Anyone into 3D printing?

[CVMichael]

I just bought a 3D printer on amazon. HICTOP Prusa I3 It seems pretty similar to yours CV....

Very nice dclamp!

Yes, it looks a lot like mine, and half the price *jealous*

The print size also looks nice, but the dimensions are confusing... it says "Printing size: 270*200*170mm", but what is the print bed size? is it 270mm by 200mm, or 200mm by 170mm? the height does not matter that much... I very rarely need to print tall parts.

If it is 270 by 200, then it's nice! The print bed size is that matters the most. Mine is 200mm by 200mm...

Good thing that it's a heated bed, but only up to 70 degrees? weird... on my printer I take it to 80 degree to print PLA plastic, and I have to take it to 130 degree to print ABS plastic... I only tried one time to print in ABS, and it did not go well. It took a very long time to reach 130 degree (about 10 minutes), and when it started printing the temperature dropped to 116 degree, and this caused sections the plastic to un-stick from the bed, and it curled up a lot, messing up the print. I think the power supply I am using cannot give it enough power to maintain the 130 degree. So when I have more time I will modify the printer to attach a second power supply to power just the heated bed separately.

What software do you use to control the printer? and what software for slicer?

I use Pronterface to control the printer, Skeinforge for slicing the STLs, and "Sketchup make" to design 3D things.

By the way, check out my "Things" on Thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/CVMichael/designs (I designed a lot more things, but I did not post them anywhere...)

If you have problems when printing, you can ask me for advice I can't wait until you get it up and running, and share ideas, and things to 3D print