I’m trying to print a little larger than recommended on the Taz5. Specifically a circle with a diameter of 285mm. The X axis is obviously fine, but I was hoping to stretch the printablilty of the Y axis by 10mm. Is this possible?
I’m using S3D. In the G-Code tab/Update Machine Definition I changed the Y-axis to 290mm and offset the origin 7.5 to keep it centered. When I printed I got this
![](http://www.patrickstefanski3d.com/print.jpg)
As you can see the Y-Stops are still hitting at their 275mm and flattening off that part of the circle.
Any tips? Or is this more of a hardware issue ?
I would adjust the FW, have a look into config.h and tune the software endstop limits to your real limits if your realy need it. Move the axis by hand first to look for hardware limitations!
But you should also have a look at your z-offset, your 1st layer lines are not connected in a single point…
Thanks!
Can you elaborate a little on the Z-axis offset? That’s something I’m not familiar with
- Check that your first layer height is set to 100% (same height as every other layer) in your slicer unless you are printing at very thin layer heights (0.1mm or less)
- Print a single perimeter
- Measure the height of this perimeter with a caliper
- The delta between your selected layer height and your measured one is your Z-offset you should enter in your slicer.
Say you print at 0.2mm layer height and measure 0.25mm. Than you should set your Z-offset to -0.05mm.
Great, will do!
Thanks Sebastian
There is a quote in the car racing community: “Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?”
That same concept applies to your question:
I’m trying to print a little larger than recommended on the Taz5. Specifically a circle with a diameter of 285mm. The X axis is obviously fine, but I was hoping to stretch the printablilty of the Y axis by 10mm. Is this possible?
As you’ve noted, the Lulzbot spec for the build volume is 290mm x 275mm x 250mm. Since the build plate is 300mm by 300mm you can theoretically increase the build size by making a combination of HW and FW changes.
The first thing to be aware of is the fact that the bed heater is not 300mm by 300mm. If I remember correctly, it is 290mm by 290mm with a cool spot where the wires connect. If you want to use the full 300mm by 300mm area you will probably want to replace the glass/PEI plate with an aluminum plate.
The next issue is the physical HW. Probably the easiest way to increase the Y (or X) travel is to replace the Y (or X) rods and extruded chassis tubes with longer units. To increase the Y to 300mm you will need to replace the stock 500mm rods and extruded tubes with 525 rods and extruded tubes. You will then need to modify the FW to handle the extra length.