RepRapper requesting advice regarding Darwin Extruder

Hi guys,

I took a very long break building my darwin, and am now about to finish it now that someone has contacted me and requested parts.

My current state of affairs is that I have the caretsian bot ready and working (might need some tweaking after a year sitting in the dust) and I now need to build an extruder! (exciting! I feel like i'm almost done!)

I have all the rapid prototyped parts for this (but am missing the drive bolt and the bronze bearings):
[reprap.org]

That page states it is obsolete and links here:
[reprap.org]

Which also states it is obsolete and links here:
[reprap.org]

That extruder looks very nice and simple and I would have no problem getting the additional RP part, but I do not currently have a spare stepper motor drive (I do have a spare motor, just not the driver).

What do you suggest I build?
Is there perhaps a way to modify the new configuration to work with the old solarbotics motor? perhaps it would lack precision but would gain mechanical reliability?

Your suggestions are very much welcome!

after 54 views and no comments.. i'll just hope that the old extruder is not too problematic (the design was replaced so there might be problems with it?).

probably should have it assembled and working by the weekend.

-Leav

The old screw extruder is, to my knowledge, pretty reliable. It just doesn't deliver quite as high print quality as the newer stepper-motor extruders, and you'll need to make sure your firmware is right for it.

The state of the art in extruders has moved on to geared stepper-driven extruders. And now people are troubleshooting the problem of filament frequently jamming in the insulator section.

Give your extruder a shot, and see if it runs into any problems it might work just fine.

Oh hey, meant to post here, but I've been busy.

I had a lot of trouble getting the no-spring stepper extruders to grip well enough and put out enough force at the same time, so I mixed up my own version:

[objects.reprap.org]

So far it's worked quite well, for quite a few people. Send me an email, Liav, with your address, and I'll mail you the parts for one of those - shipping across Canada is pretty cheap. They fit pretty well on a Darwin or Mendel.

Wade

Wade, Thanks for the advice and the offer!
(though I'm a little confused how you got to thinking I'm in canada... I'm from Israel! )

Your design does look amazingly simple and more reliable!
My spare stepper motor is a NEMA23, which I think is quite a bit heavier than the NEMA17 you are using. would this be a problem? (I could always order a NEMA17 if I have to).

Regarding the offer to send the parts: I'm lucky enough to have access to a commercial objet 3D printer in order to manufacture parts for this project so I'm able to save you the trouble (but Thanks!)

The old extruder is almost ready so i'll give that a good try before I toss it in the bin..

Perhaps i'll be the last person to ever build a Darwin?

-Leav

Ah, sorry, got you confused with Liav, from Toronto - he has a Darwin that I printed for him.

A nema 23 won't fit on my extruder, but you could probably get away with direct drive with a Nema23. It will be pretty heavy though, so you might have to slow things down a bit, but not likely. You will get some bending of the X rods from all that weight though.

Good luck!

Wade