 |
| Image courtesy of Filastruder |
1. I finally installed my build volume upgrade for the Printrbot Simple(it only took about three months, I might have procrastinated... a bit), the reason I have been putting it off, is the rods that came with it were about .75 inches to short so I made a wrap-around for the smooth rod that interfaces with the wood. If you have the same problem of the rods being cut to short, just leave a comment and I'll email you the rod extender. Now I have an eight inch by four inch but 8 inch build volume, i've been printing so much more now(which can get quite costly) this brings me onto the next point.
2. I bought a broken Filastruder, for only $60 plus it came with eleven pounds of PLA. What the Filastruder does, is convert super cheap plastic pellets into 3d printing filament, which is quite expensive. I got it extremely cheaply(They sell for $300 plus I got about $40 in plastic) because it was broken, he said it had a problem with the thermocouple, auger, and hopper. After getting it, I noticed it was assembled horribly, wood was at an eighty degree angle, and the hopper was completely destroyed, however after dissolving the ABS left in the funnel with acetone, I discovered the auger was completely fine. Two days ago, I got everything running individually, the motor, PID(which was wired incorrectly), and the heater. The Thermocouple wasn't broken, it was just cut to short, so I ordered a new one for $5, and printed a new hopper for about $1.50. I have to get everything reassembled once I get the thermocouple in. Hopefully in less than a week I should have a fully functional Filastruder, that in the end only will cost a bit under $67.00!
3. I am also building a partially heated build chamber for my simple, because sometimes i'll open the window if my room needs fresh air. Sadly, when I do that, it cools down the printer too much, causing the layers below to freeze, which then crumbles and ruins the print. The build chamber will get up to about hundred degrees using the excess heat put off from the 450 degree extruder. I have all the parts printed and the the plexiglass cut, it came out to about $30 after all. I designed the hinges(for the door to the printer) and the angled bits (to make sure everything lines up), if you want the files, leave a comment and I will happily email them to you.
4. The phone case I have been designing for the past three or so months, just got a major redesign(made possible through the build volume upgrade). It is now nearly completely done, which I am super psyched for.
5. Last week I was replacing the 400 grit sandpaper on the vinyl tube, with 70 grit for better traction, after sanding off all the additional sandpaper(I know sanding sandpaper sounds stupid, but I had to because It had been super glued on)I was washing off the tube, when I dropped it down the drain...( I might have said a curse word, or two) Without the vinyl tube the printer simply(see what I did there Printrbot simple, simply, it's funny) can't run. Without a running printer to print a tube substitute, I thought I was going to be without my printer all break. Then I went to my closet and saw that I had three or four extra plastic hanger. I quickly took one, cut an inch long section from it, then using the drillpress, drilled a holed, then acted as if I were a CNC mill and slowly let the drill press take material fromt the inside walls, until I had a perfectly fitting piece. I then glued the 70 grit on and my printer has been running perfectly.
5. Last week I was replacing the 400 grit sandpaper on the vinyl tube, with 70 grit for better traction, after sanding off all the additional sandpaper(I know sanding sandpaper sounds stupid, but I had to because It had been super glued on)I was washing off the tube, when I dropped it down the drain...( I might have said a curse word, or two) Without the vinyl tube the printer simply(see what I did there Printrbot simple, simply, it's funny) can't run. Without a running printer to print a tube substitute, I thought I was going to be without my printer all break. Then I went to my closet and saw that I had three or four extra plastic hanger. I quickly took one, cut an inch long section from it, then using the drillpress, drilled a holed, then acted as if I were a CNC mill and slowly let the drill press take material fromt the inside walls, until I had a perfectly fitting piece. I then glued the 70 grit on and my printer has been running perfectly.
Well, thats all for this week, next week will likely be on how everything turned out(the case, the Filastruder, and the build chamber).
No comments:
Post a Comment