sweet

well today was a good day in a few respects. i got a few odds and ends done, 

i made this little fan box, those little fans always seem to move less air than i think they do. but i hope that i can put it to use. i think this is what happens to me when i get too board, i just build things for no reason.

i got the pvc boards mounted on there better and more securely.

i hope the belt i ordered is a good chunk shorter than the one i have now, but that gives you an idea of how its all going to mount together.

i have a few more things i would like to get done tomorrow, just small things nothing major so yay.

modkit is out today, well for windows any how, i have tried at and so far i like it, but i think there is a few bugs in it still, but i am still happy to see it,

wax printing

i came across this at hack a day i thought it would be relevant to the reprap community
http://hackaday.com/2011/01/31/printable-wax-as-pcb-etch-resist/

touchy subjects

today i found one of those touchy subjects,

i saw a post by this fellow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzg-gpDIhBc who started a kickstarter thing to raise money to start a reprap, through looking at his kickstarter page i found out he works for the marines. for that fact alone he deserves allot of respect and if i could i would be more than willing to support him by sending him printed parts or any spare parts i have.

i want to see this project grow and mature, i am glad to see that he is interested and has a desire to share this project with others, if i can help him out i would gladly do so.

this is also where my personal issues start. i would hope working for the marines and teaching in them would earn you at least a living wage. i don't know the numbers so i wont go there but for what he is doing for his country i would hope he gets a proper income from it. my self though i am working full time at a good company, they treat me well, but i will be honest with ya, i don't make all that much, i will take home a good chunk less than 20k this year. i have to watch my money, and i am not always the best at it. Those are my issues to worry about not anyone else's.

has you can tell i don't like to see stuff like this, i am more than willing to help charities, non for profits, schools and other people who this would be out of there means to do. i just don't like seeing  videos like this and people do stuff like this, it just gets to a nerve with me. i know people have helped me out like nophead and keven at kevins3dprinter.blogspot.com so thank you for all your help, and by the looks Keven will have a working unit before i will, the more the better though in my opinion.

i hope the other fellow there can get his project going, and if you have the means to support the other fellow to get his project going please do, i have did my donations for the money and that was to pioneer one and thingiverse. i hope people will keep up the good work and keep helping each other out, it will help us all out in the long run.

sorry about the rant. i will post something more productive soon i promise.

new stepper mount

today i got around to making a mount for my new geared stepper, i wish i could remember what the name of the material is but it is a plastic board they use in some sign shops, i find that it cuts nicely, and seems to be fairly strong,

 when i get my next order from ultimachine i will mount it and make room for the belt tensioner that i will need.
i hope that my next few orders will ship this week, i know some of my stuff from seed is on its way already.

yay parts ordered and its my bday

well today i ordered my RAMPS board from http://ultimachine.com/ . i just wish my bank would transfer the money in to my paypal account faster than 10 days, i find it to be very annoying.  but over all that made a good gift from my wife, she helped me get it sooner than i could save up for it. so yay.

this is how much snow we have now, that is a lawn mower under all that snow.

but today was my bday too, so i had a good day off work went into moose jaw today and got a few things we needed and went to the hot springs there by the casino, thats always nice.

i need to find some sheet metal that i can bend to make a stepper mount for that geared stepper i hope i can dig something up soon, if i work hard i think i can have it up and running by the end of feb or march, but i still have allot to do still. but i am getting there.

i still need to raid a scanner or 2 for parts, or even a couple of printers would be good.

yay 100th post

100th post yay

in the next few days i will be placing an order for one of the RAMPS DIY kits from http://ultimachine.com after my little error i thought this would be the best way to go.

i am excited to see that maker bot got onto the news, that is good for the community i think. though i think the green was a little harsh for the camera, but kudos for getting on the news like that.

i do like some of the new things on thingiverse. that is nice to see they are trying to find a way of rewarding those who do work on designs i am still trying to work on a few things, so i hope to have a few more updates here soon.

i like the idea behind the new micro extruder, i am eager to see how well it works. i am also thinking about going to the 1.75ml feed stock but i will have to see, i will have to see what i need to make the change, just the hot end i think.

but any how i just wanted to say thanks to all the people who read my blog, i will try to keep posting more often and i will try to do what i can for the reprap community has a whole too

colossal #$%^ up, or at the very least a $50 one

when ever i make stuff or design stuff i do my best to make it has much me proof as i can, and today was one of those days i found a week point in my design,

 i went to go and do some testing on my newest stepper motor and test a few of the other ones i had too. i do my best to keep my power ports labeled, but i missed one. so today i managed to send 12v to all my pololu steppers 5v logic power.

so now i have one that gave me the magical blue smoke (that stuff cant be good for ya), so the magical genie got out of that one. one will only make the motor tick, and out of the other 2, there is no signs of life what so ever.

i still have more work too do, so at least i can work on my mechanical, until i can get enough money to  order 4 more of the pololu stepper drivers i need now.

 this will not be so nice on the pocket book. i feel like such a winner tonight.

yay more done.

well i got a few more things mounted today, but i may have to move them again but this is the general idea of what i am looking at for my z axis. i still need to get a pulley for my z axis stepper motor, and i need to make a stepper mount for it has well. but i do like what i am seeing, and i hope i can do some more here in the next day or so.

i ordered another shorter belt today for it has well, i think it will be here in about 3 weeks.

this is the stepper motor i ordered from makergear, so far i like it allot, but i am still trying to figure out if i can get one of the pulleys i have now to work for it or not.

and on my lifts there, i ended up filling the flat parts down so that they would fit snugly into the pulleys, and so far it seems to work, they are not loose at all.

so i will have more work done on it here very soon, and i hope to have it at least testable here soon too. 

yay first post of the year

sorry about the slow down in my postings, it has been a very busy past few weeks for me, since xmas day. i had allot of driving to do and allot of other things to get done.

this year, i hope to see it become the year of the maker, over the past few months i have noticed allot more people trying to get back into making things on there own, and i am very happy to see that. i know it is partly because money is not there like it was a few years ago. but i think in the long term this will be a good things, with tech like the RepRap out there, i think it will change for the better in the long term.

now back to my main project, i ordered a geared stepper from makergear. i hope that i will be able to use that to power my z axis, i don't think the ones i have will be strong enough for the task, or at least how i will have it setup.

i hope to get a few more things working here this week, and i will post updates about them has well. i have also done a little more work on my idea for the printable frame. so you can check out my thingiverse page for a few updates on that one too.