What did you Print today?

[Paul Wells]

I have a social question;

What did you print today??

And/ or   Why did you buy your CubeX?  A specific hobby, need, just curious, work ?

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For me;  curious, many hobby needs, many business ideas, I've been looking at them since Rep-rap and Makerbot was a kit.

 but last month I got my day job to buy a CubeX Duo for injection-molded part prototyping. 

This is a little piece to apply force to 2 opposing plates that slide over another plate (sheet metal) 

[Paul Wells]

And then I printed something fun. 

6 tests, 4 versions.

Learning about how the Z gap affects the top layer's quality.

Tight Z gap of tight on paper -0.1 = A fully filled in backside, and mushy top

Loose Z Gap of tight on paper -0.2 = a Loose backside, but still sticking, and a clean high definition top.

Near Final Product; Printing default settings, 0.25 layer, medium fill.

Mostly adjusting Z gap and part and feature thickness for different results.

Did a little hand sanding to the top and it's starting to look nice.

The final part will be sanded more, painted, and glued up to make a coin.

My wife is an Avengers Fan

-Paul

[Paul Wells]

Some sanding, 220 grit Silicon-Carbide smoothed out the surface and revealed a surface surprisingly void free!!!

Impressed!

I've modified the thickness of the part to allow for this sanding, while still leaving the recessed number deep and sharp.

Thicker 4th version is almost done!

Here is the 3rd version after my Z-Gap experiments. (Looser is better in this case)

[Peter Gregory]

Interesting,

I wouldn't have thought the Z-Gap on the bottom layer had any effect on the top layer.

Have you tried any multi-color infills?  I've tried a few and they haven't turned out for me.

I've just been printing with standard settings.

I've heard fine detail doesn't work well.

What settings work best for you?

Keep posting on the sanding / finishing details.

I'd love to find an easy way to take the "textured" feel out of the finished builds.

I have a dremel with lots of attachments, have you experimented with power sanding / shaping?

I'm in the process of printing a filament / chip holder to hold spools removed from Cubex cartridges.

My first prototype is printing now to test the fitting of the chip / in the Cubex mounts

[amf]

What are you calling the top and what are you calling the bottom?  The Z-gap only affects the first printed layer, right?

[Peter Gregory]

Yes, it does.

I was confused & thought you were making observations about the last layer.

Z-Gap setting observations make much more sense to me now. :)

[Paul Wells]

On Friday, July 12, 2013 4:58:56 PM UTC-5, Peter Gregory wrote:

Interesting,

I wouldn't have thought the Z-Gap on the bottom layer had any effect on the top layer.

I'm pretty sure it does. The FDM material has to go somewhere, and if in the first layer it has nearly "no where to go" from a too tight Z Gap, then there is less space for the next layer to be deposited. This effect is definitely exaggerated in my thin, fully filled in disc, only 4 to 5 layers deep. (1.5 to 2mm thick in these experiments)

Like the illustrations show, the happy place is somewhere in the middle. Rick has already worked on this;

http://cubex3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/05/z-gap-what-is-proper-z-gap.html

 

Have you tried any multi-color infills?  I've tried a few and they haven't turned out for me.

I would like to if Cubify would SELL ME SOME FRIGGIN FILAMENT!!!!!   

Are you Listening 3dSystems / Cubify? ??? ? ??? ? 

Dear CubeX,

 I love you CubeX, I want us to make it, I really do, but you've got to put more into this relationship.

No wait, come Back!!  C'mon, baby, meet me half-way, sell me your overpriced, locked-down cartridges like you promised you would. 

Please baby, I need a hit. I'll do anything! I just need a little Black ABS to get me through the day. You want me to do that nasty thing you like?...

 

I've just been printing with standard settings.

I've heard fine detail doesn't work well.

What settings work best for you?

 

Yeah, I immediately went for the finest settings possible. And immediately has crummy looking parts.

So I've backed down to DEFAULT settings (0.25 ;layer, medium infill typically. - Untill I get a heated bed set up.

I have serious lifting / warping / curling issues. 

- Although I have seen promise with a 500W forced air heater preheating the whole cube, windows blocked off with paper.

This raised the print bed to about 110 degrees and I had no warping running PLA on a part that previously lifted.

I 

Keep posting on the sanding / finishing details.

I'd love to find an easy way to take the "textured" feel out of the finished builds.

I have a dremel with lots of attachments, have you experimented with power sanding / shaping?

Will Do. I have a few vibrating power sanders for the flat stuff. Up to and including a 6" pneumatic DA Sander (Random orbital,  a common car painting sander)

The PLA sands pretty good for a plastic, minimal stringing, gotta keep things cool. Water is good, hence the Air Sander. 

I did some paint trials on my sanded surfaces this weekend. Looking good for general rattle can spray paints! 

[Paul Wells]

To clarify, that was 110 degrees F on the build plate with a heater / Fan blowing in. Sorry I haven't been fully metrically assimilated.

I may also run some experiments with a cheap stick on pad heater, 150W, to the bottom of the OEM platform. - With a simple PWM or rheostat controller.

 ( I can't believe a company would sell this thing without one. In fact, I thought i remembered reading early on that it was to come with one. )

I had my 1st run on 35mm OD "coins" lift up as I turned off the heat an hour before. 

[Paul Wells]

A new take on hold-down strengthening pads;

This pad could have been a little large to be safe, I think i barely got by on this run.

After I cut away the support pads, the ends lifted up about 0.25 mm from residual stress, showing they did the job!

And They Did the Job! 

They Clipped off so well, most of them shot off across the room.

The Narrow part of the gusset or buttress looks like it was lost in a lack of resolution, but it was still there a bit and guided the side cutters right up to the surface for minimal post processing (cutting and sanding)

I'm very happy with the results. I did print with my box heater again, platform temp 110 degree F.

Here are the details on the Clip-off Buttress/fillet. I got luck on my first guess and they worked very well.

This might be as small as the machine can go. The flat that touched the part was 0.4mm wide (see last Picture)

[CubeX 3D Printman]

Quite nice, Paul.

I have to create some categories for this user group so others can find those great tips and tricks easy.

 

thanks,

Rick

[Paul Wells]

Thanks Rick,

Here is a video of a slightly updated version of a finished part being lifted off and clipped free;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgQMpXLFM1Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player