Talk:Huxley

In my build quest, I've run into some roadblocks. Before I get around to actually spending some time removing them, I'll just list them below:

• The rod are ill-defined: http://blog.reprap.org/2010/02/mini-me.html has potential lengths, but those are for a mendel 1/2 the size (looks like linearly), and the mini-mendel isn't specified to be 1/2 the size of the regular mendel. Of course, just doing shrinks that preserve the ratios might work, but the mini might have needed a bit of length tweaking, so that might not be true.
• Tied in with the above block, there is no way that a mendel uses less threaded rod than smooth.
• Bolts are not included in the cost breakdown, and not specified anywhere I can see.
• The STEP files seem to have evaporated.

Discussion page, because this doesn't seem to deserve going on the actual page until I actually overcome these things.

EDIT: wait, I just found the actual repo for the mini-mendel at https://reprap.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/reprap/trunk/mini-mendel/. Someone should change all those bad links.

tno 04:23, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Huxley To Do List

Add to this list...

1. CAD Files
   1. Put them in which !*$!! format?... (Potential CAD program beauty contest.) --Sebastien Bailard 01:27, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
   2. OpenSCAD versions would allow the entire machine to be parametric.
   3. Upload .stl and OpenSCAD files to wiki.
   4. Put files in Git Repository - Initial work by Whosawhatsis on an OpenSCAD version of Huxley has been committed here. Pull requests, patches (sent to timschmidt at gmail dot com), additional files, etc. welcome.
2. Get rid of filament storage underneath
   1. This is a neat idea in principle, but should not be integral. How about a filament cartridge with the geared extruder drive built in, and a PTFE Bowden tube with the filament coming out to a snap connector onto the extruder? Huxley could clip onto the top of the cartridge, or it could be placed elsewhere.
3. Get rid of under-dents on Huxley X Motor Bracket
4. Redesign Huxley X Motor Bracket and/or Huxley X carriage so belt does not go back on itself
   1. A basic version of this has been posted on Thingiverse here and here.
5. Nema 14 Geared Extruder
   1. Roman Gears?
   2. Mount by Y idler?
   3. Polymer transport path?
6. Add Mendel/huxley buttons to host software and make them do something sensible
7. Change the Y axis so the height adjustment is done on the bars, not the bed.
   1. Nophead and Whosawhatsis? have suggested on the reprap-dev list that this may not be a good idea, as the springs would no longer level the bed with respect to the y-bars, making this adjustment very difficult. The springs would instead adjust the perpendicularity of the y and z axes, which can already be done by adjusting the position of the z-base pieces.
   2. This would also make routing and tensioning the y-axis belt a nightmare unless the y motor was also mounted on the spring-mounted structure, which would require a significant increase to the complexity of the y-axis.
8. Huxley Pinch-Block Y-Bar Clamps[1]
9. Huxley 4 Vertex Feet[2]
10. Slider bearings (or bushings) rather than ball bearings?
    1. Perhaps only for 360 bearings, so that we still get the jam-preventing benefit of the 180 bearings.
11. Huxley Printable Frog
12. Get rid of Y axis and replace it with a belt for continuous production like Ed's initial idea?
13. Bed with only 3 sprung support points - no redundancy.
    1. This will also prevent the bed from wobbling (or warping, in the case of more flexible thick-sheet materials) because the screws are not all at the same height.
    2. This could be done by attaching the screws to the froglet rather than to the bearing parts. This would make the bed sit lower (increasing build height) and would prevent the screws from transferring heat from a heated bed to the bearing parts.
14. Huxley Heated bed
15. Huxley XLR bracket on frame
16. Huxley Electronics Box? (For which electronics? Unless the box integrates with the frame, best to leave this with the electronics development.)
    1. Isn't the answer to this: "Huxley and Mendel share the same sets of electronics, so Huxley can use all variants of Mendel Electronics and vice versa." ? Traumflug 11:37, 8 March 2011 (UTC)
17. Huxley Opto Stops
18. Add PCB-pen/oil-separator-pen holder
19. Redesign motor brackets to allow for Nema 17's
20. Redesign Huxley Z-Base pieces to work like Vik's simplified Z-axis (or like Nicholas C Lewis' http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3216)
21. Captive nut Z-axis pulleys like [3]
    1. Perhaps attached to a 623 bearing instead of putting the rod thought a 626, so that only one type of bearing is required?
22. A set of scaled frame rods so that a slightly larger huxley with a 200mm by 200mm print bed can be built using standard lengths (13", 330mm) of M6 Silver Steel or Drill Rod, with little or no cutting.
23. Explicitly define the rod lengths needed and remove the current less-than-clear rod length table. --Nether10 18:10, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Done

1. Z gears incorporate 1 flange [done - in SVN]
2. Nophead's Pulleys [done - in SVN]
3. Alternative set of scaled frame components documented below (AKA47, 8/10/2010).