Howdy!_______________________________________________I took the lulzbot apart today, it was fun!I gave the bed a good clean, and took the toolhead apart.I think we might have a problem in that the hot-end hasn’t really been maintained all that well, and is covered in polymerised plastic. Pictures attached!I feel like we should have perhaps maintained and cleaned this and replaced the nozzle periodically and now we’re feeling the pain.So, question time:Do we replace this? It’s not in great nick. Lulzbot don’t have a direct replacement on their website, but there’s no reason we couldn’t mail them and ask if there’s one about. I think they may have been another company when we got this, but I’m sure they’ll be happy to chat awayAlternatively, do we mod? We could try this: https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/converting-to-e3d-v6-hotend/3915/9 and get a pretty standard hot end like the e3d V6: https://e3d-online.com/products/v6-all-metal-hotend?variant=40923457486907Finally, we could give up, buy a new one and promise to feed and water the puppy this time.Thoughts?--Hibby
Debian Developer
Packet Radioist
MM0RFNOn 12 Mar 2025, at 14:24, Hibby <hibby@debian.org> wrote:Unless there's a particularly compelling reason, I'm not too comfortable creating more e-waste by dumping a third/fourth/fifth printer to buy another one that will be rarely used and face the same fate in 5 years, especially if we fail to maintain it. Who's going to feed, water and walk the puppy?There's probably a whole discussion surrounding how approachable the printer is against how easy it is to use and how many people will use it.The budget was more intended to be used for filament, storage tooling and cleaning supplies, to replace the printer *and* refresh that is going to add cost.On Wed, 12 Mar 2025, at 12:35 PM, Wouter Piessens wrote:Hi,
We can spend a considerable amount of time trying to revive the printers, but we all have so many projects already and not enough time.
I think we should invest in a new fdm printer. The more recent ones have a decent GUI module attached to it, accessible via browser. Some printers have WiFi, and LAN connection, which makes it all the easier to operate.
We could use the 'new' pc to remotely access the new 3D printer, or from our own laptops.
Cheerio
Wouter
On Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 11:42 Iain R. Learmonth via 57north-discuss, <57north-discuss@lists.57north.org.uk> wrote:All of this sounds very sensible. Let’s do it.--*Iain Learmonth* MSci MBCS AICB PM.Dip (he/him)This email is sent in a personal capacity. The views expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of SR2 Group Limited, its subsidaries, or any other organisation in which I am a member, officer, employee, or volunteer.On Wed, Mar 12, 2025, at 11:36 AM, Hibby wrote:> Hi all,>> TL;DR: The Formlabs printer and Lulzbot printer really need some love.> Let's spend a couple of hundred quid on each or throw them out. Can we> approve a budget of up to 400 GBP to get it under control?>> At the moment the printers are taking up space on a bowed desk in the> lab and need maintenance to be usable for all.>> In the case of both, we're at the point of use it or lose it. We're> carrying a lot of stuff and there's nothing less appealing for new> faces than "oh yeah, i remember when so and so used that successfully> once, but we've got 7 not-really-working-3d-printers".>> Let's get them moved to a dedicated, flat, stable workspace and invest> in makign them usable and repeatable.> I suggest the old radio area that currently houses a boat anchor and> TV, maybe combined with the table housing a sewing machine. The Desks> are flat steady and reliable.>> Formlabs (SLA):> This has sat unused for a long time as we're a bit afraid of it, but> it's an outstanding printer which is easy to use and, if dialled in and> cared for, should be a pull factor to the space.>> Items/Parts/Hardware it needs are:> * New Tank> * Resin> * Wash / Cure>> Tank: This is the thing the resin sits in and the print rises out of.> Formlabs considers them consumable, and ours has sat with semi set /> set resin in it since the last time anyone tried to print. [1]> Resin: the printer will take all kinds - I sugest we standardise on> something cheap from Amazon[2] and get that dialled in.> Wash/Cure: Once someone has printed something, it needs exposure to UV> to cure and IPA to wash off excess resin. Floating around there's an> ultrasonic cleaner and a UV Lamp, but with the explosion of home resin> printing there are dedicated products on the market that are> affordable, we just need to match our print area in size [3].>> Lulzbot (FDM):> The hackerspace has always been a bit crap at FDM 3d printing with> printers that almost work. The lulzbot is currently in the liminal> state of mostly working but being a bit disappointing. Every print I've> done this year has had a warping/lifting issue [4] and layer 1 is a bit> crap, I don't really know where to start on improving that.>> It would really benefit from someone dismantling the hot head, cleaning> it thoroughly and assessing if we need to repair/replace/update the> whole thing or the nozzle or something else.> Similarly, it has mounting holes for a plastic enclosure to improve> temperature regulation of the print area. Is this something we need? [5]>> We have a lot of old filament that isn't well stored, which probably> isn't a great starting point for good printing. Does anyone have any> opinions on whether we can revive it, or are we best to chuck it out,> invest in some decent storage [5] [6] and start from scratch? I lean> towards a new and controlled start.>> Computer:> Wipe it and restart//recover the root password and update.> Cura LE [8] is now under active maintenance again, get that installed.>> Other Printers:> When these two work, let's give away every other 3d printer we have as> 'free to a good home, no warranty' on facebook marketplace/somewhere> else as a ploy to both clear the shelves and get people in the door.>> [1]> [2]> [3]> [4]> [6]> [7]>>> --> Dave Hibberd <hibby@debian.org>> Debian Developer> Packet Radioist> MM0RFN> _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________57north-discuss mailing list -- 57north-discuss@lists.57north.org.ukTo unsubscribe send an email to 57north-discuss-leave@lists.57north.org.uk_______________________________________________
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