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kvones

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Posts posted by kvones

  1. Hello All,

    I got a Bocusini Paste Extruder from a Kickstarter pledge about 18 months ago, and it has taken me this long to source a suitable printer to install it on. It is essentially a syringe type paste extruder with a geared plunger and heater. Now I have finally managed to install it on an UM2 extended, I am starting to wonder whether I could just use the regular UM2 (modified) firmware rather than their restrictive proprietary one. I am not intending to print food, but rather silicone and other experimental paste materials. The motor that normally runs the extruder here lowers the plunger to squeeze out material. It's not too different from the way it usually works. Do I need to adjust the E Steps/mm and acceleration? If so, how do I do that and how do I calculate the new settings? Is there anything else in the firmware I might need to modify?

    Any help at all would be much appreciated...

  2. Cloakfiend, in the UK there are a lot of companies that do electroplating out-jobs - doing it at home is only worth it if you want to do a lot ;). You could save some money though if you covered your object in the conductive medium at home before sending it off. There is a great book out there on the process if you're interested, but finding a supplier in London should not be too hard.

  3. I'm gonna add my 2cents as well - absolutely love my UMO+. Upgrades I am doing/considering: add a 2nd fan (have got all the parts but need to make time to do it), buy exchangeable nozzles from E3D, upgrade belts to GT2 and in the distant future maybe try the E3D Hotend. But even as it is now it turns out great prints. I have quite a few friends with UM2s and I really don't think there's much of a difference (especially with 2nd fan on UMO+). I have to admit I also love the Builder you're talking about, especially because of the colour mixing hotend - this will be high on my list if I win the lottery or something tomorrow and get to extend my makespace. There's a great blog entry about it here: http://nicklievendag.com/big-builder-dual-feed-review-part-1/

    • Like 1
  4. I would agree with this assessment. The quality is better than I expected, but not as good as the UMO+ I have. I got my UMO+ after sponsoring the Micro, then spent a lot of time learning about Cura settings etc, finally getting great prints on my UMO. If I had had the Micro first I would have been quite happy, the other way round it's a bit harder. It will still use it a lot for workshops, meetups etc, because it is sooooo tiny and light...

    • Like 1
  5. You're completely right, I looked at the fan again and it says 0.12A, which I believe is 120mA, and the original fan on the other side (Sunon KDE2405PFVX) draws 91mA according to this datasheet I found: http://www.rapidonline.com/pdf/189354_da_en_01.pdf , so that should be well below the 500mA you say the transistor supports. That means now it's only a question of cutting the cable and soldering everything together. Do you think it would be better to print the shroud in XT PLA as it's more temperature resistant? Have you found that a problem?

    I take your point about the fans starting up, I usually run mine at full speed or not at all (for ABS), but with two fans it might be too much cooling to have both on full.

  6. Thanks Neotko, I am pretty new to electronics so still learning a lot. For the parallel wiring, did you just solder the power and ground wires directly to the wires of the original fan (and added a bit of sleeving?)? Do I need to add a resistor at any point? How can I check if that port provides enough current to power both fans? My new one draws 330mA I think...

  7. I am trying to do this modification and just got my new fan. Do I simply plug it into the J20 port on the circuit board that says Fan 19-24V? And do you know what kind of connector I need to fit to the cable?

    Also Neotoko, I downloaded your files but my version of Rhino is too old to open the Rhino drawings - could you possibly upload a version saved in compatibility mode with Rhino V4.0?

  8. I've had my UMO+ for six months now and I love it. The quality is always great and I've had very few problems so far, including no blocked nozzles! Putting it together was great fun and has meant that I completely understand how it works from the inside out and would not be scared to fix it if something did go wrong. And for the problems I did have the forum was always a great help. I also painted and customised it which makes it even more appealing.

    I am a jewellery artist, and the things I have printed out are mostly on a 'body scale'. I found that for intricate parts Meshmixer is a great help as it generates easily removable custom supports. The things I make for my work, once I have fine-tuned the settings in Cura, don't need a lot of clean up and I would be happy selling as they are. An FDM printer always has certain limitations in terms of quality compared to 'professional' larger machines, but also so many advantages in terms of controlling the output yourself - a lot also depends on your CAD modelling skills. Because of the compatibility with the stainless steel E3D nozzles, printing things like Bronzefill on a large scale is possible, which might be useful for costumes involving armor.

    I would recommend it to anyone...and no, they are not paying me to write this ;)

    • Like 2
  9. Hello All,

    My first post regarding the new forum. I just wanted to wait and see if things are still changing and how I would feel about it after a while. I am a relatively new member of the community and have only been posting for a few months. However, I loved the old forum, and visited at least 2-3 times a day to peruse posts, often more. I came to read different sections, ask questions and give (hopefully) semi-useful advice. Since the change I have found myself only coming here when I felt I needed to troubleshoot a specific problem. For me, the joy of reading posts has become an effort, and this makes me really sad as before I had the feeling of starting to belong to a huge international community.

    I find the new forum quite difficult to read, mostly because of the scale of the posts (my monitor only fits 1/2 - 1 post per page) and the funny drop-down bar that appears from above whenever I scroll. The white on light grey background doesn't help. I am sure these are minor things in the grand scheme of things, but surely usability has to come before aesthetics. These are just my opinions, and have nothing to do with how I feel about Ultimaker as a whole (I love my printer!!!) but personally, I hope someone takes up the suggestion to start an alternative forum elsewhere which is easier to navigate and read.

    • Like 1
  10. Like Gr5, I am not quite sure what I'm looking at here. But the layer shifts I have been experiencing look more like a single layer having shifted to one side. Sorry I still haven't had time to take a photo, been too busy with work, but I hope this makes sense.

  11. Thank you for your reply Gr5! I went back to the belts and had a really good look - nothing was rubbing the wood frame, but one was a little bit off, I have now straightened it. I have also given the bearings another oiling - these two things appear to have made a big difference, and the problem has not surfaced in the last two prints I did. I will do some more prints to see how it goes. I will also add a photo as soon as I can.

  12. Hello all and welcome back!

    I have been having a very strange problem recently which I could only describe as micro layer shifts. This only occurs when printing geometric objects with sharp corners, not rounded, more organic shapes. My settings don't seem to make much of a difference. It happens at every print speed, and always in exactly the same places. So much so, that when I hold a print where this has happened next to another one, the layer shifts are in exactly the same place, even if the objects are nothing alike. I have tried everything I can think of: played with the settings, oiled the bearings and rods, re-aligned and re-tensioned the belt pulleys. The Z axis is well greased and it doesn't seem to be the source of the problem anyway. I thought it might be the file, but it has now happened on prints made with different software (and not by me) as well. Is it Cura? Is it the printer? Any input would be gratefully appreciated. I will try and upload a picture of the problem later. These are my settings, with the settings I have also tried in brackets:

    0.1mm (0.2mm)

    0.8mm

    Retraction enabled (Speed 30/ Distance 5.5)

    0.6mm (0.8mm)

    Density 20% (25%, 10%, 100%)

    Speed 40mms (60mms, 20mms)

    Temp: 210 (190, 220)

    Bed Temp: 70c

    Support: None (everywhere)

    Platform adhesion: No

    Dia: 2.85mm

    Flow: 100%

    Nozzle: 0.4mm

    Travel Speed: 60 (40, 20)

    Bottom Layer: 10 (20)

    Infill: 60 (40, 20)

    Min layer time: 5s

    Cooling Fan on

  13. Try using jeweller's pickle (a weak form of sulfuric acid) heated in a ceramic slow-cooker instead of the alcohol. You can get is as dissolvable granules in jeweller's tools/supply shops. It works a treat on brass and unless you leave the part in for days it does not harm the surface of the metal. I would also use a fire-brick while heating the hot end, and just place it on top of a honeycomb firebrick instead of holding it (or use a third hand).

     

  14. As you are running 14.12.1, just get the 2 files from the thread I posted above and you can have the functionality you want....

     

    I went to the thread and got the file for 14.12 but it doesn't work with my version - Cura just fails to start altogether when I install the file, but is fine if I revert. I then tried the 14.7 file, which works to a point but does weird things to the workspace, with the build platform appearing above the active work area. I could not find a file specifically for 14.12.1? Would love to do this to solve my problems with the slicing!

    Nallath, what type of data could I supply for you to figure out the cause of my problem? Always happy to help improve software!

    3Dcase, I will try moving the model away from the active area while adjusting it - that might be a workaround for the moment at least. :)

    For me, Marko's suggestion No. 1 would also be a great help! Interesting discussions going on here.

     

  15. I wonder if someone could help me with the following, related problem. I recently (and in fact accidentally, wanted to buy PLA but clicked the wrong button) bought a spool of Thermochromic colour change ABS for my research. I had never printed with ABS and after tweaking the settings found 100c build plate and 250c nozzle worked well for me. Unfortunately the thermochromic colour change properties of the material are destroyed at this temperature. Recommended maximum print temp: 235c.

    While it still extrudes at this low temperature, layer adhesion is a big problem, and while printing a plant pot bulbasaur a big crack developed. Should I try an enclosure? What else could I try, being unable to raise the nozzle temp? Any input would be appreciated...:)

     

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