It's built, firmware uploaded to Board, now what?

Hi everyone,
After lots of researching and decision making regarding kits, parts, etc for purchase... I finally built my first 3D printer. The only research I have not done (and didn't expect i would need it), is how to get my 3D creations and test prints started! I'm an experienced 3D artist, i'm confident I can handle the slicr software (and others), but I cannot find a simple tutorial on how to get an .STL file from my computer to the printer.

I'm sure this seems like a silly question to most of you, and believe me after 20 years of building 3D models i feel very silly asking this. I just assumed at the end of the RepRap Wiki assembly instructions, there would be a link to show me how to get my first test print going. I understand there's still lots of calibration to do... but right now i just wanna see my printer move, do something.. anything! lol

I'd appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction, provide links, etc. (i googled this and i can't find anything adequate).

Thank you very much,
PixelPusher

Image attached for no particular reason, i just think 'New Topics' are best started off with something.

First, congrats on your first build!

Second, it looks like you have Prusa i3 built. Looks nice! My Prusa has an Arduino and RAMPS1.4 board. You connect to your printer with a USB using a program(I use OctoPrint, but used RepetierHost to start off, and some people use Pronterface) apply all the connection settings and input the dimensions for your printer. There is a little more to it that that but a quick google search should get you started with any of those. However, if your LCD reader has an SD or microSD slot I believe you can just upload the gcode from the slicer of your choice and run it right from the LCD.

hey thanks, deadhead.

I'll get started on researching those, find out which is best for me. And yes, I do have an SD reader on my printer, I didn't think it would be that easy, but I'll try that too!

much appreciated!
PP

If you decide to use RH, I can help you get all the connection settings and dimensions correct. A good list of things to run through would be as follows:

1) Get the printer connected! I'd recommend using RH to connect and get you calibration prints started, that way if you need to adjust any settings, they'll be easily available.

2) If the printer came with firmware from the manufacturer, installed already or by you, you can probably just start using a slicer(Slic3r & Cura are some free ones) to slice your .STL files into gcode, upload them onto the SD card and start printing.

3) What to print. Definitely want to print a calibration cube right away to make sure your printer is printing the correct dimensions. Search www.thingiverse.com for calibration cubes and you'll find a ton.

4) If you feel overwhelmed, take a break for a few hours or a day. It's easy to get frustrated with a 3d printer, but with some time you'll be the one answering other people questions!

You're right, i'm overwhelmed. Actually, I got things a moving a little using Pronterface; was able to move extruder in each axis but i couldn't "home" it cuz sometimes it would go way off the bed and my motors would grind. Didn't like that, was scared i'll crack my bed if i made same mistake with Z axis so i stopped. I was using the following tutorial:
[www.plasticscribbler.com]

Scared of breaking my machine before even one print, I went back to Repetier, I can connect, everything seems normal yet nothing moves. Can't seem to get the bed moving to get my xyz home. the big graphical buttons for home, x, y, and z don't do anything and are greyed out. I tried to print (just to see what would happen) and got an error "Communication timeout - reset send buffer block"

Oh well, taking a break... will try again in the morning.

In RH you need to home them all first before you can move any of the axis.

IT was my baud rate. 2 tutorials instructed 250k, RH Forum mentioned changing it to 115k for some connection problem... that worked.
I can move in all axis manually, now I just need to get my Home axis situated.(I would LOVE to help RH redo their GUI for this step., it's confusing and not very helpful, visually.) I'll have to read up on MIN/MAX and all those other values to figure out what to do next.

I'll keep chugging along,
thanks again.

okay, I found on another forum to enter "G28" for RepetierHost.. never knew or read that means 'home." When I entered G28 the Z axis moved down very slowly until Endstop (so far so good), then the X and Y motors ran simultaneously until the Extruder stopped at the front right corner of my bed. Now, all three Endstop lights are on... normal?
I assumed this meant that I correctly configured Home. So, I sent a test print (20mm cube), when i clicked print the printer bed tried to move further right and towards me (pushing up against both Endstops!) Not sure how/why this is happening.

I just need to find out how to tell my printer that this corner is 0,0 and this corner is 200,200 (obviously). I'm lost.

You can invert the direction, look for INVERT_X_DIR and the corresponding y setting in configuration.h

Here's a guide for all gcodes:
gcode

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2015 06:26AM by imqqmi.

thank you for helping. Unfortunately now my Arduino board cannot connect with my computer all of a sudden. Ports are fine, drivers updated, thing worked last night!
All of my problems might be a bad board... serves me right for trying to save money and buying a CHEAP printer kit from REPLIKEO (who won't answer my emails!). I'll order a new board from a more reputable company, perhaps Makerfarm. Hope that works.

This could be beyond me, might have to scrap this and just buy a Taz 5. ugh.

thanks again for everyone's help.

Maybe there's a short. Try disconnecting all connectors and try the arduino board again. Start plugging in stuff one at a time and see if there's any device behaving badly.

Building a diy 3D printer isn't for everyone. If you like the challenge and problem solving then it's certainly for you, if not a prebuild printer can be great too, though if something goes wrong it's harder to fix it yourself.

Thanks Q,
I'm gonna take a break and do exactly that tonight or tomorrow.
much appreciated.

The board was dead, replaced it last night and it connected right away. XY&Z movements are even better now. Unfortunately, I have same problems:
Endstops don't seem to "stop" bed/nozzle movement like they should (motors keep running even though endstops are hit and light goes on).

In Repetier Host I enter G28 which is "home" the Nozzle moves down until hits endstop (good), then bed moves in X & Y, hits both endstops (lights turn on) but motors keep running like nothing is there so I am forced to select Emergency Stop.

Does this mean my endstops are bad? I tried changing from 0 to 1, i get same results.

Just to make sure: endstop lights should be off, then turn on when there is contact, correct?