3d Printer Tips and Mods Wiki https://3dprinterwiki.info 3d printing information, reviews and tips Sun, 04 Jun 2017 21:57:40 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://3dprinterwiki.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/cropped-3dprinterwiki-32x32.png 3d Printer Tips and Mods Wiki https://3dprinterwiki.info 32 32 Photocentric3D Clear Tough UV Resin https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/photocentric3d-clear-tough-uv-resin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=photocentric3d-clear-tough-uv-resin https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/photocentric3d-clear-tough-uv-resin/#comments Fri, 05 May 2017 15:46:17 +0000 https://3dprinterwiki.info/?p=1626 Description

This is just a peek at the upcoming review for the Photocentric Tough UV Resin. I did a quick print just to see if my settings were close and will print some more parts for testing soon…

“The Tough is effectively a stronger flex. It’s hard to deform than the firm and has a slightly lower flexibility than the Flex does”

Packing

The bottle was double bagged then wrapped in lots of nice bubblewrap in a large box. The 1 Liter bottle has a nice no-drip style lid that is easy to pour.

Usage

 

Post Processing

Note: Objects will have full strength only after full cure time. The directions I was given that worked out well are as follows: UV post curing in water for 5 minutes a side, wiping with IPA on a cloth and then curing dry under UV for 2 hours (minus amount of time spent in the water UV bath) gives the best end feel and properties. After I cured the parts for 2 hours they became more stable and flexible. I have a few parts I will be testing to see how it holds up in the near future.

Photos

Tough / Clear. MakeRook

Tough / Clear. Top of MakeRook

Tough / Clear. MakeRook

Videos

Rating

 

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Bondtech Mini for the Wanhao i3 (and clones) https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/bondtech-mini-for-the-wanhao-i3-and-clones/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bondtech-mini-for-the-wanhao-i3-and-clones https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/bondtech-mini-for-the-wanhao-i3-and-clones/#respond Thu, 30 Mar 2017 19:33:51 +0000 https://3dprinterwiki.info/?p=1519 Description

The Bondtech Mini is a replacement extruder for the Wanhao i3 and has a few features that make this a good upgrade choice if you are looking for a new extruder. The Bondtech Mini has a Dual-Drive gear setup that grips the filament from both sides which makes this a good choice if you are using TPU or other flexible filaments. The smaller diameter of the gear also increases the torque and resolution by about 50%.

Kit Contents

It is recommended that you also order the modified mounting bracket to make installation easier, otherwise you will need to modify your existing bracket some to make the extruder fit. The kit consists of the following parts (you will be  using your existing stepper motor) :

  • Hardened steel drive gears
  • Extruder housing in nylon with threaded inserts
  • Hardened ground shaft (for the gears)
  • Mounting bolts (M3x45mm)
  • Needle bushings (for the lever gear)
  • Shim (to space the heatsink and fan off the cooling block)

Bondtech i3 Kit (and optional Bracket)

Documentation

The documentation for the Bondtech Mini was preliminary at the time I installed the kit but has since been updated and contain step by step instructions and a template if you will be modifying your existing mounting bracket (will require some extra tools).  Check the website for updated documentation since the link I show may be changed in the future.

Installation

The installation was pretty straight forward. The existing extruder needed to be removed and then the stepper motor needs to be removed because it will be reused with this kit. Set everything aside except for the original plastic lever, plate and drive gear since these will be replaced with the Bondtech Mini parts. After removing all the parts I had to remove the original mounting bracket so I could install the modified Bondtech bracket (I didn’t feel like cutting up the original). Once the bracket was installed I went to the next step of installing new Bondtech primary gear on the motor shaft (don’t set the setscrew all the way since you will need to align it later).

Assembly of the Hinge part was next and pretty straight forward. This consisted of installing the secondary gear and bushings into the recessed part of the hinge and securing in place with the short shaft.  The back and front housings were installed on the original motor and the lever assembly installed on the housing.  Next the gears need to be aligned with the filament path which was straight forward and easy to do.

The mounting bracket installs the same way as the original and while I was at it i upgraded my X bearing blocks to the new longer ones. The following step is the only tricky part of the installation. The heater block needs to be rotated 180 because of the design of the Bondtech Mini which involves heating up the assembly and unscrewing the nozzle and heatbreak tube then flipping the heat block over and reinstalling the nozzle and heatbreak tube. Be sure you are careful with the thermistor and heater wires (they break easily) and do not touch the parts while hot. Follow the instructions carefully since this is the part that was confusing to me (again, I had preliminary installation instructions).

Bondtech i3 Bracket

Finally assembly went smoothly. The original cooling bar mounts to the new (or modified) bracket the same way as before. The heat sink and fan are spaced off the cooling bar using the included shim (due to the depth of the Bondtech housing). The fan and heatsink are secured through the cooling block and Bondtech housing into the stepper motor using the included longer M3 screws. The last step is to reverse the direction of the stepper motor since the drive gears operate backwards from the original. If you happen to have compiled your firmware yourself you can just invert the extruder direction in firmware and re-flash the controller board and if that is not possible you will need to remove a few wires from the stepper motor connector and flip them around (see Bondtech Instructions).

Bondtech Installed

Bondtech Installed

Firmware Changes

Your printer firmware will need to have the EEPROM settings changed to update the Extruder Steps per MM so it will be correct for the new smaller diameter high-torque drive gears. The new ESteps will be changed to 140 from the original 96 (or 105).

Final Thoughts

I found the installation went smoothly after studying the instructions a couple of times. I highly recommend that you go ahead and purchase the optional mounting bracket to make installation easier unless you just like hacking on stuff. The installation is a little more advanced compared to other extruder mounting due to the changes that need to be made to the hotend and stepper motor wiring. If you ever had issues feeding filament with the OEM extruder then this extruder has a big advantage with the dual high torque gears that grip the filament from both sides and push it downward to the hotend. It took everything I threw at it and I only had issues with one new filament (X60)  but that could be related to my hotend setup and not the extruder since the filament was feeding but getting jammed in the hotend. The only downside I found with the Bondtech Mini was the loss of about 15mm from the right side of the bed due to the added width of the extruder setup.

Where to purchase

The Bondtech Mini for the Wanhao I3 can be purchased directly from Bondtech or any authorized resellers.

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Photocentric3D Clear Flex UV Resin https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/photocentric3d-clear-flex-uv-resin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=photocentric3d-clear-flex-uv-resin https://3dprinterwiki.info/reviews/photocentric3d-clear-flex-uv-resin/#respond Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:06:53 +0000 https://3dprinterwiki.info/?p=1309 Description

I had a recent project that I have been printing in Ninjaflex on my FDM printer and after testing the D7 printer I thought it would be nice to print some high quality flexible resin prints. The first flexible resin I tried did not do so well so after some more searching I came across the Photocentric3D DLP Resin page. I had looked at their Daylight printers before but did not realize they had started to make DLP (UV) resin. They happen to have Clear (comes in a variety of colors) Flex in the UV / DLP form which is exactly what I was looking for so I ordered a bottle to try. It arrived after a short delay (because it was still being beta tested) in good condition and packed well.

“Flexible UV polymers are ideal for making objects where you want flexibility, but still a hard object. Objects will compress and deflect enough to bend and return. They exhibit low tensile shear properties and some elongation. Objects can be bent and compressed with some force.”

Packing

The bottle was double bagged then wrapped in lots of nice bubblewrap in a large box. The first thing I noticed was the bottle. I like the 1 Liter size and the bottle has a nice no-drip style lid that is easy to pour.

Usage

The first thing I had to do was find good settings for the D7 printer I was testing on. Since the resin was clear I started with the settings I used for the FTD Clear IB resin. It didn’t cure all the way and separated from the build platform so I increased the cure time to 30 seconds (with a 90 second base cure). After that every part I printed cured and stuck to the plate. You need to carefully remove the parts from the plate using a sharp scraper without going to crazy to keep from damaging the delicate (in my case) print. I enabled the Dimming feature on NanoDLP at 35% with 10 Pixel outline for larger prints.

Post Processing

Note: Objects will have full strength only after full cure time. The directions I was given that worked out well are as follows: UV post curing in water for 5 minutes a side, wiping with IPA on a cloth and then curing dry under UV for 2 hours (minus amount of time spent in the water UV bath) gives the best end feel and properties. After I cured the parts for 2 hours they became more stable and flexible. I have a few parts I will be testing to see how it holds up in the near future.

Rating

I would give this resin a 5 out of 5 so far for printability and use.

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Website Donations https://3dprinterwiki.info/uncategorized/website-donations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=website-donations https://3dprinterwiki.info/uncategorized/website-donations/#respond Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:06:29 +0000 https://3dprinterwiki.info/?p=780 If you would like to donate anything towards keeping this website going you can use the links below. This is setup using the Paypal Donate system. This would be used for the web hosting and domain fees or any costs associated with keeping the site and information going. Thank you for all the support we have received and will continue to help grow this community and wiki.

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Melzie to Ramps Conversion https://3dprinterwiki.info/uncategorized/melzie-to-ramps-conversion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=melzie-to-ramps-conversion https://3dprinterwiki.info/uncategorized/melzie-to-ramps-conversion/#comments Sat, 23 Jul 2016 19:34:59 +0000 https://3dprinterwiki.info/?p=775 This is a copy of the instructions from http://beginner3dprinting.com which has been offline. There are no photos and I haven’t been in touch with the author yet since the website is offline but I have referenced it for reference.

 

General Info

This guide is intended for anyone who would like to convert their Duplicator i3 from Melzi to RAMPS. RAMPS is not the only board replacement available, but the only one that will be covered in this guide. The process is essentially the same for the other boards.

Parts Required

  • Wanhao Duplicator i3/Maker Select/Cocoon
  • Ramps 1.4 Board
  • Arduino Mega
  • 4 Stepper Drivers
  • 15 Jumpers (included with some ramps 1.4 boards)
  • 2 Pin Dupont Connectors
  • 2 4 Pin Dupont Connectors

Optional Parts

  • Raspberry PI
  • ATX PSU
  • Ramps LCD/SD/Controller
  • Ramps Adapter plate for stock controller housing

Basic Concepts

This conversion is fairly straight forward project. Before you start I recommend familiarizing yourself with a few things:

Assemble Ramps 1.4

  1. Print or open the Ramps 1.4 PDF. This diagram will be very useful throughout the RAMPS conversion process.
  2. Inspect the Ramps 1.4 Board.
    The RAMPS 1.4 board I received had a few bent pins that required attention before mating it to the ARDUINO. Take a few moments and check both your RAMPS and Arduino Mega and make sure everything appears as it should.
  3. Follow steps 1-3 in the RAMPS pdf
    1. Install Jumpers for Stepper Drivers
      Install 3 Jumpers for each stepper driver to enable 1/16 micro stepping for each motor.Before:After:
    2. Connect the RAMPS board to the Arduino MEGA
      Place the Arduino MEGA onto a smooth clean work surface.
      Carefully align the two boards. The Ramps power connector should be centered over the arduino power connector.
      Slowly push the RAMPS 1.4 board down into the MEGA
    3. Install Stepper Drivers:
      • ATTENTION – It is very important to install your stepper drivers facing the correct direction. Failure to do so can and most likely will result in your drivers giving up the smoke.
      • Depending on the stepper drivers you purchased, you may be required to adhere the heatsinks to the boards.
        1 – Remove the adhesive backer and be careful not to contaminate the adhesive with finger oils.
        2- Place the heatsink over the chip and lightly press down. Making sure that the heatsink does not short out any of the exposed pins on the driver board.
    4. Each stepper driver has a small screw potentiometer. The stepper drivers should be installed into the RAMPS 1.4 board with the screws on the lcd controller side of the RAMPS 1.4 board.INCORRECT Stepper Driver OrientationCorrect Orientation
    5. Align the stepper driver with the terminals, facing the correct direction, and carefully push the driver down into place.
    6. Repeat these steps for each of the 4 Stepper drives. ( I recommend buying a few extra)

Disassemble Duplicator i3

  1. Disconnect the power cable from the back of your machine
  2. Remove the 12 screw securing the top of the controller enclosure. Do not lift the top yet.
    Remove the top three screws from the front cover.
    Remove the three screws from both sides of the cover.
    Remove the top three screws from the back cover.
  3. Slowly lift the front of the top enough to see the lcd cable.
  4. Disconnect the lcd cable from the lcd screen.
  5. Slowly remove the top of the enclosure
  6. Remove the four screw securing the MELZI board to the enclosure top.
  7. Carefully check that all of the wires are labelled and labelled correctly. Label any wires that are missing labels.
  8. Check and label all the wires coming from your power supply unit.
  9. I recommend taking some pictures of your MELZI Board, power supply and all of the wiring now just in case you have questions later on.
  10. Disconnect the wires from the power supply.
  11. Carefully remove the hot glue that is used to secure the connectors on the MELZI board.
  12. Disconnect all of the wires from the MELZI Board.
  13. Your Duplicator i3 is now ready to accept the new controller setup.

Connect Printer to RAMPS

  1. Connect the x y and z stepper motors to the RAMPS 1.4 setup
  2. Connect the Stepper motor into the E0 stepper connector
  3. Connect the Heated Bed to D8
  4. Connect the Hotend to D10
  5. Connect the Print Cooling fan into D9
  6. Connect the end-stops
    • X End Stop
    • Y End Stop
    • Z End Stop
  7. Connect the Hotend thermistor to T0
  8. Connect the Bed Thermistor to T1
  9. Connect the Power

Configure Firmware

  • Download Repetier Firmware Here
  • Download Arduino IDE
  • Configure and Flash Firmware
    • Open Repetier.ino using the Arduino IDE
    • Build the firmware
    • Flash the firmware onto the Arduino Mega using the IDE

Install/Configure Octoprint

Photo Gallery

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