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kmanstudios

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Posts posted by kmanstudios

  1. Following Dim3nsioneer's advice, I would also contact gr5 or visit his online store. I just upgraded my nozzles and printcores and it was a splendiferous transaction. :)

    I am waiting for a 6 day print to finish (Now 5 days-2hrs) and then I am putting in my new 3D Solex printcores with Everlast (I think...it is the Sapphire nozzle though) in and banging out a few steel, copper and brass filaments just to try them out. But, that is next week :p

    Pretty darned psyched about it though!!!!

  2. Well, believe it or not, I stopped using the prime tower a while back for these following reasons:

    1. Wow, did it add a boat load of time to the printing.

    2. Wow, did it just waste a lot of filament and wasting PVA really sucks.....

    3. If I wanted to really protect the model I will use the ooze shield. It is much more reliable.

    4. Playing with the settings bit has made the clean up of things much easier and really not that bad to do.

    But, that is just me........

  3. Hmn well it takes about 10secs to save an STL file from Solidworks and another 10secs to load the STL into Cura, hardly a big deal. I would rather have my model sliced by software built by a dedicated 3D slicer team than by fundamentally an engineering team providing an add on to their software.

    Of course what they could do is just add an invoking function and pass the model (converted to STL) direct to Cura. Repetier Host has been doing that for a number of years to Slic3r, Kisslicer and Cura - of course from an stl file not an sldprt file.

    Kudos to Yellowshark and Neotko for their historical perspective and how it is still practical even in today's market.

    And, I have to second the idea that I would rather have a dedicated slicer than a poorly designed add-on that does not get much love or attention during developmental cycles when those programs are too busy adding things they want while treating add-ons like this as a 'way down the list of priorities'. To quote an Autodesk rep: "Maybe enough people haven't complained for us to consider it. Also, we have other programs that fill that void." And to be honest, so far, they have meshmixer, for free, that does focus on that process.

    So, you would be not only at the mercy of engineers that are not really specialized in that field, just doing something adhoc or, them trying to get things done from a marketing perspective; i.e. "Why would we put that in when you can get this program and do it too?" Or in our reality, why would they put in features in their programs that do not promote the buying of other software?

    To actually say something positive about 3DS MAX (I know, I know, it is a rarity for me, but I calls 'em as I see's 'em, good or bad), they do have a bang up STL checker that really does the job. It just does not interface with other slicers, because then they would have to provide hooks into the whole zoo of slicers and someone would complain their obscure slicer pref does not fit properly. So, they did focus on the proper prep for the files, and as yellow shark says, It does not take long to open a program, load a file and have it do dedicated work.

  4. Do you have access to a heat gun? That would soften the plastic enough to either push through or pull out. It sounds jammed just before it gets to the hot parts (How's THAT for tech speak?) and cannot be gotten too as it is. Too far in to get a good grip and not far enough to get soft and push through.

    Anything that can blow a tight column of heated air should do. Just have decent temp control.

    I have had this happen to me......so...dat is how I solved it :)

  5. It already has in many ways. Research the impact 3D printing has had on prosthetics. It is a wonderful thing to research and find.

    Have a blast with it!! I know I am and I am not up to the point of making my own robotics of any kind. I am just now figuring tolerances and such in a realistic (vs theoretica) point of view to insert tubes, cavities and such for parts, wiring and other nifty things.

    There is nothing like it. :)

    Oh, and you are in the right place....so many people with just plain ol' good info and willing to share and help.

  6. Well, I had been meaning to make a dry box. There are tons of files out there and some nifty designs too. But I had to make a choice between what I could print and what I have to print.

    So I decided my giant time prints take precedent over the I could make the other. So, I am completing a big job and have a few extra shekels in me pocket. So I got this instead.

    http://www.printdry.com/

    and

    http://www.polymaker.com/shop/polybox/

    The built in hygrometer sold me on the polybox. The print dry is so that I do not have to take time on my buildplate to dry out filament. So, other than not being a purist....yes, I could make one, it isn't rocket science to follow the files and directions, I balanced out the time and materials against the speed of having it in hand and already operational.

    So, I hang my head in maker shame....but endeavor to persevere in my long term prints of which I really wanna focus on.

    • Like 1
  7. Well, the good news is that almost 24 hours later, the printer is working pretty darned nicely. However, had to stop the print because the PVA was too moist and am currently cleaning the printcore.

    But, that is out of my control (other than trying to control humidity in the apartment) and is not a printer error.

    I am going to count this as a win :)

  8. It is as DidierKlein said in this thread.

    It takes a bit of getting used to. But since I come from a background where lo-rez was always used to represent the actual finished product in a way to not slow down the process, either by expense and time or computing power and computing time.

    We called it FPO (For Position Only) in the print world. So, for me it is natural. But for newcomers to something using a representation to speed along the viewing and cut down on computing, it can be a bit jarring in the WYSIWYG world we live in. I am so old, I do not even know if WYSIWYG is used anymore as just about everything WYSIWYG is these days.

  9. Same happened to me. But why you had to disassemble the panels?? That’s the part I really don’t understand

    On the UM3E the panels had to be removed as when those nuts fell, they fell inside one of the sideguards and I could not get them shaken out.

    But, the happy thing is that the print of the box went smoothly, active leveling and now on a 6 day print. First layer PVA Brim and support look great and waiting for the PLA to start. It is transparent, so it may take a few layers to actually see it though.

    But is appears I did not destroy anything :) The problem with being self taught is that you have no language to convey what the parts are or where things went. For me, at this point, it is all doohickeys or thingamabobs.........

  10. So, I get up this morning, change filaments and notice that it is not feeding correctly. No worries...happens sometimes. But, I decided to also take the feeder off and really clean the knurled wheel, blow out and dust and just make sure it is all spiffy.

    BUT!!!! Ain't there always a but?

    When I went to put the screws back into the back of the printer, the locking nut, whatever it is called..... popped out of its socket in the back. ACKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

    MissingNuts.JPG

    This meant taking off an entire side, pulling all the pulleys off on that side and the axles coming out of their sockets and all sorts of other issues. Sounds like it may not be much.....but it is a real pain in the patootie to do that, fish out the missing pieces from somewhere in the machine and put them in. Although, once I got them in, I taped them down with Duct Tape.

    ReplacedAndTaped.JPG

    An awful lot of trouble just for two nuts that could be better secured to begin with. About 2.5 hours lost on the disassembly, reassembly and then testing, correcting and diagnosting just to print a test to see if I got it back together again. It is still printing my little box and we shall see if I performed surgery successfully.

    BUT!! (This one is for Team Ultimaker)....maybe find a way to secure these things a bit better in design. That was an awful lot of trouble for just two of those little thingies and I am still not sure how succesful I was.

    sigh....fingers crossed....salt over the shoulder......ptooey, ptooey, ptooey......and finally a cross over the chest...........

  11. I have honestly never had the filament refuse to come off the spool. I have been woke up with the loud pop of that thing busting loose from either the feeding through the hole as you say or pulling off tape secured ends.

    But, it may be the difference in brands or maybe evolving as I am seeing less of the bent end in the bottom holes.

    But, also totally agree that the best tool is the human mind.

    wait for it.......

    wait for it.............

    I know this because I have been called a tool before :p Bam!!!

    • Like 1
  12. Are you using a dual extruder? What slicer?

    If (A) you are using a dual extruder and (B) also using Cura 2.+ (The versions I am familiar with) the basic procedure would be:

    1. In modeling package make sure that your 'sign' is one model and the 'lettering' is another model.

    2. Make sure they have the same pivot point when exporting as two different STL files.

    3. Bring each model into the slicer so that both are in there at the same time.

    4. Use 'per model' settings to assign each model a different extruder.

    5. Select all (Just to get both models easily) and then go to Edit->MergeModels.

    Having both models share a common pivot point will allow for them to mate up nicely and have proper 'fit.' Slice and print away :)

  13. I have also lost a few direct messages lately. For me personally, it seemed like this problem was gone for some time but popped up again. Luckily, most of the times, like 9/10 when I hit the 'back' button it retrieves the reply. Direct messages are usually lost unfortunately.

    Been pretty much across the board with me. And, I usually forget to hit the copy all combo before losing everything and the back button has not worked at all for me.

    However...what was this? LOL :p

    Screenshot1.jpg

    Screenshot2.jpg

  14. ....But in the meantime I feel sometimes, that a friendly "RTFM" might be the only suitable answer as the time for gaining knowledge and fruitefull discussions is mostly gone, swaped away by industrialization and "plug&play" menthality just want to "do" but not "understand". Anyway, it's maybe the wrong place to share my feelings, but as mentioned, somethimes you get a kick to do so...

     

    I am not sure that you can blame the plug-n-play mentality on the company or the forums, but rather the evolution of things. This is not the first time I have heard or seen this. Although I am new here, I have been on a lot of forums over the time between now and the old CompuServe days. It seems that as things go, this is how the populace grows as an industry matures.

    In my short time here, I have been astounded at how many people come in and actually seem to want to troll the forums that the UM3 does not do enough right off the bat or any problems that are not that difficult with just a bit of searching.

    There are some misleading things such as buildplate size and other minor things like having to learn the language that does create a bit of a "Durrhhhh" moment for anybody new. But when someone comes in to complain that the G-Code from Cura is only for the UM series or just does not have that one last feature, it can be frustrating. I experienced this first hand with many of my students, the digital natives, as they are called, know less about how computers work than I do with the excuse being "There was nobody who taught us." When I started, there was nobody to teach us, at all, so we researched, tore into our machines and software and THEN became the people who taught them.

    I can get the frustration of those who came before those of us who are new. But there is a natural evolution happening and it is required to continue to grow and succeed as a company.

    Although, it would be cool to have a division that does cater to the tinkerers and a division that moves forward to compete on the current trajectory.

    • Like 4
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