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Re: been gone for a while, whats the status? - 15 years ago

Hmmmm well that does sound promising as more of side kind of material be cause it could allow for the casting of the steal bars. Though I don't think that will the the primary of choice. I fact I think it would be best if we never really have just "one" material. The more materials that the a reprap can print with the more flexible it becomes. Also not as effected by material shortages or price c

by ronanwarrior - Polymer Working Group

Re: been gone for a while, whats the status? - 15 years ago

Well as of late more people have been looking in to polylactic acid (PLA) as it for one seems to be a bit more common, well at least in the USA. Its made from corn, biodegradable, good for the earth and blah blah blah .... and it seems to work better than HDPE in the current extruder. Granted this is not really my opinion of it as I don't have a reprap yet..more just regurgitation of what others

by ronanwarrior - Polymer Working Group

Re: CNC Hexapod - 15 years ago

Well depending on the size of the bar and what thread you want you might be able to find a thread die for it at a hardware store that way you dont have to try and use the lathe to make a thread...which can get complicated. Here is an example of a tap and die set...you don't have to get them as a set usually you can just get the "wrench" and the die you need for the job.

by ronanwarrior - Mechanics

Re: Los Angeles RepRap Groups - 15 years ago

Well what you need is to use "V blocks". Basically it is a block of metal or wood that has a V shaped channel cut out of it. The problem is you then need to clamp the bar in between the v blocks which I am not sure if the setup you have could hold down something that might be anywhere form 2 in to 3 in wide. I will try and see if I can find a picture later to show you what I mean.

by ronanwarrior - California, Los Angeles RUG

Re: Copper tape circit boards(experiment - 15 years ago

Well if everything works nicely it might be and easy way for us to "print" out circuit boards with ought having to deal with the the high melting point of copper. it may be kind of hard to solder on the to copper tape if it is on top of a PLA or CAPA part...but that test will have to wait until later. While it will not give us the accuracy of a etched pcbs, it could be a step in the right directi

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: Copper tape circit boards(experiment - 15 years ago

Yea that is the other stuff I saw/talked about. I just have not had a chance to go to fry's yet. I want to test both. I want to say you can solder to it. They say that the foil side of the tape is pure copper...but am waiting until I can fully test it out.

by ronanwarrior - General

Copper tape circit boards(experiment - 15 years ago

Well I am in the process of waiting for supplies so I figured I might as well go over the experiment I have in mind. Well I searched around online on Mouser and found copper foil tape made by 3M the smallest size they make is 1/4 inch or 6.35 mm. So well the idea is to see well how well it works and what its limitation are. MY questions about it are. How well does it hold? (how stick is the adh

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: Los Angeles RepRap Groups - 15 years ago

Yea a little took a basic class that went over how to use a vertical mill and lathes other stuff. Enough to make something but a long way form pro. What do you need to know?

by ronanwarrior - California, Los Angeles RUG

Re: Los Angeles RepRap Groups - 15 years ago

Nope nothing at all....I am hoping that I can find some one here on campus that can help me when i get to that stage. Also well depending on what the school says i might be able to have some time to machine a few extra parts...right now it is looking like I will get school credit for doing this project and i will have access to all the machine I might need, but materials i am going to have to com

by ronanwarrior - California, Los Angeles RUG

Re: What is the best polish available? - 15 years ago

.....the non-gel kind. Some of the best micro abrasive out there is tooth paste...if you are worried about it reacting or smelling to minty you can try a baking soda/water paste.

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: possible next gen reprap design - 15 years ago

Well the other problem is that the the design now is fairly basic and because of that it is very simple to calibrate and adjust...where as a robot arm. If the first motor is off then the entire arm is off. Also the motor not only have to move the weight at the end of the head be it the extruder or a mig welder, they also have to move the weight of the arm and motor. So for now i think we should s

by ronanwarrior - Mechanics

Re: molds for casting ceramics and epoxys - 15 years ago

Well I was looking around trying to find some ceramics that might work for this i found one that even with out firing, just curring at room temp, might be stong enough to suit our needs. In fact without firing the ceramics the shrinkage rate is a lot smaller.

by ronanwarrior - Mechanics

molds for casting ceramics and epoxys - 15 years ago

Well related to the discussion of the granule extruder I got thinking about how to make more exotic shapes that are high temp but don't require a lot of milling/machining. I will post later some cruddy sketches,or if i have time some cad stuff of what I am thinking of. But if you make the negative molds of a hopper you could easily imbed nichrome wire or nuts for attachment threads. This is not

by ronanwarrior - Mechanics

Re: The extruder motor and changes needed in extruder robustness - 15 years ago

I think the best course of action is to try and get a functioning granule extruder sperate of the Darwin, just for making filament, first. After we get one or to that can be made easily(the less milling an lath work needed the better) and from Darwin made parts, we can attempt to combine the two of them. This way we can try getting one to function properly and then try and then later try and limi

by ronanwarrior - Mechanics

Re: Los Angeles RepRap Groups - 15 years ago

Well hello there. I am a Mechanical Engineering student at CalPoly Pomona University. As of right now I am in the process of trying to get the school to help we with this. I figure I might as well try and see if I can get credit for it and/or get them to foot part of the bill. If I can get some credit for it I can get access to our schools rapid prototyper, mills and lathes. So until some time l

by ronanwarrior - California, Los Angeles RUG

Re: pcb-home etching // home printing? - 15 years ago

Well as I kind of mentioned later in this thread Why not use Copper/Conductive tape? Obviously it will not be as small scale as we would like but it is still an idea. I guess you would print out a "board" of PCL of PLA. Then after it is done go over it with cnc copper tape dispenser. If more complex board are need after you get the first layer done and solder on all small components, you could

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: printing circuts with hdpe? - 15 years ago

Well there is the option of using copper tape granted it is 6.5 mm wide but that would cut out the need to heat the copper to it normal and in our case extreme temps. I don't thing it would be to complicated to automate a disperser and mount it the Darwin. Here is a site with a whole range of conductive tapes.

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: Mechanical Pencil Tip - 15 years ago

In order to reduce some of the stresses you could grind down the very tip to at least half. The friction on that long of a small nozzle is extreme. I suggest grinding because you would be less likely to pinch the barrel if you cut it. Another thing you can do is use a 0.3 mm pencil tip...if you ever get a the new barrel worked out.

by ronanwarrior - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Re: printing circuts with hdpe? - 15 years ago

Well that is kind of what I was searching for but the problem I have been having is finding something that melts that low and is lead free. I know I am picky but considering that my family history has enough cancer issues I don't think I should add to it with lead exposure. There is also the other option of using conductive paint/glues instead of solder.

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: 3D modeling legal issues - 15 years ago

Well we could try the youtube/google approach. Have a small disclaimer that says "Don't post/host/print files that are protected by copyright, patent and trademark rules." And then for the most don't worry about it unless some one is blatantly adding the the coca cola logo to the object library...or we get a notice form someone that say that that file is cover under their patent. Then we take it

by ronanwarrior - General

printing circuts with hdpe? - 15 years ago

Well I know it is a problem that we are not really dealing with at the moment but i think the only thing that Hdpe will work out for is for circuit boards. While it does warp, that will not mater to much for circuit boards which do not really have to be "perfect" as they. So the idea would be to print out the board with negative channels for a low temp solder. After a layer is complete it would b

by ronanwarrior - General

Re: Extruding in a liquid - 15 years ago

Well what if for you don't submerge the last layer in water/or what ever fluid is in question but the second layer down. So that layer that you are printing on is "dry" but with the average layer size at .5mm the heat will easily through the layer and cool the current printed/printing layer. While but the bigger consern is how do you get the liquid layer to move to the level you want, easily, and

by ronanwarrior - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Re: Idea for dealing with HDPE warping - 15 years ago

OH dam that is a good point. I forgot about the interior material messing with the structure. If any thing this might just make the internal stress increase.

by ronanwarrior - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Idea for dealing with HDPE warping - 15 years ago

Okay well I would love to test this myself but it will be a bit before I can even get started on my own Darwin. So I figured I might as well post the idea here so that it could be tested now instead of a year from now. Alright enough of my excuses and on the the good part. The biggest/only? problem from what I have seen and read is that the HDPE shrinks to much from layer to layer. This is caus

by ronanwarrior - Plastic Extruder Working Group