This includes mainboard microcontroller the thingomatic uses as arduino mega, stepper motor controllers, stepper motors, power supply, end stop sensors, extruder controller, cables etc. If you have been by the lab in the last two months, you may have noticed the addition of a new 3d printer. If your vref is too low, your stepper will not have enough torque and this will cause skipped steps. J tech photonics partnered with one of the best 3d printer manufacturers to bring you the felix 3. After playing around with commercial machines like makerbots cupcake and thingomatic, it hit me that i could make my own printer and 3d printer extruder for free, or very near it.
Calibrate your stepper driver boards the thing o matic calibration stage has a number of important features, not the least of which are instructions how to use a multimeter to tune the ref settings of your stepper driver boards. Depending on where you are located in the world, you may need to switch the voltage setting on you power supply. Now save the calibration coordinates in the software. Over the past few weeks ive printed the gears and plate from theruttmeisters colosogear mk5 extruder thing and flatted the shaft on a moderately husky but not hyperthyroid nema 17 stepper motor. The only way to determine the accuracy that a particular 3d printer delivers for a certain 3d printed part is to print the part, scan it and compare the scan to the original digital model. If youve skipped adjusting the pots on your thing o matics stepper motor drivers, now is the time to correct that. Unless otherwise noted, i didnt come up with any of these upgrades. Retrofitment, opensourcing, and characterisation of a. In fact, its very difficult to say with absolute certainty that any given 3d printer model delivers a certain final accuracy, because, as you will learn.
Sailfish began as enhanced control software for makerbot print ers, incorporating. Testing sailfish firmware and new extruder on thingomatic. Slic3r configuration for makerbot thingomatic github. This video shows of my extruder configuration, i didnt. On show at ces 2011, it is a desktop 3d printer that comes in. If you dont have an earlier version, you can download makerbot 3. The makerbot thingomatic is supported by makerbot desktop version 3.
Thingomatic, cupcake cnc, reprap machine, or generic cnc machine. How to mount an extruder on a thingomatic this isnt easy. A 3d printer is composed of a 3 axis movement system, the 3 axis are controlled by stepper motors. Makerbots thingomatic pictured above right is an open source 3d printer from makerbot industries. Its a somewhat souped up makerbot thingomatic printer. Ive had my makerbot thingomatic working for about a month, and i have to assume it only gets cooler from here. If youre a hardcore diyer, or your technical dablings tend to involve small, intricate parts required of custom robotics, circuitry, metalwoodworking etc. The thing o matic is open source, and a little cheaper and can do colored parts but the colors are horrible and its made in the us.
A basic tutorial on how to calibrate your bot using replicatorg 0025. M01 move the build platform until the nozzle lies in the center, then turn the threaded rod until the nozzle just touches the surface without pressing into it. The generation 4 stepper drivers have four adjustable potentiometers labeled pfd, rc1, ref, and. The point regarding the extruder step rate is vital. One printer to rule them all or makerbot 3d printer now alive. This repository holds documentation and settings for my modified thingomatic printer. With a calibrated slicing profile and measured filament diameter, very smooth top surfaces. It prints with 3mm abs plastic filament, at a layer height of 0. Properly tuned vref is the key to accurate stepper calibration. Calibrate your 3d printer to print parts to fit by whitemousegary. If youve skipped adjusting the pots on your thingomatics stepper motor. Slic3r is free software, developed by alessandro ranellucci with the help of several contributors and a wonderful community. You should make sure it is in the correct position before turning your machine on. Your thing o matic is already up and running, but you want to bring the print quality to the next level.
Mbi improved things relative to the rep 1 with the rep 2 by going with 10mm z rods. If you have more technical questions about using makerware with a makerbot thing o matic, check out the documentation page here. Makerbot support calibrating gcode in replicatorg 0025 youtube. I figure i can keep the cupcake rocking a unicorn pen plotter, use my automated. Go even further in the future by maxing out your tom. Theres really no doubt in my mind ill be springing for a replicator with dual extrusion. The thing o matic calibration stage has a number of important features, not the least of which are instructions how to use a multimeter to tune the ref settings of your stepper driver boards.
The 4 multing bolts for the extruder should not be level and point to the back of the machine. The nema 17 stepper motor shown here, seems to be the diy 3d printer industrys favorite. I had no idea you could do that with the rumba and drivers. As you may know, ive got a makerbot cupcake named bender and a makerbot thingomatic named flexo.
Makerbot thingomatic thingomatic 3d printer w mk8 extruder printing prettysmallthings chair duration. For a description of the toolhead offsets and how to calibrate them, see. Extruder is calibrated in the firmware with the correct steps per mm of filament. I can say the biggest issues i experienced while working with the old makerbot was the tendency of the plastic to ooze from the nozzle despite the fact that the extruder had been turned off, and the tendency for the plastic to take about half a second to start extruding after the extruder had been turned on. Thingomatic calibration makerbot industries the makerbot wiki. Should you overlook this stage, your stepper motors will run using undesired settings you may notice loud struggling noise or other sounds that at. This additional display space is available on the replicator 2 as it only has one heater the extruder to display. Register your device, search our online guides, faqs, videos, and troubleshooting tips, or open a case with our support agents. Just received a makerbot thingomatic with a stepstruder mk6 hot end.
The thingomatic calibration stage has a number of important features, not the least of which are. The ultimate guide to understanding 3d printer accuracy. Makerbot industries, llc is an american desktop 3d printer manufacturer company headquartered in new york city. The thingomatic acceleration stats are not shown as they require computation time which is in shorter supply on the replicators owing to their increased microstepping. When the open source drafts come out, i will definitely just build this myself and use the electronics from my current makerbot via extension wires. The slic3r project has been under active and massive development. I believe i have sort of a handle on the drive now and in 20mm test box prints i did have the fans turned off as i never had or needed them on my thingomatic that still runs actually but prints poorly hence the purchase of the dual. Fully automatic with the automated build platform it will keep printing and printing. I started trying a print of the 20mm calibration box under the file examples menu but get some reported issues about steps being too fast. The thingomatic is based on steppers all driven at 18th. Put simply, the makerbot thingomatic is a thing you can make to make your own things automatically. This turns your makerbot into a little factory that sits on your desktop. Thingomatic by makerbot industries, brooklyn, ny usa. The stepper motor for the hot end also isnt moving.
Need help calibrating dual e3d online 3d printing forum. Thingomatics and cupcakes with stepper motors from before may 2011 are especially vulnerable to this issue. The thingomatic calibration stage has a number of important features, not the least of which are instructions how to use a multimeter to tune the ref settings of your stepper driver boards. Clarification for wire routing, hookup and stepper calibration testing clarification on testing various elements in the tom setup and calibration consolidated notes on software configuration and calibration modifications make your makerbot better. As long as your software can initialize the linear travel with endstop switches, mechanical or optical, then it will know at all times where along the axis it was left. It was followed by the thingomatic which fixed many of the problems associated with the cupcake cnc. So, off i headed down the long and winding road to design and build a small 3d printer or as my son likes to call it, the toy machine.
Some simple modifications that will make your bot easier to use and maintain. This device grants us the ability to print objects using abs plastic think lego brick material or pla a green alternative made from renewable material. With the retrofitment being based on the thingomatic from makerbot, many necessary calibrations were required. There is also an extruder to lay the hot plastic and a heated plate to keep the first layer hot in order to be able to extract the object.
Followup on 3d printer from scavenged dc motor encoders blog. Better instructions mean better prints, so a simple software upgrade makes all the difference in the world. Disable the stepper motor controls turn manually the z axis screw so that the extruder head touches the platform but without pressing close control panel window. As of april 2016, makerbot has sold over 100,000 desktop 3d printers. Your thingomatic is already up and running, but you want to bring the print quality to the next level. Makerbot thing o matic quick start guide important. As long as your software can initialize the linear travel with endstop switches, mechanical or optical, then it will know at. This faint rippling may be caused by clipping of the sinusoidal control signals to the stepper motors. Correction, one motorized z rod and two smooth guide rods. In fact, more than 90% of experts agree that 3d printing software has the greatest impact on print. Join the discussion on github and help us make it better. Well have it back up and running as soon as possible. Unfortunately, later models suffer as well, as evidenced by the model shown in figure 5.
The thingomatic has been out long enough that there are now several upgrades out. My 2011 thingomatic prints better than my 2012 replicator 1 solely because of that cantilevered platform used in the rep 1 design. I have sailfish on my thing o matic and no matter what i change the filament. Too much will result in blobs and other imperfections in the print. Print real objects with the makerbot thingomatic 3d printer duration. You can, of course, build these yourself, but in the case of highly available parts such as the open source arduino, its far more cost effective to buy. The automated build platform is truly a revolution in 3d printing. Replicator g which allows you to manipulate, scale and create build code from stl format. Vref is merely the voltage regulated from your stepper driver to your stepper motor. Follow these tips, and you will be there in no time. While tearing the thingomatic down to add thermal switches to the extruder head, i converted the mk5 filament drive into a stepper extruder. This is a collection of the best and most important upgrades for your tom to improve its performance and keep it running well.
It translates 3d models into instructions your printer understands. Slic3r expects that the machine will accurately produce a set amount of filament when told to do so. It allows you to have a print queue where your machine will clear the build surface between builds and print objects one after another. It was founded in january 2009 by bre pettis, adam mayer, and zach hoeken smith to build on the early progress of the reprap project. Thats what ff did when they introduced their metal z platform. Ok these are 2 candidates for fairly affordable 3d printers maker bot thing o matic vs pp3dp up. It is in all ways superior to its predecessor which won the prestigious make magazine surprise hit award of 2014.