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  1. #1
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    Default Brass removal...

    Not sure what the root cause was, but the levelling knobs came off early in an 8 hour print. Which resulted in negative clearance between the bed and the nozzle...

    Most of the nozzle is now nicely plated across the glass bed.
    20220427_222201.jpg


    20220427_222717.jpg
    I'm inclined to leave it, but i wondered if citric acid or weak hydrochloric would remove it?

    Its an ender 5plus, the glass bed is slightly textured with a coating i think. (its pretty tough)

  2. #2
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    A levelling knob has come off on my printer during printing but fortunately it happened when the Z-axis what about 50mm above the bed. It made a complete mess of the print but it did not affect the bed.

    Unless your brass "plating" affects bed adhesion I would tend to leave it.

    You can try citric but I suspect it will be too slow.
    Citric might also preferentially dissolve the zinc and leave the copper behind.
    Hydrochloric should remove both but it might also soften the textured coating.

    If you buy the Bondall HCL from Bunnings that is around 32% HCl which is super strong - I would dilute a small amount by a factor 10 to about 3% and put a few drops on the edge and see what it does. Remember to add the acid, drop wise to water and not the other way around.
    I would then add a few drops of th dilute solution to the edge of the plate and observe what happens.
    If on contact with the brass it bubbles away nicely keep using it - if after a few minutes noting happens try doubling that concentration to 6% and repeat this until it bubbles.
    As soon as the brass is gone dump the plate into a bicarb soda solution to neutralise it.

    To stop it happening again my son suggested adding some locking nuts to the levelling knobs/screws.
    However, on some knobs there's no, or not enough thread coming through the levelling knob so longer screws will be needed.
    If a small (mine are M4s?) nut is used as the locking nut this will be awkward to get at during locking off. What I plan to do is make pairs of knob (one on top of the other) out of 5 or 6mm thick Al plate. To raise/lower the bed the top knob is rotated and to lock off the underside knob is use. Although I will knurl the knobs for better grip, because the two knobs will be close together locking the bottom one will be tricky to do without moving the upper knob. What I plan to do is drill holes around the edges of each knob so long thin hex keys can be inserted into the holes to hold the upper knob while lower knob is locked. Other suggestions welcome!

    I want to start using some hardened steel nozzles but I'm not going to do this until I have the locking bed levelling knobs in place.
    Last edited by BobL; 12th May 2022 at 08:22 PM.

  3. #3
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    I finally got round to making the locking knobs for the levelling wheels on the 3D printer bed from some 45mm Al round bar.
    4knobs.jpg

    Here's what they look like on the printer.
    I had to replace the stock 40mm longCS M4 screws with 50 mm long ones.
    Its pretty awkward to get them on but once they're on they're not coming off too often.
    They also look tricky to lock but that's not too bad even by hand
    LockingKnobsonprinter.jpg

    Only issue is the grey ally clashes a bit with the flashy red anodised levelling knobs - makes me want to take up anodising - OH NO not another hobby projects.

    After I installed them this I realised it would be possible to use a second set of standard knobs but you would would still have to get longer screws.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    …makes me want to take up anodising...
    Don’t do it- it’s a LOT of work. It would be an ideal candidate for a group project, because the cost of the chemicals and the setup aren’t worth it for small runs.
    Chris

  5. #5
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    Don’t do it- it’s a LOT of work. It would be an ideal candidate for a group project, because the cost of the chemicals and the setup aren’t worth it for small runs.
    Thanks for the tip. I already have most of the chemicals and a fume hood but the usual issue is space. Also not sure I want to spend the time getting up to speed,

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