Solidoodle 3 Mods, and issues. (Page 2 of 9)

A handy calibration print is the calibration coin/nickel/10c/Euro  .. they are on Thingiverse amongst many others. Anyway search for the one that suits your country

For bridging,  a thread needs to have something to anchor to at each end.  Turning a corner in midair won't work cleanly without support, because there is nothing for the corner to stick to, to keep it from following the extruder and pulling straight.

Smaller part: straight bridge from point A to B. instead of stretching plastic across, it was going slow and drooping bad.

Large part: Noob mistake , ill start playing with supports after i print my calibration piece as Gomisan suggested.

Looks like it's all coming together for you. If you read my early posts I probably had (and to some extent I am still experimenting) the same sorts of issues. I think we all do, and then it just starts to click and you figure out the settings and start playing a bit. It's amazing when I look at how much scrap plastic I generated in my first 2 weeks, and now I'm pretty confident that most prints will go OK first time because I've sort of got a hang of what a print will need.

That does get you closer to the ballpark, but I found when building a part a lot bigger than a nickel (a cover plate for the electronics) that being a little off shows up a lot in a larger piece. None of the screw holes came out in the right place even though the nickel calibration seemed perfect.

I used the flatbed scanner in my all-in-one printer gadget to scan in the original cover plate and the bad print I made on the first try, then used gimp to find out how much I had to scale the bad print to get the holes lined up (different amounts in X and Y).

That gave me much more accurate numbers to tweak the X and Y settings in the firmware. The second cover plate print was perfect after tweaking the settings.

That leads me to my theory for a better calibration print: Punch some random holes in a 3x5 card, scan the card, used to scan to build a model, print the model, then scan the print and find out how much to scale to get the holes to line up.

Will add that to my list of things to do:

Knocked a few more things out this morning after work.

Got the dial indicator holder up and running.

I found the center of my aluminum plate and set that to be Zero.

Sorry for the "inch" reference but for some reason my "mm" button isn't working on the DI.
(birds eye view from my table)
           (IN INCHES)
               +y
     .011" .014" .005"
-x  .002"   0"    -.002" +x
     .010" .013" .0125"
               -Y

So the center of my table is pretty flat but as soon as you get past a certain point it starts to flare up around the outside edges. This is of course a cold measurement which isn't worth much, since the problem probably is a lot worse at 95C.

The 3 point leveling system wont help me much, without introducing a flat plane such as glass. I'm sure a high temp alternative exists that can replace the aluminum plate. Why hasn't anyone used a Mic 6 cast aluminum plate? They are good up to 800 degrees, and the 3/4" thick plates are +-.005" Do you think the z platform could handle a 8"x8"x3/4" plate?

Mic 6 density is about .101 pounds per cubic inch, 8"x8"x .75" would be about 4.8 pounds. Not sure if the Z stepper could lift that, or if the screw, and nut could handle that weight.

You can get a cut piece of 8"x 8" 0.125" general purpose aluminum for less than $5 each, maybe cheaper in high volume. 0.75 MIC6 is gonna cost at least $30 a piece for 8" x 8" at volume price. This is not something you buy off the shelf at the right dimensions.

As for the weight, the screw and nut could handle much worse. Shear strength on medium 5/16-18 thread is 125,000PSI. I have  ever galled one without the use of a breaker bar.  The stepper may be able to handle it. People put an extra 1/4" ceramic tile on there without having to up the torque on the stepper.

I have looked into getting a .25" MIC 6 piece for my bed. Locally single piece was gonna cost $30. I could get a 12" x 12" from Mcmaster Carr for $44 but I have no good way to cut it. I would so love a 14" throat bandsaw. Anyway, I would guess that MIC 6 is a cost issue.

Now, I have been thinking about taking some 80 grit and taping it to a 12" tile and sanding the bed flat. Might be a better quick solution.

Might want to try Speedy Metals...they've got some pretty competitive pricing...

http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-2255-835 … ruded.aspx

Also, thank you everyone for helping me out.

posted up a few videos if any of you are bored enough to watch them haha.

http://www.youtube.com/user/diyengineer

hahhaha.

Ok ok. no more verticals lol...

Printed http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28990
(xy indicator holder gauge)

Come to find out it wasnt for the solidoodle 3, it was for the 2 with the smaller bed. Did a quick and dirty test on the x and y steps, commanded 1mm and got about .94mm on the indicator. Sadly i work night shift or i'd stay up and get it all dialed in. There is always tomorrow

Another question? What is everyone getting for backlash in X, Y, and Z? In Y direction im getting about .23mm it seems. My belts are snug. When commanded to move 1mm im getting about .95mm (not bad at all). Anyone else seeing better than .23mm backlash in y?
edit: Helped a lot: Cranked down my belts, they must have loosened up between shipping and the heat from the first few prints. Also adjusted my steps from 88 per mm to 91, and im all good.

Also my x axis from left to right makes this super annoying metallic vibration noise. I thought it was geared differently than y but its not. Almost sounds like the noise is just sound boarding off the back of the case, but i can't track it down. Everything seems snug, and nothing is loose.
Solved: For some reason 88 steps per mm make the stepper sound like complete crap!? Not sure why haha.

Thanks Ian!

Upgraded my Solidoodle shelter from aluminum foil, to an amazon shipping box. Even used some magnets and the existing plastic as the door haha.

Seems like its all dialed, so i should be able to knock out a calibration part soon enough.