Batteau62's Black w/ white edges MAX build

[Batteau62]

Ok, I finally found some time to post some photos of the beginning of my build. So here we go...
I have already built a Printrbot jr. That kit has been pretty successful. I have had some good prints and some failures. I only use PLA on it (no heated bed)
I do like the portability of it. It's very small! Enough Printrbot, onto Rostock MAX!

Received the box in good shape.

No external damage, always a good thing.

Nice packing!

Who doesn't love packing peanuts? Thank the powers for a good shop vac.

Taking inventory

Lots of parts

It all seems to be here. I didn't count every small piece, nut and bolt.
After inventory it was time to paint the edges. My daughter suggested white, so white it is.

Thanks for the pre-mask on the parts!

I read a lot of complaints on removing the masking on the forum. I would like to thank SeeMeCNC for giving me already masked and ready to edge paint parts.

Edge painting on a nice day.

Parts unmasked and ready.

A trick I learned from working in the sign industry- Use a hair dryer or heat gun to heat up masking tape and paper before/during trying to peel it. I peeled almost complete pieces off of the large bottom and top circles.

The base construction.

Having done my share of eletro-mechanical assembly, I think this part of the build I can handle. I will have some ?'s on electronics though. I'm still learning there.

Basic structure complete.

Basic struture done. Moving onto the bearing surfaces of the delta arms etc. My weapon of choice is this little warding file handed down from my dad.
I seemed to have reached the attachment limit here, so this is a link to my facebook album of my build.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... fa0c13d6a3
The pic with the dual spool holders and the delta arms looks very sculptural to me. I like it! I hope I can get the dual extruders working, I'm approaching the build with that as the goal.
The last pic is the beginnings of my "cheapskates". Everything seems to be going ok with them, although I could use three hands for the adjustment!
More to come...

[cassetti]

Wow! Looking real good so far!

Welcome to the boards, you'd be amazed how fast people get back to you on questions. It's REALLY helpful. I built a prusa mendel i2 from a candian vendor - their forum is a ghost town, and customer service took about 4-5 days to respond to questions. It was refreshing to see the level service I've received from both SeeMeCNC and this forum.

[Batteau62]

So, I've been stretching this build since April. This morning I finally applied power...and...all is well! Pics are in a facebook album(link is in earlier post for those interested). Of course as I was waiting for a file to load, I had to play with the hotend...and...pulled out the thermistor! @#$%! ensued... a screw in replacement is on order.

Next on the agenda is system testing/calibration(when thermistor sets up! grumble...grumble). I am also looking at some mods-mag arms, new hotend, lights, probably more...dual extruders! Yeah!

Anyway, much thanks to everyone on this forum. It's been a real pleasure reading the sage wisdom from so many sources. And I hope to continue with it for some time.

[Eaglezsoar]

Do you have the dual extruders working and if so would you be willing to post how and what you did to get them
working along with the settings in Repetier, your slicer, etc. We are anxiously waiting for a dual extruder completion.

[Batteau62]

No, no dual exruders yet. That one is definitely high on my list. I think it is for lots of us. I noticed this on amazon today. Interesting, but I want to keep the bowden setup and minimal effector weight for speed.

http://www.amazon.com/0-4mm-Nozzle-Extr ... 3d+printer

[Eaglezsoar]

No, no dual exruders yet. That one is definitely high on my list. I think it is for lots of us. I noticed this on amazon today. Interesting, but I want to keep the bowden setup and minimal effector weight for speed.

http://www.amazon.com/0-4mm-Nozzle-Extr ... 3d+printer

Very nice, it could be what is needed. It does use Type K thermocouples instead of thermistors so that would need some conversions either hardware or firmware.
It also appears to use the QU-BD type of filament pusher where the filament passes past a gear and a setscrew. The QU-BD design never worked very well and I'm
afraid that the one on Amazon won't work very well either. The two adjustable "thingies" on the sides is the giveaway that tells me that it is using the QU-BD design.

[kbob]

I am responding late, but I really like your color scheme.

How did you do the white lettering? Did you use the laser-cut tape as a mask?

[Batteau62]

That's exactly what i did. The guys at SeeMe were nice enough to include the already masked parts, so I figured a nice edge paint was in order.

[kbob]

That's exactly what i did. The guys at SeeMe were nice enough to include the already masked parts, so I figured a nice edge paint was in order.

I was afraid that was your secret. My masking tape is long gone, so I won't be doing that (unless I order another one for some reason).

[Batteau62]

Had some interesting things happen with calibration:
-I switched my stepper pins to get the movement direction correct. That worked fine.
-I wanted the lcd/Rambo to be powered by the psu, so I moved the jumper pin. That caused an issue. My lcd stopped working? I was back to white boxes? I puzzled over it for hours and I was about to change some config settings. Then I noticed the "TX and RX" lights flashing yellow on the Rambo? Not sure, do these mean-transmission and reception? Anyway, I was looking at them and noticed my lcd adapter looked unplugged a little. It was. When I opened the electronics bay door. I must have strained the lcd cables enough to loosen the adapter. My fix uses a trick I learned in the sign industry. Use a roll pin as a stop. Fortunately the holes in the top of the MAX are perfect for 1/8th" pins. I have one in the hole over the "e" in "ROSTOCK MAX SeeMeCNC.com" logo. It keeps the door from closing the whole way, that keeps it from interfering with my mod of the heater bed caution light mounted there. The other is to the left of the "R" in the logo. It keeps the door from opening the whole way. I'll remove it if I need to do maintenance in the bay. Lesson learned-Always check your connections!
I'm getting ready for my first print, hopefully tomorrow. I'm sure I will be posting my progress, good or bad:)

[Flateric]

I did nearly the same thing, but black with silver edges and silver text. Still nice color choice!

I approve.

LOL

[Batteau62]

Ok, here is my "giddy schoolgirl" video. First power...no sparks...good...then G28...up to the limits...Yes! The Black & White Max shows signs of life ...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=35 ... 7094819088

[geneb]

\o/

g.

[Batteau62]

First print:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... c5645bbb6a
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 0b6334242e
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... e0d23e1219
I had some issues on the first try. I think they were comm related, more testing required. I did video which is too long to post. I will trim it and post it, because there are some noises during the print that don't seem normal. They were like a judder or jerk in the arms and effector. Might be mechanical? Over all I'm very optimistic with the results
As always comments and feedback would be much appreciated.

[Eaglezsoar]

I think that looks really good for a first print. Good job in getting to this point.
Now it is a matter of tweaking and tweaking.

[Batteau62]

I think my calibration pyramid would have done better with a bed fan. So this is my addition:

locline fan

I also placed a second psu in the storage bay. Sort of temporary, I may remove the door and re-orient it. Velcro is a woderful thing! I'm running the bed fan off it, and the plan is to add lighting.

[Batteau62]

Second print-xnaron's cheapskate support for the mag arm mod. I think more calibration is in order. Esteps or multiplier seem off. Any advice is most welcome.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 0a2df57986
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 2e196e830a
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... c381c272f3

[Batteau62]

Some recent printing. I think I'm getting things dialed in. Some prints throw curve balls, but the problem solving is what makes it fun
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... fa0c13d6a3
This is my facebook album, the latest parts are mostly xnaron's mag arm mod parts. I was using these as calibration prints, so I think I could get better results now.
I did print a 20mm calibration cube. I thought it looked pretty good. It was a little small, but well within my tolerance limits. Happy printing!
As usual, observations welcome...

[Batteau62]

First print video, I actually did this last week. I had to chop it down from the original 2GB version. I have since been working on calibrating and mods. I printed my first "in service" part today, a simple clip for a sliding seat in my rowing scull. So cool to be able to make a part you need on the spot!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=35 ... 5130259985

[Batteau62]

Added dampers to my steppers this am, Wow!, really does make the Max much quieter. I also added a 40mm fan next to the Rambo that blows continuously from the center out. My original mount of the board used 1" standoffs. I'm glad I did it. I think it left a lot of cooling space behind the board. I think the addition of the fan can only help.

Next mod(after some printing ) will be mounting my new e3d hot end , building it now, can't wait to get that one going. I also have plans for the xnaron mag arms and some extrusion/pillar mods. (This last one may turn into a 2nd custom Max )

[Eaglezsoar]

Batteau62, I meant to ask you this before but I forgot, is that fan on the end of the flexible arm a Thingiverse item?

[Batteau62]

No, but this is the same thing. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9457 And if you search "loc line" on Thingiverse you should find more. The fan is out of an old psu. The connecting piece from the line to the fan is custom by me. It's just a piece of pvc pipe machined to fit the corner of the fan. I love this stuff, it's great for a wire run, bends in any shape you need and protects the wire. I have a smaller version on my "third hand" for soldering. Attach an alligator clip, bolt it to your stand and you have an unlimited amount of motion.

[Batteau62]

Well haven't posted here in a while I just did a couple of upgrades to my max. Installed Trick Laser "add a inch" carriages and CF arms. Really nice products Highly recommended Couple of hiccups on first prints after recalibrating. I thought they might be worth mentioning.

I printed the 20mm cube first, it was leaning badly After I read through the forum posts, my instincts said mechanical-too much friction somewhere. So my first try was to loosen my belts(instead of raising stepper current). The result was less lean but still not acceptable, so next I re-tweaked the cheapskates. And that seems to have done the trick. So important to get the movement of this machine to be no lash with no friction Next, I printed the hollow pyramid and it looks well formed I will be more confident when I print more objects.

I started down this road when my stock arms started making terrible noises. Like bad binding was happening. And sure enough when I tore them down, two of the aluminum universal joints were near frozen on the axles? I think something "foreign" built up on them, dust or who knows? If you have them, keep them clean.

I did the "add a inch" carriages in preparation for experimenting with mechanical bed leveling: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... 173#p21173 and a possible frame upgrade, more on that later Happy printing