Jan: won auction for kit, had no idea there would be little to no support from the seller, an email a day or everyother day in the beginning and then almost nothing.
trying to finish the reprap and prob 1/2 way there ... (February)
update March: reprap finished98% (have some cable bundling and other minor clean-ups but working(), sucky hot end clogs all the time, ptfe doesnt fit in barrel, prints very limited before clog happens.
Made a 2 sided acrylic enclosure, with a plastic bag /glass plate flap on front and cardboard on top, this to keep the heat in the area and reduce power consumption - and to increase stability of print with more stable temps ..
April: sucky extruder from folgertech prusa i3 replaced with spring loaded version from my mendal i3 (yet to be fixed from the guy that built it )-
also, sucky extruder fan driver that drops out at random, was hard wired to a 12v wall wart so it is always on. reliability is such that there is confidence to leave it on overnight and be over 75% hopefully certain the part will have completed successfully. :)
May:
June: tried putting a bowden style extrusion method, getting the mass off the X-carriage, you need some good parts I was trying a cob job, no go, went back to almost original setup, minus the crappy heat sink (use a j-head style) -- am trying to get the awesome MK8 style going in conjunction with the j-head, i had a lot of luck with the mk-8 before the printed spring arm lost its strength (i didnt print it) ---
July: kinda slow, i need to move the printer to a place that has an exhaust, the abs fumes can overwelm ... finaly tried some acetone for sticking and smoothing... it mostly works !!! August: hot and .. need to check notes as the heat mind warp Sep: I finally made a real box enclosure, it is 85% done, have not tested but should 1)cut down on noise, 2) reduce particulate output 3) reduce dust input air 4) keep heat inside so less energy is expended dumping heat into room ambient air. Oct: goal have other printer working, which has aluminum plate , bigger motors and a real lead screw zaxis
!OCT goal not met ;( Nov ? (moved unit to non living space trying to aleviate abs fumes) Dec ?
Jan2016 .. printer is out of commision, i have error on software/firmware for hot end thermistor, have replaced and tried other thermistor.. it comes up as 58c and goes to 118c and thats it, bed thermistor works normal ...
after a long bout in a 'career change' which was not much for the better, i'm hoping
/2019 brings about a working 3d printer , useful designs made,shared and used ..