what parts are failing? I have been through the same experience. The hot end is the most error prone and critical component. The filament drives usually work well and when they don't it's still due to something in the hot end. I have 2 hot ends that are the adrians stepper-hot end v4 design which I think are a really good design. One of them works reliably the other one is untested. I'm currentby Anthong Redbeard - General
I'm really excited to do a wax printing extruder... which would be necessary beforea dual head design. Wax would allow for more detailed investment metal casting. There is some work being done on piezo heads that will allow for this but it's very recent. I'm convinced by the UP! printer processes and results that we don't need separate material for support, it can be done through a combination oby Anthong Redbeard - General
A few quick tips for your new Prusa build... if you are using printed bushings they need to be printed in PLA, when you assemble the machine, either slide them on before installing the smooth bars or you may need to warm them up with a hair dryer so they don't break when you pop them on the bar. I think the zip tie coupling are more forgiving and better than the default coupling, you'll need aby Anthong Redbeard - General
They just came out with a firmware update tutorial for this yesterday:by Anthong Redbeard - General
I'd go for the higher torque for the few extra $$ you'll end up not using the yellow and white wires.by Anthong Redbeard - General
I can make repsnapper and RAMPS work with tonokip firmware, if you have the ultimachine ramps board use johhnys copy of it, even after I got that one working I tried others and they had issues. I tried loading the 5D firmware as well, but could make Host software OR replicator G talk to it. I suggest making the repsnapper+tonokip firmware your starting point... make sure you set the port to 11520by Anthong Redbeard - General
I have been playing with Repsnapper and really don't like it compared to ReplicatorG. I never had much luck with the Host software either. However, I can make it work with Repsnapper without a problem on /dev/ttyACM0 but when I try loading 5d firmware for RAMPS and using that same port in the machines config for ReplicatorG it says it can't connect to the port. Has anyone else dealt with thisby Anthong Redbeard - General
I found my short... thanks.by Anthong Redbeard - General
I have a couple of power supplies from servers. I use on on my repstrap with Gen 3 electronics and it works great. On my Prusa Mendel I have a RAMPS 1.2 shield... for some reason when I turn on the extruder heat the power supply shuts off. I've tried several power supplies. They around 200 watts in power. I'm connected ot the 12 volt leads just like I did with gen 3 electronics. Any help would bby Anthong Redbeard - General
yes, there are some people who provide lineage certificates with the printed parts, they usually cost more. Not sure how common the practice is still.by Anthong Redbeard - General
I'm nearly finished with my Prusa Mendel, and so far I think it has a lot of room for improvement. For example: I'm supposed to glue the lower bed to the bushings that are snapped onto the Y rails. I haven't done that yet because I know it will be difficult to get it back off. I want a solution where the bed is securely but not permanently attached to the linear bearings of some sort, but can bby Anthong Redbeard - General
nophead, I'm glad you spelled that out for the thread, I found that out the hard way, it's illustration #3. about the filament curve... that definitely seems to be a factor. A few of us tried some experiments to see if they would get us past certain issues, like having an air gap instead of an insulator... the key thing that affected those was the filament curve. The filament curve is also whatby Anthong Redbeard - General
thanks, I really appreciate that. you always were very responsive on ebay as well, I know a lot of this can be me... and that it's all experimental. I have a couple of freinds with similar issues that bought parts in various places... one guy I know has about 5 hot end assemblies plus various parts, and has similar issues to me with all of them. I do no people with working sets as well. I can;t fby Anthong Redbeard - General
I think I bought them all from that guy on ebay that starts with an R ... I don;t see them there anymore. New stuff I'm waiting for is from mendel-parts and arcol.hu ... neither are speedy about it. I took a hard look at your inventory, probably 10x, if you had this... or something that seemed just as promising I would have bought it. It may be overkill but I'm really sick of extruder issues.by Anthong Redbeard - General
thanks nophead... I know there are decent designs out there... the 2 im waiting on will hopefully be decent. A lot of your solutions are very custom need special tools and can't be easily bought. I'd buy a kit or extruder from you in a heartbeat, till then I'll see how close I can get. buback... I can make extruders fail without gcode... just using the control panel and adjusting speeds and tempby Anthong Redbeard - General
I have a wades extruder block that does seem to grip really well. I have a big nozzle with 0.5 hole and a one piece with 0.35 holes. I have tried ptfe, peek, and hybrid insulators. tried resistor heating, direct nichrome, and nichrome on a removable brass piece. relied on threads in the insulator and have since moved on to supporting the barrel with bolts that run parallel. tried a number of heby Anthong Redbeard - General
if going the reprap host route... need to edit the config file of the firmware when you compile, the settings are specific to your system but are well commented. if using replicator g (I use this one) make sure you deinf your machine in the machines files... you probably just need to set the baud rate.by Anthong Redbeard - General
we're getting some people together to do some extruder prototyping and testing at . noon january 2 . Working on improving plastic extruder designs.by Anthong Redbeard - Atlanta, Georgia RepRap User Group
1. parts can be purchased at places like or ebay, there are many others. 2. 3. NO, not even close. I think the closest you can get to this is to 3d print a pattern and then cast in steel. See sites like submarineboat.com and backyardmetalcasting.com 5. depends on who sells them to you, I think the experienced sellers are producing assembly ready parts. 6. Most printers are at least good to .5 mby Anthong Redbeard - General
just in case someone else runs into this... there was a start file that was being referenced in skeinforge that had homing stuff turned on. there was also some start code that turned off the extruder but didn't turn it back on then I found that a skeinforge plugin called cool was "oribiting" inbetween completeing layers, which is why my extruder was off and it did a bunch of dry run squares.by Anthong Redbeard - General
ok, thanks. I have a couple questions for people interested in giving me feedback: 1. Can you think of a good use for a gcode visualization on a web page? where each layer is a small box and it tiles the layers? 2. What would you think of an online stl to gcode generator with selectable options etc? Kind of like skeinforge with a web navigation.by Anthong Redbeard - General
about those RAMPS electronics... also like that the shield is a single layer board so any other components could be relatively easily replaced without buying everything again, that's huge for me.by Anthong Redbeard - General
What tools do people use to visualy edit toolpaths in gcode that has been generated? I want to write some skeinforge plugins, but definitely want to try out my ideas in a POC mode before applying them to any code.by Anthong Redbeard - General
Thanks Rick, This is the first time I paid much attention to the gcode generated and have found many thtings I can manually manipulate in it. This helps me troubleshoot a lot, and I'm making progress. the new .22 replicator G generates several different gcode issues for me, but editing the gcode is a big step in troubleshooting... now I just have to keep it from doing some of the odd things...by Anthong Redbeard - General
I tried many versions including yours and .21 I keep getting the same thing. what baffles me is that it works fine in the control panelby Anthong Redbeard - General
Is anyone working on the development of a printer that uses printed herringbone rack and pinion for X and Y movement instead of belts? If this has been ruled out for some reason I'd be interested in hearing why.by Anthong Redbeard - General
Thanks, I'm crippled by English, can you tell me which link on that page you are suggesting?by Anthong Redbeard - General
I built a McWire, at least 2x because everything had to be redone from how it was described on the wiki, I've replaced many parts on it, and still have issues (My initial choice of the platform to build was poor) if I can save you ANY hardship I suggest getting a PCB heated bed, you can get it from reprap source a relay to drive it, you can get one from makerbot, if you try to run it through thby Anthong Redbeard - General
I'm still trying random things but if anyone can save me some more hassle I'd appreciate it. So, I rebuilt my extruder, had to replace a extruder controller etc. I get everything running in the control panel, stepper moves in both directions stuff heats etc. When I run Replicator G (tried .18 and .2x) generate gcode and build it moves around as if it's doing its thing but the stepper never runsby Anthong Redbeard - General