![\"\"](\"http:\/\/skjm.com\/icam\/img\/icam_icon.png\"){kind=icon}
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After one reel of filament failed me (it was inconsistent in thickness, which happens rarely, but is not unheard of) 2 hours into a 5 hour print, clogging inside the extruder head, I felt I needed some way to monitor the printing process without having to run up and down the stairs every few minutes. Normally prints just work. But I still feel the need to see the progress just in case bad things happen.<\/p>\n
For example, during a recent print the scaffolding supporting a part of the model that stuck off into space cracked and fell over. I saw it in time to pause the print, superglue the scaffold back into place and rescue my print.<\/p>\n
So I felt I needed a Nanny Cam for my printer. I went looking for something to fit the purpose. I found iCam, which runs server software on your computer which takes the output from your web cam and plays it on your iPhone or iPod.<\/p>\n
Before this I had built a fume hood for my printer<\/a>. Later, I printed an armature for my web cam that could be snapped to one of the upright struts on my fume hood.<\/p>\n It’s designed to fit the Logitech Pro 9000. The tail fits into the square cup, while the rounded cuff fits around the upright strut of my fume hood:<\/p>\n Now I can monitor my prints at any time on my iPhone and my iPad.<\/p>\n So now I use my Nanny Cam (as my wife coined it) to keep an eye on the print without having to run up and down stairs all the time.<\/p>\n Clock<\/strong><\/p>\n The one thing the Nanny Cam can’t do is tell me how much time is left in the print. I thought of hooking up a second web cam to just monitor the count-down timer on the Afinia print software, but duh… iPhones have an app called “Clock” which can be used as a countdown timer.<\/p>\n So I use that.<\/p>\n I set the countdown timer to a few minutes before the print should end (by Afinia software estimate, which is usually fairly accurate.) That way I can be in the room when the print ends so I can be there to set up another print immediately.<\/p>\n It prevents wasted time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the moment I can’t print a 3D model from my iPhone or my iPad or other mobile device. However I have found a couple of ways that an iPhone or iPad (or mobile device) can be of help in … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thingiverse-production.s3.amazonaws.com\/renders\/5e\/27\/cc\/0c\/16\/web-cam-armature-assembled_preview_featured.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thingiverse-production.s3.amazonaws.com\/renders\/f7\/6e\/fe\/13\/48\/web-cam-armature-in-use_preview_featured.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"2013-10-24](\"http:\/\/www.huxter.org\/words\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/2013-10-24-19.54.30-e1382661721837-600x450.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.apple.com\/ipod-touch\/built-in-apps\/images\/clock_icon.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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