3D Printer

I have been so busy playing with my 3D printer that I have neglected posting about it. I find it to be a deceptively simple machine with much configuration required to get things going smoothly.

I have got to the stage now where I can look at a 3d model and make the required tweaks to suite the printing of that particular model. This helps to avoid wasting time and filament on prints that are doomed to fail and is particularly important when you consider printing can take many hours.

Here is one of my favourite prints so far. Bender from Futurama painted using Tamiya paints. I downloaded model for this print from thingiverse details are underneath the images

 

Bender Bust by cerberus333

Published on November 13, 2013

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:182789

Finishing the idbox 3D Printer

Its been a while since I posted about the 3D printer build. This is because I decided to wait for the rest of the parts to arrive before finishing it all in one go.

I apologise that there may be a few black holes in this section of the build where I am missing photos.

Here is a summary of the second half of the build. Continue reading Finishing the idbox 3D Printer

3D Printer Part 1

3D printers have been exciting things to follow for a while now and when I found there were kit versions available to build I thought it would be a great thing to do.

Not only can I use a 3D printer to create even more models but it also could serve some more practical purposes as well.

 The Table Base

This build starts with the area that the model will be printed on.

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We start with the supporting structure that sits under the surface the model is printed on. The structural parts are all transparent acrylic which will mean you can see the printer mechanisms working as it prints a model.

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Washers are added to each reinforcing plate to enable them to be attached to the table base.

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The reinforcing plates are then screwed onto the table base. I had to be mindful not to screw the screws in too tightly as this could crack the acrylic.

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A metal plate which is part of one of the limit switches added at a later part it attached to the side of the table base.

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Next The upper section of the table base is prepared to be attached to the lower table base. Screws are screwed into each of the conical holes.

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The upper base is then flipped over and a spring between two washers is added to each screw.

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The two table base sections are then attached with nuts.

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The nuts can then be tightened to put pressure onto the springs in order to change the alignment of the table base.

The Y limit Switch

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Lastly the right side panel is unwrapped and the y limit switch circuit board is attached to the panel with some screws and nuts. Spacers are used to keep the circuit board away from the acrylic.

In 3D printers limit switches are used to determine the point of origin for an axis that the printer moves on.

I already have the second pack of parts for my printer so part 2 should follow soon!