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Tips for making parts that push/snap together
I would like to make some parts that will fit together. Specifically, I'm making an array of holders for small glass vials, which will stack together vertically to make a kind of extensible spice rack, for a scientific application.
Of course, I could just give each module a flat top and bottom surface and glue them together. However, it would be more convenient (and more fun) to make some kind of connector, so that I can just push the parts together and pull them apart when needed. The connection will need to be relatively sturdy, and they'll need to sit flush against each other with no flexing where they join. I am a novice at 3D printing, so I'm looking for tips on how to design interlocking components, both in general and for this particular case.
These parts will be printed in ABS using the Zortrax M200, and I'm designing them using OpenSCAD. They will almost certainly be printed lying on their side.
One option is that there are several parametric Lego brick clones available, which I could easily incorporate into my OpenSCAD project. My only worries are that this might be overcomplicating the problem, and that printing Lego type parts on their side will result in having to scrape a lot of support material out of the hollow parts. (Though on the plus side, the lego compatibility might actually be useful, in terms of not having to manufacture additional supporting material.)
Any tips would be welcome on how to design and print parts that can be pushed together. I am sure I can work it out myself in time, but any knowledge that will save me a design iteration or two would be very greatly appreciated.

There are many different ways too approach this and the question may be too broad, but here's a stab at it...
Here are a few different ways that I've made parts that connect in the past:
Example 1: Utilize the elasticity of the plastic by creating a semi circle to fit around another object. When fitting the part to the other object, the "wings" will flex out and relax around the back end of the object.
Example 2: T-Slot style designs are a nice choice for semi-permanent or interchangeable parts. The key here is just using trapezoids and make sure the "female" end is slightly larger and/or tapered to make it easier to insert the slides.
Example 3: Create snaps. This can be a bit more difficult, but can provide a more professional look to your design. It's best to start off by designing on L-Shaped slot on the parent part and a smaller L-Shaped extrusion on the child part. Then you can add a taper to the bottom area of the "L" to make it easier to insert into the slot.
Example 4: Creating plugs are similar to snaps, they're just circular. Try starting off with a cylinder and joining either a sphere or a slightly larger diameter and tapered cylinder on top. Then you should be able to snap the assembly into a hole that is slightly smaller than the "top" of the plug.
It's important to weigh the usefulness of some design choices against the purpose of your part. For me, if I'm designing something for the shop or something that I think I'm going to be swapping out often, I'll use the T-Slot idea. Other things that "looking pretty" is more important, I'll try to hide the connections by designing a type of snap that can go into the walls of the part.
The T-Slot designs seem to print quite easily with no need for supports (depending on how gradual the angles of your trapezoid are) and provides a lot of structural strength.
Printing snaps has been difficult for me in the past and its best not to try to unsnap the part too much as you run the risk of shearing the snap upon removal. Printing such a small feature means that it is usually not marginally strong. However, including multiple snaps in an area and designing them with tight clearances can provide a very neat/clean connection that is appealing for consumer products (for example, phone cases).

Thanks, this is useful. The T-slot idea is probably a lot better than my Lego idea for what I'm doing.

The 'T-Slot' style is commonly referred to as 'Dovetails' (since they are typically angled for printability instead of an actual 'T'.


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How to turn off supports in Z-Suite (Zortrax slicing software)
I would like to print a model without supports on the Zortrax M200. To do this it is mandatory to use the proprietory Z-Suite slicer. I am certain that at some point I found an option to turn off support struts (I specifically remember the text "(not recommended)" appearing in the UI somewhere), but it seems not to be there now. Is my memory playing tricks on me, or is there a way to enable a "no supports" option in Z-Suite?

I've found the answer for myself by playing around a bit more. It seems that in selecting the "support angle", a higher angle means more supports. This was confusing me, because I had assumed "support angle" meant the maximum angle of overhang before a support would be generated. I guess it does actually mean that, but it counts 90º rather than 0º as vertical. In any case, supports are turned off simply by changing it to 0, in which case the text "not recommended" does indeed appear.

Awesome, thanks for posting the answer, made my life real easy. Have a good one!

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Which photopolymer for printing?
I am thinking about building my own DLP 3D printer. I want to know which uv curing resin I should use.
Also, I came across a continuous 3D printing technology where oxygen permeable glass was used to stop the photopolymer toching the glass from hardening so the cured photopolymer wont stick to the glass. What resin additives are used to achive this?

You should avoid asking multiple questions per questions. The question about the oxygen permeable stuff is probably unanswerable anyways, since it's a proprietary formulation with very little information available on it.

I think you will find that it will be necessary for you to tune your own printer to a specific resin. Even as important, you would expect to have different parameters for different colors of resin, as each will absorb the UV to a different degree.
You haven't provided parameters in your request for which resin to use. You will consider availability and cost of the material you select, as well as the UV light frequency for which a particular product is specified. Temperature range of use is another critical detail.
You'll want to avoid resins for which the manufacturer does not provide specifications of that sort.
If you pursue this route, you'll find and learn quite a bit.
Regarding the resin additives for non-hardening: I have not seen such a product and I would not be surprised to learn that it is a proprietary substance and as such, a company secret.
There is a recent development of a similar note, a positive one, in my opinion. There is a silicone compound that forum posts have indicated allow the resin to release with minimal or no difficulty and the clarity lasts weeks of use. Current use of Sylgard or the equivalent means frequent re-builds of the vat due to cloudiness of the silicone or tearing of the surface due to excessive stickiness.
Breakable Glass Silicone has developed quite a following on the B9Creator forums for solving (or substantially reducing) those two factors. That alone justifies the immense expense of shipping from Australia, in my opinion.
The easy release of the layers of the model from the surface would mean far more reliability in printing. You should/could consider this product for your project as it removes the requirement for questionable additives.

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Good (preferably free) Beginner Software for Part Creation?
What software is best for the basest of n00bs when it comes to 3D parts creation?
I have a heavy math background and know how to create explicit functions of volume, surface area, center of mass, etc. Ideally, I'd like a program that uses those strengths but I realize that most n00bs have a crippling math phobia so I'm not holding my breath.
I tried freeCAD once and made some headway but the next time I turned my computer on, it refused to open. It was just a weakling netbook that I don't even have in my possession anymore but the computer I'm currently using is rather slow and doesn't seem to have much memory left either, so I still need something lightweight.
tl;dr: Seeking a free, lightweight program to create .stl files that is good for n00bs that are not afraid of math.

I don't have a heavy math background, but enjoy using such skills when applicable.
If you've not yet explored OpenSCAD, you may find that it meets your qualifications. It's more or less a scripting/descriptive language "compiler" that takes ordinary text and converts it to your model design. I use quotes, because I'm not skilled enough to qualify it as a true compiler, although it works in a similar manner and may indeed be a compiler.
It meets another qualification of yours in that it's free and there's quite a supportive mailing list/forum for any questions or difficulties that arise. If you look on Thingiverse using OpenSCAD as a search term, you'll find others' code available for examination and integration into your own models.
For the folks who are not so much into the math and text and logic, there's a GUI of sorts for OpenSCAD called BlocksCAD that allows drag and drop of various modules in a manner akin to Scratch programming.
I'd been using OpenSCAD long enough that I found BlocksCAD to overly complicate the creation of models by obscuring details. It may be better suited for younger model makers in that respect.
Syntax and punctuation errors would be eliminated with BlocksCAD, while it's far too easy to create such errors in the editor for OpenSCAD. One gets used to it and error count quickly is reduced.

I concur re. OpenSCAD -- if you're not scared off by doing affine transformations and writing your own 'for' loops, it won't take long to learn. It may be more work at the outset (as compared with something where you drag shapes in a GUI), but as soon as you try to re-use part of a design (in the same or a different overall object), modify some feature without manually manipulating every related part, etc, you'll regain all that time and more.

I started making models in OpenSCAD using "brute force" assignments. Seeing someone else's work using parametric values has made my model creation that much easier.
As an example, my recent model measured out to a 20mm gap, printed to a 19mm gap and fits perfectly when I set the gap to 21.5, which changed all the other dimensions of the model related to that axis. Parametric assignments meant one number changed in the code and bingo!

OpenScad Rules.

For those interested in BlocksCAD: it's an open source software with the code on Github. Not updated since April 2017, so it might not be the latest version found on blockscad3d.com, though.

The software I began with was Tinkercad, it is a fully online solution that is very beginner friendly. The interface is trivial to use and there's a 15 minutes tutorial that guides you over everything the software has to offer to the common user.
Here is a screenshot of the interface and a part I made using the basic tools :

It works the following way : you are provided with a dozen basic shapes (cube, sphere, etc...) and you create your model using boolean combinations of those shapes and translation, rotation and scaling. That's for the base.
Then there is a very large collection of more complex shapes provided by the community (screw, stairs, tree) that tend to be very useful to create specific things and a very important aspect is that those shape usually have some parameter you can adjust at the creation of the object (say the thickness of the trunk and the number of branches of your tree).
The last increment of complexity is that those community objects are actually made using JavaScript (with their own API, it's not related to openjscad) and you can create your own objects by using their interactive JavaScript interface. That's when your programming and mathematical knowledge will be required.
As a small PS note: my personal taste is, depending on the part I want to make, to use either Tinkercad, Freecad or Openscad

I recommend Fusion 360 as it is free to use, full of tutorials and is super simple.

I would highly recommend you to learn the Fusion 360. AS it is free for Students and Educators. Also, you can read a blog that will tell you the criteria for you are eligible for Free subscription.

Blender is a free professional level application, where maths isn't particularly necessary but can be used to good effect, and its minimum requirements aren't all that excessive (my copy of Blender runs on a maxed out 20 year old Dell 380):
Minimum (basic usage) hardware

32-bit dual core 2 GHz CPU with SSE2 support.
2 GB RAM
24 bits 1280×768 display
Mouse or trackpad
OpenGL 2.1 compatible graphics with 512 MB RAM

Recommended hardware

64-bit quad core CPU
8 GB RAM
Full HD display with 24 bit colour
Three button mouse
OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics with 2 GB RAM

Optimal (production-grade) hardware

64-bit eight core CPU
16 GB RAM
Two full HD displays with 24 bit colour
Three button mouse and graphics tablet
Dual OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics cards with 4 GB RAM

If you like coding, then Python and C libraries are available as well.
Also, there is a StackExchange site dedicated to Blender, which is useful.

As a comparison, from Best 3D Design/3D Modeling Software 2019 (15 of 30 are Free), this comparative list could be useful
Name            Level             OS                                           Price                                Formats
3D Slash       Beginner        Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi or Browser    Free, 24$/year Premium               3dslash, obj, stl
LibreCAD       Beginner        Windows, macOS and Linux                        Free                                 dxf, dwg
Photoshop CC   Beginner        Windows and Mac                                142€/year                            3ds, dae, kmz, obj, psd, stl, u3d
SculptGL       Beginner        Browser                                        Free                                 obj, ply, sgl, stl
SelfCAD        Beginner        Browser                                        Free 30-day trial, 9.99$/month       stl, mtl, ply, dae, svg
TinkerCAD      Beginner        Browser                                         Free                                 123dx, 3ds, c4d, mb, obj, svg, stl
Clara.io       Intermediate    Browser                                         Free, Premium from 100$/year         3dm, 3ds, cd, dae, dgn, dwg, emf, fbx, gf, gdf, gts, igs, kmz, lwo, rws, obj, off, ply, pm, sat, scn, skp, slc, sldprt, stp, stl, x3dv, xaml, vda, vrml, x_t, x, xgl, zpr
DesignSpark    Intermediate    Windows                                        Freemium, 835$ (All Addons)             rsdoc, dxf, ecad, idf, idb, emn, obj, skp, STL, iges, step
FreeCAD        Intermediate    Windows, Mac and Linux                          Free                                 step, iges, obj, stl, dxf, svg, dae, ifc, off, nastran, Fcstd
MakeHuman      Intermediate    Windows, Mac, Linux                             Free                                 dae, fbx, obj, STL
Meshmixer      Intermediate    Windows, Mac and Linux                          Free                                 amf, mix, obj, off, stl
MoI            Intermediate    Windows and Mac                                 266€                                 3ds, 3dm, dxf, fbx, igs, lwo, obj, skp, stl, stp and sat
nanoCAD        Intermediate    Windows                                         Freemium, 180$/year                  sat, step, igs, iges, sldprt, STL, 3dm, dae, dfx, dwg, dwt, pdf, x_t, x_b, xxm_txt, ssm_bin
OpenSCAD       Intermediate    Windows, Mac and Linux                        Free                                 dxf, off, stl
Sculptris      Intermediate    Windows and Mac                                Free                                 obj, goz
SketchUp       Intermediate    Windows and Mac                                Free, 240$ Pro                       dwg, dxf, 3ds, dae, dem, def, ifc, kmz, stl
3ds Max        Professional    Windows                                         1505$/year, Edu. licenses av.        stl, 3ds, ai, abc, ase, asm, catproduct, catpart, dem, dwg, dxf, dwf, flt, iges, ipt, jt, nx, obj, prj, prt, rvt, sat, skp, sldprt, sldasm, stp, vrml, w3d xml
AutoCAD        Professional    Windows and Mac                                1575$/year                           dwg, dxf, pdf
Blender        Professional    Windows, Mac and Linux                          Free                                 3ds, dae, fbx, dxf, obj, x, lwo, svg, ply, stl, vrml, vrml97, x3d
Cinema 4D      Professional    Windows, macOS                                  3695$                                3ds, dae, dem, dxf, dwg, x, fbx, iges, lwf, rib, skp, stl, wrl, obj
modo           Professional    Windows, macOS, Linux                        1799$                                lwo, abc, obj, pdb, 3dm, dae, fbx, dxf, x3d, geo, stl
Mudbox         Professional    Windows and Mac                                 85€/year                             fbx, mud, obj
Onshape        Professional    Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android               2400€/year, free and price reduced business version available    sat, step, igs, iges, sldprt, stl, 3dm, dae, dfx, dwg, dwt, pdf, x_t, x_b, xxm_txt, ssm_bin
Poser          Professional    Windows, Mac                                    Standard 129.99$, Pro 349.99$        cr2, obj, pz2
Rhino3D        Professional    Windows and Mac                                 495€ Educational, 995€ Commercial    3dm, 3ds, cd, dae, dgn, dwg, emf, fbx, gf, gdf, gts, igs, kmz, lwo, rws, obj, off, ply, pm, sat, scn, skp, slc, sldprt, stp, stl, x3dv, xaml, vda, vrml, x_t, x, xgl, zpr
ZBrush         Professional    Windows and Mac                                 400€ Educational, 720€ Single User   dxf, goz, ma, obj, stl, vrml, x3d
CATIA          Industrial      Windows                                         7180€; Edu. licenses av.             3dxml, catpart, igs, pdf, stp, stl, vrml
Fusion 360     Industrial      Windows and Mac                                 499.80€/year, Edu. licenses av.      catpart, dwg, dxf, f3d, igs, obj, pdf, sat, sldprt, stp
Inventor       Industrial      Windows and Mac                                 1935$/year                           3dm, igs, ipt, nx, obj, prt, rvt, sldprt, stl, stp, x_b, xgl
Solidworks     Industrial      Windows                                         9950€, Edu. licenses available       3dxml, 3dm, 3ds, 3mf, amf, dwg, dxf, idf, ifc, obj, pdf, sldprt, stp, stl, vrml

Is that list ranked? Also, I wouldn't call Fusion360 "Industrial" especially if AutoCAD itself is "Professional"; Fusion is a subset of AutoCAD geared toward mechanical design of parts and assemblies. AutoCAD can do that too, but it's really geared toward macroengineering of buildings and industrial machinery, and as such there's a massive difference in the power inherent in AutoCAD vs Fusion.

OpenSCAD sounds like the best fit for the original poster given his math background but I think SketchUp is probably the easiest software for most beginners to use for basic part creation.
There are two (or three) plugins I would recommend for anyone looking to use it to produce STL
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/sketchup-stl
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/solid-inspector
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/solid-inspector%C2%B2
The first one allows export to STL
The second and third check models to ensure they're solid. This is important for 3D printing as slicers have issues when models have holes in them.
One more tool I would recommend to the beginner is
http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php
It also checks over STL files to ensure there won't be any problems slicing them.

As the original poster referenced his interest and likely his skills in math, the OpenSCAD option is superior to SketchUp. I can think of no circumstances where a strong knowledge of formulae and mathematical processes would be implemented in SketchUp, unless one is creating a plug-in or a specialty script.
For beginners, I'd want more information from the prospective user.

You are restating exactly what I said in the first sentence of my answer. The purpose of my answer was to provide an alternative answer to the question of "Good (preferably free) beginner software for part creation" which inevitably will attract other beginner users who may not have a math background. If you don't like the answer you don't have to vote for it.

I am using DesignSpark Mechanical. It's super cool and easy to use.
DesignSpark Mechanical Download Page

DSM also is one of the options that work on a 32 bit machine, in case you have nothing different availeable.

I've had good luck using MS 3D Builder. Most of my thingiverse models were designed with 3D Builder. Depending on your Windows and Office installations, this program may already be on your computer, but otherwise you install it via the Windows Store. This program may also make good use of your math skills; I've done more trigonometry getting dimensions right for my models than all other areas of my life combined.
MeshMixer is another good free option. It's significantly more powerful than 3D Builder and many other free options, but I've found it much harder to get comfortable using. The visualization, especially, just hasn't been as clean, often making sharp edges appear to be rounded on the screen. Still, and I know and desire the power it offers, and I'll occasionally open it up for specific things. If nothing else, it's good for measuring/verifying the thickness of a section, and sometimes I can use it to repair models botched by other programs.
Finally, I'll bring up OpenSCAD again. OpenSCAD effectively lets you write a program to generate your models. As such, it's especially good when creating things you will want to do more than once, where you'll tweak or customize the initial part for later uses. One way you can achieve re-use like this is creating a library of partial-designs or raw shapes which you can then resize/stretch/etc and add or mix into other parts using the other programs. The other area where OpenSCAD really shines is in prototyping. When you discover just this one section of a part shoud have been a couple millimeters longer after the initial print, it's much easier to adjust this with OpenSCAD than with many of the other options.

I would add OnShape.com to the list.  The only downside of a free account is that your designs are publicly viewable.
I would also add support for OpenSCAD.  It is my go-to program for difficult problems, especially where being able to script something is far more efficient that dozens of clicks and careful GUI actions.

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No extrusion when trying to resume failed print with manually edited gcode
I was in the process of printing a 16 hour print, but I must have failed to copy the G-code correctly, because the print stopped after 107 of 223 layers. Looking at the G-code, It also stops there.
However, I had the full G-code on my computer, and decided to try and resume the print from layer 108. It seemed to work, with the exception of a little excess extrusion at a single point in the beginning, but after three layers, i noticed that it wasn't extruding anymore. I am not completely positive that it isn't due to nozzle jamming, but I have a strong feeling that the problem is the G-code itself, as it does extrude some plastic just before printing starts.
Here are the first lines of my manually edited G-code. Can anyone see why I get the blob in the beginning, or why I don't get anything at all later on? Or does it look good, and my problem is probably the nozzle?
;FLAVOR:UltiGCode
;TIME:60308
;MATERIAL:119047
;MATERIAL2:0
;NOZZLE_DIAMETER:0.400000
;NOZZLE_DIAMETER2:0.400000
;MTYPE:PLA

;Layer count: 222
;LAYER:109
G0 F9000 X208.213 Y107.948 Z16.610
;TYPE:FILL
G1 F3600 X210.390 Y105.771 E4104.65185
G0 F9000 X210.390 Y103.170
G1 F3600 X168.331 Y61.111 E4107.77457
G0 F9000 X167.074 Y61.111
G1 F3600 X120.237 Y107.949 E4111.25208
G0 F9000 X121.695 Y107.949
G1 F3600 X74.857 Y61.111 E4114.72962
G0 F9000 X73.600 Y61.111
G1 F3600 X26.763 Y107.948 E4118.20709

According to the RepRap.org list of G-Code commands, see G0 & G1: Move:

The Ennn command is The amount to extrude between the starting point and ending point.

However, according to this a discussion, that is now deleted from GitHub, about the Cura slicing engine:
The E values are in absolute mode, so perhaps the firmware is attempting to move the stepper motor to the absolute position (which is almost 50% through your print). This may lead to clogging or skipping depending on how hot your extruder is at that point.
As a last resort, you can perform a Boolean subtract on your model of the section that's already printed and re-slice the model to print the remaining bit. Then glue, or ABS weld, the remaining piece to the main print. I've done this in the past, it's not super glamorous, but it gets the job done if the part doesn't require a lot of structural integrity.
I was incorrect with the following statements with regard to the Cura slicing engine:
It's been a while since I've looked at 3D printer G-Code, but from what I remember, E values can be the bane of any manually written G-Code. Usually the slicing engine generates the E value as an incremental step value throughout the G-Code (at least this was true for Skeinforge and early MakerWare, please verify this). So, if the value is incremental and depending on the controller, this value could be lost or corrupt if a new print is initialized.
I would hope, that if you're using a slicing engine's custom G-Code input, that the software would be able to compensate situations like this and reformat your provided G-Code to match the value of E or any similar command.

I have not edited any codes, except removing layers 0-108

In removing those lines of code, you would have needed to stop the errant print, remove lines 0-108, re-upload the GCode file, and re-initialize the printer for the new GCode file. In doing so, the value for E is lost after stopping the print. I believe that E sets the position of the stepper motor. I think, in "losing" this value, you won't be able to pick up where you left off. There might be a function in some slicing engines to pick up at a specific line.

it does follow the correct path, it just won't extrude filament

Yes, the machine will follow the correct Cartesian coordinates (XYZ) because they are written in Absolute coordinates. The E value (for the stepper motor and/or distance between nozzles depending on the machine), I believe is written in Incremental coordinates. This would explain why the machine moves to the correct location, but may hang up on extruding. I'll try finding some more information for you to hopefully explain better.

Please regard this where it refers to the E command as The amount to extrude between the starting point and ending point meaning that it refers to the previous E value to determine how much filament is extruded.

Unfortunately, the link to the discussion has died... I wonder if it has been retained elsewhere on the web, in an archive?

@Greenonline Thanks, the issue that I linked seems to have been deleted completely. I check the issue log on the repository, but it's empty.

I know this is an old thread but I have been running into similar issues with my delta machine with Marlin firmware.
Not all printers running Marlin ignore large E (extruder) moves.  G-code has always (even in CNC machines) run commands from were the motors are now, to the value in the G-code line.  For example, G0 X10 will move the X motor 10 units.  The units are set through G20 or G21.
When your machine has lost power, you need to re-home all axes in order for the machine to know where it is.  If you don't, it will likely think that it currently is at 0, 0, 0, 0.  Then when you have the line,
G1 F3600 X210.390 Y105.771 E4104.65185

it will try to go from 0,0,0,0 to 210.390, 105.771, 0, 4104.65185 at the feed rate of 3600. Therefore it is always good to home after power loss and add a G92 E4104.4 (last line ran before power loss) even if your machine may not need it.
Good habits make for less mistakes.

Is the hotend temperature set correctly? If you only preheat the hotend but then turn it off, it will behave exactly as you described (while you're above EXTRUDE_MINTEMP it will behave normally, but once the temperature drops too low it will continue doing the XYZ-moves, but stop extruding). Perhaps you need to add a M109 command to set the temperature properly.
In his answer, tbm0115 mentions absolute and relative coordinates. Whether absolute or relative coordinates are used is set using the G90/G91 commands and will always be the same for all axes (XYZ and E). He also mentions that:

so perhaps the firmware is attempting to move the stepper motor to the absolute position (which is almost 50% thru your print). This may lead to clogging or skipping depending on how hot your extruder is at that point.

This shouldn't happen, as extremely long extrude moves are ignored by Marlin. When the printer encounters
G1 F3600 X210.390 Y105.771 E4104.65185

it performs only the XYZ-part of the move, but doesn't move the extruder (assuming the printer was reset and the current extruder position is 0). However, it does update the internal value for the extruder position, so the next move happens normally. Perhaps missing the initial extrude segment isn't a big deal, but if you want the print to resume perfectly where you left off, you should add a G92 command to the beginning to initialize the extruder position correctly, for example:
G92 E4104.4

(but the exact value depends on the last extruder position in the previous layer).


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Adjusting the Z end stop?
I have adjusted my z axis end stop via the paper test. However when I press to home all the axis the z axis hits the print bed moves it down slightly then goes to the postion I describe. Is this how its supose to be if not what do I need to do?

Typically a machine will rapid to find its software stop(s), retract and slowly find its mechanical end stop. Please regard the RepRap Wiki for general troubleshooting and basic technical information.

If I'm understanding your post correctly, it seems that this is normal. Are you experiencing any adverse affects in your printing or motion? If not, then I'd assume everything is fine with that part of the machine.

The problem with this theory is that a "software stop" can only exist relative to an assumption of mechanical position - which in these systems would come from a previous homing.  So if the issue were as your described, it would only happen once, unless the steppers themselves were losing position in operation.  After a homing to the switch, the software's sense of position would be close to the machine's actual state and the next homing would work correctly.

What is the difference between software and hardware stops? Aren't both the move up and the move down intended to find the mechanical endstop (where the move up is intended to improve precision and reliability compared to what you'd get from just moving down)?

I have just come across this answer, referring to software endstops. tbm0115 and @TomvanderZanden, would either of you like to comment/answer this question Anet A6 Z-axis min endstop not triggering as comments and answers are saying that there is no such thing as software endstops. It might be an idea to clarify the situation. I am also confused as would like to see more opinions. I have added a comment to that question referring back to here.

Yes, this is normal. Your printer is, at first, probably going downward with some speed. When it hits the end-stop it has some momentum and doesn't stop right away. So once it hits the end-stop, it has to physically stop the print head and move upward again slightly to get to the right position.


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Printing multiple prints stacked on top of each other
Suppose I want to to print several copies of a large, flat object, such as a hollow frame. If I make an STL file consisting of several copies floating just above each other then my 3D printer's software happily generates supports for the upper objects to sit on, as shown below:

My question is, is this a crazy idea? If it will work it seems it has several advantages. I can print more copies at once than if I tried to fit them next to each other on the platform, and if one of the prints fails the ones below it will still be OK. It doesn't take that much more filament than printing them all separately.
I'll probably try it at some point just to see what happens, but it's not something I've heard of people doing before, so I'm wondering if there's a good reason why it won't work or would otherwise not be a good strategy.

If you can get it to work reliably and with decent quality, it would be a good solution. However, you might find it unreliable and the bottom surfaces of the objects might not turn out very nice (as is usually the case with overhangs that needs support). How well this will work is strongly dependent on the object being printed, and this probably will only work for a very small class of objects.
You don't gain much by doing this, as printing multiples "at once" isn't much faster compared to printing them sequentially (that is, if you have time to check on your printer and reset it between prints).

"that is, if you have time to check on your printer and reset it between prints" - this is the key for me I think. I'm generally a rather busy person, so for me there's a big difference between needing to go to the printer room every 1-2 hours, versus being able to run it overnight and hopefully come back to a completed job in the morning. I'll have to try it and see how the bottom surfaces turn out. For this particular job it might not be too much of an issue if they're a bit rough.

Whether this is or is not crazy is largely dependent on two factors: the printer that you are using and the objects that you are printing. I would only recommend this strategy if you are using dissolvable support material, because separating the parts with breakaway supports will be extremely difficult. Next, this strategy is desirable, because it saves support material; however, that is only true if all of the profiles of the parts are very similar to each other (ideally the profile of each part should cover the profile of each part above it).
As long as you are using the right printer and printing compatible parts, this is a great strategy. It saves space, time, and support material; moreover, stacking parts may also reduce warping due to thermal expansion (a big problem when printing with ABS), because each part acts like a raft for the part above it.


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Can I use 20 gauge wire for my Mk2a Heatbed?
I purchased the following wire for my MK2a heated bed:
McMaster Carr
1 8209K11 840 Degree F Braided Oven Wire 20 Gauge, Tan, 10 ft. Length 1
Will this be acceptable?  I'd like to print with ABS, which I know that the heatbed has to be hotter than when printing with PLA.

I noticed that your question has not had much activity lately, are you still looking for an answer to this question? How might we be able to close some gaps?

@tbm0115 please wait...I'm still learning more anout power on a question on another SE site: http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/93374/where-can-i-find-the-trip-curve-for-this-circuit-breaker

Your wire should be rated for at least the necessary 11 amps which the MK2a heatbed is supposed to take.
You can check this by measuring the resistivity of your wire:

Always test the heatbed wiring for resistance. Remember, at 10A, 0.1Ohms means 1V voltage drop means 10W dissipated by the wiring!

as taken from http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?392,493405 (useful read for seeing what CAN actually happen)
Did you read through the following links? They might clear up some questions:
http://reprap.org/wiki/PCB_Heatbed
http://reprap.org/wiki/Heatbeds_-_A_beginner's_guide
I personally would use 1.5 mm² cables, which translates to about 15 gauge wire.
*edit: This is a nice table to check:
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Is a higher wire gauge a thicker wire gauge? (here: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?392,493405)

lower wire gauge number means thicker wire. Here you can translate it to metric units: http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/awg-to-mm.htm

If you're in the US, 14AWG is commonly available and will suffice for a continuous load of 11A. 14AWG is rated (by building code, not necessarily relevant here) to 15A intermittently or 12A continuously.


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Attaching the resistor for the J-Head Extruder with Type 44 Non-Contaminating Heat Sink Compound?
I saw a video in which someone used GC Electronics Type 44 Non-Contaminating Heat Sink Compound (Part No. 10-8118) to hold the resistor for heating up the J-Head extruder head in place.
Is that a good way to attach it so it heats up the aluminum block?

Nope, not adequate. When heating at maximum power, you should expect the resistor to be 50-100C hotter than the hot block. (It must be hotter than the block in order to transfer heat to the block.) GC 10-8118 is only rated for 200C, but the service conditions at the power resistor may run up to 300-400C depending on power output and desired hot end temp.
For that matter, you may want to question whether the power resistor itself is rated for the >300C temps it will see in normal service. It's probably not. Most modern hot end designs use steel-jacketed heater cartridges instead of power resistors because they can handle higher temps and are, you know, actually designed to be used as heaters. The power resistors used in older hot end designs are generally being operated way past their design ratings. It's kind of amazing they work at all.


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Safely Hooking a Switch up to an OEM Power Supply?
I ordered an OEM Power Supply and I intend to hook up with this rocker switch I believe it's like the one specified in the Power Supply Documentation which reads:

In the US, IEC320 C14 plug connections are common, but use your
  preferred standard.

I've also seen where this was attached in this thingiverse project.
Inside the switch I've also added an F4AL250V fuse.
Now what's confusing me is, that the this rocker switch on the back reads 10A 250V~ so I'm wondering if it's safe to use.
The switch will be connected to the house mains via a plug and wired just like in the this thingiverse project, so it can be the input into my OEM Power Supply via the black (hot - L), white (Common - N) and Green (Ground) wires.
For the connecting wires I stripped a black PC Tower wire to get at the black, white, and ground wires inside it.
http://reprap.org/wiki/Power_Supply#OEM_type_PSU

At 250V a rating for 10A means 2500 Watts, which is fairly enough to use with a typical 3D printer. Make sure that the wire you use to connect the switch to the power supply can also take the current you need. Easiest way to get a cable that is safe to use is salvaging a mains cable from other devices. I would not use wires that were made for low power use and with unsolid connections.
*edit: I'm still not sure which cable you intended to use from this tower PC. If it is a mains cable like this
https://www.google.com/search?q=mains+power+cable&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL6Y23l9zLAhUCrRoKHXvsArsQ_AUIBygB&biw=1421&bih=922
you should be on the safe side.

The power supply that you posted is 12v 360w.  This means that (in the USA with 120v power), it will draw 3 amps at 120v.  Your switch is rated for 10A at 250V so it works.
The switch should be placed to interrupt the HOT wire coming from the wall to your power supply.
If you happen to be using 240v power, it is also safe as you would be drawing 1.5 amps at 240v which is still within the spec of the switch.


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Are the thermsistors identical for both the heatbed and the extruder head?
I'm aware of two thermsistors in the Prusia i3 Rework.  Are they the same?  And if not, how do you tell them apart?

This depends on how you ended up with your finished printer. If it was a kit, then there is a chance that the thermistors might be the same, however, even a kit manufacturer might buy parts that come preassembled as I could imagine being the case for the hotend.
To find out about the actual thermistor you would need to look up the spec sheet of the manufacturer of your printer or the individual parts, afaik there is no way to identify them by having them in your hand beyond identifying the resistivity and the coefficient type by using a multimeter.
You could, of course, check the resistivity for a whole temperature range to compare the table of your thermistor to the tables which are listed in firmware, but then you could compile your own tables right away.


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Can I use a multimeter to test the outgoing voltage of this power supply?
I don't want to blow out my multimeter or my electronics, so is it safe to test the DC output voltage with a multimeter on my OEM power supply?

If your multimeter can handle the voltage, it should be safe. 12 V should be in the capability range of common multimeters, so I would tend to say yes, - but make sure that your multimeter can handle the voltage and be sure it is set to voltage mode in the appropriate range (if set to current measurement mode for example, it will not survive).
Also take the typical precautions when measuring with a multimeter, as described in, for example, Safety equipment and precautions for DC circuit experimentation and development.

Maybe it's worth to add that voltage is measured with multimeter connected in parallel but current is measured with multimeter connected in serial.


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Is 22-Guage Stranded Hookup Wire the correct wire to connect the Switching Powersupply to RAMPs 1.4?
I obtained the following wire 22 Gauge Stranded Hookup Wire from Radio Shack:
Type/Style: AWM/1007
Wire Gauge: 22 AWG
Insulation Thickness: AVE. 0.42 mm
Rated Voltage: 300V
Temperature Rating: 80°C / 176°F

Use Limitation: Internal wiring of appliances; or where exposed to oil
  at a temperature not exceeding 60°C or 80°C, whichever is applicable..
  Tags may indicate the following: 600V Peak - For Electronic Use Only.

I'd like to be able to hook up RAMPs 1.4 to my switching power supply with this wire.  Will this work okay?

22awg wiring is good for a max of 7A in this usage case. Your power supply can provide 30A. So it is definitely not large enough wire gauge for good wiring practice -- in the event of a short, you want the PSU's over-current protection to kick in before the wiring overheats. That would mean 14ga between the PSU and board. 16ga would probably cover your actual load requirements just fine, but we need to know a lot more about your printer to say that for sure.
12v systems need heavy duty wiring, at least on the main supply lines. You can use 22ga for individual power consumers, such as fans, extruder heaters, etc. (No heatbeds.)

I think you mean "in the event of an overload". In the event of a dead short the protection should kick in almost immediately, well before the wires have any chance of heating up.

It's not uncommon for PSUs to allow significantly higher draw than their rating before the overcurrent protection kicks in. For a high-current, low-voltage PSU like this, the supply wires, terminals, board traces, etc can provide enough short circuit resistance (a few tenths of ohms) that a dead short won't actually trip the overcurrent protection fast enough to avoid immolating undersized components.

Yet another reason why we should all be switching to 24v PSUs... way safer than 12v PSUs. Less risk of wire heating, smaller wires for less wire fatigue on moving parts, and much more reliable tripping of over-current protection.

@RyanCarlyle When you say 22ga above do you mean 22awg ?  Is ga shorthand for awg?

@RyanCarlyle I ended up using AWG 10 wire type MTW OR THWN OR THHN (it's a pretty thick wire) for the wires between the switching power supply and RAMPS 1.4.  It's good up to 600V, it's overkill but I think it'll do the trick.

That should be fine for powering RAMPS, steppers and extruders but it is on the thin side. To err on the side of caution you should use somewhat ticker wires. However, you should definitely use thicker wires for the heated bed connection.

Definitely not big enough gauge for a heated bed. Actually, it's probably not big enough for steppers and a 12v extruder either.

@RyanCarlyle That seems to contradict your own statement that it's good for 7A. 7A is more than enough enough to power an extruder and steppers though if you have very beefy steppers and drivers to match you might run into trouble.

A 40w 12v extruder draws 3.3A alone, that's half your "absolute max" wire capacity. Then each stepper is likely to be between 0.3A and 2A, depending on stepper specs, driver selection, current setting, etc. (PSU load is max 1.41x higher than the current setting at half step positions with both coils energized.) Call it 1A each, w/ four steppers = 4A. Now you're over the wire rating, before considering the controller board and fans. You MIGHT be ok if you preheat with motors de-energized, and have good motor selection so the chopping drivers run efficiently and reduce motor draw from the PSU.

And don't forget, 7A is "chassis wiring" rating, which means the wire is allowed to heat up considerably. Conservative rating should be a fair bit less than that.

The 40W extruder example is a bit contrived, since PWM will keep the average power draw much lower than the maximum (and during heat up, steppers would generally not be enabled). The video shows that 3A can be enough to run a printer just fine. I agree 22AWG is on the thin side, and edited my answer to reflect that. If you want to get completely technically within the specs, you have to account for the fact that the connectors on RAMPS aren't even rated for 30A so no matter how thick you make the wires, you'll always have that point of failure before the PSU enters protection mode.

Not contrived at all -- many/most people home while preheating, and there's the mid-print cold-pause and resume case too. Max heater power for >1min with steppers engaged is an expected load case. In a NORMAL operations, yes, PWM drops the average current draw for both steppers and heaters. But we don't know what kind of crappy off-spec parts are being used here. Maybe they're 12v rated motors that will run the drivers at 100% duty cycle instead of proper low-inductance motors that will only need ~30% duty cycle. That alone is likely to max out 22awg wiring.

And good point on the connectors. We need to be very careful to only give very conservative advice when it comes to newbies playing with electronics that can burn their house down. That means factoring in worst-case load combos and all the weak links everywhere in the circuit.


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How do I compensate in cura for thinner filament?
I have a monoprice printer, works great. .4mm nozzle. I bought a number of PLA solid colors and they all print reliably.
I also bought 2 rolls of PLA translucent colors, and I have lots of trouble printing with them.
What I eventually noticed was that when the translucent filaments extrude, they come out in a noticeably thinner stream.
Not sure why, I've tried increasing the hot end temperature and printing slower, but nothing seems to help. The effect seems to be that not enough filament comes out from the nozzle for the speed the head is printing at.
I use cura for the slicer, and I've tried changing the filament flow percentage and I've tried slowing down the print speed. Nothing seems to help, the nozzle ends up dragging the recently extruded filament around the bed until it all comes off.
Has anybody else seen this, where translucent filament extrudes thinner than solid colors? Any suggestions what to try to make it stick and print reliably?
Thanks.

What temperatures are you printing at? Do you only have trouble with the first layer, or are you underextruding the entire print?

Can you measure your standard filament and this new stuff with a Caliper?

I've tried 195, 200 and 210, it comes out gooeyer at the higher temps but that doesn't make it come out in greater volume in any way.

The size of the new filament on the reel is the same 1.75, I'll measure the extruded size when my printer finishes its current job. I had measured it with a micrometer, that's how I proved to myself I wasn't seeing things, but I didn't write down the numbers. will do that when I get a chance.

Well I finally had a chance to extrude some of the translucent stuff and now it's coming out the same size as the full color filament, both are about 27/1000 of an inch in width. So I guess I'll see how the next print with it goes.

Okay so here's another example: I found a piece of skirt from a solid color print and a piece from a translucent print. The solid color piece of skirt was 14/1000 of an inch, the translucent was 9/1000th of an inch. Both printed with the same settings on the printer of .5mm nozzle width 100% flow. 200C temp.

In cura (if you are not in the quick print mode) you can dine the diameter of your filament. Setting the filament diameter to a smaller value will give you more plastic coming out of the nozzle. You can also set the flow percentage to more than 100%
You should also try to use a skirt. Some nozzles need some time until the flow is like it should be.
Another reason for this might be that the distance between bed and nozzle is too high. Try to level your bed so that the distance is less than before.
If all this doesn't work then it will at lest give you new ideas of where to look.
Best luck!

I'll give your suggestions a try, thanks for the feedback.

so I had some more luck increating the flow percentage and shrinking the nozzle size. So far so good. Thanks.


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Is there a reason for the z-axis M5 drive nut to be super loose on the lead screw?
So I bought a prusa i3 kit from a company called folger tech off of ebay. I've built it and even printed out a few parts, but I noticed that a lot of noise seemed to be happening only while the x-axis motor was moving the extruder. Then I noticed if I put my finger lightly on the plastic part of the x-carriage I could dampen the vibrations and pretty much eliminate the noise I noticed. Then I took apart that part of the printer and examined everything and all I could notice that seemed to be loose was that nut that allows the z motor to push up the x carriage. I don't know if I got a bad nut, or a bad screw, or is it's just supposed to be this way? I thought it was kind of a weird way to build things with a screw turning a nut, because I thought that it would bind up. But now I'm wondering if that is why it was so loose fitting (to reduce friction)? So does it need to be that way? Or could I get a different nut? Or is there some better way to go about fixing this issue? Or perhaps it's not even an issue.. idk.

Could you send a picture?

It's probably intentional. Threaded rods are almost never perfectly straight. If the nut is rigidly coupled to the carriage, then the slightest deviation in the screw will either cause it to bind up or appear as artifacts (e.g. z-wobble) in the print. By making the nut slightly loose, it can move around a bit to compensate for wobble. See e.g. this design and this design for how this is commonly implemented in other printers.

I agree with Tom about looseness.
I would suggest 2 solutions:

Use grease which will reduce friction (and vibrations as a consequence);
Use better clutch (coupling). Full aluminium couplings are prone to conduct noise (vibrations) from the threaded rod. You can use Oldham coupling with a plastic floating member. This will definitely reduce noise on Z axis.

Of course you are encouraged to use both solutions :)

I do not agree with the answer of Tom.
In a proper design, the nut is supposed NOT to be loose, especially in the Z-direction. All options of the nut to move can cause imprecise layer heights and Z-wobble. There is also the possibility to introduce Z-wobble by bent rods and good contact of the nut. However, Z-wobble is not what I want to address.
Yes, to me, it seems possible that your rod or your nut (or both) are looser than they are supposed to be. However, I don't know the exact design of your printer. Usually there is some play along the axis, but hardly any perpendicular to it. Typically this can introduce a hysteresis (wikipedia link) in the placement of the X-carriage. There is a nifty design against this, which most likely should also help you to get rid of your noise: Thingverse: Z-axis anti backlash for Prusa i3.
First, however, you should check the following:

Are both your Z-axis drives set to the same height, or is just one of them doing the work (which would be very rare, by the nature of the design)?
Is your nut lose in the X-carriage? While the nut should not be lose itself, it should be totally fixed in the X-carriage (again: typically, but I don't know the FolgerTech approach).
Try other nuts from the hardware store to be sure whether you have a faulty nut or not.
While you're there you can connect a threaded rod with nuts there to gain experience what the typical degree of freedom in this union is.

authors: ภานุมาศ มณีโชติ


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How to print LiDAR file format LAS
I want to print a model that I acquired in the LiDAR file format LAS.
I don't have a printer but I'm planning to send a model to one of those shops who print for you.
What do I need to do beforehand to make it print OK?

Could you please provide a source for the LAS format you mentioned? Perhaps the name of the program that produces it, so people in the future can understand where a LAS file comes from?

Because my research shows that LAS files are point cloud data, you would first have to convert the point cloud to a mesh. Point clouds are just that, data references to points in 3d space. A printing service works with files that represent planar surfaces, properly joined (watertight, aka manifold) to form a solid or solid surface model.
The only resource I was able to find involves using Meshlab. There are two reasonably practical references for this process.
The first is somewhat generic and provides the conceptual information:
Point Clouds to Mesh
The second appears to be a more step-by-step method:
Point Clouds to Mesh (2)
I would expect that if you are successful in creating a mesh from your data, you would then want to use a program suitable to determine (and repair) any non-manifold portions of the model. There are many available, including Meshmixer, although the others have escaped my alleged mind at this moment.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Prusa XI3 Extruder Calibration
I have done the calibration for the x, y, and z axis and everything works fine there. However when I went to do the calibration for extruder things got a little weird. The original number programmed on the board for the step per mm was 98 When I did my first measurements I used 120mm as the mark on the filament then extruded 100mm then remeasured the mark it was 37.66. Then by using the new_e_steps = old_e_steps * (100/(120-distance). I would use the new number and upload it to the printer which was 119.0187. After that I took another measurement, the new measurement was 61.27mm after marking 120mm then extruding 100mm of filament. Using the formula it came out to be 202.6540. Then the new measurement was some where around 80 some MM. It seams that the more I do the calibration the less accurate it gets. What am I doing wrong here?Triffid Hunters Calibration is the guide I have been using and this link is to the specifications to the printer HE3D Prusa XI3.

It is really strange that although you increased the steps per mm, the amount extruded was less. I can think of two possible explanations:

You are extruding too quickly, at a rate at which the extruder can't keep up melting the filament fast enough, causing the filament to slip or the extruder to miss steps: try lowering the feedrate (a feedrate like 100mm/min is typical for 1.75mm filament) and make sure that the temperature is appropriate to your filament.
You are in absolute coordinate mode, and when you try to extrude 100mm it actually extrudes a different amount (based on the previous "position" of the extruder). Enter relative coordinate mode using G91.

I am using abs with an extruder temp of 210. I found that my feedrate was set to 1 I remember changing this when I first got the printer so i changed it back to 2. But the way you are describing it should be like 1.6 something right?

The "1" value is not your feedrate. That probably is your extrusion multiplier. Don't mess with that (leave it a 1) until you get your esteps approximately correct.

When i go to configuration then down to feedrate on the lcd it says max:1 home:2

The feedrate that I'm referring to is simply the feedrate you set with a G-code command, e.g. G0 E100 F100.

Oh ok i think i understand what im doing wrong then. I have been using the lcd to extrude 100mm and not the software on the pc. Could that be it?

Possibly, it depends on the feedrate that is used when the LCD extrudes. You could try turning the LCD's knob very slowly so the 100mm is extruded slowly as well.

Kk ill try out the code first and see if that fixes it.

Ok so it was the temp for the abs i had it set to 210c i turned it up to 220c, now the calculations are making aense now.

I understand you marked at 120mm then tried to extrude 100mm and measured 37.66mm remaining.  Take the 120mm - 37.66mm (remaining)= 82.34mm (that was extruded (so you were 17.66mm short of your 100mm).
The formula I use is [New Setting=(Wanted Distance X old setting)/ Actual Distance].
So [New Setting = (100 x Old Setting)/82.34.]
Hope this helps


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How many times can you re-flash the Marlin firmware to a RAMPS 1.4 board before it degrades the ROM?
First of all I'm working with a Folger Tech Prusa i3 kit, if that makes a difference. Also I believe the Arduino is a Mega 2560.
I know somewhere in the back of my head that electrically programmable ROM like what must be on the Arduino board storing the firmware degrades a little, each time you write to it. Right now I'm trying to calibrate away another print problem, and I think I need to modify the firmware yet again, which I've already done several times. So I'm starting to worry about how many times I can do that.
Well, once I remembered the acronym "EEPROM", and after a little googling, I came across this, Arduino - EEPROM, which says that it can handle 100k cycles, so I think I'm onto the answer, but the problem is I'm not sure if a cycle is an entire file being uploaded? Wouldn't it be a single blip of data? And if so how many cycles would the average Marlin file consume?
I also found this:

but I'd be very surprised if I've uploaded to it more than 2000 times

on Mega2560 bricked? not detected, DFU failing, indicating that the answer might be as low as 2000.
Also, this:

Failure modes
There are two limitations of stored information; endurance, and data
  retention.
During rewrites, the gate oxide in the floating-gate transistors
  gradually accumulates trapped electrons. The electric field of the
  trapped electrons adds to the electrons in the floating gate, lowering
  the window between threshold voltages for zeros vs ones. After
  sufficient number of rewrite cycles, the difference becomes too small
  to be recognizable, the cell is stuck in programmed state, and
  endurance failure occurs. The manufacturers usually specify the
  maximum number of rewrites being 1 million or more.[5]
During storage, the electrons injected into the floating gate may
  drift through the insulator, especially at increased temperature, and
  cause charge loss, reverting the cell into erased state. The
  manufacturers usually guarantee data retention of 10 years or more.[6]

from Wikipedia: EEPROM - Failure Modes, indicating the answer might be into the millions.
At this point I'm just wondering if an expert might see this and relieve my angst...

The AT Mega2560 has internal flash storage, but it helps to look at external flash devices for information.  There are several different grades of external flash devices.  Some can be flashed only a very small number of times, and from these parts the 2000 number may come.  Other, higher-grade parts can be reflashed a million times.  In my work, we usually see ratings of 10,000 for low-cost parts and 100,000 for higher-cost parts.  For integrated flash, there may not be such a range of price and lifetime, since it would complicate the manufacturer's testing and distribution channel.

The EEPROM is not where the program itself is stored, what's relevant for your question is the flash. The flash in the ATmega2560 is rated for 10,000 cycles (i.e. you can reprogram it at least 10,000 times).

A "cycle" for flash storage is not the writing but is the erasing.  When Flash is written, it must first be erased.  The erase process stresses the device, and over many cycles leads to several failure modes.  Writing data into the erased part is more benign.  Thus, it doesn't matter how big the program is.  "Re-Flashing" starts with an erase cycle, followed by as many programming cycles as necessary.

The AVR has SRAM for variables (what is usually called RAM), it has EEPROM for non volatile variables and it has flash for the executable code. (Harvard Architecture!)
For re-flashing the firmware neither SRAM nor EEPROM write rates are important, but the Flash rates are. The flash write rates are in the region of 100 thousand to a million so that should not be a problem.
The article you linked also states that he did not more than 2000 rewrites and therefore should be fine. I can only agree. A few thousand re-flashes is no problem. Once you get closer to 100 thousand you can start to worry.
Flash bits can only be written from 1 to 0. Erasing the flash writes all bits to 1. Erasing can only be done on a flash page (size is device dependent but usually a multiple of 512).


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Is there a method or S/W available to stitch together a DLP projector's output into a "moving picture" to SLA print in a larger area than its output?
I'm popping my cherry here, so to speak. Refer to my Hackaday project for system details & pictures:
Sciclone 3D Printer Conversion
Repurposing a lab-grade liquid handling system to a 3D printer featuring 3 axis, 20 micron bi-directional repeatability on a 14 cubic foot build platform.  https://hackaday.io/project/3212-sciclone-3d-printer-conversion
I have an opportunity to repurpose a high-dollar lab machine into a 3D printer with very high performance capabilities and 14 cubic feet of production volume.  Although FDM is certainly a realistic "no-brainer" capability for this setup, I believe this level of accuracy, speed and volume - not to mention the original cost being well over $100K - justifies a finer level of output and I believe Stereolithography (SLA) is what I'd like to concentrate on.  With such a large printing surface/volume (37"X x 24"Y x 28"Z), I don't know how I would implement a DLP projector to cover such a large surface and still maintain the level of accuracy and resolution.
This system is already equipped with the highest quality stepper motors and a "staccato" high-speed driver-controller, an on-board pneumatic & electrical 6-channel controller that could be used for selecting colors, resin injection/flow, resin tank elevation, curing LEDs, temperature/ventilation fans, laser scanning, router speed, etc.  The X & Y movement guide bars are located in the upper deck, moving the Z axis component assembly.  That assembly requires simplification to enable it to be downsized to allow for the printer output to reach closer to the perimeter of the output area, but the weight & bulk of the assembly is greater than any DLP projector that would take its place so this system can reliably perform with a heavier projector if necessary.
Basically, I think I'm looking for a software-defined method of coordinating the X & Y movement of the projector's output to the printing surface (presumable a tray of photo-sensitive SLA resin).  Since the projector's proximity to the printing surface must remain relatively close, the output will be constrained to an area significantly smaller than this platform's entire printable surface, the projector's output will have to "play a movie" of the model and instead of projecting still images, I believe it would require an animated output that exposes the resin to build models.  Sort of like a silk screen process but with UV light.
I'm slightly familiar with the concept of manipulating laser beams using micro mirror aiming devices to draw on SLA resin beds - and this is a possible solution if I knew where to find such a component and how to control it, but that kind of printing would be far too slow for making large-scale models because it would essentially almost as slow as a pen plotter.
Is anyone aware of an existing method of integrating the "moving picture" method I'm thinking of, or have I envisioned something that hasn't been invented yet?
Cheers!

Cool Idea.
I know using a projector sounds like solution; but, I in practice, think it is going to be difficult.
My concern with trying to use a projector would be two-fold.

It would have to project on a large flat surface.  Since basic optics wants to focus on a sphere, when projecting on a flat surface you have to adjust for a focus distance that varies with angle and also deal with keysoning. I know this is a common problem fro projectors; but, there is no perfect solution so either.    The focus issue may be solvable with custom optics; but, that is not something that is easy to DIY.  The keystoning could be corrected for with optics and/or in software; but even then you are going to have inconsistent resolution.  Not only that; but, the problem gets worse the wider and closer you are, which is EXACLY what you want to do.
I would be concerned that the frequency range that the SLA resin cures at will be outside the normal range of projector so you would require A LOT more power/time to get it to cure.

On the other hand, lasers light projectors are a well established technology.  They moved into the entertainment space quite a few years ago; so, I suspect you could get one that covers the space you are interested in for a reasonable price.

Since laser beams are very narrow, focus should not be an issue.  Keysoning can be easily accounted for in the sweep algorithm.
You could choose the frequency of the laser to that it in the most efficient curing frequency for the resin you want to use.

Hi Mark, thanks for your comments and input.
There’s all sorts of methods for this and I’m sorry we can’t engage if lots of detail due to the constraints imposed here – I just wrote almost 4,000 characters which I had to abandon.

@MaximumMark Good luck on your project.  Sound like there are a lot of things you could do with your $100 toy.  Because of the weight and size, CNC would be where I would be tempted to go initially; but, your choice.  Let us know where you end up.  Maybe you could eventually answer your own question.  Have Fun.


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Can I increase retraction length on an E3D v6 beyond 2 mm if I have a really long Bowden tube?
E3D mentions on their own wiki:

Excessively long retractions will cause issues by dragging soft filament into cold areas. [...] for bowden systems you might want to go up to 2 mm. Retraction beyond 2 mm is likely to cause issues.

I have retraction set to the recommended maximum of 2 mm, but I still get a lot of stringing and blobs. My printer is set up with a relatively long Bowden tube (500-600 mm). I wonder if I need to push my retraction setting slightly beyond 2 mm to take up some of the slack. Is the 2 mm a conservative rating (I guess they don't want dissatisfied customers with clogging problems) or is it really the maximum? Is there anything else I can do to improve retraction performance? (I already have a small coasting distance of 0.1 mm set.)

Yes, you can increase retraction past E3D's max 2 mm recommendation to compensate for Bowden tube stretch and slop. The reason for the recommendation is that jams will occur with most all-metal hot ends if you pull molten filament up into the cold zone. Any molten filament that enters the cold zone rapidly cools and hardens and sticks to the walls, very often forming a jam.
So, the requirement is to keep your retraction distance at the extruder less than 2 mm. Additional retraction travel that is absorbed by the Bowden tube and not seen at the extruder is fine. I personally run 2.5 mm retraction on an E3Dv6 Bowden system without any issues.

For direct extrusion systems they recommend 0.5-1mm retraction, so the "at the extruder" value should be about that, I guess.

I think there may be a 3mm vs 1.75mm filament difference here. Larger diameter filament will require less filament travel to produce enough volume displacement to clear the nozzle orifice.  I've never had success with direct drive retraction of less than 1mm. I usually use 1.3-1.5mm DD retraction or around 2.5mm Bowden retraction.

As pointed out by this article, you can try to:

Increase your speed for travel moves
Increase retraction length
Place objects strategically during print

1. Calibrating travel speed
When calibrating travel speed, you can work with:

Maximum travel speed
Acceleration
Jerk
Z-hop/lift *

I found this acceleration calculator (by RepRap Central) and video (by Thomas Sanladerer) very useful.
*' when moving at high speed, your stepper motors are more susceptible to getting de-tracked by nozzle collision from imperfections during print. If this becomes an issue, consider increasing your z-lift setting.
2. Adjusting retraction
You can be fairly certain that your filament will clog if it actually retracts past those 2mm recommended by E3D at the hot end. However - as pointed out about by Ryan - bowden retraction is based on hysteresis, meaning that that the actual retraction distance at the hot end is lagging behind the distance retracted at the cold end.
I have been battling this exact issue on my 30cm bowden tube E3D V6 setup recently, and currently use a fairly conservative ~2mm retraction. I am still getting occasional clogs while printing PETG.
3. Distance between objects
From the article linked at the top:

The faster you’re able to move to the next print position, the less time there is for filament to ooze from the hot end

As such, the distance between the printed objects will change the characteristics of the stringing:

In addition to the already excellent answers above, I want to mention that maybe a change in hotend temperature (lower) can also help reducing ooze/stringing. That is, if not other parameters prevent that.

That is very true!

To my experience, there is absolutely no problem in increasing retraction in E3D assemblies up to at least 5 mm. Typical retraction distance for my Bowden system is 3.5 mm (ABS). Clogging may occur after a series of retracts when thermal break doesn't have enough time to cool itself down.
To avoid clogging when there is a real need in long retracts (printing with filaments like PLA or PETG) you need to:

keep amount of retracts at possible minimum
make sure that thermal break is properly cooled. You may want to use thermal grease and extra cooling for that


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How to compensate for bad quality filament?
Bad filament with changing diameter causes an uneven flow of plastic out of the nozzle. Besides buying very high quality filament (do we really want to be dependent on professional Filament producers?), what other ideas and methods could be used to mitigate the differences in diameter?
Could a pellet extruder be a solution?

This is way too broad. You're not only asking for all possible ways to deal with bad filament, you're also asking about pellet extruders and seem to want a discussion on whether we need to be dependent on professional filament.

I'm only interested in ways to get better results from bad filament. I mentioned pellet extruder and dependence only to put the question into perspective. I don't want to start a political discussion about the dependency. Do you have a suggestion of how to reformulate the question to make this clearer?

Perhaps provide details of what machine or extruder type you're working with and re-title the question to something like How to compensate out-of-round filament?. Putting the emphasis on the out-of-round issue may narrow this question down.

I am only going to answer the part of the question about how to improve the results from low-quality filament:
There have already been projects going on dealing with the issue of varying filament diameter. A sensor that detects the filament's diameter and sends its value to the printers firmware can compensate for the varying volume of the filament pushed into the hotend by simply changing the extrusion speed. You could think of an extrusion multiplier or a change in the steps/mm value. Of course this has to be calibrated for the distance the filament needs to travel from measurement to hotend.
A good first read can be found in the following project:
http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?13,222517
And the corresponding Thing page:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:454584

As I understand that sensor (light and measuring shadow) it only detects deviations in one direction(wider) not in the other (thicker) . I hope you get my meaning. And how should that work with transparent filament? Do I need to train the sensor to the filament?

I am not following up on the project too much, but yes, the sensor only detects one direction. However, due to the manufacturing process by extruding, it might be safe to say that the filament can always be taken to have a circular cross section. There might be problems with transparent filament, which either might be taken care of by the calibration process. You could however use a lightsource that your filament is not transparent for, if the sensor can still pick that up.

Can you explain why "it might be safe to say that the filament can always be taken to have a circular cross section" ? I remember perfect roundness to be hard to achieve. And if it is not perfect round, then variations in roundness might occur for various reasons, right?

I would assume that, being extruded from a circular nozzle, the filament does not see any reason to produce a non-round shape. Dirt on the nozzle, varying cooling over the cross section as given by airflow, not cirular nozzle and asymmetry in the force given to the molten plastic in the nozzle at the point of extrusion are some reasons, however, which I could imagine impairing the the roundness of the filament.

authors: زيد الحصاد العليمات


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Why is my print displacing along the y-axis by 2-3 cm?
I am encountering a problem with this ID3 printer using ABS -- at some point during the print the print head displaces on the y-axis by 2-3 centimeters. I cannot pinpoint how or why it is doing this. It has displaced in the positive Y direction and in the negative Y direction on separate runs of the same piece (which is just a poker chip I found on Thingiverse).
Is this a software issue (Simplify3D) or a hardware issue? Can anybody suggest a fix?
See the following photos:

I had exactly the same effect when my stepsticks where overheated.
So my solution was to add cooling fan and reduce current on stepsticks.
Of course heatsink is obvious.
Please note that different axis requires different current settings.
For example, in Prusa and clones, X and Y need a bit less current as one stepstick controls one motor but Z axis usually uses 2 motors connected to 1 driver.

So far, this seems to be the pertinent issue. I was able to complete multiple prints with no displacement problems by rigging a fan to blow on the step sticks. I'll still need to find a more permanent solution than what I've kluged together, but this is working!

i've added frame to set cooling fan permanently on a side of PCB

This has happened to me in the past and here are a few things that I determined could have been the cause:

Limit Switch triggered. My coworker was able to repeat the issue by manually triggering a limit switch during the print. Somehow, this seemed to cause the relative axis to shift on his MakerBot Replicator 2.
Skipped steps. It's possible that, if stalled due to excessive load, the stepper motor could skip steps. I have a dual extruder, so if a part curls really bad then the second nozzle gets caught in the print. I'm not sure exactly how this works, but my coworker suggested this as an issue.
USB connection. I had sliced a model and tried printing over USB connection, however each time I attempted the print I encountered the "shift" at the same exact location. However, using the slice, I exported a G-Code file and printed from the machines SD card with no errors.
Slicing Engine bug. This is in correlation to the USB connection issue. I noticed that the issue occurred after updating my slicing engine. My solution in the long term was to re-install the previous version that was stable for me. I was using MakerWare 2.4.2 and reverted back to MakerWare 2.4.1.

If you're printing via USB connection, I'd suggest exporting to G-Code if you're able to print via SD Card until you can find a stable version of software for your machine. This has been the most repeatable solution for me in the past.

I tried printing directly from a microSD card -- still had the problem. Slowly ruling out options...

It seems unlikely this is a software or G-code issue, instead it appears your Y-motor is occasionally missing some steps. There are two possible causes for this:

The current limit for the stepper driver is set too low, limiting the amount of torque the motor can generate. When the printhead encounters some resistance (for instance due to running into a blob on your model) the motor skips steps, resulting in a displaced model.
The current limit for the stepper driver is set too high. The stepper driver will overheat and thermal protection will shut it down temporarily. Some steps are lost while it is shut down.

There are various ways to calculate the ideal current for a motor and set it using a multimeter, but a simpler approach is to turn it way down, and then slowly turn it up. Turn it up just beyond the point where the axis moves reliably.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm trying the other things (SD card, stepstick cooling) first because I honestly have no idea how to adjust the current limits. I presume this is a setting I cannot change in the software?

The current limit can be adjusted on most stepper motor driver boards. It is a potentiometer on the board (you should see a separate board for each axis/extruder).

In my case the solution was to use Slic3r instead of Cura. Cura has some issues.

This has nothing to do with the slicer used (but perhaps decreasing the speed/acceleration in the slicer might help, but that's not specific to cura/slic3r) and is almost certainly a stepper driver/mechanical issue. "Some issue" is very vague, care to elaborate?

@zoomtronic It is recommended to elaborate on your answer as it currently considered a "lower quality" answer. To improve your answer, consider expanding on what "issues" Cura has and why it didn't work for you as well as how slic3r was an improvement for the situation.


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Teflon tubing in nozzle throat coming out?
I have a HE3D prusa XI3 printer with an MK8 extruder. While printing or testing, the extruder makes a clicking noise as if the filament isnt getting hot enough to extrude. I began my investigation and read about many reasons why this could be happening. Eliminating most of them, I finally took off the fan on the extruder and looked at it while it was trying to extrude. I noticed the teflon tubing and tried to push it back into the throat. Then the extruder worked fine. I put everything back together and began testing again. The clicking came back,  - I then took the fan and heatsink back off and there it was again. Pushing back down and this time extruding some material and noticing the tubing slowly coming up. Is there anyway to fix this without upgrading to a better hot end?

It looks like you got too tight nozzle, too cold hotend or extruding speed is too high (all could be in the same time of course).
As filament goes into the teflon tube (coldend) and then into hotend it doesn't have enough time to go out throught the nozzle. So it causes that melted filament accumulates in hotend and pushes out teflon tube.
Check application and arduino settings for

nozzle diameter (increase it), check if it's not plugged with something inside
hotend temperature (increase it), check for your filament settings
extrude ratio (decrease it), check also gearing on extruder motor

I know its not plugged by using guitar wire to clean it out. Also the temp is fine at 190c for PLA I also raised it to 200c to check this Ill look at settings here to see if thats the issue.

Maybe your thermistor doesn't respond properly. I mean maybe you set 200C but you get 160C or so ;) Definitely clicking sound tells that extruder cannot push filament and skips knurls

Yup so i took the extruder apart to clean it all out. I found that the filament was heating/melting and pushing the teflon up.

then it looks like my diagnosis was correct :)

Sorry just got off work im going to plug it in tonight to see if the problem is fixed. I also turned the max flowrate down from 2 to 1. To see if thats the problem. Then tomorrow i found someone who has a infrared temp gun to see if temperature needs calibrated

Thank you so much for your help! Finally my first print came out!

good to hear! I'm happy with you :)

I have also dealt with this issue. The teflon can be pushed up if your extrusion is too much as well. It builds up molten filament after a couple layers and you can hear the clicking because the teflon is getting ground up on a MK8 extruder due to it pushing up into the hobbed bolt especially during a retraction. Cleaning the teflon out with a guitar string is a bit dicey as any scratching inside there can make the problem worse later. Best solution is to completely replace the tubing to be sure.


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Ultimaker 2 ticking sound coming from feeder
Recently, the ticking sounds started to come from feeder of my UM2. Inspecting it I have noticed that once in a while stepper motor jumps back for few steps. I have an idea of what can be the reason, but I just want to hear what you can think of. That is the video of feeder during the printing :)
https://youtu.be/z6CzudMOeD0 First tick at 10sec

please refer to this topic
http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/904/teflon-tubing-in-nozzle-throat-coming-out

So, problem was too low printing temperature. It was 200c. For PLA I have it was too low. Now I'm confused, for PLA the temperature range for printing is given from 180-210 (It is even written on particular coil). Does it mean that even printing in this range I should adjust temperature for each of plastics I have?
Update: I have researched a bit about phenomena I had. According to RepRap wiki http://reprap.org/wiki/Hot_End_Design_Theory the flow of material dependent on many parameters, starting with softening point of plastic and ending with environmental conditions. I can conclude that in my conditions temperature of 200c did't give enough material flow (but feeder still tried to push it as much as it required). And ticking was one of indicators of it.

Ultimately, your stepper motor is unsuccessful in driving the filament through the extruder. A couple potential reasons:

extruder temperature isn't high enough. This could either be operator error from not setting the temperature correctly or your machine is getting a false reading. Typically, for ABS/PLA, you can get away with a low extruding temperature of about 210c.
filament tension is too high. This happens if, say, your spool of filament gets kinked or wrapped around the spool spindle.
your nozzle is clogged. I've encountered where I had back flow coming out of the nozzle (filaments oozed around from the hotend at the threads). This was a result of not putting the hotend back together correctly. There was a enough hardened plastic backed up in the hotend that when I threaded the nozzle back on, it technically didn't fit back on all the way.

For the record, and for people interested, I believe this is a feature of the Ultimaker 2's firmware, whereby the voltage to the stepper motor that drives filament is regulated to prevent the feeder gear from grinding into the filament when the filament can't move enough. This causes the stepper motor to jump backwards.

When you add a nozzle to a heater  block, especially a block with melted filament, it needs to be tightened with the block hot.

I had the same issue. It can happen for number of reasons.
One of them is too low print temperature as stepper cant push the filament through. Also you could have partially blocked nozzle or if you print with PLA and have left it out for a while its diameter can enlarge and get stuck in the bowden tube.

Oh yeah that is way too low for the ultimaker.
That temp is a general "this is what PLA melts at" so if you took plastic, heated it up to that temp it would melt.
However, you don't heat all the plastic at once. Your hotend it at that temp and if you let it sit it would heat up (fairly quickly). Printers like the ultimaker are fast, and well designed. They have a very small heat melt zone. So the plastic only has a fraction of time to heat up.
Solution? Higher temps!
(do not do this example. Not liable if you hurt yourself) You know how you can take a lighter and almost slowly wave your finger thought it without getting burned? You know if you let it stay even a full second you would regret it. Same thing here. It is going too fast to heat up.


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Are Makerbot Smart Extruder nozzles swappable?
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with Makerbot smart extruders and knows whether or not the nozzle size can be changed. I'm trying to figure out if I can use different nozzle diameters (0.25mm, 0.5mm, 0.8mm, etc.).
Makerbot doesn't sell any replacement nozzles on their site, so I suppose I'm just trying to figure out if the nozzles on the makerbot use the same diameter/thread pitch as other nozzles, like the ones from E3D or if I'd have to mill my own, which is way more trouble than it's worth.
Any research on the subject is pretty sparse, and the best resource I found is a blog post from 2011 when they still allowed their customers to do such things themselves. I've searched around their Google Group but got nowhere. Beside that, there isn't really any information from the last three years or so on the Makerbot machines.

I actually made a video about how to change the nozzle size. You can view it here: https://youtu.be/Xmq9xZD8Eg8

Yes, you can change the nozzles with the 5th gen line printers, although it's not recommended or supported by Makerbot. You're on your own if something goes wrong with an aftermarket nozzle. Here's a swap video from Fargo3D: https://youtu.be/vL80bslk9vw
I would recommend "mk8" Makerbot Replicator 1/2/2x style nozzles, since these will be similar dimensions to the original nozzle. Ebay has lots of cheap ones, or P3-d and Micro Swiss are popular options for premium Makerbot mk8 style nozzles. But you should be able to use any standard M6 male thread, ~2mm ID nozzle (such as from E3D, because the Smart Extruder Z homing routine will compensate for nozzle length.
When you change the nozzle, you're also going to need to change the slicer settings. Do not use default settings with a different nozzle. Smaller nozzles will require significantly lower print speeds, and larger nozzles will require wider extrusion width. You can create a custom profile in Makerbot Desktop to do this, or use a 5th-gen-compatible slicer like Simplify3D.


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Which algorithm does Marlin use to create arcs?
I'm writing a paper about a plotter (I use a Prusa i3 with a custom "extruder" aka pen). And I'm supposed to write about the algorithms I/the plotter use(s). I tried reverse engineering, but since I'm not very experienced with this technique I wasn't successful.
So I'm looking for the algorithm that Marlin uses for its G2/G3 commands.

Have you looked at Marlin_main.cpp, specifically t,e plan_arc function?

The algorithm is based on the "Vector rotation by transformation matrix", and this solution is based on a solution from Jens Geisler. The formula for clockwise rotation is:

More information about the vector rotation can be found on Wikipedia.


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Prusa XI3 not printing correctly with Repetier Host
I have a HE3D Prusa XI3 Specs are linked here. Its came with a MK8 Extruder, and  I ordered the 0.3mm nozzle with it. I have Repetier v.91 loaded onto the printer right now, and Repetier-Host v1.5.4 on my computer. I have been able to print the test object that came on the SD with ok quality but when I switch to using the computer it just doesn't work at all. It starts up and heats the bed and extruder then zeros out the axis. After coming to temp which I set to 192c for the PLA plastic and bed temp of 60-65c it tries to print. Now comes my problem. It acts as if not enough plastic is being extruded. It doesn't even get the first layer down then when the second layer comes up I notice that there is plastic balling up at the end of the nozzle. So I decided that I should must with the settings in Repetier-Host to see what I could come up with. In printer settings I got everything set up besides the Max Volume Per Sec. How do I figure this number out? I also messed with the settings in slic3r to see if that helped but I didn't notice any difference. I am also using 1.75mm PLA If that might be needed.

So you say that XYZ works fine but E is not right?

Yes it seems that way anyway.

I have been messing around with the settings and got the first layer to print but when I goes to do the second it stops again. I since have read up on the slic3r manual and it cleared some things up for me.

Update on this thread. I have been messing around with some stuff and got the Gcode file off the SD card and looked at it. From what I can tell its trying to print way too fast compared to the Gcode for the test file on the SD card. I'm going to mess around with the settings and see if I cant figure this out.

Ok so comparing the two files the one from the SD that works and the one slic3r produces, It makes sense that the settings are way off. For the first layer its trying to print at a flow rate 1800 when the one on the SD card prints at 1200.

I got it to work with CuraEngine but still a no go for Slic3r. I would like to use Slic3r only because it seems I would have more printing options.

i use MatterControl http://www.mattercontrol.com/

Thx darth ill give it a shot. However the printer broke the other day. So i am just going to upgrade the extruder with an e3d v6 hot end and see if my problems go away the teflon tubbing end will have more temperature control. Also i noticed that the top hole in the extruder for the filament isnt inline with the bottom and the friction thats put on it moves the teflon tubing when it is retracted during printing.

I do not have anything to add on if this is a software issue, but have you considered that the printing plate may be too far from the extruder? To me that would seem to explain the 'balling' of the filament at the end of the extruder.

In order to try a short answer even though you already found a change to Cura helped the issue. With that additional info we can conclude that your printer per se is working fine. To me, if the plastic is curling up to a ball, it seems that you are either having

a wrong temperature set
wrongly calculated e-steps, volume calculation (filament diameter) or multiplier in the firmware
additional first layer parameters are off (height, offset, extrusion)

You can try to set the extrusion multiplier just to test if it is a simple miscalculation.


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How does the Filament production process work?
What are the steps in the production process that factories that produce filament have to take to get from pellets to a full spool of filament.
Which of these steps are critical for quality (thickness, roundness, long shelf life,..) ?

You are asking for a full description of the entire process from pellet to filament and including another question on top of that. I am voting to close this question as "too broad". (And note that whether it is on-topic is questionable; "at home" filament production would be on-topic, but should professional plastic processing be on topic as well?)

I think it is interesting for "at home" filament production to know how the factory is doing it. That might explain differences in quality and might give ideas of how to improve the "at home" process. The "on top" question is just saying that I want more than "Heat up pellets until they melt. Then push the molten plastic through a nozzle and let the result cool, then wind it on a spool". If you feel that you can't describe the whole process then only describe the steps that you know. Others might now the other steps. I don't see a way to split this question to narrow it down.

I noticed that your question has not had much activity lately, are you still looking for an answer to this question? How might we be able to close some gaps?

Yes I'm sill interested in the details of the process. Do you have Ideas of how we could improve the situation?

@LarsPötter Sorry for the delay, I never received a notification of your response. It's tough to say what you can improve in your question, except to maybe highlight how the current answers do not fully answer your question. (If you ping me with '@[UserName]' I'll get a notification when you respond)

Some general comments about the process used (plastic extrusion):
The plastic extrusion process is not simple- many textbooks dense with equations have been written about it. The lowest cost industrial extrusion processes do not use pellets at all- because pellets have already gone through an extrusion process so they are more expensive than powder resin. There is typically a 'compounding' stage where colors etc. are added before extrusion.
Significant heat is generated by the screw (which often has a complex geometry) via shear action that is itself temperature and pressure sensitive, and the heat is added to by external heaters in various zones (or subtracted by water cooling and chillers in larger extruders). In some cases we were able to operate an extruder adiabatically- the heat created by the screw motor matched the heat loss as the product left the die and no heating or cooling was needed once the process was stabilized.
The end result is that you want to plasticize (melt) the plastic and achieve a certain pressure at the die. The plastic is deteriorating the higher the temperature and the longer the time so you want to limit the residence time at high temperature. There is some trial-and-error and a lot of previous experience in the setup person's task. Once the parameters are determined they are recorded and are used the next time that material is run.
The size of an extrusion is typically determined exactly by downstream equipment rather than controlling the conditions at the die. It is essentially stretched as it comes out of the die and the heat is removed in a cooling trough.
Here you can see a factory environment with a very typical extrusion setup, used in this case for 3D printing filament (but the setup would look almost the same if they were making slats for Venetian blinds). Notice that there are cooling fans as well as band heaters on the extruder barrel. They control the diameter by adjusting the take-off capstan RPM once the extruder is running well. This extruder looks like it has 4 heat/cool barrel zones and two (heat-only) nozzle zones (6 temperatures total).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40HOAsUnSQ8
Extruders are categorized by the barrel bore diameter in inches or mm. A very small extruder might be 25mm. An extruder used for pipe production might be 6" (150mm) or more. Some machines use multiple screws.

I do my own filaments and its pretty simple. The real key for quality is stability of everything. The temperature, the movement of the air around cooling part, the extrusion force, both internal and external. It is funny to watch how I have several atm pressure inside my extruder, yet the gust of wind outside the room changes the outside pressure enough to affect filament.
Yet I manage to keep my tolerances +- 0.05 mm which is enough for everything but miniature printing.

Can you clarify what you mean by miniature printing?  Do you mean printing miniature objects (what qualifies as miniature)?  Or do you mean printing miniatures (as in table-top minis for gaming)?

Both. I print a lot of things.

Each step is critical for quality. It's refined plastic mass. And in oil-based-products, every step is crucial for quality.
In this vieo, everything is explained.

I don't think that it explains everything! In the video he explains that is was hard to figure out the right temperatures for the 4 different temperature zones in his Filament making machine. Why 4 temperature zones? What are the right temperatures?

@JosipIvic it is typically best-practice to provide additional details related to the content within the links you provide. This is recommended to avoid issues with "link rot"