Friday, August 10, 2012

Printed Parts....

Well, I've pretty much figured out what I want to go with for the printed parts, now it's just a matter of finding somebody that can print them for me!  I've sent an email to Nate from TechPaladin to see when he'll be making the 1.5 parts available.  In the mean time, here are few trinkets that keep me entertained:

A 3D PDF of the MendelMax from the folks at Kludgineering
Mike Payson's MendelMax Photos
My own copy of the MendelMax BOM, which I will use to detail where I found everything, and how much it cost.  It's still pretty stock, but I've added some colour to the parts that I already have.

On a slightly different topic, I've backed the RA 3D Controller project on Kickstarter.  I won't use it with this build, but down the road when I build the next scaled up version.  It's got a lot of interesting features (some of which I probably won't need).

Hopefully more soon....

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Printed Parts

Up until now, only some very minor decisions have been made.  The type of electronics (RAMPS), and the colour of the extrusion are pretty much the extent of it.  But now it's time to order my printed parts, and some key decisions must be made.

It seems like there are a few places that sell MendelMax printed parts:
Tech Paladin
Lulzbot
MendelMax.com (kits only - not really what I'm looking for)
SBB RepRap

However, before I order these parts, there are some things I must consider.  Specifically, I have to think about:
  • PLA or ABS?  Is there an advantage of having parts made from one over the other?  Keep in mind that we're not talking about what the MendelMax will print, only what the parts are made out of.  Steven Devijver has a good article on the general differences on his blog under the Plastics section.
  • Do I want to use 10mm smooth rods for the X and Y, or only for the Z?  I've read that the 10mm smooth rods all around seem to cut down on vibration, so this would be idea, but it depends on how available all the other components are.
  • Types of bearings: Bronze Bushings or LM10UU (the 10 is for 10mm, as opposed to LM8UU) 
  • Extruder?  Haven't even began to think about this yet, but I think I'll stick pretty close to the script on this one.
  • After the pain of my last UPS bill, I'd like to find somebody in Canada

Tech Paladin - 10mm for X,Y and Z - Made from PLA
Lulzbot - 8mm for X,Y and 10mm for Z - Made from ABS
SBB RepRap - 8mm for X, Y, 8 or 10 for Z - material unspecified

I'm leaning towards getting everything from Tech Paladin with the following options:

  • Black PLA
  • 10mm X, Y, and Z LMUU Linear Bearings
  • Include the Spool holder (which mounts on top)
  • Include the 70mm drilling jig.  This will be required as my Misumi extrusion is not drilled.  It would be easy to make the jig myself, but it's only $4 and it'll save me the hassle.  

The only option I'm not sure of is the Z Axis motion compatibility.  I believe since I've order the hardware from Misumi that I need to specify the option 'Misumi Leadscrews with 15mm rounded nuts (Part Number MTSKR8)', but I'm not totally sure about that, so I'll likely lurk around on the MendelMax Google Group this week.  It looks like this also includes the extruder gear, but again, need to do more research.

Monday, June 25, 2012

RAMPS, Extrusion, and Arduino Mega

Today, the RAMPS board came as did my extrusion

RAMPS Board
Ordered from UltiMachine
Order Date: 2012-06-06 15:57
Arrival Date: 2012-06-25 16:00
Shipping Method: UPS Standard
Products Subtotal: $140.00
UPS Standard Shipping: $18.66
Total $158.66 ($167.56 CDN)
Products
1x RAMPS Pre-Assembled Kit Complete with Drivers and Endstops Only
SKU: RMAPSPAC2
- Please select endstop switch/wiring option: Mechanical Endstop Switches w/ Wiring (default)
- Z motor Connector Option: Single Connector (default) (Best when using 1Z motor and/or bulky motor connections

GST added $17.22
Brokerage Fee: $39.25 (after UPS assured me it would be under $30)
Shipping total $61.18 CDN

Grand Total of $228.74 for the RAMPS board

Extrusion
Ordered from Misumi USA Inc
Order Date: 2012-06-15
Arrival Date: 2012-06-25
Shipping Method: UPS Standard
Product Subtotal: $66.46 ($69.49 CDN)
UPS Shipping: Hard to tell from the receipt - free I think
Duty: $4.43
Brokerage Free: $25.45
Brokerage GST: $3.05
Shipping Total: $32.93

Grand Total of $102.42 for Extrusion

Arduino Mega
Bought in person from Lee's Electronics, my Go-To guys!
Product Subtotal: $60.00
Tax: $7.80

Grand Total of $72.80 for the Arduino Mega

Total thus far: $403.96

Monday, June 18, 2012

MendelMax Build

I've starting looking into building a MedelMax RepRap to replace my aged (and failing Darwin).  Rather then buying a kit, I'm going to source my own parts, based on an existing bill or materials (BOM) and document the build process.

So far, these are the points that I'm considering...

Decisions:

  • Go with 8mm vs 10mm slides - leaning towards the 10mm right now.  It seems to have less vibration, and I can get printed parts that will fit it.
  • Build a MendelMax 1.0 or 1.5 - Pretty much a no brainer, 1.5 it is!
  • Use optical or mechanical end stops - I have a set of optical on the Darwin, so I'll probably just use those
  • Type of X/Y carriage - I need to research this more.
  • Use a regular stepper or one of the low weight steppers to drive the print head - I'm tempted to go with the smaller stepper eventually, but for now I think I'll stick with the regular NEMA17
  • Heated or non-heated platform - heated for sure, probably with a glass base
  • Type of print head - I'm leaning towards the budaschnozzle.  The printed parts I'm looking at support this.
  • Type of electronics - I'm going to use the RAMPS/Arduino Mega system with Polulu stepper drivers.


Upgrades:

  • Glass print surface - from what I've heard, this requires less power then an aluminum print surface; aluminum being basically a big head sync.
  • Spring mounts for the print surface - Probably a good idea.  Don't want to wreck anything when/if the print head crashes.
  • PanelMax electronics that allow you to tweak some parameters, and send jobs without a laptop - Very intrigued by this.  This could be an upgrade for later.
  • Spool holder on top - why not!
  • LED lights - bling!
  • Black Mitsumi extrusion - why go with the stock silver?


Other notes so far

  • Make sure that your steppers require no more then 2amps, else the drivers overheat.