Tugboat's 3D Printer Build

Ugh. Today has been a very long day. A seemingly endless line of glitches, software adjustments/updates/plagues... but I am now able to move the print head around from the computer. Still working on it, but after all the crap I dealt with today, I am satisfied that it works via USB and that the X axis is level to the frame (I'll post some pics later and explain why this is a big deal.

But we are getting close!

 

Heh. You've got the hard part of building a 3D printer out of the way (by having the CNC mill), the rest is ordering parts and attention to detail, and from your work, that's not an issue.

 

The 50mm Z movement is a little limiting, but you can still print a lot stuff. And later on, if you decide to go further with 3D printing, you can reuse the extruder, hot end, and heated bed on to build an open-source machine like the Mendel that I built, so you don't lose the money that you spent on those parts.

 

In 3D printer news, the printer is all the way done with commissioning and is ready to print, apart from a minor software issue that I have contacted support about. But everything responds to the software as it is supposed to! Printing will come very soon HAHAHA!!!

Seriously, it has been a long hard road to get here. I'm hyper excited and have high hopes that I will be printing turrets tomorrow after support gets back to me!

I even extruded several little loops of plastic to prove that the extruder works

 

We're all waiting to hear how it goes

 

Heard back from Ian in Support (fast response!), and the default version of the slicing program is compiled for a 64-bit machine. I just need to download the 32-bit version and I should be golden.
I may be feeling sick today.

 

IT'S PRINTING!! IT'S PRINTING!!! PICS IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR OF THREE CYLINDERS (TEST SHAPES, DON'T'CHA'KNOW!).

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!!

 

Woohoo! Here's a shot of the printer as it began the three test shapes:

This is the finished product, below...The lower left is a hollow cylinder, no top nor bottom. Pretty! The lower right is hollow, but has a top on it, which tests how well the printer can extrude into thin air (really hard to do). I set the machine for 3 solid flat layers on top, and the first layers was pretty droopy but much better than I predicted. The second was able to get some support from the first, and was better, and the third layer (the top, better yet. 4 layers would've done it great. The top cylinder has a solid top and bottom (3 layers), but has a 20% infill pattern, basically a crosshatch of straight lines on each level, which totally supports the top and also reinforces the walls to be almost as strong as a solid cylinder, but using WAY less plastic filament.

Now to see what else I can do So insanely insanely happy at this moment, it's been months of work/waiting/suffering and now it works

 

Just about every weekend. If you let me know Saturday or Sunday of a given weekend, we can schedule something. Brian is camping this weekend, but I'll be busy installing 3D printed Barbettes on Malaya Maybe a superstructure. We shall see; I'm still getting the finer points of designing for the printer down pat

I just finished printing a 3" long plastic cat Organic shapes very tricky. But it's cute.

 

Tonight I will be printing the barbettes for Malaya. The two short ones are just rings, really, but the two tall ones have a bunch of ventilator ducts on them, and the front is different from the rear. Not that anyone will notice But I'll know

I will be reworking my Malaya/QE 1943 superstructure to make it in a few pieces and ensure adequate support for decks and things. But now that the printer is working, expect pictures on a regular basis. This is going to be awesome.