Making Progress on my Rep(st)rap Machine

I've been working pretty diligently on my Repstrap project over the past month. My goal is to make it entirely out of readily available parts. Benefits being that almost everyone would have those parts available to them, and its cheap because I'm a college student on a budget I have been using square tubing, sheet metal, and studding for most of the frame. There is more than I wanna type out right now, but I've blogged most of it at the link below. Let me know what you guys think so far and feel free to drop any comments on the blog or post here!

---

[cpwebste.blogspot.com]

Really nice, I'll definitely be stealing some ideas such as the square tubing corners. How are you tensioning the extruder bearing by the way?

James - I didn't have to tension the bearing. I was originally going to but then I realized that the motor has 4 mounting screws vs. the bearings single screw. I actually used a piece of 5/16" (M8) studding with a few nuts and washers to hold the bearing in place. The motor on the other hand is what actually moves. I milled four slots in the motor mounting plate and using 4 sets of screws, nuts, and washers I can move the motor closer to the bearing or further away. Once I got it a good distance away, I just tightened all of the screws and it was more than enough friction to keep it from moving.

Side note, I just extruded my first piece of ABS plastic! See the blog for info and a few concerns I ran into.

---

[cpwebste.blogspot.com]