Y-axis upgrade

I mentioned in the previous post that for the last months I was working on a bigger project with the 3d printer. Just at its beginning I noticed that there was something wrong when circular objects were printed. They were a bit oval, definitely not nice and circular. I figured out that this is because of loose tension on the Y-axis belt. I could theoretically adjust the tension on the end points where it is attached to the moving bed. Unfortunately way my printer is built makes it a bit hard to do (you would have to dismount a big piece of the bed which is tricky to put back together).

The printer worked but the results, especially the precise ones with complex and circular borders did not look very well.

I decided to add a new part that would divert the belt a bit thus putting required tension on it.

After a short session with FreeCAD, even shorter slicing in new version of Slic3r and around half an hour of printing I had the necessary part. After adding the metal screws with some nuts and using spare bearing and washers the part was installed onto the printer.

The results after the upgrade were very satisfying. The circular objects looked circular :) After this moment I was convinced that was ready to work on parts that require decent level of precision.

A small digression- during the printing a major damage happened twice to the Y-axis pulley gear (you can see it in the picture above). It broke at its bottom. Of course I had to print the part and replace it. As you can image since the printer was broken it was not an easy task. Fortunately the glue held long enough to make the new print. It seemed that there will be no trouble but the part broke again. It seems the tension on it is too big (the engine's shaft is not going all the way through the pulley). The second time I made the part full in plastic- no saving for inner layers. I also treated the surface with acetone vapor to make it even stronger. Till now all is good. Of course I made an additional spare pulley (just in case) :)

Fun with earrings

Good day everybody,

This post is a teaser before I publish the info about the big 3d printing project I have been working on for the last few months.

Recently me, my wife and some good friends of us started playing the rpg in the WH40k world- Rogue Trader. Since my second half's character is a member of Adeptus Mechanicus (some tech-nuts priest engineers), I wanted to make earrings that would be appropriate for her status.

Since it seemed cool idea to make 3d printed earrings I made a second small project to demonstrate the constant fight that a measly mortal soul is being in a middle of. Below are the results :)

As you can tell they are already pre-painted. There will be some "rust" added to the wheels and definitely the angels wings shall be white ;)

One more interesting fact about this projects. It was the first time I tried the acetone vapor bath on the parts. You take a jar, drop a little bit of acetone on the bottom and then put the jar into the pot with hot water. Acetone vaporizes very fast and creates "melting atmosphere" in which you put the parts for few minutes. The idea is to melt the outer layer of plastic to give it a smoother surface looks. Here is the picture of the setup.
WARNING! Acetone vapor might be dangerous to you. Always work in a well ventilated location, and if are underage- ask an adult for assistance. I believe in your intellect but I take no responsibility for any of your actions. You have been worn :)

Furthermore, be advised that if you keep the parts for too long, the plastic will melt too much. Small elements of the print are most affected. Well, here is a very "saaad angel". It was irreparable and had to make another one.

And finally, the parts are a bit sticky after you take them out of the acetone vapor atmosphere. Make sure they "dry out" a bit before you make them touch any surface. Here are the earrings after the process drying a bit more (the paper towel was not the best idea, fortunately they were not too sticky at that time).

That is it for now. Await the glorious big project that is to come soon!

Ciao!

ps

If you are interested in getting earrings like that, or have some other idea- just give me a note. Maybe we can work something out together ;)