I did recently 8ml diameter 72ml tall defo needed a brim on them.

Regards

Joe.

[catkom3]

This is how I would have printed your parts, I'mglad you are now up and running but there is a lot to take in, easy for me to say as I've now been at it 7 years and on my third printer, There is another down side to printing everything at once, you will have a helluva job getting all that mass of plastic off your print bed, you can obviously remove the magnetic print bed but doing that to often will increase the need to level your bed again, Anyway as promised a photo of how I would have printed your part's.

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

will have a look, been looking at the print,and have already been adjusting the base file, which is now just a drop side tipper, hole sizes, small bits like that, have also managed to get the main file back, so have levelled up all the parts, spaced them out, and then will creat a separate g code file for each bit,just move the file along in cura , so a  trailer base, grain top, and the 2 different silage tops. seems the red pla i got is deffinatly the glossy finish, so the first ones looking like pettit rather than ransomes now 😀😀😀😀 both pretty much identical anyway so no biggy 

as for removing, i will get it off while still warm, recona second set of wheels will be on the way so i can lock the bed as well, seen a good few recommend it .

[catkom3]

Be very careful when removeing while still warm, It is extremely easy to warp prints when still warm I've done it a few times, If you do warp anything try placeing it on the heated bed with a weight on it then crank the temperature up to 60 that might flatten it out again.

Regards

Joe.

[Tractorman810]

,just been looking, 2 hours odd left, couple of bits sagged, but they will be hidden, just need a sand to get level,  it will be useable at least, not wasted. 

[Tractorman810]

couple of bits need a sand where it sagged a little, supports already added to the master, holes altered dia wise ,plus a new tow arm on the master as well .but all parts spot on otherwise. nothing deformed , very little sanding required,bar fir fitting. bit of wasre, but otherwise very very happy,my first print