Jump to content

krys

Dormant
  • Posts

    820
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    10

Posts posted by krys

  1. Nice!

    ...but what happens if you accidentally start 2.4.0 while 2.3.1 is already running...(and vice versa)?

    One nice thing about chrooted environments is that this is not an issue. But they are not exactly trivial to set up right.

    One could put in a check in the script to see if a Cura process is already running and if so, abort with a message saying so. Then 2 instances would not be able to run simultaneously.

  2. I just saw this. @fma: I like your script idea!

    Much better than my setup. I have 15.x in an chroot jail, 2.3.1 on my main install, and 2.4 is setup in my Windows dual-boot. It is a total mess.

    I've done symlink manipulations for Minecraft before, I do not know why I did not think of it for Cura.

    So, thanks very much! :D

  3. Hi there,

    I think that Windows MSI installers include built-in support for silent installs. It has been a long time since I did Windows sysadmin work though.

    I did a quick Google search for "windows msi silent install" and several links seem to give some steps to try.

    Assuming Cura's MSI is not weird in some way, something from that search might work for you.

    Hope this helps. :) Good luck!

  4. What is the problem there? I use the metal spacer and the wafer and it fits nicely.

     

    Well, I you know, I never actually tested that! :D I had read that it did not fit and that is why some people designed specially modified spacer rings and/or adjustable spacer rings. So I just took that at face value.

    Also, logically, given the tolerances involved, it just make sense to me that adding an extra mm of height would throw things off.

    Though, on the other side of things, some people order PTFE/TFMs cut shorter to accommodate the I2K and others cut them themselves. I did not want to do that.

    But, I never tested my assumption. So thanks for that info! :) I will have to check that out the next time I re-insert my I2K.

  5. Hello Krys,

    I can imagine such a straightener works very well as long as the filament is moving, but doesn't it cause bends in the opposite direction, if the filament is left too long sitting still, for example overnight?

     

    You know, I never had that issue. The straightener that I used, did not flex the filament very far in the other direction, so I never saw any kinks or issues, that I recall.

    Now, I have had a spool of super brittle cheap/old/faulty crap filament and that stuff would break overnight just in the stock feeder! But I never used the straightener with that stuff. I did not dare! :p

    So, I guess it is possible, but it never happened to me, even with cheap filament, even with the tiny 1 pound Taulman spools.

    Maybe wood or Laybrick might have issues as they are more brittle apparently, but I never tried that.

    Anyway, hope this helps. :)

  6. Hi there,

    Before I went 2+, I had replaced the spring on my UM2 head with a 3D printed version to help reduce stress on the PTFE tube. It worked fine. Whether I got any benefit or not, I do not know, though. I could not really tell the difference. I suspect it is more of a longer-term benefit than an immediate one, unless you have retraction issues.

    Since upgrading to the 2+, I bought an I2K wafer insert and so the stock metal spacer would no longer fit. So I printed an adjustable height replacement that worked just fine.

    For me it is the Olsson block, and I suppose the TFM, that I really appreciate on the head of the 2+. The metal spacer being better I just take on trust. :)

    And of course, the better feeder/extruder really is a significant upgrade.

    Hope this helps. :)

  7. As a work around, if you have your cost per kilogram, you can just take the grams estimate from Cura and do the math yourself. $/kg / 1000 * grams = $ for print.

    It is cost per meter that is the harder math because you need the right density number for your plastic. But weight is easy.

    Still, it would be nice if Cura 2 did it for you like Cura 15 did.

    Hope this helps! :)

  8. Hi,

    Two thoughts.

    1) Try line width 0.38 instead of 0.4 and use multiples of that for shell width to get your 3 shells. SO 0.38x3=1.14mm shell. It might be enough to add the third shell.

    2) When I design with openSCAD, I have discovered that it is better to think of the nozzle as 0.41mm or 0.42mm and calculate wall widths that way. So 0.41*3=1.23mm. That way it covers any floating point rounding issues that Cura might have. I have had 0.4mm walls not slice but 0.41mm walls slice just fine as a single wall. Basically, add in a tolerance fudge factor to your designs and you should be fine.

    Also, the plastic will shrink a bit (PLA is roughly 0.1 or 0.2mm) when printed anyway, so you might want some tolerance added for that too if you need high dimensional accuracy. Depends on the plastic though.

    Hope this helps. Good luck! :) And welcome fellow openSCAD user! :p

  9. Yeah, the cheap stuff can cause more issues. There is just less hassle/tweaking with the branded stuff. Usually it is bed adhesion, more glue. Though I did have some really brittle crap once. Could not even stay in the feeder overnight without snapping. Really pissed me off. Then again, I have had cheap stuff that just worked like magic. So it can be a bit hit or miss. Again, more tweaking to get it right.

    That said, the I find the MakerGeeks stuff quite inexpensive and also very usable. (Funny story though, I ordered a spool of PLA from them once and I got a spool of PETG, but it was labeled PLA. Man that led to frustrations until I realized what happened!) :D

    What I did while I was first learning was to use brand names mostly. But I would pick up a cheap roll just to try out. If it was a ball of headaches, lesson learned and I would not buy that kind again. If it was a joy or good enough, then I noted the supplier and picked up a couple more.

    But when things go wrong, or get tricky, or I just don't want hassles, I go brand name. And ColorFabb is my go to. Like Gr5 said, PLA/PHA is awesome! :)

    • Like 1
  10. For Ultimaker brand filament, I like to support Fabrc8

    For my ColorFabb needs, I frequent PrintedSolid   He ships very quickly and somehow, he gets stuff to me in 2 days (and I live in the very far North East of the United States!)

     

    Oh yes, of course Ultimaker brand filaments are excellent quality too. Given their printers, you know they would not put their name on crap filament. :D

    And I have heard of PrintedSolid. I think the guys at adafruit have mentioned them.

    Speaking of adafruit, they also sell filament (and Ultimakers), but I do not know if they carry much 2.85mm. They seem to really prefer the 1.75mm stuff. Still, they are an excellent and pioneering US company for DIY/hobbiest electronics projects, so it might be worth checking out what they have for filament.

    • Like 1
  11. Hi there,

    I am Canadian but I buy US sometimes too.

    Either fabrc8 or Gr5store (or both) sell filament. And one of them sells Faberdashery (UK) brand, which is really nice high-end stuff.

    I have also bought a few spools from MakerGeeks. They are cheap and quite decent quality and US made, if that matters to you.

    I have also bought from Proto-Pasta. They have excellent quality and really innovative stuff. They are also US made products, I believe.

    Beyond that I generally think it is more about the brand of filament and less about the supplier. So ColorFabb stuff is great, so is FormFutura and I am discovering Innofil is excellent too. People have said good things about eSUN and polymaker too, but I have no experience there.

    I generally keep two categories of filament around. 1) Super cheap, maybe-lower-quality, stuff for testing, prototyping etc. That way screw-ups are not so costly. 2) Brand name high(er) end filaments which print fantastically and have really great colour (color ;) ) saturation. This is for final products, special occasions, special people, etc. I guess the third category I keep is specialty materials like wood, polycarbonate, nylon etc.

    Oh and speaking of nylon, Taulman is a US company that makes great nylon and PET (T-Glase) filaments. Small spools though.

    Oh and I think NinjaFlex/NinjaTek (i.e. Fenner Drives) is US based. They started the whole flexible filament idea and their products are top notch.

    I am sure there are other more general distributors, but the above are the specific companies and manufacturers that I have had good experiences with.

    Anyway, hope this helps with US sources. Have fun! :)

    • Like 2
  12. From what Gr5 said, yes, someone was copying other peoples posts (including yours here) and adding a link back to their site. I happen to notice 2 posts with almost identical wording so I asked. Gr5 said the other person is now banned.

    Glad to hear your post is an original! :)

    Also, I agree with SyntaxTerror. You need to factory reset your printer after replacing the firmware or weird stuff happens. Happened to me! But: a) Your print time stats are preserved, so fear not, and b) you should take out your filament first and the printer will do the brand new first time start up routine again.

    Anyway, good luck! :)

  13. Hi gang,

    Just wanted to add that at @Gr5's recommendation a while ago, I bought the exact same kind of PTFE tubing as @joseph-kim mentioned in the original post. It works great. At least as good as the original PFA. It is much less transparent though.

    I cannot say I have super tested it with Ninjaflex or anything yet (that is why I bought it though), but my initial testing did feel much less friction-y than stock.

    I believe I can use Ninjaflex (original, I do not have Cheetah) without oil now that I have the PTFE Bowden.

    Anyway, just wanted to share my experiences in case it helps. :)

  14.  

    I'm surprised no-one mentioned the obvious: use BOLD for the font to thicken everything.

     

    ...

    Maybe the reason why it is not said, is that everyone expected that everyone already tried that?  :)

     

    I will admit, I just never thought of it! :p Nice thinking, @eldrick!

    Though, it seems @geert_2 has thought quite a bit about it. :)

  15. I wonder about a couple things. Maybe @SandervG or others might have some insights:

    1) None of what has been suggested so far would explain why the original true Olsson Block that the printer came with would have such severe leaking to begin with. If it had not failed, or other blocks would have been bought, I assume. :)

    2) If the new Olsson Block from Gr5 comes in and the printer still leaks, then what? I.e. if it is not the nozzle that is the source of the problem, what else could produce similar symptoms?

    Anyway, the above comments just got me thinking about these a bit.

    Hope it helps. :)

  16. Yeah I was thinking the same.

    It's easy for them to only coat a certain area. It's sprayed on then baked at high temp in a oven to cure it. It can withstand 300deg as we used to use it at that temp.

    So to do a nozzle, you just need to cover the area's you don't want coated. This could be done with a small jig.

    A diy process would be great if it did work.

     

    Cool! Well, if you ever decide to pursue this idea, I will buy a nozzle or two off of you and alpha/beta test them for you. :)

    No expectations, of course.

×
×
  • Create New...