www.robowars.org

RoboWars Australia Forum Index -> General Chatter

$500 3D printer on sale tomorrow at Aldi
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3

Post new topic   Reply to topic
  Author    Thread
Cyber



Joined: 26 Aug 2015
Posts: 59
Location: Melbourne


 Reply with quote  

marto - issues with the hotend are likely due to the ceramic heater being a poor fit into the hotend. they can cause it to struggle to keep up to temp. Maybe try some thermal paste, modding it for a tighter fit or replacing the heater?

Post Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:02 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
dyrodium
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 6476
Location: Sydney


 Reply with quote  

The general concensus is a glass bed is the best solution for the bed level issue, I'm worried the thicker ali may be harder to heat up due to the higher thermal mass. The X axis isn't the most sturdy so added mass during small, rapid movements may induce more artifacts into the print, not sure it'd have too much effect to overall print quality though.
_________________
( •_•)

( •_•)>⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Post Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:27 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

I am upgrading the non-heated support plate; it's around 100 away from the hot bed so I can't see it doing much to to the temperature. If it does, I can always stick a thin sheet of foam under the hot bed:



As you can see, I will find out pretty soon Smile

The glass sounds tempting but that mat that comes with the printer is doing such a good job it seems a shame to replace it before its worn out.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:41 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Aldi upgrades:

I did some small upgrades to the printer:

* Removed both the belt tensioning springs and added tension to the X and Y belts.

* Added nylock nuts to the bed levelling screws to lock them in place - the bed has much less movement now.

* Added Dragonplate stiffening strips to the bed support plate (forgot to photograph it). I found the 5mm aluminium sheet I wanted to us had severe warp and would have misaligned or jammed the linear bearings. The Dragonplate is much lighter and seems to help with the constant bed levelling problems - three prints so far without re-levelling.

The upgrades have made subtle but definite improvements to the print quality; vertical surfaces are smoother, sharp corners are crisper and there is a little less ringing:



This is the 'after' test print; I still don't like all the ringing after the lettering, so more experiments are needed today.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:52 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

More Aldi Upgrades:

I knocked up some improved levelling thumb wheels, much better than the ones on Thingiverse. These are thicker and I undersized the internal holes so the nut has to be pressed in and the thru hole acts like a nylock nut (at least for now).



Since upgrading the bed support plate, I haven't needed to re-level and have stopped using a full raft - everything is still sticking really well.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:06 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

A roll of PolyMax PLA arrived to day - 3D Printer Supplies http://www.3dprintingsolutions.com.au/ shipped is super fast Smile.



I don't have enough experience to review it properly, but compared to the Aldi PLA, the PolyMax is WAY less brittle, which is it's advertised super power. It is also a little less shiny and for some reason it is printing with less artefacts, even though no printer mods have been made. The only drawback to PolyMax is the price; at $67 per 750 gram roll, it is almost twice the price of the Aldi filament. Given PolyMax's high toughness, this is now my go-to PLA filament.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:10 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Glen
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 9481
Location: Where you least expect


 Reply with quote  

Ouch, thats brutal. The hobbyking abs is only $21 for 1kg. Have you tried abs yet? Seems a good amount stronger using the up mini anyway.
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Post Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:15 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Expensive, but possibly a better all-round solution compared to ABS as it is much tougher than regular PLA and less fussy to print than ABS so I don't need to worry about an enclosure. I should have a roll of ABS and also a roll of nylon arriving tomorrow - very keen to see how the nylon stacks up!
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:23 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
miles&Jules
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 3973
Location: ipswich QLD


 Reply with quote  

Nice to see you putting it through its paces-Abs is tougher and higher melt temp be good to see how it goes on aldi😎
_________________
Miles Blow - Julie Pitts
www.mulesfilm.com.au
www.wombokforest.com.au

-Pickasso- Vivid Sportsman champion 2015

Post Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:58 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

The ABS and Nylon arrived today. The nylon was much harder to print with than the manufacturer and various on-line 'experts' made out; none of the official ways to make nylon stick worked at all Sad. PVA was a common recommendation but it won't coat the Aldi mat (I think its BuildTak?) so I eventually tried painter's tape with PVA and that worked really well. The small part I printed with 50% in-fill is slightly more flexible than the same thing in PLA so tomorrow I will give it a beating to see how the layers stuck together and how brittle it is.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:36 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
dyrodium
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 6476
Location: Sydney


 Reply with quote  

Ah yes the internet is teeming with these 'experts' who will claim you're wrong yet most don't even own a 3D Printer Razz The best luck i've had printing Nylon was with a roughened G10 style bed, problem is it makes getting the part off exceedingly difficult...! PVA is useless on a heated bed because it just softens and gives.
_________________
( •_•)

( •_•)>⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 7:29 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Advice from an genuine expert Smile. The bit about PVA softening on a heated bed is a new one - even Taulman recommend PVA on a glass bed, heated to 45 deg. C. I was using a 70 deg. C bed as the lower temp didn't work at all. For the next print, I will try fresh tape with no PVA.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:33 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Printer upgrades:

Some upgrades arrived today:



New double length linear bearings and an all metal hot end from Micro Swiss. The hot end has a superb build quality but zero instructions so installing is is going to be a bit of an adventure.

The build platform came apart easily, hope it boes back together the same way:



I didn't have the recommended circlips or O rings to hold the bearings in place, so I used Loctite 643 retaining compound. The bearings are a really loose and wobbly fit in their mounting blocks, so using Loctite may stiffen things up and improve print quality.



The longer LM8UU bearings are slightly better quality than the originals but I realised that you can just Loctite two of the short bearings into one block to get the same effect and saving some money.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:53 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
  Display posts from previous:      

Forum Jump:
Jump to:  

Post new topic   Reply to topic
Page 3 of 3

Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3

Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Last Thread | Next Thread  >
Powered by phpBB: © 2001 phpBB Group
millenniumFalcon Template By Vereor.