Calibration and the first extrusion

When we went to Metrix, we went to figure out our problems with the z-stage and why our stepper motors were so hot. Matt at Metrix was on his way out so he wasnt able to help us a whole lot but he was able to give us some valuable information about printing, painting, and where to look for information.

We fixed our problems with the z-stage using our iPhones as a measuring device for leveling the z-stage. We then had to figure out why the motors were over heating. We searched on the makerbot wiki to find more information about it. There was not a lot of helpful information about making the correct calibrations to reduce the current to the motors. We found out that we need to adjust the potentiometers on each of the stepper motor boards. Matt told us that adjustments to the potentiometers will only take place after a power cycle. So we made our first adjustment to the x board by turning the potentiometer off with a 3/4 counter-clockwise turn. After we powercycled, we were not able to control our x-stage anymore, which is exactly what we wanted. We made a 1/4 clockwise turn to power back on. It was just a guess. Now the z-stage motor is complete cool when its running. The y-stepper is warm but the x-stepper is still really hot. The z-stage still makes some noise when going up and down.

Our first print was a bust of a woman's torso. I was kept my eye on the model the entire time to make sure nothing was going on. I was so excited to see it build up. The instant I looked away the nozzle hit the model knocking it over. I had to stop the build. I tried another model the next morning and for some reason it printed most of the model and then changed where the zero location was and started the print at a different location.