# Todays Project: ReRailer Wedge



## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

todays project was a HO sized rerailer wedge ... on my cheap 3d printer ....
time was an hour and 45 minutes, and cost was 30 cents [canadian even] ..
layer depth was 0.15 mm, 'normal' mode for Cura [slicing software] .. 3d file itself came from Thing Universe ..Thingiverse.com ..
about four and three quarters inches long, without the 'brim' which helps adhesion



should help putting Shay's on the track !


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i can provide the stl file, and / gcode files ..
or you can just grab the stl from thingiverse.com


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I printed a similar rerailer, oddly enough also in back PLA!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

that's all i use, just cheap PLA , alternate between black and white .. it was on sale at Amazon ... just under twenty bucks canadian for a kgram [2.2 pounds]..
wound up doing two re-railers , just in case, lol
printer itself was cheap, 155.95 canadian, around 100 bucks US funds, including shipping, it's a DMYCO variant of a Prusa I3, acrylic frame, virtually no aluminum, off of that popular auction site, canadian stock so the kit was here in maybe 5 days ..


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Can you provide the thingiverse link? I printed one of those awhile back and the thing turned out about 3/8" too wide!

On another note, I got my own printer about 2 weeks ago. Still working and getting the bed perfectly flat but it' printing pretty nicely.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

Shdwdrgn said:


> Can you provide the thingiverse link?



sure .. i think it's this one ...
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2753532


it's in polish or something like that ?


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Haha that's ok, I'm pretty sure I won't need to read the directions 

For reference, this is the one I printed that was not properly scaled: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2983789

I'm having way too much fun with my new printer right now, but hope to swing back into trains again here soon...


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

Shdwdrgn said:


> On another note, I got my own printer about 2 weeks ago. Still working and getting the bed perfectly flat but it' printing pretty nicely.



the one i got supports G29, auto leveling ...
so i run with that on, just one line to insert in the startup gcode, as long as it's kinda close it's good enough, less than a millimeter out


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Actually leveling is much more sensitive than that. From my own measurements a difference of 0.04mm can cause the first layer to fail to stick. I can get add-ons to auto-level but it still relies on the bed being reasonably level in the first place. The biggest problem I'm having is that there appears to be a dip in the center of the bed so I had to use some aluminum foil to shim up the glass. Fun stuff...


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I use a sensor that attempts to map the bed surface (12 points). Seems to work fine with PLA, PETG sometimes just won't stick as easy as PLA. If you're using glass, you might consider a contact sensor rather than a non-contact (impedance?) sensor. I have also tried a thin sheet of steel held on the the bed magnetically with a "build-tack" covering on it. The idea being you could pop the steel sheet off and bend it to pop the print off. Failed for me so I'm going back to blue painter's tape! I have some glass plates, but just have not tried them.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i never checked the heated bed for level, just assumed that it was close ?? 

the bed is tilted to the side a little, maybe 1 miilimeter at most, but the auto level takes care of that ..i don't adjust the springs for that ..

i have few items that don't stick well, but they are very small in size .. i use ordinary green 1 inch wide houshold tape on the aluminum heated bed , strips to get mostly full coverage ..
the readout shows the distance to the bed when it's in the auto level mode at startup, so i get a rough idea of how far it's out ..
printing is a three step process, level distance in the center [setup menu], load memory from the control menu, and print the gcode file from the SD card [off line print]


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

I use a piece of glass on my Ender 3, I level the table using the paper method. I originally tried using feeler gages but the paper is easier and has a little "give". With practice I can level the table within a couple of minutes. Upgrading the springs under the table made leveling better and I don't have to level it as much now.

I use 91% alcohol to clean the glass then spray hair spray very sparingly on the glass.
Normally if I let the glass cool after printing, my part pops right off of the glass.

Printed the water tower, and currently working on the 2 bay hopper cars from Thingiverse. Will have a fleet of cars in a short time!

3d printing is definetly a very cool addition to modeling!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

with a glass table, i assume that you use the hairspray for adhesion help, rather than using masking tape ??


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I have my Anet A6 set up controlled by a RasberryPI running Octoprint - best thing I did.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i took a quick look at octoprint, and it seems to use cura for the slicing engine , which i already have ..??


it seems to put everything on the printer through a web interface ??


kind of handy ..


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I have an SLA printer, which works by curing very thin layers of resin with an ultraviolet light. Because I use it to print miniatures, I appreciate the fact that it doesn't leave the "layered" effect that most FDM printers exhibit (although there is a post production cleaning and curing that has to be done, which you don't have with the FDM printers).

I can say, though, that the most critical thing in the print process is getting the plate (which lowers into a vat of resin from the top) DEAD LEVEL and perfectly zeroed.

For a source of files, thingverse is good, but I've also found that many of the vendors whose products are available through Shapeways are also very willing to sell -- or sometimes give you for free -- their STL files so you can print your own.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Yes, I can work in one room and view my printer in another room. I do the slicing on a PC and then send the results to the "Octoprint" web site that then sends it to the printer. I power the printer with a PC (700 watt) PS and use the always on +5 to power the RasberryPI and an Arduino Nano. The Rasberry PI has some discretes that go to the Nano that turn on the printer and lights for the bed so the camera can see things. Octoprint has some addons the control discretes, I used the Nano only because I had parts and existing code to control the lights (manual encoder switch controls the brightness locally while the Rasberry PI will override this manual control.


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

wvgca said:


> with a glass table, i assume that you use the hairspray for adhesion help, rather than using masking tape ??


Yes, for me its easier to apply and remove than tape. Just shoot it sparingly on the table. After the table cools, I remove the part. I can usually get a few cycles on the table before having to clean it. When its time to clean it, just heat the table, use the alcohol and wipe it clean. While the table is still warm I just spritz it on there.
Easy peazy...


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

wonder if the hairspray method would work an an aluminum table ?? don't see why not ??


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

You could always place a sheet of glass on the aluminum table, that is how mine is setup. 

The glass is held on by old black metal paper clips.

Glass transfers the heat from the aluminum table fairly well.

I have seen some articles that recommend borosilicate glass, but I have not tried it. 

If you do use glass just go easy on the hairspray, too much and the part can be extremely hard to remove. BE CAREFUL!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

a tempered glass plate to fit is not cheap .... 220mm square, with out clips, was $28 US, and there were only three suppliers of that size , all in china ..
a quarter of the printer cost, can't justify it at this time, going to stick with tape, lol


i was surprised at cost, and reduced availabilty ...


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

I bought a replacement window pane for about 5 bucks from Home Depot, been using it for about 4 months.

or you can get some cut at Lowes or Home Depot to fit your table exactly, should be less than $10.


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

https://www.amazon.com/Binder-Clips-Paper-Paper-120-Assorted/dp/B0794VN392/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=paper+clips&qid=1549766148&s=gateway&sr=8-10


Those are the clips I was referring to. I tried to find the glass on Home Depot and Lowes site but they dont seem to have the small panes listed.


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## zerodameaon (Mar 10, 2018)

You all should try PEI sheets if you are printing just ABS/PLA based filaments. I just give a wipe down with alcohol every few prints and a light 1000 grit sanding every few weeks and I never have adhesion issues. If I have warping issues with ABS its because my basement is too cold and it always rips layers apart up high, but never pulls the print off the bed. 

A putty knife works great to pop the prints off the bed but it is possible that the print sticks really well and its a pain to get off. 

PETG is not compatible with PEI unless you do something to lower the adhesion like glue sticks.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Sorry for dropping out, I must have missed the notification of new messages...

I think what I have is the borosilicate glass? It has a coating on one side that feels rubbery, and the back side is plain glass. Whatever that coating it, prints stick to it really well. I wipe it down with 91% iso after every few prints, and I'm printing test cubes of only 10mm square without a brim to hold them in place, so I'm pretty happy with that. The printer we have at work uses a PEI bed, and we almost never clean it, but prints stick just fine without adding anything.

Regarding Octoprint... You can use Cura, Slic3r, or any other slicing program you want to use. That part doesn't really matter. Basically the idea is that the raspberry pi is dedicated to ONLY handling the print job, so it frees up your desktop PC (if that is a concern). So my normal work flow is to load the model in Cura (because that's what I use), prep my settings, then instead of sending it to the printer the job is sent to octoprint over wifi (thus allowing the printer to be set up in another room from the desktop computer). Cura still monitors the print job just like if it was plugged directly into the printer, but octoprint also provides several options for monitoring or even editing your job on the fly.

I saw something really funny the other day. Someone wanted to start a print job remotely but they hadn't removed the last job from the bed yet. So using the camera and tools in octoprint, they moved the print head around to knock the previous job off of the bed, and then were able to start the new print job. Not something I would have ever thought of, but having remote control does provide some unique abilities.

@zerodameaon -- your issues with ABS are probably the reason most people insist on an enclosure for ABS prints. I've heard it is pretty sensitive.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i don't have a Lowes or Home Depot handy ... and the local glass shop wants the same as ebay for an ordinary glass sheet, cut to size and arised all around .. roughly thirty bucks ..
so am just going to run the tape on the aluminum bed for the meantime .. it's only very small parts [like an outhouse] that don't always stick down, so it's not bad at all ..


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I've heard of a lot of folks getting 12x12 mirror tiles, then just use a regular glass cutter to trim them to size. I might do that some day, it looks really cool. 

Any problems with small parts sticking can usually be corrected by including a brim around the part. I usually add 5-10 rows of brim for smaller parts, and up to 20 rows if the part is really tall and risks being knocked over by the head.


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## zerodameaon (Mar 10, 2018)

Shdwdrgn said:


> @zerodameaon -- your issues with ABS are probably the reason most people insist on an enclosure for ABS prints. I've heard it is pretty sensitive.


ABS+ actually does pretty good without one which is what I have swapped over to. I have a enclosure but sometimes its not really enough to counteract a 50 degree room on a tall print. If I am printing items under 100mm tall I very seldom will see any delamination in any layer. 

For I have also swapped over to pretty much only PLA+ when I chose to use it, it bridges so beautifully I seldom need supports for bridges.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Speaking of bridging, I am really proud of this one. Regular PLA, no supports, this shot shows exactly how it was printed before I popped it loose from the bed...










The outer cube is 49mm. You can see a couple of strings that sagged under the spans, but otherwise this piece turned out beautiful. I'm still working out other issues with the printer, but I think bridging is not going to be a problem here.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

It is a little amazing how far the extruded plastic will bridge. You would think it would just drop to the bed!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

that image is surprisingly nice !! very well done ..


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Lemonhawk said:


> It is a little amazing how far the extruded plastic will bridge. You would think it would just drop to the bed!


That is exactly what I was expecting, but since the printer was new and I have seen other examples of great bridging I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a trial run.

I still have to look into cleaning up the underside of the angled supports. I've done a number of other prints and any time there is a sloped underside (such as the top of bolt holes) it is coming out really ugly and takes a bit of filing to clean up... which seems really odd since it did so well on the unsupported bridge? That's really my only complaint about the machine at this point and even with the upgrades I've purchased (or 3D-printed) I still only have about $300 invested in the printer. I'll get that much value back out just from the fun I'm having in playing with it! 

Actually waiting for parts from China for another experiment with this printer... a contraption that controls two different colors of filament, feeding one or the other into a single head as needed. That would be great for things like whiskey barrels where you print the barrel in brown and the steel straps in black. A bit of a wash to add some weathering and they'd be ready to go with little effort.


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