Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Print Bed Leveling Idea 1.. New iteration please!

So I wanted to re-level my print bed. Easier said then done. When I went to do it I realized the acrylic was extremely warped and causing a major issue trying to get it level again. The leveling was way worse then it was if I would have left it alone. So I took to the forums. I liked something I saw, so I decided to take a similar approach and see what happens.



Step 1: Use something else to space the 2 layers of acrylic instead of the typical spring system. I used these nice little scavenged ceramic parts from work. There is just enough clearance for the belt clips. 

Step 2: Use 2 strips of 3/8" x 1.5" wood and drill holes for this style "nut" to secure in. 

Step 3: After all 4 are in place, use a bolt to compress the spring and spring load the wood the platform

Step 3 alternate view: With a careful eye you should be able to see the warpage on both sides showing. It's really bad in the middle. 

Step 4: Put the larger acrylic over the smaller as before, but now the springs are on top supporting the wood, not under it separating the two acrylics. Using the heated bed spacers, suspend the headed bed above the wood. And if you have a precision ground high grade ceramic plate like I do, put on top of that. 

Whoa Whoa WHOA!!! Look at how tall that is and all the wasted space! Design change time :) It will be in the next post. More details on why I want to level the bed like this in that post. Remember, this is not the option I choose! See the next post.  

Saturday, September 22, 2012

New extruder... not exactly what I wanted

So here I go.. I start putting the extruder together and it says to use some 1.75mm filament to align the gear. I realize that all I have is 3mm filament. My mistake for not reading everything! I will deal with it later, maybe another printer at some point or just changing mine a little. For the 49 bucks I may as well keep it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

New Extruder!

So I know it has been for ever since I have updated. Good news, now that it is getting colder out, and now that I have a new purchase, I should be up and running again soon. Things on my list to do

1. Buy new color spools  :complete
2. Update Slic3r
3. New extrude head intalled :almost there!
4. Additional power supply to power the fans and control board since heat bed is pulling a lot right now

A while back I funded this kickstarter by QU-BD. I did a $49 pledge to get a single extruder just to try it out. It arrived yesterday. It is amazing how many backers they have had! Good for them, I am really excited and hope things work out well. This weekend I will hopefully bash out some of the upgrades and get printing!  It will be in a new color too now that I have another nozzle. If things go well I might modify my machine to make it the dual extrusion further down the road.

Here is a pic of what was included, should be everything I need to get it up and running.