Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

While I'm still on hold for any major construction while waiting for some parts to arrive, I've still been busy. I got the cheapskates assembled with the Spacer stacks of bearings, ready to go on the towers. I worked on the power supply tonight and that's all set to go.

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 4d2643.jpg[/img]

I sanded the carriage supports and the platform just to see what it was like. It wasn't all that bad and I may just try printing a bit with the standard delta arm setup before switching over to the Trick Laser arms for the sake of a comparison. They are one of the things that's coming in. Tomorrow I will probably solder the Rambo LCD adapter together and maybe start work on the hot end assembly. The new top plate from SeeMeCNC is due tomorrow according to the UPS site, so that will get me rolling again. With luck, maybe the arms will show up too.

Big work day today! Got the new top plate on thanks to some fast turn-around by the SeeMe guys! Thanks to a bunch of the pre-work I'd done while waiting, I'm now pretty much done with the mechanical setup. I also got the power supply in with the switch wired up and the Rambo connector attached. Tomorrow, I will work on getting the Rambo installed, then start on the build plate and hot end before finishing up with wiring. I put on the standard Delta Arms for now just to get a feel for how it prints with them, then I will switch over to my Trick Laser arms and repeat the prints to see what the difference is. Here's where she stands today:

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 66141d.jpg[/img]

I am also using Trick Laser's extruder mount and spool holder. I find the design very appealing. The extruder mount is a bit longer than what they show on the web site, but Brian offered to send the shorter side plates if I wanted them after explaining that they lengthened the mount to cut down on the length of the Bowden tube. Seemed to make sense, so I declined his offer. Here's a close-up of the longer mount:

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... af18f7.jpg[/img]

And finally, here's the spool holder. It hasn't gotten the yellow treatment yet as you'll notice the far side plate has the logo on the inside! They sent 2 left side plates by mistake, but have already mailed out a replacement for me. Excellent products and great service.

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 5dc3e1.jpg[/img]

And by the way, the yellow RC Car striping tape is brilliant - I should have done that from the beginning instead of paint. Live and learn! Here's hoping to first prints this weekend

That tape is brilliant, so was the idea.
You should be proud of your machine and skills.

Very nice looking machine. Phabulous even.

(For those that don't get the joke, it relates directly to Toyguy's avatar: http://www.whiteeagleaerospace.com/blog ... s-phantom/)

g.

While waiting for my hot end RTV to cure, I got to work switching out the delta arms for the Trick Laser arms. I was initially going to do a little comparison testing but after looking at, and feeling, the new arms I decided it just wasn't worth it. The new ones were obviously quite a bit better than the ones I had sanded to fit. It was a very easy swap, and the feel on the machine is rock solid.

I got the heated bed installed - that was a bother and I am still not totally happy with it. That slot for the wiring is too thin and that thick power wire just wants to bulge there. The bed has a very, very slight bow, high in the middle, even with the screws loose. Not sure what I can do about that since there's nothing in the middle to pull it down. I've thought about drilling out the screw holes in the bed by one size just in case the holes are off a little. Anyone ever done that?

I also started getting the hot end platform ready, mounting the adapter plate. I used the Trick Laser carbon fiber spacers just because they look nice and though you can't see it, there's a Trick Laser LED ring underneath the effector.

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... a0c49d.jpg[/img]

I got the resistors installed into the hot end and am waiting for the RTV to cure. I deviated from the manual based on the discussion in the Owl Print thread where Steve revealed he uses only RTV in the resistor cavity - no tinfoil. I did try the tinfoil to start but didn't really like it. When trying to get a snug fit, it kept balling up and pushing off to the side, threatening to short out to the leads. I figured if Steve can print that owl, on a hot end with several hundred hours on it, that will be good enough for me. I just pushed on the PTFE insulation, slid them in and pumped the cavity full of RTV from both sides. If it doesn't work, I can just pull them and go back to the foil method. I already have some spares

Dave

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... cc3b88.jpg[/img]

I just finished my build yesterday, the tin foil was a pain I have to admit! Your machine is looking good, makes me wish I had painted more than the lettering! On my hot end I twisted t resistors with themselves, so make sure you twist Em right, lol. It was really late when I finished up my hot end so that's my excuse

Toyguy wrote:

cope413 wrote:I'm only saying to be mean , but I think your machine would look even better if you had painted the heads of your hardware too... they have it in the skate world http://www.mudgehardware.com/...

You know, just in case you like the idea before you get your whole machine built

LOL - no way! Heck, I'm trying to think of ways to avoid painting the rest of it. Tamiya makes a nice yellow trim tape for RC cars - I may try a roll of that on the carriages and see what it looks like. I can seal it in with clear coat before I take the mask off. It is a good idea though, for someone else

Where is the best place to get that Tamiya tape? It really looks nice. Also, what size of tape did you get?
Did it require trimming with a razor blade on the edges?

It's actually not Tamiya, it's from Great Planes which is available at Tower Hobbies. It's the quarter inch width, which fits perfectly.

Dave

First Light! Literally, with the Trick Laser LED Ring

I finished the last of the wiring tonight - ya know, I'd pay extra for pre-built wiring harnesses!

I got my laptop configured with all the software and then plugged in the USB cable to the Rambo. Even with the MAX unplugged, the driver install kicked off so it looks like the board may get at least some USB power even though it no longer has the PSEL jumper block. The Rambo came up as COM8 so I launched Repetier-Host and plugged that into the configuration along with the other values recommended in the Guide. I then plugged in the MAX and, after some nervous delay and re-checking of the electronics bay, flipped the power switch!

The Trick Laser LED Ring came on, for now powered straight off a 12v line from the power supply but shortly to get a switch so I can control them. The LCD came right up and the temperatures displayed for the Hot End and Bed were in general agreement, varying by perhaps a quarter of a degree or so. That seemed promising. I hit Connect on Repetier-Host and the printer signed on with the latest firmware pre-loaded.

The M119 end-stop tests worked perfectly. G28 sent the carriages up as it should and each bounced off the end-stops and settled at the top. I then moved the platform down with the G0 Z300 F3500 command and played with the manual movement controls. Everything seemed to work fine. Finally, I briefly turned on the hot end and heated bed as instructed and confirmed they began to heat up.

With the next steps being the PID Tuning, I called it a night since I was tired and didn't want to make any stupid mistakes.

OK, a couple of questions now...

When using the Z manual control arrows, the motion up and down is quite slow. When Homing the carriages move quite quickly, so I am guessing this is just something Repetier-Host does, but wanted to be sure.

Does the mentioned Home-X and Home-Y bug still exist in the 0.90c release of Repetier-Host? It would be nice to have those working. On a related note, do the unlabeled Home and the Z-Home work correctly?

Thanks a ton for all the help, and thanks to Gene for the indispensable Assembly Guide. I can't imagine building without it. Tomorrow - PID Tuning and Turkey!

Dave

Obligatory Photo:

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... d7f4c2.jpg[/img]

Excellent job!

The Z axis moves slow by default - you really don't want it moving fast as you can crash the nozzle into the bed if you're not careful.

I answered this in another thread, but the Home X and Home Y buttons shouldn't be used even if the bug is eliminated in the latest host or firmware (I don't know where the bug lives - it's present in .90c of host). Home X and Home Y really have no meaning in a delta printer. If you want to home it, just click the unlabeled home button and it'll home all three axes, just the same as a G28 does.

You're quite welcome! It IS possible to build one of these things without a manual (I did it), but don't blame me if you end up with a drinking problem and a bad facial tic after you do it.

g.
g.

A little more progress today, although the holiday and its aftermath are slowing things up a little

I got through the PID Auto-tuning finally and also worked through the end-stop and height adjustments as well as the Printer Radius setup. I still need to switch it back to EEPROM mode and re-upload the firmware but otherwise that portion is done. Tomorrow I am hoping to work on the E-steps fine tuning and maybe even a first print!

No pics today, since nothing has changed

That's great, good to hear you are trouble free! . Hopefully your extruder is as easy to set up as mine was. I marked my filament and extruded 10mm and my filament moved exactly 10mm, only thing I did was plug in the numbers from the build guide! Was spot on for mine

First print done! Generally successful but, as expected, some issues to sort out. Size was right on and the corners were pretty sharp, so I think the Trick Laser arms were doing their thing. Take a gander at these:

In this one, you can see the top isn't completely filled in.
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 7ffb22.jpg[/img]

This is a side view. Not sure what happened here. Note the fairly distinct color change in the band above the hole.
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... b85e35.jpg[/img]

Same shot but from a bit further back - the banding is obvious here. It almost looks like the plastic either wasn't melting properly right at that point, or was maybe too hot.
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... a6a70f.jpg[/img]

Another top shot that shows the little bit of spider-webbing in the interior, which runs diagonally from side to side, not top to bottom.
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... b8983e.jpg[/img]

A shot from the bottom. A little bit of separation on the side furthest from the camera.
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... ca5872.jpg[/img]

The filament was PLA from Matterhacker. They recommended 190C so that's what I used but I am thinking 185C may be my next try. As best as I can tell, the loops in the interior appear to have sagged. At the moment, I do not have a layer fan so that will probably help too. All settings are those recommended in the Assembly Guide.

Any thoughts on where to go from here are most welcome. So far, I'm pretty pleased with the MAX.

Dave

Just keep playing with it! That print looks much better than my first print. I used ABS and the corners kept lifting.

I know you are finding a lot of faults which is good because you have areas that you want to work on for
improvements but that is one of the best first prints that I have seen.
A little tweaking on the temps and speed and you'll be near perfect. Thanks for posting the pics.

I'll have to take some time out and work on the bridging issues but I'm having too much fun right at the moment!

Here's a couple things I made today to put right to use. It was so cool to be able to print and use the knob instead of running to the store for one. I have to go pick up a dowel tomorrow for the wire guide, but I'm thinking a carbon fiber tube would look really good in its place later

Did a couple other small things and have decided the only real issue I have is bridging. I'll work on that over the next few days but I'm quite pleased as it is.

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 85646c.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... 2f06d9.jpg[/img]

Your parts look really good! Now i'm jealous.