South West Makers

So after a few days of deliberation and pocket money counting, I finally pushed the button on the Felix 3 Printer. (There are just so many meetings I can stand being the only one without a printer )

I paid the extra for the expedited shipping, they say 1-4 days world-wide but we all know that it takes at least 2 days from Perth... Maybe I just wasted my money..

I'll be putting an order in with BilbyCNC in the new future if anyone wants to share shipping costs?

It's travelled from Netherlands to Germany

excellent!!!! I found it didn't take very long, actually it was quicker coming from there than things I order from Sydney

BTW What colour did you order?

I was going to order black, but after seeing Paul's red one last meeting, I decided to go with that.

This waiting business is tough, I must have checked the UPS website at least 10 times today.

Jubbp wrote:.... I must have checked the UPS website at least 10 times today.

LOL - yes, I know the feeling.

Jubbp wrote:I was going to order black, but after seeing Paul's red one last meeting, I decided to go with that.

This waiting business is tough, I must have checked the UPS website at least 10 times today.

at least you didn't have to wait 4 weeks for it. when I ordered min they were not using the injection moulded parts, only the self printed ones, and their order times were 4-6 weeks. longest 4 weeks of my life haha

China this morning, Singapore at lunch time

Jubbp wrote:China this morning, Singapore at lunch time

With a bit of luck you might have it by the weekend

Just got a call from ups, need to pay an import duty of $50, bummer... But at least it's getting closer

Make that $250, I miss heard the voicemail, hmm GST,......

Jubbp wrote:Just got a call from ups, need to pay an import duty of $50, bummer... But at least it's getting closer

Crap....I didn't get any mine, although was expecting it.

Jubbp wrote:Make that $250, I miss heard the voicemail, hmm GST,......

double crap

So after 3 nights of building on and off, I've almost finished putting it all together.

Getting exciting now, just the last of the wiring to do tomorrow, the calibrating it and I might even get to print something...

woohoo!!

It's finally printing!!!

I might have a bit of work and learning but it's printing.

Jubbp wrote:It's finally printing!!!

I might have a bit of work and learning but it's printing.

image.jpg

Well done!

A few improvements I've down that makes life easier and makes a big difference to the care and feeding of your Felix printer:

1) make the Extruder fan 12V instead of the default is 5V there is jumper on main board to solder from memory. this provides more cooling to the extruders and prevents hot end jams on retraction.

2) Insulate your hotbed with a piece of cardboard underneath, will protect the Y-Axis mounts from heated bed, but also allow you to go past 80Degc if you want to print ABS, which is my filament of choice nowadays, I now get upto to 105DegC in a chilly office.

3) Replace the Z Axis Stop with this one found on the forums, so very much better http://forum.felixprinters.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=890 and is a real breeze to adjust

4) Replace the levelling spring washers on the hotbed with springs from IKEA Pegs

5) Replace the Setscrews used on the Hotbed levelling with 3mm Cap Screws of roughly the same length, much easier to adjust using an allen key rather than trying to adjust the nut with a spanner, just have to be careful that you don't over tighten into the build plate. Now I can adjust on the fly while printing with a single allen key.

6) Use 3mm glass plate on the build plate.

7) if every your belts need replacing, replace with GT2 Belts, felix originally comes with M3 belts, which are hard to source and cost a bucket in freight getting them from the Felix Store, GT2 is easy can be found anywhere and the bonus is that they increase the X and Y step resolution using. You also need to replace the drive pulleys.

8) I put connectors on all my X-Axis Extruders hot ends, Fans, Thermistors and Stepper motors. Makes it easier to dismantle and remove for cleaning or maintenance. Same goes for the hotbed, but some high amp connectors to make it easy to disconnect if every you need to remove the hotbed.

Thanks for that advice Steven, I think we might also make a reference post to keep this one easily available.

Stephen has covered off most things.

Apart from the test prints, my first print jobs where the Felix tweezers holder: http://forum.felixprinters.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=97 then the spool holder kit (this is found in the Felix download section). Don't forget the LED bar as well: http://forum.felixprinters.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=105