So here is something I thought would be an interesting topic.

"What are some last ditch efforts you've maid to keep you printer running or "Well it's the best I can do for now." hacks/mods? The uglier the better.

I'll give you an example. I noticed my x stepper was getting a little too hot for my liking. I have heatsinks, but no clean way to secure them. Not even super glue at the moment. Solution? Zip Tie those buggers on. Not pretty, but working.

I did something similar for my Y and Extruder steppers. Not pretty but it worked...

Haha if you clip the tails off the ziptie might look a little better

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

If you used smaller zip ties that fit in the heatsink grooves and cut the ends it might look like it was supposed to be that way.

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www.Robosprout.com RepRap Mendel parts and accessories.
Message if there is anything you need...I have more than what is listed on my site.
Located in the Spokane, WA / Coeur d'Alene, ID area.
Contact: Robosprout@gmail.com Flickr: [www.flickr.com]

True, but this was an act of necessity rather than planning. If I had smaller zip ties, I might have taken the time to do it prettier.

I was just wondering what other hacks or desperate acts other people had done so we could have a good laugh at it. I was offering myself as an example.

bdc
~Stay Calm Out There

I've broken a bar clamp and used a Zip tie in its place while printing a replacement.

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My y-axis belt kept slipping off, so I cut the threaded part of a 20z pop bottle cap off and glue the flat circle that was left over to tne end of my gear. It worked well.

Zip ties? You have zip ties? I reach reflexively for tie wire that can also keep plants upright and seals freezer and garbage bags. I also keep a stock of a couple of cards of those mounts that spinster ladies use to hang their royal family commemorative dinner plates on the wall. They're just edge clips held by long tension springs (the useful bits) that can be cut down or strung together to do things like holding exhausts onto brackets, be used as return springs for centrifugal clutches, or tensioners for belt or pulley circuits. The first thing I used them for industrially was keeping a silicon release sheet located on a moving, heated platen. It got approving attention from the engineers, rather than derision, though. And from the bean counters. They're (mounts and bean counters) very cheap. Darwin, Mendel, Huxley.....MacGyver?

Those little plastic tags that hold a bread wrapper closed - plus some hot glue, couple of them on my X-carriage holding the wiring connector and the end-stop actuator.Not so much 'not proud of' (they work fine), as 'don't usually volunteer the info in polite company"

Maybe we should have a bodge of the month?

People post their bodge's for the previous month, people vote.

The winner gets a bodger of the month tag next to them on the forum.

Haha that sounds pretty awesome. I definitely would have a few that I would have submitted.

The printed Z axis opto endstop spring cracked on me, wedging an M3 nut and scraps of failed prints inside the S curves restored its rigidity enough that I could continue printing. It's working well enough that I still haven't gotten around to printing a replacement...

Got one right here:



focus is a little out, but I'm holding up some parts by placing bolt boxes next to them. while they print.



Edit: fix size

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 02:09AM by se5a.

I'm currently using string as my belts on the x and y. Plus a badly made y axis pulley from polymorph, but hey, it works ^.^

Oh, and I used a couple of rolls of duck tape on various parts of my Mendel repstrap, possibly some masking tape too...

When my Dad, Ed Sells and Vik Olliver got the very first replicated RepRap printing (Darwin) they discovered that the child's z belt was too long and so it came off the pulleys. But they also discovered that if they held the shaft of a screwdriver against it, it would work fine. So Vik designed a belt tensioner using Art of Illusion on the spot, they printed it on the child machine, using the screwdriver, then fitted it to the machine and it worked fine.
:-)

Sally

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 11:38AM by SallyRepRap.

When I first got my printer running I had my X carriage crack at the belt tensioner (original sells x carriage). So I used some 2 part epoxy to as a temp repair until I could print a new one...I ended up using it for around 6 months. It was actually more solid than the original and was only replaced when I moved up to the open x carriage.

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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.Robosprout.com RepRap Mendel parts and accessories.
Message if there is anything you need...I have more than what is listed on my site.
Located in the Spokane, WA / Coeur d'Alene, ID area.
Contact: Robosprout@gmail.com Flickr: [www.flickr.com]

So many hacks to choose from!

My first and longest lasting hack was my z-coupler broke (prusa v1) and i used 2 hose clamps and a piece of black rubber tubing to replace it as i was not having successful prints at the time (over a year ago). It is still a part of my machine today and even though it lags behind in tension, it produces good prints. I've printed the upgrade if i ever want to replace it but my philosophy is "if it aint' broke don't fix it"!

Quote
aplavins
I've printed the upgrade if i ever want to replace it but my philosophy is "if it aint' broke don't fix it"!

is a creedo I will live and die by.

I feel like most of the time I have the replacement parts to fix my printer, but one of my least favorite things to do is break down my printer and reassemble it. My z coupler broke too, original prusa couplers and rather than replace it, 2 part epoxy was my fix. Granted it did pretty much fuse the remains of the coupler to the motor shaft but it was on there real good... That lasted for months until I finally broke down and upgraded to nophead's coupler.

bdc
~Stay Calm out there

Hahaha I couldnt resist any longer. I wasnt going to post these but figured what the hay... I explain more of what your looking at on my site. Just some temporary cooling devices in place. They're not pretty... but they're pretty awesome

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

HAHA wow. I especially love the paper clip terminal. If we were giving away the "bodge of the month award". I think you would be the front runner.

bdc
~Stay Calm Out There

Yeah I only had 2 alligator clips, and I was hooking it up while it was printing because the extrude motor was getting pretty hot. It works beautifully though. By the end of the week I hope to make it a little more official.

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

I guess you can say bodging these is almost like a creative process for designing an actual pretty solution.

Maybe a before and after section would be more appropriate.

bdc
~Stay Calm Out There