RT @BotJunkie: Rod Brooks is gonna kick things off here in a sec- we're big fans over at @IEEESpectrum of course spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo… #xconBot
MakerBot is in the Lab
The MakerBot is finally here! After waiting around for 2 months (8-weeks), it suddenly showed up one afternoon in May. Yes, I know, here it is July and I am finally posting about it. I just haven’t had the time to finally put everything up. I have had too much fun printing things!
The story of how it came to be was simple. I remember being at a Home Brew Robotics club meeting about two months ago, and having a conversation something to the effect of …..”If you wait another month to order it, that will be yet another month you will kick yourself that you didn’t order it” ….I ordered it the next day! Eight, nail biting weeks later, it showed up!
Yay, I am printing things in 3D!
It was very easy to to set up, and make some few initial prints with it, however, it was difficult to get the print quality to be good and consistent without modifying it. MODIFY YOU SAY?? YES! Time to hack it and I only had it a week!
The first big problem was, that printed parts would not stick to the build platform, and tear itself up early in a print, or that corners of the part being printed would peel up, and you would end up with a warped item. Much discussion online pointed to the problem that the building envelope was not fully enclosed, so any breeze in the room could cause strange cooling effects on the plastic being printed, and allow it to let go of the build platform.
Modification #1 – Enclose the build area with a hood, and covers out of Laser Cut Acrylic
I downloaded this design from ThingVerse and modified it to suit my needs:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:23386
Modification #2 – Level the Build Platform
I found this little mount for a dial indicator on ThingVerse, printed it out, and in no time I was able to level my build platform completely using a dial indicator I already owned.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:23257
Next thing I know, I have beautiful prints coming out of the machine!