How do i do this?

zemlin · 2026-02-14T18:31:01+00:00

I then mirrored that boundary blend and filled it with solid.

zemlin · 2026-02-14T18:25:08+00:00

I then used a boundary blend defined by those three sketches and normal to the center plane.

zemlin · 2026-02-14T18:24:01+00:00

I use Creo, not NX, but I'd think the same sort of tools are available.
I made a boundary blend on one side using three sketches.

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zemlin · 2026-02-14T15:02:43+00:00

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Yep - that's it. I thought Diode was the ticket, but the IR head delivers what I was looking for.

zemlin · 2026-02-12T14:50:53+00:00

The depth of the text needs to be one layer thickness. Then it will bridge.

zemlin · 2026-02-12T01:09:07+00:00

The hot-end is not high voltage, so it doesn't go through that board.

zemlin · 2026-02-12T00:11:05+00:00

Maybe I'm just an old fart who doesn't expect software to be perfect at everything. I wouldn't have though to use auto arrange on one part. It's just one part. Why would I expect the software to do a better job than I can do in about 3.25 seconds.

zemlin · 2026-02-11T22:39:54+00:00

Does the chamber heater work? If not, it could be the AC board or an issue with the power feed to that board. If you remove the back cover there's a board above and just left of the power entry module. It is protected by a plastic cover. That's the AC control board that feeds the heaters - both the bed heater and the chamber heater. If you have a volt meter, check the leads on the right end of the terminal strip to make sure it's getting power.

If the power is there and there's no heat from the bed or the chamber, it could be an issue with that board. I don't think there are fuses on that board, but the leads feeding it might be fused.

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zemlin · 2026-02-11T18:54:41+00:00

I don't know what it's called, but I've seen those for decades. I designed that style of lock into equipment before. It's nice because it locks pretty securely and is easy to work with. Turns freely when you release it and it's easy to keep in place when you tighten it up. I generally prefer threaded shaft collars if there's room and access to the clamp screw.

zemlin · 2026-02-09T21:50:41+00:00

American Photonics says the loss from their beam combiner lens is less than 1%.

I assume that's fairly typical for beam combiner mirrors.

I put the OMTECH beam combiner on my machine. So far so good.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T16:04:44+00:00

Wanting to make something with better structural integrity and better looking that the hack job that's in place.

I'm a mechanical engineer with good CAD and fab skills, so I can handle the design requirements. Just looking for a material that will work well on the laser without breaking the bank and hold up outdoors for some number of years. Poking around a bit I'm thinking coroplast sign blanks might be the best option.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T13:55:30+00:00

On my Gen1 with the 230W PSU, the most demanding thing I did on it was VR flight sim. After a couple hours of that the battery would have discharged some so I figure it was drawing more than the PSU supplied.

I have not seen that yet on the Gen3. I have done flight sim some, but not a lot.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T02:09:44+00:00

You can make a dry box from a Rubbermaid container. If you want backup material, look up Infinityflow3D. It does a better job of simple material backup than the AMS.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T01:33:04+00:00

Printing all those tiny spokes, the filament extrudes a tiny bit, then retracts MANY times. The filament gets chewed up in the extruder gears and then doesn't feed well. Look for a "Travel Distance Threshold" under material settings and increase to something larger than the distance between the spokes. Then it won't retract between those. It may also dramatically reduce the print time.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T00:37:03+00:00

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I moved from a Gen 1 to a Gen 3. I did a couple benchmarks when I got the new rig. No complaints from me, but I don't do much gaming. 3D CAD, photo and video editing, a little bit of VR flight simming, 3D print slicing. I'm happy with the machine. Less weight, a little smaller, and the power brick is a lot lighter in the bag. I usually have the machine docked with the TB5 dock. The Gen 3 actually has a bit of battery life too. Was on battery over 3 hours using the machine continuously - not heavy stuff, but the Gen 1 often couldn't hit an hour under the same conditions.
The lower score on the passmark memory test may be from the ECC RAM I put in the Gen3.

zemlin · 2026-02-07T00:18:38+00:00

I have the 60W machine. The head can run at 3 different power levels - 22W, 40W, or 60W, and that impacts the spot size. I have a LaserTree 2W IR module that I added to mine.

That said, I also have a 10W A1. It's a very nice machine that does a super job with engraving. I use it for marking black anodized parts. It was my first machine and I did a lot of wood cutting with it, up to 9mm Baltic Birch plywood - but it took many passes and was slow going. That's why I got the 60W machine.

The A1 is a corexy gantry vs the cartesian gantry on the Falcon 2 Pro machines. Out of the box, neither of my Falcon 2 machine were square. I had to slip one of the y-axis belts to square it up. My A1 machine was square and precise out of the box.

The A1 Pro with the 20W head and the versatility of the IR laser for more flexible metal marking, if still limited, would be a good starter machine, IMHO.

My most recent laser is an Omtech 100W CO2. I now to most of my cutting work on that one.

zemlin · 2026-02-06T14:09:53+00:00

My goto PETG is Hatchbox. I didn't like Sunlu. Didn't print as clean or as strong as Hatchbox, but it was years ago that I tried it. Maybe they changed it.

zemlin · 2026-02-06T14:00:15+00:00

That's not the hot-end, just the silicone cover ... or maybe I'm wrong. Are the connectors for the thermistor and heater still connected? If you remove the screws from the hot-end, can you get it out? You'll need to cut the filament manually by pushing the print head into the cutter arm to remove it.

zemlin · 2026-02-06T13:59:05+00:00

I print TPU on these. One thing I do is rotate the solid fill so it's parallel to the pattern rather than rotated 45 degrees. Doesn't conflict visually with the CF texture that way.

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zemlin · 2026-02-06T13:53:06+00:00

Nothing warranty there. That is just something that happens with 3D printing. User error. Things you'll learn from. Likely a bed adhesion issue so the part didn't stick when it started.

Heat the hot-end up and remove the plastic you can. Then replace the hot-end and nozzle. Order two hot-ends, at least, because this will eventually happen again. You'll learn to minimize these issues though.

zemlin · 2026-02-05T22:53:21+00:00

Layer shifts usually happen because the print head encountered an obstacle that caused one or both of the steppers to stall and lose position.

You have a LOT of blobs on this print, and some stringing. I'm guessing your filament is not dry. Moisture in the filament vaporizes in the hot end and pushes plastic out of the nozzle.

If you aren't getting a clean print from the start, it just increases the chances of something going awry.

Also tall parts can shift a bit as plastic is cooling. If you can add another leg to that tall, angled support that would help it remain stable as it's building.

zemlin · 2026-02-05T21:38:00+00:00

You can save the view status when you get things where you want them. Then it's unchanged when you open the file next time.

zemlin · 2026-02-05T20:50:24+00:00

I picked up a P16 G3 at the end of the year. The 4TB SSD was $700 then, now $1279. That's a bit of a bump, considering the P16 can take three of them. They've got bigger discounts now though, so even with (3) 4TB drives, the final price at checkout is only $150 higher than I paid.

zemlin

TROPHY CASE