I'll give the nut-hugger a shot, I just need to buy a 5/16-18 nut.

Fantastic. Had to order the nuts from UK since there is nothing but M8 nuts over here.

Video posted here (http://www.soliforum.com/topic/672/zaxi … er-wobble/) shows definite z-screw issues, so seeing as I've done everything that I can from a software perspective, I have to start thinking hardware, particularly the lead screw.  Could be the stepper is bent, but that's not something that I'm considering as this seems to stem from the screw.  I guess I'll find out.

Donitz, seeing as you weren't seeing this issue in the beginning, I'm thinking with Ian that it may be backlash.

Also wobble isn't the only problem with Z, inconsistent movement up and down will create ridges all around.  The problem could be backlash, which is what the nut hugger is actually designed to fix.

No problem with .3mm prints, but there is a ridge about every mm with .1mm prints.

But the funny thing is that I didn't have any issues BEFORE I calibrated the extruder steps. The first .1mm prints I did didn't have any ridges at all, then I measured and changed the Steps per mm for the extruder from 139 to 103 and now I have ridges in any .1mm models using infill.

I first suspected the z-axis as well, but I don't see how the ridges makes any sense in that regard. They point outwards in all directions. Surely if the z-axis wobbled the ridges would be pointing inwards at one side and outwards at the other.

I'm using slic3r 0.9.7 with Repetier-host

I see a clear tube there I think... Are you just running a tube to the extruder?  Is it mounted any special way or have you tried the Bowden setup or is it just the clear filament?

Yeah, that's just my filament... I have just the stock set up for the filament. Only thing I did was put a piece of masking tape with the sticky side out on the frame to keep my filament taut and prevent the filament from reversing and unspooling all over the place.

Not particularly with the set up I have... I used a nut that had the nylon bushing/lock on it and had to carve all that crap out with an x-acto before I could put it on. There's a little bit left in the nut and loads of grease that solidoodle guys were so generous with, so the nut has a bit of resistance without a spring.

Honestly, I never thought of using a spring and sounds like a good idea though, especially with the nuts that don't have the nylon stuff inside. I'm sure if you found a spring that fit directly under the nut without protruding out of the sides, the nuthugger could keep everything in place. I made it so that it uses the notch in the wood and the 4 smaller nuts as a brace.

I think I'll try it, thanks for the idea Jonathan.

I couldn't find a better place to put this so I'm sticking it here.

Here is another z axis wobbly stopper.... I call it Z-NutHugger. XD

I printed the one lawsy made and posted on the wiki.solidoodle.com and i ran out to home depot to buy a nut but i mistakenly bought a nut that had a plastic bushing in it. I placed the pieces together just as lawsy described and realized that the nut is taller than the one lawsy used...The higher nut made the whole thing stick up higher and was banging against the X rod so I made this one and wanted to share...

Here's a pic to show how it goes on as well...

Does your z-nuthugger require any type of spring under it?

@Mesh, great fix

I couldn't find a better place to put this so I'm sticking it here.

Here is another z axis wobbly stopper.... I call it Z-NutHugger. XD

I printed the one lawsy made and posted on the wiki.solidoodle.com and i ran out to home depot to buy a nut but i mistakenly bought a nut that had a plastic bushing in it. I placed the pieces together just as lawsy described and realized that the nut is taller than the one lawsy used...The higher nut made the whole thing stick up higher and was banging against the X rod so I made this one and wanted to share...

Here's a pic to show how it goes on as well...

I see a clear tube there I think... Are you just running a tube to the extruder?  Is it mounted any special way or have you tried the Bowden setup or is it just the clear filament?

How does one upgrade to Slic3r 0.9.7 within Repetier?  Will installing the new version separately simply perform the upgrade?
Sorry, I'm far from a computer guru!

If you install Slic3r, it may just replace what was there already and everything will work fine.  However, if for some reason you find that it doesn't work you go to preferences and open up the Slicer config element and then select Slic3r.  You will then be able to select the executable you want to use.

On OSX the preferences is reached by clicking on the Repetier-Host MAC menu Item and selecting Preferences.  I am not sure of the steps on Windows or Linux, but I imagine they will be similar.

How does one upgrade to Slic3r 0.9.7 within Repetier?  Will installing the new version separately simply perform the upgrade?
Sorry, I'm far from a computer guru!

I downloaded the latest, and copied the files over to the install directory under C:\Program Files\Repetier-Host\Slic3r

Thanks, Ian. I can confirm that slic3r 0.9.7 is an improvement over other versions - the ridges are less pronounced. Still not quite as smooth as KISSlicer but definately workable.

How does one upgrade to Slic3r 0.9.7 within Repetier?  Will installing the new version separately simply perform the upgrade?
Sorry, I'm far from a computer guru!

Here is another z axis wobbly stopper.... I call it Z-NutHugger. XD

I printed the one lawsy made and posted on the wiki.solidoodle.com and i ran out to home depot to buy a nut but i mistakenly bought a nut that had a plastic bushing in it. I placed the pieces together just as lawsy described and realized that the nut is taller than the one lawsy used...The higher nut made the whole thing stick up higher and was banging against the X rod so I made this one and wanted to share...

Here's a pic to show how it goes on as well...

I saw that Ian had posted his 0.1mm layer slic3r ini file as well as his settings for KISSlicer:
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/611/soli … -printing/

So, I gave them both a try (I altered Ian's layer height in this slic3r settings to be 0.2mm in order to retain parity with all the other tests I've carried out). You can see the results here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenninaj/8 … hotostream

I printed a different model to highlight that this effect is not directly related to the specific object I'm printing.

Bottom line is that KISSlicer, like skeinforge, gives me a pretty smooth outline whereas any configuration of slic3r I've tried (including multiple versions of the software) produces pronounced ridges in the surface. Weirdorama, dudes.