After only 2 and a half days of my girlfriend hating me for focusing all my attention to implementing auto bed leveling, I finally got it to work. No more calibrating my printer, ever, especially when I travel with it, just load the filament and print.
Would love to see this as a standard feature in 3D printers. Nozzle detection, too.
This is worth another thread. My wife calls the printer my Mistress. I suspect a mistress would be less aggravating.
This is really cool. Where can we find more info?
Nice job, Seems like a tuff one to implement!
nice work. I’m still getting mine all sorted out. I added some 3 in 1 oil to my all thread on the z axis and that has helped greatly eliminate skipped steps.
One day I will get around to this.
@Mike_Ashcraft also try Pneumatic tool oil, it works well too, I don’t recommend using this with Igus bearings, just where metal meets metal.
Yea I made sure not to lube the igus bushings as they say they are self lubricating.
Cool
I should note I had the chance to experience something similar with the new Afinia H-series H480 printer. It comes with a cable that connects to the nozzle and the platform (separately) and you run a couple of diagnostics from the desktop software to both auto-level the platform and detect the nozzle height. Works quite well.
@Ricky_Cadden I would hope they have something to do it for you for almost $1700, it cost me $700 to build my mendelmax 1.5 and it prints just as good as a $31,000 stratasys dimension elite. This is why I love open source, you just need to figure it out and you can implement it very cheap. The cost of this upgrade was like $7 including the printed plastic, servo and switch. Now my printer is more predictable and reliable.
I just looked at other peoples designs, there is some information on it but it is scattered everywhere. I would like to make a how to soon, but I have to find the time.
Mike, I look forward to your “HowTo” on the bed leveller - working on the OctoPi link now for a MendelMax I built for the book and printing a few RepRap designs (Richard’s 3DRs and an Ingentis hybrid) for students in my summer camp programs right now.
@Kalani_Hausman I would love to put a bed leveling how-to out there as well as a few others to share some shortcuts I know but I need to find the time to make something coherent enough that people will find it useful. I love my mendelmax, well it morphed into just ZXT right now. I custom designed almost all of the major parts on it. I compared my print quality to a stratasys dimension elite at a defense contractor I was working for. The engineer there told me he couldn’t believe I built a 3D printer from scratch and it was better than one they bought for $31,000.
Richard Horne is a true innovator, I don’t know where the guy finds the time to create such incredible machines. A true inspiration. Great work getting young kids into 3D printing, I cant wait till my niece gets old enough I will be making her a printer to make stuff.
The biggest problem schools have with 3D printing is that they do not understand what to do with it - the first challenge is always overcoming the question “What are we teaching in 3D printing?” rather than “What can be teach with 3D printing?” Once you introduce the uses of additive manufacturing, as opposed to simply the process of having a 3D printer (the goal for too many administrators) then you can start making progress.
@Nuker_Bot_NukerBot_3 Too true on the quality issues - one of the benefits of open source is that new ideas can be shared and tested very rapidly.
My SOLID Learning workshop teachers (and several students) are building 3DRs to Richard’s original design, along with one 3DR Simple variation. Those are really easy to assemble and source parts even at public school teachers’ “office supplies” budgets.
A lot of people still view 3D printers for making desk trinkets like Yoda heads and useless vases. I find a lot of senseless propaganda around 3D printing also, like the 3D printed gun, such a far fetched scenario it is almost comical. I think the problem is also how society is setup, most people are afraid of what they don’t understand because it will put them out of their intellectual comfort zone and to most people think that is a sign of weakness. Sadly enough most people get their information from tainted news sources, administering them drips and drabs and half truths only giving them the illusion of being informed to their peers. I personally think 3D printing will never be popular with the average person because not everyone wants to create stuff and figure engineering problems out.
I just realized you are the coauthor of the 3D printing for dummies book and a few others. Very cool. I hope that book is selling like crazy for you guys.