Sunday, February 12, 2017

8 x 8 LED Cube!

Found this kit online from China. It didn't come with any instructions but I'm currently optimistic that I can figure out how to make this work. Wish me luck!
 


Saturday, January 14, 2017

ZeGo 3D Printer Adapters for Bowden J-Head and Z-Probe

Actually, I made this quite a long time ago. If you have a Zego Delta Printer then this will work for you. The work to get the holes to line up with the "lasered" plastic took some work.



These are 2 parts for my ZeGo Delta Robot for the 3d extruder.

One part is to attach the J-Head within the middle of the magnetic base.

The other part press fits the z-probe to the side of the magnetic base since the print head is now in the way.

See the pictures for attachment references.

Let me know if you use it on Thingiverse, mKay?

Download the file here:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1102589

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Cobblebot - Reducing play in the linear assemblies

My brother Chris and I have noticed the play between the bolts and the roller bearings. Chris came up with a clever fix using aluminum tape.

Chris found that wrapping the entire circumference of the bolt was too tight to slip the bearings on so he used an utility knife to reduce the width of tape, allowing for more play. Your results may vary but refer to the images below to see what worked for him.

Tape applied to the bolt.


Tape applied to partially assembled bearing assembly.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

DesignSpark Mechanical - The Best Free CAD Program

For 2 years my CAD program-of-choice has been DesignSpark Mechanical (DSM). It was so easy to use and feature-rich.

Today I came across this video by Hoffman Engineering [Christopher Hoffman]. Hoffman did such a fantastic job of capturing the best qualities of DSM that I wanted to share it on my site.

Additional Links:

Tell me your experiences if you have tried DS or another product.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Cobblebot - Roller Bearing Fix With 3-D Printed Shims/Washers

If you participated in the Cobblebot Kickstarter campaign in 2015 you may have received your kit and are enjoying some of the challenges of low cost 3D Printer builds.

Many supporters have expressed their issues with the roller bearing assembly and various rub issues with spacers, washers, eccentric spacers and bolt heads. In this video I show how I am solving for these issues.




Here are the 3D print files on Thingiverse.com:



Most Likely this will work for all the different versions of the Cobblebot machines. Both Cobblebot Kickstarter campaign:




Sunday, November 8, 2015

Mouse Pad Print Bed Trial #01

The latest craze in the print platform has moved beyond hairspray and blue tape. There is a new product called BuildTak at BuildTak.com that many users are loving. The downside is the expense, go to their site and see.

Looking at their video's and photos on the web I couldn't help but notice how similar the surface looked like my mouse pad. Granted, they do not have a rubber backing but how but testing a quick 10x10mm cube to find out if sticks.

Here is my first attempt that literally took me 30 seconds to set up. Let me know if you think this can lead to something awesome like buying cheap mouse pads, ripping off the backing and making our own BuildTak quality build surface.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

ZeGo Delta Printer - First Print with J-Head Bowden Extruder



First Print! Although I never received the 3D Print head attachment from the zegorobotics.com website (post their Indiegogo campaign) I have been working on developing my own 3D Printer attachment. Here are my first real results.

The very first results were so poor it was clear there were leveling issues and I was not yet finished with calibration. This was the first time the print head moved level with the platform.

Regarding the MK8 J-head Hotend Bowden Extruder. It was a struggle to get this extruder working and it still "clicks" as it tries to push PLA filament through. I have much to learn with Bowden extruders as my only experience thus far has been with direct drive.

Hot-End Used: MK8 J-head Hotend Bowden Extruder