Obvious, sure, but this is why I was asking about it. As stated, 3D printing could also be used alongside to make casting molds like presented in some sources. Where in a casting the print would be melted or burned off, electrodes would be just cast-pressed into 3D printed molds and molds removed when ready. The point is to get the complex geometry tansferred when no high grade CNC is not availaby Reprint - General
I was wondering if it were possible to blend in such large quantities of graphite/carbon, copper, brass or other materials commonly used as EDM electrodes that it would still be extrudable and 3D printable into specific, precise shape? I understand that there are currently some conductive, high-metal-content filaments on the market?by Reprint - General
This indicates that PLA can be used for gears for some extent. It is certain that they're not supposed to be used in high torque reduction gears where loads on gear heads rise to significant levels. And of course they might not hold up for thousands or tens of thousands of hours. I'm interested in lubrication too. Silicone oil and grease seem to be tested and working with PLA.by Reprint - General
1200 to 2000 grit sandpaper and polishing paste afterwards will do the job. Use CRC or WD40 or some minor number car oil and apply a decent surface. Just about any oil will go as long as it's not grease. Tool steel rods are quite often ground centerless, and while the accuracy may be high, surface finish may not. All my HSS toolbits have very rough grinded surface and I would not use them as guiby Reprint - Reprappers
The surface area of 12X12 is 2.25 times larger than 8x8 table so equivalent amount of power is needed. I remember the chip has 11A connection for larger beds, and if you get into trouble, make separate heater using nichrome and thermocouple to manually adjust it, a little more work to do but substantially cheaper, nichrome costs a buck and motor dimmers can be bought from china for 3 buck a pieceby Reprint - Reprappers
I'm actually planning on running PLA gears with 1kw electric motor. The load would not be great, the machine is planetary ball mill and the gears are only supposed to make the sun gear setting to rotate counter-clockwise, the load is carried by an axial arm made out of steel, but the speed would rise to 3-5 revolutions per second. I live in cold climate country so the heating shouldn't be an issuby Reprint - General
For ppl looking for smooth rods, I checked around for this because I need quite a lot of it. Stainless is definitely out of question due to its high price, and I thought to find the most economical option. Tool steel would be good only if it was hardened to max. to get out all the stiffness, in its plain supply form it is no better than normal structural steel. Stainless steel has lower yield thaby Reprint - Reprappers
How good quality are these? Are they strong and fast enough for 3/0.5 PLA extursion?by Reprint - Reprappers
Can you over-cool PLA print? I have read some threads about this and I was thinking of planting a large fan overhead my printer design to constantly blow cold air to the print table (not heated). I mean these fans. They're different to tabletop fans, they create quite strong air current and are used for air duct ventilation. I've got some around for no apparent use with adjusters.by Reprint - Plastic Extruder Working Group
As far as I have investigated, the parts should be quite compatible, and you'll essentially need just a larger frame, longer rods, longer belts and a larger bed. By increasing the length from 300mm to ~400mm of the bars the sagging and movement-caused vibration may become an issue. I am currently designing a solid-table, all-axis mobile printhead type printer with 500x500 table size, and I am plby Reprint - Reprappers
I redesigned the concept a little bit as attached pic shows. It's essentially the same concept, but I though that two X-axis motors should be sufficient. They're mounted on the upside so they pull, and I have concepted axial bearings on them so no axial load would be applied on the servos. So there's 2 motors on X axis, 2 motors on Y axis and one on Z axis moving the extruder head. The print tablby Reprint - Reprappers
Does anybody know what kind of bearing these motors have? I have a design that administers some axial load, depending on the installation of the motor, either pull or push. Do they have any kind of thrust bearing for this, or should one install some to the motor stand?by Reprint - General
I need a bit larger printing area and I'm mostly printing PLA and others and I though about the heating/warping problem. I read that PLA sticks very well on acrylic, so could I use acrylic plate and position fans around the part so the plastic cools as soon as it is extruded and only the very welding will stay melt. Will the fan cool down the print too fast? Would it cool down the extruder too?by Reprint - General
Would this kind of design work, has anyone tried it? In there would be 4 servos to drive the up-down axis, and there be two servos driving the longitudial axis and one servo to drive the left-right axis. The table would be stationary. With long rod lengths there may be need for increased stiffness, like 12 or 16mm threaded and smooth rods to avoid warping.by Reprint - Reprappers
Im looking for a 3D printer and found many from the wiki list, but the table sizes of these printers are quite small, only 200x200 or similar to that, and the larger ones naturally come at a much higher cost and since I'm not gonna use it for commercial purposes I wouldn't like to pay thousands off it. I need a table size of 400mm minimum, and found that my local shop sells hardened glass platesby Reprint - Reprappers
I'm planning on purchasing the I3 kit soon, but I'm as well concerned on the lightweight and lack of support of this machine. I have access to plasma cutting service and I thought to order the frame cut 10mm steel and weld a support structure similar to the frame stabilizers beforementioned onto it. I also planned on mounting the whole machine onto a thick plywood plate (20-30mm) which I would plby Reprint - Reprappers