What you've learned about your Cube 3D Printer

[Phyrxes]

Many spacers, motor controller mounts, and sensor mounts later I agree with Don's assessment.

After we finish robot parts I think our cube may end up doing some replacement parts for a repman 2 that one of our engineering classes class is currently repairing.

[TEntwistle]

I have noticed that if I design in piece in Autodesk Inventor (2012 or 2014) and save as a .stl file and import into the Cube software, the dimensions are way off - I have to shrink to 40-60% of the original size to get it to approximate what I designed. I have confirmed that the design is in inches, and I import into the Cube software in inches as well. Any others have this issue?

[MetalJacket]

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

I have noticed that if I design in piece in Autodesk Inventor (2012 or 2014) and save as a .stl file and import into the Cube software, the dimensions are way off - I have to shrink to 40-60% of the original size to get it to approximate what I designed. I have confirmed that the design is in inches, and I import into the Cube software in inches as well. Any others have this issue?

Actually, I have heard that as well. Our team uses Creo but the person who normally sets up the printers tried to make some spacers in Inventor because that's what she's familiar with and she had the same issue with dimensions being way off. No idea how to fix it (she caved and downloaded Creo), but you're definitely not alone.

[Jared]

Even if your part is drawn in inches, autodesk inventor will export the stl file with centimeters. Before saving, choose stl, go to options and change the unit to inches. It defaults to cm.

[TEntwistle]

Miracles never cease! It worked like a charm. Thanks

[Ideal_Nerd]

We had the same problem with the part coming off. we fixed it by decreasing the z gap. the printer now pushes the filament on to the plat instead on laying it on.

[Ideal_Nerd]

We found that if you shrink it to 39.42% it will be the correct size.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by Ideal_Nerd

We found that if you shrink it to 39.42% it will be the correct size.

How did you come up with that number? Trial and error? We have been using 40%

[Jared]

Originally Posted by marandola316

How did you come up with that number? Trial and error? We have been using 40%

It's 1/2.54, because inventor defaults to exporting in centimeters, even if the part is in inches, so you need to convert. If you export in inches, it's the proper scale.

If you aren't using inventor and can't change the stl export to cm, use 0.393701.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by Jared

It's 1/2.54, because inventor defaults to exporting in centimeters, even if the part is in inches, so you need to convert. If you export in inches, it's the proper scale.

If you aren't using inventor and can't change the stl export to cm, use 0.393701.

Ah. Thank you.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by TEntwistle

I have noticed that if I design in piece in Autodesk Inventor (2012 or 2014) and save as a .stl file and import into the Cube software, the dimensions are way off - I have to shrink to 40-60% of the original size to get it to approximate what I designed. I have confirmed that the design is in inches, and I import into the Cube software in inches as well. Any others have this issue?

We have some huge Talon cable mounts that printed before we caught on to the inches - centimeters thing. Kinda neat in a way, because we could see the details easily instead of squinting to make out the tiny features...

[Ideal_Nerd]

the way we found it was we printed a part that was supposed to be .5" wide and we measured it with our calipers and it was 1.268" wide and then we did the math and got the 39.42%

[cube4926]

When we first started using our Cube 2, we thought that the leveling command would actually make and save adjustments. We learned that this command's purpose is only for checking the gaps, and does not make any changes.

We found that having the corners of the print pad at different heights contributed to an uneven thickness of the filament on the first layer. The tip was not running parallel to the print pad. Because of this, the tip would come too close to the pad in the areas where the gap was small, which caused a thinner strip to be laid down. We think this may have also contributed to the filament flow error that appeared multiple times. Eventually, it got to the point where every print attempted would fail.

Because of this, we tried to level the print pad according to the instructions. We were either very confused or the instructions were not adequate, so we looked at how it was built and figured out a way to fix this problem that worked for us.

First off, notice the print pad is mounted by three fasteners, however one of them is not adjustable (it has a solid spacer). The other two have nuts above and below the black mounting plate. In order to make an adjustment to one fastener, you will need to loosen/tighten both of the nuts. For example, if the gap at the front of the pad is too large, you would need to adjust the front screw. In this case, you would need to loosen the top nut first, and then tighten the bottom nut, which raises the pad.

This process is very tedious because multiple iterations are required. After each adjustment, you need to check the gap for all four corners, and then repeat the process between the two fasteners until the pad is level. We found it easiest to leave the tip in one corner, make adjustments for it, and repeat for each corner.

After levelling the pad, we experienced no further print failures, and the quality of the parts improved.

[nxtmonkeys]

Originally Posted by Wiifi

I saw the thread about the Makerbot Replicator 2 and figured there should be a separate one for the Cube 3D printer.

We have both types and so far I have had a much better experience with the MakerBot Replicator (it is a more expensive machine after all). I wanted to list out a couple of things that I have learned about the Cube so far.

• The filament likes to be incredibly picky. We have a blue cartridge that refuses to be recognized by the machine. I current have an email out to 3D systems to find a solution on this one.
• We have another blue cartridge that is recognized by the Cube but the flywheel/stepper motor continually strips the filament for some reason I have yet to figure out. I took the cover off of the print jet and to ensure there was not any filament dried on the gear/flywheel that was causing this and I am still seeing the issue.
• I plan on running with the cover off of the print jet from now on, as it allows me to see when the filament is getting stripped.
• The cartridge that came with the Cube (Neon Green) has filament tangled on the inside so you cannot actually pull any filament out, therefore the machine will not either.
• When it works, the Cube can print some really cool stuff with the space it has. So far we have printed a very sturdy L bracket, two of the Rooks that it comes with, a minion from Despicable Me and a couple of keychains the students have designed.
• With all of the issues we've had using the cartridge we are really looking at going with this idea: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:76083

Has anyone else encountered issues or had some really cool successes?

To make the cartridge be recognized, we duct taped the cartridge in to the printer in such a way that the cartridge was held diagonally in to the printer.