Two years of 3D printing

Almost two years ago my good friend Phil Hands invited me to attend a workshop at bath university to build a 3D printer. I had previously looked at the Reprap project and considered building the Darwin model, alas lack of time and funds had prevented me form proceeding.

The workshop was to build a new, much simpler, design called the Prusa. Of course the workshop was booked and paid for well in advance which left me looking forwards to the event with anticipation. Of course I would not betaking the results of the workshop home as Phil had paid for it, so I started investigating what I would need for my own machine. 

Of course at this point I muttered the age old phrase of "how hard can it be" and started acquiring parts for my own printer. By the time the workshop happened I already had my machine working as a plotter. I learned a lot from the Bath masterclass and a few days afterwards my own machine was complete.

The results were underwhelming to say the least. There then came months and months of trial and error to fix various issues:

• The filament feed bolt had to be replaced with a better one with sharper teeth. 
• The thermistor which reads the extruder temperature needed replacing (it still reads completely the wrong temperature even now).
• The Y axis was completely inverted and needed re-wiring and the limit switches moving.
• Endlessly replacing the printer firmware with new versions because every setting change requires a complete recompile and re-flash.
• The bushings on the Y axis were simply not up to the job and the entire assembly needed replacing with ball bearings and a heated bed otherwise prints would be completely warped.
• The Z axis couplings kept failing until I printed some alternates that worked much better

Once these issues had been fixed I started getting acceptable levels of output though the software in the workflow used to produce toolpaths (skeinforge) was exceptionally difficult to use and prone to producing poor results.

Alas the fundamental design issues of the Prusa remain. The A frame design provides exceptional rigidity in one plane...the other two? not so much. This coupled with an exceptionally challenging calibration to get the frame parallel and square means the printer is almost never true.

In operation the lack of rigidity in the x axis means the whole frame vibrates badly even with extra struts to try and improve its rigidity. I am not the first to notice these design flaws and indeed Chris has done something about it by creating a much superior design.

I do however have a working printer and have developed a workflow and understanding of what I can expect to work.

Improvements in the software means that slic3r has replaced skeinforge and gives superior results and the CAD software is continuously improving.

Currently I mainly use the printer to generate prototypes and simple profiles and then send the resulting designs to shapeways for final production though simpler designs are usable directly from the machine.

Because I am away from home a lot and moving the machine is simply not a workable option the printer does not get used for "fun" anywhere near as much as I had hoped and the workflow limitations mean I have not been able to make it available to my friends to use as a communal device.