'hi-tech' upgrades

[Furqueron]

Warning pre-morning coffee humor may be involved

While staying up to all hours of the moring printing several hundred small parts for my son's model over the last couple of weeks came up with these Solus Accesories (neither endorsed nor sanctioned by Solus/Reify or Junction 3D nor the Surgeon General for that matter).

A rather stylish 'carport' (drip-port?) for the printer/projector and as an extension to that a E.O.B.D.S.D. (excessive-out-of-bounds-drippage-stoppage device..e.g. the paper towel). The E.O.B.D.S. will be upgraded upon next successful consumption of Hormel sliced ham.

The second picture is a S.A.F.R. (stupid a$$ filter reminder). Does two things...intentionally sticks up and curves to interfere with lid closure pathway to prevent dumb-a$$ operator from forgetting to remove the filter. Also, as an added benefit, when printing at 25xy eases removal of said filter by folks with larger fingers.

Consider them both patent-pending

Next project...securing this little begger down firmly to the work surface...think angle brackets and some big-a$$ screws so that'll be a S.T..B.P.D.H. (Solus tip-back-preverter-do-hickies...ROFL...just tried to pronounce that acronym..totally unplanned) for sleepy operators who push back on the cover without holding down the front of the printer.... road trip to Home Despot coming up!!

Now for more caffeine!

Jesse

[mongerdesigns]

Umm....The build plate has to hang in the other direction so that the resin drips into the vat

[Furqueron]

Yeah, that's a bit of an inside joke. We (my son and I) have an ongoing debate about which position yields faster/better drippage. tilted to one corner at a 45 (as shown) or hanging at a flat 45 underneath, as intended.

Yes, stop watches have been involved.

Life with a teenager.

[reify]

If you use one hand on the lid (thumb at the front and fingers on the back) to open the lid it won't tip.

I think it's probably a better idea to let the platform drip into the vat, even if it takes a bit longer.

I do like the S.A.F.R idea.

What is that next to the projector? A baby monitor?

[Furqueron]

The "drip" debate will go on in our house for quite some time, comes from the Scottish side of the family FWIW, my wallet is a bit lighter as I lost the drip-stopwatch timing challenge, three times in a row.

As for tipping, that's usually the method we do, BUT, all you have to do is forget once and then its back through the focusing exercise just to be sure. So while doing the cleanup yesterday after the resin decided to visit the insides of the printer, I had an excuse to look at the undersides of the printer. I'll be making some brackets to fasten underneath the footpads..eg find longer screws etc. Our printer (as of today to be printers plural) sit on a purpose made bench/table. While its inside a common metal shelving unit (space in shop issue) it is completed isolated from the shelving unit. Eg. lower two shelves in shelving unit are cut back so as not to touch. Base legs extend to floor..made of 2x6s and topped with 2x12s lengthwise. On top of the 2x12s is a "sacrificial 3/4" MDF that has been primed to help with lighting. Whole thing weighs about 100lbs give or take. Adjustable legs and adjustable screws to level the entire top surface. Top surface (2x12+mdf) is isolated via rubber bushings. You can stomp the wooden floor (on top of concrete) bump into the shelf, bang on the walls...water in a glass on the bench-top...no move. Other than the leveling for the top its a basic design we use all over the shop. Very functional and relatively inexpensive. We also use a similar design but on wheels and with a built-in exhaust fan for a casting bench. Putting it inside the shelf unit has some benefits as there happens to be an upper shelf about 5" tall that's perfect for storing things like pec pads, extra film, lenses, etc. Overkill...perhaps

Some shots below, excuse the state of the room (usually its worse!)...in the middle of trying to finish his entry for 3 upcoming conventions/contests.

Yes, its a baby monitor. Bought it to be able to watch models while traveling (800-1200 miles) for conventions while the models are back in the camper shell. Since we work across three different rooms (wood/metal shop otherwise known by some as a "garage", the main workshop and a room we temporarily annexed from the wife while doing the current build). Its the only reasonably priced monitor I could find that was 1) non-lan based 2) reasonably priced 3) sends video continually without timing out or activated by movement. Comes in handy for monitoring print status as well. Can have up to 4 cameras on it. Best-Buy-Jesse Approved (FWIW).

Jesse

[Furqueron]

P.S. on the drip thing...I'm thinking of a Drip-Debate-Stopper-Non-Articulated-Holder-Thingamabob (D.D.S.N.A.H.T)...hmmm..interesting phonetics...anyways...thinking to get a light tight sealable container...build a separate stand and let the build table drip while entirely off the printer. 2nd build table arrived yesterday to pursue this when I have time after next 2 contests. Problem is turnaround time. When we run things (castings and now prints) it pretty much goes non-stop. Speed is everything due to our limited (namely my son's) time in the shop what with school and all.

For example the printer (prior to yesterday) was running for 8-12 hours straight, I was surprised how hot the build table was getting towards the end. Not sure how good this is for the resin in the tank either. Learning as we go by "experiencing" , so we'll do some "stupid" things that push the boundaries...but its how our work environment is.

The second printer won't remove much of this as its intended to be setup for dedicated larger resolution...changing setup while not difficult...is a bother. Will probably mount down the projectors to the top as well...some kind of aluminum sliding extrusion. Yeah, the plate is "ok"..but...to get 42 sized on the build table have to slightly kant the printer and have it at a weird three-legged angle. This means one of the holes on the plate is not lining up and snapping in place. This not an issue for 25...just 42. There's probably some ultimate fix for that or we're doing something wrong...(our benchtop is level to .1 degrees per two different electronic levels) or there's a variance in the projects somewhere. Anyways that a whole other topic for another thread after June 18.

Back to the shop and crunch time

Jesse

[Jewelermdt]

I have mine set up in a corner at back of store next to a steel door. I have a usb fan that I run to keep things cool. It came with an adapter to plug into a wall outlet. Believe I got it at Target.

[Furqueron]

I've got a small electric fan (plenty of outlets next where my printer is) that I use to blow soldering fumes out of my face. Moved it over once, but it was vibrating too much for my liking having it on the table. Now you got me thinking to look back into that. Will probably try to find another one like it and mount it on rear wall blowing out into the room.

[reify]

How do you like the print quality of our orange resin?

[Furqueron]

Had a longish reply and then hit the wrong key and lost it...sigh...getting late.

Liking it so far...do have some odds and ends to run by ya'll...but too tired to retype it now.

Anyways here's some photos.

Pardon the quality...I get the hand-me-down iphones from my sons. I just got upgraded from a 3GS to a 5S yay!

These are from the first printer we bought. Nothing that pushes limits yet. Just some quick parts to get his current model done. Bear in mind we're total nubes to 3D printing. Things are printed straight up not at an angle..still learning supports...so you'll notice a few sags, but hey we're learning! All parts except spade/hinge were done at 25xyz. Spade/hinge done at 42 xyz if I grabbed the right two.

Emil, I think I RCA'd the cause of the leak...ironically its a double failure based with its roots in the comment I made the other day about having to reboot the PC because CW runs out of memory...if you haven't guessed already...you're gonna love it when I tell ya. Lets just say an automated shutter would have prevented it. I think we'll be building one shortly to prevent this in the future.

And thanks for all the help Emil, much appreciated! And for the "baby gift"...wouldn't have RCA'd the problem if I hadn't used it, actually probably saved me from same situation this machine!!