Mark Stringer Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Here are some of the updates the printer printed for itself Auto Leveling sensor bracket, filament spool centres, hinged fan bracket to make filament change easier and a filament holder (i changed this for a different one later on) .. i also did a circular fan cooler which you can see in the second picture. This is as i printed that lithophane i mentioned .. slow and steady at high resolution. You can see the auto levelling sensor and fan ring here too. And the lithophane completed ... looks like a load of blobs on a curved piece of plastic! It is taken from a photo of my parents before they were married at the six day trials ... i did the lithophane as a present for their diamond wedding anniversary. And then you illuminate the lump of plastic from behind and wow!! Edited By Mark Stringer on 18/04/2018 13:54:15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Gardiner Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 I have just designed (re-mixed) and printed a radial engine for my Flair Puppeteer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 On the subject of printed radial engines this the P&W Wasp Junior I printed for my 3/4 size Depron Ballerina. Edited By Simon Chaddock on 27/05/2018 23:04:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis parkinson Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 I'm not sure if this website has been mentioned before, but it is well worth checking out if your into 3d printing. I'm on a Creality CR-10 group on f/book, and one of the members posted a video of him flying a Spitfire he had printed out from the files that he bought from the site for $20 https://3dlabprint.com/ I have only been printing 3 weeks, and I already have two fully upgraded and modded Anet A8's, and a Creality CR-10..Its very addictive! I quite fancy having go at printing the Corsair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Hi Denis. There are a few examples of the 3dlabpront models on the forum. I’m currently about half way through a Thunderbolt. Be warned it’s a slow process and it took me a few scrap pieces and tweaking to get anything near acceptable using my A8. The root section below is one of the biggest sections and is about 7 hours printing time at 0.2mm layer height. I can print faster certainly but I don’t get as good a result. Even now I can’t get a perfect print but I’ll accept that on a £100 printer. if this one turns out ok I might have a go at a Corsair, haver fun. Nev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis parkinson Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Nev, I am getting some cracking results on my two Anet A8's..Saying that, they are both fully modded and upgraded to the max. The prints are just as good as anything my £400+ Creality CR-10 can do.. 7 hours is pretty quick compared to the 54 hour print that my CR-10 has just completed. The corsair does look the most complicated, but stunning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Just ordered one of these - time to find out a bit moe about this technology I think! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Ordered mine from evilbay Tuesday, delivered Thursday. So far I have only had the time to open the box and assemble the spool holder. Sunday is looking like a very windy day so may be a short trip to the field!! Looking forward to the very steep learning curve. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Assembled and ready to print. There are so many settings, where to begin? The old laptop still running Windows XP not connected to the internet, is an old 32 bit OS, makes software choice a pain. I will persist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Looks great Kev. Mine is "in transit" - exciting! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 03/07/2018 17:55:46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 03/07/2018 17:18:18: Assembled and ready to print. There are so many settings, where to begin? Kevin One of the most important things is to get your bed levelling right so spend plenty of time on that. It is well worth adding the auto-levelling sensor but you will want it working first to print the parts its needs anyway so do it the manual way first After that i have found that the two vertical axes can get out of sync occasionally so i use a spacer that fits in the one gap (white bit to black base - see pic) and gently hold that motor shaft while i very gently adjust the other one to be exactly the same distance. A symptom of this is having the first layer being stringy / loose rather than nice and tightly meshed together. Then pop to B&M and get some Duck Tape wide masking tape and a can of hairspray (I started with their own but now have Elnettt - both work well). That tape on the bed isn't great and without decent hairspray will rip off when you take the first print off it. I tend to do a pre-heat from the menu to get the bed warm which makes it easier to peel the old tape off - clean with something like nail varnish remover then put the new tape on and while warm spray with hair spray the areas where your print will be. Hope some of this helps - have fun - and learn a bit of CAD ... i am yet to do this but would love to create from scratch as i use mine for loads of things .. i am told Tinkercad is good and is free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Hi Kev, BEB. Before you do too much printing I would recommend you secure the wires coming off the hot bed somehow. When you see it in action, you will realise why, all that bending of cables will soon result in a broken track or wire and bad things will happen. This works well for me, others have more elaborate solutions. Its good fun once you get the hang of it but can be a bit frustrating until you do. Nev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Posted by Mark Stringer on 04/07/2018 08:51:30: Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 03/07/2018 17:18:18: Assembled and ready to print. There are so many settings, where to begin? Kevin One of the most important things is to get your bed levelling right so spend plenty of time on that. It is well worth adding the auto-levelling sensor but you will want it working first to print the parts its needs anyway so do it the manual way first After that i have found that the two vertical axes can get out of sync occasionally so i use a spacer that fits in the one gap (white bit to black base - see pic) and gently hold that motor shaft while i very gently adjust the other one to be exactly the same distance. A symptom of this is having the first layer being stringy / loose rather than nice and tightly meshed together. Then pop to B&M and get some Duck Tape wide masking tape and a can of hairspray (I started with their own but now have Elnettt - both work well). That tape on the bed isn't great and without decent hairspray will rip off when you take the first print off it. I tend to do a pre-heat from the menu to get the bed warm which makes it easier to peel the old tape off - clean with something like nail varnish remover then put the new tape on and while warm spray with hair spray the areas where your print will be. Hope some of this helps - have fun - and learn a bit of CAD ... i am yet to do this but would love to create from scratch as i use mine for loads of things .. i am told Tinkercad is good and is free! Thanks for that. I do intend to upgrade to a sensor for the bed, but at the moment I am upgrading the printer itself. My first successful print was a round fan duct which although not pretty is fully functional. My second successful print is the first part of a Y belt tensioner. Strill rough but once I have the machine to my liking I can always print another. I did get some square tape from HK for the bed and have changed the horrible tape supplied for one of them. **LINK** As for CAD that is a way off yet, just happy that there are others who can do the hard work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Posted by Nev on 04/07/2018 20:12:35: Hi Kev, BEB. Before you do too much printing I would recommend you secure the wires coming off the hot bed somehow. When you see it in action, you will realise why, all that bending of cables will soon result in a broken track or wire and bad things will happen. This works well for me, others have more elaborate solutions. Its good fun once you get the hang of it but can be a bit frustrating until you do. Nev. Good shout Nev. Where I have mine, if the printer moves at all the bed cable will hit the wall. I am looking to relocate it or somehow move it away from the wall, but that means a major workshop reshuffle!! Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Still waiting for the box to arrive!!! Won't be long now. Taking careful note of all this great advice - always best to follow the trail others have blazed! Good stuff. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 BEB If you really want an "engineering" solution to the cables there are "caterpillar cable tracks" you can find on Thingiverse. Of course having printed off the required bits you then have to disconnect (and in some cases shorten) quite a bit of the wiring in order to feed them through the trays. I really went overboard and built up cable tracks for all 3 axis so there are now no "loose" wires anywhere. Took some time to do but it taught be quite a bit about 3D printing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klippy Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 I bought the A6, not much difference between the 2, but, I found all the holes for the slide rails were 8.5mm, thus allowing the rails to slop around. I drilled and tapped the rail supports3mm and fitted grub screws to hold the slides, much better. Another mod I did is to mount the whole printer on a piece of Melamine, drilled and tapped through from the underside, the whole printer is now an order of magnitude more rigid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David P Williams Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Well I've fallen for it too - Flash sale on Gearbest, £116 plus £4 shipping. It's the EU plug version - shouldn't be a problem I hope. The UK plug version was £149. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Cut the plug off David, I did. I use mine in a small space too. I have it fastened down to a solid board, spare unit door, which does 2 things. 1 makes the whole frame more ridged, so better prints and 2 means I can shuffle it around a bit or move altogether if I need the space. Well worth doing. Nev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 My first "upgrade" arrived today!! Still printing a few bits off to improve the machine. I am looking for a substantial bit of wood to make a solid base so that I can move the machine around the workshop. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 So here we are a couple of weeks down the road. More Orange starting to appear. Auto level sensor fitted and firmware upgraded to Marlin. Now sitting on a 1/2" board which is on top of 1" of foam and has a layer of that grippy stuff on top. All to try to reduce the noise level. Also screwed firmly to the base at 6 points. BEB? Kev Edited By Kevin Fairgrieve on 29/07/2018 20:33:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 Having built /assembled a P38 Lightning I thought I have got to do it so I bought an ANET a8 upgrded version whatever that is after 3 careful days reading hopeless instructions it's all constructed and at the moment printing something I have no idea what but its fascinating to watch something evolve ..now onto printing some upgrades when I track them down on thingyverse then print my own plane this time ..please welcome me to the new world of 3D printing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 Hi Guys, yes my printer has arrived! But a weeks holiday, then a load of family committments followed by the need to meet a mag deadline has delayed the box opening! Hoping to do so very soon though, my daughter is very keen to get involved so I'll have assistance! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Gardiner Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 Welcome to the fold Martian. I wasn't sure how much use it would get but I use it for loads of 'household' applications. Have a look a Autodesk Fusion 360 design software. It is free for hobbyists and, although a bit of a learning curve, will really transform what you can do with the printer. Geoff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David P Williams Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 Yep, mine arrived a couple of weeks ago, but family stuff (weddings) and changing my car have got in the way. Should be on it this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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