PRO
jstarne1
USA
Asked
— Edited
I ordered a Solidoodle 2 Pro which arrived today. I also ordered with that 2 rolls of filament. It should be 4 total pounds of material to start with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yqM-2DsD0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Wiki.solidoodle.com
I ordered the heat resistant glass for the Flshforge since it has a heated bed. Since I now use mostly PLA I only heat to 50 C so it's not very hot. I used a 1/8 inch diamond drill bit to cut a hole in each end to mount the glass to the heat bed but other 3D hackers use silicon pads from Amazon.com to hold the glass in place.
I must say the knobs are a great idea however the order of startup steps is stupid. The recommended adjusting the zip axis first , then print knobs , then level the print bed where you will need to redo the zip axis adjustment. It makes must more sense to level the bed first with the machine off and the do the Z axis adjustments when the machine is on.
Also about the print bed I was able to get it flat by adjusting the tension on the build plate and the plate started to flatten out.
I hope everything goes well for your business :-} I might be getting a hold of you for a few things :-}
$500 3D Printer
Anyways I has to make adjustments to the Z axis stop and initial print height. I also reduced initial print speed by 50 percent. I do want to print some accessories as practice
Today I made my first .1mm resolution print. It is a filament feeder cone. I used a 2 layer raft and 3 mm skirt. The raft and skirt combo mean delamination of the edges are not likely to effect the print.
This is a test print I did a few times to get the filament to stick yet also squish evenly.
Once the print was done I decided to try acetone on the print. I just dipped it in a cotton ball and dabbed it on. I believe I will make a acetone vapor station from a crock pot with a lid. Here is the part after just being wiped with it. You can see the slicked over gloss it makes. I believe this will result in a more stable part as well to protect against layer delamination.
Looks like a great part. The one thing I can say is that the first 5 to 10 minutes of a print are the most important and it's 90 percent likely that if a print will have a problem it will happen then.
Next though I believe I will do the extruder fan and tunnel add on.
Ok so after my first .1mm print I decided to try a .3 mm which is standard with support material. I apologize as I forgot to take a picture before I pulled the support materials off. Since we will be putting together bipeds and such it is beneficial to have a couple dozen servo blanks laying around just for assembly purposes. I will check the measurements and if everything is good I will do repeat prints.
I have learned that printing with a raft increases adhesion to the build plate and acts as a buffer between and warps from the print bed and the part. There are many projects where supports are needed to keep the part perfect and this is all don't with software.
This instructions on this part were to scale to 105 percent but since I can only use decimals I used 1.05 scale.
Both these materials can collect dust and other contamination from the air that can clog your extruder later. Also the filament can absorb water from the humidity in the air. I want to keep my filament fresh long enough to use it all up. I picked up a cheap plastic toolbox that is near airtight and a roll of water strip.
Home Depot
-Homer 19" orange tool box
-16 oz of desiccant with carbon absorber
-.25" wide weather strip
The 2 pound filament roll fits nicely. Looks like I can fit 4 rolls of filament in here for storage between printing.
J
I picked up the box and damp aid while I was on the way to pickup 1/4" lexan and magnets to enclose the solidoodle.
I have a dual temp lcd I may install so i can monitor inside and outside case temperature.
I used the 1 inch foam and a hot knife to carve a giant gasket to lift the top plexiglass out of the way of the extruder and filament feeding in. Once I had the carved price I painted it black with acrylic paint using a brush. Unfortunately spray paint will easily melt the foam.
A couple more questions. Where did you get yours? On the Solidoodle website it mentions open source software but I can't find the software anywhere on the site. What software does it use? It says you have to download it, that there is no disk, but no info on where to download said software. What am I missing?
@Antron007 here the link.
j
I believe with the knobs on the bottom of the platform keep is from lowering completely and it appears it may need that space to print an object 6 inches high. I will remove the knobs tonight.
@jdebay, Thanks, I see it now. Duh. -1 for me.
I pulled the knobs off the bed screws and did a quick print test and came out okay, the front of the bed was mildly out of level. It 30 min I leveled the bed agian and adjusted the Z to tighten the squish on the first layer.
Without the knobs the bed can drop the full 6 inches. So word of advice. DO NOT KEEP the knobs on the adjustment screws like recommend in the start guide to prevent the platform from bottoming out.
Here are just individual finger segments Anthony drew up using white abs.
Here is the test cube with only a 6 mm brim added for stability. One side of the cube came out fine but not the other.
Here is a ironman costume finger that started having some issues , you can see at the bottom of the print it was fine but the higher it went things got rough.
I have emailed solidoodle with my concerns today and I went through the more basic steps but I certainly don't want to void warranty with mods if there was something else I could do to make it print well.
I hope you didn't strip your stepper motor when it bottomed out. Are you still using ABS? have you tried PLA yet? Im just curious as to whether you need anything special to print PLA. everything I've read just says use lower temps and maybe a fan. Is that true? it would be great if temp control was all that is needed. im just leary. if it sounds too good....
it's good to here from you again Josh. I was starting to wonder where you've been.
Email response:
Josh,
Please call me to resolve this issue. I think we might need to do a team viewer session.
We can be reached Monday - Friday
We are in the office from the hours of 9:00AM - 6:00PM EST.
Our phone number is 347-457-6608
Please note, our lunch hour is 12:30-1:30PM
Regards,
Joel
, it's already past 6pm , i received the email about 15 min till 6pm so there wasn't time to troubleshoot today. I will update everyone with what they do.
1. Do you recommend solid doodle for a not very well funded nearly high school student?
2. What common problems will I face.
3. how difficult is it to learn how to use the software?
4. does software come with the printer?
5. What version of printer should I use?
Thanks for any answers and I hope I don't hijack the thread. Very interested in how your iron man suit comes out.
Tech.
I anticipate having to calibrate and fine tune it for a few days to get it really dialed in and printing great. I'm going to get a mirror to put on my heated bed. Getting a good first layer and, getting it to stick is one of the keys to a good print. That's why the raft helps. You're now kind of printing onto it so if its a little messed up it may not mess the part up since it just get scrapped anyway.
I didn't find the software too difficult. There's alot of settings for fine tuning the print process but weather you'll need to use them or not just kind of depends on a little bit of luck I think. Some people claim to pull them out of the box and being super happy with default settings and others have to do a lot of calibrating. The cool thing about settings is that it's better to have them and not need them then to need them and not have them.
You can download the software in a link provided earlier in this thread. There's actually a few pieces of software you need. All free.
1. A 3d design (CAD) program. Ie Sketch-up or 123DDesign. I recommend 123 because it exports stls. Sketch-up does too with a plug-in and I had issues importing those stls into ARC so I switched to 123D. Design your object and export it out to an stl file.
2. Netfab, once you make an stl you want to check the item to make sure it's printable. Netfab will check and fix the model and export a fixed stl.
3. 3d Printer software. Solidoodle uses one called Repetier-Host but you can use others. Once you've imported your stl you can place it where you'd like on the bed. For single items you'll probably just want to center them. Then there's number 4: Your slicer program. this is the one that slices your file up into layers and converts it to the G-Code that get sent to the 3d printer.
I recommend going to you tube and searching for solidoodle ans well as 3d printing. I spent the past week or so absorbing as much as possible. If you want, export some ez-bits and put those through netfab then import them into Repetier-Host and slice them. Once you slice them you can go through and look at the individual layers so you can look at just the bottom layer or a range of layers. You can also modify the slicer settings and go through the part and see how it affects the construction. I think it's cool if anything.
I learned most of this in the last week. I just did intense research. Do some you tubing and you'll get a good grip on it. I recommend playing with the software as you discover new things about it. Infill is lots of fun to play with if you want to go looking through the layers.
Anyway Tech, I'm going with the SD2 Pro because it's the best for my budget. And honestly based on my research it's the only one I'd buy under $2000. That's just my opinion on the matter.
I would recommend it but it takes hours of patience to get things right and learn how to use tools. I have learned to use netlab cloud to fix models with holes or non manifold. In many cases the slicer in solidoodle will not fix them so you need to get the mesh repaired before trying to slice it.
I repaired 2 models one being the ironman thumb and next a servo blank and the processed and sliced in seconds. Better results than before. I will update pics when I get home.
Ok these are all prints I tried after Dj suggested I use a spritzer of wd40 in the extruder before starting. WOW what a difference it appears to have made. I did close up shots and you can see how much tighter the laters were. No other changes to settings were made. The servo is 1 to 2 mm longer than its real counterpart as you can see from top view. I may keep that ratio as servos can vary by that much anyways.
Also a today was a first. I completely sliced and initiated a print remotely first I printed the servo blank then sliced the ironman thumb in a different location of the bed and started another print. I monitored it through a wireless cam that comes with the ez robot kit from a top view since I have plexiglass on top too. It was a bit of a nerdy rush , crossing my fingers the initial raft laid down correctly since I wasn't there for a do over.
I'm no expert by any means but, in regards to picture 2. I've only done a lot of research but, it looks like maybe you need to either lower your speed or lower your extruder temp. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how much or which as I don't own one yet so I've no personal data to use but, based on all of the videos and things I've read, that's what it seems to look like.
Also, I see you are using support material. Now, I can't explain it but, a lot of the stuff I've seen on ye ol' internet, didn't use support material and seemed to come out pretty good. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've watched hundreds of videos on the SD2 and 3d printing. I just want to know as much as I feel I need to about something I'm gonna spend $600+ on.
I'm sorry I suck at keeping track of the best of my research to share. In the future I will try to remember to keep track of my sources. i just sort of cram everything I can into my brain. Needless to say, sometimes my brain can be a mess. *eek*
" I just used Dj suggestion , a spritz of wd40 on the filament going into the extruder and it seems to not have the crazy pattern gaps. I'm not sure what role the wd40 plays but on 2 prints back to back it performed much better than the last 3 or 4 where there were layer delamination and gaps. "
If you could make/create a "drip" feed onto the in feed of the filament perhaps that would help with making better prints (without voiding any warranty issues of course)
I like the metal frame. Have you had any problems? and they are not Opensource are they? What is their program called and can I play with it.
The solidoodle recommends, Repetier Host (Click to download). I believe you can also use repG and a few others as well. My solidoodle was just marked OK to Ship today so I don't have one to speak from experience but I've done tons of research. I'm not sure if the hardware is Open Source or not but some of the software is. Like slic3r for example, I know is open source.
I can't tell you about part cost but I'm assuming that they're the same as or cheaper than Makerbot. (Based on the fact that SD's most expensive printer is still $400ish less than Makerbots cheapest one. They proboably use the same parts. A lot of 3d printers seem to spawn from RepRap printers which, are also open source. I believe Cartesian 3d Printer is the generic term.
Being on team Solidoodle I hate to say it but, I would have gone Makerbot if I had the money but, I wanted a 3d printer, NOW, and for what I can afford, the Solidoodle is the best option for me.
I hope this can get you started playing with the software at least, until Josh can fill in some more details.
FlashForge 3D printer
It is in my opinion the BEST Clone of the Makerbot. You get all of the features of the Replicator1Dual Extruder for about half the price. It is a Flash-Forge CreateII. They duplicated the Makerbot Replicator and gave it all the upgrades. It is almost identical. It runs Makerbot software. The downside for me was that i purchased it from a FF Dealer and not FFusa.com. I would have prefered to have bought it in the USA. I now have to wait for China to ship parts in warranty. But, I have to pay the postage. $30 to send me a $15 part. Once it is out of warranty, I can purchase the parts in the USA. I can still purchase the parts now, but FFusa does not support items bought from Dealers. That includes Ebay, Amazon, other dealers. FFusa is the ONLY authorized dealer in the USA. You ought to see the Factory. It is HUGE. I LOVE this machine.
@Josh- I know you've been busy with the truck but, how's things with your printer going?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lthYHfWYJo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OsSRnAiTf4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Test after I lubed the Z axis and the y and X axis rails as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yN4mdQ1VtQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It's almost a epic misprint , it pretty much printed everything but the object yet due to a optical illusion, you think the glove is inside. This demonstrates good reasons why I need to learn to use the autodesk software.
you can see in some areas the layers are not stuck together well on the horizontal plane. Apparently this has to do with amount extruded and individual layer hieght. Making the layer shorter causes squish I really need.
I did a acetone bath to adhere the seperate layers together , you can pour it on or dab it on with a cloth.
The parts do seem to be more stable but you need to let them sit a few hours so all the acetone evaporates and abs rehardens. I will let them sit overnight and update everyone tommorow. You can do this with heat , like a butane torch or propane to glaze the surface of the pla.
Oem z axis bung is on the bottom , previous models had one on top but my run of printers didn't have one.
Be sure to apply lube above the new nuts. Lube not only aids movement but viscosity of the lube being so thick it provides hydrostatic pressure between the threads meaning even less play. This raise your bed up and down over the fresh lube.
The are the recommended steps however today I will pick up a rubber washer to put unter the nuts so they fit more snuggly. At this time they are not finger tight. With a washer I believe that will do the trick.
I will snap a update picture when I add the rubber washer but this is what your end product looks like. I plan to later paint any mods I do but I leave them white so they are easy to identify for the purposes of aiding other community members.
Seems like a useful engineering mod ...we are all hoping it will prove good!
Ok so here is my first print after adding the Z backlash mod but I have not added the rubber gasket yet. I am pleased with the obvious alignment improvments. This is a .3mm print so it's more obvious here than it would be with a .2 or .1mm
After the print I wiped the part with acetone to seal up and layers that might not have stuck well. Overall it prints 98 percent correct only a couple passes didnt stick in the air tunnel but this is a vast improvement from before the Z backlash mod. It costs like 3 dollars and a couple hours of printing. This particular part I printed was for the extruder fan , it cools the filament slightly to control oz and improve layer adhesions. This is also a recommended mod by solidoodle.
Here is the fan I ordered on amazon.com
Sunon 40x40x10mm Medium Speed fan, Model KDE1204PFV2
Low noise with Patented Vapo Bearing
Model KDE1204PFV2
Specs
Bearing Type: Vapo with MagLev tech
RPM: 5800
Air Flow: 7.0
Noise Level: 27.0 dBA
Power Connector: 3 Pin w RPM Monitoring
Fan Dimensions 40x40x10mm
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
most fans of this size can only move around 4 cfm and some 5 cfm. This fan is rated 7 cfm so i will have plenty of warm air moving across the extruder. This is the second most recommended modification to get clean prints , better bridging and sharper edges and corners. I've also heard the can assist with curves where layers have trouble sticking. There are options in the software for this to be controlled by the slicer as well or i can have it separate from the oem electronics so i have not done any permanent modifications. So in a few days I will have this new fan and I will put those suggestions to the test.
Yea there are lots of pages of posts with people who tried this and confirm the improvement. Here are before and after pictures using the same settings
left no fan, right fan on
fan also helps bridging which is jumping a gap.
These little things seem to have a dramatic impact so it's worth me trying them.
Here is the instructions from solidoodle but I'm not using the fancy controller pictured unless I see further benefits I may get one of them but the stock board has a fan controller anyways I hear.
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/204/fan-installation/
- get rubber gasket for z backlash
-get fan for extruder fan mod (already Ordered)
-resolve warped bed issue- get glass 6x6 inch bed build plates , clips and thermal pads
-print stepper motor 40mm fan mounts for cooling
-Print fan mount for the solidoodle stepper controller +60mm fan
-layer height adjustments, update firmware
-Team Viewer chat to help calibrate the printer with solidoodle tech.
Thanks for sharing all of this info and pics Josh. You've saved me a lot of trial and error time. I'll definitely be doing the fan mod then too.
mirror bed testing 2 mm thick. My only concern is what happens when you heat up the mirror to 105 Celsius. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm looking for any warp from expansion and ability to provide a level surface to print on.
honestly after all the mods I may consider selling the solidoodle for what I have in it with all the cool upgrades and get a makerbot. It's not the hardware so much as the easier to use software. Base on it being a 500 dollar printer I would still recommend it just take in mind you need patience to learn how to calibrate it and learn the software settings because there are a billion... or more like couple hundred.
See the edges of the bed are higher than the center and it's obvious. Closer you get to the edge the thinner the layers are.
This is a BEFORE picture printing to tape on the aluminum bed , no glass used in this pic so you can see the obvious problem.
The PLA needs a fan. The ABS needs an enclosure.
hope that this helped.
Also clips are super easy and I only clip the very edges.
Ok so the first two pics are before the mods , z backlash and glad bed with wd40 cleaner/lubricant, all axis were lubricated with lithium grease and now the following pics are the print from tonight!
The old print is red and clearly not great and the white is the print from tonight in comparison. This is the near makerbot quality I was looking for
[edit]LOL you must have been posting those while I was reading the thread. Those do look nice. Are you using a skirt and a brim or just one of those?[/edit]
i will fill the tiny tips on the top edges with resin filler and they will be done. These tight overhangs are exactly what the extruder fan is intended to be used for. These edges were thin and we're too hot so they curled. I'm just waiting on the fan I ordered which should be here Friday but the prints are going good enough to continue.
next are the thumb and pinky fingers on the bed right now. Estimated 7 hour print.
i started recording my prints with amcap which is the software that comes with the V3 ez robot cams. I could use these videos in the future for troubleshooting or technical assistance.
Since you've been using it a while, what would you say are like your top 3-5 tips for 3D printing - things you wished you had know when you started more or less.
Thanks for sharing these posts and your progress!
Ok so that list
1. I wish I had started by learning to use autodesk 123d or the pro version autodesk 3ds max before buying a printer. Imagine the printer is just a tool to print what is designed. Sometimes prints don't come out right because the design is not optimized for your printers capabilities. Getting to know how to slice objects and make slight changes is very important and I'm not there yet.
2. I wish I had either bought a makerbot ( yes way more money but I wish I had its ease of use) or at least the solidoodle 4 to have a bigger build area. 6 inches build volume is good size but bigger is better.
3. Soon as you get a solidoodle you need to spend your whole first month calibrating it. There are many many options and it takes a while to understand what each does. I'm still learning them and even need to get with solidoodle to show them various price and video of print so they know how to resolve the issues.
4. Consider using alternative software, different slicers for example because each one has its limitations. Document any changes you make so you can reverse them at a moments notice. Some settings work for one model but not a different one.
5. Print out all the recommended mods and also replacement parts for your solidoodle. Things like extruder fan shroud, adjustment knobs, z backlash mod, and a over the top filament roll holder. Even if you get a solidoodle with no case a case is absolutely needed as well as the heated bed. You can buy a model with heated bed and even a case included.
Document everything you do , don't make permanant changes to your machine so you still get tech support. Printable mods usually are held on with a screw or magnet but the machine is still intact.
Lastly read through soliforum.com that is your biggest asset considering there is no real instruction manual for these things.
i am going to move the printer into a closet downstairs so i can print even when I am asleep and get more use out of it. I can absolutely see myself having another printer in the future. They are useful in so many ways.
I know you did several mods and have some more to go. Once all is said and done, how much do you think you will have spent above the original cost to have it really working the way you want? If you had just gone Makerbot from the start, does it have all the things you are adding/changing, or would you be starting with a higher price and still adding to it before it is the quality you need?
I am no where near being in a position to buy one and by the time I do there will probably be improvements and lower prices all around, but I think this kind of info might help those getting ready to pull the trigger now.
Alan
Flashforge-USA
because the shape is square and there is a screw that sticks out in the back. Also I used the soldering iron to widen the holes and fit in the magnets.
i soldered the 9 volt adapter to the leads of the fan and covered them with white heatshrink.
I kinda want to spray this black so that it blends in better. The brown burned marks are from the soldering iron where I heated the plastic up some to widen she shape around the square heat element. I covered the inside and outside of the fan duct with epoxy to help give it some heat resistance but it should be fine.
Well overall it looks good. I used flex seal to give the piece a rugged finish. We will see if there are any heat issues but this is a duct that has been printed and used many times. I did widen the air outlet by trimming the edges all the way around. It clears the bed when the extruder is touching by about 3 mm. It does however stick out the front if I push the extruder all the way forward. I will extend the mounts by say half an inch for the front plexiglass so it will clear easily.
Here is their set behind the scenes...
i will be back in their studio later this week I guess to teach them how to use the machine.