With only a few parts, you can give your printed ABS components a real shine.
An unused jam jar with lid, nail polish remover (acetone) and some wire is all you need. Continue reading
Shiny 3D Printed Parts
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Successful NinjaFlex Prints with Da Vinci 1.0
Some excellent progress has been made in the last two days in the quest to get a XYZprinting Da Vinci 1.0 printer to print NinjaFlex filament.
Load Models Faster with Binary STL Files
If you are using Autodesk 123D Design to create your models, it will generate your STL files in ASCII STL format. XYZware is slow to load large ASCII STL files. Slicing an ASCII STL file can take a very long time too.
Fortunately, there is a solution. Saving your STL files in a Binary format will result in improved load and slicing times.
Converting your ASCII STL files to Binary is very simple. This simple guide shows you how.
Ninjaflex Filament Guides – Results
Two different filament guides for Ninjaflex have been trialed with differing success.
One made from heatshrink was promising initially but has failed to be robust. The second, using a 3D printed component from Thingiverse has increased print time but is difficult to install.
Details of the results can be followed here.
Printing PLA with Da Vinci
A quick update. Following on from the ongoing progress with using Ninjaflex (TPE) with a Da Vinci printer, I’ve managed to successfully print some generic clear PLA filament.
An advantage of PLA compared to ABS is PLA is available in transparent colours. The smell of heated PLA is not as strong as ABS. However, the mechanical strength of the material is lower than ABS.
HTU21D Weather Station Tutorial
New tutorial added! Make your own Stevenson Screen weather station using a HTU21D temperature and humidity breakout board and a NeoPixel Ring.
For all the details check out the detailed tutorial.
Da Vinci Extruder PCB Details
Within the Da Vinci 1.0 extruder is a small PCB. It serves a few functions and was pretty straight forward to trace out the circuitry to create a schematic.
Ninjaflex Progress Update
Some degree of success has been achieved with printing Ninjaflex with a Da Vinci 1.0 printer. Today, three test prints were made; one is of marginal quality but it was the first. The second for the day, turned out very well and the final print was OK. Each of the prints had differing infill settings so there is still some refining to do.
Using Ninjaflex with your Da Vinci
Can flexible filaments such as Ninjaflex or TPE be used with a stock Da Vinci 3D printer? Probably.
Preliminary testing and multiple trials indicate that it is possible to use a stock Da Vinci extruder with minimal modifications to print this unique material. Additionally, it may be possible to use a stock firmware (1.1.J) and XYZware to make objects printed from Ninjaflex.
Successful progress and encountered pitfalls are being documented as this journey unfolds.
SteelCity Electronics 