Z-Rider by Twotimes

The last post dealt with ways to get better print results from your 3D printer through hardware calibration. The suggestions and comments were easily the best part of that post, so keep them coming!  As before, some of these tips are more important to the Cupcake, but they’re all considerations when trying to get the best possible prints from your robot.

• Upgrade Hardware.

1. Make or buy a good feed system for your filament.  Some people use baskets suspended from the ceiling, coils sitting on lazy suzans, or filament spindle boxes.  I used a DIY filament spindle for about nine months before switching a filament spindle box.  The elimination of tangles was dramatic.  A simple tangle can completely screw up a print job by stopping plastic extrusion or yanking the Z stage or entire robot out of whack.  The investment in a good trouble free filament spindle box will make sure you can walk away from your 3D printer with peace of mind.
2. Whether you get a filament box or make your own, definitely get a “feeding tube” for the plastic.
3. Cupcake:  There have been many Z axis cranks, but the original by Zaggo is still my favorite.  This was the first printable 3D printer upgrade of which I really took note.
4. Cupcake:  If you’re upgrading from a basic Cupcake CNC kit, the most important upgrade you can get IMHO is definitely moving to the MK5 Plastruder.  This single upgrade will make your life easier than you can imagine.
5. Cupcake:  Source, print, assemble, and install Twotimes’ XY lowrider for quieter and smoother printing.
6. Cupcake:  Upgrade to the Automated Build Platform or source, print, assemble, and install the Pfierce Robotic Build Platform by Chooch for flatter and automated printing from a heated build platform.
7. Cupcake:  Source, print, assemble, and install the epic Z axis riders by Twotimes or TheRuttmeister for smoother printing and less Z wobble.
8. Cupcake:  Source, print, assemble, and install the Zydac’s Z Axis Extender Kit or the Pfierce Z-axis extenders by Chooch for extra build height.

What am I leaving out?  How would you upgrade your hardware?

How to get better results from your 3D printer: Calibrating Hardware

With the recent launch of the Thing-O-Matic, I’ve collected a number of ways to get a better result from a 3D printer. ¹  If you’ve got a suggestion, please let me know in the comments!  Some of these tips are more important to the Cupcake, some are really only applicable to certain versions of these printers, but they’re all considerations when trying to get the best possible prints from your robot.

• Calibrate Hardware. The most obvious way to get a better print is to calibrate your machine’s hardware.  These kinds of tweaks could take a number of forms.  You could:

1. Make sure all of the bolts/nuts are tightened properly.
2. Make sure all pulleys are tightened properly to their bolts.
3. Get the right tension on the belts by setting the proper tension on the pulleys.  There are a few pulley tensioners on Thingiverse that could help with this issue for Cupcakes.
4. Make sure the bearings on the X and Y axes slide smoothly.  If the hole the bearings slide into are too tight, they will cause the bearings to bind up on the precision rods.  The solution is to sand the hole slightly to widen it.
5. Insert something springy between the X or Y axis end caps and the X or Y axes. ² This reduces play, noise, and will ensure a slightly better print job when it comes to small details.  There are printable end caps that help reduce this problem.³
6. Make sure the extruder has the proper filament tension.⁴
7. Adjust your stepper motor torque for the Thing-O-Matic or Cupcake.  You want enough power that the stage moves in a responsive manner and won’t lose steps, but low enough that you’re not overheating the motor or operating in a needlessly noisy way.
8. Thing-O-Matic:  Make sure the endstops are properly and securely adjusted.  If there is any wiggle, you could get variable starting build heights.
9. Thing-O-Matic:  Make sure the cables running to the X and Y stages have enough slack to work and but not so much they will get caught on something.
10. Thing-O-Matic:  Make sure you’ve run the wires down the proper sides.  Even if you have your Thing-O-Matic wired properly, running the wires near to the wrong wires can lead to EM noise which could case printing problems.
11. Cupcake:  Level your build platform.
12. Cupcake:  Level your Z stage.
13. Cupcake:  Reduce the play between the XY axis stage and the XY build platform.
14. Cupcake:  Make sure there is no grime in the Z rod threads.
15. Cupcake:  Replace warped Z rods.
16. Cupcake:  Add Z axis wobble arrestors.
17. Cupcake:  Widen the Z axis holder on the Z platform by sanding the notch if you’re having a problem with just one bent rod.
18. Cupcake:  Take the clamp off the worst Z axis rod and double-clamp the best Z axis rod (via the MakerBot Support Stream and Charles Pax).

More tips on getting better print results tomorrow!

1. Photo courtesy of MakerBot [↩]
2. I use little bits of paper towel [↩]
3. I’m having trouble locating these Things.  If you can leave a link in the comment, I’ll update the post. [↩]
4. This is SO much easier with a MK5 Plastruder it’s not even funny [↩]