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I think you need to linear_extrude() the text, eg linear_extrude(5) text("hello"); will make the text 5mm high.

If you do solder it yourself make sure you get an nice shiny joint. Heated beds (especially when running from a 12V supply) take a fair current and any resistance in joints and connections can be a fire risk. It would be better to solder a wire to the tab on the heated bed rather than repairing...

Yes, though I haven't noticed as huge a difference as some people report. The main difference is that the required print temperature can vary with colour. For example, white filament tends to need a higher temperature and black lower, with lesser variation between colours. It's not something I...

Thanks, there might be some good stuff here, but difficult to tell. Also requires bulk order, customs, shipping, etc. The Excelvan stuff was of known good quantity, dispatched from the UK.

I used to buy very cheap Chinese PLA made by Excelvan for about £7 (delivered) from Ebay. Sadly no longer available. It's very good stuff and I wish I could get more. If anyone finds a source of this, fill your boots (but leave some for me!)

My biggest problem when buying filament is deciding what colour to go for!

I use Real Filament PETG and it's good stuff. I would expect their PLA to be equally good, as @The Hat indicates, and is pretty reasonable value at £16-£17 on amazon (depending on colour).

One other thing I forgot to mention - increasing the number of perimeters to 3 (in Cura I think that's shell thickness=1.2mm for a 0.4mm nozzle) has quite a significant effect on strength. I usually use 2 perimeters if strength not an issue (also extrusion width can be varied in Slic3r, and I...

Great work @The Hat! Increasing infill does increase strength, but I rarely need to go above 25% infill (usually plenty strong), apart from a part I made for my bike (a temporary derailleur hangar that lasted a couple of hundred miles till I got a proper metal one) I went to 80%. 100% can...

What baud rate are your running at? Try dropping it to see if it improves (prob best not to go above 57600). Have you tried using Pronterface to uploaded your gcode to the sdcard in the printer? Click on the "SD" button, upload, then print from SD.

I'm sure it will work out fine. But when you want to move on to something better, you can reuse most of the main parts (motors, electronics, hotend, etc), after having printed the plastic parts, plus some extra stuff (mainly aluminium extrusions, nuts & bolts, etc) to build something like this...

I think the intention was to replace XP with Linux, which does support Cura et al.

That would be a good use for an old PC, especially so if Octoprint could be installed on it so that it can then be controlled via a web browser from another PC. However that requires a bit of effort - easier to use the ready-made Octopi distro on a raspberry pi. Even a cheap Pi Zero should work...

I think Linux is ideal for operating a 3d printer (not so much for a 2d printer) - no drivers to install, updates fully under your control, easy and secure software installs from a central repository, vastly less worry about viruses, no one spying on you, etc. You can simply install and boot...

I agree with @stratman -- I use Octoprint running on a Raspberry Pi 2 (google octopi). This runs through a web browser on any networked computer. The Pi connects to the printer via USB, but unlike streaming from a Windows PC (via Cura, Repetier host, Pronterface) you won't have to worry about...

Let me elaborate on "cold pull" as it's a useful technique for cleaning your nozzle, including partial (or complete) clogs. It will help get the excess oil from your hotend. (I wish inkjet heads where so easy to fix, or cost pennies to replace!) Assuming PLA: 1. Release the extruder clamping...

It still blows my mind that my printer uses parts that it printed for itself (some of which I designed), which in turn help print improved parts and so on. In fact, the point of the RepRap project is to have printers that can replicate/reproduce themselves (well, the specialist plastic parts).

My printer is held together with standard hex bolts, so the only tools needed are a few metric hex keys. I can recommend getting a cheap kit from China and then upgrading parts of it as and when you're ready, but be prepared to solve problems.

I used canola oil but olive should be fine (though check the smoke point). I oiled my filament to solve a problem I was having. If you're not having extrusion problems then it's probably not worth bothering with. The only issue I had when first trying it was using a bit too much oil, which...

I should add that oiling filament only applies to PLA and is a highly controversial issue in the 3d printing world. Some tests indicate that it may weaken parts, though I can't say I've noticed.