$500 3D printer on sale tomorrow at Aldi Goto page Previous1, 2, 3
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Cyber
Joined: 26 Aug 2015
Posts: 59
Location: Melbourne
marto - issues with the hotend are likely due to the ceramic heater being a poor fit into the hotend. they can cause it to struggle to keep up to temp. Maybe try some thermal paste, modding it for a tighter fit or replacing the heater?
Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:02 pm
dyrodium Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 6476
Location: Sydney
The general concensus is a glass bed is the best solution for the bed level issue, I'm worried the thicker ali may be harder to heat up due to the higher thermal mass. The X axis isn't the most sturdy so added mass during small, rapid movements may induce more artifacts into the print, not sure it'd have too much effect to overall print quality though. _________________ ( •_•)
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
I am upgrading the non-heated support plate; it's around 100 away from the hot bed so I can't see it doing much to to the temperature. If it does, I can always stick a thin sheet of foam under the hot bed:
As you can see, I will find out pretty soon
The glass sounds tempting but that mat that comes with the printer is doing such a good job it seems a shame to replace it before its worn out. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:41 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Aldi upgrades:
I did some small upgrades to the printer:
* Removed both the belt tensioning springs and added tension to the X and Y belts.
* Added nylock nuts to the bed levelling screws to lock them in place - the bed has much less movement now.
* Added Dragonplate stiffening strips to the bed support plate (forgot to photograph it). I found the 5mm aluminium sheet I wanted to us had severe warp and would have misaligned or jammed the linear bearings. The Dragonplate is much lighter and seems to help with the constant bed levelling problems - three prints so far without re-levelling.
The upgrades have made subtle but definite improvements to the print quality; vertical surfaces are smoother, sharp corners are crisper and there is a little less ringing:
This is the 'after' test print; I still don't like all the ringing after the lettering, so more experiments are needed today. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:52 am
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
More Aldi Upgrades:
I knocked up some improved levelling thumb wheels, much better than the ones on Thingiverse. These are thicker and I undersized the internal holes so the nut has to be pressed in and the thru hole acts like a nylock nut (at least for now).
Since upgrading the bed support plate, I haven't needed to re-level and have stopped using a full raft - everything is still sticking really well. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:06 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
I don't have enough experience to review it properly, but compared to the Aldi PLA, the PolyMax is WAY less brittle, which is it's advertised super power. It is also a little less shiny and for some reason it is printing with less artefacts, even though no printer mods have been made. The only drawback to PolyMax is the price; at $67 per 750 gram roll, it is almost twice the price of the Aldi filament. Given PolyMax's high toughness, this is now my go-to PLA filament. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:10 pm
Glen Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 9481
Location: Where you least expect
Ouch, thats brutal. The hobbyking abs is only $21 for 1kg. Have you tried abs yet? Seems a good amount stronger using the up mini anyway. _________________ www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz
Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:15 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Expensive, but possibly a better all-round solution compared to ABS as it is much tougher than regular PLA and less fussy to print than ABS so I don't need to worry about an enclosure. I should have a roll of ABS and also a roll of nylon arriving tomorrow - very keen to see how the nylon stacks up! _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:23 pm
miles&Jules Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 3973
Location: ipswich QLD
Nice to see you putting it through its paces-Abs is tougher and higher melt temp be good to see how it goes on aldi😎 _________________ Miles Blow - Julie Pitts
www.mulesfilm.com.au www.wombokforest.com.au
-Pickasso- Vivid Sportsman champion 2015
Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:58 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
The ABS and Nylon arrived today. The nylon was much harder to print with than the manufacturer and various on-line 'experts' made out; none of the official ways to make nylon stick worked at all . PVA was a common recommendation but it won't coat the Aldi mat (I think its BuildTak?) so I eventually tried painter's tape with PVA and that worked really well. The small part I printed with 50% in-fill is slightly more flexible than the same thing in PLA so tomorrow I will give it a beating to see how the layers stuck together and how brittle it is. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:36 am
dyrodium Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 6476
Location: Sydney
Ah yes the internet is teeming with these 'experts' who will claim you're wrong yet most don't even own a 3D Printer The best luck i've had printing Nylon was with a roughened G10 style bed, problem is it makes getting the part off exceedingly difficult...! PVA is useless on a heated bed because it just softens and gives. _________________ ( •_•)
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Advice from an genuine expert . The bit about PVA softening on a heated bed is a new one - even Taulman recommend PVA on a glass bed, heated to 45 deg. C. I was using a 70 deg. C bed as the lower temp didn't work at all. For the next print, I will try fresh tape with no PVA. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:33 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Printer upgrades:
Some upgrades arrived today:
New double length linear bearings and an all metal hot end from Micro Swiss. The hot end has a superb build quality but zero instructions so installing is is going to be a bit of an adventure.
The build platform came apart easily, hope it boes back together the same way:
I didn't have the recommended circlips or O rings to hold the bearings in place, so I used Loctite 643 retaining compound. The bearings are a really loose and wobbly fit in their mounting blocks, so using Loctite may stiffen things up and improve print quality.
The longer LM8UU bearings are slightly better quality than the originals but I realised that you can just Loctite two of the short bearings into one block to get the same effect and saving some money. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
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