RepRap
Check out the progress of our reprap build.
Tutorial: Burning the Sanguino Bootloader to the ATmega 644P Using an Arduino as ISP.
cgantt — Tue, 08/16/2011 - 14:04
So you just finished soldering up your Sanguinololu 1.3A board and are ready to test it to see if everything is working properly, but before you can upload any firm ware to the board you need to burn a Bootloader to the ATmega 644P. In this tutorial I will cover using an Arduino or Arduino clone as your ISP programmer. … Class starts after the jump.
MakerGear Mosaic 3d Printer Raises the bar.
cgantt — Fri, 08/12/2011 - 13:42
Anyone who has been around the RepRap community in the last two years has heard of MakerGear. In fact their hot end is considered to be one of the best and most reliable available for purchase. To confirm this just join the RepRap IRC channel and ask what hot end one should buy. MakerGear does not just manufacture hot end components though; they make everything from extrusion heads to complete DIY 3D printer kits. They are currently offering the ever popular RepRap Prusa Mendel and their own custom 3D printer dubbed the Mosaic… After the jump we take a quick look at the Mosaic including some impressive video of it printing from the Detroit Makers Faire.
Help Support the Cube Spawn Project.
cgantt — Mon, 02/01/2010 - 13:19
Its no secret that we are huge fans of anything and everything open source. The Cube Spawn project is one of our favorite open source projects on the net and right now they are in a close race for $25k in funding and need your help to win the race. All you have to do is visit this url ( http://www.refresheverything.com/cubespawn1 ) and vote for their project. Once you finish that you might also like to check out their Kickstarter page where you can help fund the project with small to large donations..... more after the jump
RepRap V2 is almost here.
cgantt — Mon, 11/23/2009 - 14:10
It’s almost here... That’s right the RepRap project is close to officially releasing RepRap Version 2 Mendel. Its kinda sad to see the Darwin design go but the improvements that come with the Mendel design more than make up for the cool looks of the Darwin. Mendel sports a larger print surface as well improvements in the plastic extruder and print quality. Keep reading after the jump.
We lucked out and found these NEMA 17 1.8degree bipolor steppers on ebay for $6 each. We wound up buying a total of 7 of these. 4 will be used to drive our McWire. What makes them really cool is that they have splined shafts. This makes using them to drive the pinch wheel plastistruder easy. These were brand new old stock....read more after the jump....
Time for another build update. I finaly got around to cutting out the new x stage plexi from the technical drawing I posted earlier. The jigsaw I used was a little on the old side of things and it did not do the job I would have liked. Oh well the plexy just has to hold parts in place. Nothing says it has to be pretty right?....more after the jump...
Over the weekend I got the chance to sit down and do a proper technical drawing of the X stage. This should help out those of you who chose to cut out your own stages for your McWire....Read more after the jump....
Well it seems we have hit a wall head on with the pedal on the floor. The reprap project recommends printing out the design of the x,y,z stages and gluing it to the plexi and using that as a cutting / drilling guide. The alternative is to buy the laser cut parts for about $100. It's literally $10 worth of plexi scrap from your local glass shop and straight cuts...... Read more after the jump.....
McWire Parts part 2. Bearings!
cgantt — Mon, 06/15/2009 - 15:00
The 608 sized skate bearings finally arrived. The silver shielded ones were ordered from VXB Bearings 20 for $13. They spin freely seem to be high quality. The rubber shielded ones came from a local bike shop. We bought their whole supply for $5. (12 bearings)......read more after the jump..
Well its time for another McWire update. I am still waiting on the 608 skate bearings I ordered from VBX bearings to arrive. I am also waiting on the stepper motors to arrive and for the Gen 3 electronic kits to come back instock at makerbot. Other than that and the plastic ectruder parts we have everything we need to build the McWire. Today I partialy got the X stage build.... read more after the break..
