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mastory

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Everything posted by mastory

  1. Having just had a crown put in as well as a temporary provisional, I have to say the established practice of using molds to make temporary crowns can't be beat with FDM. The molding process is very efficient, cheap and yields a high quality product. I wouldn't reinvent the wheel here.
  2. The damn image up loader keeps clipping my jpg. I've tried editing it 3 times. I'm done with it. I'm sorry, but I hope you can see what I'm trying to say above.
  3. A good way to latch a device in either of two rotary positions is to use a spring-over-center style mechanism. I have used them a few times in the past. Essentially it consists of a spring that is more relaxed in either of the positions than when the mechanism is 'centered' It can be done with compression springs or extension springs. Extension springs are generally easy to employ this way. In words, you have a pivoting mechanism that has rigid stop positions in either direction of rotation. In this case, one end of an extension spring would be in a fixed position above the pivot center. The moving end of the spring is attached to the pivoting body so that it toggles between the two positions such that it is more relaxed in either position, and requires further extension to pass 'over center' to get to the other position. The cam ramps in the above pictures could easily achieve the 'switch'. The stiffness can be adjusted by experimenting with different springs and geometry. I couldn't find a picture of the idea, so I sketched one out. I'll reply with it in my next post.
  4. This is now a release, no longer a Beta right? No fanfare? It deserves some. I just upgraded and Wow!. This version kicks ass. Not that the prior versions were bad - just that this is a big jump forward. The enhanced layer viewer pops off the screen. I can now easily see and evaluate exactly every sliced layer. When I sliced my first part and saw the colored layer view (with the double slider) I was so thrilled, I laughed out loud. Literally Slicing speed is now fast enough that I don't notice auto-slice. Now that the option is available to disable it, it seems less important than ever before - and I was a person who has long wanted a way to turn off auto-slice. The upgrade from 2.3.1 went pretty well overall. My existing machine definitions and profiles came in mostly successfully. I had a problem maybe related to 2 settings imported in my pre-existing profile that would not allow slicing. Something was wrong with my Prime Tower Y Position (my UMO is single extrusion). Where do you define the number of nozzles? Unticking "Enable Prime Tower" from being a visible setting seemed to clear this up. My Regular/Max Fan Speed Threshold was longer than my min layer time. I have no prior recollection of this setting. Bumped it up and the error cleared. - And then.. chuckling Great job! This software has come a long way in 10 months. I cannot remember any other software with such an accelerated development pace. You guys keep adding value to my old UMO. I can't wait to see what is down the road.
  5. This may be off a bit from the discussion, but may still be relevant. It is specific to 3.2.1 which I am running and maybe later. It was pretty inconvenient, and I would think it should be patched if possible and if it hasn't already in later versions. I noticed a strange behavior when starting the program by double clicking an *.stl file rather than thru the file menu shortcuts, taskbar, etc in Win7. When started this way, Cura thinks it is running for the first time. I have allowed Win7 to associate files with *.stl extension with Cura. I had never opened Cura this way before. I am training my son a bit in printing, and he just double clicked his model.stl to start the slicer. The problem is that when Cura started, it was as if 2.3.1 were running for the first time. We were prompted to define the machine, do the leveling etc. I thought no big deal, I'll just get in, swap to my existing machine definition, and recently saved profile and all will be well. The machine definition was there, and I could select it. My recent profiles were there and selectable, but when I expanded the settings menus, all the setting view preferences had been lost. I think it reverted to the default display of whatever profile I based the saved version. Lots of parameters that had special settings were not displayed. I didn't go in any further to see if the settings were still underneath. I suspect they were. I closed Cura and re-started from the Start menu, and got the same views. I ended up doing a system restore to a couple days ago to get everything back how it was. Thanks for reading all that, and I apologize if its no longer relevant. Matt
  6. For me, reducing the bottom layer alone isn't enough. Take into account that I am printing ABS almost exclusively thru a .8mm nozzle and .2mm layers. This on top of heated glass with hairspray. I don't use extreme squish. With that in mind... I cut a 7deg wide by 1.5mm tall chamfer around the bottom of my models that have bases square to the build plate. On top of that I put a 10mm radius on the top of the chamfer to blend it with the side wall. (Top of the radius ends up about 2mm up) I do this to all holes and geometry that run square into the build plate. This treatment just about negates the elephants foot. There is just enough extra material left that the part can be quickly dressed to size (and square). Without it, I end up doing a load of sanding and filing. I am aiming for high dimensional precision and this is a big help to reduce secondary operations.
  7. Its a great concept. I've had good experiences with the conical support feature. It sometimes gives erratic results depending how the model geometry is interpreted. I'd like to see a similar approach to structuring infill when a hollow part is permissible, but infill is only used to support the top surfaces.
  8. I'll give the beta a try soon based on your instructions ahoeben. Is there a new release on the verge that I might wait a little longer for? I love the layer interface stuff. One thing I've had a need for in the past was an indication of layer height in mm along with or instead of the layer number. This would be a benefit so that model features in CAD could be compared vs the layer construction in Cura. Thanks again for your efforts building this great software!
  9. How can I try this newest Beta on a Win7 machine without corrupting my currently in use 2.3 version? Or any newer version? Will it be completely segregated if I install under another windows user profile? Thanks
  10. Really nice. I like how the shading reveals the direction of the highest layer. There have been times when I wanted to know this but it was difficult to tell w/o a bunch of scrolling up and down, zooming... Knowing the direction of a support roof is good, so the model can be rotated accordingly. Great work! and thanks again
  11. Can we get a screen shot of he new layer view? Is it discernible from a still shot? I'm excited to have a look at the new version, but don't want to foul up my current settings by installing another version. Another PC would be the answer I guess...
  12. Not a bug, but has turning off the perspective in the viewer ever been tried? Would it be hard to implement? I would find this to be an advantage, along with being able to look straight down at the bed. for placing objects, and analyzing layer by layer... Most mechanical CAD systems I have ran have perspective as an option, and most users in my experience prefer it off.
  13. I've been using Aquanet since I upgraded my UMO to a heated bed. Works well enough that once I tried it, I quite looking for something better. My use is mostly ABS now, but have used it with PLA also with great results. Only takes the lightest dusting on consumer window glass, before mounting the glass. Multiple glass panes are a good idea. If I want continuous running, I pre heat a spare glass in the toaster oven on low heat. The printer is now located in the garage so fumes are less of health issue be they from the filament or spray.
  14. Many thanks for your contributions Foehnsturm. From the video and your comments, I would want to shift the bed in the -Y direction to maximize build space. I am assuming if I rearrange my hot end carriage, but keep it compatible with the carriage mounted 'hook' I could program whatever X/Y offset results from my build to work with the changer. At this point, I have a custom hotend, HBP. Soon an upgraded build platform and improved X/Y carriage block. I'm trying to take everything I can into consideration for future flexibility...
  15. I guess I overlooked that there are actually two nozzle centers to be considered... Can someone close to the project help me with both positions? Thanks again!
  16. I am hoping to maybe add these developments on my UMO. I know there are a number of hurdles yet to be crossed. Currently I am rebuilding the print bed with an UM2 style construction + my home made heated bed. Related to this, I would like to know the relative position of the tool changer nozzle center to the gantry X/Y shafts. I'd like to know so that I can have the HBP centered properly to the tool changer nozzle's range of motion (and as well aligned to my currently installed nozzle) Would someone direct me to a recent video of the changer in action? Thanks
  17. I have to say, I feel the OP's pain. This phenomena has been a problem for me many times. The problem with reducing top thickness to 1 layer is that to get a good finish on the actual top, you need 6+ layers depending on the model geometry.
  18. Has there been any developments? Its been a few weeks since any user reports.
  19. Right, I am aware of the lag to clear the buffer before the speed change. What I am seeing is a behavior abnormal to the past 4 years. I can say that I haven't installed firmware for over a year. I haven't had an opportunity to slice something in the old Cura to make a comparison because I am in the middle of customer work. Testing will have to wait a bit.
  20. Yes, that is where I am attempting to change the speed. In the past, this would adjust all speeds in proportion the the UC feed percentage displayed on the main screen. Currently for me, it is not altering the speed. I am wondering if the individual speeds I set in Cura are over riding any change I make at the UC, or if the something in my start code is preventing the controller from affecting the speed. I will slice something with old Cura and with the same start code to try and narrow down the problem
  21. I should mention that I also have speeds set individually in Cura 2.3.1 print speed 50mm/s infill speed 60mm/s outer wall speed 40mm/sec inner wall speed 50mm/sec top/bottom 40mm/sec Are these taking precedence over input to the Ulticontroller? Ideally, I'd like to keep these relative speed settings, and be able to increase or decrease them in proportion with the Ulticontroller while printing.
  22. Trying to figure out why changes I make to speed through the Ulticontroller do not affect print speed. Is my start code overriding any change from the Ulticontroller? Here is my startcode: G21 ;metric values G90 ;absolute positioning M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode M92 E315 ;set E steps per M107 ;start with the fan off G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops G1 Z15.0 F9000 ;move the platform down 15mm G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length G1 F200 E2 ;extrude 2 mm of feed stock G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length again G1 X5 Y5 Z-15 F9000 ;drag nozzle G1 F9000 M117 Printing... Thanks in advance..
  23. Good news. It turned out the SDcard slot on my ULcontroller is fine. The plastic body on my SDcard frame was chipped in the exact place where the socket has the limit switch to know a card is inserted. I replaced the chipped SD, and I'm back in business.
  24. Thanks to both of you. This is exactly the information I need and you were very timely. I tried searching, but found far too many answers to filter them. The community here is a huge value adder to all UM owners. Salute
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