ok the temp on the heater bed is still showing up 359, sometimes. It seems like a loose connection, working on that.

I calibrated mostly the z stage since it was wildly off. My bot has the z stage acme rod upgrade, I think the number of steps is doubled from the stock rods that shipped. here are my ‘pretty close but could be closer numbers’.

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT   {94.5,94.5,1248,100}

Extrusion testing continues.  I have extruded a bit more and the stepper jumped some steps. It could be current, or speed, or temperature. I hope the extruder set up I have works. it is the MK5 with the high torque stepper, I think that make it a MK6 +.

http://www.makerbot.com/docs/stepstruder-mk6-plus/

I must see if I can open the makerbot firmware for that info.

ok the temp on the heater bed is still showing up 359, sometimes. It seems like a loose connection, working on that.

I calibrated mostly the z stage since it was wildly off. My bot has the z stage acme rod upgrade, I think the number of steps is doubled from the stock rods that shipped. here are my ‘pretty close but could be closer numbers’.

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT   {94.5,94.5,1248,100}

Extrusion testing continues.  I have extruded a bit more and the stepper jumped some steps. It could be current, or speed, or temperature. I hope the extruder set up I have works. it is the MK5 with the high torque stepper, I think that make it a MK6 +.

http://www.makerbot.com/docs/stepstruder-mk6-plus/

I have gone through a lot of trial and error but I have made some good progress.

I am using the the ultimaker version of replicatorg and marlan for firmware. I tried sprinter but was never able to connect.

UltiReplicatorG-0025-beta1-mac.dmg

So far X,Y,Z stages seem to react properly although they still need calibration.
The hot end is heating, and temp looks like it is working well.
X & Y End-stops are in place but not configured in software.
After quite a bit of struggle I got the HBP temp reading, by using T2 pins (not T1, doh). I also rewired the HBP so that the thermistor is directly connected to the pins, I removed the whole 5v bit. Apparently I had mis-wired it wrong during the original build, or possibly makerbot changed the wiring after my original build.  It seemed to work right all that time.

HBP does not respond to the control panel, I suspect the firmware or replicatorg. I will also check to make sure the board is not resetting.

I was able to extrude some PLA. I turned on the extruder while it was cold and let it run, it was not pushing any material as I did not tighten down the thumbscrew that pushes it against the gear that pushes the filament through.
I then let the hot end get up to ˚200c, and then tighted the above mentions thumbscrew. I increased the current to the stepper by turning the screw on the polulo board, until it ran well. Still it was choppy output, but I don’t think it is a current problem. I must check the board, maybe it is resetting.

I had started to collect pieces and parts to build a prusa reprap. So when I blew out the z stepper on the cupcake, I decided to try to put a ramps 1.4 board in.

I kept all the original cupcake motors, but I had to put  new connectors on them to match the ramps board.

Ironically the z on the ramps just shudders even after swapping the polulo. So I just plugged it into the driver for a secondary extruder otherwise know as E1. I had to reconfigure the pins in pins.h of marlan

#define Z_STEP_PIN         36//orig 46
#define Z_DIR_PIN          34//orig 48
#define Z_ENABLE_PIN       30//orig 62
#define Z_MIN_PIN          18
#define Z_MAX_PIN          19   //19

one last note, I don’t think anything will run without end stops connected.

So far, so good. onto getting the stepper extrudder working.

shortly after that last post I started to have some problems with the plastic curling up and getting stuck to the extruder head. It would then start ‘mopping up’ all the previously laid plastic; AKA disaster.  I had already been working on a stepper based extruder, but wanted to take it to the next level of development.

So the idea is I have a high torque stepper I think I can use directly to replace the DC motor in the extruder. The idea is to use the control panel to turn on the heater, and be able to run the stepper by using the z-stage controls. All I have to do is pull the z stage motor wires and plug in the high torque one. Right? Wrong. It blew the stepper board now no z stage is working.

here are my choices.
a) get new stepper controller
b) jump to ramps (I already have it); it seems daunting.
c) forget the cupcake, build a prusa (thats why I have the ramps)
d) forget the cupcake, build a replicator
e) hold off for a while and get the next machine down the line.

I have to get the remote pickle going so the makerbot will need to be on the back burner.

BTW The remote pickle is a remote to trigger a macro on a lighting console. 

Finally getting some prints that look like they should.

3d printing is a great new invention that will change everything. The quality of prints I see are really getting good and the technology and techniques are advancing rapidly.

I won’t lie, I have been frustrated getting my bot to run right. I think I’ll step up to a stepper extruder very soon, but that is another post. If you like learning, 3d printers are great. Why?

well all the different thing you can learn. Fo instance…

Structure (the bits that hold it together)
Electronics
mechanical
thermo dynamics
plastics
chemistry
the metric system (for us dumb americans)

And then the software…

designing in 3D
Replicatorg
Skeinforge
gCode
Arduino

Thats just scratching the surface. For instance in electronics, there is a device for reading temperature call a thermistor, (or thermocoupoling depending on your hardware). Even if you know resistors, and capacitors, you probably have never used one of those before.

So yeah, a lot to learn in this world to learn right now.

I found a good schematic for a xbee to xbee (no arduino) to trigger a remote relay. The relay in turns triggers a macro on my lighting console. I currently do this with a wired remote but I wants quicker way to deploy it. Working on that today.

http://blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/2011/02/xbee-to-xbee-using-direct-io-dio.html

After going to the first ever ‘hack manhattan 3d Thursday’, I decided to try pla. I think I’m done with abs.
Pla is non- toxic, bio-degradable, smells good, and sticks really well to the build platform. In fact blue tape is a must.
It’s more stringy, and oozes. It is more prone to clogging.
It comes out super clear. Great for the finished product, but hard to see if it is extruding right.
I still need to tweak the settings but it has printed some small items without too much fuss.
Some big items have failed but that seems to be a computer problem, not the bot. I’ll try running it on lynx, or from an sd card.
Somewhat cautiously optimistic.

Last week I did a 5 day music video. 400 dimmers, a handful of moving lights, atomics and a boatload of led color force.
It was for a very famous pop star, we called her ‘M’.
Hectic but good week. Used a MA 1.