Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Maybe OT, reprap build started

On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 10:35 AM, Alan <KM6VV@...> wrote:

> I too found that the mechanical drawings were woefully inadequate, and
> schematics to be missing.

Mechanical drawing may be scarce, but when you have a 3d printer you
don't use them. CAD files are available for everything, however. Most
of the RepRap world uses OpenSCAD which is a free, Opensource CAD
program that should be able to export DXF's.

> I was interested in machining up an extruder to be used on a CNC platform
> (either my Sherline mill, or a PCB router I built).
>
> The RepRat parts I've seen hardly compare to those I've worked with made on
> a Dimension.

This does not surprise me at all. The quality has improved
DRAMATICALLY in the last 6 months. 6 months ago, even the best reprap
could only produce really high quality prints with a fair amount of
luck. The software has improved so much since then that once you have
your machine properly calibrated and tuned, you can produce good
poarts quite consistently. Things still go wrong, but it is nothing
like it used to be. I would say that most people are still not getting
quite as good as a Stratasys, but some people are getting far better,
including printing .05mm layers compared to the .2mm layers the
Stratasys uses. The trade off is speed, most people don't have the
patience for that sort of print, so most people don't really push the
quality limits.

> I'm familiar with the Arduino, and would consider using it for an extruder.
> Comments I've read are that only a very few (one?) EMC-ported RepRat is
> being run.  Apparently there are several additional G-Codes that must be
> added to accommodate the extruder, and possibly other things (?) to run on
> CNC.  I don't have all the information, and I'm in no way ready to start
> adding the necessary G-Codes to my own CNC controller program (Step4); but
> it's a thought.  I'd like to understand the algorithm controlling the
> extrusion process first.
>
> Show me the source code!

To what? Ask a specific question and I will happily attempt help you.
There are dozens of electronics variants (two of which I linked to
earlier and had prominent source file links), dozens of firmwares,
many printer designs, etc. ALL have source available, though in a few
cases the source locations are not as well linked as they should be.
But the GPL does not say you need to make the source easy to find,
only that you have to provide it, and it is all available.

>
> Alan  KM6VV
>
>> [mailto:CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Phil@Yahoo
>>
>> Thanks, but those URLs serve only to illustrate my point. For example, the
>> "schematic" on the extruder page is actually a picture of a schematic (a
>> .png file) which shows only the pinouts of the major components of the
>> board. It does not show how they are interconnected, nor is it complete.
> In
>> short it is useless, a pretense. Same thing for "source code." You can
> find
>> things like test programs to drive the extruder at a constant rate or to
>> read the thermocouple, but nothing non-trivial. By far the most space is
>> devoted to instructions on assembling the PCB. This "open source" project
> is
>> nothing more than a thinly disguised marketing program. Nothing wrong with
>> selling, but to do so under false premises is, in my opinion, despicable.
>> Technical aptitude or not, a liar is still a liar. (NOTE: I'm not calling
>> YOU a liar. I don't know who is behind the false claims. It's a matter of
>> principle. It's unethical.) These web pages look at first glance like a
>> trove of valuable information, but they are really little more than a
> sales
>> pitch. I'll withdraw my assertion when somebody shows me something
>> substantial that is useful without first buying something from the
>> promoters.
>>
>> --Phil M.
>
>
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