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Omega-TI

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I have been having my thoughts return to printing PEB parts, and I find myself considering an attempt to upgrade my 3D printer with a vastly elongated Y axis.

 

While I can't find pretty single-unit beds in the size I intend to install (8x24 inches!), I CAN get silicone heating mats with integrated thermistors in a size that I can double up(just only connect one thermistor, and wire the pads in parallel), Ebay has naked aluminum sheets in this size, and at least one amazon seller sells custom length linear rods. I should be able to cook something up that way I think.

Another sells the needed long threaded rods.

 

The metal-frame construction of my printer should let me get away with this modification,  and the table it is installed on has plenty of room for the extra travel area. 

(not my printer, but I have the same model)

31759ecbcf49690e8ca5a2f4a25dbc84_preview

I should be able to retain the end-plate and idler bearing, and all that stuff.

 

 

It's just a thought that is tickling the back of my head.  If I did this, I would be able to print monolithic replacement front PEB bezels.

 

Sadly, making X axis wider is not really doable (there *IS* some clearance gap on either side of the bed, as shown in the above image-- but not enough to get get a full PEB to sit in the cavity, at least I don't think so)... but Y should be extendable out to infinity, at least in theory. (Gravity sag would be a thing, even with high precision linear rods, given this form of construction.)

 

Any thoughts?

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@wierd_w My wife recently got a job working for the US postal service. She's been working her ass off she's doing about 28,000 steps a day and she's lost about 15 lbs. in 3 weeks. With the added income we've been looking at getting a 3d printer. I'm really proud of her. I married way outside my league.

I've played with one and printed the FG99 cart enclosure for the FG99 that I built. I was wondering because I know very little about 3D printing whether or not Teflon would work better as a base. From the few that I have seen, there seems to be that damnable problem of the base. Either the base gets split or cut or wrecked or overheated. This turned my thoughts to building my own, and I have a whole bunch of Dot Matrix printers and motors, heat sinks too for that matter.

There's a large community of 3D printers that like to find better ways to upgrade their machine. I want to say it's the Comgrow, or the riprap, something like that. I'll see if I can find that community again, Post it here.



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27 minutes ago, Mehridian Sanders said:

@wierd_w My wife recently got a job working for the US postal service. She's been working her ass off she's doing about 28,000 steps a day and she's lost about 15 lbs. in 3 weeks. With the added income we've been looking at getting a 3d printer. I'm really proud of her. I married way outside my league.

I've played with one and printed the FG99 cart enclosure for the FG99 that I built. I was wondering because I know very little about 3D printing whether or not Teflon would work better as a base. From the few that I have seen, there seems to be that damnable problem of the base. Either the base gets split or cut or wrecked or overheated. This turned my thoughts to building my own, and I have a whole bunch of Dot Matrix printers and motors, heat sinks too for that matter.

There's a large community of 3D printers that like to find better ways to upgrade their machine. I want to say it's the Comgrow, or the riprap, something like that. I'll see if I can find that community again, Post it here.



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If you have the surplus dough, I would suggest that you get a proper name-brand one, with good warranty and support.  Markforged is pricey, but their printers are robust. They even make some that print metal.

If you want to do plastic, consider getting one that does laser sintering rather than extruded filament. Materials are more expensive, but the build quality is much better in finished products.  If you do go for one that does fused filament, get one with a 100% metal hot-end.  This is especially true if you want to print basically ANYTHING other than PLA, since the PTFE used in the cheaper hot-ends thermally decomposes at around 250C, which is the print temperature of ABS, Nylon, and pals. (I got lucky, since mine came with a 100% metal hot-end from the factory. Most prusia i3 clones are not so fortunate.) Self-leveling bed will save you a TON of fiddling. (Mine is manually leveled, and it is a royal pain to get it just right.)

 

I would not know about issues surrounding the base like that-- My printer is a metal-frame construction design. The biggest source of woe has been with the build-plate, and its power/thermistor connector.  While the soldering pads are good and long (about 3mm?), they are not up to the task of mechanically stabilizing the connector against hard bumps. I ruined a bed by hitting the connector while monkeying with my printer one day.  On the replacement, I put down a thick slab of "green stuff" epoxy putty over the soldering pads, and directly up against the back of the connector's plastic, to provide mechanical support for the port. Have not had problems with the new bed.

 

The big issue I have seen with mine, in terms of regular use issue, is that while it is all metal construction in the chasis, there is still unacceptable levels of wobble. This means high-speed travel jerking will rock the unit slightly, which impacts print quality. Like any CNC machine, the machine itself needs to be as "Rigid" as possible, and that means heavy.  Sadly, this philosophy does not seem to translate into the consumer 3D printer market.  More than once, I have considered literally BOLTING my printer to the table, and adding support stabilizers to it.  Currently, I run it about 1/3 speed if the print is going to be tall.  If you intend to design your own printer, keep this in mind, and make the printer resist vibration, rocking, and flexing wherever and however possible. If that means filling cavities with sand, then do it. 

 

Other tips and tricks:

 

Printing Nylon-- (Since you can get this stuff in bulk, and I mean BULK!), Keep the stuff in a drybox when not in use, as it is strongly hygroscopic. (or, set your printer up in an uncomfortably hot and dry room, so it basically bakes while it prints. Talking 90F or hotter, uncomfortably hot dry room. My upstairs gets like this in the summer so it works for me. ;)) Prints between 230C and 250C, and outgasses when it has not been properly dried. Use with good ventilation; you never know what they mixed into it.  Bed first-layer temp 90C, remainder 35C. Use a liberal coating of clear PVA school glue on the aluminum bed, and allow to dry completely before starting a print. (I pour then smooth with a spatula, then preheat the bed to to 40C, and allow to dry. Don't worry, it does not form a terribly strong bond with aluminum build plates. Peels off like tape. Provides a good hydrogen-bond rich surface for nylon to adhere to, and sticks acceptably well to the build plate. Good interface material. Reusable! Just add the peeled off film to water and re-use!)  Print with a 1cm wide brim. Use aggressive retraction! 9mm retract distance, 90mm/sec retract speed! If your slicer supports it, use combing aggressively to avoid leaving strings on your part though avoiding open-air traveling. *TURN OFF THE COOLING FAN!*  Printed parts are not terribly rigid-- they are flexible, and tough.  (If using a commercial filament rather than inexpensive bulk trimmer line, follow the manufacturer recommendations for the filament temperatures.) Suitable for printing replacement gears and such.

 

Printing ABS-- I have never had good luck with this stuff. Either it wont stay stuck, or it delaminates after printing, or it warps for no discernable reason, etc.  I try to avoid. Your mileage may vary.

 

PETG-- Very nice stuff, but likes to warp. A good compromise between the qualities of nylon and PLA.

 

PLA-- Everyone knows how to print PLA. It's basically impossible to screw up. It's what basically all extrusion based 3D printers are designed for.

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A couple of years back I smelted some aluminium cans. Had to build the forge, which was cheap. Maybe $120, 2 store stops. Home Depot and Goodwill, and 1 online store purchase (the crucible).

If you wanted to make your own aluminium sheets, you can do this forge. Making a mould for the sheets shouldn't be too hard. Hell, if I could smelt aluminium, anyone could do this. I used a mini muffin steel bake pan as a mould for my "ingots".

I took the idea straight from King of Random on YouTube.

Heres my first wierd test couple years back.


https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=984060964960255&id=100000690831164


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You need the quality polished surface for a build plate to function well. (Otherwise parts will either not stick properly, or.. worse... stick TOO well.)

 

That's why I intend to purchase the sheets, rather than try to DIY any further than what I can accomplish with sharpie, a drill gun, and a dremel too.

 

I would need 2 of them.  One for the linear bearings and the belt cable carriage, and one to use as the build plate. (that would get the silicone heaters glued to the bottom.)

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, ti99iuc said:

 

Awww maaaaan!  Too late, otherwise I so would have scarfed that sucker right up in a heartbeat.  I'll keep this link in my shopping favorites folder in case I need to buy another chair.  THANKS!

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1 hour ago, xabin said:

Speaking of 3D printing, I've been waiting for a pair of 3D-printed figurines I bought from a company in Germany to get shipped. They have, but they haven't arrived in the states, yet, and I'm getting worried about them...

 

When did they ship it ? Was it DHL with tracking ? (If so, what is the actual status?)

 

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33 minutes ago, Schmitzi said:

 

When did they ship it ? Was it DHL with tracking ? (If so, what is the actual status?)

 

They shipped it last Tuesday, and it was DHL with tracking. The status is that it's being transported to the USA on Wednesday, but that's it; they linked over to USPS, but it's been stuck at "pre-shipment" since then.

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I was replacing the battery in a MiniMemory cartridge tonight and experienced something I had never before.  I clipped the leads from the original battery leaving just short pieces of lead on the board.  As I was flowing the old solder with new and preparing to knock or pull the remaining lead out, the damn thing exploded.  This sent solder flying, I still have not found the left-over lead, there is a skid mark on my soldering mat, but no damage to the circuit board.  The lead hole was completely voided of solder which, while a bit of a plus, I have found little tiny bits of everywhere across my desk, on the face of my soldering station, and on my shirt.  I am very happy that nothing went into my eyes.

 

First time for everything.

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I was replacing the battery in a MiniMemory cartridge tonight and experienced something I had never before.  I clipped the leads from the original battery leaving just short pieces of lead on the board.  As I was flowing the old solder with new and preparing to knock or pull the remaining lead out, the damn thing exploded.  This sent solder flying, I still have not found the left-over lead, there is a skid mark on my soldering mat, but no damage to the circuit board.  The lead hole was completely voided of solder which, while a bit of a plus, I have found little tiny bits of everywhere across my desk, on the face of my soldering station, and on my shirt.  I am very happy that nothing went into my eyes.
 
First time for everything.
Glad you are ok. Maybe some leakage from the old battery?

Always wear safety glasses!

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Haha! Good goin'...:evil:

 

Congratulations ...and Lucky you!:grin:

 

Many years ago I managed to blow the top off of a car battery, I was overcharging...
as I placed the clamp on the post, I actually saw the spark fly into the gap between the sunken post and the battery's previously damaged case... and for just a moment, thought ...too late!:ponder:

 

As I straightened up, the top flew past my face, barely clearing my chin, hit the ceiling and bounced down to the floor and up again, gently hitting the ceiling for a second time! I spent much of the day wiping everything down with a baking soda solution. I noticed from the spray pattern, that it was the top of the battery as it was flying up, which shielded my face and midsection from the ACID!:-o
:)

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6 hours ago, xabin said:

They shipped it last Tuesday, and it was DHL with tracking. The status is that it's being transported to the USA on Wednesday, but that's it; they linked over to USPS, but it's been stuck at "pre-shipment" since then.

 

hmm, up to 4 weeks for delivery is nothing special, especially in Corona-times.

I would just check the tracking twice a week for problems.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Schmitzi said:

 

hmm, up to 4 weeks for delivery is nothing special, especially in Corona-times.

I would just check the tracking twice a week for problems.

 

 

The  artist said they sent it some sort of special priority which would normally get me it within the week, so...

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