26

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Thanks!

Quick update.  I've run about 1/2 of the initial pellets now.  I had 2 false starts.  The first issue was not having the nipple tight enough.  Once the auger was under compression the nipple started to turn.  That was easy to fix.  The second problem was that somehow the washer that gets used as a "key" in the hex socket got warped and stopped doing its job.  Again, an easy fix.

Once I got plastic extruding consistently I had a couple of issues with it bunching up at the nozzle.  I read through the forums here and realized I needed better clearance around the floor for it to spool, and to ensure there was no interference with the side of the workbench that it's sitting on.  Since making these adjustments I've not had any further issues.  I took a segment of my homemade filament and compared it with some commercially bought filament from Octave, and it's hard to tell the difference.  I don't have a digital caliper, but testing with my vernier caliper shows that it is virtually indistinguishable from the Octave filament, and very consistent. 

I know this is a 1st gen product and basically experimental, but I have to say I am thrilled with its performance.  Assembly was straightforward, the support of this community, and Tim in particular, has addressed every question that arose quickly and effectively.  And the end result is a product that is doing exactly what I had hoped for.  Obviously I've just barely begun, but I can't imagine a better start.  Thanks!!!

27

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Hi all!

Got my struder up and running last night, i've got a few off topic questions but I wont post them here.

Post's attachments

20130909_202356_filastruder.jpg
20130909_202356_filastruder.jpg 3.8 mb, 4 downloads since 2013-09-09 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.
Filastruder 332

28

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

da9l wrote:

Hi all!

Got my struder up and running last night, i've got a few off topic questions but I wont post them here.

Thank you for not posting off topic questions there is a whole forum to post questions.

I like your Hopper what is that ? some sort of bottle?

Do you have a .stl for the printed part?

Ralph

29

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Ralphxyz wrote:

Do you have a .stl for the printed part?

That printed part is just the v5 hopper. Included in the zip file you already downloaded.

That's a soda bottle, he probably just heated the mouth of the bottle so it'd fit in the hopper.

30

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Oh thanks again Tim, I thought it was screwing into the hopper.

I think I am going to have to have you make up the printed parts for me, the RPM is further off today than yesterday and yesterday it was 6 months late.

I have a 40# box of ABS off ebay and colorant from OSP plus nylon from you, I have this big pile of boxes but no printer.
Of course I haven't got my workshop setup yet so I have an excuse QU-BD on the other hand ...

Ralph

31 (edited by drandolph 2013-09-11 04:27:04)

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I've been busy designing a new case from scratch and trying to bring sexy back to an enclosure for mine.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:145960
http://i.imgur.com/2Qk4eds.jpg

32

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Available in the store:

http://www.filastruder.com/products/kit-enclosure-beta

33

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I love the vertical mount. Now I'm wondering if I can do the same thing with the Filastruder case that's going to arrive at my house shortly (I hope). Perhaps I should give in and rip it apart. Though when I look at it, the main functional difference is the angled feed tube, which might be doable within the standard case.

34

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Just finished assembly.  I opted for Ian Johnson's vertical mount to save space.  The maiden voyage of this thing will happen in about 20 more degrees.

35

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Great design drandolph. I sent some feedback to Tim earlier. I think he is waiting for a response.

Thanks Tim for a great product. My filastruder is just churning away. I can't wait to run though this plastic through so I can get started on the production. 

http://2n2r5.com/pictures/printer/filastruder/filastruder.JPG

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

36

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Up and running. Took a little fiddling to figure the filament support out, but cranking along nicely now.

One thing, though - the heater seems to be struggling. I'm extruding ABS, so the temp target is 180, but as soon as i start extruding it starts dropping, leveling off around 165. As the temp drops, the motor slows down, I'm guessing it's struggling to push colder plastic. Still, it's certainly extruding, and the filament looks great! I'm amazed at how the color smoothed right out!

37

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Did you angle the fan away from the nozzle? About 15 degrees should do the trick. You definitely want near 180C for ABS. Angle the fan further if you need to to allow the heater to reach 180C.

38

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

elmoret wrote:

Did you angle the fan away from the nozzle? About 15 degrees should do the trick. You definitely want near 180C for ABS. Angle the fan further if you need to to allow the heater to reach 180C.

The fan was angled towards the nozzle. I angled it back, and the temperature is now 170+, which seems to be working a lot better. I'll keep playing with the angles.

Still amazed at how nice the extrusion looks. Amazing, for such a cheap little machine!

39

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

laird wrote:
elmoret wrote:

Did you angle the fan away from the nozzle? About 15 degrees should do the trick. You definitely want near 180C for ABS. Angle the fan further if you need to to allow the heater to reach 180C.

The fan was angled towards the nozzle. I angled it back, and the temperature is now 170+, which seems to be working a lot better. I'll keep playing with the angles.

Still amazed at how nice the extrusion looks. Amazing, for such a cheap little machine!

We don't say "cheap" we say "cost effective"

40

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

drandolph wrote:
laird wrote:
elmoret wrote:

Did you angle the fan away from the nozzle? About 15 degrees should do the trick. You definitely want near 180C for ABS. Angle the fan further if you need to to allow the heater to reach 180C.

The fan was angled towards the nozzle. I angled it back, and the temperature is now 170+, which seems to be working a lot better. I'll keep playing with the angles.

Still amazed at how nice the extrusion looks. Amazing, for such a cheap little machine!

We don't say "cheap" we say "cost effective"

Of course. Impressively "cost effective".

And either way, my son is thrilled that we have the Filastruder. And my daughter helped me assemble it. Success!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1272606_10151948381140452_196369880_o.jpg

41

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

laird, where is the .stl for your guide?

Do you have any comments about it?

Ralph

42

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

It's the guide that came with the "assembled" Filastruder. It works "OK". One thing I've run into after turning the fan away from the nozzle is that it leaves an inch or two of filament softe, and as the far end of the filament pulls down, the hardened filament pivots over the far end of the support and pulls the hot end up causing bends or stair-steps, and once or twice stretching the filament. As a possile solution, I'm thinking that if I redesign the support so that the filament nearest the extruder is enclosed so that it can't move up or down, it'll help keep the filament in line.

The design I'm thinking of is to use a row of little carabiners (like this http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Aluminum-Cha … 380049265) so the filament can be either fed into or (if it's longer) "clipped" into the carabiners, and then it'll be held fairly straight, with enough control points that it can't put stress on the soft filament at the nozzle.

43

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

laird wrote:

As a possile solution, I'm thinking that if I redesign the support so that the filament nearest the extruder is enclosed so that it can't move up or down, it'll help keep the filament in line.

You can't do this, it will turn the Filastruder into a blobistruder. You can't try to constrain the filament, it is like trying to push a wet rope. You have to let gravity pull it.

Adjust the fan a bit more towards vertical as temperature allows, and play with the filament guide positions. You'll get it dialed in...

44

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Anything that might restrict the movement of the filament or slow it down by rubbing against something will cause a kink at the nozzle.  Also guides tend to act as pivot points- when the hardened filament below moves around it can pivot on the guide thing which changes the direction of the filament coming out of the nozzle.  Then that bend hits the guide and everything goes to hell from there.

45 (edited by brw_racing 2013-09-29 23:01:49)

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I just finished building Filistruder #562. I have run out time off from work so setting testing and tweaking will be for another day but im happy to have it this far along.

Ron

Post's attachments

IMAG0220.jpg
IMAG0220.jpg 1.92 mb, 7 downloads since 2013-09-29 

IMAG0221.jpg
IMAG0221.jpg 2.06 mb, 3 downloads since 2013-09-29 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

46

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Wow! That's a v1.3, for which I haven't even uploaded the instructions for yet!

(they're coming tomorrow)

Lookin' good. You may have problems holding temperature with the insulation slid that far backwards, and you may want to wrap the nozzle in Kapton once or twice to hold the thermocouple securely.

47 (edited by brw_racing 2013-09-29 23:07:55)

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

Thanks. It seems to work good. I suppose you can tell im a prusa mendel builder. I cant seem to build anything without drilling holes and using threaded rod's. I love the laser cut box but that will have to wait for another time.

OK ill keep that in mind before i test it out. Thanks

48

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I'm curious how much flex there will be using threaded rods like that - I haven't seen it done before yet. As long as you can set it on a level surface and the bottoms stay flat relative to whatever you set it on, you should be good to go. If it flexes a lot, it can mess up the alignment and cause the feedscrew to ride the side of the barrel.

49

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I know what your saying. I tried flexing and twisting it and i could not do it. If it does ill screw it to a block of something. I think ill keep it open as much as possible for now because i can get in there and tinker. I am still very open to changing it as i go along. Thanks
Ron

50

Re: Filastruder Kit Gallery - Pictures of Filastruders in the wild!

I have most of the wiring figured out, put together and tested, and have a faceplate printing now to finalize it. I am not sure if I will use that white shelf I stole from the laundry room as part of the final assemble or figure something else out. I may add a carry handle.

Post's attachments

IMG_20131012_144628.jpg
IMG_20131012_144628.jpg 478.73 kb, 1 downloads since 2013-10-12 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.