{"id":5968,"date":"2017-01-29T17:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?p=5968"},"modified":"2024-02-19T15:58:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T22:58:41","slug":"getting-started-with-the-robo3d-printer-and-octoprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?p=5968","title":{"rendered":"Getting started with the Robo3D printer and OctoPrint"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6007\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6007\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6007\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6007\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1484576723&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170116_142523\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6007 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142523.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> We&#8217;ve been thinking about getting into 3D printing here at the Hammel household.&nbsp; I&#8217;m looking at building small enclosures for the various embedded boards I work on.&nbsp; My wife is looking at creating components for the designs she works on for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vindicatedvinyl.com\/\">Vindicated Vinyl<\/a>, her small business.&nbsp; After doing a bit of online research I purchased a <strong>Robo3D<\/strong> printer from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bestbuy.com\/\">Best Buy<\/a>. They were selling it for $699 but the <a href=\"https:\/\/robo3d.com\/\">official website<\/a> was having a sale at $599, so Best Buy did a price match. Very cool.&nbsp;&nbsp; I chose this printer because of its price, its support for a variety of filaments and the size of its bed.&nbsp; Despite the fact that it&#8217;s sold as an off-the-shelf solution to 3D printing I had no expectations I could plug it in, turn it on and print.&nbsp; And I was right. I thought I&#8217;d share my earlier experiences with getting the printer set up and usable by both of us.&nbsp; Since both my wife and I will be using it I needed to set it up so it could be easily shared over a network.<\/p>\n<h2>Unpacking<\/h2>\n<p>The printer comes ready to use, for the most part.&nbsp; There is no assembly required.&nbsp; Opening the box you find a styrofoam hat with some cables and tools.&nbsp; The styrofoam was a very tight fit in the box.&nbsp; To get the printer out I had to flip the box over and let the whole thing slide out. There is also an SD card taped into a slot in the styrofoam.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6027\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6027\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6027\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6027\" data-attachment-id=\"6027\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6027\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?fit=2448%2C2398&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2448,2398\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1484576891&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170116_142811\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?fit=300%2C294&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C1003&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6027 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142811-1.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6027\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Upside down after sliding out of the box, note the square styrofoam inserts that must be removed after righting the machine.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Inside the packaging you&#8217;ll find a manual, a quick setup guide and some other paperwork.&nbsp; The first thing I did was register the printer via a text message, as per the instructions in the paperwork.&nbsp; I would have preferred to do it via my computer since my phone sucks.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t all phones suck?&nbsp; Anyway, all went well with the registration.&nbsp; So I moved on to unpacking the printer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The printer has a big styrofoam hat and footer so those come off first.&nbsp; Then there are two large square styrofoam inserts inside the print area, plus two small mostly flat styrofoam inserts under the print bed.&nbsp; All of this comes out easily.&nbsp; There are two additional orange plastic pieces that must also be removed.&nbsp; These are labeled and easy to identify.&nbsp; These are not as easy to remove and require a little careful prying.&nbsp; Be careful not to yank on any wiring while doing this.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6028\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6028\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6028\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6028\" data-attachment-id=\"6028\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6028\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1484576761&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170116_142601\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6028 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170116_142601-1.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The tools provided include: a glue stick, some plastic pads for the corners of the printer, a pair of tweezers, a small screwdriver and some lubricant in a plastic tube. There is also a large flat scraping blade.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There is also a set of tools in a plastic container.&nbsp; I didn&#8217;t use any of the tools initially.&nbsp; I tried some of the glue stick but found it didn&#8217;t matter much in my early testing.&nbsp; The scraping tools was very necessary as many of my initial trials required scraping off bad prints from the printer bed.<\/p>\n<p>The packaging includes a power cable and a USB cable.&nbsp; It also includes a small spool of blue PLA.&nbsp; Note that the temperature setting for this PLA is printed on a label on the side of the spool.<\/p>\n<h3>The SD Card<\/h3>\n<p>Before attaching cables from the printer to a computer or power I thought it best to read the manual.&nbsp; The instructions point you to the SD card which contains a video explaining the setup.&nbsp; This video plays on Linux with VLC although it seemed to drop or corrupt a few frames.&nbsp; That was weird, but didn&#8217;t really bother me.<\/p>\n<p>The video suggests you received a thumb drive and micro SD card.&nbsp; I got an SD card w\/ micro SD insert.&nbsp; Not a big deal, but it was the first of a number of discrepancies.&nbsp; The biggest one relates to setting up the voltage for the printer.&nbsp; On the back there is a switch to allow choosing a voltage level.&nbsp; The video says the settings are either 230 volts or 115 volts.&nbsp; The physical switch is labeled 220 and 110.&nbsp; The default printed on paper covering the plug on the printer says the machine has been set to 230.&nbsp; The actual default was 110.&nbsp; Try not to let any of this confuse you.&nbsp; If you&#8217;re in the US, set it to 110 or 115, which ever is labeled on the actual switch.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Most of the video talks about using the provided <em>MatterControl<\/em> software.&nbsp; However, that isn&#8217;t available (without recompiling a bunch on non-C code which I didn&#8217;t feel like diving into unless required) for my Fedora platform so I skipped the rest of the video.&nbsp; It may have helped to watch it just to note that tasks they performed with the software.&nbsp; I probably needed to do the same tasks some other way, as you&#8217;ll see later.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6032\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6032\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6032\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6032\" data-attachment-id=\"6032\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6032\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1484578019&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;300&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"robo3d-voltage\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6032 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-voltage.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Don&#8217;t get confused with the voltage. In the US, it&#8217;s 110 or 115, depending on what your Robo3D actually says on the switch.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Physical Setup<\/h2>\n<p>I set the printer on a work table I built from a modified <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ana-white.com\/2011\/03\/sturdy-work-bench\">Ana White design<\/a>.&nbsp; The table isn&#8217;t quit flat and there are no feet adjustments on the printer to level it.&nbsp; The printer would wobble on the table if I manually rocked it. I thought about leveling with folded paper under one corner, the Maker way.&nbsp; But I actually forgot this step and when I did my first full print I noticed that the printer didn&#8217;t rock as the extruder and bed were moved.&nbsp; So leveling the printer itself might not be that important.&nbsp; However, see my discussion on the level the printer bed a little later.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6051\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6051\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6051\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6051\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?fit=2448%2C3264&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2448,3264\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485707702&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;6&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170129_163502\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-6051 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_163502-e1485733189974.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>The printer bed moves front to back (the Y axis, I believe) and the extruder moves left\/right and up\/down.&nbsp; The bed needs about 25&#8243; back to front, including space for the bed to move fully back and fully front.<\/p>\n<p>The printer connects to a computer using a USB cable.&nbsp; There is an SD card option but I didn&#8217;t try it because the goal was to share the printer with my wife.&nbsp; The USB connection on the printer is on the right side near the front.&nbsp; Note that the USB cable, which is about 4&#8242; 10&#8243; long, is probably too short if your computer is placed to the left of the printer.&nbsp; You may need a USB extension in that case.<\/p>\n<p>A power switch is located in the back.&nbsp; I found it easier to use, and to see the small opening where the filament is threaded, if the printer was turned with the back facing me.&nbsp; That may affect how you connect the printer to the computer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Of course the whole point of a 3D printer is to stack plastic until it looks like something you wanted.&nbsp; To do that you need to feed a filament of plastic into an extruder which melts the filament and stacks it on the printer bed.&nbsp; The filament is threaded through a hole at the top of the extruder.&nbsp; In the Robo3D the feed hole is small and encased by a small door with springs on screws.&nbsp; While it&#8217;s easy to feed into this hole the filament has to also be fed through a hole hidden inside that is apparently smaller.&nbsp; It&#8217;s very difficult to feed through both holes.&nbsp; After some failed prints I discovered the best way to feed the filament is to remove the two screws and springs (careful &#8211; the pop off from the springs) and remove the door.&nbsp; Then manually push the filament through the smaller, now visible hole till melted filament comes out the extruder (be sure the extruder has been heated to 180C before doing this &#8211; see the section on software).&nbsp; Then replace the door, screws and spring.&nbsp; In my opinion this is only real drawback to this printer&#8217;s design.&nbsp; It&#8217;s just not easy to see or access the feed hole for the filament.<\/p>\n<p>Note that the physical setup I used included connecting the printer to a Raspberry Pi.&nbsp; More on that in the Software section.<\/p>\n<h2>Software<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6043\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6043\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6043\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6043\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485706579&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170129_161619\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6043\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>This is where things grind to a halt initially.&nbsp; At least if you&#8217;re a Linux user.&nbsp; Follow along, though.&nbsp; In the end it&#8217;s not that hard once you have the information you really need.&nbsp; Much of the work I&#8217;m going to describe might be easier if you connect the printer directly to your Windows or Mac boxes and use the provided MatterControl software.&nbsp; But I&#8217;m a Linux guy and the world doesn&#8217;t try to make things easy for us.&nbsp; That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re so smart.<\/p>\n<p>The Robo3D wants to run <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mattercontrol.com\/\">MatterControl<\/a> for Mac.&nbsp; Mattercontrol is a <em>slicer<\/em>, which is what converts a 3D model (stl) into a format (g-code) that can be fed to the printer.&nbsp; The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.friday.com\/bbum\/2012\/01\/31\/3d-printing-the-software-stack-is-kinda-broken\/\">3D printing stack<\/a> is a little confusing &#8211; no wonder some people have problems getting started.&nbsp; A <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php?threads\/octoprint-cura-profiles.7362\/\">good summary of the software stack<\/a> can be found on the Robo 3D forums.&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/wiki.mattercontrol.com\/Development\/Running_on_Linux\">MatterControl can run on Linux<\/a>.&nbsp; However you need to <a href=\"http:\/\/wiki.mattercontrol.com\/Building_MatterControl\">compile from source<\/a> for Fedora.&nbsp; This requires <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mono-project.com\/docs\/getting-started\/install\/linux\/#centos-7-fedora-19-and-later-and-derivatives\">Mono 4.4<\/a>.&nbsp; Fedora 22, which is what I&#8217;m using, is at 2.10.&nbsp; The overhead to get all that working seemed hardly worth the effort if I could find something a little more off-the-shelf.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6033\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6033\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6033\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6033\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?fit=1291%2C748&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1291,748\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"cura\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?fit=300%2C174&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?fit=1024%2C593&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6033\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?resize=300%2C174&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?resize=300%2C174&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?resize=768%2C445&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?resize=1024%2C593&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cura.png?w=1291&amp;ssl=1 1291w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>There are other slicer software solutions out there, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/ultimaker.com\/en\/products\/cura-software\">Cura<\/a>.&nbsp; Support for using Cura directly with <a href=\"https:\/\/robo3d.com\/software\/\">Robo3D is coming<\/a>, apparently.&nbsp; This allows Cura to not just slice but feed the g-code to the printer and track its progress.&nbsp; But that setup would isolate the printer to either my wife&#8217;s Mac or my Linux box and make it less friendly to share.&nbsp; Fortunately you can use Cura on your desktop, Linux or Mac, separate from the printer.&nbsp; This allows you to model and slice on your desktop and just feed the g-code output to the printer through some other method.&nbsp; Since my solution will be web-based to share the printer with my wife this is the optimal workflow.<\/p>\n<p>The Robo3D printer has been used with Cura to <a href=\"http:\/\/fatdragongames.proboards.com\/thread\/3567\/robo-plus-cura-settings-updated\">print custom pieces for DragonLock<\/a>, a 3D printed dungeon gaming terrain building system.&nbsp; Given the photos I saw I thought using Cura would be a better option for both my wife and myself.<\/p>\n<p>In the end I opted for a version of <a href=\"http:\/\/octoprint.org\/\">OctoPrint<\/a> running on a Raspberry Pi, known as <a href=\"http:\/\/octoprint.org\/download\/\">OctoPi<\/a>.&nbsp; OctoPrint is a web-based solution for managing 3D print jobs, including watching real-time progress.&nbsp; You upload the g-code file to OctoPrint and then print to your connected and configured printer.&nbsp; OctoPi is an image you copy to an SD card and then boot on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raspberrypi.org\/\">Raspberry Pi<\/a> that runs an instance of OctoPrint.&nbsp; Because of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piboxproject.com\/\">PiBox<\/a> project I have a few extra Pi&#8217;s lying around.<\/p>\n<p>OctoPrint can be used to perform slicing of your 3D model using a variety of slicer software.&nbsp; In fact the default slicer is Cura.&nbsp; However, don&#8217;t try to use the OctoPi to do your slicing.&nbsp; It will be slow and probably can&#8217;t handle sequential requests very well.&nbsp; You&#8217;re better off doing slicing with Cura on your desktop.&nbsp; There are ready-made install packages of Cura for Windows, Mac and Debian-based Linux systems.&nbsp; Fedora, which is what I use, requires a little extra work.<\/p>\n<p>Cura for Linux is only available in deb packaging, which is intended for use on Debian-based Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.&nbsp; Fortunately the Cura .deb file can be converted using <a href=\"http:\/\/linuxtinker.blogspot.com\/2016\/07\/cura-212-on-fedora-2324.html\">alien<\/a> (these instructions work for Fedora 22 too).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After installing the generated RPM file on Fedora 22 (at least) you need to <a href=\"https:\/\/ultimaker.com\/en\/community\/22286-solved-cura-2-on-debian-sid\">remove the libstdc++ installed by Cura<\/a>.&nbsp; Cura doesn&#8217;t list Robo3D as a supported printer so you add it as a custom printer.&nbsp; It will prompt for <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php?threads\/cura-settings.3617\/\">Machine Settings<\/a>, of which there are <a href=\"http:\/\/fatdragongames.proboards.com\/thread\/3567\/robo-plus-cura-settings-updated\">several variations<\/a> I found online.<\/p>\n<h2>Configuration<\/h2>\n<p>The OctoPi setup is based in some part on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raspbian.org\/\">Raspbian<\/a> distribution built for the Raspberry Pi.&nbsp; The instructions for it are brief and mostly complete.&nbsp; However, I had to manually edit <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\/etc\/network\/interfaces<\/span> to mimic like PiBox or it wouldn&#8217;t work. They have some clever naming schemes in their boot up that didn&#8217;t work for some reason. Where they had the following<\/p>\n<pre style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">allow-hotplug wlan1<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">iface wlan1-raspbian inet manual<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; wpa-conf \/etc\/wpa_supplicant\/wpa_supplicant.conf<\/span><\/pre>\n<p>I used the standard interface naming scheme<\/p>\n<pre style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">auto wlan0<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">iface wlan0 inet dhcp<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; wpa-conf \/etc\/wpa_supplicant\/wpa_supplicant.conf<\/span><\/pre>\n<p>I also used a simplistic setup for wpa_supplicant.conf<\/p>\n<pre style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"># country=US<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"># ctrl_interface=DIR=\/var\/run\/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"># update_config=1<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">ctrl_interface=DIR=\/var\/run\/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">ap_scan=1<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">network={<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; ssid=\"Your SSID Here\"<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; scan_ssid=1<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; proto=WPA2<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; key_mgmt=WPA-PSK<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; psk=\"Your Password here\"<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; pairwise=TKIP<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">&nbsp; group=TKIP<\/span>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">}<\/span><\/pre>\n<p>Using standard formats for the interfaces file worked better, probably because I missed a step in setting up the configuration file to set the interface naming (or the OctoPi team did).<\/p>\n<h2>Setting the Z-offset<\/h2>\n<p>My first set of prints failed completely.&nbsp; I kept getting a loud click.&nbsp; After some time I tried to force the filament through manually and found it to be stuck.&nbsp; The filament would not go through and would not pull out.&nbsp;&nbsp; I turned up the heat on the hot end, removed the screws on the filament feed intake and manually forced the filament through to clear any clog.&nbsp; Then I was able to pull it out manually.&nbsp; I clipped off the end and manually fed it through again.&nbsp; I adjusted the screws to be less tight than before.&nbsp; This cleared the filament path but didn&#8217;t produce any prints.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then I got on the <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php?taigachat\/\">ShoutBox<\/a> section of the Robo3D site and someone called <em>WheresWaldo<\/em> suggested adjusting the <strong>Z-offset<\/strong>.&nbsp; There is a <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php?threads\/revamped-m565-z-offset-set-it-and-forget-it.4748\/\">unique command (M565)<\/a> to do this so you can set this as the default for all your prints.<\/p>\n<p>I experimented with different settings, adjusting the value and starting a print run, until I got to a Z-offset of 0.75 that seemed to work.&nbsp; And by work I mean print on the bed in smooth lines without globs of filament getting stuck to the extruder. But the print was only working on one side of the bed.&nbsp; The other side was not always printing.&nbsp; This made me think the bed was not leveled.&nbsp; A little more googling and I found the real solution to the Z-offset and bed leveling problem.<\/p>\n<p>The following typed in the Terminal tab of OctoPrint should <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php?threads\/auto-bed-leveling.1590\/page-3\">level the bed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Probe the bed: <span style=\"color: #339966;\"><em>G28<\/em><\/span>.&nbsp; This tells you what the Z-Offset should be.&nbsp; Just enter the command in the terminal window and watch the output for the Z offset after the extruder stops moving.&nbsp; In my case it was <em>-0.73<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Set and save the Z-offset:&nbsp; <em><span style=\"color: #339966;\">M565 Z-0.73<\/span><\/em>&nbsp; This will store the Z offset in flash so you never need to set it again.<\/li>\n<li>Level the bed: <span style=\"color: #339966;\"><em>G29<\/em><\/span>&nbsp; This probes 9 different points on the bed based on your stored Z-offset so that the bed is leveled automatically as the print is running.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>These three are manual steps required when you first power on the printer.&nbsp; Although the Z-offset should be stored and reused on power up it doesn&#8217;t appear that it has any effect without doing all three steps each time.&nbsp; You can tell this is the case if, as you start a print, you hear a loud click.&nbsp; That click is the extruder trying to feed the filament but failing because there isn&#8217;t enough clearance between the tip and the bed.<\/p>\n<h2>OctoPrint<\/h2>\n<p>The Robo3D should be configured for use with the OctoPrint interface. The <em>Settings-&gt;Serial Connection<\/em> fields should be set to<strong> \/dev\/ttyACM0<\/strong> and baud rate of <strong>250000<\/strong> for the OctoPi.&nbsp; A printer profile should be created to set the size of the print area.&nbsp; The X, Y and Z volumes should be set, respectively, to<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">X: 228<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Y: 254<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Z: 228<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And set the option for <em>Heated Bed<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This requires&nbsp; : watching the progress in the g-code viewer.&nbsp; Restarting a print should start by reloading the g-code viewer.&nbsp; If the print starts but doesn&#8217;t set the desired temperatures then do it manually before you start the print.&nbsp; I use 200C for the hot end working with the stock blue PLA provided in the packaging and 60C for the bed.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; vertical-align: top;\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_6034\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6034\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6034\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6034\" data-attachment-id=\"6034\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6034\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?fit=576%2C903&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"576,903\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"octoprint-robo3d-profile\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?fit=191%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?fit=576%2C903&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6034 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-profile.png?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Create a printer profile to tell OctoPi the print area of the Robo3D.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; vertical-align: top;\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_6035\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6035\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6035\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6035\" data-attachment-id=\"6035\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6035\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?fit=992%2C874&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"992,874\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"octoprint-robo3d-serial\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?fit=300%2C264&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?fit=992%2C874&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6035 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/octoprint-robo3d-serial.png?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6035\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Set the serial connection for the OctoPi to talk to the Robo3D.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>First Print Attempts<\/h2>\n<p>My initial attempts at printing were all cancelled quickly because it became apparent the filament wasn&#8217;t moving.&nbsp; Each attempt had to be scraped off the bed and restarted.&nbsp; This was fixed with the bed leveling process.&nbsp; Once I started my real first print I began to understand something that had confused me originally.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6036\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6036\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6036\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6036\" data-attachment-id=\"6036\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6036\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485201921&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170123_200522\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6036 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170123_200522-1.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">See the ghost layer? You peel it off when you&#8217;re done printing. But this should have a solid surface, not look like a sponge.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Robo3D (or perhaps the slicing program) lays down a ghost layer, almost like a halo, on the first layer it prints.&nbsp; It&#8217;s very thin and larger than the base of my print object.&nbsp; Once I let the printing continue to higher layers it became clear that this was just a base of some kind.&nbsp; I&#8217;m not clear yet why this is there &#8211; possibly to make removing the print easier &#8211; but don&#8217;t be fooled if you&#8217;re anxiously watching the start of the print and see this ghost layer get laid out.&nbsp; Let it run for a bit and the object should start taking shape.<\/p>\n<p>When the print finished the bed moved all the way to the back, which is good considering that&#8217;s the side facing me.&nbsp; It made it easier to pull the object from the bed with the scraper.&nbsp; I pulled the print off and examined it.&nbsp; It was the right shape but a fairly unimpressive print with many holes and no solid surface.&nbsp; It looked more like a sponge than the bookmark it was supposed to be.&nbsp; Note that the model for this was provided as one of four models available download after registration from the Robo3D manufacturer .<\/p>\n<p>Having never done this previously myself (although I&#8217;ve had a model printed for me at the local library) I concluded that the problem was with the way I sliced the model.&nbsp; I checked my Cura setup and found it to be on the Light infill setting.&nbsp; There are for infill settings: hollow, light, dense and solid.&nbsp; So I switched to solid and tried again.&nbsp; The result was actually worse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So while I&#8217;m now able to print I have yet to figure out how to print well.&nbsp; I imagine this is akin to learning the difference between printing plain text and printing in CMYK with GIMP.&nbsp; I&#8217;ll need to check on the <a href=\"http:\/\/community.robo3d.com\/index.php\">Robo3D forums<\/a> or maybe a local Maker user group to get some help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One other thing:&nbsp; a day or so passed between the first print and the second.&nbsp; When preparing the second print I did everything I&#8217;ve specified earlier and started the print.&nbsp; The extruder started to position itself and printed a small part of the ghost layer and then &#8230; <em>POP!<\/em>&nbsp; The filament flew out of the feed at the top of the extruder.&nbsp; It had snapped off.&nbsp; I had to disassemble the feed (those two screws again) to find the part stuck in the extruder.&nbsp; I pulled on it by hand and it broke again leaving a smaller piece to grab.&nbsp; I had the extruder heated to 200C and then used a pair of needle nose pliers to carefully pull the remainder out.&nbsp; It took awhile, but I think once it got hot enough and could stretch a little it finally came out.&nbsp; This is not a good sign.&nbsp; Either the extruder\/feeder design is flawed or the filament is bad.&nbsp; I got both from Robo3D.&nbsp; I hope they can fix at least one of those problems.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; vertical-align: top;\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_6045\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6045\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6045\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6045\" data-attachment-id=\"6045\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6045\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?fit=2448%2C3264&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2448,3264\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485627051&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170128_181051\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6045 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181051-1.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6045\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The snapped filament with the feeder screws removed.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; vertical-align: top;\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_6044\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6044\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6044\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6044\" data-attachment-id=\"6044\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6044\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?fit=2448%2C3264&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2448,3264\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485627126&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170128_181206\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6044 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170128_181206-1.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6044\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The filament pulled from the feeder after it melted enough to get it out.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; vertical-align: top;\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_6043\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6043\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6043\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6043\" data-attachment-id=\"6043\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6043\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;LGLS740&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1485706579&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.05&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20170129_161619\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-6043 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170129_161619.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6043\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The second print, which should have been better than the first but was actually worse.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Tweaks<\/h2>\n<p>The USB camera support on OctoPi is not working at the moment.&nbsp; Neither is the automatic update.&nbsp; I may need to reload that software to the SD card, setup and try again.&nbsp; Perhaps this is related to the bad prints, but somehow I don&#8217;t think so.<\/p>\n<p>Some other suggestions I found online include an additional fan on the opposite side of the extruder and a LCD interface.&nbsp; Others have gone so far as to integrate the OctoPi directly into the printer with a single power switch.&nbsp; I have too many other projects on my plate to dive into those now, not the least of which is getting this thing to make a decent print.&nbsp; But let me know if you try them.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Update 2020<\/h2>\n<p>Three years later and I&#8217;ve finally returned to 3D printing.&nbsp; I&#8217;m looking to see if I can print those <a href=\"https:\/\/getusppe.org\/makers\/face-shields\/\">face shields<\/a> (eg <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prusaprinters.org\/prints\/25857-prusa-protective-face-shield-rc3\">Prusa design<\/a>) needed by doctors and nurses to treat Covid-19.&nbsp; Before I can do that I need to make the printer actually work.&nbsp; And I haven&#8217;t touched this printer since I wrote this article the first time.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6334\" style=\"width: 196px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6334\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6334\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6334\" data-attachment-id=\"6334\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6334\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?fit=1579%2C2547&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1579,2547\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bookmark-2020\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;A successful print from Robo3D via OctoPrint and Cura 3.6 on Linux.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Proper print from Robo3D.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?fit=186%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?fit=635%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6334\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?resize=186%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?resize=186%2C300&amp;ssl=1 186w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?resize=768%2C1239&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?resize=635%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 635w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020.png?w=1579&amp;ssl=1 1579w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6334\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A proper print from Robo3D.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After refreshing my memory on how to get started (thanks to this article, no less) I upgraded to Cura 3.6 (latest available for Fedora 29) and OctoPrint 1.4.0, which I&#8217;m running directly on my desktop now (which has 32 cores and 32G memory, so why not?).&nbsp; Everything came up quickly and I was able to try printing again rather quickly but every print was worse than the first time.&nbsp; I was still getting that clicking sound and the extruder would clog up.&nbsp; I tried printing at higher temperatures, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dragonflydiy.com\/2014\/06\/nozzle-seasoning.html\">seasoning the nozzle<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/help.robo3d.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115000723592-Clogged-Hotend-R1-Plus\">clearing the extruder path<\/a>.&nbsp; Nothing seemed to help.<\/p>\n<p>Then I took a look at the nozzle head.&nbsp; It was sitting so close to the bed that even a piece of paper wouldn&#8217;t fit between them.&nbsp; I had set the Z-offset as described in this document but that didn&#8217;t seem to change anything.&nbsp; Turns out the problem was not just setting the firmware but also setting Cura&#8217;s Z-offset by adding the <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fieldOfView\/Cura-ZOffsetPlugin\">Z-offset plugin<\/a>.&nbsp; This is required because Cura was setting the Z-offset itself, irrespective of what I set in the firmware, and I needed to override it.&nbsp; The plugin can be installed directly from Cura.&nbsp; In Cura 3.6 and later (maybe in earlier versions) there is a Marketplace menu option.&nbsp; Look under there for the Featured Plugins and go to the end of the alphabetically sorted list.&nbsp; After installation you need to click on the Build Adhesion Plate setting where you&#8217;ll find an options box to enable the Z-offset.&nbsp; Once enabled you will find a new field under Build Adhesion Plate for setting the Z-offset.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, the Z-offset set in Cura needs to be different than my original experiments.&nbsp; After many experiments of cancelled prints, I found the setting needed to be set to&nbsp;<em><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Z-1.0<\/span><\/em>&nbsp; which causes Cura to add the following line to the gcode.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>G0 F7200 X93.014 Y71.925 Z1.18 ;adjusted by z offset<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So it wants to set it to 0.18, but then adds 1.0 to it from my Z-offset setting.&nbsp; This is the setting I put in the firmware to, though it&#8217;s not clear if -1.0 or -1.8 should be used.&nbsp; Since MatterControl still doesn&#8217;t work with my version of Linux (and nothing on earth will get me to use Ubuntu) I&#8217;ll just use Cura and always set the Z-offset there so it embeds in the gcode file.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The result is I now have a working configuration to print the bookmarker model.&nbsp; Notice the raft printed around the bookmark.&nbsp; I&#8217;m not sure where that&#8217;s coming from &#8211; I think Cura may add it.&nbsp; For this print, which has some flimsy pieces where the bookmarker attaches to the book pages, this is helpful for pulling the print from the bed.&nbsp; You just have to cut all that off later.&nbsp;&nbsp; Seems like a lot of waste, so I&#8217;ll need to see if I can reduce the size of the raft somehow.<\/p>\n<p>But at least the prints are working now.<\/p>\n<h2>Update 2020.2<\/h2>\n<p>The excess printing is called a raft and is a configuration item in Cura, under the <strong>Build Plate Adhesion<\/strong> setting as <em>Build Plate Adhesion Type<\/em>.&nbsp; The raft setting for this type prints extra support area for models that need it.&nbsp; But using the skirt setting, instead of raft, just prints a couple of circles around the outside edge of the model.&nbsp; This is done to prime the extruder before starting to print. Those extra circles are on the build plate but are not attached to the model.<\/p>\n<p>The result is much better, at least for this model, as you can see in this picture.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6336\" style=\"width: 154px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6336\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6336\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6336\" data-attachment-id=\"6336\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6336\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?fit=1149%2C2392&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1149,2392\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bookmark-2020-skirt\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Bookmark printed using the skirt build adhesion type setting in Cura.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Bookmark printed using the skirt build adhesion type setting in Cura.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?fit=144%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?fit=492%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6336\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?resize=144%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bookmark printed using skirt setting in Cura.\" width=\"144\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?resize=144%2C300&amp;ssl=1 144w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?resize=768%2C1599&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?resize=492%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 492w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bookmark-2020-skirt.png?w=1149&amp;ssl=1 1149w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 144px) 100vw, 144px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6336\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bookmark printed using the skirt build adhesion type setting in Cura.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Update 2020.3<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;m finally getting the hang of the printer.&nbsp; Every print needs to be setup properly.&nbsp; The steps I have to take are as follows.&nbsp; These are all done through Octoprint.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Raise the print head.&nbsp; I click on the Raise button in the Control tab twice.<\/li>\n<li>Heat the head to 240 C.<\/li>\n<li>Extrude until I see a clean stream of filament.&nbsp; This flushes any dried blobs from the head.<\/li>\n<li>Home the print head X\/Y.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the filament flush and clean the print plate.&nbsp; Scrape any previous glue from the plate and wipe with a soft cloth, like a eye-glass lens cloth.&nbsp; Use Windex if necessary.&nbsp; Doesn&#8217;t have to be perfectly clean, but remove any large lumps that might get in the way of the print head.<\/li>\n<li>Rub Elmers Washable School Glue Stick over the area of the print plate where the print will go.&nbsp; This is a bit of a guessing game for odd shaped prints.<\/li>\n<li>Home the print head Z.<\/li>\n<li>Use the Terminal tab to type: G28, M565 Z-0, G29 and wait for the print head to stop moving.&nbsp; In some cases it helps to change Z-0 to Z-0.1, like when you find the print head is too close to the surface while it is extruding.<\/li>\n<li>Home the print head X\/Y again.<\/li>\n<li>Heat the bed to 60 C.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Now I&#8217;m ready to print.&nbsp; It&#8217;s important that the model being printed, in the gcode, have the Z-offset properly set as this method relies on the model setting the Z-offset and NOT Octoprint!&nbsp; Note that I&#8217;m using Cura to slice my models and it has presets for the Robo3D R1+.&nbsp; Also note that it should be set to 210 C to print.&nbsp; That&#8217;s the optimal print temperature for PLA that came with the printer.&nbsp; Other filaments will have different temperatures but you can set this is Cura for each model you slice.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I thought I&#8217;d post an image showing the selection of filaments supported by the Robo3D R1+, which was taken from Amazon via Robo3D.&nbsp; This is just for reference when looking for compatible filaments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6339\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6339\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6339\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=6339\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1500,1500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"robo3d-filament-types\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6339\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/robo3d-filament-types.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;ve been thinking about getting into 3D printing here at the Hammel household.&nbsp; I&#8217;m looking at building small enclosures for the various embedded boards I work on.&nbsp; My wife is looking at creating components for the designs she works on for Vindicated Vinyl, her small business.&nbsp; After doing a bit of online research I purchased [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,29,35,8,565],"tags":[665,76,634,620,39,619,38,577,442,653],"class_list":{"0":"post-5968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art-and-graphics","8":"category-education","9":"category-fedora","10":"category-hardware","11":"category-raspberry-pi","12":"tag-3d-printer","13":"tag-debian","14":"tag-fedora","15":"tag-gimp","16":"tag-graphics","17":"tag-linux","18":"tag-printing","19":"tag-raspberry-pi","20":"tag-sd-card","21":"tag-usb-camera","22":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/3d.png?fit=690%2C518&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe9t8-1yg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5968"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7473,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5968\/revisions\/7473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graphics-muse.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}