What is a 3d printer and how does it work A 3d printer is a printer that can print with an extruder in 3d rather than just 2d. So complex, impossible to machine structures can be created. Most use some form of plastic, biodegradable or not. They print in layers with a file created from…
You slice the model you really, really want to print… You look at the time and see 21h 11min…no way…. And you will need to leave your printer on all the time… And you are going out today…. Do i…..Dare i…. Let’s find out how long you can run your 3d printer for…. Is it…
This bowden extruder mod can be carried out to any extruder which it is difficult to insert the filament into… It just happens that i have a Geeetech a10T – so i have three to do…lucky me… Why the mod- well…when trying to insert the filament at the rear of the printer it never was…
You have bought a 3d printer…brilliant… It’s a kit, so you put it together carefully… You want it to be perfect… Ok…so all built…. Now testing the various parts… Plug it in, switch it on with eyes closed…. No bang …phew!…. Navigate to the motion menu… Go through all the end stops, all ok Stepper…
A reader has Kindly generated an article to help you with your CTC printer problems. I will let you read it in his words…. by Ray J, Hereford, UK. At the start Purchased a the CTC printer through Amazon, and arrived within 3 days. First impressions It is a very cost effective 3d printer, possibly…
A lot of people look at the small volume of the desktop 3d printers and dream of designing a huge machine. What limits the size of a 3d printer: mechanical components , complexity and costs are the three main limitations for the size of a 3d printer. In theory there are no limits to the size…
Do you want a smooth bottom to your prints, whether they are PLA or ABS or TPU. Well it is worth finding out how to apply Kapton tape tape to your print bed to achieve this. Applying kapton tape to your 3d printer bed: Using a high temperature covering on your bed to allow your prints…
Filament problems with your 3d printer – find out what causes them and how to fix them. It’s always the case – the print that matters – you have setup the printer and made sure everything is working – you go to print and even the perimeters are not printing -now what….. The filament is…
So you bought yourself a 3d printer …. It’s sitting on the table over there looking at you… Waiting to be used…. Now you have browsed through thingiverse ( if its up) or Yeggi to find a 3d model you really like. Downloaded it – seen the proof that it prints online…. So you give…
Think it is difficult printing with the Anet A8 and TPU? Read this article to the end to find out my hints and tips Ok so you have bought an Anet A8 3d printer. You have downloaded some models from Thingiverse or other sites. These have been hit or miss, but more hit than miss….
This article is how to find out whether your Anet A8 hotend has been assembled correctly. Common Problems with the Anet A8 hotend There are three main problems associated with the hotend which will be dealt with in this article. Filament leaking from the top of the heat block Filament leaking from the bottom of…
Having had my anet a8 for over a year now I am getting quite used to it. I am just going through a mod for adding an e3d v6 all metal hotend clone, with interesting results, but that’s another story. One of the main things I with my anet a8 at the start was bed…
One of the most frequently asked questions on the forums is how do I silence that Anet A8 fan noise? Well this article will explore the options you have. Which Anet A8 fan is installed? You have two fans which can be installed when building. Most people ditch the extruder cooling fan or modify…
Anet A8 mods are an ongoing process, here is another one to add to your printer. This time it is something you may have not seen before: Adding an auxilliary socket to the Anet A8 I bought my Anet A8 a couple of years ago and built it up. Having played with it for a…
Make your Ramps 1 4 connections safe for upgrading your Anet A8 3d printer. Ramps 1 4 connections upgrade The ramps 1.4 board combined with the mega2560 is a common upgrade when the main board blows up on your Anet a8 3d printer. It is not that you cannot get the original boards , but…
My Anet A8 bed mosfet has blown up – what now? I have been asked about this question about the anet a8 bed mosfet a few times now. So my advice was to add an external mosfet and use the output of the controller to switch it on and off. Thanks to GearBest my order…
Update to SB1 : replacing your bearings, Igus Bearings A while ago I wrote a post about replacing your bearings. SB1 In that post I had bought a set of bearings from China, they turned out to be very poor quality. Even just running them up and down the rod I could feel that they…
Service Bulletin 1 (SB1) This service bulletin details how to check and perform Anet A8 bearing replacement on the X and Y axis. What are the symptoms which require Anet A8 bearing replacement After you have bought your 3d printer and used it a fair bit you may notice a few strange noises. Where the…
What a digital multimeter can tell you. You know that time when your printer went wrong and you sat there looking at it? You were frustrated because you knew it was not mechanical, there was something wrong with the electrics or electronics. Someone on a forum said – ‘ Have you checked the voltage…
How to make your own heat block cover – don’t let the cooling fan spoil your prints What Anet A8 mods have you done? All FFF 3d printers use a similar technology, the heatblock. This is the way they get the filament from the standard 1.75mm or 3mm down to the 0.4mm to create your…
3d print journal 01-12-17 : bed screws binding A tale of woe about the dilema to drill out the base bed screw threads or not, and what a lucky chap I am, how I overcame the problem and what you should do if you haven’t got to this stage yet. And how I initially level…
More Anet A8 problems Printing on the Anet A8 last night I heard a thump from upstairs, where the printer is located. Going upstairs, I found a pen on the floor – obviously not liking the vibrations of the printer. Thinking that was it I went back to what I was doing. Later I checked…
What Anet A8 upgrades have you done? Buying a 3d printer is exciting. Putting together an Anet A8 can be frustrating but rewarding. Printing with it is brilliant. But one problem is that you cannot see what you are printing! Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
A lot of people are interested in the Anet A8 upgrades, especially the mosfet mod for the heated bed. The reason for this is a lot of misinformation out on the web about the mosfet on the main board being too small and causing fires. If you really want to carry out this mod then…
Anet A8 3d printer – A fire hazard out of the box? There has been a lot of talk on the internet about the Anet A8 problems. I disagree that it is in itself dangerous. The Anet A8 printer has sold in its thousands and is continuing to sell. There will always be problems selling…
Adding a mains socket to the anet a8 power supply The anet a8 is powered from the mains. The supplied kit has a mains lead which is connected to the anet a8 power supply directly. To switch on and off the printer involves pulling the plug. If the printer starts going wrong and you need…
The Anet A8 is a cost effective introductory printer into the 3d printing world. As a build it yourself model, it is up to you how you modify it. The standard build is good and will teach you a lot about 3d printing. But it can be improved on easily and cheaply. Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
Testing the cooling nozzles on an anet a8 Are you happy with your prints from your 3d printer? Could your cooling nozzles on your 3d printer be part of the problem? Check out what it is for and how it does what it does. Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
Why would you need a UPS for a 3d printer? Why do you need a UPS for a 3d printer? Let me describe the scenario… You have spent a lot of time on your 3d printer, adding this and that mod, improving the quality and repeatability of your prints. So now you can slice a…
All about a 3d print nozzle What is your 3d print nozzle? How do you specify your 3d print nozzle? What is it made of and why? Why are there different nozzle shapes? What nozzle size should i use? How to change your nozzle My nozzle is leaking why How to tell if your nozzle…
This Anet A8 3d printer review has been done after buying and building it, this is my third printer build – first a prusa clone, second a renren3d delta printer and this one. The 3d printing market is starting to hot up now (Aug 17). The introduction by XYZ printing of a full colour 3d…
Smooth PLA prints – how to achieve them Have you ever wondered how to smooth PLA prints – if so read on… You have invested money into your printer, and time if you have built it yourself. You have got to know how it works and are happy that you can download and print within…
Are you a destroyer or a detective? You know what it is like when you have 3d print problems. You come back to the printer after waiting 12 hours only to find this heap of spaghetti. ARGHHH!!!!! You rip it off the printer and throw it into the corner – where it bounces back and…
So you have bought yourself a 3d printer- excellent, now- where to place your 3d printer for the best results. With the helpful hints in this post you can be sure that if you follow them you will get the best results from your 3d printer. Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
Build your own 3d printer kit – part 4 – programming So you want to build your own 3d printer kit, so did I – I bought the Renren3d LE kit. If you have been following along you will have a built a printer and be waiting for it to work. Just as a recap….
A little while ago a friend had a problem of the build platform heating up when printer first switched on. He asked why? Make sure you are not seeing residual heat from the last print. Leave the printer on for a couple of minutes and watch for a temperature rise on the heated bed before…
You switch on your printer and load up the model you want to print. You press the button to start your printer creating the latest masterpiece. And ….. on the lcd is the error message MAXTEMP error Nothing is happening. You switch it off and back on – just in case, with a sinking feeling…
Ok so you have built your printer and set it up. You try and print on your delta , and it sticks in the centre but nowhere else – so what do you do now? You read this delta printer calibration guide about calibrating the z axis to find out how to get your nozzle…
BL Touch sensor review Fed up with the time and hassle it is to level your 3d printer build platform? I know I am. Yeah I know you’ve got the auto levelling device, does it work in all situations? I have a semi automatic one on my delta, the one where you put the microswitch…
The (#amazon link) Qidi Tech 3d printer is produced by Ruian Qidi technology Co., Ltd ( pronounced cheedy, so I’m told by a foreign language teacher). They have taken the reliable and well proven Makerbot 3d printer technology and improved it. Though a newish starter in the market they have built on proven existing technology…
first test print after much arguing with the auto level and height adjustment almost there little bit more fettling and it should be working properly don’t like the cracking noise – need to investigate that Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
This is part 3 of build your own 3d printer kit, where we follow through the complete build of a delta printer made by Renren3d the flash le printer. So far on this build we have: In part 1 – built the assemblies In part 2 – built the frame If you have missed either…
What is the Bowden tube on a 3d printer for? On a 3d printer, to achieve the prints you feed filament to a hotend for extrusion. To achieve this there are two main extruders, bowden and direct. The direct extruder has the motor mounted next to the hotend and the filament feeds directly from a…
This is the second in the build your own 3d printer kit series. This post details the build of the frame. The first part of the series detailed how to put together the end stop wiring, the gears onto the motors and the initial build of the extruder. If you missed the first part of…
What’s included in this build your own 3d printer kit part 1 Introduction End stops Timing gear Initial assembly of extruder Philrestoreb3dp.stan-tech.com
3d printing ideas for students Teaching students is an excellent career, you can use your skills to bring to life your subject – to get the student enthused in your area of expertise. Being able to stand in front of a class of student and to try to keep their attention for more than 140…
Introduction to the 3d printing process Most people buy a 3d printer, typically a FFF (fused filament fabrication type), after seeing something printed out professionally and after printing something themselves wonder what went wrong. This is where the 3d printer anatomy series will help in understanding what the limitations are. Their prints are stepped, often…
Another post in the 3d printer project ideas series. others include : apple mac power supply stand salt grinder repair lithophanes What would you use your 3d printer for? My partner has a 1985 vw scirocco gtx. Very nice model. She has just had a bit of work carried out on it to keep it…
What does 3d printer belt tension have to do with the quality of 3d prints? Read on and find out why I checked mine and adjusted it. The Symptoms of loose 3d printer belt tension Over time your 3d printing quality has started to suffer from overshoot on the corners, tearing down the side and…
my 3d printer’s not reading my sd card – arghh what do I do? The Problem Have you had the same problem where my 3d printer’s not reading my SD card. I put the card in and it says card inserted. But no data is present when I go to the ‘print from SD card…
