Hoss's 3D Printers

[LeeWay]

For something like Hoss's Freak, that would probably work pretty well.
Really any 3 axis cnc machine would likely be a suitable candidate. Extra motors, drives and relays for heaters are needed, as well as software, but that is open source right now.

Being able to create fit or snap together parts like Lego's means that you can print small and still have a large item or finished product.

Another key to making plastic parts I think is how they are designed.
Here is a nice link to Protomold.
They have lots of part design tips that I think would help when designing small, but sturdy plastic parts.

[LeeWay]

Here is a nice video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3D56IpACME]OhmEye's Introduction and Orientation for 3D Printing with the Reprap Prusa Mendel - YouTube

[LeeWay]

Okay, guys. I saw a video printing a whistle. Why not print the ball inside as well? Using desolvable plastic, that is possible.

[hoss2006]

AH HAH HAH HAH! (evil laugh)
I've brought one poor soul over to the dark side.

Just kidding, we should have lots of fun with these things.
I'll get another video later but I had to make 2 couplers for the Z axis
seeing how their "couplers" were too big to grab the stepper shafts.
The steppers I bought have 5mm shafts.
That's a great video, had to fav it.
I guess it's just user preference to which is the front of the machine.
Doesn't really matter till you set up the control software.
I know I've seen whistles made with the ball already inside, somewhere.
Hoss

[mhackney]

A friend has a Prusa and he makes whistles with the ball. But, he adds a cork ball as the part is being made!

Although I have a SeeMeCNC H-1 on order - primarily because it is cheap (!) and uses Mach - now that I've been researching a bit I may build a gantry type with a larger work envelope and power it with a Generation-6 or RAMPS because I can connect it to my Mac (which is in my upstairs office) and use it for demonstrations at my Reelsmithing Workshops. (yup, I'm a "Mac Guy" but I love Mach3 - which is like "Mac" but with an "h" added ) The Generation-6 boards are all in 1 and really cheap for an Arduino based controller/driver. Did you consider a Gen-6 for your Prusa Hoss?

cheers,
Michael

[hoss2006]

Yeah I considered the Gen 6, that's what Maker Farm sells and recommends and would have been
like $50 less but I decided to splurge for the RAMPS as that seems to be the IT way to go right now as far as I can tell.
Plus ever since my Xlyotex nightmare I've stayed away from all-in-ones.
One thing goes wrong and the whole board is down.
Hoss

[mhackney]

Did you get the RAMPS DIY kit complete? Lots of soldering!

There's a place in the UK selling the Gen7 board and kit too on ebay. Again, an all in 1 but this one is community supported and seems to be a pretty nice design.

cheers,
Michael

[hoss2006]

Yeah, LOTS of little bits to solder but I like soldering so it should be fun.
I'll take a pic when I get that far.
You can get the RAMPS prebuilt for $200 at Ultimachine but I saved $38 for their DIY kit.
RAMPS Pre-Assembled Kit Complete | UltiMachine
One thing about the RAMPS is apparently the capacity for 2 extruders which might be for me down the road.
Hoss

[LeeWay]

I'm not a solder guy, but did order the gen 6.
Is there some other driver I might need to look at?

[mhackney]

Not really Lee, you can run your machine off the gen6 just fine. There are a number of options supported by the community but the 3 primary Arduino-based options that I've come across are the RAMPS that Hoss got - it's a sister board (or "shield" in Arduino speak), the Gen6 - which is an all-in-one board to keep costs down but has fallen out of grace slightly by the Open Source RepRap purists because the design was optimized fro commercial production - and the Gen7 board - which is relatively new design on a single sided board that can be made at home and with the explicit goal to remain open source hardware.

This is a lot like the software Open Source software community in that the purists shy away from any commercial offering. They must hate having to buy chips, screws, all-thread and rods! The whole concept of RepRap is to produce a self-replicating 3D printer. "Self-replicating" introduces some serious design constraints. The SeeMeCNC approach is to injection mold the plastic parts - which can be made much more cheaply than printing. Think about how much time must go into printing the parts!

I would guess that most of us here mostly want to print things! We probably all already have a CNC mill or router and can make whatever we want. But, I think starting with one of these basic machines to understand the printing process and extruders, etc is a great way to start and lead into a home-brewed machine.

cheers,
Michael

[Rescue35]

What is the work area on the SeeMeCNC H-1? Max X,Y,Z?

[mhackney]

6x7x6 inches. See RepRap SeeMeCNC wiki.

[Rescue35]

Thank you.

[hoss2006]

Here's the 2nd Prusa video.
Hoss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctjsy2AcQ1g&feature=channel_video_title]Reprap Prusa V2 Build Part B.wmv - YouTube

[hoss2006]

And the 3rd that finishes up the main build, just electronics to go.
Hoss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQJxQ8wyHCY&feature=channel_video_title]Reprap Prusa V2 Build Part C - YouTube

[hoss2006]

Cheese and rice, soldering surface mount components is hard on the eyes.
Advice, buy a completed board.
Got the RAMPS board and the 4 little stepper drivers done in a few hours.
I'll wait till tomorrow before trying to put power to it.
This wiki was a big help.
http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4
Time for supper.
Hoss


edit, that's a resistor on my finger, about 30 of them to do.

[dugpits]

Sorry for the perhaps ignorant question - I have not read much about these printers.

What kind of tolerance can one hold with these machines - for example, would it be possible to make some lathe change gears with custom numbers of teeth for cutting more threads or for a finer feed?? Can these little machines do something like that and get the - pressure angle/diametral pitch/involute shape/tooth depth - correct for the gear meshing?

Certain change gears are pretty hard to find, so I was just wondering.

Thanks

Doug

[DSpeck]

If you haven't seen them yet, there is another machine available, from printrbot.com - he has simplified the machine quite a bit, and you can get them in printing areas up to 8"x8"x8", which is a bit bigger than most of the other open source machines. He got a great start on kickstarter.com, which is where I saw it. Reasonable prices and they make the hot end completely for you, which would be a big thing for me...

Doug.

[hoss2006]

People make gears but I would doubt they're strong enough to hold up on a mill or lathe.

Yeah that's pretty simple, best thing is it's free. (If you have another printer to make the parts)
THE Printrbot by abdrumm - Thingiverse
This little guy is just so cute and could be made on these "big" printers.
3ders.org - Portable Tantillus 3D printer ready for beta testing | 3D Printing news
Hoss

[photomankc]

Cheese and rice, soldering surface mount components is hard on the eyes.
Advice, buy a completed board.

Yeah, I would not relish putting on a ton of surface mount components. I've done some for my own designs but my eyes do not appreciate it much either.

General Tip - A nice, thick, sticky tub of flux is a HUGE help getting them to both stick for a moment to the board and get the solder to quickly flow onto the terminals.