Author: josh

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Review: Elegoo Mars UV SLA 3D Printer

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New toy for the man cave.

I have been after one of these bad boys for an over a month but they are hard to find in stock as in short supply in the UK as so popular as the 3d gods have been reviewing them. elegoo support on amazon tipped me off of stock returning and i managed to snag the last one on amazon. time to review it.

What’s In the box?

nice compact box with lots of foam to keep it all safe.

Very impressive packaging from such a cheap machine after removing the foam you are greeted a with a box labelled tools and the printer.

still more foam but can never be too protective.
tools and power supply

after removing another layer of foam you will find the print plate lose encased in foam. i finished unpacking the tools and printer. You are greeted with a nice easy to use manual. so what’s in the box?

  • Hex driver not sure what this i used for probably changing the vat screen
  • Printing plate.
  • Snips for cutting supports off.
  • 2 x Hex Keys 1 for locking the print head in place the other must be for maintenance.
  • Measuring jug for filtering the leftover resin into before pouring back into a bottle,
  • 5 Face masks not sure the need for these as resin does not pong.
  • Paint filters for straining used resin through so you can return it to the bottle.
  • Some spare nuts and screws just in case you lose any.
  • Nitrile gloves couple of pairs will need more
  • 3d printed 45-degree drip tool.
  • Plastic scraper for removing prints.
  • Powerpack with local plug in my case UK.
  • Instructions
  • USB Key with rook test print instructions and slicing software
All thats in the box

What’s not included.

Now you will need to buy resin separately i have gone for the Elegoo standard resin 500g transparent green for £20 off amazon. going to order some other colours soon.

You are also going to need some bits to clean and cure the print afterwards. After watching some videos i brought a pickle jar airtight this comes with a drip tray some 91+ % isopropanol alcohol to clean the print, some UV light to cure the print this can be sunlight.

I have ordered a UV light and turntable that i will make a curing chamber in the future will be an upcoming project.

The Setup.

This is probably the quickest setup i have ever done on a 3d printer.

  1. plug in the printer and turn it on makes a beep and its ready select settings and manual raise the z-axis by about 100mm 10 presses on up button.
  2. Get build plate loosen 2 grub screws and attach the build plate to the z-axis
  3. Press the plate levelling button the plate will home and move up and down a few time then tighten the grub screws. plate is now levelled.
  4. move build plate 100mm up the z-axis.
  5. Check the uv screen is working this step i skipped as it was late.
  6. fill resin vat to 1/3 full insert the USB key and press the printer button to navigate to rook print and press play.
  7. Cover the machine, with UV cover i sat and waited till i heard the pop sound this was first layer being taken up by the build plate.
  8. Come back 4hr 30mins later and print will be done i came back next morning.
test print started 11:30
checked on it about midnight ish

The Morning after

Curing the print.

now this is the dangerous bit and requires cloves do not handle resin without gloving up as this stuff is toxic. i also put safety glasses on as just don’t want to risk it.

letting access resin drip of the build plate.

using the supplied 3d printed bracket I placed the build plate on it to allow any access resin to drip off the plate.

after 10 mins i came back using the scrapper i gently took the prints off the build ad plate put them into my pickle container filled halfway with isopropanol alcohol shook the sealed jar to remove any access resin.

In the uncured prints go. 10 mins in 99.9% alcohol

i then put the prints outside for 30mins to cure.

marks from getting it off the build plate

The result.

so crisp 0.05 layer hight
look at the detail just wow

Wow I am impressed with this printer yes it’s a bit messier than an FDM but the quality of the print is amazing going to start my first project to see how it handles a model off Thingiverse.

Summery.

I would recommend this printer for small quality prints it’s quite easy to use so far will review the slicing software shortly. as its resin would watch a load of videos first as safety is key.

Pros

  • High-quality prints.
  • Easy to set up and use.
  • Not too smelly.
  • Compact unit.
  • Offline printing.
  • Well packed.
  • Price.

Cons

  • Risk of harm from resin.
  • The power switch is on the back
  • the USB slot is on the back
  • Getting material off the build plate is a little hard

All in all happy with my purchase can see it being a good fit in the cave. would recommend it to everyone just finding them has proven to be a challenge as in sort supply at the sale price as people are buying them and marketing up to £400+ on ebay.

A for future mods to the machine, I have a USB extension lead will try seeing if it will take it as will then mount the USB at the front and have a led extension with an on/off switch will see if i can then add the on/off to the front of the machine. so minimal mod to make it great will cove this later. will post the first project later once it done.

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Review: Freesub ST-3042 3D heat press

After a lot deliberation about what heat press i should get, i decided that the 3D press was right for me as can do more than a press a T-shirt and do costers.

Which is ironic as my first job is to do some costers for a trade show for my other business.

On my return from wales disassembled my cr-10 and cleared space for my new toy

ready for new toy

Got to work on Tuesday after a week away to be greeted with big-box do love new toys.

now to unbox it so what’s in the box.

  • 1 x set heat gloves
  • 2 x 11oz mug wraps
  • 1 x 15oz mug wrap
  • Spare vacuum sheet
  • Spare Tubing.
  • Power Cable
  • Manual.
the beast of a machine.

All and unpacked and removed all plastics and packaging fired it straight up and through i would test out a coster fired up the tried to test vacuum it but just buzzed nothing happened.

I then realised i had to connect vacuum tube to nozzle now vacuums. fist test run didn’t sublimate to well as was not making a proper seal.

I have since watched a video and no know i have to make cuts around the outer edges of the paper to get it to make a good vacuum seal so that was my next issue solved.

In the video i watched it showed 4 costers being done at once 180c for 4 mins. so i tried that It did sublimate but colours are washed and not right.

Ment to be a navy not purple not bad second attempt.

I think this might have been as i was running 1 only might need less time so tonight i will be running the test again 80 seconds on the clock and different print settings.

Arg no joy now think its pressure issue with the machine will do some more testing on this tonight as i have read over the manual and want to check vacuum pump as was mention about removing water. as i printed 2 costers to a sheet second one i applied to a mug with 180c temp and 180 seconds now its worked colours are right but fuzzy so going to reduce the time as read this is caused by too much time to see if i can get my sublimation temperatures/times right.

Not good overcooked but great Colour sublimation and loads of dimples on the back of the coaster

Finally cracked It had some shit coasters that don’t sublimate well as just tried with some name badges 185c 4 mins can do 6 at a time no issue Colours came out well

I know it was late it’s not straight

I also tested a metal bottle opener worked well I know it’s not straight was 2 am in the morning

This is a great machine now that I have figured out my issue being cheap coasters. As with my sublimation journey, it’s been a bit of a learning curve.

Summery

This a nice solid build Machine with a wide range of uses for sublimation. It’s very user-friendly and easy to set up. Heats up to 180 c in around 5 mins or less. I am happy with my purchase

Pros

  • Silicon moulds for range items ie phone cases mouse cover travel bottles, mugs.
  • Compact uni
  • Vacuumed seal
  • Easy setup and use

Cons

  • Not cheap
  • Some noise when running

This is for a creator and can see it being a useful part of my side business. now i know its just the issue with cheap coasters. I have now found a reliable source of sublimation blanks should be plane sailing.

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Reviews incoming after a week off in wales

Been a busy week in wales holidaying and having some well-deserved rest and doing some tidying up. god i have a lot of useful stuff that i need to sell.

been a tech-free week for me but have been busy in the background buying some new bits of kit. I have also touched on some of other new bit but its time i did some in-depth reviews in my not so live posts.

I will start with the ELEGOO Mars UV Resin printer has been featured by a few of the 3d printing gods but time for me to have a play. should be landing at the cave on Tuesday have ordered some transparent green resin to give it a test drive.

I will also be reviewing the FreeSub Heat Press 3D Vacuum ST-3042  sublimation machine. As for my day job i have a trade show coming up the week after next so will be designing some costers, mugs and bottle openers. this is already at the office waiting for my return to London.

I will cover my Ricoh SG-3110DN printer and its refillable cartridges that i got from Ink Experts. setting up an ICC profile in adobe products.

I will also cover my Freesub automatic mug press.

Removal from my cave:

My CR-10 is going to be removed from the cave as ist become unreliable will move it to wales so and revisit it at a later date.

Repair list:

my Prusa printers will work on these probably after i return from 2 trades shows and a week away some were hot and sunny will be moving things around the cave to fit the new equipment.

Time to play with:

Hoping to get to play with my CNC machine as got some ideas for Christmas presents and a bit i want to make.

right time to sleep as i have a 3+ hrs drive tommorow back to london.

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Operation tidy up is complete now to fix or remove my 3d printers and look at some new kit for the cave.

After a month i have finally cleared most of the crap out of the man cave now to fix 3 x 3d printers somehow. as all 3 have different issues. I have decided that if i cannot fix them i will sell them off as only really need on a working printer to make parts. will be updating each section as i fix brake or sell bits on this post. will be covering the CNC machine shortly as the need to fix my 3d printer to make some bits i have designed to get me up and running.

CR-10

the cr10 is showing very high temp when switched on on the heat bed not sure why. going to re-solder the connector. see if this fixes the issue.

Prusa Mk2s MMU

this constantly jams the nozzle so going to look on the world wide web for some answers if not might convert it back to just being an MK2s or 2.5s depending on time and money or i could upgrade it to a Haribo edition.

Prusa Mk3

This keeps jamming up not sure why as was working flawlessly for the last 6 months again this will be a web search for an answer as i have tried lots of things that i keep thinking i have fixed it then gets to the second layer and block up.

For sale list:

Trinus 3D Printer

going to sell my Trinus 3d printer as just too small for me and not worth the time and hassle so open to offers on it comes with laser brand new extruder and enclosure with LED screen and tools spare nozzles. if anyone is interested contact me. it powers up but will need some tinkering to get it working right. open to offers

K40 modified laser

This is my k40 laser comes all working will it comes with a C3D controller board flow switch and upgrades panels featuring temp gauge e-stop switch and flow led. upgraded inline and modified exhaust fan air assist pump. looking for £400 ono

New Equipment Wishlist.

  • 3D heat press as going to do a bit more sublimation.
  • CW-5200 chiller for my laser.
Posted on

Been tiding up and braking 3d printers

Currently, have 3 non-working printers the joys of life. I will be doing some repairs this week as started on 2 projects as in did the design work then for my printers to let me down so have a half-written project that i cannot show yet as i didn’t manage to make the parts.

As I keep thinking i have solved my issues with the Prusa mk3 for it to fail again so i think i am going to walk away from it for day or so fresh eyes. I have compiled the latest version custom firmware so will flash it shortly and see if i can get the CR-10 back on working list. before i tackle the 2 Prusa machines.

meanwhile, i have finished off the CNC and vinal cutter dye-sublimation printer racking.

have since swapped the CNC machine around by 180 degrees for ease of cabling.

Just got to make some bits for CNC enclosure and i also want to add the limit switches this week to the CNC machine will have to see what time i get as i have some more jobs coming up.

giving my self to the end of the week to get the cave to a state of working use. think i need to sell some equipment i don’t use, make room. going to move some more stuff off my workbench as need the room. will add some more pictures showing this later.

Posted on

Quick update of lack of posing this week.

I am working on 2 or 3 projects in the background and taking on private work to help pay off some of my outlays on the cave as this is a hobby and not a sponsored site i wish it was but as i am not a celebrity of youtube yet for the time being i am doing things the old fashioned way.

only part of the 100+ badges batches that i am currently doing for a kids camp who wanted to stop using plastics as name badges as wood is good for the environment.

As someone who has a list of equipment on my wishlist, i keep my eyes on eBay and facebook market place for deals on second-hand equipment. i have been after a dye sublimation printer for some time as had some mugs leftover from heat transfer vinyl job i did a while back. so the other day one popped up on facebook market place so i decided to go for it. so got a printer with some ink left in it, pneumatic mug heater and sublimation paper, 20 mugs white and heat sensitive and a refillable ink cartridge system with ink. So on Wednesday, i took a drive to go get it and last night i set i tall up int he cave. i will start testing over the next few days i have ordered a new wast ink bin for the printer as one installed is full. but now means i can do full-colour mugs so more private work to help fund my hobby. when my sub-business i fully and running will add links to the site.

Ricoh SG3110DN with sublimation ink installed mugs and pack of paper.
inks that came with the printer might swap the ink for a better brand.
Automated heat press that came with the bundle.
Lots of mugs in stock now to play with
lots of sublimation paper for the printer

will be testing over the next few days to make sure all works fine. new post on projects coming soon just had a week of private work going on should be clear by mid next week.

Managed to figure out the issue with my 3d printer well 1 of three the second big scale printer just needs a flash of the control box and rewiring. the third one is going to be an interesting project in its own right.

but next up is starting to prepare the CNC machine for use so waist board i have to go get from the local DIY store is 55cm x 38cm. then it’s going to be to who fix it to the aluminium bed probably with some carpet double-sided tape.

i am then going to add limit switches still working on way to do this easily have figured out the control box wiring just need to figure out where i am going to mount the ball arm micro switches. i have also designed a converter for vacuum inlet but more of that to come.

i am also going make some wall mount filament spool holders as Prusa has designed some for free download that i will make need to make 6 of them, 4 for the MMU and 1 for Prusa mk3 and one for large format printer.

Evening update as having a rest from the current private job i am doing. I wanted to play with my new toys so did a mancave mug for fun think the colours are off a little bit but still learning could also be the inks are old so might install a new set. so far impressed well worth the money.

fingers crossed this works.
Happy for a first attempt

time for some rest

Posted on

Just lighting update

As i did promise to do an update of some shots of my lighting all wired here a preview of it in action,

I am running 3 wifi controllers so all lights can be controlled via my mobile phone or Alexa or other automation systems i am yet to install.

have 3 controllers for my led lights

i have installed 3 sets one for mood lighting that the equipment lights centre lights are if i need more lighting in the cave and laser bed lights are for the 50w lights

Lights in action
more of the lighting around the cave.

What’s happening next in the cave:

  • CNC machine home and limit switches.
  • CR-10 fixing it getting it printing
  • Automation of lights via Alexa.
  • Printing wall mounted filaments spool boxes
  • Learning CAM for CNC machine.

Posted on

Lighting up the man cave as i have spare LED tape

As i have a spare 8m of LED tape and want to add some lighting to my very compact man cave/workshop. I have decided to use the leftover LED tape and wifi controller to achieve this.

This is a quick any easy project for anyone who like me does not have a lot of space for strip lighting and needs a quick fix.

Parts i am using:

  • 3528 LED bright white LED tape Link here for the kit.
  • Wifi LED Controller. link for this great bit of kit.
  • 22 AWG JST Plug Connector 2 Pin Male Female Plug Connector
  • 22 AWG LED wiring Cable
  • Cable ties (optional)
  • Wiring Management cable tie pads (optional)

Tools you’re going to need:

  • Wire cutters
  • Wire Stripers
  • Soldering Iron
  • Flux pen

I started out measuring out 3 x 800mm strips of tape for the shelves of my racking.

The first strip of led tape came with a 2.1 x 5.5 connector, I left this in place so i could connect the supplied power supply to the tape and the wifi controller will also plug into this connection between the power and the tape. will show this later on in the post.

I then used my flux pen to prim the solder pads I then added solder to the pads ready for receiving the JST connector wiring. I made sure that -+ were soldered to right pads.

priming the pads for soldering.
first pad soldered ready for wiring.
Just connector soldered to LED Tape.
testing the strip after soldering.

I started to add the strips of tape to the different areas that i wanted to light up. so in my case, I put some above the vinal cutter and in the CNC enclosure, i then added tape above my parts bins to light them up and also above my 2 x 3d printers and several other areas i wanted to be illuminated.

Installed led tape underside of shelving.
initial test of the lights yes i know its messy got to finish finding homes for everything, now to make it wifi controlled.

now time to install power and the wifi controller. just plug-in power supply and then the controller stick controller down. take a picture of the QR code and install the app.

a simple inline device that works great going to order 2 more of these for other lighting sets

The end result is awesome as I have had to go off to Wales for a nice long weekend of RnR with the family i will post some images of the finished project tomorrow. as i didn’t get a chance to photograph it before i left.

Posted on

Better Lighting for 50w laser

As i have had some issues with getting my lightburn camera to align and recognise all registration marks in calibration and alignment set up. I have decided i am going to add a better light source and see if this will improve the process.

first of all, i am going to identify current strip is running 12v or 24v or 240v so out with my trusty voltmeter. As i can see a 3 prong pin looks very similar to some i have seen on Amazon or aliexpress so once i know voltages i can look at my options. i am hoping its 12v as then will be as easy as buying a connector and digging out some led tape.

high voltage led strips so i have decided to go down the route of low voltage dimmable LED’s as cheap easy to fit.

Some fun with LEDs

As a maker, i had all the bits, apart from the led tape that i needed to order. So I found a cheap 5m kit off amazon prime as time is always an issue when ordering from China.

I have 50m of red and black, led wiring cable in my stock of parts. I started off by stripping the wiring off both wires and tinned them, I then took used my flux pen to clean up the terminals and added solder to both solder pads. I then soldered the wires to the pads.

All ready to tin and solder

I then used isopropyl alcohol to clean the area i was going to stick the tape to. I started bottom right worked the tape around the edge of the bed above the rim. Till it had gone around the bed.

all stuck down now to run the wiring

i added cable tabs to so i could keep some cable management i then threaded the wiring through the laser and out through a hole in the floor i then wired up a d 2.1 x 5.5 female connector to the end of the cable.

this is where i connected the dimmer switch and plugged the lighting into the mains

The end result looks good and hoping will cure my lightburn camera issues.

All wired up and working. yes, i will be cleaning my bed this week.

Next up:

I am going to see if i can now calibrate properly using the lightburn camera. if that works fine, I will design a slimline camera mount for the lightburn camera. As an issue with current cameras mount is the laser head hits is when running on the bottom of the printer.

Posted on

New project time: Dual temp gauge and mA meter housing.

One of the first modifications i did to my machine used a 3d printer to make an mA meter housing. So i could stick on to the top of the laser cutter as don’t want to drill/cut my laser yet.

I finally decided to make something a little nicer. still not drilling my machine i know very unlike me lol.

my existing housing.

As the UK as the summer finally hit 32C warmth at last. but my water tank temperature has gone through the roof. so until i can afford a CW-5200 Chiller. Have gone back to 15L paint bucket and will be adding iced bottles every night so i can keep the temperature below the dreaded 25C, Unlike the last few days of 34C. So I have decided to design my self housing that is going to house a dual temperature gauge and my mA meter so i can monitor the temperature of the water coming in and going out of the laser tube.

Wiring up the wires:

Temperature Gauge water input/output temperature wiring:

I brought an inside-outside panel mount temperature gauge off amazon a few weeks back as like to keep an eye on water temperatures link for this here.

new temperature gauge red is tank temperature blue will be returning water to tank temp.

the downside is it comes with only 1M lead for each probe. i have ordered some 2M long ones from China but for this idea, i need them to be at least 3m long if not more. so i am going to make some extension leads up, I have ordered a box of JST-XH 2.54 connectors from amazon prime as wanted to knock this out of the park quickly, As from previous posts you might guess i am doing quite a few things on at the moment but love the pressure. link for parts here.

Time to make some extension leads. As a some one who like to make stuff, I have lots of wire kicking around going to start with the panel end of the extention lead, i am going to use red and black wire start off by crimping to JST-XH connectors to wires female crimps for the panel end. I then insert them into the 2 pin housing. you will need a JST crimp tool to do this.

crimps done and first wire inserted in to housing
Fist crimp completed

now to probe end i am going to solder this and heat shrink it. So to do this plug the probe into the male connector then using my solder workmate. First of all, i tin the wires i then i run 3 pieces of heat shrink over the wires, 2 small to cover the pins after soldering and one larger one to go over the housing make it look nice and give it some strength. Then using my gripers I line the pin and wiring up before soldering them together.

Then using my heat gun i shrink down the 2 smaller bits over the freshly soldered joints. I then i slid the large bit over housing and using heat gun shrink it to the base of the housing is covered and connected to the wire.

ready to solder the first pin.
Both soldered now to heat sink the connectors
Now for outer heat sink.
Heat shrink installed ready to test
Tested and working one down now to repeat
both prob cables now done now just to run them.

now to get power for the temperature gauge going to use 5v off laser power supply from 4 pin connector, not in use on the 50watt PSU so will use the Ground pin and 5v supply.

will use 5v and G to power my temp guage as will run on 5v minimal mA to power.
power cable made for temperature gauge with pin crimps make it all match on the Laser PSU.
power wired in for temperature gauge
right ready to go just need to cut my design

mA Meter Wring:

This is just a recap as did this a few months ago.

pinout for k40 style psu

If you look at Laser PSU diagram above you will see L- on pin 1 this is were the mA meter will sit between. this wire comes from the low voltage end of the laser tube. (Laser PSU might be different from machine to machine) the principle will be the same though.

Now prep for the mA meter, As I have already did this so this is a copy from an earlier post.

The wiring I started by running 2 wires through the housing of the laser down to the electronics controller boards and power supplies of the laser. I will then crimp the 2 wires and attach them to the mA meter the + side i will attach some red heat shrink to represent the live side. on the mA meter, there is a minus sign telling me that the other pin is positive. as pictured below.

positive connection cripmed
added some heat shrink to make it easy to identify after threading through the machine.
both ends attached this meter only shows – so that will be going into the PSU ignore housing as new one will be installed later.

this will attach to the wire i will remove from the PSU going to use a terminal block for time being till i decide if i am going to cut a hole in my laser to permanently mount mA meter later on. the – side will go back to the PSU.

Wire to remove from laser psu
removed wire joined with temp connector will take the blue covers off tonight and add some proper bullet crimps to join the wires properly as happy it works.
Now you would never know it been done bar the box on top of the machine.
Working like a champ. in my soon to be old housing.

All wiring done ready for the new housing

Enclosure Design:

As i have designed control panels in the past for my k40 laser going to use these elements as a template for mA and panel mount gauges i am going to use them in this design.

Now that i have proven my existing elements fit i am going create a box to house them both so where to start with this Inkscape has a plugin that will do this or there are many online tools that you can create a box. i have decided to go with http://jeromeleary.com/laser/ as i could add a sloped face to the front of the box as shown below. i then save dxf file and imported into lightburn.

my sloped fronted box design

I then added the elements for the gauge and dial to the box and added a rear cutout for the 2 sensors and power plug. mA gage as shown in the picture. below.

re arranged and added my elements and wiring outlet for wires.

After doing initial design i decided to make some changes as once the housing will be glued together there would be no way to remove wiring so i added a brake out panel.

V2 of my design the square on the back is brake away if any wires come loose

going to make a mockup in wood first and make sure it all fits before i go out and by some acrylic for the job,

Note to self make sure laser is in focus as had it set for something else doh still came out ok
Well it fits together temp cutout is fine but the mA meter is to small
Wiring hatch is upside down so have now flipped it in the design will run again tonight.

Have redone file now the rear door emergency access doors are now better only 4 tabs to knock them out if any issues once glued. I have also changed dimensions on the mA meter as they were way off. I will test cut it again later and see if can get it to fit.

2nd attempt all fitting perfectly now to cut it acrylic

Now that I have proved it all fits together and works I am going order some acrylic to cut. I will be using 3mm acrylic in black so will look nice. I will also be using an infill process to make text stand out.

Acrylics arrived A3 sheet so now it is all fitting i can cut the final sheet

cutting time the smell of acrylic thankfully no complainants from the surrounding houses

time to pull out my trusty airbrush and some white paint. time to do some infill before removing the protective layer.

all sprayed up now to remove the protective layer
still got to polish and pick middles of some of the letters but you get the idea.

Now time to assemble using some PETG adhesive to hold everything thing in place.

glued and clamped on 2 sides
5 of 6 sides glued. going to leave the top panel lose as the original plan did not work.

now to test all components fit.

fits perfectly on the machine now to bolt let the glue all dry and then wire it up.

right now all wired up without having to cut any holes now to hold it in place now for the 3M tape. time to test power on making sure temp gauge lights up. it does and mA is working fine.

Ready to stick new housing
All installed and working
Rear wiring coming out of enclosure

all project files are available in Lightburn format and SVG, as i know not everyone, uses lightburn. link for lightburn software file and the SVG file

Thanks for reading next project think will be upgrading lighting in my 50w so i can get the lightburn camera working better thank it currently is for the camera. that will be once i find the roll off