3D Printing Blog
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Time for yet another upgrade for our faithful MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer, this time we are going to be upgrading the plastic filament drive mechanism of the extruder with a better all metal version from Fabberworld. The filament drive upgrade comes as a full kit containing all precisely CNC machined parts from aluminum that will replace the plastic parts, along with stainless steel screws, replacement bearing, spring and even a pulley gear for the motor. The kit is designed for Replicator 2 3D printers that have a total thickness of the plastic parts of 20mm as there are models of the printer with slimmer 15mm parts, but we have figured out an easy way to install it even on these. We are going to get back to that in a moment however. There is also a version of the upgrade available for MakerBot Replicator 2X 3D printer where you essentially get two kits – a left and right one for each of the motors of the dual extruder 3D printer.
Probably some of you will ask why we would want to upgrade the standard plastic parts with aluminum ones, the answer is simple – plastic wears off easily, it breaks and it does not handle that well a lot of heat. The standard plastic parts are from injection molded ABS plastic that is pretty durable and resistant to high temperature, but over time it can start to wear off from abrasive filaments and to deform or even break from the constant high temperatures around it. Back on the metal upgrade kit, it not only replaces the plastic parts, but also comes with some improvements that help you get more consistent and problem free prints and these actually do seem to work well. On the top “lever” where the filament goes in there is a wider opening to allow the PTFE tube to slide in and make the filament slide in easily when you load it into the extruder, though if you are not using the Teflon filament guide tube this can actually make it a bit harder to load filament. The included MK7 pulley that replaces the standard one has a smaller gap where the filament goes through that is more suitable for the 1.75mm filament that the MakerBot Replicator 2 uses. The standard pulley that our printer came up with seems to be more suitable for 3mm filaments than the 1.75mm one that we are actually using, so after the upgrade you should also get more contact surface and force pulling the filament through the nozzle and thus in theory less problems with filament jams.
Now, how to install the filament drive upgrade for the extruder of MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printers that come with 15mm thickness of the plastic parts. We have figured out a way to do everything as easy as with 20mm models, all you would need are two 5mm spacers to bring the motor back the needed extra space. The only thing that you would need to remove is the fan grill in front of the cooling fan of the extruder and then the two screws holding everything in place will be long enough to accommodate the 5mm spacers (you can use two 2.5mm ones or a different combination if you do not have a single 5mm ones). The cooling fan blades are small and if you do everything with a bit of extra caution around the extruder while the printer is operating you should not have trouble even with the fan grill missing. Alternatively you can look for screws with extra 5mm length and keep the full build with the fan grill, but finding only two 5mm spacers should be easier and you can probably build them with existing smaller spacers that you may have lying around.
For the price that the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer sells one would expect to get a 3D printer that is well built and very durable with no problems while printing, but our experience has shown that after you get the device you still need to do some upgrading and tuning as you go. One of the good upgrades that you might want to do in order to have less problems on the long term with issues working with the 3D printer is the filament drive upgrade of the extruder, though it is not the only one. Do note however that some of the upgrades, including this one are not as easy to be performed by people that are new to 3D printing and are not familiar with their 3D printers as it requires to disassemble the extruder and then assemble it again with the new parts installed.
– Visit the product page of the Makerbot Replicator 2 Extruder Filament Drive Upgrade…
When talking about an accessible 3D printers using SLA printing technology the name Formlabs often comes first in mind and the company has just introduced their new model – the Form 2. The new model comes with a 40% larger build volume, touch-screen controls, and Wi-Fi and Ethernet LAN connectivity allowing for even better desktop stereolithography 3D printing. The new model comes with new integrated resin system that automatically dispenses resin allowing for bigger prints, less mess, and longer tank life. A new peel mechanism and heated resin tank create a reliable print process for large, solid parts and intricate details. The new model comes with 50% more powerful laser in the form of a 250mW precision laser guided by custom-built galvanometers, delivering bigger prints with better detail.
The new model also comes with new resin cartridges that have RFID tags in order for the printer to track the exact level of resin left and properly use the auto refilling system. There however will be a special Open Mode that will allow you to print using 3rd party resins, but for these you will have to manually refill the tank with resin. The price of the new Formlabs Form 2 3D printer starts at €3299 Euro excluding VAT for Europe or $4199 USD for USA. The prices of the resins and additional accessories for the new Form 2 SLA 3D printer start at the same levels as the ones for the previous Form 1 and Form 1+ models.
Formlabs Form 2 Technical Specifications:
– Printer Dimensions: 35 × 33 × 52 cm / 13.5 × 13 × 20.5 in
– Printer Weight: 13 kg / 28.5 lbs
– Operating Temperature: Auto-heats to 35° C / Auto-heats to 95° F
– Power Requirements: 65 W, 100–240 V, 1.5 A 50/60 Hz
– Laser Specifications: 405nm violet laser, 250mW laser
– Connectivity: Wifi, Ethernet and USB
– Printer control: Interactive Touch-screen with Push-button
– Technology: Stereolithography (SLA)
– Peel Mechanism: Sliding Peel Process with wiper
– Resin Fill System: Automated
– Build Volume: 145 × 145 × 175 mm / 5.7 × 5.7 × 6.9 in
– Layer Thickness: 25, 50, 100, 200 microns / 0.001, 0.002, 0.004, 0.008 inches
– Laser Spot Size: 140 microns / 0.0055 inches
– Supports: Auto-Generated, Easily Removable
– Resin cartridges: 1L cartridges
– For more information about the new Formlabs Form 2 SLA 3D Printer…
Trying out the Magigoo 3D Printing Adhesive
22 Sep2015
We’ve received a sample of the Magigoo 3D printing adhesive and were eager to try it out. Magigoo is supposed to work with both ABS and PLA materials as well as others and has been specifically designed to keep the 3D print firmly stuck to the bed while printing thus resolving the “first layer not sticking” problem. The idea of this product is to help the 3D printed part to stick while the build plate is hot and to allow the easily removed when the build plate gets cold. The 3D printing adhesive is intended to be used on surfaces such as glass or Kapton tape for example that usually do have some trouble with prints sticking to them well if you do not have a heated build plate. Magigoo is originally designed to be used with heated build plates, but it will also work on cold beds, though the effect might not be not be as good when you have a HBP available. We have tested it with a glass build plate and with glass with BuildTak on top of it with both cold and hot build plate using PLA and ABS filaments and we do plan to continue with ome more exotic filaments as well. Before starting the test we were actually most interested in the effect of Magigoo on BuildTak as this is so far the surface we have found to work best for our 3D printing needs.
The Magigoo 3D printing adhesive is very easily applied and you need to wait a bit for it to dry out on the surface before you start printing, if you are using a heated build plate it can dry even faster than on cold bed. On glass it works great with both PLA and ABS, even printing multiple times without reapplying more Magigoo after each print and you still get good results. The 3D printing adhesive works great for PLA on cold build plate – sticks well and is easily removed, but using ABS on cold plate still leads to warping of our test prints, although the prints have a bit less warping. The temperatures we used for the heated build platform was 50 degrees Celsius for PLA and 100C for ABS and with these settings Magigoo worked great – the printed parts stick very well and are then very easy to be removed.
With BuildTak covering the glass surface we have experienced interesting results. Magigoo works well in general, but not as good on glass. When we try to remove the 3D printed model it detaches with all of the Magigoo that was applied on the BuildTak surface and is not so easily removed as from glass, but it is still easier to remove as compared to when using BuildTak without Magigoo. Still the good thing is that using Magigoo on BuildTak still helps a bit to make removal easier and to reduce the wear level of the surface, one of the biggest issues it has due to the too good sticking properties that the BuildTak has.
In short, we are happy with the results that the Magigoo 3D printing adhesive provides in helping 3D printed parts to stick better on surfaces such as glass where they may have trouble sticking well on and then making it easier to remove the finalized parts from the build plate. If you are using BuildTak as a print surface you already should have great adhesion, so Magigoo won’t help in that, and due to the good adhesion the removal of 3D printed parts from BuildTak even with Magigoo is still not that easy as when using glass. The greatest problem we still have with BuildTak surfaces is that they wear off and can be easily damaged while trying to remove larger objects that stick too well on the surface and thus you end up having to buy more often new build surfaces. So if you are using BuildTak, the Magigoo is probably not going to be very useful for you, but if you use glass or Kapton tape then the 3D printing adhesive might be a great addition to your 3D printing tools, making your life easier.
Magigoo is already available for order and you can purchase an applicator bottle containing the 3D printing adhesive that should last for over 100 prints for a price of 15 Euro without VAT and get it shipped Worldwide to you for additional 5 Euro. There is also an option for a more expensive express shipping within the European Union available.
– For more details about the newly released Magigoo 3D printing adhesive…