Show all posts by user

Blown MEGA usb port? - 11 years ago

Hi all, I've got a Prusa i3 with a RAMPS 1.4 setup - a kit from reprapdiscount with the smart display. Yesterday I went to use the printer, and did the usual stuff - turned on the ATX power supply, then plugged it into my laptop's USB port. However the laptop immediately rebooted, and the RAMPS reset itself (the smart display reset so I'm assuming the entire ramps board reset at the same time).

by RickM - RAMPS Electronics

Re: Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

I stumbled upon something potentially useful for the future. Basically I was looking at types of aluminium extrusion, wondering if you could do some sort of wheel based rail, without needing to attach something like openrail, or use expensive openbeam/makerbeam type extrusions. Today I found these: They fit inside the 8mm gap of a standard 20mm x 20mm t-slot (the Bosch/Rexroth stuff). They're

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: V-Slot its like T-Slot with built in linear rails! - 11 years ago

Do you guys have any UK distributors of V-Slot yet? I'm looking into a few options for a custom Delta based RepRap and have so far looked at using standard 20mm T-Slot with an openrail, but from the looks of V-Slot it may be a nicer option.

by RickM - Extruded Aluminum Frames

Re: New Own Design Printer 'Cherry Pi' - 11 years ago

I know size wise this is probably useless, but how about something like this to wrap around the outside of the bearing: It's basically just a rubber casing, presumably to fit right on top of a standard metal bearing. If the correct size could be found, surely that'd work pretty well against the metal surface and should not only prevent wear, but also reduce sound. This is of course if we can fi

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Thinking of buying a Prusa i3 kit (Just a few questions) - 11 years ago

Have you tried www.emakershop.com for your glass? I ended up having a piece shipped from France to the UK as it worked out cheaper than having one cut to size in the UK. If you can, contact a local glass company - even one of the little shops you sometimes see should be able to help. You dont have to actually use borosilicate, it's just recommended. Lots of people have gotten away with standa

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: filament - 11 years ago

I've bought a couple of 'RepRapper' branded PLA spools and they've been decent quality. They sell on quite a few places. In the UK I've seen them on both Amazon and eBay, but a few of the UK RepRap parts distributors also stock their filament. My last batch was natural colour, and arrived within 3 days of me ordering via their eBay account. Having checked its diameter with my callipers, it's pr

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: First Prusa i3x (sourced from Diytechshop.com) Build - Questions - 11 years ago

Have a look at this animated build manual - it's extreamly helpful, even for some of the varients of the i3. I used it for my i3 build and because it lets you pan around the model, it makes things a lot easier:

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Kossel rails vs wheels - 11 years ago

It's not my build - it's someone elses. I'm just using it as a basis on planning my own build as I loved the idea of using the rails as both support, and for movement, and probably even for getting 5v of power to the top of the frame for things like LED lighting With regards to noise reduction, a lot of the noise is likely due to the 'channels' along the rail. You could actually use some sort o

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Kossel rails vs wheels - 11 years ago

I'm glad someone asked this as I was going to myself Here's what I can tell so far. There are three common variants. 1) Use smooth rods either side of a makerbeam/open beam/standard t slot/square box section and the smooth rods do all the motion control. 2) Use smooth rods only (possible downside is frame rigidity) 3) use a beam only (upside is that it's a lot cheaper, downside is that it can

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: New Own Design Printer 'Cherry Pi' - 11 years ago

Hi Andy, I know we've already spoken in another thread. Is there any chance your parts will end up on Thingiverse? I'l planning on using 20mm extrusion for my delta, and your printed runners look like they may do the trick! Cheers, Rick

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

I thought it might be. I guess the channels along the aluminium resonate and cause the sound. It's no big deal. In fact it'll give me something to do - try to make it quieter I've done a bit of research into the frame and think I'll be going with standard 20mm slotted aluminium. It's cheap and lightweight. I've found what looks to be a pretty reasonably priced supplier, who offers cutting to si

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Anyone working on any i3 revisions/upgrades to reduce maintenance? - 11 years ago

Quotemyohmy11 I've been printing with my Prusa i3 for a while and it works fine most of the time. The only maintenance I do is to lubricate the rods and retighten the xy-z connection about once a week. What exactly are the problems you run into? So far I've had a few, although some of them can be put down to user error: - Y-Axis coming loose from the frame during a long print if the surface isn

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

QuoteAndyCart Hi RickM The extrusion was about £1.06 per metre and I got them to cut the nine 250mm and three 800mm pieces. I think total including shipping and cutting was £24.00. Cheap as chips really! Andy Nice! I couldn't quite tell from the pictures, is it openbeam or something similar? I've only managed to find 1 UK supplier so far (http://www.technobotsonline.com/construction-kits/openb

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

Thanks for your input brandonh. I did see that someone had added a heated bed to a Kossel, and it looked pretty simple - he provided the mounting brackets on thingiverse as well (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37556). The more I look at it all, I am leaning towards a Kossel. The 3DR seems a bit too small to me, and the original Rostock looks functional, but not anywhere near as well finished a

by RickM - Delta Machines

Re: Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

Thanks for the feedback so far guys - it's much appreciated. Now that I think about it, uncle_bobs recommendation to have two printers isn't a bad idea. I guess I can always sell off the i3, or strip it for parts for another printer later down the line once the delta is all up and running nicely. This is a damn addictive and expensive hobby! @AndyCart your Cherry Pi printer looks pretty nice.

by RickM - Delta Machines

Looking to build a delta - could use a bit of input - 11 years ago

Hi all, I recently built a Prusa i3 (laser frame with the twelvepro frame sides) and whilst I like it as a printer, I'd like to build a delta based printer. I've not had the best of time with the i3. Whilst building it wasn't a problem, the constant issues, changes, tweaks, maintenance, and weak x-axis had me looking around at ways to make a more reliable printer that would be less prone to sill

by RickM - Delta Machines

Anyone working on any i3 revisions/upgrades to reduce maintenance? - 11 years ago

Don't get me wrong, I love that I've got an i3 and it works for the most part. However I'm getting really tired of all the constant maintenance needed just to use it. Silly little things like having to check nuts are tight enough, rebalance the z-axis motors every now and then, etc. It seems that the machine has an inherent flaw in that it needs constant work to keep it running in tip-top condit

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Thinking of buying a Prusa i3 - 12 years ago

If you're still having bed sticking issues, try yellow masking tape (not painters tape). It's basically a cheaper variant of blue painters tape, but for some reason sticks way better with my PLA tests. I've tested it with the bed cold, 40c, 50c and 60c and it's stuck amazingly well every time. In comparison I couldn't get PLA to stick to glass or painters for some reason. I cant comment for ABS

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Prusa i3 rods - 12 years ago

I never thought of it that way. I didn't realise that some of them would be softer - thanks for sharing that I'd assume that if you can find an old inkjet printer with the correct size rods, they'd presumably be of decent quality and strength?

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

What spare parts do you recommend keeping for an i3 (laser)? - 12 years ago

Hi all, I initially came here to ask what parts are a must for keeping spares. I'd assume the extruder gears are something that'll break first given the amount it has to move over time, however I was curious to know which other parts are considered to have the highest fail rate. This also lead me on to another idea - compiling wiki pages with 'must have' spares for each printer, so new RepRapp

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Prusa i3 rods - 12 years ago

Generally you'll find small reprap specific sellers of things like rods are just buying them from their local hardware store. I've picked all mine up recently from a UK retailer called Wickes and they've been spot on - no bends or anything like that. It only starts really mattering when you get to M6 or lower it seems as the M8 and M10's seem to be ok from almost anywhere. I had a few bent M6's

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: PC Power Supply query regarding 5v load - 12 years ago

Just to update this, I finally got around to sorting it out. I've made a 5v Molex > MicroUSB cable, to power a RaspberryPi which will eventually be mounted on the i3 and will serve as a wireless printer interface. The second I plugged it in, the whining sound stopped and the heated bed doesn't take as long to get up to temperature. I've also got a cooling fan for the RAMPS board, and a LED

by RickM - RAMPS Electronics

Is this possible? Using a J-Head and a Budaschnozzle together? - 12 years ago

I've recently finished building a Prusa i3. Long and the short of it is that I bought a set of plastic parts to start out with, along with a budaschnozzle hot end. Not realising that the set of plastic parts was for a J-Head. So I ended up buying a fairly cheap J-Head with the intention of printing out the budaschnozzle parts. However It got me thinking about making use of both of them. Is it

by RickM - Mechanics

Normal behaviour? RAMPS restarting when connected to pronterface - 12 years ago

Hi all, I've got a reprapdiscount RAMPS kit with the smart controller display, on a Prusa i3. I've noticed that whenever I connect via USB using Pronterface, the motors make a tiny sound, followed by the RAMPS seemingly rebooting - the smart controller display basically goes blank (the backlight remains on) and then comes back on again a second or two later. Is this normal behaviour? It seems

by RickM - RAMPS Electronics

Re: Need help shopping for first printer - 12 years ago

The i3 can be very easily built, and from what I can tell, is easy to tweak to get decent prints. I've done very little in the way of calibration to mine and get decent prints out of it. There's a few youtube videos of i3's doing very fast high quality printing. A lot of it comes down to the belts being correctly installed, and having a decent hotend. The rest is down to the way you build it. H

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Better connection between the i3 bed and frame? - 12 years ago

Hi all, I built an i3 (laser frame, similar to the twelvepro model with the two frame supports). One thing that really bugs me about the i3 is the terrible connection between the frame and the z-axis. I was curious to see if anyone had come up with a better way of connecting them, as all it takes is a few prints and the screws that hold the z-axis to the frame start loosening. I know washers a

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Thinking of buying a Prusa i3 - 12 years ago

QuoteAntslake Well the Rose didn't make it to the end. My head seems to drip a little too much. I guess I up the retraction in slicr? It's at 1mm now. Slicr also said it had a hole in it, but It messed up in a few places. Got over 50% through it though. I think that was a pretty tough print? Have you tried using Cura instead of Slic3r? I found that with little to no changes, not only were Cura p

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Wish power supply?! - 12 years ago

QuoteFSilvestre I have been printing for some time and now i wanted to do something diferent. What i wanted was just to print pla and there for i wasn't including a heated bed to my power supply needs. Can I make a suggestion? Whatever power supply you go with, make sure its got a minimum of 16A - that way if you do ever change your mind you wont need a new power supply. It wont cost you any mor

by RickM - General Mendel Topics

Re: Add a little style to your spool holder... - 12 years ago

Nice spool holder! I printed a Filament Duck a couple of days ago (http://www.thingiverse.com/make:52009) which does a decent job, but the actual holder for the reel stops it turning smoothly. Any chance of the stl's being shared?

by RickM - Look what I made!

Re: RAMPS Case - 12 years ago

Nice case! Will this be going on thingiverse any time soon? Also, what size fans are you using for it?

by RickM - Look what I made!