I got me a laser cutter, awesome!

I'm in awe, that's awesome. You have some skills, and congrats on getting the laser cutter for such a good price too.
 
Hmmm I want a Maker bot now.

I can get all the stuff cut. I have Steppers here, and an Arduino Mega.

What do I need to get...

(No I am not swapping, the laser is uber cool)
 
I finally got a job this week after months of searching without much look so I'm now saving up for my Makerbot.

This video explains what the MakerBot is if anyone doesn't understand:


PhillyDee said:
I may need a couple of replacement parts making, I broke a dino for mine, and its currently holding well, but I have no idea how long it will last!
Click to expand...

There are some printable dinos on Thingiverse that might be worth printing, I think they work with the standard extruder as well as the printruder.
 
PhillyDee said:
You do realise that you can now fab yourself most of the parts of a makerbot?

If you need any makerbotted parts then I am going to be firing mine back up at somepoint in the next 2 weeks. Its been sitting unused on a shelf. Poor thing!


I may need a couple of replacement parts making, I broke a dino for mine, and its currently holding well, but I have no idea how long it will last!
Click to expand...

If you need me to cut some bits, gimmie a shout. All I have done is nonsense on the laser so far :-)
 
Ok, I know a few of you want bacon. I have some nice smoked stuff here. What do you want me to laser on it?

How about I try to shape it like a pig, and see if I can cook it too :-)
 
PhillyDee said:
You do realise that you can now fab yourself most of the parts of a makerbot?

If you need any makerbotted parts then I am going to be firing mine back up at somepoint in the next 2 weeks. Its been sitting unused on a shelf. Poor thing!


I may need a couple of replacement parts making, I broke a dino for mine, and its currently holding well, but I have no idea how long it will last!
Click to expand...

i don't get how it does the top? why doesn't it squirt and fall through?
 
Ok, because I have more balsa lying around than acrylic.

I quickly made a Lancaster to go with the Spitfire I made earlier. I will make a Hurricane later and make a stand for all 3 in a Battle of Britain formation.

Honestly this thing is great!

lancaster1.jpg


lancaster2.jpg


Those props are very fragile!
 
Tefal said:
i don't get how it does the top? why doesn't it squirt and fall through?
Click to expand...

It does a little bit on the first pass, the plastic is a continuous stream though like a glue gun so as long as it is moving fast enough it will span the gap and anchor to the other side, it usually takes around 3 layers to 'seal' the top of a hollow object with a flat surface. There are limits on this as well, as soon as you try and span larger voids you will have problems. You can specify an infill for your object such as a honeycomb structure (see the print in the video I posted above) which adds a lot of strength and helps with sealing bigger voids but it eats up more plastic and isn't necessary on all things, especially smaller objects.

It's one of the areas of research in the RepRap/MakerBot projects, closely linked to support structures and overhang limits. Adjusting a combination of extrusion temperature, filament feed rate and axis speed you can actually span quite a large gap before you encounter problems. If you were to design a human figurine though you would need support structures for things like the arms were you to print it standing upright.

Your thinking would be correct for other 3D printing technologies such as SL or SLS which would require a support structure to do any sort of void spanning. With FDM there is some degree of flexibility before you need to add support structure. It's interesting to look at what people have managed to print on Thingiverse. It always amazes me what people are able to do with this technology.

Some nice clear videos of the MakerBot in action:


 
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Is that video sped up? It's so fast. That's really amazing for the money and time you've put into it.

How much would you sell a lasered sheet of that bolsa for? It would make an ace present for my brothers bday ;)

Good job :)
 
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