3D Printers

[Lazybones]

Anyone working with 3D printers at all? I have been tinkering a lot lately and was thinking of getting one for personal use, however my research so far shows them to be inconstant, expensive and a PITA.

My requirements / wish list kind of goes like this (assumes an extrude style printer):

- Self levelling
- heated bed
- interchangeable print head diameters
- wide material compatibility (high heat head)
- Preferably hackable / upgradable not 100% proprietary.
- Under $2000 CAD, preferably under $1000 but dependant on features

Nice to have:
- Dual material support


What do I actually want to make out of it?

- enclosures for electronics projects
- models / figures for kids craft projects
- generally messing around...



I think price and reliability / quality are going to keep me from pulling the trigger but I am curious if anyone here is looking into it as well.

[Lazybones]

Ended up jumping in and getting one.

Original RepRap Prusa i3 MK2S
https://www.voxelfactory.com/collections/3d-printers/products/original-reprap-prusa-i3-mk2-diy-kit

Went with VF to avoid currency and Import costs. Long wait times to get this one but it has huge community support.

The Monoprice printers are also supposed to be very good, they just started releasing a new series.

FYI It took between 8-10 hrs to assemble and then a lot of fine tuning..

[Tom]

Got a Monoprice on Prime Day, the deal they had on was irresistible.

Started the first print. Not sure how long it'll take.

[Lazybones]

Got a Monoprice on Prime Day, the deal they had on was irresistible.

Started the first print. Not sure how long it'll take.

I noticed that the manual shows setup for a VERY VERY old version of Cura.. I assume your first print is off of the SD card.. I would check into profiles for the printer with the latest version of Cure or Slic3r Prusa Edition.

While your print is running you should probably check out https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMakersMuse he has some great getting started videos and in general covers all sorts of 3D printing how to stuff.

[Tom]

Yeah, I just went checking out tools for Linux, and the first one on the list is the latest Cura, and I've been subscribed to TheMakersMuse for a little while now. so far this cat print is going well, but the sample pla it came with may not be enough.. or if it is, it'll be JUST enough. so I ordered some white and black which should get here by weds.

[Tom]

That first layer it puts down to separate the print from the bed was a tad iffy, but it ended up being workable. I /may/ need to adjust the bed some more, but the cat is turning out pretty good so far.

[Lazybones]

Even with my printers levelling sensor it still needed dialling in.

Other than amazon.ca sources I found https://seacans.com PLA prints well and due to proximity shipping is cheap and fast.

I have some PETG on order from Amazon, I want to try printing some more temperature durable things without any stink.


Also as a warning the new Cura defaults to 3mm diameter filament, you need to change it to 1.75mm.

Slic3r prusa edition can also be used with almost any printer if you can find profiles for it.

[Tom]

I got a couple spools from amazon with free 1 day shipping for $25 and $27.

[Lazybones]

Let me know if you have any general questions... After getting a few prints in I setup Octoprint on a raspberry Pi to control the printer, and later on added a camera to remotely monitor prints.

[Tom]

Main issue right now is usb doesn't want to work. it wasn't assigned a driver on linux, then it started having usb errors

[Lazybones]

Main issue right now is usb doesn't want to work. it wasn't assigned a driver on linux, then it started having usb errors

It should just be a USB serial COM device that runs at about  115200 baud nothing fancy it will probably be running an 8bit processor. I would check OctoPrint forums about setting up the Monorpice mini as they will likely contain general linux troubleshooting on how to get it connected.

Generally on low end printers like these you use them one of three ways. 1. Run from SD card independently via sneaker net by dumping .gcode files from your slicer. 2 You tether them to the PC and the Slicer DIRECTLY sends each serial command real time... This can be a problem if you lose power or your PC falls asleep. 3. You setup a print server like Octoprint/Astroprint/Repetier-Server on a dedicated Raspberry Pi or PC and tether that to the printer.

In my case I setup octoprint on a Pi.. The nice thing about octoprint is that it has an API so Cura and Slicer can just send the gcode directly to octoprint after slicing over Wifi.


FYI, while the option exists in most firmware to to tether via USB and save to the SD card. The slow process and baud rate makes it MANY times slower than just taking the SD card out and coping  it directly over.

[Tom]

None of the Linux USB com/serial drivers would claim it. It now can't be detected at all. The usb port was misaligned.. And something may have bent

[Lazybones]

Well the monoprice printer does have a warranty and support for 1 year I believe.

As for USB support on my Raspberry pi  my printer is just /dev/ttyACM0

[Tom]

Yeah, it wasn't picking up the printer with the acm driver for some reason. Then I managed to somehow break the usb port. sigh.

Got my black and white pla in I'ma have some fun.

[Tom]

Ugh. Apparently theres a small lip inside the extruder that causes the filament to not want to go in without a struggle. And the actual extruder likes to jam quite badly. I tried jamming all the filament in there when it was up at 210c, and nada. So I try to pull the bowden tube, and me, being a NOOB, I pull UP on the retention ring on the tube fitting. Turns out that irreparably destroys it. *sigh* Good thing replacements are cheap.

But now I can't play with my new toy again for a few days

I really aught to look harder for instructions when messing with this stuff.