Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus (or... Learning to 3d print by a total newb) (Page 2 of 3)

I am definitely going to have more ... I LOVE this technology!!!!! ... What am I going to do with it? ... at this point, I will use it to improve the one I have, and build me another one! I am going to figure out what the ultimate machine might be with resources that are available, and go for it!

Anyone want to buy a modestly equipped machine shop?

Tom

ummm, yup - he is definitely hooked and swallowed the lure! hook, line, and sinker! LOL

stay away from proprietary printers and you have no worries about needing to learn multiple programs (or spending $150).
I have 4 printers - 2 Solidoodles, a kossel and the large format FT-5 - that all run on the same programs - Repetier Host & Slic3r (which are completely free).

The only thing that S3D can do that Slic3r does not (yet) is the custom supports, but Meshmixer is quite good at those and it is also free.

In fact, there are things that Slic3r can do that S3D can not do - but to each their own....

1) sounds like you are having fun and getting lots of printing done.
2)  A very good idea to check screws etc at this point thinks can loosen up.
3) Bearings: When I built my prusa the linear bearings were quite stiff then freed up nicely after a few hours of printing.
Yes they should get some lube. Exactly what lube seems to be a matter of preference , experience and opinion. If you want to get heroic yo can disassemble and put a good teflon grease inside the bearings just slide the bearing off the rod to get inside. liquid lube with teflon an option, lithium grease,A light lubrication that will not drip off the rods and will not collect dirt.  way oil. all will work .
Better gearing are absolutely an option Mcmaster carr sells them  but very pricey at  $ 30 us per bearing so you would end up at about $30 each. Misumi USA has an excellent rep for price and quality  Seem like they have a toronto sales office to help you.

Smaller nozzles are best for small prints with a rounded top.  You  can increase resolution bu making layer height .2 or .3  as well.

80% of nozzle size for optimum printing. do not recall hearing that but makes sense.

I have become friends with a guy who has a 3d printing store  and I have been here. So I never felt the need to go find a book. wich is surprising as i am a bit of a book worm book collector.

Tin

oh, please - no! Not that one...

Dont get me wrong, there is a lot of good info in Triffid Hunter's guide, but the E-step calibration is not (to me) good info.

to get the best, most accurate prints possible, you need to be more exacting with what goes in - if you ask your printer to feed in 100mm of filament, it should feed in exactly 100mm of filament. not 98, not 102 - 100.
The method that Mr. Hunter uses is more a fudging method, not exacting.

I have had this discussion with several people now and the biggest argument I get for following that guide is, "but it's in the reprap wiki, it must be good info". Well, guess what - anyone can write a wiki article. And some of the info in that guide is outdated - namely the feed rate (e-steps) calibration.

this is the method I use for calibration:
Part 1: http://northwoods3d.weebly.com/blog/fi … ion-part-1
Part 2: http://northwoods3d.weebly.com/blog/-fl … coming-out
and I have the quality prints to back it up.

on the 80% thing - that is for maximum layer height. you can go lower if you like with your 0.4 nozzle, but you will need to make adjustments to get good quality. I have gone as low as 0.127 with my 0.4 nozzle (that is on a Solidoodle with a 5/16" threaded rod - slightly different numbers than for metric rods)

this print was done at a '0.3' layer height (SD equivalent = 0.2963) with a 0.4 nozzle and it has excellent detail.

and I apologize if I came off a little harsh in that post - I was a bit wound up last night about something else (related to 3d printing) and it kind of spilled over.

The write-ups on calibration I shared is information I have gleaned mostly from this forum, from the more experienced users here. The problem was that it was kind of scattered - a little here, a little there... all I did was pull it all together and try to make it easy for a new user to follow.

If you have any questions at all, or something isn't clear, please do not hesitate to ask - I will answer as soon as I can (not available from 7am to about 5:30pm central time due to work)

also, an excellent write up regarding why you should be more exacting is here: http://www.soliforum.com/post/83278/#p83278 - kind of complicated, but i think jagowilson does a pretty good job of explaining how things work, and why you should calibrate to more exacting standards than Mr. Hunter does.

On my machine, I found the steps per unit under the M92 code. They told me that x was 81.0, y was 81.0, z was 400.5, and e was 94.30. I told my printer to extrude 100mm (after a couple of 10mm bursts to fill the nozzle) and it did give me 94 and a bit.

I have discovered another problem that I just don't have time to deal with this week. I printed a 20mm cube, and I measured the sides, only to find that they are all different. I think this means some other settings are off so I will need to do more checking. Unfortunately I took the piece off of the bed before I measured so I have no idea which axis is off, so I will have to do this all again.

Oh the joys of learning new stuff.

Thanks for that info, as I was wondering what to go after first.  It seems like that 94.3 number is locked in the eeprom setting in the machine's firmware and keeps me from doing much at this point. I will have to wait until I have more time.

Cheers

Hi Tin

Yes, Rh can control my printer ... that is how I did the 100 mm test. I will try that first thing in the morning as my evening is full. (Machining no less)

Edit In:

I lied ... It appears I wasn't in the mood to make 3mm bolts after all, so I played with the printer. After 3 changes, it now prints exactly 100 mm when I tell it to. Now, if only I could get it to get me a drink when I want one ...

I did a sample print and it scared me as "Home" wasn't where I was used to so once the print was done, I changed that too.

After two positive results, I am quitting for the night.

Tom

to start, make sure everything is tight - including belts. Belts should be snug - no slop, or vibration, when the machine is moving

then - have you done the extrusion calibrations?
printing a single wall box and measuring the wall thickness to calculate the proper extrusion multiplier? (this would be "Part 2" of the links I provided you earlier)

The 2 parts go hand in hand - getting the correct amount in and getting the correct amount out - to get consistent prints.

Also, for a beginner, I would recommend working at a 0.3 layer height until you get things dialed in better.
The Bat Buddha pictured above was done at a 0.3 layer height (0.2963 for Solidoodle) - the whole thing, to the very tips of his bat ears, is only 4 inches tall.

we found that particular model a long time ago, and not sure why, but I have never been able to find it again (did not add it to any of my collections at the time - just downloaded it) There is a "big head" version that can be found easily, but not this one with the smaller head.

there a several other renditions of Buddha as well... including one with the correct head that the others are based on, lol

8 hours?? wow - that is a lot for that model..

On my SD4 with my standard 0.3 layer height, 3 perimeters, 3 top, 3 bottom solid layers, and 25% infill the Bat Buddha only takes 3.5 hours...