Suggestions before I start a 3DR build?

I got 90% of the non printed parts ready and finally have time to dedicate my printer to it, so after a round of PET formula tests I'm going to write up I will start on this. The thing is I haven't heard much about the 3DR in awhile. So, I got a list of questions if you guys wouldn't mind throwing your 2 cents at me.

Is there any must have adaptions, add-ons, extras that I should plan for?

I plan to use whatever my favorite PET filament is after I test them, I love their high temp and low shrinkage. Anyone foresee any issues with that?( side note: if standard print materials don't hold up well over time, would it be worthwhile to clean up a single set of prints and make a silicon mold for casting high density resin versions?)

3DR owners:
how have the builds stood up over time?
Any general tips or suggestions (ie the wish I had known this when I started things) for making this go as smoothly as possible?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2015 08:21PM by masterbinky.

3DR owner here.

It's a great machine, printed several thousand metres of filament through it now. The only 'major' issue was one of the arms worked its way loose from the effector in the middle of a 5 hour print creating a 3D-printed spaghetti mess. After lashing up the effector with superglue, I printed a replacement and no problems since. The lesson I guess is to print a spare of each critical part in case of similar trouble. If you have more than one printer or a friend with one it's not an issue.

I also struggled with mounting a 40mm fan to blow on the J-head. There is no bracket included in the design and my own creation was never completely satisfactory (you have to angle the fan pretty sharply to get it to clear the printed part). In the end I created a 25mm fan mount that fits over a hole on the effector plate. https://www.youmagine.com/designs/3dr-25mm-fan-mount. This assembly puts the fan wholly under the effector plate, making clearance with the towers/spectra line more straightforward (The effector is asymmetric with a 40mm fan).

I used RAMPS rather than RUMBA, they are so cheap now. I got the whole kit, including MEGA, GLCD and drivers for about £40. If you go down the same route, there are adapters for RAMPS and the GLCD on YouMagine here: https://www.youmagine.com/users/adavidm. I didn't bother with RichRap's Marlin as by the time I'd built the printer delta support was in the mainstream branches. I started with Rich Cattell's fork: https://github.com/RichCattell/Marlin/tree/Testing for the autocalibration routine (FSR-based z-probe for me). I've now swapped to Repetier as the GLCD pushes the Mega to the limit on Marlin, Repetier seems more forgiving.

I'm looking to upgrade to smoothie / x5 / azsmz at some point although I doubt a smoothie will fit. Would love to hear from anyone who has tried it.

There are a couple of other bits and pieces in that YouMagine link, including a spacer that allows you to use the bigger spools on 3DR. Nothing complex about any of the parts there, but it saves reinventing the wheel.

I bought some AstroSyn dampers for the steppers. They make a big difference to the sound of the machine as long as the surface you are printing on is well damped too. They were quite a disappointment to me until I realised the sideboard I had the printer on was acting like a giant speaker! I've heard Sorbothane feet can dramatically improve even this worst case but I've not had chance to try them yet.

Anyway, I hope this helps and good luck with the build.

adavidm

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adavidm
I used RAMPS rather than RUMBA, they are so cheap now. I got the whole kit, including MEGA, GLCD and drivers for about £40. If you go down the same route, there are adapters for RAMPS and the GLCD on YouMagine here: https://www.youmagine.com/users/adavidm. I didn't bother with RichRap's Marlin as by the time I'd built the printer delta support was in the mainstream branches. I started with Rich Cattell's fork: https://github.com/RichCattell/Marlin/tree/Testing for the autocalibration routine (FSR-based z-probe for me). I've now swapped to Repetier as the GLCD pushes the Mega to the limit on Marlin, Repetier seems more forgiving.

I'm looking to upgrade to smoothie / x5 / azsmz at some point although I doubt a smoothie will fit. Would love to hear from anyone who has tried it.

Have you consider a Duet? Is costs less than a Smoothie if you only have one extruder, has a much better web interface, supports segmentation-free delta kinematics, a 30-second full (7-factor) autocalibration routine using least-squares fitting, and a colour touch-screen add-on. See [miscsolutions.wordpress.com] for how to upgrade from RAMPS. Size of the Duet is 123 x 100mm, x 18mm high (to accommodate the Ethernet connector).

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Interesting, I'd not really considered it.

I did a quick mock up, attached and it looks like the board fits, just. Would need to double check cable bend angles, create new adapters for the mount points, etc but it could be another option.

adavidm

DC42: I have an Azteeg X5 in a rostock max right now. Started off with a smoothie, blew a driver and got the Azteeg as a quick fix(have since installed external drivers to bring it back). I'll likely be re-arranging to use the X5 on the 3DR since the rostock has room for multiple power supplies and the larger (especially after expansion) smoothie board. Otherwise I know I would have been talked into doing a Duet. I performed 13 point least squares fitting using matlab to do calibrations for the rostock at one point (enough so I got a feel for how to correctly change the geometry settings based on a map of the bed).

adavidm: I have AstroSyn dampers on my Rmax and love them. I'm really glad to hear there's likely room for them with the steppers on the 3DR (I'm slacking and haven't measured for it ). At present my Rmax is pretty damn quiet (I have excessive fan use which is the majority of the noise). I have it clamped to a steelcase tanker desk (Garage sale FTW) with two thin cork boards between them, so it can't move on it's own regardless of speed and it doesn't pass along much sound.

One of the concerns with the 3DR was going to be the weight of the main structure. I'll likely be clamping it down like my rostock max, but a sturdy structure is extremely helpful in minimizing issues. In fact this was making me also consider doing a print of the single base and top piece, clean them up just right and do a mold and cast them in a high density or aluminum filled resin at one point. That would potentially saving me time (there's so many horizontal holes that getting a good mold could be a PITA though..) and letting me make more quick and easy if I (or my friends) really like the design. I'm back to thinking I'll just print it off normally in PET and if I feel the need I might go that route I can look at it again later (unlikely because I'll have one printer to tinker with and one to leave be and use).

Thanks for letting me know it's held up for you, it's very comforting to know it's not one of the machines that end up getting rebuilt into something else or relegated to the "fix it later" bin.

I suggest you try the AZSMZ Mini + 12864 LCD, the price is relatively cheap.

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