Low-tech solutions to high-tech problems

I've been leaving the printer alone for the week since last weekend's Nyloc dropout in the X carriage. This afternoon at TGIF I realized how to get it back in most easily: A thin flat stick and a bit of sticky-tack. The thin flat stick ended up being a steak knife, but it worked. I swapped the screws out for slightly longer M3/16 screws, giving myself a bit more leeway to get the mount in. I also had to file  a bit off the mount, since it didn't print so nicely around the slots where it had to retract.

The fan does make it difficult to see what's going on, and it may end up running into the clamps holding on the glass plate if the print is larger. But oh, my, does it print well now. Did a trio of previous designs, and they are certainly much cleaner. The holes are still a bit small, but with the fan on I probably should redo heat and extrusion amount testing.

But before that, I want to print stuff! Printed the hex bit, the fan mount, a new dog bag wire endstop (that I had to recreate almost from scratch, but got it better), and a dream weaver frame.

One guy at Make Munich today trying to sell my on his printer proudly proclaimed that the firmware and slicer software was all of their own making. To which I had to say, "You say that like it's a good thing". The Marlin firmware and Slic3r are both doing quite well for me.

I've had to move my machine into my own room, since the noises it makes gives my wife a headache. I hope the wobbliness of the temporary table doesn't do too much damage. On the bright side, it forces me to be in my room for other purposes than sleeping, so I'll probably end up cleaning up a bit:)

As a final print tonight, I wanted to do a battery holder to organize my charged/uncharged batteries. But the filament stripped partway through:( Not the first time it has stripped, either. If it happens more, I'll have to (argh!) take the extruder apart and clean the hobbed bolt, I guess.