Question:
I get the concept of automatic bed leveling...the printer moves around the bed and uses a sensor to identify high and low spots, then "software compensates for differences".

But what exactly does "compensates" mean?

It is extruding more material in the low spots to build them up and thinning out the high spots? Is it adding or removing layers? Is it shifting layers as it goes up to compensate tilt? Or...?

In what ways will this affect the final outcome? Would it be valid to say that if you wanted an automatically leveled bed and dimensional accuracy you should always print to a raft?

Answer:
Last first:  use of a raft has nothing to do with bed levelling. It depends only on the features/shape/etc of the object being printed.
Now, as to what the auto-levelling does: the answer is, sadly "it depends."  A simple algorithm will just find the Z-height of the four corners and apply a bilinear correction to Z as a function of {x,y} coordinates.  A really good algorithm would map the entire build plate to some designated precision (perhaps 5 mm) and create a 2-dimensional lookup table to adjust Z over a curved build plate.     What your printer's levelling software does is more likely the former.
Why? because if you try to correct over curves & bumps, then you will end up distorting your entire printed object (basically forcing every layer to follow those distorted axes).  Far better to have some flattened or "fat" spots in the first layer printed, and then print proper planar layers after that.
Example: I know my bed (AnetA8 aluminum) is slightly bowed, peak in the center; so after levelling the overall bed I try to set the Z-zero so the outer extremes of my object have good adhesion, even if the center region of the first couple layers ends up non-extruding because the nozzle touches the bed.


Question:
Hey!

Pretty new to all this. Wondering how you would approach this problem to have an extruded element on top of a flat surface. I want to avoid lots of support material (actually no support at all for a cleaner print and no work with sanding etc.) I intend to print this inverted in Z (i.e. text down) for the main structure.

My only idea would be to print it separately and then glue it on. But maybe there is another solution that comes to your mind?

Cheers!

Answer:
Supporting the text while printing should simply not be a problem, if printed in the orientation shown. The text, as per your description and shown in the illustration is extruded vertically and there is no overhang. No support should be needed at all.
A few notes:
The bottom (dark grey) portion of your object does have a significant overhang, and may need some support depending on the specific shape. But support for that should not be near the text or affect it.
Text can be tricky to print with high quality if the width is not much bigger than your nozzle size. This is not specific to text, but rather feature size, slicer settings, and printer/filament capabilities. Experimentation is your friend - print it, and then address any quality problems that you find.
If you want the text to be a different color (as in your illustration), you might be in luck. There is a technique to pause the printer at desired layer height, swap out the filament, and resume printing. Your shape would lend itself to this technique. It's not too hard, but the specifics do depend on the software and printer you are using. There are quite a few good writeups on various 3D printing sites. If you want to ask about this, please ask another question, with this information.


Question: Are there any specific type of FDM 3D printers that I should look for?

Answer:
Not all printers are suitable to print flexible filament. E.g. 1.75 mm filament printers with a Bowden extruder/hotend combination will not work (you may have more luck using 2.85 mm filament, which is stiffer because of the increased diameter). For 1.75 mm filament you require a direct drive extruder, e.g. with the stepper mounted onto the hotend, even then some additional guide parts need to be printed to make it work. This also depends on the amount of flexibility of the filament, some are more flexible than others.
E.g. Ultimaker 3D printers use 2.85 mm filament with a Bowden setup. They also sell a flexible filament that can be printed with these printers. Even for direct drive extruder printers like the Anet A8 (a cheap Chinese Prusa i3 clone) inserts exist (e.g.
this
or
this one
) to even better guide the filament to prevent it to buckle.


Question: A couple weeks before, I bought a custom 3D printer that has an Ultimaker 2 motherboard in it. However, the dimensions of the printer is not same with Ultimaker 2 (X and Y same, a bit smaller on Z). The printer had tinkerfirmware installed in it. Today, I tried to print a premade .gcode file (Which was for another 3D printer I guess) and after pressing print, The machine told me the file will overwrite machine settings, and I pressed yes for it. After that, the dimensions of my 3D printer has changed in it's firmware. The bed is raising more than it should while starting calibrating, and not setting it's position precisely. (To make the 1mm gap, I had to move the bed down 4-5mm away from where it should be.) Now the question is, what can I do to fix this problem ? I also tried reinstalling original firmware which didn't really worked. (All the parts are orginal except the frame, which is a bit more smaller on height) How should I measure the height of printing area?

Answer:
Your printer is an Ultimaker clone or something else?  All of the original firmwares located on TinkerGnome's Github are configured for Ultimaker printers so if you are using them on something different you will need to configure it before using it.  The easiest option would be editing this print file that changed your settings to your desired settings and then reloading it.
How to find your actual Z? Well that's a bit difficult without more information.  I'm guessing from your description that your printer homes at Z max?  If it's homing at Z max you need to home the machine, jog the Z axis to where you want 0 to be (usually using a piece of paper between the nozzle and bed), then record the Z axis position and enter that as your travel limit in the firmware.  If your printer homes at Z min this could be as simple as changing the homing offset.


Question:
I've heard I should store filament in sealed container, preferably with a desiccant.

But let's say I let a spool get a little old on the printer, or I purchased a filament spool that was old or improperly packaged. How would I know? How would this impact prints (what kind of symptoms would I see)? What things could I do (perhaps in the slicer) to correct for this and prolong the life of marginal filament?

And the corollary... in a typical environment, how long can filament be left out without suffering from the exposure?

I'm thinking mainly about PLA, but responses for ABS and other materials are useful, too.

Answer:
The primary issue with long-term exposure of filament to the environment is that it will absorb water moisture from the air. When a filament that has absorbed water is passing though the hot end of a printer, the water will turn to steam and cause problems with extrusion:
Small bubbles of steam can form, causing extrusion to sputter - you might hear a sizzling noise and have poor consistency.
Large steam bubbles can cause significant oozing followed by no extrusion.
Extreme cases can cause mysterious jams that seem to clear themselves (the extruder cannot overcome the steam pressure).
In short, this will cause terrible print quality and failed prints. As the effects are not consistent, there is nothing that can be done by slicer settings to "recalibrate" for filament that has absorbed water.
This can be avoided by storing filament in an air-tight container with desiccant to ensure low humidity. Some people use "dry boxes" that allow the spool to be mounted inside while filament can be passed to the printer, so there is minimal exposure even while the spool is in use.
If you do suspect that your filament has absorbed moisture, you can dry it out, by placing the spool in a warm oven or in a food dehydrator for a few hours. If you weight it before and after, you should find that it weighs several grams less afterwards.
WARNING:
It is important that the temperature does not soften the plastic at all, or it can become distorted or bind on the spool. Most ovens will peak well above the set temperature as the thermostat cycles. Of course, fully melting a roll of filament could destroy your oven or cause a fire.
It's hard to say how much environmental exposure is too much, as every filament and environment is different. When I started out, I had several spools of PLA that I stored in the open for months. I didn't think I was having any problems, but I was also learning much and improving my printer settings at the same time. After getting PETG, it became unusable with oozing and jams after about two weeks but a few hours in my oven was a miracle cure! I then dried some PLA as well, and I found that print quality did improve, but not amazingly so. I have not used ABS, but in theory it is less hygroscopic than PLA, so it is probably not very sensitive to exposure.
I set up a dry storage box, and I am careful to always store PETG or my "good" PLA when I'm not actively using it. I have a couple rolls of PLA that I don't like as much anyway and generally just use for draft prints, and I don't really worry about it that much.
Note: An object that has been printed will also absorb moisture, but in general this isn't a problem.


Question:
I had recently purchased an ender 3 and after setting it up and plugging it in, I received an electrical shock from the power supply. I live in the UK and so I was provided an EU to UK adapter which I used and I set the voltage to 230 V.

Does anyone know why I was shocked and if there is any solution? Was it because EU to UK isn’t grounded (or am I wrong)?

Would an older 10 amp monitor power cable work better as it’s grounded?

Answer: The "shock" is likely from noise filtering circuitry at the power supply's input. For filtering, every power supply has a small capacitor that connects the live input wire to ground (a so-called "class Y capacitor"). A small amount of current can flow through this capacitor, which can give an annoying, but otherwise harmless shock/tingle. Grounding the power supply would solve the problem (which you should do anyways, because it is dangerous to run electronics that are supposed to be grounded without ground).


Question: I have an Adventurer 3 printer from Flashforge and every time I unclog it, it gets clogged up again. I’ve done about 6 or 7 prints with it. So after I unclog it, I load the filament and it comes out of the nozzle like it should but once I start a 3D print, it’s clogged again. The process of what I do to unclog it is by heating the nozzle up and then shove a small metal rod down the nozzle to push out the clogged filament. I do this several times until its all gone. I’ve read up on what I can do to prevent it but it doesn’t seem to work. What should I do?

Answer:
The Flashforge documentation is not much help, so unless there's a way for you to connect with their user community (because, maybe what you're dealing with is a known issue related to firmware or the machine itself) or Flashforge's customer service folks, you've got some fun detective work ahead of you. Seriously--you will enjoy solving this!
So: It will help to teach yourself the ABC's of clog symptoms, so you can see what the cause(s)
could
and
couldn't
be, in your situation. This is
not a bad starter guide
, and there are lots of others. You say you've "read up" on preventive measures--that's great! When your original post says, "but it doesn’t seem to work," please understand, though, that we who read don't yet know what "it"
means
, in this case. Clarity & details are you friends here.


Question:
I need help with finding what properties or designs I need to look for. I know that I will need these characteristics to work with the material of my choice:

Can reach 300 °C or up

Can handle nozzle size larger than 1 mm

Can be used with polycarbonate filament

I plan to use it in a custom RAMPS 1.4 3D printer running the Marlin firmware, in case this changes something.

Answer:
By  interpreting your question as
"Can most hotends print polycarbonate at 300°C+?"
, and taking into consideration the answers to
Can cheap hotend parts sourced from China actually produce good prints?
1
, then it would seem to be safe to assume
2
that most hotends can, given a few adjustments or considerations:
Use of a PT100
3
or thermocouple, en lieu of a thermistor
Use of PTFE tubing
Taken directly from
E3D's V6 product info
:
The V6 can comfortably reach 285°C with the supplied thermistor. By swapping a thermistor for a thermocouple (may require additional electronics) or PT100 you can reach over 400°C. This not only allows you to print extremely high temperature materials like Polycarbonate and Nylons but also eliminates HotEnd meltdown failures associated with PEEK/PTFE designs. The PTFE filament guide inside the V6 HotEnd is never subjected to high temperatures, so there is no risk of damage through overheating.
Footnotes
1
The materials used by cheaper clones of the higher quality, more expensive, branded hotends are
probably
the same as those used in the branded hotends, and indeed are probably produced using the same pirated patterns/molds/casts, but with less care and quality involved. They can even be produced in
the same factory
, but are items that have failed the QA tests, and as such are not deemed to be
brandable
.
2
Although, to paraphrase a quote from a movie: Assumptions can be considered to be the mother of all
disasters
.
3
A Pt100 or Pt1000 is a Platinum RTD (
Resistance Temperature Detector
) with a resistance of 100 ohms at 0°C which changes with temperature. From this manufacturer's
website
:
A Pt100 or Pt1000 is a Platinum RTD (Resistance Temperature Detector) with a resistance of 100 ohms at 0°C which changes with temperature. They are suitable for applications in the temperature range of -200°C to 600°C but are more commonly used in the range -50°C to +250°C. These temperature sensors are reliable and can offer a higher degree of accuracy.


Question: The company I work for is protective of IP and has security procedures for disposing of anything that could be stolen for industrial espionage.  Paper gets shredded and sent to trusted recycling center, all old data storage media gets obliterated, but what do we do with 3D prints?  For any functional prototype, I have 10 or more early versions and failed prints.  Is there a good way to dispose of these so that they are unrecognizable?  Given the volume of prints I need to dispose of, it should be safe, cheap, and able to handle large batches.

Answer:
If your company has a shredder which would handle large amounts of paper at one time, it should be able to handle the plastics from 3D printing. Most larger shredders can handle paper clips and staples. 3D plastics would be even less of a burden than them. You may need to break the pieces down into smaller chunks, but I doubt it would be an issue. Even destroying most prints by hand shouldn't be too arduous.
Secondarily, you could also melt them using something hot ... a heat gun would probably do the job without issue.
They get in excess of 1100°F
. Since we
usually
melt filament at around 200°C (~392°F), a heat gun should be more than hot enough to make it an unrecognizable blob of plastic.


Question:
I've got a bracelet concept that I've sketched up as a flat design. I'm trying to found a route by which I can extrude this into a 3d object (depth map?), curve it into a bracelet, then ultimately create a STL file out of it. I'm having trouble finding a way to do this that allows me to "warp" the flat object into a bracelet before I try to print.

Is there a recommend technique for this? I'm not worried about representation of the picture; it's effectively meant to be an 'etched' pattern.

Answer:
This may not be your cuppa tea, but if you're willing to learn to use
OpenSCAD
or already know how, there's a
Thingiverse
post that appears to directly address your objective.
Correction, this particular post on Thingiverse consists of a series of Python files, of which I have zero experience/qualifications. It may still be of value, if you are Python capable.
Another resource that is strictly OpenSCAD is from Eric Buijs, a rather talented 3D design person. His YouTube channel has a number of useful tutorials for both OpenSCAD and Solvespace.
This video
in particular describes applying a flat object to a curved one using OpenSCAD, resulting in a lithophane.
As I created this answer, I did not re-watch the 12+ minute video, but I recall how he explains clearly how the program dissects the surface into a number of flat panels and then superimposes the image on each segment. From this presentation, I suspect one could expand to a full cylinder.


Question:
When exchanging the mainboard of my Ultimaker Original, I found the new (unoriginal) mainboard to have a condensator that is quite a little higher than on the original, which means the fan duct doesn't fit any more.

I read somewhere that those A4988 stepper motor drivers don't have to be actively cooled, but a heatsink will be sufficient:

After testing the theory I found the heatsinks to be really hot, but not too hot to touch. Sadly I do not have any means of temperature measurement other than my fingers...

How hot do they normally get, when should I abort printing and look for a different solution?

Are there any good solutions other than the original cooler & cooling duct?

Answer:
This may not be your cuppa tea, but if you're willing to learn to use
OpenSCAD
or already know how, there's a
Thingiverse
post that appears to directly address your objective.
Correction, this particular post on Thingiverse consists of a series of Python files, of which I have zero experience/qualifications. It may still be of value, if you are Python capable.
Another resource that is strictly OpenSCAD is from Eric Buijs, a rather talented 3D design person. His YouTube channel has a number of useful tutorials for both OpenSCAD and Solvespace.
This video
in particular describes applying a flat object to a curved one using OpenSCAD, resulting in a lithophane.
As I created this answer, I did not re-watch the 12+ minute video, but I recall how he explains clearly how the program dissects the surface into a number of flat panels and then superimposes the image on each segment. From this presentation, I suspect one could expand to a full cylinder.


Question:
problem solved by resetting cura.

I have problems like this: How can I fix this? I can't find the right setting.

Also, what are these yellow lines? Do you know how to remove them? They disappear when I disable to show the brim/raft/skirt.

Answer:
I'm pretty sure the yellow lines are showing the full path of the extruder head, including where it's retracted.  Somewhere in Cura's maze of menus, there's an option to turn on/off various displays related to the slicing.
As to why the top layer isn't there -- most likely it's too thin in your source  model.  You might try enabling "Print thin walls" options in the Preferences advanced list.  BTW, if you post the original STL or CAD file, we might be able to provide more accurate diagnosis.


Question:
Can the glTF format be used for 3D printing?

If not, is there any tool can convert it to another format such as STL, OBJ, STEP, and IGES?

Answer:
As far as can be found it should be possible to convert glTF into STL (or OBJ).
You could try to use an online converter to do this, e.g.
this one (greentoken)
; and
this (assimp)
may be useful too.
According to
this
greentoken supports glTF as input and STL as output, but it is reported by @Trish that that does not work. Assimp could output STL files which then could be used by slicer programs to generate the specific G-code file to print the model on your printer.


Question:
I'm looking for clamps to fix the glass on my heatbed. After some search I found that some people use clamps printed of PLA. Can I use PLA clamps for a heated heatbed (~60 °C)?

I also tried foldback clips but they block my nozzle. The Anet A8 starts in the front left corner. When I start to print, the nozzle moves a little bit up on z, then up on y and right on x. At this first move it moves into the fold back clip. I'm looking for a way to fix the corners and not to fix the edge in the middle.

What other clamps or clips can I use to fix the glass (~3 mm) on the heatbed (~2.5 mm)? I don't want to use glue.

My printer is an Anet A8.

Answer:
Let's analyze the problem:
We have a 5.5 mm total thickness.
We want to (semi)permanently affix the two layers together mechanically.
The clips shall not be higher than about 0.2 mm to allow the nozzle to pass over them.
(non)Solution attempt zero:
Let's look at the problem objectively... we can print something, can we? Well... 0.2 mm or below of PLA means 0.2mm of PLA that need to withstand the stress of trying to push the glass to the bed. PLA, just like any plastic, isn't super strong in thin layers, especially when heated to 60°C to get a good bed adhesion. And then you might want to print something like ABS, which demands an 80°C or higher bed temperature. The result will not be pretty: either the clip breaks after a very short time or it starts to bend. The result: no clip, bed slipping free.
Solution attempt one:
Let's look at old picture frames that consist of just a glass sheet and a paper/wood backing. A "Frameless Picture Frame" like
this one
1
. These clips do need some kind of mounting on the underside.
Using this design as a base, you might either get these clips or make similar ones yourself. But how to mount them?
Well, here comes the nice part: we got some options.
Glue or solder the clips to the underside of the bed. Removing the sheet gets a PITA, but is still possible
Cutting mounting slots for the clips. The sheet can be removed by removing the clips now. But the bed heating might not like us cutting slots into the aluminium.
Adding a mounting point. Again, we can use glue or solder to add some kind of framework that we mount the clips to. Like a piece of aluminium U-profile with the opening to the centre of the bed, giving us mounting points for the clips.
1 - This was just the first one that I found that had the right setup. I am not affiliated with them and don't get money for this.
Solution attempt two:
Take this idea up a notch and look for this same principle applied.
There is the
"Swiss Made Glass Retaining Clip"
Perplexed Dipole
mentioned. Good idea, and instead of having to cut a notch into the aluminium bed, a simple, small hole would be sufficient. About the same price than a frameless picture frame but less construction work!
And then there is, of course, the option to look at the Ultimaker and its
Build Plate Clamps
like
0scar
mentioned. If you can get them (also in the same price range as the other options) you even might have an easy installation: they are supposed to be mounted in the corners of the build plate by being held by the springs. For the A8, you'll have to possibly adjust the mounting point some, maybe even give them a little nub to pivot around to secure them in place, but this clearly is a solution too.


Question:
The pictures explain my problem. I have already tried to reduce the retraction but that showed no effect. Thank you for your help.

The effect is a total stop of the print (no material is extruded).

Creality CR 10

Cura 3.4.1

I recently added this new feeder aluminium block because the 3D printed stock version was bad quality.

Answer:
This is typically caused by resistance in the tube or hotend but in your case it appears to be mostly caused by a very poorly designed extruder.  The filament needs to be constrained closer to the drive gear.  You may be able to drill out the PTC connector to allow the PTFE tube to reach closer to the gears or print a spacer to fit in between but you need to support the filament in that gap.
You can try raising the hotend temperature as a band-aid until you can fix the problem, do not exceed 240 C if you have a PTFE lined hotend. Long retractions can also pull molten filament into the cold zone where it solidifies and make extrusion harder.
As an example, here is a picture of a Bondtech BMG extruder.  Note how the extruder constrains the filament path all the way from the drive gear to the hotend entrance.  While this example is extreme for normal PLA/PETG/ABS, it is required for flexible filament.  A 4mm gap (or closer) should be fine for PLA/PETG/ABS or other hard filaments.


Question:
There's PLA filament clogged in my Bowden tube, is there a best practice for cleaning it out or do I need to replace the whole tube?

Also, the couplings are totally stuck, so I guess those would need replacement too or are there ways to get stuck couplings off?

Click here for a video.

Answer:
If you are able to force the filament from the interior of the bowden tube without causing damage to the tube, you will be able to determine the cause of the clog. My bowden tube clogged recently, but it was because I left the system idle with old filament inside. The filament broke from brittleness and the edge of the broken pieces managed to wedge against the tube.
I was able to use a "healthy" piece of filament along with great force (pliers pushing close to the tubing end) and remove the damaged filament.
Once removed, the new filament slid easily within.
Your PTC fittings may not have to be replaced if the tubing is not damaged inside and if the existing spacing meets your requirements. A PTC fitting has a ring of teeth which gouge and/or grasp the outside of the tubing preventing removal. It is frequently necessary to push the tubing into the fitting, then compressing the release ring followed by pulling the tubing.
The PTC fitting at the end where only the filament exits is probably a stock fitting. The fitting which has the bowden tube extending through it has been drilled and may be challenging to find. Your best source for such a fitting is the original manufacturer.
It's clear in the video that the threaded portion of the two fittings are different.


Question:
I've been looking into the viability of manufacturing a replacement part for a kitchen blender that has a broken part. I found this page that talks about what makes a print food safe. One of the items mentioned was:

... a brass extruder may contain lead, and lead contamination can cause some nasty health problems. ...

I own an Ender 3, and I haven't replaced the nozzle yet. How can I tell if my printer is capable of creating food safe prints in its current state?

Answer:
Yes you have to change brass nozzle it contains lead.
If you are planning to print in PLA don't do that because  PLA filament we are using in 3D printer are not food safe it contains some nasty colour dyes which are not food safe. Consider some special food safe filaments available in market. I think extruder gears are also made up of brass. Consider also changing them.
Steel extuder gears are available in market like below


Question: I am a newbie to 3D printing and ran into a weird infill line on my second 3D printing object on a new Qidi X-Pro machine (which works great). I've included a screenshot of the infill line, which is deliberately printed the full height of the object. I'm thinking this line has been deliberately inserted by the Qidi slicer for some reason, but I have no idea why. Do all slicers generate these kinds of lines? If so, why?

Answer:
I do not know the Qidi slicer, but if you look closely, you will see this line is thinner than the normal support infill lines. You could try to visualize the G-code in a viewer, usually this can be done in the slicer itself, but
online viewers
are available. The viewer will not only show the printed lines, but also show moves by the print head (usually in a different color). You can check whether this extra line is actually printed or a move. If it is a move, this extra line is caused by your hotend which is leaking when it moves. You need to properly tune the hotend with respect to the retraction settings and temperature. There are numerous retraction test print objects to find on the internet.
Depending on your slicer settings, some slicers are able to define where each layer starts printing (e.g. random, or start at sharp corner). The fact you see a support structure "printed the full height of the object" tells you that each layer starts at the same position. It is not uncommon in uniform simple parts where each layer starts at the same position (X/Y) as this is instructed by the slicer setting. In Ultimaker Cura such an option is called
```
Z Seam Alignment
```
.
Bottom line, all slicers will do this when your printer is improperly tuned (incorrect settings for e.g. print temperature, retraction, coasting, travel speed). It is up to you to find the correct settings, test print objects help you with that.


Question:
I'm building a 3d printer of size 500 x 500 x 500 build area. For the Z axis, I'm planning to use this Linear actuator.

The maximum weight Z axis might encounter is 15 Kg due to it being a clay printer. A single linear actuator can, according to the specs, lift 10 Kg. So I'm planning to use two of this.

My question is a ball screw of pitch 4mm or 5mm, will it be able to Maintain it's position when the motor is de-energized under a load of 15 kg shared by two systems.

What effect the diameter of rod has on it??

Is there any way to find that??

Answer:
My question is a ball screw of pitch 4mm or 5mm, will it be able to Maintain it's position when motor is deenergized under a load of 15 kg shared by two systems.
The detent torque of a
typical NEMA 23 stepper
varies between around 3 and 7 N·cm. This is the torque produced when the windings are not energized.
Using this
leadscrew torque calculator
, you can find that the torque required for a 12 mm diameter, 4 mm pitch leadscrew to hold up a 75 N load, is around 5 N·cm - assuming there is no friction. If there is friction, then the required torque will be lower.
So, the torque required is almost equal to or possibly even higher than the detent torque. Therefore, you should not count on a de-energized motor holding up the build platform. In practice, you might see that friction is enough to hold up the build platform, but that any disturbance (such as somebody bumping into the printer) is enough to get the leadscrews to start spinning and have the platform drop like a rock.
What effect the diameter of rod has on it?
Increasing the pitch also increases the torque required (so, go with a lower pitch leadscrew). The diameter does not affect the torque directly, but having a larger diameter increases the friction and so is beneficial.


Question:
When modelling for 3D printing, can I distinguish somehow the type of infill in various areas of the model? Say there may be some areas in the model where I want 100% infill (maximum strength) but some areas where the infill can be less (maybe 25%).

I am new to 3D printing, doing my first model (enclosure for electronics - camera module). Using tinkercad.com only so far. Places where 100% infill is wanted are usually walls of the case and "threads" for the bolts but I want to make the enclosure as stiff as possible as a whole so I am thinking about using some sparse infill in the "free space" inside of the enclosure (so that it does not break so easily when it falls to the ground etc). I just do not know how to define this within the model.

Answer:
I found out I misunderstood some principles of designing/modelling for 3D printing.
I designed my object for 100% infill which is not really necessary. It turned out that one does not mostly have to take care of the infill % and just model the object for example as solid 3D cube and the printing service will then take care of it to print well, hopefully slicing it well for printing and choosing the correct infill percentage.
So instead of designing a "hollow" cube with 3mm thick walls filled with 100% infill and free space inside, one can design a solid cube and the printing service will then print it "somehow" - they may make the walls only 1 mm thick but fill the inside of the cube with 10% infill which may work just fine for final object stiffness etc.


Question:
How can I vary the infill percentage for different layer heights of my model?

Context: The bottom part of my model needs about 20% infill.  The geometry of the top part of the model (mostly cones of various sizes) prints well with 0% infill and is of course a lot faster to print if I can specify this.

Answer:
Your question is very similar to
Different infill in the same part
and
Using multiple infill types within one model [duplicate]
. The difference is that you specifically ask for Slic3r and a variation in layer height infill percentage.
Actually
this answer
describes using "helper volumes" in Ultimaker Cura to set different properties for certain parts of the model
(
UPDATE
: that answer now includes also Slic3r instructions)
, but it appears that this answer is very much applicable to Slic3r also. Please read
this
posting. Quoting from the reference:
Finally, I fired Slic3r up and loaded the main part, then clicked on
  Settings... and then hit Load modifier... I loaded the new volume as a
  modifier mesh and I applied 100% solid infill...
Secondly,
this
answer where 2 different infill percentage sliced models are manually combined at a certain height may also work for you (this is a perfect valid solution for Slic3r, but requires some editing skills).
Basically, although you request for a solution for a slicer other than already described in other questions, boils down to a similar answer, the only difference is the implementation in Slic3r is called differently.
To do this in
Slic3r
see
this reference
.
The blog describes the use of a simple volume (the green volume loaded from an STL file). After loading:
Right-clicking on the main part brought up the object settings menu.
  From there, clicking "Load Modifier" and selecting the previously
  saved model adds it to the part as a modifier.
The green "+" was selected and "Fill Density" was added to modifier
  list and set to 100%.
This shows that the functionality in Slic3r is very similar to the functionality in Ultimaker Cura.


Question: I've seen a few print time-lapse videos lately which use gyroid infill: wavy lines, which deform across layers so that the waves end up alternating between the two axes. Other than making the time-lapse videos look much cooler, what are the benefits of this infill style compared to the more common hatching or cross-hatching?

Answer:
From
this reference
you can read that:
A gyroid is a naturally occurring structure which be found in
  butterfly wings and even within membranes inside cells. In 2017, MIT
  researchers discovered that when graphene was shaped into a gyroid
  structure, it had exceptional strength properties at low densities.
  They then discovered however, that the crucial aspect of this was
  actually the gyroid structure itself, and that other materials such as
  plastic could benefit from this.
It is assumed that this type of infill has better properties against failure than the normal types of infill we know.
A test conducted by an author named Martin is found
here
. He printed test specimen and subjected them to bending to test the resistance against shear stress.
From the figure can be concluded that the gyroid infill has a better resistance against bending for a lower weight.
The advantages of gyroid infill over the tested infill types are:
high shear strength, and
low weight (so less filament needed).
On top of these advantages Gyroid infill prints relatively fast with respect to some other infill types and is close to
isotropic
(i.e. uniform in all orientations), meaning that is very suitable for flexible prints.


Question:
When printing several objects, I recently encountered a problem that arises when the structure in itself is relatively thin or the support towers have a small surface: the printhead would in motion tend to knock one or more over as it traveled or catch at them and create layer shift.

How can I avoid collisions with the already printed parts of a layer?

Answer:
The problem was twofold:
Lack of bed adhesion due to the small contact surface
motion into the already printed objects.
The
quick and dirty
way was to change two settings:
Print with a small (3 mm) brim to stick the supports to the print and provide more surface. Other materials than PLA may need considerably more brim!
Activate Z-Hop to force the nozzle to lift over the print when traveling
These tricks don't solve issues with very thin structures or in all cases. In those cases, it can be mandatory to increase the structure's (support) thickness or change the alignment.


Question:
I have a concept that's roughly 18"x30" (about 457x762 mm), and I just realized that the Makerbot and similar printers only allow dimensions around the size of a piece of paper. What are other options? Are there large 3D printers I just don't know about? I looked up TMC injection mold, but couldn't find anything on size (most links go to PDFs with printer images).

Is injection even in the same "world" as 3D..? Sorry for confusing the two.

Answer:
Yes
If you have the money
Either read
here
or look at the ones I plucked out of that list to show you:
First of all, 3D printers on FDM basis can become quite large, if you pay extra. And the price goes up really fast as the dimensions grow because the demands on stability grow exponentially.
Larger Printers?
One example of a "scaling" printer family is the CR-10: The baseline CR-10 is about 300x300x400 mm, so about 12x12x16 inch for 400\$. Not enough? 400x400x400 on the CR-10 S4 for ca 760\$. 500x500x500 on the CR-10 S5 for 900\$. That's 20 inch in all directions. But that's still not enough, isn't it? Well, if you need to go larger, you need to go professional...
Going Big!
Well, there are printers like the gCreate gMax 1.5 XT+ (406x406x533 mm) for a mere 3000\$. That's enough, isn't it? Well, we can even go
bigger
: 610x610x610 mm for a mere 3500\$ on the Modix Big 60.
Still not satisfied? Industrial machines can go even larger! A BigRep Studio for the
little
price of 50000\$ could achieve 500x1000x500 mm.
Even more? Go Parametric!
As amra mentioned, the
Hangpringer
project of printers has no "set" build size, but you will have to provide a build platform of fitting size and a room it can work in undisturbed and with filament supply ready... just... bring a ladder? And be wary of people tripping over wires... and somehow find a ginormous, evenly heated bed somewhere...
Ways around
Assembly
That is a little overkill, isn't it? Well, the first thing you need to remember when 3D printing is: unless you make a functional part that has to have certain dimensions, feel free to scale it down if it is just for visuals. Then, you can assemble prints. Like, take a smaller printer and print the object in halves or quarters. Then glue it back together.
Order
You don't want or can't assemble the part? Well, there are printing services out there that have these larger scale printers I mentioned (or at least similar ones) that offer to make your parts for you and then ship them to you. Usually, that is much more cost effective than buying one of these ginormous printers yourself.


Question:
Other than the most obvious issue with the filament kinking in the tube, what other issues could arise when trying to print flexibles (i.e. TPU/TPE, Nylon, etc.) with a Bowden style extruder setup?

Can the kinking issue be alleviated by a well-constrained filament path (proper ID) in a properly sized Bowden tube?

Answer:
As a user of an UM3E, which uses Bowden tubes and has TPU as an available material, I can tell you that the kinking issues can be alleviated or downright avoided.
I've printed quite a few things with the Ultimaker-brand TPU 95, and never had problems with kinking in the tube.
Ultimaker uses 2.85 mm filament, with Bowden tubes adapted for those and a rear motor, i.e. the motor is on the back on the printer and not right on top of the print head.
I personally wouldn't consider Nylon as one of the really flexible material, but that's my opinion. Never had kinking in the Bowden tube with Nylon either in my UM3E.


Question:
When exporting an STL from Fusion 360, one must select an STL refinement level to use for calculating the maximum triangle count.

For FDM printing (0.05mm and above layer heights), where is the point of diminishing returns on STL refinement level when printing PLA and PETG on an Ender 3 with a 0.4mm nozzle? All mechanical components on the printer are stock.

Answer:
I don't know that this can be definitively answered for a specific printer and all arbitrary designs.
The refinement level basically determines how smooth a curved surface will turn out.  The STL file format can only express an object in terms of triangular-shaped surfaces, so Fusion 360 will need to approximate a curved surface by breaking it up into triangles. Flat surfaces and straight edges can be represented perfectly, so they won't be affected. Low refinement will use a small number of relatively large triangles. On a part like your example, the cylindrical shaft will have noticeable facets. Higher refinement means a larger number of smaller triangles.
If you have "Preview Mesh" checked as shown, you will be able to see the triangle wireframe, and you can use your own judgment if it's "good enough".
Ultimately, higher refinement means longer processing times and larger file sizes. The final print time won't be affected much if any.
Personally, I always use high refinement. Even on my modest system, it only takes a few more seconds to prepare a multi-hour print, and maybe a few hundred kilobytes or a couple megabytes on my hard drive that I will barely notice. This is a small tradeoff to ensure the best possible STL definition.


Question:
I am trying to create a mechanism with moving parts, and would like to see how it works (whether it even works) before printing it.

For example, there's a servo with a bracket, and I would like to see how far can the bracket move before colliding with other objects.

Unfortunately I cannot find any information on how to set pivot points and rotate objects around these points in FreeCAD. Is this even possible?

Answer:
freeCad has a draft rotate function in
DRAFT workbench
:
Select an object;
Press the Draft Rotate button, then;
Click to set the rotating point and rotate.
You will get used to that after a few trails.
There is a
step by step guide
on freeCad site.
There is also a
short demo of the function here
.


Question:
If I have an image like the one attached, what’s the best way to create an accurate depth map of it? I have photoshop CC and 3ds Max, but I don’t know what settings work best with Slic3r. There is a plethora of settings and combinations to choose from in either programs.

Did anyone do this before? If so, can you share your technique?

Answer:
From a single image from this perspective (front view) you cannot map the coin surface in detail. There is reported limited success in estimating the depth of single images, but, this is for images with a clear perspective (e.g. like a picture of a room showing the walls and floor at an angle). In order to map the surface you will need to have multiple images and preferably know the direction of lighting on that object.
People with one eye cannot estimate depth very well, you need two eyes and a trained brain to understand the differences in depth.


Question:
Assume somebody has a Monoprice Maker Select and has changed from the original brass extruder gear to a D4 Plus one, which is slightly smaller (10.6 vs 10.9 mm outer diameter).

This person might be wondering if he/she needs to compensate for this difference, and which setting that would be in Cura IIIP.

(Have never calibrated the extruder and am still not sure it is absolutely necessary, since the difference in the gear size is only 3%.)

Answer:
If you change the extruder wheel for a different sized wheel, you need to calibrate the extruder to make sure that if you ask to extrude 100 mm it actually extrudes 100 mm.
This answer
on the question "
How do I calibrate the extruder of my printer?
" describes how to do that.
It is not required to flash your firmware. The G-code command
```
M92
```
can be used to set the new amount of steps for the extruder. The Monoprice Maker Select has a Melzi control board that is running Repetier firmware. This G-code command is supported by Repetier firmware.
You need to be able to connect a so-called terminal to your printer. Applications as Repetier-Host, Pronterface, OctoPrint, and probably many more have so-called terminals where you can interface with the printer by sending command to it when the printer is connected through USB (please mind the communication speed of the board, called Baud rate, these are not the same for all boards).
Sending
```
M503
```
will report the current settings for
```
M92
```
, e.g.:
```
```
M92 X100.00 Y100.00 Z400.00 E100.00
```
```
Extrude 100 mm without the hotend attached so you can measure the amount that is extruded. If that is 80 mm you need more steps
$ \frac{100\ mm}{80\ mm} \times 100\ steps/mm = 125\ steps/mm $
You now need to send
```
M92 E125
```
and the new steps are set. Use
```
M500
```
to store the setting.
You could also change the flow extrusion parameter in your slicer, but it generally not good practice, it is better to fix the printer rather than adjusting in the slicer. However, if you do want to fix it in the slicer, as mentioned in the comments, you can also add steps setting in the start G-code script:
"To get around flashing the new values to the ROM, you can add this to the machine settings in Cura under "Start Gcode" this way it will append your values at the start of every print."
. Note that other slicers have similar functionality.


Question:
My Anet A8 was working and printing great until my hotbed connector snapped and shorted out my motherboard. After replacing the connections to my hotbed and my motherboard I can't print anything because the filament flow is very inconsistent. It often laying down nothing. See my included picture.

I've tried a bunch of suggested calibration settings but none of them worked:

increased extruder temp,

decreased speed,

increased flow,

Any ideas or thoughts would be great.

Answer:
Please note that the problems you faced are typical for the Anet A8, the connectors are underrated for the application. Also, do note that the stock firmware does not have thermal runaway protection, which is considered to be very unsafe and could potentially lead to burning down your house! Please flash a firmware that supports thermal runaway protection, like e.g. Marlin Firmware.
Basically you just tried to change some parameters to see if they have an effect. This is generally a good idea to get an idea of the problem, but a more technical approach would be to start from the beginning and exclude things you have tested. As for now you cannot conclude why the print looks as shown in the image, e.g. it also looks as if the nozzle to bed distance is too large.
The question remains if your 3D printer board did survive the shorting of the hotbed leads!
To troubleshoot this particular problem it is advised to check whether the extrusion process still does what it is asked to do. Disconnecting the hotend from the extruder and measuring how much filament is extruded would be the first thing to check. Please look into
How do I calibrate the extruder of my printer?
. It seems odd that the extrusion is off if the firmware has not changed, or alternative settings stored, but to be sure it would be the first thing to check. From this exercise you'll learn whether the firmware is set correctly and the extruder working properly. It can still be that the extruder gear slips, e.g. because the filament does not have a lot of friction when disconnected from the hotend.
When the extrusion process works and the commanded length is extruded, you can update the question with what you have done. After this, and if the problem persists, you can look into nozzle clogging and filament resistance for instance.


Question: I just assembled a Prusa i3 MK3 and went through the calibration process, but when I print the first layer doesn't look good and my prints come unstuck from the bed. I think it might be Z height but this was as high as I could put the probe without the paper moving on the calibration test. The layers after the first few look good but then the print either warps or comes unstuck and moves.

Answer:
Judging by the images you posted in your question, the first layer distance is too far away from the bed for the current filament flow.
This could either be related to:
having an offset on the first layer like a height correction in the slicer,
an incorrectly levelled (read height adjusted) bed, (you did the paper test correctly, so this is probably not your problem, it is mentioned for completeness)
under-extrusion
slicer setting not correct, e.g. filament diameter or flow modifier not 100 %
incorrectly calibrated extruder
Your most likely problem is under-extrusion. It would be advised to calibrate the extruder:
How do I calibrate the extruder of my printer?
and check the slicer settings.


Question:
How can I achieve keeping the motors active during pause to avoid moving their position during filament changes?  I have changed the filament during some prints to change the color or to change the a newer spool, but sometimes the X axis is moved during the change. I'm now using some cloth clips to prevent moving during this change.

To pause the 3D printer I'm using the LCD menu ->pause, then I go to Move axis X, then I move close to 0. This change is manually and random since I don't know when the old filament reel is going to finish. The printer use Marlin as firmware with Ramps 1.4

Answer:
I have not tried this, but you could use the
```
M84 S0
```
command, this prevents the motors to go into an idle state.
From the
```
M84
```
G-code wiki
(firmware specific!):
On
Marlin
, Repetier and RepRapFirmware, M84 can also be used to
  configure or disable the idle timeout. For example,
```
M84 S10
```
will
  idle the stepper motors after 10 seconds of inactivity.
```
M84 S0
```
will
  disable idle timeout; steppers will remain powered up regardless of
  activity.
What rests is to implement this command into your G-code file to be executed during pause. Depending on the pause method you could introduce this command. I have not tried this, but you could put the command in your start G-code and test if the motors keep powered!
Furthermore,
a specific filament change command is available for specific firmware applications
. This code,
```
M600
```
, can be used to change filament. From the
Marlin documentation
you can read (since you are using Marlin Firmware, you could use this G-code command):
The
```
M600
```
command initiates the filament change procedure. The basic
  procedure will move the print head away from the print, eject the
  filament, wait for new filament to be inserted and the user to
  confirm, load and prime the filament, and continue with the print.
```
M600
```
may be initiated automatically if a filament runout sensor is
  installed.
Please do note that in Marlin Firmware the
```
M600
```
command is only available when the comments before
```
//#define ADVANCED_PAUSE_FEATURE
```
in the advanced configuration options file
Configuration_adv.h
are removed, hereby activating the command.


Question:
I have a long print that keeps aborting. At some random point mid-print the printer says "Click to resume...". There is nothing in the G-code that asks for user confirmation. What could it be that triggers this? I noticed that sometimes (not every time) there is a blob of plastic in the way that should not be there.

On one occasion, after the "Click to resume...", the LCD showed the message FY178.N16466 and again waited for a click.

The printer is an Anet A8 with Marlin 1.1.9. Slicer is Cura. I am printing via USB from Cura directly.

This is the error message:

Answer:
This is not an answer/explanation per se, but it might help you track down the cause.
It
might
be worth
enabling logging
```
M928
```
to the SD card (ensure that the R/W tab on the SD card is set appropriately), so that (after this has happened a few times) then you can look through the log to see what the command preceding the abort was, and if it is consistently the same (sequence of) commands that cause this to happen.
```
```
M928 filename
```
```
If that doesn't throw up anything obvious, then, in conjunction with logging, you could enable debugging, see
```
M111
```
Debug level
. For example:
```
```
M111 S7 ; ECHO, ERRORS, INFO
```
```
Then run through the long print again. As before, after a few of the
click to resume print
messages, then go back and check the log for anything that might indicate why this is happening.
To subsequently disable the debugging:
```
```
M111 S0
```
```


Question:
I'm at a location where I don't have easy access to toothed belts for my printer (a RepRap Wallace). While trying to look for some solution, I saw some talk of using fishing line as a belt, along with a log of admonitions of Don't.

However, as I have easy access to fishing line, but almost no access to a toothed belt, I was thinking of using multiple strands of fishing line with regularly spaced knots to simulate a toothed belt. However, Google didn't help much with either usage or possible Gotchas.

Is there any possible issues that I may face with this solution?

Answer:
I’m going to recommend not using a fishing line with knots.  Probably the biggest problem you’ll have using the fishing line with knots is if the knots are not perfectly spaced,  movement along the X or Y axis is not going to be consistent. This could result in weird deformations in your print.
Depending on how you tie the knots they may not grip the teeth of the gears quite well enough to prevent slippage.
Both of these issues will mean that you will not get very good quality prints assuming the print doesn’t outright fail.
You would be better off waiting to get the correct belt then attempting to use fishing line.


Question:
I have what I thought would be a simple question.

I don't have an auto leveling probe, I do my leveling manually with 4 screws and a piece of paper (I measured the thickness to 0.1 mm).

For the longest time I would have trouble with the first layer, sometimes having to give the bed screws a quarter turn to bring the bed up a bit. I would see that the nozzle seemed quite far away from the bed. This went on for the longest time and I just chalked it up to the quality of my printer.

I realized recently that when I level the bed, I am inserting a piece of paper in between the nozzle and the bed. Obviously, I should be taking the thickness into account as a 0.1mm thick piece of paper accounts for 50 % higher than the nozzle should be for a 0.2 mm first layer height.

My question is, how do I set (either in Cura or directly in Marlin config) the z home offset to account for the 0.1 mm thickness of my calibration paper?

Answer:
It is preferred to get the distance correct by hardware changes (leveling screws). But it is possible to do it with software. You can not only change the Z offset in the slicer or in the configuration of Marlin, but also with G-code commands.
The "paper drag" method is perfect for determining the correct Z level. Once you leveled with the paper, you do not need to create an offset to account for the paper thickness, however, there are purists that do that. So basically, what we call Z=0 is in fact Z="paper thickness", unless you are a purist. But a slightly larger gap makes printing much easier. Too small heights cause e.g. rippling effects or too much pressure build-up in the nozzle. In order to change your offset after leveling, you could try one of the following methods. This is sometimes a useful method for creating a little extra offset for printing PETG, but personally I do not do that.
In Ultimaker Cura
:
Open the plugin manager ("Toolbox"->"Browse packages...") and install "Z Offset Setting", a new parameter will be available in the "Build Plate Adhesion" settings menu called "Z Offset". (See also
this older, not up-to-date answer
)
In Marlin configuration file
, modify the MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS constant:
```
```
//#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 0
```
```
In G-code
:
By adding the following lines to your start G-code (see e.g.
this answer
) using the
```
G92
```
G-code command:
```
```
G0 Z0.2 ; Move the head to 0.2 mm (so now 0.3 on your machine)
G92 Z0  ; Call this Z = 0
```
```
or when you are able to connect to the printer over USB using a printer terminal (e.g. Pronterface, Repetier or OctoPrint) using the
```
M206
```
G-code command:
```
```
M206 Z-0.2 ; Will raise the Z height by 0.2 mm
M500       ; Stores the offset in memory
```
```
Alternatively, when you cannot connect through a terminal, putting the last 2 lines in a text file and saving that as a
```
.gcode
```
file on an SD card and "printing" the file will also store the new offset (if
```
M500
```
is enabled in the configuration file:
```
#define EEPROM_SETTINGS // Enable for M500 and M501 commands
```
)


Question:
I'm 3D printing almost 2 years, and I expected to have better result after changing to complete smooth rods with new bearings.

I have a problem with my Z axis giving me inconsistent prints; I already replaced the leadscrews, E3D clone with Bowden tube, I decided to replace all smooth rods on all axis and also the bearings. After I replaced all this, my prints are still bad, also I'm very dissapointed with the results after the replacements. I have checked all I could think of; PID tuning, belts, ....) but I'm running out of ideas.

Printing settings:

print speed is 40mm/s,

retraction is 3mm at 30mm/s,

extruder 205°C for the first layer, then 200°C

Answer:
From the pictures can be seen that you have good lead screws as there is no cyclic anomaly/wobble present at the side. It appears as though the lines at the sides of the print are more or less random X/Y positional inaccurate.
These lines can be caused by various reasons. From what is read you tried to improve the mechanical system by upgrading the hardware. It could still be the case that there is still some backlash or play left in the system (e.g. I had once had too much tolerance on the holes of the linear shafts in the printed X-Z mounts causing similar problems). Vibration should be looked into also, e.g. do you have a binding bearing or a large mass on the printer that interacts with the carriage movement like a spool holder on top of your frame. Or maybe the micro-stepping does not work optimally, so check the stepper driver currents.
If it is no mechanical issue, it could be that you are facing inconsistent extrusion caused by variation in filament thickness or gear slipping or too much tension on the filament by friction in unspooling. Or else a hotend temperature variation. Maybe insulation on the hotend helps.


Question: I have been running my i3 MK3 for about 12 hours now and the motor on the extruder is fairly hot, not too hot to touch but I'd guess its about 60c on the outside. Is this within normal operating temperatures or should I let it cool down before starting more prints?

Answer:
The maximum operating temperature can be found in the specifications of your steppers. Usually the ambient temperature operating conditions are limited to 50 °C with a maximum operating temperature in the range of 70 - 100 °C. For instance, the steppers I use are limited to a temperature of 80 °C. It is however advised to keep this temperature lower, e.g. to max. 60 °C to prolong the life. Do note that very high temperatures could be a problem for "self-printed" stepper mounts of the wrong material (materials with a low glass transition temperature).
To answer your question: "Yes, steppers may get hot, but if you want them to get too hot is up to the mounting system and how long you want to use them."


Question:
After building a Delta printer, I noticed that my whole prints are slightly tilted around the Z-axis in comparison to the slicer (e.g. Cura). There is no twist layer wise. This means, the prints themself look actually perfect.

I just don't know what could be the reason of the rotation. I do not believe it is a build issue of the printer, because I tried to keep the printer frame pretty stiff and symmetric.
Could it be, that the Auto-Calibrate Feature of Marlin can add such a rotation?

The picture below illustrates the problem. I expect the black alignment of the print and get the orange one. Note that the print is still a rectangle with ~90° corners.

Answer:
If I am reading this correctly, your prints are being either stretched or your prints are shifting / leaning on more complicated prints.
In this case, given that you are on a Delta printer, my answer is the same for all. I usually do Cartesian based 3d printing but the concept is the same for any drifting or leaning. You simply need to recalibrate your steps per MM for each motor, and tighten your belts. You will have the complication of the interaction of the 3 arms, that others will be able to answer better. But in the end, if each arm moves as it should, the belts are not slipping, and you do not have issues with moving too fast (jerking can cause the belt to shift, and a loose belt can cause whiplash / and other print artifacts). My bet is your steps per MM is off on one of the motors, or you could have an overheating issue (not likely).
There are many
guides
to help with Delta specific calibration.
I can provide a better answer with photos. See
Stackoverflows guide on asking questions
.
Edit with the diagram (not a photo), you issue might be caused by stepper over voltage and you will need to adjust your pololus. If you hear a repeating Thud noise, you have your voltage too high.


Question: I am modifying some Slic3r config parameters and comparing the results.  How can I have two instances (or equivalent: I would like to see two model windows with their associated configuration screens) of Slic3r at the same time?  I'm on OS X, but if there is a generic (e.g. within Slic3r) solution that will be preferrable.

Answer:
From a terminal window, run the command
```
```
open -n -a slic3r
```
```
Each time the command is executed, a new instance of Slic3r is created.
As per Carl's note, keep in mind that both instances of Slic3r will be sharing the same configuration files, so it will be safest not to save configuration changes while both are open.


Question:
I'm new to 3D printing and I recently got my first 3D printer, an Ender 3 Pro by Creality.

I've tried to find information about the type of nozzles should I look for. I'm trying to find stainless steel nozzles but there are so many models (M7, M8, etc.) and I have no idea what nozzle type I should get.

I've tried searching on Google but the only info I could find is that the extruder is an MK-10.

I am also looking for a heating cartridge for the hot end, but I still cannot find no information about the size that I need (15 mm/20 mm/30 mm). Also looked for info about the heated bed so I know what kind of thermistor I need (I found two types and no clue which one to get).

Where can I find some technical information about these?

Answer:
There is no such thing as a single MK10 hotend design. The Chinese aftermarket has mingled the designations.
If it has a
MK10 like Makerbot
hotend, then the nozzles you are looking for are M7 threads. It appears (see
this answer
) that your hotend is a cloned MK10 and has different dimensions, you have the M6 version.
Quote from link above: (this is about the Makerbot MK10)
MK10 was a complete change of the hotend. MK10 uses smooth OD thermal
  barriers with a larger 4mm OD 2mm ID PTFE liner. MK10 also uses M7
  threads, vs the M6 of all previous models. This is because a 4mm PTFE
  liner is barely enough metal to make the outer tube with m6 threads.
  MK10 is completely incompatible with all previous hotend parts. Every
  part is different. Mk10 still uses MK9 feeder parts.
You could measure your current heat block (the width of the Aluminium block); if you look at the MK10 drawings  of a proper M7 MK10 Makerbot (or derivative) hotend (below) you see that the width of the block is about 19 mm (which would be the length of the heater cartridge).
The CEO of ToyBuilder labs explains the difference between an "MK10" and an MK8 in
this video
:
As can be seen, your nozzle clearly is not an MK10.


Question:
I started using rafts more often, to get better results with complex or fragile parts, but my Ender 3 consistently under-extrudes the initial outside line of the raft (for the first inch or two, where extrusion starts).

It is often very thin and does not adhere. This often leads to problems with the following pattern of raft layer 1 curling up (ABS) as it does not meet the edge line (due to the 1-2 inch gap in the perimeter).

Skirts avoid this problem by getting the flow going, but rafts only print a single outer line.

Is it possible to specify more than one outer line on a raft in Ultimaker Cura?

Is it possible to add a skirt to a print that has a raft (or at least some initial printing to get the flow going)?

Is it possible to add some initial G-code that will extrude a line, say from near the start position to the start of the print?

Answer:
It's not necessarily the case that the apparent underextrusion of a small portion of your raft is the root cause.  ABS is notorious for shrinkage and peeling.  As a start, you should have a full enclosure so as to maintain a warm environment while printing.
It's also quite possible that your bed is slightly off-level or a few microns low for the first layer, either of which can cause adhesion problems.
Yes, it's pretty much trivial to add a few lines of gcode to extrude prior to the "official" raft -- or you could just toss a fake small object into your slicer to extend the raft over both the real and the fake parts.
FWIW, with a little care I've found a wide brim outperforms a raft for almost anything I print


Question:
I'm getting some slight pooling on the end of straight lines on my Ender-3

Is this due to over extruding? Or some other issue?

Answer:
It's not necessarily the case that the apparent underextrusion of a small portion of your raft is the root cause.  ABS is notorious for shrinkage and peeling.  As a start, you should have a full enclosure so as to maintain a warm environment while printing.
It's also quite possible that your bed is slightly off-level or a few microns low for the first layer, either of which can cause adhesion problems.
Yes, it's pretty much trivial to add a few lines of gcode to extrude prior to the "official" raft -- or you could just toss a fake small object into your slicer to extend the raft over both the real and the fake parts.
FWIW, with a little care I've found a wide brim outperforms a raft for almost anything I print


Question: What are the most common 3D printing file formats, and which one is more effective or used more than others?

Answer:
STL
is the standard for pretty much everything out there.
EDIT: This is for models to be sliced and printed. Gcode is what would actually be executed, after slicing, to create the print.


Question:
I want to print a piece of fruit modeled in Blender. It is an STL file.
Please note that I am an absolute beginner at 3D printing models.

What do these red zones mean? What is wrong about the mesh in each case?

The fruit has some low-poly seeds. These used to be a particle system but I then changed them into individual objects.

This view shows the base of the fruit, why is it colored red?

Answer:
3D printers cannot print in the air without a prior layer or a support structure supporting the new printed layer. For the picture showing the bottom of the fruit, the red area is the calculated area that requires support for printing, so please enable that in the slicer application.
For the top picture please post a detail or a zoomed in part. It is currently difficult to see what is the matter. It looks as though the STL model is incorrect and Ultimaker Cura thinks that the seeds are upside down, hence the red coloring also. This means that you need to fix the normals of the faces in the STL model. Please look into
this answer
and
this answer
for some hints.


Question:
Is it a good idea or do I need to calibrate my E steps after I switch to a new filament due to the different types I use (to make my prints accurate)?

E.g. calibrate when switching from PLA to ABS/PETG?

Answer:
No that will not be necessary.
However, you could use calipers to measure the diameter of the filaments (e.g. at 5 positions over a few meters) and calculate the mean diameter, if there is a significant difference between the new and the currently used filament you could change the diameter in the slicer (or the flow modifier), you do not need to calibrate the steps per millimeter every time you change filament.
You only need to calibrate the steps per millimeter if you change something in the extruder hardware setup, e.g. different extruder, different stepper driver, a new gear, etc. As long as the hardware is not changed a calibrated extruder setup will move a certain amount of filament regardless of the diameter variation (per rotation of the extruder gear an amount of
$2 \times \pi \times (gear\ radius)$
mm of filament.


Question:
Given the Marlin Firmware what is the difference between the following lines of code:

G4 S20

and

G4 P2000

Answer:
The code
```
G4
```
refers to
dwell
. (From what I'm seeing, it can be written as either
```
G4
```
or
```
G04
```
).
```
P
```
is the length of dwell time, usually in milliseconds. The parameter
```
S
```
seems to be invalid, because the only inputs are
```
X
```
(seconds),
```
P
```
(milliseconds), or
```
U
```
(undefined). If you have
```
S20
```
in your code, it is invalid, whereas
```
P2000
```
will cause all axes to remain unmoving for 2 seconds before moving on.
(Note: Not all machines will accept
```
X
```
or
```
U
```
.)
EDIT:
This answer is specific to
non-specific
g-code, taken from this
Source
, since the OP did not state any specifics about their firmware type or equipment used.


Question:
Given a Marlin firmware and a line of G-code such as the following:

G1 F100 X50 Y50 Z0 E-10

What defines the speed at which the stepper motor associated with the E-value is retracting? It is my understanding that the Feed Rate defines the speed of the movement (in this case 100mm/m) but I am not clear how I could accelerate a retraction?

The reason I am asking is that I am not seeing a swift removal of material as i retract. Could the slow feed rate be the issue? I am using a pellet printer (WASP 3MT) and generating G-code from polylines on Silkworm.

Answer:
You instruct the printer to move from a certain X-Y position instructed by the previous move, to X=50 and Y=50. While moving at a feedrate of 100 mm/min, it will also retract 10 mm of filament (if the previous extruder distance was 0) during that move. If the movement distance is large, the retraction is slow. If you started from X,Y = 49.99,49.99 it would be very fast.
If you want a fast retraction, first move to a position, and than retract fast, so in separate commands. Do note that we usually do it the other way around: first retract fast and then move, this way there is less oozing of the nozzle.
To sum up, in your G-code command, the speed of retraction depends on the path of travel (the length and speed defined by the feed rate
```
F
```
). If it is fast retraction you are after, you should split the command into two separate commands.


Question:
I'm looking for the specific density of the GEL-LAY and LAYWOO 3D materials by manufacturer CC Products.

It isn't noted on their website or on the spool or the box the spools came in. I've looked for hours on Google and various websites, from resellers to people who tested it, without being able to find it.

Answer:
I can't provide the end answer, but if you already have the material, you should be able to measure this yourself quite simply.
Measure and cut a sample of filament, and weigh it. For example, a 10 meter length with a 1.75 mm diameter will have a volume of:
v = pi * r
2
* l
v = pi * (0.175 cm/2)
2
* 1000 cm
v = 24.05 cm
3
Density is mass divided by volume. If your sample weighs 18 g, this would be
d = m / v
d = 18.0 g / 24.05 cm
3
d = 0.748 g/cm
3
Note that the accuracy of this measurement will depend on the accuracy and precision of your measurements. A household kitchen scale might not be good enough for such small weights. In order to get a good weight measurement, you may need to use a much longer (and heavier) sample of filament.


Question: Is there a difference between 3D printing and additive manufacturing if any then explain?

Answer:
Origin
3D printing and additive manufacturing (AM) both refer to a
range of processes
where, opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies, materials are joined to create products. E.g.
FFF
,
SLS
, etc.
From
this reference
you see a reference to 3D printing:
Additive manufacturing is the official industry standard term (ASTM
F2792) for all applications of the technology. It is defined as the
process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data,
usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing
methodologies.
From e.g.
this reference
one reads that there is no difference:
Between the terms 3D printing and additive manufacturing, there is no
difference. 3D printing and additive manufacturing are synonyms for
the same process.
Useage now
However, as the AM processes and applications grew in time, 3D printing has become a subset of AM. As worded by
Peter Zelinski
in August 2017:
To be sure, the terms overlap. They can be used in ways that make them
sound like synonyms. But the relationship between them and the
difference between them is this:
3D printing is the operation at the
heart of additive manufacturing
, just as “turning” or “molding” might
be the operation at the heart of a conventional manufacturing process.
In short,
additive manufacturing requires and includes 3D printing,
but it also entails more than 3D printing, and it refers to something
more rigorous
.


Question:
I have a new Prusa i3 MK3 and I have noticed that my prints consistently turn out worse on 0.05 mm layer heights than on 0.10 mm. The edges of the 0.05 mm prints turn out rough and sometimes stringy.

Seems similar to a retraction problem but I never have this issue on 0.10 mm prints with the same retraction settings.

What might be causing this issue?

Answer:
When printing at small layer heights (high resolution), you probably need to do some test prints first to see if your normal settings work for the lower layer height. You are most probably experiencing an increased pressure build-up in the nozzle due to the nozzle being closer to the bed. A test that might be useful for you is spacing several objects at different distances to see if the retraction, which you already suspect, may be not working optimally or that the nozzle leaks/oozes an excess amount of filament due to pressure build-up. This shows an example of such a test where the nozzle shows oozing.
Tuning the extruder to alleviate the pressure could be:
an increased retraction length, and/or
retraction speed, or
looking into the option called coasting where you stop extruding before the printer reaches the end of the deposition path while it still prints material caused by the pressure build-up.
When printing at 0.05 mm on my home-build CoreXY I experience much smoother prints opposed to printing in higher layer heights (less resolution), but I also get some very fine stringing, noticeable when printing multiple objects or objects with voids.


Question:
I have a WiFi module that only needs two wires connection to work. These are RX and TX pins connected to Arduino or the CR-10S printer board but I don't know if there is any physical or software UARTs TX and RX pins. My goal is to add a Wifi support to the CR-10S printer. Since this is not Arduino and the pins are not labeled, it's hard to tell which TX and RX pins are not being used.

In the image of my motherboard below, any port or pin with line pointing to is considered as being used by the printing software so I can't used them.

There are still ports or pins that are not used. Can any one tell if there is a  TX and RX pin that is not being used from the image above? I need them to communicate with the printer wirelessly.

Answer:
You are looking for a capacitor that must be connected to Pin 4 of the LM2596.
Maybe you could provide a better picture of that area so we could see the different tracks on the board.
The LM2596 is in the center of the right side of the board (it is also labeled  with LM2596D). The pins should be counted from top to bottom (in your picture)
My guess is, the Elko you are looking for is connected to C31, and you must look for the positive pin.
In this wiring diagram Cout is the capacitor you are looking for. The SMD Parts R1, R2 and CFF should be R31, R32 and C31 in your picture.
With the corresponging measurements I would say you do not need to replace the capacitors.
In comparison to the old board your board already has the "fix" implemented.


Question:
I am currently encountering a problem where under certain circumstances, the extruder stutters when it starts a new layer. I am printing on an Anycubic i3 Mega and am slicing with Cura 3.6.0. The problem seems to occur in the main part of prints, as well as in supports. However it seems to only occur after a retraction has taken place. I have taken a video of the stuttering which can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/G3TLKveMsLNRQmgv7
When a print is done the stuttering results in walls looking like this:

Can anyone help me figure out what is causing the stuttering?
Thank you very much!

Answer:
You retraction settings may be too high. Direct drive extruders require less retraction than Bowden style extruders. Typical retraction settings for direct drive are 1.5mm at 50mm/s and for Bowden, 4mm at 50mm/s. The speed usually makes more of a difference than distance beyond a certain point.
You can get away with smaller retraction settings if you increase travel speed because there will be less time to ooze. You could also try using Coasting as well.
Anyway, try reducing your retraction settings if they're higher than what I stated above. Another alternative is to set an extra prime distance so that extra filament is extruded after the retraction.


Question:
I have designed a bread mark and printed it on the Prusa i3 MK3.

I wanted it to have as sharp edges as possible, so I used a triangle:

However, it seems that the print cut off layers that are too thin (x-y-wise) and instead of a 1 cm high bread mark, I only have 0.5 cm.

What is the X-Y-resolution of the Prusa i3 MK3? In Slic3r, can I make sure that any wall is made as thick as needed for it to be printed?

I have the default 0.4 mm nozzle.

Answer:
This is dependent on the slicer and the nozzle diameter. Typically, you cannot print a wall smaller than twice the nozzle diameter because walls need an inner and outer line. Therefore, your slicer will make some cutoff and won't print walls below a certain threshold, in order to try to faithfully replicate your model.
Slic3r, I believe, will automatically go down to single line walls, but if you turn on "Detect thin walls" in Slic3r's Print Settings, more of the thin walls will be printed. Slic3r will actually reduce the plastic extruded to attempt to make even thinner walls, but there's still a limit.
With a 0.4 mm nozzle, you should design walls no smaller than 0.8 mm, or 0.4 mm at the very smallest.


Question:
I have a small problem where plastic comes out of the nozzle while the printer is at a standstill (normally towards the end of heating the nozzle for a print), and whilst it moves from the line for clearing the nozzle on the left of the bed (Cura) before the actual print starts. This causes a slight problem where the first few millimetres of the printed line curls upwards when the nozzle comes back around again it goes over it but it causes a slight bump that makes a very small (but noticeable) skip or bump in the print on the bottom layer.

I am using the Ender 3 running Marling 1.1.9 with a Bltouch and a glass bed, I didn't seem to have this problem before I upgraded to the glass bed and Marlin for the Bltouch.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
This effect is called oozing. At the end of heating up the hot end, left filament becomes so liquid that it oozes out of the nozzle. This left filament could be a left over from the previous print where an insufficient retract prior to the last print finish causes this (you could retract the filament a little further in your "end G-code" script, first reset the E to zero
```
G92 E0
```
and then retract
```
G1 E-3 F1500
```
, be sure that the priming length in your "start G-code" takes care of this distance).


Question: I was noticing on a print I had just done that the quality was not up to typical snuff. I had just started using a roll of PLA filament that I had been keeping on a shelf without a wrapper for a couple months. How long can you store filament before it gets too hydrated from the air to print? I expected more than a couple months but perhaps I am wrong?

Answer:
In
theory
, most filaments don't go bad within a year. However, praxis shows, that averse conditions can impact the filaments over time and age them to unusability.
Among the damaging factors is heat, but most filaments also are hygroscopic and absorb water to some small degree, or even heavily like Nylon.
As a result, it always a good idea to at least try to store filament dry. To enforce this, some use racks in a well-heated room, others are blessed with very dry weather overall. And on some locations, like the coast, you might even be forced to use dryboxes for each and every filament to try to slow the degradation of steady hot humid air leaching out the additions from the filament.
Dryboxes can keep the filament reasonably isolated from the surrounding air and so prevent moisture interacting with them to some degree. It is also a good idea to store them out of direct sunlight, as UV light might destroy color and/or the plastic. More information on why to use them is for example at
this question
A couple construction videos using an IKEA box and a bit of foam were offered by
Tom (Thomas Sanladerer)
and
CNC Kitchen (Stefan Hermann)
in 2017.
But fear not: most filaments - PLA included - can be freshened up again if the damage is not to prolonged! Baking them at a low temperature or storing them in a dehumidifier has worked in some climates. For PLA, keep the temperature at below 80°C. A couple of hours should get some the moisture that has seeped in out again. The Quality might not get back to that of fresh filament in all cases, but you might at least regain reasonable to good printability.
Also note, that different filaments are differently affected.
ABS for example is a little less hygroscopic than PLA, while HIPS is one of the least hygroscopic filaments available.


Question:
I bought a few new nozzles expecting them to come with that little tube that comes out of the nozzle. They didn't come with them after all, so I tried to reuse the tube I originally had in the printer. Turns out my old tube is 4mm OD and 2mm ID, but the new nozzles have 2mm holes for the tube to go in. I use 1.75mm filament, so it seems like to be able to fit the filament through the tube would be impossible barring a tube with an 0.125mm wall.

My question is, can I put the tube outside of the nozzle? That is, not stuck in the hole for the nozzle. In theory, the tube would still direct the filament into the right place. It looks like that might be the point of these new nozzles, since it seems so unlikely that someone would be able to stick a filament tube in the nozzle.

If not, where can I find the tubes I need? I've looked in a few different places and I can't find it. Or are the nozzles useless, and should I return them? Thanks for the help.

Answer:
Let me clean up a little nomenclature
The PTFE tube is either a Bowden Style Setup delivering the filament from the extruder down through the cool-end and to the heatbreak or just a liner in the cool-end and heatbreak for direct drive. In both cases they are to prevent clogs. In most setups it is
not
pushed into the nozzle which is in the heater block (they exist, see below).
The liner/Bowden tube guides the filament through the heatsink and into the proper Hotend/Meltzone. In the better designs intended for higher temperature like ABS (see left half), it ends in the heatbreak. This also has the added benefit of having less chance to leak if the tube slips a little bit.
Simple setups (see right half) butt it against the nozzle and thus limit the temperature range. This kind of butted setup can lead to leakage if the tube slips up. In either case, it is no problem to reuse the PTFE tube when changing nozzles, it is even advisable in the case of a Bowden setup as it might change the length of the path.
The nozzle is usually screwed into the heater block from below, and for best use, one screws it against the heatbreak in a heated state - this is called hot-tightening.
If you somehow end up destroying your PTFE Tube, you can get them under the keyword PTFE tube, Bowden tube or Pneumatic PTFE tube on the internet.
PTFE inside the nozzle?
Yes, these exist, OP has them, they look like this, and are not what has become the industry standard.
I can think of no good reason to put an PTFE Sleeve
into
the nozzle, but someone did it, and it sis a valid approach. However, I see several problems with it:
the PTFE tube degrades if pushed deep into the melt zone and can lead to clogs.
the added PTFE is not a very good at transmitting heat, thus reducing the effectiveness of the melt zone. This can lead to needing either much lower printing speeds or a much higher printing temperature to achieve good prints
It should be of no issue to convert from this style into the butted-style (right) just by using a short length of PTFE in the heatbreak. I would prefer though to combine it with a heatbreak where the PTFE ends and making this what is commonly referred to as an "all metal hotend" (left).


Question:
I want to extend all my CR-10S wires. I have two long wire types: 22 and 18 AWG wires. I've done some research and found the following:

Extruder heating element:  22 AWG or lower.

Extruder thermistor sensor:  22 AWG or lower (Doesn't really need much amp).

Fans:  24 AWG or lower (Doesn't really need much amp).

Limit switch/filament sensor: 24 AWG or lower (Doesn't really need
much amp).

Here is where I've problems determining which wire gauge to use:

Stepper motor wires: ?

Bed heater wires: ?

What's the wire gauge needed for the stepper motor and bed heater wires? Obviously, the bed heater needs more amp so I expect lower wire gauge. Is my 18 gauge wire enough for this?

On the Reprap site, it says that 18 AWG or lower is fine for the heating bed.

Answer:
Let me clean up a little nomenclature
The PTFE tube is either a Bowden Style Setup delivering the filament from the extruder down through the cool-end and to the heatbreak or just a liner in the cool-end and heatbreak for direct drive. In both cases they are to prevent clogs. In most setups it is
not
pushed into the nozzle which is in the heater block (they exist, see below).
The liner/Bowden tube guides the filament through the heatsink and into the proper Hotend/Meltzone. In the better designs intended for higher temperature like ABS (see left half), it ends in the heatbreak. This also has the added benefit of having less chance to leak if the tube slips a little bit.
Simple setups (see right half) butt it against the nozzle and thus limit the temperature range. This kind of butted setup can lead to leakage if the tube slips up. In either case, it is no problem to reuse the PTFE tube when changing nozzles, it is even advisable in the case of a Bowden setup as it might change the length of the path.
The nozzle is usually screwed into the heater block from below, and for best use, one screws it against the heatbreak in a heated state - this is called hot-tightening.
If you somehow end up destroying your PTFE Tube, you can get them under the keyword PTFE tube, Bowden tube or Pneumatic PTFE tube on the internet.
PTFE inside the nozzle?
Yes, these exist, OP has them, they look like this, and are not what has become the industry standard.
I can think of no good reason to put an PTFE Sleeve
into
the nozzle, but someone did it, and it sis a valid approach. However, I see several problems with it:
the PTFE tube degrades if pushed deep into the melt zone and can lead to clogs.
the added PTFE is not a very good at transmitting heat, thus reducing the effectiveness of the melt zone. This can lead to needing either much lower printing speeds or a much higher printing temperature to achieve good prints
It should be of no issue to convert from this style into the butted-style (right) just by using a short length of PTFE in the heatbreak. I would prefer though to combine it with a heatbreak where the PTFE ends and making this what is commonly referred to as an "all metal hotend" (left).


Question:
Here is the sequence of my Gcode, printed in mid-air:

Print (E20)
Retract (E-20)
Dwell (G4 10,000)
Move away (E0)
Print (E20)

See the path on the printscreen below:

When the printer dwells it oozes. How can i stop that?

I am using a WASP 3MT, pellet extrustion, 3mm nozzle, Marlin firmware, Gcode done on Silkworm for Grasshopper.

Gcode around the dwell:

G1 F300 X-25 Y-25 Z30 E15.96
G92 E0
G1  F0 X-25 Y-25 Z30
G1 F1000 X-25 Y-25 Z36 E-89.42
G92 E0
G4 P10000
G1  F0 X-25 Y-25 Z36
G1 F1000 X-25 Y-25 Z32 E0
G92 E0

Answer:
Since you retracted the filament (very far), but stay at elevated temperature for almost 2 minutes, this must be left-over residue inside the nozzle/throat that is stuck to the wall that becomes liquid and oozes out of the nozzle because gravity pulls it downwards.
This answer
on the question
"Ender 3 extrudes plastic whilst at standstill, and while moving to start of print"
explains the oozing problem in detail.


Question:
So I just got a Da-Vinci 3-in-1 Junior Pro 3D Printer, and was excited to start printing my first model.

When I open my .STL File in the XYZWare that comes with the printer, and click print, it says that the cartridge inserted into my printer in not genuine, and that it won't print until I order a genuine cartridge. What is interesting is that the cartridge loaded into this printer came with the printer itself, so it is genuine.

Is there something I am doing wrong? Here is a picture of the cartridge in my printer -->

A Google search about this issue doesn't come up with any results that are of any use to me.

Answer:
A
quick search on the internet
showed that your experiences are shared by others.
Apparently, it has something to do with a faulty chip or the software.
From
this thread
:
I had the same thing, the cop on the underside of the cartridge wasn’t
programmed properly, if you have the latest firmware update and it
still doesn’t work contact the seller and they should send you a
replacement chip
I had this happen 2x. It ended up being that I had xyzware open.
Xyzware needs to restart in order to detect the new serial number of
the filament.
You could ask for support from your supplier or restart the XYZ software.
You could also
hack
the NFC chip that is inside the spool. (
DISCLAIMER
:
Do it at your own risk
!)


Question:
I thought as a fun project to make my own 3D printer out of a normal printer parts + some parts out of old CD-ROM drives that are lying around. The printer of my choice is an HP PSC 1315 one.

But I have these questions:

Does this printer users stepper motors or is using a combination of DC ones and some sort of position sensor?

What kind of electronics and firmware I can use for this type of builds?

Answer:
No, Printers are not good sources
Common printers contain at best one stepper motor
in the scanner
, and it is usually too weak for use as an X or Y stepper, but for a very slow printer they might be useable, especially if you could source 2 or 4 of the same type.
The main motors in the printer are almost universally DC motors that get their turning signal as a voltage from the main board, which again uses positional information from an encoder strip/disk. Using both of these to make a 3D printer is usually not feasible.
However, they usually have good rails (sadly often of non-standard diameter) and might be salvaged for a decent optical sensor. See also
Thomas Sanladerer's video
about this.


Question:
I've recently purchased an Ender 3 and have had great success with some Cura settings found on a YouTube Tutorial at 0.2 mm resolution.

So then I noticed that there were default settings in Cura for the Ender 3. Except printing at 0.2 mm it selects a 20 % infill, and when choosing 0.1 mm it changed the infill to 10 %.

I changed infill to 20 % and attempted to print this but there were gaps in the bottom layer and it won't stick to the bed. Is there anything else I need to change in the process?

The shape is essentially a cube with a circular hole in the middle, sliced in half.

Answer:
Basically you have 2 issues, first, an adhesion in combination with layer thickness problem, second, an infill problem.
Starting with the infill issue, when you lower the layer height, without increasing the amount of layers for the "Top/Bottom Thickness", you get a very thin shell (unless the top bottom thickness is expressed in mm). A lower layer height should, because of the lesser amount of filament being extruded over the infill, should be accompanied with a higher infill value, but that is necessary for the top layers, your issue is with the bottom layer and adhesion. As said, a lower layer height also implies lower filament flow, for the first layer this lower flow causes an inconsistent flow to adhere the filament to the bed (probably caused by the gap between the nozzle and bed from leveling with a piece of paper). Most slicers will add some extra features to increase the change to get the filament to stick to the bed; one of those is an increased first layer height (e.g. in Ultimaker Cura, the first default layer height for Ultimaker 3 printers is laarger than the rest of the layers), others include modifying the flow by e.g. over-extruding for the first layer.
You could try to increase your first layer height to the value you create successful prints with, specify the thickness of the bottom and top (or increase the amount of layers for printing these) and increase the infill percentage.


Question:
I built a cheap Delta printer with ATMega board and 1.8° motors. The micro stepping is limitied to 1/16. Beside a decent print quality, I observe a moire effect on flat surfaces. The moire is clearly caused by a combination of both, the 1.8° motors steps and the low microstepping.

I thought about using 0.9° stepper motors together with a combination of board and drivers which support < 1/32 micro stepping. Is there a comparison somewhere illustrating potential quality differences on larger delta printers and is this the way to remove the moire effect? For cartesian printers I would not bother using such motors, but I noticed that a higher holding torque at smaller steps is desirable for delta printers.

Example

Not one of my prints, but this is how it looks

Answer:
Delta bots always need all motors to step to maintain a straight level.
Microstepping
, is not magic, the
incremental torque
decreases per step so that you will be more likely to miss a few micro-steps. Furthermore, the signal that creates voltages for the micro-step positioning is usually not perfectly sinusoidal (pulse-width voltage modulation is used to achieve micro-stepping by controlling the current; the driver sends two voltage sine waves, 90 degrees out of phase to the motor windings), micro-stepping drives can only
approximate
a
true sine wave
. This means that some torque ripples, resonance, and noise remains and hence resulting in odd stepper behavior, like seen below from
this ref.
(after the half step the stepper jumps to the full step and maintains that value for a while):
This is seen as a
Moiré
pattern in your printed products. As an example, if the head is moved in Z direction by micro-step, you will almost certainly notice that the head doesn't move on every micro-step, but only every 3rd or 4th micro-step (as an example). When using higher resolution steppers like the 0.9° stepper motors, you will still miss micro-steps (e.g. the same, so also on every 3rd or 4th micro-step the head moves), but as the micro-step is half the size of that one of a 1.8° stepper motor, the accuracy as in precision and resolution is higher.
In that sense, if you change your stepper drivers for higher micro-stepping drivers (from 1/16 to 1/32 as you mention), it will not help you improve the resolution much because the incremental torque from one to another 1/32 micro-step is lower than for 1/16 micro-steps as can be seen in the figure below (taken from
this ref.
).
So, using 0.9° motors (and keeping 1/16 micro-stepping) improves positioning accuracy as described above, it will also reduce the noise, because the torque per unit angular error is nearly doubled. Also remember that if you are using 8-bit electronics (you hint to an ATMega board), then even 1/32 micro-stepping burdens the processor to achieve reasonable travel speeds. With 8-bit electronics, it is usually suggested to use 1/16 stepping.
Upgrading an existing printer from 1.8° to 0.9° stepper motors is probably not worth for the majority of users (note that the maximum allowable speed also reduces when using 0.9° stepper motors). Unless you are designing and building a new delta, or aren't on a tight budget you could opt for the additional costs of buying 0.9° stepper motors.
Note that updating to higher micro-stepping values not necessarily implies that the quality of your products also increase. See e.g.
this reference
.