Tag Archives: plastruder mk5

What’s the minimum cost to upgrade to a MK5 Plastruder?

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I figure to upgrade my Batch 9 MakerBot to use a Plastruder MK5, I’ll need the following:

$106.00 isn’t too shabby to upgrade to the most badass Plastruder2 money can buy. 34

  1. I’d ask Zaggo, Webca, or jrombousky to design it… [↩]
  2. Edit: Plastruder kit [↩]
  3. Especially when you essentially get to keep your Plastruder MK4 as a backup. [↩]
  4. You’d still need a few spare parts – but I’m sure that’s nothing we can’t scrounge from leftovers… [↩]

Why should you buy a MakerBot sooner, rather than later?

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A fair number of people I polled are waiting to buy MakerBots not because of money, but because they are waiting for the technology to mature.1  Is this you too?

If so, let me ask you this – would you be willing to spend $235 right now to play with a current “immature” technology MakerBot for an entire year before buying a full price MakerBot that’s more “mature” next year?

If you said yes, you need to buy a MakerBot today.

I bought my Batch 9 MakerBot in late November 2009.  In the nearly 10 months since then MakerBot has come out with a $50 heated build platform and the brand spanking new 2  more reliable $185 Plastruder MK5. 3  The only “difference” between my MakerBot and one you buy today with all the upgrades is that I got to play and experiment with a MakerBot for 8 full months more than you for an extra $235.  On top of that, I have all the parts for a complete Plastruder MK4! 4

$235 is a small price to play with a MakerBot for nearly a year.5 6 7

  1. Not to mention a small percentage of people whose parents were killed by awesome robots… [↩]
  2. As in released about 11 hours ago! [↩]
  3. I’m not counting the MK5 Drive Gear Upgrade Kit because that MK5 Gear is included in the Plastruder MK5 kit. [↩]
  4. This way, if any part of the MK5 fails, just drop the MK4 back in! [↩]
  5. Not to mention having a Plastruder MK4 on standby. [↩]
  6. That’s a $125 value FREE!!!  That’s right – FREE!!! Order now and we’ll throw in these high tech atmospheric pocket buffer equipment safety enclosures FREE!  That’s right – FREE!!! Just pay shipping and handling! [↩]
  7. High tech atmospheric pocket buffer equipment safety enclosures is bubble wrap. [↩]

Plastruder MK5, now with 85% less heartache!

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Of all the bits to get working on my MakerBot, the Plastruder MK4 was the most challenging.  There were so many ways for some critical component of the Plastruder to go wrong.  You could:

  • Cut the wrong length or resistance of nichrome wire
  • A small patch of nichrome fiberglass insulation is scratched off, creating a short
  • The nichrome is not wound close enough to the barrel, requiring extra power to heat
  • There’s too much space between the barrel and nozzle, creating a gap where plastic and build up and cause a blockage
  • Heat can travel up the barrel and plastic can ooze up the threads
  • Heat can travel up the barrel, plastic can pool and then cool causing a blockage, bulge the PTFE
  • The thermistor can burn out or short out
  • Heat can cause the thermistor or nichrome to become unsoldered or lose connectivity

From the description of the new Plastruder MK5, it sounds like the improved designs solve all of the above potential problems!

Update: Beak90 offered several other possibilities!

  • one could not heat it up enough and strip the PTFE threads.
  • one could heat it too much and cause the PTFE threads to fail.
  • one could put the thermistor in the wrong place and have it read the wrong temp.
  • one could wind the nichrome in 2 layers and have it not heat enough.
  • one could tighten the nut on the barrel too much and cause extra stress on the PTFE causing it too fail.
  • one could forget to say the required magical incantations before firing up the plastruder causing everything to fail.

And, one more I just thought of:

  • Fail to play Daft Punk

Plastruder MK5 plans released!

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The plans for the Plastruder MK6 look downright wicked

The plans for the Plastruder MK6 look downright wicked

MakerBot just released the photostream and wiki instructions for the Plastruder MK5. 1 This looks like a total overhaul of their original designs. 2

It is based on Charles Pax’s Paxtruder which has such a small form factor that it is possible to squeeze two extruder heads into one Makerbot.  The Paxtruder also uses a delrin plunger which is used to push the filament against the extruder pulley, rather than the previous idler wheel design.  I like the delrin plunger idea since it would be a lot easier to adjust tension and remove/insert filament.  The idler wheel held in by a large bolt and nut works… but is finicky and sometimes prone to fussiness.

Out are the big/small/weird and whimsical dinos in favor of lasercut acrylic “arches.”  There may be a benefit to the arches over the dinos, but I’m not sure what it would be.

The entire heater element and extruder head has been redesigned as well.  I don’t recall seeing any published designs which reference this new system.  We’ve all seen power resistors in use in RepRap/MakerBot projects – but they’ve usually been relegated to heated build platform designs.  Now a pair are being used as the full heating element in place of tempermental3 nichrome wire.  The problem with the old nichrome wire wrapped around the barrel system is that if you need to rebuild the heater, you’ve got to toss out the old nichrome since the insulation is going to get peeled off as soon as you pull it off the barrel.

The new MK5 system uses a PTFE sleeve to feed the filament down into the heater.  Interestingly, the PTFE sleeve is encased in a snug metal tube which should prevent any bulging problems.

My understanding of the instructions is that the MK5 is far less prone to failure than the previous MK4 model Plastruder.  I’ll grant the Plastruder is easily the most4  challenging component of the Makerbot to get working.

The instructions also hint at Generation 4 electronics.  Right now I’m rockin’ the Gen 3 which have served me quite well.  I wonder what the Gen 4 has in store?  One thing I have to really like about the electronics is that I know they’ll never really be obsolete. 5  If I wanted to upgrade to Gen 4, I can always print off a Mini-Mendel or Mendel, and swap in the new electronics.

However, if this new system is as resilient as the instructions describe, I’m on board.  I’m probably not going to have a good excuse to test out this new Plastruder design for a while since my Plastruder has been behaving itself since the last time I rebuilt my Plastruder and I just scored some spare MK4 parts. 6

  1. Photo courtesy of Johnson Cameraface [↩]
  2. A close tie for the photo was “Number 5 is alive!” a la Johnny 5 from Short Circuit.  I’m just too much of a Doctor Who fanboy to NOT use an “You will be upgraded” joke. [↩]
  3. Pun intended!!! [↩]
  4. Dang.  I’ve already used temperamental, finicky, and fussy…  Where’s my thesaurus?  Oh, that’s right – he’s out EATING Tony Buser’s Laser Dinosaur! [↩]
  5. Bite me Cybermen! [↩]
  6. Thanks again guys! [↩]