Makerbot Printable Aluminum Nichrome Heated Build Platform
by Jamesdavid, published
Description
2010-02-28 - UPDATE: Tested it and it works great. The corners do not melt and, in fact, provide an easy way to handle the hot build platform.
2010-04-07 - UPDATE: I covered the AL with Kapton tape (1" strips) and it seemed to work much better than the Lexan, but then my extruder started having "issues" so I am fixing that. I did not re-print the four "standoff" pieces when I did this, but one could download the scad file and change the variables to 0 for the lexan height since the small gap is not necessary.
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Thanks, Jan!
I got the firmware update to work by first running ReplicatorG013 and selecting the 3-axis simulator driver. Then I could go throug the update process. The com port must have been in use before (ReplicatorG013 trying to connect to Cupcake therefore locking up my system when I told it to connect to the extruder on the same com port).
After I got to the update dialog, I hit update and then a second later I hit the reset button on the extruder board and that seemed to work. Everyone may need to experiment to get the timing right.
Hi there,
http://makerblock.com/2010/01/...
fixed my firmware update problems.
I am still having trouble updating my firmware on the extruder board to 1.8, ReplicatorG012 and 013 hang up after I select the new firmware. Is there a tutorial anywhere on how to use AVRDUDE from the command line to upgrade the extruder board? I have not been able to find anything on my own.
As far as the resistance of the nichrome - are there any good blogs that outline different values that people have tried? I just used 10 Ohms based off of http://wiki.makerbot.com/maker....
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Instructions
1) Print 3x the small corner pieces.
2) Print 1x the larger corner piece with molex connector holder.
3) Bolt two of the small corner pieces to the right edge of the standard Cupcake wooden build platform (facing build platform).
4) Prepare AL build surface (Obtained from OnlineMetals.com, 4in x 4in x 0.1875 in) with 10 Ohms of nichrome wire and a 100 kOhm thermistor. (Obtained from Makerbot) (See the NiCr Pattern for a nice template to use to lay the NiCr wire on the AL surface).
--> Note: You may want to try to use 6 Ohms instead. 10 Ohms worked well for me but others have suggested 6 Ohms to heat the platform faster.
5) Solder one end of a 4 wire Molex connector to the build platform (2 wires to the thermistor, 2 wires to the nichrome -- follow instructions for soldering plastruder). (I cut a Molex hard drive power extension cable in half).
6) Place the AL and stock orange lexan pieces into the two corner pieces bolted to the build surface.
7) Place the remaining corner pieces onto the build platform and bolt in. The molex connector should be on the back left of the build platform.
II) Wiring Harness
8) Build wiring harness to connect the extruder to the build platform.
See pleasantsoftware.com/developer/3d/2009/11/23/how-to-connect-the-2nd-thermistor/
9) Install tension relief parts in the two empty M5 holes on the Z platform.
10) Update firmware:
wiki.makerbot.com/plastruder-firmware-update
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Yeah, you need about 3 ohms of nichrome. Plus its best to just dump the acrylic and go to kapton and aluminium. And ABS should survive 120 degrees... might smell funny though!
don
´t you think your Headetplatform melt your corners away ?
I hope not. Like I said I have not tried this yet. But I don't think it will.
The platform will only heat up to 70C. The extruder melts ABS at 220C.
I've been heating my platform to 60C with 6 ohms of nichrome using the acrylic platform and it seems to fix the warping fairly well for ABS. However, I haven't tried building parts quite as big the ones in the hydraraptor blog.
As soon as you start printing anything of any size you'll get warping, the acrylic will start to warp long term too. The Aluminium under it will help, but it expands when heated so will bow upwards.
Although really big stuff just plain warps. Even with a really really hot platform.