The Way of the 3D Printer

It's not some kind of philosophy. It's more like a continual series of headdesk moments with an occasional facepalm for good measure. Welcome to the future?

I did get the replacement board for my first printer I was upgrading. Note - it may have been as simple as a crossed wire but I wasn't going to take it apart again to find out. And I had already put the new sticker on it with the board serial number. So there.

I got it all connected again and the cables neatly wrapped. Which is required for putting it all back together. There was some cursing but not much since I've done this way too many times now.

I dragged it into the office where I put it on the stand where it will live.

Problem 1

The stands are too close together. I'm using TV carts without the wheels so they're low and small but still large enough for the printers and some work space. On top of that is neoprene shelf liner. And on top of that are concrete paving stones. The combination of concrete and neoprene is to reduce noise and vibration. It works.

I placed the pavers so they're on all the solid edges of the cart shells. That way the concrete is supported and vibrations are transmitted down the boards rather that resonating in the open space. Mostly I did it for the support of the solid edges. Concrete is heavy and these things are pressboard.

I can deal with it for the moment but I'll have to move them farther apart. That will take up more room than I wanted but only a few inches. Measure twice, do whatever once I guess.

Problem 2

I started up the self test on the upgrade (known as The 3D Printer, as opposed to The Other 3D Printer) and this time the fan spun. Yay! But it has the same problem as the other one with finding the X axis end stop. That's the sideways one. The new, better fan that keeps the heater from getting too hot is wider than the original and that leaves a gap between the body and the switch.

I had printed a shim for the other one. It worked fine. I can print a shim for this one. It will work fine. Except that The Other 3D Printer is into a long print job and will be working on it for another twenty one hours.

Therefore my adventures with the printer upgrade are at an end for the evening.

Summary

One more day won't hurt. It's been a while anyway. And I can calibrate it up tomorrow after I get that shim glued in place. There's more to do once it goes through the self test and I still haven't quite figured out how to get the print server to store files where I want them rather than where it thinks they should go.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. 3D printers are not plug and play. They're not for people who can't stand to tinker with things and won't accept that sometimes there's going to be delays and problems. Patience is required when caring for and feeding the beasts.

Once they're both in place I'll get a picture to share. The light and camera setup won't be in place but at least you can see these things that I'm going on about.