3D Printers

[Thalestris24]

7 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Nice try but wrong size and shape!

Louise

It has to fit in a small holder:

Louise

 

[PeterW]

3D Tool free is my friend, able to measure and do cut throughs of stl files to check for unanticipated internal issues and to check the dimensions are those that I intended to make in the CAD.....

 

peter

[Thalestris24]

3 hours ago, PeterW said:

3D Tool free is my friend, able to measure and do cut throughs of stl files to check for unanticipated internal issues and to check the dimensions are those that I intended to make in the CAD.....

 

peter

Could be useful for a quick check!

Louise

[Thalestris24]

6 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oops! It's actually the 0.5"/12.7mm diameter (guide) mirror that Thorlabs don't have. Edmund do a similar one which is half as thick and is nearly £13 + shipping... Seems a lot for a tiny mirror! If anyone knows of an alternative source, that would be good to know

Louise

After all that I've had a second invoice from Thorlabs for the short-shipped mirror! Not very economic to separately ship a single 0.5" mirror but I think I'm happy! At least I don't worry about where to get one from now.

Louise

[dyfiastro]

Hi everyone

After finally getting my 3D printer built and "Tweaked" over the last few weeks I am now at a stage where I am happy with the prints and was wondering if there are any interesting projects that around.
I am in the process of printing out a solar finder ready for tomorrow and designing an electronic focuser housing for a mak 102.

Would be interested to hear what everyone else has come up with.

The printer is an Ender 3 Pro with BLTouch and a replacement SKR Mini E3 v1.2 Board.

[Thalestris24]

What are the 'BLTouch' and the SKR board?

Louise

[dyfiastro]

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

What are the 'BLTouch' and the SKR board?

Louise

A BLTouch is an auto-leveling device. it will compensate to a degree for a slightly uneven bed by taking measurements at various points and then using those measurements along with a Z-Offset to correct for it.
You can also use visualisation tools using things like Octoprint to visualise how level the bed is. I have Octoprint running on a rpi so I can send prints over the network to it and also directly from cura.

The SKR Board is a 32bit replacement board for the Ender3 (The standard board only has an 8bit processor). Amongst other things it has upgraded  TMC2209 stepper motor drivers.
The difference in sound alone is enough to make the upgrade, the loudest part of the printer now is the fan. It also negates the need for TLSmoothers and dampers.
The board Runs Marlin 2.x as well so there are a number of additional features.

Edited November 10, 2019 by dyfiastro

[Gina]

There are lots of threads and Blogs on here describing various things people have printed.  Plenty by me too - astro stuff and clocks as well as making 3D printers themselves.

[Thalestris24]

1 hour ago, dyfiastro said:

A BLTouch is an auto-leveling device. it will compensate to a degree for a slightly uneven bed by taking measurements at various points and then using those measurements along with a Z-Offset to correct for it.
You can also use visualisation tools using things like Octoprint to visualise how level the bed is. I have Octoprint running on a rpi so I can send prints over the network to it and also directly from cura.

The SKR Board is a 32bit replacement board for the Ender3 (The standard board only has an 8bit processor). Amongst other things it has upgraded  TMC2209 stepper motor drivers.
The difference in sound alone is enough to make the upgrade, the loudest part of the printer now is the fan. It also negates the need for TLSmoothers and dampers.
The board Runs Marlin 2.x as well so there are a number of additional features.

Oh ok, mine does sound like R2D2/morse code ha ha but I quite like I I just have an otc Ender3 Pro but it does what I ask of it. I've no idea what Martin 2.x is either...

Thanks for the info

Louise 

[dyfiastro]

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oh ok, mine does sound like R2D2/morse code ha ha but I quite like I I just have an otc Ender3 Pro but it does what I ask of it. I've no idea what Martin 2.x is either...

Thanks for the info

Louise 

It really started to get on my nerves after about the first 30 minutes. The printer is located right beside me when I am at my desk. I also could not believe how loud it was at 3AM in the morning.
Marlin is the firmware which many 3D printers including the Ender 3 run on.
Once thing to note regarding the ender 3 in its stock form is that they do not enable thermal runaway protection in their firmware. One of the first things I did when I got mine before upgrading the board was to load a bootloader and modified firmware onto the board to enable a few things including thermal runaway protection.

[saac]

11 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oh ok, mine does sound like R2D2/morse code ha ha but I quite like I I just have an otc Ender3 Pro but it does what I ask of it. I've no idea what Martin 2.x is either...

Thanks for the info

Louise 

x2 I love the way it squeaks and burbles like R2D2 like it's talking some secret language; I like to think it's complaining about another complicated print.   

jim

[Thalestris24]

54 minutes ago, dyfiastro said:

It really started to get on my nerves after about the first 30 minutes. The printer is located right beside me when I am at my desk. I also could not believe how loud it was at 3AM in the morning.
Marlin is the firmware which many 3D printers including the Ender 3 run on.
Once thing to note regarding the ender 3 in its stock form is that they do not enable thermal runaway protection in their firmware. One of the first things I did when I got mine before upgrading the board was to load a bootloader and modified firmware onto the board to enable a few things including thermal runaway protection.

Creality say the Ender 3 Pro does have (some flavour of) thermal runaway protection but I don't know how to confirm it?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ask/questions/Tx37GPPGCUY989Z/ref=ask_ql_ql_al_hza

Louise

[upahill]

59 minutes ago, saac said:

x2 I love the way it squeaks and burbles like R2D2 like it's talking some secret language; I like to think it's complaining about another complicated print.   

jim

I seem to remember there was a way you could convert midi files to GCODE to "print" music using those squeaks and burbles, mechanical movements timed to the music.

Just had a quick google but can't find it anymore, only ways to control the onboard buzzer

 

[dyfiastro]

4 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Creality say the Ender 3 Pro does have (some flavour of) thermal runaway protection but I don't know how to confirm it?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ask/questions/Tx37GPPGCUY989Z/ref=ask_ql_ql_al_hza

Louise

The stock ender 3 has a low temperature setup that works but nothing that prevents thermal runaway if for some reason the thermistor stops working during heatup.
 

 Flashing the firmware to either the updated "Vanilla" Marlin firmware which creality base theirs off or others that can be compiled and installed sort this issue out

[Thalestris24]

4 minutes ago, upahill said:

I seem to remember there was a way you could convert midi files to GCODE to "print" music using those squeaks and burbles, mechanical movements timed to the music.

Just had a quick google but can't find it anymore, only ways to control the onboard buzzer

 

Oh well, never mind! Anyway, I just want mine to print parts fairly accurately

 

[Thalestris24]

Just now, dyfiastro said:

The stock ender 3 has a low temperature setup that works but nothing that prevents thermal runaway if for some reason the thermistor stops working during heatup.
 

 Flashing the firmware to either the updated "Vanilla" Marlin firmware which creality base theirs off or others that can be compiled and installed sort this issue out

I've seen that but the recent posts (above) suggest Creality has updated it since August. How can I tell?

Louise

[dyfiastro]

3 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I've seen that but the recent posts (above) suggest Creality has updated it since August. How can I tell?

Louise

The source code for the marlin firmware that they are using has not been updated since Last year.

https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3/blob/master/Ender-3 Firmware (Marlin)/Ender-3 (includes power failure resume- English)/Marlin/Configuration.h

 

[Thalestris24]

1 minute ago, dyfiastro said:

The source code for the marlin firmware that they are using has not been updated since Last year.

https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3/blob/master/Ender-3 Firmware (Marlin)/Ender-3 (includes power failure resume- English)/Marlin/Configuration.h

 

Are Creality lying on the Amazon link above? 

[dyfiastro]

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Are Creality lying on the Amazon link above? 

Not exactly. They have enabled thermal protection but not set it up correctly and some features have not been enabled.
The basic setup is there but not effective. Most places recommend that the firmware is updated for this reason.

If you have a version of the ender 3 that has a bootloader then its a simple case of compiling a new firmware and uploading it.
If you have a version without a bootloader like my new ender 3 Pro then you have to use an arduino or flasher to burn a bootloader first so you can then update the firmware

Edited November 10, 2019 by dyfiastro

[Thalestris24]

Just now, dyfiastro said:

Not exactly. They have enabled thermal protection but not set it up correctly and some features have not been enabled.
The basic setup is there but not effective. Most places recommend that the firmware is updated for this reason

Ok. How can I tell what firmware version I have?

Thanks

Louise

[Gasman]

Hugely interesting post 👍. As an (admittedly not very active at the moment) spectroscopist using an Alpy 600, the mention of the Lowspec has stirred a somewhat dormant interest in spectro for me and with the addition of 3d printing adds yet another level for a self confessed gadget dabbler like moi!. Would the Ender 3 pro suit a very novice 3d'er ? A birthday is imminent so the time might be right😁.

Cheers

Steve

[dyfiastro]

Even the latest firmware has the same issue as far as I am aware. I have not seen anything that says its been fixed.
That video was from May this year and the last update on their firmware was 2018 according to their github

[Thalestris24]

1 minute ago, dyfiastro said:

Even the latest firmware has the same issue as far as I am aware. I have not seen anything that says its been fixed.
That video was from May this year and the last update on their firmware was 2018 according to their github

Yes but is there any way I can tell what version of firmware I have?

[dyfiastro]

I think on the stock firmware there is a about printer section in the menus. this may well give the firmware version

 

[Thalestris24]

It says 1.1.6.2 on the About menu...