Improving Print Quality

Man I would pay someone good money to get my printer to that level of control. Im still fighting a slight y and a double slight x problem that still has wiggles. If I could get a good first layer like you got that would help also. Ill show off some things when I get a chance.

Hello folks, Thanks to @Jay M I was able to perform my first print. IMO it‘s a decent print. So far I found some issues:

1. I can‘t get off the base layers. Not sure If I‘m actually should be able to

2. There is some shift

3. On one side the filament is not „sticking“ together

Can someone help me with those issues?

Also I‘m not sure if the first layer is good enough for printing. Any feedback is appreciated.

Welp, I'm able to print pretty well finally, I think. In the end, it comes down to the eccentric guides are VERY finicky, I think. The TINIEST adjustment makes pretty large impacts, I think. Lots of "I think" because I certainly don't know for sure... I'm just happy to be getting some consistent prints.

In general - I ended up not doing much beyond the instructions that made a difference. I had to follow the "special - oops you might have gotten wrong parts" instructions and extend the heater element and thermistor wires myself. I initially used the 3rd eccentric guide instead of a fixed guide for the z/y axis attachment, but I did get a replacement that I put on, today.

Even with the 2 fixed and 2 eccentric guides now, it is still painful to adjust, but I think I got it after about 20-30 minutes of turning the eccentrics VERY slightly each while having a level on the y-axis boom, and turning the z-axis screw (from lower/stepper part of the coupler) to see how each adjustment felt - easy to turn, then with a bright light above the unit, carefully watching the shadow against a straight edge to see if it moved side to side while transitioning turning from up to down and back again.

The bright light, shadow, and straight edge is the the same thing I did with the x-axis that helped me quite a bit there adjusting those eccentric guides. In the end, I was happy with the very slight movement on transition up/down versus how hard it was to turn the z-axis. Maybe I could get it even better... but the print quality is good enough to make me happy. No more wavy edges on the archway on the benchy! Yay!

If anything, I think my shadow & straight edge method to adjust the eccentric guides is about the most important thing I can contribute to the "what else can I try" list of things that people have suggested. Keep making minute adjustments to the eccentric guides until you don't get shadow shifts when changing directions, and things move easily while turning by hand.

So, what have I done differently from the instructions to get the results I'm getting?

1) $2 - Replaced the z-axis coupler with an all aluminum one; the plastic and then the plastic+aluminum one didn't seem to work well for me. This is really the only thing I changed that wasn't in the kit or instructions that I believe made a difference to get acceptable prints.

2) I also didn't use the top plate for the a-axis. Technically the instructions say the z-axis top plate is optional if needed to prevent your z-axis screw from rising up. I figured they sent it, so I just put it on at the start - and I think that was a mistake. I put it on level I am pretty sure - certainly one of the many times I had it off to replace a coupling or otherwise adjust it. I had nice amount of grease/lubrication on the screw cover as instructed - in the end it just seemed to mess my prints up. I removed it completely, so now my z-axis screw is just hanging out there, in the wind, all by itself, and the printer is working so much better.

* - Soooooo what is keeping my y-axis boom arm from wobbling all around? Well, the mount to the stationary metal beam that it actually mounts to I assume... I don't think the z-axis screw is supposed to keep the y-axis from moving around contrary to all the bearing adapters and things that others have added. As from what I said above, the 2 fixed guides and 2 eccentric jobs seem to have a LOT more do with the y-axis moving around than the z-axis screw. They stated the plate was there just to keep the z-axis from rising, not to keep it "steady" or the like, after removing it, I tend to believe them. Not sure doing anything to "steady" the screw it is helping the situation... but everyone's parts and thus builds are probably different, so maybe other builds need those extra stabilizers at the top of the a-axis.

3) ~$35 = 28.50 power supply + $3.50 switch + $3 connectors/14g wire + printed PETG cover/holder - Power Supply replaced with a Meanwell 350W 24v unit. I don't think this is making any difference to the printer. I did this initially to get the heated bed to 110c (at the time I couldn't even set past 45c - but come find out that was a problem in my configuration.h file). Now in the end the power supply isn't a bad investment because I heard so many people say the power supplies that came with it were failing.

With the new larger power supply I also removed the Power MOSFET board and have the heated bed running directly from the mainboard just fine. I don't really need the 110c hot bed though as the magenetic flex sheets (and more importantly the sticker on them) doesn't seem to work for PETG, it sticks WAAAAAAY too well and I ruined a couple of sheets that way. I am not blaming MakerTech3D for this... the fact is you could never heat the bed hot enough for PETG... so, perhaps they didn't think to tell you not to use the stickers if using PETG. Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong. If I ever decide to try PETG again, I'll use some blue painters tape on top I guess or get a piece of glass or something.

4) 0.4mm nozzle tightened while hotend was hot - no idea if the .4mm is making a difference for the MakerTech PLA+ or not (not the original rolls, which I tossed, but I bought some other roles which seem fine)... I might try the 0.3mm again, or I might not. This one is finally working for me, so I'm happy. The one thing MakerTech3D just suggested today on the forums was to tighten it while hot, so that is what I did. Essentially, I pulled the PFTE out, heated the hotend to 215c, tightened the nozzle relatively tightly, then loosened "about 1/2 to 1 turn", then put the PFTE back down, then tightened the nozzle back as tight as it could go without really "over tightening" it. I think it worked fine. This is a cheap $15 hot end from Amazon that looks amazingly like the ones from MakerTech3D, but if I have another meltdown - I'll try theirs that I just ordered. I didn't replace the white tape that was on it, and still no leaks.

And so far no headend meltdowns or encasement of plastic like what happened a couple of weeks ago and "destroyed" my original hot end as it was encased in plastic. So far is this afternoon/tonight with a great XZY Cube, most of a benchy that was printing great up until the roof when I am pretty sure someone moved the bed (though the kids say they didn't, maybe it just broke loose - the brim didn't look great), and now another good looking benchy.

I'm happy. I know so many other folks have struggled. Maybe it is quality control of the parts. The bed seems to be anything but level, I'm just using the 20-point leveling and it varies (no pattern that I can make out) from -0.6'ish to +1.6'ish for me. Printed out a 75x75mm square in the center of the bed, and can clearly see where the northwest quadrant the first lines don't even meet, then as it gets closer and into the southwest quadrant the lines spread and meet and it looks great. I did have good bed adhesion for any PLA+ that was touching; but clearly can't print a solid first layer. I wonder if the bed leveling & fade height is even working... or I just need to do the 90-point leveling method described elsewhere in the forums. Meh. Will just keep trying like it is for now.

Here are some result pictures; prior results are elsewhere here on the forums, though the four benchys together the red was the first print off this printer, the blue was after a few cubes and a couple of other things, then the yellow one is the one from tonight (after the failed benchy due to bad adhesion or a kid moving the table/bed)... the green one is off a factory assembled Prusa i3 MK3S that my wife and kids use mostly.

I'm now getting consistent and acceptable (to me) results from my Axis, with about 30 good prints so far, mostly assorted parts for model railway rolling stock.

My first Benchy and the first try at a cooling fan shroud/duct both had some issues which I tracked down to too much slack in the X-belt. With that tightened by a couple of notches, things are printing much better.

The only other change (apart from the cooling fan duct) I've made to the stock Axis is to fit the 2nd fixed Z guide, supplied by Makertech with my replacement longer-lead heater/thermistor.

I made sure all the eccentric guides were finely adjusted to eliminate wobble and applied a smidge of dry lube to reduce friction. I also made sure the top bracket was bearing down properly on the top of the lead screw.

Maybe this is beginners luck (this is my first printer), but it does seem to have come together ok for me.

The only issues I've had with printing is a couple of times, it's just stopped mid-print with the hot end simply switching off. Not sure why?

Well everyone. My journey ends tonight.

Trying to put in the a new sensor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WS45K3P/ I did something wrong. I wasn't working on the NPWR pin on the servo plug for the BTT 1.4 Turbo. I looked at the ref voltage for the probe and it should work to 36v. I plugged it into the positive on one of the fan ports and that was it. No USB. Nothing but boxes on the display. No more mainboard.

That's it. I'm done. I have one spare board left. I have to keep it around for my Ender 3 Pro. That printer actually prints. I can't have it go down.

So this ends my quest to make the printer better. I'll mothball the parts. Maybe one day I'll get back to it.

My suggestion, when you hit a wall sleep on it. If it bothers you stop working on it. This thing has too much wrong to be worth it. Now that you've "built" a printer check one of these kits out: https://seckit3dp.design/price/sk-go That's my next printer. I suggest you check it out too.

Hi,

Just to write what helped me with the z-wobble problem. First I changed the coupling to the aluminum - helped a bit. Than I added this "Makertech Axis 3D printer Z steady" (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4570666). It also helped but still there was this slightly visible wobble each 1cm of Z. Finally I reassembled the gantry and the lead screw minding the instructions. What was important, I think, in stage6/steps 9-12/, was to tighten each guide in the middle position of lead screw and I also tightened it a bit in the top and bottom position just to make sure. Only after that I fixed the screws on the motor.

I would be carefull with removing the leads screw bracket and/or exchanging it with only a bearing. The bearing only works if the lead screw and the alignment is perfectly fine, otherwise you will make things worse as the misalignmend has to go somewhere - usually into more z-wobbling. The bracket is needed because there is some play in the motor shaft in the z-direction and additionally if you are using the spring-type motor coupling. I think the idea with the screw nut mounting bracket is an interesting point I have not looked at yet. I only found that it is probably misaligned in my setup as well but didn't know how to fix it properly.

Last night I went to be after being frustrated with the printer more than normal. I woke up this morning and for some reason my mind decided to develop an idea for stabilizing the gantry. Why I continue to torture myself I do not know.

I decided to replace a couple of the wheels that run in the v-channel on my other printer. I have some spares now. I thought about giving this a go.

I haven't started a print yet, but well...

Tried some changes myself as follows:

The build plate not being level really makes this a fruitless task.

I was going to buy another inductive probe, but I just don't know. I might just return the glass.

So regarding my own prints on the AXIS i have made a huge step forward regarding quality.

I was having huge issues with striging and what looked like the filiment being too hot however when i was printing the thermister was recording the correct temperature or at least what i thought was the correct temperature.

So today whist waiting for some possible upgrades to turn up i took the hot end apart to giv it a good clean (cold pull and all) and importantly tight.

during the disassembly and re assembly i looked at the thermister and realised is wasn't completly install as far in the small hole as possible. So when putting it back together i pushed it as far in a possible leaving plenty of extra cable so that when it is help in base by the screw it is not pulled out in the process.

This one step alone has taken my prints a stringy mess to something i would class as an acceptable print. the finish is nice and glossy and smooth layers!

Conclusion is that if the thermistor is not installed far enough it will still record the temperature but the core temperature of the hotend will higher thn on the outside where the thermister will be taking readings if not installed far enough.

This was obviously my mistake and a rookie error as this is my first 3D printer. just giving a heads up for anyone else getting a similar problem with temperature.

there is still allot of ghosting but i havent made any upgrades to any of the linear guides yet.

As you can see from the photos it was a huge difference between the two prints.

@Johannes Helm mentioned "new coupler (aluminium+plastic damper)" ... is there a large difference between the all aluminum versus aluminum+plastic damper versions of the couplers? I have the all aluminum at the moment and just curious if it makes a difference... though that is relatively easy to swap... so I guess I could just try both. Looks like any dampening would cause more jumps at some point going up the screw, but I guess I'm thinking of it wrong...

I'm also thinking about replacing the lead screw "nut" (is that what it is called?) from the factory plastic to a brass one as well, not sure if it is really worth that either. I kind of want to only change one thing at a time as I work on tuning it to see which actions make the largest difference for others to think about in their own tuning, but don't really want to keep fiddling forever... I think the nut swap out will be the last "hard" thing to change... though I should swap my bed around so that the real left is on the left side probably. :-) But I really don't want to redo the X-axis belt... so doubt that ever happens until I need to tighten or otherwise work on the X belt for some reason.