3D Printers

[Thalestris24]

8 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Glad to hear it Louise, if you need any help, you know where to come.....

Aww thanks!

[Gina]

Good luck Louise 😀  We will be watching your progress with interest and support if you need it. 

[Thalestris24]

2 hours ago, Gina said:

Good luck Louise 😀  We will be watching your progress with interest and support if you need it. 

I'll start another thread  

[JamesF]

I am just starting to print out my first attempt at a case for my Robert Brown dew heater controller.  Also my first design made in FreeCAD, though I stuck with the solid geometry workbench that's more similar to OpenSCAD rather than using the sketch-based workbench.  It wasn't too hard once I got the hang of the controls.

James

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I am just starting to print out my first attempt at a case for my Robert Brown dew heater controller.  Also my first design made in FreeCAD, though I stuck with the solid geometry workbench that's more similar to OpenSCAD rather than using the sketch-based workbench.  It wasn't too hard once I got the hang of the controls.

James

I've actually no experience of CAD - yet! Got to start somewhere! Good luck with your design and printing it!

Louise

[JamesF]

1 minute ago, Thalestris24 said:

I've actually no experience of CAD - yet! Got to start somewhere! Good luck with your design and printing it!

Beyond limited use of Sketchup and what's possible in OpenSCAD (where you actually design things using a simple programming language) neither have I.  Happy as I was with OpenSCAD I found there were some things that were awkward to do unless I planned a lot of stuff out on paper first, which slightly defeats the object of using a CAD system   So I went looking for an alternative and FreeCAD seemed to fit the bill.  Mind you, some of the online/youtube tutorials are shockingly bad.  I gave up in the end having decided that I could probably muddle through things by myself for a while and still be less confused.

I'm far from sure I've done things in the most efficient way with my current design, but I'll just be happy if it works

James

[Thalestris24]

6 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Beyond limited use of Sketchup and what's possible in OpenSCAD (where you actually design things using a simple programming language) neither have I.  Happy as I was with OpenSCAD I found there were some things that were awkward to do unless I planned a lot of stuff out on paper first, which slightly defeats the object of using a CAD system   So I went looking for an alternative and FreeCAD seemed to fit the bill.  Mind you, some of the online/youtube tutorials are shockingly bad.  I gave up in the end having decided that I could probably muddle through things by myself for a while and still be less confused.

I'm far from sure I've done things in the most efficient way with my current design, but I'll just be happy if it works

James

I've had a quick glance at the Fusion 360 Beginner Videos on YouTube -  there will be a learning curve! I probably won't be trying  to design anything  for quite  a while. Hope you're design works as expected   

Louise

[tekkydave]

10 hours ago, JamesF said:

I am just starting to print out my first attempt at a case for my Robert Brown dew heater controller.  Also my first design made in FreeCAD, though I stuck with the solid geometry workbench that's more similar to OpenSCAD rather than using the sketch-based workbench.  It wasn't too hard once I got the hang of the controls.

James

I'm getting more proficient with FreeCAD and have designed several parts so far. I'm mostly using the Part Design workbench. It's the closest to what I previously used which was Sketchup. I do get occasional crashes so saving often is a good idea.

[JamesF]

I had to leave the print running overnight because it was going to take a few more hours, but Windows updates defeated me, rebooting the machine before the print was finished   I didn't think Windows 7 did that.  I wonder if it's a recent change.

Anyhow, I have restarted this morning.

James

[Gina]

I don't have that problem.  I have Duet WiFi control board which doesn't rely on a computer to keep going - only for setting up.  Plus I use Linux rather than Windows.  I thought you used Linux, James?

[Thalestris24]

57 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I had to leave the print running overnight because it was going to take a few more hours, but Windows updates defeated me, rebooting the machine before the print was finished   I didn't think Windows 7 did that.  I wonder if it's a recent change.

Anyhow, I have restarted this morning.

James

That must have been annoying! Can you not temporarily disable updates or disconnect from the net? Hope everything goes well today!

Louise

[JamesF]

13 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

That must have been annoying! Can you not temporarily disable updates or disconnect from the net? Hope everything goes well today!

I believe it's possible to disable to reboots, though I could just make sure the system is fully updated before I start printing.  I just wasn't expecting it to happen at all.  I know it can be an issue on Win10, but I'm sure in the past when Win7 has updated it just waited for you to reboot normally rather than taking things into its own hands.

James

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I believe it's possible to disable to reboots, though I could just make sure the system is fully updated before I start printing.  I just wasn't expecting it to happen at all.  I know it can be an issue on Win10, but I'm sure in the past when Win7 has updated it just waited for you to reboot normally rather than taking things into its own hands.

James

Um, are you still running Win 7, then? I thought it was no longer supported? I can't remember Win 7 doing auto updates and reboots like Win 10 does? I may have just forgotten - it was so long ago!

Louise

[JamesF]

4 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Um, are you still running Win 7, then? I thought it was no longer supported? I can't remember Win 7 doing auto updates and reboots like Win 10 does? I may have just forgotten - it was so long ago!

Yes, I have the Win10 upgrade downloaded, but I've not bothered to install it on the machine in question because it only rarely gets booted into Windows at all (just when I want to run the 3d printer, really).  Most of the rest of the time it's running Linux.

James

[Dr_Ju_ju]

If the hardware is that old, then I wouldn't bother updating, as I suspect Win 10 will get upset & screw up the install & run very badly.....  

If you need Windows, on that hardware, then virtualise it & run it as a virtual under Linux.

[JamesF]

47 minutes ago, Gina said:

I don't have that problem.  I have Duet WiFi control board which doesn't rely on a computer to keep going - only for setting up.  Plus I use Linux rather than Windows.  I thought you used Linux, James?

I do as a rule, but I've not been able to find any printer control software for Linux that I get on with yet.  I did try Repetier Host, but the Linux version really just seems to be the Windows version running under Mono and was a bit of a mess when I tried it.

James

[Gina]

I can thoroughly recommend the Duet control board.  OK a tad expensive but IMO well worth it.  Very reliable and no editing and recompiling of firmware, everything is controlled from any web browser (I use Firefox).  All firmware files can be edited from the browser and even files uploaded to the Duet.  Also, printing parameters can be varied while the print is running.

[Chriske]

Until 2 years ago I ran WinXP for my printers, next I switched to Linux Mint on these same PC's(P4 - 2Gb Ram)
And now I'm busy changing all again. My plan is to run all(3) printers on one RPi4-4Gb Ram. Tested it already with an old RPi3 and all works very well. Only 1 printer on that RP3 was tested.
Reason for changing to RP4 is, well, my old IBM PC's I'm working with until now are veeeery old(15+years) but now all the bigger elco's inside start to blow themselves up.
As OS I'll be running Raspbian-Buster(another Linux) on that RPi4 and Pronterface as printerdriver. Advantage of using a RPi : to run these printers I don't need a PC anymore.

[Stub Mandrel]

I always stick my STL files on an SD card. Fewer cables the better.

[Thalestris24]

7 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I always stick my STL files on an SD card. Fewer cables the better.

I was wondering about that - do you just select a file to print from the card and leave it to it? No advantage in printing from a PC?

Louise

 

[JamesF]

58 minutes ago, Chriske said:

Until 2 years ago I ran WinXP for my printers, next I switched to Linux Mint on these same PC's

What software were you using to control the printers on Mint?

James

[Chriske]

Printrun(Pronterface)
Still going to use it when I'll run Raspbian OS

48 minutes ago, JamesF said:

What software were you using to control the printers on Mint?

James

 

[upahill]

17 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

I was wondering about that - do you just select a file to print from the card and leave it to it? No advantage in printing from a PC?

Louise

 

An advantage to printing from SD card for me is that a lot of my failures have been PC related, either software crashing causing interrupts or something screwing with the USB port. As Stub Mandrel says the fewer cables the better.

The only time I havent done this was when using Octoprint from a dedicated raspberry pi, which does make the process a little easier to manage than constantly removing the SD card.

[Thalestris24]

On 14/10/2019 at 16:54, Thalestris24 said:

Oh well, I ordered an Ender 3 Pro earlier and via Amazon I did glance at the slightly more expensive CR-20 Pro but wasn't sure if it was worth the extra plus the search for ideal devices can become never ending!  Also ordered some Sunlo (Korean) filament - hope that's ok... Will see how I get on with it all. What's the worst that can happen?? I think my main problem will be finding the time! Plus, I registered with Autodesk for their Fusion360 software but not downloaded it yet. I said I was a student for the next 3 years .

Louise

Delivered today - yay! Won't have time to unpack/build it before Friday, though. Filament due later today

Louise

[upahill]

6 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Delivered today - yay! Won't have time to unpack/build it before Friday, though. Filament due later today

Louise

I have used some of the Grey Sunlu filament - printed nicely at 210 degrees for me, but will vary slightly depending on your hotend/thermistor.

Good luck with the assemby! If you get stuck skip through the Thomas Sanladerer video on Youtube as it covers the entire build.

Edited October 16, 2019 by upahill
fixed a whoopsie