Our direct jet drive system attaches to the mast, and also lays along the fuselage as we don’t have a prop duct so it can be attached down to the fuselage so its very supported and provides nearly 100% of mast height to fly, only lose 2.5" vs prop with duct and you lose 6-8", because of this Pro-PLA (APLA) is more than stong enough for our design, but obviously something more weather resistance will be used down the road.
Just found this neat resource about 3d printed threads:
I agree with @VeFoil about water-tight 3D prints being a PITA. I do think it is possible, we just need to learn the right interplay between the prints and o-ring and good pressure.
How are you feeling about your Prusa? I just finished building the MK3 kit this week and, after a little fussing with the calibration, am so far very happy with the output.
I have the Anycubic i3 Mega which is somewhat similar to the MK3 (as far as this is possible for the price).
I was surprised how well it printed out of the box: bolt together 2 modules with 8 screws, level the bed and done. The prints are really high quality. For 250€ it is great value. Only the PSU is from the very cheap China kind, I had to replace it after one week.
I did several test prints with the AppolloX ASA filament and it worked out great. I use a ghetto method of keeping the heat inside and moving air outside: a rescue blanket over the printer. Works nicely for 3€.
@Southernkiwico
Just been using the printer as out of the box with no modifications, except for using a 0.6mm nozzle for decreasing print time,.
just using the standard setting provided in CURA software for the I3 series.
had good experience with the printer for around 3 years.
I use a Vellemann K8200, here are my modifications:
8mm rod for z-axis, precision coupling direct to the stepper, stepper sits at top, z-axis hanging directly on the bearings of the stepper, no other bearing is used. Eliminated the z-wobble almost.
GT2 belts with 25 teeth. y-axis has a tensioner in the middle. Eliminated some artefacts from the stiffer 5mm belts, reduced ringing a little bit.
used a better hobbed wheel for the original extruder.
Titan Aero hotend with extruder. Original extruder has wearing issues, in the end the filament was not moving any more, because hot filament works its path upwards into the ptfe heat break, causing the ptfe to widen. In the end it is so wide, the filament stucks heavily ending in underextrusion and stop of function. Titan Aero is all metal, needs only 0.5mm retract, no oosing, very well defined extrusion, very precise.
Swapped the A4489 stepper drivers to TMC2208 with coolers. This change was a hammer. There is no ringing, no noise, no vibrations, very clear surfaces. It is running so smooth, i can see the very small z-wobble again. And it was super easy, no firmware update needed, just swap und run it. Ok, i had to swap 2 phase wires at each motor because direction was inverted, took 5 minutes.
Just switched material from PLA to PETG from renkforce. Very nice material, i print with 250°C/65°C. On the capton it sticks so hard, i damaged the capton foil.
So i decided to print on the glass directly. This was not sticking so well, warping happened also due to extreme geometry (prop) so i sanded the glass. First test showed it was working. Than i printed a fixture and after removing, oh my gosh:
The mirror does not resist the temperature difference I have experienced it Three times, so I decided to take a safety glass that resists a temperature of 200° but which on the other hand costs more expensive
I paid 14,4€ for 20x20cm oven glas. There are also other sources dedicated to 3DP, search borosilikat glas. Maybe i should make a better insulation for my heated bed, so i get higher temperatures, so i do not need a rough surface to make it stick when printing complex geometries.
It happened again, with so sold Borosilkate glas. It is astonishing, that some plastic printing can disturb the glas structure in such way. Meanwhile i had a “conventional” broken mirror, almost split into half. I have set the bed temp to 80°C by an external powersupply, forget all the previous descriptions, a laptop powersupply with 19V will service with 60% more power, no problem to reach the desired temperature any more. The FET on the board is very well dimensioned, so lets use it.
Hi Powerglider,
i can recommend to use a glue stick and to print the first layer in the right distance to the print bed - if it’s to near it sticks like a devil
Mike
