Hi folks,
Back in August I chimed in regarding solutions I’ve applied in my quest for reliable printing on the Form1+. @Seagull was also working on the same concepts for reliable printing.
I’ve tried to inject a little humor, if we’re not having fun…what’s the point?
At that time I had not used the tough resin, too busy happily printing with the standard resins.
Recently, I received an order to print in tough resin, of course it’s a rush order. Oh crap, have not had the time to mess with the tough resin. The model to be printed was 154 x 43 x 10mm, oh great, not only have I not mastered printing with the tough resin, the first print with the tough resin will challenge the size constraints of the platform. I oriented the model close to the platform, an attempt to mitigate introducing too many tough resin printability unknowns, especially lengthy supports.
Ok, how’s my platform looking for flatness. Yikes, it’s been a long time since the last tramming of the platform. Upon further inspection, one vertical side where the body attaches to the aluminum plate was slightly bowed, looked like the body had slipped off the internal gasket. Off comes the alum plate and sure enough the gasket was not where it should be. The last gasket alignment took some time to position correctly so the platform body juuuuuust bites the edge of the gasket. Oh geez, I don’t have the patience right now…out comes the gasket…I’ll run without the gasket. I then started re-assembly of the the platform.
A combination of not being prepared to accept a print job requiring tough resin, my hand-drill was completely charged (a powerful drill) and a rush print job on top of other rushed orders produced a bit of a high stress level. Not a good time to be messing around with platform alignments. I started to re-fasten the alum plate, one bolt done, two bolts done…around the fourth I heard a cracking sound, what the? …sure enough the plastic around the bolt head cracked. I was not paying enough attention to the torque settings on the hand-drill, it was set to the maximum, not the preferred minimum setting. Nice, I’m hooped. With only 4 bolts installed I checked the flatness of the alum plate…oh geez, this can’t be good, I need to back off those bolts. What I thought I was hearing was the ratcheting of the lowest torque setting, the familiar and very similar sound was actually the stripping of the sockets on all four bolts. Excellent, this just keeps getting worse, well…at that moment things seemed a little hopeless. Time to make a coffee and ponder…and oh yeah…order a new platform.
With a new platform a few days away, and the possibility of crafting emails to alert my clients of the impending delays…I was not going to let these recent events tarnish my reputation.
I completed fastening the aluminum plate. Grabbed my trusty Nicholson “Magicut 12” file" and proceeded with the only solution left to tram the plate to the z axis. For those of you who have used a file to tram, (not a common method btw) will appreciate the task at hand, fortunately I have the proper tools for the procedure. A few hours later…I figured I was close enough to flat…attempted the print…the middle support base area detached from the platform. Another hour or so of careful filing…attempted the print…success! I then printed 15 small models at strategic areas of the platform…all 15 printed perfectly. I then printed another load…perfect prints. I’m now on my 11th print job with tough resin, beautiful, perfect prints.
Edit: Please do not perform a flat file material removal tram of the aluminum plate of the build platform without first checking if your printer warranty will be affected by the procedures used in this comment/reply. Also, you must be a seasoned wielder of flat files and precision tramming(as performed on a milling machine). The proper tools in addition to a flat file are also a prerequisite. Filing metals and plastics might seem like a trivial procedure, quite the contrary when the goal is a precise outcome.
I cancelled my order for a new platform, I’m now designing a complete platform replacement for my Form1+.
cheers and good journeys,
Brent
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