New Electronics lab, Layout, Design. The ULTIMATE space(for under 1400 bucks)...

[IDEngineer]

Nice job on that lighting fixture!

I had a similar situation involving window blinds a while back. My wife convinced me not to be the general contractor this time around, so we hired a guy who turned out to be a total hack. I had to micromanage and second guess everything the guy and his crew did. Since I was still spending all of the time to be the general contractor, I fired him and hired my own crews and finished the project myself. But not until after the drywall was hung. Fast-forward to final trim, and I'm installing window blinds. The top of the window openings are finished with typical drywall, but I discovered the idiots didn't put any headers over the openings! These were new windows, cut into existing outside walls, and they simply didn't bother to put headers across the top. The drywall at the top of the opening had nothing behind it.    My solution was to get some unfinished pieces of knotty alder that matched the new doors, cut them to fit the top of the window openings, and then run small screws at a super-aggressive angle so the wood would be supported by the studs on either side. A bit of putty and hand-touchup and it looks like it was meant to be that way, and then I hung the blinds from the wood. Like your lighting fixture, sometimes you gotta get creative!

[Tetzly]

Nice job on that lighting fixture!

I had a similar situation involving window blinds a while back. My wife convinced me not to be the general contractor this time around, so we hired a guy who turned out to be a total hack. I had to micromanage and second guess everything the guy and his crew did. Since I was still spending all of the time to be the general contractor, I fired him and hired my own crews and finished the project myself. But not until after the drywall was hung. Fast-forward to final trim, and I'm installing window blinds. The top of the window openings are finished with typical drywall, but I discovered the idiots didn't put any headers over the openings! These were new windows, cut into existing outside walls, and they simply didn't bother to put headers across the top. The drywall at the top of the opening had nothing behind it.    My solution was to get some unfinished pieces of knotty alder that matched the new doors, cut them to fit the top of the window openings, and then run small screws at a super-aggressive angle so the wood would be supported by the studs on either side. A bit of putty and hand-touchup and it looks like it was meant to be that way, and then I hung the blinds from the wood. Like your lighting fixture, sometimes you gotta get creative!

I see and hear stories like yours more and more often these days. Craftsmanship, self sufficiency, attention to detail, framers caring for other trades/installers...all sort of dying off in our mass produced, throw away world. Toggle bolts holding up fixtures on poorly laid out walls with no backing happens all the time these days, instead of running blocking and backing as needed per the finish plans.


And thanks mate! The light problem has been a big one, I nearly went with a different light just because I knew it was going to be pretty tough to build one from scratch...but as you pointed out, if you have custom needs, sometimes you just gotta make it happen yourself.

[dicky96]

I like it! Our rooms are about the same size, and working out of a small room certainly generates clutter...it's not just you. I realized having a separate computer desk is kind of nice. As it is now, I searched my house for the smallest monitor I have because my larger Dell monitor was taking up too much bench space, but I am planning a different solution. I have been in my lab a ton since I finished, and actually plugging away in the room has opened my eyes to my work space and storage needs. I am currently keeping my eye out for some white upper cabinets, I might have to build them myself though.

Hey thanks :-)
I designed the room layout that way out of necessity.  It's allowed me to do enough work to get a name for myself here, but I  can't wait to get into my new workshop with at least four times the floor area and see what I can do with that! 

Along with more space I'm also gonna invest around £2000 in more kit.  I did plenty of research and found some types of work I am keen to get into, which  I am sure will be more than profitable enough to warrant the expense. 

Rich

[IDEngineer]

as you pointed out, if you have custom needs, sometimes you just gotta make it happen yourself.

BTW, I've found a 3D printer to be super-valuable for things like that. In the past I would have hogged out some half-baked "solution" using a Dremel and other hand tools. Now, for anything within about 150mm^3 volume, I crank out a design and turn it loose on the 3D printer. Accuracy, repeatability, angles, etc. are all infinitely better than anything I can do by hand, and the parts are psuedo-monolithic. Instead of "settling" because I'm not sure I can make something a few millimeters better by hand, I can make very accurate tweaks and just 3D print it again. A couple of iterations and it can be nearly perfect.

3D additive fabrication is a boon to DIY'ers like you and me. Amazingly cheap, too... my 17YO son has his own now, an Ender3, that cost under $200 and produces AMAZINGLY high quality results. I mean truly stunning, as good or better than what my $1200 Lulzbot Mini churns out. 3D printers are kinda like oscilloscopes, it's absolutely crazy how much instrument you can get for a few hundred dollars today when I remember what prices were on HP and Tek gear back in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

[romaxx]

Novo laboratório de eletrônica

[Tetzly]

as you pointed out, if you have custom needs, sometimes you just gotta make it happen yourself.

BTW, I've found a 3D printer to be super-valuable for things like that. In the past I would have hogged out some half-baked "solution" using a Dremel and other hand tools. Now, for anything within about 150mm^3 volume, I crank out a design and turn it loose on the 3D printer. Accuracy, repeatability, angles, etc. are all infinitely better than anything I can do by hand, and the parts are psuedo-monolithic. Instead of "settling" because I'm not sure I can make something a few millimeters better by hand, I can make very accurate tweaks and just 3D print it again. A couple of iterations and it can be nearly perfect.

3D additive fabrication is a boon to DIY'ers like you and me. Amazingly cheap, too... my 17YO son has his own now, an Ender3, that cost under $200 and produces AMAZINGLY high quality results. I mean truly stunning, as good or better than what my $1200 Lulzbot Mini churns out. 3D printers are kinda like oscilloscopes, it's absolutely crazy how much instrument you can get for a few hundred dollars today when I remember what prices were on HP and Tek gear back in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

I've been designing all sorts of things on my Ender 3. It prints perfectly, and fast. I've been making 1/8 scale(100mm) replica skateboards with it. I use Tinkercad to shape and design the molds, print them out with 100% infill, then use them to press the boards out of 6-7 plys of maple...just like a real skateboard. I then print a finish size jig to match the contours of the mold(finished board), and it clamps securely on top of the glued blanks. It has the shape of the board and a perfectly placed truck mounting hole drill guide that works like a pocket hole jig, with incredible accuracy thanks to CAD and the 3d printer. I know it's sounds weird, but yeah it's fun, lol.

[Hemi345]

I love hobbies where you get to make something that combines so many different aspects (woodworking, electronics, programming, art, etc).  I built my daughters loft beds for their bedrooms.  Designed them using Cadsoft Eagle LOL, cut all the lumber, built it, painted it.  Then designed RGBW LED light strip controller PCBs utilizing PIC microcontrollers to dim and mix the colors, fade out after a time period so they could fall asleep with them on and they'd shut off after 10 minutes if the PIR doesn't detect any motion. 

I'd really like to get into 3D printing.  I haven't made the jump yet because I thought the prices were still a tad too high for only the occasional use, but when I saw that post from IDEngineer about the Ender3, I was blown away at how cheap they have gotten and still capable of good prints.  I think it would be something else to get my kids into.  My oldest likes programming already and if she could design things with her ideas, I might have to buy stock in a filament company. haha

[Tetzly]

I love hobbies where you get to make something that combines so many different aspects (woodworking, electronics, programming, art, etc).  I built my daughters loft beds for their bedrooms.  Designed them using Cadsoft Eagle LOL, cut all the lumber, built it, painted it.  Then designed RGBW LED light strip controller PCBs utilizing PIC microcontrollers to dim and mix the colors, fade out after a time period so they could fall asleep with them on and they'd shut off after 10 minutes if the PIR doesn't detect any motion. 

I'd really like to get into 3D printing.  I haven't made the jump yet because I thought the prices were still a tad too high for only the occasional use, but when I saw that post from IDEngineer about the Ender3, I was blown away at how cheap they have gotten and still capable of good prints.  I think it would be something else to get my kids into.  My oldest likes programming already and if she could design things with her ideas, I might have to buy stock in a filament company. haha

My wife and I were talking about that last night. We came to the conclusion there is money to be made if the scope of your work/product requires many different specialties...but you can do them all yourself.

And I would vouch for the Ender 3. Banggood has it for 190 bucks delivered. The filament seams to last forever, I've printed a ton of things and haven't even dented my first roll. The filament I'm using is Inland brand, and only 14.99/spool at the Microcenter near my house. So far it prints flawlessly, with very little fiddling with the bed. It's pretty close to a regular printer at this point...load up the job and hit print.

My printer was sent to me with slightly mis-cut aluminum extruded parts that make up the printer housing. I had to use a few paper shims to keep everything perfectly square while building it. I think my attention to detail in this regard is why it prints so perfectly...So keep that in mind if you buy one, they are cheap for a reason, and require a little more attention when assembling to get a good working printer.

[Hemi345]

Thanks Tetzly for the insight on them.  My attention to detail almost borders on excessive (obsessive?) so no problem there. In the time it takes someone else an hour, it'll take me 3 because I'll be studying the design and shimming/adjusting/etc every step of the way to make it as perfect as I can. haha 

What software do you use to design parts for your printer? Sorry to sidetrack your lab build thread... you'll need to post a pic of your Ender3 in it to keep it relevant.

[Tetzly]

Thanks Tetzly for the insight on them.  My attention to detail almost borders on excessive (obsessive?) so no problem there. In the time it takes someone else an hour, it'll take me 3 because I'll be studying the design and shimming/adjusting/etc every step of the way to make it as perfect as I can. haha 

What software do you use to design parts for your printer? Sorry to sidetrack your lab build thread... you'll need to post a pic of your Ender3 in it to keep it relevant.

Heh, I'm just glad Dave hasn't kicked me off and told me to go to a DIY woodworker forum!   I am working on a few electronics projects but unfortunately the details must remain undisclosed for the foreseeable future.

But on the topic of the printer, this is my first 3D printer, and I had no experience with the hardware or software until this thing arrived at my door. It came really well packed, and was pretty easy to put together. The instructions are very vague, but there are great assembly tutorials online like this one:



Packing:



One thing I gotta point out about the shimming I had to do... when I installed the two upright main rails, they were about 1/8" wider at the top than the base. The assembly video stated very clear to not proceed past this point without theses rails being parallel to one another, and suggested varying the tension of the 2 screws that hold them down to adjust their position...which did not work for me. This is where I ended up using a small paper shim to correct it. Now when I got almost done with the build, one of the last steps is putting the cross piece on the top that secures the two rails that I just spoke of....and sure enough they were shy 1/8" too TIGHT at the top to install the rail....Like if I hadn't put in the paper shims earlier the top would just pop right on! I was pretty bummed and considered going back and taking the shims out...but I decided to force the top on and just go with it. Everything came out square and parallel with itself, which is really the goal I guess.

Also, the upright threaded rod that controls the Z axis is important to get straight and centered with the machine. You will know it's right when you don't have to move it much when sliding the extruder stepper motor assembly on the  top, it should line up pretty good, and there is a 3d printed fix out there if you want to get that perfect...I got it close enough, but it took some adjusting.

Other than that it is very easy to put together and operate. Tinkercad( https://www.tinkercad.com/dashboard ) is free CAD software online from Autodesk that generates 3d .stl files, and Cura ( https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software ) is free slicer software that reads the .stl files, and is needed to adjust the print job settings and generate the .gcode that the printer reads. Lastly, you can generate .stl 3D files from 2D images using free online file conversion software like https://https://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-svg/... (Tinkercad allows you to import object files in .stl format, so this is very cool and useful to get custom shapes and designs into the CAD modeler.)

One software tweak I would make in Cura while slicing, for all print jobs...adjust the "first layer print speed" to about 20mm/s (about 1/3 the normal speed if default is 60mm sec). And adjust the "first layer travel speed" to about 1/3 the original setting as well. And finally, tell it to print 2 "slow layers" in the next field. This helps with bed adhesion on the stock Ender bed immensely.

And the bed temp lies a little bit when you first start the machine. At start up, set the bed to 75 degrees, then after it gets there and maintains it for 5-10 minutes, turn it back down to 60, and start your print. I have found when I don't do this the first print almost always fails to stick unless the print is a small one right in the center of the bed. I assume it takes longer to heat the entire bed up than they advertise...which is a feature, so yeah they lie. After the printer is warmed up, you can print back to back jobs over and over with no issues at all. Another thing is the beds are so-so...mine is not perfectly flat. This can be fixed and compensated with the software(fairly complicated I think), but I found the it's not a big deal for me since the footprint of the items I usually print is fairly small and I can tune the bed to work perfect in the small area I print on, but I imagine it could be a problem printing large items, and a glass bed is the common upgrade in that department. I like mine to be honest, sticks great, easy to remove...I'll be using the stock one for sure.

[Hemi345]

Great info, thank you.  You're gonna make me spend some money...

We used to carve blocks of birch in shop class and make little "fingerboards" back in junior high.  Then they didn't have the little metal trucks back then, so we carved those out of wood too even though the wheels didn't roll. I remember adding grip tape and painting design on the bottom that "looked cooler" when it was all scratched up from grinding on rails.   

[Tetzly]

Great info, thank you.  You're gonna make me spend some money...

We used to carve blocks of birch in shop class and make little "fingerboards" back in junior high.  Then they didn't have the little metal trucks back then, so we carved those out of wood too even though the wheels didn't roll. I remember adding grip tape and painting design on the bottom that "looked cooler" when it was all scratched up from grinding on rails. 

Fingerboarding is super popular with the kids these days, they are sold out in stores most of the time, and quality pro ones are always sold out, they cannot keep up. I can't fingerboard, but think it's pretty cool for kids to get into (i'm 47, lol....a kid inside though). I skated real vert ramps and bowls right up until a few years ago when I took a real bad spill, my last crash as it were...my wife said no more because I almost broke my hip. So these replicas are as close as I can get when I have visions of glory. I'm working on the graphics currently, and water slide decals printed on the ink jet are my plan....waiting on the decal paper from the internet.

I am currently looking for a starter CNC machine so I can make my own tiny urethane wheels, even looking at maybe making the trucks, they are two parts and normally cast...and I did casting when i was a kid so I know the basics. So maybe I start making these things completely custom(zero Chinese crap), and selling them.

Now I gotta figure out how to integrate micro electronics into them...! I already have a few ideas actually, lol...another post.

[Hemi345]

So our new Ender 3 Pro arrived. haha 

This is our first foray into 3D printing.  I gotta say I'm extremely impressed with this for the price.  My family has been watching a lot of youtube videos for tips and tricks.  The bed on ours has a slight dip in the center but I took your suggestion on printing the first layer slow and we haven't had a problem yet.  I wondered what that "FR 100%" was on the display and found a Youtube video explaining that we can control the print speed by just turning the knob while it's printing. That's been handy to play with if I notice something speed related and want to adjust it while it's printing. 

We have two hamsters that like to check each other out but will fight, so we designed a couple "T" tubes in Tinkercad to connect their hamster cages together. One T has a screen in it to keep them apart. Attached is a pic of one of them. 

Do you guys have a Cura profile you've been dialing in you'd wanna share?  I've been using Hatchbox blue PLA and the little figurines we printed for my daughters are stunning at 0.16mm layer height, like nearly flawless. We're super impressed.  I used 0.24 for the tubes and it still looks good but am having issues with stringing.  You can see in the pic attached the stringing in the mesh before I cleaned it up with an Exacto knife. Didn't notice any stringing on parts printed less than 0.2.  Still playing with retraction settings.  6mm @ 25mm/sec doesn't seem to be cutting it with a 0.24 layer height. 

Sorry to sidetrack this thread, I should have probably started a new one.

[IDEngineer]

We should probably start a 3D printing specific thread, but while we're here....

Stringing is generally caused and controlled by 1) printhead temperature, and 2) filament retraction. For the former, try backing down the temperature in very small increments, like 3-5C. Too low and you'll find layer adhesion problems, but there's usually a wide range in the middle that will control stringing a bit while still preserving good adhesion.

For the latter, retraction means that when the print nozzle is making a big(ish) X/Y move it will pull the filament back some small distance to take the fluid pressure off the liquified filament at the nozzle tip so it doesn't just flow out while the head is moving to the new location. Then it pushes it back and resumes extrusion. You can control the thresholds that trigger retraction, and the amount of filament retraction that occurs. Again, something to tinker with, every printer and ESPECIALLY every filament is different. First step: Make sure retraction is enabled, it might be turned off!

Yes, that Ender3 is close to the best bang for buck of anything in the house. It's amazing what <$500 will buy in digital scopes these days, but it's mind-blowing what $180 will buy in 3D printers.

[Hemi345]

On prints where we used .16mm height, stringing wasn't an issue, even the infill was very clean while we watched it print.  At .24mm height, it was bad but only at certain points in the print.  Since we printed two of the hamster tubes, I noticed bad stringing on both pieces in the center part of the T where the other pipe is at 90deg but then nice and clean before that point and after. I turned on the travel visualization in Cura and can see that the nozzle makes a lot of travels in that middle area, so obviously that was the cause.  I definitely have retraction enabled, but on the suggestion in youtube, the recommended retraction setting was 6mm at 25mm/sec.  I think I'll try retracting a little more, say 10mm and maybe at a little faster speed, like 35-40mm/sec.  I don't have "Z hop when retracted" enabled as I've read multiple times that it can make the print look bad because maybe the Z axis isn't accurate enough to get the nozzle back to the same exact height when working on the same layer.  I don't have "retract at layer change" enabled either, but may try turning that on. 

[Tetzly]

On prints where we used .16mm height, stringing wasn't an issue, even the infill was very clean while we watched it print.  At .24mm height, it was bad but only at certain points in the print.  Since we printed two of the hamster tubes, I noticed bad stringing on both pieces in the center part of the T where the other pipe is at 90deg but then nice and clean before that point and after. I turned on the travel visualization in Cura and can see that the nozzle makes a lot of travels in that middle area, so obviously that was the cause.  I definitely have retraction enabled, but on the suggestion in youtube, the recommended retraction setting was 6mm at 25mm/sec.  I think I'll try retracting a little more, say 10mm and maybe at a little faster speed, like 35-40mm/sec.  I don't have "Z hop when retracted" enabled as I've read multiple times that it can make the print look bad because maybe the Z axis isn't accurate enough to get the nozzle back to the same exact height when working on the same layer.  I don't have "retract at layer change" enabled either, but may try turning that on.

Stoked! Yeah the Ender 3 prints like a dream, glad you took the plunge. So yeah, the Feed Rate (F.R.) is cool if you are standing by, and the adhesion looks good (you can tell if it's sticking well by a consistent color on the first layer, if you see lighter spots that means it didn't stick there, but to be honest, I just keep going, have not failed a complete print yet). But on larger prints, if all is going well, you can turn the FR up to like 150-160ish while it's printing the slow layers, save a little bit of time. Just remember to turn it back down before it starts the normal speed if you do! ...

As far as the stringing goes, I would try another filament perhaps. I'm using Inland brand and stringing has not been an issue for me...although I don't print that many complex pieces. And maybe try kicking up the nozzle temp to the high end of your filament recommendation to see if it aids in clean retraction(225 for 215-230 degree filament). You can also try re-orientating it in Cura if possible. I printed a few long things that were warping on the bottom when done, so printed them upright, lol...they were like tall buildings but they printed well. Stringing can sometimes be minimized this way as well I imagine.

Anyway good luck. I'll try to pop in more often, been so busy. If you start another thread for this, let me know where you went!

[IDEngineer]

As far as the stringing goes... maybe try kicking up the nozzle temp to the high end of your filament recommendation to see if it aids in clean retraction(225 for 215-230 degree filament).

Possibly, but the general rule is stringing is reduced by LOWER temperatures, not higher. I've personally never seen an instance where raising the temperature reduced stringing.