I've been working on the design of the Ponoko lasercut extruder. I've managed to make it fit better into the extruder socket and even made the "handle" on the extruder clamp variable in width for maximum grip by putting a split in it.By tightening or loosening the M5 locknut on the screw that goes through the "handle" (roughly in the centre of the picture) you can pull its two halves, expanding or shrinking the handle's thickness.
The whole thing is compatible with the Darwin exchangeable extruder, and in fact seems more rigid. If there's an interest in making the extruder available as a kit on its own, let me know and I'll do so.
In the photo, the red pieces are made from 3mm acrylic, the gears from 8mm and the rest from 4.5 mm. I've also made parts to hold an opto sensor in place which I've not fitted and a 1:1 gear set that I've yet to try out. Busy writing assembly instructions ...
Vik :v)
Looks nice! The use of what I take to be a washer as a collar to secure the extruder looks a bit shaky, though.
ReplyDeleteIt might look that way but it's as solid as a rock. It's taken from the BitsFromBytes design.
ReplyDeleteVik :v)
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ReplyDeleteLooks good! do you have any Idea of cost. The Extruder is one of the more difficult parts to make without RP parts. Any one building a rep strap would find this a useful to add to their build.
ReplyDeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteIs there a way that you would share the cut files in AutoCad format, please?
Here in Hungary all laser/water cutters require AutoCad .dxf or .dwg files.
Thank you very much for all your work. This is a very awesome design.
With regards,
András
I only have SVG (in users/vik/acrylic in SVN on SourceForge) and export from that to EPS using Inkscape (http://inkscape.org).
ReplyDeleteI believe http://qcad.org will import SVG files and output .dxf or .dwg - it is free and Open CAD software available for many platforms.
I'll work out the cost of an extruder. I might be able to arrange a special deal with the lasercutters for RepRappers.
Vik :v)
Thank you for your quick reply!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was able to export it to dxf using Corel Draw, but the rasterisation kills the whole thing (and got a 70Mb file that is unhandelable).
Thank you!
Andras
A thing of beauty, Vik...
ReplyDeleteThank you! With inkscape I could do it.
ReplyDelete