Just Following Instructions

Before I began assembling my ORD Bot's mechanical frame, I assumed that it would be a bit like putting together a particularly complicated piece of IKEA furniture.  I expected to have to do some research on the parts involved.  I expected the process to be unfamiliar and fiddly, and to make mistakes along the way.  But essentially I expected that I would be following a set of comprehensive instructions that would give me enough detail to slog through it on my own without too much help, despite being a total noob.

I started on Thursday using the ORD Bot Wiki as my guide.  Yes, I know what a wiki is, but I was wide-eyed and optimistic nonetheless.  Here are just some of the challenges I faced:

• The instructions assumed assembly from scratch, and my frame came partially assembled.  It took me some time to work out which instructions to follow and which weren't relevant.
• Where the instructions referred to a specific part, I often had no idea what it looked like.  For example, apparently this is an eccentric spacer:

The picture in my head was something more like this:

• The diagrams are all engineering drawings, which means they're very accurate and meticulously labelled.  Unfortunately I've never had to interpret engineering drawings before.
• The wiring instructions say you should do the wiring "very early in the build", but don't actually say where the wires have to end up and how they connect to their destination.
• There are two sets of assembly instructions for the main frame and z axis.  The first is more technical, but is complete.  The second is more noob-friendly but missing some vital steps.

I managed to fit most of the pieces together though, dismissing the wiring for the moment and concentrating on the frame itself.  And then my partner came home.  Having done a lot of work on our Makerbot, he found a couple of problems I didn't pick up on:

• The build platform was wobbly.  I figured I could fix it later, but he immediately realised that one of the eccentric spacers underneath was out of alignment.  Problem solved!
• The z axis motor shafts weren't aligned properly with the nut blocks (that's not innuendo, but it should be).  We had to unscrew the motor mounts and move them a couple of millimetres further out.  On one side this worked fine.  On the other side it had been screwed in too tightly (more wasted innuendo...) and couldn't be budged by hand.  Construction had to stop until we could get to the hackerspace and find a drill.

Fast forward to Saturday at the hackerspace, where my partner grabbed a Dremel and tore the offending screw a new one, converting it from a hex socket to a flat slot:

This provided enough leverage to take the screw out and move the motor mount.  Then I attached the couplers and leadscrews, and started manually turning them to move the gantry down.  Success!

Or so I thought, until a kind visitor to the hackerspace suggested that I test the various parts of the frame with a level, which showed that the different axes were out of alignment.  Luckily, he also knew how to remedy the situation.  So this is what my robot looks like now:

TLDR: When IKEA release their own 3D printer range (you know they will eventually, and it'll have a maddening faux-Scandinavian name with gratuitous diacritics, like Ekstrüüdå) I want to get my hands on their instruction booklet.

Now, on to the extruder and electronics *eye roll*

Poetry in Plastic

Last night I received some of the parts for my extruder:

These parts are extra special because they themselves are 3D printed, by one of the resident gurus at my hackerspace. To me there's something supremely poetic about printers printing other printers. Although that may just be the alliteration...

Creating a self-replicating machine is one of the stated goals of the RepRap project. To me it's a fascinating and inspiring vision - one of those points where science fiction meets real life. We're not there yet. Most 3D printer components are still made of materials that you simply can't manufacture on a hobbyist machine. But there are some highly innovative people in the RepRap community, so it could happen some day. The latest step is the invention of this printable stepper motor:

What a time to be alive.

Foxy Unboxing

After a somewhat epic trip across the city and back, today I picked up my ORD Bot and brought it home.  The box was surprisingly small and light, but all the ingredients were in there:

The box itself, freshly arrived from the exotic Orient.

Inside the box, layer 1 - RAMPS
kit, heated bed and part of the frame.

Inside the box, layer 2 - The rest
of the frame, wiring and endstops.

Close-up of the electricals.  The RAMPS
kit I bought includes a display.

Close-up of the endstops - one set of
mechanical and one set of magnetic.

The tiniest Allen key I've ever seen!

The whole assemblage.

The ORD Bot kit doesn't come with an extruder, which is part of why I chose it since I'm going to fit it with a paste extruder anyway.  Initially I'm planning to use a peristaltic pump, which seems to be the simplest option to start off with.

Let the assembly begin!

And So It Begins...

A year or so ago, I discovered 3D printing when my partner introduced me to Makerbot and suggested we get one of our own.  I'm a crafty person by nature, so the prospect of an entirely new form of making things was immediately inspiring.  We soon welcomed a shiny new Makerbot Thing-O-Matic into our lives and thus began a new obsession.

It was only a matter of time before I discovered Makerbot's frostruder, an extruder made specifically for printing frosting onto cupcakes.  And yes, turning CAD drawings into solid plastic objects is mind-blowingly amazing, but turning them into something you can eat is exciting on a whole new level.  Eventually I also found out about RichRap's experiments in paste extrusion.  He begins with a range of edibles and then steps it up a notch, printing in porcelain clay which can then be fired.  It was at this point that I decided I needed to get in on the action.

So to cut a long story short, I've recently ordered an ORD Bot Hadron (or as I like to think of it, the prettiest of the RepRaps), which I'll be fitting with a paste extruder.  I'll be using this blog to share my learning process as I assemble my 3D printer and experiment with extrusion methods, feedstocks and CAD design.  Since I'm a almost a complete newbie at these things, there will be a lot of learning to share.  If the mood takes me I might also talk a bit about hackerspace culture and the world of hobbyist 3D printing.

Posts will happen whenever I feel like it, but please check in every now and then to share in my adventures.