Yep it will be a LED probably IR with a photo transistor, back in the old day if you wanted a photo transistor you just carefully took the top of a regular transistor and hey presto a photo transistor, when we get to RepRap electronics would be a good item to start with as size would not be an issue.by Ian Adkins - Controllers
Excellent viewer very easy to use, for myby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Only the Z drive rods and the frame diagonals are threaded rod the rest is plain 8mmby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Hey that's excellent it's now bookmarked I'm a bit like nophead it's the older stuff I'm looking for and have no idea where i saw it forum, blog, wiki etc. It's the little things that make life so much easierby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
The steel frame kit is closer to $100 it's the shipping that's a real killer due to the weight the steel rods weigh over 6kg if in the US local sourcing of the steel rods would be cheaper it all depends on our access to engineering facilities, the RP parts workout much cheaper for shipping as only weigh 1.6kg, that been said there are some mighty fine wood RepStraps out there it's all down to avaby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Like all repositories of data the bigger the store the harder to find the data. Do to the wandering nature of the threads (no criticism) data can be difficult to find or even to think which forum it is in, so a global search facility would be good but otherwise I find the forum very use-able I don't tend to use other forums so I'm no expert just get on well with this one.by Ian Adkins - Reprappers
I agree with nophead design in whats need it's not worth designing systems to cope with bad initial design i.e. get the design working correctly first then see what's needed. Auto cutter/tool head height measurement is very handy but is a luxury. A full 3 axis digitizing probe is a very useful scanning tool that would be good to have in the RepRap tool kit to allow scanning of items to allow reby Ian Adkins - General
I am working on the Kit every spare moment as there seems to be a lot of interest. I hope a kit of all parts except the electronics to be ready next week with complete kits electronics included end of Jan early Feb. Sorry for the confusion with the listings we are going to try to improve the web site soon but concentrating on get bits to people at the moment! Jonathan is right basically you waby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Is the STL measuring software free? and what is it please?by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Looks very good thanks I'll call them for pricing as soon as the office opensby Ian Adkins - Laser Cutter Working Group
I think this is an excellent project for an engineering club as it covers so many topics (software, firmware, electronics, mechanical, chemistry) Reece is correct this is not a complete ready to go project but so much the better for an engineering club as you will have real engineering challenges rather than just following a set of instructions. This is an excellent and very active forum so gettby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
A longer term goal is to have the RepRap be able to use granules or shredded household plastics directly so no need for a filament (thread) this would allow reuse of any plastic that can be extruded. CAPA and as far as I know any other thermoplastic can be recycled/ reusedby Ian Adkins - General
PCB's can have copper tracks i.e. connections between component pins on just one side of the board (single sided) or on both sides of the boards (double sided). It is always the aim of a PCB designer to avoid any wires to jump across tracks as this just increases assembly time, for production this is a real no-no but for RepRap it's no big deal. The big advantage of single sided for RepRap is wby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Hi Jay I'm about to build one in the next few days if you PM me with what you need I'll try to do what I can. I'm good with a soldering iron etc it's the camera bit I'm not so sure aboutby Ian Adkins - General
Hot topic question I'm a big PIC fan used them for years really like them, very versatile. But I'm also fortunate enough to have all the programming stuff etc so most of the problems people have had i don't expect to be a problem for me. That been said i prefer the Arduino overall design with 1 micro controlling all three axis with that also maybe doing the extruder but with the option to tokenby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
A simple Micro-switch will work as a sensor if you just need 1 plane and if you were going to mod the host software then simply interface it to the Z opto input and switch it in for setup calibration as it should only be needed once. You can very easily build a wobble sensor that will detect all the axis and can be used as a scanning probe these are common place in the CNC world both hobby and iby Ian Adkins - General
Regarding Chicken feed I have 60kg of CAPA in granule form and will be arranging filament production as soon as England goes back to work! Should be available in two weeks. On the other point a standard calibration design is an excellent idea with easily measured sides holes curves etc.by Ian Adkins - Reprappers
PU resin fast cast see is like milk when mixed and goes de-mould hard in about 15 minutes and full hardness in about 24 hours it only has a 3 minute pot life so syringe is out of the question unless you're really quick! but a direct pour would likely work due to its viscosity.by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Viktor where did you get your laser and do you know of suppliers of the larger sizes and are you then into CO2 etc or do diodes go that big?by Ian Adkins - Laser Cutter Working Group
You can mould the pulley and you only need 1 pulley to mould all the others from the Z pulley will work fine with 20 tooth as well, the difficulty is keeping the run-out acceptable, we supply moulded pulleys but have had a lot of trouble with run-out so now I turn the bore on a lathe and as such keep the run-out acceptable, also moulding for a few off is expensive as the silicone is not so cheap,by Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Would be easiest to take it all to college and find someone who knows how to use a scope it's not difficult just easier if someone is sat next to you, as i said before i think it an unlikely option it's just if you've tried everything else and it sounds like you have then you have to hunt deeper! Borrowing a PIC is a very good option, and will be easier then the college option I'm sureby Ian Adkins - Controllers
That setting is correct the issue is that the PIC has a calibration register (OSCTUNE) to allow you to fine tune the internal oscillator this is factory set and very rarely needs altering but some programmers have the ability to alter this setting and it would cause the oscillator to run at the wrong frequency which in turn would cause the baud rate to be wrong, RS232 is allowed a 10% timing erroby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Can you get access to a scope? it is possible that the PIC has had its calibration register for the on board oscillator adjusted by mistake this could possibly push the board rate just enough off the mark to not work. This is unlikely due to multiple PIC's but a consideration if your programmer is setting this register some do! The only way to properly test baud rate is to scope it which is notby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Is this not Paneer as in from Indian cooking, except they tend to use lemon juice. The thought of RepRap curry certainly stirs my creative juices!by Ian Adkins - Polymer Working Group
I'm not a big fan of Servo systems just seems to much like hard work when steppers are so easy, all that said the Cyons 1001 looks excellent so i think you now have a convert with 3200 CPI < .01mm resolution and even the most basic giving 1150 CPI = 0.022mm well within spec DIY soldering of QFN packages is do-able but quite hard work but probably worth it, at $11 - $13 not very cheap but witby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Hi Nophead It looked to me like you virtually had HDPE sorted I guess when you get to overhangs the problem returns but i for one am very impressed with the result you've got. Back to the original I think it's simply a case of which ever is easier for the individual and I suggest the wiki has both methods as I know for some getting JB weld is a problem, all down to local conditionsby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
I think it's just down to having an OK soldering iron and ensuring it's all mild steel no stainless, I soldered it all in 5 mins using regular soldering iron and pre-fluxed electronic solder (normal leaded solder) and ensuring the soldering tip is always well wetted with solder. It's also easier to cut the cable if you tin it first as the grinder does not then splay the endby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Does Hyperterminal give a response if you simply connect pin 2 to 3 without the comms board connected i.e. just computer and cable if not the problem is PC end probably setting Hyperterminal incorrectly. Under FILE - PROPERTIES make sure you have Com1 etc selected and under the configure option that flow control is NONE. I'm surprised COM1 & COM2 are in use do you have Active sync or similaby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Basically it's all about accuracy and backlash i think beads etc are unlikely to be accurate enough, chains etc have a lot of backlash with multi-turn cable it runs along the length of the pulley 1 cable diameter per rev but it can transmit massive power just look at sailing rigging, cranes etc. If the movement of cable could be worked with it would be very cheap and universally available. If yoby Ian Adkins - General
In all my searching i could not find a 2.5mm pitch pulley with a 8by Ian Adkins - Mechanics