Production update: first prusa print results

Here’s the first layer height calibration print. The goal is to see that layers are properly sticking together, the nozzle doesn’t drag through the deposited material, and that XY movement on each layer is the same. All in all not bad. The challenge is that the bed sags in the middle. The nozzle is too far from the bed at the start of the print, which is why the bottom is wierd and the outside line (to clear the nozzle?) is wavy. I’m getting a piece of glass cut today that will fit over the entire bed and not sag in the middle. Not sure yet how to make the heater adhere to the glass for good thermal transfer.

This is the start of an infill calibration test. I stopped it when it started to go wonky. It looks like it might not be outputting enough plastic to fill the cube 100%. I’m going to recheck my Slic3r settings first, I may have had it set to 40% infill.

So in the meantime I’m not sure what else I can check. Any ideas? I’m thinking I’ll post on a few subjects close to my heart.

Update 2012-09-20 13:30 – Tried the infill cube again and the extruder made a nasty clicking sound. The screws that hold the extruder stepper in place had come loose (after almost no printing!) and some filament retractions were making the gears skip teeth. Ouch!

Update 2012-09-20 13:45 – Cancelled another infill test. What is causing this result?

Update 2012-09-20 14:40 – More layering tests. I’m going to stick to these until they’re perfect, then go back to infills. I changed the Slic3r filament extrusion multiplier to 0.8 and tweaked the extruder retract parameters.

Update 2012-09-20 16:30 – layering tests look great! Slic3r had a 0.3 nozzle size when it’s actually 0.35.

The infill test started out great, bu then something went wrong with X movement causing layers to become misaligned.

Update 2012-09-20 17:53 – Video! Skip to -40 from the end to see where it goes wrong.