for prototyping parts can you CNC in MDF and vacuform? don't forget that the floor you will be working on may not be level, may need to look at adjustable feet for the bottom of the printer, take a large spirit level and lay it on the floor space you are looking to use to get an idea of what I mean. as said above an Aluminium extrusion frame is more likely to keep it's dimensions for a large foby Zerker - General
there should be a setting in the firmware to have the fans always on otherwise if you wire them to the PSU directly instead of the control board you will have them always on, just wont get any of the features that the controller gives you.by Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
something's would be nice to be able to do via Wi-Fi, like printing from apps. I need to connect my Laptop to the printer each time I print. in saying that it was my choice not to go for an LCD controller or SD card adapter to be able to print without a computer. my main driver for parts for my first printer was cost so I wouldn't have taken up Wi-Fi as an option, however if/when I build a secondby Zerker - General
No pics this time, only got a few hours to work with. got the RAMPS connected to the laptop, loaded up Marlin and Connected to Pronterface. I plugged in the Extruder motor to the X axis on the RAMPS, got it to move in one direction, I have hot wired up thermistors or endstops yet so the printer was assuming it was at the endstop every time I went to move backwards. Finally got the Y bed sorted,by Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
That looks like something the vendor dreamed up. The spring is forcing the disk on the right hand side against the brass gear in order to push the fillament against the teeth of the gear as it turns so that it will move down as the gear bites into the fillament. on a wades they use a bearing instead of that groved disk and also most commonly a hobbed bolt instead of that brass gear, though thereby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Took a couple days off work and got some time in the garage, did not complete anywhere near enough of the printer, spent most of the time off riding around town trying to get supplies. I should now have everything I need except filament. Fans are tiny but will blow enough air to do the job, most of the fan is taken up by the central hub, tis a shame but I guess you get what you pay for, the fanby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
you know, I actually like the look of that, there are some things I cant see that would concern me, what board are they using? what is the extruder and hotend design? that power supply quality? otherwise good luck with the build, let us know how it goesby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
cheers, I'll get some glass when I get paid next week, and grab some Firegum at the same time, Repco says it's $7.99 inc GST got the belts attached this weekend, had trouble getting them tight, will have to install the nuts and bolts for the belt tensioners after all, there is not enough belt to give full range of motion and add a peg spring on the belt. had to take off the Z threaded rod on theby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
if Jaycar are importing cheap PLA from overseas then it has been the experience of other reprap users that the Black coloured filaments can often contain extra junk filler that results in clogs. it doesn't look like they do other colours which is a shame, as the price is cheaper than www.diamondage.co.nz however diamondage states they makes all their filament in house.by Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
cheers for that oatridge, looks like Repco stocks it, emailed them for pricing, I saw in a few other threads that similar products were being recommended, something about silicates being better than silicone based products for the temperatures the hot end will be experiencing. one thing I saw that was interesting, apparently this stuff is an insulator and it was recommended that you should put tby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Cheers AgentX I'll grab some glass soon, got the extruder mostly assembled, I had to get some MDF to use as the groove mount, I may look to replace this with an aluminium plate instead depending on how hot this part gets. I have now got the washers and nuts I needed to install the hobbed bolt, turns out that 6 washers was the exact umber I needed, it is now bang on centre. I still need to wireby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
All the double posts update, got some time in the shed over the weekend and things are looking better, I think I'm about 90% of the way through the build now, base plate for Bed has now been attached, used Cable ties as planned, it was relatively easy to do however this is nowhere near as tight a fit as I would like, I will definitely use RP parts if/when I build another, as it is I had to reposby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
push the rods together side by side, if there is a bend you will see light shine through. if it's the bearings it is likely that you have dropped a ball or two. If you take the bearing off the rod and give it a shake by your ear and it sounds like a baby's rattle then it's time for a new bearing, you should only hear a very slight movement as there should not be much space between the balls insidby Zerker - Reprappers
Managed to get some more work done. replaced Bearings in the X carriage, Broke the X Carriage, some two part Epoxy from Holdfast (cheap crud from supermarket, everywhere else was closed ) fixed it up real nice. bearings now move smooth and don't have that awful grinding noise I was getting before. Finally found some 4mm ID tubing to use for Z coupling. turns out that Fish Tank Air House has 4MMby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Thanks for the Replies guys. got a chance to do a tiny bit more this weekend, progress pic taken on my new potato camera need to get washers to position the hobbed bolt, bolts to close the extruder, bolt and nut for setting the small gear of extruder. need tubing for making Z coupling, still need to get three more bearings for the X axis, Z and Y axis move great. need to cut wood for build platfby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
finally got the frame finished, am attaching motor mounts now, and I note the Listed screws are about 5mm too long to fit the motor right, can I keep forcing them in or am I going to hit the coils? when I went to re-assemble my X axis ( for some reason I Was using the short smooth rods instead of the long ones) the smooth rod pushed some of the balls out of the bearings, now it moves and sounds hby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
why not with lasers? have a laser that heats the two objects to be soldered together, blat blat, then feed in solder wire, blat blat, retract wire as second blat hits and wollah a soldered joint with a pen, that uses the Extruder idea of feeding the filament into the heated area. Similar to how NASA does the Electron beam welding for the metal 3D printer they were working on. if you heat the solby Zerker - General
is there also some concern over the materials I the hotend itself? existing manufacturing techniques for plates and cups are more than sufficient, I understand that it would be cool to 3D print your own stuff, but not yet safe to do so. you could always try working with 3D printed ceramics, you would still have concerns over Bacteria growing in the lines between layers. two ways to overcome thatby Zerker - General
took too long from when I bought the wood to when I went to assemble it, the front panel is warped, and I have not been able to correct it. regardless of what I do it springs back into it's gentle curve and the frame begins rocking backwards and forwards again. I've decided to go to the standard boxframe, it is superior anyway, the other one just looks a little cooler (personal opinion) and I liby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
no responses to questions, no ideas to discuss, just straight up kick-starter advertising, spamby Zerker - General
frame cut, however I can't cut straight, I will get some more wood and use it to screw into instead of screwing the frame parts directly together, in hind site the standard box frame would have been much simpler. tme to get a table saw in the shop, currently only got a jigsaw for working with wood I've ordered my endstops and hobbed bolt, endstops showed up just fine, however instead of a hobbedby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
i've seen the up,printer at noel leemings, no idea of price though. looks like it wont to long before you can get off the shelf partsby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I'm pretty sure one of the Christchurch guys Dust was building one, and even had some spare parts for sale at one pointby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
I agree, it is a beautiful printer, however there are issues with it and it appears to be quite complicated to setup, I would love to print the parts for it or a Morgan once my own printer is up andrunning. I personally think that for a first build something much simpler is the way to go, well at least if you plan to end up with more than one printer. the "Main stream" printers have had the majorby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Y axis assembly started, and my first thoughts are, screw you whoever recommended Nylock nuts I had to lock one end of the threaded rod in with 2 nuts together in order to make sure the one on the other end would spin when I turned the spanner. job done, the threaded rods for Y are all in pretty much the right place and I havent forgotten any of the RP parts for that section. next Z axis, thenby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
a few questions that may help. what are you looking for in a printer? what type of objects do you expect to be printing the most? is accuracy and detail more important than print speed? is this just for funsies? if the printer looks kool while printing is that more interesting? with carefull shopping and sourcing parts online, you should be able to build most of the different printer types withiby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
not sure about the smooth rod. i haven't tried to use it yet so i don't know if you will see a difference, from what i have been told. stainless will work but its tolerance is not the same as the proper stuff this lack of precision can lead to less accurate prints? also stainless is not hardened to the same degree and your linear bearings will work groves into the rod over time. but hey, you gotby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Yeah, I've come up Win so far, I'm not looking foward to when the coin flips the other way though, I've almost fallen for a few of the scams before, I will never buy PC parts from Aliexpress, the vendors on there seem to suddenly come up with a scam deal too good to be true and then cut and run, even though they have been there for some time. however with the CNC supplies I haven't seen too muchby Zerker - New Zealand RepRap User Group