Finally made the jump to 3D-Printing.......

[ebolton]

First glitch. I assembled the TAZ 6; it went well. I had previously installed Cura on my main computer in my living room. That went well also, it runs fine there. BUT, I should have tried it on this laptop I keep in my cellar workshop. Cura won't run on the laptop. It's a Celeron machine running Windows 7, though it is old and limited in spec. After the splash screen, which takes a huge long time, Windows crashes it out. It's impractical for me to move the TAZ to the living room, and it is impractical for me to move our main computer to the cellar, so I guess I need a new laptop. That is a bummer, to say the least.

-Ed

 

[Dave Paine]

Before you give up on the laptop, see if Slic3r works. I am using this at the moment.

Slic3r site

 

[ebolton]

Before you give up on the laptop, see if Slic3r works. I am using this at the moment.

Slic3r site

No new laptop or software at the moment. Maybe later. I had downloaded Cura from the Luzbot site, figuring it would likely be newer than the version supplied on the SD card that came with the printer. It probably is, but I tried installing the version on the SD card instead, and it worked fine on the laptop. The sample octopus thing came out great.

I see even with this "turnkey" solution, there will be some fiddling and diddling to be done.

I'm fairly impressed with the hardware, except for the provisions for holding and controlling the filament spool. I had read that is a priority upgrade for many Lulzbot owners, and I now concurr.

There must be a lot of blinking LED's on that control board, and they must be really bright. Through the air vents in the back of the housing, it looks like the thing is on fire!

The sounds are almost musical. I could fall asleep listening to it. I know my wife won't like the sound, though, which is one reason this must stay in the workshop.

-Ed

 

[brino]

It's impractical for me to move the TAZ to the living room, and it is impractical for me to move our main computer to the cellar, so I guess I need a new laptop. That is a bummer, to say the least.

I currently have a nearly 20 foot length of USB cable between the PC and the printer.....made of 3 separate cables hooked together. Not pretty, but it works!

The sounds are almost musical. I could fall asleep listening to it. I know my wife won't like the sound, though, which is one reason this must stay in the workshop.

TRUE STORY: Within the first couple days we had it there was some bag pipe music on the radio. When I came back into the room I did NOT notice that the printer was running. I guess it's the rhythm of the stepper X and Y motors.

For me it's the smell of using ABS filament that will get the machine kicked out of the basement to the shop.

-brino

 

[middle.road]

First glitch. I assembled the TAZ 6; it went well. I had previously installed Cura on my main computer in my living room. That went well also, it runs fine there. BUT, I should have tried it on this laptop I keep in my cellar workshop. Cura won't run on the laptop. It's a Celeron machine running Windows 7, though it is old and limited in spec. After the splash screen, which takes a huge long time, Windows crashes it out. It's impractical for me to move the TAZ to the living room, and it is impractical for me to move our main computer to the cellar, so I guess I need a new laptop. That is a bummer, to say the least.

-Ed

<begin rant>
Forget a Celeron based PC for anything productive besides Surfing and reading E-mail.
If I had a quarter for everytime a friend/acquaintance has called me in the last 20 years _after_ they bought a Celeron based machine and could not accomplish what they wanted to, I would be sitting on a white sand beach, under a palm tree with a very fine adult beverage in hand.
They are strictly a price point engineered processor put out by Intel to create low price computers.
They have their place but number crunching will never be it.
Just as in the 'ancient' times when an 80286 required an 80287 math co-processor and and 80386 likewise required an 80387 co-processor, to be able to do any number crunching or CAD work, the Celeron doesn't have that level of capability. I've seen them fail time and again on simple spreadsheets with a minimum of calculations. Sorry, I just can't stand them. They hinder folks trying toaccomplish something and then that experience sours the person on computers in general. </end rant>
If you go to upgrade look at used lease-back equipment. Easy on the budget comes with a warranty from the reseller - I have steered numerous folks that direction with only one problem. But he was the type of person who was never happy with anything, be it vehicle, lawn equipment, appliances, ETC.

 

[middle.road]

Now for the over the top All-one-machines.
One that I came across is called the Boxzy, Prints, Carves, Mills, but doesn't make coffee, and there's a few other's out there that are similar.
However, the cost ($$$$) of them creates a hurdle for hobbyists. But man some of them look real sweet. The enjoyment factor might be worth it for some.
They are an entire level above a standard 3D printer.

 

[ebolton]

<begin rant>
Forget a Celeron based PC for anything productive besides Surfing and reading E-mail....

I do a workout most mornings on a Concept 2 rower, and I run a program called Rowpro on this computer that interfaces with the rower to set it up and log the workouts. I also use it with Garmin Basecamp when I'm on the road. That and leisure-time web surfing when I travel is all I previously used it for, and it has worked fine for those things. It also runs the older version of Cura with no trouble. It's just the latest version that exceeds it.

Anyway, right now I'm running a test print off the SD card via sneakernet. That you can do this is one good reason for picking the TAZ over the Mini. I get to set up prints on the newer, more full featured Cura upstairs and run them on the printer downstairs, freeing up both computers while the print is running. I think that is the winner for me.

I hope to keep the crappy old laptop till Win 7 goes unsupported if I can.

-Ed

 

[FLguy]

Thanks to all of you!! I'm trying to learn Fusion 360 and my Flying Bear Ghost printer. What you guys laid out here gives me hope that this 71 yr. old can have more fun and excitement in my life.

 

[7milesup]

Thanks to all of you!! I'm trying to learn Fusion 360 and my Flying Bear Ghost printer. What you guys laid out here gives me hope that this 71 yr. old can have more fun and excitement in my life.

Never too old my friend!! I have been watching Lars Christensen lately to gain more insight and depth into my Fusion 360 knowledge. Keep in mind (and I have a hard time wrapping my head around this too) that there are usually more than one way to get to your end result. Like a "combine" command vs a "Joint" command.

Lars Christensen YouTube Channel.

 

[coherent]

Thanks to all of you!! I'm trying to learn Fusion 360 and my Flying Bear Ghost printer. What you guys laid out here gives me hope that this 71 yr. old can have more fun and excitement in my life.

I went with Autodesk Inventor and found it pretty easy to get a handle on. There are lots of online tutorials. It takes a little time to master but I really like it. If you do any other 3d cad or CNC machining it offers some great tools and excellent HSM tool path capabilities also.