Building a 3D Printer

Professor Madden and I have been struggling with getting the stepper motors working. They were receiving the signal but we had trouble getting them to actually move along the X and Y axis. We were fortunate to have the help of Jonny and Kassem to trouble shoot the issue. With their help and expertise we were able to resolve the problem. We are currently working on printing a casing for the plug and switch. We also need to print a part to secure the Z axis at the top so it is stable. We anticipate being able to print by next week.

Summer 2 3D Printer Presentation Day!    Exciting moment when we got a blinking light indicating life to our 3D printer. We had a pulse....Yeah!!! We made adjustments to the configurations and uploaded the firmware. We then began testing each component for proper connections one at a time. 

Professor Madden and I have been working on connecting the wiring to the control board. We attached the power supply to the printer frame and soldered the wire connections to the heat bed. We also had to make some minor adjustments. We attached the extruder motor and installed the rubber feet to the frame. We are hoping to have our printer up and running by the end of the week.

Spent the day at Greenwood lake library with Professor Madden. Kate and I assisted the student with learning Sketchup.  Professor Madden and I are working on attaching the electrical components to the control board. There is research to be done to make sure we connect everything properly to avoid a "Magic Smoke" situation. 

It's the end of Summer I, which means it's time to contemplate on what we've achieved so far. But first, let me take a selfie... Kassem is showing us how to go all the way from a 3D model in SolidWorks to an actual printed item. Dissecting a (probably) dead power supply scavenging for a switch {again, DON'T try this at home}. Girl power :) This week we printed a bunch of new connections, this time a funky yellow color.  The display sits on top of the frame.  The control board is in the left corner on the back .  The whole build so far. We've made a great progress in just 6 weeks, starting from scratch (well, actually, from sawing aluminum channels) and now we are probably just a few days from printing. Yay!

No major breakthroughs this week. We finished putting together all the parts, adjusted connections here and there, and fixed whatever was in the wrong position.  As you can see, things are starting to look a little messy.  This is our X carriage with the print nozzle and the proximity sensor. There also must be a fan to cool down the object that is being printed, but it needs some surgery involving a soldering kit and new wires.  These are three endstops: for X, Z and Y movement. And this is us trying to put together our control board, which consists of an Arduino board, a RAMPS shield and stepper motor drivers.  Next week, hopefully, we will solder all the wires and put together all the electronic components. And maybe even start printing!!!