mhackney's 3D Printers

[doorknob]

I ordered the kit with the plastic and hardware parts, along with the ball bearing upgrade kit.

I already have some NEMA17 motors, a Chinese TB6560 board, a power supply and a licensed copy of Mach3.

I guess that I will either buy an Easy Stepper Driver board from SparkFun or else throw together my own driver for the extruder motor.

Also, I ought to order some of the feedstock ahead of time.

Michael, I know that it's premature to ask, but if you will be looking for a "guinea pig" to test your instructions before you release them into the wild, I would be willing to volunteer.

[mhackney]

Hey guys, in addition to having some decent instructions, I'm making a parts list - by sub assembly - for the build. I've identified lots of differences already. This should help the guys at SeeMeCNC with parts and quality control. Also, there are some undocumented (as of yet) components for things like the Z timing belt idler (see photo below).



doorknob, send me your email address in a PM. I'll double check with the guys at SeeMeCNC but I would love to have a couple of extra sets of eyes to give feedback, etc.

cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

And the extruder is now complete and documented. Lots of parts in these!





I didn't have the high temp silicone to cement the thermistor in the Extruder Barrel. I'll pick that up tomorrow.

Now I have the mechanicals complete. I spent some time on the phone today with John from SeeMeCNC (he's following this and other threads here on the zone - hi John!) to answer some questions I need for the manual. I got the scoop on the X and Y timing belt mounting as well as validated the Z timing belt idler. It's all pretty cool.

Now that I've done this, I think I could fly through the next one, especially with the instruction manual

Cheers,
Michael

[foam27]

Ordered mine a couple of days ago as well.

The big draw for me was the molded parts

I just hope that it's rigid enough to handle higher accelerations.

I wish I ordered the bearing upgrade kit, now that I heard that the plastic ones are out of round

[rwskinner]

The bearing upgrade is well worth the money. I also used bearings for all the idler pulleys and that helped a lot as well especially on the X.

Richard

[mhackney]

Once the machine is assembled it is locked in pretty rigid. The guys on the yahoo forum and John at SeeMeCNC are running these at high rapids and getting great prints. The molded parts are a great. I can't imagine printing all those parts to make another machine! The RepRap community is a lot like the early software/computer movement - "tools to make tools" (a quote from the book Hackers). Inevitably, a new generation of users step in to utilize the technology for other purposes. Kits like the H-1 facilitate that as do pre-assembled machines.

Steel bearings come with the H-1 for the Z axis screws and the extruder idler pulleys. The basic kit has molded bearings for the X, Y and Z followers on the linear rails. I ordered the steel bearing upgrade too and glad I did. That said, they are standard off the shelf bearings you can get at Boca Bearings or VXB. You'll need thirty-two R2ZZ (1/8" ID x 3/8" OD x .156 W) ball bearings. Standard fare. The dowel pins used as bearing axels are plastic (very rigid, maybe a filled nylon?). I believe (but not 100% positive) that the same size is used for both the molded and steel bearings so the pins that come with the base kit will likely work with the steel bearings. I'll try to confirm this with Steve or John.

Cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

Forgot to mention, John at SeeMeCNC just posted these videos where he replaced the extruder head with a dremel for engraving acrylic and aluminum. Using Mach and engraving the Roadrunner. The results look pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPdorxkQpMc&feature=uploademail]SeeMeCNC H-1 Engraving Acrylic - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LECdFEFLm8&feature=channel]SeeMeCNC H-1 Engraving 6061-T6 Aluminum - YouTube

Check out SeeMeCNC's YouTube Channel for more interesting stuff.

cheers,
Michael

[Rescue35]

Looking good. I am hoping to finish the mechanical assembly today myself. It isn't to bad once you get past the shock of the amount of hardware that comes in that little box.

I did have to pick up some 1/4-20 allthread as my kit was short two 12" peaces and I believe I have 2 extra 10.5" peaces instead.

Keep it up this is very helpful.

[KnacK]

Hey Michael,

Out of everything make sure you document the alignment of the machine to get it square. That was one of my biggest issues and I might still be fighting a small squareness issue still.

Chris Muncy

[rwskinner]

You're right, the molded plastic parts are really nice and seem very durable and was the main selling point for me (Ah, okay, and price was too).

I want to be sure and make a comment to remind ourselves that some of the things SeeMe did was to build a great running machine for an unbeleivable price so lots of folks could dive into this fun hobby. In order to acheive that goal, the factory "out of the box" machine had to have some consessions made such as the nylon bearings as an example. They work fine and most people are going to mod everything they get anyways.

Since I have both, the Mendel and the H1 I'm doing comparisions between the machines and the different control stratagies out of curiosity more than anything. With that said, it really is an unfair comparision because I'm comparing a $400 machine to an $800 machine. It's hard to beleive that a machine that cost half as much produces close to the same results!

Richard

[LeeWay]

Looking great so far. Nice looking kit as well. I am working on a Prusa like Hoss's. I have the linear bearing kit. I have to say that the next iteration of this little machine could really use those. They are sweet. It would simplify both the amount of parts and adjustments needed I think. They aligned well in the printed parts my kit has, so I know they would do even better in molded parts.
Keep up the good work. I know documenting things are a challenge.

[mhackney]

Thanks for adding that Richard. You know, as for controls, I picked up a RepRap Generation6 board for $130 from MakerFarm. It is all inclusive with stepper drivers, temp control etc and pre-assembled. You use Open Source software with it. Replacing it for the parallel driver, thermostat (a kit that needs to be soldered), and that "little red board" in the H-1 kit would reduce cost a bit more and decrease complexity. Not an issue if you already have a Mach license.

It is also just a matter of time before EMC will run these. In fact, the new version of Slic3r generates Mach and EMC g-code so I assume it should work now. Add on a Dremel tool and you have a nice little engraving machine that could easily cut balsa wood and foam for RC models.

Very cool stuff!

cheers,
Michael