successful, well-calibrated Max?

[halley]

I've been monitoring this forum for a little while now, to get an idea of how mature the Rostock Max is, and what kinds of things people have trouble with: build, calibration, upgrades, print issues, etc. I appreciate the positive help-each-other atmosphere of the community.

What I haven't seen yet, is a lot of success stories. I know some of you are out there, printing great parts with minimal trouble, having gotten everything sorted out until you're happy. I see a few YouTube videos that show a Max printing, but very few photos of the completed parts.

Can people start posting some showcase materials, in this forum area that's specific to the Rostock Max? Photos of completed prints with better-than-handheld-cellphone quality would help people see the potential that the machine has. The absence of success stories can give a strong impression on the printer model; I only hope as I plan out my purchase that it's a wrong impression.

[mhackney]

Most of us post photos of the things we're making in the What are you making? forum. Here is a 50micron bunny print I did last week. This photo is about 1.5:1 so it is a macro shot. The detail on the printed surface is astounding. Some of the little "flaws" you can see literally just brushed off.

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v13 ... 0110-4.jpg[/img]

There are other examples of a huge vase that took over 12 hours to print, and other examples that I and others have posted.

I am always torn between publishing photos of the things I print or not and whether to show macro level details. The fact of the matter is, the parts look amazing in person but I most certainly can take photos that would highlight layers, fuzzies, etc that to the neophyte would make the print look like crap.

This print is also in the "making" forum:
[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v87 ... 4618-4.jpg[/img]
It is spectacular to see in person and an example of what's possible with a disciplined approach to calibration and tuning.

There are several requirements to getting great prints like these on a filament extrusion printer:

1. mechanical resolution - the Rostock and delta format have this covered. This printer has great positional accuracy and precision. It does require careful assembly and adjustment but many of us have done that and there is a lot of help and experience on this forum.
2. extruder and plastic flow - this might be one of the trickier aspects and definitely takes practice and attention to detail to obtain. There are many variables that affect how the plastic is actually extruded. Temperature, careful measurement and calibration of the filament and extruder, properly setting up the parameters in the slicing application you use, the plastic itself, environmental conditions, etc. All of these must be mastered (which is not that difficult to do). In addition, the Bowden tube on any printer (including the MAX) requires a little extra work to understand and use successfully - but it can be done.
3. the slicing software - this has a big impact on print quality too since it is where everything comes together. Take a well tuned printer and plug in bad settings in your slicer and you are going to get bad prints. It is the separation and distinction between the mechanical/electrical aspects of 3D printing and the software/slicing aspects that I think cause a lot of "learning curve" problems for folks.
4. first layer stick - related to all of the above is the "art" of getting that first layer to stick to the bed properly. If everything above is spot on and you have issues with sticking (perhaps a dirty build surface) then the print is probably going to be flawed in some way.

It's a lot like photography - give a $10,000 camera to an inexperienced/unpracticed person and they can take decent snapshots, give a $5 disposable camera to an artist/photographer and they will make art. 3D printing is similar in this respect. There are many good to great printers on the market. They CAN produce great prints in the hands of someone wiling to invest some time, or mediocre but acceptable prints for the casual user. In either case, the Rostock is a fine printer with great capabilities. But, it is a kit at the end of the day and requires a certain degree of skill and willingness to experiment/learn to complete. This is no different than any of the other kit printers on the market.

[cassetti]

You'd be amazed how fast these printers can be calibrated. Take a tour through the prints on my Rostock - you'll see my transition from sloppy models to pretty clean models. Just last night I fixed my extrusion multiplier and have printed a very nice 20x20x20mm cube at 100% infill. Very pleased with the results.

Take a look at my Rostock Photo set. I'll be adding more pictures this weekend. Going to try printing some cool models (large, long prints if possible).

One of the biggest issues I've seen with the Rostock is the sanding of the delta arms and the joints where the arms sit. It is vital you sand these just enough for the parts to move smooth, but not too much where the arms have extra 'play'. There's a good chance after building your rostock, you will need to hunt down a sticky delta arm or two. But really aside from that, all my issues have been software related.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75376147@N ... 976583770/

Here's a great example of the difference calibration of the slicing software makes (Left side shows heat buildup issue caused by thick extrusion of the default settings, and right shows a calibrated cube).
[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8533/8620 ... 88c8_b.jpg[/img]
(Note the only change between these two prints is a tweak to the extrusion multiplier - from 1.0 to 0.86).

(Also, the reason you don't hear many success stories is because once we've gotten the printer working, we're too busy printing to be chatting on the forums! ha ha)

[rs50pilot]

Mhackney,
What is the in the Fan hole that is attached to the platform? Looks like a wire to no where.

[mhackney]

@rs50piolet - good eye! I am temporarily holding the fan on with this wire. I am going back and forth between several "tool holders" for a dual extruder setup, single extruder, and a micro extruder. I have not completed the mounts so for the fan yet!

[rs50pilot]

Any luck with the micro? I just had the PTF fitting fail on my printer. I'm getting a little tired of it. Sorry don't want take over this thread. Maybe we should move the answer to yours.

[halley]

Thanks for posting photos, cassetti and mhackney.

I'm already getting really good prints on another model of printer I built, but the print area is tiny and I'm looking into what it will take to make a Rostock Max my second printer for the larger parts.

I figured some of the successful shots were buried in the general forum, but I wanted to focus on the Max. I'm checking out cassetti's flickr thread now.

More shots? Larger prints? Keep them coming.

[Zodd]

Well calibrated Max?

Many of us incl.me have a Rostock Max. I got mine well set up but not as good as I want.
Is anyone able do post some good settings for the Max for abs prints with a 0.5 or 0.35 noozle?
Settings for Slic3r or Kisslicer maybe.

[Polygonhell]

Well calibrated Max?

Many of us incl.me have a Rostock Max. I got mine well set up but not as good as I want.
Is anyone able do post some good settings for the Max for abs prints with a 0.5 or 0.35 noozle?
Settings for Slic3r or Kisslicer maybe.

I think the bulk of most people's problems are mechanical, usually related to sanding of the universal joints, so I don't know how much people's settings will help. I never had the fill not reaching perimeter issue, probably because I was relatively aggressive in sanding them initially, I started out trying to file them, got bored went and found some 250 grit sandpaper.
Leveling the bed on a rostock design is not trivial, but it's not hard either once you understand what you are adjusting and how it affects things. Above and beyond that it's no different to any 3D printer, calibrate the extrusion, the temperature, the the Z height and if you get a decent first layer you usually get a good print.

MHackney posted his settings in the KISSlicer forum.
I posted a number of prints shortly after I got mine completed in this thread http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... g&start=30.