Now that everything was the way I wanted it I was ready for a larger test print. I looked for a model on Thingiverse that was large enough to test the machine for resolution at larger Z value. This would determine if the machine’s Y-axis linear rail would be precise enough to deliver high resolution when there is larger moment of force applied to the linear bearings.
       After some searching I found a model of the Maltese Falcon which is a fictional statue from the 1941 Humphrey Bogart movie “The Maltese Falcon”. The actual movie prop was about 12” tall so I wanted to try printing a two piece scale model of the bird and then glue it together once the halves were complete.
       I loaded the STL file in Slic3r and then cut off the bottom 54mm of the 144mm tall model to make a cropped top section of the falcon. I then scaled the bird up to 200% to make the first section about 180mm tall (7.09”). I configured the print to have a 4 layer outer shell with a 10% rectilinear infill setting to add rigidity. I also used a layer height of 0.25mm and used the support function of Slic3r to create support columns to help with the overhangs of the print.
       To get started with the print I fed a roll of black PLA filament into the extruder and started the 17 hour long first section of the falcon. The photo below was taken several hours into printing the first section...

       I used PLA filament in lieu of ABS as it is much better at resisting warping on larger prints. I would not be able to print an ABS model of this size without risk of layer separation and severe warping.

       The M2 ran very well throughout the print considering there were over 922,000 lines of G-code to execute (individual moves) on the first half of the bird alone!!!

       All of the stepper motors were running cool as well as the driver chips during this print. The machine performed flawlessly with no loss in resolution at the higher layers of the print ;0)

       You can see the support columns that Slic3r generated to support the beak of the falcon...

       The first section of the falcon was now ready. The resolution of the model was phenomenal even at the upper layers where there is more stress on the linear bearings. I was super impressed!!!

       The MakerGear M2 is really living up to it’s reputation and I can rest assured that I made the right decision to buy this printer.

       To print the bottom of the falcon I used Slic3r to crop out the top of the model at 54mm to match the cut line at which I created the top half of the bird. This part of the model took almost 13 hours to print and had 698,000 lines of G-code in the print!!! That’s a total of 1.6 million lines of code in this statue :oP

       The  two halves of the bird were now ready for glue. I used some medium cyanoacrylate glue (Crazy Glue) to carefully attach the two pieces together at the cut line (not shown). Once joined together the model was complete.

       And now for the reveal!!! The model came out fantastic. The glossy surface of the PLA plastic is awesome. It gives the model sort of an iridescent quality that changes with it’s environment.

       I can’t believe the detail that the M2 can reproduce from a 3D model. I am super happy with the results of this test and can’t wait to print more models like this one.

       The falcon really looks great which inspires me to one day create my own designs so I can share them as well. What a wonderful thing it is to share your creativity with others for the sheer joy of being part of a community of creators ;0) We live in a time where only our imagination limits our ability to create so we should make the most of it by finding whatever inspires us to create and just go for it!!!

       Below are a several turbocharger compressor wheels that I printed out of gray PLA filament. The one on the left is 8” in diameter while the one on the right is 10”. The larger wheel was printed in two halves and then glued together. I like to imagine the huge turbo that these wheels would fit into ;0)

       Below is an extremely large wheel that I printed in three pieces which has a diameter of almost 14”. The finished print weighs three pounds and took over 65 hours to complete!!

       I can only imagine how much air a real compressor of this size could move spinning at 30,000 RPM ;0)

       PLA and ABS filaments easily glue together with Cyanoacrylate glue (Super Glue) making segmented parts an easy endeavor.

       The turbine compressor wheel prints make really cool wall art especially for the shop. It’s a real conversation starter ;0)

       Well I hope that this article will be useful to some of you who might be interested in 3D printing. I know that I have just gotten started on discovering what can be done with this awesome machine. Hopefully I will be able to share a new project that uses parts made on the M2 and explore making models with CAD software on my computer.
       I would like to thank the following “makers” for sharing their models for me to print: 3DPrinterHowTo, aaron3d, toto thomsen, Neo_Usagi and colin freeman.
I would also like to thank Rick Silz for his help in creating the X-Acto knife holder. Your efforts are appreciated!!! BTW, please check out my Thingiverse page for some M2 accessories and upgrades!!!

       I would like to thank you for reading my printer article and hope to see you on the next one!!!

Take care my friends,

Don R. Giandomenico

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