This is an OpenSCAD file to allow the selection of multiple options in creating an X-carriage for RepRap style 3D printers.

This is a direct drive extruder mechanism that fits with the hotend and dinos of a MK5-6. I wanted to move to a stepper drive extruder but didn't want to wait three weeks for makerbot to ship their new beefy nema 17. I also had a lot of issues with the delrin plunger.

I liked the idea of a ball bearing to provide the pressure between the filament and the drive wheel as in a wade's but didn't like the 4 bolts to adjust to change filament.

My other design goals were to leave everything as accessible as possible and provide some mechanical advantage where it makes sense. The worm grove in the drive gear is made very close to the face of the motor while the motor shaft ball bearing rides at the end of the motor shaft while having the shaft pass completely through it. I also increased the length of the teflon guide tube to come to right below the drive wheel.

The pivoting arm that applies pressure to the filament forcing it against the drive gear allows one screw and spring pair to take the job of four. It also means that the screw can be backed off completely and the arm rotated out of the way to provide access without having to be completely removed. The relative positions of the bearing and tensioning screw on the arm give something like a 2:1 advantage of filament pinch strength vs spring force.

I also included a hat that accepts a piece of sponge or similar to remove dust from the filament as it is being drawn into the extruder. The hat as well can pivot out of the way and has a sloping bottom to make it simpler to feed new filament through.

The sizing for everything is imperial in this case but I can make other versions is people have specific requests, I'll also include the source files.

This is the rending of a patch that I have pushed to the prusa project which is still queued up for addition. It allows you to take your standard prusa X axis with LM8UU bearings and use acme 3/8" lead screw instead of the more usual but less smooth threaded rod.

Original sources can be found here:

github.com/prusajr/PrusaMendel/pull/26

This is the first Thing i have uploaded to Thingiverse so any tips or advice is welcome!

Right what we have here is a Small tool box for the mendel max. I dont have much storage space in the printers current location so decided to design a handy little box with back pockets for small tools.

This little bracket allows the Z axis screw to wobble without influencing the position of the nozzle. The Z axis nut iss captured in a bracket that is not rigidly coupled to the X end brackets as with the regular Prusa.

Prototype spool mounts for MendelMax

Most likely not the final version, I certainly welcome comments for improvements!

Version 7!

This version works pretty good.

This version is a bit longer resulting in a more stable base for the spool. There are holes for #5 screws, but you don't need to use them. There are also holes to hold the bearings to the mount, but again you don't need to use them.

Notes to me:
consider making inner bearing hole a touch smaller, so it grabs #5s without needing a nut.

Consider making shoulder a touch taller, so bearing has no chance of rubbing on the body of the mount.

This configuration is gripping the frame very well without a bolt and remains easy to reposition - probably final version, don't mess with it! It works well.

I wanted to be able to tension my Y belt without having to work underneath the machine, so I decided to try adding a tensioner to the Y end idler. I have this mounted on my MendelMax and it seems to work very well. In fact you have to be careful not to over tighten it.

Edit, March 1, 2012

I fixed the mounts with the ridge by eliminating the ridge around and above the hole.

This is intended to mount bearings like:

sdp-si.com/eStore/..%5Css%5CPDF%5C80505055.pdf

Just like: thingiverse.com/thing:13229

they were made to work with: thingiverse.com/thing:13228

Tested for fit, goes together like it was made to. :)

I've just uploaded a second version in which the ID is .6mm larger - this version should require less sanding to fit. :)

This is intended to mount bearings like:

sdp-si.com/eStore/PartDetail.asp?Opener=Cart&PartID=9908&GroupID=469&Qty=10

There is an upright version with rounded ends - a little tough to print, but doable.

There are two versions on their sides, one with square ends, one with rounded - these are easier to print.

The two most recent versions have the bearing hole oversized by .6mm - these should require very little sanding to fit the SDP bearings after printing.

This is a spice rack sized to be screwed inside my cupboard doors. This is the first thing I ever designed in 3d - in fact I designed it before I had my MendelMax.

You will need to buy some 1/8inch tubing and you will need 1/4inch dowels. I am using two layers of 1/4 peg board to place the dowels in separate the two layers by 1/2 inch so the 1/4 dowels will not fall over.

The 1/8 tubing fits into the Ball_with_large_hole1.stl
The bracket_large_holder_rotate.stl Attaches to the 1/4 dowels and the Ball_with_large_hole1.stl.

The Ball_no_hole_1.stl is to be used to maintain the proper distance between the two tracks or tubes.

You can use a marble or a 3/4inch ball bearing. Just check that it will pass over the holders for the tubing.

The Ball_with_large_hole_10mm_high.stl is to be used if you need to join two ends of tubing.

Functional Pin Tumbler Padlock Model. User Print-To-3D: thingiverse.com/printto3d shared a very cool sectioned Paddle-Lock: js-kit.com/blob/sk9sIwQKzOFH1K4lciYmmQ.jpg that got me interested in making something that actually locks.

Again, all items are printable except for the springs which I removed from ball-point click pens (thankfully my wife is still putting up with disassembled pens around the house). This one is a little more complicated but it still works and makes a good desk oddity. If you were to glue the "Top", "Retainer", and "Lid" in place, the only way to get this lock open without the key would be to break it. But, what is the fun if you can't take it apart?

Note 1: I did do a bit of finish sanding on the components to make everything fit together and slide/twist well. I would suggest a "dry-fit" of the components with their mates before attempting assembly.
Note 2: The "Lock" component is a difficult print. I was able to get good results by adding two supporting features over the length and then carving/sanding it back to a circular form. If anyone has suggestions on how to print circular objects on their side, I'm all ears.

This is a functional differential gear system. For those unfamiliar, a differential allows two output shafts to be spun at different speeds from a single input shaft. You will find these in most cars on the road.
For more info see auto.howstuffworks.com/differential1.htm

This is a DIY art. This was one of the first project I printed on my 3D-Printer. Just a really cool thing to have. :)

This is how it looks live: youtube.com/watch?v=G-c5_IVQEhE

Another feeble box of Lucky Charms cereal? No problem, create that most excellent bowl with charms in every bite with this Charms Sifter. The holes are sized to catch most charms, you should be able to sift > 90% of them.

Please note: Diabetic supplies not included.

This is the first release of the Boot-strappable Open Laser Cutter project that I've been working on for the past few months. The goal of the project is to construct an open design laser cutter with a large cut area (about 1 meter square), for about 5%-10% of the cost of a commercial system. The design draws heavily from other open laser cutter projects out there (such as the Buildlog 2X Laser Cutter) in using inexpensive aluminum extrusion and optics for most of the structural frame, while here most of the custom parts are 3D printed from ABS.

The printed parts represent about 10 hours of total printing time on a Makerbot or Reprap, and have been designed with the hope that they would be of general utility to anyone printing out a large CNC system -- not just a laser cutter. These include parts such as NEMA17 motor holders that mount onto t-slot, idler brackets, pillow block bushing mounts for motors, idlers, and shafts, and so on.

After recently putting together a MakerGear Prusa Mendel and having to unscrew 4 bolts countless times to clear jams, I decided one of the first parts I would design would be a quick-release mechanism for the filament drive. It's very similar to the current MakerGear extruder design with the exception that the bearing block is on a hinge with two bolts to hold it in. Now, when I need to clear a jam or change filament, I pull the screws close and unscrew the nut by hand, lift them over the top, and then swing the hinge open :-)

This is designed to be a drop-in replacement - the only additional parts you will need are some screws for the hinge and the top retainer. Since I'm in the US, I sized the hinge screw as a #6; 1.5" should do the trick. The top screws were loosely sized for a #6 but could probably fit many other sizes; I'd recommend at least 2.25" or 2.5" length on those ones. The rest of the screws use the MakerGear hardware (M4 with M4 nuts on the block mount at the base, M3 on the extruder stepper mount, 5/16" for the bearing hole.

As requested, I made two versions: one with a bigger filament hole for 3mm (oversized @ 4mm) and one for 1.75mm (oversized @ 2.5mm). If you would like any small variations (like different screw hole sizes) please let me know!

I had a problem with my cat opening the faucet in my scullery by accident, so here is the lock I made for it. :)

I have this ‘Third hand’ thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/a4bb/ I never use the magnifying glass but would love to have a PCB vise. So I made this adaptation. It’s not the sturdiest of vises due to the Third hand base, but good enough for my work. I might make a full vise later on.

This is V2 of my carabiner thingiverse.com/thing:3131
V2 allows easier printing, and the clasp is in-line with the rest of the body. Makes a great Keychain!!!

I needed some anchors to attach a thingiverse.com/thing:1830 to my wall.
Rather than take a 10 minute trip to the hardware store, I spent 45 minutes designing and printing some. They worked pretty well.
There are parameters to adjust for different size screws. The parameters are currently set up for a #6 drywall screw.

A clip, for clipping things.

The clip was based on the clear clip in the images.

I have uploaded the UG NX6 design files in the zip file if anyone wishes to use them.

This caterpillar track is the first step towards designing and building a printable mobile robot. My finished robot will have four of these modules, but many other designs are possible. A single caterpillar can function on its own as a simple robot that can move forwards and backwards; two modules can be joined together to form a tank-like machine, etc.

This thing is designed to work with a Futaba 3003 servo (modified for continuous rotation) and uses O-rings to make up the transmission and the caterpillar itself.

Transmission O-ring: 3mm thickness, 60mm diameter
Caterpillar O-rings: 3mm thickness, 124mm diameter

This O-ring system was chosen because it was easier to prototype, but it has evident drawbacks. In future revisions I will change it to a "solid" rubber track.

Note that the pictures of the printed robot at the bottom of the page are missing the reinforcement parts. I will upload new pictures as soon as I modify it!

Video of the robot in action!!
youtube.com/watch?v=efXHjjU-yYg (Simple test)
youtube.com/watch?v=mVgXtljqaAQ (Highest inclination: 36º)

Update! (17/4/2011)
Uploaded an HD artistic rendition of the UniTrack created by my brother Hasier Goitia. Expect more images and videos after the Easter Break!

Extended the previous Proof of Concept for the printable clock to include the entire gear train.

I had to use a total of eight pinion wheels, four to gear down from the escapement/seconds wheel to the minutes wheel, and another four for the hour wheel (5,3,2,2). Two would make for high gear ratios (10,6 or 8,7.5 typically) which are hard to print, and three would make the minute hand run counter-clockwise.

I wrote the OpenSCAD script so that all the wheels are equidistant (by adjusting the tooth size pair by pair) and so that the gear train can be bent at each wheel in order to stack the second, minute and hour hands on top of each other (e.g. with four wheels between hands, you need to fold by 90 degrees between each wheel).

It is all fully parametric for that distance, the fold angle, the gear ratios, and number of teeth for each wheel... and you can animate the gear train, they will all rotate at the correct speed and mesh.

The only thing I was not able to do is to make the code recursive, because OpenSCAD does not support that. Booh!

Nothing to see here. You really want version 3: thingiverse.com/thing:8252 (although this is still a good reference for the benefits of the accessible aspects.

**Version 2 now uploaded**. Generate STLs from the version 2 scad to get the version 2 changes. NOTE: To do this you must have configuration.scad from the prusa git repo in the same directory as gregs-wade-v2.scad so that bolt and nut sizes defined in that file can be used.

This is an extruder based strongly on the wades from the Prusa git repo. It has several features over the standard wade:

1. Accessible hobbing. If you strip the filament, there is no need to disassemble in any way (such as removing the idler/filament or bolt) in order to remove the stripped plastic from the hobbing. You can get a needle in the hole in the top and scrape it out.

2. The motor can be removed without removing the large gear. The three mounting screws can be accessed without removing the gear. 2 of them are clearly accessible and the other is accessible through a hole in the gear.

3. Slightly higher gear ratio than standard wade. This design uses 43:10 instead of 37:11.

4. The rotated motor mount means that the carriage attachment screw is accessible with the motor installed.

5. The rotated motor mount also means that the clearance past the idler attachment captive nuts is a bit longer, so you have a bit more play tensioning the idler.

6. The motor is far enough back from the face that the small gear can be mounted with the hub towards the motor (necessary with short shafted motors) and it will mesh with the large gear when there is only 1 washer between the bearing and the large gear.

7. The large gear has a shallow nut trap so that locking halfnuts can be used with hobbed threaded rod (infinitely adjustable hob alignment) rather than a bolt.

8. The motor mount screws are recessed allowing the large gear to be almost against the face of the extruder body.

9. It has sexy curves.

Things I still plan to do:
Add some options to the way the small gear mounts on the shaft. I have always had problems getting that right (hence thingiverse.com/thing:5213).

Version 2 Changes:
* Added the 4th idler screw hole.
* Moved the top captive nuts for the idler screws closer to the idler so that you can screw the idler bolts in further
* Made the motor mount slots go a further 1mm away from the hobbed bolt (as requested by spacexula)
* Added the framework for hotend mount supports (I still need people to tell me what their particular hotend mounting needs are). Each hotend defines its holes assuming that the extruder block is sitting vertical with the filament exit hole at [0,0,0]).

Stop Playing the Guessing game with is my bed level. Easily clamps onto the Back of the Carriage Assembly to measure Depth.

1" SAE/Metric Digital Indicator From Harbor Freight

harborfreight.com/1-inch-sae-metric-digital-indicator-93295.html

Here is my replicate-able key/wrench that I use to build my RepRap Prusa Mendel at the moment. It takes standard hex bits and has also got a M8 nut wrench in the center. It can take pretty much load, that depends on how well your print went.
Mine is printed on the UP! 3d printer.

This is an openscad program for making spider couplings.

A printed spur gear driven extruder for Mendel or Darwin.

MakerBot Defender
CodeName - MD-B12

My Makerbot CNC aka "DemonDust" is the Queen ant, and a Queen ant produces the soldiers on the "front line". The Makerbot Defender is designed and built to protect as a soldier, just as in nature a soldier ant protects a well structured colony all working as one unstoppable force.

UPDATED PARTS - 5/10/2010
-Makerbot_Robot_B_LeftElbow_v2
-Makerbot_Robot_B_LeftShoulderBolt_v2
-Makerbot_Robot_B_RightArmJointConnector_v3
-Makerbot_Robot_B_LeftHandJointConnector_v2

These upgraded parts solve loose joint issues and strengthens moving parts

Features :

This version is made from ABS plastic built on a heated platform.

Version #1 tank treads are hard to move, but moveable. Upgrades are being designed and will soon follow

The mounted cannon is for defense purposes only. Launching non-lethal smoke prejectiles to create smoke cover to confuse and slow invaders

Infrared camera is mount on the shoulder helping to watch over the Queen for temperture accuracy

Every soldier in nature is equipped with a strong pair of claws. These arms can move over 180 degrees front to back with claws that can be opened and held in any position. Upgrades are being designed for the next
version of arms/claws


Upgrades :

One of the best pre-designed ideas for the MakerBot Defender,it is upgradeable. The mounted cannon and Infrared camera just slide right out of the main body panel. Making it possible to design anything and replace existing features.


Scale:

Rough measurements
7"(wide) x 8.5"(deep) x 7"(tall)