Total Noob seeking advice for marking device/robot
jimdaug
Posts: 8
Hi all,
This is my first so be gentle. A little background is probably necessary to explain where I'm at. I have wanted to get into hobby machining and CNC for a while, but I haven't been in a position to buy any of the equipment yet. While looking around and doing research etc, I came across a simple device called an egg bot that uses a marker to decorate an egg with commands controlling 2 stepper motors through a parallel port. http://egg-bot.com/. I'm not into eggs so much, but I recently took up golf and thought it would be a neat way to mark golf balls.
Then I thought why not take it a step further and replace the pen with an inkjet printer or print-head. I came across this video on which uses the Serial Inkjet kit to mark ping pong balls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep5OC3E02I Very cool I thought, and I wouldn't need all the automation for loading and unloading.
Researching again, I found the Serial Inkjet kit is discontinued, and Matt Gilliland's Inkjet Applications book is only available on Amazon as used, ranging from $117-$370, which seems a little steep to me for a book that lists for $30.
So that's where I am.
I've seen in the past few days where epson inkjet printers have been modified to print directly on circuit board material and also directly onto shirts. So that would be one option, making a holder for the balls and running them through, but the printed area wouldn't be as large as I'd like because of the curved surface. So it looks like I'm going to build the pen version so I can get the hang of controlling steppers.
Here's where the begging starts. Can anyone point me in a good direction for messing around with inkjet heads and printers. Also, I should point out I'm a total noob with electronics. I've done some bread boarding and I've read lots of theory on cnc and electricity, but I haven't even soldered a circuit board yet (that will be happening this week).
Thanks for taking the time to read my longwinded post and thank you for any information you can provide.
Regards,
James
TL;DR
-First post
-Wanted to mark golf balls, like egg bot http://egg-bot.com/
-Cooler to mark golf balls, like ping pong ball vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep5OC3E02I
-Inkjet kit discontinued, Inkjet Applications costs a small fortune at Amazon
-Options are hack and mod epson printer and or build egg bot version.
-Asking for other options, I'm a total noob.
-Thanks
This is my first so be gentle. A little background is probably necessary to explain where I'm at. I have wanted to get into hobby machining and CNC for a while, but I haven't been in a position to buy any of the equipment yet. While looking around and doing research etc, I came across a simple device called an egg bot that uses a marker to decorate an egg with commands controlling 2 stepper motors through a parallel port. http://egg-bot.com/. I'm not into eggs so much, but I recently took up golf and thought it would be a neat way to mark golf balls.
Then I thought why not take it a step further and replace the pen with an inkjet printer or print-head. I came across this video on which uses the Serial Inkjet kit to mark ping pong balls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep5OC3E02I Very cool I thought, and I wouldn't need all the automation for loading and unloading.
Researching again, I found the Serial Inkjet kit is discontinued, and Matt Gilliland's Inkjet Applications book is only available on Amazon as used, ranging from $117-$370, which seems a little steep to me for a book that lists for $30.
So that's where I am.
I've seen in the past few days where epson inkjet printers have been modified to print directly on circuit board material and also directly onto shirts. So that would be one option, making a holder for the balls and running them through, but the printed area wouldn't be as large as I'd like because of the curved surface. So it looks like I'm going to build the pen version so I can get the hang of controlling steppers.
Here's where the begging starts. Can anyone point me in a good direction for messing around with inkjet heads and printers. Also, I should point out I'm a total noob with electronics. I've done some bread boarding and I've read lots of theory on cnc and electricity, but I haven't even soldered a circuit board yet (that will be happening this week).
Thanks for taking the time to read my longwinded post and thank you for any information you can provide.
Regards,
James
TL;DR
-First post
-Wanted to mark golf balls, like egg bot http://egg-bot.com/
-Cooler to mark golf balls, like ping pong ball vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep5OC3E02I
-Inkjet kit discontinued, Inkjet Applications costs a small fortune at Amazon
-Options are hack and mod epson printer and or build egg bot version.
-Asking for other options, I'm a total noob.
-Thanks
Comments
http://www.science20.com/mei/how_inkjet_printing_done
More...
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=how+inkjet+cartridges+work&aq=1&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=how+inkjet&gs_rfai=CBkSy2XN2TIqeB4uOoASTjIXXDwAAAKoEBU_QCT9H&pbx=1&fp=ac77ff06aef7355b
And for how these are connected, the search words are "inkjet schematic", then search using google images. Here is that search...
http://www.google.com/images?expIds=17259,25652,25901&sugexp=ldymls&pq=onkjet+schematic&q=inkjet%20schematic&cp=0&hl=en&safe=off&wrapid=tljp128283098087530&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=771&bih=439