I would recommend using whatever the latest version of jyers firmware is with UBL enabled if you have a bltouch probe. My personal preference is the 10x10 grid size.

Dont have a probe yet, was just looking at the mesh bed leveling version of jyers firmware and curious if it performs as good as the probe.

I have, sort of anyways. I have BigTreeTech motherboard in my Ender, and the BLTouch. But the BigTree just runs the Marlin code, so should be fairly similar.

I have to admit, the BLTouch calibration is slick. Does a 5x5 matrix probe, stores the data, then extrapolates the fudge factor when printing. My build plate (aftermarket, not Ender) has a slight warp in the middle that would be a 'no go' using the 4 corner springs calibration. No biggie for the BLTouch. You need to dial in the Z offset once, but easy to do.

I've used the Ender's 'manual' version of creating a matrix too, prior to getting the BigTreeTech mother board. Worked extremely well. If I hadn't already had a BLTouch, I think I would have been perfectly happy using the Ender software version.

I don't really get the need for auto leveling... I go literally hundreds of print hours without needing to re calibrate unless I've moved the machine or changed out the nozzle. Even then, it takes maybe 30 seconds to get it just right. The key is having a flat glass bed I suppose. I bought the Ultrabase for Ender 5 Pro off of eBay. Not only is it flat as can be, Ultrabase has a great textured surface on it that makes models stick really well. It's much better than the Creatility glass replacement base.

I might try that. Yeah its to compensate for warped beds mostly...at least from what I've read. Like mine...i can tell during the four spring corner calibration that its super slightly the shape of a bowl. I can get the corners decently consistent with the the paper test, but always a bigger gap right at the center.

Yep, that was my problem. I think you'll be fine using the software version. It's actually rather easy, the hotend just moves from spot-spot. At each location you just raise or lower the nozzle to set the gap (like most, I used paper to get the gap), then just save the measurements.

He's a video on it (9:00 min mark):

I think it's already enabled in the latest firmware? Not sure, maybe someone can chime in?

You might want to ditch the stock bed springs for some yellow ones.

wish I knew last week.......my creality glass bed lasted 3 days before the coating came off with a model this morning. Amazon return!

You mean the one with the black dot pattern? those never last period. You always want to use PEI sheets on top of whatever surface you have, I prefer the magnet + PEI powder coating on flexible sheet.
amazon.com link »

If it wasnt for the warped part, dont mind that glass with the pattern. Its been holding the prints perfectly and prints pop off when it cools. Been a year or so and still rocking the same glass.

no, it was the creality glass with PEI coating

I had the PEI get stuck and rip as well.

That looks great!

Just for clarification here, on the Ender (at least on my Ender 5 Pros), when thermal runaway occurs, it shuts off the heating elements so that it DOESN'T start a fire. It also lets out a loud & steady alarm tone that you can hear from far away so you'll know to go address it. I've had this occur when the thermocouple or heating element go bad -- which are relatively easy and inexpensive to replace.

Thanks SkyKing. I was really referring to some of the older Enders. From what I understand, it apparently was in the firmware, but was off by default. And the only way to update was thru an Arduino or some other cumbersome method. It's been awhile since then, and like you said - it's enabled now. But I sometimes wonder if there's new 'old stock' still floating around out there, especially when I see an Ender at a really good price. So I usually point out the possible thermal runaway on the older boards just so a potential buyer is aware of the difference.

Probably been ~1 - 1.5 years since Creality updated their motherboards? Not sure of that exact time frame. My Ender didn't have it enabled, but I just bought a BigTreeTech motherboard instead (had some neat features at the time).

Is there an easy way to test if it has thermal runaway or not?

Do you have a Ender? If so, what version? Try seeing if the board version pops up on the screen when you turn it on. Other option is to just go into the settings and look for it.

Sorry, probably much not help.

FWIW, here's mine that does have the thermal runaway protection. There's probably a list or something out there somewhere.

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Printing with PETG today for the first time. So far so good next up I’m going to try TPU.

I just added another Gottlieb EM part to Thingiverse. These EM score reel card guides always seem to be disintegrating in my games, so I started making these a while back to help restore a Ship Mates and a Dodge City for my collection. The old guides can be removed pretty easily by breaking what is left of them away and cutting the rivet with some sturdy cutters. The new guides can be installed with rivets, #2 hardware, or even thin mounting tape such as 3M "467MP". The holes will all line up with the original mounting holes including the hole for the pin that retains the score reel. These fit in 60's Gottlieb games with the "Rat Trap" score reels. It is possible these can fit on other games.

It took a while for me to get all the holes in the model to line up with the originals. This is the same STL file as the part sold on my pinside store. Feel free to print for yourself or your friends!

Edit: Notice the light beige color Geeetech PLA looks a lot like old yellowed plastic. Sometimes it is nice to match some older parts and this is a great trick!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5231252
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Ok, another one of my designs to Thingiverse. This is a switch cover just like those in older Gottlieb EM and SS games. I found versions of this online before, but I didn't like the way they printed because it needed a ton of support. I made my own design with it split in two pieces to print with with a very little bit of support; just the entry way for the wires and none anywhere else. Also, three different switch plates because I have come across three different size and shapes of switches. There is also a taller cover base that will fit the larger 1/2" mount toggle switches used in Williams and other games. Uses the same top as the shorter base.

Suggest E6000 clear glue to glue the top to the base with a small bead around the inside. This is great glue for using on 3D models and I highly recommend it.

Feel free to print all you need for yourself and friends.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5233929

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Thanks to those that responded!

Thanks so much for posting.

Very cool, thanks !

3D printed pinball cabinet for Nintendo Switch! Works great with PinballFX3. I remixed it from a prior design with permission. Link to free file and with instructions and links for a few parts on Amazon. It's a no lag USB controller so it feels like real time flipping. The 2nd buttons on each side are for nudging. I added the ACDC art but you can customize for any machine. Enjoy!20220215_184026 (resized).jpg

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5247535

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Thanks for posting these, need to print some out this weekend and left my custom shield files at work.

Re-scaled in the slicer for the dimensions I required and came out great in ABS.

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That's awesome

I just wanted to quickly share my story, and also thank y'all for sharing your pinball models.

Bought the kids an Ender 3 V2 for xmas (the kids honey, it's for the kids). Lasted 1.5 prints then no power. Went back for warranty repair, they replaced the motherboard and power supply. Back and I couldn't get the bed level sorted (it kept shifting) or adhesion (I thought heated bed and skirt was enough initially). I was getting frustrated, 20 attempts to start a simple print. I finally worked it out, and level the bed on-the-fly as it prints the skirt or brim. That's working a treat.

So far I've printed out pinball ball holders, 5.25" speaker adaptors, phone holders, some pug dogs for the wife, and today I made my first model from scratch which is a spacer/adaptor for an upgraded cabinet woofer I'm installing. Took a while to get the basic shape done in Meshmixer because I was learning that from scratch too.

So all in all a bit more complicated than I'd envisaged, but got there in the end and it's easily paid for itself a month in. The printer seems to be on most days! So much to do. I'm looking forward to learning more about the software so I can do things like accurately add screw holes to the adaptor ring for example (I'm just going to drill them for now).

But yeah, just a quick note to say that it took a bit of practice but has been well worth the effort, and a massive thank-you to those sharing pin-related files. I'll be sure to pay it forward once I've got something respectful to share

Glad to hear it! I have also done some on-the-fly leveling to get out of a bind, but it shouldn't be needed and is a sign of another issue that should be resolved. Make sure your X-gantry is tight and level. You can adjust the eccentric nut on the wheel at either end to do this. If you try to push/pull on the right side of the X-gantry there really shouldn't be any movement or wobble.

Reminds me of what I always tell people interested in getting their first 3D printer. No one thing super hard, more like hundreds of little things to learn, and any one of those things can cause a print to fail if it not set correctly.

Man, those little things.... I just ran into a new one for me last night. Was printing a little bracket that was going to be a 2 hour print. I left and came back close to it being done and saw that it kinda missed a few layers in between. There was a glob somewhere in the middle where it helped build the remaining layers but thought it was maybe a one-off extruding glitch since it was working past those layers as well. Printed again and from a distance would hear something like a snap...or tension that was stuck then released. Run to the printer and the exact same layer height with the same glob started happening. So it feels the z-axis in that spot is having an issue? everything moves freely when its off but having two identical issues occur back to back has me now trying to inspect every little thing that could go wrong. Fun? yeah but time consuming

If anyone has upgrades for Ripley’s machines I would love to see them! I’m working on a roller skating penguin but I’m still a noob when it comes to the cad creations.

3d printed pcb brackets for some Bally Aux and sound boards.

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Curious how long the print time on the 5.25 adapters was? Our library has 3D printers I can book but as much as I appreciate a good book I don’t want to spend all day there

Too many variables to just give you a time (e.g. printer speed, resolution, infill %, infill pattern, ironing or not, supports or not, etc.) To know for yourself download the STL, load into your slicer of choice (whatever your library uses - download the software to your own computer and configure it to your library's 3D printer model), configure print settings, then slice the model and the slicer will give you amount of filament used and print time.

Alternatively, if you already have another project booked do the above on your library's computer and then you'll know how much time to reserve the next time.

Awesome, I did read a bit about that on the modules the library makes you do before you can access the printer. There’s a local guy that prints on the cheap as well (I’ve used him before) but figured I’d give it a whirl.

Thingiverse will no longer let you download files if it detects you have an ad blocker in place. Even things like Pihole are stopping it. I was able to use a .stl "search engine" and get to files and download them. Just a heads-up.

The snap back noise is too much pressure build up in the chamber, so the stepper/hold on filament slips. I noticed issues like this when ironing was on, after ironing a low layer it would clog the chamber for a while skipping several layers. If not ironing, you may need an adjustment of travel or print speed

I'm pretty sure you're spot on in respect to the noise being the stepper feeding the filament slipping, I heard/seen that too. I can't recall exactly what I did to resolve it tho. I've never did the ironing...perhaps feeding too much filament (but I usually use the defaults) or a nozzle clogging up.

Yeah, it was just odd it was in the exact same layer in the exact same point on the layer as well. I rotated the file and made it past that line and been working fine since then.

Mine was just over 5 hours per piece at 20% infill, but then went to 35% and it was 6 hours. That's just with a raft at the Ender 3's default print speed (and most other settings pretty much default).

Thanks that helps! Looks like the kid with the side gig is getting a few bucks

What a great idea and design! I wish I would have thought it up and designed it myself. Oh wait... I did.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

Bet you wish you'd patented that!

I love this incredible machine that lives in my house and does whatever I want it to.

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Hey! Has anyone 3D printed a stern five drop target shelf yet? Thanks!

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Sure have, for a buddy. Not sure if it was a 5 bank or a different number of banks.

Edit: Found it. Looks like it was a 4 bank.

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A single bank is at Thingiverse, I just copied and pasted to get the right number. I recall adjusting the length slightly.

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Dudah what kind of hot end setup is that? Looks pretty awesome.

I am not as fussy as your average collector about quality of repros. I can live with a couple of mistakes here and there ... they're repro parts ... if you want a perfect original, pay thru the nose for it .

Having said that, I cannot see how Classic Arcades is allowed to make the garbage they sell. I would rather sand playfields down to the bare wood and draw the art with magic marker myself before putting any of their overlays on a playfield. The colors are all completely wrong and they look almost as if someone zoomed in on a smaller version of the art compressed and printed it. I guess PPS isn't getting enough complaints about it ... I wish that would change.

I'd love to know where he gets his art ... there is no way he's drawing this stuff himself.

Sorry for the rant/deviation from the topic ... I've seen too many people get completely ripped off by this guy. His playfield artwork is hot garbage.

Anyone print out a Piano mod for Twilight Zone? Probably not, but a man can dream.