New head design + PCB functionality (Concept)

Hello RepRappers,

ATM i can't afford myself a reprap (yea poor student). But i do follow its progress and development.

The project is awesome and that Darwin is capable of making it's own parts, for the plastic side that is just great.

Now, ive seen the plans for PCB development and began wondering, also wouldn't an other "Printing" way be better than just building layers on a platform like in a basin with fluid, fluid can offer support to the structure so thats a problem solved partly.

And why not use lasers, the kind that can actually burn things to heat up a resin which hardens at the heated place or by the concentrated UV light.

Anyway ive been tinkering about the next:

2 High volt Lazers in basin filled with resin which hardens at the temperature/UV-radiation of the lazers.

Lasers are on the side's of the "printing"-module which contains a solder/relais building head in the center.

The head contains thin (.5mm) soldering tin which is dropped down onto the "PCB" by a heated needle like device so the thin is liquid. (Or pre-heated in a small tank) A vacuum effect will prevent the tin from just dropping out of the needle and messing the "PCB" up.

Req's:
*New module must be buildable by current RepRap's/RepStrap's.
*Darwin-Design must be upgradable by this by a easy swap.
*Need's revamped software to controll.
*Basin with Resin (BwR) needs to get redesigned, current state does not allow modification of darwin.
*Plateau made from X-Mesh or equally designed material.

Result:
*RepRap gets better.
*Ability to make cirquit boards.
*Higher "printing" speeds.(?)
*Total collapse of all industry except for the foodmarket (for now)...
*We can begin to make our own cumputers & more.

Small concept 3D render:
[img252.imageshack.us]

If this already has been thought of and accepted or just was a massive fail, don't flame me for it ^^.

Alycan Wrote:
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> Hello RepRappers,
>
> ATM i can't afford myself a reprap (yea poor
> student).

I'm working on a cheaper one which will hopefully require only about $250 for parts.

[www.3DReplicators.com]

I'm not there yet, so don't start trying build one off of my website just yet.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2008 09:46AM by Forrest Higgs.

If you need some help on the technical side, feel free to drop me a mail.

But how do you feel about the head design?

Alycan Wrote:
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>If you need some help on the technical side, feel free to drop me a mail.

Thanks, I will. I've got Tommelise 2 pretty well under control, though.

> But how do you feel about the head design?

Unless I missed something you've described 3D lithography. It's been around for thirty years. The killer is the cost of filling your working volume with the monomer that you want to polymerise with your laser. That much monomer is really expensive. Mind, it can be reused, the bits you don't polymerise. A machine I saw a long time ago cost something like $1500 to fill for a job and it didn't have that big a working volume.

Keep thinking, though.

Than lose the lasers from the design .

Anyway, there must be a material with the same qualities but cheaper in cost.

why drop the laser from the desing a 16X dvd writer laser diode is strong enough to to this job. you need to extract it and get a laser housing wich costs lil 3 euro so you can focus the beam to heat up the matirial your using.
i wouldent go for flued but for abs powder.
each layer you drop it will support the print no mather what you make.
aka the Z450 3D printer.
you could make the print head like a removable tool. and replace it with a dremel like dril and you have a little cnc machine.
just the design of the x y z work bank!!! the functionality!!! the sky is the limit.
this way with those two heads you could even replicate aluminium rods.
and as seen on the net even abs ball bearings.

And just because you talk about it...

extracting a laserdiode from a dvd writer is not what you can call "easy thing to do".

First of all, there are two diodes And just must figure out wich one is the one with the power, then you have to extract it from it's original heatsing (And boy those are pretty tight,
Cutting with a dremel => diode get's too hot => ruined
pressing out => diode's glass shatters => ruined
file the heatsink away => works but takes very long

Then you have to desolder them, again if it gets too hot it's toast.

And another problem: even if you have two exactly the same drives, you can not be sure to have exactly the same diodes

Then you have to mount it on the new heatsink (again, too much force or heat and you start over again...)

I needed four DVD Writers to do the job, and the result is nothing more than a (must be black) PP engraver ( I think the diode got too hot somehow or was the reason why the burner was replaced ...)

But if you know what you are doing a fibrecoupled UV-Laser diode with 1W or even 3W is easy to obtain.
Those are very nasty but still not powerful enough to melt ABS (cheap material is alway whiteish)
But they are powerful enough to blind your eyes in an instant!
One false move...

So protection shield is a MUST (goggles are fine for testing, but not for working with the laser on the desktop) and that is where you will spend a lot of money.

'sid

why not use a modified Dremel-like tool to etch a blank circuit board?

this would be a lot simpler then lasers and tanks full of molten solder.

Pheobot Wrote:
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> why not use a modified Dremel-like tool to etch a
> blank circuit board?
>
> this would be a lot simpler then lasers and tanks
> full of molten solder.
>
Yeah, it would. That's why I'm doing it.

[www.3dreplicators.com]

Yes that was the original reason for my building a rep strap to have the ability to use a Dremel as a junior CNC machine. I've yet to put this into practice. Since the original idea its become much easier to order PCB kits from Zacks rrrf store.

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Bodge It [reprap.org]
=======================================

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BIQ Sanguinololu SD LCD board	BIQ Stepcon	BIQ Opto Endstop
BIQ Heater Block PCB	BIQ Extruder Peek clamp replacement	BIQ Huxley Seedling
BIQ Sanguinololu mounting	BIQ standalone Sanguinololu or Ramps mounting	Print It Stick It Cut it

My rep strap: [repstrapbertha.blogspot.com]

Buy the bits from B&Q pipestrap [diyrepstrap.blogspot.com]
How to Build a Darwin without any Rep Rap Parts [repstrapdarwin.blogspot.com]
Web Site [www.takeaway3dtech.com]

As long as your needs are satisfied by the boards from the RRRF, you're good to go!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2008 08:32PM by Forrest Higgs.