Yeah, it's going to come in handy. Well, it shouldn't be bad. It's mostly software issues I have to take care of. I'll have my Hive Logix system running tomorrow, and I can start installing everything. I've also got to wait for my end mills to arrive. It may be a week before I get to cut anything.
Belts? I guess that's one way to keep the cost down. On the plus side, you shouldn't need to oil the crap out of this setup. You might need some toothbrushes mounted on the Y gantry just in front of the rollers. I can see chips getting in there already.
Yeah, it's belt driven. Although I've not heard of any complaints regarding them in this particular machine. One thing is for sure... This thing is solid. Solid beyond belief. I'll take some better pics of it's construction when I get a chance. I've got no doubt this machine could take substantial abuse. Kudos to Romaxx for overbuilding it in almost every way. Toothbrushes, eh? That's not a bad idea at all.
Well, I'm still waiting for mill bits to arrive. Although, over the weekend, I did get the machine hooked up and ready to run. I've got the Hive Logix PC (Atomic H2O) finished, and a copy of Mach3 installed. Everything should be tweaked and ready for g-code. I was able to jog the machine around in the software, so hopefully I should be good to go. I've also got an inexpensive airbrush on the way for my aluminum cutting mister experiment. So, maybe this next weekend!
Depends on the type of RP machine used. Some produce parts which are just as durable as the production parts. Saves having to make molds and everything which can get even more expensive
You do need one! Oh yeah, don't even get me started on how much I would want one of those. I'm pretty sure I can't get one of those sponsored... Thanks guys. I'm hoping to cut something this weekend!
A while ago I nearly ended up making the embedded hardware and software part of a RP machine for a Canadian company which was looking at making its own RP machines. Did a lot of research into how these little beasts work, software and hardware-wise. My two thoughts are that projects like RepRap are cute, but will never be useful for anything, and that it should most definitely be possible to build a reasonably accurate RP machine for less than 5,000 Euro, depending on which method you need. Most of the costs goes into getting accurate guidance (which is why belt-driven is only an option for CNCs, not for RP) and the software which generates the description models. Maybe when I'll ever have time I should do some more research and put a little guide on this together Just make sure you cut the right parts
RP machines are definitely interesting, but I'll admit to not knowing much about them. If I manage to get anything cut, it will be something lame, and likely out of wood. I need a little practice before I commit to anything valuable. Haha, I'm lucky enough to not have many parts shared between sides. Actually, I think the cage might be the only thing with duplicated parts.
You could just stick a pen in it and let us watch it go! We have a fairly large 8' X 12' I think, cnc table at work. I don't get to play with it though. I've got a video of it on my site.
