I was wrong, it was sent via FedEx. It was left at the front door.
But yes, I am really hoping that Phil sees firsthand the shortcomings of the current electronics and feels compelled to improve upon it with a Propeller solution.
It should work just fine without the cam lever but I would make one soon because it makes adjusting the pressure and removing/replacing the filament a breeze.
Yay! Got it! And it's RED! 'Just perfect with my red Formica. Thank you! And no worries about the cam lever. I can use a thumbscrew until I get the machine up and running to print a lever. It's really a robust unit, too -- way better than the original design!
I ordered some 3/32" acetal today to use in place of my 1/8" stuff for the interior of the laminate sandwich. It'll get me closer to the thickness (and weight) of the original acrylic, and I'll have fewer mods to make to the CAD drawings.
I'm really getting fired up again to finish this thing now!
Oh, sorry: PMs are disabled again. I enabled them only briefly to send my shipping info to Rich, since I couldn't find his email address. Mine is in my profile.
Phil
'
I'm real happy to see your back on this project.
'
I look forward to seeing this thing work and the detail put into it!
'
Thanks W9GFO for the added input. I'm learning a lot about how this works.
'
I can't wait to see it run.
I have this mechanical prototype of my simplified micro-mendel sitting here gathering dust due to lack of time
At least I have some prop pcbs underway to drive this when I get time.
I assembled the parts that Rich sent me today, using some fasteners I got from the hardware store. The lever attachment required a little carving to get the tightening holes to line up but was a smooth go from there: just a screw and a lock nut.
The pressure bearing installation was a little more interesting. I needed to find a screw that had a non-threaded shank portion long enough that the bearing's center hole wasn't riding on threads. The only thing the hardware store had that would work was a 5mm socket head cap screw. Since the cap was a little too high to clear the plastic frame, I ground it down until there was just enough socket left to get a purchase with an Allen wrench. It also needed shortening, which was accomplished with a Dremel abrasive disk. (Grade 8 screws are too hard to hacksaw.) The bearing needs washers on either side so the outer part doesn't rub on the plastic. The ones the hardware store carried were too thick, so I cut some from 1/32" acetal on my laser cutter. Here's a photo of the completed parts:
Here's how they fit together:
For the pressure screw, I bought a metric hex bolt, whose head fit the slot provided in the plastic body piece. To this I added an aluminum spacer and a T-nut. (I can't believe the hardware store in this little burg actually had metric T-nuts!) I then made a knob from 1/8" acetal that the T-nut could press into. 'Got really lucky here: it just snapped in, and the bent claws are holding it without further adhesion. Here are the parts:
And assembled:
I should have the 3/32" acetal on Tuesday so I can redo the extruder support arch and get back to work where I left off on the overall assembly.
In the past, I've prototyped things like lens holders and baffles (e.g. for the ColorPAL) by gluing together CNC- or laser-cut flat pieces in a stack, so that's one possibility. My friend who does fishing lure manufacturing is interested in what the machine can do, too, since we've used outside stereolithography services in the past to model new lure designs. Having this machine could make rapid turnaround mods a lot easier. Beyond that, I have no idea. But that's what I said about the laser cutter, too, and now I couldn't live without it!
Once I poked the 3mm plastic rod through the extruder, I realized that my pressure screw was too short. So I went back to the hardware store for a longer one. As long as I was doing that, I decided to use a longer spacer to give me more thumb relief, and I added a return spring and "keeper" (a locknut) on the end:
Last night, I cut out all the pieces for the new extruder support (to replace the crumbled acrylic unit), and today the black sheet metal screws arrived from MicroFasteners. So it was off to the races again. Here's the new extruder support:
I've also attached an annotated CorelDraw file for the pieces, in case anyone else wants to build theirs this way.
I got as far as assembling the main framework and installing the Y/Z motors and power supply:
Fortunately, there were no further nasty surprises, and everything went pretty much went by the book.
Can't wait for you to put together a Propeller-based controller.
Hopefully, it will also work with the Prusa Mendel I'm about to start building. ;-)
(Plastics is being printed by another Mendel owner and ships tomorrow, hopefully. Smooth and threaded rods is on the way from one supplier, electronics from another. Bits and bolts I'll buy locally, PSU will be liberated from an old server at the office, and the hot bits I haven't decided on, yet.)
The nice thing about the Mendel is that you can buy some and make or scavenge other bits yourself.
What I want to make with it?
Does it really matter?
(I expect that as soon as I get it operating, opportunity will come knocking... )
'Not a fun couple of days! 'Been wiring cables from various places to the electronics on the bottom panel:
The wiring design on this thing seems like more of an afterthought than anything else. As someone who has wired numerous industrial panels, this is just painful! No apparent thought has been given to how the cabling interacts with the moving parts. I've purchased additional wire ties, adhesive wire-tie anchors, and split loom, in an effort to tame the cable routing, but it's still not pretty. Moreover, some of the cables provided simply aren't long enough to reach where they're supposed to go. What were they thinking?
This is definitely a case of buyer's remorse; but I shall press on, regardless.
The wiring is a bit silly. I think most people that put these together don't know any better. When someone like you assembles one, they are most definitely less than impressed. In the end, it really does work. It may need some modifications, (mine did) but it prints really well.
Phil, thanks for posting this build thread. It cured me of my thoughts about building one of these. It looks like a huge amount of time and I don't think I would see it through to the end.
Moreover, some of the cables provided simply aren't long enough to reach where they're supposed to go. What were they thinking?
-Phil
I have that problem with one of my model locomotives; when they installed the decoder, they didn't verify wire length. It's a double articulated swiss crocodile. It goes around right handed curves just fine as that is the side where the wire is; it refuses to go around a left handed curve as the wire pulls taunt! I snipped they wire for now; I need to open it up again and put in a new longer piece of decoder wire; which reminds me; I need to pick up some small heat shrink tubing.
Lengthening the limit switch cables turned out to be pretty easy. They used CDROM audio cables for those, and who doesn't have one or two of those lying around? I had one, and a local computer repair guy had a couple more to give me. All it takes are a 4-pin long-on-both-ends header and some shrink tubing to make the extension. Some of these cables have only three conductors, instead of four. But that's okay, because the two center pins are connected together on the PCBs. Here's a photo of the "splice" before I added the shrink tubing:
The extruder stepper is another matter. It looks like I'll have to cut the wires and splice in some longer ones.
Note: This is a post I queued up last night, but I forgot to Submit Reply.
______________________________________________
After lengthening five cables, sticking in numerous wire tie pads, adding countless wire ties, and labeling all the cables, I think I've finally got the wiring rat's nest tamed. It's still not pretty, but at least the bottom can be fully open without stretching any wires or pulling out any connectors, and I can force it shut:
Wiring is one of those things that, when complete, you look at and think, "How in the world did that take so long?"
Tomorrow, I'll calibrate the stepper voltages and -- who know? -- extrude some plastic?
Okay, before I go any further, I have to say that, despite the frustrations encountered during the build, this thing is TOTALLY COOL! Here's a photo of its first output, a semi hollow rectangular box:
Now the events leading up to "first ooze":
Calibrating the stepper voltages went without a hitch, although some were so touchy that I wondered why they didn't provide multi-turn pots. So it was time to button things up and run some tests. I didn't want any nuts falling into the enclosure, so I fashioned some self-adhesive "patches" on the laser cutter from Formica, and stuck them to the inside of the housing to cover the screw/nut slots:
From there things got more difficult. Not in any particular order (mainly because it was a long day, and I've forgotten):
1. The instructions, once the build was complete, said, "Oh, by the way, if you're using such-and-such a power supply, you have to solder a couple connections together on the bottom of the motherboard. GRRR! Of course, that's the supply I was provided. Why ... ? Oh never mind. So I removed the MoBo with wires dangling, flipped it over, and ... that had already been done at the factory.
2. The host program, ReplicatorG could not contact the unit. 'Tried reuploading the MoBo firmware, which worked fine, but still no luck making contact. Went online to find a solution and found a suggestion that some auto-reset trace had to be cut on the bottom of the Arduino board, but that this is usually done at the factory. GRRR, again! Opened up the bottom, removed the MoBo, unplugged the Arduweenie board, and looked at the trace. It was still intact. But further examination with a loupe showed that someone had tried to cut it; they just didn't try hard enough. So I cut it proper and tested with a continuity checker before putting everything back together again. Contact!
3. The Z-axis stepper could not reach home (Z max). I assumed it was because the motor was binding on the screw or shafts and loosened the motor screws in an effort to jiggle it in place. 'Turned out to be one of those wire-tie pads that I had so assiduously sprinkled all over, blocking the carriage. 'Removed that, and Z homed okay.
4. The X-axis went the wrong direction during homing, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd attached the limit switch to the wrong end. Easy solution: reverse the X-axis direction in the setup screen.
5. The Y-axis stepper could not go all the way positive. 'Turns out I had wire-tied the X-axis stepper cable too short. So I loosened that, and added some split loom to protect the wires.
6. 'Tested the extruder heater safety cutoff by removing a thermostat lead. The relay buzzed, but the temp kept going up. That's not what's supposed to happen! On a hunch, I reversed the power leads to the cutoff board -- even though the instructions for attaching them to the extruder board said the polarity doesn't matter. Oh, but it does when you're using the safety cutoff board! Tried it again and it cut off like it's supposed to. I mean really cut off. I could not get the unit to come back on again. Not even the fan in the power supply was turning. Oh Smile! Did I blow a PS fuse? Against warranty admonitions, I removed the power supply and took the cover off. No fuse. Drat! 'Was considering a trip to the local PC dealer to buy another ATX PS, but decided to try again with everything apart. Still nothing ... until I removed the PS connector from the MoBo and replaced it. Then things came back to life. Phew! So I buttoned 'er up again. 'Not sure what all happened, only that I don't want to test the safety cutoff ever again!
7. 'Heated up the extruder to 220°C and pushed some plastic through by hand, then with the stepper. Flawless! Thanks again, Rich! 'Calibrated the XYZ origins. That went okay. 'No need -- suprisingly -- to shim the build platform. So it was time to build something. Loaded the "box" STL file, but no "model" window came up. Maybe I'm missing Python? 'Loaded and installed that. 'Still nothing. Java? 'Loaded and installed the latest version. 'Still, still nothing. This was on my laptop that I was using to read the build instructions from, which is not the machine I'm going to use. So I said screw it and moved the Thing-O-Matic over next to my main shop computer. The model window showed up fine. And that takes me full circle to the beginning of this post.
All in all, I probably had the bottom off of this thing eight or ten times before I got everything adjusted an working properly. But now it's off to the races. My UPS driver has taken a keen interest in this project from the day he delivered the kit. He's a golf nut, and I promised him I'd build him a golf tee. But it's got to be something special ... hmm!
What a great success to read about!! I never would have made it to the end if I was driving. Based on your journey, I'm guessing you won't be assemling/customizing MakerBot's for friends and family???
He could build Prusa Mendel, or Huxleys to the rest of the family. After all,they're built of steel rods and printed plastic parts... And he now has the ability to make the printed parts...
Probably useful for other CNC machines, too, or other machines with moving parts.
(That site is like Pr0n for geeks with 3D printers... Yeah, I need to browse something while waiting for the parts of my Prusa Mendel... )
Comments
-Phil
-Phil
(PM sent)
But yes, I am really hoping that Phil sees firsthand the shortcomings of the current electronics and feels compelled to improve upon it with a Propeller solution.
Sorry Phil, I forgot the cam lever.
For reference, this is what I printed;
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7113
It should work just fine without the cam lever but I would make one soon because it makes adjusting the pressure and removing/replacing the filament a breeze.
Yay! Got it! And it's RED! 'Just perfect with my red Formica. Thank you! And no worries about the cam lever. I can use a thumbscrew until I get the machine up and running to print a lever. It's really a robust unit, too -- way better than the original design!
I ordered some 3/32" acetal today to use in place of my 1/8" stuff for the interior of the laminate sandwich. It'll get me closer to the thickness (and weight) of the original acrylic, and I'll have fewer mods to make to the CAD drawings.
I'm really getting fired up again to finish this thing now!
-Phil
-Phil
'
I'm real happy to see your back on this project.
'
I look forward to seeing this thing work and the detail put into it!
'
Thanks W9GFO for the added input. I'm learning a lot about how this works.
'
I can't wait to see it run.
I have this mechanical prototype of my simplified micro-mendel sitting here gathering dust due to lack of time
At least I have some prop pcbs underway to drive this when I get time.
The pressure bearing installation was a little more interesting. I needed to find a screw that had a non-threaded shank portion long enough that the bearing's center hole wasn't riding on threads. The only thing the hardware store had that would work was a 5mm socket head cap screw. Since the cap was a little too high to clear the plastic frame, I ground it down until there was just enough socket left to get a purchase with an Allen wrench. It also needed shortening, which was accomplished with a Dremel abrasive disk. (Grade 8 screws are too hard to hacksaw.) The bearing needs washers on either side so the outer part doesn't rub on the plastic. The ones the hardware store carried were too thick, so I cut some from 1/32" acetal on my laser cutter. Here's a photo of the completed parts:
Here's how they fit together:
For the pressure screw, I bought a metric hex bolt, whose head fit the slot provided in the plastic body piece. To this I added an aluminum spacer and a T-nut. (I can't believe the hardware store in this little burg actually had metric T-nuts!) I then made a knob from 1/8" acetal that the T-nut could press into. 'Got really lucky here: it just snapped in, and the bent claws are holding it without further adhesion. Here are the parts:
And assembled:
I should have the 3/32" acetal on Tuesday so I can redo the extruder support arch and get back to work where I left off on the overall assembly.
-Phil
In the past, I've prototyped things like lens holders and baffles (e.g. for the ColorPAL) by gluing together CNC- or laser-cut flat pieces in a stack, so that's one possibility. My friend who does fishing lure manufacturing is interested in what the machine can do, too, since we've used outside stereolithography services in the past to model new lure designs. Having this machine could make rapid turnaround mods a lot easier. Beyond that, I have no idea. But that's what I said about the laser cutter, too, and now I couldn't live without it!
-Phil
-Phil
I've also attached an annotated CorelDraw file for the pieces, in case anyone else wants to build theirs this way.
I got as far as assembling the main framework and installing the Y/Z motors and power supply:
Fortunately, there were no further nasty surprises, and everything went pretty much went by the book.
-Phil
'
Are you ready to print something?
-Phil
Can't wait for you to put together a Propeller-based controller.
Hopefully, it will also work with the Prusa Mendel I'm about to start building. ;-)
(Plastics is being printed by another Mendel owner and ships tomorrow, hopefully. Smooth and threaded rods is on the way from one supplier, electronics from another. Bits and bolts I'll buy locally, PSU will be liberated from an old server at the office, and the hot bits I haven't decided on, yet.)
The nice thing about the Mendel is that you can buy some and make or scavenge other bits yourself.
What I want to make with it?
Does it really matter?
(I expect that as soon as I get it operating, opportunity will come knocking... )
but for the nutcases here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtp2DE5ta-A&NR=1
The wiring design on this thing seems like more of an afterthought than anything else. As someone who has wired numerous industrial panels, this is just painful! No apparent thought has been given to how the cabling interacts with the moving parts. I've purchased additional wire ties, adhesive wire-tie anchors, and split loom, in an effort to tame the cable routing, but it's still not pretty. Moreover, some of the cables provided simply aren't long enough to reach where they're supposed to go. What were they thinking?
This is definitely a case of buyer's remorse; but I shall press on, regardless.
-Phil
I have that problem with one of my model locomotives; when they installed the decoder, they didn't verify wire length. It's a double articulated swiss crocodile. It goes around right handed curves just fine as that is the side where the wire is; it refuses to go around a left handed curve as the wire pulls taunt! I snipped they wire for now; I need to open it up again and put in a new longer piece of decoder wire; which reminds me; I need to pick up some small heat shrink tubing.
BTW: It's fun to watch your project!
Jay
The extruder stepper is another matter. It looks like I'll have to cut the wires and splice in some longer ones.
-Phil
______________________________________________
After lengthening five cables, sticking in numerous wire tie pads, adding countless wire ties, and labeling all the cables, I think I've finally got the wiring rat's nest tamed. It's still not pretty, but at least the bottom can be fully open without stretching any wires or pulling out any connectors, and I can force it shut:
Wiring is one of those things that, when complete, you look at and think, "How in the world did that take so long?"
Tomorrow, I'll calibrate the stepper voltages and -- who know? -- extrude some plastic?
-Phil
Okay, before I go any further, I have to say that, despite the frustrations encountered during the build, this thing is TOTALLY COOL! Here's a photo of its first output, a semi hollow rectangular box:
Now the events leading up to "first ooze":
Calibrating the stepper voltages went without a hitch, although some were so touchy that I wondered why they didn't provide multi-turn pots. So it was time to button things up and run some tests. I didn't want any nuts falling into the enclosure, so I fashioned some self-adhesive "patches" on the laser cutter from Formica, and stuck them to the inside of the housing to cover the screw/nut slots:
From there things got more difficult. Not in any particular order (mainly because it was a long day, and I've forgotten):
2. The host program, ReplicatorG could not contact the unit. 'Tried reuploading the MoBo firmware, which worked fine, but still no luck making contact. Went online to find a solution and found a suggestion that some auto-reset trace had to be cut on the bottom of the Arduino board, but that this is usually done at the factory. GRRR, again! Opened up the bottom, removed the MoBo, unplugged the Arduweenie board, and looked at the trace. It was still intact. But further examination with a loupe showed that someone had tried to cut it; they just didn't try hard enough. So I cut it proper and tested with a continuity checker before putting everything back together again. Contact!
3. The Z-axis stepper could not reach home (Z max). I assumed it was because the motor was binding on the screw or shafts and loosened the motor screws in an effort to jiggle it in place. 'Turned out to be one of those wire-tie pads that I had so assiduously sprinkled all over, blocking the carriage. 'Removed that, and Z homed okay.
4. The X-axis went the wrong direction during homing, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd attached the limit switch to the wrong end. Easy solution: reverse the X-axis direction in the setup screen.
5. The Y-axis stepper could not go all the way positive. 'Turns out I had wire-tied the X-axis stepper cable too short. So I loosened that, and added some split loom to protect the wires.
6. 'Tested the extruder heater safety cutoff by removing a thermostat lead. The relay buzzed, but the temp kept going up. That's not what's supposed to happen! On a hunch, I reversed the power leads to the cutoff board -- even though the instructions for attaching them to the extruder board said the polarity doesn't matter. Oh, but it does when you're using the safety cutoff board! Tried it again and it cut off like it's supposed to. I mean really cut off. I could not get the unit to come back on again. Not even the fan in the power supply was turning. Oh Smile! Did I blow a PS fuse? Against warranty admonitions, I removed the power supply and took the cover off. No fuse. Drat! 'Was considering a trip to the local PC dealer to buy another ATX PS, but decided to try again with everything apart. Still nothing ... until I removed the PS connector from the MoBo and replaced it. Then things came back to life. Phew! So I buttoned 'er up again. 'Not sure what all happened, only that I don't want to test the safety cutoff ever again!
7. 'Heated up the extruder to 220°C and pushed some plastic through by hand, then with the stepper. Flawless! Thanks again, Rich! 'Calibrated the XYZ origins. That went okay. 'No need -- suprisingly -- to shim the build platform. So it was time to build something. Loaded the "box" STL file, but no "model" window came up. Maybe I'm missing Python? 'Loaded and installed that. 'Still nothing. Java? 'Loaded and installed the latest version. 'Still, still nothing. This was on my laptop that I was using to read the build instructions from, which is not the machine I'm going to use. So I said screw it and moved the Thing-O-Matic over next to my main shop computer. The model window showed up fine. And that takes me full circle to the beginning of this post.
All in all, I probably had the bottom off of this thing eight or ten times before I got everything adjusted an working properly. But now it's off to the races. My UPS driver has taken a keen interest in this project from the day he delivered the kit. He's a golf nut, and I promised him I'd build him a golf tee. But it's got to be something special ... hmm!
-Phil
As for the cabling problems, here's something that could help with the cabling to the movable parts...
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10915
Probably useful for other CNC machines, too, or other machines with moving parts.
(That site is like Pr0n for geeks with 3D printers... Yeah, I need to browse something while waiting for the parts of my Prusa Mendel... )