I'll have to look into it.
Honestly, I've never had an issue with it not printing to the exact size I've specified, it's just that some smaller/more hollow parts seem to experience shrinkage.
As an example, I printed some donuts to test fit the hole for a pivoting rod for an outdoor umbrella in the following ID sizes: .775", .785", .795", and .798", and with my Mutitoyo calipers, they measure out accurately within .0001-0002", and never experienced any shrinkage with these.
I'm running a CR-10V2, which is near enough to a big Ender 3... Something I'd been planning to do when I got it was convert to the Creality direct drive extruder so I could print TPU and make rubber parts... But I would have still been stuck with 1" of Teflon tube in the hotend. So rather than doing that, and running the clunky Creality direct drive extruder on top, I bought a Mellow NF "BMG Wind" direct drive hotend. Uses the quasi standard V6 hot end, bimetal heat break, and is basically a normal BMG extruder but with the front cover turned into the heat sink for the hot end, which makes it super compact.
Of course, there's some printing of adaptors and parts cooling ducts needed, and converting to custom firmware... But should be fantastic when done.
Joining in on this thread. We got my oldest (11) an Ender 3 v2 for Christmas. It's been a great gift for him, it's really unlocked his creative/engineering side.
Anyone running Octo-Print?
In reply to BradLTL :
I got as far as buying a raspberry pi, but then other projects got in the way. It's still on the "someday" list.
I run octoprint with a little camera, it makes the process pretty easy.
- design part in Fusion 360
- export part to Cura via "3D print" menu drop down in Fusion
- save the sliced gcode from Cura to the Octoprint server, gotta save it somewhere so why not on the Pi?
- use the web interface to select a print, start it and monitor it.
Because my Octoprint Pi has my "parts library" on it, it's super-easy to reprint something I did in the past. I only have to interact with the printer's control panel when I'm changing filament or leveling the bed, and even then I might be able to do that via Octoprint. No SD card shuffling.
I've had my CR-10v2 sitting in the box for about four months waiting for me to find time to set it up.
My garage is not a friendly temperature environment (south Gulf Coast, hot & humid, or cold and humid, or cold and dry). How are these things for fumes/smells? I've got a back room that has enough space but my wife has a very sensitive nose.
In reply to russde :
Not bad, but I have the opposite of a sensitive nose. My wife does though and she has never complained. I think if you don't print ABS you should be ok.
russde said:I've had my CR-10v2 sitting in the box for about four months waiting for me to find time to set it up.
My garage is not a friendly temperature environment (south Gulf Coast, hot & humid, or cold and humid, or cold and dry). How are these things for fumes/smells? I've got a back room that has enough space but my wife has a very sensitive nose.
If you print mainly PLA, you should be fine. Might find the noise in stock form a bit intrusive though. Filling it with noctua fans has a big impact on that - you have to use dc-dc converters on the fans because most of them are 24v. That, billet upper z screw mounts and a belt to sync the two z screws was the first thing I did to mine. Stock fans are noisy as hell.
Does everyone use a computer hard hooked up to the printer?
I put a direct drive on the printer with new hotend. *got tired of some random things not working and seemed like would fix it.* BUT its pushed the "center" out.
Supposedly you run a "gcode update" on the card, but that didnt fix it. I tried to adjust on the settings in the menu on the printer screen, but so far. Im not getting it.
I have tried to not move the thing as I put it in the closet, and I have to undo the power supply and such to get it all out. So, being lazy. Am I missing something or do I just need to not be lazy and put it in the other room with the desktop?
In reply to Thinkkker :
Depends, what printer?
A lot of the Enders and non V2/V3 CR-10s don't have a bootloader to save memory space. CR-10V2 and V3 have to be done over USB (which has a pitfall in that the drivers to connect are considered an optional update by windows 10, so you have to go into updates and pull it down manually to get to work - took quite a while to find a breadcrumb on that one)
As far as your centre problem, you could always print some offset pieces for your limit switche mounts to mechanically change the location of the "zero"
Bumping this back up. If anyone has seen the microcenter ad for a $99 ender 3 pro - its legit. I think they are harvesting phone numbers / emails - but whatev. The ad looks super sketchy but I went through the steps (which are on the microcenter website) & sure enough I got a upc code for $100 off. There was a microcenter near my work and I stopped by (expecting them to be long sold out) and they had hundreds stacked up by the door.
Set it up last night and running prints today (filament guide, trays, etc)
I picked up PLA+ filament, but it really wasn't clear what the "plus" gets you.
Anyway, 1 hundo for a "decent" entry level printer seems like a no brainer.
Damn, nearest Microcenter to me is in Houston about 3 hours away... I'd take advantage of that and snag a few so I can have a print farm going.
In reply to Azryael :
I think its one per phone number. People have tried using Google voice numbers & that's a no go.
Does anyone have a link for the coupon?
In reply to GPz11 (Forum Supporter) :
https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/specialoffer3dprinter.aspx
Thats the page to request the coupon.
I don't know what printed the shop used because I'm not allowed back there, but I told them I needed a shutter release adapter for my Holga 120N toy camera which actually takes good film photos. They located the adapter on thingiverse as listed in other post and printed that cable release adapter for the camera.
This is 20sec exposure of some vines at Fort Taylor, FL
They also printed the filter holder, which air fits over the plastic lens of the camera. The camera cost 45.00, both adapters were free.. but the most expensive item to this whole setup was the german made cable release.. at 100.00
Oh and just incase anyone is interested: https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models/printable
Article from Hemmings with links to videos on using your iPhone for 3d scanning
I upgraded to the MicroSwiss Direct Drive and all metal hot end. Getting my settings dialed in..so I printed a tool holder for the CR-10s Pro V2...decent design, but will need to be tweaked (the allens don't quite fit in the holes, etc), it was my first overnight print at 14 hours. Went well.
Also used Fusion 360 to 'design' my own model and then printed it...plastic nuts for the underhood plastic shields on my GX470. Two iterations to get the right sized holes, and they look/fit good now.
Not sure what the rising lines are, the ones that start low on the left and rise to the right...z banding?
I bought two of the ender 3 pros from Microcenter using my work number and my wife's number since I was already signed up. The coupons expire and you need to check stock at the store to make sure you can get one before the coupon runs out. VOIP numbers do not work so I'd ask family members if you can use theirs. What I did was the first message after the coupon was sent has "text STOP" or whatever so I did that and no more texts. They are farming info but it's easy enough to opt out after the purchase.
I'm getting ready to finally do the upgrades to my almost 3 year old ender 3. I'm going direct drive, BTT skr mini 2.0, spider hot end, and a CRtouch and also re doing a hack wire splice from where I added a led strip previously. I plan on hooking some neopixels up to give a print status indicator and light the bed for the octoprint camera.
I've found these "newer" ender 3 "pros print pretty well right out of the box. I had to buy tons of hop-up / fix parts (glass bed, extruders, gears, etc) for my 1st ender 3. I haven't touched the 3 pro and it keeps its level & I haven't lost one print. Probably 50-60 hours of printing so far?
Is thingiverse still the go-to for STL files? I grabbed one tire shaped pencil holder from there but a lot (if not most) is just trinkets. I needed a AN-10 plug for work (like a dust cap) and grabbed the step file from mcmaster, converted to STL and sent it to the printer.
That pencil holder is neat!
We recently got one of those baby carriers, to carry the baby on your chest or on your back, but all the side release clips keep breaking, so I've been printing up my own. I hate having to sew the strap ends back together, but it is what it is.
Has anyone printed with TPU/TPE yet? The door strikers on my Mercedes have a rubber insert that's basically become rock hard after almost 40 years, and I got to thinking, why not CAD up and print a new center element for it?
Looks like a stock Ender-3 Pro can print either just fine, though there is some concern about the feeder gear, but I'm sure that can be remedied easy enough.
I haven't tried it yet, but it's on my short list of things to try next...partly because I need the rear door striker bumper for my GX470.
I'll be sure to post up if I do it before we hear back from you...
I need some motivation to get my Ender 3 printing again. I miss being able to print whatever I want.
Been down this road a bit. Long story short, after a few minutes of printing the extruder motor starts "clicking" because the filament won't feed.
It seems that for some reason the bowden tube is getting clogged.
I swapped to the capricorn tube, same results.
I've tried fresh nozzles, a couple different brands I think, same thing.
I put the printer into an enclosure so the heat stays in.
I also got new compession fittings for the bowden tube, still no luck.
At this point I'm seriously considering a direct drive extruder, but I don't want to aimlessly keep spending money on parts that might not work.
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