ABS leftovers turn to glue

When printing, you're bound to have a heap of little scraps of extruded ABS (rafts, test extrusions, clogs). Untill the day comes when granulated ABS can be extruded, here's a great way to utilize something you would otherwise throw away!

Take your scraps and crush/cut them up as small as you can, then put them in a GLASS container (an old drinking glass for instance). USE GLASS because acetone dissolves certain plastics (polymers, like abs!!).
Pour in Acetone and stir it around every half hour or so. Repeat the stiring for about a day. Add more acetone untill your solution has the desired thickness. Now, acetone is very fleeting when exposed to oxygen, so cover the glass - unless your mixture is too thin and in that case leave it uncovered. Make sure to keep the mixtuer in a well vented area when uncovered. Eitherway keep it in a vented area because Acetone stinks and can cause a nasty headache. Depending on the pureness of the acetone, it might evaporate fast or slower.

A good way to seal the glass is to use parafilm. This is used in chemistry labs and is a great way of sealing the beaker. Don't use any type of plastic (polymer based) cling film, because the acetone vapor will dissolve it (like household cling film).

ABS is used in allot of products, including car parts. You could use the ABS glue to touch up parts of your bumper or any other application that uses ABS. With a bit of creativity you could even use the mixture to mould things.

Skeinforge settings vs Great Rafts

In short: a raft is a printable, flat thick layer to even out your build platform. Through testing and whatnot your build platform takes a couple for the team and in time becoms uneven (holes, scars). The raft is there to make sure the build surface is flat, and also tries to assure good first layer adhesion to the platform.

My first rafts were thin candy string like threads that offered virtualy no support and actualy did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. The fatter base layers and the thinner support layer didn't assure first layer adhesion, except on very small builds.

A raft is important when you're printing with the standard build platform, and to a lesser extent when you're pinting on a heated build platform. Since printing with a heated build platform is very different from the standard, there's a separate post devoted to just that.

First off, i've learned through trial and error and many comments on the google makerbot operators group that the interface layer (thinner threaded 2nd raft layer) isn't necesary by default. If you learn how to make a nice fat spread base layer that's all you really need.

To get the raft you see here on the right, you need to manualy reposition the z-axis on the first line that's going down when the raft starts printing. Position your nozzle about 1mm above the build platform and start your print, then just lower the nozzle by hand untill your raft lines touch each other, but make sure they don't overlap. If the lines overlap you will see a very thin (like a hair) thread on top of the raft lines. That could mess up your first layer, but could also strip out your filament. By making such fat lines you could end up blocking the extrusion by feeding more into then the nozzle can lay down. So make sure the lines don't overlap. It'll take a couple of tries, so start out with a small raft to get the hang of it.

Feeding the Filament... with a spool!

Jared Spool : "Good design, when it's done well, becomes invisible"

Let's say that for the 3D printer jared's argument isn't always necesarily true. For quite some time i had filament strips that had two main reasons. Not having adjusted the idler wheel deep enough, and not feeding the filament 'smoothly' enough. Adjusting the idler wheel was obvious - but i kept looking past it for a few weeks because i was convinced i had set it correctly.

The ABS filament i got with the deluxe kit was a mess. I had no clue how to handle it and reasoned it's a spool - and if it goes haywire i'll just rewind it. This might be so for electrical wire, it isn't so for ABS. That stuff has no organisational qualities. The way my filament went into the cupcake was all tangled, twisted and what not. Didn't really catch my eye untill one day it stripped cause it bent almost double.

You don't have to be blond to be stupid, as illustrated by the above. Browsing around in thingiverse i found quite a number of people with spool variations. Some clever, some highly ingenious, some so wonderfully simple!. So i decided to go with KISS (keep it simple stupid). What can be more environamentaly friendly then to make your stuff out of cardboard! The user charlespax on thingiverse came up with a cardboard spool made from pizza boxes. I however used an old box from a computer i had lying around. Which is good thick cardboard. The build is really really simple, and surprisingly sturdy. You would need a spool holder for your shiny new toy, i made mine from a cardboard box. I inserted a metal rod through the spool, and hold the spool as a whole inside a cardboard box that's deep enough. Just make two holes in the box and tadaaa you have yourself a DIY - no effort spool holder.

enjoy!

Howto: level your z stage

“Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.”
is what Salman Rushdie said.

We've all seen our Z stage crash into the build platform. The Z stage design is frail and prone to flaw. If you haven't payed allot of attention to the horizontal level of your stage, reconsider. Some print errors can come from a miss calibrated stage.

The problem with the z-stage comes from two issues:
- The nuts that hold the stage horizontaly in place
- The differing height variation between those 4 nuts respectively.

From personal experience i've found that leveling the z-stage horizontaly as a whole compared to the build platform is not 'THAT' important. I've found that the build stage can be off by millimeters and still result in a good print. What IS important however is that the nuts support the stage on all 4 points. The Z-stage can not have a tilt in it or it will result in bad prints. When all four nuts support the z-stage, the stage itself can (even visualy) look slanted - provinding there's no more then 5mm (give or take) height difference between the nuts. If you end up with more, you'll have to take a closer look at your build.

Makerbot Heated Build Platform - Build and first use summary

After being unsuccesfull in printing the main part of the Printruder II printable plastruder i needed a way to print large part.

I could print about 15 layers before warping kicked in. Which in general isn't bad considering allot of people get warping almost instantly (some even on the raft).

At 14ish layers the left front corner of my printruder head started to curl up. I had hoped the warping would be contained to one corner and was praying for a good outcome. Needless to say (and judging by the picture on the right) the warping had become so bad that the print head ended up outside the object and was crashing into it repeatedly. I quickly stopped the build, afraid my extruder could become damaged from crashing into a fairly thick wall already.

So i ordered a Makerbot Heated Build Platform v2 and assembled it.

The build
------------
Putting the HBP together was a bit overwhelming at first, because i had never SMT soldered before. The whole hot plate thing sounded a truckload of work (and allot of money to spend for something i'll probably only use once). Luckely i could turn to an electronical engineer at work who said you can SMT solder by hand without a hot plate. You just need a good soldering iron and good quality solder. He showed me how to do it, and behold - i SMT soldered ALL the components perfectly without prior experience and WITHOUT a hot plate :)

If you follow the manual on the wiki it's all very straight forward. There's no pitfalls - just take your time, solder in a very well lit environment and use magnifiers (those come in handy!).

Take note of the orientation for the leds, the green markings are horribly small.

When everything was assembled i sawed off the tips off the nuts. Next time i'm in a hardware store i'll search for screws i can sink into the metal so nothing sticks out on top. But sawed off i don't loose any build space either.

Clean your blocked extruder

At some point your extruder is going to get blocked. No matter how hot you fire up the heater barrel plastic will extrude thinner then before, and filament will strip out allot more frequently.
This means filament residue has been left behind in the heater barrel, and stuck to the sides of the barrel. I've noticed this happens more frequently when you clean blocked barrels with a drill or any hard object that can rough up the surface. Depending on how high up the barrel you start heating, the plastic partialy melts and sticks to the degraded surface causing blockage over time.

There are many suggested ways to clean a blocked barrel. Most people use a blow torch to simply burn the filament to ash and then rinse it out (with water, acetone). As described above i had a 'feeling' that using hard objects caused it to become more frequent. I don't have the tools to check the insides of a heater barrel, so it's just a guesstimate. The direct assault with fire is for most people the only way since it requires not a whole lot of tools and can be done in the yard. But do remember that the fumes are toxic! Burning any oil based material will cause toxic fumes, so don't breath them in - and keep your space well ventilated!

After cleaning out most of the blocked filament, you should leave it for around 24h in a aceton solution. This will make the smallest residue to become soft and easy(er) to remove.
Over at Makergear.com the operators packs include a pipe cleaner and a 0.4 brass rod. They're helpfull, but be carefull not to damage the metal.

If you however,  have access to a laboratory, - or the funds to invest in the material - the following compound is excellent to use for any blocked barrel with polymers.

THF (Tetrahydrofuran) is a chemical compound that's excellent for breaking down polymers. Unlike Aceton the THF will dissolve the plastic, where as aceton will only make it rubbery. The THF solution will work allot faster if you hold it in a ultrasone bath. You can clean a blocked extruder in minutes with this combination. No need to clean the nozzle with 0.4 brass bars, the plastic just falls off and partialy dissolves in the THF.

I have not yet had a chance to test how well Acetone with ultrasone cleaning works. For that i need a blocked extruder and so far i've been spared. But it's the first thing i'll try if and when i get one.

Makerbot #000284 - part 3

"There is no spoon"...

Unlike 'Neo' you probably can't straighten your Z rods by sheer will. It is however very important to have straight rods. A wobble on your Z axis will cause your walls to be irregular and far from a smooth build. It most likely won't compromise integrity of the object, but it won't be as smooth as it can be.

Straightening the rods is a simple thing. Put the rod without the nuts or bearings on a flat surface - glass makes a good surface - and roll the rod around. You'll immediatly notice if there's a wobble in it. On my rods i found the exact spot of the bend by pushing one side down, and looking for the point on which it tilts. If you know where to bend it, slightly curl the rod - do it with minimal force - and repeat it untill the rod rolls flat. You could also opt to just buy a new rod.

The user 'TwoTimes' on thingiverse came up with a brilliant addon to eliminate any form of wobble (Wobble Arrester). Aside from the bushings i have all the parts prepared to add this to my bot. I'll post pictures and configuration as i go along - check the blog archive for the link.

Makerbot #000284 - part 2

"Keep your bot close, but your parts closer..."

During the build of my bot i repeatedly dropped bolts, nuts, bits and bobs everywhere. Use cups to keep your parts from falling and sorted by dimension. Eggholders are good, or the cut-outs from the plywood come in handy aswell.

When assembling the Plastruder (MK4), pay attention when you bolt the 'Heater Barrel' on to the 'Filament Drive Mechanism'. Two washers need to be used in that connection, and when you don't use them there's a chance that one of the inner parts might break in the Filament Drive Mechanism.

As soon as you get the hang of printing with your bot, a good idea is to start printing parts for a printeable head. There are several (Printruder II, Printed Extruder, Really Strong Filament Drive) that are worth having a look at.

Makerbot #000284 - part 1

I operate bot number #000284 and below you'll find some of my findings while assembling the mechanical and electronical parts.

To be honest i never had allot of problems assembling the bot, but there are some minor things to keep in mind! Things that aren't always explained or even obvious.


First things first: you're going to assemble the casing with nuts and bolts. The wood is simple plywood, and can't have allot of strain on any point. Tighten the bolts by hand and only tighten them with the hex screw by 1/4 or 1/2 turn. Wiggle the parts to asses if they're tight or need perhaps another 1/4 turn. On my bot i overtightened some of the bolts which will make it very hard to reassemble if i ever have to take it appart.

Take your time assembling everything. Mine went surprisingly fast - although i've read people building it in one or two weeks time, i spent perhaps half a day - but i have experience building machinery. So don't rush it, and don't build by low lighting.

The bot does rattle quit allot, i've seen people design feet (link) for it, but an important tweak to reduce quite allot of the rattle is by putting a tiny piece of soft material (cloth, foam - stuff like that) between the X stage rods and the square plywood piece you bolt to the side of the bot. When the X stage moves (sideways) the shafts tend to clatter against the wood and make quite a bit of noise. Just insert something thin in between to help reduce the noise, and also help keep the shafts even more firm in place.

to be continued...

intro

I'm starting this blog from my experiences as an average Makerbot Cupcake CNC user.
The initial learning curve can be very steep, and wrapping your head around the IMMENSE amount of homebrew and confirmed settings can be quite a task.

Hoping to share my findings, and compile a hands-on newbie approach to the machine.

The goal is to compile a lexicon from all the scattered stuff out there, a resource if you will with practical and USEFULL data.
My personal opinion is that there are far to much valuable settings out there that drown in between schematics and total tech stuff. New users need simple and easy to follow articles that explain the basics.

hope you find use for it,
and happy printing!

Kling3r