Author Topic: PRUSA 3D Printer  (Read 109 times)

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Online Caleb

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PRUSA 3D Printer
« on: March 16, 2021, 06:45:02 am »
I'm in the process of assembling a PRUSA 3D printer kit.  Lots of little bits to put together, but it seems to be going well.  It should be done by Wednesday.

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Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2021, 07:19:31 am »
Does it need to be connected to a pc? What software(s) are you using to generate the files?
Does it print in just one material ?

Is this the one you have?


Cant wait to see it in action.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2021, 03:44:49 pm by CG »

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2021, 03:10:45 pm »
It looks like the one on the right in that thumbnail photo.
It has a slot for an SD card so I think you just load the files onto that and it takes over from there.
I have a SolidWorks CAD seat so I plan to be generating files from that.  I just export the files as a .stl and that gets used by a slicer program to generate the gcode to run the printer.  At least, that is how it worked with my last one; I think this is the same.
It will only print in one color.  But unlike my last printer, this one has a heated bed so the prints should come out flatter and I think I can print with ABS and some other plastics.
I'll take a photo of it once it is all put together.  The 3 axes are all finished.  Now I'm putting together the electrical part.  That should go faster.  I'm on page 105 of 130 pages of instructions.

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2021, 09:18:44 am »
I finished it last night.  Now it is time for pre-flight checks and a test print (provided the checks go okay).  The flashlight was for finding those little fasteners that routinely dropped to the floor.

« Last Edit: March 18, 2021, 09:22:32 am by Caleb »

Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2021, 09:33:13 am »
Looking good.
How is the bed? Is it warped like the video said?

Is your old 3D printer broken?

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2021, 11:57:32 am »
My first print!  I did not notice any warp in the bed.  It checks the z-axis height in about 9 places before it prints and then the software corrects for a certain amount of warpage.
The other printer kept shutting down for some reason.  I couldn't locate the problem so I scrapped it out.  I needed the extra build volume anyway.  Maybe I'll start 3-D printing VAWTS. :-)




Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2021, 12:29:49 pm »
Awesome.

I zoomed in on your whistle and couldn't see any lines. The resolution looks great!
Was it easy to get off the bed?

Did your old printer have manufacturer support, for help in fixing it?

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2021, 12:36:35 pm »
It just popped right off the bed.  It's a metal sheet that you can flex a bit.
There may have been support for the old one.  But I didn't want to bother.  It had served for a long time and it was time for an upgrade.

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2021, 11:06:29 am »
I thought I'd print a small VAWT.  This one is 200mm diameter x 200mm tall.  The airfoil is a NACA2420 with a 54mm chord set 4 degrees inboard (pivoting around the 50% chord point).  The shaft will be a 1/4" steel rod with ball bearings on the ends, and there are pockets for eight 3/4" x 1/2" x 1/8" neo magnets for a generator.  I don't even know if it will spin, but it should be fun.  I'm printing it in two parts (top half and bottom half) to avoid lots of support material.  There will be pockets for wooden dowels to help join the halves together.  Each half is a 13 hour print, so this may take a while.




« Last Edit: March 21, 2021, 10:51:23 am by Caleb »

Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2021, 12:22:59 pm »
It looks like 10 pieces to snap together.
What is your design 3d software?
« Last Edit: March 19, 2021, 12:24:30 pm by CG »

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2021, 12:57:12 pm »
I'm using SolidWorks.  It is two pieces.  I wanted to make it in one piece, but that would be well over a day of printing and a boat load of support material.  I'm not quite ready to go there yet.  I started with a revolved section in the middle, then added an arm with an airfoil like cross section.  I placed the wing where I wanted it and then lofted between the arm profile and the wing profile.  Then I did a circular array to make it into three wings.  I should have turned the edge visibility off.

The solidity is quite high at 0.8, but I figured the airfoils needed some chord to act like wings and the higher solidity might be better for a smaller turbine.  My thought was to make a kit, or have some downloadable files.  Then make a booklet talking about how VAWTs work etc.  Maybe the VAWT could charge a supercapacitor and light an LED or something like that.  The base would have slots for the coil, a small box for electronics, and an adapter so it could be mounted on some electrical conduit.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2021, 10:53:15 am by Caleb »

Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2021, 01:13:06 pm »
It's only two pieces? What are all the seams I see? Looks a bottom, top, 6 corners and three blades from the pictures.

Did you design it or was it a downloaded design?

I've wanted to try this but the 3d cad seemed like a long learning curve. And I checked solidworks price. WOW!!!
« Last Edit: March 19, 2021, 01:26:15 pm by CG »

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2021, 01:36:56 pm »
Here are the two pieces with the tangent lines removed.  I just noticed there is something funky going on with loft on the bottom pieced.  Oh well, hopefully it won't be serious.


« Last Edit: March 21, 2021, 10:53:50 am by Caleb »

Offline CG

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2021, 03:29:34 pm »
Looking good.

The  price tag of over $1000 for Solid Works is out of my budget though.

Online Caleb

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Re: PRUSA 3D Printer
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2021, 03:53:22 pm »
I got it for business purposes.  Hopefully I can make it pay for itself.  :-)