Back in February of this year my dear partner purchased a used Solidoodle 4 3D printer and a couple of rolls of filament - and so began the learning curve to getting good results from a "cheap" 3d printer.
The first attempts at printing things were interesting to say the least. I like to think we did pretty well for not knowing much about the technology aside from a little knowledge gleaned from online forums. But reading about something, and actually getting "hands on" with it are to very different things. You can spend hours researching and reading and think you understand, but you really don't until you can physically touch these things, hear their song, and be mesmerized by their dance. Those early prints were a lot of fun, but not very good. Kind of globby, wobbly, and terribly over extruded, we were excited none the less. Our first honest to goodness 3d prints! But what those first attempts really did was to fuel a fire for more knowledge and the quest for the "perfect print". I joined a forum geared specifically towards Solidoodle printers and began researching and reading voraciously. I asked questions about things that were not clear enough to me and soaked up every last drop of knowledge I could find about my new found obsession (yes, it really is an obsession, LOL) I began tinkering with things, adjusting the belts, lubricating pulleys and rods, always trying to improve my little 3d prints. I downloaded a couple of free 3d modeling programs so I could begin creating my own things to print. Another learning curve to master - which I have yet to do fully. I am fairly good at creating the things that I want to but I know there are probably better ways of doing things, and a few tools that I have not learned how to use yet. We have come a long way since February and those first few prints. It has been one heck of a journey that I don't think will ever truly end. We now have 4 working printers, one "project" printer, and one that has ended up as parts only (damaged in shipping). Our 1st printer has undergone some major changes and is the favorite. Dubbed "#1", it is the workhorse of the bunch, is the most reliable and the most accurate. Our prints have improved dramatically from those early days after learning how to properly calibrate the mechanics of the printer, as well as calibrating for the filament being used. But these are topics for different posts. It is true that I have a learned a lot about 3d printing in general, and my printers specifically, but there is so much more to learn, to try, to model and to print! Time to go melt plastic! =) |
AuthorA "Jack of all trades, master of none", I have dabbled in a lot of different things, but none have held my interest like these darn 3d printers do. Archives
May 2016
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