That cleared up most of the wobble.  Any movement left is because I'm bending the guide rods.  I'll do a test print and see how it goes.

The prints are definitely smoother now.  Not nearly as much z wobble.  Layers are sticking together without voids.  I still have some waviness in x-y but I think that's my sainsmart filament.

I can't tell from the photo but the blocks slide together (vertically) to pinch the rod in between them.  Is that what you mean when you say they are tight?  Then does that mean the wobble is somewhere else in how the extruder is attached to the carriage?

Correct. The extruder is wobbling at the front of the stepper motor.  My picture attached to the last post shows the gap under the back side of the stepper, by the heat sink, but no gap at the front of the motor, by the extruder.

You might take a look at the Teflon blocks on the rear x-axis rod (allowing the extruder head to wobble).  I would bet they are a little loose as the printer frame being able to move around on some foam shouldn't cause any problems.  However, it may amplify another problem.

The extruder head is wobbling quite badly but it's not the teflon, the teflon screws are tight.  The motor is only attached to the carriage at the front end, not the rear.  Is this glued in place?  Can I tighten it back down with a twist tie?

elmoret wrote:

Shavings on the hobbed hub indicate extrusion temperature too low, or hot end partially obstructed or otherwise damaged.

BINGO!

Well.. I figured out my problem.  We have our printer set in a box that's vented outside, I lined the box with noise reducing foam to save the sanity of my office.  The printer rests on the foam, when it prints a large part without constant direction changes the surface is fine.  When it prints with constant direction changes the surface is poor.

The foam in the box is causing the filament head to move up and down when the print head transfers momentum to the frame.

I printed a large diameter ring consisting of perimeters this morning.  No issues like I had with the MK5 extruder parts.

Shavings on the hobbed hub indicate extrusion temperature too low, or hot end partially obstructed or otherwise damaged.

BINGO!

Are you noticing ABS shavings on the extruder gear?

I ble compressed air in and white powder cam flying out of the gear.  The thumbscrew screw is already pretty tight, I'm afraid to turn it anymore.

Looks like Moire to me.  If you didn't have it before you can probably adjust it out with VREF adjustment.  I couldn't explain why or how that would change.  This leads me to your hot end working its way to a clog.

The weird thing is this has happened before then everything went back to normal.

I'm having a problem with the quality of the extrusion my solidoodle 3 is producing.

Using the same settings I'm getting very different quality in my end product.

Why am I seeing this wavy wall on some parts and smooth walls on others?

The first and third picture parts were made one day apart.

My office is air conditioned so it couldn't be humidity.

Looks like Moire to me.  If you didn't have it before you can probably adjust it out with VREF adjustment.  I couldn't explain why or how that would change.  This leads me to your hot end working its way to a clog.