buildlog.net

Last Monday there was a big meeting at PS:One to talk about 3D Printers. A couple people talked about all the latest commercial printer technology, DIY ideas and what might come in the future. There were a least 30 people there including some really knowledgeable ones.

PS:One has a lot of dead RepRaps laying around and they just bought a used Replicator 1. It is getting a lot of use and they want an open source option too. They took a vote and most people wanted to build a Hadron ORD Bot and a few wanted to play with something that might also print electronic circuits.

I did not feel right selling them an ORD Bot so I donated one of my old prototypes. I want to upgrade it to some of the latest parts, so here is probably how it will be outfitted.

1. Azteeg X3 controller
2. Helios Hot Bed.
3. Dual QU-BD Extruders.

The handle plate I had does not have an Azteeg X3 mounting pattern. As I tried to locate the contrloller on the plate, I noticed that it is a little taller than most, so it did not leave much room for clean wiring.

As part of my "it's not worth doing unless you over do it" style I decided to do a new handle plate that is a little taller. I tried a bunch of ideas, but I really liked the last idea I came up with.

The handle plate is made out of two pieces. One pices is pretty stock only about 20mm taller. The second piece is a piece of 1/2" thick HDPE with a large pocket cut into it. The top piece hides all the wiring. This should be cleaner than any other ORD Bot I have made to date.

Here are the two parts. The part on the left is the cover and has the pocket. It has a hole in it for the X3 and there are little reliefs for the wiring to route under it. The edge of the pocket has a chamfer on it to help prevent wire pinches. The chamfer has a bad reflection on the left side in the photo.



The X3 mounts on spacers, so it is flush with the surface. That allows the USB, SD Card and power to easily attach. I have a few wires faked in. Hopefully the cover can easily remove without any disconnections for service and upgrades.

This handle style could also be done with a laser cutter and more layers.

Nice! Also solves the finger-guillotine problem of the original plate
Any chance you'll be making more of these?

It is unlikely I will make them to sell. They use a lot of material and take three tool changes.

I'll see after the Bot is completely done. I need to see if it is actually practical or just a big pain.

Surprisingly, hackerspaces are filled with a lot of barely unused DIY fab equipment. I think a lot of people are scared off by the way some of them look. I want to make this look as friendly as possible.

I like the idea of cleaning up the look to make it more user safe/friendly. I'm looking forward to updates on your progress.

Thanks

Mike

If I do point to point wiring on a dual extruder, it is going to be a lot of wires. I was wondering if I could reduce the wires by sharing grounds and power signals. This is the parts I will have

• (2) Stepper Motors
• (2) Nozzle Heaters
• (2) Thermisters
• (1) Limit switch
• (1) Fan (maybe 2)

20+ wires?

I don't think there is anything I can do with the stepper motors, but I should be able to share grounds and power for the other items.

• (1) +12V
• (1) Ground
• (2) Thermister wires
• (2) Heater wires
• (1) Limit switch wire
• (8) Stepper Motor Wires

15 wires?

I dunno...is it worth it?

I would probably not share ground between the steppers and other things like the heater. So... 16 wires?

You could use a strip of ribbon cable for the low current wiring. Same number of conductors, less space. I am planning to use ribbon connector in the cable carriers on my 2.x laser. (It will lay flat in the cable carriers and bend easily; that won't quite work in an ORDbot's wire spring.)

The 2 piece Hadron handle looks really nice, BTW. I'm definitely doing that if/when I build one. You could also flush-mount Roy's new display/controller in the same piece.

I have visions in my head of a polished plywood carrying handle and an acrylic cover/viewport...

I am not a fan of ribbon cables for uses like this because they are so hard to terminate.

I think I will run two springs from opposite sides. One side will be the stuff for extruder 2 and the other side will be everything else. That makes it easy to go from one extruder to two. No fancy sharing of wires.