I made a new Z-axis motor coupler, as I suspect the old one was slightly off-center & causing wobbles to show in printed parts. The new one seems better, but I still have a little bit of wobble from a still undetermined source.
new Z axis shaft coupler
Here are a few recent prints. I recently started using the “Dimension” module within Skeinforge to retract the feed-stock between moves, and it’s really helped reduce the “stringies” that’d happen between parts.
I'm six little teapots.
These rings printed fine, but a few lost their grip right as the print finished.
I’ve managed to connect a webcam to the ArduinoMega that is controlling my 3D printer, so now I can trigger a picture from the G-code that the printer is reading to make the part.
This means I can take a picture at the beginning of each printed layer, and make time-lapse video like this:
After melting the PTFE insulator yet another time, I’ve built another hot end. This one doesn’t use the PTFE as a stress-bearing part, but only to contain any plastic that may ooze above the top of the heater barrel.
The heater barrel is threaded into the PTFE about 0.25″, just enough to keep it aligned. The PTFE isn’t attached anywhere else, just sandwiched between the washer and the aluminum mounting plate above it.
I also made modular heater and thermistor, ala Makergear.com HeatCore. (I know a good idea when I steal it).
non-load-bearing PTFE
I’ve also ditched the separate nozzle, and used the brass screw as a one-part barrel+nozzle. The opening was drilled with a 0.45mm drill.
No nozzle!
Print quality has improved by a lot, and I haven’t had any problems with the feed pinch-wheel teeth stripping the filament.
After trying to do some printing with a spool of White PLA 4042D, and being unable to replicate the quality level I’d got with Natural PLA 4042D, I started to look for possible differences in the composition of the filament.
After reading the datasheets, the only documented difference is %2-%4 pigment. I’d had decent results with green & black PLA, so I wasn’t convinced that the pigment was a factor. (Although at this point I was so frustrated that I wasn’t ruling it out, either).
Here’s a few objects I’ve printed. They came out mostly Ok, but I think I have a lot of tuning to do in Skeinforge, the software that generates the actual printing instructions. All the objects have been cleaned up with a razor, as there were some strings.
