New Users

Walkthroughs as well as tips and tricks for when you are first starting into 3D printing.

MakerBot Desktop 3.7

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Many of you have likely already downloaded MakerBot Desktop 3.7 as it was released in June. This is just an update for those that haven’t either because they are sticking with an older version they feel is sufficient or that haven’t noticed this latest version of MakerBot Desktop. Desktop 3.7 is a significant upgrade in terms of the ease of accessing the bulk of the settings that many users want to fine-tune when they are printing day-to-day. By simply switching to the custom tab in Settings, you can now control things like how far your raft extends from the print, travel speeds during a variety of printing stages, angle required to generate support and even choose to print infill at a lower resolution than the outer shells. This customization is a great way to get your prints printing how you want while no longer requiring you to edit text files … Read more

Tips for Printing with a Raft

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When printing we generally try to avoid a raft as it often adds unnecessary time and cost to the print in addition to sometimes reducing the finish on the bottom of the print. With that being said there are many times where a raft is useful and will improve your overall results. Below is a short list of such cases: Tall and skinny objects that may either wobble or have trouble sticking to the platform Large flat bottomed objects that have a very strong tendency to warp or not stick Objects that you don’t want to have squished into the platform Objects that are difficult to remove from the build plate Objects with support material directly on the build plate that doesn’t stick well These objects are being rafted for a variety of reasons and it is important to be aware of some of the very basic settings on rafts … Read more

Helping PLA Stick to Blue Painters Tape with Glue

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If you run into issues with a big flat print warping in the corners and you can’t seem to get it to stay stuck to your blue painters tape we have a simple trick that might help. As always if possible redesign your piece to have small portions that break up long flat portions on the build plate and include recesses or other relief areas to make it smaller chunks of warping rather than one big area. To make your prints stick to the blue painters tape you can simply apply a thin coat of UHU glue where your print will be and slightly further out to ensure you get the edges well. If you just need a tiny bit of help to make the print stick, tracing the outline of the print or even just a good coat in the corners can be sufficient. This glue stick is easy … Read more

Tightening Replicator 2/2X Belts

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If your prints are turning out significantly smaller in size in one direction, it is possible that it is being caused by backlash. This is when the extruder isn’t being moved as far as it should to make the proper size. The reason the extruder won’t move far enough when you have backlash is that due to a loose belt, the teeth of the gear allow slight play on the belt causing the extruder to drag as far back as possible on its teeth because that is where it will actually catch. Any change in direction  immediately moves it to drag the opposite side, this means the very edges of your print won’t ever be reached properly. Loose belts can be more severe as well if they allow slippage to occur and miss-align your gantry, but the solution to a loose belt is generally the same regardless of severity. There … Read more

Replicator 2/2X Gantry Alignment

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During shipping, rough handling or over time it is possible for a gantry to come out of alignment on the Replicator 2 and 2X. This will be noticeable by your printer grinding because it won’t hit an endstop or printing objects at an unexpected angle compared to the front of the platform. This can be obvious on the initial bead of filament the printer primes its nozzle with at the front of the platform. If your gantry is out of alignment, the first thing to do is check to make sure you don’t have any loose belts that caused this as fixing this and leaving a loose belt with allow it to get out of alignment again. Once you have all your belts properly tightened you can then begin the process of aligning the gantry. To check the current alignment slide the gantry to the front of the printer and look … Read more