MakerGear Forum

Recently, I've taken my printer to my office, and started to print some simple Christmas ornaments, simple thick 2D objects, folks in the office are really enjoying it. I'm coming down to crunch time, and just cannot print them and clear them fast enough, being in the office only 8 or so hours a day. Tonight, I had a crazy idea, since I have Octoprint, what if I could clear the prints remotely too? So, I started to "push" my prints off the build plate with the cool nozzle! Lo and behold, it WORKS! Since I'm printing PLA on glass with aquanet hairspray, prints pop right off when cooled, even the brim line!. Has anyone tried doing this? or devised a method of doing it? I have some ideas like a wiper on a servo, or something similar. Call me lazy, but I'm an IT pro, and I'm all about efficiency. I like to work from the comfort of my chair and have all the control at my finger tips. Thoughts?

Think it would pretty much depend on how high the print was, how much hairspray you'd used, what the infill on the prints was, how much surface area contacted the glass, and i think you run the risk of breaking the prints or damaging the nozzle or the glass eventually, but i think insta has done something similar once in a pinch with a really huge widget order.

If it works - go for it. (Just be sure to let us know if something breaks - otherwise you'll have a bunch of others trying it.)

Here you go http://hackaday.com/2015/06/06/automati ... -printers/

-Steve

OMG! (i needed that this morning!)

I recall seeing someone incorporate part removal into their end gcode script. It was something along the lines of turn off all heaters, cool for a minute or two, home X, move Y to max forward travel, home z, home y to use the top of the printer to scrape off the part. I would agree with Jules with the different variables that would affect removal/damaging the part. At least you wont have to worry about using the nozzle to crash into the part

sthone wrote:Here you go http://hackaday.com/2015/06/06/automati ... -printers/

-Steve

Quark wrote:Recently, I've taken my printer to my office, and started to print some simple Christmas ornaments, simple thick 2D objects, folks in the office are really enjoying it. I'm coming down to crunch time, and just cannot print them and clear them fast enough, being in the office only 8 or so hours a day. Tonight, I had a crazy idea, since I have Octoprint, what if I could clear the prints remotely too? So, I started to "push" my prints off the build plate with the cool nozzle! Lo and behold, it WORKS! Since I'm printing PLA on glass with aquanet hairspray, prints pop right off when cooled, even the brim line!. Has anyone tried doing this? or devised a method of doing it? I have some ideas like a wiper on a servo, or something similar. Call me lazy, but I'm an IT pro, and I'm all about efficiency. I like to work from the comfort of my chair and have all the control at my finger tips. Thoughts?

Ack this method seems fraught with danger. All it will take is a part to stick more than normal and you are going to either break the motor mount or worse the hotend. I think auto removal needs more thought

thunderbt3 wrote:I recall seeing someone incorporate part removal into their end gcode script. It was something along the lines of turn off all heaters, cool for a minute or two, home X, move Y to max forward travel, home z, home y to use the top of the printer to scrape off the part. I would agree with Jules with the different variables that would affect removal/damaging the part. At least you wont have to worry about using the nozzle to crash into the part

That was me, and it works reasonably well ... much better than using the nozzle.

OMG that automatic punch was hilarious!

Yes, there is potential of some damage, but I think steppers will stall before something breaks, the M2 is built well. Luckily, my prints were smallish surface area, and easily popped on their own when cooled. It worked relatively well, but it was time consuming with the head, till I realized I could use the x-axis gantry to push everything off the plate. However, I ended up popping a bed binder clip off, and littered the table and floor with parts. oh, and on one occasion, a part somehow got balanced on top the Y- axis belt, and I had to manually rock that axis back and forth. It was a hassle, but better than it being idle or spending the evening in the office.

surely M2 can do this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lra0YW3hG6Q