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Ayman1612

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    Hello, I am new to 3D printers, I have a question

    in UltiMaker 3D printers

    Posted

    2 hours ago, gr5 said:

    Every printer is different.  Some printers have a single controller board.  On that board is the stepper drivers (they are about 1.5cm square and quite visible) and usually on that same board is the CPU.  On cheaper printers the CPU is an arduino style computer - usually not technically an arduino but the same CPU as on an arduino.  On more expensive printers there are often more expensive computers.  Some printers (like the  Ultimaker 3) have complete Linux computer on one board.  It's a powerful computer similar to a cell phone computer with a powerful operating system (linux).  And then there is a second circuit board on the UM3 (underneath) with the arduino style computer which is the secondary computer that controls the stepper drivers which control the steppers.  So that second board is similar to the *only* board on most printers.

     

    Arduino style computers are very wimpy.  Very very weak.  Maybe like 40,000 arduinos are enough computing power to match one cell phone computer.

     

    The 2 boards in the Ultimaker3 talk to each other through USB interface.  All underneath the UM3 printer.

     

    The stepper drivers have 4 wires that go to each stepper.  Look up the wiring for stepper drivers (look at the key pins - the 4 outputs and the inputs are "dir" for "direction" and "step" which is pulsed by the computer to tell the stepper driver to do 1 "step".

     

    These stepper drivers are extremely similar to the drivers for the motors on a quadcopter.  But quadcopters have 3 wires instead of 4 going to the motors.

     

    There isn't much feedback from the stepper - you tell the stepper to step say 234 times and it moves but the computer doesn't know for sure if the stepper missed a step.  If the stepper misses a step the printer keeps going but now everything is offset by 1 step.  This is usually not a problem but sometimes it is.  The information is one way.  From computer - through stepper driver - to stepper.  There is no feedback in the other direction.

    Thank you very much for helping me, as I understand it, the driver is under the printer?

    Hello, I am new to 3D printers, I have a question

    in UltiMaker 3D printers

    Posted

    19 minutes ago, GregValiant said:

    You can't print over air.  Portions of a model that are less than about 30° from horizontal need support to print on.  Usually, that support is the same material as the print and so it can become welded to the print and requires later post-processing to get rid of the support and to finish the surface of the model where the support was attached.

    If you have a dual extruder printer then you can load a different material into one of the extruder/hot ends.  That "support material" won't stick nearly as well and is much easier to remove.  If you were to use PVA - it is water soluble and a good soak will get it off but as @gr5 points out it is fussy to keep in printable condition.

     

    If you you print a model with say PETG and the support material is also PETG then you will need to invest in a hobby knife (Exacto knife), a set of pics, and a good pair of needle nose pliers, to poke and prod and pull at the support to divorce it from the model.  A set of micro-files will help you to clean up the model.

    Here you can see the support is cyan colored.  On the right the Support Interface is a darker blue.  The center support is there for the roof of a blind hole and is tough to get out.

    image.thumb.png.e85e29765b3aef0c14b030110bf82957.png

     

    Here is my tool set.

    Not shown are the band-aids for use when the knife slips.  Also not shown is the extensive list of dual-purpose swear words for when either the knife slips or I accidentally cut off part of the model instead of the support.

     

    DSCN2976.thumb.JPG.a266012a46ff04abcc57b458d036c94a.JPG

    If I understood correctly, I can make a support with a material other than pva, but it will be difficult to hide the support later?

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