Very Beginner Questions
Posted by Jonnyb42
|
Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 04:02AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
I would like to make a reprap, as would many others on here I see just starting out as well. I am leaning towards the Mendel, but I haven't researched the Prusa and Huxley enough to make a concrete decision yet. I am a freshman in college and I would like to begin gathering parts for this. It looks very involved so I am slightly worried, but I still plan on doing this. I have some questions if anyone could answer them that would be great:
1. Approximately how much did it cost you to build yours (for those of you who did make one, and mention the model) and approximately how long total did take from start to finish?
2. There is nothing mentioned in the video "RepRap Mendel Wiring" about the heated bed. I see on this page that it requires a good amount of power, more than the half of the total machine uses. Why is it not mentioned? Did it not exist or is the Mendel capable of printing parts O.K. without the heated bed, or did hey simply forget? (The RepRap Mendel Wiring video can be seen on the page linked to below.)
[some less important questions, answer these only if you feel like it]
3. What is the printing resolution on these repraps?
4. I see sometimes weird stuff around the extruders on some of the repraps. What is that for? It is inconsistent from mendel to mendel so I am wondering if this is some kind of cooling mechanism that people use differently based on what materials they have.
5. I couldn't find very many plastic filament sources, is it difficult to get plastic building material?
6. Were the instructions on the reprap website on how to build it complete? Are there any parts in the building process you are expected to know yourself?
...[even less important questions]
7. Shouldn't there be more building tutorials? For something this involved and community oriented I would think there should be more tutorials. Are there actually more detailed tutorials than the ones listed here? If there are please show me.
8. Could't a lot of the circuitry and firmware be replaced with software on the host machine? I made a photovore robot one time and it read two photoresistors and controlled two stepper motors with just a teeny little microcontroller. The mendel reprap is blasted with a motherboard and tons of electronics! I thought a lot of the programming could be on the computer.... just my thoughts.
Thank you for any help! I am very excited about this project, just a bit worried about the complexity.
- Jonny
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 05:07AM by Jonnyb42.
1. Approximately how much did it cost you to build yours (for those of you who did make one, and mention the model) and approximately how long total did take from start to finish?
2. There is nothing mentioned in the video "RepRap Mendel Wiring" about the heated bed. I see on this page that it requires a good amount of power, more than the half of the total machine uses. Why is it not mentioned? Did it not exist or is the Mendel capable of printing parts O.K. without the heated bed, or did hey simply forget? (The RepRap Mendel Wiring video can be seen on the page linked to below.)
[some less important questions, answer these only if you feel like it]
3. What is the printing resolution on these repraps?
4. I see sometimes weird stuff around the extruders on some of the repraps. What is that for? It is inconsistent from mendel to mendel so I am wondering if this is some kind of cooling mechanism that people use differently based on what materials they have.
5. I couldn't find very many plastic filament sources, is it difficult to get plastic building material?
6. Were the instructions on the reprap website on how to build it complete? Are there any parts in the building process you are expected to know yourself?
...[even less important questions]
7. Shouldn't there be more building tutorials? For something this involved and community oriented I would think there should be more tutorials. Are there actually more detailed tutorials than the ones listed here? If there are please show me.
8. Could't a lot of the circuitry and firmware be replaced with software on the host machine? I made a photovore robot one time and it read two photoresistors and controlled two stepper motors with just a teeny little microcontroller. The mendel reprap is blasted with a motherboard and tons of electronics! I thought a lot of the programming could be on the computer.... just my thoughts.
Thank you for any help! I am very excited about this project, just a bit worried about the complexity.
- Jonny
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 05:07AM by Jonnyb42.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 04:40AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 47 |
Hi Jonny,
I can't answer all your questions as I am still in the process of building mine so haven't actually been able to print anything yet. I currently have just the extruder to finish off and to get me to this stage has taken about a year. Many people build a lot quicker than that however! it has taken me so long for a variety of reasons, not least having to keep down a busy full time job, but also as I chose to source all the parts myself and build all the electronics from scratch. I spent long periods doing not much as I was waiting for parts to arrive, often from the States!
Doing it in the way that I have is often touted as the cheaper way to build, but I would dispute that in many cases as you will end up purchasing parts from a variety of different sources, paying a lot for postage and not be able to take advantage of buying in bulk. Doing your homework helps, order as much as you can in one go to save repeat orders with the associated delivery costs incurred. A kit would have been easier and cheaper in my case, however, you will not learn as much putting the kit together as you will from being so intimately involved from the start. I had never touched SMD components before and probably never would had I purchased a kit. But I can now, quite competently, work with such devices as a result of this project.
The instructions on the website are excellent, if you can wire a plug you will be able to follow them and not run into any problems. They do cover the gen3 electronics and some people have now opted for newer electronic solutions that utilise fewer components and boards. You won't exactly be on your own if you did decide to abandon the gen3 design as there is plenty of info on the website covering the later electronic varients, but you will need to dip out of the construction wiki and be prepared to modify your design a little to accomodate.
In all this is a really worthwhile and enjoyable project, the instuctions give just enough guidance without doing all the work for you, so you should be prepared to do some thinking for yourself (another advantage, or disadvantage of not getting a kit, depending on your viewpoint!). These forums are excellent places to get advice when you run into snags and usually get you back on your way again.
Hopefully someone else will be along soon to tell you all about print resolution, although I was rather impressed at the quality of the reprapped parts I purchased!
Good luck,
Milly.
I can't answer all your questions as I am still in the process of building mine so haven't actually been able to print anything yet. I currently have just the extruder to finish off and to get me to this stage has taken about a year. Many people build a lot quicker than that however! it has taken me so long for a variety of reasons, not least having to keep down a busy full time job, but also as I chose to source all the parts myself and build all the electronics from scratch. I spent long periods doing not much as I was waiting for parts to arrive, often from the States!
Doing it in the way that I have is often touted as the cheaper way to build, but I would dispute that in many cases as you will end up purchasing parts from a variety of different sources, paying a lot for postage and not be able to take advantage of buying in bulk. Doing your homework helps, order as much as you can in one go to save repeat orders with the associated delivery costs incurred. A kit would have been easier and cheaper in my case, however, you will not learn as much putting the kit together as you will from being so intimately involved from the start. I had never touched SMD components before and probably never would had I purchased a kit. But I can now, quite competently, work with such devices as a result of this project.
The instructions on the website are excellent, if you can wire a plug you will be able to follow them and not run into any problems. They do cover the gen3 electronics and some people have now opted for newer electronic solutions that utilise fewer components and boards. You won't exactly be on your own if you did decide to abandon the gen3 design as there is plenty of info on the website covering the later electronic varients, but you will need to dip out of the construction wiki and be prepared to modify your design a little to accomodate.
In all this is a really worthwhile and enjoyable project, the instuctions give just enough guidance without doing all the work for you, so you should be prepared to do some thinking for yourself (another advantage, or disadvantage of not getting a kit, depending on your viewpoint!). These forums are excellent places to get advice when you run into snags and usually get you back on your way again.
Hopefully someone else will be along soon to tell you all about print resolution, although I was rather impressed at the quality of the reprapped parts I purchased!
Good luck,
Milly.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 05:45AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 3,742 |
Jonnyb42 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. Approximately how much did it cost you to build
> yours (for those of you who did make one, and
> mention the model) and approximately how long
> total did take from start to finish?
>
I've spent around 800€ for my first Mendel (including heated bed and LCD/Keypad).
I decided to build one in December 2009, really started looking for RP parts the beginning of February 2010, first print July 26th, 2010. Acceptable print quality in December 2010 - so it took me around 10 months and I'm not done yet.
I still need to install the heated bed and my LCD/Keypad modification.
> 2. There is nothing mentioned in the video "RepRap
> Mendel Wiring" about the heated bed. I see on this
> page that it requires a good amount of power, more
> than the half of the total machine uses. Why is it
> not mentioned? Did it not exist or is the Mendel
> capable of printing parts O.K. without the heated
> bed, or did hey simply forget? (The RepRap Mendel
> Wiring video can be seen on the page linked to
> below.)
>
The heated bed is not currently part of the standard Mendel although most people add one.
You can print PLA without one but the larger the part the greater the chance of warping so if you want to print larger parts such as the X carriage upper/lower then you also need a heated bed for PLA.
> 3. What is the printing resolution on these repraps?
>
Depends on the hole size and your slicer settings.
I currently have a 0.5mm hole and have two profiles: one, for 0.49mm height, the other, for 0.375mm height.
With a 0.5mm hole you can probably get down to 0.3mm height.
With a 0.4 (or 0.35 or 0.3) hole you can go smaller.
Most people don't go below 0.2mm height as your object build time increases drastically the higher the resolution.
For parts like the frame vertices 0.5mm height is fine, other parts benifit from greater resolution.
> 4. I see sometimes weird stuff around the
> extruders on some of the repraps. What is that
> for? It is inconsistent from mendel to mendel so I
> am wondering if this is some kind of cooling
> mechanism that people use differently based on
> what materials they have.
>
You will have to be more specific here...
Some have insulation, some add cooling fans.
Add some links to pictures and then we can tell you what it is.
> 5. I couldn't find very many plastic filament
> sources, is it difficult to get plastic building
> material?
>
As time goes by it gets easier and easier.
There are now a number of vendors for 3mm (and 1.75mm) plastic filament.
> 6. Were the instructions on the reprap website on
> how to build it complete? Are there any parts in
> the building process you are expected to know
> yourself?
>
I found the build instructions very complete (with only a few minor errors).
I built the standard Mendel so I don't know how complete the build instructions are for the Huxely or Prusa Mendel.
> 7. Shouldn't there be more building tutorials? For
> something this involved and community oriented I
> would think there should be more tutorials. Are
> there actually more detailed tutorials than the
> ones listed here? If there are please show me.
>
There are plenty of tutorials on the wiki.
What do you think is missing?
> 8. Could't a lot of the circuitry and firmware be
> replaced with software on the host machine? I made
> a photovore robot one time and it read two
> photoresistors and controlled two stepper motors
> with just a teeny little microcontroller. The
> mendel reprap is blasted with a motherboard and
> tons of electronics! I thought a lot of the
> programming could be on the computer.... just my
> thoughts.
>
YES, this is nophead's method and since he has some of the best print quality around it is certainly a valid one.
I would recommend reading nophead's blog from day 1 as you will learn a lot from his research. Nophead does basically everything on the PC and only sends the low level commands to his electronics.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. Approximately how much did it cost you to build
> yours (for those of you who did make one, and
> mention the model) and approximately how long
> total did take from start to finish?
>
I've spent around 800€ for my first Mendel (including heated bed and LCD/Keypad).
I decided to build one in December 2009, really started looking for RP parts the beginning of February 2010, first print July 26th, 2010. Acceptable print quality in December 2010 - so it took me around 10 months and I'm not done yet.
I still need to install the heated bed and my LCD/Keypad modification.
> 2. There is nothing mentioned in the video "RepRap
> Mendel Wiring" about the heated bed. I see on this
> page that it requires a good amount of power, more
> than the half of the total machine uses. Why is it
> not mentioned? Did it not exist or is the Mendel
> capable of printing parts O.K. without the heated
> bed, or did hey simply forget? (The RepRap Mendel
> Wiring video can be seen on the page linked to
> below.)
>
The heated bed is not currently part of the standard Mendel although most people add one.
You can print PLA without one but the larger the part the greater the chance of warping so if you want to print larger parts such as the X carriage upper/lower then you also need a heated bed for PLA.
> 3. What is the printing resolution on these repraps?
>
Depends on the hole size and your slicer settings.
I currently have a 0.5mm hole and have two profiles: one, for 0.49mm height, the other, for 0.375mm height.
With a 0.5mm hole you can probably get down to 0.3mm height.
With a 0.4 (or 0.35 or 0.3) hole you can go smaller.
Most people don't go below 0.2mm height as your object build time increases drastically the higher the resolution.
For parts like the frame vertices 0.5mm height is fine, other parts benifit from greater resolution.
> 4. I see sometimes weird stuff around the
> extruders on some of the repraps. What is that
> for? It is inconsistent from mendel to mendel so I
> am wondering if this is some kind of cooling
> mechanism that people use differently based on
> what materials they have.
>
You will have to be more specific here...
Some have insulation, some add cooling fans.
Add some links to pictures and then we can tell you what it is.
> 5. I couldn't find very many plastic filament
> sources, is it difficult to get plastic building
> material?
>
As time goes by it gets easier and easier.
There are now a number of vendors for 3mm (and 1.75mm) plastic filament.
> 6. Were the instructions on the reprap website on
> how to build it complete? Are there any parts in
> the building process you are expected to know
> yourself?
>
I found the build instructions very complete (with only a few minor errors).
I built the standard Mendel so I don't know how complete the build instructions are for the Huxely or Prusa Mendel.
> 7. Shouldn't there be more building tutorials? For
> something this involved and community oriented I
> would think there should be more tutorials. Are
> there actually more detailed tutorials than the
> ones listed here? If there are please show me.
>
There are plenty of tutorials on the wiki.
What do you think is missing?
> 8. Could't a lot of the circuitry and firmware be
> replaced with software on the host machine? I made
> a photovore robot one time and it read two
> photoresistors and controlled two stepper motors
> with just a teeny little microcontroller. The
> mendel reprap is blasted with a motherboard and
> tons of electronics! I thought a lot of the
> programming could be on the computer.... just my
> thoughts.
>
YES, this is nophead's method and since he has some of the best print quality around it is certainly a valid one.
I would recommend reading nophead's blog from day 1 as you will learn a lot from his research. Nophead does basically everything on the PC and only sends the low level commands to his electronics.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 06:44AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
Wow! Thank you Mr. Morrison!
Here are some links to what I mean:
Green Wrapping
Tape?
Ceramic/Clay ?
I'm sorry, I missed a word there... I meant to say VIDEO tutorials, my mistake.
I just saw the very lengthy video series for the Prusa model, I thought it would be nice to have something like that for the original as well.
Speaking of the Prusa, I have looked up that one, of course after seeing the series on tutorials for it. It seems to have some benefits such as larger print area, cheaper, and less complex. What my main concern is print quality/resolution. I would like to make the nicest pieces possible, not necessarily the quickest build time. So my question is, does it have any drawbacks at all?
(OH, one more thing. Are nophead's ideas of using more software implemented in any of the reprap designs?)
thanks
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 06:53AM by Jonnyb42.
Quote
rhmorrison
You will have to be more specific here...
Some have insulation, some add cooling fans.
Add some links to pictures and then we can tell you what it is.
Here are some links to what I mean:
Green Wrapping
Tape?
Ceramic/Clay ?
Quote
There are plenty of tutorials on the wiki.
What do you think is missing?
I'm sorry, I missed a word there... I meant to say VIDEO tutorials, my mistake.
I just saw the very lengthy video series for the Prusa model, I thought it would be nice to have something like that for the original as well.
Speaking of the Prusa, I have looked up that one, of course after seeing the series on tutorials for it. It seems to have some benefits such as larger print area, cheaper, and less complex. What my main concern is print quality/resolution. I would like to make the nicest pieces possible, not necessarily the quickest build time. So my question is, does it have any drawbacks at all?
(OH, one more thing. Are nophead's ideas of using more software implemented in any of the reprap designs?)
thanks
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 06:53AM by Jonnyb42.
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 07:07AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 3,742 |
Jonnyb42 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here are some links to what I mean:
> Green Wrapping
> Tape?
> Ceramic/Clay ?
>
YES, they are all examples of insulation for the heater using different materials.
> I'm sorry, I missed a word there... I meant to
> say VIDEO tutorials, my mistake.
> I just saw the very lengthy video series for the
> Prusa model, I thought it would be nice to have
> something like that for the original as well.
>
There are a number of videos on how the axis works, improvements over Darwin, using a heated bed, wiring up your Mendel. I have not seen a video build tutorial but I think the wiki pages are a much better medium for this information.
> Speaking of the Prusa, I have looked up that one,
> of course after seeing the series on tutorials for
> it. It seems to have some benefits such as larger
> print area, cheaper, and less complex. What my
> main concern is print quality/resolution. I would
> like to make the nicest pieces possible, not
> necessarily the quickest build time. So my
> question is, does it have any drawbacks at all?
>
I also am using the footed vertices in my Mendel prints.
Personally I like their simplified bar clamps but dislike the use of PLA bushings instead of the 624 bearings.
I think this makes for a maintainability issue because the PLA bushings will need to be replaced from time to time.
The build volume is possibly 10 - 20 mm greater in the z-direction but x and y are the same.
> (OH, one more thing. Are nophead's ideas of using
> more software implemented in any of the reprap
> designs?)
>
AFAIK only nophead currently uses his design although a number of reprappers are interested.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here are some links to what I mean:
> Green Wrapping
> Tape?
> Ceramic/Clay ?
>
YES, they are all examples of insulation for the heater using different materials.
> I'm sorry, I missed a word there... I meant to
> say VIDEO tutorials, my mistake.
> I just saw the very lengthy video series for the
> Prusa model, I thought it would be nice to have
> something like that for the original as well.
>
There are a number of videos on how the axis works, improvements over Darwin, using a heated bed, wiring up your Mendel. I have not seen a video build tutorial but I think the wiki pages are a much better medium for this information.
> Speaking of the Prusa, I have looked up that one,
> of course after seeing the series on tutorials for
> it. It seems to have some benefits such as larger
> print area, cheaper, and less complex. What my
> main concern is print quality/resolution. I would
> like to make the nicest pieces possible, not
> necessarily the quickest build time. So my
> question is, does it have any drawbacks at all?
>
Quote
Prusa Mendel wiki page
The Prusa Mendel is a simpler remix of the original Mendel. I wanted to use bushings instead of regular bearings. The current version uses three 608 bearings in total, one for the X and two for the Y axis. The 624 bearings are gone altogether. I have the entire machine up and running, with my printed PLA bushings. It's pretty smooth.
I also am using the footed vertices in my Mendel prints.
Personally I like their simplified bar clamps but dislike the use of PLA bushings instead of the 624 bearings.
I think this makes for a maintainability issue because the PLA bushings will need to be replaced from time to time.
The build volume is possibly 10 - 20 mm greater in the z-direction but x and y are the same.
> (OH, one more thing. Are nophead's ideas of using
> more software implemented in any of the reprap
> designs?)
>
AFAIK only nophead currently uses his design although a number of reprappers are interested.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:05AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
Well thank you very much Mr. Morrison, I have just a few more questions:
Would you suggest which Mendel I should begin making, the original or Prusa?
As for the Prusa, I could not find any software downloading/installing instructions like the Mendal has, do you know where to find those?
thanks again
Would you suggest which Mendel I should begin making, the original or Prusa?
As for the Prusa, I could not find any software downloading/installing instructions like the Mendal has, do you know where to find those?
thanks again
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:11AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 3,742 |
Quote
Jonnyb42
Would you suggest which Mendel I should begin making, the original or Prusa?
As stated, I don't like the bushings so would go for the standard Mendel
The Prusa Mendel is cheaper and simpler and has a little more Z-height but I don't like the bushings.
One of the reasons I built a Mendel was because I liked Ed Sells videos describing the improvements over Dawin and how the Mendel axis work.
Quote
Jonnyb42
As for the Prusa, I could not find any software downloading/installing instructions like the Mendal has, do you know where to find those?
The Huxley Mendel, Prusa Mendel and standard Mendel all use the same firmware/software.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:15AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:34AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 3,742 |
Quote
Jonnyb42
Ohh ok I should have figured that out, so does that mean you could use the simpler electronics used in the Prusa for the standard Mendal, the Gen6 for example?
The Huxley Mendel, Prusa Mendel and standard Mendel all can use the same electronics!
Nowadays the better question would be: "Which electronics do I want to use?"!
There are a lot of choices:
1) Original 'Makerbot' Generation 3 electronics a) Makerbot (assembled or as kit) b) GRRF 2) Improved/Reduced Techzone Generation 3 electronics 3) Pololu Electronics 4) RAMPS a) Ultimachine 5) Generation 4 Electronics a) Makerbot 5) Generation 6 a) Mendel-Parts 6) Generation 7
Virtually all of them can be bought as kits or pre-assembled from different companies/individuals.
I am using the old tried and true Generation 3 electronics; one set bought direct from Makerbot and running well; the second set bought from GRRF and waiting to be built into Mendel #2.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:47AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:52AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 482 |
my 2p (or 2 cents) would be not to use the G3 electronics. They are old hat now and the extruder controller was built to drive a dc motor as opposed to a stepper motor. - it can be made to work with a stepper motor but leaves the motor whining constantly. My ears are always ringing after I have been around my machine while the power is on.
I would (if I was choosing my electronics again) go the pololu route as per Adrian's design. Buy the parts and put it together myself - learn lots more that way.
But I do currently have G3 with one of my axis steppr drivers a pololu as I burnt out a G3 stepper driver and certainly was NOT going to pay £30 for a replacement! I also learned a great deal while designing a breakout board for the pololu driver.
I would (if I was choosing my electronics again) go the pololu route as per Adrian's design. Buy the parts and put it together myself - learn lots more that way.
But I do currently have G3 with one of my axis steppr drivers a pololu as I burnt out a G3 stepper driver and certainly was NOT going to pay £30 for a replacement! I also learned a great deal while designing a breakout board for the pololu driver.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 10:15AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 1,780 |
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 10:39AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 482 |
weeelll.... looking at the schematics for the pololu design I see some reference to heared bed, and Adrians comments state the firmware works with the pololu design... so I guess it does.
One would need to look into it in more detail to be sure.
As an aside, I would also build an Arduino clone rather than buy an arduino - a saving of £20 at least in that alone.
One would need to look into it in more detail to be sure.
As an aside, I would also build an Arduino clone rather than buy an arduino - a saving of £20 at least in that alone.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 11:12AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 1,780 |
|
Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:06PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
I am thinking about the Pololu electronics, the kind Adrian did on stripboard. He shows some pieces including the Arduino Mega, saying that is all the pieces you need, minus the wiring. My question is, he mentions how the fan is the loudest part of the Mendel, which fan is that? I don't remember there being a fan in the instructions.
Also, for the first option that is soldered by another Mendel, my question is, does that design not include an Arduino? Because I don't see one in that option.
Oh and, how difficult is it to add a heated bed?
OH and also, an extruder/general question:
supposedly this is better the current extruder. I say current but I don't really know what is current, I just see random wiki articles on the site about better parts etc. The BOM I found in the Mendel Assembly Data sheet contained an extruder part, and I clicked on the link and it took me to the page that said there was a better one. Is the Mendel Assembly Data Sheet I have old? I just downloaded the only one I saw. (from here) By choosing random options of parts, extruder type#2, #1 etc, what else on the Mendel do we have to change? Or are these varatians all supposed to work together?
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 12:20PM by Jonnyb42.
Also, for the first option that is soldered by another Mendel, my question is, does that design not include an Arduino? Because I don't see one in that option.
Oh and, how difficult is it to add a heated bed?
OH and also, an extruder/general question:
supposedly this is better the current extruder. I say current but I don't really know what is current, I just see random wiki articles on the site about better parts etc. The BOM I found in the Mendel Assembly Data sheet contained an extruder part, and I clicked on the link and it took me to the page that said there was a better one. Is the Mendel Assembly Data Sheet I have old? I just downloaded the only one I saw. (from here) By choosing random options of parts, extruder type#2, #1 etc, what else on the Mendel do we have to change? Or are these varatians all supposed to work together?
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 12:20PM by Jonnyb42.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:17PM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 3,742 |
The Pololu stepper controller get VERY HOT.
Most people add heat sinks, many add fans, some add BOTH.
Adrian took the FAN ONLY method.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
Most people add heat sinks, many add fans, some add BOTH.
Adrian took the FAN ONLY method.
Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:21PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:24PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 5 |
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:27PM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 482 |
Since the pololu drivers can get rather warm he has a pc fan to cool them down.
The G3 electronics actually have 2 arduinos on it - one for the motherboard and 1 for the Extruder controller. The chips are built in as dedicated rather than a generic arduino board.
I don't know but I doubt adding a heated bed is any more difficult than on any of the other electronics designs.
I must once again stress I don't have the pololu solution - maybe someone that has can say more?
good luck
Edit - I see you are concerned about the chips getting hot. That is part of what put me off. I now have 1 driver that is pololu and I have a (cut up) ram heatsink stuck onto it. It seems fine. Don't let that put you off.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 12:30PM by AgeingHippy.
The G3 electronics actually have 2 arduinos on it - one for the motherboard and 1 for the Extruder controller. The chips are built in as dedicated rather than a generic arduino board.
I don't know but I doubt adding a heated bed is any more difficult than on any of the other electronics designs.
I must once again stress I don't have the pololu solution - maybe someone that has can say more?
good luck
Edit - I see you are concerned about the chips getting hot. That is part of what put me off. I now have 1 driver that is pololu and I have a (cut up) ram heatsink stuck onto it. It seems fine. Don't let that put you off.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2011 12:30PM by AgeingHippy.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 12:55PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 01:04PM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 482 |
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 03:33PM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 438 |
It's worth noting that the standard configuration of the Gen3 electronics uses the h-bridges on the extruder controller (which where originally intended to run two DC motors) to run a stepper instead. This is a hack that works fine for some people. I think that buying an extra stepper driver is a better idea though.
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I'm building it with Baling Wire
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I'm building it with Baling Wire
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 09, 2011 09:12PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 1,780 |
Jonnyb42 Wrote:
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> I am thinking about the Pololu electronics, the
> kind Adrian did on stripboard. He shows some
> pieces including the Arduino Mega, saying that is
> all the pieces you need, minus the wiring. My
> question is, he mentions how the fan is the
> loudest part of the Mendel, which fan is that? I
> don't remember there being a fan in the
> instructions.
> Also, for the first option that is soldered by
> another Mendel, my question is, does that design
> not include an Arduino? Because I don't see one in
> that option.
>
> Oh and, how difficult is it to add a heated bed?
>
RAMPS uses Pololu drivers. It stands for RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield. It really looks like a nice implementation complete with a 3d printed case. Check out the wiki. As I understand it, there's enough output and input to control a heated bed.
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am thinking about the Pololu electronics, the
> kind Adrian did on stripboard. He shows some
> pieces including the Arduino Mega, saying that is
> all the pieces you need, minus the wiring. My
> question is, he mentions how the fan is the
> loudest part of the Mendel, which fan is that? I
> don't remember there being a fan in the
> instructions.
> Also, for the first option that is soldered by
> another Mendel, my question is, does that design
> not include an Arduino? Because I don't see one in
> that option.
>
> Oh and, how difficult is it to add a heated bed?
>
RAMPS uses Pololu drivers. It stands for RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield. It really looks like a nice implementation complete with a 3d printed case. Check out the wiki. As I understand it, there's enough output and input to control a heated bed.
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Re: Very Beginner Questions February 10, 2011 01:18PM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 9 |
I just wanted to re-ask something that got missed from above, I'll just quote it:
Basically I'm asking if the Mendel Assembly Data Sheet is old, because there are parts, such as the extruder, which are better (supposedly) than what is listed on there. Also, where the heck do I get that extruder nozzle?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2011 01:32PM by Jonnyb42.
Quote
OH and also, an extruder/general question:
supposedly this is better the current extruder. I say current but I don't really know what is current, I just see random wiki articles on the site about better parts etc. The BOM I found in the Mendel Assembly Data sheet contained an extruder part, and I clicked on the link and it took me to the page that said there was a better one. Is the Mendel Assembly Data Sheet I have old? I just downloaded the only one I saw. (from here) By choosing random options of parts, extruder type#2, #1 etc, what else on the Mendel do we have to change? Or are these varatians all supposed to work together?
Basically I'm asking if the Mendel Assembly Data Sheet is old, because there are parts, such as the extruder, which are better (supposedly) than what is listed on there. Also, where the heck do I get that extruder nozzle?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2011 01:32PM by Jonnyb42.
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