"The good News and the Bad news" Topic
16 Posts
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UshCha | 27 Sep 2020 12:44 p.m. PST |
I have now built my Prusa Mk3S. The good news the printer is working well and actually producing better prints than the Replicator 2 (which I thought were good to excellent), and even in its "noisy" i.s standard mode it is MUCH quieter than the Replicator 2. The Bad news, the filament sensor of all the things to fail appears to have failed but is no big issue really and I am sure we will get a fix for that soon and it does not halt printing. Far worse it the fact that for some reason Simplify 3D is not working properly with the Mk3S profile. With the same model Simplify 3D in Mk3S configuration misses some supports in the print mode, despite there being placed correctly in the software, they are not printed. Some early print failures were in reality due to missing supports between the Makerbot and Prusa profiles despite having the same support structures defined. Using the less (to me) able Prusa slicer excellent results are produces but at the a cost of a less friendly support system. There are some comments flying round that Simplfy are starting to lose there reputation for bug fixing nowadays. Until this is fixed I would warn prospective buyers to check that the system does work for there printer. It is supposed to work for the Mk3S but clearly at the minute it has issues. I will keep you posted. |
John the OFM | 27 Sep 2020 2:36 p.m. PST |
More and more you are convincing me to leave that to people who know what they're doing. Perhaps, hopefully, in the future you can vent resentment at the "kids today with their plug and play…" I remember computer nerds resenting that you just had to click on a link. "Comes with all you need to make an 1805 French division overnight! Just dial in the scale! (Paint not included.)" |
Col Durnford | 27 Sep 2020 3:31 p.m. PST |
I'll wait for the full color printer. Based on computer progress, it can't be more then a few years out. |
Yellow Admiral | 27 Sep 2020 3:38 p.m. PST |
The problem with computers has never been that "you just had to click on a link", it's always been computer makers making things look easy by hiding all the useful information that would enable the user to troubleshoot their craptastic software/hardware platforms when they don't "just work" as advertised – which has been such a common occurrence that I've done it professionally for 3 decades. I'm with the OFM on 3D printing, though. It will definitely get easier with time, but right now it's a whole specialized hobby on it's own. Until my 3D printing desires get really specific, I prefer to let other people do the printing for me. - Ix |
Nick Bowler | 27 Sep 2020 3:54 p.m. PST |
For me, my 3D printer (an Ender 3) is the single most useful bit of wargaming kit I have. I dont use it for figures, but regularly use it for terrain. While not for everyone, current machines are not that hard to run and fix when needed. |
Royal Air Force | 27 Sep 2020 4:04 p.m. PST |
The filament sensor is a little flakey. Check the Prusa forums for some helpful tips, mine worked initially, but stopped after a few months – I have not spent the time to fix it though. Instead I'm using a octoprint plug in to track the remaining filament on a roll. I've only used Prusalicer, so can't really compare to Simplify 3D. I assume you noticed it has simple, adavanced, and expert modes, one of these may give you more of what you are looking for. Feel free to ping me here with any questions, I've printed a lot of stuff on my Prusas. |
Lascaris | 27 Sep 2020 4:56 p.m. PST |
I received a Qidi x-plus at the end of august and have literally been running it almost 18 hours per day since (yes, I'm OCD and track my utilization which is currently 73%). It's actually been quite easy to run and pretty much every issue has been user error of one type or another. So far I think it's roughly equivalent to the state of personal computing in the late 80's. |
robert piepenbrink | 27 Sep 2020 5:51 p.m. PST |
I expect to order the last troops for the last armies sometime in 2021. I don't think they'll have the bugs out of 3D printing quite that fast. |
captaincold69 | 27 Sep 2020 8:24 p.m. PST |
anyone who says "it's not that hard"..good on them, but I bet you they've all put in a lot of time to learn the that hobby. 3d printing might be plug n' play someday |
UshCha | 28 Sep 2020 1:10 a.m. PST |
Never understood what folk call hard. Learning to use a file as an engineering student took some time but even now using it does not constitute a hobby on its own. Even cars need mantainace and effort to look after but I for one would never call a car a hobby. To me its just a mode of transport. The printer is a tool, it needs a learning curve, fortunately nothing like the length it takes for a truley difficult to master tools like a paint brush! |
Andrew Walters | 28 Sep 2020 10:35 a.m. PST |
Good luck with the issue. I'm using Cura, and I'm pretty happy with it. I think 3D printers are going to be like sewing machines – owned and used by people with a little skill to have fun making things others may envy, but not something anyone can just buy and push a button on like a paper printer or a bread machine. Meanwhile, I am printing a zillion tanks in 1:100 just because I can. I have one of just about every major WW2 tank. They cover my desk. Someone uploaded a V-2 launch site to thingiverse, with the trailers and tower and vehicles. I absolutely don't need that, but since it will only cost me a dollar I may as well… |
Royal Air Force | 28 Sep 2020 1:02 p.m. PST |
Yes Andrew, having a 3D printer does nothing to reduce the lead (PLA) pile! |
Andrew Walters | 28 Sep 2020 1:49 p.m. PST |
"The Pile" gets much, much worse. After all, you have to pay for lead. With PLA you're bored on a Zoom meeting or something and you're poking around thingiverse or wargaming3d.com or somewhere and you spot a cool vehicle, figure, plane, creatures, and what the heck, it's fun to run the machine. I'll just do a quick paint job on it, you know, for fun. You can have it on a whim, so you do. And now you have six or eight plastic shoeboxes full of unpainted miniatures. I'm trying to work out a way to do a quick paint job. No primer, just a couple of features. The problem is that you cannot use dry brushing or washes, all they do is highlight the layer lines. But the plastic, being all one color, his the edges. I need a way to quickly highlight edges, but not layer lines. Once I figure that out things are going to be great. |
Royal Air Force | 28 Sep 2020 7:37 p.m. PST |
Dry brushing works better when you follow the 'grain' of the layer lines. |
Yellow Admiral | 30 Sep 2020 11:02 a.m. PST |
UshCha said:
Never understood what folk call hard. Not hard (anymore), just time consuming, and with a non-trivial cost in money, time, space, and learning curve to reach productivity, plus extra incremental costs in time and occasional upgrade costs to keep it going. These costs are all coming down, but haven't crossed the quotidian barrier yet. The opportunity cost of doing one's own CAD design is also considerable, though optional. I'm not the type of personality who could ignore the open-ended possibilities of designing and tweaking and adjusting and rescaling, so I just prefer to not even get started. I may change my mind when I stop spending all day on computers making a living. I also can't get enthused about a production method that makes crappy product. Truly excellent 3D prints with excellent detail, good proportions, smooth curves, and untextured surfaces seem kind of rare and expensive, which leads me to believe that they are still hard to produce. I refuse to pay any amount of money for layer lines. Even cars need mantainace and effort to look after but I for one would never call a car a hobby. To me its just a mode of transport. Bad example. There are millions of motorheads for whom cars are hobbies – often, even the cars they use as transport. 3D printing is still a DIY activity more appealing to hobbyists like motorheads than to pragmatists like soccer moms. Miniatures collecting and gaming is a hobby. There might actually be a handful of miniatures producers for whom miniatures collecting or gaming is not also a hobby, but I bet you could fit all of them on the same horse. I agree with Lascaris: So far I think it's roughly equivalent to the state of personal computing in the late 80's. - Ix |
UshCha | 01 Oct 2020 1:02 p.m. PST |
Update, we seem to be getting on top of the issue but no thanks to Simplify who top be honest seemed to just reiterate pointless words of motherhood. It would appear the default minimum extrusion length is set way to high, setting it low allows better printing of small detail on the bed: they are 1/144 models. The increased detail on the bed then allows the print to stick, most of the time. It's still a work in progress but the situation is improving. In addition Prusa recommends using Acetone on the bed once a week. However this may not be enough under high utilization. The printer has run in excess of 50hrs straight as the Stealth mode means we could run overnight without disturbing folk: it was doing 12hr DIY prints overnight than catching up on model printing during the rest of the time. Yellow Admiral, we are clearly not of the same mind. I most certainly am not a miniature collector or a serious painter. I only buy miniatures to play with and slap on a bit of paint to help "suspension of belief" for want of a better term. They are easier to relate to in the right position if there color is reasonably representative and that's it. I cant be a real enthusiast in terms of art as Hexon II terrain is nowhere realistic even in color. As to print quality I see it like computers. My son buy's ever increasing power in his computers. Me I have seen no appreciable difference for the last 7 years or so. At that time the speed of the programs like CADDS was no longer an issues. If they worked faster then I would not know. Similarly 3D printers, while technically the MK3s may be a bit better, in reality when playing which is all I consider, there is no difference, all the comments made are to do with looking at a few mm away not at over a meter en mass in cluttered terrain with camouflage painting working in part to confuse the outline. In many cases I have seen "Dry Brushing" supposedly to bring out detail,which frankly is pointless. Unless massively overdone and looking the wrong color at 4 ft its indistinguishable so to me just a waste of time. Each to own I but to me 3D prints are not an emerging technology but one that has been mature for the last 7 years at least. |
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