User:Jmarsden
Contents
Jonathan Marsden
Member of the RepRap Core Team since May 2007.
Primary system administrator for Reprap servers.
Built a set of Reprap v1 electronics, which worked to the extent of driving one small test stepper motor.
Mendel build Summer 2010
Build Status
- Parts acquisition is almost complete.
- RP parts requested from Adrian 2010-05-27, printed 2010-06-20, shipped (airmail) 2010-06-21, arrived 2010-06-30.
- Mendel hardware kit and PLA ordered 2010-05-28, arrived 2010-06-07.
- Seeeduino Mega ordered 2010-05-28, arrived 2010-06-03, works out of the box, and is tiny !
- Stepper motors ordered 2010-06-18, arrived 2010-06-23.
- Thick sheet set purchased on ebay 2010-06-23, arrived 2010-06-28.
Personal Mendel Build Goals
- Low cost (under US$500 if at all practical!).
- Improve the mechanical build docs based on the experience putting them together.
- "Very standard" Mendel mechanics (for ease of getting help with them!).
- "Very reliable" extruder (so I can make parts sets).
- Some experimenting with electronics and firmware is OK, esp. to reduce cost, as well as avoiding supply issues with the official electronics kits.
- Make it work, and only then think about adding extras such as a heated bed.
Parts Acquisition
Electronics
- Seeeduino Mega fully assembled from http://www.nkcelectronics.com/seeeduino-mega-fully-assembled.html ($40)
- 1 cheap 4axis stepper controller board from ebay ($75 ish)
- 3 Opto endstop boards (Either from Ultimachines kits ($9 for 3), or from my old Gen1 electronics if those are compatible, which I think they should be!)
- Misc other stuff, wiring, heatsinks, fan, shield PCB or Adrian's stripboard/PCBs for the stepper controllers, etc. (guesstimate: maybe $30??)
Stepper Motors
- 4 NEMA 17 steppers. Lin Engineering 4218L-01-10 bipolar stepper motors from Alltronics. Rated 2A, 75 oz-in . (US$32)
Mechanics
- Hardware Kit from Ultimachine (because I know the least about the mechanics, spending $$ on a kit is OK!) ($200)
- Belts (not in kit above) from Ultimachine. ($26)
- Thick sheet set from ebay ($26)
RP Parts Set
- From Adrian -- this is where being a Core Team member is a huge win :)
Extruder
- Adrian's or (more likely) Wade's geared stepper driven design. ($??)
- Will need RP extruder parts from somewhere, once I decide which design to build! (Adrian's parts come with Adrian's RP set, and he'll build me a set for Wade's extruder design if I choose that one -- so this is now a solved issue).
- Barrel
- Nozzle
- PTFE (or PEEK?) barrier
- Thermistor
- High temperature tape
- M3 tap (for Wades design)
- 3 more 608 bearings (for Wade's design)
Feedstock
- PLA, natural, from Ultimachine. (US$50 for a 5lb spool)
Project Cost Estimate
Looks like US$471 plus shipping, plus unknown cost of the extruder parts and any necessary tools (to make an extruder). It is going to get very close to my US$500 budget limit, it seems!
2010-05-28: Spent $44.50 on Seeeduino Mega.
2010-05-28: Spent $266.30 on Mendel Hardware Kit and 5lbs PLA.
2010-06-19: Spent US$44.70 on 4 Lin Engineering steppers from Alltronics.
2010-06-23: Spent US$26.27 on thick sheet set from ebay.
2010-07-11: Spent US$76.50 on 4-axis CNC stepper controller board from ebay.
Budget remaining: US$41.73
Things to Print (when it works)
- A set of RP Mendel parts to sell, to get more Reprapping budget
- At least one set of RP Mendel parts to give away, to ease my conscience (!)
- A second set of RP Mendel parts for myself, as spares or for a second Mendel.