User:Buback

The only Reprapper in NJ, so far. I'm working on a Mendel in order to make all the things I design in my mind while trying to fall asleep at night.

Contributions

• B&TRap- Block and Tackle Repstrap. Currently in design stage. Will go into prototyping once I've completed my mendel.

Testing / Ongoing Experiments

• Replacing steel bearing rods with extruded carbon fiber tubes
• Testing Silica Aerogel as a hot end insulator

Guinea Pig

• Mendel-parts.com Generation_6_Electronics
• Glass Extruder Nozzle

Chalkboard

I'm going to try something new in this space. instead of just a bio, i'm going to use it to document all my various ideas and experiments. Once an idea is fully formed, i'll move the info from here to a dedicated wiki page. my conceptual idea is a chalkboard; here, i can be fast and loose. I don't expect anything below here to make much sense to anyone else, so beware.

Glass Hot end

I've been experimenting with a glass hot end. actually, i have a vested intrest in a glass hot end, as it will be the first hot end i make and print with. my mendel won't print till the idea works. rocket scientist was kind enough to send me a couple samples to play with. he is working on making an all glass nozzle, with drawn glass similar to a pipette. I think that's really clean, but i don't have the glass working experience, or equipment, or space. instead, i'm trying to use a straight glass tube. it's "simple" to cut borosilicate. i've managed to mess it up twice :-)

cutting glass

Regardless, the pieces i cut were still usable, and i'll chalk my complaining down to me being a perfectionist. all you need to do is score the glass, put some moisture on it, and bend it. a crack will progress through the glass originating at the score. simple enough. I used a dremel diamond bit (not in the dremel, just in my hand) to score the break-point. youtube taught me, so if you need to learn, go there.

block heater

I like the simplicity of resistor heaters. after all, it's basically a coil of nichrome, already calibrated, in a nice package. I tried using a strip of aluminum i got from home depot. it's about 1 meter x 2cm x 3mm. (my mind is switching over to metric!) I don't have the tools to cut, by hand, anything larger. however, now that it's all done. i don't think it will work like i'd hoped.

it's just my first iteration, though, so i've learned a lot from it. first problem is thermal expansion of the compression fitting. copper and aluminum expand too much, so i have to tighten the bolts so much the glass cracks. this leads to the second problem with my first attempt, which is leaking. there defiantly needs to be a gasket. I'm just hoping it doesn't interfere with the plastic flow.

I don't think these problems are insurmountable, though. I've already posted some ideas for improvements to the basic idea in the forums (i'll put up links later)