How neodymium magnet affect (if any) on extruder motor I saw on a popular site simple indicators for attaching to the axle of an extruder motor (Prusa printers). Those gadgets are spinning due to movement of motor, both clockwise (pulling filament) or counterclockwise (retracting). But all of those things are attached to motor axis by small neodymium magnet (round, 8x3 mm). I searched informations how such magnets affects for stepper motors and I read that magnet field can significantly change magnetic field of the motor. On presented movies for gadgets which I saw, the motor seems to have no trouble with rotating but AFAIK neodymium magnets have really strong magnetic field and I am curious how its centric orientation due to motor axis:

inhibits rotation
if yes, how much it raises the temperature of motor?
how it affects for electronic of filament sensor?

Currently I use Prusa i3 MK3 printer and during long (~10h) printings an extruder motor is enough hot and I don't want make it hotter. I want to print and attach such "rotation indicator" but the fact of used magnets made me started to thinking about magnetic field of motor. Or maybe those changes are so marginal to think about them?

The best way to know is placing the magnet on the shaft; if you see that motor starts shaking or stops this mean that you affects the motor operation, but I think if any magnet interference can be deprecated due internal coils of the motor during operation.

The motor works with some coils in the rotor and some magnets in the stator (motor frame). But the shaft is to far from the coils to be affected for the magnetism of one small neodimiun magnet which needs at least 7mm to trap another small metal objet or for induction sensing and 2mm as maximum for creating electrical flows (generation); this values are afected if the magnet is placed over other metal part reducing his atraction field, and the armor is too big for an small magnet 8x3mm.

You can attach some indicator with a double sided adhesive tape (3M) if still are worried about affecting your extruder.

If your motor extruder is heating during extended usage periods you should adjust the motor current, for example: you motors is rated 0.5A you should calibarte the current for 0.48A or 0.45; this could reduce the torque force of the motor by a little. Or maybe the current current :D is calibrated above 0.5A thats way you are getting over heating.


How to improve resolution using 0.3mm nozzle? What are the best settings for a Simple Metal printer using a 0.3mm nozzle, knowing that the min layer height can be 1/4 the size of the nozzle?

I posted some photos on the link below and the STL file.

Thank you for your advice.

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/7scdug/how_to_improve_print_quality_using_a_03mm_nozzle/

knowing that the min layer height can be 1/4 the size of the nozzle?

I'm not sure if that is a limitation of your printer specifically, but going "down" there is really no hard limitation to the layer thickness ratio that I know of or have experienced myself.  At least not on modern printers using standard stepper motors and 1.75mm filament (older 3mm printers were more limited on this).

Going "up" you will hit a hard limit at around 3/4 of your nozzle diameter, as layers will have a hard time bonding to each other past that, and the wall surface will be very corrugated (but I take your question about "best settings" is about making the print better, so with thinner layers...)

If you print at reasonable (as in: not too fast) speed and have calibrated your extrusion properly, you should be able to print at any layer height your printer supports, the limiting factor normally being the mechanical precision of your printer / the gearing of your stepper motor.

In particular, you should try to print at layer heights that are multiple of the distance your printer will travel upwards for each step of your stepper motor.

Simplifying a bit how stepper motors work: say that your screw raises 8mm for each revolution of the stepper motor, and your stepper does 200 steps per revolution... your printer will raise 8mm/200 = 0.04mm per step.  If you print at 0.05mm, most layers will be 0.04mm, with 1 in 4 being 0.08mm to compensate for the lost 0.01mm at each layer.  This will produce noticeable defects in the print.

The information on how your Z axis is geared is seldom available in the official specification sheet, but usually there is always somebody knowing it on the printer user forums.

As for "best settings", those depends typically from the type and brand of filament being used, as well as from the 3D model geometry.  Printing slowly is always a good idea though, as it limits the "noise" on the print due to vibration.

In your particular example, threads (which are substantially a very long overhang) will actually benefit from a high ratio between nozzle width and layer height (so a larger nozzle or a lower layer height).  This is because, the overhang angle being the same, higher ratios will give more material to extrude onto at each layer.  You can visualise this by thinking to how easier is to offset a stack of books compared to offsetting a stack of dice.


Triangulation adapted to curvature I don't know whether this belongs here (where most of the questions appear to be about hardware) or on Math or on Blender (though I've never used Blender).

All of the designs that I've published so far consist of grids of bent ‘rods’, and in most of them the spacing of vertices depends on the rod's local curvature; that's easy enough.  But I think some of these figures would look better as continuous surfaces, and it's not obvious to me how to arrange the vertices efficiently — that is, to triangulate the surface just finely enough that it's accurate to within the printer's resolution.

So: given a surface defined by well-behaved functions x(u,v), y(u,v), z(u,v), is there a standard way to choose vertices in u,v space so that the length of each edge is roughly proportional to the radius of curvature in its direction?

For 3d printing this is not very relevant. The triangles only exist in the File read by the slicer. And there are file-formats that can describe rods without the need to use triangles.

If you create a model in a format that uses triangles than just use enough of them to get your model described fully. (millions of very small triangles) That is probably a waste on part where it has less details, but that just makes the file a bit bigger.

The problem of best print quality doesn't end there.

The slicer looks at the triangfles and creates a 2d image of the intersection of the triangles with the layer hight. It then creates g_COde paths along the lines in this 2d image for every Layer. Using triangles to describe the model will only give small line segments for these 2d slices. Therefore the G-Code creates will only have straight line movements (G0, G1).

With a format that can describe curves, the slicer could end up with circles and arcs on the 2d slice and could then use G2 and G3 moves. And if the Firmware of your printer understands these commands you would get the best possible quality with rather small model files.


Advice for 3D modeling peg for sprinkler dripper I'm not really sure where to ask this question as I think it is a design question, but also a printing question. So if there is a better place to post, I'd be happy to harass someone else.
 I'm (re)designing a sprinkler manifold for a dripper system because the stupid pegs for this stupid manifold are on top of the manifold, which is a prime spot for any old postal person/dog/raindrop to break off. Of course the pegs aren't sold separately so you have to buy a whole new manifold. Seems like a great use for a 3D printer.

I designed a new manifold and decided the pegs were useful in case they broke off. I was thinking having them screw in would be a better design, but for the life of me I can't get them to actually screw in after I print.
Here is the fusion 360 file.
This is generally what it looks like:

 And here is the resulting stl file.

After several prints, the pegs won't screw into the manifold base. I push and I turn and turn but the threads just won't bite. The 3/4" pipe threads fit just fine, so I know threads can be printed, but these pegs are stubborn.

I guess my question is, what's a good design for a peg thingy that needs to attach into a manifold, but also pass water? Should I try to replicate the cantilever thing they have going on, or is a screw better? Any ideas why my pegs won't screw into the base of my mushroom? This is my first attempt at 3d modeling so I'm not totally familiar with all the terminology, so any pointers there would be helpful.
Thanks!

I examined and sliced your STL file, and the profile of your threads looks very strange.

It's definitely possible to do very strong, perfectly-fitting threads down to small sizes (at least down to M4 or slightly smaller) using modern inexpensive 3D printers, and contrary to widespread belief (there's a well-known YouTube comparison with a major test fallacy claiming otherwise) they should usually be stronger than threaded inserts against being pulled out. But you need to get the thread profile exactly right.

Most real thread profiles are trapezoidal, but yours peak at points and have round bases. This is unlikely to match the external thread on the part you're trying to fit to it, and it's going to have major dimensional accuracy issues because of the sharp point which can't necessarily be represented in the layer resolution.

I'm not familiar with Fusion 360 so I don't know how to tell you exactly, but most CAD software has libraries for generating threads conforming to standard thread profiles. If you want to do 3D printed threads, you should look at those and figure out which one you're trying to match. Or, if you want to replace the pegs with your own design anyway, just pick a reasonable one for both.

Generally, most modern threads use the basic ISO metric thread profile, even if they're not standard metric diameter or pitch:

Your cross-sections should look roughly like the "internal thread" side of that.


Tips for printing and being able to get of base easily I'm very new to 3D printing and I've had numerous failed prints. Sometimes, the print is good but while trying to get it off the base I end up bending or breaking the print.

My question is: How to I print and make it easier to release from the plate?

I'm printing with PETG, PLA and ABS. At the moment, it's PETG that is giving me trouble.

My printer is a QIDITECH Dual Extruder.

I found this:

https://all3dp.com/1/remove-3d-print-from-bed-stuck-glass/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6fudqMEGyI

I haven't tried any of the proposed solutions yet.

The all3dp article you linked to is very comprehensive and shows what are the "approaches" to print removal, rather than just the tools.  For the sake of keeping all info accessible here, the article highlight these 6 approaches:

Brute force
Wedge the joint apart
Thermal difference
Chemical reaction
Mechanical cut
Bed warping

To that list I would add a final class of solutions that I would call "sacrificial surface": use some removable substrate like painter's tape and remove that from the bed rather than the print from it.  Once the print+surface is off the printer than is normally very easy to scrape or sand the material off the print.


How do I set my Z offset? After watching every possible YouTube video on the subject and reading any source available, and although I'm a PhD and quite computer savvy, I still can't make my Anet A6 (no probe) behave in terms of Z offset. I upgraded to silicone bed buffers instead of the stock springs; now my bed is ~5 mm raised, and I don't know how to proceed. Some observations:

G28 makes the nozzle go to the center of the bed. Display says X 111 and Y 111. Is it preferable to set the home to the bottom-left corner, or is the center just fine?

G28 makes the nozzle squish the bed ~5 mm deep.

I've tried the G92 approach and the M428 approach. I can't quite understand what's the difference between them. Can anyone explain why sometimes the former is used and sometimes the latter?

I had high hopes for M428. What could be simpler? You physically guide the nozzle to where you want it to be, send the command, and that's your new 0,0,0. But I guess not. Since my "home" is at 111,111 and apparently M428 can only be used at a maximum of 20 mm from 0, I get a "too far from reference" error message.

At any rate, both approaches (also M206) haven't helped. When I G28, the nozzle still squishes the bed. The display either says Z 5 or Z -5 or whatever I've played with, but the nozzle still squishes the poor bed.

In my LCD menu (Marlin 1.1.9), I don't have Control -> Motion -> Z offset. Since many videos recommend using this, this is quite sad. Can anyone tell me why this option is absent?

On a very conceptual level, I can't quite understand why in all the video guides the bed screws are completely ignored when discussing Z offset. One guy showed how he's correcting his Z offset 0.3 mm using G-code. But he could've easily done it by adjusting his screws... They all say "Z offset means the distance between your nozzle and bed, and here is how to adjust it". Now comes G-code, or LCD menu, etc. But why is everyone forgetting that you can adjust the distance between your bed and nozzle using the screws?! I can't seem to wrap my head around this. In my case, of course, I can't use the screws -- they've reached their limit, so I need to add extra using G-code. But nobody seems to really explain this nicely...

Summary: I urgently need a walkthrough for 6-year-olds. Make that 4-year-olds.

So the new silicone buffers raised the bed by 5 mm? When this happens, you should raise the endstop also with 5 mm. Else the printer will go down to the Z endstop that is effectively 5 mm below the level of the bed. I guess the buffers cannot be compressed by 5 mm, so you need to move the endstop up to the level your buffer compression is in reach of.
No software offset will work (for your current setup: homing on the bed surface does not work as the switch need to be triggered prior to having any offset in play) other than a hardware change or compression of the buffers of 5 mm. It would only be possible to use a software offset when the nozzle homes off the bed surface (next to the bed). The only thing you would have had to do is add in your start G-code:
G0 Z5   ; Move the head to 5 mm
G92 Z0  ; Call this Z = 0

If #define Z_SAFE_HOMING is enabled, you should comment the line in the configuration file to make it home Z at the homed X, Y position.
I will not go into all G-codes, details are read on the G-codes Wiki pages and Marlin firmware G-codes, these won't be able to help you out unless you fix the homing on the bed surface. Currently, you need to do a hardware fix, your endstop is below the surface level of the bed. Alternative is to remove homing Z above the bed surface and redefine the Z offset. A hardware fix is a better solution, and if you manage to print a fancy Z endstop holder and counterpart with a screw you will be able to level the bed more easily.
E.g. M428 can set an offset, yes, but, it needs a reference; that reference is the homing reference or the current position. The current position of a printer that is just turn on is meaningless, it can be everywhere in the print volume. So you need to trigger the endstops first, that is not possible when it is not reachable (without compressing the bed).


Troubleshooting filament slip on MakerBot 5 I run a high school 3D printer lab and we have several 5th generation MakerBot printers. On one of them I have considerable trouble with "thin" prints and filament slip warnings.

So far I've tried changing extruders and using different filament rolls with no luck. But, if I move the job and the extruder to a different printer it works.

I'd appreciate suggestions for how to sort this out. I would have expected the slipping problems to follow the extruder.

Oh interesting. By slips, I take it you mean that the raw filament slips, not the print slips.

This will happen for a few reasons. First the tooth gear that grabs the plastic is either:

Worn out
Out of place
Not the correct distance from the guide wheel.

This is all part of the mechanism that the Smart Extruder attaches TO. Not the Smart Extruder itself. You might be able to fix this yourself, worst case you will need a replacement assembly from MakerBot. I would look into online auction sites for the part

Another option is to try thicker filament. Which you might be able to custom order. So instead of 1.5, maybe get 1.8. I am not sure where you can buy off sizes.

From there this machine might just be getting jammed. It happens to some machines. This again points to the base of the X axis assembly.

Last which I would say is not likely as you have tried multiple extruders, you might have the nozzle becoming clogged. I often pop open my extruders voids warranty and clean them out. Also micro hand drills are a good option here.


When installing a glass bed, what do you change? I have an Anet A8 clone printer with a heated aluminum print bed. I'm considering purchasing a glass bed to add on top of the aluminum. When adding a glass bed on top:

How would I go about installing the glass onto the aluminum bed? Is the major concern here just affixing it?
How do you adjust for the added thickness of the bed in the printer? Is this just through a limit switch adjustment or something firmware/software related?
How much do you adjust your heat (if at all)? Does it take a longer warm-up time due to having to heat the glass?

The most common way to install a glass bed (assuming it's literally a piece of borosilicate glass) is with binder clips. Glass is an insulator, so you may need to adjust your bed temps by a few degrees, and it will take somewhat longer to warm up.

You shouldn't need any firmware changes, but will need to adjust whatever z homing you do. If you have a limit switch currently, you'll need to move it by the thickness of the glass. If you have an inductive probe, it should still continue to work, but your z-offset will need to be adjusted. If you have BLTouch or a piezo, nothing should need to change there.


E3D-v6 hotend on MK8 extruder I have an MK8Makerbot(?) extruder on my HICTOP branded printer.

The problem with the E3D hotend is that the heatbreak is shorter and doesn't protrude through the top of the heatsink. Therefore I can't mount it to the motor mount.

Any ideas?

For reference, I have the same printer and am speaking from my experiences.

You have two routes you can take with this, but both are effectively the same result - you need to replace the X carriage.

If you want to re-use your existing extruder components you can pull the MK8 extruder off the X carriage and use it as the extruder to drive a bowden configuration, then all you need is a length of PTFE tube and the couplers between the E3d and the MK8 to hold the tube. This is probably the best solution as it takes a lot of weight off of the X-carriage resulting in significantly better print quality, the only downside is that printing with flexible filaments is a lot more difficult with a bowden configuration, if you intended to do a lot of that.

The other option (and the one I took) is to print an entire new x-carriage/extruder assembly. Because the Anet A8 is based off the Prusa and the Z/X carriage assemblies are basically the same as the original Prusa I3 you can just take any design for the Prusa and fit it onto the Anet, I did this with a gregs wade extruder & E3D hotend mount I found on thingiverse.

I didnt look too hard, but if you are adament on wanting to keep the MK8 extruder on the X-carriage and couple it direct-driven to the V6, you can probably find some x-carriage that lines the two up for this purpose (or you could even design one yourself if you are interested in doing so). I didn't look in to this route myself, so cannot give much guidance.


G-code for activating material preset in Marlin Is there a G-code command for calling up the material preset?
I know PLA is set with M145 S0 H190 B40 F255: how do I activate S0, but not from the LCD menu?

The M145 G-code command sets the values for the materials for use by the LCD menu solely to preheat the bed and/or hotend and part fan cooling percentage. There is no code to lookup the values and execute to heat up material 1 (S0).


Can the da Vinci Jr 1.0 print in 100 microns, if so how? I was wondering if the da Vinci Jr. 1.0 can print in 100 μm layer height.

If so, how could I do this?

I will attempt to answer your question, as it stands.

Dealing with the first part, according to the product specifications, the resolution, or layer thickness, is indeed 100 μm, when printing using the Fine setting.

  Resolution

  Fine 0.1 mm (100 microns)

  Standard 0.2 mm (200 microns)

  Speed 0.3 mm (300 microns)

  Ultra Fast 0.4 mm (400 microns)

With respect to the second part of your question, how could I do this? You simply put the printer into Fine mode, and the resulting print will be printed with 100 μm thick layers.

If this is not what you wanted to ask, then please clarify your question.


Stepper Motors getting extremely hot I installed MKS Gen L V2.1 with TMC 2209 drivers to my Creality Ender-3 printer and updated the software to marlin 2, the stepper motors are getting extremely hot. What should i due to resolve this problem. The following Code is from the configuration_adv.h file showing the currents.
    #if AXIS_IS_TMC(X)
    #define X_CURRENT       800        // (mA) RMS current. Multiply by 1.414 for peak current.
    #define X_CURRENT_HOME  X_CURRENT  // (mA) RMS current for sensorless homing
    #define X_MICROSTEPS     32    // 0..256
    #define X_RSENSE          0.11
    #define X_CHAIN_POS      -1    // <=0 : Not chained. 1 : MCU MOSI connected. 2 : Next in chain, ...
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(X2)
    #define X2_CURRENT      800
    #define X2_CURRENT_HOME X2_CURRENT
    #define X2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define X2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define X2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Y)
    #define Y_CURRENT       800
    #define Y_CURRENT_HOME  Y_CURRENT
    #define Y_MICROSTEPS     32
    #define Y_RSENSE          0.11
    #define Y_CHAIN_POS      -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Y2)
    #define Y2_CURRENT      800
    #define Y2_CURRENT_HOME Y2_CURRENT
    #define Y2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Y2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Y2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z)
    #define Z_CURRENT       800
    #define Z_CURRENT_HOME  Z_CURRENT
    #define Z_MICROSTEPS     32
    #define Z_RSENSE          0.11
    #define Z_CHAIN_POS      -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z2)
    #define Z2_CURRENT      800
    #define Z2_CURRENT_HOME Z2_CURRENT
    #define Z2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z3)
    #define Z3_CURRENT      800
    #define Z3_CURRENT_HOME Z3_CURRENT
    #define Z3_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z3_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z3_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z4)
    #define Z4_CURRENT      800
    #define Z4_CURRENT_HOME Z4_CURRENT
    #define Z4_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z4_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z4_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(E0)
    #define E0_CURRENT      850
    #define E0_MICROSTEPS    32
    #define E0_RSENSE         0.11
    #define E0_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

Thanks.

I notice that in "configuration_adv.h" for the BIGTREETECH-SKR-mini-E3, which uses TMC2209 drivers, the similar section has:
#if HAS_TRINAMIC_CONFIG

  #define HOLD_MULTIPLIER    0.5  // Scales down the holding current from run current
  #define INTERPOLATE       true  // Interpolate X/Y/Z_MICROSTEPS to 256

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(X)
    #define X_CURRENT       580        // (mA) RMS current. Multiply by 1.414 for peak current.
    #define X_CURRENT_HOME  (X_CURRENT/2)  // (mA) RMS current for sensorless homing
    #define X_MICROSTEPS     16    // 0..256
    #define X_RSENSE          0.11
    #define X_CHAIN_POS      -1    // <=0 : Not chained. 1 : MCU MOSI connected. 2 : Next in chain, ...
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(X2)
    #define X2_CURRENT      800
    #define X2_CURRENT_HOME X2_CURRENT
    #define X2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define X2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define X2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Y)
    #define Y_CURRENT       580
    #define Y_CURRENT_HOME  (Y_CURRENT/2)
    #define Y_MICROSTEPS     16
    #define Y_RSENSE          0.11
    #define Y_CHAIN_POS      -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Y2)
    #define Y2_CURRENT      800
    #define Y2_CURRENT_HOME Y2_CURRENT
    #define Y2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Y2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Y2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z)
    #define Z_CURRENT       580
    #define Z_CURRENT_HOME  Z_CURRENT
    #define Z_MICROSTEPS     16
    #define Z_RSENSE          0.11
    #define Z_CHAIN_POS      -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z2)
    #define Z2_CURRENT      800
    #define Z2_CURRENT_HOME Z2_CURRENT
    #define Z2_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z2_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z2_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z3)
    #define Z3_CURRENT      800
    #define Z3_CURRENT_HOME Z3_CURRENT
    #define Z3_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z3_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z3_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(Z4)
    #define Z4_CURRENT      800
    #define Z4_CURRENT_HOME Z4_CURRENT
    #define Z4_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define Z4_RSENSE         0.11
    #define Z4_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(E0)
    #define E0_CURRENT      650
    #define E0_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define E0_RSENSE         0.11
    #define E0_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif

  #if AXIS_IS_TMC(E1)
    #define E1_CURRENT      800
    #define E1_MICROSTEPS    16
    #define E1_RSENSE         0.11
    #define E1_CHAIN_POS     -1
  #endif
// ...

In the reddit thread Stepper driver current settings?, user brewc found that the stepper motors drivers supplied with the Ender 3 specify peak (maximum) current whereas the TMC drivers specify RMS current.
So, you probably want to change the current settings to those in the above .h file.
Of course, in the spirit of changing almost everything on an Ender 3, you could also swap for stepper motors with a higher current specification and/or add heatsinks to the motors.


Troubleshooting printing layer squashing? I am having a strange intermittent printing error specific to one particular object I'm trying to print.

My printer is a BCN3D Sigma R17. I am printing a thin wall (0.6mm) cup object. I'm using:

Simplify3D with Sigma Progen profiles
0.6mm brass nozzle (w/thermal paste)
0.1mm layer height
Spiral (vase mode)
Filaform PLA.

As you can see in the images, the first few layers print ok, but then the nozzle seems to collide/penetrate the previous layer and grinds against it as it moves around in a circle. The result is a combination of rough textured surface and good quality surface. One half of the print also seems to be thicker, presumably from the increased extrusion width caused by squashing layers in the z-axis. I’ve tried

changing model's wall thickness,
disabling spiral mode
increasing layer height
changing filament
upgrading printer (latest stepper drivers)
changing extrusion width
performing full calibration

All without success. You can view the gcode and S3D fff profile here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6SnaYyiYI7vcGU1U3Uxb0RrX3M?usp=sharing

The image shows some filament left hanging from a stopped print. It seemed to be squeezed out from excess pressure, as if it was being blocked during the print due to being pushed against the layers.

Well, for a 0.6 wall thickness using a 0.6 nozzle you should have one line for the whole wall. But I´m seeing in your prints walls of 0.1 and 0.4 as infill, Why?
I´m using simplify3D and I can see the results about walls and infill prior to send to the printer. On this kind of parts avoid infill and give priority to walls.

So the main problem with your gcode is that wall thickness, is too much difference between the filament extrusion 0.6 vs 0.1 this is 16.6% of the printing flow, so you need to set print flow to 16.6% or 20%, not 80%.
You must need to use retraction to avoid blobs and set a lower temperature.

I saw this video to control Coast issues, but is explained how to set settings on Simplify3D; I hope you can visualize your issues before printing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWpdGY0V-gM


Must I start over if I change a dimension in Fusion 360 As a newbie, I have done some Fusion 360 tutorials and recognize I made a mistake in the initial dimensions.

Aside from starting the entire sketch over again, can I just modify the (beginning) rectangle dimension?

If you enabled the history, you can easily go back in time and change the dimension in the sketch and then go back where you were. It would be even more elegant if you do not use fixed valued dimensions in the sketch, you can use parameters you define yourself and assign them to certain dimensions to create parametric designs. These values can be changed at any time to see your final design adapt to those changed parameters.


What are the costs per meter of filament for PLA, ABS and PET? My Craftbot Plus Craftware slicer estimates cost per job based on filament prices I add as parameters.  What costs per meter would you use?  I created spreadsheets to calculate this for 1.75mm diameter filament and arrived at PLA = 6.6 cents per meter, ABS = 6.1 and PET XT = 18.6 cents per meter.

Edit:  thanks for feedback!  I paid \$22 per kilogram for PLA and ABS.  I paid \$57 for .75 kilogram of Colorfab XT Black.

This strongly depends on the cost of the spool in question. Prices are not consistent among materials at all; a spool of ABS can cost anywhere from \$15 to \$60 and the same price range applies to pretty much all other plastic.

For the purpose of this question I am going to assume that a 1 kilogram spool costs \$25 (regardless of material) but you can scale the figures to what is appropriate for your brand of filament.

ToyBuilder Labs lists the density of ABS at 1.04g/ml, whereas PLA is somewhat more dense at 1.25g/ml. As such, a 1kg spool of ABS would be 400 meters (1.75mm filament) or 156 meters (2.85mm filament). PLA would come out to 333 meters (125 meters for 2.85mm filament)

We thus have the following costs (cost per meter for 2.85mm filament in parenthesis):

ABS: 6.25 cents/meter (16)
PLA: 7.5 cents/meter (20)

The density of PETG is roughly the same as PLA, so they have the same cost per meter (for similarly priced spools).

In general, to compute the cost per meter, you would use the following formula:

$$[\text{\$/m}]=[\text{cost of 1 }kg] \times [\text{density in }g/mm^3] \times \frac{[\text{diameter in }mm]^2\ \times \pi }{4000}$$


Monitoring X, Y, Z position of extruder in real time I have a wooden first generation Replicator with dual extruders and I'm trying to get an X, Y, Z position from the printer to the computer in real time. Is that even possible?

The firmware used by the replicator is version 5.5 I believe, and I've been doing tests with ReplicatorG but I'm not married to that software.

Please let me know if you need any extra info before being able to comment on this...

Depending on your methods, you can easily (evidently) get (or compute) "where the printhead is commanded to be" in more-or-less real time, as evidenced by the "progress display" in Repetier Host software (based off the G-Code it's sending to the printer) - though I have found it advisable to stick with the temperature display while printing as I've had the host bog down on processing the display at least once, which then made the print go slow.

As for "is it even possible" - sure, how much would you like to spend? Add encoders to each axis that are read by the computer, or by something (probably not your printer processor for "least impact on the printing" and "most real-time") that reads them and talks to the computer. The more precise you need, the more expensive it gets. Of course that also starts to probe 'what you mean by "real time" ?' as there are applications where the time spent reading the encoder and sending/receiving the data would be considered "not real-time" by the time the computer had the data, but for the average person with a printer built partly from wood, it's likely "real-time enough."


Nozzle reducing flow as it comes close to finish layer I've have observed that when the printer is finishing a layer, the flow of plastic through the nozzle starts fading out as it comes closer to the point of layer change.

As an example, let's say that I'm printing the first layer of a cube. The nozzle first prints the perimeters ok. Then it begins to print the inner part, beginning from one corner and finishing on the opposite one. As the nozzle comes closer to the finishing corner, the flow of plastic diminishes, resulting in the lines of the filament to touching each other.

Maybe it's not a big deal, but it's annoying because it's stopping the part of having a very nice first layer and finish.

My setup is:

Anet A6 running Marlin 1.1.8
Bed auto leveling before each print
Slic3r Prusa Edition, latest release (as of 20 January 2018)
PETG from Das Filament

I tried disabling all "retract" settings but the issue persists.

I'm beginning to think that this could be a software bug (Slic3r), but before I submit it to GitHub, I'd like to be sure.

Any opinion is welcome!

If you think it is a slicing problem, look at the G-code. You might want to arrange for the infill to be orthogonal to the axes, but it ought to be easy enough to calculate the ratio between printhead motion and the extruder. G-code is just text, and fairly easy to make sense of. The RepRap wiki has a good reference to the commands, and all you care about are X-Y movement, and E movement.

An alternative explanation might be that your extruder is struggling with the extrusion rate, and after continuous extrusion is failing to heat the filament fast enough to melt. The layer change could be providing a sufficient respite that walls start off OK on the next layer. Also check (in the G-code) that the speed of walls and infill is the same.


How should I go about printing easily removable rafts? I have had a 3d printer for a while now, and I have a lot of the quality settings dialed in pretty well, but one thing that constantly bugs me is removing the raft from my finished prints. I am using Repetier and I have set the air gap to 0.2 mm. That led to much better results than the default 0, which were impossible to remove at all, but it is still not great. Are there any settings I should look at changing to get easier to remove rafts? Does the filament affect this? I am printing in Hatchbox PLA at high temps. I have a heated bed, and reducing the temp on that did seem to help. Maybe it keeps the layers on the raft from fusing with the layers on the part? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

As comments suggest,  a raft is not all that popular.  Consider using a brim/skirt instead.  I've had excellent luck with a 4-mm skirt, printing onto blue painter's tape. (Unless you consider it bad luck when I have a devil of a time getting some parts to release :-) ).   Skirts are trivial to cut free from the object.

In a similar vein, if you run into trouble getting support structures to pop off the object cleanly, try to make them as thin-walled as possible.


OpenSCAD not rendering polyhedron I'm trying to subtract a polyhedron from a cube, but it is not working (the cube remains solid). However, I can see the cut-out poly in preview mode (but not after a full render).
Preview -- poly cutout shows on the top (and bottom).

Rendered -- poly cutout not visible.

Poly Exploded -- pulled the poly to the right to show its shape.

Code
size = 30;
wall = 3;
wall_x2 = wall * 2;
nubGap = .125;
nubHeight = 8;
nubOffset = wall + nubGap;
xCutoutSize = size - wall_x2;
yCutoutSize = size - wall_x2;
cutoutLowerY = nubHeight + nubGap;
cutoutUpperOffset = nubOffset + wall;

difference() {
    cube([size, size, size]);

    translate([wall, wall, 0]) {
        polyhedron(
            points = [
                [0, 0, -10],
                [xCutoutSize, 0, -10],
                [xCutoutSize, yCutoutSize, -10],
                [0, yCutoutSize, -10],

                [0, 0, cutoutLowerY],
                [xCutoutSize, 0, cutoutLowerY],
                [xCutoutSize, yCutoutSize, cutoutLowerY],
                [0, yCutoutSize, cutoutLowerY],

                [cutoutUpperOffset, cutoutUpperOffset, size],
                [xCutoutSize - cutoutUpperOffset, cutoutUpperOffset, size],
                [xCutoutSize - cutoutUpperOffset, yCutoutSize - cutoutUpperOffset, size],
                [cutoutUpperOffset, yCutoutSize - cutoutUpperOffset, size]
            ],
            faces = [
                [0, 1, 2], [2, 3, 0],     // bottom

                [0, 1, 4], [1, 4, 5],     // side A
                [1, 2, 5], [2, 5, 6],     // side B
                [2, 3, 6], [3, 6, 7],     // side C
                [3, 0, 7], [0, 7, 4],     // side D

                [4, 5,  8], [5,   8,  9], // slope A
                [5, 6,  9], [6,   9, 10], // slope B
                [6, 7, 10], [7,  10, 11], // slope C
                [7, 4, 11], [4,  11,  8], // slope D

                [8, 9, 10], [10, 11,  8]  // top
            ]
        );
    };
};

Usually when there's an overlap in two objects during a difference action, F6 render will resolve the problem. There's something more than that involved here, as reducing the height of the cube creates a non-manifold object from the difference. user R..'s answer has merit but is not going to solve the problem.
Isolating the cube from the code and exporting the result as an STL allows me to determine that the faces are generated in a manner preventing a proper difference action:

This image from meshmixer shows the faces have inverted normals. The order of the points are critical when describing a polyhedron. From the wiki page for OpenSCAD:

It is arbitrary which point you start with, but all faces must have
points ordered in the same direction . OpenSCAD prefers clockwise when
looking at each face from outside inward. The back is viewed from the
back, the bottom from the bottom, etc. Another way to remember this
ordering requirement is to use the right-hand rule. Using your
right-hand, stick your thumb up and curl your fingers as if giving the
thumbs-up sign, point your thumb into the face, and order the points
in the direction your fingers curl.

EDIT: I reversed some of the points, haphazardly and luckily picked the correct ones:
        faces = [
            [0, 1, 2], [2, 3, 0],     // bottom

            [4, 1, 0], [1, 4, 5],     // side A
            [5, 2, 1], [2, 5, 6],     // side B
            [6, 3, 2], [3, 6, 7],     // side C
            [7, 0, 3], [0, 7, 4],     // side D

            [8, 5, 4], [5,   8,  9], // slope A
            [9, 6, 5], [6,   9, 10], // slope B
            [10, 7, 6], [7,  10, 11], // slope C
            [11, 4, 7], [4,  11,  8], // slope D

            [10, 9, 8], [8, 11, 10]  // top


Which 3D filament is 100% (or close to being so) food safe and non toxic? I've recently bought myself a preassembled Prusa i3 MK3S printed and made my first projects. One of them was making a cup with my name on it. I want to use it to drink tea, water etc. I know, however, that I need to chose my filament wisely, as using the wrong one might be unsafe. I know that PLA for example is Polylactic acid which is a safe substance and occurs naturally in our body. Another thing is the dye, which can is a chemical substance I know nothing about. Do You recommend any specific type/model? Thanks.

Answer was moved to this question: Which are the food-safe materials and how do I recognize them?


Is 3D printing really just 2D printing? Because only 2 motors move per layer I was wondering the other day why don't all three motors move at the same time? Don't normal paper printers move 2 motors at a time? they're 2D printers. It makes sense if a 3D printer really does print with all three motors moving. Won't it also be more efficient if they do 3D print in all axes?

I was wondering the other day why don't all three motors move at the same time?

That is perfectly possible for most printers (with limitations, "3D Printing" with all steppers being used is called "non-planar" printing), but there are some major cons you need to deal with. First, there are not that many software suites that slice objects perfectly well like the "normal" per "fixed/variable layer height" slicing as the slicers are under developed. Second, it requires a specific tall and slender nozzle/print head, else the height of printing is very limited. Last, besides generally not being useful for rectangular prints (except for 90° overhanging structures1)), this method is only/best suitable for curved objects as the top layer will follow the contours of the object.

It makes sense if a 3D printer really does print with all three motors moving.

No, it does not make sense, the essentials of 3D printing it that it produces a 3D object, not that all stepper motors should be running simultaneously.

Won't it also be more efficient if they do 3D print in all axes?

Not necessarily, there are limitations to non-planar printing like geometry and print quality, but, you could (in some cases) print with less support material.

1) : From Rene K. Mueller, published March 3, 2021, https://xyzdims.com:

Note that these are demonstration pieces, normally you would rotate the print for 90° and print it sliced normal (planar).


What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints? I have a 3d printer that uses ABS filament. The software I use will generate vertical supports for my objects before printing that can be easily broken off after they have been used during print to hold sharp angles up that would normally fall.

After breaking off the stints, the print is far from smooth. Is there a material that is best suited for "sanding" down prints without damaging the print?

I have a bunch of solutions to this problem but I'm always looking for additional ideas. I usually start by slicing as much as possible off with a hobby knife. The more than can be removed before sanding the better.

For big prints I like big generic sandpaper sheets from the hardware store. Starting with the highest grit and moving down. Make sure you're discarding your sheets when they get totally gunked up (which can happen pretty fast) or you won't get much done.

For smaller nooks and crannies I have a set of needle files. They do a pretty good job clearing out screw holes and smaller features on printed sculptures.

I've also had some success sanding with my Dremel when it comes to annoying stuck on supports or other imperfections. Having some horsepower behind your sanding can be a nice break. I've also seen the wire brush attachments used for finishing Bronze and Copper-fill prints. Just keep an eye on your speed or you'll sand a hole in your print.

Lastly (and one I haven't tried) are these sanding sticks They were recommended by a friend and look like they would be pretty easy to use/swap out used sandpaper.


Changing final build plate position I have a Monoprice Maker Select V2 (Wanhao Duplicator i3) on which I've installed a recent version of Marlin.

The home position is at the front-left of the build plate. At the end of the print, the print head returns to this position by moving the build plate back.

Can I modify this to return the print head to the back-left corner, so that the print ends with the part more easily accessible?

Here is the default G-code for this printer in Ultimaker Cura:

 M104 S0 ;extruder heater off
 G91 ;relative positioning
 G1 E-1 F300  ;retract the filament a bit before lifting the nozzle, to release some of the pressure
 G1 Z+0.5 E-5 X-20 Y-20 F{speed_travel} ;move Z up a bit and retract filament even more
 G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops, so the head is out of the way
 M84 ;steppers off
 G90 ;absolute positioning

I believe I would want to do:

 M104 S0 ;extruder heater off
 G91 ;relative positioning
 G1 E-1 F300  ;retract the filament a bit before lifting the nozzle, to release some of the pressure
 G1 Z+0.5 E-5 X-20 Y-20 F{speed_travel} ;move Z up a bit and retract filament even more
 G90 ;absolute positioning
 G0 X0 Y200 ; move to back-left corner
 M84 ;steppers off

Here, Y200 is the depth of my build plate.

This works, but the movement is very slow.


Error:Printer halted. kill() called! When printing cube.gcode using Pronterface I get:

Print started at: 23:07:31

After 8 seconds I get:

Error:Printer halted. kill() called!
Error:Printer halted. kill() called!

What is the reason?
How can I see logs?

Additional information:

I connected only three motors, and set the following in Configuration.h of Marlin Firmware:

#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 999
...
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 999
...
#define X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
...

(Also for min max for XYZ)

In 8 second X motor and Z motor were running.

This is the link to G-Code print file (cube.gcode).

I'm using Marlin 1.1.x on a Arduino Mega 2560 + RAMPS 1.4 without endstops.

Your G-code file contains the G28 command to home the printer, as you do not have endstops, execution of this command fails. If you do not use endstops, you should never home the printer, instead you must position the print head at the origin yourself (generally this would be at coordinate [x=0, y=0, z="paper thickness"]) and remove homing commands from your G-code file.


How can I contact FLSUN support? If I have an issue with my FLSUN printer how can I contact customer support?

They have a webpage by now   www.flsun3d.com


Under-extrusion after a certain amount of successful layers? My CR-10 is starting prints, BUT then makes weird spiral pattern, layers go up vertically with large gaps. Hollow infill.

I don’t know if it’s:
 - My Slicing skills
- original files
- the printer itself
Long explanation. Questions at the end. I’ve had beautiful normal prints. Then I’ve had these abnormal spiral layer prints with infill issues and spaghetti monsters (the images don’t show but, where the prints pictured end, is not the full print, it did the weird spiral then just stopped layering altogether). I’m semi-new to printing and don’t have too much of a tech background apart from average use. Been researching a couple months, I’ve only been printing for about a week. I’ve had an amazing couple prints. Baby groot was flawless, barely noticeable layers. The test print (a rather thick disk with deep grid marks and a puppy on top) that came with the printer was the same smooth flawless, it wasn’t my first print though. So the behavior seems erratic. The two prints pictured had several successful print in between them.

I do know:

The elder wand file was in several tutorials and was printed successfully. Its in two parts. The first part, which is way shorter and thicker printed Amazingly. The second part pictured was double the height+ and 1/4 the thickness. I even printed it successfully once before going horizontally and flat against the bed. BUT I had to run the print three times because the filament would not stick to the glass. It was just being dragged along behind the nozzle. But I was observing so I ended the print before it went too far. All I did to change this was add a brim and supports. Which gave a “successful print” except the fact that one of the knobs has a flat spot and the support remnants were very noticeable. Resolution was terrible too. Hence why I decided to try printing it vertically.

The bigger print pictured is the base of a hufflepuff horecrux cup, the first time I printed it was with cura slicer, it came out beautifully but the stem snapped right under the base of the cup part st some point, and the left handle had some wierd stringing issues, like 7 pure strands of filament hanging out one corner, and the print failed s fee layers from top. However the file description only had one previous make listed and the thing with the top of the handle and print failed about the same with that persons print.

Sorry for the long post. I’d just really appreciate any help, and I wanted to give all the details.

This is partial answer and comment as it was too big to fit the comment section, it will be a proper answer once the question is updated by the OP.
What you call a weird spiral pattern is the result of under-extrusion. When there is under-extrusion, the resulting print is sparsely filled. The reason for this under-extrusion is most probably partial clogging of the nozzle, or an issue with the extruder itself. One explanation could be that you are suffering from heat creep, but the information you provide is not enough to explain this or any other solution further in detail. Clogging can e.g. be caused by retraction settings and/or temperature settings, without your settings it is a guess what this is actually causing this.

Looking at the print deteriorate the higher the Z becomes this is most probably a heat creep issue, so you print too hot with too large retraction settings.


Creality CR-10 board upgrade from V1.0 to V2.0 questions I have a base Creality CR-10 that I have had for 10 months. Since then I have added Z-axis braces and a Z-axis dual lead screw. I have a Filament runout sensor that I want to add and I want to add a BLTouch bed leveling. I know I can probably squeeze those last two upgrades in using the V1.0 board that came with the CR10, but I really want to upgrade boards to the V2.0 that use the TMC2208 drivers.
My questions are:

Any issues compatibility wise or firmware wise that I might run into while upgrading

Also I know that the V2.5 board uses Marlin firmware, is that the same firmware that the V1.0 uses

Is it worth it to upgrade to BLTouch. I have viewed several youtube videos and read several websites/posts on using it but I am not that clear on whether you would have to ever use the manual bed leveling adjustments or does BLTouch take care of that forever?

Any insights, comments or links to useful posts/websites very much appreciated!

Any issues compatibility wise or firmware wise that I might run into while upgrading

These boards are 8-bit boards with limited storage capacity for your firmware, if you would need an update, as an alternative solution, a 32-bit board may be a much better solution.

Also I know that the V2.5 board uses Marlin firmware, is that the same firmware that the V1.0 uses

I do not own this board so I can't say for sure, a generic remark would be that the Marlin 2.x branch works fine on 8-bit boards (from experience with some of my own boards), but you frequently see (does not have be the case for this board!) that these OEMs use the latest from the 1.1.9 branch. The only drawback is that you sometimes need to be creative to fit the firmware on the board, the more options, the more memory is used.

Is it worth it to upgrade to BLTouch

That depends on the state of your heated bed/build platform. If the build platform is not flat, but is somewhat curved, you may see improvements in bed adhesion when you correctly add a sensor that maps the surface and adjusts for it during printing. If it is flat, manual leveling works fine.

I am not that clear on whether you would have to ever use the manual bed leveling adjustments or does BLTouch take care of that forever?

Even when using a sensor that maps the surface of the build platform, you should always try to deliver a bed that is as level as possible. In videos you often see the bed tilted (very much exaggerated); you need to remember that the printer will print in a plain level after about 10 mm (or to a different height, determined in your firmware or set by G-code), a skew platform will give you a skew print.


3D scanner for both replicate and quality control 3D prints I've switched to industrial 3D printing.
I use 3DSystems Flex 100 printer.
As I print high detailed parts soon I've found out that I have to use quality control.
Software is not a question. I use Geomagic Design X and Geomagic Control X. Sometimes I also Use Solidworks as I started my engineering way with Solidworks :-)
The thing is that I have to choose a 3D scanner.

It has to work with small (3-7 cm in general) high detailed parts. I also would like to use the scanner as a helping tool with reverse engineering.

Actually, I have one scanner in my mind: 3D Systems recommended me the Artec Micro. I've researched all the data Artec provides... It sounds good, resolution, works with Geomagic software, bla bla bla...
But when I've tried to search web for any user experience, I've found pretty nothing. I'm quite a noob with 3D scanning so I'm afraid to buy such a device without being able to see if it really suits my needs.

The question is: "Does anyone have experience with this or any other 3D scanner, used for similar purpose as mine an can recommend it, or tell me not to buy it?". Or any tips how to find out if the scanner suits my needs before actually buying it.
I know how to choose the right printer, but scanners are confusing:-)

Thus question is very close to being out of the scope of the questions encouraged on the 3D Printing SE site,  but you have worked closely with Trish and Oscar to make it into less of a "recommend" question and more of a "how might I choose" question

What to look for in a 3D scanner?

You mentioned using the scanner for quality control.  Lets start with that.

The best way I know to do optical quality control is to image each layer after deposition rather than viewing the completed object.   Especially for printing engineered objects,  like rocket fuel pumps and jet turbine blades,  it is important to be able to see inside the object and detect voids, bad adhesion, and points of unexpected stress.  That is hard to do with the full object,  and easier to do layer by layer.

But this may not be the QA requirement  you are trying to meet.  Maybe the gross object appearance is what you are controlling for.

If so,  you need to define what is good enough and what is a failure.  With those criteria,  you can see which scanners give you that discernment.

I suspect that won't be far off the requirements for the "reverse engineering" you also intend.

Another criteria is the software.

It's the workflow simple,  or can it be made simple?  20 clicks through detailed menus which must be done correctly and in sequence is not easy to get right twice a week when you need out.

Consider the color of the illumination

Be sure it will not interact badly with your objects.   A red laser does not scan well a red object.

More is more, not necessarily better

Higher resolution is great if you have three I/O channels to support it,  the disk space to store it, the RAM to hold it,  and the processing power to absorbable it.


Home-brew alcohol to clean resin prints I took the plunge and bought a resin printer. I was wondering if I could use full strength home-brew vodka at 90 % instead of using isopropyl alcohol before anything is added to clean prints with?
I cannot seem to find anywhere or anyone that has tried this.

Isopropyl-Alcohol - Propan-2-ol - and Ethyl alcohol - Ethan-1-ol - are different chemically. As a secondary alcohol, Propan-2-ol has quite different solubility of different materials than ethyl-alcohol.
Now, let's look at home made alcoholic destillate. That stuff is, if done in one refraction and without tossing the first low temperature part, some percentages Metanol, Ethyl alcohol and maybe some water. That has not the same solvent properties as Propan-2-ol.
While it might work, nobody will sign a guarantee that it doesn't negatively impact your print.


Able to compile, but not upload The board is BTT SKR v1.1.
I know the board is connected with COM3. I get the Avrdude 500 timeout.
I am using VS Code, and am close, but need to know exactly what changes to make in config/adv.

I have both the BTT SKR PRO v1.1 and the BTT SKR mini v1.1 (it is unclear which is meant by the OP), and for both you do not upload over the USB, you compile the software into a firmware.bin file which you place onto the microSD card. Once you power the board, the new firmware file will be installed onto your board.


Anet A8 bad/inconsistent extrusion after changing nozzle I just changed my nozzle on my Anet A8 after it was fully used up. When I started printing with my new 0.4 mm nozzle (same as before) my extrusion was VERY bad and inconsistent, even so bad I couldn't continue printing because it would pull the first layer off.

If I compare it to my extrusion before the nozzle switch, it is really bad, even though I tightened everything as before. I am quite sure it doesn't have to do with adhesion to the heated bed since I use tape with PVA glue.

Any advice on how to remove this under extrusion so I can continue printing?

All the specs:

25 mm/s first layer print speed
200 °C nozzle
60 °C bed
PLA filament;
0.4 mm nozzle size

Let me know if there is anything else you need to know.

To be sure it's from your nozzle / extrusion mecanism, you could check calibration by extruding (in the air) 100mm of filament, and check how much it really uses. If it uses 100mm (or so), then the problem comes from any other parts (bed, filament feeding...).

If this is really an extrusion problem, first you can check again your extrusion step motor gear. If it's ok, then you could put back your old nozzle to ensure the new one is the problem... If all is ok with the old one, then yous should have something in your new one, or it's not a .4mm ?


How do I calibrate the temperature of my hotend? I'm using a Monoprice Maker Select v2 (a Monoprice-branded Wanhao i3 duplicator) and would like to calibrate temperature readings for my hotend.

I used a thermal probe on my multimeter to determine the hotend is running about 5 degrees C above it's reported temperature (setting it to 200 degrees reads 205 on the multimeter).  I measured this by placing the thermal problem partly into the hole where the printers thermistor resides.

I use Marlin 1.9 for firmware and ideally would calibrate it there--I'd prefer the readouts to be accurate rather than relying on offsets to compensate.  What's the process for recalibrating the hotend temperature readings?

Unless you are using a calibrated temperature sensor, it is a question what the temperature will be.

Actually it doesn't really matter what the temperature exactly is, you just need to find the sweet spot for your filaments on your machine. With respect to reported temperatures by others, your settings may differ a little, but that does not matter.


Settings for Taulman 618 Nylon I would like to know what are the best settings for Taulman 618 Nylon filament? In particular, the print head and print bed temperatures.

240°C, lots of cooling.

See Material Specification Print Sheet - Taulmann 618 Nylon.


Using KISSlicer from command line on Linux? Is there a way to use KISSlicer from the Linux command line?

Or convert KISSlicer settings/profile to Slic3r/CuraEngine?

Apparently you require a PRO license for using the command line interface.

As of version 1.6 the following command line options are implemented:


Z axis issue after upgrade from stock FW to Marlin 2.0.7.2 on Ender 3 Pro I'm having an issue with bed levelling since upgrading my stock Ender 3 pro to Marlin 2.0.7.2.
The upgrade process seems to have gone through fine, I get the new options and it shows the FW version when I power on. My issue however, is that after I auto home the printer, disable stoppers and then level the bed, using a piece of paper, any time I attempt to print the nozzle hits the bed which stops all flow as there's no space for the filament to come out.
This process is exactly the same as I used to do before the upgrade and I never had issues, only since the upgrade.
For reference, I've manually adjusted all the wheels on the printer so there's a large gap (for testing) between the paper and the nozzle at any point on the bed (the piece of paper passes below the nozzle with zero resistance). However, when I attempt a print, it homes the printer and then the nozzle drops lower and crushes any paper I put between the nozzle and the bed (I do this while testing so it doesn't damage the bed), the paper is impossible to move by hand.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong here? None of the guides that I've found for installing Marlin 2.x on the Ender 3 Pro mention anything about having to make any changes to allow the Z axis to work like before so at a bit of a loss as to why this is happening.

Something that occurred to me. I use PrusaSlicer as my slicer and I noticed that it has the following lines in the custom G-code for the template that I always use that reference "Z", now admittedly I'm no expert with G-codes but could it be either of these that's causing the issue:
G1 Z2 F240
G1 Z0.28 F240

Edited to add full prusaslicer template gcode below:
Start G-code
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M104 S[first_layer_temperature] ; set extruder temp
M140 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set bed temp
M190 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; wait for bed temp
M109 S[first_layer_temperature] ; wait for extruder temp
G28 ; home all
G1 Z2 F240
G1 X2 Y10 F3000
G1 Z0.28 F240
G92 E0
G1 Y190 E15 F1500 ; intro line
G1 X2.3 F5000
G92 E0
G1 Y10 E15 F1200 ; intro line
G92 E0

End G-code
{if max_layer_z < max_print_height}G1 Z{z_offset+min(max_layer_z+2, max_print_height)} F600{endif} ; Move print head up
G1 X5 Y170 F{travel_speed*60} ; present print
{if max_layer_z < max_print_height-10}G1 Z{z_offset+min(max_layer_z+70, max_print_height-10)} F600{endif} ; Move print head further up
M140 S0 ; turn off heatbed
M104 S0 ; turn off temperature
M107 ; turn off fan
M84 X Y E ; disable motors

Before layer G-code
;BEFORE_LAYER_CHANGE
G92 E0
;[layer_z]

After layer G-code
;AFTER_LAYER_CHANGE
;[layer_z]

This seems like Z homing issue. Sounds pretty frustrating, so I will try to give some hints, though I do not have Ender 3. Also maybe my few questions will be helpful.
Did you "adjusted all the wheels on the printer" after the Z position was zeroed? This could be crucial, especially that firmware may raise Z up after homing (e.g. to 4mm). The G-Code you have sent makes simple Z moves: rises to 2mm, then lowers to 0.28 mm above the sea level (and F is denotion of speed). And obviously this should happen AFTER homing Z axis, not earlier - could you check earlier G-Code for G28 call?
If you can manually move the bed out of heatend's range (to avoid crashing it) then I suggest to use own file containing only two commands to experiment with Z homing only, e.g.:
G90             ; absolute positioning (just to be sure it is not incremental G91)
G28 Z           ; homing Z axis
G1 Z0.0 F100    ; firmware may have raised Z up slightly, so lower again to 0

If homing would cause the bed accident, than I am unfortunately right - or:
(Added after tracing real problem) Check if Z axis is not loose - e.g. coupler screws are tight - so Z axis cannot rotate on its own by gravity and wight of carrige. When Z steppers are enabled, you should not be possible to move carriage up and down with slight pressur of hands.
Does the printer react to Z endstop? This is first thing to check, actually. You can you press it with finger during Z homing to check if it would react properly (Z homing stopped).
If not, then... did you compile Marlin on your own? For example maybe the Z endstop is or should be inverted. More insight is needed then against the Configuration.h, e.g. file for Z_MIN_ENDSTOP settings. Would be good to have its version from previous firmware, or google some valid Ender 3 file to compare with.


Printing with PETG, printer says it's out of filament when it clearly is not Background:

I have an Alfawise U20 (CR10 clone) and am still somewhat of a noob, though I've been learning as much as quickly as time will allow.

The Alfawise U20 has "out-of-filament" detection, though I'm not 100 % certain how it works. I think that there's a roller across from the toothed knob that drives the filament into the Bowden tube, and if the roller doesn't roll, that means the filament has run out(?).

I've become fairly proficient printing with PLA but this is the first time I've tried printing with PETG.

Problem:

Almost immediately after starting a print, the printer pauses the print and displays message "Out of filament. Would you like to change filament?" There's not even time for the toothed knob to click, which I've seen when trying to print PLA too fast/too cold.

If I manually extrude some filament, it seems to work fine. When I resume the print, it will print for anywhere between ~2 seconds & ~5 minutes before pausing again, prompting me to change filament.

I'm printing at 240 °C. I've seen opinions vary pretty far & wide wrt how hot to print PETG, with some people saying you can print successfully as cold as 215 °C, and others saying you should crank it up to 250+ °C. This filament is rated for 230-250 °C extrusion.

Again, manually extruding filament works fine. No slippage, no clicking. Smooth extrusion.

I've read that PETG is extremely hygroscopic. Could my problem be caused by the filament having absorbed too much water? How would I even determine if this was the cause?

What else could be causing my problem? I've read some printers' "out of filament" detection have problems with translucent filaments?

Shoutout to @0scar for posting a photo of the filament sensor, that was super helpful. Also thanks to everyone else who pointed me to the filament sensor and resources around that.

I also tracked down this review which had great information around my printer's filament sensor as well. It turns out that the hole that goes to the sensor is way too big and there's a lot of play with the filament. As I jiggled the filament up & down I could hear the sensor clicking on & off, clearly indicating that if the angle of entry of the filament was too low, the sensor would not be depressed and this would continue to be a problem.

So for my next print, I did what that reviewer suggested and simply unscrewed the sensor & taped it so it would not stop my print. My print was unsuccessful for other reasons (under-extrusion/failed to adhere to the build plate ), but at least I think I've figured out what's going on with my filament sensor. Thanks again everyone!


Cura confused as to what's touching the buildplate? I'm very new to 3D printing, but so far I've been able to print a couple things off Thingiverse without issue. However, as I'm trying to print another part, I've run into a situation where Cura is totally confused as to what's touching the buildplate and what isn't:

All I did was use the "mirror" feature to put it in a better orientation for printing....

Any ideas what's going on here? I'm using Cura 3.4 for Linux.

Update: I tried using the rotation tool instead as suggested by Oscar, but I get the same result:

Update 2: Hmm so even when I just import the part without doing anything else, Cura is still confused:

The up- or down-ness of a part is its Z-orientation, which is specified in STL. It looks like whoever published that STL file published it upside down, requiring you to flip the part or rotate it by 180. You can flip it in Cura as you've done or leave a comment to the author of the STL that the part is upside down.  However, the author may not know how to fix this because low-end modeling tools typically do not have the capability of flipping a model. In these cases, using another tool such as Cura or Slicer can generate a right-side up model. Cura seems to like generating AMF files, so I use Slicer to generate STL files for upside down models. Once you correct the STL file, you'll be able to import the model directly into Cura right-side up.


How to reuse modelling bases for the Stratasys uPrint SE Plus? It's criminal how wasteful the Stratsys uPrint SE Plus is with it's 'one use' modelling bases. Is there a reliable way to re purpose them? I have tried ethanol and acetone, but not had any luck.

What I tried and worked is to apply water based normal Glue-stick on the tray and with few drops of water distribute it evenly across the tray surface, let it dry and then you are good to go!


Ramps 1.4 with a power brick I'm currently designing a RepRap 3D printer that will not have a heated bed. I have heard that it is possible to use a power brick with commercial printers lacking heatbeds. Is this possible with a RepRap printer using a RAMPS board?

I'm referring specifically to the TronXY X1 power brick. I was wondering if it we're possible to use the same TronXY X1 power brick with a standard RAMPS 1.4 board - rather than the special board the TronXY X1 uses.

As long as you provide enough energy to heat the nozzle and keep its temperature, that is possible, as steppers power usually is limited by driver to reduce noise.

see the attached video: A fully mobile printer example here


Cura not allowing full print area to used Cura does not seem let the full print area to be used. My printer is a Lulzbot Mini. The design illustrated below can be found here.

Cura is likely factoring in your skirt. Change the skirt lines to 0 and you might be able to print. Cura also seems to have an in-built build size offset of about 2mm. I can't seem to get rid of it in any way other than to change the build size.


What slicer settings would produce the strongest part? If a part is wanted to be made the strongest possible, what slicer settings should be used?

3-5 shells vs  all shells, no infill?
100% infill vs  some other % infill?
Thin layer height vs thick layer height?
Any other relevant settings?

If your real question is what would be the strongest then I say - the solid would be the strongest - no doubt.

But if the question is:

what be the strongest in comparison to weight or
what is the strongest in comparison to the cost (amount of material)

then these are good questions!

You can of course find many tutorials and comparisons on the net and there will be many answers - which all of them could be good/bad ;)

If these are your questions then instead of simple answer you can ask more questions like:

in which orientation or
for what purpose or
for continues stress or maybe for variable stress or
for bending forces / shearing forces or maybe tearing forces

all these forces and circumstances could require other answer... which could also lead to other questions :)

But according to my experience, the strongest settings (for general purpose) is 3 outlines (and the same number of first/last layers) and triangle infill 20-25 %

Why I think this is the strongest, 3 layers gives good chance to have well stickiness even if there are geometric/design issues and triangle infill gives good (and common) way to carry and spread forces.

But as I said it depends on many input data.

Let's look at these figures:

in figure A we have the strongest composition for compression; this is because all working forces try to damage material particles which is of course hard to do (depending on material density and length of polymers and the way they are tangled and so on - in general - material strength only).

If we consider figure B where forces try to tear apart layers then we know that we base on stickiness between layers which can vary on printing parameters (as is temperature and speed).

Finally, figure C shows shearing forces - in terms of layered structure it doesn't really differ from tearing apart but the results (the resistance of and object) is even weaker - it's because we base on stickiness and we additionally have less effective field of working stickiness) which reduces endurance of an object.


3D printed part sticking to the support layer I am using a Flash Forge Creator, and when I print big parts (only in this case) I have about 25% of the bottom of the printed object sticking very hard to its support layer. And I spend a lot of time removing it with a cutter.

Is there any clue or good practice to avoid that?

I use ReplicatorG for my printing settings.

I finally found out two causes:

The 3D printer has default settings for ABS, and since there is no printer bed settings in ReplicatorG, the bed temperature was set to 110 °C instead of  60°C. I fixed the setting directly on the printer itself.
It seems that one side of the printer bed was little closer to the nozzle than other sides (relatively to the extruder) and this added a pressure on the support layer. I found this by observing the structure of the support layer that was little more compressed in one side. That was easy to fix by iteratively tightening/loosening the screw of that side and observing the support layer (and canceling the print if it is not homogeneous).

I installed Ultimaker Cura and Slic3r to try them and I found that Ultimaker Cura was not adapted to my printer (I did not found a complying model), Slic3r seems to be okay but I was not able to fit my big part inside of it.
I am trying to use the maximum available space for my part, perhaps I need to change some settings for Slic3r and anyway it is already working on ReplicatorG.


Is this hot end salvageable? Kicked off the second long print in a series (printing Lack enclosure components). First 10 hour print was flawless. Started this one, saw the first layer laid down well, went to bed. Woke up to this (you can see the successful prints in the background):

The whole heater block and nozzle is entombed in PLA. The leads to the heater and the thermistor are too. I'm assuming there's no solvent for this, and I'm better off just buying a new hot end.

Thoughts?

Yes
I had a somewhat similar clog once, and I could fix it back up. However, it is a lot of work.
Hobbyist Way
Step 1: heat
As long as the heater cartridge is still ok, just fire up the printer, move up the print head by 50 mm and wait some two or three minutes till the goop is warmed enough at the core to melt. Set the hot end to 200 °C and no cooling fan.
Step 2: rough clean
Check the cables for your hot end and thermistor as long as the plastic has not yet softened up around them and especially surrounding the thermistor: When the glob is removed in one swoop, you might tear the lines! It's better to use a sculpting tool or exacto-blade on the softening plastic and make an opening that allows the glob to be pulled away safely with minimal pull on the cabling.
When the blob has softened enough, you can just pull at the outer of the blob to pull it down. Use a tool like pliers and pull off the worst that still sticks to the hotend. Pulling the blob free can take a while, so be patient and careful.
If you have a soldering iron, you can use that as a heated scraper from the outside and skip on heating from the inside. If you have no temperature control (as if your thermosensor is shot) outside heat is the only safe way.
Step 3: Cool down
After having made a rough clean up from the outside, let it cool down so you can dismantle it.
Step 4: dismantle and clean the hotend.
This is actually rather simple, and I will point to a question where I outlined that for a broken thermistor cartridge. You have a working thermosensor at least, so less problems on that front.
Shortcut
If you have a hot air gun for hot air soldering, you can be much faster! Skip step 1 to 3, dismantle the hotend and go straight to Step 4, dismantling it and cleaning it out of the machine with the hot air soldering tool as a heat source. Heat and scrape away, and get out the thermosensor and thermosensor as soon as possible to prevent destroying them.


First (bottom) layer has gaps First off - I'm rather new to this and I might be on the wrong track altogether...

I'm printing PLA using a simple DIY XYZ printer with a direct-driven extruder, 0.3 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layer heights, using Slic3r. I've tried to calibrate the bed as level as I can. I believe the distance to be OK because the skirt prints in straight lines with no wobble.

While the overall results aren't that bad, I'm trying to improve the quality. I'm not happy with the first layer: While it sticks to the bed nicely, the printed strands are too far apart - there's a very noticeable gap between them that I can actually see the second layer through. There appears to be a problem with the second layer as well which always ends up too small (recessed). That's only the second layer, though - from the third layer on, that problem disappears.

What I've tried so far:

change the nozzle and/or bed temperature by 10-20 degrees up or down - no visible change
change the print speed (using the dial on the printer) - no noticeable change, especially when going slower
change the first layer extrusion width from 200% to 250% or 300% - that made the strands "flatter", but also made Slic3r space out the strands so that I ended up with gaps again
increase the extrusion multiplier - that seemed to help the first layer, but lead to over extrusion further up, so I didn't pursue that any further
manually increased the flow setting for the first layer in the printer menu to 135 - that seems to do the trick, but I have to turn the setting back again on the second layer

Now - is this the right way to fix this or am I just patching over an entirely different problem that I just failed to diagnose properly? If it is the right way, how can I tell Slic3r to either change the flow rate / extrusion multiplier just for the first layer or increase the extrusion width without spacing the strands further apart?

You can, in most slicers, set a separate extrusion multiplier for the first layer. This doesn't appear to be possible in slic3r, but there are a couple of ways to work around this:

Change the Z offset (either in software or by adjusting the endstop). Bring the nozzle closer to the bed for the first layer. You can combine this with an increased first layer height. This is the most appropriate fix for your issue.
Use M92 EX.XXX to increase the extruder steps/mm in the start G-code, then set it back to normal in the layer change code. This emulates increasing the extrusion multiplier for the first layer.


Fixing uplifted magnetic heatbed surface When trying calibration prints, I printed something with 240 celcius on magnetic heatbed and when removing the object, because it sticked very hard on surface, it uplifted surface of magnetic bed.

So when printing first layers, nozzle touches the bed when it's passing on that points.

Is there any way to fix this? I'm thinking about ironing the magnetic bed but not sure.

The Ender 3 Pro bed looks like a sheet of steel with a stick-on plastic sheet.  If the steel plate is bent, you would probably be happier to buy another one.  If the plastic film has lifted off the bed, you might be happier to buy a new plate, although there are sheets of film with adhesive available.

If you are printing small objects, you can plate them other than in the center.

If the problem is that the central bump screws up auto-leveling, try ironing while you are waiting for the new one to arrive.

I looked on the Creality site but did not find listings for spare parts.  You may need to be a customer to see that part of the catalog.

Ironing it might work.  The adhesive is probably good for 110 C.  I say that because the specs for the Prusa3D bed are similar.  I looked up the 3M product used for the PEI surface and found that the adhesive was the limiting factor at 110 C.  The PEI was good for a higher temperature.  If ironing doesn't work, buy another one.  If ironing does, come back and answer your own question so the information is preserved.


Z-axis of Anet A8 always moves additional 5 mm upwards when moving X and Y-axis in Ultimaker Cura I have an Anet A8 using the Marlin 1.1.8 Firmware.

There are two (very much related) things that bother me:

G00 Z0 (after auto home from printer menu which places the nozzle at Z10.09 according to my settings) goes to Z5. G00 Z-5 brings the nozzle down to the bed but I cannot see any offset like 5 mm.

In Ultimaker Cura I use the jog buttons (like I always do when leveling the bed) but every time I do this it seems that a Z movement of -5 is added. So I press jog distance 10 to the right. The nozzle goes to the right AND up 5 mm. Same with all other jogs. If I do X movements from the printer menu directly, the printer behaves correctly.

What's new is that whenever I connect or disconnect Ultimaker Cura, the display shows Z-4.99 on the display. I went through all settings even the Marlin configuration.h to check where I could change this but didn't find it.

I am using a sensor as limit switch which pysical distance to the bed is 7.51 mm. M503 tells me that there was an offset (M206) of Z of 5. So I sent M206 Z0. In my firmware (configuration.h) the Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER is set to 0 ... hmmm, sounds incorrect to me. other z offsets I cannot see being different from 0.

Answer taken from OP's question

(24.01.2019) UPDATE: I updated Marlin to 1.1.9 and used the configuration from repository. Since I also printed a new print head (for Bowden extruder) I had to rework all offsets. Same time I switched to Simplify3D (cause I need better control for support blocks). Since then the problem disappeared (not surprised). I could not figure out what setting caused my problem. Thank you!


Does auto leveling result in sheared prints? I asked this question as a small question under an answer of another question (How bed leveling is achieved without table screws?), but have been asked to post this as a separate question to answer it with more detail conform SE policy.

One question with respect to automatic bed leveling (also known as ABL): If the bed is tilted and the auto leveling measured this and then the printer adjust the z axis over the position on the bed, will a x-y-point on the first layer be located exactly under the (in model) same x-y-point in a higher layer, or will it be shifted to? I mean, if the bed is 1 mm lower on one side over 10 cm then a top corner of a 10-cm-cube should be also 1 mm shifted, so that the cube still is real cubic and not sheared.

Using automatic bed leveling assists you in getting the print to stick better to the build platform as a result of the print head following the un-uniform geometry or tilt of the build plate.

In, e.g. Marlin Firmware, the bed level correction is fading out over a predefined distance, this is determined by the constant #define ENABLE_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT in the printer firmware Configuration.h file  and the height can be set with M420 Z<height> (see here).

M420 S1  ; Enable compensation using current grid/mesh
M420 Z10 ; Gradually reduce compensation until Z=10

Yes, a cube will not be perfectly cubic, that is why even with auto bed leveling you need to provide a bed as level as possible, it only should correct for very small deviations.

When the print is smaller than the fade out height, you would indeed get a sheared print, if larger, then the top of the print would be level with respect to the reference plane (this is the level of the x-y plane, basically the level of the hot end carriage). Note that that still can be skew if the printer is improperly calibrated (e.g. when using 2 Z steppers or misalignment of the height on either side).


Makerbot layer thickness I'm using PETG, the thickness of the filament is 1.75mm, in MakerBot there is a setting for "Layer Height", the default is 0.1mm, I've had lots of messed up prints with this material and I'm thinking it could be this setting that needs adjustment.

What layer thickness should be used?

Found this:  http://forum.makergear.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2593

Unlike PLA, PETG does not like to be "squidged" down, it likes to be laid down. If you use too small a layer height, there is the danger of the filament sticking to the nozzle, rather than the bed (or filament already laid down). Try using a larger layer height -- between 0.2mm and 0.3mm, if you have a 0.4mm nozzle.


Advantages of PETG filament? I was just shopping for filament, and saw some glowing claims about PETG being as easy to work with as PLA, but as strong as ABS, and less brittle. Anyone know if that's actually true, or what the tradeoffs are?

PETG is great stuff to work with. It is stronger than ABS also. It prints slower than ABS and PLA. The formulas vary quite a bit from vendor to vendor. I have used 3 brands, and each of their properties vary.

From my experience you do have to be careful with moisture. You'll be able to tell you have moisture in your filament if you start hearing a slight hissing and popping and an increased number of structural zits on the object. Moisture will also increase the problem listed in Mark's post below regarding the accumulation of filament on the nozzle.


First layer rippling and no filament in the certain areas Hello I'm new to 3D printing and I noticed some problem with my print.

I've print it 3 times and relevel the bed now, I found that the right lower corner always have holes,

some string problem

lastly, place where there should be a full line suddenly become string like, and it always happen at the same place

It's like my extruder pulls out the filament or fails to create filament in area that should be filled with filament, is it normal or did I set my printer wrong? I'm afraid it might cause holes in my new print.

there's also some stringing problem that cause the layer to be uneven.

Slicer: Cura 4.6

Settings:

my printer is anycubic 4 max pro

From the wispy horizontal lines within the perimeters in your second image, it appears that the nozzle is still oozing material during the travel moves. This is likely causing the hole in the corner and the wispy perimeters too. When the extruder reinserts the filament into the hotend after a travel move, it expects the same amount of material to be in the nozzle as when it extracted the filament, but some material has oozed out during the travel move so that is not the case. I had a similar issue with my printer, and was able to mitigate the problem by increasing the retraction extra prime amount in the material section of Cura. This should compensate for the material loss during the travel move by reinserting the filament slightly farther when starting the extrusion. This solution is not perfect as different lengths of travel allow different volumes of filament to ooze from the nozzle. If you want perfect prints, you may have to tune this to the model you are printing: larger models usually require larger travel moves which would allow more time for plastic to ooze from the nozzle.

If you try this, make sure to look for blobs at the start of extrude moves. If the prime amount is set to high, it can create blobs on the side of the model (or inside depending on which perimeter is extruded first) which could cause tolerance issues on more complex parts.

Personally, I have also added a small coast distance to the end of each extrusion (located in Cura's experimental section). This allows the nozzle to ooze into the perimeter of the part which should decrease the stringing on travel moves, and thus loss of material on travel moves.


Safe, cheap, heated enclosure solution for New England garage Hopefully this isn't against the rules as it may fall under "opinion" more than a concrete answer, but I'll ask anyway.
I live near Boston and it gets cold here.  My Ender 3 Pro is out in a detached garage with no heat and I'm pretty sure the garage getting down to about -12 °C (10 °F) has ruined a few prints for me. Also I'd love to print in ABS at home as well and I think I'd need an enclosure for that.
Now, the printer technically already has an enclosure. It's in a box made out of plywood with some clear acrylic doors on the front, but I think the box itself has too much extra room and doesn't retain heat well enough (thin plywood?).
So my question is, for anyone with experience printing in cold environments, what are some cheap/easy ways to keep the enclosure warm, preferably as safe as possible since I can't always watch the print.  I have a small space heater in the garage but I turned it off last night because I wasn't sure how safe it'd be overnight and didn't want to start a fire.
Thoughts on stuff like "reflectix" liners for the enclosure that would help retain heat, small heaters, IR lamps, etc...?  All preferably on the cheap side.

The easiest step would be to add some isolation on the outside of the box. If you have space inside, there might be a good spot to store some non-flammable insulation, for example rock or glassfiber wool.
A different material might also be possible - firebrick is not only non-flammable but also a very good insulator! about 2-3 inches of firebrick can contain the heat produced by a tempering oven while the outside is cool enough to be safe to touch with gloves.
However, you should install an extra thermosensor for the chamber temperature - and make sure that the printer enters print halt mode once the temperature in the chamber gets above a critical temperature to try to mitigate fire risks and possibly start a chamber-cooling protocol - which might include aborting the print or activating coolers that rapidly cool down the chamber.
As you pretty much are going heated chamber, you might find a spot when you might want to use a flexible hose to pull non-chamber air to supply the parts cooling fan.
Also, possibly relocate as much of the electronics to a compartment separate from the printer's heat chamber to ensure the electronics don't get cooked and can be supplied with cooler air.


Adding a Bowden extruder to a direct drive setup I currently have a single extruder (direct drive) Tronxy X8.

I am thinking about adding a second extruder, that I would use only occasionally. I really like the characteristics of the direct drive extruder, so I would not want to switch over to dual Bowden. Also adding the weight of a full second direct drive extruder for only occasional use does not seem useful.

Is it possible to use a direct drive extruder as main extruder and a (possibly detachable) bowden extruder as secondary extruder?

Is there anything in particular that I need to watch out for when mixing extruder types?

I'm an amateur and I used dual extruder printers but never built any.

It's probably a good idea, take care about the purge, retractions distances that may vary. On the filament feed side there shouldn't be interference from the different flexibility. Still it maybe good to place one reel on one side and the other on the opposite.

Now the most complex thing is to make both nozzle not interfere. A technique is to rotate by few (like 5°) the dual setup to give few millimeter more to one of the two nozzles. If both heads are at the same height, you'll need to keep them hot, and avoid the passive one to leak. It would be good also (but not mandatory) to have a purge routine.


Ultimaker Cura not always telling extruder to retract when traveling I'm having a problem with Ultimaker Cura (v3.4.0) where it doesn't always tell the extruder to retract when performing a travel, which causes the hotend to leave a "trail" as it's moving and not start printing again right away when the travel is over.

For example, the extruder does not retract when performing this travel (blue):

And yes, I do have "retract before outer wall" enabled....

Any ideas how to solve this?

You probably have the "Combing Mode" option under the "Travel" options enabled for each layer (All). Combing reduces print time by leaving out the retraction, but leads to ugly first and top layers by leaving "scars" on the surface. It can be disabled by excluding the bottom and top layer by changing the setting to Not in Skin or for all layers by choosing Off. The latter will increase printing time drastically!

Please note that as of version 3.5 of Ultimaker Cura the options of the combing setting have an additional setting. As of Ultimaker Cure 3.5.0 the options are named:

Off
All
Not in Skin (used to be No Skin a few versions ago)
Within Infill (new setting)


Ultimaker 3 printing area? I have designed a model with the dimensions 215x125x12 mm. According to my printer settings, the printing area of the Ultimaker 3 is 233x215x200 mm. But I can not get the model to fit. Why is that?
Here are some screenshots:

Yes that happens! It finds its source in various possible reasons.

The print bed is not square! There are cutouts caused by the print head;
The Ultimaker 3 has 2 nozzles, when you have 2 active, the effective print bed is smaller than with 1 nozzle active;
Using a brim or a skirt also makes the effective print area smaller.

In re-creating your example, the settings in your projects are not correct (but even if done properly, you will not be able to print it flat on the bed). Take a look at the image below, as can be seen your example still has a brim/skirt reservation, be sure to disable the second extruder (as shown by a cross X before "Generic PLA" at the top).

The only solution to print this on this machine is to print it upright:


How can I make this rounded enclosure feasible to print? TL;DR - What needs to be done to the following model to ensure a successful print?

As part of a father-son project we're trying to make an enclosure for a digital clock. The idea is to make a 3D printed model of a rocket with a hollow body to hold the electronics. The main body consists of two halves that will press-fit together with some integrated mounting locations for the display, micro-controller, etc.

Since this is our first 3D printing project, I would like to know what can be done to the following model to help ensure a successful first print. We have not chosen a material or supplier yet, but I suspect we'll go with PLA since it seems to be quite common, inexpensive, available in lots of colours, etc.

The model is not yet complete - there are several details missing, like additional mounting locations - but I was hoping to make corrections to what we already have before too much further, just in case it requires a complete restart.

Here are some possibly relevant details and goals:

The shell thickness is currently 2.5 mm.
We would like the shell to be translucent to allow a glowing effect from some internal LEDs.
The nose cone and thruster (not shown) will probably have pins that press-fit into the top and bottom of both halves of the shell to hold them together.
There is a 0.5 mm clearance between the lip on the front shell and the detent on the rear shell.
The rectangular window will possibly be removed, or made into a flip-open door.

There aren't a lot of hard requirements as this is just a learning project, so we're willing to change almost anything about the design, as long as we can fit in the existing clock parts.

The Fusion 360 model is available to view online if it helps: Rocket Concept 3

With a couple of minor adjustments, that would print just fine standing up as it is.

Alternatively you could lay it down with the open side facing upwards and use a few supports (my least favourite method), or simply make a flat spot on the back to lay on the printer bed. Which is probably what I would do.

As far as shell thickness goes - 2.5 mm is pretty heavy duty. You also need to bear in mind that it's best to have a thickness as a factor of the thickness of your bead or your layer height (depends on printing orientation) - assuming you are going to print this yourself. So usually that would either be divisible by the bead width or by the layer height. If you want translucent - easy enough use translucent or clear filament. I'd probably go for 1.2 mm or 1.6 mm wall thickness.

I made an angel at Christmas with clear PLA and quite a thick wall (wasn't my model and I didn't bother measuring - but at least 2 mm) and an LED candle lit it up really well.

It's much easier doing this kind of thing after buying the printer. that way you learn much quicker what works and what doesn't.