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Re: An open source kiln as part fo the RepRap project? - 6 years ago

Thanks very much all, I've made a start on an outline here please do add to it

by John Cummings - General

Re: An open source kiln as part fo the RepRap project? - 6 years ago

Quotecwaa Make your own for very little. Thanks but this is not really suitable for what I'm looking for, I want to create an open source electric kiln which can be used in non dirty environments

by John Cummings - General

Re: An open source kiln as part fo the RepRap project? - 6 years ago

There are multiple temperatures which could be useful 700C will let you melt aluminium, so you can do lost PLA casting 1400C will let you fire porcelain, useful for firing printed clay 1500Cish you can melt glass There are commercially available desktop kilns that reach these temperatures but they expensive

by John Cummings - General

An open source kiln as part fo the RepRap project? - 6 years ago

Hi all I've been experimenting with lost PLA casting 3D printed parts, however like most people I don't own a kiln. Looking around the options are very limited, I can't justify $1000 on a desktop kiln or move to a place with a large outdoor space. I'm wondering about how feasable it would be to start a project for an open source desktop kiln suitable for small makerspaces, individual makers and

by John Cummings - General

Re: Is .stl a free and open format? We want to add .stl support to Wikipedia - 8 years ago

Thanks Matt The Github viewer may be helpful, thanks. The problem is whilst nearly every 3D platform uses .stl in one way or another I can't find out if its a truly open formation (no patents still existing etc). Cheers John

by John Cummings - General

Is .stl a free and open format? We want to add .stl support to Wikipedia - 8 years ago

Hi I'm helping to bring 3D file support to Wikimedia and we have a question about the .stl file format. We know that 3D Systems created it but want to know if they still have a patent or some other legal rights over the format? Wikimedia projects only allow free formats If anyone has any information it would be really helpful. Thanks very much John

by John Cummings - General

I wrote a Wikipedia article about the Prusa i3, what have I missed? - 8 years ago

Hi all I wrote a Wikipedia article about the Prusa i3, please have a look and tell me what I missed, I'm happy to add more information from your suggestions but I need references for them as well. Also Jo made a really nice video for it of his print farm at Prusa Research Cheers John

by John Cummings - Prusa i3 and variants

What parts would I have to change to make a 1m x 1m build Smartrapcore Alu? - 9 years ago

Alumnium v-slot rail is really very cheap now and I'm really interested in the idea of making a 1m x 1m (or nearly) build area printer based on the Smartrapcore Alu. I'm not really bothered about printing anything other than PLA so no heated bed needed. I'm assuming that I would have to change some parts out including having a much wider nozzle but what else doesn't scale? Thanks

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: Experiments in making a 3d printed replacement for an aluminum extrusion frame - 9 years ago

I have just done a quick calculation (UK prices) for the amount of 20x20mm vslot rail needed for the Smartrapcore Alu: 4 x 400mm 4 x 340mm 4 x 300m Ooznest will charge £23.40 for the aluminum rail cut to size + £4.36 First Class recorded post 4160mm of 100% infill printed will cost around £23 at £18 per kg (obviously you have buy 2 rolls) and this doesn't take into account failed prints or el

by John Cummings - Developers

Re: Experiments in making a 3d printed replacement for an aluminum extrusion frame - 9 years ago

I've created some simple rods to fit in the v-slot grooves and put them on Github, I assume if they are printed at 95% or so they should fit well, however I'm not sure how strong they will be as they are only 4mm tall at their highest point, printing them nearly solid should help

by John Cummings - Developers

Re: Experiments in making a 3d printed replacement for an aluminum extrusion frame - 9 years ago

Thanks, I don't have a heated be so ABS is out of my reach for now however I really like the acetone bonding approach. Is there any information on what would be the best readily available and preferably as non toxic glue to stick PLA together? I'm not thinking about it from a price point of view really, more of a self replicating and reducing different materials needed. After looking at this fu

by John Cummings - Developers

Making a 3d printed frame for the Smartrapcore Alu - 9 years ago

Hi all Over Christmas I did some experiments with creating a 3d printed frame to replace the aluminum extrusions on the Smartrapcore Alu, I wrote it up in the developers section as I think it may be useful for other printers as well. I'd appreciate some help in progressing this if anyone is interested. Thanks John

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Experiments in making a 3d printed replacement for an aluminum extrusion frame - 9 years ago

Hi all This is a write up of experiments to replace a frame made of aluminum extrusions with a 3d printed one. Having some time off at Christmas I wondered if I could use the non 3d printed parts of a ReprapPro Prusa i3 to make a Smartrapcore Alu (a core x-y printer ). However I found it very hard to find the correct aluminum extrusions without long shipping time, so I wondered if it was possib

by John Cummings - Developers

Re: Using lead screws for the Z axis on the Smartrap Alu - 9 years ago

Amazing, please do post when you've done it

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Using lead screws for the Z axis on the Smartrap Alu - 9 years ago

Hi all After reading this I wondered if anyone had tried to replace or had thoughts on what would be needed to replace the Z axis threaded rod with lead screws on the Smartrap Alu? It seems to reduce backlash and wobble, I'm not sure if there is a large price difference.

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: What material are the Smartrap Alu printed pieces are made of and other questions - 9 years ago

Thanks Serge Nice to see the print farm on the Youtube channel today. One last question, what brand of wood glue to you use for your print surface? I have tried a few different ones and none seem to work very well.

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: What material are the Smartrap Alu printed pieces are made of and other questions - 9 years ago

Hi Serge Thanks very much for the information, I guess its hard to update the pictures on the site when you're making a lot of changes to the kit to make it better P.S I just watched the video for the speed test on Youtube and saw the different coloured printed parts, it would be really cool to have a 'rainbow kit' option when ordering the printer where each printed part is a random colour.

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

What material are the Smartrap Alu printed pieces are made of and other questions - 9 years ago

Hi all Can someone tell me what material the Smartrap Alu printed pieces are made of? Are they PLA or ABS? If ABS are they printed on a Smartrap without a heated bed? A couple of additional questions: Is there a simple (for beginners) guide on how to add a standard 20cm printed bed to a Smartrap Alu? Has anyone tried using a paste extruder on the Smartrap? Maybe the Reprappro one? Thanks

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Has anyone built a Smartrapcore Alu? - 9 years ago

Hi All Waiting till December to order the kit from Smartfriendz for when I'll have some time over Christmas. Has anyone built one yet?

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

E3D and Littlebox raise £120,000 in 13 days on Kickstarter - 9 years ago

Hi All E3D and Littlebox have managed to raise £120,000 in 13 days for their BigBox3D printer on Kickstarter, it looks like a really nice machine. Cheers John

by John Cummings - General

What's the largest aluminium frame reprap? - 9 years ago

Hi All I'm thinking about building something big, along the lines of the BigRep or Gigabot. Are there any models out there with detailed plans? If not I guess the Open Gigabot will fill the void but I don't really want to wait. Cheers

by John Cummings - Extruded Aluminum Frames

Looking for a supplier of a specific unbranded PLA - 9 years ago

Hi All Hope this is in the right place. I've bought unbranded PLA from iMakr in London a few times, just wondering if anyone knows where else I can buy it from since I'm not in London any more. Its a 7cm reel and has this sticker on the side, I've bought both natural and an emerald green before, here's a picture. Photo of the mystery PLA Thanks John

by John Cummings - General

Re: Has anyone tried making a larger version of the Core? - 9 years ago

Ok, thanks, I'll try building one under 300mm for now then This is a nice example of a large printer making big parts quickly using a larger nozzle https://plus.google.com/+BrookDrummpb/posts/jmM7bwShYLw

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: What are the internal dimensions of the Core box? - 9 years ago

Wonderful, thanks very much

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: What are the internal dimensions of the Core box? - 9 years ago

This is really amazing but I'm struggling to find a parameter for box size though, only print volume size.....

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

What are the internal dimensions of the Core box? - 9 years ago

Hi All I'm thinking of building a Core but can't find information about the internal dimensions of the box, I have a feeling its going to be somewhere obvious.... Thanks John

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: Has anyone tried making a larger version of the Core? - 9 years ago

Thanks, so is there an accepted maximum size that the standard rails in the Core kit can be used with? Cheers John

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: Has anyone tried making a larger version of the Core? - 9 years ago

Thanks If there's a few of us interested in making a bigger Core perhaps we could agree on a size and make ours at the same time so we can help each other get over the lumps and bumps. Cheers John

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Re: Has anyone tried making a larger version of the Core? - 9 years ago

Thanks very much I'd be happy to make one without a heated bed, I'm only interested in printing with PLA for now. What size do you think I could get up to? I'd be very happy with something 400mm or 500mm square. What would I need to do in terms of software to make it understand that it is larger? Would it simply be changing the sizes in Cura etc? Cheers John

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap

Has anyone tried making a larger version of the Core? - 9 years ago

Hi All I'm thinking about building a larger 3d printer, I have had a few different models but nothing larger than 200 x 200 x 200mm build volume. Has anyone tried to make a larger version of the Core? It seems like the box offers a very simple, cheap and sturdy construction and any weakness in a larger box could be addressed with struts to brace the front. Would it be easier to expand X+Y rath

by John Cummings - Smart_Rap