I as r3n33 use the *Hair spay super max hold) trick/technique to reduce miss prints, I do use a very thin, like a razor, paint remover spatula, to remove my prints. (been cut on my palm with gloves on)
I as r3n33 use the *Hair spay super max hold) trick/technique to reduce miss prints, I do use a very thin, like a razor, paint remover spatula, to remove my prints. (been cut on my palm with gloves on
Last edited by LloydF; 11-22-2015 at 09:44 AM.
I wouldn't mind trying to print on glass, but it's not really possible with what I have. All three models of the Printrbot's I have use metal beds and the Z axis end stop sensing is done with a metal detector probe. I haven't found a thin enough piece of glass that I think will fit in the small gap between the bed and the Z axis sensor when it is low enough to activate.
huh. Do you mean you can not manually calibrate your print bed to nozzle height?
I can manually enter a Bedprobe offset to the nozzle height, (M212), but what I mean is that there is no mechanical switch that tells the printer when the Z axis is as low as it should go, so I can't set the nozzle to clear a pane of glass. Instead of a mechanical switch, there is a metal detector that turns on when it gets within about 1.5 mm of the metal bed. If I put a sheet of glass on the bed, the nozzle, which I currently have going to within .4 mm of the bed, would impact the glass before the Z axis limit would be detected. That .4 mm gap is further reduced by a layer of blue tape.Originally Posted by LloydF
In other words, the gap between the probe and the bed is thinner than a typical pane of glass, so I can't use glass.
wow, mine is not so complicated . I just calibrate my print head height at different location on the bed but
my printer software pretty much automates the calibration and it even has a sensor for auto calibration, which is finicky.
(UP+) The bed has to be manually calibrated if you want to use a glass or beryllium surface anyhow. But I am betting we
are not talking about the same things, are we?
I don't have to make any bed adjustments at all. My calibration procedure is to setup blue tape, extruder temp, and bed temp, as if I were going to print something. I then manually lower the extruder until the nozzle touches the tape on the bed. Then I slide a 1 mm plastic spacer under my Z sensor probe and adjust its retention nuts so that it snugly touches the plastic spacer. I then do trial prints while changing the Z offset, M212, to get my first print layer like I want it. This is a one deal that only needs to be checked if I take the printer apart, which I did to add a new heated bed. The calibration was still spot on though, and I did not have to make any changes after reassembly.
The major difference to me seems to be that the Z axis lowest limit for most printers is a physical mechanical limit. If you add another layer to your bed, such as a sheet of glass, you have to make a physical adjustment to account for it. For my printers, I can't add glass due to the fact that my Z sensor is activated by how near it is to a metal source and the gap between sensor and metal is always the same and is too small to accommodate a sheet of glass in the gap. One thing I can do would be to lay a smooth sheet of metal on my current bed and the printer would automatically adjust for that. Of course that would have an impact on heat transfer from the bed heater.
By the way, I just got an email from Printrbot. They are having a 15% off everything sale this week. Think I'll go order some more filament.
I received that email today as well. Too bad it probably does not apply to the order I did last week (which they have not shipped yet)
For some expectation management, I thought this was an interesting read a while ago:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheBas...xperience.aspx
Interesting to note, his experiences come from a Printrbot. But I can tell you that it applies to most 3D printers. ;-)
Once you are actually printing and running in to issues, these two visual guides have helped me tons:
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/p...oubleshooting/
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article...shooting-guide
Thanks, I really appreciated the Blog, first because it lets me know just how many problems I am likely to have. But also there appears to be a lot of great links in it.
Another related question: He found happiness by using a Raspberry Pi connected up to the printer as a way to be able to control the printer over Wifi and also not having to worry about your PC going to sleep, he is using OctoPrint for this. I wondered about this some last week, so I ordered http://www.adafruit.com/products/2391 from Adafruit, which is a new RPI2 setup with AstroPrint. Have anyone tried either of these? The bright side is I know I can try both. (Just use different SDCard on RPI...)
Also thanks for the troubleshooting guides, I know I will be needing them!
Last year (2014) I set up Octoprint with my printer, back then Astroprint was still a kickstarter and the cloud features were not clearly priced (they seem to be free now). Since then Octoprint has been constantly updated and its really easy to get started with. My printer can be ordered with the Pi and Octoprint built in (link) and it's supported by the supplier. I don't know about any kits you can just order (let me know if I'm mistaken). Octoprint is free, and you can get it running easily in an hour or so. Be sure to get a Pi with plenty of USB ports.
Something that the Astrobox seems to make easy is outside access through the web. For Octoprint you have to do port forwarding in your home router.
The great advantages of running your printer through something like that are that you can switch off your PC, or if it freezes/crashes it won't effect your print. I find the remote camera and the ability to stop the print the most beneficial feature.
Side note/future consideration. I think you can hook up multiple printers to one Octoprint instance, not sure about Astroprint (can't find information).
Quite frankly I'm surprised a lot of printer manufacturers still bother creating their own "autonmous printer" software/firmware/features when products like octoprint, astroprint and printtopeer are availible.
Indeed you will, no matter how good your printer, design or filament is. ;-)
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