Author: Dan

Technically a brain in a jar.
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Production update: printing a motor mount attempt #3

2012-09-22 Dan


I reduced the filament size and increased the multiplier. I’m pretty sure that the two changes cancelled each other out. I also tightened the Y axis belt and double checked the rest of the machine. It seems the nuts love to come loose all over this damn thing. Boo design! BOOO!

I think this is my last attempt for the night. I’m so close, but I’ve got both eyes in the same socket. I need some non-screen time to recharge my batteries.

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Production update: printing a motor mount attempt #2

2012-09-22 Dan

under sidetop side
I think the “first layer height” is off. Over the next several prints I’m going to be improving quality in leaps and bounds. After this print I added a piece of cardboard under the heated bed to improve overall performance. So far it’s been maxing out at 85c and I want 110c.

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Production Update: One step forward, two steps back (do see do and swing your partner)

2012-09-21 Dan

thanks to a suggestion from IRC freenode#reprap, I turned down the X axis polulu and it started to work better. This infill test was going perfect, until I noticed the Reprap Prusa was no longer pushing ABS out the heated nozzle. I checked that the plastic filament wasn’t caught on anything. I tried to extrude 1mm. Curious, the stepper makes noise but the gears on the extruder don’t move. I tried again from another angle – AHA!

Now that I look at it, this PLA extruder sprocket isn’t completely filled in. That made it weak und flabbey ya. Today’s goal is now to get down to the VHS and print TWO better, strong, faster ones on the Tantillus and then get back here and kick out the jams. Why two? Backup.

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How not to design an interface

2012-09-20 Dan

Interfaces are a long time fascination with me. Interacting with people is hard for humans and even more so for inanimate objects. Take a look at this menu I saw recently.


Can you show me an example of a menu with a worse layout? I had to ask for help to be sure I understood which item went with each picture, even though I love japanese food!


The bottom half isn’t any better. Do you see the hiddeous menu background? How about the way the dishes aren’t photoshopped to remove the non-dish elements? I’d at least try to photograph the dishes straight down so every piece looks as big as possible.

Maybe I’m spoiled from online shopping experiences. I expect one picture, one description, and one price for each item. Each should be laid out in a logical manner. Heck, this isn’t even a GridBag layout.

My microwave, dishwasher, and TV remotes are all equally stupid. Someday soon I’ll come back and post about how broken their interfaces are.

Now on the other hand, a nice interface I’ve just discovered is the one minute key duplication machine at my local Home Despot.

Asides from the obvious security concerns, this is a neat idea in an elegant package with a dead simple interface. Stick your key in the hole. If the machine approves it grabs your key and won’t let go until you complete the on-screen instructions. It even gives you a choice of keys at different prices. Best part is the clear window into the guts so you can watch your key being copied.

You’re only there a minute but they still find a way to keep you entertained. Also it’s a great way to debug the system. I wonder how they clean the swarf away automatically…

Do you have an example of an interface you love/hate? Post it online and link it here.

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Production update: first prusa print results

2012-09-20 Dan


Here’s the first layer height calibration print. The goal is to see that layers are properly sticking together, the nozzle doesn’t drag through the deposited material, and that XY movement on each layer is the same. All in all not bad. The challenge is that the bed sags in the middle. The nozzle is too far from the bed at the start of the print, which is why the bottom is wierd and the outside line (to clear the nozzle?) is wavy. I’m getting a piece of glass cut today that will fit over the entire bed and not sag in the middle. Not sure yet how to make the heater adhere to the glass for good thermal transfer.


This is the start of an infill calibration test. I stopped it when it started to go wonky. It looks like it might not be outputting enough plastic to fill the cube 100%. I’m going to recheck my Slic3r settings first, I may have had it set to 40% infill.

So in the meantime I’m not sure what else I can check. Any ideas? I’m thinking I’ll post on a few subjects close to my heart.

Update 2012-09-20 13:30 – Tried the infill cube again and the extruder made a nasty clicking sound. The screws that hold the extruder stepper in place had come loose (after almost no printing!) and some filament retractions were making the gears skip teeth. Ouch!

Update 2012-09-20 13:45 – Cancelled another infill test. What is causing this result?

Update 2012-09-20 14:40 – More layering tests. I’m going to stick to these until they’re perfect, then go back to infills. I changed the Slic3r filament extrusion multiplier to 0.8 and tweaked the extruder retract parameters.


Update 2012-09-20 16:30 – layering tests look great! Slic3r had a 0.3 nozzle size when it’s actually 0.35.

The infill test started out great, bu then something went wrong with X movement causing layers to become misaligned.

Update 2012-09-20 17:53 – Video! Skip to -40 from the end to see where it goes wrong.