While waiting for some parts to come in for my dual+ extrusion mods, I decide to try some LAY WOO-D3 light cherry 40% wood filament on the M2. I used Creator's default M2 PLA profile at .15mm layer height to print a 20mm cube. The results were good for absolutely no tweaking. Bed and layer adhesion were great. My only problem was feeding the material consistently. The filament is quite rough and would get caught easily along the filament guide. I have a few ideas on fixing that though. The material takes a while to fully harden, a couple of hours, after printing. It also has a pleasant saw dust smell. I tried sanding a portion and while it did not sand easily like a wood it sanded better than just straight PLA.
Achtung Printer!
My musings/research in inexpensive 3D printers and their impact on the future of manufacturing and society as a whole.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
MakerGear M2 is in....
Ah the MakerGear M2 arrived a couple of days ago..... Now, to start the modifications for dual+ extruding.
BTW, if anybody is looking for a new low cost hobby printer. I HIGHLY recommend the MakerGear M2. So, far I have been very impressed.
Labels:
3D printing silicone,
air extruder,
Frostruder,
Frostruder MK2,
M2,
MakerGear,
MakerGear M2
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Dual Extrusion Cupcake - ABS Plastic & Silicone
Winter Project #1: Dual Extrusion Cupcake
So, I needed a simple, hackable platform to explore 3D printing of 2 or more materials. I was particularly interested in combinations that involved a thermoplastic such as ABS, PLA, etc... and other non-thermoplastic materials such as RTV silicone, wood filler, etc... I happened to have a MBI Cupcake CNC lying around; I had replaced it with a far better printer years ago. The Cupcake CNC was my first 3D printer that I had built, so I was quite familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Cupcake CNC. So, I modified it. It is better for it to be used in the name of research than to be gathering dust.
The non-thermoplastic materials that I was focused on could be dispensed with a air extruder similar to MBI's Frostruder MK2 or a motorized plunger system such as FAB@HOME uses. I decided to go with the air extruder because of it's simplicity and minimization of hysteresis.
I really didn't like MBI's Frostruder MK2, it seemed overly complicated. I did not understand the reasoning for the air solenoids on the Z platform with the extruder held in a more complex package than needed to be......after all this is 3D printing, something can be printed that holds a syringe barrel quite easily. So, I moved the solenoids(I tried finding a 3/2 solenoid, so I wouldn't need 2 solenoids but I had a hard time finding one in 12V for a reasonable price) to the upper left side of the Cupcake. This freed up some room on the Z-platform and I designed and printed a nice syringe barrel holder that mounts in front of the MBI MK5 plastic extruder. This syringe barrel holder eventually evolved into a toolhead holder(more on this in later posts) and after a couple of iterations I had something that I was confident would work. Next, was the electrical work.
I used RepG's M106 and M107 M-codes to cycle the Fan output of Gen3 mainboard. That fan output was the signal that would be used tell the air extruder to pressurize or vent. Now, I only had one output, the fan, on the Gen3 mainboard to control two air solenoids. Therefore, I made a custom air extruder controller out of an Arduino Uno that would controller the solenoids depending on the output state of the fan pin. In keeping with my motto of trying to keep extraneous portions of the design off of the Z platform, I mounted on the left side of the makerbot. Ah... now the software.
Using RepG's G54, G55, etc... g-code offsets made coding the tool offset easy. I made some quick python scripts for a object 25mm X 25 X 8mm tall that would combine my to two g-code files, one for the thermoplastic and the other for the second material, together. So, now I had a single file I could run and print with. The python scripts that generated the g-code made it easy to characterize and optimize the dispensing of the the material from the air extruder.
Now the really test, dual extrusion of ABS plastic and silicone.
So, I needed a simple, hackable platform to explore 3D printing of 2 or more materials. I was particularly interested in combinations that involved a thermoplastic such as ABS, PLA, etc... and other non-thermoplastic materials such as RTV silicone, wood filler, etc... I happened to have a MBI Cupcake CNC lying around; I had replaced it with a far better printer years ago. The Cupcake CNC was my first 3D printer that I had built, so I was quite familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Cupcake CNC. So, I modified it. It is better for it to be used in the name of research than to be gathering dust.
The non-thermoplastic materials that I was focused on could be dispensed with a air extruder similar to MBI's Frostruder MK2 or a motorized plunger system such as FAB@HOME uses. I decided to go with the air extruder because of it's simplicity and minimization of hysteresis.
I really didn't like MBI's Frostruder MK2, it seemed overly complicated. I did not understand the reasoning for the air solenoids on the Z platform with the extruder held in a more complex package than needed to be......after all this is 3D printing, something can be printed that holds a syringe barrel quite easily. So, I moved the solenoids(I tried finding a 3/2 solenoid, so I wouldn't need 2 solenoids but I had a hard time finding one in 12V for a reasonable price) to the upper left side of the Cupcake. This freed up some room on the Z-platform and I designed and printed a nice syringe barrel holder that mounts in front of the MBI MK5 plastic extruder. This syringe barrel holder eventually evolved into a toolhead holder(more on this in later posts) and after a couple of iterations I had something that I was confident would work. Next, was the electrical work.
I used RepG's M106 and M107 M-codes to cycle the Fan output of Gen3 mainboard. That fan output was the signal that would be used tell the air extruder to pressurize or vent. Now, I only had one output, the fan, on the Gen3 mainboard to control two air solenoids. Therefore, I made a custom air extruder controller out of an Arduino Uno that would controller the solenoids depending on the output state of the fan pin. In keeping with my motto of trying to keep extraneous portions of the design off of the Z platform, I mounted on the left side of the makerbot. Ah... now the software.
Fig 1: Modified dual extrusion Cupcake |
Now the really test, dual extrusion of ABS plastic and silicone.
Fig 2: Silicone calibration and initial ABS + Silicone prints |
Now, I need to package up all the files and post it to thingiverse.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Now, I am back...
Well, I have been pretty busy for the past year. However, I should have more free time to devote exploration and posting of ideas and research related to 3D printing and its applications. I finished getting my garage organized into a small workspace at the end of September of last year only to enjoy about a month of good weather until it got around 7 degrees C(45 degrees F) in my garage. I did get some decent research done, even through the winter, although I still need write up and post my findings.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Back in the saddle
Well, it has been awhile not that anyone really cares. But, I should have more free time now to finish off a few projects that I want to finish, the printable water filter and a few others. So, look for some posts here very soon.
Printable Clothes Line / General Object Hanger
Well, it is kinda of windy where I live and I have blankets that need to be air dried. I wanted a setup that would be easy to setup, take down, and wouldn't take much space. So, I designed a fully printable clothes line. The bodies/anchors are printed and the line is 3mm filament. You can also use it to hang other objects up to such as plants, etc... I will also be using it to hang outdoor Christmas lights this year over a large spans that the lights themselves could not span without sagging horribly.
Yes, I could have used rope with some knots. However, it would have not have been so easy to remove.... and not nearly as fun to do.
Check it out on Thingiverse:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25859
Yes, I could have used rope with some knots. However, it would have not have been so easy to remove.... and not nearly as fun to do.
Check it out on Thingiverse:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25859
Labels:
3D printing,
additive manufacturing,
clothes line,
household,
makerbot
Sunday, May 6, 2012
A quick thought...
So, while looking for bunk beds for my kids, I noticed how in many of the bunk beds the bolts and/or screws are countersunk yet the caps are exposed and detract from the look of the furniture. I am not the only one who has noticed this, as read on reviews of the said furniture. I instantly thought of.... Hey, I can print a removable cover. However, that was quickly dashed by the next ensuing thought..... Hey, if it is removable my youngest is sure to try to remove it and that could be a choking hazard if it was removed. So, that kind of answered the question about exposed countersunk bolt and screw heads in kids furniture.
This lead me to another thought. Who is responsible for 3D printed design if it becomes hazardous for someone or something(a pet)?
You can have number of parties involved or just a single person. I will look at the aspect where you have a maximum number of individuals interacting together. A designer to create the design. A operator to print the design. A end-user that uses the printed part. However, the end-user may be more than one single person, it can be anyone that comes in contact with the physical design and may not use the design as intended. So, who is ultimately responsible if a printed part causes harm? A very interesting conundrum that will surely be addressed in the courts in the coming decade.
Labels:
3D printing,
3D printing harm,
additive manufacturing,
makerbot,
reprap
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