Right so now I know I am working with ABS I can get the temperatures in the right region for printing. I am using 110 degs for the bed and 245 degs for the print heads.

I have also noticed that the print heads are not the same height so I can’t effectively level the bed. One head will always be a bit to high. I came across this thing on thingiverse. It also explains the reason for the spanners included with the printer.

So next problem is to print it out. More things to learn about. I gave it a go with MakerWare and by default it uses the right print head but like the picture above my right print head is a bit on the high side. You’d think you just choose the print head you want to use in the make-it dialog but of course not. Took me a while to figure out but you have to click on the object button on the left and then which head to use.

First print came out like this on the left.

Feed jammed maybe? Try again (right.) Ok so maybe not high enough feed rate. Easy to fix in Cura – just up the flow rate. Not in Makerware though. Came across a youtube vid describing another thing which incidentally mentioned changing a setting for ABS called feed rate multiplier. Coupled with my previous experiments with flow rate calibration I figured that this is the thing I needed to change. For ABS it needs to be 0.85 and PLA 0.97 for a base setting. You need to do some more calibrated feeds to get this exactly but it will do for now. And try again.

And we have a winner!

You can see here the problems you get with ABS and drafts. Its really hot in the office and the printer is by an open window. The near right edge shows warping caused by the draft. It’s ok on this print as it does not interfere with the surface I am going to use. There is also some delamination. Other than that it printed out quite fast and the mounting holes are reasonably round.