29 November 2025
Annoyingly even having done a good job so far of tidying things, some items are difficult to find. The fibre optic Christmas scene bulb is dead and I KNOW there is a box with spares in as I have only recently spotted it, but can I find it again ... We will get the decorations out and the tree up, then try again.
I have almost used up all of the older black filament. Not sure there is enough left for a big print, but the small parts to complete the refit of the X5SA were no problem even if the filament is rather tightly coiled as it comes of the reel. The belts are now what I would call nice and tight. A little bit of spring, but the left and right side is nicely aligned and the X axis is perfectly square to the Y one and prints are looking even tidier.
Problems with the original setup being able to keep the extruder at 250 deg have been eliminated. It is now rock steady. The Next problem with printing ABS was the first two attempts at 3DBenchy curled off the bed after a few layers. The third attempt has the bed at 110 deg and used a raft to secure. On the whole successfully, except that the back wall of the cabin has not printed correctly. Also the funnel has fallen off, I think because the back was not being supported properly. I think I need to restore 'part cooling' which I'd disabled to keep the area being printed hot. Next try will be for the lathe motor mount which should stick down nicely without the raft.
I am learning all the time currently and making progress which is only hindered by the delays in some of the parts I've ordered. Still waiting on 1.5mm MDF and it's not worth the excessive price to get a small amount from B&Q just to get on. Need to establish a shop list for the consumables that DOES ship in 24 hours ... not 24 hours of when it arrives from China!