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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2017 20:26:52 GMT
So I saw a price I could not refuse on a PRUSA knock off called the Anet A8, ordered it off GearBest.com and after some hassles with the local courier company, it arrived, safe and sound. Unpacked it was a daunting array of separate components, but, all instructions and software was included on a USB stick (with MicroSD card slot) and so, on a day when I really didn't want to go anywhere, see anyone or think about anything, I sat down and spent a solid ten hours putting it all together. Aside from putting one bit on backwards (the LED Display board), which was easy to correct later, I managed it perfectly well. I watched a few videos from Youtube on recommended modifications from the standard build, and they were good, plus the manufacturer's own instructional video was also very good. Then I needed to get some supplies, so I ordered two 1kg rolls of PLA filament and some Masking Tape, and watched a few videos on how to set up and calibrate the machine for operation. This was the most intimidating part.. what if I set it up wrong? Would I damage the unit and have to get replacement parts? Would the power supply blow up? Did I even have the right computer settings?
In the end, I just loaded up a file for a modular door tile from Fat Dragon's Dragonlock Ultimate dungeon starter set, and hit "Print".
And it worked! Then it was time for the second print.. here is where I had some trouble.. the machine was trying to print the object over the side of the build plate.. how did I tell it where the corners were? I went into Cura, the software I am using, and played around, and AHA! There it was.. I told the program I was using a PRUSA and it adjusted the dimensions of the build plate.. problem solved. I loaded multiple object files onto the print run, saved it to the microSD card and slotted it into the printer motherboard and selected print on the menu.
And it worked! One adjustment I will make for the next lot is not to select "Print all simultaneously" as it creates a lot of wisps as it moves between the objects and I think slows down the process with the additional travel time. But, they are easy to tidy up and overall, I am amazed I actually managed to build and operate a 3D printer from a kitset.
As for the kit itself, the company Anet, is a specialist who makes LOADS of these printers for the Chinese mainstream market, so, they are actually pretty good quality, however I have been warned that upgrading the power supply and adding a current buffer is a good idea, as it is the most common fault with the machines. There are also a lot of little improvements that can be printed on the machine, so you literally build your own modifications as you see fit.
I am excited and can't wait to get started on my next print!
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Post by margaret on Feb 19, 2017 20:40:35 GMT
Thanks for the info - I am going to add it to my "if I ever decide to get a 3D printer file"
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Post by adamantinedragon on Feb 20, 2017 4:35:19 GMT
How much was shipping?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2017 12:31:01 GMT
Not much, over all the printer cost me a total of NZ$340 (including shipping)
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Post by curufin on Feb 21, 2017 12:59:41 GMT
Very cool, AJ! I think you will find that there is always something to print. Lots of great minis, accessories, and terrain. I look forward to seeing some of the things you make.
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Post by bluecloud2k2 on Feb 21, 2017 21:13:00 GMT
Got a link to that printer?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 7:41:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2017 21:10:11 GMT
Update time. So it has been a month of near constant printing and a reasonable learning curve.. thankfully there is a LOT of people world wide who own this specific model, so there is a very large community of users who share information, faults, upgrades and videos, including a big facebook group. I seem to have lucked out and assembled a bit of a work horse printer, as my results have been better than average, and I am not entirely sure why. I did have a bit of bad luck with the fan on the side of the extruder assembly (not the fan that blows air on the printer nozzle, the other little fan), it had it's wires snagged on a bad print and when I cleared the ball of plastic off it, I tore the connection and when I switched the printer back on, the wire heated up like a toaster element.. I was most impressed with the little mushroom cloud of smoke it made. I have taken the fan off and the printer is still running absolutely fine, as it never really gets hot enough to warrant the fan there anyway.. I just print with PLA filament, so, not overly hot. Anyway, I have ordered a bunch of parts to radically upgrade the printer, after a lot of research and prompted by the experiences of the printing community. I will be exchanging the current hot end and nozzle for a better one, and moving the extruder off the X,Y axis arm and attaching it to the frame above, connected to the hot end via a tube (this is called a Bowden assembly).. it means the filament only gets heated as it passes through the hot end, and eliminated the need for the second cooling fan. It also means that the print head is very light weight and can be configured to print much faster.. even so, I have the printer set to print pretty fast as it is. I am also exchanging the bearings with Teflon upgrades, so it will run quiet as a mouse and very, very smooth. I also have a Mosfet power buffering board on the way, to protect the unit from any surges. I'll post the links to all this info later.
My advice with this printer is to level your print bed properly using the 'sheet of paper' method (I just adjust the corner screws from the top with a screwdriver) and to check it after every few prints, and whenever you move the printer for any reason. I have the printer in a closet, sitting on a board, on top of a polystyrene foam sheet, and pretty much surrounded by noise and vibration reducing foam sheets. Yes, it is a fire risk, but so far, so good.
I am fully addicted to printing now. It is a hell of a lot of fun.
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Post by fantascientist on Mar 26, 2017 23:47:41 GMT
I would be careful without that second fan, it is there for a very good reason. Making sure the cold end of your printer actually stays cold is very important. If you have prints with many retractions, heat can 'creep up' (for lack of a better word), causing the filament to melt outside of the hot end. This could cause blockages, or worse. If you are going to upgrade your printer anyways, this is definitely the first thing you should fix imo. About the bowden setup: although in theory a lighter print head has its advantages, there are also some disadvantages. If your printhead is lighter, it will have less inertia as it moves and you should see less ringing when printing, especially at high speeds. However, on your printer the head only moves in the x-direction, so to prevent ringing you would still be limited to a certain speed because of the mass of your print bed. Also, since the feeder is located far away from the nozzle, in order to push the filament through it needs to build up tension within the bowden tube before it actually starts coming out of the nozzle. When retracting all this tension has to be released as well, meaning you need a larger retraction distance. This means that retractions can't be done as accurately compared to a direct drive setup. When I bought my printer it came with a bowden setup, but I actually changed it to a direct drive because I was unhappy with some of the results I was getting. There were some mini's that I just couldn't print properly because there would just be too much ooze. Since I changed the feeder they come out great. For parts that should be functional but where looks don't matter as much, printing faster is great. For prints that I want to look good, I print much slower. My printer is not running 24/7 anyways so to me speed isn't the most important, I'll just let it run overnight if I need to. So, from my personal experience I would not recommend a bowden setup over a direct drive. On the other hand, I'm not that familiar with your type of printer so I'm not sure about how well it has worked for others. I do agree though that printing stuff is lots of fun, especially now that I've started to learn how to make some designs of my own
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2017 21:53:25 GMT
We shall see
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