Usefullness of "Lefty"

3D Fabrication
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As someone who has recently done a lot of 3D printing, I’d like to request that “Lefty” be set up for ABS by default. I have never seen anyone use Lefty to print NinjaFlex, but I have seen several people waiting to use a printer, and Lefty sitting idle.

Anyone who does want to print with NinjaFlex can request to have the printer set up for it, at a given time. However, leaving it set up for NinjaFlex all the time means we essentially have three printers available, instead of four.

Also, it might be helpful to show some of the regular denizens of 3D Fab how to convert Lefty from one material to another, so that we don’t have to rely on the PolyPrinter guys to do it for us.

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Hi Brian (@Worrierking)! :smile:

Thank you for taking the time to inquire about the usefulness of “Lefty”! :smile:

It’s true that he doesn’t get as much love as the other printers; however, he does get used by members who have taken the time to be trained on using NinjaFlex and wish to use him to print NinjaFlex when he’s configured to do so.

Recently, he was configured to use ABS for several weeks straight. It seems every time he is configured for ABS, that’s when someone suddenly has a need (or desire) to use NinjaFlex. :wink:

Just this past week, I received a request from someone to be trained on NinjaFlex. It wasn’t until the weekend that our schedules coincided so it could happen. Since I knew that we were going to be meeting one evening this past week, I made a point to leave him configured for NinjaFlex.

At any rate, at the end of this month we will be building a PrintrBot Metal Simple; plus the Mendel90 that Mitch and Co have been working on should be ready to use within the next week or few… Once these two are built and configured, “Lefty” will only rarely be configured for NinjaFlex (most likely only for 'Special Occasions" (like big events, etc…).

To address your final suggestion: We do not have plans to authorize anyone other than PolyPrinter, myself and soon Mitch (as soon as someone from PolyPrinter or I can train him) to swap out the extruders. The primary reason is to minimize the potential for damage/downtime. Swapping the extruder out excessively puts unnecessary wear and tear on the connector. Not to mention, we still constantly struggle with members damaging the printers “just printing”. [Examples: It was not too long ago that one printer was down for just over a day because someone had pressed down too hard on the extruder and snapped it in half! Around the same time, another printer had significant damage to the cover from what appears to have been someone’s carelessness in (likely) opening the cover too (fast? hard?) - resulting in breaking the hinge as well as one of the rails on the cover. Not to mention the (way too regular) reports of “Z height issues” - as a result of members adjusting the Z Height too low, causing problems with print jobs at the least; and, on a couple occasions greater damage (once someone adjusted it so low that it left a groove in the Metal bed; and, it’s fairly often that members adjust it low enough to damage the tape on the bed… plus it contributes to the nozzles wearing out too soon…).]

On that note ~ REMINDER: Only Authorized members are supposed to be adjusting the Z height manually. If the Z is not set correctly, please make a note in the Maintenance Log, tape a notice (from the maintenance log) on the printer, and send an e-mail to: [email protected] to report the issue. Please include detailed description, as well as screenshots/errors/photos, if possible.

Thanks again!
Lisa
:smile:

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I agree the use of Ninjaflex is rare. I have printed 2 sets of watchbands and a wallet, it took forever because I have to babysit the pieces and it still was stringy. It’s amazing material, but I’m finding it hard to use for a lot of applications over ABS (support structures are hard to remove, it’s expensive, etc)

I am pretty sure the Mendel90 and Printrbot will be able to print with ninjaflex, but probably very stringy and rough. I think semiflex might work better, or some other flexible materials like PCTPE which doesn’t need a special extruder on the polyprinters.

I would like to be trained on how to swap the heads on the PolyPrinter though incase we are backed up and the Ninjaflex head is left on for weeks.

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I think Lefty is starting to feel the pressure… He was used at least a couple times over the weekend that I know of; and, was being used again today ~ w00t! :wink: :slight_smile:

Like I said above, we know the NinjaFlex does not get used anywhere near as much as ABS - which is why we have three printers dedicated to ABS and only one printer that is sometimes used for ABS and sometimes used for NinjaFlex. Part of the reason members join, is to be able to access tools that they don’t otherwise have access to. Being able to print NinjaFlex is one of those options we try to make available as much as we can in 3D Fab. It won’t be much longer until we have the other two printer options; and, even though they do not print as well as the PolyPrinters; I imagine with larger nozzles, etc… we will be able to tweak the settings to print the alternate filament types on the new printers

Oh 'n perhaps you missed it, Mitch (@themitch22) … but yeah ~ I already plan on you being trained to swap the extruder out… (see my response above and/or the quoted text below… :wink: )

That being the case though, it still isn’t going to be something we do on a day to day basis, as the particular extruder we have - if I understand correctly - is an early version of their extruder. It extrudes very well; however, they (PolyPrinter) - from what I understand - are looking into designing an even easier to swap out extruder (one that will use connectors that will be easier to disconnect/separate with less risk of any of the wiring to be damaged in the process. The current connectors work well; however, they are molex connectors and are difficult to separate - which can lead to damage to the wires if the person swapping the extruder isn’t being careful…).

Finally… As far as the NinjaFlex being expensive. It costs more to purchase, so - Yes - it does cost more to print with. However, if you compare the price we ask for to some of the other local 3D printing resources, you will see that it’s still cheaper to print 3D printed items at Dallas Makerspace than it is pretty much anywhere else.

Currently the filament available to use in the 3D Fab Room costs members the following:
ABS: $0.10/gram
NinjaFlex: $0.30/gram

If you do a search for 3D print services in the area, you will see they are much more expensive…

And, even the Libraries are as much as - or more - than we are - without the freedom to actually learn/do the printing yourself:
One example: http://www.friscolibrary.com/3dprinting - ABS @ $0.15/gram
(please feel free to add more examples… I have been wanting to have a list handy anyway… :wink: :slight_smile: )