Show all posts by user

Re: A micro-mendel variant - help needed - 14 years ago

@jgilmore: you are of course correct - I will need to rethink the X axis. I wanted it to utilise the wider bars for stability and therefore needed to move both ends of the carriage simultaneously. MakerBot quite happily moves the carriage without the extra belt drive so maybe I am just overdesigning this bit. AFAIK T5 belt is $5/m which is about the same cost as bar & rod, but of course ligh

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: A micro-mendel variant - help needed - 14 years ago

Thanks for the info spacexula. Yes, I am interested in sharing the work so PM sent. I will take your advice and use belts and Nema17. For a workarea of 100x100mm (4x4") and using the drawings above, there are 2 triangular sides of 3 rods x 230mm [6 x B]. The front and rear (lower) horizontal bars are ~250mm and the upper bar or rod is also ~250mm [3 x C]. The Y axis is two bars ~250mm [2 x Y].

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: A micro-mendel variant - help needed - 14 years ago

Here is a side profile sketch.

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: A micro-mendel variant - help needed - 14 years ago

Here is my idea for the X & Y axis to reduce parts. Sorry it is only in Paint as I am not yet familiar enough with blender etc. It is shown with belts for now. I realise it will be slower by using direct drive, but the table area will only be small so I don't think this would matter. There is an error in driving the X axis! The rods and bars can be held with Prusa's method of clamping. I

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Cluso's Micro-Mendel variant = 200-250mm ~8-10" Latest thoughts, progress & questions - 14 years ago

I have been researching various designs. I finally decided I would like to do a cheap micro reprap, loosely based on a mendel design with some cost improvements because of the much smaller footprint and drive requirements. I have found a cheaper way using the Prusa Mendel parts While I could use cheaper Nema14 steppers I may still use the Nema17 so that I can re-use them later in a larger repr

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: Quad-Copter - 14 years ago

I am interested as I have stalled on my quadcopter project. I see the advantages of making some of the parts with a reprap.

by cluso99 - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)

Re: Our First Mendel Build - 14 years ago

Nice pics. Congratulations ><

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: X & Y Axis - Use belts or use threaded rod??? - 14 years ago

Thanks for your answers guys. I am learning a lot here.

by cluso99 - General

Re: Water-bath printing - 14 years ago

Forgetting the overhang for the moment, probably the heating may do the job. Now the hot air is going to need to be fed around the extruder nozzle because you do not know which direction the head is moving relative to the table. So this means the nozzle is going to require another barrel around it. This may not be as difficult as it sounds - just some more nichrome? wire wound around yet another

by cluso99 - General

X & Y Axis - Use belts or use threaded rod??? - 14 years ago

I am thinking about my design and have a few questions... I presume the by turning the threaded rod it is a finer adjustment than the belt drive system. Is this correct? Is there any reason or disadvantages why the X & Y axis cannot use the method of turning the threaded rod (similar to the way the Z axis moves) to move the carriage? The Mendel design uses a complicated set of bearings to

by cluso99 - General

Re: Our First Mendel Build - 14 years ago

Nice work. Red looks really great. Thanks for posting pics. Looking forward to seeing some working pics/video too

by cluso99 - Reprappers

Re: Water-bath printing - 14 years ago

Just a thought. What about two nozzles near the printhead? One blows heated air and the other cooled air, both under software control.

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

Thanks Stephen. Where in Oz are you? I am regularly between Gosford (100km north of Sydney) and the Gold Coast, and I often drive between the two.

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

@Stephen: Yes I have a sketch done and I am now trying to get it into a cad package so I can put it on the forum for comments. No use building something if it has obvious flaws that others have tried. I have gone though a few designs already on paper, particularly as I read a lot of info on the forums and elsewhere. Ultimately, I like simplicity, common parts where possible, and ease of being abl

by cluso99 - General

Re: Any suggestions for Cad program for newbie? - 14 years ago

I have been programming for 40 yrs and presume that is what you mean by coding, so I will try OpensCad. Thanks for your info.

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

@Stephen: I asked about the direct drive as that is what it looked like from the picture. I realise it wastes a little space but I would think it was easier. OT. I have worked out an X & Y axis mechanics which can be identical and can be built with only the bar, belt (or threaded rod), and base length varying to make the workarea smaller/larger. By using the same identical mechanics for both

by cluso99 - General

Any suggestions for Cad program for newbie? - 14 years ago

I have an idea for the X & Y Carriages which can be a variable length and the X & Y can be identical which would save a bit in production. I have used pcb layout and schematic programs (Protel) in the past, but I have never used a Cad program. Can you recommend a free Cad program that is fairly easy to use for a beginner? I know there are a few but I don't know which one to start with.

by cluso99 - General

Re: Crazy Extruder Nozzle Idea - 14 years ago

Here is my 2cents. BTW I don't have a RepRap yet and I am still learning and understanding the problems. There are already Brass Tips and brass ferrules made from 6mm Hex available by some members. If the inner end of the brass ferrule (the insulator end) was flarred (as it is) and the outer surface was reduced to a round ferrule to allow the PTFE tube (I must check but I presume this is also Te

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

Stephen, Nice big RepStrap . I would appreciate you posting the latest photo please. Are you driving the Y axis threaded bars directly with the stepper motor (Y moving the platform left/right in your pic) ? You have used MDF making a strong and stable RepStrap which is the conclusion I came to after reading a lot on the forum. araspitfire: That is a very nice construction with the extruded alu

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

Do you have a photo Stephen?

by cluso99 - General

Stepper Motors - What specs are best? - 14 years ago

From what I have been able to determine, I should be looking for the following... NEMA17 or NEMA23 BiPolar Step angle 1.8 degrees Minimum Torque 0.137Nm = 1370gm/cm = 19.4oz/in (Darwin uses 0.71Nm=100oz/in) Resistance >6ohms preferred Shaft 5mm (0.1968") The NEMA17 is smaller that the NEMA23 and marginally cheaper and lighter and so may run hotter. I am looking to build my own RepRap loosel

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

Bob pretty much answered what the Propeller chip is/does. We refer to it as the prop over on the forum. By using multiple cogs it makes things easy to program. We can use a cog or two to generate video - composite video or VGA - by using a few resistors and 3 I/Os for composite and 8 for VGA. PS2 keyboard uses another cog (many USB keyboards support PS2 mode). It's my favourite chip, but it's a

by cluso99 - General

Re: What is the biggest repstrap? - 14 years ago

I am in the process of building something along the lines of MakerBot. I have purchased pine shelving which is 390mm x 900mm x 16mm and I hope to minimise the cutting. I figure this will be strong to avoid any flexing. I do not want it to be too big but I do want the maximum usable area. I am going to forego the space under for the power supply. I am considering using either a mini-ITX power supp

by cluso99 - General

Re: RepRap build, £500 budget - 14 years ago

FTV GTp: I am in Gosford (100km north of Sydney) and drive up and down to the Gold Coast & Brisbane regularly. I have started puting my parts together and intend to do a timber (pine) version of my own something along the lines of the MakerBot. I don't have the motors yet so mayeb we can get them together. Also, I am going to build my own electronics (that's my real interest) based on a Prope

by cluso99 - General

Re: If I had.... (a daydream) - 14 years ago

Greg: I think the idea is that the brass ferule which is 3mm OD is either remade with 3-32 (IIRC that was the tap they come with for standoffs) so that it would screw into the ceramic. That is providing we can drill the ceramic out as the standoffs have a solid between the two taps. Otherwise we have to glue the brass into the ceramic with ceramic cement. The brass rod is currently 3mm and the ce

by cluso99 - General

Re: how to use MakerBot Electronics with Stepper Extruder? - 14 years ago

So did you end up getting it running successfully guys?

by cluso99 - General

Re: If I had.... (a daydream) - 14 years ago

Perhaps ultimately the stainless would ultimately heat up to the same temp as the brass. Guess what we really need is a ceramice threaded ferrule to go over the brass thread near the top. If a ceramic ferrule were possible how would we hold the ferrule into it? I guess epoxy would melt or even catch fire??? What uses ceramic with a 3+mm hole in it??? Edit: Answer to ceramics... Ceramic tubes c

by cluso99 - General

Re: If I had.... (a daydream) - 14 years ago

Seems to me that Ageing Hippy is thinking about the upper end of the brass ferrule being screwed into say a tapped stainless tube that also has a thread on the outside which would screw into the PTFE. Would this not reduce the heat into the PTFE to prevent it from failing???

by cluso99 - General

Re: A new "TinyRepRap" - 14 years ago

Thanks Sebastien. Until I progress the project a little further I will post here to test my ideas, if that is OK. BTW How do I create a new wiki page for this project? I now think that I will make all 3 axis for the work platform. So the platform will start at the top and slowly lower as the layers are applied. The extruder seems to be a large source of problems and I think that if it were in a

by cluso99 - General

A new "TinyRepRap" - 14 years ago

Hi all, After reading a lot I have decided to build a simple tiny reprap for starters. Where possible I will use the standard parts so I can move them to a larger machine later (8mm bar and rod & 608 bearings, T5 belts - I can get 10mmW ones here in Australia + aluminium cogs to suit. I will use one of the existing extruder designs and the Nema 17 motors, etc. What I have in mind is this...

by cluso99 - General