Thanks to some email, a kind member showed me how to use (and clean) the Makerbot, and I got my first print!
Ok, the size is a bit off. The full thing is supposed to be 20cm wide, I got 3cm. I’ll have to work on that. Here’s the original: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8560
But more importantly, I learned about:
- Unloading and reloading filament using the modified spring loaded extruder mod thingy
- How to take apart the heads, the places where filament usually gets jammed
- Snipping the ends off the filament when it looks grody
- Balancing the bed using the secret thingamajiggy tool
- The center of the bed is higher than the edges, there is such a thing as too tight, and then not tight enough, and this is within a mm, so use the thingamajiggy
- Cleaning the bed
- Spraying the bed with hairspray to maintain tackiness
- ABS – heated bed, PLA – not
- ABS – 220, PLA – something lower (I haven’t done PLA yet)
Furthermore, it looks like I’ll be downtown every Tuesday (I’m signed up to be a Mentor for Code Louisville), I’ll have plenty of time to go by there and do some printing.
Excited!
