Looks promising. Is it open hardware (i.e. anyone can make one without having to buy from the vendor) like the MakerBot?
Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
11–20 of 37 posts
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#12There have been a lot of crowd-funded and startup attempts to commercialize RepRap designs lately - here's a sample of a few: eMaker Huxley: http://www.indiegogo.com/eMAKER-Huxley-3D-printer-kits SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port rather than onboard control hardware running GCode or the like, saving hardware cost: http://www.indiegogo.com/SeeMeCNC-H-1 SUMPOD - http://sumpod.com/ -…
"SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port " Parallel port? Isn't that an anachronism, or are these still popular in the 'hobby' world?
They're popular in the CNC world, yes. For instance, the recently Kickstarter-funded MyDIYCNC project also natively interfaces through the parallel port; Stephen McGloughlin, who's behind the project, is building an USB interface for it from scratch.
The main issue seems to be the timing with controlling... parallel i/o lines. From http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCBreakoutBoards.htm :
While there are boards the purport to simulate a parallel port with a USB connection, most of them don't work for CNC applications. The reason is that they are not high enough performance to maintain the exact timing relationships needed to produce a clean pulse train to control multiple servos or steppers.
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#13Is moving the print head in 3 axis the best approach? I'd imagine moving the print head in x and y and leaving z to the build surface easier.
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#14> 78 backers for $499 or more
Wow! A true kick-start.
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#15A home-made 3D laser scanner would complement this nicely.
As would a 3d CNC router: scan with the scanner, print it roughly, then the router cuts it to high quality perfection.
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#16Is moving the print head in 3 axis the best approach? I'd imagine moving the print head in x and y and leaving z to the build surface easier.
You don't want to be moving the warm plastic..
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#17Is moving the print head in 3 axis the best approach? I'd imagine moving the print head in x and y and leaving z to the build surface easier.
You don't want to be moving the warm plastic..
Good point. You either have to move the warm plastic or the print head and its positioning mechanism... :-/
Engineering is full of unsatisfactory choices...
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#18What are some uses cases for something like this? For what reasons would schools care?
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#19A home-made 3D laser scanner would complement this nicely.
As would a 3d CNC router: scan with the scanner, print it roughly, then the router cuts it to high quality perfection.
It seems that movement hasn't been as rapid in hobby CNC machines as in 3D printers, probably because CNC machines are a lot more expensive. Good CNC usually requires two tool-tilt axes in addition to the standard X, Y, and Z - for a total of 5 axes, and everything has to be a lot stronger to apply enough pressure to the tool without warping. Hopefully once everyone has a 3D printer they'll use it to print some CNC parts and kick that movement into gear...
With that said, a 3D printer can be repurposed into a very weak 3-axis router pretty easily. Provided you move the tool head slowly enough and are cutting something very weak, they work okay.
The fundamental concept (having a computer move a tool head) is the same - 3D printers are just built out of weaker/smaller (and hence cheaper) parts.
Re: Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer
#20There have been a lot of crowd-funded and startup attempts to commercialize RepRap designs lately - here's a sample of a few: eMaker Huxley: http://www.indiegogo.com/eMAKER-Huxley-3D-printer-kits SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port rather than onboard control hardware running GCode or the like, saving hardware cost: http://www.indiegogo.com/SeeMeCNC-H-1 SUMPOD - http://sumpod.com/ -…
"SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port " Parallel port? Isn't that an anachronism, or are these still popular in the 'hobby' world?
They're nice for hobbyists because they bridge the digitalvoltage domains really easily, so you can just hook up wires to the pins and feed them into whatever you're building, rather than having to use a fancier microcontroller interface. But yeah it's getting to be more of a hassle that e.g. a typical laptop won't have one anymore.
In the past I've also used audio line-in/out as a simple two-channel (each way) I/O interface, but that runs into more problems with drivers getting in your way (buffering things and whatnot) than parallel ports do.