Isaac STL ??

I'm pretty new here and looks like my electronics will be working pretty soon.
I'm building Isaac and was wondering if there was a repository of the STL's? I know there are the Alibre files but it seems like a pretty common request for an STL so I figured someone out there would probably have them converted and ready to go. It could be just me but it seems pretty silly to release an open source printer using a proprietary format, even if you can get a 30 trial for free.

If these are available could someone point me to them? Once my electronics are finished I have a friend that built a metal mendel that just needs the motion control so we'll be printing my parts from that.

Thanks,
Mark

I think you'd want to print a Prusa:

http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_Mendel

Prusa is optimized for printing. Isaac is designed to be made using a 2.5-D CNC router.

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

Yep, I'd agree. If you already have a printer go with building a Prusa, it's simpler with less parts to print. If it's your first printer Isaac parts are great, nicely machined. I'd recommend the Isaac kit.

Well, I was at our local hackerspace where my nice desktop computer is setup since my house is in "Nice Mode" to try and sell. I loaded up Pro/Engineer Wildfire 4.0 on a whim and tried opening the Alibre files. To my obvious delight it imported all the files nicely with the only problem being it made 2 duplicates of every file. This Saturday I'll be cleaning out the extra files and saving everything in a format Pro/E supports natively. I then plan to generate stl's for community use. I don't know why the Fleming Bros don't already have this but it should prove useful for anyone that wants to "print" Isaac. It's also a general use format that can be sent to a local machine shop to have made which might prove cheaper than the fleming solution.

I support Fleming Bros but I also know that the reason many people can't get into RepRap is the entry level costs.
$250 for plastic parts on Ebay or $>200 for Isaac parts, add in the cost of hardware and electronics and it's no wonder people are put off on building them. I've already invested $400 into my printer and I don't have any of the critical machined or printed parts to put it together.

I've also chosen the Pololu stepper drivers for their low cost. Couple that with an arduino mega from ebay for $30 and suddenly the electronics become one of the cheapest parts of the printer. Buying motors from alltronics further places the printer within reach since a VERY powerful motor can be had for <$20.

I've been writing a step by step user guide on how to get your electronics setup and will be adding in basic host software configuration. Add some links to the required part reppositories and you have a very easy to follow beginners guide to building a RepRap.

Thanks to CW, a member of my build group, we'll have photos documenting every step of the process. Adding this to the user guide will make it easy for someone that has no prior knowledge of hardware or software solutions to build their own functioning printer. From there they can focus on the thing that really matters, getting good prints.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2010 05:41PM by fireraisr.

Ok, I figured out why the Fleming Bros didn't upload STL files. I downloaded alibre and the stl export function SUCKS. It screws up the mesh and the file becomes virtually unreadable. So I spent the time to painstakingly comb through the step file in pro/engineer, saving each individual part as a .prt (pro/engineer native format) and then exporting each file to stl. these load into the reprap host software just fine and I am almost 100% sure they are the right dimensions since I loaded the frame vertex from the reprap host and the frame vertex I created, both into the reprap host, and they overlapped perfectly.

Now, if someone can just tell me how to edit the wiki I'll upload this set for the world to use.

A quick note on Alibre, after spending so much time and energy just to convert this file I have come to the conclusion that the software stinks. It may be ok for some people but the rendering engine alone is enough to make me never use it again. You have to manually select a function just to rotate your model. Anyone considering a cad program could do better elsewhere. Heck, the student version of pro/engineer is only $100 and is 100 times better. Also, because I didn't include my phone number in my trial they disabled the account within 24 hours. Luckily I was able to get what I needed before that happened but subsequent emails have proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that that company have very poor customer service.

fireraisr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I don't know why the Fleming Bros
> don't already have this but it should prove useful
> for anyone that wants to "print" Isaac. It's also
> a general use format that can be sent to a local
> machine shop to have made which might prove
> cheaper than the fleming solution.
>

Actually STL is used more in additive type process as opposed to subtractive type. For CNC machining the parametric ALIBRE or IGES, STEP files are better for transferring to CAM program and machining. Since the Isaac is intended for machining that is probably why that format is used most. I prefer my clients to send me IGES or STEP files for CNC work.

In fact the files you imported into ProE were probably the STEP files if you got them from this page. What version of ProE are you using? I could probably export a WF3 or WF5 version if you need it. But ProE will bring if 2 files if your import settings are not correct, make sure you are importing STEP AP 214 and it should work fine.

fireraisr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, I figured out why the Fleming Bros didn't
> upload STL files. I downloaded alibre and the stl
> export function SUCKS. It screws up the mesh and
> the file becomes virtually unreadable.

That's is probably more to the fact in a demo version of software you can probably only export so many lines. The full version will export STL files just fine. Most demos will have file size restrictions or export restrictions.



> A quick note on Alibre, after spending so much
> time and energy just to convert this file I have
> come to the conclusion that the software stinks.
> It may be ok for some people but the rendering
> engine alone is enough to make me never use it
> again. You have to manually select a function just
> to rotate your model. Anyone considering a cad
> program could do better elsewhere. Heck, the
> student version of pro/engineer is only $100 and
> is 100 times better. Also, because I didn't
> include my phone number in my trial they disabled
> the account within 24 hours. Luckily I was able to
> get what I needed before that happened but
> subsequent emails have proved to me without a
> shadow of a doubt that that company have very poor
> customer service.

I have had very good luck with Alibre support, never an issue. Also, note Alibre no longer has a renderer, that is Keyshot you are referring to and is a separate program altogether. they are making a version to work with Alibre files, but it is a real time renderer, which takes a bit to get used to but you can produce some very stunning graphics after only 10 minutes of using the software.

I can't use the student version of ProE since I charge for my work, so Alibre was very competitive for that.





I will agree, rotating takes a little used to in Keyshot though..