3D-Printer...little did I know!

3D-printers always fascinated me! During the 2014 ExploraVision competition, my regional-winning project was -- 3D-printed vaccines to combat diseases in 3rd world countries. Later, in 8th-grade, our business under business management class was -- 3D-Printed Fidget Spinners.

I always wanted to own a 3D-printer but never had a strong enough rationale to persuade my parents. Last year our robot needed 3D-printed parts but with limited budgets, our club couldn't afford one. I grabbed this opportunity to convince my parents and finally, I owned my first 3D-printer! This allowed me to become the official in-charge of 3D-printing on top of being the Engineering Lead. A win-win situation!

Experience is the best teacher they say! Owning a basic 3D-printer and then improving it significantly has become my most sought passion! It has pushed me to research and meticulously trying until it's done!

Enhancement Journey...

From here

To here

Owning my basic 3D-printer has been a valuable experience. It was the first machine I significantly improved.

Swapped LCD display with a user-friendly touch screen
Changed the 24-volt heated bed to an AC heated bed for faster heating and reliability
Replaced the stock Bowden tube extruder with an E3D Hemera extruder accepting a greater variety of filaments for quality
Used a Raspberry PI with a multitude of plugins allowing wireless monitoring and controlling the printer remotely for safety

Here is the extensive list of upgrades and some pictures -

Extruder

E3D Hemera Extruder
BLTouch V3.1
Nozzle X
- Hardened Steel Nozzle
Copper Heat Block
65W Heater Cartridge
PT1000 Temperature Sensor
Firmware Changes
- Increase Max Temp to 450 C
- PID Autotune
- Motor Current increase
- BLTouch
  - Fast Mode
  - 3x3 Probing Grid
  - 2 probes per point
  - Safe Z Homing

Troubleshooting/Print Settings

BLTouch
- Start Gcode

Heated Bed

A/C Heated Bed
- Thermal Fuse
- Solid State Relay
WhamBam Flex Build Plate
Firmware Changes
- Bed PID Autotune
- Max Temp 133 C
- Shorter Time to trigger Thermal Runaway
Troubleshooting/Print Settings

Ease of Use

3D Fused Linear Rails
- Hiwin Z rails
Raspberry Pi
- OctoPrint
  - Relay
  - Wireless Connectivity and Control
- Palette 2S Pro
TFT 35 E3 Touchscreen
WhamBam Flex Build Plate
BLTouch V3.1

Reliability/Safety

3D Fused Linear Rails
- Hiwin Z rails

While the process was challenging, and sometimes frustrating, with each upgrade I picked up traits like creative problem solving, perseverance, and drive for innovation.

My Entire Setup

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