Just a little post highlighting the new gear page I just added that lists all the photo, video and tech gear I use regularly.
Very similar to my Flickr profile listing but more in depth and lots of links to it all for the curious.
All posts in
In my last update on the building of a Prusa Mendel reprap 3d printer, I finally got everything working in with the printer…if only for a few minutes.
I’ve yet to actually print anything recognizable thanks to a number of challenges along the way.
Once I got the software sorted, I tried printing some calibration cubes. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as the extruder got clogged with PLA almost immediately. It seems I was trying to force the filament into the hotend faster than it should have been. So then I had to disassemble it, clear it out and try again.
After rebuilding the hotend, the X axis belt was loose so in the process of tightening it, I managed to break all the PLA bushings that were supporting the X axis. I had already fixed these recently so was pretty much done with them at this point. Fortunately, I received some LM8UU linear bearings (from Mixshop.ca which are smaller than normal ones for some reason) and printed some replacement parts (in blue – I couldn’t be bothered to swap colors to match the previously printed green ones).
I liked the design of the Prusa 2 parts but wasn’t prepared to cut my smooth rod to make it work so I modified a derivative version of the Prusa 1 idler to fit my LM8UUs (which I posted on Thingiverse in case it would be useful to anyone else). I now have a hybrid X axis since the motor mount is this one (with the awesome integrated endstop trigger) and the idler is a modified Prusa 1 version for LM8UUs.
It all works so I’m happy and I don’t have to worry about snapping off any more bushings. I opted to stick with the old X-carriage as it’s opening is large enough to allow me to remove the extruder and hotend without having to disassemble it (although I may swap in this open x version once I track down the bearings…which leads me to my next issue:
Seems that once again, I was pushing too much filament into the hotend and I may have had a problem during one of my rebuilds with the teflon tape getting compromised which lead to the ‘leakage’ of PLA above the PEEK block in the photo above.
This should be easy to fix and I’ll try it all again very soon. Once again, the folks in the local RepRap group I belong to helped out very quickly by helping to diagnose the issues just from some photos so I hope to be finally printing by this weekend.
One final thing for Reprap users on Mac OSX – Kliment has released a native OSX app version of Pronterface which I found on his Github while troubleshooting getting a new version of it running…this is great as it means I don’t need to run a couple of command line scripts in order to get Pronterface going anymore. Works like a charm!
With the great afternoon weather we’ve been having lately, it seemed like the perfect time to finally head out to Boundary Bay in Delta to check out the snowy owls. To add to the effect, it had recently snowed too.
I was surprised how close the owls were to the trail (and tons of people) and we were able to see at least 8 in just our field of view…with many more further out. There was even a barn owl hunting nearby but I wasn’t able to get any good shots of him.
No shortage of photographers doing the same thing I was, except with much better (or at least more expensive) gear:
This is what $12 million gets you…the estate overlooking the owls and the bay:
I also managed to capture one of my favorite sunsets yet:
View the full photo set on Flickr.
If you want to check out the owls for yourself, head out towards Ladner via Hwy 99. Turn left onto Ladner Trunk Road and then right at 72nd Street (follow the signs to Boundary Bay Airport). Stay on 72nd until the end of the road and park where ever you can (likely along 72nd but there are a few parking spaces at the very end). There is a trail you should stay on that gives you plenty of viewing of owls. Don’t disturb the owls by getting too close…there are lots of signs saying as such.
During the recent holidays, I spent a few days in Seattle. One of the things I’ve wanted to do there for awhile is visit Metrix Create Space, Seattle’s hackerspace.
Conveniently, they have a regular 3d printer night on Thursdays and that happened to be the night I had free to visit.
Upon arriving, I was greeted by Matt, the owner of Metrix and he gave me a tour. It’s definitely a maker’s dream space with lots of room, tools and even a sushi place upstairs that delivers to nerds in need.
There is an array of cool tools to use including 3d printers, a laser cutter, a giant CNC machine and lots of soldering/laptop workstations.
One of the things I had read about Metrix is that they have been making clonedel parts for 3d printers which are basically molds that you use to create objects out of whatever material you pour into the molds. It was cool to see the setup in person and check out the quality of the parts:
There was also a couple of reprap printers built with the clonedel parts:
They also have a vending machine filled with arduino microcontrollers and other geeky toys, snacks (including MREs!) and electronic kits. I ended up buying a bunch of things for myself from the machine:
Since this was a 3d printer night, Matthew brought down his CupCake:
(aka a FakerBot since it was a copy of Makerbot’s open source design that they made at Metrix) which he had modified to make it quite similar to my beloved Thing-O-Matic in how the Z stage operates.
I brought some of my prints and we compared parts. His modified CupCake was printing incredibly well…just as good as my Thing-O-Matic and much better than the output I had seen from stock CupCakes, thanks to his mods (which he posted on Thingiverse shortly after my visit).
I love how the CupCake has all the electronics and wiring on the OUTSIDE…so much more accessible:
It was a very fun way to spend a Thursday night in Seattle…I highly recommend checking out Metrix if you’re in Seattle as they offer lots of interesting workshops and a really cool atmosphere.
One thing I get asked all the time about my 3D printers is where do I get the models that I print? I follow Thingiverse daily to see what others have created but sometimes you need something very specific. So you have to create it yourself.
One method I’ve used is 2D extrusion which how I made the page keeper gadget for a coworker.
Another method is called solid modelling. There is a relatively new website, called Tinkercad, that gives you the tools to create 3D objects right in your browser, for free. It is built on the WebGL platform so requires a modern browser (and in some cases, modern graphics cards) to run it…I used Chrome as Safari doesn’t currently support WebGL.
Using a number of different shapes you can add or subtract the shapes to build up your design.
You choose the height and the size of the shape using direct numeric entry or a slider.
Choosing the workplane allows you change the level or angle you’re working on.
The measure tool allows you to create a positionable ruler to assist with measurements of your design.
The top left menu item, “Print 3D”, is how you export your model. You can either export it to an *.STL file (which is compatible with other 3d software packages as well as the software I use to print with my 3d printer) or you can send it to a 3d printing service like Shapeways.com if you don’t own a 3d printer. They’ll print it for you, in a number of different material options and ship it to your door.
Here’s their quick start tutorial that should give you a better idea of how it works:
I wanted to design a mount that would allow me to attach my GoPro camera to a remote control quadcopter. I couldn’t find a design on Thingiverse so I toyed with modifying some other GoPro mounts on there for the purpose but nothing looked like it would work any better than simply duct taping the camera down.
I also didn’t want to modify the quadcopter at all so opted to use the same mount point for the battery which already has velcro to hold it in place. I did find a mount online that someone designed and printed with a 3d printer who was selling it but there wasn’t any good detail photos of it so I had to come up with my own version and used my calipers to measure everything.
It took a few iterations before I found a design that worked:
The final version (I had to print two of them):
Here’s the results of this mount attached to the quadcopter with GoPro camera installed:
Turned out pretty good! Now to design one that fits underneath the quadcopter for an unencumbered view.
Another cool thing about Tinkercad is that you are given a permalink to your design that you can share. Then others can make a copy of it and make other things with it. I did this with something I found on Thingiverse, a tool holder for my 3d printer, that was a cleverly designed mount for tools that are commonly used when operating the 3d printer. I thought the same object, minus the tool parts, would be great for mounting my webcam onto the printer. The creator of the tool holder had used Tinkercad to create it so it was easy to duplicate it and then erase the unneeded bits to make this:
So I made a couple versions, a big and small one depending on what you wanted to attach to the platform.
So far, I’ve been really impressed with Tinkercad. I’ve found it the easiest way to get designing something, without all the usual technical stuff. It did take a little getting used to and it was a little tricky to figure out the workplane stuff, but once I spent a little time with it, it got much easier. I also now have two different designs that I have successfully printed and are working great.
There’s also a newer beta version you can try out at labs.tinkercad.com.
Over the holidays I spent an afternoon at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle with my girlfriend. I still find it strange to have such a large zoo in the middle of a residential area in the heart of Seattle.
It was a good place to try out the new zoom lens (a 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
Here’s some of my favourite photos from the visit:
Not the best photo since it was shot through glass, but I think it was funny that he was licking his lips as he approached me and then turned around and peed directly on the window in front of us…
View the full set of photos on Flickr.
ABC Australia science show story on DIY Reprap machine in Bath UK. Great introduction to 3D printing.
via The Future is 3D
Recently, Tassimo sent me a huge box full of new coffee flavors to try out. I’m normally a latte drinker (grande toffee nut soy or 1% milk latte) and never really acquired the taste for straight, black coffee (with or without sugar & milk).
I know some of my readers are self-proclaimed coffee snobs…I get that. I’ve made many attempts at home with too many coffee makers, espresso machines, etc to count. I like the Tassimo since it’s single serve and easy to clean/maintain. I just wish the T-discs were more environmentally friendly or at least refillable.
Anyways, after a lively chat with a coworker and our local baristas, it was suggested that I give black coffee a try. They said it would take at least a few days to get used to it and then I wouldn’t look back. I could also use a little milk or creme to ‘take the edge off’ since I’m used to sweet & milky lattes.
So I decided since I had all this new coffee to sample, might as well give it a shot.
So, since Sunday I’ve been skipping the usual $5+ latte (I even have syrup at home to make it just like at Starbucks) and give ‘regular’ coffee the good ole college try.
I’ll let you know if I’ve been converted next week.
UPDATE: Success! I’ve been converted…well, at least not loathe to try a non-latte coffee on a regular basis. I may spoil myself occasionally with one though…perhaps like my friend, Lee LeFever who likes to earn his latte during the week and save it for Fridays.
I didn’t do it strictly via Tassimo though…with some Starbucks & mystery cafeteria coffee thrown in the mix over the past week. Thanks to everyone that commented here and on Facebook…machines like the Tassimo work for me since I don’t live beside a coffee shop with a Clover machine, nor am I interested in spending the time in the morning brewing my own the conventional way. Certainly on the weekends, I’m able to spend more time but during the week, with my commute, it’s a drive-by coffee experience or none at all. The environmental impacts of this approach aren’t lost on me either (as I noted in the post above). Maybe I’ll soon be able to recycle the t-discs in my 3d printer?
Figured it was time for a build update on my Prusa Mendel 3D printer. I had some friends over this past weekend from our RepRap user group and we ended up spending the whole day tinkering with the printer.
With huge help from Brad and Eugene, we were able to get everything wired up and the motors moving.
It was pretty cool to finally get to this point and have things generally work as they were expected. The only issue I noticed was that the Z axis was inverted so it was simply a matter of flipping the connector around.
It wasn’t without some casualties though…we managed to break off 3 different PLA bushings while testing things.
If I was doing this from scratch tomorrow, I’d definitely skip the PLA bushings and go for LM8UU or brass bushings…the PLA bushings plus the epoxy is just a pain in the butt.
When testing out the Z axis motors, it became apparent right away that that original couplers weren’t going to work. The threaded rods wobbled like crazy and I may have stripped the plastic parts when assembling. Fortunately I had a set of the updated couplers printed which worked really well after a quick trip to Home Depot for some tubing.
At Brad’s suggestion, I swapped out the original belt clamps for the new ones in the 2nd Iteration of the Prusa files as it’s taller, has grooves for the belt teeth to hold it and helps the belt line up better with the motor and bearings on the Y axis.
I had printed some M3 nut thumbwheels for use elsewhere and they came in handy for leveling the build area on the aluminum thick sheet I have.
Brad also soldered the wires to the heated build plate PCB (Mk1) after my failed attempts…seems my new soldering iron tip wasn’t heating up enough but Brad was able to make it work. The PCB works great and gets toasty hot pretty quick.
The RAMPS 1.4 board almost fully wired up…just missing the extruder and thermistor connections:
Note the fancy fan with blue leds – everyone seemed to like it and wanted to get one for themselves. It’s an Antec SpotCool
We also had quite the adventure figuring out how to make a usable hot end out of the parts I had from Mixshop. The brass barrel was too short so we cut down the PEEK block and also milled out the heater block with a drill bit and some fancy dremeling by Brad.
Not a lot left to do: mount the endstops, clean up the wiring, finish building the extruder/hotend and check everything is tight and level. Hopefully this weekend I should knock those off the list and possibly even get to the point of extruding some plastic! I can already tell that I’ll have lots of calibration to do…it’s definitely not as solid yet as my MakerBot is so the fine tuning will be critical to getting some decent prints with it.
Also have to say thanks again to Brad & Eugene…they were a huge help and I’m not sure where I’d be without their assistance at this point. One of the things that’s good & bad about RepRaps is that there are an infinite number of ways to build them…having Brad & Eugene share their wisdom was awesome and really sped up the build since I didn’t have to make some key decisions because they’ve already been through the process.
UPDATE: Here’s a couple videos of the motors running. The extruder is just clamped in place (for now) for testing purposes. Yes, it’s a printed clamp :)
I’m currently running the Sprinter firmware on the RAMPS and using PronterFace (running on Mac OSX) to control everything but it also works with Replicator G:
So much quieter than my MakerBot! Although the motor speeds in the videos are pretty low…it can go MUCH faster.
UPDATE #2: Success! Last night the bot extruded it’s first plastic (PLA). The hotend worked perfect right out of the gate (once I had all the wires properly connected), it just needs to be tidied up with some kapton tape. Next step is to calibrate and actually print something:
I was a little disappointed though. I had read that PLA (which is basically cornstarch) smelled like candy when extruded in this manner…sadly it doesn’t…in fact it doesn’t smell like anything although I haven’t had it printing for hours…perhaps it will be more noticable once I start printing objects.
UPDATE #3: Printing! Sort of!
Had an issue with the Z-axis voltage being too low to move the whole extruder (now properly installed), the whole X-axis fell down and the filament was sliding off the hobbed bolt teeth (results of which are in the video above). I’ve printed a filament guide that should help with this so I hope to actually be printing something recognizable tonight.
My original plan was to use Replicator G but I’m quite liking PronterFace with SFACT installed instead of the regular Skeinforge. It’s almost like the Print-O-Matic settings options I have for my MakerBot and aside from my filament issue, the above print is done with no calibration at all! It definitely looks correct when it’s going thru the motions.
For the second year in a row, I was asked to help document the Christmas Wish Breakfast event at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver. This was the 24th year of the event and it was the biggest yet!
A highlight this year was the surprise from the Vancouver Fire Department who had a couple of their guys repel down the exterior of the hotel, with toys in tow:
The dramatic sunrise lighting and venting steam only added to the spectacle!
Sophie Louie from Global TV looks on as the firemen repel from above.
At the end of the morning, over 12 tonnes of toys had been donated! That should make for a lot of happy kids come Christmas morning!
Thanks to Rishad at the Pan Pacific Hotel for inviting me along…it was a great event to get up early for.
View all my photos from the morning on Flickr and see the full wrapup on the Pan Pacific’s blog.
