Hi all, I just found a open source forum that has developed a 3d printer, making a clone of it's self and all kinds of plastic parts, Watch this video at this link,     http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page ,   it is cool, Jeff.:cool::D

i have seen this, i believe some one had a competition on this at one time. ??? thanks

~Russ

Quote from Jeff Nading on August 31st, 2011, 04:51 PM

Hi all, I just found a open source forum that has developed a 3d printer, making a clone of it's self and all kinds of plastic parts, Watch this video at this link,     http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page ,   it is cool, Jeff.:cool::D

I ordered parts to start building the Prusa Mendel.  :) Thanks for the link Jeff!

[attachment=243][attachment=244]

Quote from firepinto on September 4th, 2011, 06:32 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on August 31st, 2011, 04:51 PM

Hi all, I just found a open source forum that has developed a 3d printer, making a clone of it's self and all kinds of plastic parts, Watch this video at this link,     http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page ,   it is cool, Jeff.:cool::D

I ordered parts to start building the Prusa Mendel.  :) Thanks for the link Jeff!

Alright !!!!!:cool: I also want to build the Prusa Mendel:D, where did you order the parts from, did you order the whole kit or, or, or, just the printed parts. I have been looking and found this site http://www.techzonecom.com/gglrrk , looks like they know what they are doing, but I think I will want to build some of the parts myself, all the SS hardware, nuts, washers, althread and smooth rod I can purchase locally and I think I will cast X & Y   bed out of aluminum, put it on my mill to machine it flat, that way I can also heat the bed to stop warpage of a printed part. So Nate please keep me informed of your progress, and if you need a flat bed like what I want to make maybe we can work a deal to trade for parts, I will need all the printed parts,  I don't know if you knew but I built a 5' x 5' CNC Plasma cutting machine, that I cast allot of parts for, here are two pictures, Jeff.

Quote from Jeff Nading on September 4th, 2011, 07:51 AM

Alright !!!!!:cool: I also want to build the Prusa Mendel:D, where did you order the parts from, did you order the whole kit or, or, or, just the printed parts. I have been looking and found this site http://www.techzonecom.com/gglrrk , looks like they know what they are doing, but I think I will want to build some of the parts myself, all the SS hardware, nuts, washers, althread and smooth rod I can purchase locally and I think I will cast X & Y   bed out of aluminum, put it on my mill to machine it flat, that way I can also heat the bed to stop warpage of a printed part. So Nate please keep me informed of your progress, and if you need a flat bed like what I want to make maybe we can work a deal to trade for parts, I will need all the printed parts,  I don't know if you knew but I built a 5' x 5' CNC Plasma cutting machine, that I cast allot of parts for, here are two pictures, Jeff.

I ordered the kit from ebay for $183.90 with shipping:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230667923140

I see the one in your link uses other control boards and is the original Mendel, with only one Z axis stepper motor.  I wanted to stick with the Arduino Mega set up since I have an UNO already.   I hope I can keep it under that $800 mark after I'm all completed. lol

It includes a lot of the parts, like the bearings, belts, bushings, nuts, washers, and acrylic bed, plus parts for the Wades extruder.  I'll have to buy the rods separate, along with motors and electronics, and the hot end.  I already have a pile of opto end stops here that I ordered awhile go for one of my Rodin motor ideas.  I just ordered my Arduino Mega, and not sure how I want to buy the RAMPS sheild, completed or components.  They seem to be hard to find for a decent price completed.  
  The Plasma CNC sounds awesome!  I'd like to print in ABS with a heated bed too, a trade sounds like a good idea.:)  Printing Prusa parts will be one of my first goals.  How do you plan on heating the aluminum?  I see they make a heater that is just a PCB with long winding traces.  Being that aluminum conducts heat really good some big ceramic resistors embedded in it might work?

I'll be working around home this week, so hopefully I get the parts in time to check them out.  I guess I better find some rods quick. lol

EDIT:
Just looking at the picture in your link again.. It looks like all the parts are laser cut wood.  I'm not sure but the printed plastic parts seem like a better idea to me.  If you look closely on one of the bottom slide rods, one of the wooden clamps is coming apart from the clamping force of the bolts.

Nate

Yes Nate I agree, I don't want any wood on my build either,  Prusa Mendel is the one I will build, all metal and abs plastic for me, arduino or maybe the electronics in this link http://www.techzonecom.com/detail.php?pr_id=20  , what do you think?  I have two of the stepper motors 1.8 degs/step [ this works out to 200 steps per revolution] I scrounged out of a large copier, I will see if they will work to run the  Z axis for smooth up and down operation. The bed plate I can use resistance wire techzone sells to heat it with, it does not need much heat, it's just to keep the printed parts from warping. Before you get to that stage of the build tell me what size and thickness you want the bed to be, I'll make it and send it to you. Also here is a complete instruction manual for the build   http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_Mendel_Assembly . Well keep me posted of your progress as to when you want the bed, thanks Nate, Jeff.:D

Quote from Jeff Nading on September 4th, 2011, 09:02 PM

Yes Nate I agree, I don't want any wood on my build either,  Prusa Mendel is the one I will build, all metal and abs plastic for me, arduino or maybe the electronics in this link http://www.techzonecom.com/detail.php?pr_id=20  , what do you think?  I have two of the stepper motors 1.8 degs/step [ this works out to 200 steps per inch] I scrounged out of a large copier, I will see if they will work to run the  Z axis for smooth up and down operation. The bed plate I can use resistance wire techzone sales to heat it with, it does not need much heat, it's just to keep the printed parts from warping. Before you get to that stage of the build tell me what size and thickness you want the bed to be, I'll make it and send it to you. Also here is a complete instruction manual for the build   http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_Mendel_Assembly . Well keep me posted of your progress as to when you want the bed, thanks Nate, Jeff.:D

In the blog post  you linked http://blog.reprap.org/2011/04/sourcing-3d-printer.html the guy listed his favorite electronics based on how many people were working on improving firmware.  I assume the techzone boards are just arduino copies(?) which could use the arduino firmwares.  Another reason I chose the Arduino Mega is that I can always flash it with another firmware to use it for an entirely different project if I wanted.   His second choice was the GEN6 board.  To be honest my head is swimming through all this information. lol  There are sooo many ways to do it, but that's the great thing about open source.  I'll have a better mental grasp on this stuff when the parts get here.:P  Then I'll know better what size the bed is.  The headed bed should be the same size as the standard one?
   I think the motors you have might work if they have enough torque, which seems to be the main worry from what I've read.  The ones I ordered from Ultimachine have 1.6 deg per step.  
   All I seem to do now is daydream about all the different things I could print out!

Nate

    https://www.youtube.com/user/nadingjeff?feature=mhee  

Just wanted to show the progress I have made on the 3d Prusa printer I am building.

Quote from Jeff Nading on September 20th, 2011, 05:07 PM

https://www.youtube.com/user/nadingjeff?feature=mhee  

Just wanted to show the progress I have made on the 3d Prusa printer I am building.

it looks really good Jeff! keep at it! ~Russ

Just made a new video on the parts I made for the hot end of the Mendel printer, thanks.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S1YkqhwT90

Hello all, I have my home made hot end almost completed, some of my own design :idea: as well, all I need is some kapton tape to hold the thermistor in place, then to mount it into the Wades extruder. I might have to mount a small fan by it, maybe an aluminum heat sink, to keep the wades extruder from getting to hot, we will see. Here are two pictures. :D

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:12 AM

Hello all, I have my home made hot end almost completed, some of my own design :idea: as well, all I need is some kapton tape to hold the thermistor in place, then to mount it into the Wades extruder. I might have to mount a small fan by it, maybe an aluminum heat sink, to keep the wades extruder from getting to hot, we will see. Here are two pictures. :D

that's crazy Jeff! some fantastic skills man! cool!
i cant wait to see this thing run!  

~Russ

Quote from Rwg42985 on October 9th, 2011, 09:24 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:12 AM

Hello all, I have my home made hot end almost completed, some of my own design :idea: as well, all I need is some kapton tape to hold the thermistor in place, then to mount it into the Wades extruder. I might have to mount a small fan by it, maybe an aluminum heat sink, to keep the wades extruder from getting to hot, we will see. Here are two pictures. :D

that's crazy Jeff! some fantastic skills man! cool!
i cant wait to see this thing run!  

~Russ

Thanks Russ, Yes I wish I was further along than I am, at least to the software end of it, I still have to put together all the electronics yet, then wire it all up, I did save some money building the hot end myself though and had fun building it.

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:33 AM

Quote from Rwg42985 on October 9th, 2011, 09:24 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:12 AM

Hello all, I have my home made hot end almost completed, some of my own design :idea: as well, all I need is some kapton tape to hold the thermistor in place, then to mount it into the Wades extruder. I might have to mount a small fan by it, maybe an aluminum heat sink, to keep the wades extruder from getting to hot, we will see. Here are two pictures. :D

that's crazy Jeff! some fantastic skills man! cool!
i cant wait to see this thing run!  

~Russ

Thanks Russ, Yes I wish I was further along than I am, at least to the software end of it, I still have to put together all the electronics yet, then wire it all up, I did save some money building the hot end myself though and had fun building it.

Great job Jeff :cool:  It looks as good or better than the one I bought from Makergear.  I'm thinking about fans and heat sinks too, but I want to see how much heat I'm dealing with first. :)  I can already tell the stepper drivers are going to need a fan.  Wiring goes fast if you figure out what colors on the steppers go where.  I had to do a lot of searching and cross referencing to figure out how to wire my kysan steppers.  Still not sure that it is right.  
I'm home this week, so lots of evening RepRap-o-thons.  Id like to make my first print before the weekend. :s

Nate

Quote from firepinto on October 10th, 2011, 08:18 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:33 AM

Quote from Rwg42985 on October 9th, 2011, 09:24 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 9th, 2011, 09:12 AM

Hello all, I have my home made hot end almost completed, some of my own design :idea: as well, all I need is some kapton tape to hold the thermistor in place, then to mount it into the Wades extruder. I might have to mount a small fan by it, maybe an aluminum heat sink, to keep the wades extruder from getting to hot, we will see. Here are two pictures. :D

that's crazy Jeff! some fantastic skills man! cool!
i cant wait to see this thing run!  

~Russ

Thanks Russ, Yes I wish I was further along than I am, at least to the software end of it, I still have to put together all the electronics yet, then wire it all up, I did save some money building the hot end myself though and had fun building it.

Great job Jeff :cool:  It looks as good or better than the one I bought from Makergear.  I'm thinking about fans and heat sinks too, but I want to see how much heat I'm dealing with first. :)  I can already tell the stepper drivers are going to need a fan.  Wiring goes fast if you figure out what colors on the steppers go where.  I had to do a lot of searching and cross referencing to figure out how to wire my kysan steppers.  Still not sure that it is right.  
I'm home this week, so lots of evening RepRap-o-thons.  Id like to make my first print before the weekend. :s

Nate

Cool :cool:, let me know how it goes Nate. So what software did you end up using, did you get all the steppers running?

Alright, I'm done with the build of the 3d printer, all I need to do now is to repair my laptop then download and install all the software and calibrate the machine, and of course hope everything works, here is the video of my finished printer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpDBUojaQ_U

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 24th, 2011, 06:30 PM

Alright, I'm done with the build of the 3d printer, all I need to do now is to repair my laptop then download and install all the software and calibrate the machine, and of course hope everything works, here is the video of my finished printer.

Awesome work Jeff!  I like the side plate for the power and controls.:cool: I see what you mean about the opto LEDs now.  I kind of like them on too. :P  Have ya started on heaters for the bed?  
I think the flashing LED is because there isn't any software like Sprinter loaded in the Arduino board yet.  

Nate

Quote from firepinto on October 24th, 2011, 06:57 PM

Quote from Jeff Nading on October 24th, 2011, 06:30 PM

Alright, I'm done with the build of the 3d printer, all I need to do now is to repair my laptop then download and install all the software and calibrate the machine, and of course hope everything works, here is the video of my finished printer.

Awesome work Jeff!  I like the side plate for the power and controls.:cool: I see what you mean about the opto LEDs now.  I kind of like them on too. :P  Have ya started on heaters for the bed?  
I think the flashing LED is because there isn't any software like Sprinter loaded in the Arduino board yet.  

Nate

Thanks Nate, I thought you might like the side plate, I bought 1/2" aluminum rod, cut it to length, two 5" and two 2 1/2", drilled each end center, tapped the ends 5/16"x 18 thread, screwed them on to the althread of the machine, cut 1" pieces of althread for the other ends, cut out the plastic plate drilled holes to mount it, it worked very well to mount all the electronics, power supply and all the wires to. As far as the heated plate, I have not done much with this yet, I really want to get the machine running and calibrated before I do much with the plate, I also want to build a cradle rack for a spool of abs filament on top of the machine to help it feed easily.

Installed a heatsink for the hotend of my printer and moved the Y axes endstop to the front of the printer, video link here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86cVeBVAOkE&feature=channel_video_title

Progress  update, all the software is installed, hotend works well, installed fan on heatsink to keep heat from traveling up into movement,:cool: here is a link to a video I just uploaded showing all my work,         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPmIul2FgQk   , all I have left to do is calibrate the movements now :D :D

Quote from Jeff Nading on November 5th, 2011, 10:40 PM

Progress  update, all the software is installed, hotend works well, installed fan on heatsink to keep heat from traveling up into movement,:cool: here is a link to a video I just uploaded showing all my work,         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPmIul2FgQk   , all I have left to do is calibrate the movements now :D :D

Great work Jeff.  :)  Calibrating the Y axis like the video on Youtube shows is kind of a pain.  I ended up strapping a ballpoint pen to the extruder motor mount, and covering the bed with tape.  The pen hangs down lower than the hot end so it don't drag.  I ran the X axis back and forth 10 mm, then clicked the Y axis 100 mm, and then ran the X axis back and forth 10 mm again.  Then you can measure between the two X axis lines with your calipers.  

Nate

Quote from firepinto on November 6th, 2011, 05:18 AM

Quote from Jeff Nading on November 5th, 2011, 10:40 PM

Progress  update, all the software is installed, hotend works well, installed fan on heatsink to keep heat from traveling up into movement,:cool: here is a link to a video I just uploaded showing all my work,         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPmIul2FgQk   , all I have left to do is calibrate the movements now :D :D

Great work Jeff.  :)  Calibrating the Y axis like the video on Youtube shows is kind of a pain.  I ended up strapping a ballpoint pen to the extruder motor mount, and covering the bed with tape.  The pen hangs down lower than the hot end so it don't drag.  I ran the X axis back and forth 10 mm, then clicked the Y axis 100 mm, and then ran the X axis back and forth 10 mm again.  Then you can measure between the two X axis lines with your calipers.  

Nate

That would be more accurate then the way Neil did it.

Did a dry run video just to watch my printer in action after all the work building it, I have to give some of the credit to Nate who was instrumental in helping me with the software install and actually getting my machine to run, I need to give Nate a really big thanks :cool::D:P for helping me out there, THANKS NATE.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGlf04VQVU

Quote from Jeff Nading on November 11th, 2011, 08:27 PM

Did a dry run video just to watch my printer in action after all the work building it, I have to give some of the credit to Nate who was instrumental in helping me with the software install and actually getting my machine to run, I need to give Nate a really big thanks :cool::D:P for helping me out there, THANKS NATE.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGlf04VQVU

Awesome to see it running Jeff!  I'm glad I could help.:)  Things do go better when you get to compare notes!  :D

I have mine printing bobbins on overtime since I got home.  I learned that you don't want your hot end to be left on for long periods while not printing.  I had troubles getting started again.  I'll be adding a microswitch to the Y home position to kill my hot end power after a print finishes.   Most times I can't get to pronterface soon enough to shut power down.  

Great job Jeff!

Nate

Hey Jeff,
Hows the printing going?  Have you been able to get your heated plate fired up yet?  

Nate