Well I finally did it bought my first 3D printer it should be here in July

[G+_Jeff Gros]

About logging into the page hosting the build instructions, I've never tried. But I'm assuming that there is a different set of username/password than the prusa site (because I think anyone can post). If you are trying to use the prusa site credentials, I don't think it will work. Perhaps that is your issue?

[G+_Rud Dog]

Jeff Gros Interesting that makes only the second online account in which I have encountered the situation you mention. I will go and create a second account for the assembly build. Thank you.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Well, here she sits completed and no error during software & hardware check.

 

Contacted support and waiting to hear back concerning my second of 2 books was in some other language other than English. Recommended I check out the online manual.

 

All the parts were found during the build that was a big plus and kudos to the people assembling the kits.

 

Now to the rough spot.

Been working on getting the PLA to stick to the bed. This is one fine point in need of excellent eyesight.

There is a chart showing what the PLA should look like when it is laid down but so far have not succeeded in being able to see the shape on the actual heat bed.

And to make matters worse it appears I need to make adjustments to the Z axis which only means the distance from the nozzle tip to the heat bed. The "worse" refers to the PLA sticking to the nozzle and it is proving tough to get it off. Waiting to hear what the approved method for carrying this out.

Without being able to clean the nozzle cannot run what they call

"First Layer Cal".

Still having fun playing with it and enjoyed the fact it had no problems with me having built it. Well so far as I know.

 

 

[G+_Rud Dog]

Well, the instructions had me so paranoid I was going to scratch the bed I errored on the side of money savings. Turns out I was being too timid with the Z-axis adjustment. I was setting around .030mm turns out setting it to about 1.0 mm did the trick.

[G+_Jeff Gros]

Glad you got it working! Great job! For hints on getting that first layer, see this video.

[G+_Jeff Gros]

Also, your Z offset setting seems fairly normal. My MK2 was around 0.6 mm, but my MK3 is more than 1.0mm. If you are too far away, you'll have problems with bed adhesion. On the other side, if you are too close, you'll get "elephant's foot". I error on the side of "too close", but it isn't the end of the world either way.

 

As long as it sticks to the bed, your sample prints will likely work flawlessly.

 

Once you start to print from thingiverse, you'll need to learn a bit more about configuration and slicer settings.

 

See these visual guides to help troubleshoot print issues as you play around (also shows you what elephant's foot is if you are unfamiliar):

 

simplify3d.com - Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide | Simplify3D Software

https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/3d-printer-troubleshooting-guide

https://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide

[G+_K Branch jr]

Rud Dog wow she so pretty (ok I need psychological help) why is this so enjoyable..

 

I started a print at 3am, before work .

 

Be very careful..

[G+_Rud Dog]

Kenneth Branch jr assembly all the way to printing my first item was reward all in it self. Now I am off to learn the slicer software. Was not aware till I looked at the contents of the SD card that this printer requires Gcode. Support informed me I needed to download Slicer.

Also not sure if Fusion 360 can output Gcode?

[G+_Jeff Gros]

Fusion 360 does not generate gcode. Fusion 360 makes 3D models (STL, STEP, etc).

 

You then feed this into a program called a slicer, which slices the 3D model into layers that a 3D printer can print. gcode is a text based language that contains instructions for the printer or cnc machine.

 

I use simplify3D (paid) for my slicer, but I hear good things about Prusa Control (free). I would start there.

 

After printing everything possible off the SD card of course.

[G+_Jeff Gros]

A correction. I just found out that Autodesk has an add on Slicer for fusion 360 from their app store. I didn't know that!

 

However, I still recommend the following:

1. Print everything from SD card.

2. Print things from thingiverse using prusa control (calibration cubes, 3d benchys, printer torture tests, little figurines, etc).

3. Once you are confident, print spare parts for your printer.

4. Make things using fusion 360 and print using prusa control.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Jeff Gros agreed on the testing with the models on the SD card. In fact, that is where I am as we speak. The Prusa badge printed nicely, the Batman emblem had some slight edge curling the whistle printed out again nicely. But the frog failed. It looks like the bed is uneven and I say that due to the print on one side was looking good then one of the footprints of the frog had lots of garbage.

Sending the photos to Prusa but will show one here.

Of course, I stopped the printer when I saw the fail.

 

 

[G+_Jeff Gros]

The image above is the analinda dragon. It's a flower vase, you put a flower in the mount and/or tail. A problem that I've had when doing this print was the feet coming undone (which is what yours looks like). This is most likely an adhesion issue more than anything. Since you are printing with PLA, you shouldn't need anything special to help with adhesion (other than making sure you don't have finger prints on the bed, wipe with +90% isopropyl). Your Z offset might be too high.

 

Also, this isn't the standard prusa black or orange. I would recommend sticking with their stuff when using their models until you feel comfortable with your settings (pinda probe height, z offset, etc). Now is the time to sit and watch it do the first layers to make sure everything is working correctly.

 

The mesh bed leveling should be taking care of all but the most severe leveling issues. If you have doubts that the bed is level, you can try running the calibration again from the menu. You can also try taking a carpenter's level and move it across the bed. If you see the bubble shift (a severe leveling issue), you might want to adjust the screw tightness on the PCB.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Jeff Gros agreed on all points. The filament is prusa type and supplied with the printer.

I decided to try creating a simple item for holding my ancient Blackberry now relegated to being my clock.

Created the item in Fusion 360 then sent it to add on for slicing and finally exported as Gcode.

The problem I am working on is how to keep the original dimensions when creating the gcode. As it stands there is a message stating the item is to large for the plate and it reduces it to the size of the plate. I further reduced it from 250 to 100. The end result the width was originally 70mm measured was 100.23mm. Still working on this non-original dimension end product.

 

[G+_Jeff Gros]

Wow! You made a thing! A useful thing even! Congratulations! Also what's a Blackberry? =p

 

Concerning the size, my understanding is that STL format doesn't contain unit information (mm, inches, miles, etc). However most slicers will guess correctly (or will ask if something is way wrong). I'm not familiar with Prusa Control, but I'd be surprised if it didn't act this way.

 

I'm guessing you drew it in millimeters but fusion 360 defaults to inches, so when you brought it into the slicer it was way too big?

 

They also default with your vertical axis (coming out of the page) as Y instead of Z. You'll probably want to change these two configurations straight away.

 

Eventually I'll get the multimaterial upgrade and be forced to play with prusa control, but today is not that day. I just wish Simplify3D would get their act together and add support for multimaterial. It's been on the wishlist for over a year now.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Jeff Gros Yeah not even near playing with multi material printing but can't wait to see what you come up with that should be fun.

As for settings my default is metric.

I also have searched the web over and concur the default is green top to bottom and red is left to right on the screen.

I took the whistle stl file and tried the same thing I did with my Blackberry rack and it made it to the correct dimensions; difference used Meshmixer instead.