Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

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bratan
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Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 1:42 pm

Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by bratan » Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:31 pm

I've been struggling with my M2 Rev E printing Ninjaflex. It was just one printer, other one prints it just fine. I think i figured out the issue. 3D printed filament drive has elongated hole where filament goes, almost like two holes joined together. I don't know if my filament wore that out (I've mostly been printing flexibles) or it came defective, but in either case Ninjaflex sometimes slips into other opening and it results it to slip of the extruder wheel. Chances are 50/50, it could print just fine, and then next print it's off the wheel.
Long story short I just want to reprint "Single FIlament Drive r3". Anyone knows what is original part printed from, PLA, ABS, PETG? I swear it looks like PLA :)

Also if you can share any tips on printing it (i.e. support, infill) I'd really appreciate it! :)
Last edited by bratan on Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sthone
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Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by sthone » Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:46 pm

The stock ones are ABS but I don't know what infill they are. (I usually print my stuff at 80%) Some people print them out of PETG so they are stiffer and others print them out of ePC so they have better heat resistance. No matter what you print them out of they will eventually wear out. The holes do become oblong after time and I find the bottom part that forms the hinge becomes less ridged and even cranking down the tension screw all the way doesn't seem get a good enough grip after time. (I actually use a modified hinged version of the drive now and it's been going strong for 2 years now) What ever you print them out of always print a back up because you will eventually need it. After printing them you will probably have to ream the feed holes out a bit too, this allow the filament to feed through the drive smoothly.
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bratan
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 1:42 pm

Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by bratan » Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:16 pm

Thanks! :)
Just printed mine out of white PETG, drilled out hole with 2 mm drill bit and it seems to work great so far. Ninjaflex no longer jamming so I'm happy.
I'm ordering some ePC so will probably reprint it later. Thanks for the link to hinged version, I'll check it out!

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willnewton
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Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by willnewton » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:36 pm

I printed mine in ePC, the filament I love to hate. Amazing stuff that has a 100% success rate in clogging my nozzle on the transition back to PLA. :D
I'm finally back to where I started two days ago!

A thread with some stuff in it I update every once in a while. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9
See some of my stuff http://www.thingiverse.com/willnewton/favorites

Gwhite
Posts: 372
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:38 pm

Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by Gwhite » Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:06 am

I was all set to print up some spare drives & play with a few design mods, and I've got a brand new spool of black ePC to print with. However, Zemlin reports that he hasn't been able to get the black ePC to behave nearly as well as the natural/clear ePC. I asked about using PETG in that thread, and he thinks it's not very slippery, and that might cause problems.

It looks like several people are using PETG for their drives, and I was wondering if they've seen any issues with them and how well they hold up. I have a spool of black PETG on the machine right now, so it's would b easy to spit out a couple spares. The alternative is to blow another $28 bucks on a spool of natural/clear ePC.

Thanks!

airscapes
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Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by airscapes » Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:51 am

Those of you who have printed the drive, what position do you place it in on the build plate. Default where it drops or do you alter it? Do you use support? If so do you modify the default support (s3d) and what support infill do you use? Only have an M2 so not dissoluble filament choice and was going to use abs as I have been printing a lot with it and really like the way it prints (heated enclosure)
Finally found the current revision housing in the M3 repository, guess they are all the same ..
Thanks!
Doug

Gwhite
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Re: Reprinting Filament Drive. What material should I use?

Post by Gwhite » Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:06 pm

I used the default orientation. There are actually some clever design features in the model to minimize supports if you print it the way they intended. I used S3D, and I think I may have played a little with the supports, but I don't recall that it was a big deal. I printed a slighjtly modified version to work with my grooved bearing sleeve:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6724&p=37246#p36959

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