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Semi-Automated Bed Tramming using Z-tilt

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This method aims to simplify the process of bed tramming and z probe offset calibration by taking advantage of z-tilt and consolidating calibration points. This results in only needing to tram two out of your four bed screws to achieve a trammed bed and a consistent z probe offset after each axis homing. Problem The problem being solved here is that the four bed screws loosen and adjust over time. When this happens the bed becomes unlevelled in certain corners meaning your z axis is no longer perpendicular to your x axis. You’ll find when you run a bed mesh that the range of the max and minimum values may differ more and affect your first layer.  Also, for a bed-slinger 3D printer, tramming a bed requires going around the 4 corners several times as an adjustment of one screw usually affects the others. This is a tedious process which can be greatly simplified with this method. Hypothesis Given a plane that doesn't bend or warp can be levelled by adjusting 3 points and is in use tod...
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Replicating a Höfner Guitar Logo Prototype

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Another friend of mine from work asked me to see if I could print out a replacement logo that goes on the head of his guitar. The original logo was melted by a candle. I grabbed a high resolution copy of the logo and used software called Inkscape to trace the bitmap and generate a path. I then saved the file as an SVG and then imported it into 123d Design. It needed a little bit of tidying up and adjustments to resize it to scale. I need to fine tune the settings to get the right amount of squish between the layers but for now here's the first prototype. Here's the printed logo laid against the original to get a sense for scale. It was about 5cm wide printed at 0.2mm with 1.75mm ABS filament. You'll notice some gaps in the letter f, e and r which the right infil settings will probably fix.
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OctoPrint for Pine64 (OctoPine)

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I quickly got sick of having to unplug/reconnect the micro SD card whenever I wanted to print something. AstroPrint and Octoprint came up as easy ready to go solutions provided you had a raspberry pi and a spare micro SD card. I originally had the idea that I would make my 3d printing life much easier if I connected a Raspberry Pi to the printer and installed either AstroPrint or Octoprint. I then remembered I had an unloved Pine64 in the cupboard. Given the Pine64's hardware is a bit more powerful than my Raspberry Pi I decided to use that as my 3d print server instead. Previously I had nothing but problems with my Pine64. Of the failed experiments with Android OS, Android TV and RemixOS it had been retired back to the box from which it came. It was a great disappointment. I originally wanted to use it for something like OSMC media center but since the kernel source for the AllWinner chip is closed OSMC and others turned their nose up to the board. A member on the Pine64...
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Balco Printer Meltdown & Repair

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So 6 weeks in to owning my printer and with a moderate amount of printing I started noticing a horrid smell coming from the printer. It was a mix between melting plastic and garbage. I'd been printing with ABS filament from 3dprinted.co and had printed a couple hundred grams worth. Even though I've read ABS can sometimes smell bad I hadn't noticed any bad smell coming from my 3dprinted.co filament.  At first I thought maybe the smell could have been the filament. But it kept getting stronger and stronger to the point where I had to stop printing altogether. I checked the side of the control box and found the smell was coming from there. After opening it up I could clearly see one of the ground wires, where the power supply connects to the Melzi board, was burnt and melted. This is apparently a commong issue with v1.0 Melzi boards and is an issue with the power connectors pcb traces being too small to take the current coming from the power supply. They heat up the pcb ...
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Printed (ABS) Enclosure for a Pine64

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To finish off the Octoprint server I needed a case. I found a great looking case on Thingiverse here:  http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1496946 The first try I used a 1cm wide raft and centre aligned the print on the x axis direction. Unfortunately my heated aluminium bed seems to be warping slightly. When I printed one of the enclosure halves it curled up on one corner. The next day I tried again but this time made the raft 2cm wide. This helped the print stick perfectly. The print was at 0.2mm resolution and took just under 6 hours to print. If I was to nit-pick about the print result I would only criticise one corner which had a very slight lift. The print came off the raft quite easily. The sound it makes when you separate the two is similar to pulling apart velcro. Shortly after showing it off at work I managed to break one of the screw pillars. I used a bit of superglue to rescue this model. Here's the model and the raft that was used to ge...
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3D Printing Begins

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In early February I bought my first 3d printer. I was looking for a decent beginner's entry level printer that wouldn't cost too much. I heard about Aldi's Coocoon Create sold last year for around $499. It was essentially a re-branded Wanhao i3 duplicator v2.1 with some sample PLA filament included. Being nearly a year since Aldi had that sale I thought I might be holding my breath waiting for their next sale to appear again. Luckily I stumbled across the Balco brand which is also another Wanhao clone like the Coocon Create is. Kogan had it on sale for $499 and it's recently acquired DickSmith online store was selling the same Balco model for $399. I ordered it online through DickSmith and it was delivered within a few days. Quality is excellent and my first PLA prints have turned out great. Assembly was a little fiddly but not rocket science. I think I attached 4 screws or so. When it prints it makes the coolest pew-pew kinda sound and it's not too noisy....
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Replicating a Mitsubishi 380 Centre Console Latch

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For at least 5 years now our centre console lid in our car has been missing a latch. We've learned to live without it and just lifted and closed the lid. I found over time the lid would slide side to side eventually loosening the lid screws and I'd have to tighten them regularly. Luckily when I was studying overseas it was mandatory that students either take the home economics or technical drawing class. I chose the latter and did quite well at it. With that in mind I kept the original broken latch hoping one day would redesign and print it. That day came and after a few goes I drafted up a prototype replica using 123D Design and a pair of digital calipers. It took a few revisions to get it right since when I first printed it I mistakenly printed it in ABS without considering the direction of force that would be applied when installed and in action. It snapped on the first try. The 3 images below show the first print laid in the wrong orientation. I then rea...
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