Anyone else have a 3d printer???

[anon(5415472)]

It would be nice to have a place to discuss 3d related stuff. 3d design, 3d slicers, 3d printers, 3d scanning and also 3d viewing on a windows MR and AR headset. Oh Yeah! I can't wait to get the Acer MR headset. It would revolutionize the way I create, view, and make 3d models.

Yes, I know it's butt ugly, but it's cheap.

Let's have a place to discuss and fix issues with our 3d models. Let's find ways to diagnose our 3d print flaws. Let's argue about 3d scanning gadgets and motion capture techniques and software. Let your imagination run wild!!! Then post it here for a laugh

To start, here's my daenery's dragon necklace and assorted stark pendant prototypes in PLA. The necklace stl I got from thingiverse. I designed the pendants myself. I'm not much of a designer though. They're a bit hairy because I haven't adjusted the temp and retraction correctly. I haven't completely removed the supports yet either. It took a combined 18 hours to print the necklace, the pendants each took 30 minutes.



The necklace was from this.

 

[raycpl]

That's so cool

... !

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I have one, but it's pretty much been a disaster from the start. My build plate has temperature issues, the filament nozzle assembly sometimes fails to line up over the build plate, and most builds fail in some form or fashion about halfway through. I have a MakerBot Replicator 2, also known as the $3000.00 paperweight. Ha ha
I like what you did though. Very cool.

 

[raycpl]

3D printers are still in infancy, as much as I want mess about with one I think I'll wait for the tech to mature.

... !

 

[anon(5415472)]

I have one, but it's pretty much been a disaster from the start. My build plate has temperature issues, the filament nozzle assembly sometimes fails to line up over the build plate, and most builds fail in some form or fashion about halfway through. I have a MakerBot Replicator 2, also known as the $3000.00 paperweight. Ha ha
I like what you did though. Very cool.

That's too bad. But that's the reason for this thread too, perhaps everyone can pool their experience to fix each other's issues. What temp issues are you having with your build plate? Is it uneven heating or something else? Are you using a glass bed or what do you use for adhesion? Can you post pics of your failed prints so we can diagnose it?

I hate to see an expensive machine go to waste so perhaps we can make it work again. Let's try fixing it so you can do epic stuff like print your own heroic bust or slap your own face in a superman figurine LOL.

 

[anon(5415472)]

Something great came out today! If you have windows 10 and you have 3d builder or 3d viewer, you might like this.
3d facial reconstruction usually takes a minimum of 3 photos and they don't usually come out right. There's a new demo web app from the computer vision laboratory of the University of Nottingham that's testing out a method to recreate your face in 3d using just one photo.

The great thing about it is you can export it as an obj file which you can use and edit in the windows 10 3d builder/3d viewer apps. Even if you don't have a 3d printer now, you might want to get a personal copy of your 3d reconstructed face

http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~psxasj/3dme/

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

That's too bad. But that's the reason for this thread too, perhaps everyone can pool their experience to fix each other's issues. What temp issues are you having with your build plate? Is it uneven heating or something else? Are you using a glass bed or what do you use for adhesion? Can you post pics of your failed prints so we can diagnose it?

I hate to see an expensive machine go to waste so perhaps we can make it work again. Let's try fixing it so you can do epic stuff like print your own heroic bust or slap your own face in a superman figurine LOL.

Very cool of you. I'll have to fire it up later this week and make some notes on exactly what's going on when I print. Thanks for trying to help.

 

[anon(5415472)]

no problem. when you do , take note of the slicer you used, the settings you put in, filament type, and start with a small calibration model.

 

[jmshub]

Cool thread! I don't personally own a 3D printer, but the company I work for has three. When I started, one of my first projects became working with them. They are MakerBots. We used them as a tech-forward marketing tool mostly. We'd have them printing the company logo in the lobby of our branches, so customers could see them in action and take home one of the logos. They were very successful at that, but they weren't user friendly enough for our sales staff to operate, when the print beds would come just a little off-level, or the filament would jam, they were basically offline until I made a trip to fix it. So, we don't use them as often now, but we still print some things for community projects and whatnot. I find them super cool, and I get to print side projects with them when the need arises!

 

[anon(5415472)]

I agree. Current 3d printers aren't things you can set and forget. I guess the sales staff don't know or can't be bothered to level the beds themselves or unclog the jam? I think if you gave each of them several grams of filament allowance a week that would change real quick. Just remind them not to print anything NSFW.

3d printers aren't cheap either. I justify my purchase by making stuff I couldn't otherwise buy locally. There's a lot of things I couldn't buy locally in the philippines so I'm happy with it LOL.

If you haven't heard, PRUSA just released another 3d printer which should make them a lot more user friendly.

1. filament sensor - will pause the print when it detects you've run out of filament so you can insert a new one and continue from there.
2. detects instantaneous power loss and you can continue your print after power is restored.
3. magnetic heatbed
4. octoprint ready

there are a lot of other technical improvements but those 4 are what intrigue me.

 

[FearL0rd]

It would be nice to have a place to discuss 3d related stuff. 3d design, 3d slicers, 3d printers, 3d scanning and also 3d viewing on a windows MR and AR headset. Oh Yeah! I can't wait to get the Acer MR headset. It would revolutionize the way I create, view, and make 3d models.

Yes, I know it's butt ugly, but it's cheap.

Let's have a place to discuss and fix issues with our 3d models. Let's find ways to diagnose our 3d print flaws. Let's argue about 3d scanning gadgets and motion capture techniques and software. Let your imagination run wild!!! Then post it here for a laugh

To start, here's my daenery's dragon necklace and assorted stark pendant prototypes in PLA. The necklace stl I got from thingiverse. I designed the pendants myself. I'm not much of a designer though. They're a bit hairy because I haven't adjusted the temp and retraction correctly. I haven't completely removed the supports yet either. It took a combined 18 hours to print the necklace, the pendants each took 30 minutes.

View attachment 137475

The necklace was from this.

View attachment 137477

I cant sent direct to my makerbot mini using print function in Microsoft 3d apps

 

[TetchyOyvind]

Those pendants are looking quite good. What software did you use to make them?

I have a Prusa MK2, and I'm drooling over the MK3, even though the MK2 works perfectly well
I mostly use Repetier Host or the Prusa slicer for my slicing needs (Slic3r Prusa Edition). When printing I use Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi, so that any computer issues won't affect the print.
On the modeling side of things, I use Fusion360 for designing, but the Windows 10 3D Builder app makes it incredibly easy to do certain things that Fusion might struggle with. (Repairing STLs, engraving text, splitting things).
I'll upload some pictures of stuff that I've printed, if you're interested

 

[Tepid]

Monoprice Maker Select v2.1 (Not the Plus) (No real issues on my version)
The only thing I want to do is replace the heated bed with a better one.
Blender (It's free) and Windows 10 3D Builder
Simplfy3D for slicing, I have tried others, it's worth the money. Very good.

I have far too many issues with Octoprint to make it worth the time.

3D Builder is awesome at a lot of things.
But for the finer details, you need something like Blender which is very powerful.
Blender needs a few settings changed and some add-ons to make it truly powerful for 3D Print sketching

Under File / User Preferences:

Interface:
Check on: Zoom To Mouse Cursor

Editing Tab:
Align To: View

Input:
Select With: Left

Add-Ons Tab:
Check on the following:
3D View:
Dynamic Content Menu
MeasureIt

Add Curve: Extra Objects

Add Mesh: ANT Landscape
Bolt Factory
Extra Objects

Mesh: 3D Print Toolbox

Themes:
Elsyiun

File:
Set the Fonts Folder to
C:\Windows\Fonts\

Click on: Save User Settings


Here's a tip, Don't use Goo-Gone to try and clean up glue on the heated plate when trying to replace the PEI Mat
Chances are you will get it into the sensor and screw everything up.

Tip 2: Don't try and stiffen the whole thing up with some of the mod's that are out there.
It doesn't need it and will cause problems. Most of the early issues have all been resolved by Monoprice on version 2.1.

 

[anon(5415472)]

Hi FearL0rd

Using native 3d printing in windows 10 requires quite a lot of things to align in the background.
Take mine for example. I have a 2017 chinese clone of the prusa i3. It's being run by a custom arduino board they designed in-house. The usb interface is via a tacked on usb to uart. It shows up as a serial com port but it doesn't advertise to my PC that its a 3d printer. Though cura can communicate with it if you point it to the correct com port, it doesnt conform to microsoft's standard driver for 3d printers. It has a driver, windows knows it's a serial communications device, but it does not know that it's a 3d printer or what its specifications are, so no native printing for me. I have to either export the gcode to an sd card and print or use cura. In older 3d printers that don't have the appropriate drivers either the provided software like makerbot print or makerbot desktop will let you print but you won't be able to do it directly from 3d builder.

I'm still looking up info on your makerbot mini since I don't have one. Is this the original or the mini+? For native 3d printing to work, it should either use a standard driver for 3d printers or one implemented from it. Does it use microsoft's standard driver? If it does you should see "compatible 3d printer" in control panel > devices and printer. If it's using something like mine then we can't print directly from 3d builder.

If it does show up on devices and printers as a compatible 3d printer, there are a lot of steps that we can take. Also could you tell me how it appears in device manager? Does it appear as a generic com port or does it say "serial gcode 3d printer?

In the meantime while I wait for your response I could give you general troubleshooting steps to do:
1. Check if an available firmware upgrade is available. Makerbot is an established company with active support for older printers. MS has made it easy for any 3d printer manufacturer to use the standard 3d printer driver, they just have to add a few lines to the firmware.
2. Do windows update and allow optional drivers to be installed. If your printer is capable of native 3d printing and the only issue is an outdated driver, this will hopefully fix it.

 

[anon(5415472)]

Those pendants are looking quite good. What software did you use to make them?

I have a Prusa MK2, and I'm drooling over the MK3, even though the MK2 works perfectly well
I mostly use Repetier Host or the Prusa slicer for my slicing needs (Slic3r Prusa Edition). When printing I use Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi, so that any computer issues won't affect the print.
On the modeling side of things, I use Fusion360 for designing, but the Windows 10 3D Builder app makes it incredibly easy to do certain things that Fusion might struggle with. (Repairing STLs, engraving text, splitting things).
I'll upload some pictures of stuff that I've printed, if you're interested

I'm very interested! I'm using 3d builder since I'm going thru hell with my surface pro 2's opengl support. zbrush, sculptris, meshmixer, they all apparently need opengl to work but opengl support is an issue with SP2. So I was forced to use 3d builder entirely, I learned to like it. I guess I have to get new gear if I want to use other software.

Only 1 of those pendants will become a gift this december. The rest will go the way of Game of Thrones and be killed off.

 

[jmshub]

I agree. Current 3d printers aren't things you can set and forget. I guess the sales staff don't know or can't be bothered to level the beds themselves or unclog the jam? I think if you gave each of them several grams of filament allowance a week that would change real quick. Just remind them not to print anything NSFW.

3d printers aren't cheap either. I justify my purchase by making stuff I couldn't otherwise buy locally. There's a lot of things I couldn't buy locally in the philippines so I'm happy with it LOL.

If you haven't heard, PRUSA just released another 3d printer which should make them a lot more user friendly.

1. filament sensor - will pause the print when it detects you've run out of filament so you can insert a new one and continue from there.
2. detects instantaneous power loss and you can continue your print after power is restored.
3. magnetic heatbed
4. octoprint ready

there are a lot of other technical improvements but those 4 are what intrigue me.

In our case, it depended. A few branches had younger, more technically experienced sales team, and they were okay with the basic maintenance issues. It was also a little bit because I had designed these little medallions in two colors, it was a little more finicky to print than some basic objects. So, it was a little bit of a difficult print.

A more mature 3D printer that is more fault tolerant will really help make the technology mainstream to less-geeky users. It will be very interesting for the future.