I tend to see the world through WordPress eyes.1 When I find (or write) a clever bit of script that would be useful to a WordPress website, I tend to convert it into a WordPress plugin. I did this with my PieChart Plugin and a few other knick-knacky plugins.
It occurs to me that it would be relatively easy to build a WordPress plugin that searches through a post/page, finds Amazon links, and then turns them into affiliate links… I think this could be useful in several of my sites, actually.
The interesting thing about this model is that it combines some of the best parts of Darwin and MakerBot and what appears to be a Bowden extruder.
The very nature of FDM1 means that the robot will only move the Z axis a little bit every once in a while. One of the design drawbacks to the Darwin was that the heavy extruder head (motors, gears, heating elements) were so heavy that the entire robot would rock or vibrate with the lateral XY movements. MakerBot got around the heavy extruder head problem by moving the platform in the XY and moving the extruder head only up and down. This design decision isn’t without it’s tradeoffs, however. One downside is that their build area is much smaller than a Darwin. Another downside of the MakeBot design is that once the object being built reaches a sufficiently large volume or height, moving the object around quickly on the XY platform causes it to vibrate, shake, and become somewhat unstable.
One of the main improvements inherent in the Bowden extruder is that it allows you to take the heaviest parts of the extruder head, separate them from the rest of the extruder head, and move those heavy pieces to a different location. Using a Bowden extruder makes a Darwin style robot much more feasible – the small moveable print head won’t have the mass to cause the robot to become unstable.
It seems that combining either of the X or Y movements with the Z probably won’t matter all that much, since the Z axis will only move about 0.33mm or so per layer and the Z axis typically doesn’t operate at the same time as either the X or Y axis. Combining the as the new RepRap version II, Mendel, design shows us that combining the Z axis along with either the X or Y axis, but not both, can lead to a very stable configuration.
What I like about the Ultimaker design is that it would appear to incorporate some of the best parts of the MakerBot and Darwin designs. It appears to have a bolt/nut/T-slot MakerBot style assembly structure using thin lasercut wood pieces for the body. I found these parts to bolt together very quickly. Contrast this to the Darwin/Mendel structure using lots of nuts and threaded rod and printed plastic parts to hold it together. At the same time, by making use of a Bowden extruder and the Darwin body shape, it appears to be able to use most of the interior volume for printing.
I suspect it probably uses fewer parts than a typical Darwin, but I can’t be sure. I also have to wonder about the cost of lasercut wood versus the cost of nuts and threaded rod.
I placed my order for a MakerGear Enhanced Operator’s Pack on 8/11/2010, it shipped the same day, and arrived today 8/13/2010. My extruder has been working really well and without problems with ABS since my last rebuild. I’m really hoping I won’t need these bits any time soon…
I recently bought the Perhaps with a joule thief?)1 Since I know very VERY little about electronics, I’d appreciate some diagrams, descriptions of parts, etc.
If you’re interested in this project or just want to help, I’ll gladly accept any assistance. Let me know if I can help with any printing projects in return.
Thanks!
Why do I get the feeling I’ve seen the guy on the right before??? [↩]
Sheesh. These are getting harder. Okay, how about “MakerBlock.com”? No? “MakerBlock U”?
The address you’d like the MakerBot sent to if you are chosen
Same place as my last order. ;)
A paragraph describing how you would integrate the MakerBot into your curriculum. Include some description of the learning environment and what you teach
I would integrate a MakerBot into my curriculum by using it as a demonstration of iterative design, digital fabrication, digital design, invention, and innovation. The learning environment is the whole freaking internet. 1 I teach digital plastic AWESOME.
A lesson plan that you will implement if you get a MakerBot
Pssh. Just one? I’ll give you THREE.
You’ve got a MakerBot, a laptop, unlimited plastic and electricity. You are trapped in a mineshaft. How do you get out?
You’ve got a MakerBot, a laptop, unlimited plastic and electricity. You are trapped in a mineshaft with a tiger. How do you get out?
You’ve got a MakerBot, a laptop, unlimited plastic and electricity. You are trapped in a mineshaft with a tiger shark. How do you get out?
Actually, according to Feedburner and Google Analytics, the number is just a few hundred people a day [↩]
So, I’ve got a birthday coming up. Getting older doesn’t bother me much – it’s really just a number associated with the number of times I’ve traveled around the sun. 1 I will gleefully relate to anyone that I’m easily the luckiest man in the world. I’ve got a wonderful family, good friends, everyone is healthy, interesting and challenging work, and a fair amount of free time to do with as I wish. These are the sorts of things that are truly important to me, so by any measure of success I care about, I’ve got it all.
With my birthday approaching, my family starts to ask me about what they can get me for a present. My usual answer is, “Nothing, let’s just hang out.” This year, I actually have a list.
Contains an assembled modular heater core, PEEK insulator, modular thermistor kit, and some other goodies
I’m rather excited about some of these upgrades. I’m looking forward to a heated build platform for smoother warp free ABS builds. I’m looking forward to the rainbow pack for some crazy wacky fun. 2 And, I’m looking forward to needed the extra spare parts as infrequently as possible. :) Since my last major repair, I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy several months of carefree printing. 3
It also seems to be related to the number of gray hairs that are appearing. I rather like them, actually. [↩]
My prior copy of this 3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube was printed a few parts at a time – I’d print one part, test it, print up another, etc. Last night I was able to use my production file to generate all seven pieces in one go. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete the print job, but well under three minutes to clear most of the pieces of the raft off the parts and assemble the puzzle. In order to help people modify and improve upon my design, I’ve upload the original Sketchup files, the STL I used, as well as my own GCode.
I am interested in trying your gcode, how did you generate it? How well does it minimize strings between the printed parts? I’ll look at is to see how it starts and the temp…
In case you’re wondering too, the answers are as follows:
I generated the Gcode using my slightly tweaked RepG v18 built-in Skeinforge settings for ABS with a raft, with a build temperature of 220C.
The Gcode does pretty well with minimizing stringing. However, some of the credit has to go with the part placement in the STL production file as well as the nature of the object. As soon as you assemble it and start to rotate the parts, most of the remaining strings and little blobbies will pop right off.
Owenscenic, please let me know how your print of this turned out! Please post a picture!
I’ve wondered for a while about the cost of operating a MakerBot. Let’s break it down and see what happens:
Plastic. According to some calculations on the MakerBot Operators group, the cost of MakerBot ABS is around $0.03 – $0.04 per cubic centimeter based upon a price of $70 for 5 pounds (or 2268 grams) of ABS, a density of 1.2 grams per cubic centimeter. 1 Using the current prices of $81.36 for a 5 pound coil after shipping, I calculate the price of ABS at $0.035 per cubic centimeter. Since we’re talking about such large numbers, let’s just round on up to $0.04/cc.
Time. Skeinforge has been estimating about 85 minutes to print 19 cc of plastic. This comes to about 4.5 minutes/cc.
Electricity. At at $0.20/kWh, a MakerBot probably draws around $0.03 per hour.
Thus,we may estimate the cost of operating a MakerBot in terms of consumption of goods and resources (excluding computer, human, and MakerBot time and wear and tear) as follows, where V is the volume of the extruded object in cubic centimeters or “cc”:
Supposing I wanted to recoup the entire cost of my MakerBot to date and spread it across the entire life of a single 5 pound roll of ABS. 2 Let’s round the cost of the MakerBot, all repairs, and all extra MakerBot related materials up to $1,500.00. One 5 pound coil would have 1890 cc’s of plastic. This would come to $0.794 per cc of plastic. So, I would suggest the cost of buying a MakerBot and printing off an entire coil of plastic would probably end up costing you about $0.85 per cubic centimeter of plastic.
Absolute cheapest MakerBot usage I’ve seen anywhere at Metrix:Create for members printing from Thingiverse is $0.30/minute, which would print the totally MakerBottable 3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube for $25.65.
