Printman, Your MendelMax prints are from other types of printers, not from a Mendel Max. The first one is with a Makergear card (they don't make a Mendel Max), the second one is from a standard Mendel, and the third part is from ???? (because it wasn't printed on the machine is is installed on and that machine is incomplete). The Mendel Max is an extruded aluminum version of a Mendel. For a pby Beekeeper - General
CaptRR, You aren't aiming too high. All the resolutions you mention are possible with standards stock RepRap machines. Building one yourself, you will learm far more than just purchasing one off the shelf. Most off the shelf fully build models aren't as good as RepRap machines and they cost far more. Since you are already familiar with Arduinos, you are a leg ahead of where most people start ouby Beekeeper - General
I remember an article posted on the Makerbot blog a couple of years ago. Bre Pettis called out Techzone for not posting design files for one of their boards they were selling. Techzone has since disappeared, but because of them, Bre circa 2010 is 180° out of phase with Bre circa 2012. Here is the post: Open Source Ethics and Dead End Derivatives - by Bre Pettis It didn't sit well with me then,by Beekeeper - General
CNET says the 2 color version of this with a Heated Bed will be $2800.00 and will be introduced in 1st quarter 2013. Sounds like they just introduced it though, without showing it, hmmm...by Beekeeper - General
$2200 for PLA only because it lacks a heated bed (single extruder too) seems a bit steep, but if they sell a bunch - it isn't too steep for their customers. Makerbot's website says it uses 32% less energy than ABS printing. Funny, my printers use about 70% less without the heated bed. The heated bed uses about 10 amps when it is on (most of the time) and the rest of the printer draws only aroundby Beekeeper - General
Even standard stand alone switching power supplies can be not so good for Reprap machines. I purchased some S-240-12 power supplies brand new from ebay. They should have been 12 VDC 240 watt power supplies good for 20 amps at 12 VDC. Even with the adjustment pot, they only got to a maximum of 12 VDC under no load. When under a 15 amp load, the 12 volt line dropped to only 9.6 VDC. Supprisingly, tby Beekeeper - General
I was wondering if anyone has tried to add a "blanket" their heated bed to speed coming up to temperature? For PLA, coming up to temperature is not a big deal, since the HBP comes up to lower temps really fast. But for ABS, waiting to come up to 100°+ C takes time (about 10 minutes). By adding a blanket (like fiberglass accoustic ceiling tile), it takes less time. You would have to not handle tby Beekeeper - General
I use 3-in-1 oil (or sewing machine oil) on Z lead screws and have never wore a Z leadscrew out. It's a lot less viscous than engine oil, but works very well. For PLA gears, you don't really need any grease or oil, they operate a lot like nylon gears and are pretty resilient.by Beekeeper - General
Thanks guys, I am using 14 AWG and trying both a rubber based insulator (like extension cords) and the THHN type insulator (like in industrial power wires found in conduit). While the rubber based insulator is much more flexible, I have to use a longer length of it to stop it from getting hooked on the Y axis smooth rods etc... when the Y axis moves. The rubber flexible wires sag on the threadeby Beekeeper - General
What is the best wires for the MK1 or MK2 Heater Board? A lot of people say 14 AWG or 12 AWG (because it is a heater circuit) and stranded wire due to flexibility. 14 AWG could handle the amps, especially at only 30cm long leads. Also, what kind of insulation material? THHN is pretty snag resistant and slick, but rubber based insulators are more flexible. Any thoughts?by Beekeeper - General
The fact that you can't easily count the number of RepRaps now shows the success of RepRap. Before RepRap, the number of 3d printers worldwide could easily been counted because they were only produced by a handful of companies. Each of the Pre-RepRap 3d printer companies gladly boasted of the number of printers they produced.by Beekeeper - General
That is an extremely hard thing to estimate accurately, since anyone anywhere could make one. I would think to estimate the total number of machines, you would try find suppliers of RepRap specific supplies like controller boards, extruder hot ends, or filament and see if they would disclose the number of customers the have sold to (which they probably won't). Although there are hundreds of sourcby Beekeeper - General
I'm not sure that ABS comes truly clear in any natural form or any processed form. The rubber component, butadiene, almost ensures it. Two of its main components do though - Polystyrene (the polymer of styrene - the S in ABS) and Acrylic - the A in ABS. If you boost those 2 components percentages, you can fake clarity a bit though at the cost of impact resistance and flexibility. A lot of pictureby Beekeeper - General
royco, Why is the stepper driver chip on the underside of the SureStep boards? Won't this increase the heat buildup and have the chip cut out sooner? There doesn't seem to be room to put a heatsink on the chip, or get good airflow from a fan (sideways of the board). Just curious. Do you have a rough pricing on what the heated bed will cost? Your boards look great, if they run as good as they loby Beekeeper - For Sale
Nudel said: "I recommend your first ABS print is a x-carriage and extruder." - Extremely good advice. A lot of people find this out after the fact. Mainly the extruder body, not the whole extruder. I like PLA gears for the Wade's / Greg's extruders as they last much longer for me than ABS. Definitely print a new X-Carriage, they are usually so thin that the warpage on them appears faster than onby Beekeeper - General
Using Free Machining Brass is considerable easier than pure brass when it comes to drilling or milling. All plumbing fixtures in the US is made of free machining brass because of this. Also, any coolant (or oil) beats no coolant when using micro sized drill bits. Soft alloys like brass and aluminum load up the flutes micro mills and drills extrememly fast. Once loaded up, they snap especially ifby Beekeeper - General
And the optical flags getting bent making the bed, extruder, or nozzle grind into a hard crash when the printer tries to home. If you use your printer a bunch, this will happen. Because of this, I believe in mechanical enstops all the way. I doubt it is mechanical, if it is happening on both the X and Y axis, but I would check to make sure both smooth rods are oiled and there is no bald or rouby Beekeeper - General
falkenhausen, I don't know if it is in your budget, but our Vision 3D Printer Kit is on Kickstarter for only $725 (if you are in the US). It is based on a RepRap Prusa Mendel, includes all shipping, 3 lbs of plastic (in 1.75mm or 3.0mm diameters in different colors), a pre assembled and tested extruder (with both 1.75mm and 3.0mm nozzles), it comes with ALL tools needed, and it builds in abouby Beekeeper - General
2% is more shrinkage than PLA can give you no matter how you process it. Only Polypropylene, TPO, TPU, and some Polyethylene plastics can even approach that large of a shrinkage. Normally they are around 1.2% which is why RepRap printers don't use them. ABS, PC, HIPS, PS, PC/ABS, and Acrylic are normally around 0.7 to 0.8%. That is what maks PLA great for FFF in 3D Printers, it is only aroundby Beekeeper - General
I posted the first half of my 18 Hole Golf Course on Thingiverse last week. I am working on turning it into a comprehensive 3D printer tutorial. When learning 3D printing, I spent a LOT of time trying to find out how to do things that seem so simple now. We all did, it's called pioneering. I spent weeks scouring forums and message boards to find out some of them, others I spent weeks figuring itby Beekeeper - General
What plastic are you using? And from where? You are using PLA temps, but are assuming that your temperature reading of the thermistor is the "real" temperature. It looks like your running the temperature too hot, which could be because you are extruding too slow for the temperature of the nozzle, or that your nozzle it just plain too hot. Check which thermistor is being referenced in your firmwby Beekeeper - General
@jcabrer, "If it's not a RepRap (printable), you should not call it a RepRap." Then there are no true RepRap machines, and there never were. "This is especially true if you want to make $$$ off of the design, beyond the cost of printing parts." You can definitely produce any type of machine you wish and sell it for any price point people think is acceptable. The truth is, anyone can. It's callby Beekeeper - General
Although you can purchase the PID controller on ebay for less, The PID temp control alone retails for MORE than $250 by itself. There is no plastic dryer, which you absolutely need in order to produce consistant filament diameters. ABS is a very hydroscopic plastic that has got to be dried to eliminate nearly all moisture that is in the normal air. Not just like below 40 % relative humidity - VERby Beekeeper - General
Thanks Sublime, I got it to work. Here is a link to why I needed to put a tunnel through the Kitty: Golf-In-Miniature. The Spinx turned out pretty well, Here's a pic. I put it in the first hole of my Golf-In-Miniature 3d Printable Golf Course Hole#1 "Put with Tut" Thanks.by Beekeeper - General
@thejollygrimreaper: It's a hole through the legs and out the back. that is 9mm in diameter straight shot through. (note the hole will clip the bottom layer and not be a complete hole, this is by design.by Beekeeper - General
@ sublime and Nudel: Thanks, I will give it a try. OpenSCAD couldn't import the model. It was already cleaned up and fixed witih NetFabb cloud.by Beekeeper - General
I am trying to use Blender to perform a Boolean operation on this stl file. I am just trying to punch a hole through it using a Cylinder "Primative" from Blender 2.6. But it locks up Blender, or returns both models without any changes. I am using the Difference Boolean Modifier. Blender 2.5 is no better, either. Any help is always appreciated. If you know any other free software that can do itby Beekeeper - General
I agree also. 0.5mm diameter nozzle is a great general purpose nozzle, especially for structural parts like making your own printer, or printer upgrades. A great upside is that your prints finish faster.by Beekeeper - General
@ Steve893: As soon as they can make a 3d Printer that can print an Arduino, or even a stepper motor driver chip, then we can eliminate all non printed material. Until then, most people look to RepRap for an affordable 3d Printer. RepRap's original goal is very noble, but no where near to being obtainable yet. Despite Makerbot's claims, a 3d printer can't just make about anything. They are verby Beekeeper - General