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Thu, 29 Apr 2021 13:46:30 -0400 last edited: Sun, 21 May 2023 09:21:57 -0400

jason@hub.inktada.com

I never showed what the finished printer looked like. Printing results exceed my expectations. With an enclosure, even PLA results are much cleaner.

Extruder, X, and Y steppers have heatsinks glued to them. The extruder needs max voltage to provide enough power to push PEKK through the hotend. The X and Y steppers are under the front overhang, so while not necessary, I didn't like the extra heat. There is no need for heatsinks on the Z steppers as they are far from the heating element near the base of the unit. Air can freely circulate to the Z steppers as they are outside of the enclosure.

3D Printer Customization 3D-Printing

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:27:14 -0400

FourOh-LLC

fouroh-llc@hubzilla.factoryfouroh.net

I was considering to enclose at least one of my printers, but after realizing the learning curve and the level of frustration I decided against it. I suspect, I assume my time is better spent actually building models.

But, you have the know-how to push these things to their limits and that's very impressive - I guess what you learn from this is not going to be widely known or easily understood, and that's something 'to take to the bank' so to speak!

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:50:23 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

@FourOh-LLC
Even if you aren't enclosing a printer, you should consider expanding your print capabilities beyond PLA+ which has a low melting point, is brittle, and is an entry level filament.

My use cases increased dramatically once I was able to print with materials such as TPU(flexible like rubber), ABS, PETG, Polycarbonate, Nylons, and Carbon Fiber derivatives.

If you decide to take the plunge to other filaments for open box printer:
TPU for flexibility, follow amazon's customer feedback for print settings - start with the least aggressive settings.
For strength, I'd go with this hybrid filament #^https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074DS3986 - again, look at customer feedback for print settings and start with the least aggressive settings. Note I specifically chose this hybrid filament because it is not a pure polycarbonate - the manufacture has some proprietary adds that make it much easier to work with. The Tg for this material is unlike polycarbonate and is around 70Â°C. Other than that, the strength and results are fantastic.

If you decide to enclose your printer, you have a huge suite of options - of particular interest is ABS and PETG. Both are incredible filaments have bring quite a bit to your printing capability suite.

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 13:38:54 -0400

FourOh-LLC

fouroh-llc@hubzilla.factoryfouroh.net

@Jason Cook I am not sure how to explain this but I am not a very good "engineer" - as the matter of fact I am not an engineer, by best training is railway engine technician - so I do have some metallurgy, hydraulics and other bases. Still, I am just a geek.

Right not this is what I am working on, and as long as the rail is not functioning it makes no difference what material I use - it most like ends up in the dumpster. Still less than a year into it I learned a lot, but I better stay with low cost PLA until what I print is usable. This is the 10 or so incarnation of the same project, its getting better but I am still not happy with it.

The goal is to make it super-lightweight, reduce printing time by using COTS, the OpenSCAD script must be fully refactored to easily get to the engineering data for a CAD drawing, and so on. I have a dozen criteria to meet.

Once I get my employer excited about this I might be able to get to those exotic materials easier. For now I must watch my cost, and PLA is by far the cheapest.