Machine Shop

Makergear M2: MAKE Magazine Torture Test

This was the second object I printed, immediately after getting that good thinwall box:

MAKE test object - arch anchor fail
MAKE test object – arch anchor fail

The arch foot broke loose from the platform after it grew to about 8 mm, but that seems to happen with most of the DIY printers. Apart from the tangle produced by that flaw, the rest of the object came out essentially perfect:

M2 - MAKE Magazine Torture Test - box and pillars
M2 – MAKE Magazine Torture Test – box and pillars

The surface finish is rougher than I think it should be, but the dense zigzag infill on the two thicker solid walls of the box seems to disturb their outer finish; the two thinner walls have linear fill and are fine.

The slic3r header:

; generated by Slic3r 0.9.8 on 2013-03-26 at 11:15:34

; layer_height = 0.25
; perimeters = 1
; top_solid_layers = 3
; bottom_solid_layers = 3
; fill_density = 0.20
; perimeter_speed = 100
; infill_speed = 150
; travel_speed = 500
; scale = 1
; nozzle_diameter = 0.35
; filament_diameter = 1.70
; extrusion_multiplier = 0.9
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.40mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.40mm
; first layer extrusion width = 0.39mm

There’s no source code, as I used the original STL from Thingiverse.

6 thoughts on “Makergear M2: MAKE Magazine Torture Test”

  1. Looking good. Do you have any idea what the difference is between the printers that can print the arch successfully and the ones that can’t? Looking at the Make magazine 3d printer guide, I see only a few that got it right: the MendelMaxPro, the Afinia H-Series and maybe the 3DTOUCH. If it makes you feel any better, in that guide, the Replicator 2 blew the arch too.

    1. print the arch successfully

      I think it has more to do with notoriously fickle platform adhesion than anything else, as the aspect ratio for the pillar at the end of the arch is terrible. Deliberately so: this is a test piece and you’d never design an object like that.

      The liberal application of tape / hair spray / Oil of Aphrodite / isopropyl alcohol, coupled with ritual incantations, might actually paste the thing down enough to make it work more often than not, no matter which printer you’re using.

    1. Looks good to me… it’s a fine 3D printer!

      Are you doing anything special to improve adhesion or is that just shiny-clean hot glass under there?

  3. Aqua-Net “Extra Super Hold” now. I thought that test was just on bare glass, but the glass reflection is a little blurry so there might be hairspray on the glass.

    The hairspray works great. Highly recommended.

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