RepRap Magazine Issue 2

We have a some really special community announcements as part of the RepRap Magazine Issue 2 -

Stay tuned for more information and please get involved if you can!

The RepRap Magazine team - working hard for you

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

Small but important thing about Megatronics2: It can use 32microsteps , just moving a jumper, allowing you to use those 8825-based stepsticks.

Very nice issue!

Best Regards
Davide Ardizzoia

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no toys here...sorry

Looking very nice! It is a goldmine of information. I particularly like the article on lasers by Viktor (haven't finished reading though)! The overall editing quality is exceptional.

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3D Metal Printing and more - visit [www.metalbot.org] !

i like the new issue magazine just one note on the prusa i3 and dual extruder just a note on pg35l i have one for my printer but it was very hard to get hold of one. There is a Ultibots that supply them with there extruders they sell but dont seem to have them in stock on there own, but if any of you know where i can buy them it be good knowledge for future reference

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Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

up and running
[3dimetech.blogspot.co.uk]

I have heard rumours the pg35l gearbox doesn't last long. Anybody got good life from one?

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

systemguy on irc i bought one off he had no problem, i will find out soon lol?

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Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

up and running
[3dimetech.blogspot.co.uk]

I got issue 1 with no problem,,,,,where is #2?

Hi,

issue 2 can be found in our website page at: [reprapmagazine.com]

Cheers

just a update there will be a supply of pg35l from july as i have been informed by ultibot

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Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

up and running
[3dimetech.blogspot.co.uk]

Just curious about a remark I noticed in this last issue: how does printing from sd-card improve your printing quality?
(that besides the Megatronics support DRV and 1/32 erata)

Data transfer from the PC to the printer has many problems. The serial communication is relative slow, And the PC also does other things that can slow down the communication.
If the communication is to slow the print speeds slows down or stops for a small moment.

Printing from SD-Card removes these communication problems.

Also USB comms to the machine can be unreliable due to it creating a ground loop.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

That said, serial communications clearly has room for improvements. The current "waiting for ok" approach is about the slowest thinkable. See [reprap.org]

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Nophead -

We have been using PG35L motors for a year now on production printers with great success. Our printers run 8 hours a day 3-4 days a week cranking out MendelMax 1.5+ parts. To date, only one motor has been replaced BUT it is now suspected that the problem was an overheating Pololu. The gear case was opened and little wear on the gears was noted.

The PG35L works great with our Micro Extruder V5 design. Today we received hundreds of NEW PG35Ls from NMB.

I believe that our success is because the shaft is supported by 2 bearings in opposition to the forces of the idler bearing. The V5 design works great on Prusa, MendelMax, and Deltas. It is compact, light weight, and for us reliable. The biggest issue IMO is overheating. Getting the current/voltage set correctly on the Pololu is critical. We have sold hundreds and have only replaced one since December (due to motor failure from heat). I believe that ultimately it is a consumable and will wear out/fail BUT it costs much less than a geared NEMA and its size benefits makes it a great choice for RepRap 3D printers. Lastly, JohnD & Busybotz have also had success with them and use them for production printing. They have posted positive results on the MendelMax Group on Google.

I hope this helps.

Brad Norman
Owner - Ultibots LLC

nophead Wrote:
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> I have heard rumours the pg35l gearbox doesn't
> last long. Anybody got good life from one?

I've had good experience with them, I have printed at least 15 kilo of plastic with mine and they were still in good health until I let them run with my fan off by mistake. The white grease inside turned to black and since then they have been making a lot of noise.

Anyway, I switched to the 42BYG48HJ50 (http://www.2engineers.com/shop/geared150/) and re-worked my extruder to work with those. If you are looking for a drop-in replacement extruder that work with the instructions in reprap maganize issue 2, look at my repository: [github.com] and there is also a version 2 which is functionally the same but prints in multiple parts (v1 was very tall and prone to warping).

By the way, great work on the visual instructions for my prusa 3 variant, I'm very flattered that you have chosen mine to present. Thanks a lot to everyone involved!

RichRap,

Great job on both issues. I learned a lot of useful information.

I got my Mendelmax 1.5 kit about a month ago. I finally got it to print last week. The vendor promised support from unboxing to first print but dropped the ball after the hardware was screwed together.

I was lost in the woods until I found your site. It provided a wealth of information and answered a lot of questions.

Many THANKS

I have enjoyed the magazines so far.
As an individual who at this moment is researching a 3d printer kit to buy, I agree with Nophead where he states that (I'm paraphrasing) "people want a cheap easy to assemble printer capable of quality printing". I think that it is cool that there are machines capable or printing an amount of parts to build another machine as a way of dissemination. But I want to spend my money and time on a machine that I can successfully assemble and get good parts with minimal fussing and tuning. Also that I can contact someone for support if needed who will know exactly the specifications of the machine I have and can stand behind failed components if required.
Keep up the good work.