General 3D Printing Thread


 
No kidding. I still love my MakerFarm i3, but this looks like an even more complete kit. Includes an aluminum bed, power supply, glass printing surface, and a spool of filament for $100 less than I paid? Nice.

I'm also loving OpenSCAD. I'm sure a lot of people must like drawing 3D things using a mouse but the technical side of me really enjoys just telling the CAD program what I want. It seems a lot more intuitive to me to tell the program "I would like a 10x15x5 box then on the end of that box make a 3.2 radius cylinder, but subtract a square hole all the way through it" than trying to click my way through it. Especially when you decide you want that cylinder to be 0.5mm inset rather than right on the edge and all it takes is 2 seconds of typing rather than trying to select just what you want and not "no not that edge too, why are you moving that piece too?". Also programmatically being able to change holes to polygon holes that are calculated to be just the right size you want them to end up is a lot easier.

The iterative process of 3D Printing is great. Design something, print it out, see how it interacts in the real world, redesign. Each time I print something and play with it, I get a new idea how to make it better. Still a ways to go on this but it is coming along
 
Bryan Mayland said:
No kidding. I still love my MakerFarm i3, but this looks like an even more complete kit. Includes an aluminum bed, power supply, glass printing surface, and a spool of filament for $100 less than I paid? Nice.

I'm also loving OpenSCAD. I'm sure a lot of people must like drawing 3D things using a mouse but the technical side of me really enjoys just telling the CAD program what I want. It seems a lot more intuitive to me to tell the program "I would like a 10x15x5 box then on the end of that box make a 3.2 radius cylinder, but subtract a square hole all the way through it" than trying to click my way through it. Especially when you decide you want that cylinder to be 0.5mm inset rather than right on the edge and all it takes is 2 seconds of typing rather than trying to select just what you want and not "no not that edge too, why are you moving that piece too?". Also programmatically being able to change holes to polygon holes that are calculated to be just the right size you want them to end up is a lot easier.

The iterative process of 3D Printing is great. Design something, print it out, see how it interacts in the real world, redesign. Each time I print something and play with it, I get a new idea how to make it better. Still a ways to go on this but it is coming along
Click to expand...

I thought you would like openscad...

I am also finalizing a direct-drive servo fan combo. Based on your post above, it sounds like we are using the same idea (rotating cylinder with a rectangular conduit through it).
 
This kit certainly looks interesting, but it says *This set does not include plastic parts.

How would one go about getting these plastic parts, I assume you would have to have someone print them off for you? They do provide the STL files that are ready to print for said plastic parts.

It looks more rigid and perhaps easier to put together than the i3. I am seriously considering a machine of some sort very soon, your knowledge in these machines is much appreciated.
Tom Kole said:
JNeillIII, if you haven't pulled the trigger yet, this is the kit I would go with. This is the best deal I've seen and probably the sturdiest kit machine you can find. I've purchased hotend parts from these guys in the past.

http://gadgets3d.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=73&product_id=92
Click to expand...
 
I noticed this as well. It looks like you can buy the part kits from others:

http://www.busybotz.com/

for example.

dave

Paul S (Missouri) said:
This kit certainly looks interesting, but it says *This set does not include plastic parts.

How would one go about getting these plastic parts, I assume you would have to have someone print them off for you? They do provide the STL files that are ready to print for said plastic parts.

It looks more rigid and perhaps easier to put together than the i3. I am seriously considering a machine of some sort very soon, your knowledge in these machines is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
So that kit includes everything except some things LOL

The X axis parts and extruder parts have to be sourced separately from that kit. So $85 for the plastic parts, and then another $40 or so probably for the rest of the plastic parts. So there goes the savings over the i3 other than it still looks to be a bit sturdier perhaps, but looks can be deceiving.

D Peart said:
I noticed this as well. It looks like you can buy the part kits from others:

http://www.busybotz.com/

for example.

dave
Click to expand...
 
lulzbot sells the printed parts as well...Remember, there are at least 4 of us here that already have machines. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I would be more than happy to help out people that are interested in getting up and running with a 3d printer. We could even setup a system where those of us with printers put together a set of printed parts and donate them to the first person willing to buy the kit with the stipulation that this person provide the next set of parts for the subsequent person, so on and so forth.
 
Tom Kole said:
I am also finalizing a direct-drive servo fan combo. Based on your post above, it sounds like we are using the same idea (rotating cylinder with a rectangular conduit through it).
Click to expand...
Exactly! JBond made the same concept but I wanted to play with my own design. I was pleased to find someone who had a servo horn module that modeled the gear so I could just attach that to whatever I wanted.

If used without the blower, the effective intake area of this design is only 500mm^2 so I was hoping to play with the design a bit to see if some additional intake could be added without diminishing the power of the blower. Also I'd like to include a space to mount an RJ11 jack so the parts would be wired to that rather than to the phone cord.
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Exactly! JBond made the same concept but I wanted to play with my own design. I was pleased to find someone who had a servo horn module that modeled the gear so I could just attach that to whatever I wanted.
Click to expand...

I actually am using the stock parts of the servo as part of the design. I figure that the small teeth of that gear are perfectly match for those levers that come with it and I could never replicate that sort of mechanical stability with a 3d printer, so I created and impression in the bottom of my rotating cylinder that mimics the pattern of the included servo "propeller" so that everything assembles without any fasteners. Like this:

2psq3wp.jpg
 
Tom Kole said:
I actually am using the stock parts of the servo as part of the design. I figure that the small teeth of that gear are perfectly match for those levers that come with it and I could never replicate that sort of mechanical stability with a 3d printer, so I created and impression in the bottom of my rotating cylinder that mimics the pattern of the included servo "propeller" so that everything assembles without any fasteners. Like this:

2psq3wp.jpg
Click to expand...

I tried printing a servo arm and it worked but the arms that came with the motor work much better. The flap I made slips over like yours and it seems to work great. I added a pin on the opposite side so I could tell the position of the servo. Cool design mines just a boring flap. :>
 
Bryan, what I was thinking of doing is extending the rectangular conduit to a semicircular slot in the cylinder. Then I could make an opening in the roof of the cylinder housing so that when the fan is on, the servo would rotate to one extreme, creating a direct path from the fan to the smoker with the bottom of the cylinder housing acting as the floor to the channel. Then, when you want to go into servo mode, the servo rotate to the other extreme, now creating a path from the smoker to the fan port AND the hole in the roof of the housing, effectively doubling the area. It would then limit smoker air intake from a range of 0-90 degrees. Is this type of control feasible in the software?
 
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I have no issue buying the parts needed, It's just a bit confusing as to what all is needed. Looking on lulzbot it lists the things needed to go along with the plastic parts, like bearings, screws, washers etc.. That kit for the Mendel Max didn't really list "everything" but I am assuming that it has all those screws etc for the X axis stuff. So if I am thinking right a guy would need to buy the Mendal Max kit, and then these things as well?
http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=products/mendelmax-15-plastic-kit-abs
https://www.lulzbot.com/?q=products/gregs-wade-reloaded-extruder
http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=ACME-Pillow-Block-X-End-Set-2.0

Just trying to wrap my head around all this LOL there are so many options out there!

Tom Kole said:
lulzbot sells the printed parts as well...Remember, there are at least 4 of us here that already have machines. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I would be more than happy to help out people that are interested in getting up and running with a 3d printer. We could even setup a system where those of us with printers put together a set of printed parts and donate them to the first person willing to buy the kit with the stipulation that this person provide the next set of parts for the subsequent person, so on and so forth.
Click to expand...
 
I think part of my confusion is I was going through the assembly manual pdf that is provided on the site with the Mendel kit. I do not see any parts in any of the "plastic kits" that look like these.
Capture_zpsbd1ce8b0.jpg
 
Tom Kole said:
I actually am using the stock parts of the servo as part of the design. I figure that the small teeth of that gear are perfectly match for those levers that come with it and I could never replicate that sort of mechanical stability with a 3d printer, so I created and impression in the bottom of my rotating cylinder that mimics the pattern of the included servo "propeller" so that everything assembles without any fasteners. Like this:
Click to expand...
Oh dangit, every time I feel like I've got a good idea going you guys surprise me with an even better idea. I should know better by now. I was going to try something like this with the gear printed into the top of the damper bit. I kinda like your rotating drum idea better. (Because I am sure the gear teeth won't match right)


And yeah you can set the limits of servo rotation one side to the other, but there's nothing like "max fan speed" where it will limit it to a percentage of the servo limits. It assumes you precalculated that into the rotation limits.
 
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Here is my initial version of a direct-drive fan/servo combo. It is designed to mount onto a piece of 1" square tubing that is connected to a plate that attaches to my BGE.

16ao2nb.jpg

29mnekk.jpg

2ijqb8n.jpg

jhaid4.jpg


I'm going to print this up as soon as I get a chance and I'll post the results.
 
Here it is. I had to sand a fraction of a mm off a couple of edges which I will fix in the 3d drawing, but it comes together pretty nicely. I wish I could try it out today but I have a wedding so test run will have to wait. I'll add some cable tracks with an rj11 jack when I finalize and verify the function.

34snh1h.jpg


j0eis7.jpg


dmpill.jpg
 
Tom, that looks awesome!

If you're going to offer them for sale to forum members, I'll be first in line!
 
I'm wondering how much the valve leaks with that much mating area all around the barrel damper? I know the fit can't be too tight or the servo will have a hard time moving it. I had pondered the idea of something similar but decided to go with a simple flap instead for this reason, cause the flap only needs two small holes for the brass rod, and the brass rod is much smoother than a 3D printed part (so it can mate tighter). Perhaps a little leaking wont be a problem on your grill, but my FauxMado likes to creep up in temp if the valve isnt super tight. I'm curious to hear how this works out for low and slow cooks...
 
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