1) Just insert the lead screw and motor shaft into the flex couplings until they touch, then tighten. That way the leadscrew won't compress in Z but you still get axial flexibility.
3,4) Printed spacers work great and if you use printed spacers you don't need precision shims because the spacers are designed to be the right size rather than ordering metal spacers and getting the wrong ones like so many people experience.

 

Very nice, are those bed mounts in the files section or are those something you created? If you created them, would you mind posting them?

 

Here you go. I don't remember where I got the originals from, but I made some mods to them for my needs. The thumb wheel can go in the slot and I originally had springs between the top of the mount and the bed. Right now I have the wheen on top of the mount and no springs.

 

Thank you sir!

 

Just a general FYI: Since I have all new electronics & firmware I did a comparison of print times vs jerk settings vs quality in Repetier+RADDS using the 3dBenchy as my test subject. Lots of pictures and numbers!
Tuning jerk values in Repetier

 

What were you using for your slicer? I just got Simplfy3D this weekend and I have seen major print quality differences from it's output vs Slic3r.

 

Simply3d (I call that out in the post, but there are a lot of words). I've only ever used it and Makeware (since my first bot was a rep1), and (for the most part) it crushes Makerware.
You didn't say if your "major print quality differences" were good or bad?

 

They changes were GREAT! Without changing anything in the default setup for a Printrbot Simple Metal, an orb shape I had been trying to print always had issues with gaps and stuff at the top. Simplify3d printed it perfect. I have gone back and reprinted several other items that had issues and Simplify3d has been printing them so much better.

The gaps in the red areas go all the way through to the inside. This is a problem I had been fighting with for a long time.

 

Very interesting! I have heard from different folks all around that Simplify3D was a good investment and netted an immediate improvement in printing results with little to no other change. Good to see an example! I have pretty much exclusively used Slic3r for everything to date. Makes me seriously wonder how much of a general improvement I'd see, or what specific issues I have had would be solved. Gives me more reasons to buy it. Thanks!

 

I have been using Slic3r up until now. Tried Cura, but was never too impressed with it from a user interface point of view. That kept me from using it too much. There is a lot of difference in the way Slic3r and Simplify3D handle settings. It is taking a bit to adjust, but I have been very happy with the results.

 

I've been using S3D for a little over a year now, great investment. There are a few issues that drive me nuts, but the other 95% is well worth the buy-in.
I have a living document of my S3d pros\cons here if any new user is interested: http://www.akeric.com/blog/?p=2801

 

They are now offering a two week trial period (finally) and that was the only reason I put the money out for it. After the first day, I knew I wasn't going back to Slic3r.

 

Woohoo, my extrusions are on their way!

I've been printing non-stop trying to get everything ready, but still looks like I have a lot left to print. **** PETG keeps gunking up and causing failed/semi-failed prints... I'm thinking I might just use PLA for the rest, then re-do all the printed parts in PETG or nylon once I have it working.

 

If it helps, here's what I had to do to get PETG to print reliably.

* Slow down. I print around 30-50mm max for PETG.
* Check Nozzle tip, my E3D Nozzle was severely wore down. After swapping in a new one, I got a lot fewer failed prints and much much better quality.
* Print with GlueStick on top of glass, aluminum, blue painters tape, they all work with glue stick. My choice is blue painters tape with a light layer of gluestick as PETG on glass can stick so well it will literally rip the glass apart as it cools. Better it tear up tape instead.
* Ensure first layer is squeezed ever so slightly. You can get away with no squash, but for big prints, I like having the added security of knowing the first layer is going to stick well. Lost an 8 hour print last night due to this...
* Depending on the brand of PETG, lower the temp. For high strength items though, you might want to leave it hot to ensure inter layer bonding. I use hatchbox at 245 for my printer.
* Ensure your extruding is precisely calibrated. 100mm extruded means 100mm of filament moved and not 95 or 105.
* Ensure you measure the filament in multiple places and multiple areas around the filament. It might be 1.74 in one spot, but 1.68 rotated 90 degrees inthe same spot. Do as much as you can and average it out.
* Ensure you are not over or under extruding. The above items should take care of that, along with the correct settings in your slicer. I have more problems with gooping up when I underextrude than when I over extrude. This happens because there isn't enough plastic extruded to stick down, so it curls and sticks to the hot end, carbons up and then is deposit elsewhere, hot end hits in travel and knocks it off or skips steps, etc....
* Watch your print! Even with all the above, I still get the occasional carbon blob. but now that things are dialed in really well I only need to clear a carbon blob every few hours.
* Print cooling. I run a fan pointed 1 mm below the print, but angled as parallel as possible to the bed as to only cool the extruded filament, not the bed or the nozzle. That has helped tremendously. I run the fan with a tight pattern and as high as I can without cooling the nozzle.
* Bump up your retraction, I run a bowden with 6mm of retraction. YMMV
* Heat the bed up. I run mine from 60 - 80 depending on the brand.
* Let it cool completely before pulling the print. Most often the print will come off with minimal effort when it cools. If it sticks hard, then you might be squashing too much or using too much gluestick.

There are more probably, but that's what I have off the top of my head.

 

When printing with PET-G, especially black, after a print, I pull the filament out and heat the hot end to 260 for several minutes. I then take a brass bristle brush and clean off all the gunk that has built up. I get a lot fewer drops of glogs on my prints.

 

I tried something similar.. But then I couldn't figure out how to clean the brush :/

 

Never had to worry about cleaning the brush. But at 75 cents each, easier to toss it and get another one.

 

So now I have to ask: where do you get your brushes?

Also, I'm out of PETG at this point and I'm wondering if I should just switch to nylon anyway? Is it safe to print nylon indoors?

 

I get them at a small electronics store. They sell a lot of excess parts and recycled stuff. They have an online store, but unfortunately, this item isn't one they list. I need to get back down there soon and stock up on more. They do have one for $1.50 onlines (UTILITY BRUSH)

I have never worked with Nylon. I have heard it can put out some bad fumes so make sure your work area is well ventilated. But looking at the prices of Nylon vs PET-G on Amazon, I would suggest staying with PET-G.

 

What gauge of wire are you folks using for your steppers? I have some 18 Gauge shielded 4 conductor plus shield wire that I picked up for the steppers, but seems like overkill, especially since I need to bump up to a micro fit molex connector for the 18 gauge. How did you connect to your RAMPS/CRAMPS/etc....

 

I am using #22 but the wire on the motors is more like #24.

 

Nylon prints with no fumes, but its a ***** and a half to dial in. If you can't NAIL PET every time you are going to want to kill yourself with nylon. It is BEAUTIFUL and amazing once you get it dialed in, but I still don't have the confidence to do a large part with it and I have been playing with it for weeks.

I printed everything in PLA, I will go through the pain of swapping out some of the bigger pieces later as I re-print them in nylon or PET. I ran my PLA a bit hot so that it has super good layer adhesion and I have to be honest the parts Carl has designed seem sturdy as a mother, at 70% infill I do not see them cracking under any reasonable persons idea of well tightened.

EDIT:
Just as a disclaimer I am using Simplify3D as well using the rectilinear infill, YMMV with other slicers. I believe as was posted earlier in this thread that S3d is a worthwhile investment, I paid for it and I knew within an hour that I would never go back to RepetierHost and Slicer.

 

They have always had a 30 day money back policy, nobody ever goes back

 

Are you sure? The offer is now only two weeks. Why shorten the time? If they did have it before, they really kept it hidden.

I have never seen any trial offer before. AK Eric also mentioned in his review that there wasn't any thing earlier.

 

It's a money back guarantee. You have two weeks to try it and if you don't like it, you can get your money back. There is some sort of license file that seems like is controlled from their servers. S3D doesn't have to be on the network to work, but it has to phone home eventually and they can modify the license at that point it looks like.

As far as I can tell, there never was a free trial version.