Electronics → Thinking about getting that 3D printer again

I was looking at a i3 Prusa clone but seeing as most open types are not assembled it seems very daunting to do? Also what I need it for is to make a 3 gauge pod for my car I got the 3D file I was wondering do they print direct from the file? I know a lot of adjustments have to made before you get a decent print.

And has anyone used clear filament? I wonder how a 3mm object would defuse light?

I have an Affinia H480 »afinia.com/3d-printers/h480/ and I can not remember the last time I used it...

3D printing is kind of lame... I mean sure it's fun to grab neat little objects from Thingiverse and print them, but that gets old really quick. You really need to be able to operate a decent 3D CAD program and have an artistic flair to make a 3D printer worth buying. If you just have a thing or two you want printed then you might be better off looking for a local "maker space" that has 3D printers available to use.

But to answer one of your questions, most 3D printers you just load the file and print. The file is normally a standard 3D CAD file with a .STL extension. But some printers (usually the home brew type) only take "G-code" so you have to run the STL file through a "slicer" program to convert it then load the G-code file.

Oh I have seen some clear filament and I think it would defuse an LED quite well as the stuff I saw was not real clear...

One more thing if this is going in your car then you might want to print in ABS as PLA objects can become soft around 50°c, ABS softens at about twice that temperature.

As someone who has one if the i3 clones (Specifically the Anet A8), it is a little bit daunting at first. Completely unassesmbled with 100s of parts. The included PDF assembly instructions aren't terribly clear and some steps are off. Usually recommended to follow a set of assembly videos on Youtube which are more accurate.

With these printers, you absolutely need a slicer and cannot load an STL directly. They usually have a MicroSD slot on the printer to print directly without a PC, but you do need to convert to G-Code first and load that.

The community around it is great though. There's a lot of good wiki's full of info, I am currently subbed to a Facebook group focused on the A8's that also has a lot of good info and friendly support.

As you said, there is a lot of tweaking needed to perfect things and there's also a ton of upgrades you can do to make it better.

I am kind of in agreement with b10010011 though. If you are just in it for a few prints and going to shelve it afterwards, it probably isn't worth it. There's plenty of places nowadays that will do prints for you. Local libraries, a maker space, sites like shapeways will also do prints at a cost and ship to you. If you do plan to get involved and really putting it to good use, I say go for it.

I was looking at the anet A8 as well how long did it take you to assemble it? It's cheaper to do a print yourself then to have a place like shapeways to print.. it would be about $100 besides it would be nice to learn a little bit on the design part of projects..

I assembled mine over the course of a few days. I'd say probably a few hours in total not counting going back and re-checking everything. Initially I followed the included PDF instructions but got stuck on some final steps that didn't come out right so I went back to the beginning with the Youtube assembly videos and tweaked/fixed as I went along.

This is the FB group I mentioned above: »www.facebook.com/groups/ ··· 6501015/

Ordered the anet a8 but now which level sensor do I need? They have the square and the round threaded one

As far as I'm aware they all work with the a8. I haven't gotten to that step yet and still manually level. I do know if going with auto bed levelling you will need a third party firmware like Skynet. The stock doesn't have provisions for working with anything but the stock Z stop switch.

I'm sure I can find the firmware for it but they all need a bracket for it right?

Yep. Stock doesn't have the mounting for those sensors (Except for, I believe, the BLTouch one advertised as A8 compatible which has a bracket attached already). Generally people recommend getting started with the stock setup and manual bed levelling, get things going and tweaked a bit and then a ton of upgrade options that you can print yourself open up including the sensor mounts.

How long does it normally take to manually level? Seems like a lot of people use glass for the hot bed as well.

Not too long to manually level. Once done a couple times it goes pretty quick. 5-10 minutes. And at least for me mine has stayed level over 6-8 prints so far.

Glass for the bed is good. Reasoning is the metal bed will warp a little and mess with levelling when it warms/cools. Accuracy is sub-mm so the tiniest bit will mess with it. Glass seems to be a lot less susceptible to that. Lowes Depot will get you a pane cut to size under $5 easy. That's where I got mine.

The jst xhp-3 don't most 3 wire case fans have the same connection plug? If that's the case I'm sure I can find something. As for the glass that's good to know how thick did you get the glass?

Man I'm trying to already change out the LCD to a OLED I know it's a 20x4 display I have a 16x2 I got 2 years ago in yellow the display is very sharp i just don't know what protocol they are using for the controller on the LCD :-/

Ordered this one

»www.crystalfontz.com/pro ··· d-module

It seems the LCD can be taken off the anet A8? I see on thingverse they have a external one up someone did it looks good.. I think I'm going to do the ikea lack table compartment I just need to wait until it arives to check the height. The OLED will be a nice touch for off axis reading and so on

Ok something is binding.. the left Z axis motor.. if I level the bars it will go about midways down and the left side will bind and causes the whole thing to be off level and I have to unplug the printer..

I can't see what's it binding on??

an invar bed would be best.. »www.engineeringtoolbox.c ··· _95.html not expensive either.. »www.eaglealloys.com/invar/

I run an Al bed, with Kapton tape.. (Duplicaror i3) this is my Third? 3D printer (Question mark is because I built one a few years ago)

Have not printed on glass, I've heard its quite the beez kneez once its dialed in. Guess I'm not that motivated.

PLA, and ABS work fine on Kapton (polyacrylide.. I think) Just havent jumped ship yet, I guess.

Well I tried to do my auto level sensor today.. what a long day.. I wasted over 6 hours trying to get it dialed in with Skynet.. in the end I just went back to Skynet without Auto level.. I might try again at a later time but so far it's not bad PETg I have to work a little bit on..

I could not resist but I went down to Microcenter after I reserved the last 1kg roll of Robo silver 1.75mm filament for $9.99

Finally got dialed in now to use PETg without having a stringy mess on my hands. But already have to replace the Z end stop switch that is until I try another auto level

What are some of the successes and experiences you made so far ?

Vibration dampers that the printer is sitting on right now, power switch and fan holder and two MOSFETS for the hot bed and nozzle and enclosed for that. and a spool holder and LED strip light under the LCD display

Yeah, this printer really benefits a lot from the DIY mods available and even some of the upgrades which are pretty easy to do such as the Bowden E3D mod.

I haven't even scratched the surface on mine. Still pretty much stock with an upgraded PSU. Most of my stuff has been prototype style where I couldn't care about looks and isn't too complex so I haven't pushed for the upgrades yet. I do want to try and add the Pi controlled power at some point and finish geting Octoprint set up. Bugs me when I'm at work and find something cool to print but the printer is unplugged at home.

Is the Octoprint a network setup? I hear people talk about it but I don't really know what it's about. I'm still on the same PSU as well but will upgrade at some time.. at least with the fan blowing on it now it's not as hot. As for the Bowden E3d I hear people talk about it but I can't see what makes it better?

Octoprint is a separate software package you can run on a spare PC or, as most people do it, on a Raspberry Pi that essentially creates a web interface for your printer where you can monitor it, view a live webcam for it, initiate and control prints, etc.. It even includes a slicer plugin where you can just feed it an STL and go. Some people have even written plugins for it to add power relay controls in the web interface for, for example, turning the printer on and off remotely.

The biggest thing I've seen about the Bowden setup is it moves a lot of weight off the X axis so it helps it move a little more quickly and accurately. You are basically moving that extruder servo and fan and a lot of the mounting components up to a stationary spot on the printer frame leaving just the hot end and nozzle fan to worry about.

you left out the keyway in the water pump impeller in the first picture.. interesting making it out of plastic, but I don't think it will last long..

heh that's a turbo impeller I scaled it up however the gauge pods they will be going in the car I might print another 2 to get the correct fit and all finally got to use the Dremel work bench for real work :P

btw it was done with a 200% Feed rate

I myself use OctoPrint on my Raspberry Pi 3. I really like being able to monitor and control my printer away from home. It's also handy being able to upload stl or gcode files to the Pi using the web interface.

How hard or easy is it to set up and what is all required?

I will take a shot and ask has anyone tried any clear filament?

What's a easy to use cad program that I can export to cura? I'm trying to do some custom shapes while back I cut some out of plexiglass but I decided I wanted to get a 3d printer so I stopped the only thing holding me up is trying to get the program to make the shape I want.