converting a CNC to a reprap. help

hi friends,
i made a cnc , and its detail is--- X=440mm, Y=430mm, Z=165mm. when i started to create this cnc i decided that i will covert it to a reprap soon. so i can use it as a cnc and as a reprap too.

so friends my problem is = i have a driver which runes every axis's stepper motors, so now i need the modules for the head that heat ups the plastic . and i dont know any thing about that..so plz tell me that which things that i need..and what electronic circuits that i will need to make...

i am sending photo of my cnc machine with this..

... i'm converting an Isel-CNC-mill by replacing the Isel interface with an Arduino and RAMPS, using the Isel (halfstepping-)stepperdrivers for XYZ and an 1/8-microstepping driver from nanotec for the extruder stepper.

You can heat the extruder and heated bed with RAMPS, but i use an industrial temperature controller for the extruder heater.

I'll recommend a common reprap-electronics and your motor drivers as controller and an aditional pololu stepper driver for the extruder.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

thankx for replying Viktor,

i understood everything you said....but i wana do every thing by my self...i mean to say that "i dont want to buy electronics from reprap website"... i just want to know that how can i make an extruder and run it from mach3 or from Kcam kinds of software...

... then you have to read through the reprap wiki, build your own extruder, adopt the electronics and write your own software - this could be a really long lasting project

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Hi,

Please take a look at my small tutorial about "Converting a CNC Machine to a 3D Printer" I hope this will help you

Regards,
Nuri Erginer

thankx nerginer for replying ...........

what is i am thinking or trying to do is.. make a extruder and replace it with my cnc's spindle.. then only problem that i am having is... how to make the extruder motor work with Mach3? and if i make a model in autocadd or Unigraphics then how to get a G-code of that file..i mean Unigraphics is a very good software to generate G-code for CNC and VMC machines... but that G-code will not work for 3D printers...
so how to get right G-code for a 3d printer from Autocadd models...? is there any other software that i can use to get G-code from .DWG or from .DWF file formates?...

Hi!
Way to go!
extruder: you can cnc-route it. this one works well for me. You certainly improve it

[www.thingiverse.com]

system: hope you have planned for a 4 axis controller

otherwise you can mill / build one, easy enough.

have a look at emcrepstrap

[reprap.org]

there are several versions of code around. You just send the extruder codes to an A axis - or configure skeinforge to generate A instead of E.
(haven't doe that but some people say it is easy). M codes are deal with python scripts.

Give a try to emc. solid stuff. you'll need ubuntu and a parallell port card. Easy to find on eBay for very few bucks (check compatibility on the linuxcnc site before buying). Yes, there's still a lot you can do with a good old fashioned parallel port.

yes.. i do know about Ubuntu and EMC... i am currently running my cnc from mach3 via parallel port.. so i know about it...
and i make the driver by my self for my cnc so i can run a 4th axis on it just by doing some modification ...
i am going to give it a try.. lets see want happens .... thankx for replying ...

and.. can we use a normal geared 12VDC motor in extruder rather then the stepper?

and..i wana say something about the software thing... normal G-code for cnc will not work for 3d printer (as i think), bcoz cnc's cutting parameters are different then 3d printers, i mean to say that if we use cnc's g-code program for 3d printer then it will use hell lots of plastic (which is unnecessary) ....i hope u got my question guyz...

Shivraj,

All your questions will be answered in a few days. I have finalized the second version of the gnexlab controller card. Set up your extruder and the 4th axis. The solution is coming for mach3 users. You will directly print from mach3 !!!. You will just load the STL file of your model into mach3 with my Add-on. It will use skeinforge to slice the model and the produced G-code will be automatically loaded into mach3. You will just press start to print inside mach3. Do not worry for 4th axis E to A letter conversion. Modified skeinforge will done that for you. The PID temperature controller boards are in production. The web side is ready including all the information and the necessary downloads. I will inform you When I am ready.

Regards,
Nuri Erginer

hi Nuri Erginer ,
i think my problem is solved... i found that my software (Unigraphcis) can directly convert normal model files to a STL file... i hope that it will work for me...
so i am going to make a extruder now... and yes i do gona need your Add-on for the axis change.... thankx for replying and helping ....