Life with the new MarkOne

On Monday, I finally got my registration issues with Eiger resolved.  I wasn't going to use specific product names and screenshots in this blog post, but I just noticed that Markforg3d updated their website and are now showing off their software.  So I assume that I can now pretty much talk about whatever I want!  Eiger is their cloud-based 3D printing software.  I'm concerned about this platform for the obvious reasons, like how they can shut a printer down with a remote command if they really wanted to, and how customers are stuck with a paperweight if they go out of business.  I hope they eventually release desktop software for the MarkOne, I really do.  More about the software later.

So, how was the setup experience?  Overall, it was simple and there weren't any surprises.  The only problem I ran into was that the dry box that comes with the MarkOne is a rather large OTS Pelican case, and it doesn't fit on the bookshelf with my MarkOne.  All of the photos online show just the printer, but I think they should also post accurate images where they've got a large black plastic box adjacent to the printer. Or they could avoid this altogether by shipping with longer flexible tubing so customers have the freedom to place the dry box wherever they like.  Since I was forced to place the box to the left of the MarkOne, I just left it sitting precariously between my desk and bookshelf.

The spool holder is really nicely designed.  They printed it out of nylon and embedded magnets for attaching the end cap.  All you have to do is put the spool on the holder, snap on the magnetic end cap, and then drop the assembly into the dry box.  Next, feed the filament to the MarkOne, power it up, and then run the load filament utility from the touchscreen.  Simple!

Power up video!  Ok, it's not that exciting and it's also upside-down.

And here is the model that I decided to use, along with some of the images of the file getting processed.

The next step involved figuring out Eiger without first looking for a manual.  Thankfully, the software is so easy that you don't even need one.  It's a bit light on the options -- I like the fact that they don't expose a lot of features, but I'd also like to see customizable slicer profiles that allow me to mess with bridge settings, at the very least.  Of course, this assumes that their software even supports bridging.  I have no idea if it's an in-house software, or if they are using someone elses under the hood.  I'm sure that the fiber-related code is all theirs, though.  One other small nitpick is that they use sliders for entering some of the information.  I would much rather enter the parameters via textboxes because I generally don't like having to drag an object on the screen around just to decrease my number of base layers from 4 to 2.  I just want to hit 2.  If it's a slider where the exact number doesn't matter so much (like in my GUIs where 1 unit doesn't make a whole lot of difference), then it's generally okay in my book.

Overall, the workflow is intuitive and quick.  After logging in, you start in your library, where you can simply drag and drop STL files.  From there you can choose which object you'd like to print.  It takes a little while to process each step because the data is uploaded to their server, processed, and then the resulting data is downloaded to the browser.  Oh, did I forget to mention Eiger only supports Chrome?  Not a big deal for me, but I just wanted to let you know.

The 3D rendered parts are gorgeous.  I haven't seen a single 3D printer software package that renders models this nicely.  I also love how rotation is extremely quick compared to something like MakerWare, which I use with my Replicator 2.


Once the part is sliced and viewable, you can check out the individual layers by clicking Internal View and cycling through the layers.  Finally, click Save and then Print.  Select your printer from the droplist of available printers (I guess companies can afford multiple of these expensive machines), click Print again and the data will get transmitted over the network to your MarkOne.  That's it!

Having a cloud-based printer software is extremely nice.  Let's say you're at work and you come across a part that you really like.  Just submit the job remotely through Eiger, and you might be lucky enough to have a completed part right when you get home!


I submitted the print job and waited for it to complete.  Unfortunately, it was a failure because the part came out warped (but at least it completed!).  I guess I was expecting too much by assuming that a machine that claims 10 micron repeatibility can stay level even after shipping.  :)

I ran the bed leveling program, which was extremely simple to follow.  The only thing that bothered me was that no matter how many times I leveled the bed, I couldn't get the piece of paper to slip under the extruder nozzle at the center point.  I also noticed that the knobs are extremely sensitive.  If you literally tap them, you can go from feeling slight resistance to feeling none at all.  Despite all of this, my reprinted part came out very flat.  Here are the two prints side-by-side.

After this model printed, I moved on to an iPhone 6+ stand since my wife has been bugging me to design one and I keep forgetting.  I ended up just printing the awesome Octopus Stand by notcolinforreal on Thingiverse.

I then moved on to printing a stretch bracelet from anoved and a couple of GT2 and GT3 belts by LionAlex.  Nylon is a pretty awesome material.  I've wanted to print this material for a very long time, but didn't have a printer capable of handling the higher extruder temperature.  I love how it's very stretchy and tough.  The belts seem to work pretty well (I'd rather have an OTS belt, of course), but these can work for some prototyping.  The bend radius isn't very good, but I think that if you're willing to sacrifice durability, you can print with 0% fill, 0 base layers, and 1 shell.  The print will delaminate but the teeth are still intact!

After all of this printing, I decided to move to Kevlar printing last night.  Setting it up was also simple, but you need to read the directions.  It's very important to use the provided tape to keep the kevlar fiber under tension.  Just feed the fiber through the tube until it reaches the feeder/cutter mechanism and then run the load utility.  It will feed the fiber all of the way through the extruder, and when you tell it to cut, it will cut off that length of fiber, which you can then pull out through the extruder.

I decided to print the Mini Flame Wheel Styler Quadcopter by tosjduenfs, because quadcopters need to be tough, but rigid.  This would be a perfect test to see how stiff the parts come out, and how heavy they are compared to tosjduenfs' numbers.


Unfortunately, the first print failed because the nylon jammed up before the first layer was even partially complete.  You know it's jammed because the extruder makes a loud clicking noise, which is pretty much like all other FDM printers out there.  The layer was extremely thin, and almost looked thinner than 0.1mm.  I tried again and got the same results.  The funny thing is that fiber prints start each layer by printing a "timeline" cylinder in the rear left corner of the build plate, and the first layer of the cylinder printed perfectly.  I cleaned off the build platform and tried again -- exact same result.

As a sanity check, I printed the quadcopter piece without fiber, just to verify that it was a software issue and not a bed-leveling issue.  The part printed perfectly, so it had to be software.

In the main settings page under "Material Settings", you can enable the "Use Fiber" option.  However, when you do this, the "Layer Height" setting disappears.  If you disable Use Fiber and change the layer height to 0.2mm, it resets to 0.1mm if you disable/re-enable Use Fiber.  I figured the printing problem could be related to this, so I disabled fiber.  The trick is that you can still selectively enable fiber after you slice the part!

With the new approach to using fiber, the first layer of nylon went down!  And the second!  And the first layer of Kevlar!  But then the fiber feeder jammed.  :(  I aborted the print and started looking into it by checking the online help pages.  It could definitely be an extruder jamming problem, so I followed the disassembly instructions.  The fiber was still in the tube -- it hadnt even reached the end of the extruder.  I then disconnected the feed tube from the output of the feeder/cutter and extracted the fiber.  What I found interesting was that there was still a piece of fiber in the tube after I removed the other piece!  I only ran the load procedure once, so this fiber had to have been left in the tube prior to shipment.  So I think what happened is that the fiber that got jammed had actually gotten caught up on the other piece, which then gunked up the inside of the feeder/cutter mechanism.

I imagine that the cutter is slightly complicated, so I submitted an online help request through Eiger.  I really like how you can post comments on any canceled print, and that this feedback goes back to Markforg3d for review.  That's a nice touch.

Well, we'll see if I can get this problem resolved with an engineer today!  I'm waiting for the call.

After a week with the MarkOne, I have to say that it's a nice looking, pretty nicely engineered product.  It almost works perfectly out of the box and the software has worked well so far, with the exception of a couple of problems.  My only real complaint with the design is that it is loud.  Stepper motors bolted to a metal frame just make too much noise.  Operation is noisy, and the final procedure of lowering the build platform is even noiser -- so much that when it completed a print last night, my wife yelled "WHAT WAS THAT???".  Hopefully, this is something they can address by softening the mounts, or changing the step resolution.  It's definitely possible to get quieter stepper operation.  My PP3DP Up! printer is really, really quiet in comparison to all of my other 3D printers.