Thursday, February 7, 2013

MakerBot Replicator 2 Notes

Very exciting, I was able to try out the new MakerBot!  Here's some notes on getting things set up.

Note: Replicator 2 uses only PLA.

I'll come back and revise some of the missing parts (e.g. the menu instructions) after  I get a chance to go through the steps again.



Power on (switch on rear right)

Load Filament

  • snake the filament through the clear tube, from the back
  • detach clear tube from printhead
  • select menu:  utilities/filament/load (left arrow is back)
  • feed filament into head
  • you will feel the feeder take over
  • let filament go until it touches the baseplate
  • push the M button to stop filament feed
  • attach clear tube to printhead
Printing from computer
  • attach usb cable; usb cable falls between the two tables, fish out through the middle
  • run makerware, get your model ready
  • click "The Replicator 2" button
  • advanced parms:  set feed travel to 60 cm/min (default is 80) for better results
  • select raft and supports if you need them
  • see notes below on detaching
  • do something to disable sleep or you will blow your print.  on our macs, push the mouse to the bottom left corner.
  • click print.
  • when the unit starts, it will draw a line of filament from the front left corner to the start of the model.  watch for that, if this filament line is bad cancel your print.  

Printing from SD card
  • fiddle with your settings as above
  • we're still pre-7 firmware, so save as S3D
  • use an SD card of 2G or less
  • put your card in the slot
  • menu: utilities/filament/unload

To Detach
  • the baseplate will detach, push the rear tab back
  • blue painters tape can be put on the baseplate to ease detachment
  • lightly sand the tape for better adhesion, so the melted filament doesn't move around
Wrapping up
  • log piece(s) in logbook
  • unfeed filament (menu:)
  • power off
And here's my first test piece!  It's a sizer for metric nuts and bolts.  No numbers printed in this version though.  Next up:  camera carrier for Bixler 2.

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