Steve Builds a 3D Printer

Godzilla Printer Finds a New Home

2017-07-09T22:30:00.000-04:00

I got a really sweet deal on this floor model end table at Kittles, and its exactly the right size and height for the Godzilla printer. Incidently, the printer has been in pieces in a box ever since I took it to the RepRap festival. This weekend I re-assembled the frame, just in time for a few new parts to arrive in the mail.

I ordered this Duet Wifi board from Filastruder. Now I'll have to print a new mount for it and re-wire everything.

I ordered a BL-Touch from Antclabs. They're supposed to be really good mechanical auto-leveling probe. I really like the HE-280 and it's gyroscopic sensor, but you can't buy the sensor by its self and the rest of the effector wouldn't work here.

I'm going to have to redesign the effector to accommodate the BL-Touch, as well as the E3D Volcano upgrade that I'm going to be doing.

The Humble Velocipede

2017-07-09T22:12:00.000-04:00

Some years ago, I saw a jaw dropping TED talk where artist Theo Jansen showed off his Strandbeests, and I've wanted one ever since. I've also been permanently hooked on TED talks.

In any case, that was one of the main things that led me to get into 3D printing. I was discouraged, however after printing the BrawBeast, only to discover that my PLA wasn't rigid enough for it to work at the tiny scale I had to scale it to in order to make it fit on my little Up printer.

Those days are over. The Strandbeest was on The Simpsons the other day, reminding me how much I wanted one. I've got bigger printers now, and Thingiverse user Danowall published a very cool new upgraded Humble Velocipede. Unlike previous Strandbeests, this one uses a metal (not printed) driveshaft, which is much stronger, allowing it to work like the real thing. The catch is, you have to buy it from him. But its only 20 bucks and the process by which its made is pretty cool and worth checking out the video of.

It took me about 2 days to print all the parts, using two printers simultaneously. I went with a camo color scheme. Green, brown, wood, and high visibility orange for the tiny little bits. Now I'm just waiting for the driveshaft kit to arrive in the mail so I can assemble this critter.

Antlered T-Rex Timelapse

2017-07-01T12:48:00.001-04:00

Grumpy Cat Head Timelapse

2017-07-01T12:08:00.001-04:00

American Craftsman Birdhouse Timelapse

2017-07-01T11:44:00.001-04:00

First Prints on the V3

2017-05-21T14:47:00.001-04:00

Once I got the Rostock MAX V3 fully built, it was time to attempt the first print. Initially I had a ton of trouble getting the printer to home without grinding and slipping the belts. I eventually determined that the Y and Z endstops were swapped, even though I had double and triple checked them. It turns out, this was because the Y and Z motors had been swapped. I'm still not sure if I made a mistake or if they are mislabeled on the board. In any case, all I knew was after I swapped the endstop switches I was able to home the printer and make the first print.

The MatterControl software that comes with it has a first print preloaded. Its a pair of SeeMeCNC eyes. I decided to go ahead and print it, and considering I had not done any fine tuning I think it came out pretty good.

As it finished, tho, I noticed something was off about it. Can you spot what?

Yep, the eyes are looking the wrong direction! It was then that I figured out the Y and Z motors had been swapped, so everything would print as a mirror image of itsself.

I swapped the motors and then swapped the corresponding end stops, and everything was finally good to go.

A big Capricorn logo is a print that I had been wanting to do for a while, so I couldn't resist doing this as one of my next prints. Bear in mind this is without any real calibration, and still using the stock Bowden tube. I think it came out pretty damn good!

"Offices of Capricorn and Capricorn"

I picked up some rainbow filament a few months ago and I'd been wanting to do a big vase mode print to try it out. Previously I did a print like this on the Geeetech, but it wasn't big enough to get the full effect. You could see it transition slightly from pink to red. This one is much bigger, and you can see it go from red into orange. I'm just now getting to the part of the spool where the colors will start really going crazy, so I've got lots of ideas for it coming up.

OctoPrint

2017-05-21T13:38:00.001-04:00

After building the Rostock MAX V3, one of the first prints I made was a Raspberry Pi case. As you can see, I don't have the printer fully dialed in yet, so this is very quick and dirty.

If you haven't heard of OctoPrint, its a great piece of software that runs on a Pi to control 3D printers. This frees up your computer to do other things, and since it runs Linux, you don't have to worry about Windows Update rebooting your machine in the middle of a print.

I hooked up the Pi to a wired router that I had laying around, because the OctoPrint instructions have all kinds of dire warnings about people hacking the wifi and starting printers on fire. I'll configure it for wireless once I get a little more comfortable with it.

In the meantime, I've been using OctoPrint to print my first few prints. It works great right out of the box. I purchased Simplify3D software, which I've been using to slice models, and then I upload the g-code through a web interface to the Pi which does the printing.

Now my laptop can stay in my office with my Up!Plus2 and my Geeetech Rostock Mini GS2, and my SeeMeCNC Rostock MAX V3 can be in the other room, and I can be printing with all of them at once. The Pi has four USB slots on it, so eventually the Godzilla printer will reside in this room and be controlled by it as well.

The last thing I really need to get is a battery backup for this room. Everything in the office is backed up. We've had a lot of stormy weather recently and the last thing I want to to be halfway through a 20 hour print and have the power go out.

Rostock Max V3 Build

2017-05-21T13:24:00.000-04:00

I needed a good printer to be the flagship test machine for Capricorn Bowden Tubes, and with the Godzilla Printer still a work in progress, and the Geeetech not wanting to cooperate (I have had one problem after another with its hot end. I'll eventually swap it out for something else, but I think that will mean designing a custom effector, and that takes time) I knew it was time to break down and spend the money on a SeeMeCNC.

SeeMeCNC is a local (two hours away) company that makes the best RepRap delta printers out there. I picked up this kit for a Rostock MAX V3 for about $1000 bucks.

It took me about 4 days to build, working nights after work, so probably close to the expected 10 hour build time. (The Rostock MAX V2 reportedly needed 20 hours to build. The V3 has a lot less soldering needed and fewer different screw types, and an overall much lower number of individual parts.)

The longest single step was building the hot end. There is a ton of tiny detail work with very fragile little thermistors and things like that.

On the third day, I would have been done but I got stuck on the calibration. A simple mistake took me forever to diagnose. I'll go into more detail about that in another post.

Captubes

2017-05-21T12:55:00.002-04:00

Wow, so much has happened recently, where to begin. I've been working on a top secret project since last fall, to create an ultra-premium line of Bowden Tubing. It all started when I was shopping for a tube for the "Godzilla Printer" and couldn't find what I wanted.

Fast forward to the RepRap Fest, where me and my business partner, Baz, launched our new company, Capricorn Premium PTFE Bowden Tubing.

We didn't even have the web shop up and running yet. Baz even brought a book to read because we thought we'd be sitting there doing nothing the whole time, maybe make a few sales, but mostly just try and get our name out there.

Well, as it turned out, our tubes sold like crazy! We didn't even have time to stop and go to the bathroom, let alone take pictures. It was such a RUSH!! I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun with my clothes on.

The shop is now online at https://www.captubes.com and we are fully open for business!

Follow us on Twitter @Captubes

Midwest RepRap Festival 2017 is Coming Up!

2017-03-15T21:23:00.000-04:00

Midwest RepRap Fest is the biggest 3D printing festival in the Midwest. Its free to attend, and there's always really cool stuff to see, things to buy, and free samples to collect. Many people will be building printers at the festival. #mrrf2017 March 25-26th in Goshen IN.

Get Tickets at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-midwest-reprap-festival-mrrf2017-aka-mrrf-tickets-28382784673?aff=eac2

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/events/1774004632811551/

Build a printer at the festival
https://www.seemecnc.com/products/midwest-reprap-fest-h2-printer-build-kit

A Tale of Three 3D Printers

2017-02-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

The other day I had some friends over and we were talking about my YouTube videos and things I should do to get more views and things like that. I mentioned the new printer that I'm building, and the other printer that I just finished building and getting set up. I hadn't completed my first print yet on either of them though, so I couldn't show them any examples.

Somehow the topic of printing something "big" came up, so my buddy goes, "How big are we talking? Like the size of a Rubix Cube, or the size of a phone book, or the size of a dog house. Haha, we all laughed at the thought of 3D printing something like a dog house. So I said to him, "well, my first printer, the Up Plus2, can print something about the size of a rubix cube. The Geeetech that I just finished, can print a little bigger objects, maybe something close to a phone book. But the BIG printer..."

At this point everyone knows what I'm about to say and they're all like "no way." I'm shaking my head "yes," and I'm like "Oh yea, buddy. It might only house a Pomeranian or something like that, but you could definitely print an object big enough for a small dog to fit inside."

So of course everyone is like, "duuuude you gotta finish that thing. When's it gonna to be done?"

Soon. Very Soon. Follow my blog for updates.

3D Printer Numero Tres

2017-02-19T16:28:00.001-05:00

A lot of my friends thought I was insane to try to build a RepRap from scratch, without a kit, with no experience, and with mostly 3D printed parts of my own design. And they might have been right in some ways. I'm at the point where I just need to solder a few last wires and the physical mechanical parts of the printer will be done. Then all I have to do is load the firmware and fire it up, configure and reconfigure the firmware, work out all the little mechanical kinks, and so forth, and I should be ready for my first print.

But, what I realized is I didn't really know how to do any of those things, and I was starting to get more and more 3D Hubs orders coming in, so I needed another printer, and I needed it now. Enter the Geeetech Rostock GS2 Pro. I picked up this cheap Rostock kit, with dual extruders and heated bed, for under 300 bucks. Its got a larger build volume, roughly 170mm x 200mm. Thats almost twice as big as the Up.

Its an open source Delta RepRap design, using the Repetier-Host software, and Slic3r for the slicing engine. The firmware is Marlin, so configuration and set-up will be very similar to the big printer.

It took me a full Saturday and half of a Sunday to build it. Everything went really smoothly with the step by step pdf AND YouTube instructions. My only complaint is THE GUY IN THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS NEEDS TO MOVE HIS HAND OUT OF THE WAY or change the camera angle, so we can see what he's doing!

I spent another couple of days here and there tinkering with the firmware, fiddling with values I shouldn't and then spending hours trying to figure out what the heck is wrong, before I had it reasonably dialed in. But I've got a fair amount of experience now compiling and loading the firmware and what all the various settings are, as well as using Slic3r and Repetier-Host.

Only now am I truly ready to conquer the Godzilla printer.

Baby Groot 3D Printed Woodfill PLA Painted with Acrylics

2017-02-16T00:09:00.001-05:00

Non-Contact Infrared Temperature Gun - How Hot is Your Hotend Really Get...

2017-02-13T21:58:00.001-05:00

V29 3D Printed Whistle Test How Loud Will it Get? PLA+ Thingiverse

2017-02-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

Easy 3D Printed PLA Fidget Stones Download Thingiverse No Bearings Needed!

2017-02-08T19:37:00.001-05:00

Huge 48" Delta RepRap Printer Time Lapse Build 8020 1-in Extrusions eSUN...

2017-01-19T11:31:00.001-05:00

48 Inch Delta 3D Printer

2017-01-03T00:53:00.001-05:00

Butter Pig 2017

2017-01-02T23:11:00.001-05:00

Bump Stop Switches and Cable Clips

2016-12-29T19:07:00.000-05:00

I went through a few more revisions on the design of the bump stop switches before landing on this one that I'm pretty happy with.

I also printed some of these cable clips by mgx and started stuffing some of the wires into the channels in the aluminum. These work great, but you have to print them standing on end or they will be too loose.

I printed one of these snap in spool holders, by mgx also. Its surprisingly sturdy. I'm just not sure whether I will use it yet, because I'm not sure where the extruder will be yet.

Some day I'd like to do a flying extruder, meaning the extruder would be suspended in mid air above the hot end. This has various advantages, but its difficult and complicated. For now I just want to get the printer working.

What I plan to do is mount the extruder on one of the horizontal shafts, so that it pulls sideways on the filament and feeds it from the adjacent spool. It will then push the filament out the other end, through the Bowden tube, arcing down to the hot end.

The Build Plate

2016-12-28T18:43:00.002-05:00

The build plate, also known as the print bed, is the flat surface that the printer prints objects onto. In most cases it is made from either aluminum or glass, and topped with coatings like hair spray or glue stick to make sure the parts adhere.

My Up Plus2 printer came with a perf-board print surface, but I eventually swapped it out for a sheet of Lexan (polycarbonate.) This sits on top of an aluminum plate. The aluminum plate has a heating element inside of it that no longer works. Some materials, like ABS, require a heated build plate so I can no longer print with them. Others, like PETG don't necessarily require it, but things will print better/easier if you have a heated bed.

On the big printer, the bed is going to be really big, so it will be difficult to make sure it is perfectly flat. even a steel sheet of that size could sag in the middle if not properly supported (or really really thick). I was looking around for a thick round glass table top at the local thrift stores, when I asked my parents (frequent thrift-store patrons) to keep an eye out. My Dad mentioned that he had some old sheets of slate chalkboard laying around that he could cut for me.

I sent him the dimensions and he cut a cardboard template. I fit it to the base to make sure our measurements were right.

On Christmas Eve, my Dad delivered the cut slab of 3/4 inch slate. It fits perfect! Its really heavy. I think that will be a good thing though, keeping the printer stable.

I disassembled the whole printer again, and reassembled it on what used to be my computer desk. I removed the shelves, and now its a 3D printer desk.

The only question is if the molten plastic will stick to the slate. I think it will act like glass, but the porosity will give it more bite. On the other hand it might adhere too well, and I'll never be able to get anything un-stuck. There's only one way to find out. Whether or not it works, I think its going to be a cool experiment.

The Problem of Sloppy Belts

2016-12-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

I assembled the whole machine again, and put the belts on. With the belts in place it became clear that there is a very serious design flaw in the corner brackets that I'm using, and they will be one of the first things I re-design and print once this thing is up and running. The issue is the belt is spaced
way to far away from the tower, limiting the range of motion of the arms/push-rods.

For now, I simply redesigned the trucks so that the attachment point for the belt is 6 mm farther out.

Its also clear that I will need belt tensioners. These are small springy clips that attach to the belt to take up slack. The corner brackets I used have a built in belt tightening system, but I already don't like it. For one thing, the top of my machine is only a half foot away from the ceiling, and it isn't practical for me to be getting up on a latter to make adjustments all the time,

MicroSD card holder

2016-12-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

Between my YouTubeing and Dash Cams, I've been using a lot of MicroSD cards lately. This printer is going to use even more. These little buggers aren't cheap, and their super easy to lose!

So I printed this Micro SD Card Holder by bgill. I had to scale it up to 110% to get the cards to fit, but its a nice elegant design other than that. The two halves screw together solidly enough that you can screw the lid on and throw it in your bag or whatever and not have to worry about the lid falling off.

I printed it in eSUN PLA+, which is great for accurately forming those tiny threads and making clean slots that aren't clogged by spider-webbing.

After I thought about it, this would be a perfect design to customize with a name or logo on the top. I will probably end up printing another one so I'll keep that in mind.

Download and print one yourself at Thingiverse.

Fuse Panel

2016-12-10T21:42:00.002-05:00

I brought back a selection of fuses, switches, and LED indicator lights from my parent's house when I went to visit them a couple weeks ago. As I previously mentioned, Dad is an electrical engineer and he has been going to flea markets and such for decades, amassing volumes of this kind of stuff.

I picked out a military spec power switch rated at 25 amps, a fuse box, and a couple of small indicator lights. My intention is to use one as a 'power is plugged in' light and the other as a 'power is on' light.

I whipped up this panel design in Tinkercad and printed it from GT-PLA. Givin its simple nature, I didn't feel the need to use OpenSCAD for this one. I put a little open and closed circle on either side of the power switch to indicate off and on.

This whole panel will go on the back of the machine. It has slats on the top and bottom so it will fit between two extrusions. On one end is a hole just big enough for the power cable (that i also got from my Dad) to go through. Of course I'll remember to tie the cord with an Underwriter's Knot, like I learned doing Electric in 4H all those years ago.

Huge Haul of Gypsy Treasures

2016-12-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

I drove down to my parents house this weekend and picked up some supplies for the printer. My Dad is an electrical engineer, and has been into various hobbies like Tesla Coils and HAM radio for many many years. He regularly goes to flea markets and swap meets and so forth. Consequently, he has amassed a huge hoard of electronic components like switches, gauges, wire, and anything else a mad scientist could ever need.

I returned with an assortment of heavy gauge wires, plugs, military spec switches, LED indicator lights, shrink sleeving, teflon spiral wire wrap, zip ties, and micro-switches.

I'll need these parts to wire up the power supply to the Arduino and I'm going to use the huge 12 guage copper speaker wire to run the hot end. This will allow for minimal voltage drop, keeping the hot end hot with less load on the RAMPS board.