Show all posts by user
General discussions. For specific printers / electronics / fabrication methods / softwares, please see other sections.
Re: How long to heat a tip? - 14 years ago
Do you have a fan blowing on it? If so, you need to insulate around the heater block. A couple of times around with Kapton should do it.by jcabrer - General
Re: ReplicatorG and RAMPS - 14 years ago
No pain no gain, right? Thanks for the info Sublime. I'm not there yet, but definitely on the right track now. I'm a little lost on the last bit you mention about MIN/MAX limits. Where is that set? Skein Forge/GeplicatorG/Firmware?by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Re: ReplicatorG and RAMPS - 14 years ago
If you have any problems with the MEGA 2560, have a look at the fix. It requires re-programing the USB/Serial Chip. For the MEGA 1280, I don't know what your trouble might be caused by. My MEGA 1280s work with ubuntu and RepSnapper just fine. They are Chinese knock-offs, so the are better quality :^) I guess. I tried Ben Jackson's RepG last night, but wasn't able to get the extruder movingby jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Re: ReplicatorG and RAMPS - 14 years ago
Have a look there. I know that progress is being made.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Re: Budget build first timer - 14 years ago
Hmm... Here are a few money saving tips: Buy stepper motors with long cable attached, and if possible, with four pin female connectors. Cost savings is about $30.00 and three hours of your life. Buy your threaded and smooth rods from Home Depot or Lowes, but make sure they are clean and straight. Grab a 5/16 nut and turn it the full length of the rods to make sure there are no dings. Buy theby jcabrer - General
Re: Mendel and Skeinforge problems - 14 years ago
If your gears are printed, you may not have your timing belt matched to the gears. This causes adjacent infill strokes to bunch up together. It's most eveident on diagonals, when both axes are being used.by jcabrer - Skeinforge
Re: Larger build envelope - 14 years ago
Yes, firmware. Look in the configure.h file.by jcabrer - General
Re: ULTIMAKER: Belts, Timing Pulleys & Bushing - 14 years ago
McMaster has all the belts you could want, assuming you are in the US, of course. Would be nice if the country of origin showed up next to our names, huh?by jcabrer - General
Re: Prusa Z axis coupling reliability - 14 years ago
The comment about being too flexible was pertaining to another design on thingiverse (not mine). That design resembles a spring, which is not desireable for suspending the entire X axis. My design is supposed to flex laterally in X/Y, but Z is absolutely rigid. This allows the threaded rod to live peacefully, even if it is misaligned with the motor shaft. The problem with the current incarnatby jcabrer - General
Re: NiChrome input voltage/ amperage (Prusa) - 14 years ago
These are the type I recommend The specific values I use are 10 Watts 5.11 Ohms 1% I think the part number goes something like RH0505R11F... or RH1005R11F Anyway, DigiKey has the following possible candidate Others may apply too, but I only know enough to be dangerous.by jcabrer - General
Re: Prusa Z axis coupling reliability - 14 years ago
The Prusa couplings are a very weak design. They don't flex, and getting the motor shaft and threaded rod to line up just right takes luck and repetition. PrusaJr recently created a two part coupling that I like much better. I imagine it will be making its way into the master branch soon enough. I tried my hand at designing a flex coupling, but it does not really flex at this point, and is reby jcabrer - General
Re: Arcol hot end variable extrusion width during print - 14 years ago
The normal brass couplings have a thin lip near the tip. This is where the quick disconnect barrel grabs on. On the Automotive couplings, this lip is wider, which provides greater surface area contact between the aluminum block and the coupling tip. I suppose one can sand down the lip and just drill a smaller hole in the aluminum block.by jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Larger build envelope - 14 years ago
One approach, assuming you have not cut your threaded rod yet, is to simply extend the dimmensions. If the machine is already built, you can trim the Y-Axis bottom sheet from 140mm down to 110mm. The mail limit on the Z-Axis is the extruder bumping into the Bars up there. There are a few ways to creatively get those out of the way. That should give you another inch or so that you can move inby jcabrer - General
Re: RAMPS printed enclosure - 14 years ago
1.1 and 1.2 are the same size (as big as the Arduino MEGA). If your fan is too big, it can mount to the outside. I have troubles printing the enclosure with RepSnapper, so I havent tried it yet.by jcabrer - RAMPS Electronics
Re: Arcol hot end variable extrusion width during print - 14 years ago
The FLIR SC-6000 is very accurate!$$$ ;^) I drilled a hole in the PTFE tube to peek inside (no pun intended). I haven't quite got the hang of using the wiki, so the much nicer writeup for my hot end is on thingiverse. Here are both links, for now. Keep in mind that I'm constantly tweaking, but the main concept is still the same. One down side is that Harbor Freight, my suppier for the 1/4" Aby jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Extruder not heating - 14 years ago
If the Fan output is working, you can temporarily plug your heater there, and check things getting warm. Make sure you check the resistance on your heater too. It could e that you have a short (yes, I know you checked wiring).by jcabrer - General
Re: Which stepper from pololu - 14 years ago
You want to set the POT to the lowest current setting, and rotate CW in small increments until the motor and its load (say the X carriage) move smoothly. Once you get to that point, take it up just a tiny bit, or none at all. You really want to run things at the lowest possible current setting. With these underpowered drivers, I don't know. I would think you would be OK. Make sure you heat sby jcabrer - General
Re: Who are you people? - 14 years ago
I'm a machine vision and motion systems integrator, and software developer. I dabble quite a bit in embedded systems. A couple of on-going projects are to port Arduino IDE, ReplicatorG, Skeinforge and RepSnapper to the Sharp Zaurus PDAs.by jcabrer - General
Re: Thick Sheet Thickness? - 14 years ago
If your friend can hog out the bottom of the metal, and leave ribs for support, I think it would be ok. I've been looking at putting lead weights on by belts to counter the inertia of the extruder. PLA bushings are probably not a good idea if you are going to put any significant weight on there though, so consider bushings, or have a look at the linear bearing clip that just posted to thingiverby jcabrer - General
Re: First Layer Not Sticking - 14 years ago
The spring screws prevent the head from exerting too much force on the surface if you bottom out during a move, or say, during the first layer(s) print. As far as leveling the bed, the spring loaded screws only serve to level those four points. If you are not using a machined piece of aluminum, or quality glass for your bed, chances are that it bows, sags, or both, to some degree. Printing witby jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Atmega644p or atmega644a on V1.2 motherboard? - 14 years ago
Check the data sheets for the two chips, and make sure they are pin compatible, I believe the difference is that the 644p is a low power version of the 644A.by jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: extruder motor not turning - 14 years ago
1. Make sure all four (4) wires from the motor to the driver are in good shape. To do this, unplug from the driver board, and turn the motor by hand. It should be smooth, but slightly steppy. Now short A+/A-, and turn again. It shuld be very steppy, even a bit hard to turn. Repeat for B+/B-, with same expected results. Now short all four together. It should be very NOT steppy, smooth, witby jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Recommend Software with RAMPS - 14 years ago
To get up and running quickly, I recommend RepSnapper. The Linux and OS X ports are probably more stable right now, but the improvements are making it slowly into the windows version. There was a Beta version for windows released recently (last four weeks?) that is not really useable (at least that's my understanding). I use the windows version just prior to that release, and I have seen anothby jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Wade extruder slip - no grip - 14 years ago
If you don't use springs with Wade's extruder (I don't) , be sure that you don't tighten the screws so much that you deform the filament. It should be just tight enough to grip, but you should be able to push and pull on the fillament without too much resistance (letting the bolt turn, of course). The springs help if the diameter of your filament varies much. In my case, the filament seems conby jcabrer - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Re: dead forum? - 14 years ago
I think the massive numbers of forum categories has diluted the focus a bit. "Look What I Made" has been replaced by Thingiverse, which is more suited for sharing parts. IMHO all of the Test forum categories should go away. There is no point to having those on a live site. It just confuses the newbies. It is tough to prune a forum since you want to preserve the messages for historical reasonby jcabrer - Look what I made!
Re: Blobbing due to small pauses. [help me] - 14 years ago
I can't really advise on any of the above comments, but you can determine if it is a problem in your extruder by measuring how much material comes out of your nozzle in ten seconds after the motor stops. Figure that out, and post your results. Hoefully some here will reciprocate with their times.by jcabrer - General Mendel Topics
Re: problem.halfway printing, extruder change position - 14 years ago
Most likely that the stepper driver is overheating. This may cause you to loose steps. Are you motors hot?by jcabrer - General Mendel Topics
Re: Where to Start - 14 years ago
My first machine is a Prusa with RAMPS electronics. The PLA bushings are fine. I have no complaints. In fact, I love it!by jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: Mendel Prusa Easy Hot End - 14 years ago
Yes. The melting pot need only be a big as you need for material to extrude out the end. Before that, it will be heated to varying degrees as it travels down the tube. The plastic coming out of the Wildseyed Simple Hot End is only about 165C when the aluminum block is at 200C.by jcabrer - Reprappers
Re: ultimaker, makerbot, and reprap - 14 years ago
Ok, A family tree would be good here, but basically RepRap Darwin is the Grandfather. RepRap Mendel is the Dad. RepRap Mendel Prusa is the Younger Brother MakerBot Is the Second Cousin. UltiMaker is sort of an amalgam of the Darwin shape, the RepRap Mendel Firmware(s) (I'm guessing), and the Makerbot Form Factor (Laser-cut Wood). As near as I can tell, it's still vapor, or at least it's beenby jcabrer - General