CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

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CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby Fred » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:53 pm

Hi, guys. I've been lurking here for a while and doing the usual n00b stuff of reading loads of fascinating info and flip-flopping backwards and forwards between going for a 2.x build or buying and improving a cheap Chinese machine from eBay. A quick question if you don't mind. I have done a fair bit of reading but my apologies if I've not searched enough.

I see a few people here a fair bit through their build getting stuck needing a couple of custom kit parts. The gantry ends spring to mind - I assume because most people don't have the resources to accurately bend the brackets. The resources I have at my disposal are a 3D printer and a small CNC mill. My question is whether anyone has managed to modify the build so that all brackets (and other parts that can't be easily purchased) can be milled or printed?

I know it's an open source project (and a brilliant one at that) so one answer would be "why don't you be the one to do it". Maybe I will, but I thought I'd see if anyone else had first.
Last edited by Fred on Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom parts

Postby cvoinescu » Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:52 pm

I remember canadianavenger said that several people have printed some or all of the custom parts, but I have no idea how that went.

Whereabouts in Surrey are you?
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby Fred » Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:12 pm

I found canadianavenger's comment about this, but not managed to find any details yet. Some of the part look like they wouldn't be ideal to print. If I was going that way I'd definitely be thinking of adjusting the design to suit using milled or printed parts. I came across this (just a couple of photos) but it's more along the lines of what I was thinking.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/general_l ... hread.html

I'm in the Redhill/Reigate area. Are you nearby?
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby SystemsGuy » Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:41 pm

I know there was a 2.x Laser parts thing on thinkiverse - not that you'll be able to find it in all the MakerCrap spam. I believe that Bart was planning on another set of kits here in the next month or so.

As I recall, it covered all of the HDPE pieces, but not the gantry ends. They are a bit more challenging, as milling 50 series aluminum is dire at best - much easier to punch it or cut with laser or waterjet. I just had some Ordbot pieces cut over Christmas on a waterjet, and they came out "ok" - it was a learning experience, next time I'll just do a separate drill layer as the jet cause some delamination around the sub 3mm holes. Would be interesting to see how many UK based folks are looking for the metal bits - not sure if there's critical mass or not...

FYI - Kent here for the time being, Sidcup sorta area, but frequently out towards Gatwick.
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby cvoinescu » Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:35 pm

Fred wrote:I'm in the Redhill/Reigate area. Are you nearby?
I'm about as far from you as I can be and still be in Surrey: Camberley. :)

I'm interested in a laser, but I need a place to keep it first. What I really need is one of these concrete printers (skip to about 1:40 if bored by the introduction) and print myself a shed/workshop.
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby roberlin » Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:48 am

I cut out all of my ord-bot sheet metal parts with my shapeoko.The quality was not perfect (needed to hit some of the holes with the drill), but I think it is "good enough".

The extruder carriage is one of those pieces you are supposed to bend, and I don't have a metal brake. So I just modified it into two pieces joined with a finger joint and glued them together with jb-weld. It seems quite strong. Not 100% square, but that's just due to inappropriate clamping.

I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with the dreaded 2.x gantry ends. If I recall, you would need to do 3-pieces instead of 2.
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby SystemsGuy » Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:39 am

"Jumpstarting" the Ordbot was one of the reasons for the Shapeoko, but my attempts frustrated me - I was stateside for Christmas, and found a guy with a waterjet and an couple of spare hours, so I have some really nice plates.

I also spent a 6-pack of Abita having the extruder plate bend on a brake press - I suspect any small town metal shop would be willing to bend 'em for you. Mine are not prefect - I mismeasured the bend point about 2mm - but very usable.

On the gantry ends, I understand Bart is doing a "kit" run here pretty soon, so I'll pick up mine then - otherwise, I'll be buying a couple more 6-packs and doing a gantry run myself!

roberlin wrote:I cut out all of my ord-bot sheet metal parts with my shapeoko.The quality was not perfect (needed to hit some of the holes with the drill), but I think it is "good enough".

The extruder carriage is one of those pieces you are supposed to bend, and I don't have a metal brake. So I just modified it into two pieces joined with a finger joint and glued them together with jb-weld. It seems quite strong. Not 100% square, but that's just due to inappropriate clamping.

I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with the dreaded 2.x gantry ends. If I recall, you would need to do 3-pieces instead of 2.
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby Fred » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:20 am

I would probably be jumping at buying the metal brackets that Bart's just released, but I decided to start out with lasers by getting one of the DC-K40 eBay specials and sorting it out - converting it for Mach3, etc.

If I get into it and use it lots I'll go for a buildlog build. Tempting though it is to jump straight in, I've got so many projects I want to do and get easily distracted tinkering with the tools I need rather than building the projects!
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Re: CNC milling or 3D printing custom 2.x laser parts

Postby kbob » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:15 pm

I printed the majority of my parts, based on STL files that KenHo created. I did my own laser tube brackets based on Bart's design. I also modeled the gantry left end as a plastic piece. I got a friend to print it. It appeared to be suitable, but I ended up getting aluminum pieces from Bart. I was partway through designing a printable version of the gantry right end. It was going to be two pieces.

My laser is still in progress. It's pretty much done mechanically. I've been working on the wiring harness and firmware. I'm designing and printing more parts as I go, which are not strictly part of the 2.x design. Some of them are in my build log, but some are not yet written up.

KenHo's parts:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31147

My laser tube brackets:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33579

My gantry end (just posted):
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:47407
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