Make Sure Your Belts Are Adjusted!!

Hi Friends,

Building my Prusa i3 MKS3 from the kit has given me a new perspective on how precise these printers are.  I did a bunch of printing and I noticed the prints were starting to get squished on the edges.

Its not the best picture, but you can see the extruder head is definitely hitting the print and if I took a side picture you'd see it was very smooshed.

Time to check the belt tension!!

Sure enough, both my Y and my X belts were loose.

Prusa has a whole page dedicated to this, but here's some quick tips.

For the X-Belt

1.  Loosen these three screws, the bottom right screw acts as a pivot to tighten or loosen the x belt in small increments.

2. Either loosen or tighten this hidden screw, marked with the purple arrow.  My x belt was loose, so I needed to tighten the screw (clockwise).  Righty-Tighty, Lefty-Loosie.  :-)

3. I noticed when I got the right tension and tightened the three screws again, the belt was too tight.  So I loosened the three screws again and loosened the hidden screw just a bit.  Tightened the three screws again and the tension was perfect on X.

For the Y Belt

Note:  I needed to flip my printer on it's side, be very careful!

1.  Loosen the screw on the bottom holding the belt to the bed.

2.  Tighten or loosen the screw shown.  In my case I needed to tighten it.

3. Check the tension with the Prusa app and when it's good, tighten the bed screw again.

After adjusting the belts, no more squishing!

Neil

3D Printing is SOOOO Cool!

Hi Friends,

I want to (re)introduce you to a new old hobby of mine 3D Printing.  For those that know me, know that I've been doing this for about 10 years now and I just found a old blog of mine!  

3D Printing is Awesome!

Do I still feel the same?  

In 10 years 3D printing has changed a lot!!  Printers have gotten cheaper, faster and the print quality is so good now.  I decided to take the plunge and I got a Prusa i3 MK3S.  Believe it or not I got the kit and built it myself!  The kit comes in a big box full of boxes and it was a bit intimidating.  I should have taken pictures, but I'm stupid.

I took it in steps and tried not to build the entire thing all at once.  Remember you can purchase a fully built version from Prusa, but I'm insane and apparently like a challenge.

I built the chassis first, then the "hot-end" and finally put it all together with the belts and all.  Prusa has a fantastic manual and they even include gummy bears too keep you going!

Why did I get the MK3S and not the MK4S?  That's a great question.  Truth is I purchased the printer and life just got in the way and it sat for a bit.  No other excuses except I wasn't ready for the challenge and when I finally got off my back-side I realized I was a generation behind already.  That's technology for you.

Don't get me wrong, the MK3S is an absolute beast and a workhorse and I've been able to print some amazing things with this printer, but it's not latest and greatest and that's okay for now.

Belt tension is always a bit of science-fiction and you'll find every recommendation known to, well everyone on the Internet.  Prusa takes the guess work out of belt tension with their Prusa Belt Tuner.  You pick your printer and pluck the belt and the app tells you if it's too tight or too loose.  BIG help!!

I've got lots to say, but wanted to show you some of the things I've created.  I've also gotten into CAD drawing for 3D printing using Onshape.  Here are two of my creations:

1. Happy Face Keychain

2. Lucet

If you have a 3D printer, you can print them out now!

The happy face keychain is pretty obvious, but what's a lucet you ask?  A lucet is a tool from the Viking and Medieval days that helped you braid things like rope, cord, etc.

Here's a link to wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucet

I made a bunch of different versions and this seems to be the easiest to start making rope right away.

Check them out and let me know what you think!

Neil