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View Full Version : My RepRap Build. (3d printer for those not in the know)



Oneslowz28
06-01-2009, 08:03 PM
I haven't made anything in a few months now. The last thing I made was the Coil Gun which took all of 3 hours to actually build and the novelty wore off in about 15 min. So I had an itch to build something. Something big. I was debating on an actual scratch build case mod, but could not justify it because I have no need for a new computer right now.

I first learned about the RepRap (http://reprap.org) project via Hackaday (http://hackaday.com) about a year and a half ago. I immediately wanted to jump in feet first, but things were still very buggy and the longevity of the extrusion head was very short. So I sat back and contributed a few ideas here and there, did some technical drawings of stuff that was missing and mostly just sat back and watched the progress unfold. This brings us to this month.

I had not been on the reprap site in about 2 months. So with nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon I browsed the site for a few hours. Things had made leaps and bounds. There were completely new electronics that were more powerful and reliable, the extrusion head was completely redesigned to what I always thought would be a better design. The software was even refined. There were people getting printing resolutions of less than 0.1mm. I decided to go ahead and build me a RepRap.

But first I have to build what is known as a RepStrap. This is a Cartesian bot that will allow me to print the parts I need to make a more accurate and faster Darwin RepRap. This is not a necessary step as I could just buy all the parts laser cut from acrylic from a few places,Ponoko[url] or [url=http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/]bits from bytes (http://Ponoko.com) and just have to supply a few mechanical parts and electronics or I could buy a ready made reprap derived 3d printer CupCake CNC (http://www.makerbot.com/). But there is no fun in that. It works great for people who are not mechanically inclined or have no tools and workspace.

So on with the work log.

This post will serve as my main build log. I will be posting all of the build updates here. I will from time to time post some small updates or thoughts on my new site. (still under construction) The Maker's Workbench (http://www.themakersworkbench.com)

Oneslowz28
06-01-2009, 08:40 PM
There are many different RepStrap designs. I chose the easiest and most often built RepRap Seedling. AKA McWire Cartesian Bot v1.2 Its named McWire after the original designer.
This design is based on a previous design by Tom McGuire, and was named after him. We have since taken his design and improved upon it in a few crucial areas and adapted it for our particular needs. We are very grateful and appreciate the hard work he put in. All of our subsequent work is released under the GPL.

My goal are to take the first step and build this.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/2293533001_9dbcc3a678.jpg?v=0

and use it to eventually build this
http://reprap.org/pub/Main/WebHome/darwin-small.jpg

and I will use it to print things like these

Corner Brackets
http://lh4.google.co.uk/VikOlliver/Rw7JPMN1SAI/AAAAAAAAAO0/b1GmVbpYUxg/s400/dsc03274.jpg

Gears
http://www.reprap.org/pub/Main/ItemsMade/gear-train-2-1-7.jpg

Parts for another RepRap
http://www.reprap.org/pub/Main/ItemsMade/vik-parts-made-25-jan-2008-small.jpg

Sandals (yea I know)
http://www.reprap.org/pub/Main/ItemsMade/shoes-small.jpg

Statues
http://thingiverse_beta.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/b5/35/61/67/28/3550374856_0f66b648b7_o_preview_medium.jpg

Lego like bricks
http://thingiverse_beta.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/b1/60/d5/2f/d8/3520480987_710d573c8d_o_preview_large.jpg

Cool looking screw top boxes
http://thingiverse_beta.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/16/1d/7e/c7/6b/3411936895_ce5e325848_o_preview_large.jpg

http://thingiverse_beta.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/af/92/4b/07/c1/3358614776_35dd9e68b8_o_preview_large.jpg



It is tradition for your first print to be a shot glass. You then use that shot glass to toast your machine.

http://timpickup.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/reprap2.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Cii6PZ78wNc/SblfLJ38AzI/AAAAAAAAAE8/NHsa-UiGdJY/s320/WineGlass.jpg

and even other RepRaps
http://expansionarytimes.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/adrian20bowyer20vik20olliver.jpg

With this machine I can print anything that can be designed in 3D within the machines physical limitations. I can print custom reservoirs for water cooling, fan grills,custom drive covers, whole case faces, hhd enclosures, fan shrouds to duct air, pen bodies, tweezers, combs, flashlights, there are hundreds of thousands of things I can print. Besides how cool will it be to print stuff in the 3rd dimension?

All the above images are courtesy http://reprap.org and its contributors, http://thingverse.com and its contributors.

SXRguyinMA
06-01-2009, 09:00 PM
sweet :bowdown: I'm checkin this out!

Oneslowz28
06-01-2009, 09:27 PM
So today I ordered all of the parts needed for the McWire from McMaster-Carr, and home depot. Total came out to $98.75. Now I need to source parts for an extruder. I would prefer a pinch wheel from printed parts but if I can find an old design one used for a good price I will buy it.

I also bought the plexi for the axes stages and the bearing arms. I got it as scrap from a local glass shop for $12. Its 5mm clear. This weekend I need to head to harbor freight and pick up a 82 degree countersink. I have a spare PSU from an old atx case. I still have a few of the electronic parts to order. I need to find a flat surface hotplate so I can reflow the solder paste I have to use when I populate the electronics boards. They are surface mount. I have done reflow work before with a hotplate so this will not be new.

I plan on using a full tower pc case so I can fit all of the electronics including the host PC inside. I might be doing the first RepRap related case mod. PC plans are 2+ghz athlon x2, 4gb ram, cheap mobo with onboard video. It will more than likely have Ubuntu installed on it because open source stuff is awesome. IMO Open source software is the only way to go when planning a open source project like building a RepRap

I have linked to a google spread sheet below of the parts list and cost so far.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rgfv5cnC5sX2Y69HbNJa-1Q&single=true&gid=0&output=html

DonT-FeaR
06-02-2009, 06:39 AM
wow.. thats so awesome

Oneslowz28
06-02-2009, 08:46 AM
Well the order from McMaster-Carr will be here in a few hours. That's less than 24 hours from the order date. It helps that McMaster-Carr has a warehouse less than 3 hours from my house and after the FedEx pickup it had less than 2.5 hours to travel to my local FedEx hub.

So tonight I hope to get the base of the McWire put together. Thats the iron pipe that forms the base and upright that will hold the z axis. I put in an order for some solder paste this morning and a needle to put it on the boards. I now need to find a flat surface hotplate. Wal-mart is supposed to have one for $12

Note to self: Still need:

3 NEMA 23 8 wire stepper motors Here (http://store.makerbot.com/motors/stepper-motor-nema-23-keling-kl23h51-24-08b.html)
Extrusion head
16 skate bearings (608) Here (http://store.makerbot.com/skate-bearing-pack-8.html)
Thermocouple temp sensor kit Here (http://store.makerbot.com/electronics/electronics-kits/thermocouple-sensor-v1-0-kit.html)
6' Nichrom Wire Here (http://store.makerbot.com/cables-and-wires/nichrome-wire-31-ga.html)
RJ45 connectors and boots
USBtinyISP AVR Programmer Kit Here (http://store.makerbot.com/electronics/electronics-kits/usbtinyisp-avr-programmer-kit.html)
3mm plastic filament hdpe, abs, pla, etc. (what you print with) Here (http://store.makerbot.com/plastic.html) I can get it much cheaper (20-30%) from other sources.


I also want to note that I hope to be printing by the end of the year. I think I will be printing much faster but my goal is to print a shot glass by december 31st.

Collinstheclown
06-02-2009, 05:18 PM
These things are amazing. I'm a huge fan of anything CNC and these take that to the next level. I plan to build and document a router when I get my mod shop up and running. Can't wait to see more of this.




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-02-2009, 06:30 PM
There are already people turning their darwin repraps into cnc routers using dremels as the power head. The workable area is small but its a step in the right direction and proof that the reprap electronics can handle milling and routing.

Oneslowz28
06-02-2009, 09:45 PM
And the build has started.

FexEx delivered my hardware and raw materials around 6:24. That was exactly 29 hours from the time I placed my order. What they lack in proper ordering etiquette they make up for in shipping time. They packed 19lbs into a 24"x14"x6" box that was held together with paper tape. The fedex guy apologized for the rattling noise in the box and told me that the bottom had busted on the box when they were loading it onto the truck. He said that they had put everything back in the box. During transit to my home a box of 5/16" nuts busted open and were loose in the box. Luckily they were all still there.

I also created a new logo to brand my photos with. I will be posting a full build log in blog format on my new site. http://themakersworkbench.com So what do you think about the logo?

So how about some pics of the goodies?

Lets start with a pic of everything. I want to point out the 24" x 1/2"x1/4" bar of ptfe (teflon) the 1/4-20 6' long threaded rod, 8' 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" aluminum angle and 8' 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum U channel. The rest is screws, bolts, nuts, washers, pipe clamps, springs, etc.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6073.jpg

These are the M5 cap screws
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6074.jpg

4" 4.75lb extension springs. These will hold tension on the bearing arms.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6076.jpg

The 5/16" flat head machine screws. These will hold everything onto the stages.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6077.jpg

Nuts for the M5 Cap screws
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6078.jpg

Washers for the M5 Cap screws
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6079.jpg

These are 2 hole conduit clamps. They will hold a bearing which will support the other end of the lead screws. I had to buy 50 but only need 3.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6080.jpg

Washers for the 5/16 machine screws. Once again I only needed about 40 but it was cheaper to buy 1lb (192 pieces)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6081.jpg

Nuts for the 5/16 machine screws. Same deal only need about 40 but was cheaper to buy 100.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6082.jpg

10-24 3/4" long self threading screws. Needed about 18 and was cheaper to buy 50.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6082.jpg

small image of a section of the 1/4"-20 threaded rod. I ordered stainless steel but they sent plain steel. Charged me for plain steel too. This will work fine but may wear faster.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6084.jpg

This is 2 major pieces of the McWire build. The 1 1/2" x 1 1/2' X 1/8" aluminum angle and 3/4"x3/4"x1/8" aluminum U channel. Both pieces are 8' long.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6088.jpg

Now we are getting into the parts that make up the base. These are all black iron sch40 pipe. These parts will eventually form the "frame" that holds the moving parts in place.

The 90 degree elbows
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6089.jpg

End Caps
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6090.jpg

T fitting
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6091.jpg

6" x 3/4" nipple
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6092.jpg

3"x3/4" nipple
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6093.jpg

12"x3/4" nipple
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6094.jpg

Just a single shot of one of the pipes
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6095.jpg

And all the pipes loosely fit for fun.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6096.jpg

Here is a link to the invoice from McMaster if your wondering about price.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/McMaster-order.gif

rendermandan
06-02-2009, 11:08 PM
Man, you are really taking on a cool project here. I've been thinking about building a cnc router in the fall. but nothing this extreme. I really hope you get this to work. Please make sure you keep us updated on your progress.
+rep. for sure!

DonT-FeaR
06-03-2009, 01:28 AM
yeah man this is sweet keep it up

Oneslowz28
06-03-2009, 01:35 AM
Thanks guys.

I have no doubt that I will get it to work. The R&D side of the RepRap project has produced reliable stuff in the past few months. There are over 1000 reprap derived printers out there now and they are all singling that sweet stepper motor tune. I think the second thing I am going to print is the TBCS logo and mail it to Jon or give it away in a contest.

Eclecticos
06-03-2009, 07:24 AM
Man, you are really taking on a cool project here.

No. . Kiddin' This is really going to be neat. +Rep
I have seen the homemade cnc machines but never a 3D Printer.
Can't wait to see this bad boy in action. :up::up:

Oneslowz28
06-03-2009, 02:23 PM
I was telling a friend about this over lunch today and he pointed out the fact that I could just mount a dremel to it like others are doing and mill out the acrylic parts for the plastic extrusion head. Why this never occurred to me I do not know.

I am bidding on some skate bearings on ebay but I think I might be outbid because my max bid is $4.00 for 8. I am still trying to source a 82 degree counter sink locally. It seems that every where I call thinks a counter sink is a counter sink. a 1 size fits all type deal. I even called a tool and die shop and they thought I was talking about a step drill. McMaster has one but its over prices by a lot.

I hope to cut the x axis rails tonight and the angle support for it. I also need to go buy some jigsaw blades to cut the acrylic. Anyone have some suggestions on what tooth count to get?

Oneslowz28
06-04-2009, 10:45 AM
I got the x rails and angle cut last night. Haven't drilled any holes yet because there are inconsistencies in the build constructions on the reprap site. Instead of publishing a simple technical drawing of the hole placements they thought it would be good to dumb it down to the point of printing the hole locations onto a sticker sheet and have you print it out and attach it to the rail then drill. The problem is that the sticker holes have not worked for anyone.

I am going to do this the hard way it looks like. Time to open up autocad and get to work.

madd0ct0r
06-04-2009, 05:14 PM
yay for auto cad and yay for reprap.


plus rep to you sir.
badoom tshh!

Will the rapstrap become a miller then afterwards?

Oneslowz28
06-04-2009, 05:58 PM
more than likely yes I am going to modify it into a cnc mill or router.

Oneslowz28
06-07-2009, 11:25 PM
Today was kind of productive. After sorting through all of the documents and photos online of various McWire builds, and none of the measurements seemed to match up from build to build. To further complicate this problem no one seemed to post or have any technical drawing of hole placements, critical measurements, or even non critical measurements. What I did find was drawings meant to be printed on sticker sheet and then placed on the vairous metal components. This left too much room for error for my taste. I finally came to the conclusion that I was going to have to solve this problem once and for all. I will be creating all of the technical drawings as my build progresses.

After I got all of that sorted out I decided to get to work and cut some metal. Luckily the measurements for the X stage rails were available and I was able to start there. I didn't get a photo of them being cut because all I own is DSLRs and its hard to hold a dremel with one hand and a 3lb+ camera in the other and take a photo. The rails are cut from the 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum U channel. Cut them both to 21". Make the cuts as square as possible and file the edges to remove sharp burs.

The next things we needed to cut were 2 pieces of the 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" aluminum angle. These should be cut to 6 3/4". Cut these as square as possible. Again file the edges to remove any burrs.

Now that we have them cut lets drill some holes.

We will start with the 21" rails. Put a piece of tape along the bottom so you have something to mark on. Mark your first 2 holes 3/4 inch from each end. Drill on those marks with a 5/16" bit. I also have the second set of holes marked and pre drilled in this photo. Don't worry about them right now.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6117.jpg\

Now lets mark our holes for the screws we will use to attach the rails to the base. We need to center the rails on to the base. To do this we need to measure from the center of each leg of our base.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6127.jpg

In our case this is 15 1/2". (The photo shows it as 15 3/4 because the taped moved just a bit when I took the photo.) This will vary from every build because of the nature of how far the pipes will thread into each other.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6137.jpg

So we know that our rails are 21" long and our base is 15 1/2" wide. This leaves 5 1/2" so we will divide that by 2 and get 2 1/4. So we measure 2 1/4" from our rail ends and mark our holes. It is a good idea to tape the rails together and use a square to mark the line on both rails at once.This will make sure that the holes are in the exact same place on both rails.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6116.jpg

Now drill a 5/64" pilot hole. (I chose 5/64" because I have a bag of 40 of them)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6117.jpg

Now we are going to locate the position the rails need to mount onto the base. To do this I made a datum mark. This mark is the same on each side and gives me a solid point of reference so mark my rail locations. Using a tape measure, butt the end of the tape up against the 90degree elbow and mark 10" on your pipe. Do the same on the other side.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6129.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6130.jpg

Now that we have a point of reference to work off of lets mark the placement of our rails.

Measure 13/16" off the datum mark place a mark.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6132.jpg

Then off that mark measure an additional 5 9/16".
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6140.jpg

Now drill these hole marks with a pilot hole.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6124.jpg

Ok lets make sure that everything lines up. Using the drill bit you drilled the pilot hole with place it in the hole in one of the rails. Ignore the angle on the end.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6121.jpg

Now line up the other 2 holes. If they match up then great. If they do not match up you have made a mistake some where. (notice my image 2 down from this one.)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6120.jpg


Now drill out the pilot holes with an 11/64" drill bit. This bit size is critical because these are the holes we will be screwing the self tapping 10-24 machine screws into.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6122.jpg

Remember to measure twice and cut once or you get to do it all over again. Notice the extra hole at the bottom. I accidentally drilled out my datum mark. :(
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6123.jpg

Now drill out the pilot holes in the rails with the same drill bit.

Then you can screw the rail to the base using the 10-24 self tapping machine screws. This will be a little hard to do by hand because the threads of the screws are actually cutting threads into the rails and pipe at the same time. I used my favorite cordless power tool in the world. A Dewalt 18volt cordless impact driver.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6141.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6142.jpg

Now lets mark the hole placements in our angle we cut for the ends. Measure 1/2" from the sides and 3/4" from the end. This will give us a flush fit against the rails. Again drill pilot holes with a small bit.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6115.jpg

Now drill out those holes with an 5/16 drill bit. Sorry I forgot to take a photo. Will add one later.

Now mount the angle to the ends of the rails using the 5/16" machine screws. (yes I know they are made for a countersunk hole but it doesn't matter that much. If you ordered them from McMaster like I did you got plenty to spare. Place the screw in from the bottom and put the nut inside the rail. Tighten them down and your finished with the x stage rails.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6125.jpg


That's all I got to today. I am waiting on the 608 skate bearings to come in before I can continue. Next time we will be cutting and drilling some plexi. You can also follow this build and download all the photos and plans on my new site http://themakersworkbench.com.

knowledgegranted
06-08-2009, 12:06 AM
Bravo! Bravo!!

This thing is coming out sweet, btw I finally finished drawing up plans for mine! yay, I got you renders I'll send them to you in e-mail.

Oneslowz28
06-09-2009, 07:07 PM
Well I kinda put my foot in my mouth when I said that I would be creating a whole new set of technical drawings for this build. After spending a few hours this morning searching and emailing people for some simple measurements to start from I found nothing. Not 1 single measurement. So I am taking the easy route and printing the drill locations out.

Here is a link to the files on sourceforge if anyone wants to take a look at them.
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/reprap/reprap-mcwire-cartesian-bot-1.2.1.zip?modtime=1200886076&big_mirror=0

Oneslowz28
06-10-2009, 04:18 PM
Small update. Yesterday I cut the plexi out for the X stage. I lost my jigsaw (i think it may have grew legs and walked off) so I did things the hard way and cut the x stage out with a hacksaw. The cut was a little crooked but I straightened it up with a drum sander. I did decide to go with the printed guides rather than trying to do it all from scratch. This was mainly due to lack of information that I needed to start the drawings.

So I printed out the drill guide and glued it to the protective paper on the plexi, then cut it out.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6143.jpg

Next I drilled and counter sunk the holes. The counter sunk was done with an 11/16 bit and I stopped just shy of the full depth. This let the 5/8" flat head machine screws sit nice and flush. Note that I also drilled out the PTFE bearing mounting holes out to fit the M5 Cap screws. This made more sense than using the self tapping 10-24 screws.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6145.jpg

Then I pulled the paper backing off and inspected my work. Everything looks great.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6149.jpg

Now we need to cut 1/2" x 1/8" PTFE strip.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6150.jpg

I cut these at roughly 2 inches long. We need 4 for the X stage. To cut them I used a ordinary box cutter.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6151.jpg

Now we need to mark the hole placements. This is easy to do by just laying them under the plexi and making a dot.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6154.jpg

Then drill out the holes with a 13/64" drill bit. The same one we used to drill out the holes in the plexi. Grab 4 M5 cap screws, 4 M5 washers, and 4 M5 hex nuts.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6155.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6156.jpg

Now secure the PTFE bearings to the plexi with the M5 hardware.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6157.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6158.jpg

Now place the x stage onto the rails. IF it fits right you should have a 1/16"- 1/8" gap between the M5 screw heads and the rails. A little more or little less wont hurt anything. What we are looking for is that nothing is binding. Move the stage all the way from one end of the rails to the other. In my case I had to elongate 1 of the M5 screw holes in my stage plexi and ptfe bearing about "1/32 of an inch. It was not binding but was too close for my taste.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6159.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6160.jpg

I was hoping to include the skate bearings install in this update but UPS has not delivered them yet. I also need to go out to my shop and cut the bearing arms out on the band saw. So they will be saved for the next update.

DonT-FeaR
06-11-2009, 06:54 AM
win!

Oneslowz28
06-11-2009, 08:55 PM
Thanks man. I am still waiting on UPS to deliver my 608 size skate bearings. They finally admitted that they are lost. So who knows when I will get them.

rendermandan
06-11-2009, 11:12 PM
Looks like your well under way on this. Keep it up!

Oneslowz28
06-12-2009, 04:42 AM
Thanks dan.

SXRguyinMA
06-12-2009, 07:35 AM
lookin good man, cant wait to see it come together!

Oneslowz28
06-12-2009, 02:04 PM
Thanks SXR.

The bearings arrived today. A UPS manager delivered them in her personal car with an apology and told me that my shipping $$ will be refunded to the shipper and they will send it to me. I am happy and I have 32 608 sized skate bearings just waiting for projects.

Collinstheclown
06-12-2009, 06:11 PM
Well thats badass!




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-12-2009, 06:47 PM
Thanks Collins

Time for photos...... Ok so I may have went overboard with the bearing photos... Enjoy

The ones with silver shields were ordered from VXB Bearings. The ones with black rubber shields were bought locally from a bike shop for $5. The ones with the large center were salvaged from an old pair of roller blades.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6171.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6173.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6174.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6175.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6176.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6184.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6190.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6192.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6195.jpg

Oneslowz28
06-14-2009, 06:30 AM
Well it seems I have hit a wall head on with the pedal on the floor. The reprap project recommends printing out the design of the x,y,z stages and gluing it to the plexi and using that as a cutting / drilling guide. The alternative is to buy the laser cut parts for about $100. It's literally $10 worth of plexi scrap from your local glass shop and straight cuts. The holes can easily be done with a hand drill or a drill press like I am using. It takes about 10 minutes to cut and drill the plexi per stage. So being a the cheap man I am, there is no way I could justify spending $100 on a total of about $10 and an hours worth of work. That is the reason I ran into problems. (well that and the fact that the build log / instructions for the reprap McWire are very unorganized and full of misinformation.)

This is where I ran into my first big problem. When researching for technical drawings of the X,Y,Z, stage drawings I never found anything. So I had no choice but to print the design out (as recommended by the reprap project) and glue it to the plexi. The problem with that is that the genius designer drew them to "fit" onto an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. Which is the standard sheet that anyone who owns a printer has. This would be fine and dandy if the printer would actually print to the edges of the paper. Unfortunately this is not possible with most printers. The second problem is the files are available in 2 forms: PDF, and DXF. I printed both and they were identical in dimensions. Note that I did print at full size and they were not scaled to fit the paper. I took this to mean that the size was right and everything would fit. WRONG!!!!!

My x stage fit my rails fine after a small modification where I had to move 2 of the ptfe slide bearings mounting screws by about 2mm. This should have been a sign that something was wrong. Upon trying to fit the 2 fixed position bearings onto the front of the x stage I found that the provided hole location was about 1/4 shy of being in the right position for the bearing to properly ride against the rail. I can only attribute this to the printer scaling the image to fit the sheet by default. I know I turned scaling off in both autocad and acrobat. So I printed the x stage drawing on my photo printer which prints up to 11x14. I did this on a piece of 11x14 card stock. Guess what? The drawing was the same size as before.

So the reprap site states that the drawings were designed to fit on an 8.5x11 sheet. Unfortunately this design does not fit. So I sent an email to someone with the laser cut parts which obviously work because there are plenty of photos of them in action. It turns out that for the drawing to be perfectly sized it would have to be 8.5" x 10.25" While the length is capable with a standard printer the 8.5" is not. This still does not explain why the drawing printed to the same size I originally used on my larger format printer. The only conclusion I can come up with is that some one altered the files on sourceforge and "scaled" them down to fit a new design and forgot to update the rest of the info across whole build.

So with my few dimensions I now have I have no choice but to create technical drawings of the stages. This will slow the build down by a few days but by no means stop me. I will first be creating these the old fashion way... by hand. This will allow me to check fitment directly. Once they are done I will then recreate them in autocad and post all the files here and on The Makers Workbench (http://themakersworkbench.com) This way people have an accurate set of drawings to use. IMO this is how it should have been in the first place.

So today I went and bought some drafting supplies. A t square, circle guide, and some triangles for checking square. I also picked up 2 cool large circle drawing aids which will be used on future projects.

While typing this I realized that I have not posted the original drawings that your supposed to print out. I have saved them as .jpg and re sized them for better viewing here. If you are following this build log with the intent of building your own McWire please note that these are not the right size.

X stage- The large circles with a circle in the middle is the ones that must be countersunk so the 5/16" machine screws sit flush with the surface of the plexi.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/xstage.jpg

Y stage
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/ystage.jpg

Z stage
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/zstage.jpg

Vertical base. This is what mounts to the 4" flange. The rails and z stage mount to this.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/verticlebase.jpg

Bearing arms for the non fixed position bearings. X and Y stage only. Only 4 are needed.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/bearingarms.jpg

Bearing arms for the Z stage. Only 4 are needed.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/zbearingarm.jpg

Oneslowz28
06-15-2009, 01:24 PM
Just finished the technical drawing for the X - Stage. Here is a scaled down image so you guys can see what I am doing.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/X--Stage.jpg

knowledgegranted
06-15-2009, 08:52 PM
Those are some pretty complex drawings you got going on :rolleyes:, wish I could do something of that level.

Looking good as always and with everything you do. Keep up the good work mate!

Oneslowz28
06-16-2009, 01:55 AM
Ever had one of those nights where you could not sleep because you wanted to work on something. Tonight was one of those nights. I went ahead and cut out the new x stage and assembled it. It fits perfectly and moves smooth as butter. I will post pics tomorrow.

Collinstheclown
06-16-2009, 02:49 AM
Mmmmm technical drawings.... Good job so far, keep it up! :)




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-16-2009, 07:29 PM
Update time:

So I got a little restless last night and could not sleep. So what better to do than work on the McWire. I cut the new X stage plexi out and assembled all if the parts.

The first thing I had to do was glue the hand drawn X stage to the plexi. An Elmers glue stick make quick work of this. I used a ruler to smooth out any bumps and ripples.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6198.jpg

Did the same with the bearing arms
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6199.jpg

Then I had to cut them out.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6200.jpg

My jigsaw is a little old and the cuts were a little rough. Nothing a little sanding on the drum sander wouldn't fix. I pre-drilled all the holes.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6202.jpg

Then counter sunk the 4 holes that required it.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6204.jpg

Removed the protective paper and everything looks great.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6206.jpg

Now I laid out all of the hardware and parts I needed to assemble the X stage.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6207.jpg

Next I attached the PTFE slide bearings and the Skate bearings that go on the outside of the front rail.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6210.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6211.jpg

The next step is to attach the remaining 2 bearings to the bearing arms. The order goes like this. 5/16 flat head screw>bearing arm> 5/16" flat washer>skate bearing>hex nut.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6213.jpg

Now lets build the captive nut. This is the nut that will convert the radial motion of the lead screw and convert it into linear motion. You need a 1/4 - 20 coupling nut and a roll of electrical tape. Wrap the nut with the tape until it is thick enough that it just fits inside of the conduit support. You want it to be just snug. Not so bulky that it has to be forced to fit.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6214.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6215.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6217.jpg

Now lets finish assembling the x stage. Install the bearing arms onto the bottom of the plexi using 5/16 machine screws. Place a 5/16 washer between the bearing arm and x stage plexi. Then slide on the bearing arm. Add another washer then a hex nut. Repeat for the next side. Then bolt on the captive nut using the same M5 cap screws that you used for the PTFE bearings.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6222.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6219.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6220.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6221.jpg

Now put it on the rails and make sure everything fits.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6224.jpg

Now we need to add some tension to hold the bearings on the bearing arms firm against the rail. A 4" 5lb extension spring will work nicely. I drilled a 3/16" hole in the middle of the bearing arms and bent the spring ends so I could slide them though the holes. Then I bent them back flat with the bearing arms. The excess spring loop is tucked inside the spring.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6226.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6228.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/reprap/IMG_6225.jpg

Now I am off to build the Y stage.

Collinstheclown
06-16-2009, 09:39 PM
This reminds me alot of the easy mill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6drMZqmyXQc), but a bit more pro. Not to mention its a printer.




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-16-2009, 10:09 PM
The main design is a previous design for a Desktop CNC router by Tom McWire. He posted the design under the GPL and the RepRap core team modified and improved upon the design to make it more precise and stable. The only real major difference is the print head will be bolted to the z stage instead of a dremel. I have been thinking of putting together a parts kit that will include everything but the stepper motors and the electronics.

SXRguyinMA
06-17-2009, 10:22 AM
nice work! lookin good. +rep for the work on the drawings!

Oneslowz28
06-17-2009, 04:12 PM
Thanks for the rep. On a side note does anyone know of a good source for solder paste in a syringe.

rendermandan
06-17-2009, 04:14 PM
Looking good... Any idea what your maximum travel distances are for this? all directions?

Collinstheclown
06-17-2009, 04:51 PM
http://www.curiousinventor.com/store/product/200

:)




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-17-2009, 07:08 PM
Dan. I am was shooting for a 10" x 10" workable area. However that just can not happen with my current design. The rails for the x stage are 21" long and the x stage plexi is 10.5" long so that leaves 9.5" of travel total or 4.75" in each direction from left to right. This could be increased by lengthening the rails the x stage slides on. Technically with a few modifications to the actual base of the machine you could make have a 20x20" workable area. For my needs a 5"x5" workable are would be enough. The largest part I need to print is about 4" long.

thanks collins, but that is solder flux not actual solder paste. I may just order the smd kit from makerbot. it comes with some nice tools too.

crazybillybob
06-17-2009, 11:29 PM
one,
I noticed that the makerbot guys mentioned that they had not refrigerated their solder paste.... While it's true you can get away with it for a while... best practice is to keep it cool, it lasts longer that way :) 12g may not sound like allot but I'm going to say (based on the complexity of the pcb) you should be able to get 50-60 boards out of a tube... easy if there small boards you can get more out of it!!!


Nice project... It's one of my daily stops :)

CBB

Collinstheclown
06-18-2009, 12:03 AM
thanks collins, but that is solder flux not actual solder paste. I may just order the smd kit from makerbot. it comes with some nice tools too.

Doh! For some reason I read it and thought of paste flux... :facepalm:
I've never used solder paste however so I don't know where to get it. Google it maybe?




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-18-2009, 03:03 AM
BB. I went to the site that Makerbot gets their stock from and the manufacture advertises it as a no refrigeration paste but on the other hand they also sell the refrigerator rack to hold the tubes in the right orientation. The kit they offer is $50 and comes with nice tweezers, a LED visor magnification thing, 12 gram syringe, fine tip, plunger. The manufacture sells the paste for $13 a syringe. I think I may just go that route.

I was looking on ebay at lab hot plates and was wondering if they get hot enough to melt the solder. Makerbot, RepRap, Metalab, Make, etc all recommend a cheap $12-15 dollar hot plate from a discount store for reflowing the solder paste. There will be an update tomorrow. I had planed one for tonight but I went over to the woman's place and spent some time with her. But tomorrow you should see some threaded rod, and a Y stage coming together.

Collins- No worries. Is that a radio shack iron in your sig? If so I have an interesting article coming up about regrinding tips that fit that iron.

Project update: Still waiting on the electronics to come in stock at MakerBot, also waiting on the Nema 17 stepper motors to arrive from California. I also need to figure out some feet for the bottom of the base. They need to be adjustable so I can level the bot. I am thinking about some bolts with rubber caps as feet or some cool acrylic with leds in them... Dunno... if you have any ideas post them.

Oneslowz28
06-18-2009, 03:05 AM
Oh forgot to update on the workable area. I did some measurements and it looks like it will turn out to be 9" x 10" or 9" x 9.5"

Oneslowz28
06-18-2009, 03:46 AM
Just wanted to share the news that I was asked to be a contributor to the reprap builders blog. http://builders.reprap.org/

Collinstheclown
06-18-2009, 05:13 AM
Collins- No worries. Is that a radio shack iron in your sig? If so I have an interesting article coming up about regrinding tips that fit that iron.

Why yes, yes it is. It's my old faithful backup now though. I now am a proud owner of a Weller WES51. I know what your talking about when it comes to grinding the tips. Thing is do we use the same method? I stick mine in a drill press. :)

Congrats on contributor news! :banana:

*Edit: Forgot to say, Curious Inventor (http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/Solder_Paste_and_Toaster_Oven)has an article about using a toaster over for paste flowing.




-CollinstheClown

Oneslowz28
06-18-2009, 06:34 AM
Why yes, yes it is. It's my old faithful backup now though. I now am a proud owner of a Weller WES51. I know what your talking about when it comes to grinding the tips. Thing is do we use the same method? I stick mine in a drill press. :)

Congrats on contributor news! :banana:

*Edit: Forgot to say, Curious Inventor (http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/Solder_Paste_and_Toaster_Oven)has an article about using a toaster over for paste flowing.




-CollinstheClown

I use a drill press too. I use a dremel stone to get the rough shape and then a fine file to tune it and then follow up with 600, 800 and 1500 grit wet sand paper to get it perfect. My tips usually last 2-3 months of good use before I regrind or toss them in the trash. I bought a lot on ebay a few months back with 50 of the chisel point tips for the radio shack irons. I had a weller up until last year when it let out the magic smoke. I bought the dual watt radioshack deal because I needed to finish the project I was working on. It works great (do miss temp control though) for what I am doing right now. I may break down soon and buy a hakko in the near future. If this hotplate reflowing works out great then I may just move to smd design and only use through hole where it would be easier.

IIRC I saw a toaster oven on hackaday that was arduino controlled and used a thermocouple for temp sensing. Might be an interesting future project.

Oneslowz28
06-18-2009, 06:29 PM
Stepper motors came in. Was overcharged on the shipping but other than that they are what the seller said they were.

OvRiDe
06-23-2009, 10:35 PM
I believe the gauntlet may have been thrown down here...

http://gizmodo.com/5301370/worlds-largest-cnc-machine-fabricates-large+scale-building-prototypes

:D

Oneslowz28
06-24-2009, 05:11 AM
Thats awesome. Thanks for the link Curtis. I bet it was not built for under $400 though :p

DonT-FeaR
06-26-2009, 03:15 AM
thats cool mate.. cant wait to see more.

Oneslowz28
06-28-2009, 08:12 PM
This is kind of a late post. I have had the stepper motors in for over a week now, but just have been too busy to take pics and post them up. I wound up ordering 4 more of these through the same guy (because they were so darn cheap) despite his rudeness. I did have to use my mothers ebay name though because he blocked me from buying anything else from him.

They are NEMA 17 1.8degree bipolor steppers from ebay for $6 each. I wound up buying a total of 7 of these. 4 will be used to drive my McWire. What makes them really cool is that they have splined shafts. This makes using them to drive the pinch wheel Thermoplast Extruder Version 2.0 (http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/ThermoplastExtruder_2_0) easy. These were brand new old stock and they were manufactured in 1984 (the year I was born) so they are at least 25 years old. Never the less they will work great for this project and another I have in my head. For those of you who may not know what a stepper motor is here is the wiki link. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor)

So how about some photos.

Showing the splined and smooth shafts.
http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6566.jpg

Splined shaft goodness.
http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6561.jpg

Splined shaft diameter
http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6567.jpg

Smooth shaft diameter
http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6568.jpg

HE even sends out technical drawings with them.
http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6570.preview.jpg

http://themakersworkbench.com/sites/default/files/images/IMG_6571.preview.jpg

Oneslowz28
07-06-2009, 02:17 PM
Got some work done last night. There will be an update tonight.

rendermandan
07-06-2009, 03:29 PM
Can't wait. You better not be teasing...

Collinstheclown
07-08-2009, 03:15 PM
Can't wait. You better not be teasing...

I think he was... :(




-CollinstheClown

OvRiDe
07-09-2009, 11:21 PM
Another cool article of the uses of one of these beauties..

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/jay_leno_garage/4320759.html?page=1

Oneslowz28
07-10-2009, 02:02 AM
Sorry guys. I accidentally deleted some of the photos for the Y stage. I need to dissamble it and take pics. will try to get it up tomorrow.

Thanks for the link OvRiDe

rendermandan
07-27-2009, 11:29 AM
Sorry guys. I accidentally deleted some of the photos for the Y stage. I need to dissamble it and take pics. will try to get it up tomorrow.

Thanks for the link OvRiDe

Um, tomorrow???? We are waiting with anticipation.

Oneslowz28
07-27-2009, 12:10 PM
I still have not gotten around to taking the pics again. I will try to do it this week.

Collinstheclown
07-27-2009, 02:35 PM
Please! :)




-CollinstheClown

rendermandan
08-31-2009, 09:20 PM
Ok, have you just given up on this or what??? You killing us...

Oneslowz28
09-01-2009, 10:13 PM
Well right now is the beginning of sports season which is my busy season. On top of that I have some very time consuming things going on behind the scenes here at TBCS. I will get back to this project as soon as I have some time.

mDust
09-17-2009, 04:41 AM
Well right now is the beginning of sports season which is my busy season.DVR--unless you're attending games. You need to be able to rewind and watch those big plays again anyway...
On top of that I have some very time consuming things going on behind the scenes here at TBCS.Don't you guys have forum interns?

You killing us...
I heard rendermandan died of a severe case of anticipationitis.:dead: This threads subscribers are dropping like flies! I think a few pics could be enough to save some lives...

Collinstheclown
09-17-2009, 07:41 AM
DVR--unless you're attending games. You need to be able to rewind and watch those big plays again anyway...

He's a photographer, he takes pictures of the games and edits them and stuffs.




-CollinstheClown

mDust
09-17-2009, 12:41 PM
He's a photographer, he takes pictures of the games and edits them and stuffs.Well damn, he'll be at all the games and still be busy afterwords with editing. It's OK then, if I shot and edited tons of photos for work, I wouldn't want to come home to shoot and edit tons more in what spare time I had either (if any?).

Oneslowz28
09-17-2009, 03:56 PM
It may be picking up soon guys. I am doing my best to juggle 25,000,000,000,000,000,000 things at once lol.

Oneslowz28
09-17-2009, 03:58 PM
DVR--unless you're attending games. You need to be able to rewind and watch those big plays again anyway...Don't you guys have forum interns?

We have plenty of staff that do a wonderful job of keeping the site going. I just have a few more responsibilities and site projects going than most of the staff.:)

SXRguyinMA
09-18-2009, 08:26 AM
I'm still subscribed, this thing is neat :up:

Zephik
09-18-2009, 10:29 AM
I just read through the entire thread for the second or third time. I love this project! Its so damned cool! The parts, the assembly, the idea of being able to use the finished product to create so many things... it makes me want to build one! But alas, I am poor and can't afford it. T_T

I'm definitely going to build one some day though. I have that itch not just to own one of these babies, but to build one too. Its been a long time since I've even built something, which only adds fuel to the fire. :p

You said that these things cost around or under $400 right One? Maybe I'll use my returns next year to fund one of my own. Sure would be pretty damn cool to build and to have!

Does the cost go up very much the larger you build them? I'd love to have one big enough to "print out" a custom monitor stand/enclosure out of one piece! That'd be pretty cool! or maybe print out a laptop chassis or pc chassis... hmmm.

Oneslowz28
09-18-2009, 11:05 AM
Actually (and at the present time I am not in the loop so to speak) scaling it up is not much more expensive. Where things get complicated is the actual printing. The larger a print is the more warp-age you will see. There are also size limits as the layer of plastic will cool too much for the next layer to print on a large print. Last I heard, there are people using heat guns, hair dryers, etc to keep the print warm and make it able to print large. The problem with that is that these printers are kinda slow. Takes just over 2 hours to print a shot glass that's 2" tall. To print a corner block for a darwin reprap it takes 11 hours. To print a scaled down model of walt disneys head it took like 15 hours IIRC.

x88x
09-18-2009, 11:28 AM
Especially if you're gonna wait for a while, it might be worth it to look into Reprap Mendel instead of Darwin. Mendel is the next generation of the Reprap project, and is supposed to give you a larger printing surface with a smaller footprint, among other things.
More info here: http://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/reprap-wedge/
Mendel isn't finalized yet, but there are already some instructions on the Reprap website.
http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/MendelUnderDevelopment

Zephik
09-18-2009, 11:29 AM
Dang, I didn't realize it took so long to print! Two hours for a shot glass.. lol that is almost painfully slow. But, as long as it works, then who cares right? :p

What's the reason for it taking so long? Does it have to do with hardware limitations, or software? Is there anyway to speed the process up?

They need to make a laser edition model, now that'd speed things up for sure! :p

Oneslowz28
09-18-2009, 03:51 PM
The limits are actual physics limitations. They have sped things up a little with some code changes and with a better extruder but its still nowhere near fast. The Mendel will be a cheaper model with a slightly larger build surface but it still requires printed parts to build. Thus the need for a friend to print parts or for you to build a repstrap like I am building. People say "oh I will just buy the parts from someone on the site" that never happens. Only a few people ever follow the rules and print parts for 2 more machines and give them away.

Zephik
09-18-2009, 04:43 PM
What if you used stronger motors and parts? or would that still not make much of a difference? Maybe they should make a more complex model, one that utilizes multiple printers but combined into one setup? Now that'd be pretty cool if possible...

How much are they thinking the price will be for one of those wedge builds? They say it's supposed to be cheaper, but how much?

And I guess I know who to go to for parts once a certain someone gets theirs finished. :p

Oneslowz28
09-18-2009, 07:27 PM
A darwin cost just over $1000 so the mendel will be > $1000

Its not the motors or the electronics, its the temperature the whole print needs to stay at to make sure each layer sticks to the previous one.

Check out http://reprap.org

TheMainMan
02-02-2010, 04:14 PM
I always get excited over things like this! Every time I see a 3D printer I start thinking of Star Trek-esque replicators. I find it amazing that this can be done in your own home. Props for the adventurous and highly detailed worklog. I'll be keeping an eye on this from now on.

Oneslowz28
05-07-2010, 03:20 AM
Hey guys. I know this has been kinda on the back burner for a bit but things may be picking up again. I will post an update in a few days.

billygoat333
05-07-2010, 03:22 AM
sweet. :smoker:

x88x
05-07-2010, 02:48 PM
Awesome! Great to see this wasn't abandoned!

SXRguyinMA
10-02-2010, 01:01 PM
wheres the update!!!? it's been a few days and then some! lol

x88x
10-02-2010, 01:40 PM
Forget a few days, it's been a few months! 3, to be exact (well, in 5 days).

Oneslowz28
07-12-2011, 04:16 PM
Well things came up and I had to backburner it again. One big hang up has been electronics. Makerbot had released some affordable electronics that worked quite well with non makerbot printers. Unfortunately they discontinued them and the latest set runs close to $400.

So I began saving up to just buy a MakerBot Cupcake CNC. It was only $800 and was way more accurate than my McWire. I had enough to make my purchase 2 weeks ago and logged on to buy my cupcake.... Turns out Makerbot discontinued the affordable Cupcake for the more expensive Thing O Matic.

Very heartbroken and somewhat depressed I mulled over what to do for a few days. I had seen an accurate Makerbot in my near future and my dreams were crushed. I could save up several hundred more and just buy the new larger machine, or I could buy the $400 electronics and deal with a lot of new coding to get things to work.

I decided to check out the reprap site and see what was new over there, and to my astonishment a completely new set of electronics had been created and named RAMPS. A quick search landed me at a site that sold the electronics. So I decided to just forget about Makerbot forever and buy the new RAMPS electronics, and the parts to make an extruder from MakerGear.com and Ebay. So for less than $400 I have a full set of electronics, 5lbs of 3mm blue PLA filament, parts for an extruder, and spare parts on the way! So who's in for the first set of RepRap Prusa Mendel printed parts?

I will type a more informative post later. But rest assured that this project is back in full swing and you should start seeing updated post within 2 weeks. (electronics have a 2 week lead time)

x88x
07-12-2011, 04:36 PM
Awesome! I'd call dibs on those first printed parts, but I can't finance the electronics atm. :( Oh well, at least I can watch. :D

SXRguyinMA
07-12-2011, 04:39 PM
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Smilies/popcorn.gif

Oneslowz28
07-13-2011, 04:12 PM
So lets discuss the Electronics I have chosen to use.

RAMPS
http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS

Note that I will be using RAMPS V1.3

RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield, or RAMPS for short. It is designed to fit the entire electronics needed for a RepRap in one small package for low cost. RAMPS interfaces an Arduino MEGA with the powerful Arduino MEGA platform and has plenty room for expansion. The modular design includes plug in stepper drivers and extruder control electronics on an Arduino MEGA shield for easy service, part replacement, upgrade-ability and expansion. Additionally as long as the main RAMPS board is kept to the top of the stack a number of Arduino expansion boards can be added to the system.

Schematic Click to enlarge.

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/3/3f/Arduinomegapololushieldschematic.png/800px-Arduinomegapololushieldschematic.png (http://reprap.org/wiki/File:Arduinomegapololushieldschematic.png)

So basically RAMPS is a shield designed to fit the Arduino Mega 2560. It has 3 MOSfet control circuits which are controlled by PWM pins on the Arduino for the extruder hot end and a heated print bed and fan control. Fits 5 Pololu A4983 stepper drivers, and has additional pin-outs for servo control for projects like print bed conveyor belts and the like. Servo style connectors are used to connect to the endstops, motors, and leds. These connectors are gold plated, rated for 3A, very compact, and globally available. It can be powered with a 12v 5 amp (if no heated bed is used) wall wart or power brick, or one can use a 300w PC PSU. I will be using a spare 500W I have laying around. Maybe I will step it up to a spare 800w Modular that's collecting dust!

This is the kit I purchased. http://ultimachine.com/content/ramps-diy-kit-complete I decided to go with the optical end-stops over the mechanical just out of personal preference


http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/6/6f/RAMPS1_3front.jpg/800px-RAMPS1_3front.jpg

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/2/2c/Arduinomega1-3connectors.png/800px-Arduinomega1-3connectors.png

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/f/fb/RAMPS1_3.JPG/800px-RAMPS1_3.JPG

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/e/e3/Rampswire13.svg/424px-Rampswire13.svg.png

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/d/d2/RAMPS_wiring_diagram.png/800px-RAMPS_wiring_diagram.png



Pololu A4983 Stepper Driver Stepper Drivers
http://ultimachine.com/content/pololu-a4983-stepper-driver-heatsink-kit


http://ultimachine.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/PololuDriver2.jpg

The A4983 stepper motor driver carrier is a breakout board for Allegro’s easy-to-use A4983 microstepping bipolar stepper motor driver. The driver features adjustable current limiting and five different microstep resolutions. The driver operates from 8 – 35 V and can deliver up to 2 A per coil.

Simple step and direction control interface
Five different step resolutions: full-step, half-step, quarter-step, eighth-step, and sixteenth-step
Adjustable current control lets you set the maximum current output with a potentiometer
Intelligent chopping control that automatically selects the correct current decay mode (fast decay or slow decay)
Over-temperature thermal shutdown, under-voltage lockout, and crossover-current protection

The A4983 stepper motor driver carrier comes with one 1x16-pin breakaway 0.1" male header. The headers can be soldered in for use with solderless breadboards or 0.1" female connectors.


http://ultimachine.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/PololuwHeatsink.jpg

SXRguyinMA
07-13-2011, 04:19 PM
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Smilies/popcorn.gif

:stupid: :whistler: :D

x88x
07-13-2011, 05:58 PM
Nice! That's actually quite a reasonable price for that kit.

Oneslowz28
07-13-2011, 06:16 PM
Hey x88x did you get any huge power resistors when you got those surprise boxes? Like the ones that come epoxied into their own heat sink?

x88x
07-13-2011, 08:15 PM
Nope. Though I did get several large 2k1 resistors. IDK what the power rating is, but they're quite large (~1"x~1/4"dia), so either they're fairly high power rated or just old. I do still have 6 of these left though, that I could sell for $2.50 each shipped if you like.
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Dale/RH01010R00FE02/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvNd0dY0KymzmQf1OWfOWEvWyJmF2%252bdhp U%3d

Oneslowz28
07-27-2011, 05:45 PM
Got in some parts for my extruder today. Mostly hotend stuff. Here is a teaser pic. I will post a better one and more information tonight or tomorrow.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-77bHke-62b8/TjBlNe0RerI/AAAAAAAAAI0/458ZZIN2Pac/s1024/11+-+3

SXRguyinMA
07-28-2011, 10:27 PM
:pics:

Oneslowz28
08-06-2011, 07:45 AM
Small update before I get my ass back to work.

All of the parts needed to finish my RepRap are here, I decided after a few delays to cancel my RAMPS 1.4 order and bought a Sanguinololu (http://reprap.org/wiki/Sanguinololu) PCB and ordered all of the components from DigiKey to build it. In fact I ordered enough of everything to build 3 boards total. I plan on building 2 extras and selling them to fund some cool colored plastic. I have all 5 steppers, 5 pololu stepper drivers and every connector and wire I may need. The only think thing that I do not yet have in hand is the 6 micro switches I ordered from china to use as mechanical endstops.

I have everything in for my extruder, including printed parts, hardware, hot end and nozzle. I have everything to finish the bot construction itself. I also have some experimental stuff I will be debuting on here in a few weeks.

I am still ordering a RAMPS 1.4 PCB and will use it for my experiments using it with the new chipKIT boards. So it will be entirely for experimental use. Also in the works is a SD Shield for Sanguinololu and an LCD. THis will allow me to see critical temps by just looking at the printer and not the host software. The SD card will allow me to upload the Gcode file to it and print from the card. This greatly improves print quality because there is almost 0 delay over the connection. When I get home tonight I am going to tidy up my workbench and will take some photos.

So for those of you who are curious here is some info on Sanguinololu 1.3A (http://reprap.org/wiki/Sanguinololu). Some of this info is copied from the RepRap Wiki and some I filled in. One important number I want to go ahead and put out there is the cost. The PCB's run $11 from the designer Joe Mosfet (yea his real name). The components run about $41 total putting the total cost at $52. They do the same thing as RAMPS, but do not have nearly as many extra I/O pins for further expansion. I will be able to add a LCD and a SD card but not a keypad. This is a bit of a bummer but I can live with it until I get my custom electronics up and running.


http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/9/9a/Sanguinololu.jpgSanguinololu 1.3A

Sanguinololu is a low-cost all-in-one electronics solution for Reprap and other CNC devices. It features an onboard Sanguino clone using the ATMEGA644P though a ATMEGA1284 is easily dropped in. Its four axes are powered by Pololu pin compatible stepper drivers.

The board features a developer friendly expansion port supporting I2C, SPI, UART, as well as a few ADC pins. All 14 expansion pins can be used as GPIO as well.

The board is designed to be flexible in the user's power source availability, allowing for an ATX power supply to power the board, or the user can chose to install the voltage regulator kit for use with any power supply 7V-30V.

Small design - board is 100mm x 50mm (4" x 2") - barely an inch longer than a business card!
Sanguino clone, Atmel's ATmega644P - ATmega1284 drop-in compatible!!
Up to 4 Pololu (or Pololu compatible) on-board (X,Y,Z,Extruder) (A4983 without voltage regulator)
Supports multiple power configurations

-- Logic & Motors supplied by ATX power supply (needs molex harddrive connector, and optional 4pin atx connector for additional 12v/supply voltage)
-- Motors supplied by 5mm screw terminal 7-35V
-- Logic supplied by USB bus
-- Logic supplied by optional on-board voltage regulator (molex harddrive connector cannot be installed at the same time)
Supports multiple communication configurations
-- FT232RL on-board for USB connectivity
-- USB2TTL header is available for FTDI cable, or BlueSMIRF bluetooth module

2 thermistor connectors with circuitry
2 N-MOSFETs for extruder/bed, or whatever
Selectable 12v(or supply voltage)/5v endstop voltage
Edge connectors enabling right-angle connections
Silkscreen for connectors on both sides of the board, facilitating bottom cable connections
13 Extra pins available for expansion and development - 6 analog and 8 digital, with the following capabilities

-- UART1 (RX and TX)
-- I2C (SDA and SCL)
-- SPI (MOSI, MISO, SCK)
-- PWM pin (1)
-- Analog I/O (5)

All through-hole components (except FTDI chip) for easy DIY soldering


http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/8/83/Sanguinololu-schematic.jpg/800px-Sanguinololu-schematic.jpg (http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/8/83/Sanguinololu-schematic.jpg)Click for larger image

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/d/d1/Sanguinololu-top.jpg/800px-Sanguinololu-top.jpg (http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/d/d1/Sanguinololu-top.jpg)Click for larger image

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/7/73/Sanguinololu-bottom.jpg/800px-Sanguinololu-bottom.jpg (http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/7/73/Sanguinololu-bottom.jpg)Click for larger image

Sanguinololu is OSHW (open source hardware) and you can download all of the files from Joe's Git here (https://github.com/mosfet/Sanguinololu/tree/master/rev1.1).

I created this Mouser BoM (https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=362F4749E3) (bill of materials) in case anyone wants to build one.

Here is one of the photos from the wiki that shows how many parts go into a sanguinololu. This looks like a double order of parts but the photo still gives you an idea of how packed that little business card sized PCB will be. Below it is a shot with out the Pololu drivers plugged in.


http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/7/71/Sanguinololu_1.0_Build_0._parts.JPG/800px-Sanguinololu_1.0_Build_0._parts.JPG

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/9/93/Sanguinololu_1.0_Build_E._connectors_%26_isp.JPG/800px-Sanguinololu_1.0_Build_E._connectors_%26_isp.JPG

I am going to leave you with a video of the SMD FTDI chip being soldered on. I believe the video was shot by Joe Mosfet himself. It's not hard to solder these chips with a simi decent iron, some flux and .5mm or .6mm solder. Oh that reminds me, My Sparkfun branded soldering station (hakko 636 knock off) arrived too! 0c to 400c in less than 30 seconds is cool!

[center]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvo8Xj_yn3w[center]

SXRguyinMA
08-06-2011, 08:19 AM
nice!

Oneslowz28
09-01-2011, 03:06 PM
Sorry I have not been updating this. Work is killing me. I will try and write up some build logs soon but in the mean time here are some photos.


http://themakersworkbench.com/images/extruder1.jpg
http://themakersworkbench.com/images/extruder2.jpg
http://themakersworkbench.com/images/extruder3.jpg
http://themakersworkbench.com/images/Sanguinololu1.3A_artsy.jpg

AmEv
09-04-2011, 01:10 AM
Glad to hear you have made progress on this!

Did you see my thread in the Chatterbox by chance?