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Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 10:34 pm
by minusbacon
Jules wrote: One final note – it’s optional, but you can slow down the prints and get a much better print. With 3D printing, slower printing always results in better quality, and the default settings in S3D are high. I keep my Default Printing Speed at 4200mm/min (fairly slow for PLA).
There are so many spots for speed settings. Where is the main speed setting that I'd enter in 4200mm/min?

Again, thank you so much for this!

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 11:04 pm
by Jules
Set the Default Printing Speed at 4200mm/min on the Other tab. Then set your First Layer Speed to 50% on the Layer Tab.

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 1:16 am
by minusbacon
This guide, Jules, and others here have been a HUGE life saver! I wish I could buy you guys a beer (or your drink of choice) for all your help. Been printing a bunch of random stuff with PLA, swapping spools out for different colors, and experimenting with everything to learn. Been fun so far! Ok...fun about 1/3 of the time. :)

Can anyone add any beginner tips for printing ABS or a link to a topic that covers it? There are a few things I want to print that should be ABS, first thing being the M2 bed plate holders on Thingiverse. I've been reading about how picky ABS is the print here and other sites. All weekend I've been thinking about loading up a spool of ABS but then I decide not to and print something with PLA. heh.

Cleaner filament-- do you guys use it between every material swap or only between certain ones?

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:00 pm
by SgtFolley
Jules,

I finally got a chance to play with my M2, its been great. I've printed off a few prop pieces so far.

Two things I may add from my own newbie experience. The speed even when notched down from 4800 to 4000 is still fast, the motion of the print head will cause a lot of inertial movement: Make sure the work surface you are placing this on is SOLID. Rickety Wooden tables or folding tables DO NOT apply.

Also, if your going to put kapton tape down on the assembled version please make sure you adjust the zstop. Out of the box for me when I went to print after carefully applying the tape it was so close the Nozzle cut thru it and i had to do an emergency stop

My only wish is they included a tiny Allen wrench to adjust the zstop, my sausage fingers had a hell of a time trying to adjust it properly the first time.(quick trip to store fixed this).

the printer itself is amazing, but i have to say simplify3d was daunting. Would suggest you do a quick start guide for that one next :)

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:54 pm
by Jules
SgtFolley wrote:Two things I may add from my own newbie experience. The speed even when notched down from 4800 to 4000 is still fast, the motion of the print head will cause a lot of inertial movement: Make sure the work surface you are placing this on is SOLID. Rickety Wooden tables or folding tables DO NOT apply.
Excellent point, and one i forgot to mention! You do need to set this up on a real wood desk or a solid work table to keep from vibrating the whole house. (And scaring yourself half to death to boot! :shock: )
Also, if your going to put kapton tape down on the assembled version please make sure you adjust the zstop. Out of the box for me when I went to print after carefully applying the tape it was so close the Nozzle cut thru it and i had to do an emergency stop
Yes, i need to change the order that appears in the write-up. Kapton first, then set the Z-stop. (I'll drop in a note, i think most people will move directly from the MakerGear instructions to the Calibrations.)
My only wish is they included a tiny Allen wrench to adjust the zstop, my sausage fingers had a hell of a time trying to adjust it properly the first time.(quick trip to store fixed this).
Yep, forgot about that too. I used a pair of needlenose pliers.....I don't think there's a person on the planet who can loosen that nut by hand. :lol:

On Thingiverse, there is a file that just about everyone prints right off the bat - it's the "MakerGear M2 z-axis bolt nut tightener" by dryeti.....you can use it to easily tighten/loosen the nut around that screw, and you will need it in the future:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:198811

(It was my first print with the M2, after a few hundred calibration squares. :D )
the printer itself is amazing, but i have to say simplify3d was daunting. Would suggest you do a quick start guide for that one next :)
:lol: Chuckle! Jin has one posted on Github, here's the link:

http://jinschoi.github.io/simplify3d-docs/

Glad you got things up and running so quickly! Now the fun part really kicks in! :D

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:00 pm
by jsc
You can use dryeti's tool, but Rick posted a while ago about a suggested modification where you put the nut on the bottom of the spider. Makes it much easier to grasp and adjust. This wrench helps a lot in that case: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53870

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:21 pm
by Jules
jsc wrote:You can use dryeti's tool, but Rick posted a while ago about a suggested modification where you put the nut on the bottom of the spider. Makes it much easier to grasp and adjust. This wrench helps a lot in that case: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53870

Coolness!
I'll be printing that out and giving it a whirl myself! Many thanks, Jin! :D

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 4:01 am
by BAleiHi
Thanks so much for the awesome guidance. I really appreciate the overview here and the links to some awesome details. I finally feel like I'm actually moving in a direction of improvement as I tweak my M2 (noob here!). But I have a question.

I started by trying to calibrate my z-offset as per Jules' post (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3124). When I printed the calibration prism (solid infill) I noticed that the infill is raised noticeably above the perimeter layers. When the calipers rest on the infill, I get a lot of variability in the measurements all around 2.27. But if I rest the calipers only on the perimeter layers, I get more like 2.05 as an average. I also notice that the first perimeter layer extends out beyond the other perimeter layers - like it's hitting the bed and getting more melted maybe? Or getting squished out more than the others because the bed is keeping it softer? My bed is at 70 deg. Is that too hot?

Without having fixed that, I went on to jsc's instructions to calibrate the extrusion width (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1964). I printed the outline of the calibration prism - just one perimeter. Again, the first layer was a lot flatter and protruded well outside the wall of the other layers. So I set the calipers on the other layers and found the thickness to be OK. But then I checked the height which was supposed to be 2 mm and instead it was 1.8 ish all around - well below the height of the solid fill prism.

So what gives? Does the single perimeter sag or droop more than the solid fill version, yielding less height per layer? Is it possible that my temperatures are too hot or that I'm not cooling properly. As a noob, I don't know if these things are minor or whether I should take the time to adjust other parameters to get really consistent layer heights in all conditions. If the latter, what other adjustments am I missing? TIA

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 5:35 am
by insta
You're probably over-extruding, despite what the single-wall cube says. Are you setting the wall thickness manually to 0.50mm and getting exactly 0.50mm as an average across 7 points on the top layers of the single-walled cube? If not, try again. Don't do the Z offset until the single-wall is correct.

Re: How To: Guide to Getting Started (with Troubleshooting T

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:17 am
by Jules
BAleiHi wrote:Thanks so much for the awesome guidance. I really appreciate the overview here and the links to some awesome details. I finally feel like I'm actually moving in a direction of improvement as I tweak my M2 (noob here!). But I have a question.

I started by trying to calibrate my z-offset as per Jules' post (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3124). When I printed the calibration prism (solid infill) I noticed that the infill is raised noticeably above the perimeter layers. When the calipers rest on the infill, I get a lot of variability in the measurements all around 2.27. But if I rest the calipers only on the perimeter layers, I get more like 2.05 as an average. I also notice that the first perimeter layer extends out beyond the other perimeter layers - like it's hitting the bed and getting more melted maybe? Or getting squished out more than the others because the bed is keeping it softer? My bed is at 70 deg. Is that too hot?

Without having fixed that, I went on to jsc's instructions to calibrate the extrusion width (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1964). I printed the outline of the calibration prism - just one perimeter. Again, the first layer was a lot flatter and protruded well outside the wall of the other layers. So I set the calipers on the other layers and found the thickness to be OK. But then I checked the height which was supposed to be 2 mm and instead it was 1.8 ish all around - well below the height of the solid fill prism.

So what gives? Does the single perimeter sag or droop more than the solid fill version, yielding less height per layer? Is it possible that my temperatures are too hot or that I'm not cooling properly. As a noob, I don't know if these things are minor or whether I should take the time to adjust other parameters to get really consistent layer heights in all conditions. If the latter, what other adjustments am I missing? TIA

Did you just receive your printer within the last couple of weeks? Is it a MakerGear V4 Rev.E version? Did you use the MakerGear Getting Started App to level the bed and set a Starting Height for the printer?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes....you do NOT need to do the Z-Offset calibrations. You will not be able to change the first layer using the Z-Offset.

I'm putting together the revised Beginner's Guide for the new machines as quickly as I can. For now, you can skip the Z-Offset and Z-Stop discussions in that writeup. Your machine won't be adjusted the same way. It is pre-set for a specific height. (The App that will be used to change that bit is in beta right now, but should be ready quickly.)