Original Prusa i3 Mk 2 kit

[Delta Foxtrot]

Thanks Trevor. I agree that designing the parts to eliminate / minimise support material is a good plan.

I would certainly be interested in tips others may have on optimising the print settings for support material as eventually I will need to print parts that require it.

Good to hear that you are printing away. I have not used Pritt either for the last few prints I have made. I have tweaked the live adjust up a little and still have no problems still with first layer adhesion. The parts need a little persuasion to part with the bed, even when it is fully cooled. I can pull them off with a little effort, not excessive force. Hard to know what is normal from a base of zero experience.

[Model Monster]

I've been reading this thread with great interest and have just taken the plunge and ordered a Prusa i3 mk2 etc.

The inclination for this was spurred on by recent events but has been brewing unnoticed over the last year or so. I'd been trying to teach myself 2D AutoCAD as well as Compufoil, in an attempt to design my very own scale masterpiece. It was all going pretty well until at one point I got a bit stuck and despite trawling on-line tutorials etc, I couldn't figure out how to do what I wanted or needed to do, so I looked around for a suitable short course and found one at my local college. It was beyond excellent, in 6 x 3hr sessions my class was taught the basics and beyond, as a bonus we got a 3 year license for the full AutoCAD student edition and a whacking great manual. My scale design was nearing completion when the college contacted me to see if I wanted to do a new AutoCAD 3D and digital printing course. Guess what, another 6 sessions later and this is where I am now. All freshly learned with 3D stuff and another massive manual.

The more I've learnt, the more I've realised how handy these skills could be. I hope I can remember what to do, by the time the kit arrives in 7 weeks.

 

Edited By Model Monster on 17/03/2017 18:27:20

[Delta Foxtrot]

Good stuff MM!
I hope you will be as pleased with your printer as I have been so far with mine.

[Trevor Rushton]

Dear MM;

I echo DF; it will be worth the wait. The course sounds good - where was it if you don't mind me asking? I am on a diy learning curve with Fusion 360 but I am sure would benefit from a more structured approach.

[Model Monster]

The courses were run at Uxbridge college I think they do them every few months,one evening a week for six weeks.

[Trevor Rushton]

Thanks MM; Uxbridge cold be doable at a stretch for me, but not ideal; I will keep an eye out for something closer to home ( Surrey).

My Prusa earned its keep at the weekend by making a Stand-off for a new ceiling mounted light; I used the lowest red for this, but the quality was still very good. I think the next trick is to configure the print to make best use of the "grain"; it's a trade off between a simple print ( i.e. No temporary support) and strength.

[Delta Foxtrot]

Trevor,

Good to hear you are making some practical use of your Prusa.

I have turned my thoughts back to my Druine Turbulent build, after parking this to get the Prusa sorted. I have just started experimenting with printing the engine cowling. The first attempt is close in terms of shape, but needs a few tweaks. It is far too heavy as I printed it with 2 mm thick walls. Next pass, after tweaking the shape, is to learn how to get the wall thickness right down. There are some fully 3D printed models that use a single perimeter to print so it can be done, I just need to work out how.

Edited By Delta Foxtrot on 21/03/2017 11:17:07

[Trevor Rushton]

I don't have very much to show for my efforts so far, but I remain very pleased with the results of the Prusa. My drag knife project is coming on well and I have just made a nose cone and fin attachment ring for a soda bottle rocket for my nephew; test firing today!

I have printed quite a lot of stuff at low quality and for general purpose stuff I have to say it's fine. I do find pla a bit brittle though and might buy a small roll of abs and nylon for experiments.

I think print accuracy is very good; if you print a 20mm cylinder you get a 20 mm cylinder; the drag knife is made from a series of tubes that fit together; all a good interference fit.

[Model Monster]

I'd almost forgotten about about my kit order but just got notification that It's on the way. Time to clear the bench as having left Prague it's now at Nurnberg, so hopefully only a few days now.

[Trevor Rushton]

MM, are you up and running yet? I have made all sorts of bits and bobs around the house but so far no serious model stuff ( other than some instrument bezels) . I found I was being a bit too ambitious with very small components for an instrument panel but the bezels fitted really well into a cnc cut panel; I will certainly make them again.

TREVOR

[Model Monster]

Trevor.

Apologies, I've been so busy playing with mine that I'd forgotten to post. It's great, better than I hoped for.

It all turned up as scheduled complete with a few extra accessories and some other filament (it comes with a roll of PLA). I used the on-line guide and just did everything as instructed and it went together with no problem (it's a bit like building a decent quality heli). It took about a week of evenings inc flashing new firmware, installing drivers and the Prusa Slic3r software. I ran the calibration tests and it was all good from the start. I decided to use up the roll of PLA printing off the supplied sample files in order to check out what it could do and how to do it (whistle, dog, dragon, castle, boat, froggy etc). I had a few issues with 1st layer adhesion on some of the prints but after looking on the Prusa forum and experimenting I found Acetone and a kitchen towel was best for cleaning the bed and haven't had any problems since (I soon discovered that 1st layer adhesion is king when it comes to 3D printing). I'm now in the process of making my home office area 3D printer friendly (it's currently sitting on the dining table and I'm being put under pressure to move it somewhere else for some reason?). I've made a few bits for my aquarium and expect to start on modelling related thingys next week. I started making a list, as follows - Rx holders in flex filament. Dashboard, aerial and possibly some undercarriage doors for my DB Hurricane. Glue bottle holder for the workshop. A bezel / holder for fuselage mounting of charge sockets / battery checking. My designing skills are improving and it doesn't taker too long to draw simple stuff. I would also like to design a pilot figure and have been looking at the Blender software (something else to get my head around).

[Ian Jones]

You are so right about getting the first layer adhesion right, ABS can be a real pig that respect.

I recently printed a pilot from a Thingiverse file "Gary" . I just fed it into the Windows 10 3D Builder, split the model just below the shoulders, then scaled it to suit (1/4 scale actually). Sliced and 3D printed it with simplify 3D. It could be probably be improved however the recipient of the print, Martyn Kinder, was more than happy with it at the first attempt.

Incidently I printed it with ABS (suitably masked up) on a PEI sheet and to try and improve the finish I tried a cold acetone vapour bath. My container wasn't sealed well enough and was to cold make much difference, though the pilot did end up looking at his instruments! A technique I need to do some more work on!