Printer WIP

Is that a dremel sanding drum? What function does it serve? I no nothing about these machines

It acts as part of a pulley.  A cord is wrapped around it and that cord moves one of the axes. I suspect that since stepper motors had a high acceleration they may have found the cord wrapped around a rubber/vinyl pulley may have slipped too much. I worry, though, about the cords wearing through too quickly.

Building this thing is different. While you can download a PDF set of instructions, the pictures are smaller. If I use the main html instructions I can click on a small photo and it links to a larger picture (color pictures).

This seems to be the new paradigm.  Many of the FSM articles these days are mainly a bunch of pictures with captions, and little text.  I guess folks are worried about a decrease in literacy.

Thanks for the reply mr stauffer, I'll be following  this with great interest. Seems like there oughta be some flanges on the sides of it though?

Or is there some sort of tracking adjustment?

I think the pulley is so wide that with proper tension the cord can't run off the ends.

Don,

Does some software come with the kit or will you use something else that's available? It's learning a 3D CAD program that causes me heartburn.

The software is downloaded from the kit producer's web site. I believe it may be open source software applicable to a number of different printers.  In fact, I believe my kit, although produced by a company, is based on open source hardware/software.  There is a real movement towards extending the idea of open source from software into hardware.  That is, there is no real copyright on the design the way we ordinarily think of it.  Any copyright must give folks permission to share.  So there are any number of designs on the web of 3D printers and CNC mills with all the drawings and software (and some instructions) available for download.  And lots of mods, too, as folks build them slightly differently.  A new world!

How are you gonna weather it Don? :)

He's gonna spray Future on it before the panel line wash.

The instructions say nothing about finishing the plywood material of the main structure, but I decided to paint it anyway.  I found a nice satin medium blue that looks like a good machinery color.  I WAS thinking of maybe adding a decal or two :-)

After you get this working, where do you get the printer supplies? Are they expensive?