Well, I didn't think a TEC could handle 200-250c since it is pretty much plastic. I just did some checking and the normal TEC is max 80c operating temp and a high temp one is max of 200c.by Dark Alchemist - General
Ahhhh, that makes more sense but I have seen so many videos with people slapping a fan there, as I said, and one on the extruder stepper. Matter of fact I have seen more with a fan on the extruder stepper motor than ones that didn't and for a Nema 17 to get that hot (one guy said it blistered him) that is just beyond ludicrous and why I mentioned what I did. The hot end fan, so I was told, is tby Dark Alchemist - General
Pros: Water cooling can actually lower the temp of the device it is cooling to below ambient temp but for all practical purposes about ambient +/- 10c. Cons: Still requires a fan, a huge heatsink, and cost. If you had one laying around then I say go for it but honestly for a RepRap it should be overkill because water cooling is for parts (CPU/Automobile engines/etc...) that get extremely hot andby Dark Alchemist - General
Polygonhell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think you'd want to stick with a nem17 for the > extruder at least unless yo go to a bowden type > design. 23's tend to be a lot heavier so you'd be > significantly increasing the mass of the X axis > for no real gain. 23's make the CNC move fast as all get out and they don't even get warm but the 17's hby Dark Alchemist - General
nophead Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Plastic gears are normally made out of low > friction plastics I think. HDPE, nylon and Delrin > for instance. HDPE is definitely printable. Nylon > is reported to be but might poisonous you. Not > sure about Delrin. I think it certainly smells bad > if you heat it. Found this @ QuoteNylon vs. Delrin (Acetby Dark Alchemist - General
gtg252b Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > These guys sell polycarbonate. I would think that > it would be your best bet. > > pby/filament_material-polycarbonate/ Ewwwwwweeee, 24 dollars for a half a pound? WOW. Still, very nice to finally see someone selling it and it earned my bookmarks for future testing. Thank you.by Dark Alchemist - General
a_shorething Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe you could design a gear that has vents and > cools itself as it spins, kind of like the brakes > on a car? > > ..or possibly a gear that is assembled from > several parts that would increase the strength? > Kind of like building it out of glued and/or keyed > wedges so that their's moreby Dark Alchemist - General
derekd Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is an interesting question. Straight off, > I'd say PLA can be ruled out as it doesn't take > much of a temperature rise to soften it. > > I'm not primarily a mechanical engineer, I've > spent most of my time with electronic circuitry > and software, so I'd wecome a critique of this > thinking..by Dark Alchemist - General
I have the Nema 23's already and no Nema 17's from my CNC project. My problem is getting the mounts for the 23's as everything I have seen on the net has the mounting for 17 and not 23.by Dark Alchemist - General
This was my fear as well NelsonRap but I also fear the strength, or lack of it, with ABS. I am used to dealing with brass, steel, and aluminum gears and they all dissipate heat pretty well and are strong but plastic I don't know if it would hold up to ~110 Nm of Torque at 3k rpm. That is a lot of torque when you think finger tightening is ~2 Nm of torque.by Dark Alchemist - General
With a RepRap which material could we use to print working gears that could handle the stress of say a motor running at 3k rpm with about 90-150Nm of torque?by Dark Alchemist - General
I love your write up and your work is phenomenal and something I am following though "my friend and I have been bitten by the RepRap bug" as well though we aren't ready yet to fully dive in (I want Nema 23 steppers and all I see are Nema 17 which I do not want). A lot of work but if done well and tweaked I bet some great prints will be made. Now trying to keep costs down will be the hardest parby Dark Alchemist - General
Then we disagree on all points as I not only did the best I could when giving away software I wrote I actually upkept it and revised it as necessary only because it is what I liked to do at the time I was doing it. Lots of grunt work and engineering that kept me up some nights so I didn't get any sleep for the next day. Anyway we agree to disagree and not agreeing is not a bad thing.by Dark Alchemist - General
That is the status quo you are talking about and not one I believe in. If we are ever to bring humanity to the next level it must start with not needing money. Just like that Star-Trek episode portrayed the 24th century and while it was SCI-FI it is something we should be striving for because when money (or a monetary system) is non existent can man know well being. I firmly believe in this prby Dark Alchemist - General
I see any passcodes as a very bad thing YMMV. As far as the IP law as it stands now Thingiverse is in direct violation on a bunch of counts and should be taken down due to the law (I can see that happening soonish) or at least policed by the admin/moderators/whatever. As far as people charging for stl files or whatever the format will be think goodness for filesharing networks but all of this iby Dark Alchemist - General
Well, look at the inkjet printers that I can walk down to Wal-Mart right now and pick up for $29.99-$49.99 that do photo realistic printing. The darn ink replacements cost more than that for them but 15 or 20 years ago do you think you would have seen printers like that for that low? I know I sure didn't and lets not forget the ALL-IN-ONE type printers that are high resolution b&w/color scaby Dark Alchemist - General
Quotenophead Yes and I prefer natural selection to take it course rather than safety regulations doing the opposite. I am with you about this but the EU is daddy and mommy so their laws are their laws but this passcode has nothing to do with safety for children because you only need to enter the passcode once (so the man said) unless the battery backedup memory fails (leaving it unplugged for toby Dark Alchemist - General
QuoteTraumflugI said the options to get a reasonable priced printer with low priced consumables is there, people just have to take it. But many don't regardless. What you consider reasonable someone else might not. For instance I do not consider 500-750 dollars reasonable.by Dark Alchemist - General
Yes, I see that as a problem because a dual head will continue to print and never lift the head so the cutter has no where to go. The only way I could see it working is to have a retract/extend Z1/Z2 (head1/head2) system where we print Z1. Z2 is being retracted as is its filament as the slicer extended ever so slightly and closes Z2's opening. When it is time to switch back to Z2 for printing wby Dark Alchemist - General
Yes, but would it help any if done right? It is easy enough to know when the head lifts up to slap the slicer and I would assume easy enough to add a g code command to do slice and not slice. I program (C++/ASM) but I have never once looked at g-code to know its capabilities. So, I just wonder if a slicer would change anything if done right?by Dark Alchemist - General
jcabrer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well, there is another way to look at it. The > reason you always see these tiny parts being used > to compare DIY to $$$ is that the small parts make > you focus on the small details, rather than the > object as a whole. The fact is that both types of > printers can make whisltes till the cows come >by Dark Alchemist - General
Polygonhell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The FFF one isn't that bad, it has a number of > common problems that we commonly see here. > Certainly some of the more dialed in printers here > would be a lot better but you'd still see the > layers and something similar to the pattern on > top. If that is the case (this is the worst I have seen) theby Dark Alchemist - General
Thank you. Yet again another source trying to put this movement down by saying we need the more expensive model. Did you look at the bigger picture? I mean I haven't seen one that ugly unless the print head was funky and it was a trial run.by Dark Alchemist - General
I have been reading about SLA printers (like I was reading about Laser printers while my old Panasonic 24 pin dot matrix was churning away circa 1990 (before that I had a Brother 9 pin and before that (about 1985) an Alpha Matrix thermal printer)) and I found this image Is FFF (image on the left) still that horrible or is this just to demo the quality of the SLA process (on the right)? I thoughby Dark Alchemist - General
Thank you because what you did with your school means more than you can imagine now if more schools will convert over even better because it is the now as well as the future (the mindset changes of the students). I will say in 1998 I was bleeding edge using my RedHat distro of Linux then I went to Fedora Core then to Ubuntu but I haven't touched Linux in 3 years but I do watch it closely to seeby Dark Alchemist - General
How practical would it be if I used a micro servo at the hot end that when the filament is retracted a slicer goes forward to stop the flow and when the filament is pushed forward the micro servo would open the slicer?by Dark Alchemist - General
"I'm sure corporate America will come after this movement in force at some point. The only way I can see them stopping it is taking to creation tools out of the hands of the populace. Make creation software prohibitively expensive. Sabotage freeware to secretly track designs, or openly attack freeware. Alternatively, buy up all the tools - and destroy the ones that aren't for sale. I put nothingby Dark Alchemist - General
@akhlut: Of course it does but what it doesn't have is the precise measurements a CAD application has. It isn't meant to be a CAD replacement only a 3d application like Maya, XSI, and/or 3dsmax. As far as generic and branded stls I don't think stl will be the final file format as I think they will devise a locked down type of system so to control it via a timer. Rent the file to print once witby Dark Alchemist - General
Good reading and it made me mad with all of those laws to protect but in reality those laws are there to keep the money flowing in one direction. Things must change or else those laws will shut everyone down. Heck, just look on page one (was one for me) of Thingiverse with Yoda on it. BOOM, headshot, knee kick to the groin that is a violation and I am sure Lucas would shut it down. Why buy aby Dark Alchemist - General
akhlut Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- ... > And she mentioned the elephant in the room - > machines that make themselves. Anyone of > reasonable intelligence in that audience knows at > that point that the the emperor has no clothes. > Her whole business model is that people are stupid > and can't design things themselves. I'm fairly > certaby Dark Alchemist - General