LaserCutMendel

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Revision as of 18:56, 19 April 2011 by Kymberlyaandrus (talk | contribs) (Monotronics Electronics set (Electronics Option))
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General

This page and its sub pages should guide you through assembling a TechZone LaserCut Mendel kit - which is technically a RepRap "RepStrap. You can purchase and make your own parts for this machiene, or you can [purchase a kit] from TechZone. These instructions are a work in progress, we need your help, feel free to edit this document to add comments of you your own, or contact us [here] and send us messages asking us for better clarification or details.

I am starting by posting the pictures I have, and over the next few days, I will fill in the instructions and detials (24 Dec 2010)

Thanks,
Lambert (TechZone R&D/Support/Documenter)


You can access the assembly instructions pages from this page, or from the [TechZone Support page.]


Before you get started, I recommend browsing through all the different assembly sections, so that you have an Idea of what will be coming (it helps to keep you from second guessing what needs done next). You will find that a clean work area, with a good, flat work surface will save you lots of time, and help keep the frustration level down. TechZone has tried very hard to make this kit as complete as possible, if you find that there are some essential parts missing, which should be included in the kit, please contact us [here] and let us know.

Unpacking the LaserCut Mendel Kit

On the left is a picture of the parts which come in the TechZone LaserCut Mendel Kit:



Nut and Bolt Set


Printed Parts Set


Extruder

Extruder Hardware


Extruder Printed and LaserCut parts


Thick Sheet Set

The TechZone LaserCut Mendel thick sheet set is different from the Thick Sheet set used by the standard RepRap mendel. You could use all of the parts shown in this set to build a standard RepRap Mendel, except for the frog plate, you would need a different frog plate. We have recently changed the electronics mounting board from two large boards to one large board. This single board is designed to mount on the side of the Mendel. You can mount either the TechZone Generation 3 electronics to it, or the TechZone Monotronics to it.


Belts


Bar Set

These bars are no longer exactly the same as the original Printed RepRap Mendel printer, however, they are compatible with the TechZone variation of the RepRap printed parts. If you want to use these bars with an original RepRap Mendel made from printed parts, you will need three more bars and you need to replace the X axis smooth bars with a pair of bars which are a little bit longer. TechZoneCommunications sells a "differences" bar kit if you are trying to source these parts.


Motors

Photo of the Stepper Motors
Four stepper motors are included in your kit. TechZone provides motors with an excess of torque compared to the original RepRap Mendel spec. The motors in your kit have at least 3.2kg/cm torque and are 1.8 degree stepper motors.


Monotronics Electronics set (Electronics Option)

Photo of the Monotronics Electronics
The TechZone Monotronics electronics set is one of the electronics options for building your LaserCut Mendel. A picture of it is shown on the left, you can follow the instructions found at this link to test and install them. If you selected and recieve these electronics in your order, follow that link for your electronics instructions.


TechZone Gen 3 Electronics (Electronics Option)


Miscellaneous Items

Included in this is:
    • (1) Thin sheet material
    • (15) small zip ties


Assembly Instruction Links

I know it would have been more convenient for most of you if these links had been at the top of the page, but it is important that you look through your kit and make sure all your items are there, before you begin assembly.

1) Frame Assembly

2) X Axis Assembly

3) Y Axis Assembly

4) Z Axis Assembly

5) Motors, Belts and Endstops

6a) Monotronics Electronics

6b) Generation 3 Electronics

7) TechZone Tip Assembly

The extruder is a modified version of Wade's Geared Extruder, and assembly instructions for it will be close to instructions for assembling the extruder here. The TechZone kit does not include anything for the springs that you see on the page for Wade's extruder, but otherwise assembly is nearly identical.



Files

The files needed to print and make your own Huxley, without buying the kit can be downloaded from here:

FILE ID# TYPE DESCRIPTION AVAILABLE FORMATS CREATED/RESERVED BY
TechZone Huxley Printable Parts TechZone variation of the Huxley These are printable .stl files for the Huxley, the way TechZone did it. .stl.zip --Kimberly Andrus (TechZone) 12:00, Dec 24, 2010 (UTC)
TechZone Huxley Thick Sheet Set TechZone variation of the Huxley This is the Thick Sheet set, the way TechZone did it. .cdr.zip, .svg.zip --Kimberly Andrus (TechZone) 12:00, Dec 24, 2010 (UTC)
TechZone Huxley Bowden Extruder Gears TechZone variation of the Huxley This is the Gears Used in the TechZone Bowden Extruder. .cdr.zip, .svg.zip --Kimberly Andrus (TechZone) 12:00, Dec 24, 2010 (UTC)

Differences in files

The TechZone files differ from the Huxley currently being developed in the following ways:

    • The Y axis motor mount has been modified to allow Nema17 or Nema14 motors to be mounted, it also has an altered height, in order to work with the modified Leg Vertices (see below)
    • The Y axis idler has an altered height to work with the modified Leg Vertices.
    • The Leg Vertices have been modified to be a little taller, and to have feet (that don't break off under pressure), the two top vertices are not altered, only the four lower vertices
    • The Z drive screw base was inspired by Tim Schmidt's Z Axis
    • The Z Axis motor mount was also inspired by Tim Schmidt's Parts this part is for a nema 17 motor
    • The X axis motor mount has been modified to accept Nema17 or Nema 14 motors
    • The X Axis Carriage has been changed to make it narrow enough for the belt to bypass it (rather than using larger idler bearing space on the X idler bracket and X motor mount) It also uses a bushing on the 360 side
    • The 360 degree side of the X Axis Carriage is now the bushing clamp for the X axis carriage.
    • The 180 degree side of the X Axis Carriage has been altered to allow the belt to pass by without interference.
    • The X Axis belt clamps have been modified to fit the new X Carriage.
    • The bowden extruder is a modified Wades Extruder, it allows for a larger gear, which TechZone cuts from plywood with a laser.
    • The bowden clamps were created from the models done by Erik as published on Thingiverse here.
    • The thick sheet set was modified to make it a little simpler, the print size was increased a tiny bit (file available above in Files section above.
    • The motor end X Bar Clamp was changed to make it a little sturdier (it now looks very much like the Idler end Bar Clamp).

The other TechZone parts used were selected from the various publications of Huxley parts found on Thingiverse. All the parts we modified (except the Bowden clamps) were modified using Google Sketchup. An Stl importer, and exporter was added to Google Sketchup, to allow the stl files to be modified directly - eliminating another cad format. A special thanks to Derrick Huestis, who helped TechZone with the file modifications.