Tips for the Up 3d printing software

Tips to make UP! 3d printer software deliver

As per my previous post on the UP! 3d printer, getting things to work correctly is finicky.

It loves to break, or complain about your model.

In this post, Ill share the solutions to problems I faced:

1) The model looks hollow, but prints solid.

Check if you can do a repair in netfabb. The basic Netfabb version is free, if you dont have it, download it from this netfabb download link. You dont need to fill out personal info, its optional.

You might find that netfabb in its wisdom decides to completely close the faces as part of the repair, which isnt what you wanted, but this will get you a step closer to what you actually want.

Here, you can use a simple 3d program like TinkerCad to assist. IMport the stl into TinkerCAD, Clone the appropriate shape from the part that you want to make hollow, & then do a hole out of that in TinkerCad.

For example, if you want a tube running through the middle but the model file doesnt have a closed face at the hole opening edge, your print will fail. In that case, the netfabb repair will close that tunnel opening hole. Then you import that closed model, clone it, extend its length & do a hole cut in tinkercad.

Its easier than it sounds :)

If you have a professional program, obviously they all have their own respective tools for difference cutting.

2) Error: Part material not enough, Add material?

This one is a pain. It poses a question & yet does nothing after you click yes.

It doesnt withdraw the plastic or extrude any, it just stops printing & does nothing.

I read some of the threads on pp3dp support forum that suggested clicking to add a new spool & estimating the material. That seems to have done the trick.

3) Model has issues that cause it to not print properly, or fail the print due to support errors

Do a automated repair in netfabb, frankly, it rarely fixes the problem. What it does do though is let you see the triangle mesh & clean up any unnecessary complexities in the model.
After that, export the model as a .stl file from netfabb or other such program & import that stl file into TinkerCad.

Despite my disappointments with some aspects of TinkerCad as stated in my previous tinkercad post, its quite handy to get tinkerCads import mechanism to automatically fix the issues in that stl.
You see, tinkercad is designed for 3d printing so all models are automatically 'solidified'.

This works well as long as your model doesnt have any more than 100000 mesh triangle faces. Some models will. In which case, see if you can fix holes from netfabb & do some simple repairs in netfabb, often that reduces the number of faces just enough to get the model to import in tinkercad.

If you still have too many faces, download the free meshlab tool & perform a face cout reduction there. Do a google search on it, pretty easy to do.

After youve got it in tinkercad, simply do an export from it. Go to the Download your model to print option & it will give it back to you in stl format. Easy :)

4) The raft keeps on lifting, which is partly due to the head not being close enough to the platform.

This one is most annoying of them all. The printer is very delicate, despite what marketing you might read.
The whole platform & head assembly constantly move, & are attached on a central vertical arm.
This arm has to follow laws of physics, the longest unsupported end toward you is obviously going to droop, or it will be over-compensated, causing drooping in the back or vice versa.

I have to keep re-aligning this printer so often! I wouldnt call this 'robust' by any measure.
Im told this might be because I always use the printer at the fastest speed settings, but hey, it didnt say that when I bought it. Im using it under its designed operating specs, so as a consumer, I expect it to work & hold on.

5) The head assembly goes a tad loose & starts shaking every couple of prints!

This is perhaps the biggest engineering screw up of this device. Why on earth would you use just 1 screw to mount a large heavy moving object thats exposed to extensive inertia??!!

I mean, you dont need to be a rocket scientist to know that 2 screws will be just right.

The excuse is that 1 screw allows tolerance should there be a nozzle collision with items on the perf board, but that is not a fair argument as you can have 2 screws across the same plane mounted on the same yet tad longer piece which will also allow the same amount of head tolerance in the vertical axis.

I was offered a updated metal mount though which seems better as it fits the rails & I look forward to trying it, but I wont be using it extensively because that metal has no tolerance what so ever. Its either riid or flaky, they have to find a compromise.
Tightening the bottom screw helps, but come on, the thing is moving as fast asn an inkjet printers head! That screw aint gonna hold hard is it?? & if u tighten it way too hard, youll risk damaging the screw threads, so be careful :s