Thursday, May 9, 2013

Build Log #25 - PLA woes and waiting for materials

         Been experimenting with PLA for a while and I'm starting to hate this stuff. To be specific, it really sucks for the QU-BD's MBE extruder. It will extrude normally but only within one hour of operational use. After that, it just clogs whenever it wants and it has already ruined two print sessions. I have never experience this problem with ABS and starting to think it's pointless to get PLA to work with this guy.
          I'm suspecting it's a time dependent issue and it might be the heat creeping up the barrel again, even having the fan at full blast and thermal paste applied. Another theory is that my modified raptor gear may be cutting into the filament too aggressively, creating tiny bits of PLA to form, traveling down the filament barrel where it eventually creates a blockade. I'm reluctant to take this thing apart again and ready to switch back to ABS. Maybe I should purchase that new E3D extruder and pair it with the direct drive system.
       
          Still working on the BOM and it's almost done. I've been adding features to make it user friendly and easy on the eyes.  Looking at a BOM with both metric and english units can be quite frustrating and I won't have none of that. However, I do give the user the option to choose alternative materials if need be Every material will have a source link to trusted online vendors, usually geared for 3d printing or respected supply store (VXB, McMaster-Carr, etc).

          Once the BOM is done, I will start making the assembly guide. Thinking of using instructables.com again since it's easy to use and creates a Table of Contents for you. I have all the vitamins except for the 8mm drill rods. I've been waiting for McMaster-Carr to ship them but they were back-ordered for 2 weeks. I finally emailed them about the drill rods and they shipped the next day *shrug*. Won't be purchasing the electronics but instead burrowing from my first mutant printer just so I can make the guide.

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