Normally lead screws comes in meter lengths and some retailers may cut the lead screw to size and chamfer the ends.


I think what you mean is to build a reprap with print volume of at least 16 inch on all sides. The source code for the firmware is open source and is available online.

Lead screws are intermediate level parts for repraps, it will be expensive but you should see a big difference in print quality. You can go pro with ball screws and its even more expensive.

You can also try Openscad which uses coding instead of visual tools to create and edit objects. I used that a lot for creating mods for my printers and the ability to tweak the design is very useful.

Also one advice on exporting files for 3D printing, try to export as .stl so the size of your model/design does not run off. obj files tend to run off and not just for Sketchup but for a number of modelling software.

If you want a good modelling software, try Blender, a free and open source modelling software. Its has a very difficult and steep learning curve at first but once you get the hang of the shortcut keys, you can start working on any designs. I have been using blender for about 10 years and I am still creating designs and 3D models till now.

You could charge based on time, weight, or volume of print.

You can check the link in my signature to find out more of the 3D printing price that I have set or do a search in Lowyat in trade zone for 3d printing.

Yes, the color of the filament does depend on the temperature. My rule of thumb for light color filaments, e.g. white, yellow, pink, and floro colors is to print them at 190 to 195 deg C and for dark color filaments, e.g. black, and blue, I print them slightly lower, say 185 to 190 deg C. Neutral colors like, silver or grey I will keep them at 190 deg C. You will notice there will be an optimum point which is 190 deg C which I normally use for all filaments regardless of color but I do notice black and dark blue tend to string a little more than lighter color.

The wobbly surface is probably due to the threaded z-axis rod which is usually not straight and the slight bend can cause the frame to wobble around.

Gaps could mean the extruder stepper motor driver could be overheating which could lead to skipping.

I think this Tiko is going to be the next Pirate 3D...

Also tons of unbelievable statements like, printing ABS, Nylon, and anything more requires 280 deg hotend.

That is some seriously bad filament. You should request a refund from the seller if he is local. Also share with us where you buy those filaments so we can avoid poor quality filaments making into our printers.

I guess these guys running that aliexpress shop are full of it. There is nothing top secret about Prusa i3 since its open source.

No wonder the filament is free with every printer. makes sense for a crappy filament.

I used to have issues with stepper motor wires getting loose from the motor end. Although it seems fairly well attached to the motor but jiggling it during prints cause it to skip. Try swapping the stepper motor instead and see if its really is the RAMPS fault.

The link is: http://reprap.org/wiki/List_of_Firmware

Currently, the most common firmware used in open source repraps is Marlin but you can try Repetier-Firmware since you can customize the firmware from their website.

Are you using nylon lines or GT2 belt? Nylon lines may slip when there is sudden motor movement.

Then you might want to double check the belt tension and make sure its not too tight or loose. Also, the belt tension have to be almost the same.

You can source for the printable bits from existing reprap owners.

I have printed reprap parts before but I think the price I have set seems steep for some. The reprap printed set comes around 150 to 300 depending on model for 0.2mm layer resolution.

As for non-printable stuff, try sourcing from eBay, aliexpress, or taobao. For local sources, we posted quite a number of post on local supplier back about 10 to 20 pages...

Did you reset the arduino board by reflashing the firmware?

About the 3mm hotend, I don't think a 1.75mm filament will be able to build up enough pressure in the hotend barrel to extrude out of the sub milimeter nozzle. It will likely back flow and cause a major clog. Just a suggestion which may not work but unless you mod the barrel with a 2mm ID teflon sleeve then the heated filament will form a nice seal and the pressure build up should allow the filament to extrude.

I used one of the china hotends and have been using it for 8 months with a few rare clogs (some clogs was caused by me ). I notice the PTFE tubing in the barrel tend to wear very quickly and caused the clogs. The PTFE tube expanded and narrowed the opening of the hotend heater block. So I extended its life by widening the narrowed tube (using a hobby knife) but caused more problems like severe stringing and filament getting stuck when removing. My best solution was to flip the tube the other way around and it was back to how it used to be.

I think the actual lifespan of china hotends are around 6 months because of the teflon tubing wear but with a little ingenuity, you can flip the tube the other way around and get more lifetime from it. Also, even for an aluminium hotend, the tip can really wear out from all the printing, cleaning, and unclogging.

So, I think its worth using cheaper hotends but don't expect them to last long and a lot of times the nozzle size is wider than reported due to worn out drill bits.

Hotends with PTFE tube inserts works well with PLA but all-metal ones are good for ABS. Higher temp filaments require all-metal hotends or else the PTFE will wear and melt/burn from prolong heat exposure.

ABS is usually cheaper than PLA, any other way to swap it in a fair manner?

If the voltage reads 0v after turning on the heater then a short circuit has occurred in the circuit. Its most likely the heater cartridge fault (what eehtsitn said) or stepper motor driver fault. The 5A labeled terminals powers the "stepper drivers and Extruder heater/fan (D9, D10)" according to this http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4#Connecting_Power. Best way to diagnose this is to disconnect the heater cartridge and measure it with your multimeter in continuity mode or resistor mode. You should get about ohms 3 to 10 ohms depending on the heater cartridge power you were given. If its about 0 ohms or there is continuity, means short circuit and cartridge is faulty. You can also test if the ramps is faulty by turning on the heater without the heater cartridge connected and see if it still measures 0v.

Only solution for faulty heater cartridge is to replace it.


I have gathered all the parts to build a Dremel drill press but dun have time and motivation to build one...

Are you using an ATX PSU? Do you have heater bed connected to the Ramps?

I think you might have a faulty heater cartridge that's drawing too much current from the power supply. Do you have another heater cartridge to test with?