Yes that's a good idea i will try to get some feed back on the problem parts and do an upgrade of those parts.by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
We have noted the problems and I'm currently waiting (later this week) for some Hi Impact Acrylic which is much more resistant to cracking and gives some slight stress indication before breaking the only down side it's not quite so shinny but very close.by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
I have a proffesionally made (CNC'ed) nozzle with a 0.5mmby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
It all seems like a lot of hassle when you can use a number of different materials Forrest (iirc Resbond) Nophead (Cerastil) and I use fire cement/furnace cement. I think these are all rated into the +1000by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Support for the fire cement is provided by an outer copper tube so it only has to stay in place and not resist and mechanical loading. copper is not the best material for the outer tube stainless steel would be better but is not so readily available or so easily worked.by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
With the X gantry make sure the bars it runs on are absolutly parallel, use the setting bars and be sure they just drop onto the running bars and have no bend in them. Next attach the belts to the idler side of the gantry and put the gantry at the Y motor end and then pull the belts evenly by hand to ensure the gantry slides very easily, if not ajust check the slide clamps are not to tight, if iby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
We are aware of this and it's on the ToDo list. Hopefully this week. Although most people get 23 minutes of it.by Ian Adkins - Reprappers
The BfB design has the fire cement/ JB Weld in a copper tube so if it crumbles it will still stay in the same place and has nowhere to go.by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Be aware there are a few designs now i.e. Vik's plywood, Viks's modified BfB one and our BfB one i think both of Vik's are a work in progress but i could be wrong. Our design use a laser routing technique and takes some trial and error to get right as it is dependent on your particular lasers parameters (we route a grove/ recess for bearings etc) If you have access to use a laser yourself it isby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
The Fire cement is supported in a copper tube so has no mechanical load and is simply to hold the NiChrome and stop it all shorting and give a thermal connection to the heater barrel. Any cement fire/furnace that can be used when installing fire places/ wood burners etc will work. Exhaust pastes may be a bit low on temp due to the heat of the NiChrome but as long as it doesn't get nasty (fumes) iby Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi David Don't take this as a direct sales pitch But please cost up all the parts you will need to complete the Laser cut kit into a working RepRap as we keep our profit to a minimum and as we buy in bulk it is often cheaper from us than elsewhere, unfortunately the shipping is expensive and is out of our control, but if you have to pay to ship from many different place it might work out similaby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
I have had the same trouble with HDPE and side extrusion I added a M5 washer above the PTFE and this then puts more pressure to closed the leak, the new heater barrel is longer which allows the PTFE to form over the end of it as Thomas stated and also would allow for a clip if required. The heater barrel has a 3.2by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
1/2 splice bolt belts and then glue as per the RepRap wiki, i simply align the ends using a small off cut/ X or Y belt, peel back one side and glue (sparingly) super glue works best when less is used, I do all this in my hands as i find it easier to visually ensure they are all lined up correctly and then after the glue has held it in position i clamp it for 10 minutes or so. So far this has alwby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Good question I'll try to post some photos over the weekend, but basically the extruder bolts onto the X carriage with the 4 slots in the extruder this allows the extruder to be removed without fully undoing the bolts. I had not designed the extruder to take the electronics but was expecting them to mount either on the frame with tie wraps or more likely along side the Bot.by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
The steppers are 3A when driven in Unipolar mode hence the motor rating plate but they are 2A in bipolar series and 4A bipolar parallel, you should be in bipolar series for use with the Arduino electronics. As for the stiffness in the system you should be able to move the X & Y axis by pushing with your finger even with the motor installed (but not powered) if this is not the case you might nby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
I have been trying some tests with Macor which is similar i think, it looks very good but is extremely slow to machine and very delicate my concerns are all regarding its tensile strength and these concerns would also apply to Duratec as it only gives compressive figures?by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Reece i would suggest drilling the missing holes in the corner brackets the latest versions had these holes, eD also wrote a good section Z axis setup as it is an area that pays of for precision. It will also benefit from a tensioner being added so belt tension is not set using the tie brackets which should be used for the vertical alignment.by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Hi Wade, Have you put flats on the motor shaft and the 8mm rod? this greatly helps to prevent slippage.by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Absolutely correct RepRap in 2 boxesby Ian Adkins - Wanted
Brilliant a pleasure to watchby Ian Adkins - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering
I love RepRap but i also love this where do i get one I guessing it's not open sourceby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Viktor I've seen Nopheads work in the flesh/ABS and it is every bit at commercial standard possibly slower but definitely at the standard and i could be mistaken on the speed Actually on reflection and closer examination it might even be a bit betterby Ian Adkins - General
The extruder design is a little different as soon as Cheltenham Festival is over I'll get back to blogging the design it doesn't use a flexible drive but the insulator (PTFE) is not a direct replacement with the current Darwin designby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
next up on the design board and it will fit with the new design drive. It should also be retro-fit-able to the original design with a few well placed bracketsby Ian Adkins - General
Just caught up on this thread Forrest is nearly correct our kit does not include electronics but it does have all the stepper motors and we also have a more robust design for the extruder I will blog this as soon as the Cheltenham Festival is over next week.by Ian Adkins - General
excellent please visit bits from bytesby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
I'm there all week so looking forward to meeting everyone, I think Nophead is down later in the week and Adrian, eD & Vik are there all week i thinkby Ian Adkins - United Kingdom RepRap User Group
We have just switched to a LASER cut design as the moulding option is very complex as Nophead says due to the many internal trapped nuts so you need to make moulds with removable cores (the corner block moulds have 7 removable parts!) this means a lot of time on the lathe before you even think about pouring some resin. If you can directly print a mould then you might make it easier it all dependby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
We are now back and talking ordersby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
This is what i love about RepRap all the experimentation, excellent work.by Ian Adkins - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering