Making that Bullet Collator

[GWS]

Welcome to the CR-10 V2 club! I love mine! But then I have never seen anything else!

What I haven't tried yet is ABS nor any nozzle except what comes with the printer......on pins and needles waiting to learn something New!

I was wondering what the options were for covering such a machine for ABS! Interesting....and cheap.....both good.

I noticed you have one of those fancy blue tubes.....the only add I've done is the EZABL bed leveler which I absolutely love! Here's my first base print a couple of months back. (the small one). It took 18 hours with a .4 nozzle.

[JSATX]

Not much left to do but wire the motor and light switch up.

1/2 Pex pipe is working great for 9mm. Designed a super simple adapter for the Hornady die and the bullet feeder so far I really like it. Shoulda used blue! But had red on hand.

[lablover]

Good luck with the ABS lighthouse. Good idea for the heat tent.

Jsatx I like the Pex idea. Too bad it won’t work for .45. Drats.

GWS,I love my abl system for bed leveling..best investment ever. I even went with solid bed mounts.

[Lakehouse2012]

Thanks GWS, the Creality machines are some of the best. I took a break from printing boolit stuff 6 months ago and with a group of buddies over 5 months we printed over 10,000 face shields, donating to health care. I've got this V2 and 2 other CR10S's. Other than maintenance, they just keep printing.... I'd guess that I have 3000 hours in each of the machines, they really do rock! Hatch got me started on an Anet A8 a few years back, and other than being noisy, that machine still works also. I printed at least 500 shields on that one before it went down for an overhaul.

Regarding the Capricorn tubing, its nice to have some on hand when your stock tubing gets worn. The fitting at the hot-end will eventually gnaw at the tube and cause a slight bit of movement, which will eventually cause a clog. The Capricorn will last a bit longer, but its not a "must-have" upgrade.

I've always said the auto bed-leveling would be a great feature, but so far leveling has been such I minor event for me on setup, that I haven't upgraded.

I will say- the carburized glass plate they sell with the V2, worked great for 6 months of hard (24 hrs/day) printing, but eventually it started peeling up with the prints. I flipped the glass over and an using Aquanet spray on the smooth side glass, rather than paying Creality's $85 for factory replacements.

Any questions about wear, tweaks or maintenance on these machines, let me know, I love to help and am honored to be among you enterprising minds!

[QUOTE=GWS;5012842]Welcome to the CR-10 V2 club! I love mine! But then I have never seen anything else!

What I haven't tried yet is ABS nor any nozzle except what comes with the printer......on pins and needles waiting to learn something New!

I was wondering what the options were for covering such a machine for ABS! Interesting....and cheap.....both good.

I noticed you have one of those fancy blue tubes.....the only add I've done is the EZABL bed leveler which I absolutely love! Here's my first base print a couple of months back. (the small one). It took 18 hours with a .4 nozzle.

[lablover]

Guess I tried the wrong size pex. The solid bed mounts is so it never goes out of adjustment. Works perfect so far. I need to go find some of the thin wall clear tube. I ordered some from Lee and seems I ordered the wrong size or they sent the wrong size. Should work fine for 45 bullets but a bit snug for 45 brass

[GWS]

Guess I tried the wrong size pex. The solid bed mounts is so it never goes out of adjustment. Works perfect so far. I need to go find some of the thin wall clear tube. I ordered some from Lee and seems I ordered the wrong size or they sent the wrong size. Should work fine for 45 bullets but a bit snug for 45 brass

Maybe the curves were too tight? And for that reason the Pex has to be bigger? No experience with that. With rigid thinwall there are no curves.

I get mine from Pet Mountain: https://www.petmountain.com/product/...d-tubing-clear or Pet Warehouse: https://www.petswarehouse.com/tubing/

The product used to be sized perfect for telescoping but I think their sources must have changed because it doesn't always do that well. I wonder it they may be getting the tube from China now and metric wall thickness causes a problem.

You can still order one tube at a time.....walls are 1/32"-ish. See the above gripe. Anyway, you can get O.D. 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 3/4, and 1". I have use up to 5/8. Probably my most common size I buy is 9/16 for pistols which is also the size Lee Precision buys for their 4-way feeder, only all these are 36" long. 9/16 means they are 1/16 less Inside Diameter. (1/32 walls) Except for the wall width isn't always controlled. (don't get mixed up with the Lee name, because this tubing manufacturer is also named Lee). Lee precision also has a 1/4 " tube. There! I've done my best to totally mix you up.

One more thing....if you are lucky and your tubes telescope like they used to, you can just drop a smaller 1/2" tube inside the 9/16 and a 7/16 inside that and keep using the four-way............but now with power collators you probably won't.........still it can come in handy at times. I bevel incoming edges with a case mouth beveling tool to keep bullet and cases flowing smooth. I super glue printed transition pieces to the tube so I have one piece to change out rather than three, when it's caliber change time.

If you do use some thinwall, I've found a hack saw is best for cutting to length (for the cut, just lay it on a partly open vise), then the side of a grinding wheel on my bench grinder polishes the cut edge, and the case deburr/bevel tool de-edges incoming edges so bullets fly through.

[TylerR]

I will say- the carburized glass plate they sell with the V2, worked great for 6 months of hard (24 hrs/day) printing, but eventually it started peeling up with the prints. I flipped the glass over and an using Aquanet spray on the smooth side glass, rather than paying Creality's $85 for factory replacements..

I printed ABS on tempered glass for years, using glue stick to get good adhesion. It worked, but was kind of a pain, and eventually pieces of glass would come up with a print and ultimately replacement was needed. When I got my new Ender 5 I decided I wanted to try something else.

I bought one of these polypropylene glass fiber build plates just to test, and I have never been happier. I used 220 grit sandpaper and roughed up the surface and the first layer adhesion is unreal, without having to use anything else like painters tape, glue stick or hair spray. I actually run it on top of a piece of glass, but that probably isn't necessary. I just wipe it down with some windex every once in awhile.

https://www.amazon.com/235-235mm-Mam..._t1_B07YFJTZCB

[Lakehouse2012]

I printed ABS on tempered glass for years, using glue stick to get good adhesion. It worked, but was kind of a pain, and eventually pieces of glass would come up with a print and ultimately replacement was needed. When I got my new Ender 5 I decided I wanted to try something else.

I bought one of these polypropylene glass fiber build plates just to test, and I have never been happier. I used 220 grit sandpaper and roughed up the surface and the first layer adhesion is unreal, without having to use anything else like painters tape, glue stick or hair spray. I actually run it on top of a piece of glass, but that probably isn't necessary. I just wipe it down with some windex every once in awhile.

https://www.amazon.com/235-235mm-Mam..._t1_B07YFJTZCB

I agree Tyler, that will be a next purchase.

Print came out pretty good for ABS. I'll do a small bit of heating to tie a single layer that came apart on the left edge.


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[GWS]

Looks good. ABS is pretty glossy.....does that mean slick? as in less friction between base and wheel?

Has anyone used the plastic weld kit from Harbor Freight for fixing things? I have not, but my brother bought one to to repair something plastic......I think it worked......but I don't know what kind of plastic "rod" comes with it. I haven't heard of such a thing being used in this hobby.....yet.

https://www.harborfreight.com/80-wat...kit-60662.html

[Lakehouse2012]

I use my hot melt glue gun to fix delamination, if I'm not interested in how pretty it will look. After heating the gun up, I will stick the nozzle into the part and slowly fill and weld as I go. Structure is great when its done, just not very pretty...

Yes, the ABS will have less friction and is stronger, though I dont know if its really necessary with these kinds of parts... I'm just having fun getting back into the printing again.

Looks good. APS is pretty glossy.....does that mean slick? as in less friction between base and wheel?

Has anyone used the plastic weld kit from Harbor Freight for fixing things? I have not, but my brother bought one to to repair something plastic......I think it worked......but I don't know what kind of plastic "rod" comes with it. I haven't heard of such a thing being used in this hobby.....yet.

https://www.harborfreight.com/80-wat...kit-60662.html

[Rcmaveric]

I use a non tempered scrap glass i salvage from dumpsters. Lol the Elmer's glue sticks sometimes work too well causing me to break more than one pane. I like the super cheap Jot sticks from the dollar store. I have to print with the glass at 60c for best hold. But as soon as it cools the prints pop right off no issues. I havent broken a glass bed in a year since using cheap glue sticks.

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[GWS]

I use my hot melt glue gun to fix delamination, if I'm not interested in how pretty it will look. After heating the gun up, I will stick the nozzle into the part and slowly fill and weld as I go. Structure is great when its done, just not very pretty...

Yes, the ABS will have less friction and is stronger, though I dont know if its really necessary with these kinds of parts... I'm just having fun getting back into the printing again.

What a great idea! I wonder if a person could "print" glue sticks out of the PLA or ABS or whatever you are printing, and feed them through the glue gun instead of commerial glue sticks....That way you got your color too. Prettier that way?

Maybe I'm dreaming.....

[Rcmaveric]

Actually the make 3D printer pens.

Also for dual head printers. I remember reading some where they have a type of filament similar to glue stick polymer to use for supports because it is so cheap. They also have a water soluble filament for supports.

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[GWS]

I've heard of the water soluble filament......wondered why you would want that.....interesting.

The Creality glass that came with mine works so well without glue or hairspray, I was disappointed to hear that it may wear out. Guess I'll have to deal with that when it comes.....but I'm glad I bought an extra. The alternatives you guys use is sure more effort. But it is what it is.

[Rcmaveric]

Lot of people use the Capton tape over the glass. Probably what's on it. So if that coating wears out just reapply it.

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[lablover]

I’ve been using this stuff on a mirror bed. Works fantastic! Bed cool and print just comes right off with zero effort. While the bed is warm you would need to chisel it off.

https://www.amazon.com/Magigoo-Pen-A...d-0c3639671b2d

[Fil131]

Waiting on my bullet feeder dies and powder funnels from DAA, until I get those I can’t do anything with this and my press... The waiting is the hardest part.

[Fil131]

And to add to the 3D printing comments, all I’ve been using is PETG and my Prusa MK3S with the textured bed, cleaning with off brand window cleaner, no upgrades to my printer. Never so far have I had a print lift. I also let prints cool on their own and they basically remove themselves with little to no force whatsoever.

[GWS]

You said waiting is the hardest part? I have a hard time waiting for the stupid bed to cool! Maybe that's the reason the reason they wear out? Mine hasn't yet, and it does release just fine if I leave the print alone.

I only had the first one release and that was from not cleaning the bed first. Since then I use alcohol and no more lifting, period. I get that there's more than one solution to bed problems....

My biggest problem is there are too many projects I want to do....so little time....

Am loving my Creality CR-10 V2, and it's 300x300x400 print footprint. No complaints except my own slow learning curve, and 3D printing's slow print speed. Quality prints, no problem. TylerR's and Mike's great ideas and STL's ....pure awesomeness.

[Fil131]

You said waiting is the hardest part? I have a hard time waiting for the stupid bed to cool! Maybe that's the reason the reason they wear out? Mine hasn't yet, and it does release just fine if I leave the print alone.

I only had the first one release and that was from not cleaning it. Since then I use alcohol and no more lifting, period. I get that there's more than one solution to bed problems....

My biggest problem is there are too many projects I want to do....so little time....

Haha, I'm always tempted to try removing as soon as the extruder moves away from the print. I haven't tried alcohol yet since I haven't had lift problems, I read that alcohol might cause me to have removal issues with PETG.