Started out as an Aluminum Mendel and morphed into a bit of this and a bit of that. Mostly a learning exercise. An engineer printed the extruder for me in his commercial 3d printer. Made the Budaschnozzle with some modifications. I had a box of semi-circular half inch Thomson rod bearings given to me that necessitated using half inch rod. The bearings are very sensitive to clamping pressure and I would not use them again if I were starting anew. I used 80/20 stuff for most of the structure since I had a lot of scrap to choose from. No idea if any of this will work yet. I have Ramps 1.4 electronics to hook up to experiment with. That will be another learning exercise since this is my first build!

This is a device used for testing middle school students' structures. It is an improvement on putting a structure across two sawhorses and hanging weights from the structure!

I've used it for "Jinx Wood" bridge structures as well as sheet metal structures.

Check out my TeacherHann YouTube Channel - youtube.com/teacherhann - for videos of my students projects being tested to destruction!

Kudos to my colleague, fellow middle school Design and Technology teacher Gord McGill for allowing me to replicate his idea!

Update May 20, 2012:
Uploaded a new X-Carriage Endstop holder that is designed to attach and give clearance with the triangle frame at the very top.

Update May 13, 2012:
Added a new X-Carriage version that requires no support. It assumes you can bridge well and requires you to cut excess material at the end. Note: I have not actually printed it as of yet, so I can't be sure it all works properly.

Update May 12, 2012:
Here is a video of me printing the Pink Panther Woman thingiverse.com/thing:1216 at full size (147.535mm tall).

youtu.be/c93jLzPYmBQ


Goals:
- Increase the Z Axis Build Range.
- Modify Plastic Parts only and re-use the current Vitamins.

Comments:
- So many plastic parts have been modified, I'm not sure if I should consider this an upgrade or a full blown new printer version.
- It's possible that this change isn't limited to the MakerGear Prusa, but I will leave that to you.
- I had a few issues with the X and Z endstops and had to jury-rig my own solutions. Perhaps I will design some new mounts for these.

Summary:
My original build area was about 80mm, I came across a print that required more height so I decided to try and design my own modification that would give it to me. Looking at my printer, I noticed a few areas that could possibly be improved, so I went to work! My new and improved build height is now 150mm!

Problems and Solutions:
- Problem 01: The rear mounted X axis belt collided with the threaded rod on the triangle frame vertex assembly. This resulted in a clearance issue when raising the nozzle.
To fix this, I had to consider a new location to mount the belt. I chose to utilize the space just underneath the X track rods as that space is already used by the extruder nozzle.

- Problem 02: A good amount of rod space on the Z axis ends up being un-used. The motor mount blocks the Z axis from going beyond the two threaded rods on the top of the printer.
To fix this, I extended the upper frame vertex piece so that it raised the two top rods a good distance. This in turn also raised the Z axis rods so I also extended to lower Z bar clamps to compensate. This worked because the space taken up by the lower clamps was previously un-used rod space anyway.

- Problem 03: My current extruder mount caused a clearance issue because the side mounted motor would go underneath the upper frame vertex. Since my new vertex still blocks this, a new extruder mount was required.
To fix this, I designed a derivitive extruder mount that was essentially the same as the one I was using except the motor protrudes from the rear instead. Since I previously moved the X axis belt, there was no issue with the motor colliding with it. You can find this derivitive here: thingiverse.com/thing:22395.

- Problem 04: I found it difficult to tighten the X track rods in place without causing the X carriage to bind.
To fix this, I changed it from using the tension screws (on the bottom of each X-end) to just having some clamps on the rods themselves. The clamps prevent the rods from sliding out, but it's still ok if they slide a little bit, they don't need to be tightly locked. One of the rods is in a hole that does not give it room to 'wiggle', this gives it the stability it needs so the nozzle doesn't move around in the Y direction. The other rod is in a slightly elongated hole which provides the track with the 'play' needed to keep the carriage from binding. I've found that this modification works well and causes no noticable change in print quality.

These items are designed for use in a 1:24 scale (1/2-inch = 1-foot) architectural model.

These objects are custom modeled directly from the objects in my personal home, which I designed and built myself. However, they are common household appliances and construction components that can be used in just about any design.

More architectural objects will follow. Download the PDF for brief instructions on how to build your own 1:24 scale home model, and to see what other objects I plan to design for my model home.

The actual photos of my home are for model relation purposes. My 3D model of my home is accurate to within 1/64" in most areas.

2-7-2012: Uploaded a few more progress pictures of the project. I took photos of my TV screen, pellet stove window, and the "bricks" in my engraved concrete entryway, and printed them out on photo paper (to scale), cut them out, and glued them in the appropriate places. Looks great! :)

A marble maze made from wood (1.1" x 0.20" Pine).

The 3D printer Galileo is a 3d printer open source .It' s a derivated work from the model of the RepRap Prusa from which the movement of the axes X, Y, Z but have been substantial changes that have allowed achieve greater print area and a lower cost of implementation

Indice

1 Index
2 The Premises
2.1 Bigger Dimension
2.2 Cheaper Structure
2.3 Open Design
3 Benefits of the model:
4 Videos



The Premises

The RepRap Prusa has an intuitive design and a system of simple and easy assembly, the plastic parts that make up the structure are easy to handle and require no great difficulty in mounting them with the mechanical structure, and allow to obtain results even without linear bearings and other benefits . The final structure is solid and makes it easy to transport thanks to low weight.

Bigger Dimension

The first step was to increase the size of printable area.La structure has been developed in such a manner so as to have more space to print.

Cheaper Structure

Another significant change has affected the mechanical structure of the new printer.It was find a new structure that could use a smaller number of pieces and always have a solid one .Similar to the mechanical also plastic parts have also been modified where possible or completely renovated. all this has led to savings in economic terms but also in terms of time required to assemble the printer itself

Open Design

The structure of the new printer is made to have an open design that allow subsequent changes in every part, also the X-cart which moves the extruder-it was so designed as to be universal and can be used with any type of extruder .The 'print area is easily accessible for a heated bed or in order to analyze the subject in print a


Benefits of the model:
Quick and easy to assemble Model
Spare plastic Intuitive: easy to assemble and print
Number less than threaded rods
Number less than smooth bars
Amount less hardware
Belts shorter
Open Design
Extruder in view
X-Cart is compatible with all types of extruders available
Printing area easily accessible
Print the objects in view

Sorry for my English...
Best Regards
Lorenzo


Some Videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=0Q-ClmwHfTU&feature=player_embedded

youtube.com/watch?v=Nd-upXvIbSo&feature=player_embedded

This is my British themed Prusa Mendel.

For more details on the design and build, please see my Blog - richrap.blogspot.com/2011/10/made-in-insert-country-here-british.html

Video's of the build and printing can be seen on my Youtube channel - youtube.com/user/RichRap2011

I hope you like it.

This is a fork
You can Eat with it
You can stab things with it
You can launch it with a device made to launch such objects


This thing has changed the world, can you?

Solid Works Drawings of a Mendel that is all metal, uses linear bearings on all axis and dual belts on X and Y to cope with extra weights involved.

This printer was started as a result of my friends astonishment of what i was able to make using a cordless drill and a hacksaw. my repstrap didn't sit flat or square it wobbled, i used lead screws to drive all the axis' as a result it was slow best speed i could get was 1000rpm ~650mm/min, but at that speed the frame wobbled and the resulting prints had waves in 6 different directions :P

This test piece constists of 4 10x10mm squares at 100mm distance on the outside and one 10mm diameter circle in the dead middle.

Use this to calibrate your machines X and Y axis as well as ensure you have 200x200mm print bed by scaling it up by x2. You may wish to work your way up slightly changing the position of the center of the piece until you can print it at x2 scale and it maxing out the corners of your print bed.

This Machine is an an experimental prototype created for the purpose making light weight hollow castings from rapid setting resins cast into rubber molds.
-Centrifugal force allows liquids to flow evenly to all interior surfaces of an mold and cures to an solid state while in motion within minutes.
- ideally the motion of rotation could be optimized toward the shape of an object and the speed of an curing material so that the casting would have even wall thickness no greater than necessary to support the structure of the shape.
_This process would also lend it self well to casting waxes into rubber molds to produce patterns in an lost wax process for metal casting in an foundry situation.

For my wedding in October 2011 I asked my fiance if I could build something, she only asked that it not be tacky. This is what I came up with. It's a modular folding photo booth. I designed the model in Sketchup, programmed it in Autoit, and gave it a nice Glados voice. I needed an input device and I decided to make a serial comm button. I took a 555 timer and made it generate a 4.8kHz square wave. At 9600 baud this translates to UUUUUUUU plus one garbage character when the button is released. for now it only uses a Webcam to take photos but hopefully I will be find a deal on a canon power shot sometime in the next months to upgrade it. Since the printouts are resized, the small webcam resolution isn't noticable, however it won't be suitable if i wanted to incorporate the singles frames into a album. I'm working on some upgrades using the twitter api so I can have the booth update me whenever it is taking photos. This way I can tell it's status and share photos easier.


Here is a video of it's assembly and the software.

youtube.com/watch?v=jNGg821bC7c

This is a base for a bicycle light

I got sick of trying to use my drill press as a lathe in my attempts to build my extruder, so I threw this together in SolidWorks. I used 1/4" and 3/8" acrylic for most of it. There are three pieces of 3/4" HDPE for slides. It has 12 X 1/4-20 hex nuts, 36" of 1/4-20 threaded rod, two plastic knobs, and the drive assembly from a cordless drill. I left off the tailstock, live center, and cutting tool plate, but those can be easily fabricated. Use it at your own risk. I uploaded some pictures of the finished lathe and my first completely successful part. The lathe isn't the perfect solution, but it get's the job done.

My Second design of a small geometric sculpture that explores the battle between cake and pie