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Thread: Making that Bullet Collator

  1. #4641
    Boolit Bub wbbh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TylerR View Post
    At least you don't have a part graveyard yet. I think mine would rival most.
    The price of knowledge, which we thank you for sharing. I just hope my collection never weighs as much as my box of reloading screwups, crushed cases, loads, etc.

  2. #4642
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GWS View Post
    So if your walls are .8mm thick...does that mean you are using a .8 nozzle....or are you squeezing .8 out of a .4 nozzle. I get to thinking I've got this all figured out until the next print screws up. I've done quite well up to now, but tonight I was trying to print some APP parts and I had my first spaghetti experience.....must have an adhesion problem again. I changed the reel of PLA back to another brand I've used successfully before (Overture black PLA+) and most likely I forgot the settings I used with it. Feeling extra dumb today.

    I don't think I've ever set walls wider than .45.
    I was going to specify that but did not want it to make it any more confusing. I am using a .4mm nozzle (have never used anything else), so technically my 2 walls is 4 passes of the extruder. 4 walls is 8, etc.....

  3. #4643
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GWS View Post
    So if your walls are .8mm thick...does that mean you are using a .8 nozzle....or are you squeezing .8 out of a .4 nozzle. I get to thinking I've got this all figured out until the next print screws up. I've done quite well up to now, but tonight I was trying to print some APP parts and I had my first spaghetti experience.....must have an adhesion problem again. I changed the reel of PLA back to another brand I've used successfully before (Overture black PLA+) and most likely I forgot the settings I used with it. Feeling extra dumb today.

    I don't think I've ever set walls wider than .45.
    Just wanted to say one other thing here my friend. I have been printing for 7+ years now, and one thing I know is that over time the print bed will move away from the nozzle. Don't ask me why. If it has been awhile make sure you re-level that bed.

  4. #4644
    Boolit Master GWS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TylerR View Post
    Just wanted to say one other thing here my friend. I have been printing for 7+ years now, and one thing I know is that over time the print bed will move away from the nozzle. Don't ask me why. If it has been awhile make sure you re-level that bed.
    Interesting....even with an autoleveler like EZABL pro? I'm also wondering if my nozzle is shot or clogged.....it doesn't act right.....today is take it all apart day....oh well, every day can't be fun.
    Last edited by GWS; 07-22-2021 at 12:27 PM.

  5. #4645
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GWS View Post
    Interesting....even with an autoleveler like EZABL pro? I'm also wondering if my nozzle is shot or clogged.....it doesn't act right.....today is take it all apart day....oh well, every day can't be fun.
    I'll be honest, I have BLTouch on my E5+ and I don't even really use it. I just find manual leveling to be so easy I don't bother with it. I adjust my bed about once every 3 months.

  6. #4646
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    So after saying that, I decided to go down and do some more playing around with BLtouch. Figure I have it I should probably use it. Started by doing another manual level, then ran an auto level mesh from the printer. Also played around with the Bed Visualizer plugin on Octoprint. Eventually got it to where I liked it.

    Added the M420 S1 code to the Gcode start scripts in Octoprint and did some test prints. I could confirm the auto leveling was working by holding on to the the z axes screw while it was printing. Definitely was making micro adjustments as the layer was printing. Pretty cool stuff. I will still plan on doing a manual level once in while to account for changes.
    Last edited by TylerR; 07-22-2021 at 07:23 PM.

  7. #4647
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    I am horrible at manually leveling a bed. Creality had a sale last week for 50% off an a Ender 5 got a plane ride to my house. Ordered a BLTouch but thats comeing from China. In the mean time the struggle is real. Use a post it note. Tram it all out to a hard scratch and first layer does not adhear... cuss and adjust bed on the fly. Need to check my z off set. Did not put on in but never know.

    You can save filament profiles and slicer settings.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
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  8. #4648
    Boolit Master GWS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    I am horrible at manually leveling a bed. Creality had a sale last week for 50% off an a Ender 5 got a plane ride to my house. Ordered a BLTouch but thats comeing from China. In the mean time the struggle is real. Use a post it note. Tram it all out to a hard scratch and first layer does not adhear... cuss and adjust bed on the fly. Need to check my z off set. Did not put on in but never know.

    You can save filament profiles and slicer settings.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    I would have never achieved what I have without babystepping Z offset most prints. Critical when you change filaments. That's the reason I have a skirt around the model. With Tyler's recommended pre-sanded polypropylene bed I never have to use anything else. I babystep the z offset while it prints the skirt. Two buts......1. small round parts where there's not much of a skirt (no time to adjust) and you can't see the skirt anyway with the nozzle apparatus always over it.) and 2. what I'm dealing with this week.....clogged up tube and nozzle, maybe from moisture, too much retraction, or who knows....worn out nozzle?

    A lot I still don't know or comprehend.
    Last edited by GWS; 07-23-2021 at 11:41 AM.

  9. #4649
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    I had clogging issues printing PTEG. The extra heat would degrade my cheap Creality PTFE tube. I went with all metal hotends. I have the Bigtreetech and Gulf Coast Robotics ones. Works great. They just run a little when heating up. The beginning gcode wipes the nozzle before printing so it isnt an issue just an annoyance.

    If your haveing clogging problems check your PTFE tube inside the hotend. Even if you have the Creality hot end fix.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
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  10. #4650
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    I’m having a little difficulty with overhang in the bullet drop die where the ball bearings go. Any suggestions on improving the accuracy in the print?





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  11. #4651
    Boolit Master GWS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post

    You can save filament profiles and slicer settings.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    I know that part....but if you are as dumb as me you save and realize you didn't save to a new file.....so the last one is gone. doh....

  12. #4652
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CS223 View Post
    I’m having a little difficulty with overhang in the bullet drop die where the ball bearings go. Any suggestions on improving the accuracy in the print.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    What are your print settings? Should be using a .4mm nozzle printing with .12mm layers.

  13. #4653
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    Quote Originally Posted by TylerR View Post
    What are your print settings? Should be using a .4mm nozzle printing with .12mm layers.
    That’s what I’m using per the pdf from the configurator, 2 walls 20% fill. PLA+ @ 200C the rest of it is beautiful, no interference between the two parts. Bottoms of the holes look fine. I’m wondering if I should reduce the bridge flow rate and or add support to the holes. Ignore the flash from the brim, they just came off the printer.


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  14. #4654
    Boolit Master TylerR's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CS223 View Post
    That’s what I’m using per the pdf from the configurator, 2 walls 20% fill. PLA+ @ 200C the rest of it is beautiful, no interference between the two parts. Bottoms of the holes look fine. I’m wondering if I should reduce the bridge flow rate and or add support to the holes. Ignore the flash from the brim, they just came off the printer.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    The only other thing I can think of is the slicer settings. What slicer are you using?

  15. #4655
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    Part cooling?

    Or use tree supports.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
    ~Theodore Roosevelt~

  16. #4656
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    Quote Originally Posted by TylerR View Post
    The only other thing I can think of is the slicer settings. What slicer are you using?
    I’m using PrusaSlicer


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  17. #4657
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    Making that Bullet Collator

    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    Part cooling?

    Or use tree supports.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    I can generate support for bridges and if I slice doing so, it does add support to the holes. Part cooling is at 100% fan speed.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  18. #4658
    Boolit Master

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    I dont have experience with Prusa Slicer. I have tried Slic3r and didn't like it. It probably just needed to he calibrated and tuned. I use Cura and it just plane works from the get go.

    Slic3r is nice because it can explode multipart stls. So there is that benefit.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
    ~Theodore Roosevelt~

  19. #4659
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    Making that Bullet Collator

    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    I dont have experience with Prusa Slicer. I have tried Slic3r and didn't like it. It probably just needed to he calibrated and tuned. I use Cura and it just plane works from the get go.

    Slic3r is nice because it can explode multipart stls. So there is that benefit.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    PrusaSlicer is just a version of Slic3r. As for Cura, I have to use an old version as for some reason later versions result in poor print quality with my f/w. I’ve wasted countless hours with Cura chasing print quality issues. I’ve sliced the part with both and looked layer by layer and the tool path appears the same around the ball area in both Cura and P/S. I may just create a ball bearing test model to print so I can try different settings without printing the die over & over. It’s printing on an Ender 5 FWIW. I’m thinking it’s a matter of tuning the bridging settings.

    It also appears in the bullet slides.



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    Last edited by CS223; 07-24-2021 at 02:27 PM.

  20. #4660
    Boolit Bub Vorga's Avatar
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    TylerR... Thank you for all the time you invested into this . You have brought this a long way . I am about 80% done so far . I will post pics/vids once done . I am building the latest ver of this as i pulled the files off the GitHub page .Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by Vorga; 07-24-2021 at 06:24 PM.

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