Update

So I know I haven’t kept my word for the previous year for keeping blog posts up to date although I hope this year I can change that. With the start of every year there is a sense of motivation that flows through everyone so as long as I can keep it going then I’ll be happy and I’ll hopefully be able to accomplish more of my ambitions this year.

One other reason I have mustered up this motivation is because of a printer I picked up that I am very excited for. Prior to picking up this printer, I was originally looking at building a CoreXY system such as the Voron, Ratrig or HevORT systems as I have had my share of bed slingers, but now with this printer I can potentially build a similar system which I detail later in this post.

Printers

So right now, I have 6 printers. Yea I know I’ve been collecting aha. So my printers all have names and are as follows:

• Tevo Tornado - Tony
• Creality CR10 - Chris
• Tevo Tarantula Pro - Tammy
• Anet A8 - Annette
• BFB 3D Touch - Becca
• Creality LD002R - Leonard

I’ll go a little into detail about each one below.

Tony - Tevo Tornado

This printer was my first ever printer and allowed me to step foot into the additive manufacturing world. I really like this printer because I’ve never really had to worry about any of the mechanical parts on here besides the heavy print bed that has been replaced with 5mm thick aluminium as I cracked the original glass print bed. I have replaced a lot of parts on this printer and have even made a custom all in one conversion model for it.

Setup

So the current setup of this printer is as follows:

• SKR 1.3 Mainboard

  • XY Driver: TMC2130
  • Z Driver: TMC2208
  • E Driver: LV8729

• Trianglelab BMG Clone

• Trianglelab E3D Clone

  • Using Direct Drive with custom mounts

• All in one conversion

• Magnetic build plate

Problems

The main problems I have with this printer are:

• Currently the extruder is acting strange and isn’t repriming the nozzle correctly which leaves under extrusions at the beginning of each layer or after any retraction. This is annoying as when it lays down small details on the first layer, it sometimes doesn’t even lay the details down and creates small blobs of filament around the nozzle which collects plastic that’s already laid down on the print bed and then makes the entire print fail. This is an urgent fix that I need to find a solution for. I have tried adjusting settings in Cura although it seems like it has no effect :'( so more testing is required.
• The other issue is that some of my printed parts on this machine need reprinting such as the all in one conversion pieces as well as the cable chains as they are partially broken.

Aims

Currently, the main aim for this printer is to fix the extruder problem as this will most likely make this printer it’s reliable self again. After this is tuned in, I want to convert it to klipper and run Mainsail as the front end. I’ve installed klipper on Annette and currently love how easy it is to change firmware so quickly and it just runs much lighter than Marlin paired with Octoprint. So I’ll do this after the extruder problem and then once I have kliper installed, I’ll reprint all my broken or missing pieces.

Chris - Creality CR10

So this is actually a semi-recent purchase that I found on facebook marketplace. It was a neglected printer that I picked up for very cheap and have cleaned it up, fixed some mechanical issues, and got running again! It works almost flawlessly now and my only issue with it, isn’t even and issue with the printer, but is only a problem that I have with slicers. I tried using the stock profile in Cura which seemed to work well although I have since moved to SuperSlicer and the stock settings for it aren’t as good as Cura’s so I will have to undergo some trial and error with it untill I find the setting that works best for me.

Setup

To keep the general format of this post, I’ll formally list the setup, problems and aims as follows:

• All electronics are completely stock.
• Additional glass bed for smoooooooth finish.

Problems

• Slicer tune not adequate

Aims

• Trial and error a better slicer tune for SuperSlicer.

Tammy - Tevo Tarantula Pro

This printer is one that always just worked for me although had a few mechanical issues that were due to my own negligence. I bought this printer pretty at a bargain brand new from Aliexpress from a seller that had an AU warehouse so I was super excited to get it and had built it quickly inbetween my exams. So it probably wasn’t the best idea for my academic record though it was fun aha.

Setup

• All electronics are completely stock minus the extruder

• The extruder has since been converted to a TriangleLabs E3D hotend maintaning the bowden setup

• Trianglelabs BLTouch Clone

• Ikea Lots Mirror bed cut to 235x235mm

• Reworked electronics mount with inclusion of Raspberry Pi 3 and spacers to include more cooling fans

  • This was done as I plan to have this printer as my main ABS printer which will be in an enclosure as seen in the picture above.

Problems

Currently, the only problem I have with this printer is after I converted it to klipper, the heated bed always throws errors claiming that it isn’t heating as expected. I never had this problem with Marlin but the bed did take a while to heat up and I think klipper has more safety checks than Marlin which finds these problems and tells you promptly. I never had a problem with it in Marlin so I may just find a way to disable it but will try and find a work around to keep the safety features.

Aims

Only aim is to fix the bed heating.

Annette - Anet A8

Annette is my printer that I’ve always seen as reliable even though it didn’t have the best quality or accuracy. Originaly this printer had an acrylic frame and I ended up ordering the aluminium extrusion from a local aluminium shop and wacked it all together with some ABS printed parts from Tammy and boom! A much sturdier and nicer looking 3d printer! This is the first machine that I installed Klipper on and I will never look back ahha. It runs so much lighter and smooth and the easy modification of the config file makes life so much easier when setting up or testing new parts.

Setup

• RAMPS 1.4 with 5xA4988 (Two Seperate Z)
• TriangleLabs E3D hotend with Tevo Titan Clone Extruder
• Trianglelabs BLTouch Clone
• Cheap Magnetic Bed

Problems

This printer also only has one problem and that is with the extruder getting clogged very quickly which has only happened recently after I had a fail and forgot to connect the bltouch wires before homing z. This printer seems to only put down plastic when there are no retractions within a print. I have tested various different retraction settings but I have a feeling that it might have to do with the retraction acceleration that is grinding the filament so thin that it can’t reach the filament but that’s something I haven’t quite gotten up to yet.

Aims

Only aim is to fix the extruder retraction issue otherwise this machine works perfectly fine!

Becca - BFB 3D Touch

This is the printer I mentioned earlier that I am genuinely excited for. It has a sturdy frame that is promising for a CoreXY system. Though the original setup isn’t a CoreXY, I plan on converting it to that kind of system and run crazy speeds with crazy quality similar to the aforementioned Vorons, Ratrigs and HevORT systems. I will make a more detailed progress for this printer as it will be one of my projects that I will document as the original owner who I bought it off was also interested about what I actually do with this printer. He too had big plans for it but for personal reasons ended up selling it though one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

Plans

A quick rundown of the plans for this printer are:

• Replace the current mainboard for 2x RAMPS 1.4 with TMC2209s for every stepper managed by Klipper.

• Install two TriangleLabs E3D hotends with BMG clones.

  • I’ve never had a dual extruder printer so I want to implement it on this monstrous machine.

• Install a Trianglelabs BLTouch Clone.

• Replace the plastic bed with an aluminium one with a heating element.

  • The current setup has no heated bed unfortunately.

Any other plans will be documented within other posts specifically for this CoreXY project.

Leonard - Creality LD002R

My one and only SLA printer. It prints so nice but I haven’t actually had too much experience with it because I actually don’t have the build plate for it. By mistake, it got thrown in the bin and I no longer have a platform that can be printed on -_- . Ohwell, this just means I have another project on my hands. I plan on printing one and potentially having two build plates so that I can set back to back prints without having to peel off the first print :) I just love adding projects to the list.

Setup

• Everything is completely stock thus far.

Problems

The only problem is that it has no bed which…. see “Aims”.

Aims

I will fix the bed with a 3D printed platform with magnetic removeable bed.

General Ambitions

In all my printers, I would really like to make them each a Git repository so that I can upload all my custom firmware, custom modelled parts and can even add all my modifications so that others can see and so that I can keep track of their progress similar to how I have with my only two blog posts on this website aha. I just want to create a nice organised system for them all too for good practice.

After that, I would like to get all the printers printing reliably so as to potentially create a side hustle and print whatever client’s would like. I would like to help people make their CAD models come to life and it also interests me to see what projects others are working on. It’s an inspiring cycle and it’ll hopefully inspire me to move forward with more and more projects of my own.

Another less important ambition is to get some decent quality camera and camera settings for my printers so that I can record more timelapses of my prints. I find it mesmerizing watching other people’s prints on Youtube so I may even start trying to post my own videos of the same for others to enjoy also ehe.

Conclusion

All in all, I have plenty of work to do to get all my printers working the way I want them so hopefully in the near future I can accomplish these goals so that I may pick up more and more projects!

Thanks for reading!