Friday 31 July 2009

quick update

well as you can see form my flickr bit, i have made the shell... will updfate later but im at work currently :P

YAY

Sunday 26 July 2009

Right, i cant wait till tomorrow, i get to make my makerbot on the laser cutter, however need to resize the 4mm sheet plywood design, as its somehow saved itself as to be made 30x20 mm therefopre the pullys are nopw 4mm in diameter :(

Also today i ordered my rods and belts from spi-di but as they dont have 2 of the belts in stock i bought open ended belt, that i can cut and crip together using the clamps on the y and x axis :D

I also bought some of the bolts -and nuts, however i bought 200 m8 nuts, not 200 m3! DOH!!!

i am considering, to make it look nice, to use button headed m3 bols, to give it a nice smooth feel to the edges... we shall see as the cost on ebay is expensive - will see if i can do a deal with the seller (stainlessbolts) to get a better price - but will wait till i have the various wood bits, hopefully tomorrow afternoon!!!
right need to pack my iBook that i sold on ebay to fund my makerbot... YAY

Saturday 25 July 2009

Makerbot laser cut parts

Well, i finally did it, i have taken my new sheets of plywood to uni and handed over the designs, they are going to be laser cut on a 600x800mm laser cutter, make not known, and it will require 3 parts made on the 5mm plywood (6mm) and 1 set on the 4mm plywood. this will also result in spare bits - the x and y parts are duplicated, so incase i break anything i dont have to go back and get it cut - saves time aswell as it is all contained on the one sheet.

after looking on ebay, i decieded to purchase a set of 4 stepper motors - which means i have one nema type 17 spare incase! that cost me a little over £40, but it does work out slightly cheaper than that in the makerbot store if you consider postage.

However, thinking about it, and trying to source that parts for the belts etc, im getting quotes of about £15 for the smaller belt, so it may just be easier to pay the $175 for the complete pack and have done with it. I am also tempted to buy the pack for the electronics gen 3 aswell, m but as some parts are out, then i will have to wait.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Makerbot, my plans for making one, and the first step!

Hi all, and welcome to my blog.

The reason why i wanted to create this blog was to document my build of my own cnc MakerBot, which im hopefuklly going to build on my own, without buying much from the makerbot stores. I have access to a laser cutter and machinery at university, so i thoought i would have a go.

The first bits i have got are the plywood sheets from a local timber shop, so i bought 6mm (to be made down to 5mm at the joins) and 3.18mm plywood, for the x and y stages.

I have also bought the m8 screw threads for the z axis.

It has been a slow start but i have been looking forward to building a 3d printer for a while. The Reprap started me off, and the ability to make and construct things such as animatronic head and the facial features.
Also having the ability to make the circuits required for this MakerBot, i feel i can make it cheapwer than the costs given, as i have the facilities.