19
votes
Accepted
Should I enclose my 3D Printer?
It is hard to tell whether you personally should enclose your printer. However, you asked for the advantages and I will name some of them on which one can base a decision.
A 3D printer enclosure
...
- 2,924
16
votes
Accepted
How many times printed printer can print it-self?
The files used to print these objects are digital, and do not degrade in any way after each printing. There are no side effects or degradation that occurs over time due simply to printing them ...
- 1,853
14
votes
Accepted
What's the advantage of two z motors?
There are three main options here for Mendel style ZX gantries:
One Z screw and motor, which is similar to a cantilevered design but somewhat more stable because of the opposite smooth rod
Two Z ...
- 6,536
11
votes
Accepted
Tips for not burning out my Arduino Mega or catching something on fire when wiring a Prusa i3?
Polarity matters, sometimes. Be especially mindful of the wires from your power supply to the board, as getting those the wrong way around will definitely cause damage. Heated beds and extruders are ...
- 14.8k
11
votes
Should I enclose my 3D Printer?
@kamuro provided an excellent answer, so I'll just try to add by playing devil's advocate.
Possible things to look out for:
Inappropriate enclosure could result in more temperature differences, ...
- 6,284
8
votes
Accepted
How does the home position work on a Prusa i3 RepRap Printer?
It works like you describe, but it does not move all axes at the same time. It first moves the X-axis, subtracting steps while the X endstop is not pressed. When the X-axis is is homed (the X-endstop ...
- 126
7
votes
Accepted
Laser cutting on RepRap
Please do not go down this road. First, not all lasers are equally absorbed by the material and the energy converted to heat to vaporize the material. The light not absorbed is reflected right back ...
- 86
7
votes
How many times printed printer can print it-self?
The reprap printers have often been compared to plants, providing fruits to you and the possibility to reproduce themselves.
This analogy holds in both good and bad ways. Any life form can reproduce ...
7
votes
How thick does an aluminum print bed need to be
Main factors that control the process of the print bed selection are
weight: too thick plate increases inertial force, limiting maximum acceleration/jerk (decreased print speed)
stiffness: too thin ...
- 878
6
votes
Accepted
Cloning the Marlin git repo while keeping my configuration.h settings?
Based on this answer, you need the following procedure:
Stash your local changes using git stash
Pull from remote repository using ...
- 233
6
votes
Accepted
Connector Suggestion for Extruder and Heatbed
You might be able to use one of the connectors (Deans Ultra, EC3, XT-60/30, Bullet) that are normally used for RC models. They're made for very high currents. The XT60 connectors depicted below are ...
- 14.8k
6
votes
Accepted
How to make your own 3D printer?
Yes, look at http://reprap.org for a project that's been doing what you're asking about for about a decade now.
- 650
6
votes
Is the weather a problem for MDF frames?
I want to add the following to the already direct and very good answer of @Dani Epstein. It does not answer your question, but hopefully may help many people who are reading the question when choosing ...
- 2,924
6
votes
How to switch motor outputs and use E1 as X, in Marlin firmware?
When using Marlin firmware you could easily change the pin layout of the extra extruder (E1) with the broken X stepper pins by changing the pins_RAMPS.h file.
Download the firmware and open the ...
- 34.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Can I repurpose the ISP pins in the lower right corner of the Melzi board?
In theory, you can; but, you may need those pins to attach an external programmer to bring your system back to life when playing around with the code.
Here are a couple of articles that could help if ...
- 2,452
6
votes
Accepted
Sharing a printer over a network
NOTE: This is not from personal experience, but I thought it was worth mentioning:
Microsoft
You've probably seen this already - I am not a fan at all of M$, but... Microsoft Plus Raspberry Pi Equals ...
- 6,192
5
votes
Accepted
Is the weather a problem for MDF frames?
Generally speaking, MDF will weather OK. In areas of high humidity you might experience warpage, but you can mitigate that by sealing the surface with paint or varnish. However you will probably find ...
- 321
5
votes
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using synchromesh cables instead of belts?
Looking at the specs for both the GT2 belt and the Synchromesh I'm very hesitant to recommend a Synchromesh over a belt.
The first thing that sticks out is that there are both error and cumulative ...
- 1,551
5
votes
Laser cutting on RepRap
Strapping a laser to a cheap robot made with flammable plastic parts and no enclosure is stupid in the extreme. Don't do it. Seriously, just don't. RepRaps are not suitable for laser conversions.
...
- 6,536
4
votes
Using an Arduino Mega with burnt voltage regulator
Take a look at Ryan's answer to my question. I believe the MightBoard is based on the Mega 2560, so it is possible that some of the other components could have been damaged. If you look at the ...
- 6,284
4
votes
Accepted
Which algorithm does Marlin use to create arcs?
The algorithm is based on the "Vector rotation by transformation matrix", and this solution is based on a solution from Jens Geisler. The formula for clockwise rotation is:
More information about ...
- 101
4
votes
Accepted
How is a J-Head Extruder Head attached to the Prusa i3 rework?
It looks like the hotend may not be all the way in, are you sure it's not stuck?
If it's stuck and you can get it in further, those holes should go directly through the smaller ring on top of the J-...
- 2,090
4
votes
Tips for not burning out my Arduino Mega or catching something on fire when wiring a Prusa i3?
I'd say polarity and voltage are the biggest things -- about all you can do is double- and triple-check everything; then check again....
Be very careful about where you feed in 12V power (mainly for ...
- 3,201
4
votes
Connector Suggestion for Extruder and Heatbed
I agree with Tom's answer about RC connectors. Another good connector option worth considering is Anderson Powerpoles.
They're "modular" so you can use them to assemble connectors with multiple wires....
- 1,061
4
votes
G-code firmware for handheld plotter (Arduino)
Your question may be useful to people interested in 3d printing (the purpose of this SE Site) so, even though you're not asking a 3d printing question per se, I think this answer will be helpful...
...
- 1,061
4
votes
Accepted
MINTEMP error after crash
After replacing the control board, it now prints flawlessly. Apparently,I really did damage the control board...
- 121
4
votes
Accepted
Arduino Mega voltage regulator overheats with RAMPS board
I've solved unsoldering the diode(D1) on RAMPS. This diode provides to power the arduino board with 12V. If you have a chinese arduino this will probably cause some problems.
I hope this will help ...
- 101
4
votes
Arduino Mega voltage regulator overheats with RAMPS board
I ordered an authentic Arduino Mega today after the voltage regulator on my Chinese clone Mega went up in smoke. But I couldn't wait two whole days so I dug around and found an old 7805 (less than US$...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
3D printer stepper motors only going one direction and skipping in the other
From an electrical standpoint, a two-phase stepper motors (what most 3D printers use) works the same backwards and forwards, the phase just reverses. If you are stalling on only one direction, I ...
- 2,452
4
votes
Accepted
Under extrusion towards the end of the print
Do anyone have any ideas? What this can be? How can I fix this?
At least judging from the pictures, that does seem like under-extrusion. Some ideas for further investigating the issue.
The problem ...
- 4,687
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