I'm getting a set of cast parts from someone so if I work it out, I'll post some pics and let you knowby MattK - Reprappers
Well, I've tried a couple of things today and managed (I hope) to solve the problem with the stiffness of the ABS pipe frame. I tried the resin / granules option. I bought some resin / hardener in small tubes from a discount store and squeezed it all out and mixed it, then added some budgie grit (pieces of stone / grit about 1.5mm in diameter). I measured the amount of grit required to fill the fby MattK - Reprappers
Thanks for the ideas there! I'll have to take a look at the options and decide the best way to go! I'm slowly managing to extract the sand from the tubes now but it's taking a while because it's really well compacted in some areas. I'm sure it's the right choice to remove it as it wont really provide any structural stability as it's not set. The epoxy sounds interesting to me as it would be gooby MattK - Reprappers
I used A4 size paper and some of the templates are designed for legal size. Over in the UK, legal size full page stickers are less regularly available. I'm going through the stickers and making a set of templates myself to see if it's actually possible to print these at full scale on a sheet of A4. Initial tests loading the image into photoshop show that this should be possible but with only aby MattK - General
If the pre-mix was fine enough, it probably would work without a hitch. as it is, the frame is partially filled but it seems none of the mix actually set in the end. It just became tightly compressed forming a water barrier. If I can pluck up the resolve, I might have another crack at it shortly. I made a couple of other alterations. I'll use copper straps instead of the steel to hold the nut.by MattK - Reprappers
I've assembled the ABS frame now and had several "hitches" with my plan to simply pour cement into the pipes to provide extra weight and stability. Assembly of the frame was quite frantic. I chose non threaded tube and ABS adhesive. This adhesive bonds the joints very quickly which means that you'll have to be very fast to make any adjustments to the final position before it sets! Before assembby MattK - Reprappers
Thanks for the help guys! I managed to pick some up from a local tooling store for a total of 1 GBP! 25p each. I also found them on sale at Wickes at twice the price in packs of two! Now just need to wait for the laser cut stages!by MattK - Reprappers
Yep, should be plenty of suppliers out there if you look for size 608 skate bearings. If you're in the UK, you can pick up a pack of 16 from kate's skates - I tried here and picked up a set of 16 for 14.50 GBP. or from skate asylum. then skates.co.uk and so on.by MattK - Reprappers
greetings! It looks like I have all the parts needed to build the McWire apart from one - theby MattK - Reprappers
I'm trying to build the frame using 3/4" ABS pipes. I seem to be able to get all of the same connections as with the steel. I've put an order in for the laser cut plastic pieces from the rrrf, following that I'll be able to confirm whether the flange I selected will be suitable I've got a thread lurking around here which I'll add to as I go. You can see a couple of pictures of my test assemblyby MattK - General
Right, I've made some progress in collecting a lot of the parts that are required. I'll put up details of all of the sources for the parts once I've got to a stage where I'm comfortable that the build is working. I'm currently cutting the parts for the aluminium runners which will allow me to assemble the frames on which the stages will run. I'm making one change which is to replace the 1/4" 20by MattK - Reprappers
I did not believe that it would be simple. Perhaps I should stick to building a working repstrap first to have something to test with .by MattK - Plastic Extruder Working Group
How about simply injecting a given quantity of a suitably viscous liquid into areas that need support? It would not work for external support (i.e overhangs) but could be used to fill in vertical holes. Perhaps a bit of a long shot but whatever solution you use, it would have to be fairly compact to avoid reducing the usable work area.by MattK - Plastic Extruder Working Group
I've thought of that! I'm going to be fixing it with cement after I've done a dry run of the assembly. I don't want to risk having to go back to square one with this A sensible time to do it would be after the metal framework is complete and assembled. That way, I'll have flat surfaces that I can check the level of in three planes before committing with the cement.by MattK - Reprappers
Right! I received the parts and obtained the final part I was looking for the following day so I now have all the parts needed to build the piping structure that will form the base. I ended up ordering several sets of the materials required to make this part of the setup. Looking at the frame, I'm fairly sure that it will need some reinforcement to ensure dimensional stability (I think the 12" uby MattK - Reprappers
I think if you were to put dowels in, they would need to be metal and you'd need several spaced equally around the part. I don't know the strength of the material you're using but I'd expect it to break again from the tension in the belt.by MattK - Wanted
You could always borrow a countersink bit from someone rather than purchase one eliminating the cost of that entirely. As for the fasteners, you could always put a post up asking whether other people in your area want to go in with a bulk buy. The only disadvantage with this would be that you're then committed to despatching the parts to others when you receive them.by MattK - General
If I'm looking at the guidelines right, you're looking for the correct hole size for a 5/16" thread cutting machine screw. There's a guide on the following website for appropriate drill sizes for thread cutting screws. The top table is dedicated to metal. From the table, it would appear you would need a K size drill. Before committing to your final workpieces, I would recommend drilling holesby MattK - Reprappers
Good afternoon! I started off by ordering lots of parts from here there and everywhere to get a system together. Sense then took hold and I ended up ordering a full electronics set from the RRRF store. I soldered the whole set and did the first tests on the stepper motor boards in roughly 10 hours (over several days in between other work). I hadn't ordered any stepper motors by that stage butby MattK - Reprappers
There is some more information on larger scale plastic extrusion here: A standard screw is designed to force it's way through material. In extrusion, the screw rotates in a fixed position and the 'thread' of the screw will drive the material fed into the system forward to the extrusion die.by MattK - Reprappers