Here is a list of all the postings Alan has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.
Thread: ML7 TriLever setup problem... |
02/10/2023 16:24:57 |
I am trying to set up my ML7 TriLever... I've searched the posts here, and watched the videos.. but still have a problem. The belts are a relatively new matched set, of the correct size (A620/A23) The pulleys are straight with each other, checked with the edge of a steel rule against the faces. There is no slop in the pulley mounting. The problem is that no matter how I adjust the levers (Yes.. the correct way..!), as they lock into position the jockey wheel comes off the belt. This is always to the left hand side as you look at the lathe. There is no adjustment sideways on the lever housing, and no oil on the belts. Has anyone any further suggestions please..?? Thanks! Alan Edited By Alan on 02/10/2023 16:26:31 |
Thread: JoNo's Pendulum |
16/08/2023 13:12:07 |
Philip Woodward, in his book.. My Own Right Time, page 17 gives... Q = 2Pi x (total vibrational energy / energy lost per period) which he says can be proved that Q = Pi /(loge 2) x the number of periods (double swings) the pendulum takes in decaying to half amplitude. pi / loge 2 = 4.53. His pendulum came out with Q = 14,000 (approx) Edit... Loge is exponential logarithm Alan Edited By Alan on 16/08/2023 13:21:13 |
Thread: Improved Experimental Pendulum |
26/05/2023 15:46:31 |
Just a thought... Switch the LED on and off with a fast square wave (within the bandwidth of the opto devices...), and detect when the pulses disappear... the ambient light shouldn't then be a problem |
10/05/2023 10:24:42 |
Have you tried running your own NTP server on your local network..?? This would give a lot less jitter (due to using the greater internet..) Seems to be fairly easily done on a Raspberry Pi https://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-NTP.html is just one of many google hits on the subject.... I hope that I haven't sent you down another rabbit hole!!
Alan |
Thread: Blobs on 3D print.. |
26/04/2022 19:42:56 |
I've found a way to print a non-blobby cotton reel... Using Octoprint, download the gcode to the printer's SD card, and then print from that downloaded file. The download takes a fair length of time though... (The cotton reel took about 13 minutes...)
Alan |
26/04/2022 10:41:40 |
Thanks Ron... Octoprint is getting the entire file into its memory... The bottleneck seems to be between Octoprint and the 3D printer.. So hopefully not a network bottleneck.. There's very little network traffic... only a small network! This is why printing from the SD card is fault free..
Alan |
26/04/2022 08:39:59 |
While I'm here... A short intro to what arcwelder does... (as I understand it..) Normally a slicer cuts arcs and curves into short straight lines... If there are lots of arcs or curves (as on a circle...) there will be a lot of short straight lines. This means a lot of gcode, which can cause a data bottleneck between Octoprint and the printer. Where the printer waits for some more gcode, it leaves a blob. With the slicer using arcwelder, the arcs and curves are changed from short straight lines to arcs and curves, which results in a lot less gcode to send to the printer... sometimes up to 75% less..!! This means that the data bottleneck is a lot less likely to occur, meaning a blobless print. Obviously printing straight from the SD card doesn't have the same bottleneck problem, and so prints have no blobs... I'm not sure if the problem with the bottleneck will be improved with a faster RaspberryPi running Octoprint... I'm currently using a model 3b... still waiting for a model 4 to come into stock..!!
Alan |
25/04/2022 21:38:16 |
So...
I've now printed the cotton reel twice more.. Using the arcwelder plugin in both Octoprint and in Cura... This one is using the plugin in Octoprint... Still blobby... and there are some on the other side...but nowhere near as bad...
And this one with the plugin in CURA... Still blobby... and with none on the other side... but much better...
I think that these simple tests show that using the ArcWelder plugin in CURA gives the best results... still not perfect though... I can see my collection of cotton reels growing as I try to get this working properly!!
Alan |
25/04/2022 16:49:59 |
So... The 2nd print was just as blobby as the first... BUT... the 3rd print was smooth... !! This was printed direct from the micro SD card in the printer. The blobby prints were printed by using OctoPi.. Doing some Googling... it seems that there is a known problem with data transfer on prints that use a curved surface... The slicer chops it up into lots of small straight lines, and this is what OctoPi tries to send to the printer. There appears to be a plug-in to stop this.. so I'll try that next.
Alan |
24/04/2022 17:53:28 |
I'm currently printing the cotton reel again... Its still blobbing... but not so much.. I've lowered the nozzle temperature to 180 (from 200..) I've not changed the retract.. its still at 5mm The material is PLA... only opened the reel a few days ago.. I've looked at the CHEP youtube that Lee recommended.. but it seems more to do with the new version of CURA. I'm using CURA 4.13.1 (CURA 5.1 beta won't run on my linux system..) Thanks for all the suggestions!!
Alan Edited By Alan on 24/04/2022 17:53:49 |
24/04/2022 08:42:16 |
Thanks for the suggestions!
I'll try lowering the print temperature (currently 200 C) And will look at the suggested links and YouTube
Alan |
23/04/2022 12:25:14 |
I'm using CURA as the slicer... retract is set to 5mm I'll try something greater later Alan |
23/04/2022 11:10:57 |
As suggested in the thread about modelling a cotton reel... Here's a new thread about problems with 3D prints... and hopefully how to solve them!
My problem is blobs on the print.. I suspect that they occur when the extruder starts and stops.. Any other ideas..?? and how to stop them!!
I'm using a Creality Ender 3 V2 This is what they look like... Thanks!!
Alan |
Thread: 3D-CAD Package Shootout - Cotton Reel Example |
22/04/2022 13:56:30 |
Back again... with a nearly successful 3D print... I've now worked out how to get the six spokes straight in FreeCAD.. Doing the redraw didn't take as long as the print!! Just got to work out how to get rid of the blobs on the print... I suspect that they occur where the extruder starts and stops... Any other ideas..??
Alan |
20/04/2022 09:09:46 |
Thanks Dave! The staggered spokes are an error.. (feature.?)
I'm currently trying to get then straight! The method of drawing it was fairly easy... 1) Sketch the side on profile 2) revolve around Z axis 3) Drill hole in centre 4) Sketch one segment, and make the hole 5) tell the program to repeat 6 times... Alan |
19/04/2022 15:29:58 |
Its taken a bit of time...But here is my attempt... This is a FreeCAD screenshot And this is part of a 3D print... Not a very good print... as I'm still trying to learn how to work the printer!!
The FreeCAD drawing could also be improved... but I don't think its too bad for a first attempt!
Alan |
Thread: Improved performance over standard V belts? |
13/12/2021 09:27:49 |
Would a toothed V belt work ok on a Myford Trilever..?? |
Thread: Quick step mill |
01/05/2021 11:21:45 |
Pull the small electric plug above the gear change out. This will allow you to pull the black cover at the rear off. Just above and to the right of the large pulley is hex head bolt... remove this to add oil to the gearbox. There is no oil level indicator... ! (except when it comes out of the bolt hole...) Put the plug bolt back, and reassemble. Mine doesn't seem to leak oil, and I haven't refilled it for ages... must do so again soon.. Hope that helps!!
Alan |
Thread: Arrand facemill TORX size.. |
06/09/2019 10:46:28 |
Thank you Brian! TORX key has arrived, and as it says 7 on the flag, and fits the screw snugly, the size for the Arrand facemill is a T7... Inserts turned... and job finished! Alan |
04/09/2019 16:14:28 |
I 'THINK' that I have a T8 driver... It fits the glanze tools for the lathe... But its too large for the facemill... Alan |
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