I finally decided to ditch the Portabee, not being able to tweak it to print out the quality I want. I spoke to Terence about it and he shared that he has been doing his research on delta printers. After much deliberation, we settled on the Mini Kossel based on Terence's suggestion - he knows what he is talking about while I don't... lol...
This is how a Mini Kossel looks like (please click on the link to view the pix on Johann's Fllickr album as I've not gotten permission to post it here): http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcrocholl/8730999022/.
From the description, he was using 15x15 aluminium extrusions for the structure. Terence managed to find a source for the exact type but it seemed that the dealer in SG doesn't like to deal with personal purchases. My email to them went into twilight zone...
I know a few places selling almost the same and so went checking. The smallest I can find is the 20x20, which we bought 2 sets for our project. The shop at King George's Avenue will only cut to shorter sections for ease of transporting the 5m length. Good enough for us as we both own a horizontal bandsaw.
This is how a Mini Kossel looks like (please click on the link to view the pix on Johann's Fllickr album as I've not gotten permission to post it here): http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcrocholl/8730999022/.
From the description, he was using 15x15 aluminium extrusions for the structure. Terence managed to find a source for the exact type but it seemed that the dealer in SG doesn't like to deal with personal purchases. My email to them went into twilight zone...
I know a few places selling almost the same and so went checking. The smallest I can find is the 20x20, which we bought 2 sets for our project. The shop at King George's Avenue will only cut to shorter sections for ease of transporting the 5m length. Good enough for us as we both own a horizontal bandsaw.
This was the first lot of 5m length of 20x20 aluminium extrusion cut into 4 short pieces for each of transportation.
Back home, while waiting for Terence to amend Johann's model to cater for the different size extrusion, I gave the Portabee another shot to see if I can print out something decent for use. The result was not as bad as previous trials but I don't feel comfortable using the printed parts. Here are some pix on the attempt:
If you wonder why is the part much shorter than the actual, I accidentally touched the USB cable connecting the printer to my notebook causing it to disconnect after an hour of printing... frankly, no point to finish the print from what I saw, and so the lost in communication was timely.
I received a good news from Terence just yesterday; he has completed the modification of the extrusion connectors and did a test print. Result was good. He went on to print some for me in blue. I've just gotten back from his place with the parts. They are so much nicer and the fit astonishing well!
Some pix to show off his work from his tweaked Replicator 2:
I received a good news from Terence just yesterday; he has completed the modification of the extrusion connectors and did a test print. Result was good. He went on to print some for me in blue. I've just gotten back from his place with the parts. They are so much nicer and the fit astonishing well!
Some pix to show off his work from his tweaked Replicator 2:
This is the same piece I was trying to print but created a mess out of...
I'm leaving this pix in its original size for greater details. See how well it fit the aluminimum extrusion? like a glove...
For our project, Terence will be the one doing the printed parts. Mine will be turning the delrin wheels that ride on the slots of the aluminium extrusion.
More stuff to acquire the next few days. We'll try to make whatever we can and buy the rest. Once we have the basic Mini Kossel up and running, we'll be looking at modifying it.
That's all for now. Be blessed!
More stuff to acquire the next few days. We'll try to make whatever we can and buy the rest. Once we have the basic Mini Kossel up and running, we'll be looking at modifying it.
That's all for now. Be blessed!
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