2023/03/15: adding more Settings for different resins, different default for different firmware version, added preliminary Review
2023/03/09: finally published
2023/03/05: first prints made, more info on Lychee Slicer, Prusa Slicer SLA, more on magnetic steel plate use, prints with or without support, closeup photos added
2022/11/29: added Drip Hook, still preparing the utilities to make first print
2022/11/26: Mono 4K arrived, preparing software pipeline (slicer, converters) and working place
2022/11/07: starting write-up
Introduction
The past years I focused on Filament Deposition Manufacturing (FDM) / extrusion based 3D printing, and the time came to focus on MSLA resin based process as well.
My main use case a small pieces, like custom pulleys and idlers – precise parts, such as:
Custom pulley ID8 20T: MSLA @35μm XY, 50μm Z vs FFF @400μm nozzle, 100μm ZCustom pulley ID8 20T: MSLA @35μm XY, 50μm Z vs FFF @400μm nozzle, 100μm Z
Anycubic Photon Mono 4K
The Anycubic Photon Mono 4K seemed like a good choice to start with:
build volume: 132 x 80 x 165 mm
resolution: XY 35μm, Z 50μm
6.1″ display with 4K resolution (3840×2400) display
monochromatic LCD (hence “Mono”), faster printer due shorter exposure
affordable with EUR 170-220 (2022/11)
no network, only USB drive printing
SLA Stereolithography – one beam/point light source
MSLA Mask Stereolithography Aparatus – one light source, masking what does not need to be printed
DLP Digital Light Processing – one image, each pixel controlled by micro mirror
I ordered 2022/11/22 for EUR 170 and received it 4 days later via Anycubic Store within Amazon, along with a few utilities like water wash resins, gloves, etc – ready to MSLA print.
FDM/FFF vs Resin
FDM/FFF
Resin MSLA
X, Y precision: 100μm Z precision: 50μm minimal structure: 200-600μm1) minimal post-processing minimal toxicity of filament print duration based on printed volume large scale prints affordable 1kg filament EUR 15-30 mixed materials2)
X, Y precision: 35-75μm Z precision: 30-50μm minimal structure: 30-50μm extensive post-processing severe toxicity of resin print duration based on print Z height only large scale prints require expensive printers 1kg resin EUR 30-803) single material
depends on nozzle diameter
multiple printheads/hotends required, e.g. IDEX, tool changer, material changer
Anycubic sold water wash resins at 22-27 EUR/kg 2023/03 (black, white, clear, grey and waterblue)
Print Settings
layer height: 0.05mm / 50μm
exposure time: 2s
light-off time: 0.5s
bottom layer count: 6
bottom exposure time: 40s
lifting distance: 6mm
lifting speed: 4mm/s
retract speed: 6mm/s
anti-aliasing level: 1
file formats: pwma (proprietary)
Photon Workshop on Linux
My development environment is Linux, and as of 2022/11 there is no Linux Photon Workshop, the name of the slicer needed to slice for Mono 4K; but you can run it via Wine (a Windows compatibility wrapper):
I tried my xyzHollowCalibrationCubeV2 and used auto hollow feature which defaults to 2mm thickness:
This seems to work but is not ideal. The Photon Workshop reveals that Photon Mono 4K supports only .pmwa format, which as it turns out, is PWS format just with the extension .pmwa to avoid mixing up different PWS files for different machines, as the pixel-based slices are hardware dependent now as resolution of the display is set.
Chitubox for Linux
Chitubox Slicer is available for Linux natively and supports a variety of SLA printers, also the Mono 4K:
I also used the auto hollow feature, which defaulted to 1.2mm wall thickness.
Lychee Slicer for Linux
I ended up with the Lychee Slicer which is available for Linux as well, which contains some annoying advertising to wait for when slicing or exporting various formats, but functionality-wise it it is more intuitive than Chitubox Slicer.
Lychee Slicer 4.1.0 for Linux (AppImage)
Prusa SLA Slicer
Prusa Slicer 2.4.0 using SLA subsystem and custom build-volumeRedefining Printer Settings to fit Anycubic Photon Mono 4K: 132x80mm / 3840×2400 px
As mentioned, the Photon Mono 4K has its own proprietary file-format PWS file to print with, with a particular file extension to indicate which Anycubic MSLA device it is sliced for:
Machine
File Extension
Layer Image Encoding
Mono
PWNO
PW0
Mono SE
PWMS
PW0
Mono X
PWMX
PW0
Mono X2
PMX2
PW0
Mono 4K
PWMA
PW0
S
PWS
PWS
Zero
PW0
PW0
X
PWX
PW0
Ultra
DLP
PW0
D2
DLP2
PW0
Prusa Slicer slices also for MSLA, it’s own .sl1 format, just a ZIP file with a list of PNG files per slice, in order to convert .sl1 to PWS/.pwma another tool is required:
UVtools, it can read and write many SLA image formats, incl. PhotonWorkshop (.pw*) file-formats
another approach could be (as of 2022/12 not yet) to just convert sl1 to .photon with SL1toPhoton command line tool, and extend functionality to support PWS/.pwma as well
alternatively uv3dp supports pw0 and pws files, but struggles with new(er) PWS files like .pwma
.photon/ctb/cbddlp vs .pw*
.photon (and ctb/cbddlp) is an older file format, whereas newer Photon Workshop (PW) has PWS and PW0 encoded images as layers – so far the format seems reverse engineered and somewhat documented via UVTools: PhotonWorkshopFormat.cs
Manufacturer
File Extension
FIle FOrmat
Anycubic Photon Mono
.pw*
PWS/PW0
Anycubic Photon
.photon
alike CTB
Elegoo Mars
.ctb
CTB/CBDDLP
Creality LD002
.ctb
CTB/CBDDLP
Phrozen
.phz
CTB/CBDDLP
PWS vs SL1
Some deeper dive into the available metadata of PWS vs SL1 format:
does not report layer counts, but be determined from the amount of enclosed .png files
PWS
SL1
x_resolution [px]
display_pixels_x [px]
y_resolution [px]
display_pixels_y [px]
xy_pixel [μm]
display_pixels_x / bedshape[x] * 1000 [μm]
layers_count
len(<*.png>)
Replacing Firmware
MSLA resin printers are quite closed systems without much information of the hardware, firmware, and additional having their own proprietary file formats which contain the layer images.
For the Anycubic Photon Mono 4K is an open source firmware available, Turbo Resin – which gave me a good reason to get this 3D printer. Along with it, the hardware has been pretty much reversed engineered.
Anycubic Firmware
Turbo Resin (2022/12)
– PW0/PWMA format
– PW0/PWMA & CTB format
Custom MSLA Slicer
Pondering on a custom MSLA slicer:
automatic hollowing of solids at certain wall thickness
automatic support generation, outside and inside (after hollowing)
drain hole generation
command line interface (CLI)
external preview of sliced part
supporting sl1 and pws/pw0 as a start
Feature
Prusa Slicer
Lychee Slicer
ChituBox Slicer
command line interface (CLI)
Y
–
–
automatic hollowing
Y
Y
Y
drain holes
Y
Y
Y
automatic support
Y
Y
Y
Linux support
Y
–
–
PWS support
–
Y
Y
Open MSLA Format
Unfortunately there is no open (M)SLA format, each manufacturer kind of does its own, whereas G-code .gcode has some conformity, although G-code in general is also machine specific has it has absolute positioning, which differ from machine to machine, but at least G-code is easy to compose unlike proprietary (M)SLA file formats.
SL1 format by Prusa Engineering is a simple ZIP file which contains:
config.ini: irrelevant info
prusaslicer.ini: info about printer (bed size), pixel density, and many slicer settings
*.png: enumerated image files per slice in PNG format
and thereby is open enough for my taste.
Requirements of Open MSLA Format
simple format for controller to decode
simple pixel data1)
simple preview image format1)
this is why PWS/PW0 or CTB fileformat use some simple RLE algorithm to compress pixel data
First Print
After many weeks postponing, as I wasn’t eager deal with the inherent messiness of resin printing, I gave it a shot with some of the Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) (2023/03/05):
Lychee Slicer: 8 TPMSScene exported as STL with supportAnycubic Mono 4K: starting print 2h 15mAnycubic Mono 4K: mid print
The Lychee Slicer gave 1h 15m print time, the printer itself showed 2h 15m; I used Anycubic White Water Wash Resin. I used automatic supports, and it printed 5 pieces successful, 3 pieces failed and only apprx. 4mm Z height were printed, interestingly all 3 failed pieces failed at the same Z height and broke off and stuck at the print plate.
Batch 1: 5 pieces printed successful, 3 failedWashed & cured: 5 TPMS 20mm: (front) Schwarz P, FRD, (background): Schwarz D, Gyroid, Gyroid Skeletal Washed & cured: 5 TPMS 20mm: (front) Schwarz P, FRD, (background): Schwarz D, Gyroid, Gyroid SkeletalBatch 2: reprinting previously 3 failed prints again, this time successful at the same position, same settings
I reprinted the 3 failed pieces at the same place, and this time they succeeded – which is strange as I suspected perhaps uneven light or some other positional inconsistency, but obviously the position did not matter, which is bad as I don’t know what caused the first failed print.
The curved bottoms (not directly printed but with diverse support pipes) already showing severe distortion while printing.
Update: It seems my office rooms aren’t warm enough, so the bed adhesion isn’t optimal as I read up in some forum posts. I tried to print a few other pieces, all failed the next day in the room with 15-19C° – the prints detached after 2-3mm height from the build plate. I moved it to another warmer room, warmed the resin on the radiator which helped.
The overall quality of the pieces is astonishing, no visible voxels or layers are seen, incredible quality for those prints which didn’t fail.
Yet the failure rate is still significant for my taste, so I need to pay close attention to room temperature, and other aspects:
Variable frequency of Schwarz P & D TPMS (40mm cube): with support and withoutSchwarz D variable frequency TPMS: with and without support (both successful prints)Schwarz P variable frequency TPMS: with and without support (mixed success)Schwarz P variable frequency TPMS with support (successful print)Schwarz P variable frequency TPMS without support: deliminated near bottom (failed print)Schwarz P variable frequency TPMS without support: deliminated near bottom (failed print)Schwarz D: 35μm XY, 50μm Z, seeing the voxels in the closeup
The cause of the “delimination” isn’t clear yet to me, it seems the prints with proper support and elevated bottom printed better, but I need to confirm with more prints.
As a start I assembled a simple DIY curing station with a 5m UV LED strip and placed it inside a plastic cup, with some aluminium foil at the bottom and top lid:
I only cure for 4-5mins, longer exposure changes the white resin into yellowish tint, and indicates over curing.
Keeping Resin in the Vat
After a print, the resins needs to be filtered for impurities, such as partial cured pieces not attached to the part, with a funnel and filter into a cup or bottle, and then it can be poured back into the vat ready to print again.
One can leave the resin in the vat for weeks, if you stir the resin short before you print again – stirring the resin within the vat is not ideal, as one has to avoid to scratch or FEP film; yet there is no need to pour resin back into the bottle unless one changes the resin, like the brand or color.
Drip Hook
I remixed an existing drip hook for Photon Mono to fit Photon Mono 4K, and make it easier to slide the bed on and off.
Additionally I’ve got a spring steel build plate 135x80mm with a magnetic base for EUR 10 (2022/12).
This turned out to be a good choice, the removal of the pieces is easy without additional tool.
Caution:
the thickness of the adhesive magnet holding the plate required the optical Z endswitch to recalibrate, instead to move the sensor, I extended the light breaking piece with just a small piece of paper with a drop of glue – it was easier than 3d printing an extender for the entire sensor.
in my case the small handle of the plate scratches on the vat at the last 3-4mm height, therefore the entire plate needs to be slightly misaligned (just pushing one side while fastening the build plate) so the handle doesn’t touch the vat.
third party Anycubic Mono 4K vat like from Mega/Kingroon have a larger space, and don’t need any fiddling around therefore
the spring steel is sharp, it happened several times the single-use gloves being torn/cut while handling the plate
(One of) My Use Case
After a few days I aimed for the main use case of mine: printing custom pulleys.
MSLA @ 35μm XY, 50μm Z vs FFF @ 400μm nozzle, 100μm Z
As I printed them with Anycubic Water Wash White Resin without support, the “elephant foot” comes from the first 6 layers being cured for 40s as in my case, and the UV light refracting and curing more than meant to be, but I can neglect this.
16 custom pulleys ID8 20T printed with Anycubic Photon Mono 4K in 1h 30m or 5m30s per piece
MSLA
FDM/FFF
geometrical accuracy
★★★★☆1)
★★★☆☆
surface quality
★★★★☆
★★☆☆☆
mechanical sturdiness
(not yet tested)
★★★☆☆ (PLA)
print time per piece
5m 30s2)
15m
print time for 1 piece
1h 30m
15m
print time for 16 pieces
1h 30m
4h
due the “elephant foot” the Z accuracy was off by 0.8mm, instead of 15.0mm it’s 14.2mm
when printing 16 pieces, it took 1h 30m for printing 15mm in Z, I could have printed ~28 pulleys on 132 x 80mm build plate, bringing print time for a piece down to 3m 10s
Settings
from Anycubic Web-Site (2023/03/12)
My own experience with different resins (to be extended):
Defaults V0.0.11 Firmware V0.11
Defaults V2.0.2 Firmware V0.16
White WATER WASH RESIN (Anycubic)
Clear Water Wash Resin (Resione)
Layer Thickness [μm]
50
50
50
50
Exposure Time [s]
3
2.5
3
2 .. 3
Exposure Off Time [s]
2.5
1
0.5
0.5
Bottom Exposure [s]
50
30
40
40
Bottom Layers
6
6
6
6
Anti-alias
1
1
1
1
Z Lift Distance [mm]
3.0
4.0
6.0
6.0
Z Lift Speed [mm/s]
1.0
1.0
2.0
1.0
Z Retract Speed [mm/s]
1.0
1.0
4.0
1.0
UV Power [%]
100
100
100
50 .. 100
Notes
Distance, Speed & Retract Speed for – [BL] Bottom Layers – [NL] Normal Layers individually definable
– geometrical precise
– soft with 3s exposure – stiffer & brittle with 5s exposure – geometrical not precise (+0.2 .. 0.8mm in XYZ)
Preliminary Review
Pros:
good prints for the price
cost effective
lot’s of third party replacements (vat, FEP, etc)1)
alternatively Open Source firmware
nearly full reverse engineered hardware
this actually is quite important: popular machine raise a secondary market for replacements: future replacement of parts even when Anycubic ends support
Cons:
newly bought machine had outdated firmware
updated firmware calculates wrong total print time, this is just sloppy
touchscreen unreliable (wrong position) ‘print’ vs ‘delete’, use a soft pencil
slow prints with default settings (1mm/s Z motion), not nearly at 50mm/h height as advertised
Confusing:
slicer print settings are ignored, only settings on the machine matter
advantage: once sliced the .pwma can be printed with different resins and settings changed on the machine only
disadvantage: one has to memorize or document settings for different resins, as it not stored in the .pwma file
Verdict
It’s a low-cost entry level MSLA machine, Anycubic seems to care little about the software (2023/03) as the slicer as well the firmware are Minimal Viable Product (MVP) level, but aren’t mature or reliable at all. Given they sell 500K+ machines per year at least, investing to improve in the firmware would help 500,000 users.
2023/02/08: worked on text and illustrations a lot, many sample prints, multiple visualization approaches, details on f1 + f2 vs f1 * f2 and cylindrical and spherical transformation of TMPS
2023/01/05: adding mesh/voxel renderings, slicing geometry to generate G-code
2022/12/11: first FDM G-code generated using 2D / contour approach
2022/12/07: included many suitable periodic minimal surfaces
2022/12/02: start with implicit surface focus
As I progress I will update this blog-post.
Introduction
Infill geometries are geometries which are continuous, repetitive or periodic; they fill a boundary defined geometry aka outer form often defined via meshs. Let’s dive into some of the simple geometries and then looking at some more complex structures:
The Implicit Geometries
Implicit geometries are geometries defined via f(x,y,z) = 0 defining their surface, the boundary between inside and outside and they are ideal to define repetitive or periodic 3D infill geometries.
Sphere
Sphere: x2 + y2 + z2 – r2 = 0
When you ever tried to compose a sphere as a mesh, you know there are many ways to do so, and all are more complex than this simple description, and as you realize, the formula is perfect, it’s not an approximation – this is the nature of implicit formula. When you try to visualize an implicit formula, then you need to discretize and there the approximation takes place, as a mesh or as voxels.
Another nifty property of the sphere, it is the minimal surface to circumvent a volume, and through this blog-post, the minimal surface will become a common theme.
Cube
Cube: max(abs(x),abs(y),abs(z)) – w/2 = 0
Plane
Plane: z = 0
As I render only -10 to 10 to each axis, it creates a small plate:
Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS)
Let’s move to the world of minimal surfaces, so called Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS), those can be expressed in implicit form and have some properties as sought for infill geometries.
In differential geometry, a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) is a minimal surface in ℝ3 that is invariant under a rank-3 lattice of translations. These surfaces have the symmetries of a crystallographic group. Numerous examples are known with cubic, tetragonal, rhombohedral, and orthorhombic symmetries. Monoclinic and triclinic examples are certain to exist, but have proven hard to parametrise.
Let’s explore this form more thoroughly, we animate a, b, c, d, and e and see what it does, essentially we animate -1 to 1 in sinus, 0 eliminates of the chunk of the formula:
animating a (-1..-1)animating b (-1..1)animating c (-1..1)animating d (-1..1)animating e (-1..1)
P Skeletal: 10*(cos(x)+cos(y)+cos(z) – 5.1*(cos(x)*cos(y)+cos(y)*cos(z)+cos(z)*cos(x)) – 14.6
By changing the last substraction of 14.6 to 10 or 8, the structure get more dense – ideal to use.
P Skeletal, animating main subtraction -14.6(thin)..5.4(disconnected)
The P Skeletal connects 6 arms to each other.
IWP Skeletal
IWP Skeletal connects 8 arms to each other.
Schwarz D Skeletal
Schwarz D Skeletal connects with 4 arms to each other.
The above “skeletal” minimal surfaces are ideal for lattice structures, likely most usable in context of voxel-based 3D printing approaches, such as SLA, SLS, SLM and so forth, but less ideal for traditional FDM where the lattice is sliced Z-planar again kind of defeating the overall purpose of lattice structures.
D Surface
D Surface: cos(x)*cos(y)*cos(z) – sin(x)*sin(y)*sin(z)
As Juergen Meier created a variant, adding a, which gives these variants:
a=-0.5a=-sqrt(2)/2a=0.5a=0.5 (double density)
providing a structure using 4 arms to connect each other.
Miscellaneous
Bionic BoneBionic Bone 2Split PDKPIWPDouble GyroidDiamond Double 1Diamond Double 2Octo 1Octo 2Double PG Prime 1G Prime 2PN
Using Implicit Geometries as Infill Structures
Slic3r and Prusa Slicer are providing gyroid infill pattern since early version, but beyond that it seems no to little development happened since (2022/12).
Let’s see how implicit geometry can be transformed into slices (FDM) or voxels/pixels (SLA, SLS etc)
Algorithm A: 3D Cache
create point cloud of surface of implicit geometry
create surface of implicit geometry using marching cube
(optional) determine x, y, z size where it repeats itself
slice surface for infills at certain scale
clip inner surface with outer perimeter of slice
Pros
with caching: fast lookup of infill geometry
Cons
many steps
x, y, z repeatability must be given, hard to determine programmatically from outside
clipping to perimeter can be computational expensive depending
Algorithm B: 2D Cache
create 2D point cloud of a slice of implicit geometry based on clipped 2D area / slice
convert 2D point cloud to polylines (FDM) or pixels (SLA)
Pros
reduction to 2D problem at first stage
fast 2D point cloud creation as only one z-level is used
Cons
create 2D point cloud at arbitrary resolution, loss of curves unless refitted
caching without knowing repeatability of the geometry makes little sense
FDM G-code
Here some early G-code for FDM 3D printer using PyImplicit tool tracking the implicit surface as 2D contour:
The implicit surfaces only define the surface, either:
inside vs outside – a solid; or
certain thickness of such surface
In order to create watertight meshs the volume needs to be limited with a boundary box, and Marching Cube is performed from outside to get proper mesh to post-process afterwards.
Now you may wonder, what’s the fuss with all those forms, why doing this complicate implicit form, why not just create a few forms as meshs right away and repeat them orderly – well, here it comes why:
Frequency or Scale Gradients
Schwarz P scale=8..1 solidSchwarz P scale=8..1 thickness=0.2Schwarz D scale=8..1 solidSchwarz D scale=8..1 thickness=0.2Neovius scale=8..1 solidNeovius scale=8..1 thickness=0.8
Changing the frequency or scale s0 and s1 can be achieved by:
znorm = (z-zmin) / (zmax-zmin) s =(1-znorm)*s0 + znorm*s1 or s = lerp(s0, s1, znorm) f = surface(x*s, y*s, z*s)
This shows the power of generative geometries, we simply can define the scale or frequency of a geometry at any point, given we transit within reason and not too sharply to cause discontinuty.
Thickness Gardients
Schwarz P thickness: 2 .. 0.1Schwarz D thickness: 1.2 .. 0.2
Alike changing thickness:
znorm = (z-zmin) / (zmax-zmin) t = lerp(t0, t1, znorm) f = abs(surface(x,y,z)) – t
Form Gradients
Transit vertically from Schwarz D to Schwarz P (solid)Transit vertically from Schwarz D to Schwarz P (thickness=0.2)
What looks very complex is done quite simply with:
This is quite powerful property, to be able to morph from one implicit form to another with such a simple formula.
Contineous Transitions:
Schwarz D – Schwarz P
Schwarz D – Neovius
Schwarz P – Neovius
thickness: IWP Skeletal – Schwarz P
thickness: IWP Skeletal – Schwarz D
Discontinueous Transitions:
IWP Skeletal – P Skeletal
IWP Skeletal – Neovius
solid: IWP Skeletal – Schwarz P
solid: IWP Skeletal – Schwarz D
Combining Implicit Surfaces
Additions
Algebraic addition has the effect of apply one geometry within another, alike recursion:
Schwarz P 4f + Schwarz D 4fSchwarz P 1f + Schwarz D 4f
Multiplications
Algebraic multiplication has the effect of clipping, or geometrical intersection:
Schwarz P 4f x Schwarz D 4fSchwarz P 4f x Schwarz D 1f
Mapping Implicit Surfaces
One can map the coordinates, and create a cylindrical gyroid, where former X & Y become distance and rotation angle, and Z remains as is, and so spherical projection is possible as well, or even feed coordinates through implicit formula itself:
Next blog-post(s) I will go into further details utilizing TPMS in Additive Manufacturing (AM) like FDM/FFF, SLA, MSLA, SLS, MJF or SLM – each one of them have unique features and limitation for using those Parametric Generative Infill Geometries.
Appendix: Visualization
In case you wondered of the different styled visualization through this blog-post, let me show you the different approaches to discretize implicit defined surfaces.
Voxels
The code is rather simple with OpenSCAD yet rather slow: either skin is true or false, and delta determines the thickness of the skin if enable:
t = 1;
r = 20*t;
st = 1/2;
delta = 0.2;
function schwarz_p(x,y,z,s=1) = cos(x*s) + cos(y*s) + cos(z*s);
skin = true;
for(x=[-r:st:r])
for(y=[-r:st:r])
for(z=[-r:st:r]) {
f = schwarz_p(x,y,z,360/20/2);
if(skin && abs(f)<delta) // -- skin only
translate([x,y,z]) cube(st);
else if(!skin && f<delta) // -- inside/outside
translate([x,y,z]) cube(st);
}
Following experiments were done with Spirula/Implicit3 within the browser, the implicit formulas are rendered in realtime at 100-500 fps using OpenGL’s GLSL (GL Shader Language):
One has to clip the formulas with a cube in order to have a limited set, otherwise you get a full screen looking at infinite X, Y & Z, here Schwarz P:
Spirula/Implict3 realtime rendered Schwarz P TPMS in the browser
Meshs with Marching Cube
In order to create a mesh, I developed PyImplicit which utilizes Numpy library to calculate the implicit formula fast, and then run a Marching Cube algorithm over the result in order to get a discrete mesh like STL, OBJ, or 3MF to process further for 3D printing.
Foreground: 1st row: 90mm cube clipped of frequency gradients on Schwarz D, Schwarz P*, surface gradient between Schwarz D to Schwarz P (top) at certain thickness or solid, 2nd row: 2x IWP skeletal 90mm cubes at different frequency; Background: various 30/40mm cube clipped Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces
*) some of my larger prints I attach RFID tags, e.g. as on top of the variable frequency Schwarz P print, which I store the print UID from my Prynt3r job which logs all my prints with all settings and webcam snapshots. In future blog-post I will illustrate my NFC/RFID setup.
And Polyviuw is a small mesh viewer using Polyscope Python as backend to display it as mesh:
Polyviuw (0.0.8)Polyviuw (0.0.7)
It is easy to create huge files when exporting an implicit generative infill geometry and one ends up with a 700MB binary STL file, which becomes hard to view at least on my system. To handle complex outer forms, with complex inner geometries I estimate reaching multiple gigabytes large files – let’s see.
References
3D-Meier.de: Juergen Meier’s excellent write-up on Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (german only) with formulas & references
Commercial Software:
nTopology.com: outer and inner geometry incl. simulation
GeoDict.com: digital material development, deep dive into designing interior geometries
Spherene.ch: Adaptive Density Minimal Surfaces (ADMS) software framework, startup
After download and installation, you can start to configure and use it:
Usage
____ . __ _____ .
* / __ \_______* ______ / /|__ /_____ *
/ /_/ / ___/ / / / __ \/ __//_ </ ___/ . | *
. / ____/ / / /_/ / / / / /____/ / / -=*=- .
/_/ /_/ \__, /_/ /_/\__/____/_/ * . |
/____/ V0.0.8 * .
https://github.com/Spiritdude/Prynt3r
Prynt3r 0.0.8 USAGE: [<opts>] <cmd> <arg1> ...
commands:
slice <file1> ... slice file(s) into single gcode, e.g. use -o <fn> or --output=<fn>
print <file1> ... slice and send gcode to printer local or remote, e.g. define -d <dev> or --device=<dev>
preview <file1> ... slice file(s) into single gcode and launch gcode viewer
gconsole starts interactive g-code console
log [<s>] [#<n>] list log, query term <s> or list log entry '#<n>', with --output or -o you can list only particul
ars
client start client process, so remote prynt3r can access it
file-formats:
stl, obj, off, 3mf, ply, scad, jscad, zcad, vdb, svg
options:
--help print this message
--version print version and exit
--device=<dev> set device (default: /dev/ttyUSB0)
-d <dev>
--printer=<name> set printer name (default: default)
-p <name>
--slicer=<slicer> set slicer: cura, cura-legacy, cura4, cura5, curax, prusa, slic3r, slic3r-pe, slicer4rtn, cura-slicer, super, mandoline, 5dmaker, kirimoto, zplus, lab, vox3l, voxgl, metatron, enoch, goslice, (default: slic3r)
-s <slicer>
--gcode-viewer=<cmd> set gcode previewer (default: yagv)
--verbose=<n> increase verbosity
-vvv
--extended or -x extended output, e.g. for 'log' command
--quiet or -q stay quiet, only output warnings or errors
--output=<fn> slice: slicing into a particular file 'prynt3r slice cube.stl -o test.gcode' or
-o <fn> log: 'prynt3r log -o uid,files,args' to list particular fields of the log file
--placement=<loc> set location: 'none', 'center', 'random' (default: none)
--rotate=<x>,<y>,<z> rotate model(s)
--scale=<f> scale model(s) uniformly
--scale=<x>,<y>,<z> scale model(s), if value has 'mm' appended, then axis is set absolute
e.g. "0,0,20mm" scales model(s) to 20mm Z height, all axes with 0 scales
proportionally
--multiply-part=<n> multiply model(s)
--recenter=<s> recenter models (default: 1), recommended when rotating
--relevel=<s> relevel models (default: 1), recommended when rotating
--uid=<uid> set uid for print process (otherwise unique will be generated)
--keep keep all temporary files (for debugging)
--scad treat arguments as OpenSCAD code, e.g. --scad 'cube(20)'
--scadlib=<lib>[,<lib2>] consider libraries as well, e.g. --scadlib=parts.scad
--zcad treat arguments as OpenZCAD code
--jscad treat arguments as OpenJSCAD code
slicing options (slicer independent):
--machine-name=<v> set machine name (default: "Unknown")
--machine-uuid=<v> set machine uuid (default: "")
--machine-width=<v> set machine width (default: 200.0)
--machine-depth=<v> set machine depth (default: 200.0)
--machine-height=<v> set machine height (default: 180.0)
--nozzle-diameter=<v> set nozzle diameter (default: "0.4")
--line-width=<v> set line width (default: 0.4)
--layer-height=<v> set layer height (default: "0.3")
--filament-diameter=<v> set filament diameter (default: "1.75")
--fill-density=<v> set fill density (default: "20")
--temperature=<v> set temperature (default: "200")
--first-layer-temperature=<v> set first layer temperature (default: "210")
--bed-temperature=<v> set bed temperature (default: "45")
--first-layer-height=<v> set first layer height (default: "0.25")
--first-layer-speed=<v> set first layer speed (default: "20")
--skirts=<v> set skirts (default: "2")
--brims=<v> set brims (default: "0")
--rafts=<v> set rafts (default: "0")
--support=<v> set support (default: "none")
--support-angle=<v> set support angle (default: "60")
--seam=<v> set seam (default: "aligned")
--top-thickness=<v> set top thickness (default: "0")
--bottom-thickness=<v> set bottom thickness (default: "0")
--wall-thickness=<v> set wall thickness (default: "0")
--perimeters=<v> set perimeters (default: "2")
--top-layers=<v> set top layers (default: "2")
--bottom-layers=<v> set bottom layers (default: "2")
--start-gcode=<v> set start gcode (default: "G28 X0 Y0\\nG1 X100 F6000\\nG28 Z0\\nM206 X0 Y-25 Z0.15\\n\n")
--end-gcode=<v> set end gcode (default: "G1 Y290 F6000\\nM104 S0\\nM140 S0\\nM84\\n")
--abort-gcode=<v> set abort gcode (default: "M104 S0 ; extruder heater off\\nM140 S0 ; heated bed heater off (if you have it)\\nG1 X10 F9000 ; go way to the left\\nM84 ; motors off\\n")
--prepend-gcode=<v> set prepend gcode (default: "")
--retraction-length=<v> set retraction length (default: "2")
--retraction-speed=<v> set retraction speed (default: "70")
--print-speed=<v> set print speed (default: "60")
--travel-speed=<v> set travel speed (default: "130")
--perimeter-speed=<v> set perimeter speed (default: "60")
--small-perimeter-speed=<v> set small perimeter speed (default: "15")
--infill-speed=<v> set infill speed (default: "80")
--bridge-speed=<v> set bridge speed (default: "60")
--extruders-count=<v> set extruders count (default: "1")
--cool-fan-speed=<v> set cool fan speed (default: "100")
--cool-fan-speed-min=<v> set cool fan speed min (default: "30")
--cool-fan-speed-max=<v> set cool fan speed max (default: "100")
examples:
prynt3r print cube.stl
prynt3r print cube.scad
prynt3r -p prusa-i3 print --scad 'cube(20)'
prynt3r -p ashtar-k-1 -s cura5 slice cube.3mf
prynt3r -p ashtar-k-1 -s cura5 print structure.vdb -d tcp:192.168.1.32:0
prynt3r -s prusa slice cube.stl -o a.gcode
prynt3r preview cube.stl
prynt3r log
prynt3r log cube.stl -v
prynt3r log '#100' -xv
prynt3r log -o uid,args,files
prynt3r -d /dev/ttyACM0 client &
prynt3r -d /dev/ttyACM1 gconsole
> M115
Setup
First you need to adjust the profile for your 3D printer(s):
% cd ~/.config/prynt3r/printer
% cp /usr/share/prynt3r/printer/default.ini myprinter.ini
as next edit myprinter.ini according the specifications of your printer, after that your profile is available as -p myprinter or --printer=myprinter when calling prynt3r:
Optionally, if you run a bunch of 3D printers, define machine_uuid in your .ini file, which references the Marlin’s UUID or RepRapFirmware’s Board ID or as fallback the MAC of the Wi-Fi – this is what the machine_uuid is verified with on serial or remote connection.
RepRapFirmware for Duet 3 Mini 5+ version 3.4.0alpha (2021-07-09 08:59:45) running on Duet 3 Mini5plus Ethernet (standalone mode)
Board ID: ABR3A-KA67A-J03J0-40TFS-21D0Z-RTDXU
Used output buffers: 1 of 40 (2 max)
=== RTOS ===
Static ram: 102768
Dynamic ram: 105632 of which 0 recycled
Never used RAM 35304, free system stack 155 words
Tasks: NETWORK(ready,25.8%,546) ETHERNET(notifyWait,0.0%,662) HEAT(notifyWait,0.0%,361) Move(notifyWait,0.1%,302) CanReceiv(notifyWait,0.0%,939) CanSender(notifyWait,0.0%,371) CanClock(delaying,0.0%,340) TMC(notifyWait,1.1%,112) MAIN(running,72.1%,438) IDLE(ready,0.1%,29) AIN(delaying,0.8%,262), total 100.0%
Owned mutexes: USB(MAIN)
...
without Board ID, checking the WiFi MAC:
- WiFi -
Network state is active
WiFi module is connected to access point
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
Bad header: 0/0
WiFi firmware version 1.26-08S32-D
WiFi MAC address ad:15:a3:15:6c:95
WiFi Vcc 0.00, reset reason Power up
WiFi flash size 0, free heap 151828
A printer is identified with:
CLI: printer nickname with --printer=<nick> or -p <nick>
<nick>.ini: machine_name=“Full Name” where you write it out exactly, e.g. “Ashtar K #3 PAX”, which means it’s Ashtar K number 3 with PAX extension
<nick>.ini: machine_uuid=<uid> where you ensure the actual identity with the hardware at time of connecting
Networked Printing
You can print to a computer which has 3D printers connected to, if you run
it will upload the .gcode and run it, yet, prynt3r will wait until the print is finished.
Prynt3r vs Print3r
So far the slicer independent settings of Print3r are the same as for Prynt3r, so you can migrate the ~./config/print3r/printer/* into ~/.config/prynt3r/printer/* simply, the same with the macros.
Migrate from Print3r to Prynt3r
cd ~
mkdir .config/prynt3r
cp -rp .config/print3r/* .config/prynt3r/
The same as print3r:
printer profiles
slicer profiles incl. mapping
macro profiles
protocol for remote printing
The differences as print3r:
new: better usage output with actual list of slicer independent settings
new: written in Python
new: smaller code-base (Py ~1.2K lines vs Perl 4.1K lines)
one main reason is using trimesh doing import/export/manipulation of meshs incl. diverse mesh formats
Formnext 2022 was a 4 days Additive Manufacturing (AM) event in Frankfurt (Germany) November 15-18 2022, and it had ~750 exhibitors, two huge halls numbered 11 and 12 each with two floors. I attended the 4 days and it was pretty overwhelming. I try to give an overview, for myself to process what I saw, and perhaps for you who couldn’t attend.
E3D Online
E3D is an old timer among 3D printing enthusiasts, so I start with their booth:
Revo nozzlesTheir nozzles integrated into various printheads of known desktop FDM printersBCN, Ultimaker and Blackbelt hotends setup manufactured by E3D
I was surprised to get to know E3D manufactures for UltiMaker their CC printcore.
Duet3D
Duet3D is a small UK-based company, but very influential due their excellent and often praised customer support and support forum aside of their slowly expanding board selection:
I met Tony Lock, and we discussed current state of multi-axis support in Duet/RepRapFirmware, and he showed me the Open5X by Freddie Hong printing non-planar as crafted by FullControl.xyz
White parts sliced by Prusa Slicer, the black parts constructed with FullControl.xyz
I briefly pitched my new tool VirtualGcodeController (vgcodectl) which sits between printing program and the device, and able to change G-code on the fly, transparently bi-directional – as I was told Duet has an alike infrastructure called Duet Software Framework (DSF) which I wasn’t aware of.
Also check this brief interview by Mihai Design:
Multec
At german-based Multec booth I saw a multi-printhead setup with a rotating seal to prevent the inactive printheads leak filament – and a precise mechanism to lift the inactive printheads (patented):
3devo
Dutch-based company providing infrastructure to mix and extrude your own filament, not just for mixing different colors, but also different materials and achieve custom material properties – the only downside is the price-tag of those desktop filament extruders starting at 10K EUR – which is too high for its functionality for prosumers, and seems to aim for R&D departments of larger companies.
3devo: wide-range of pellets to mix from to extrude your own filament
Commercial Slicers
As I have been entering slicing development more seriously, and closely paid attention to possible competitors or collaborators – and interestingly, the majority responded positively when I approached them:
CreateItREAL
A small danish company, who recently patented interlocking (Z-offsetted layers) printing patterns.
CreateItREALCreateItREAL: their own microcontroller boards
I had a brief chat with Folmer Gringer Brem about industrial slicer capabilities and customer needs, and what I have researched the past year.
Adaxis
A new french company is providing non-planar 5-axis slicer with a nice GUI, and were open enough to give an actual demo and I was impressed by the responsiveness of the GUI but were tight-lipped to reveal anything about the internals – 5-axis slicer with infill patterns:
FreeD Printing
A small 2 person german company, a spin-off from the university Bochum, also coding 5-axis non-planar slicer, showing a small desktop 6-axis robot to print an overhang model, their own logo, and it has infill – which means, they actually did properly slice 5-axis G-code. They were reluctant to go into the details, as their IP represent their core asset as a company:
AiBuild
AiBuild has a huge booth, lots of advertising, has been very secretive last year as they didn’t want to demo their software without NDA to anyone – but while attending Formnext 2022 I was able to get to talk to people who purchased the software, and all of them have been giving me strange feedback: a sort of underwhelming sensation – the software is costly and not deliver what is advertised: you need to know a lot of slicing in order to use the software – there is nothing “Ai” (Artificial Intelligence) as the company name implies, at least not with their slicing software.
On their booth they had the usual non-planar printed pieces, but none of them had infill, so they all are printed in vase-mode or single wall.
One feature I saw though impressed me, it was the live quality control they implemented, having a nozzle camera and machine learning / AI to determine over- and under-extrusion – something which I would say one should have under control, but perhaps it was to illustrate the detection mechanism.
AiBuild: AiSync live monitoringAiBuild: AiSync live monitoring
VShaper
Poland-based 5-axis printer manufacturer has progressed in hardware and software, and developed their own 5-axis slicer – the simulation shown as the actual printer prints – overall well designed.
I had a brief chat with Adam Wajda about the state of their hardware/software stack, very open and friendly exchange.
Duplex3D
Hungary-based startup with a dual delta setup printing upside and downside at the same time. They were present last year Formnext 2021 already but with an inactive printer, and this time showing the printer in action:
Beside reducing print-time the printer also is able to print pieces which otherwise are hard or impossible print when layer orientation is given and surface quality is of high priority.
UltiMaker
The newly merge Ultimaker + MakerBot = UltiMaker had no booth again, hardly any presence – the marketing / sales department seems in hybernation to skip such as event without their own booth, no hardware innovation on display, perhaps there is nothing (new) to show.
I visited the 3dimensional booth and someone showed me how to print “metal” (just steel as it turned out) with BASF metal filament on a Ultimaker S5, and having everything needed in a nice box and then send off to wash & sinter.
Single ceramic layer in between
Snapmaker
Snapmaker announced a new machine called Snapmaker Artisan: single head operation, yet changeable heads: FDM head, CNC head, laser head – very sturdy desktop machine, using linear motors:
NematX
Bleeding edge high temperature resisting materials, and to show the applications they built a most precise FDM printer I have seen so far – Chiara Mascolo briefly showed me the machine and samples:
NematxNematx: Nema HSP massive granite base and granite XZ beam with linear motors: pricey 100K EUR machine, but the best of the bestVery small and precise pieces like from moldsVery small and precise samplesNema HSB Filament: +/- 0.01mm diameter tolerance, withstands > 230C°
Nexa3D
Massive SLA and SLS machines shown:
Well designed booth of Nexa3DNexa3D SLA Dyed SLA printed piecesNexa3D: SLSNexa3D: QLS 850 SLSLarge scale GUI . . .
Formlabs
The Formlabs booth was well visited, and it was hard to take photos until the last day of the expo – so just a brief video of the Form 3+ printing below:
Formlabs Fuse 1+ (SLS)
Quantica
German-based startup printing with 7 different light curable materials at the same time, drop size / resolution at 60um with the NovoJet C-7 – quite impressive, with the ability to blend drops or let them cure side-by-side giving new possibilities of material gradients in 3D space:
They also provide a station for fluid testing & development, so you can engineer your own material to print with. Even though this was a small both it was for me from a technical point of view most innovative I have seen so far.
Nanodimension
As I was looking at resin printheads, I was approaching Global Inkjet Systems (GIS) – a subdivision of Nanodimension:
Fabrica 2.0: impressive 2um resolution, but as consequence 1mm height / hr print speed, SLA/DLP
Admaflex 300: 35-88um XY resolution, 10-200um layer height, up to 60mm/hr height print speed, resin combined with ceramic/metal printing
Inkbit
A massive industrial resin jetting 3D printer, build-volume at 500 x 250 x 200 mm printing with wax as support material. It is a closed-loop system, it prints, cures and measures the actual layers and adjusts live for the next layer – achieving 100um precision, yet only for industrial application due the cost of 1M USD per machine.
They developed their own packing algorithm in order to achieve high density packing ratio.
Breton
Italian-based “Betron Genesi” 4000 x 1900 x 1300mm build volume along with high volume extrusion (~20mm nozzle, layer height ~4-5mm based on my own photos) having excellent extrusion precision, along their real time temperature control:
Additionally is is a hybrid able to run also CNC milling on the same machine for post-processing.
Phaetus & DropEffect
Visited Phaetus expecting to just meet sales people instead I ran into Maximilian Arnold, owner of DropEffect which designs hotends under his own brand but also for chinese-based Phaetus as R&D director. I showed him photos of my early prototype of a Multi-In Mixing Hotend supposed to be printed in Aluminium and he immediately commented on my design and gave me useful input – unexpected interesting and fruitful exchange.
A brief interview with Max conducted by MihaiDesigns:
France-based company combining FDM and CNC together:
Namma: 1000x500x500 build volume
What you achieve with this is incredible precise plastic pieces at 20um precision, while maintaining 500 x 500 x 500mm respectively 1000 x 500 x 500mm build-volume. They are milling with a round drill bit – CNC toolpath is calculated by Autodesk’s Fusion 360 though.
Metalworm
Turkish-based company wire arc welding with 6-axis robot:
Bloom Robotics
Massive ABB 6-axis robot FDM printing on a rotating 2-axis bed . . . with shiny cyan/pink/violet lights, a bit of an overkill with the lights, but the setup was impressive:
Miscellaneous
Picco’s 3D World: CF1200Recycling Fabrik: making a business by recycling failed printsCogitCogitCogit: live temperature scanBigRepDMG MORIDMG MORI: Lasertec 65 DED hybridRapidiaRapidiaRapidiaAerosintAerosintAerosintInssTek: NARAEInssTek: NARAEInssTek: NARAESlice EngineeringBE-AMBE-AMHIWINHIWIN: Linear RailsHIWIN: Harmonic GearsAnima / ZRapid TechAnima / ZRapid TechCrealityCrealityeSUNXYZprintingXYZprintingMassivIT 3DZotraxSinteritSintratecCubicureEOSVisitecWASP Pellet DeltaWASP Pellet DeltaWASP Pellet DeltaConstructions 3DConstructions 3D: concrete PiMagforms SLAMagforms SLADotXControl 5-axis SlicerPhotocentricPhotocentric: Titan, massive resin printerPhotocentricPhotocentric: massive resin bedCms: Massive 3D FDM Printer
Aftermath
It has been overwhelming expo for me, 4 days in noisy halls, constant audible and visual stimuli grown tiresome for me as I was eager to absorb all; I can say I looked at every single booth, and decided within few seconds if something caught my attention, and I knew to lookout for things I did not know or a company I did not recognize – for new companies in the arena of Additive Manufacturing. It took me a single day to roam both floors of a single hall, so at least it takes 2 days to explore two halls of the expo – and if you happen to explore a booth for more than a few mins, you end up with 3-4 days attending easily.
So, the overall impression of mine has been:
3D printing / Additive Manufacturing (AM) specializes into niches more and more
resins printed as drops at high resolution & precision
paste-like materials get printed in high extrusion quality
metal printing showing incredible wide-variety in regards of materials
industrial machines are still pricey but seem to me become more affordable, instead of 10M’s they are becoming 100K – 1M while maintaining same functionality
multi-axis FDM with robots become more established to print large scale parts
in-process/live quality control and logging/documentation for FDM and powder-based processes
many startups still coming up with new or refined existing processes
gap between prosumer and affordable industrial machines is closing
quite open atmosphere, people are willing to share and discuss their technology, collaboration seems more important than eyeing on each as competitors
Status: early prototype, metal printed model, temperature testing, no extruding yet
fully assembledIteration 1: heating to 150C°
Updates:
2023/01/09: iteration 2 testing results
2022/11/22: early heating tests, no extruding yet
2022/11/21: iteration 1: SLM AlSi10Mg metal printed photos added
2022/11/19: published finally
2022/09/10: adding photos of PLA+ prototype
2022/09/02: starting writeup
This blog-post will be updated as I progress.
Introduction
I experimented with the Diamond Hotend in the past, but I was limited with the setup given – and adding another color or otherwise change the design seemed impossible, but it has changed now.
Metal 3D printing has been a niche and high priced application the past years, but in 2022 many 3D printing services support:
stainless steel: low heat conductivity 15W/mK
aluminium: good heat conductivity 210W/mK, yet low melting point 660C°
inconel: low heat conductivity 15W/mK
titanium: low heat conductivity 17W/mK
at relatively low price and all of the sudden designing a FDM mixing hotend, where multiple filaments are mixed together before exiting the nozzle – like with the Diamond Hotend – can be printed in metal, like with aluminium – so, I started to design a Parametric Mixing Hotend.
Concept
parametric design with 2 up to 6 filaments inputs
combine heatblock, heatbreak and heatsink, make it compact
permit ordinary nozzles (MK8/E3D V6), using M7 thread
orient heat cartridge vertically (like a E3D Volcano) to support up to 0.8mm nozzles
single 30mm fan for heatsink
using PC4 M10 or M4 pneumatic couplers as intakes
Pros:
mixing colors: 2 to 6 colors, CMY(KW), actual true color printing
fast switching of materials, given they have similar extrusion temperature
Cons:
filaments must be present in order to withstand backpressure even if not printed
filaments must be printed eventually, otherwise ‘bake’ in the hotend
Challenges:
controlling actual mixing in the chamber, e.g. creating turbulence to mix properly
creating turbulences may limit retraction, which is anyway not easy with mixing hotends
Multi-In Mix Part Cooler (frontview)Multi-In Mix Part CoolerMulti-In Mix Part CoolerMulti-In Mix Part Cooler (underside)Multi-In Mix Part Cooler (backside)Multi-In Mix Part Cooler
Gallery
Early prototype printed in cold white eSun PLA+ 0.25mm layer height (~1h 20m print time):
iterations of prototype, model printed in PLA+ (frontside)iterations of prototype, model printed in PLA+ (backside)
Adding nozzle, heat cartridge, heat thermistor, heatsink fan and pneumatic couplers PC4 M6:
2-in Mixing Hotend prototype with 30mm fan mounted Part Cooler 2-in Mixing Hotend prototype with 30mm fan mounted Part Cooler
which very likely leads to have a some sort of thermal insulator aka silicon sock for lower part of the heat chamber and nozzle.
Metal Printing
The first attempt to order with WeNext using SLM failed, they were not able to find a way to print it without support, which was surprising as powder-based metal printing1) – the removal of support was not guaranteed, so I canceled the order.
SLM powder-based printing requires support structure to counter act geometric distortion when sintering, when the piece shrinks.
The 2nd attempt with PCBWay – disclosure: they approached me a couple of weeks later to sponsor metal printing process, which I agreed on – also using SLM AlSi10Mg at first looked good at first, but then they also needed to add supports once the production step came close, and then I followed up and approved the production. The order was submitted November 5, and 14 days later the piece was at my door.
Parametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10Mg (printed by PCBWay)Parametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10Mg (printed by PCBWay)Parametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgParametric Mixing Hotend, 2-in SLM in AlSi10MgPreassembled with nozzle, heat cartridge, thermristor, cooling fan
the print quality is excellent, the supports have been removed pretty much with little remains (between the cooling plates a few spikes remained but they have no functional influence)
a bit rough surface overall, more than I expected; which means, the inner holes are also rough and likely add friction to the motion of the filament
Preassembled with MK8 0.4mm nozzle, 30mm fan, heat cartridge and thermistor:
Preassembled Parametric Mixing HotendPreassembled Parametric Mixing HotendPreassembled Parametric Mixing Hotend: with nozzle, heat cartridge, thermistor, cooling fanPreassembled Parametric Mixing Hotend: with nozzle, heat cartridge, thermistor, cooling fanPreassembled Parametric Mixing Hotend: with nozzle, heat cartridge, thermistor, cooling fan
and 2x PC4-M6 threaded, with PTFE tubes:
Mixing Hotend: SLM AlSi10Mg 3D Printed Hotend fully assembledMixing Hotend: SLM AlSi10Mg 3D Printed Hotend fully assembledMixing Hotend: SLM AlSi10Mg 3D Printed Hotend fully assembled
Heating
My test rig:
Mellow Fly Super8 V1.2 running RepRapFirmware with two stepper motors attached driving two extruders in Bowden style
Test rig: Mellow Fly Super8 running RepRapFirmware 3.4.1, two steppers/extruders with custom mixing hotend printed in SLM AlSi10Mg (Aluminium)
Pass 1: First results
I heated to 50C°, 80C° and 100C°:
thermistor does poor job to measure actual temperature at the heatblock ~20C° off
heat conductivity to nozzle is very poor, barely heat up at all (when thermister reports 100C°) – very surprising
heat piles up from the heart cartridge cables
the fan cools barely, could be better
Pass 2: Adding thermal paste
adding thermal paste for the thermistor and nozzle thread
running M303 for 100C° and keeping it at 100C° for 10mins
lowest heatsink fin reaches 50C° – also connects to heatsink fan
nozzle looks cold (but when touching it it is hot), filament will definitely melt above
heat block has consistent heat distribution
Pass 3: Setting 150C°
nozzle looks cold on the thermal camera, but definitely is hotheat cartridge cable is hot ~200C° while heatblock is at 120-130C°filament pipe above heatblock is at 100C°, while thermistor reports 150C°, heat cartridge cable at 220C°
heatblock is at ~120C° while thermistor reports 150C°
the filament pipe above the heatblock is at 100C°
the nozzle looks cold, but is hot at 105C° when touching with 2nd thermistor, an issue with reflective brass not properly showing proper thermal reading
Pass 4: Lowering Fan
As the lowest fin heats up significantly, as a first remedy I lowered the heatsink fan a bit:
Set 150C°Set 150C°Set 150C°Set 150C°Set 180C°
lowest fin is cooler, also overall better air flow; the fins seems a bit too thick, thinner would be better
lower end of heat block has near set temperature, delta of just ~5C°
Conclusion Pass 1-4
make heatbreak section of pipes thinner
optionally have PTFE tubes until lower end of heatsink for smooth motion of filament
make fins thinner
lower heatsink fan by one fin
Putting Kapton tape on brass nozzle in order to get accurate temperature readingSet 150C°Set 150C°Set 150C°
Iteration 2
After the tests, I changed the design slightly:
thinner pipes to lessen heat transfer to the heatsink
a few wings on the fins to increase heat dissepation
thinner fins so the air flows better
Submitted to PCBWay 2022/11/29 for manufacturing review, a day later I was informed of thin walls of the pipes near the heatbreak (<1mm) and I gave OK to manufacture.
Iteration 2 of Parametric Mixing Hotend
The thin heatbreak walls seemed to help:
ability to heat up to 210°C nominal, some parts reach 220°C, but nozzle is around 210°C
30mm fan performs well
40mm fan removes too much heat, no possible to reach 210°C anymore
heatbreak pipes are still too thick, too much heat flows away (hence 30mm vs 40mm fan)
first extrusion worked, but after 1-2min both channels are blocked, near lowest fin of the heatbreak, to clear the blockage, I removed the fan and heated to 180°C and allow entire hotend to reach ~90°C, then with 0.4mm needle and 1.8mm copper wire was able to clear the blocked section
Conclusion
Heatbreak is most critical, and has to be short and has to be a hard cut temperature gradient-wise – and 0.5mm wall thickness is still too much. So, regardless of cooling fan on the heatsink, if the heatbreak is too thick, too much heat creeps up or away – it’s not a matter of cooling capacity, but conductivity.
Todo
metal printed version (aluminium), done 2022/11/21
heating tests (on-going)
test prints with multiple filaments
2 inputs, e.g. complementary colors (Black/White: Grey Shades, Yellow/Violet: Red Shades)
3 inputs, e.g. CYM: saturated colors only
5 inputs, e.g. CYMKW: full spectrum colors
silicon socks for all variants, as part cooler will introduce otherwise heating instabilities
cost effective with EUR 20-24 (2022/09) complete with heat cartridge, thermistor, 3xPTFE tubes, 30mm fan
Cons:
nozzle / heatblock asymmetry: the heatblock extends right-side ~2mm
clumsy fan fastening between heatsink ribs
slightly overengineered otherwise, too much mass for the basic functionality
XCR3D 3in1-S1
BigTreeTech ZSYong 3in1
Asymmetric heatblockUnstable fan mountFull package
NF THC-01 3in1
Very similar, but with symmertric E3D V6 heatsink:
Clones of Clones
It seems to me, the this 3-in-1 hotend with hexagon heatsink, was cloned from NF THC-01 3in1, and likely engineered by a small company, and now brands like BigTreeTech, XCR3D and others purchase in bulk the hotend black/red anodized and their white brand stamp on the hotend.
What makes things truly confusing is that the hotends from China have terrible naming, e.g. “3in1” and “2in1” are used for switching and mixing hotends, which are quite different functionalities, and otherwise the name does not distinct designs.
Part Cooler
I adapted the Parametric Part Cooler using 50×10 blower fan for the XCR3D 3in1 S1 as well:
XCR3D 3in1-S1 / BigTreeTech ZSYong 3in1 mounted on Ashtar C #1XCR3D 3in1-S1 / BigTreeTech ZSYong 3in1 mounted on Ashtar C #1XCR3D 3in1-S1 / BigTreeTech ZSYong 3in1 mounted on Ashtar C #1
As you can see on the illustration and photos, put the part cooler on the heatsink, and then 30mm heatsink fan on top. The part cooler itself requires 50x15mm blower fan.
It is a bit fiddly as there are no clear threads for the screws on the heatsink, so the first mounting is crucial to thread properly.
Marlin 2.0.x Configuration
In Configuration.h one has to update the thermistor type:
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 5 // changed from 1 to 5
...
#define PID_FUNCTIONAL_RANGE 25 // changed from 10 to 25
recompile, upload/update firmware and then run via G-code console the autotune PID procedure:
M303
and after 3-5 mins or so, when the autotune is done, save settings in EEPROM:
M500
and one is done.
Conclusion
I really struggled to get decent quality prints first, as somehow the temperature reports were off by 40C°, and various Google searches gave the same wrong answers, the seller did not give proper detailed information about the thermistor either. Eventually at Amazon one customer gave the relevant information ATC Semitec 104GT-2/104NT-4-R025H42G and defining TEMP_SENSOR_0 5 in Marlin gave sane results.
Ashtar K #3 with XCR3D 3in1-S1 hotend with 3 rolls of filament
I really like the switching filament solution close to the hotend, compared to other multi-material solutions where materials are switched far away from the hotend; e.g. switching material is faster, but one has to still purge one material/color by 30-50mm filament – so I tend to use the multi-material/color feature for fast switching colors for single material/color prints.
Following procedure I use when switching material:
heat up nozzle
purge 30-40mm regardless
retract 55mm at 70mm/s
switch to new material/color (e.g. “T1“)
push 55mm at 70mm/s forward
extrude/purge 30-40mm filament
start actual print
[ … ]
end print
retract 55mm at 70mm/s
switch to “T0“
push 55mm at 70mm/s forward [note: not purging material/color transition]
so by default “T0” is ready to be printed. In order the print with the other materials, I have two macros with Print3r e3-t1 and e3-t2.
As it happened to me several times, the hotend clogs up and the reason is often the filament is not hot enough, and when pulling back/retracting it forms a long pointy drag, and might break and the next cold filament jams in further down, but not enough to melt – it clogs up eventually.
First solution is to heat hotend at 240C° at least, not more than 250C° because of the PTFE – and try to push with filament on top, eventually some of the clogging might melt and free the nozzle.
Second solution is removing the lower part with heatbreak, heatblock, by opening the worm screws at the heatsink, and review the PTFE intake:
opening worm screwsremoving heatsink with heatblockclogged intakeclogging filaments, mainly pointy dragsPTFE comboPTFE reaches into the heatblock, hence 250C° maxpushing back hotend into heatsink & refastenXCR3D 3in1 with part cooler
As I was developing the 5-axis PAX printhead, and implement Inverse Kinematic (IK) for it in RepRapFirmware (RRF) for Duet3 board, the development speed was slow due the overhead to get to know the RRF written in C++, hence very verbose code, and the “recompiling, uploading, and reboot of the board” cycle to iterate the development – which turned out to be very slow and tedious.
My first remedy was to do a pre- or post-processor which takes tool coordinates and converts into motor positions applying IK, and Print3r supports it via declaring a post-processor like --post_something=something %i %o and then use with --post=something, but would only be a Print3r-centric solution.
So I thought, why not do a virtual serial device, and have a framework where the controller behaves like a physical one, but is pure software and thereby shorten development cycle to convert G-code coming out of a slicer or some software and then being processed and then sent to the 3D printer or robot – so the Virtual G-code Controller (vgcodectl) was born.
It’s main feature is that it operates bidirectional:
it takes input and optionally changes it, and outputs it to a file or a device
it takes output from a device, and forwards it back to the virtual serial to so it can read back transparently
in essence it operates as in bidirectional intermediary looking like a serial port and thereby can be integrated into existing G-code-based machine park.
as a result the setup looks like a capability extended device:
Features
simple to write G-code extensions with Python:
execute macros and calculate additional values
code execution from G-code
synchronize G-code with external devices, e.g. webcam
extend drivers/controller, like Inverse Kinematics (IK) which otherwise would run on the controller
live reloading of controller code: change printer/robot behavior while it’s processing G-code
fast iteration of code due scripting (no compiling, uploading or reboot)
supported platforms: Linux
Limitations
line-based processing: one line comes in, one line or multiple lines comes out (future version might lift this constraint)
Usage
% vgcodectl -h
VirtualGcodeController 0.1.4 USAGE: [<opts>]
options:
--help or -h this help
--version display version & exit
--verbose=<n> increase verbosity
-v or -vvv
--quiet or -q don't output to device or console anything unless an error
--output=<device/file> set output, e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0 or file or another device (default: /dev/stdout)
-o <device/file>
--controller=<ctl> set controller (default: conf['output'])
-c <ctl>
--keep-orig or -O enable to keep original g-code line as comment (default: off)
--keep-comment or -C enable to keep original comment (default: off)
hint: --keep-orig/-O includes comment as well
--serial-speed=<s> set serial speed [baudrate] (default: 115200)
--serial-timeout=<s> set serial timeout [s] (default: 0.1)
--check-code-timeout=<s> set code checking timeout [s] (default: 1)
--output-value-format=<fmt> set output value format (default: .4f)
examples:
vgcodectl --output=/dev/ttyUSB0 &
cat test01.gcode > pass0.pty
print3r --device=pass0.pty print tests/test01.gcode
print3r --device=pass0.pty print --scad 'cube(20)'
vgcodectl -o /dev/ttyACM0 -c gcode+ -Ov
Let’s try pass2 controller, which doubles X, Y and Z coordinates.
In another terminal we take a sample G-code and send it into pass20.pty serial port (“pass2” plus the “0” indicates the first instance of pass2 controller):
% cat tests/test01.gcode > pass20.pty
and the vgcodectl outputs to stdout as it is the default:
As you notice, the new G-code is altered, e.g. X, Y and Z is doubled, the E is multiplied by 1.2 in this case, and the original G-code is appended as comment due the -O switch used (--keep_orig or -O).
If we did call vgcodectl with --output=/dev/ttyACM0 the end point would be a real 3D printer for example at /dev/ttyACM0.
as indicated, the pass20.pty operates bidirectional, reports back the proper UUID as requested by print3r and then sends G-code forward and does proper synchronous messaging back and forth.
print3r ⇆ pass2*.pty:vgcodectl ⇆ /dev/ttyACM0
Controllers
Following controllers are available:
pass: it’s a simple pass-through changing no code, for debugging purposes
pass2: double X, Y and Z, and multiply E by 1.2
don’t use with actual 3D printer, only for debugging purposes
scale: scaling X, Y, Z and E, rather experimental / for debugging purposes
CLI argument: use --scale=<s> to set scale in , e.g. 0.8 (default: 1.0)
actually produces some working G-code
gcode+: writing low-level G-code and replace E automatically based on distance
use G0 X100 Y100 and then G1 Y110 E and the G1‘s extrusion will be calculated
actually produces some working G-code
CLI arguments:
--layer-height=<lh> [mm] (default: 0.2)
--line-width=<lw> [mm] (default: 0.4)
--filament-diameter=<d> [mm] (default: 1.75)
delta: implementing cartesian XYZ -> T1,T2,T2 motor angles, using Delta printer inverse kinematics
pax: implementing 5-axis inverse kinematics for PAX printhead
Note:vgcodectl is currently under heavy development, API subject to change a lot – check back this page frequently.
This covers vgtcodectl 0.1.6 API:
controllers/<controller>/:
main.py
must contain def _map(self,c=None) function, in there you can recalculate any existing G-code, the c contains a dictionary with all the G-code values, the function returns
a dict of the remapped variables, e.g. { "G": 0, "X": 100.0 } – note: order matters, make sure ‘G’ or ‘M’ key comes first for G or M commands
a string, e.g. "G0 X100.0" or G0 X100.0\nG1 X110 E1.2"
a tuple or list of
strings, e.g. [ "G0 X100.0", "G0 X110.0" ], each element is a line
dictionaries, e.g. [ { "G": 0, "X": 100 }, { "G": 0, "X": 110 } ], each element is a line
if None is returned, no change of G-code is made and the original data is passed on
if "" (empty string) is returned, nothing is passed on (mute)
optionally def __init__(self,conf=None) function be composed, where persistent state can be stored, and referenced in _map() then; the conf is the configuration of vgcodectl:
command line arguments vgcodectl --test="ABC" ... becomes conf['test'] available within __init__(), the controller profile profile.json is loaded and available as conf['profile']
and if you store conf as self.conf then _map() has access to it as well with self.conf['test'] or self.conf['profile']['name']
profile.json (optional):
basic JSON file with follow keys:
name (string): full name of the controller
version (string): version of the controller, e.g. “0.1.0”
and any other key value default relevant for the controller
e.g. controllers/mine/main.py:
def __init__(self,conf=None):
pass
def _map(self,c=None):
if 'X' in c:
c['X'] *= 2
return c
Beside Fused Deposition Material (FDM) / Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) aka extruding hot filament, there are more methods to 3D print:
SLA (stereolithography): resin based printing
SLS (selective laser sintering): laser sintering, like polyamid powder
MJF (material jetting): deposite material and binder in one go
SLM (selective laser melting): metal laser sintering, aka metal printing
and I choose JLCPCB which provides all four of them, whereas SLM only stainless steel is available as of 2022 – other 3D printing services provide wide-range of metals as well.
Review
I ordered Pulley 20T 6ID (GT2 20 teeth 6mm inner diameter) as created via OpenSCAD Customizer, a piece which requires high accuracy and is mechanical stressed when in use, in following materials:
8x PA12 aka Nylon aka Polyamid, black reflective (MJF), 1.04 EUR / pc
8x 9000R resin, natural white (SLA), 1.04 EUR / pc
8x 3201PA-F aka Nylon, dark gray matte (SLS), 1.04 EUR / pc
The overall quality of all pieces are excellent, regardless of automatic warnings I received while requesting the 3D printing task.
MJF: PA12 / Polyamid / Nylon
MJF has a nice finish, slightly reflective, deep dark, slightly grainy surface, and the top of the pulley is uneven, otherwise very precise.
diameter 16.1mm (+0.62%)
height 15.5mm (+0%)
cost EUR 1.04
SLS: 3201PA-F / Polyamid / Nylon
3201PA with SLS is a very good piece, dark gray matte, grainy surface, very precise.
diameter 16.05mm (+0.31%)
height 15.6mm (+0.65%)
cost EUR 1.04
SLA: 9000R Resin
9000R resin with SLA produced a very nice piece, best finish at the top (near perfection), milky white color (vs cold white or warm white), but as it turns out not very precise:
diameter 17.75mm (+4.68%)
height 16.1mm (+3.87%)
cost EUR 1.04
It is very surprising to see the SLA having the biggest imprecision of all the samples.
SLM: 310L Stainless Steel
316L stainless steel with SLM produced a nice piece as well, the top of the pulley is good, some unevenness where the top goes over the gear:
overall it’s grainy surface – indicating powder-based additive procedure. Holding the piece in the hand feels heavy compared the other materials.
diameter 16.0mm (+0%)
height 15.5mm (+0%)
cost EUR 8.30
Verdict
The SLA / resin piece looked most smooth but it had the biggest imprecisions with over 3% in height and diameter – very surprising to me, it should comparatively be as precise as SLS and MJF. I cannot determine if it’s from the JLCPCB resin printer, or inherent of SLA.
SLS and MJF with Nylon performed expectedly very good, very sturdy and precise.
SLM stainless steel surprisingly very precise, yet unsuitable in real life application due the heavy weight.
Long Term Usage
I will update this part as soon long term (1-2 years) usage experience is available:
8 stepper drivers: e.g. X, Y, Z1/Z2 (on-board splitter) and 5 extruders (e.g. E0, E1, E2, E3, E4 – but only 3 hotends possible)
TMC 2208 or TMC 2209 silent drivers
good connectors on board, clean setup
github with Marlin source (partially preconfigured) for Arduino*) & PlatformIO
Cons:
no RepRapFirmware
no Wifi (the V2.0 version has optional Wifi board to attach)
no Ethernet
requires Marlin with PlatformIO (tedious to configure, recompiling required, reupload)
limited documentation: actual details are scattered around
Stepper Motor UART Mode
As first putting in the jumpers on all the driver sockets, in my case I choose UART mode for each one of the 8 drivers:
Marlin with Arduino vs PlatformIO
As of 2022/08, it seems Arduino is no longer able to compile Marlin-2.x (various compile errors within Arduino), at least with this board and everybody moved on the PlatformIO, which really surprised me.
PlatformIO CLI
As of 2022/08 there is no Linux GUI for PlatformIO but only PlatformIO CLI, but it’s simple enough:
pip3 install platformio
Download
As next download the firmware, Marlin 2.0.x source from github:
By default the board is configured for Voron 2.4 CoreXY, with 3x Z motors and Z probing in the midst of the bed and other things, so I had to edit Marlin/Configuration.h:
#define MACHINE_UUID "..." (use online generator to generate one)
#define CUSTOM_MACHINE_NAME "Ashtar K #x L8", given Lead 8×8 are used
#define LINEAR_AXES 3
#define EXTRUDERS 1 (or 2, 3 max)
comment out //#define PREVENT_COLD_EXTRUSION needed for calibration
comment out //define COREXY
define [XYZ]_DRIVER_TYPE and E[012]_DRIVER_TYPE
#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT aren’t that important, as one can define it with M92 and M500 saving to EEPROM
comment out //#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN
test motors regarding #define INVERT_[XYZ]_DIR true or false
test motors regarding #define INVERT_E[012]_DIR true or false
#define [XYZ]_HOME_DIR -1
#define X_BED_SIZE 380
#define Y_BED_SIZE 300
#define Z_MAX_POS 330
and Configuration_adv.h:
#define NUM_Z_STEPPER_DRIVERS 1 even when two Z-stepper motors are attached
if you want an automatic E0 fan which turns on only when nozzle is heated: #define E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN PA1 and attach extruder fan (watch polarity) on FAN1/J12 connector
once those changes are made, build the firmware:
cd marlin\ firmware/MKS_MONSTER_Marlin-2.0.x/Marlin-2.0.x/
platformio run
After a short while (~1min) it should finish successfully (if not, edit files).
Firmware Installation
SD Card Firmware Update
Use a SD card, e.g. 8GB with simple FAT filesytem, and copy .pio/build/mks_monster8_usb_flash_drive/firmware.bin and mks_monster8.bin on the SDcard.
Insert the SD card into the Monster8 board next to the USB connector, and turn off and on the board (power cycle) – wait 5-10 seconds so the new firmware is installed, then the display should show the Marlin splashscreen eventually, and the board becomes available as USB device, in my case as /dev/ttyACM0 on Linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
DFU Util Firmware Update
connect board with USB cable and optionally select POWER USB (via jumper)
power cycle board (e.g. via USB cable) while you push BOOT 0 button in the center of the board briefly (~2 secs)
the device will appear as a new USB device
Linux: install apt install dfu-util and then
% sudo dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x0800C000:leave -D .pio/build/mks_monster8_usb_flash_drive/mks_monster8.bin -d 0483:df11
dfu-util 0.9
Copyright 2005-2009 Weston Schmidt, Harald Welte and OpenMoko Inc.
Copyright 2010-2016 Tormod Volden and Stefan Schmidt
This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
Please report bugs to http://sourceforge.net/p/dfu-util/tickets/
dfu-util: Invalid DFU suffix signature
dfu-util: A valid DFU suffix will be required in a future dfu-util release!!!
Opening DFU capable USB device...
ID 0483:df11
Run-time device DFU version 011a
Claiming USB DFU Interface...
Setting Alternate Setting #0 ...
Determining device status: state = dfuERROR, status = 10
dfuERROR, clearing status
Determining device status: state = dfuIDLE, status = 0
dfuIDLE, continuing
DFU mode device DFU version 011a
Device returned transfer size 2048
DfuSe interface name: "Internal Flash "
Downloading to address = 0x0800c000, size = 178820
Download [=========================] 100% 178820 bytes
Download done.
File downloaded successfully
Transitioning to dfuMANIFEST state
%
M503 Dump for Ashtar K
Ashtar K with 300×300 bed, single extruder:
> M503
-----
echo: G21 ; Units in mm (mm)
echo: M149 C ; Units in Celsius
echo:; Filament settings: Disabled
echo: M200 S0 D1.75
echo:; Steps per unit:
echo: M92 X100.00 Y100.00 Z400.00 E95.00
echo:; Maximum feedrates (units/s):
echo: M203 X300.00 Y300.00 Z5.00 E25.00
echo:; Maximum Acceleration (units/s2):
echo: M201 X2500.00 Y2500.00 Z100.00 E5000.00
echo:; Acceleration (units/s2): P<print_accel> R<retract_accel> T<travel_accel>
echo: M204 P3000.00 R3000.00 T3000.00
echo:; Advanced: B<min_segment_time_us> S<min_feedrate> T<min_travel_feedrate> X<max_x_jerk> Y<max_y_jerk> Z<max_z_jerk> E<max_e_jerk>
echo: M205 B20000.00 S0.00 T0.00 X10.00 Y10.00 Z0.30 E5.00
echo:; Home offset:
echo: M206 X-35.00 Y-3.00 Z0.15
echo:; Material heatup parameters:
echo: M145 S0 H180.00 B70.00 F0
echo: M145 S1 H240.00 B110.00 F0
echo:; PID settings:
echo: M301 P22.20 I1.08 D114.00
echo:; LCD Contrast:
echo: M250 C255
echo:; Power-Loss Recovery:
echo: M413 S1
echo:; Stepper driver current:
echo: M906 X500 Y500 Z700
echo: M906 T0 E500
echo:; Driver stepping mode:
echo: M569 S1 X Y Z
echo: M569 S1 T0 E
ok
>
M503 Dump for Ashtar C
Ashtar C with 400×400 bed, 3 extruders with single nozzle:
Part cooler fan is plugged into FAN0/J11, and if you enabled extruder fan (temperature dependent), plug it in FAN1/J12.
Part Cooler Fan (FAN0/J11) and Extruder Fan (temperature sensitive) FAN1/J12
Part Cooler Fan (FAN0): cools the extruded filament, the filament which becomes the part you print
Extruder Fan (FAN1): cools the heatsink near the heatbreak, when attached to FAN1/J12 it only runs when the hotend is hotter than 50C° as defined in Marlin.
The jumpers are needed next to the fan connectors to define the voltage, either Vin (left) which is 12V-24V depending on the power input of the board, or 12V (middle) or 5V (right).
MKS Monster8 V1.0 PinsMKS Monster8 V2.0 Pins
Multiple Materials/Colors
With 8 stepper drivers one is able to run:
3+1x motors for X, Y, Z(2)
5x extruders (colors or materials), the board supports 3 hotends (3 different temperatures)
Monster8 V1.0 vs V2.0
The boards differ in physical layout such as connectors, but the firmware is the same, incl. the pin for the hotend cooler fan (which switches on conditionally when hotend heats up).
Update V2.0
Board Comparison 2022
As of 2022 (I intend to update this) following boards are suitable for my cases:
Alternatively, there are Duet 2 & 3 clones available on the market:
Duet 2 WIFI Clone
Duet 2 WIFI Original
Duet 3 6HC FYSETC Clone with Duet 3 3HC
Duet 3 6HC Original with Duet 3 3HC
Price
30-50 EUR2)
175-185 EUR1)
225 EUR (150+75)
385 EUR (255+130)
Stepper Drivers
5
5
9 (6+3)
9 (6+3)
Stepper Connectors
6
6
9
9
Hotends
2
2
7 (4+3)
6 (3+3)
USB
YES (MicroUSB)
YES (MicroUSB)
YES (MicroUSB)
YES (MicroUSB)
WIFI
YES
YES1)
–
YES1)
Ethernet
–
YES1)
YES
YES1)
Firmware
RepRapFirmware
RepRapFirmware
RepRapFirmware
RepRapFirmware
either WIFI or Ethernet
without or with display
MKS Monster8 V2.0 has Wifi module option
As of 2022, RepRapFirmware has become quasi standard in professional level 3D printing; while a lot of people run Klipper & Marlin together I can’t see the point doing this*) but rather have a more capable microcontroller like the Duet boards have to run the printer and manage WIFI / Ethernet at the same time. The only reason to run Klipper on a Single Board Computer (SBC) setup like Raspberry Pi is cost and enhance simple microcontrollers functionality this way.
Marlin
Klipper & Marlin
RepRapFirmware with Duet
CPUs
1x Simple Microntroller
1x SBC + 1x Simple Microcontroller
1x Capable Microcontroller
Connectivity
USB only
USB, Ethernet and/or WIFI
USB and Ethernet or WIFI
Configuration
3x .h files, recompiling required
single .cfg file
single .g file**)
Boot Time
3s
Klipper 30s, Marlin 3s
3s
*) running different kinematics on the SBC converting G-code on the fly might be a reason **) multiple .g file can be used optionally
If you are cheap, buy the Duet clones, if you want to support Open Source and Open Hardware community, buy from Duet3d.com direct, pricing is +45% of the clone prices, whereas the Duet resellers add another +15% (Clone: EUR 150, Duet3d.com: 220 EUR, Reseller 255 EUR)
RepRapFirmware: Mind the SD Card
Whether to run an original Duet board or a clone, one thing though one might pay attention to is the SD card, it is the weakest link as far I can tell:
SD card needs to be present at all time to provide configuration
SD card is not written regularly to unless the logging is enabled
After power-cycling the board, as it was in a strange state no longer responding to G-code properly, the display remained blank, no response to G0/G1 – after investigation it turned out, a single file vanished from the SD card: config.g – the main configuration file, and that is bizarre. The board appeared to be broken, when in truth, the SD card came to its end of life of operating reliably already after only ~1.5 years. The SD card was the one originally shipped with. In this light, a Marlin-based board requiring no SD card being present operates more reliable, unless one uses an industrial grade SD card.
References
github: MKS Monster8 V1/V2: minimalistic information, PDFs and Marlin firmware for V1.0 and V2.0 of the board
github: MKS MINI 12864 V3 cases (STL), unfortunately the MKS MINI 12864 V3 display has a slightly different form factor, and existing cases don’t fit