A Noob needing directions to success!

[Josshe]

Hello all!
I've been teaching basic electronics, facsimile repair and copiers for Canon, Mita, Minolta and others but have just gotten bit by the Arduino and now 3D printing bug.
Being a serious tinkerer and explorer that thinks beyond the material in front of me and out of the box, I drooled when I found there was a (at least to me) high end 3D printer kit!
Without hesitation I ordered my Rostock Max V2 and the screetch! I don't know a thing about CAD etc...

Now I'm on a quest to teach myself at least the necessary training materials to operate and create on the Rostock Max V2 after I receive and assemble it.

I'm a serious R/C hobbyist in Helicopters, Airplanes, Monster trunks etc...(nitro/gas/electric).
My head is swimming with ideas to make add-ons and upgrades for my hobbies as well as some enclosures for the Arduino projects.

I just ordered the ExtrusionBot extruder etc... so I'm getting all set for a serious period of fun, a little frustration, a bunch of learning and fun.

Please offer any suggestions as to where a noob like me should start on the journey!
Again I've never used a 3D printer or CAD programs.
I did sign up for the Canvas learning I found on this web site.

All help in the direction would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you so much!

[Eaglezsoar]

Welcome to the forum!
We also welcome you to the owners of the Rostock Max group!
After you build your printer and get it printing satisfactorily you should check out Thingiverse.com, they have an amazing
collection of things that you can print. You will need to download Repetier Host which you can use to control your printer
and it has a built in slicer that you use to convert .STL files to GCode which is the language that the printer's firmware uses
to produce the part.
As far as Cad goes, I also don't know a thing about cad but we both should find a software package that we can learn and
if possible use that package exclusively so that we learn it and how to really use it. Since the commercial Cad software is
so expensive I lean toward a package called FreeCad, which is free! (I wonder how I guessed that one).
You have a million questions going through your mind and it is best to get the printer up and running, ask your questions on
this forum and members will answer your questions one by one. There is so much to learn. The best way to search through
the forum is to use Google by putting the following in your browser, site:forum.seemecnc.com Cad
The above will find every occurrence of the word Cad in the forum.
We will always be here to help you and answer your questions. Happy Printing!

[Tinyhead]

I don't know a thing about CAD either. One of the guys on here (geneb - the writer of the Rostock bible/build guide) pointed me in the direction of DesignSpark Mechanical. http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/el ... mechanical

It's gesture based and I found it very intuitive and easy to use. You could try checking that out in the meantime as an alternative. There's a quick video right on the link there showing some of the things you can do with it.

I also tried SketchUp, but I find Designspark much easier.

[Eaglezsoar]

I will have to give this designspark a look, I hope it is designed for people with no cad experience.

[Tinyhead]

No CAD experience required. For me this was a godsend.

[Josshe]

Thank you both for the speedy reply.
I can hardly wait to get to the site you listed Tinyhead.
Right now I'm very much at a loss in the assembly of the V2.
Section 7 is talking about installing a stop screw the T-channels, however the vertical supports have been changed in the latest revision of the kit and there is no place for the stop screw.
What do I do now???

[Josshe]

Got the answer to the section seven issue. My fault...

[Eaglezsoar]

Got the answer to the section seven issue. My fault...

Can you explain what you had to do in case others run into the same issue?

[Tonkabot]

His problem was that the 'hole' he was looking to put the screw in is actually a slot. See Fig 7-2 in the manual.
He didn't find the hole, and didn't realize the slot was used for the screw.

[Josshe]

Tinyhead,

You're spot on!
I've been playing with DesignSpark software and made my first two piece project box!
Thank you for the tip.

I still have a lot to learn but this is a great place to start.
I started playing with 123Dapp from Autodesk and find it want's to charge me at some point...

Now to really learn how to make nifty stuff.

Even allow the design of pcb's.

Best of all it is absolutely free and there are no ads running across the screen!

[Demolishun]

Welcome fellow Arduino programmer! I use them for home and work all the time. Love the Arduino and Arduino style designs (Uno32, and Teensy 3.1). I also have an Arduino Yun, which is awesome on its own!

Yeah, I am making enclosures for PC104 boards and the Uno32 for an industrial robot. Plus I plan on doing gears out of nylon to go in petroleum fluids.

Now I do engineering work so I recommend Cubify Design (http://cubify.com/en/Products/Software). It is very well designed and is constraints based editing. It creates STL output for printing. It will tell you how much material it is going to use as well. It saves in a proprietary format, but it will read many other design file outputs. I was able to suck some Pro E designs into it. So if you need to do exact dimensioning and fast CAD design it will work well. It is much easier to work with than Pro E. My mechanical friend says it is easier to use than many other packages he has used. We have bought 3 copies so far. It just works well.

[Josshe]

Demolishun,

Thank you.
I'm moving from the Parallax stamp boards and embracing the Arduino family.
I just purchased the Arduino Bot and have yet to run the first sketch but created and used many on the UNO and the Sain Smart version of the 2560.
Also playing with the Raspberry Pi and hope to make an enclosure for mounting it.
Am looking at playing with the Beagle Bone...

Using DesignSpark I've created some very simple prints of containers for my wife's hair items.

I did the Heat Bed mod of using and 25A DC-DC SSR and a variable power supply to heat the bed.
Before the mode the unit could not maintain 80c and took a very long time to reach that temperature let alone the 90c I read some users are using for ABS.
So far I'm running the external power source at 20Vdc and have not changed the resistor for the Led in the heat bed...

I do have a problem with getting the extruder to hold 210c so purchased the 40w heat cartridge and will do that mode once I get over the fascination of sitting or standing in front of the printer.

I want to do the magnet mods for the arms and effector but cannot find any real good plans/instructions or parts. I wish there were a kit.

I'm using the ExtrusionBot to make my on filament and have printed the spool cores to make my own spools.

Really looking hard for a reclaimer/shredder for the fails for re-extrusion into filament.

Wanted to purchase the Fila-Winder but found the people on that forum very immature and rude not to mention un-helpful.
The built-in filament winder on the Extrusionbot is useless (bad words here...).

I think for now I will continue to use the DesignSpark CAD package as its free and I'm so green in that area.
I've tried 123Dapp Autodesk and found limitations that can only be removed by making the monthly or yearly purchase... grrr.

Have not been able to find any real good tutorials on CAD so am learning by trial an error though my electronics and computer/network training has helped immensely.

[Demolishun]

You don't need to change the resistor on the heat bed. It is 4.7K and can easily handle 24VDC with the LED. 24VDC / 4.7K ohm = 0.005 A or 5mA. Most standard LEDs can be driven upwards of 20mA or more. So you are okay there.

You can print the Fila Winder on your own:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:174383

I am going to redesign the winder to be simpler. It is a bit over designed in some ways. For instance I think the filament detection could be done with just two IR sensors above and below the sag point. I also think it could be built using a lot less printed parts.

I have a Filabot myself. It extrudes really well. I am running into overheating issues, but that was after 5 to 6 hours of extruding over 2lbs worth of filament in an 80 deg F garage. I think fans will take care of that. The Filastruder also looks nice and I believe would work fine. I am also getting a Reclaimer from the Filabot folks. I will let you know how good that works when I get it (on order).

For software I needed an engineering type package so I bought Cubify Design for $200. It is designed to spit out printable STLs. So no post processing applications needed to get good closed models that are printable. Can put its output right into the slicer. It is also simpler to use than Autocad (3d is pasted on at best), SolidWorks (this is my mechanical engineers opinion), and Pro Engineer (from my experience). Cubify took me a couple of days to "get it" and be productive. They have a great tutorial.

[Josshe]

Demolishun,
Did you get the reclaimer yet?
i just ordered the Filawinder from Ian @ Filastruder and anxiously await its arrival.

I'm seriously looking into purchasing the Cubify software and the 3D scanner they produce as well. (Your thoughts?)

I hadn't looked at the value of the heat bed led resistor but thanks for you catching that.

I replaced the hot end resistors with a cartridge heater and use two 25A ssr's at 24vdc to power both the heat bead and the hot end and am very satisfied with the results.

I'm trying to figure out what to adjust to prevent the hair like strings on my prints.

[Josshe]

Welcome to the forum!
We also welcome you to the owners of the Rostock Max group!
After you build your printer and get it printing satisfactorily you should check out Thingiverse.com, they have an amazing
collection of things that you can print. You will need to download Repetier Host which you can use to control your printer
and it has a built in slicer that you use to convert .STL files to GCode which is the language that the printer's firmware uses
to produce the part.
As far as Cad goes, I also don't know a thing about cad but we both should find a software package that we can learn and
if possible use that package exclusively so that we learn it and how to really use it. Since the commercial Cad software is
so expensive I lean toward a package called FreeCad, which is free! (I wonder how I guessed that one).
You have a million questions going through your mind and it is best to get the printer up and running, ask your questions on
this forum and members will answer your questions one by one. There is so much to learn. The best way to search through
the forum is to use Google by putting the following in your browser, site:forum.seemecnc.com Cad
The above will find every occurrence of the word Cad in the forum.
We will always be here to help you and answer your questions. Happy Printing!

Thanks for the Welcome!

Your information is invaluable.
I've been actually printing a few items like spool hubs from Thingiverse etc...
Thanks to Tinyhead I did get the DesignSpark to work for a few basic designs.

Now i just need to know what and why...

I've had a few problems with the original hot end and am thinking of going with the E3D v2 if I can verify that it works with the stock setup.

Again thank you all.