Holistic Heaterbarrel MK1
by cathalgarvey, published
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Description
This is my prototype Holistic Heaterbarrel.
Update 15/01/09: I got the Metal Heater Barrel today from Shapeways, and although it is beautiful and lovely to hold, the Barrel Bore is filled in about 2/3 cms in, and there is no sign of an aperature at the end. As this means it would have to be drilled out carefully by the end user, I'm afraid this means a buy-and-plug-in replacement for the Makerbot extruder isn't yet possible.
The idea behind this was to improve the reliability of the Makerbot heating/extruding assembly by having the heater barrel as a single enclosed unit. No more ABS plugs forming at the insulator junction, no more leaking plastic from the nozzle or insulators, and no more shattered insulator retainers.
The assumption is that the radiator fins will help to dissipate heat before it can climb the barrel and damage the Acrylic of the motor mount. Hopefully this will also help to keep the heat gradient between the nozzle and the upper barrel fairly steep, which may help reduce plastic expansion, melting and increased friction within the barrel.
While this was originally licensed *CC-BY-NC-SA*, I since became more enlightened, so it's also *GNU GPL*, now. I can't revoke the *CC-BY-NC-SA* license, so you're still welcome to use that, but it's less free than *GPL*, so I don't see why you would!
Update 15/01/09: I got the Metal Heater Barrel today from Shapeways, and although it is beautiful and lovely to hold, the Barrel Bore is filled in about 2/3 cms in, and there is no sign of an aperature at the end. As this means it would have to be drilled out carefully by the end user, I'm afraid this means a buy-and-plug-in replacement for the Makerbot extruder isn't yet possible.
The idea behind this was to improve the reliability of the Makerbot heating/extruding assembly by having the heater barrel as a single enclosed unit. No more ABS plugs forming at the insulator junction, no more leaking plastic from the nozzle or insulators, and no more shattered insulator retainers.
The assumption is that the radiator fins will help to dissipate heat before it can climb the barrel and damage the Acrylic of the motor mount. Hopefully this will also help to keep the heat gradient between the nozzle and the upper barrel fairly steep, which may help reduce plastic expansion, melting and increased friction within the barrel.
While this was originally licensed *CC-BY-NC-SA*, I since became more enlightened, so it's also *GNU GPL*, now. I can't revoke the *CC-BY-NC-SA* license, so you're still welcome to use that, but it's less free than *GPL*, so I don't see why you would!
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Thanks for that info Rian, so would I be correct in thinking the pricing/margin information you set in the logged in view is assuming an American customer? Because it's far cheaper when I look at it from a logged out view, from an Irish IP address.
Hi Cathalgarvy
The price on Shapeways varies be course when you are logged in from an IP address in Europe you have to pay VAT, so we have included that in the price to prevent awkward surprises. if you login from outside of Europe you get to see prices excluding VAT.
Oh and all prices include shipping costs.
Hope this helps
Hm. Peculiar, the price on Shapeways varies wildly based on whether or not I'm logged in.
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Plastic
Print it to heart's content! You might need to activate "Cool" in Skeinforge to get the thinner neck section right, but don't set it higher than 8 seconds, I'd suggest. I did 10 and was waiting a while.
Stainless Steel
I am awaiting my prototype from Shapeways, and expect it before or by Christmas.
While I do not advise anyone else to buy one until I have proven it effective and safe, I have allowed it anyway for those risky early adopters. No guarantees made!
You can find the item from Shapeways here:
shapeways.com/model/73827/Holistic%20Heater%20Barrel%20for%20Makerbot.html
Shipping is free in Europe.
Upon receiving the part, simply wrap your nichrome wire around the barrel in the sunken section, attach your thermistor to the end, and start testing!
Print it to heart's content! You might need to activate "Cool" in Skeinforge to get the thinner neck section right, but don't set it higher than 8 seconds, I'd suggest. I did 10 and was waiting a while.
Stainless Steel
I am awaiting my prototype from Shapeways, and expect it before or by Christmas.
While I do not advise anyone else to buy one until I have proven it effective and safe, I have allowed it anyway for those risky early adopters. No guarantees made!
You can find the item from Shapeways here:
shapeways.com/model/73827/Holistic%20Heater%20Barrel%20for%20Makerbot.html
Shipping is free in Europe.
Upon receiving the part, simply wrap your nichrome wire around the barrel in the sunken section, attach your thermistor to the end, and start testing!
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Comments
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You could use the plastic burnout investment casting process to make it in metal:
http://www.fortus.com/uploaded...
I'd also suggest rounding those sharp edges if you do investment casting.
Also, you might want to simulate this in some heat transfer software before trying it out...
I'd considered investment casting/lost wax casting for makerbottable metal parts, but for something requiring the interior detail of a heater barrel I don't have much faith in the process. Plus, it's far easier to shell out on Shapeways and hope than to battle with casting techniques! I'll learn it eventually though.
As far as heat transfer sims, I'm hoping to get one performed courtesy of Mathias from the google group, for which I'm very grateful! Can't wait to see what the computer thinks. Shapeways cleverly offer thermal qualities of their materials too, which is very handy.
Failing all else I'll have one for testing soon, which is a pretty good final answer. If Shapeways can handle the model, that is!