Klipper, the Recore, and OctoPrint

I have been testing more w/ Klipper and the Recore A7. So far, so good. I have a "new" (new to me) printer called a Monoprice Maker Select Plus. It has five steppers and is almost solid metal, i.e. which usually means sturdy and long-lasting. So, here is the beginning of a print w/ the Maker Select Plus and the Recore A7 along w/ Klipper firmware handling movement...

1. Beginning:

2. Six hours later...

This print along w/ others can be found here: Compact PET Filament Machine by mirabatek | Download free STL model | Printables.com

The person Mirabatek seems to build this extraordinarily nice machine from 3D Printing and some normal 3D Printing materials along w/ other mechanical features.

So, this is it. I made a printer from a printer. Almost a complete overhaul but all that happened so far w/ my general, not outsourced build is the build plate. Oh and a new Z-axis leadscrew w/ many more turns.

Those turns are what we will discuss later. Also, I want to mention something else that we will discuss later. Configuration Files in general is something we will discuss and not too in depth but it will be mentioned and you will see why...

The leadscrew on the left and the one on the right are completely different and will need different ideas, configurations done, completed in text format to handle such a difference...

For a better part of a three to four month period, I have been building a quadruped. Should I outsource or learn from my knowledge and mistakes? No outsourcing, thank you...well (sort of). Some good basics can be found here: https://www.helixlinear.com/blog/lead-screws/how-to-determine-which-lead-screw-pitch-length-and-thread-start-is-best-for-your-application/

Back to it...

Lead: Start * Pitch

Start: Lead / Pitch

Pitch: Lead / Start

So, say we are dealing w/ a 8mm leadscrew which has a diameter of 8mm w/ 2 leads and 4 starts...

Three values and simplistic multiplication and division is how we can attain our "correct" variables for our general.cfg file.

In Klipper, there is a.cfg file to handle such a machine...

So, in the machine settings, this.cfg file, one would have to have a set base, height, and length or XYZ generalizations.

So, for XYZ axes:

X = 230mm

Y = 152mm

Z = 152mm

In your slicer, your machine settings needs to be the same, exactly the same, as your Klipper.cfg file. So, w/ the XYZ settings above, the machine settings in your slicer needs to be the same as the.cfg file and in your slicer setup machine settings.

Even on a distribution like OctoPrint for using gcode files to see the print values, errors, and get printing accomplished, there is a few ideas from different board distributors which can make things easier on people like you and I.

Besides those ideas, a print, a 3D Print, has a lot that does into it plus after building a machine, one would devise a relationship between the machine and the software that the machine listens to currently...

Klipper is the firmware in question here. Side note, they have put up w/ me in the past when I was looking to get info. on why I did not know what I needed to know.

So, thank you to discourse Klipper people for putting up w/ me.

Dually noted, the discord channel for Recore and other things outside of their builds that they can help w/ all have been an introduction for me back into the 3D world. So, w/out further ado, thank you to everyone for reading my ramblings...

Back to the ideas:

If you find that in Klipper, OctoPrint, and/or a Recore board that things are not working out...

1. Do not be me. Learn first and then ask for guidance.

2. Ask for guidance in an intellectual way. It is not a joke.

3. People, knowledgeable people, will help when prompted. Most of the time!

And...

1. So, say...

a. The board, the firmware, and the GUI are all acting in an odd manner.

b. Check wiring, Connect what you can connect that is associated w/ the.cfg file in your experimental build or newly found 3D Printer, and then behave like a rational person. I say that b/c I have caught myself being far from rational thinking that someone has gone through what I have created in my mind. It is usually not this way.

c. Outside of those ideas:

Pick a random section, like a part of your gantry on your 3D Printer, on your printer if when the print is acting oddly and you have configured things to the best of your knowledge...

For instance, I used a method described to me by a person on the Klipper discourse. My prints were not sticking and the Z-axis was acting up on the top most layers. To me, this is your fault. It is not your fault so to say but I thought it was someone else's fault b/c I could not configure things correctly in time...

Anyway, outside of my issues:

The point is picked on the gantry: Say it is 25mm from the bed surface.

The command to handle the Z-axis after homing w/ G28 is given: Say G0 Z20.

If you gantry moves 4mm when you commanded the gantry to move 20mm w/ the G0 Z20 command, then this formula will get you to understand what is known as rotation_distance...

There is a good section on this effort in understanding in the 3D Printer world for rotation_distance in the Klipper Docs.

Anyway, for XY axes on my printer, it is simple to handle the rotation_distance: 40 understanding in the.cfg file.

Gear: 20 teeth

Belt: 2mm

Gear * Belt = 40 or rotation_distance: 40 in the.cfg file

Another concern:

1. I am using a probe to home.

2. I have a Cartesian Printer w/ XYZ motors only.

3. The updated bed needs to be calibrated but by the z-axis only w/ its probe.

The PROBE_CALIBRATE command works to configure your height calibration of your Z-Axis for when you need your printing to take place at the correct height.

So:

W/ my printer, since I have a probe, I need to TYPE these commands in OctoPrint while using Klipper w/ the Recore and my printer.

G28
G0 Z20
PROBE_CALIBRATE

Then, after the PROBE_CALIBRATE command, one would need to adjust the height of the gantry by using a command known to klipper as testz.

For instance:

TESTZ Z=-4
TESTZ Z=-1.5
TESTZ Z=-0.5

After this specific testz command has been issued until you feel like your hotend is at the correct level for printing on your bed, then:

ACCEPT
SAVE_CONFIG

You may, like w/ the Recore I use, have to restart the firmware to make sure things are allocated to your.cfg file correctly and that the cores know.

Anyway...

This small guide will get your cartesian printing in no time! Hopefully, there are some sound advice one could grab from these ramblings.

Outside of that...here:

This was before the initial set up of being correct which I think I have described in a way that may be easy to understand. If not, sorry for confusing the relationship between you and your printer.

It is an older model 1403 PrintrBot w/ a 19" * 19" build environment for the X-axis. No outsourcing...ha.

Enjoy...

Seth

P.S. If you get bored and like 3D Printing, look to the people at Recore, OctoPrint, and Klipper for building around your favorite mechanical device. Do not let them know I sent you. I usually make enemies easier than friends make me! or something...

Update

I have been updating the machine along w/ some new Klipper configurations and the build envelope to XYZ (300mm * 152mm * 125mm). My newest print w/ the Recore as the brains along w/ my "handy" build plate enlarging has created for some fun printing although trying at times.

The wires are atrocious for now and I have not printed a holder for the Recore board just yet.

One thing I came across w/ the Z-Axis is this...

• A coupling that can hold the ZY Gantry of my cartesian printer is worth a good buy (less expensive is not always a good route)
• Slicer offsets and configurations need to match the printer.cfg file for the Klipper configs
• Using an uplifted build envelope on my current printer has taken away from the total Z-Axis height in mm
• This is okay, i.e. as I can make the acme screw a bit longer to handle any taller prints

If we are admitting things here, which I am basically doing so here, I ruined a perfectly good Omron Capacitive Sensor detailing my struggles w/ the PROBE_CALIBRATE methods of Klipper. At first, I was blaming the Cap. Sensor for not registering its sensing at the top of the glass bed.

This led me to believe that either the sensor was faulty or the Klipper configurations were off. Neither/Nor here!

My outdated coupler/coupling needed replacement and my slicer config was off by an offset or two! Yikes, I know. Anyway, all in all:

This is a knurled bolt and knurled nut I made this morning for printing ideas, e.g. to see what exactly is getting printed and how it is affected by my current set up.

UPDATES

So, if you are like me and you switch parts, look for additional add-ons, and build your own printers and parts, sometimes there are HIDDEN GEMS.

Hidden gems are basically surprises that the mfg. does not tell you when you are purchasing your new or used printer.

1. Outside of the Recore world w/ my PrintrBot 1403/Behemoth, I am messing w/ some Monoprice Make Select Plus printer for now.

2. The printer is sound, made mostly of metal, and can hold its weight (w/ the correct add-ons).

3. Anyway, I purchased some parts, e.g. nozzles and etc.

4. For some reason I could not figure out why MK10 nozzles did not work for this printer when a person told me the nozzle style was MK10.

5. I purchased some MK10 nozzles from Micro Swiss b/c I am a fanatic for USA MFG. goods.

6. The hidden gem in this effort was that the MK10 nozzle would not work...

7. But...there were reasons why it would not function properly.

8. PTFE was hidden in the drive and well, it had to be disposed of currently or I would have had to purchase a complete set of new nozzles.

9. Clipped. You got it right. I clipped the PTFE so I could use the nozzles I currently own that were purchased from Micro Swiss.

10. New to me? Yeppers. Some of your MK10 nozzles, as you will find, may or may not be ready for your prints and add-ons. Check the hotend and nozzle firstly. Secondly, make an educated decision on what should take place.

11. Me on the other hand, purchase before knowing anything. I deal w/ the consequences of knowing little and attempting too much too soon. Fools do rush in!

12. Now, my Monoprice Make Select Plus printer is equipped w/ a non-PTFE ready MK10 nozzle at 0.6mm...

13. Which, by the way, will allow you to print stronger prints quicker.

14. I have used the PrintrBot 1403 (now the Behemoth) for years, almost 10 yrs, and during those years have had me always using the 0.4mm nozzles associated w/ the hotend from Ubis Hotends (now under for whatever reasoning they had).

15. So, w/ little to no support for hotends of the PrintrBot 1403, I have had to look elsewhere for the prints of my future.

16. In the process, I have learned a few things...

a. Use what works

b. If in doubt, alter

c. Purchasing is no more fun than picking weeds (do it correctly)/get at the root

d. Taking notes and utilizing what you already have currently is by far more acceptable to me than having to rush to the local USA MFG. to get parts.

e. Yep.

That is all for now!