Ah, you mean... how to make the plastic parts? Normally you use a 3D printer to make them. However, there's been some efforts by people to build a Mendel from scratch by cutting them out of wood, or metal, etc. It works, but it's not that easy, and I'm not sure if there's any good instructions for that.by jbayless - Reprappers
That page reminds me of these talks by Robert Full:by jbayless - Robots!
Just a thought: If you're trying to avoid the milling head bumping into the parts during the extrusion cycle, you don't need a continuous Z-axis, right? You just need to be able to flip the mill up when it's not needed, and down when it's in place (not set it to variable heights). So in that case, it might not be difficult to simply use a solenoid, or similar setup.by jbayless - Shape Deposition Manufacturing Working Group
1.) Is your project on schedule? No Mechanical assembly of the Reprap is complete. Extruder, electronics, and testing must be finished before a test print can be conducted. 2.) What did your group members accomplish during the past week? - Completed XYZ mechanical assembly; fitting and splicing belts as needed. - Tested and corrected printer axes. They can now move smoothly under the motor's ownby jbayless - Wire and Thread Embedded Extrusion
Hi, We're filling out weekly progress reports as part of our university project requirements. I thought I'd post them here too, since reading it might help others with their project planning. Reporting period: Jan 04 to Jan 10 1.) Is your project on schedule? No Mechanical assembly of the Reprap is nearly complete, but electronics and testing has not begun. This is expected to take about oneby jbayless - Wire and Thread Embedded Extrusion
Thanks for the introduction, Sebastien! I'm Jacob Bayless, and my team members are Mo Chen and Bing Dai. We're 4th year Engineering Physics undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia, and this is what we have chosen for our project course this year. One of our goals is to participate in an open development environment, which drew us to the Reprap project in the first place. Thby jbayless - Wire and Thread Embedded Extrusion
Thanks for rescuing it! I think anyone building a reprap should read it, and anyone planning to improve their repraps should read it twice. It explains a lot of important concepts, like where machine errors come from, and the dangers of overconstraint. BTW: I got Precision Machine Design for Christmas; I hope that will help me find even more ways to improve the Reprap! BTW (II): Education forumby jbayless - General
Aluminum is often easier to grip and cut in a machine, and you can put threads in it directlyby jbayless - General Mendel Topics
Yeah, as a Canadian that's my advice too. Use anybody but UPS. You'll get hit by absurd border fees and delays.by jbayless - General
Is it possible for users like me to edit the documentation on the main wiki? I find that much of it is out of date, and I think the only reason it's gone this badly for this long is that the main wiki is not user-editable. Sure, there's a user-editable wiki, but the main wiki is where people look, and besides, for the reader's sake we shouldn't be scattering documentation. I ran into trouble buiby jbayless - Administration, Announcements, Policy
Another question: I have access to an OMAX waterjet cutter but not a laser cutter. Acrylic cannot be waterjetted effectively, but polycarbonate can. Would polycarbonate make a suitable build platform? If so, what thickness would be appropriate?by jbayless - Mechanics
Hello all, My project team is working on adding new capabilities to the existing Reprap system; we are building a toolhead to let it print wires. More about that later. On the hardware side, the new mechanism involves three motors (DC or stepper). The software requires updating too, accordingly. Here is some brief introduction of our software plan, and we would love to get your comments or questby jbayless - RepRap Host
... And as nice as it is to be able to copy expired patents, part of the reason that existing 3D printers are so expensive is because of the technology they are using. Seeing as our design requirements are quite different than 3D printers in terms of cost, precision, reliability, and construction materials, it shouldn't surprise anyone that we'll need to do our own innovation at least some (and pby jbayless - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering
Hey, My prof has recommended substituting plywood for MDF for the Darwin that my team is building. The reason being that plywood is much more durable. I'm just wondering if anyone has considered (and rejected?) this before. What are the advantages of MDF? We're ordering parts right now so a quick response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jacobby jbayless - Mechanics
Hello all, Another quick question. I'm just wondering if I still need to setup the "Arduino G-code Interpreter" (http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/Arduino_GCode_Interpreter) if I already have ReplicatorG? That is, do they serve the same purpose, or are they both needed. (I found that link of "Arduino G-code Interpreter from the Documentation link "Documentation -> Software -> Firmware -&gby jbayless - RepRap Host
Thanks a lot! I followed those steps and installed Sanguino, and the code compiles nowby jbayless - RepRap Host
2.54 mm sounds like one inch... I'd be surprised if you can't find one in the USby jbayless - Controllers
Hi Mahdi, There's Lin Engineering, a step motor company in the US. They offer a few choices... Pick one with lots of torqueby jbayless - Controllers
Hi, I'm following the instructions here ( ) to install the 5D firmware. I'm just looking to test it out, because I don't have the actual hardware at the moment. When I try to compile, I get this error. Surely I'm missing some simple setting that adds 'Sanguino' to the Board list. What have I overlooked? Thanks! Jacobby jbayless - RepRap Host
(Sorry for the double post!) If my theory is right, then it should also work even better in aluminum, which has a higher conductivity and a lower toughness compared to steel.by jbayless - General
I imagine it would be very noisy! Since it's an electromagnetic pulse, I imagine the principle is similar to an induction motor. A rapidly changing magnetic field induces a burst of electric current in the steel, by Faraday's law. From Lenz's law, the eddy current's magnetic field is opposite to the field from the coil, so there's a sudden, strong repulsive force between the coil and the steel.by jbayless - General
Looks to me like they can only use it to punch holes. Probably can do some funny-shaped holes too, but not likely cut lines with it the way a laser cutter can. Still, I'd love to see one of these at work!by jbayless - General
Indeed! I'm a big fan of altruism, especially other people's altruism. Though after reading this, I feel quite motivated to buy his other (somewhat more formal) textbook, "Precision Machine Design". The google preview looks quite good.by jbayless - General
Hi Reprappers, I just wanted to stop by and post about this wonderful resource. It's an e-book written by MIT prof Alex Slocum about machine design, released for free. The audience is MIT students preparing for robotics competitions, but I can't stress enough how applicable the knowledge here is. I think it's an excellent resource for anybody who is planning to build Repstraps, or develop the Reby jbayless - General
Perhaps someone should update the home page? It is a bit misleading.by jbayless - General
(Copied from the general forum...) My teammate Bing recently emailed McMaster to ask about their shipping policy, which they stated as thus: "We will ship to the University of British Columbia, but we do not ship to individuals in Canada. If your order is associated with the University, feel free to contact us or place an order by any of the following methods: We ship to British Columbia inby jbayless - Canada, Vancouver RepRap User Group
My teammate Bing recently emailed McMaster to ask about their policy, which they stated as thus: "We will ship to the University of British Columbia, but we do not ship to individuals in Canada. If your order is associated with the University, feel free to contact us or place an order by any of the following methods: We ship to British Columbia in 1-2 days from our Ohio facility. Shipping is bby jbayless - General
I haven't seen the program, but is it possibly one of these?by jbayless - General
Hi, This is a crazy idea from someone who has no experience in the field (me), who has not yet seen the plastic extruder in operation, and has no intuitive sense of the properties of molten PLA. But I've seen that the extruder puts strict limits on build speed and precision, and also requires a filament instead of more readily available granules. I thought of this last night and I thought I'd pby jbayless - Mechanics