New to 3d printing, Recently bought a Boots Industries Delta style printer.

[Greg Miller]

HI,

I am new to 3d printing and have recently bought a Boots Industries Delta style printer. Has anyone had any experience with one of these?

Greg

[j timmins]

Hi Greg 

Welcome to the group.  I have no experience with Boots deltas, just deltas in general.  If I can answer a question I will.

Best of luck,

Jeremiah

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+un...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/005cac57-c98c-4fe0-a780-62748c2eac12%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Rob Hall]

I don't have much experience with delta's but plenty on a 3d printer in general if you need some help just ask 

On Feb 6, 2017 4:14 PM, "j timmins" <jgti...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Greg 

Welcome to the group.  I have no experience with Boots deltas, just deltas in general.  If I can answer a question I will.

Best of luck,

Jeremiah

On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 12:59 PM Greg Miller <sage.o...@gmail.com> wrote:

HI,

I am new to 3d printing and have recently bought a Boots Industries Delta style printer. Has anyone had any experience with one of these?

Greg

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/005cac57-c98c-4fe0-a780-62748c2eac12%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/CANwhqxrN1FZgR3N8H9KoarwJN5vViMM%3DnRdSKLCqo2tgN3epzw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Greg Miller]

Thanks for the reply Jeremiah,

This is the first Delta I have bought, it is huge. The printer stands 40" tall with a heated bed that is 12" in diameter. I was just wondering if anyone had specific dealings because this has a cable system for the arms rather then belt drive.

I have 2 Cartesian style printers that I have bought over the last few months that work pretty good and they have threaded screws and the belt system.

Its a bit too cold to work in the garage right now so I have not even plugged the Delta in and I have been looking at videos on the printer and gathering all the firmware and software I will need.

Some of the videos show a belt conversion for this Delta and Thingiverse has a few different printable parts for the conversion but before I print them I would like to know if it is necessary.

Thanks,

Greg

[j timmins]

I don't think it really matters what system you decide to use.  If it were mine I would use the cable system as long as it works but I sounds like a fun project to make and install the belt conversion.

It's a huge printer, not far off from my Rostock max v2.  What board does it have?

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/51e72b79-36b5-4b8a-aeb5-8766b8cefb49%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Miller]

Thanks Broncosis,

I have some experience with 3d printing (not as much as I would like) but the deltas look to be a strange animal especially with this cable system.

I still have my first 3d printer that I bought about a year ago, a Solidoodle 3 that has been great, I built a Prusa i3 about 3 months ago that is atleast on par with my Solidoodle and I have bought and sold a few since I got my Solidoodle. (Davici xyz 1.0, Mod-T, Flashforge creator and early I had a getech delta that came with a enough parts to build another entire printer) .

The videos on this printer seem to show the system is sound but it would be nice to hear from someone that has worked with one.

Thanks,

Greg in Langley

On Monday, 6 February 2017 16:40:55 UTC-8, broncosis wrote:

I don't have much experience with delta's but plenty on a 3d printer in general if you need some help just ask 

On Feb 6, 2017 4:14 PM, "j timmins" <jgti...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Greg 

Welcome to the group.  I have no experience with Boots deltas, just deltas in general.  If I can answer a question I will.

Best of luck,

Jeremiah

On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 12:59 PM Greg Miller <sage.o...@gmail.com> wrote:

HI,

I am new to 3d printing and have recently bought a Boots Industries Delta style printer. Has anyone had any experience with one of these?

Greg

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+un...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/005cac57-c98c-4fe0-a780-62748c2eac12%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+un...@googlegroups.com.

[j timmins]

It would be tricky to find another person local that has one.  They only shipped 300 of those Kickstarter printers...If no luck here the fb page might be helpful

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/25e0d031-85ce-4dfc-b1a0-e84c23465362%40googlegroups.com.

[John Biehler]

If I remember correctly, at least 2 other members here got the Boots Delta....although I know at least one of them was up for sale a while ago.

I'm sure they'll chime in if they still have the printers.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/25e0d031-85ce-4dfc-b1a0-e84c23465362%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/CANwhqxp4OFswS20TyPA8%2BOR-K4_hhejZwBq7wjD83GL-FP93SA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Edward Simpson]

I don't have one of those deltas, but I have run across some of the upgrade files on Thingiverse, there's some optional parts that can be used to convert to belts if you prefer them. As to the controller board, someone here in richmond brought one to the Brighouse Library for 3D printing day 2015, and it had a Rumba board for the controller.

Here's the Boots Industries Thingiverse page: http://www.thingiverse.com/Boots_Industries/designs

Hope that helps,

Edward Simpson

3D Designer

[Greg Miller]

It has a Rumba board and an atmega 2560

[Greg Miller]

Thanks Edward, that is one of the places I found the .stl files for the belt conversion.

[Graeme Bennett]

I was a BI 2.5 backer. I recommend doing the belt conversion. At one point during the lead-up to shipment, it was supposed to be belt-driven. But they made out as though the cable drive was superior. Perhaps it was, but unfortunately, I had a cable snap right after my very first successful print. I opened a support ticket. When the replacement cable arrived, I installed it and sold the unit (below my cost, but whatever!). Overall, I liked the build quality of the unit. I hope yours works well for you.

[Greg Miller]

Thanks Graeme,

Looking closer at the cable set up it is a very old tried and true system. I think it is called a windlass wrap. I was wondering, how long did it take for your first successful print? What issues did you have before you got there? I am not sure if I am going to keep this behemoth but I am going to try it (when the weather warms up, my garage is a bit cool right now) I have pretty limited space in my work area.

Thanks,

Greg

[KP Chiang]

Greg,

I have two of these machines as an original backer and I still use them alternately. I would suggest switching to a belt system. Maybe print a spare set of belt hardware just in case something broke while in use because it happened to me.

The cable system on mine was replaced with belts after the cable broke the third time. It was difficult to change cables, perhaps because I did it without doing any disassembly to the machine itself. I never did have much faith in the cable system because I didn't like how the cable winding migrates on the drum as the slider moves up and down. One of my first prints was a hollow test cylinder. The printed cylinder came out with three narrow, gently flattened sides 120 degrees apart from one another ,and I wasn't sure what caused it so I left the problem alone for a while. Did a re-test after belt system was installed and the problem disappeared. After switching to belts I like the printed results much better. The belts have never broke, but they do need to be re-tensioned sometimes, which is easy to do. I believe the belts stretch the most when they were tensioned initially, and they stretch less and less as time goes by, then they stabilize, requiring no more re-tensioning.

My other mod was to add shims between the sliders and the vertical beams to reduce play and lubricate/clean the beam surface once in a while.

I've even helped someone else calibrate his BI 2.5 and we spent the whole evening just to realize the bed glass wasn't flat. Luckily the glass beds on both of my machines were ok so you should check yours.

The BI 2.5 plus belt system is a robust unit. I have printed many kilometers worth of filaments on mine with just some maintenance. It does have drawbacks as a large printer. The combination of big size and long Bowden cable makes it difficult for printers like these to express fine features correctly. If I were to print 3mm screw holes I know it would end up looking like 2.5mm holes or even smaller, I accept it and just clean up the hole with a drill and drill bit.

The best large delta printer I've personally witnessed was at 2016 Vancouver Makerfaire. It is custom built and has everything, All CNC-cut brackets and plates, slop-free roller rails, magnetic ball joints, even extruder on effector(no Bowden cable). The printed pyramids were surprisingly clean and straight for a delta printer of this size but it's not a commercial unit. IIRC The owner said it cost 5k to build before adding his own labour.

KP

[Greg Miller]

Great info, Thanks KP.

I am going to try a couple of prints on the cables and watch for the cable migration you mentioned when the weather warms up. This printer is way too big for my small area and I doubt that I will be keeping it long. What filament do you print the most with on the machines? Have you enclosed them?

I am going to download and print the cable mods and will check the bed for level.

Thanks,

Greg

[KP Chiang]

I have only used PLA in all my prints. No enclosure or bed heating used. The largest part I've printed was about 20cm long by 10cm wide by 2.5cm high and there was no warping.

[KP Chiang]

Forgot to mention, i didn't print on bare glass. The glass was coated with white glue and dried. I use a thin knife and a small hammer to remove parts so the coating stays oil/hands free.

[Ian Smith]

I used to have a boots version 2.5. I did the belt upgrade on it and it was a big improvement. If you can get the parts I would highly recommend it. It took about 2 or 3 hours to install, then a couple more to retune it. You need to update the bios settings to accomodate the change in gear size.

I'll look to see if I still have a copy of the instructions. There is a specific version of repetier host which boots released for their printers. I have a feeling I deleted the folder when I sold the printer, but I may have an old link in my email archive.

[Ian Smith]

Unfortunately, it looks like I deleted the info that I had, and the links that I had are no longer valid.

[Greg Miller]

Thanks Ian,

I am going to get to the printer this weekend now that it is warming up. They are sure a beast I can't believe how big they are. Did you do many prints before changing it over to belt?

Greg

[Ian Smith]

Not many. I did get it working reliably after converting to belts. Before that i was breaking the string frequently.  I sold it as it was just talking up too much space. And i have a few others.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "3D604" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/3d604/yltjVPi-UBM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/e19b7096-b59a-4200-9215-72e7b1e38938%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Miller]

Ian,

I finally hooked the printer up today and it connected without issue but when I homed it I found that the y axis rested 50mm below the switch. I used repetier to identify the xyz axis and then flipped the printer over to find that when they put the printer together the xaxis wires are where the y axis wires should be and visa versa. That does not seem to justify the 50mm I am seeing because the axis are all identical, any suggestions for fixing this? I also got a fault on the bed thermistor but have not bothered chasing that yet, one issue at a time...

Thanks,

Greg

On Thursday, 9 February 2017 22:32:57 UTC-8, Ian Smith wrote:

Not many. I did get it working reliably after converting to belts. Before that i was breaking the string frequently.  I sold it as it was just talking up too much space. And i have a few others.

On Feb 9, 2017 10:12 PM, "Greg Miller" <sage.o...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Ian,

I am going to get to the printer this weekend now that it is warming up. They are sure a beast I can't believe how big they are. Did you do many prints before changing it over to belt?

Greg

On Thursday, 9 February 2017 13:23:31 UTC-8, Ian Smith wrote:

Unfortunately, it looks like I deleted the info that I had, and the links that I had are no longer valid.

On Thursday, February 9, 2017 at 1:10:51 PM UTC-8, Ian Smith wrote:

I used to have a boots version 2.5.  I did the belt upgrade on it and it was a big improvement. If you can get the parts I would highly recommend it. It took about 2 or 3 hours to install, then a couple more to retune it.  You need to update the bios settings to accomodate the change in gear size.  

I'll look to see if I still have a copy of the instructions.  There is a specific version of repetier host which boots released for their printers. I have a feeling I deleted the folder when I sold the printer, but I may have an old link in my email archive.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "3D604" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/3d604/yltjVPi-UBM/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to 3d604+un...@googlegroups.com.

[Ian Smith]

Does the axis go to the top and then comes back down 50mm, or does it stop before it gets to the top.  

If it's going to the top then coming down too far it's the firmware settings for the leveling.  Unfortunately i didnt keep the docs for how to reset the leveling.  I think it might be in the help files of the boots version of repetier host. 

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/a735b7b8-ea5a-4740-b86f-a5e77273dbff%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Miller]

it goes all the way to the top then steps down 50mm. These do have an auto level and I used the g32 s2 command and tried it a couple of times. It goes through the sequence and touches down in front of both the x and z towers but is closer to the middle of the bed for the y tower.

[Nick Wimpney]

Just to throw in my 2 cents on the cable thing.   I haven't tried the BI setup,  but I used 80lb test spectra fishing line on my first printer,  rolling on some bearings I grooved with a dremel. 

I really didn't have any problems with it.  I did see a bit of extra ringing on corners if I printed at very high speeds,  but it was pretty minimal. I  replaced it once when I was doing some other repairs,  but it seemed like it had plenty of life left in it after at least a year. 

I am not sure why so many people are reporting breaks.  Maybe there's a rough part snagging and wearing the cable,  or the alignment is bad or something? 

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "3D604" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 3d604+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/d808e374-b0ce-487e-99b0-79b5c68a18e4%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Miller]

KP,

Would it be possible to get a copy of the Configuration.h file from on of your working printers? I would like to compare it to the file I have. I suspect most of my issues are with the firmware. This printer is basically new it has 45minutes on the log and has extruded 4.4m of filament.

Thanks,

Greg

On Tuesday, 7 February 2017 21:30:43 UTC-8, KP Chiang wrote:

[Keng-Pei Chiang]

Here you go.   What issues are you having?

KP

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "3D604" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/3d604/yltjVPi-UBM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to 3d604+un...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to 3d...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/3d604/1d4d8522-da6c-42c2-9218-2d8a03f233fb%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Miller]

KP,

I am having quite a few issues with it, and I am pretty sure they are all firmware related.

When I home the printer it goes through the motions and each limit is made and then the Y axis rests 50mm down from the sensor. I have tried the auto level and again it goes through the motions but after making the Z ans X axis contact the Y axis contact is closer to the middle of the bed.

I am also getting an error when I try to heat the extruder and the bed that says there is a temp sensor fault on the bed.

Greg

[KP Chiang]

I too had the same issues with one of the axis moving down a bit after homing is done.   I believe it's part of the auto-leveling feature as mentioned by others.   Although not 100% sure, I guess the original intention is to move the installed hotend closer to the center since the hot end is not at the center of the effector.   When I first hooked it up I was waiting for the auto-leveling program to do its magic but after many attempts it seems the auto-leveling wasn't working at all.   So I stopped using auto-leveling and went with conventional leveling methods and never looked back.   Also chatted with other owners of the same printer and their auto-level didn't work out-of-the-box either.   I don't know if the developers ever released a fix to make auto-leveling work as promised but I rarely needed bed level re-calibration so I didn't check.

[Greg Miller]

KP.

Thanks for the Config.H file but I could not figure out how to get it uploaded. I suspect the arduino program I am using is too old. I did not see the Atmega 2560 in the board list and compiling just error out.

On Saturday, 18 February 2017 17:19:30 UTC-8, KP Chiang wrote:

[David Stevens]

Did you ever get this thing figured out Greg?
I've recently acquired access to one, and wanna get it running.