Later in the month would be better for me too since my fiancée and I will be having a baby at some point over the next week. Very much up for another one though, and at least I'll have something to show myself this timeby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Sorry for not replying to this earlier Ostamo, I haven't checked the main forums for a while. As Cefiar points out, Repic is hard-wired for 1/16th step for quieter operation. This results in lower torque, but in my experience and that of others it's still more than enough to drive Mendel. The power requirements are dictated by the current limiting on the Pololu drivers, not the steppers, which iby Myndale - Controllers
I take it all back! I've been printing for a few days now using a pair of nylocs and I've been getting good results. Not as good as other prints I've seen, but that's probably due to other factors. What I did was place the nylocs in a vice grip and then take to them with the edge of a sanding disc: This type of disc is quite resilient and causes the nylocs to glow red hot and shoot out lots ofby Myndale - General Mendel Topics
Thanks for the update. I'm going to have one more attempt at getting nylocs to work, just because I'm stubborn. I'll post my results here again. I feel your censorship pain. My company recently blocked Hackaday for about the third time because it's a site dedicated to "hacking" which, as we all know, means breaking into computer systems. Muppets. All of 'em.by Myndale - General Mendel Topics
I tried using 2 nylocs like the Labitat guys did and it didn't work very well for me at anything but very low speeds. At higher speeds they just didn't seem to have enough grip, and the gaps made by the dremel completely filled in with plastic which effectively smoothed the surface and reduced grip even further. If I'd played around with it enough I might have been able to get a slow print, but tby Myndale - General Mendel Topics
Thanks again nophead. Lowering the temperature seems to have stopped it bunching up, although it still seems to curl up shortly after exiting the nozzle regardless of what temperature I extrude at. If I give it something else to stick to then it extrudes out fine, I did some line tests today and it seems to print nicely onto painters tape at 220 degrees.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
I got my timing belts from Stephen George, got them to me very quick and for a good price. Dunno if he's selling Prusa kits but it wouldn't hurt to ask: One thing I think really needs to be added to the Wiki is a list of automobiles that the various belts are used on. When you go to places like Super Cheap Auto et al you often find that the belts are packed in boxes labeled with a serial numbeby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Hi guys, I managed to do a test of my extruder this morning. Very promising results for a first attempt but I have a few concerns: First of all, it occasionally seems to smoke a little when it starts extruding, is that normal or an indication that the nozzle is running too hot? It also doesn't stop for a few seconds after I halt the stepper, is it supposed to? Or is that again an indication thaby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
I'm eager for another get-together but my first child is due on April 13th so I probably won't be able to make anything until late May. No problem, I'll catch up with you guys at the one after next. My Mendel is now mechanically and electronically complete, so assuming my software skills are up to scratch I should be up and printing by then.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Thanks for organizing the BBQ today Cefiar and for sorting me out with the Kapton tape and plastic. It was good to meet you guys, hopefully at the next one we'll be able to get some actual printing going. The only downside today for me is that I suspect the M4 insert replacement I made for my extruder might not be up to the job. It's the perfect shape alright but I didn't realize how slippery plby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
mlagana: brilliant idea. I actually have an old scanner here that I replaced a couple of weeks ago and was about to throw out, looks like the glass is 23cm exactly.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
No probs, thanks anyway Auzze. Where did you get your cheap aluminium and glass?by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Same here, email sent.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Thanks again for the tips everyone. For anyone that wants to do a google search for the place that Cefiar mentioned the correct spelling is "Penhalluriacks" and their contact details are here: According to my fiancée the guy that owns the store was famous in the 90's for going to jail for Sunday-trading back when it was illegal...what a legend I popped in today (a Sunday) and they still sellby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Here's my attempt at a replacement M4 insert. Basically I'm stealing the labitat team's idea of attacking a couple of M4 nylocs with a Dremel: Their photo looks pretty rough-as-guts though, so what I've done is basically the same thing but using a spherical carbide tip instead. This causes the metal to fuse and you get a much nicer result: I've also super-glued a piece of shrink-wrap aroundby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
> for > those going to the meet-up, I can always let you > use some if you bring your extruder over. Thanks Cefiar, I might just take you up on that if I haven't managed to pick some up by then. I think I've come up with a great replacement for the insert too, which I suspect may work even better. I'll post a photo or two tonight.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Nophead posted about JB Weld here: Quotenophead Hi Giles, Bad news about the glue. What is it about these high temperature glues? I found out why JB-Weld is no good: The max temperature rating is only for 10 minutes!by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
I'm nearing the end of my build now and I need to acquire a few last difficult-to-locate items, anyone know where to source these locally before I go and mail order them in? - Kapton tape - PTFE tape - Fire cement (I picked up some Araldite glue from Bunnings, can that withstand the high extruder temps?) - The M4 insert for the extruder (do model stores sell these?)by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Count me in for the 20th, I'll bring some food and beer. Are we just having a BBQ or will people be bringing along their toys?by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
cluso99: I just checked the AusXMods site but as far as I can see the longest they have is 500mm Cefiar: I popped into Repco yesterday but it turns out they only stock Gates belts and the product number that Gates supply them for their computer system is different to both the product number and part number that Gates list on their web site. And don't bother looking at the box either, they alreaby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Heya Cefiar, yeah, I put a thanks to you on my blog, some of those suppliers you pointed me to a couple of months ago proved invaluable. Still looking for timing belts though, I'll have to sign up to the Melbourne RUG mailing list.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Hi everyone, Melbourne Australia here. I started a Mendel build about six weeks ago, progress has been slow and steady but I've been maintaining a blog about it: http://www.ppl-pilot.com Not a huge amount to show just yet, but I'll get there eventually.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Specifically, there are a few null-pointer dereferences during static initialization. First, FiveD_GCode_Interpreter declares the global extruder array: extruder* ex; byte extruder_in_use = 0; That's followed shortly thereafter by the cartesian_dda static instance declarations, before setup() has had a chance to initialize the array: static cartesian_dda cdda0; static cartesianby Myndale - Firmware - mainstream and related support
How sturdy does Mendel's threaded rod have to be? The straight bars I've been able to procure are straight and very sturdy, but the threaded stuff had a small amount of flex when it was in its original 1.2m length. Nothing too major, and it doesn't seem to be noticeable now that it's all cut to size, but it's got me a bit worried. Is the studding subjected to high lateral stresses when Mendel isby Myndale - Reprappers
Cefiar Wrote: > There is nothing stopping you from doing > it with a PIC, but you'd need to write your own > code to parse the gcode and spit out the right > movements/response, which probably isn't a simple > 1-man project. Love to be proved wrong though! A PIC driver wouldn't be trivial, but it's well inside the scope of the type of stuff I work with. I guess the real issue is wby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
SebastienBailard Wrote: > Arduino-derived stuff tends to be winning the geek beauty contest these days. Oh yeah, the geek factor. I forgot about that aspect Thanks for the link, Peer's electronics are very close to what I was thinking of. Maybe I'll have a go at designing a single-sided PCB for his circuit.by Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG
Hi all, Melbourne here. Completely new to RepRapping, just ordered the Mendel RP parts the other day. My background is professional game programmer (very low-level assembly through to high-end GUI apps and everything in between) but I've also done quite a bit with digital electronics and PIC programming. The one thing I find confusing about the design of Mendel is the electronics. Setting up foby Myndale - Australia, Melbourne RUG