Reprap Busby

Finally, after about two kg of filament (mostly failed prints), the chassis is done. From now on, it's an integration task - installing motors and wiring electronics. The body is done.

Shot of the competed printer with a can of coke inside. Yep, it's small. Here's a comparison shot with a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic:

How about a comparison between machine size and build volume? The Thing-O-Matic is 300 x 300 x 400 mm, with a build volume of 100mm^3. The ratio of build volume to machine size for the Takerbot is 1:36.

My machine is 150mm^3, and I should have a build volume of 45mm^3. That's close to a ratio of 1:27. My machine has a larger build volume to machine size than a thing-o-matic. Of course that's a terrible metric, but it is a statistic I will be using for the inevitable million dollar kickstarter.

Finally got some 3mm rods from china, and spent a few hours stringing this thing up with 100lb fishing line:

Next steps are to get the motors working and running the entire thing for a few days. Then it's modeling the complete printer. Woo.

Right now I am waiting on 3mm drill rods. I got a ton of them from China pretty cheap, but the waiting is going to be insane. I have, however, completed the CoreXY stage. As soon as I get those rods, I'll be able to assemble the XY carriage and see if this thing will work.

I've changed the completely printed XY stage so the rods are lined up with the small 'pulleys' I'll be using:

That's a 3mm gap between two captive nuts. It couldn't have worked out better.

Mounted the XY motors and the rails. That's an Arduino in there:

Started working on the XY carriage. That's an e3D hotend there. This is really small.

Yes, it's extremely small. However, if I can get this to work I will have at least a 50x50mm build plate. That's two inches by two inches. Incredible.

Have you ever gotten to the point in a project where you just have to step back, look at everything, and say, 'this is really, really fucking stupid'?

I have reached that point.

That's an e3d hotend in there. That's also the z carriage at its maximum extents, a build volume of one cubic inch.

My god this is a stupid project

Required Components:

• (2) 8mm ground rods
• (2) LM8UU Linear Bearings
• (1) 1/4"-16 Acme rod
• (1) 1/4"-16 Acme Hex nut (height 13/64")
• (1) 15 Ω 15W wirewound resistor
• (1) MIC6 build plate
• (1) Printed Part

Required Components:

• (1) Synchromesh Cable - Metal and Diego are the guys for this
• (2) NEMA 11 motor
• (4) LM3UU Linear Bearing
• (2) 3mm ground rod
• (8) sleeve bearings
• (4) 4-40 Nylock
• (8) #4 Washer
• (4) Nylon washer
• (8) M2.5x6 socket head screws

module stepperHoles(){
    translate([11.5,11.5,0])
        cylinder (h=15, d=3, $fs=0.01, center=true);
    translate([-11.5,11.5,0])
        cylinder (h=15, d=3, $fs=0.01, center=true);
    translate([11.5,-11.5,0])
        cylinder (h=15, d=3, $fs=0.01, center=true);
    translate([-11.5,-11.5,0])
        cylinder (h=15, d=3, $fs=0.01, center=true);
    
    cylinder(h=15, d=15, $fs=0.01, center=true);
}

module yAxisRods(){
    
    rotate([90,0,90])
        translate([-37,-2,-22])
            cylinder(d=3, h=110, $fs=0.01, center=true);
    
    rotate([90,0,90])
        translate([37,-2,-22])
            cylinder(d=3, h=110, $fs=0.01, center=true);    
}

/** Create a hexagon. * * The 'size' parameter specifies the 
distance from the center of the * hexagon to the center of 
one of the six straight edges. The 'depth' * parameter specifiesthe size in the Z axis
**/

module hexagon(length, depth = 2) {
    
    width = 2 * length * tan(30); 
    
    union(){ 
        cube(size = [ length * 2, width, depth ], center = true);    
        rotate(a = [ 0, 0, 60 ]) { 
            cube(size = [ length * 2, width, depth ], center =  true); 
        } 
        rotate(a = [ 0, 0, -60 ]) { 
            cube(size = [ length * 2, width, depth ], center = true); 
        } 
    } 
}

module outerBearings(){
    translate([-4,4,0]){
        cylinder(d=3.175, h=15, $fs = 0.01, center=true);
        translate([0,0,-2])
            hexagon(3.25, 7);
    }
    
    translate([4,-4,0]){
        cylinder(d=3.175, h=15, $fs = 0.01, center=true);
        translate([0,0,-2])
            hexagon(3.25, 7);
    }
    
}

module plate()
{
    difference(){
        translate([-5,0,0])
            cube([135,125,10], center=true);
         
        translate([47,47,0])
            stepperHoles();
        
        translate([47,-47,0])
            stepperHoles();
        
        translate([47,47,-15])
            cube([28.2,28.2,32], center=true);
        
        translate([47,-47,-15])
            cube([28.2,28.2,32], center=true);
        
        translate([-15,0,0])
            cube([90,90,15], center=true);
        
        yAxisRods();
        
        translate([-64,54,0])
            outerBearings();

        translate([-64,-54,0])
            rotate([0,0,90])
                outerBearings();
    }
}



plate();

Therefore,

With actual numbers:

Fuck it, bolt one of these fuckers on: