tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31077246043187866382024-03-28T20:29:46.871-07:00Machines on the MindMusings of an obsessive maker of machines that make thingsModianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-24186246643638225052018-03-12T13:38:00.001-07:002018-03-12T13:38:43.534-07:00Electrifying My SpiralizerI love my spiralizer and use it often to make low-carb pasta out of zucchini but have always felt that the hand crank was slow and inefficient. This inspired me to create an adapter to allow me to connect my electric screwdriver to the spiralizer. This was the result:<br />
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First I designed the adapter in Autodesk Fusion 360.<br />
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After tweaking the design once or twice, I 3D printed the adapter using ABS plastic.<br />
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-47376917680152177002016-12-18T16:54:00.002-08:002016-12-18T16:58:15.214-08:00Making a Beautiful and Functional Magnetic Knife Storage System<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe1UlUXHvI5m1ZCksJgQ1L-INcjH-kiQhkQLKXSF8bF5rJjhiJMDtiDamISfYaFTwrUiWnk-RnZRbtVcG_6qgIP6ptN6ZBUYuzBF7LqBuS3IcwC_5mryO4giVfDBHY8DnAGv7NyvP3aed/s1600/IMG_20161218_120307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe1UlUXHvI5m1ZCksJgQ1L-INcjH-kiQhkQLKXSF8bF5rJjhiJMDtiDamISfYaFTwrUiWnk-RnZRbtVcG_6qgIP6ptN6ZBUYuzBF7LqBuS3IcwC_5mryO4giVfDBHY8DnAGv7NyvP3aed/s400/IMG_20161218_120307.jpg" width="400" /></a>Our family has long used magnets to hang our knives. The problem has been that the existing knife holders were too short to hold all our knives and were not very good looking. I researched the topic and found that one could combine a nice piece of hardwood with rare earth magnets to make something beautiful that would solve the problem.
I started with an $11 piece of Maple from Home Depot. The next step was to cut it to size and bevel its outer edges with my table router. The final woodworking act was to use the table router to carve a half-inch-wide channel down the center. At first, I took some bad advice that I had found online and left a 1/8" gap between the surface and the magnet but later found that to have any useful attraction, I would need to re-route that gap to be 1/16". This was the resulting piece (After being polyurathaned):<br />
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The next step was to add the magnets. I acquired 100 1/2"x1/2"x1/8" powerful rare-earth magnets for around $50 on ebay:<br />
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They were very difficult to separate from one another and by the end of the day, my right thumb was feeling quite numb but with some time and work, the magnets filled the channel cut by the router. Part of the effort was aligning the magnets so that they stuck to each other. If they were aligned properly, there was a danger that they would collide to violently. These magnets are so powerful that they can collide with each other destructively, leaving expensive magnet shards. I lost a couple in this manner but was thankfully left with enough to finish this project.<br />
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The result was as good as I had hoped for:<br />
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The only thing remaining is to cover those counter-sunk screw holes with little wood disks. Other than that, I am happy with the outcome.Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-39700002277779952112016-03-01T07:33:00.000-08:002016-03-02T14:23:13.043-08:00Upgrading Old Kitchen Bar Stools with a CNC RouterSeveral years ago, we bought a bunch of bar stools from Ikea for our kitchen. They were around $8 a piece and are so perfectly sized for our needs that we have not seen anything better at any cost. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$8 Ikea bar stool to be upgraded</td></tr>
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The only shortcoming to these stools are their wood seats. With time and motion, the screw holes in the wood become looser and the screws fall out. The other problem is that the wood seats are divided into 4 wedges that allow food and spilled liquids to seep into and accumulate in the trenches in between them.<br />
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Of course, at $8 a piece, it would be smarter to just replace the stools -- and I certainly would have done this -- but this model of stool went the route of so many things Ikea: it was discontinued.<br />
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So I decided to set out to not only fix these ailing stools but to give them an upgrade, thanks to my over sized <a href="http://carbide3d.com/shapeoko/" target="_blank">Shapeoko CNC Router</a> and to some new materials that I was able to acquire inexpensively on eBay.<br />
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To my mind, the ideal material for the replacement seat would be something lustrous like marble or granite but those are too challenging to cut on my machine and far too expensive to acquire so I settled on the next best thing: Dupont Corian. It is beautiful stone-like surface that is easily milled. What's more,<a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R4.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xcorian.TRS0&_nkw=corian+pieces&_sacat=0" target="_blank"> cheap leftover pieces can be found on eBay</a> with free shipping, despite their high weight, thanks to the USPS, who will ship anything that fits into a Priority Mail box.<br />
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I paid $40 for 6 pieces, each of them much better looking than the stools' existing wood seats and all of them big enough to do the job. The only tricky part would be to cut them to be circular and to precisely drill the screw holes so that they perfectly match the positions of the existing screw holes on the stools' supporting steel plate.<br />
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So I broke out my trusty caliper and measured all screw hole positions and the ideal screw hole diameter. I jotted everything down in my usual barely-legible chicken scratch before putting it into CamBam, my CAD/CAM 2.5D software of choice.<br />
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One faulty measurement forced me to re-cut my holes. Fortunately, all I needed to do was to rotate my piece and try it again. Excess holes in the bottom of the seat will not be visible. In the end, my CNC Router managed to get the hole positions right and it did a great job of cutting the circular profile out of the 1/2" Corian plate.</div>
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Now that I have the files for the cuts, I can now repeat this procedure with my remaining Corian plates so that all my stools can have the same upgrade. The only thing that I need to do to improve this seat top is to round or bevel the top lip -- something done easily enought with a trim router.<br />
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Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-27011479927147886932016-01-31T17:35:00.001-08:002016-01-31T17:41:59.632-08:00Fixing One 3D Printer so I Can Finish AnotherWhile I have a perfectly good, highly modified Revolution XL 3D printer, I became interested in delta printers and decided a while back to build a Kossel Mini. I sourced my own parts and recycled many parts from my first (long dead) RepRap Mendel. Missing a few key parts and having been distracted by other more pressing projects, I let the incomplete build sit around for a long while until I could no longer let it gather dust and so I got back to it and moved it along.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnsi7BBDexsrYHK9Tb2n8AjFO5Bp8zclTPOhJ6lRHetAW2Yq-CAPJDiuJQMjNbzXrQW048deXS_6uPzUtFW9fhPYCjqvAM1m95sChGiwdWB5yL80g8rZcTWA-B4d40G_dj9cuMk20Ii0N/s1600/IMG_20160131_114004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnsi7BBDexsrYHK9Tb2n8AjFO5Bp8zclTPOhJ6lRHetAW2Yq-CAPJDiuJQMjNbzXrQW048deXS_6uPzUtFW9fhPYCjqvAM1m95sChGiwdWB5yL80g8rZcTWA-B4d40G_dj9cuMk20Ii0N/s640/IMG_20160131_114004.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kossel Mini in progress</td></tr>
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I had printed all the Kossel Mini's printed part using my RXL printer and I needed a couple more parts to break the logjam. The problem was that my RXL no longer worked. The hotend no longer heated and I was printerless. A quick continuity test confirmed that my heater cartridge no longer was able to function. Fortunately, I had a replacement on hand. So I took apart my Micron3DP hotend:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLtMnb3LokaLkOvCgyDiVFb0a87Wcjy7j6cPjn9_nz4ipz60oT78WjIIAhT7LHN3X2bkFLJN4VWeV0XR55SZaHrTNG3o6-LZj5ixE1AoWjUFOLS-Uuj9waHOTU4-dA3yLOi8kritZ5APj/s1600/IMG_20160131_113907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLtMnb3LokaLkOvCgyDiVFb0a87Wcjy7j6cPjn9_nz4ipz60oT78WjIIAhT7LHN3X2bkFLJN4VWeV0XR55SZaHrTNG3o6-LZj5ixE1AoWjUFOLS-Uuj9waHOTU4-dA3yLOi8kritZ5APj/s640/IMG_20160131_113907.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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The old dead heating block was covered with years of melted plastic and seemed overdue for a replacement. I cut and stripped the wires on both sides and used butt connectors to attach the new heater block:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMctbFxLjtyiMIH0aNp5iY6sV9Bxt6bJ45pgijil8RiAk6nD2-bhPUt5foNTjcIabOw8xk4wnSp767Zmh3ubdFUu453LW9fy3jaxyxwvMVAl7NRGzC1cqjqkFSS_qakngsqRl2WPIKQVm/s1600/IMG_20160131_160717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMctbFxLjtyiMIH0aNp5iY6sV9Bxt6bJ45pgijil8RiAk6nD2-bhPUt5foNTjcIabOw8xk4wnSp767Zmh3ubdFUu453LW9fy3jaxyxwvMVAl7NRGzC1cqjqkFSS_qakngsqRl2WPIKQVm/s640/IMG_20160131_160717.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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After the reassembly of the newly revitalized hotend, I took the RXL for a test drive and printed a couple of <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5414" target="_blank">Bauhaus chess pieces</a> for a friend with a growing set. The end to this story is a happy one.<br />
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-22879783003146048462015-07-30T18:37:00.002-07:002015-07-30T18:38:20.820-07:00Add a 3D scanner to a 3D printer to make... Wait for it -- a 3D copier!I have not made too many efforts to hide my enthusiasm for what I feel is the culmination of inexpensive hardware, cheap or free software combined with what must be an unprecedented social upheaval in creativity. One such project that caught my eye was a KickStarter project, cleverly engineered by Uriah Liggett from Murobo.com. At its heart, it is a compact 3D scanner server. Here was his pitch:<br />
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I was sold. I had a $30 Raspberry Pi computer and a $30 Raspberry Pi camera, so I supported his KS campaign to the tune of $150, knowing that it would take a bit of labor and discovery to make it happen. The trick about it was that the entire frame of the 3D scanner would need to be 3D printed. Since I happened to have a 3D printer, I was able to print the parts -- usually before bed -- for pennies. After a few months (and less than 30 days overdue -- which is fantastic by KS standards), I was sent the remaining hardware and was pointed to the software. I couldn't wait to get started. Upon coming home from work, my wife immediately took note of the chaotic dinner table and the glazed look in my eyes and was both insightful and kind enough to realize that I was in a frenzy. She owned the kids for that night and the next. This was what I had after day 1:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZDNDBCskP1bI7HecI-NUACHCAtm3CMNQp1GGdXTKqEkdkMb2mDfBR1dOXB-WOakzDOm7PzCwFn0qU9HPheRTSvHAoZHAhSpp9mrTBRQF60thAjBjbYHaU2AS3JEyyCRxkBzbnIYcbfaB/s1600/WIN_20150722_20_01_21_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZDNDBCskP1bI7HecI-NUACHCAtm3CMNQp1GGdXTKqEkdkMb2mDfBR1dOXB-WOakzDOm7PzCwFn0qU9HPheRTSvHAoZHAhSpp9mrTBRQF60thAjBjbYHaU2AS3JEyyCRxkBzbnIYcbfaB/s640/WIN_20150722_20_01_21_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The instructions were perfect and by day 2, the structure was done. By day 3 I had it working:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFvPyxRBXmDet-d_35qZckPx3SvjojlWSFdr4a47VMs9oxLRvTkOuiINzwP0IUI8dLMzfUuQ6t3cM9M8KZB3eNFgRmmFdL2FF79a0j0RMz-PnFuqVnj0NA-E5XJ1cJLRAhNaNyihyQtpF/s1600/20150729_182049_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFvPyxRBXmDet-d_35qZckPx3SvjojlWSFdr4a47VMs9oxLRvTkOuiINzwP0IUI8dLMzfUuQ6t3cM9M8KZB3eNFgRmmFdL2FF79a0j0RMz-PnFuqVnj0NA-E5XJ1cJLRAhNaNyihyQtpF/s640/20150729_182049_resized.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is how it works: You place an object to be scanned on the turntable. You then access the scanner on the network from its web-based interface (I can do it from a tablet in another room!). You then have to define various variables like laser visibility thresholds, etc. When you finally tell it to scan, it draws laser lines over the object and takes photos of it with its camera. Its Raspberry Pi computer then analyses those lines and infers the shape of the object. Here it is imaging a figurine:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1k_M4w0su1QTuPouHLNpttULjaZV9m4Y9EZR5OUOE6r8L9DycW_tvU9jrE8F7eaFB5le0RFmrKrAwmDz0Xa-cN_1pOZYoSv5EFja8AuolFB2LJYRQUXM9E4iUxMP2DgOtfe-KxncBFbo/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1k_M4w0su1QTuPouHLNpttULjaZV9m4Y9EZR5OUOE6r8L9DycW_tvU9jrE8F7eaFB5le0RFmrKrAwmDz0Xa-cN_1pOZYoSv5EFja8AuolFB2LJYRQUXM9E4iUxMP2DgOtfe-KxncBFbo/s640/IMG_0012.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
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Here it is in action:<br />
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I'm only a couple of days in but I am tweaking the variables and getting some results with my scans:</div>
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I'm not there yet, but getting there.</div>
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Of course, the grand goal is to be able to say "So terrible that your chess set is missing a rook. How about letting me make a copy of your other rook?"</div>
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-32725456788463463262014-12-31T11:22:00.001-08:002014-12-31T11:26:00.637-08:00Milling & 3D Printing Your Own Drone From ScratchBeing an obsessive maker of machines that make things was what eventually pushed me to make my homemade hexacopter drone. <a href="http://machinesonthemind.blogspot.com/2013/11/building-hexacopter-drone-with-help-of.html" target="_blank">As I detailed in an earlier blog post, I used my Shapeoko CNC router to cut many of the parts I needed from Dibond.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1_1RPyz2bhsprWQNV1ezXJhV8NEkQaF3M86z-EEv0Voz9XaZQfd8hRDk_cX2t9De-fY5zLigmvajq-t1eft3Tu_s3sjHHfoh-2PCWKLLl9lWBjpCW60Mk002LT4PIIGtKawqZR_-RByK/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1_1RPyz2bhsprWQNV1ezXJhV8NEkQaF3M86z-EEv0Voz9XaZQfd8hRDk_cX2t9De-fY5zLigmvajq-t1eft3Tu_s3sjHHfoh-2PCWKLLl9lWBjpCW60Mk002LT4PIIGtKawqZR_-RByK/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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I did not really like the motor mounts that were cut so I decided to look at what the world of 3D-printed motor mounts held for me when I came upon<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:198878" target="_blank"> this brilliant parametric design by pwnas</a> on Thingiverse:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPNwrODot4lhoZEc0Jx52aWbadbBlEYJiGUaWfwKfAFuKkfdxqJDVgtKY1lG9fnao-n9uLYLB3bwQ0Rc5WwLndJMEPasyFiH32B5jD7nu6UwRbGnyO1l98lfMKE9SnCvMAlfdLiDWMmIB/s1600/12-31-2014+1-39-13+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPNwrODot4lhoZEc0Jx52aWbadbBlEYJiGUaWfwKfAFuKkfdxqJDVgtKY1lG9fnao-n9uLYLB3bwQ0Rc5WwLndJMEPasyFiH32B5jD7nu6UwRbGnyO1l98lfMKE9SnCvMAlfdLiDWMmIB/s1600/12-31-2014+1-39-13+PM.png" height="278" width="640" /></a></div>
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I printed six of them in black PLA plastic. Between what I could make myself with the CNC router and the 3D printer, I had all the frame and landing gear parts that I needed except for motor boom arms. I bought 6 Aluminum booms from Hobby King for less than a dollar each. With all the frame parts in hand, I then acquired the following electronic and other components:</div>
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<li>HKPilot flight controller</li>
<li>Flight controller power module</li>
<li>GPS module</li>
<li>9-channel radio transmitter/receiver</li>
<li>6 motors</li>
<li>6 electronic speed controllers</li>
<li>6 carbon fiber propellers</li>
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Of course I also needed to make use of screws and nylon standoffs. In the end, I was very happy with the results:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4MUYNjuadhwXlh387q18DbQGrRG8fyrFuRMyMWmlBhcQrVqLaUjJ3dBHBxCAvblvt7WFkOigCAuzMctYPuy2OMvTvaxlsIuZthcCRJtuySMgMB24qOPAWAESnXJphQ-P8zgablBmmJMG/s1600/IMG_2956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4MUYNjuadhwXlh387q18DbQGrRG8fyrFuRMyMWmlBhcQrVqLaUjJ3dBHBxCAvblvt7WFkOigCAuzMctYPuy2OMvTvaxlsIuZthcCRJtuySMgMB24qOPAWAESnXJphQ-P8zgablBmmJMG/s1600/IMG_2956.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upside down</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQulvBka7FuRYzcDEsKLjraXKZ8O52w7-Q12ETBVXCrIDbVcfUoRfzmswDtKy-lR_KTYXBAczTh0XxPj7AR67jrTjXc9-pPKewyx_6G3OEGvA9um6e7DFeIu5pvLMIT4w6e07nx0t0kqSL/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQulvBka7FuRYzcDEsKLjraXKZ8O52w7-Q12ETBVXCrIDbVcfUoRfzmswDtKy-lR_KTYXBAczTh0XxPj7AR67jrTjXc9-pPKewyx_6G3OEGvA9um6e7DFeIu5pvLMIT4w6e07nx0t0kqSL/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgu87QxgBI871z2sTV__Ar2B0fLXwOENmYmH3Rzk0PDK_8RNF9utEq9ndsQiOJiB4a2RUxGfQBo5JgNAkFCdhuowMwhLxYchnumeyGNsTC55UC5HVnTjYKY2PWTVNHA9M59N-2AkXkhvTX/s1600/IMG_2958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgu87QxgBI871z2sTV__Ar2B0fLXwOENmYmH3Rzk0PDK_8RNF9utEq9ndsQiOJiB4a2RUxGfQBo5JgNAkFCdhuowMwhLxYchnumeyGNsTC55UC5HVnTjYKY2PWTVNHA9M59N-2AkXkhvTX/s1600/IMG_2958.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6mBfI_2AmuC4aXy1qVAwmZWWkMEwvguo537J_vcaB8iEpp7yXtVIDCva6zj9i3BUtfRxEfIl_wpNJIbcsScG8aqoRprspGyaYZ9NbYwKmdnQBrFUTple6_op8HXJceNoI96sF7l-e_z9/s1600/IMG_2959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6mBfI_2AmuC4aXy1qVAwmZWWkMEwvguo537J_vcaB8iEpp7yXtVIDCva6zj9i3BUtfRxEfIl_wpNJIbcsScG8aqoRprspGyaYZ9NbYwKmdnQBrFUTple6_op8HXJceNoI96sF7l-e_z9/s1600/IMG_2959.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMzPXNvu7oROeLBKEEw29_oU7jlb8K_4ck-GgZVWIuBQdqhrURgVtHoE45yX2-sAQlabywI-Gzvj1IWN7NzpjgsqEThyphenhyphenvnylDV4lwrCdwqYm4gRP6256FtEh3e3tIg7bZaXIWip2JchmB/s1600/IMG_2960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMzPXNvu7oROeLBKEEw29_oU7jlb8K_4ck-GgZVWIuBQdqhrURgVtHoE45yX2-sAQlabywI-Gzvj1IWN7NzpjgsqEThyphenhyphenvnylDV4lwrCdwqYm4gRP6256FtEh3e3tIg7bZaXIWip2JchmB/s1600/IMG_2960.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDarJ4sva0suDYj2-k5_qAJGgnaAJUBTft2aNal8hKXvJbLY6n4FYpqk_leQYb_qr4lALaMYJ76jziZOBugiJ0tADoE1pUvpEVlTg1FBR9lQXgDm014vTbRr1gUKoaVIxOXUoWIFS1q6n/s1600/IMG_2962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDarJ4sva0suDYj2-k5_qAJGgnaAJUBTft2aNal8hKXvJbLY6n4FYpqk_leQYb_qr4lALaMYJ76jziZOBugiJ0tADoE1pUvpEVlTg1FBR9lQXgDm014vTbRr1gUKoaVIxOXUoWIFS1q6n/s1600/IMG_2962.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHupg62x13-tditt0jOrPZDQ9jq_-aLiRODq2wX6ThStFTasSsBnR5A3mXKClUNXfuU5vHHsfbndOXVaWt7M5hnsI7Url9NcjIdIkvdSi241i7IZ7iDn_RfLk2RCjerwkY625NAHR-wUdI/s1600/IMG_2963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHupg62x13-tditt0jOrPZDQ9jq_-aLiRODq2wX6ThStFTasSsBnR5A3mXKClUNXfuU5vHHsfbndOXVaWt7M5hnsI7Url9NcjIdIkvdSi241i7IZ7iDn_RfLk2RCjerwkY625NAHR-wUdI/s1600/IMG_2963.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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It needs just a little more tweaking before it will be ready for its maiden voyage. I can't wait to see what I'll be able to do with flying heavy lifter!</div>
Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-32546894780150902352014-12-26T12:40:00.002-08:002014-12-26T12:40:47.975-08:00Hexacopter drone assembled: Almost there!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm just about there. I assembled the the home CNC machined frame and landing gear. I wired all the electronics including the 6 motors, electronic speed controlers, ARDUpilot flight controller, GPS and radio receiver. I'm having trouble binding my transmitter to my receiver but assuming I can get over this hump, I should have this bad boy in the air by tomorrow!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrSbHVeADhfabMXASU7mywJ6U6DXzihXjP5RDQJbdG7YL32i4he69yUMD-dFg6LBfR8A1oPNSd4PlYdA4E6V9cYDN0teC0TSUF-fn4OFBZR2HQ84MAeUB4fQsQIxTqHsUqUS2h6uDweRc/s1600/20141226_150306_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrSbHVeADhfabMXASU7mywJ6U6DXzihXjP5RDQJbdG7YL32i4he69yUMD-dFg6LBfR8A1oPNSd4PlYdA4E6V9cYDN0teC0TSUF-fn4OFBZR2HQ84MAeUB4fQsQIxTqHsUqUS2h6uDweRc/s1600/20141226_150306_resized.jpg" height="625" width="640" /></a></div>
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More shortly...Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-15638848556082160422014-12-21T19:11:00.002-08:002014-12-21T19:11:49.074-08:00Scrambling to finish my drone before the holidaysI started building my drone a while ago. I cut many of its parts with my home-made Shapeoko derivative CNC router. I was flying high for a while as work piled up and I decided to put it aside. I now pick it up. I am a little ashamed that it took me so long to get my soldering iron heated up but I reached that crisis point today, with the hope that I will be launching my hexacopter drone on its inaugural flight on this holiday week. This is one of its 6 arms complete with carbon fiber propeller:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vI4CeLAoFU56EoZ7_BoiVDCyo_4HYrET7l77bEnq9AkBpwHORHBriOsuDj6QT00lcOXFfxKbCQt5Hko3ygk_wXYwdxy7Ct8h2u_xUPvz5l2hzxexp4kliIlTh17OqshoKphoCeA_Y3y6/s1600/IMG_2955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vI4CeLAoFU56EoZ7_BoiVDCyo_4HYrET7l77bEnq9AkBpwHORHBriOsuDj6QT00lcOXFfxKbCQt5Hko3ygk_wXYwdxy7Ct8h2u_xUPvz5l2hzxexp4kliIlTh17OqshoKphoCeA_Y3y6/s1600/IMG_2955.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Each arm had 9 connections to be soldered. I made it a day and got the rest done:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwXnPp-AAuhZsfHC2v6vc_HpI2DlSILfo6nHDUU_YOcY6rp7v4YoPqA5Dpe3jwtEgI0uceqiw6JPMsbItQmbbpDY4fQQJaNlZwQSOK0RStIG6L3XlW_rEW_pB08BQ8wtjk41HZAce8Zap/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwXnPp-AAuhZsfHC2v6vc_HpI2DlSILfo6nHDUU_YOcY6rp7v4YoPqA5Dpe3jwtEgI0uceqiw6JPMsbItQmbbpDY4fQQJaNlZwQSOK0RStIG6L3XlW_rEW_pB08BQ8wtjk41HZAce8Zap/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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I now need to get this heavy lifter in the air. I know a bit about Arduino and less about ARDUPilot but I am psyched that I may successfully launch my first homemade drone in the coming days.<br />
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-57897277946826773772014-06-08T19:11:00.000-07:002014-06-09T05:40:08.352-07:00The Big Fix for My Revolution XL 3D Printer - Using the CNC Router<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj277B0KZobx18gxCPHFS_RbrO3sitS7wiAG7caV5UeSmqoSTAMTVjZL8vQWU2Mp0-1NTa7aCBP2n4MmjSHPMXRE36_01XTWm8dfGyeyeQ3s2l5PZanH9Ai4_b1i8RWNufqO0MXSohgKp0/s1600/IMG_2454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj277B0KZobx18gxCPHFS_RbrO3sitS7wiAG7caV5UeSmqoSTAMTVjZL8vQWU2Mp0-1NTa7aCBP2n4MmjSHPMXRE36_01XTWm8dfGyeyeQ3s2l5PZanH9Ai4_b1i8RWNufqO0MXSohgKp0/s1600/IMG_2454.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
After several design problems ultimately led to the conversion of my Revolution XL from a pretty good 3D printer to a paperweight, I stared at it for a time contemplating how I could resurrect it, while turning it into the sort of machine I wish I had bought originally. Its shortcomings became increasingly apparent with time:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Terrible Z-homing repeatability</li>
<li> Hot end heater wires inevitably fail due to motion/metal fatigue at the point of the last nanolink before the wires emerge from the nanolink cable management.</li>
<li>When the heater wires fail on the hot end, the extruder gearbox starts to slip, which wears down its gears. </li>
<li>When the gears begin to fail, a clicking sound is substituted for extrusion resulting in a failed print</li>
</ul>
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I loved many aspects of the RXL. It was well designed, for the most part. It is extremely rigid and the doubling of the motors was a great touch. So my mission became to fix this otherwise good but currently useless machine.</div>
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I began with the extruder. It needed replacement. I decided on a Bowden setup, and because I have wasted so much time over the years on bad extruders and hot-ends, I decided to splurge: I bought <a href="http://micron3dp.com/" target="_blank">Micron3dp.com's extruder and hot-end</a> together for $300 on eBay. It struck me as overpriced but it was an irresistably beautiful piece of engineering. But to make this work, I would have a lot of work to do. It was unfortunate that my silenced 3D-printer was, at-this-point, unable to print its own replacement parts but fortunately, My CNC router in the basement was still functional and ready to cut parts out of 1/8" aluminum plate.</div>
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And so my adventure began.<br />
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I started off designing (and machining) the new extruder mount. It turned out that I had to redesign and re-machine 2 of the 5 required parts several times to make them work. A lot of aluminum plate went into my trials and errors:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISnMVOvBYmmG8KJw75d47g7r1I-6MSv54ZdWVwkauncrFLxcrEO1u-_k189ptRVul_EZkci3_YQVDRhOONu7hl1FCQWHmVRCAcgj3Y_yW5Q4Xux37nf2k_uBrZo1yjkegGGJlxD-tBjEh/s1600/IMG_2458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISnMVOvBYmmG8KJw75d47g7r1I-6MSv54ZdWVwkauncrFLxcrEO1u-_k189ptRVul_EZkci3_YQVDRhOONu7hl1FCQWHmVRCAcgj3Y_yW5Q4Xux37nf2k_uBrZo1yjkegGGJlxD-tBjEh/s1600/IMG_2458.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Part 1: The hot-end mount and clamp</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhshyEQ_cuGd3j5OwXiZ5StycC7SHDbousuyHbQlCcOUgTbGKW_bw1pyMx_ZFgXs6hVMhZy5iT6N-pTThoRFDFZQOOWP0ZfcPX8dGemK4_hnl_3UuztAlQOT03ZCJnXxopjniE1cPgIKC/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhshyEQ_cuGd3j5OwXiZ5StycC7SHDbousuyHbQlCcOUgTbGKW_bw1pyMx_ZFgXs6hVMhZy5iT6N-pTThoRFDFZQOOWP0ZfcPX8dGemK4_hnl_3UuztAlQOT03ZCJnXxopjniE1cPgIKC/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-08+PM.png" height="113" width="400" /></a></div>
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It took 4 tries before I got the hot-end mount done right:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFl_-LATvWFwGH54wBv6TVNlDZGUPMoqIGeZBrLRltZXF-WoMlLZUuPN4z-uAMR8qdYcxM6MMaYQQw2XLsPrAOBuzmzx_VkKBTIECfOCPxlC396ox1ZK1q6ygxqwYpfzp5nKzWTTzdvK4/s1600/IMG_2469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFl_-LATvWFwGH54wBv6TVNlDZGUPMoqIGeZBrLRltZXF-WoMlLZUuPN4z-uAMR8qdYcxM6MMaYQQw2XLsPrAOBuzmzx_VkKBTIECfOCPxlC396ox1ZK1q6ygxqwYpfzp5nKzWTTzdvK4/s1600/IMG_2469.JPG" height="609" width="640" /></a></div>
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The mounting clamp was simpler:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1C0swMm1eIMnxWkDHIEYJppkmkMpMmglm0rVOECEleY6beUR17r2q1C7LQnnIqHKl-HSfOCpfGkRLb81OkwNfSy3nEk1SqwKEiFrTnrbJZxlnhEfUx6izvoFWMqiwXtF5Oy_H47iUKsLs/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1C0swMm1eIMnxWkDHIEYJppkmkMpMmglm0rVOECEleY6beUR17r2q1C7LQnnIqHKl-HSfOCpfGkRLb81OkwNfSy3nEk1SqwKEiFrTnrbJZxlnhEfUx6izvoFWMqiwXtF5Oy_H47iUKsLs/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-19+PM.png" /></a></div>
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Together, they allow for two of these hot ends to be mounted to the RXL. I am starting with a single extruder/hot-end but it would be a silly waste of time doing all this without thinking of the future. I started by removing the old extruder and mounting hardware<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bu0rbbGHKWeGO5dwglsGFCEuVvdqdCH_eznJlSd6J_zBctcO3mZaL9_lYAhxAMaB2CLalJqgY6EGH7bNCLQ8JWnU3GAdS112HFmclBc_ulVFdjEj9pAzeAxBhDLboeSbmfrBN77deoag/s1600/IMG_2449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bu0rbbGHKWeGO5dwglsGFCEuVvdqdCH_eznJlSd6J_zBctcO3mZaL9_lYAhxAMaB2CLalJqgY6EGH7bNCLQ8JWnU3GAdS112HFmclBc_ulVFdjEj9pAzeAxBhDLboeSbmfrBN77deoag/s1600/IMG_2449.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Next, I screwed in the mounting clamp:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg31iYhTsfaTZj6Qr5Fz1lARqGsrHodHxAK-2zi0Lz5PMdCrGryXHLWYYX0UVG1B0py_GkOJaitRZxwbngDcOHdj3oIfgEry1x3tlRMbxGGzqdn5AuxpMszRJxm6sM01uXohKvhiKlYpQe/s1600/IMG_2450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg31iYhTsfaTZj6Qr5Fz1lARqGsrHodHxAK-2zi0Lz5PMdCrGryXHLWYYX0UVG1B0py_GkOJaitRZxwbngDcOHdj3oIfgEry1x3tlRMbxGGzqdn5AuxpMszRJxm6sM01uXohKvhiKlYpQe/s1600/IMG_2450.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then the extruder mount (this was before the redesigns but you get the idea<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FcnHfpvCCTSf_ohm2qNFMqfa-a8xnpm9QILbprqHC4ltLFypnli246Iu1qxQuyw4_vOhbBNqtVP9ovep58RHDRRnR1PJhF9_2kYF7o2jIf3yy6f0P-X5DyrhKpx1bpXN6tY54UFkhOER/s1600/IMG_2451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FcnHfpvCCTSf_ohm2qNFMqfa-a8xnpm9QILbprqHC4ltLFypnli246Iu1qxQuyw4_vOhbBNqtVP9ovep58RHDRRnR1PJhF9_2kYF7o2jIf3yy6f0P-X5DyrhKpx1bpXN6tY54UFkhOER/s1600/IMG_2451.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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And so I was able to screw in the new hot end:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYzVkxmhgZi785Gu8iESgYwcewVSQf2UfSwF8UjMh5_B5eX4KUGisjX89WFmX66BnxpelHU02NmNOGsAdZ-_9cJm7kEoteYmPdioify7kVmobO77G98MdSHS-z-97J2RloUbpcIsFST6a/s1600/IMG_2452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYzVkxmhgZi785Gu8iESgYwcewVSQf2UfSwF8UjMh5_B5eX4KUGisjX89WFmX66BnxpelHU02NmNOGsAdZ-_9cJm7kEoteYmPdioify7kVmobO77G98MdSHS-z-97J2RloUbpcIsFST6a/s1600/IMG_2452.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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To finish this up, I needed to put some work into the hot-end as well. I replaced its 12v fan with a 24v fan. I also had to extend all wires and tuck them all into <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2RCY0I/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">a neat braided sleeving</a>, suggested to me <a href="http://www.fabric8r.com/forums/showthread.php?1156-New-Extruder/page37" target="_blank">by MacAttak</a>.<br />
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<b>Part 2: The Bowden Extruder Mount</b><br />
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My design:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEkfg2iAH9U8UScCMZvpA2h30UAb4qqH2vocdgtMg7xmYFLgVo5zwnO3cXPFSs5YnlIYBqBU49wsO6ajwB_cN97VL8QpSXiOr5y3xZNHcndKsiuFpzbblMXMWU9flHTQRFXKrHo1peka4/s1600/6-8-2014+4-24-50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEkfg2iAH9U8UScCMZvpA2h30UAb4qqH2vocdgtMg7xmYFLgVo5zwnO3cXPFSs5YnlIYBqBU49wsO6ajwB_cN97VL8QpSXiOr5y3xZNHcndKsiuFpzbblMXMWU9flHTQRFXKrHo1peka4/s1600/6-8-2014+4-24-50+PM.png" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTivtiepRhPXoo0MzxYfaRCSWnc0HyY7ZJpgpazG0NcTcTW2esHRXFLgN_GA-eN_cTYEevKoVC_nxW7GQoB9IG9rOk_UiisNvnhyPAlQ-iNjvM8Z2PeLG4RVfdJgLmF2oaNa_TmizKjl4/s1600/IMG_2457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTivtiepRhPXoo0MzxYfaRCSWnc0HyY7ZJpgpazG0NcTcTW2esHRXFLgN_GA-eN_cTYEevKoVC_nxW7GQoB9IG9rOk_UiisNvnhyPAlQ-iNjvM8Z2PeLG4RVfdJgLmF2oaNa_TmizKjl4/s1600/IMG_2457.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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I removed 2 screws, replaced them with longer ones, and attached this mount to the rear-left-top corner so that the result looked like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS70eo_jcIrob9DawPIxpgauTu-ADOQfBrjrAJ3qwfB4Tl-owRqYCOYzz_CXnAp5jhZUbIT8z3LTYXDw_xqBg1UNip_4t1UobtZUb2fBCJiQgHVERSxTC-zycQTgvjfV5pM_YbLyjgamT1/s1600/IMG_2473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS70eo_jcIrob9DawPIxpgauTu-ADOQfBrjrAJ3qwfB4Tl-owRqYCOYzz_CXnAp5jhZUbIT8z3LTYXDw_xqBg1UNip_4t1UobtZUb2fBCJiQgHVERSxTC-zycQTgvjfV5pM_YbLyjgamT1/s1600/IMG_2473.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The wiring was a pain. I used crimpable, self-soldering butts to connect the heater wires and solder for the rest. All connections were covered with heat-shrink tubing:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCbsXIqLuqt0-zNuer9CPz62PQSoIrq_SNjSRGuDxH7eo19_Dxz4TKOQp4ENKVBFDi0PalhwvKvtD-oiE1pfVW0kcXCsnglwd61FVuYQRpH5kExgTpOq4AkYsamtTbZ-D__wMt00TwSaQ/s1600/IMG_2476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCbsXIqLuqt0-zNuer9CPz62PQSoIrq_SNjSRGuDxH7eo19_Dxz4TKOQp4ENKVBFDi0PalhwvKvtD-oiE1pfVW0kcXCsnglwd61FVuYQRpH5kExgTpOq4AkYsamtTbZ-D__wMt00TwSaQ/s1600/IMG_2476.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, everything was covered in bigger heat-shrink tubing:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8EIaISP17Seq6RS2jH6YCIVy5RRsMREOpsXL23S5j7a6ARew-iPRhxDBK3Bc7g0p0SCAAAIHbcLsuvgmx0V0CgGZaTYVC696zcYsbEDOjDEJZ4IbxgCOLhDeE5MA9Fu07u1TrphCU36c/s1600/IMG_2477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8EIaISP17Seq6RS2jH6YCIVy5RRsMREOpsXL23S5j7a6ARew-iPRhxDBK3Bc7g0p0SCAAAIHbcLsuvgmx0V0CgGZaTYVC696zcYsbEDOjDEJZ4IbxgCOLhDeE5MA9Fu07u1TrphCU36c/s1600/IMG_2477.JPG" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<b>Part 3: The X-belt connector/X-end-stop trigger</b></div>
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This was the hardest item that I made but the item that I am most proud of designing. It needed to perform two functions -- to be glueable to the X-axis belt and to trigger the X end-stop. This was the first project where I needed to score, heat and fold metal, namely 1/8" 6061 aluminum plate. This was the final CAD design:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cv91cb5w5h6ZPZ4uBQioDB-DH70Tm-H2jukEhgyXcBu05oD38UG2mdUuWdGKQnMjPcXfFIhDhkVhOROxQ-3fWGA38lOcWYLsz3yyDRKLqz_JG_CC-SxXMb2gRP52vmMIVpQ0XLvLDGXK/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-35+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cv91cb5w5h6ZPZ4uBQioDB-DH70Tm-H2jukEhgyXcBu05oD38UG2mdUuWdGKQnMjPcXfFIhDhkVhOROxQ-3fWGA38lOcWYLsz3yyDRKLqz_JG_CC-SxXMb2gRP52vmMIVpQ0XLvLDGXK/s1600/6-8-2014+4-26-35+PM.png" height="400" width="326" /></a></div>
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Like the mounting plate, I had to design and machine four iterations before I got it right:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInhYW7KG5lfVGmvjV7zpGT504cO_GkgNhAJGUi9YdwjsvFAzOuBKMFw8qf8nX1ZGOWEuJrH_NSU7drUE0bgOQqTllBcjGHSy4Ni4uO20hxbqR5pSdWB18koD8ejgfIfHp86soNF89b38S/s1600/IMG_2463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInhYW7KG5lfVGmvjV7zpGT504cO_GkgNhAJGUi9YdwjsvFAzOuBKMFw8qf8nX1ZGOWEuJrH_NSU7drUE0bgOQqTllBcjGHSy4Ni4uO20hxbqR5pSdWB18koD8ejgfIfHp86soNF89b38S/s1600/IMG_2463.JPG" height="396" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now folded further under the heat of a MAP gas torch:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWIHEvY47t-egm5ZXoLWdSuP9B_vbkPNEgkBgb8-KgYG328AvdCbQS97RlJpR5OwCltj4n0KhYsFnS7KAbBKy05MF0y-NLhyphenhyphenY1XelGe74TuKOoI1jU29F7GOfgBavnHrpSt2teJ7iM5u_n/s1600/IMG_2465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWIHEvY47t-egm5ZXoLWdSuP9B_vbkPNEgkBgb8-KgYG328AvdCbQS97RlJpR5OwCltj4n0KhYsFnS7KAbBKy05MF0y-NLhyphenhyphenY1XelGe74TuKOoI1jU29F7GOfgBavnHrpSt2teJ7iM5u_n/s1600/IMG_2465.JPG" height="418" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now mounted on the X axis with M3 x 10 screws and glued to the X-belt:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT8VpcB86d87U38u9gN_nlf0j24DzJf7FqdTQYUco_12UwT34ft07eYfqLW1ByKTrB_12s6adlf1MExIoFIBmkn4UnWooGpAbu-LCnha01CWvaChIrsGhWl8XMn6C-sHTwJcW7iSEL76R/s1600/IMG_2470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT8VpcB86d87U38u9gN_nlf0j24DzJf7FqdTQYUco_12UwT34ft07eYfqLW1ByKTrB_12s6adlf1MExIoFIBmkn4UnWooGpAbu-LCnha01CWvaChIrsGhWl8XMn6C-sHTwJcW7iSEL76R/s1600/IMG_2470.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now altogether with the Bowden tube installed:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_POTPFeAiyHb85fy-q3ww0XN_9zQUNDTZAnPTFf6Zjju6S2Ch_wlS66TRJ2Pbixo6aOwtENLxcEyqEs738vKYAy8oB2WEFtjQ27PPxe8chJ_jcRd3c-Gy2Cf3eIYDXvyNmMw9i9c7Ze8/s1600/IMG_2478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_POTPFeAiyHb85fy-q3ww0XN_9zQUNDTZAnPTFf6Zjju6S2Ch_wlS66TRJ2Pbixo6aOwtENLxcEyqEs738vKYAy8oB2WEFtjQ27PPxe8chJ_jcRd3c-Gy2Cf3eIYDXvyNmMw9i9c7Ze8/s1600/IMG_2478.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here it is, finally in action:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwzkMzBm1JAP6PAFWcXtdAwdKv6gTabcQApKzsc3WS1a7DGtDqntN2dEEDBBe4ni8QJ-HQrQL1Gaihy4RIeaw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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For those of you interested in making the same modification to your RXL, I offer the following files free for use with the stipulation that you attribute the files and design to me and this blog. The CAD/CAM files were designed with <a href="http://www.cambam.info/" target="_blank">CamBam</a>, a great and affordable Windows software that I have grown increasingly fond of and that I used to create these parts. The <a href="http://www.logicaldevelopers.com/RXL-Micron3DP-Extruder-adapter.zip" target="_blank">native CamBam CAD/CAM file and DXF file can be found here</a>.</div>
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So far, so good. Now I need to figure out how to decrease stringing on such a Bowden setup. I am confident that the Ultimaker community has blazed a sufficient trail for me to follow that I am not too worried.</div>
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Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-71410136418966355602014-05-25T14:25:00.000-07:002014-05-25T16:33:35.210-07:00QU-BD Revolution XL Review Part 4After a bit of a hiatus from blogging, I decided to return with this final review of the QU-BD Revolution XL that was delivered to me in August of 2013. At this point it is no longer operational, pending some necessary upgrades. Before I launch into the full list of problems and design flaws of the RXL, it is only fair that I give mention to its positive attributes, chief among them - build quality. It's frame is well-engineered, its rods are well-polished and it was obvious that QU-BD set out to make a world class 3D printer. That said, here were the problems that plagued it and more that eventually turned it into a very heavy paperweight:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Loose Bed</b>: The volcanic glass bed does not fit snugly on the tray holding it. There is about a 2mm gap in both directions. If you are printing slowly enough to limit vibration, this issue is of no consequence because of the weight of the bed but if you step up the speed (the RXL was arguably built for speed), vibrations will move the bed slightly mid-print, resulting in a failed print.</li>
<li><b>Z-axis homing: </b>Within a couple of weeks of use, Z-axis homing repeatability became a problem and the problem increased from there. A couple of factors were to blame: the position and quality of the Z-axis endstop. The problem with its position is that it was located on the side of the unit whereas the Z-axis leadscrews were toward the center. <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:168670" target="_blank">Fellow RXL owner Illuminarti came up with and posted an inventive solution to this problem, which I have adopted.</a> The second problem, that of the quality of the switch itself came close to causing the machine to damage itself. The switch would remain in the opened position despite being pushed all the way in. Fortunately, my unit unlike those of others who had this problem, was never damaged.</li>
<li><b>X-truder: </b>This was supposed to be one of the big selling points of the RXL. It is a small extruder with counter-rotating gears that is still advertised by them as "the best extruder on the market". After 9 months with it, I would beg to differ. My first one began to fail a couple of months after I received the printer. At one point it decided to stop extruding and to instead start clicking. QU-BD was good about getting me a replacement and asking me for the return of my old one for analysis but claimed to have solved the problem. A few months later the same problem occurred again, but the second time would bring me no customer service solution -- but more on QU-BD's customer service later.<br /><br />One of the big consequence of the X-truder's compact size was that the cold barrel leading to the hot-end had no cooling fins. This was fine if you wanted to print a vase or other parts not requiring retraction but anything but the slightest of retraction would inevitably lead to a clogged nozzle.<br /><br />The biggest problem with the X-truder was that the tension of the gears could not be adjusted. Practically speaking, this meant that I could never get it to extrude Taulman's T-Glase, one of the more popular filaments, because the gears would slip against that filament's smooth surface. I could get smooth PLA to print but only at painfully slow speeds.<br /><br />In the end, I,<a href="http://www.fabric8r.com/forums/showthread.php?1156-New-Extruder" target="_blank"> like others</a>, had to resort to third party extruder/hot end replacements. I will detail my upgrade process in a future post.</li>
<li><b>Extruder carriage nanolinks: </b>I can see why QU-BD thought the use of Nanolinks cable management for managing the wires going to the extruder and hot end was a good idea. It did keep things looking clean. The flaw was that the carriage moves back and forth so quickly that the nanolinks' restriction of the motion of the cables to one direction would inevitably result in metal fatigue occurring in the heater wires. This has happened to several RXL users, myself included. This was in fact the flaw that finally silenced my RXL.</li>
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The biggest flaw with the RXL lies not as much with the printer itself but with QU-BD's customer service. Recently, they changed their domain name/company name from QU-BD.com to QuintessencialUniversalBuildingDevice.com. I suspect that this move was one way to deal with the online customer backlash that Googling "QU-BD" will reveal. There is nothing like re-branding! Unfortunately, the new multi-syllabic name does nothing to address their festering customer service problems. As an example, I opened a case with them the moment when my extruder and cable failed. Their rep wrote back to me within 10 days, telling me that they would send me a new improved extruder that had been improved upon. That was 4/6/14. On 4/15, I sent a message asking if it had in fact gone out. Nothing. On 4/28, I wrote again. The rep did get back to me that day and said "Sorry for the delay. We ran out of the extruder stepper motors but just got a new batch in. I will make sure that it goes out today."<br />
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That was one month ago. Still nothing. My subsequent inquiry on 5/8 resulted in no reply. I give up.</div>
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An upgrade of the extruder/hot-end to a modern, all metal design will likely put many of these issues to rest and result in a greatly improved printer. I have chosen to go with a Bowden version of <a href="http://micron3dp.com/" target="_blank">this high-quality extruder/hot-end pair from Micron3dp</a>. When I am finished upgrading the RXL, it will no longer be the same machine. I will make it work and and I have no doubt it will be greatly improved, but in retrospect, I wish that I had simply bought an <a href="https://www.ultimaker.com/" target="_blank">Ultimaker</a>. Had I done so, more of my writing would have been 3D printer use rather than 3D printer fixing.</div>
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Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-48005268855244311242013-11-23T15:55:00.001-08:002013-11-23T19:42:33.491-08:00Shapeoko CNC router Electronics Upgrade - Part 2: Finishing the Enclosure and Electronics Mounting Parts<h3>
Preparing the Enclosure for the Electronics</h3>
I had to print three parts to get everything to fit snugly inside my new enclosure. First, I needed a mount for my Raspberry Pi. I found an appropriate one on Thingiverse: <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37889" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37889</a> .<br />
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Next I needed an Arduino Uno/grbl mount: <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33327" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33327</a>. Finally, I needed a fan grille, but I could not find any out there that I could download and print directly. I then came across this wonderful <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11906/#files" target="_blank">parametric fan grille that one could download, configure and print</a>, brilliantly written by <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/jridley/designs" target="_blank">John Ridley</a> a couple of years ago. <br />
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I downloaded the scad file, opened it using <a href="http://www.openscad.org/" target="_blank">OpenSCAD</a>, <a href="http://www.openscad.org/" target="_blank">"The Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller" (free)</a>. All I had to do was take some measurements with my caliper, enter all the parameters the program required and, voila! a perfect fan grille, perfectly sized, ready to be printed:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DAhrBlvMmCPCz8iRoy2PnjBEu3qsTu36obaSmyO2LKROBOB46fkuZaRohfNXlxlF8fhNZA_-zQvTq3xugNoWJoCJAqmYCJHEQp691oicuEjb4sGWAAoT7UKLmPB4ov1jpV6KsZG61zLV/s1600/11-22-2013+1-17-16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DAhrBlvMmCPCz8iRoy2PnjBEu3qsTu36obaSmyO2LKROBOB46fkuZaRohfNXlxlF8fhNZA_-zQvTq3xugNoWJoCJAqmYCJHEQp691oicuEjb4sGWAAoT7UKLmPB4ov1jpV6KsZG61zLV/s640/11-22-2013+1-17-16+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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In a pleasant surprise, printing went off without a hitch. Here are the printed parts:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBAkOyv-eD1lPddRzphyphenhyphenhy9Kn8G0pWFgRj23J22V-VxKhVlEz7JuSmq54DtL4sMnmm_NmQs4nQvq7w_XKK4X-mf28ctP5yBRH7xnT8zHEcGb5lX2WYdc0zb4wQJDm14gNCy75ME0DuADb/s1600/IMG_2002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBAkOyv-eD1lPddRzphyphenhyphenhy9Kn8G0pWFgRj23J22V-VxKhVlEz7JuSmq54DtL4sMnmm_NmQs4nQvq7w_XKK4X-mf28ctP5yBRH7xnT8zHEcGb5lX2WYdc0zb4wQJDm14gNCy75ME0DuADb/s640/IMG_2002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The next step was to mount the emergency-stop button, fan and fan grille to the top of the box:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR3CKUn9GmHTJe4wwDl-s3hEoQZrKpd6cwTFSbGPeaGXSthPJVlqSrjYYuTJcx4QSQSMMeceORW45_9wivJtsIC7Qz9xuPbup3D_g1sUIsBoAj2h8TVoGvmCepqtwM2K_JR8UXoR_twLBq/s1600/IMG_2003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR3CKUn9GmHTJe4wwDl-s3hEoQZrKpd6cwTFSbGPeaGXSthPJVlqSrjYYuTJcx4QSQSMMeceORW45_9wivJtsIC7Qz9xuPbup3D_g1sUIsBoAj2h8TVoGvmCepqtwM2K_JR8UXoR_twLBq/s640/IMG_2003.JPG" width="425" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwRuCrJ7H6IuG3b8-R1OIQZ32gJEy2WzchEnl8waCnoi-6feOgbEhxX_Pfo4pZOkkA7Sxv5toxzshqz1eR3vQSyDnz5f7vjaUcFTOSWk_V_MmXHVtaxjBJr0G7sCQmiIl8G7kJsqBuAvM/s1600/IMG_2004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwRuCrJ7H6IuG3b8-R1OIQZ32gJEy2WzchEnl8waCnoi-6feOgbEhxX_Pfo4pZOkkA7Sxv5toxzshqz1eR3vQSyDnz5f7vjaUcFTOSWk_V_MmXHVtaxjBJr0G7sCQmiIl8G7kJsqBuAvM/s640/IMG_2004.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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I then used screws and trapped nuts to put the rest of the enclosure together.<br />
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With the enclosure and mounting parts complete, I am ready for the next step: Turn the Raspberry Pi into a dedicated gcode sender that can be wirelessly remote-controlled from any computer or tablet in the house.</div>
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-36355544905776403052013-11-19T15:47:00.003-08:002013-11-19T15:47:49.995-08:00Shapeoko CNC router Electronics Upgrade - Part 1: New EnclosureRight now, my Shapeoko variant router works fine. There are only a couple of issues that need to be resolved. The main issue is that I need to use a laptop (that I would rather use elsewhere) to act as a g-code sender. My thought is that the perfect scenario would be to replace that laptop with a Raspberry Pi running a g-code sender and a XRDP allowing me to remote into it over Wifi from any PC or tablet in the house. If that scenario could work, I would be able to create an enclosure housing the Arduino Uno/grbl shield together with the Raspberry Pi. I could then also include a cooling fan and a sorely-needed emergency-stop switch (until now, I have been using the power strip switch as a poor man's e-stop).<br />
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The Enclosure<br />
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I decided to mill my rectangular enclosure out of 1/4" plywood. I want all parts to have finger joints and T-slots so that I can use screws and nuts to lock the enclosure together. After a bit of research on how to do this I found a great, free <a href="http://wyolum.com/t-slot-boxmaker/" target="_blank">T-slot Boxmaker</a> extension to the also-great and free <a href="http://inkscape.org/" target="_blank">Inkscape</a> design software that allows you to specify the box's parameters before it creates the box design for you. These were my parameters for the enclosure:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsNBfCP1Ik3vAD9XdD_7HFp_ca7GuPTdbZdU3DM1Aptn2zgmsimVIsBzJkRUKRYxsT43ipD05ixGodGP09ZpZbXmRU6FDBRXjdge2S6a50offNKC4e2FzVbXEub4WvfIcRlhLINp1gif0/s1600/11-10-2013+10-48-02+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsNBfCP1Ik3vAD9XdD_7HFp_ca7GuPTdbZdU3DM1Aptn2zgmsimVIsBzJkRUKRYxsT43ipD05ixGodGP09ZpZbXmRU6FDBRXjdge2S6a50offNKC4e2FzVbXEub4WvfIcRlhLINp1gif0/s400/11-10-2013+10-48-02+AM.png" width="195" /></a></div>
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The result was this:</div>
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I then saved it as a DXF file and opened it in my preferred CNC software: <a href="http://www.cambam.info/" target="_blank">CamBam</a>. The following steps were to rotate the parts (on my CNC router, my Y is longer than my X axis), delete unnecessary screw holes and T-slots, add holes for the fan and E-stop switch and wire and ventilation slots to the end pieces. The final design for the enclosure looked like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXhsZ02bPI-_ih9OzItnjlc6kmtNRyJNG0cpoeklXZ8eIAbAP6zxE8VfZmtEvYaRDXjmT0uxNC2UYN-F9aAzq_tenyRGwCI10eUhw3BoEWSYqnsj-ptu7PWM30f5K3T_uiX4ccpgQx-O9/s1600/11-10-2013+10-54-38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXhsZ02bPI-_ih9OzItnjlc6kmtNRyJNG0cpoeklXZ8eIAbAP6zxE8VfZmtEvYaRDXjmT0uxNC2UYN-F9aAzq_tenyRGwCI10eUhw3BoEWSYqnsj-ptu7PWM30f5K3T_uiX4ccpgQx-O9/s640/11-10-2013+10-54-38+AM.png" width="428" /></a></div>
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So with chest full of air and heart full of pride, I start my cut... Only to fail. For some reason, my computer and grbl controller disconnect well into the cut. I needed to re-zero the tool, which of course means finding that zero. When it failed, it had already cut the following in red:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYun0xpJQl3Q6IoBNji1ulEbOsrxxIft3GAQdoYnlhJHYPo8p-1GuDwvDzcO-VIapdFCYHyPBasnSQjRzdDbs5ulXM-fwguVndRsyB3KDYBpqjpQGkxJAuQw_-sKuwQOyXCXkNcydiUk9H/s1600/11-10-2013+6-20-43+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYun0xpJQl3Q6IoBNji1ulEbOsrxxIft3GAQdoYnlhJHYPo8p-1GuDwvDzcO-VIapdFCYHyPBasnSQjRzdDbs5ulXM-fwguVndRsyB3KDYBpqjpQGkxJAuQw_-sKuwQOyXCXkNcydiUk9H/s400/11-10-2013+6-20-43+PM.png" width="150" /></a></div>
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So I reset the system to 0, 0 and manually moved the bit to this point that Cambam said was at 100mm x 83mm:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwdw2ztZ7deZE_nyr6l5l8qIx_NsAHVZVq4ymzNbPfjTyuO1_mYgaBROUex_j5Mv1LztCrujXUsR-_aAZiKVtPJR4nU2vunaQWQf7kBI5cpv8YecuWq7Ygx3n2HuDC6Xlto0uqG2qEEv2/s1600/11-10-2013+6-24-28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwdw2ztZ7deZE_nyr6l5l8qIx_NsAHVZVq4ymzNbPfjTyuO1_mYgaBROUex_j5Mv1LztCrujXUsR-_aAZiKVtPJR4nU2vunaQWQf7kBI5cpv8YecuWq7Ygx3n2HuDC6Xlto0uqG2qEEv2/s400/11-10-2013+6-24-28+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I then instructed X to go to -100 and Y to go to - 83 and, voila: the old zero was found. I now once again reset the controller so that the new 0, 0 was recognized, disabled the previously-completed T-slot cuts, regenerated the gcode and got it to continue where it left off. </div>
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Now, I will try to avoid boring you with the intervening failure that took so much of my time. Sufficed to say that my machine was failing when trying to drill small holes. It turned out that it was choking on the fact that these holes were made from thousands of useless lines of code. Once I simplified those holes by replacing them with circles and regenerated gcode, all worked well. </div>
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Once everything was set, I finally had my machine cut the enclosure parts from 1/4" Birch plywood. </div>
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This was the result:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUPG5fjrXpsFlvNCfhcqgXNGYx8tCCqxZggR_H-jviCgqLND0ldXGu_V6ZGajTzb3N6o8kcYiTkgBr0guL70QIcjiRnPA1Z9-GBdxtPaYXu1FWZ2fWvL69wobDreAbjsSo1wQ6WYa2HUg/s1600/IMG_1998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUPG5fjrXpsFlvNCfhcqgXNGYx8tCCqxZggR_H-jviCgqLND0ldXGu_V6ZGajTzb3N6o8kcYiTkgBr0guL70QIcjiRnPA1Z9-GBdxtPaYXu1FWZ2fWvL69wobDreAbjsSo1wQ6WYa2HUg/s320/IMG_1998.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX5xPxxGIgPzZ9QAiz3zahXsMJu2dmwp0IlTV_WawBRwcVMwb0pdrJ_1EN7bWpVnQXaotIS5xJAYI_6JHnl04vk7-bYRe7y97PhCd61ngJl_Dl4ylodvOMwwxdopQhSSTXq9arwcQxy0R/s1600/IMG_1999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX5xPxxGIgPzZ9QAiz3zahXsMJu2dmwp0IlTV_WawBRwcVMwb0pdrJ_1EN7bWpVnQXaotIS5xJAYI_6JHnl04vk7-bYRe7y97PhCd61ngJl_Dl4ylodvOMwwxdopQhSSTXq9arwcQxy0R/s320/IMG_1999.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I noticed one problem: The E-stop switch will not fit a 1/4" thick surface, so I will need to consider a fix to this. Otherwise, I am pleased with my first computer-generated finger-joint box.</div>
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On my next post, I intend to detail how to configure a Raspberry Pi to be a remote-controller for an Arduino/grbl-based CNC router such as Shapeoko.</div>
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-27286305607587008462013-11-06T15:47:00.003-08:002013-11-06T15:52:45.078-08:00Building a hexacopter drone with the help of CNC routing and 3D printingAfter building a couple of 3D printers and a CNC router, I found that many of my friends would quite reasonably inquire as to what I actually make using these machines. For a long time my reply was that I used them mostly to make 3D printer and CNC router parts, after a while allowing me to come to the realization that my obsession with these machines was, quite literally, feeding itself.<br />
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All that changes with my latest project: to build a heavy-lifting, full-featured aerial hexacopter drone with as many parts as possible being CNC routed or 3D printed in-house.<br />
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The first thing that I had to settle on was what design to use. I had been following the progress of many projects at <a href="http://diydrones.com/" target="_blank">DIY Drones</a>. One of their very active participants, Jeremy Guillory, <a href="http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/water-jetting-hexacopter-frames-out-of-lexan" target="_blank">published this blog post</a> describing cutting a bunch of hexacopter frame parts out of Lexan (polycarbonate) using a water jet. He also supplied the CAD DXF file that I could use to make those same parts with my CNC router.<br />
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The next step was to figure out what material to use. People have been building multi-rotors out of almost every light/strong material imaginable. At the Holy Grail high end is of course, carbon fiber. But the cost is very high and if I mess up a cut, I waste a lot of money. I could have also done it in fiberglass or Aluminum. In the end, I was persuaded by a fellow I met at this year's NYC Makerfaire that I should use a material called Dibond. Dibond is a composite material consisting of a polymer sandwiched between two super-thin sheets of Aluminum. It is light, yet strong and rigid. It also has some helpful vibration dampening qualities. Best of all, it happens to be inexpensive. I bought 5 1/8" Dibond sheets for about $10 each, shipping included. Cutting all the parts required 1 and a half. I had to kill the job at one point when an inadequately-secured part got sucked-in by the bit but I was able to zero out the CNC machine and continue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMlyFkYLTglcREfjmj9a1BFsYTzn3HZovq4d_0uuhKo0jrYbZTx86U9FFxeZ76dERtlyE-e1BHb9wqtQ6QmdE-jWG3TcHYrAVb8m2oqDT11ADhXokiq1eqCpC2Pp8pcVFWRPC6jPkLYZH/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMlyFkYLTglcREfjmj9a1BFsYTzn3HZovq4d_0uuhKo0jrYbZTx86U9FFxeZ76dERtlyE-e1BHb9wqtQ6QmdE-jWG3TcHYrAVb8m2oqDT11ADhXokiq1eqCpC2Pp8pcVFWRPC6jPkLYZH/s640/IMG_1993.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJ-Y1t6liVGMhP-yj3twmg4E2Vs1ZLytgj5oIiVx4840gRRbcC8xxd2FjgULZ-xno4Q9_yhawkN1YZEAd4MJo1R2R2pDdLRrRJ4hpeOwR3Ojhq0WtLSCETICRayX2nt4xxYvg8gAHx0MK/s1600/IMG_1994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJ-Y1t6liVGMhP-yj3twmg4E2Vs1ZLytgj5oIiVx4840gRRbcC8xxd2FjgULZ-xno4Q9_yhawkN1YZEAd4MJo1R2R2pDdLRrRJ4hpeOwR3Ojhq0WtLSCETICRayX2nt4xxYvg8gAHx0MK/s640/IMG_1994.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Aluminum arms can be acquired quite inexpensively from HobbyKing.com ($0.88 each!). <br />
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My goal, beyond documenting this build is to leave my fellow makers with instructions to build their own full-featured aerial robot at the lowest possible cost.<br />
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Stay tuned for more shortly.Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-16777575680836696182013-10-04T09:41:00.000-07:002014-06-18T15:17:33.916-07:00More Revolution XL successes and foiblesI spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to tune my settings to create various objects. For example, printing a vase is a simple matter. No retraction is required and no stringing can happen. Other parts can be more challenging. Probably one of the most challenging prints is a <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24068/#files" target="_blank">model of the Eiffel Tower</a>, something that I aspire to print correctly soon.<br />
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My 3D printing adventures were interrupted by a failure of my X-truder, one of the more innovative features of the RXL. Nathan, head engineer at QU-BD sent me a replacement and I wired it in and sent him back the broken one. To my dismay, when I tried it out, I saw that the extruder fan was not working. I ran a continuity test that ruled out a problem with the cable and surmised that the problem had to be with the fan itself. I ruled out a polarity problem because I presumed that the fan would just spin the wrong way. As it happened, I had a replacement fan on hand (intended for another project) and so I disconnected the non-working one (which I prematurely dissected) and replaced it with the new one. To my frustration and astonishment, the new fan did not run. Now, totally confused, I reversed the polarity of this DC fan and voila! it worked! Even Nathan at QU-BD was stumped. He later told me that he tried to reverse polarity on several fans in the workshop. Some spun backwards, some did nothing.<br />
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So I was back up and running -- that is until my next self-induced mishap. Noticing that a certain print was going to go on longer that my filament spool, I devised to wait right until the last of the old filament got sucked down through the extruder and then I would immediately feed the new filament through. This did not work out as planned. The old filament became so lodged in the extruder that I had to disassemble it to get the filament out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GkiGfiDn2rgGGrbv-8wBhsP2moJ6qnTx6ay6Y-9hcywLLeSba8OfLO1RD6yBJhTkUXS4u3iEjes7DIatlEjVJ3bEvzaTKjLJnRNs3u3w7-N4jC2MN11jQRJztxHU3hVr8zeY56VQtL6d/s1600/20130930_161042_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GkiGfiDn2rgGGrbv-8wBhsP2moJ6qnTx6ay6Y-9hcywLLeSba8OfLO1RD6yBJhTkUXS4u3iEjes7DIatlEjVJ3bEvzaTKjLJnRNs3u3w7-N4jC2MN11jQRJztxHU3hVr8zeY56VQtL6d/s640/20130930_161042_resized.jpg" height="398" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once everything was back together, I made a personal vow never to try such a dopey move again. My next foible was unexpected. I assumed that scaling an STL file in Slic3r would be a simple matter. It seems to be a bug with Slic3r itself. Here is <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37117" target="_blank">the original Koch Snowflake vase</a> next to a 2X scaled version:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIXGXgsJoZwyDnNf60muZnnKhaXLMx2mX31AMgoefMbdNaY1C0h2kdFouZ66WQl4OzHbxFtw5gtwksc5gB0xgaXZoXb0dsUQiQ9J0Enrcx_xULoL-fxfv5eBYFj8cGOnRDMLeq7OhB7bK/s1600/IMG_1896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIXGXgsJoZwyDnNf60muZnnKhaXLMx2mX31AMgoefMbdNaY1C0h2kdFouZ66WQl4OzHbxFtw5gtwksc5gB0xgaXZoXb0dsUQiQ9J0Enrcx_xULoL-fxfv5eBYFj8cGOnRDMLeq7OhB7bK/s640/IMG_1896.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The one on the left came out perfectly but the one on the right had holes and imperfections around its widest part:<br />
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At first I thought it was a printing fluke, but it happened a second time. I will need to research this problem.<br />
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The only other new thing that I tried was a new type of filament, namely Taulman 645 Nylon. It really is quite amazing. It is both flexible and incredibly strong. Here is the same vase being printed in Nylon:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QdBkkIkxmu8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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The resulting printed part is very resilient as you can see here:</div>
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Now, onto the Eiffel Tower!<br />
<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-89533013042330138342013-09-17T09:09:00.002-07:002013-09-17T11:18:43.716-07:00QU-BD Revolution XL Review Part 3Now that I have had the opportunity to spend a bit more time with my QU-BD Revolution XL, I have learned a bit more about its capabilities and issues that can come up. I'll begin with examples of objects that I have printed so far.<br />
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The first thing that I printed was the single-wall vase, the gcode for which QU-BD provides on <a href="http://store.qu-bd.com/product.php?id_product=44" target="_blank">the RXL product page</a>:<br />
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One thing that I was very eager to print was <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451" target="_blank">emmet's brilliant, parametric gear bearing</a>, which, once printed, can be "cracked" and used as a functional bearing. One reason why this is such a unique and wonderful object to print is because it is a shape that can only be arrived at using 3D printing. Because its interlocking gears and outside walls use a Herringbone pattern, the piece could not be assembled manually. This also means that the bearing's parts are forever locked in place:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Gm1VwUnBCNivTvHITrgXHGUS5ygDZvDx_n0a91JOtYj3UB0GE6_1KAgfxHC-o0e_nY1oAGBLPSEAQDg7zsAFmgSy9j7EhgBlp0-qlz_pEL51ui-D2i6RhEn0QZFKm_bSziK3CcDjW8K5/s1600/IMG_1850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Gm1VwUnBCNivTvHITrgXHGUS5ygDZvDx_n0a91JOtYj3UB0GE6_1KAgfxHC-o0e_nY1oAGBLPSEAQDg7zsAFmgSy9j7EhgBlp0-qlz_pEL51ui-D2i6RhEn0QZFKm_bSziK3CcDjW8K5/s640/IMG_1850.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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One thing that I have been unable to figure out is how to get certain shapes to print at high speed. For example, when using Repetier Host and Slic3r to print <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:40504" target="_blank">sphynx's lovely Koch snowflake vase</a>, I configured slicer and set all speed settings for 400mm/sec but of course configured it to do the first layer at 20% speed. When printing The first layer goes down as predicted. The next couple of layers go down lightning fast, as expected, but when the base of the vase has been completed it goes into low speed when doing the double wall of the vase to the point where the print took 6 hours. This is clearly a Slic3r configuration issue but for the life of me, I have not been able to figure out what setting is holding back the speed. In any case, the final printed piece was a thing of beauty:<br />
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There are a number of things that I have learned about the RXL, mostly through repeated print failure:<br />
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<b>Bed Height</b><br />
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The initial distance between the hot-end and the bed is critical and I have found that the Z axis mechanical end-stop to not be perfectly reliable. On three occasions, it has failed to activate, driving the bed right off one of its Z axis screws before I was able to fumble for the emergency stop. On a few occasions, it would go off a little late so that the hot-end was so close to the bed that attempting to print would clog the nozzle. At the beginning, I was a bit frustrated that there was no means of adjusting the end-stop distance other than bending the switch lever. I am not completely sure but I strongly suspect that the switch's unpredictable behavior may be due to the fact that its lever touches the aluminum bed which may or may not be hot. It may be that the heat from the bed is being conducted into the end-stop's lever, causing the problem. <br />
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In any case, I believe that I have come up with a cheap and easy workaround. I carefully bent the lever of the end-stop incrementally until it would activate when the hot end was pressed against the bed with no clearance. I then moved the bed down and began to add strips of clear 3M packing tape to the part of the bed that the end-stop touches. One can conceivably even use Scotch Tape for finer increments. The result was that I was able to use this method moth to calibrate Z height and help insulate the Z end-stop's lever from bed heat.<br />
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<b>Anti-Ooze Retraction and Nozzle Clogs</b><br />
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When attempting to print several items at high speeds, I found that the print started out okay only to fail a few layers later when the nozzle would clog. Upon examination of the extruder, I would find that the portion of filament being gripped by the extruder's gears was stripped. After playing with a number of variables over several days, I found that the problem would not occur if I reduced my retraction from 1mm to .5mm. This reduction also did not result in any unwanted stringing, as evidenced by this string-free 4-piece printing of <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:78899" target="_blank">MarcoAlici's Recorder</a> that my son is still waiting for me to clean up and glue together:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOlzsZExNHqp3lY3EctBIDC3TCP6XQ2aWXuUoC51SjQu7TChmeOqakoNANPnmFHUFM0ZWqflETMtCPYjcx_LRyZmzlFgJGYS9zXRq0yYenA0-y5sGbqiNjiG6v3HUDm5XRPGcnJqXmhis/s1600/IMG_1848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOlzsZExNHqp3lY3EctBIDC3TCP6XQ2aWXuUoC51SjQu7TChmeOqakoNANPnmFHUFM0ZWqflETMtCPYjcx_LRyZmzlFgJGYS9zXRq0yYenA0-y5sGbqiNjiG6v3HUDm5XRPGcnJqXmhis/s640/IMG_1848.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Conclusions</b><br />
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The RXL is a fantastic printer. It is super-fast (when you know how to configure Slic3r!), has a great build area and easily puts to shame printers costing $1,000 more. I think that QU-BD did a superb job. I am looking forward to pushing this printer much further to see what I can do with a variety of materials other than ABS, namely <a href="http://richrap.com/?p=196" target="_blank">Nylon</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwAPmWHDAo" target="_blank">LAYWOO-D3</a>.<br />
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<b>Coming Up</b><br />
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The RXL has one notable shortcoming. It does not have any convenient places to mount a a filament spool on top (where else would one put it?). I hope to design a spool-holder and use my CNC router to cut it out of some 1/8" Aluminum plate in time to show it to the folks at QU-BD, assuming they will be at the <a href="http://makerfaire.com/" target="_blank">New York City Makerfaire</a> that I am looking forward to attending this weekend.Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-44036861703892775422013-09-09T20:24:00.001-07:002013-09-10T06:08:48.857-07:00QU-BD Revolution XL Review Part 2I have spent hours upon hours putting this machine through its paces under grueling conditions and have much to report, both good as well as things that can be improved upon. I will start with the good, actually, great. This thing is as fast as it gets. Check out the 3D printing of this Samsung Galaxy 4 case (<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:100129">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:100129</a>):<br />
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My adventures have not been without their frustrations and it is only fair that I disseminate them. I have bathed in frustration for a few days now but I really have nobody to blame. I have concluded that some of my problems were likely caused by software. I originally installed Repetier Host on a family computer. When evidence of Y-axis slippage showed itself, I jumped on hardware, probably mistakenly, but because I had experienced axis slippage in my reprap past. After loading the software on a new laptop, things went better -- until they didn't. I had to abort that flashlight-lit Galaxy phone case print when I noticed that the LM8UU linear bearing that supported the right side of my Y axis had shimmied loose:<br />
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I can see that a red adhesive had been used to adhere the bearing to its Y-axis parent, but not successfully. I will ask Nathan, the head engineer at QU-BD what adhesive I should use to make sure it stays put the next time.<br />
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The second problem that I encountered is more important, notably the Z-axis end-stop. The X and Y end-stops are not that important because they do not dictate one of the most critical factors in 3D printing: how close is the first layer to the bed. I have found that the mechanical end-stop on the Z axis of the RXL to be finicky. On a couple of occasions, I tried to home my axes and the Z end-stop did not trigger. This was bad. I quickly hit the Emergency Stop and then spent some time re-aligning the bed. Right now, there is no good way to calibrate the Z axis. There is a screw-hole at every corner of the bed but only two screws were installed. This leaves the mechanical Z-limit switch -- something that I have found works differently from one moment to the next. Home it when the bed is cold, it is a certain distance from the bed. Try it when the bed is hot, something different. Right now, the only way to tweak your Z limit is to carefully bend the Z limit switch lever. My suggestion to QU-BD is that they leave mechanical end-stops on the X and Y axes but that they substitute their Z mechanical endstop with something more precise like a hall-effect end-stop or opto-end stop and that they provide a screw to adjust it. <br />
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I don't want to seem overly-critical. This is nothing short of a groundbreaking machine. When I look at it, I see a labor of love; something I would be proud to release to the world.Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-31533013342384163962013-09-07T14:02:00.001-07:002013-09-07T15:04:44.033-07:00QU-BD Revolution XL Review Part 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyXVezMj4n8ydmORSVyKiQswIKwHYv5WsL1aDAH8JB0UyGKh9qViTQ4yM-SUOMatNSvJ6cRAPwILCOIzUpPcYWcZQuMYScRxu-E_4BU5t_jVGH9q3wHt2EJ20vsVX33eAdYbUa71zycD6/s1600/IMG_1819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyXVezMj4n8ydmORSVyKiQswIKwHYv5WsL1aDAH8JB0UyGKh9qViTQ4yM-SUOMatNSvJ6cRAPwILCOIzUpPcYWcZQuMYScRxu-E_4BU5t_jVGH9q3wHt2EJ20vsVX33eAdYbUa71zycD6/s400/IMG_1819.JPG" width="400" /></a>I have had my eye on QU-BD ever since their successful Kickstarter campaign last year. When I visited their booth at last year's Makerfair, I was impressed with the engineering and build quality of their RPM mill/3D printer. So when they offered their Revolution and Revolution XL printers to customers willing to beta test and willing to wait in exchange for a great price ($800 for the RXL) and for what might be a truly revolutionary new 3D printer, I signed up. That was in January, 2013. There were of course delays and I watched over the following months as the impatient beta customers and I slowly transformed into an angry mob. So it happened yesterday that I was rummaging through my closet looking for my pitchfork and torch when my dog announced with his usual oratory flair that a package had arrived.<br />
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The promise of the RXL's revolutionary leap beyond the current landscape of affordable FDM printers was in its speed. Most reprap 3D printers use an extruder mounted on the X carriage. This limits their speed. Other printers, like Ultimaker, speed things up by removing the extruder from the carriage and using a Bowden extruder. The downside to that approach is that anti-ooze retraction, used to prevent stringing, does not work well with a Bowden extruder. The RXL was to have the best of all worlds -- a super-light (<6oz) extruder (they call X-truder) combined with 2 X motors and 2 Y motors. In an early youtube video, they demonstrated 900mm/second travel speeds. Later, after they tweaked things, QU-BD was able to demo 500+mm/second ABS printing. For a reprapper like me used to speeds 1/10th of that, it was indeed a great promise.<br />
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The first thing I successfully printed with the RXL was a vase for which QU-BD included tweaked gcode to demonstrate the RXL's speed. That went well. I then moved on to printing a Filastruder hopper at conservative speeds:<br />
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After some success, I became more ambitious and set out to print an over-sized Eiffel Tower at 400mm/sec:</div>
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Check out the speed:</div>
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It seemed to be working great for a while but something seemed to "slip" somehow on my Y axis, causing the print to fail. I will investigate and figure out what caused this failure:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlN2B_zNijgpOAwbHgX0-_oI-jDYoshCIlbIeX35kGGazZvb9uNCMtj7ZQd9mPsxWOtYIexz11jnXFVKZEMwBsTpB06jn6MJEEhQPmgPK_aK0w9Vvn3iQgHZEmDraE-xOMQOscknlHlSa/s1600/IMG_1817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlN2B_zNijgpOAwbHgX0-_oI-jDYoshCIlbIeX35kGGazZvb9uNCMtj7ZQd9mPsxWOtYIexz11jnXFVKZEMwBsTpB06jn6MJEEhQPmgPK_aK0w9Vvn3iQgHZEmDraE-xOMQOscknlHlSa/s640/IMG_1817.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Stay tuned as I continue to put this machine through it's paces.</div>
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<br />Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-25859285846820566862013-07-30T16:40:00.000-07:002013-07-30T16:40:07.364-07:00Back to my obsession's beginnings: 3D printingFollowing a forward looking time during my childhood in the 70's, when people were walking on the moon, my geeky hopes of living in a futuristic future steadily eroded as I aged. Yes -- we had computers, the internet and smartphones, but it was not until I came upon the <a href="http://reprap.org/" target="_blank">REPRAP project</a> -- the dream of which was the development of the world's first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_machine" target="_blank">self-replicating manufacturing machine</a> -- that I finally was able to cast away my technological cynicism and embrace the arrival of the new age for which I so long had pined.<br />
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Beyond the promise of a machine that makes things for you ("Tea, Earl Grey, hot!" [sorry, a Star Trek reference]) was the appeal of the notion of the democratization of manufacturing. Made with cheap open-source hardware and software, these machines could be made cost-efficiently enough for almost anyone to own. I would credit the REPRAP movement as being the primary catalyst for the market's inundation with the increasingly cheaper and better 3D-printers that we see today.<br />
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I built my first REPRAP Mendel from a kit in early 2012:<br />
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That 3D printer eventually fell into disrepair, but not before it had printed most of its "child's" required plastic parts. The child printer, a variant of the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/MendelMax" target="_blank">MendelMax 1.5</a>, was almost completed but has been at a construction standstill while I have awaited a means of producing the remaining required parts. Those parts were among the first ones that <a href="http://machinesonthemind.blogspot.com/2013/07/lots-of-failure-and-some-success-with.html" target="_blank">I milled out of Aluminum last week with my CNC router</a>.<br />
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I am now at a mighty temporal nexus. QU-BD.com, from whom I was the 12th person to order their revolutionary and aptly-named "Revolution XL", tells me that I should expect delivery soon of the 3D printer that I ordered in January from that fledgling company. I also believe that I have all the parts now to complete my oversized MendelMax, which I built to be quite versatile. For example, I took many lessons from reprap legend<a href="http://www.richrap.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Richard Horne (otherwise known as RichRap)</a>, who convinced me to have a machine with swappable extruders. In this way, one could quickly replace a plastic extruder with a paste extruder capable of building structures out of materials like ceramic, cement, silicone, etc. The possibilities are just about endless.<br />
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I hope to follow in the footsteps of those like Richard (to explore strange new worlds...) and to see what can be done.<br />
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All that said, Richard and many other brilliant and influential members of the reprap movement have gotten together to produce a brilliant online magazine for which I must provide a glowing endorsement. You can find it at <a href="http://reprapmagazine.com/">http://reprapmagazine.com/</a> .Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3107724604318786638.post-57997947927279078342013-07-20T14:09:00.000-07:002016-12-21T17:06:43.426-08:00Lots of failure and some success with my CNC router <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first iteration of my home-built CNC router</td></tr>
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The one thing that I have learned while building and learning how to operate my <a href="http://www.shapeoko.com/" target="_blank">Shapeoko</a> variant CNC router, was that success is achieved by preventing any one of a hundred things from going wrong. So before I show you any of my successes, I think that it is only fair to show off some of my many failures and the lessons learned:<br />
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Lesson learned: Don't forget to use holding tabs to keep the part secured or bad things can happen.<br />
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Lesson learned: An overloaded circuit can bring a multi-hour job to a sad end.<br />
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Lesson learned: If your Z axis starts to drive your bit deep into the wood for no reason, check the Z stepper motor to make sure it hasn't gone bad before wasting days exploring other possible causes.<br />
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Lesson learned: When milling Aluminum, slow down.<br />
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Now for some successful cuts:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGdfuKWMBm08y6AQU8RrrrsFGpzGckyhrd4vz04aLbu7p5PFyxK82Y3WSAAVXu_sD4EVG65SaB4KHfKiFZohFxLq7zX9VRxlzZatrjq4x1lCjfakbTV4bclhLEgJcUEKBUHanmjOIrMYU/s1600/20130714_183649_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGdfuKWMBm08y6AQU8RrrrsFGpzGckyhrd4vz04aLbu7p5PFyxK82Y3WSAAVXu_sD4EVG65SaB4KHfKiFZohFxLq7zX9VRxlzZatrjq4x1lCjfakbTV4bclhLEgJcUEKBUHanmjOIrMYU/s640/20130714_183649_resized.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was cut out of pine and is about 10" wide.<br />
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This was my first successful milling of 1/8" Aluminum plate. The parts, all with precision-drilled holes, are fastening plates for T-slotted Aluminum extrusions (like those from which this CNC router was constructed).<br />
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I look forward to milling other materials like HDPE plastic, hardwoods, cork, and if I get really brave, stainless steel.<br />
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Modianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609758376427777162noreply@blogger.com21