analog-kid

I have thought about painting or staining but I kinda like the grain on this plywood. It's balsa skin with a poplar core, very light and strong

I have thought about painting or staining but I kinda like the grain on this plywood. It's balsa skin with a poplar core, very light and strong

Yes, a full size vac motor would be nearly as large as the entire ultimaker! An external motor with shaft driven fan would be very cool!

You may be able to salvage the motor and turbine from an old vacuum cleaner or use a smallish squirrel fan. A vac motor would be loud and have a lot of air flow so a rheostat could limit it to an appropriate level. You could reuse the blow dryer heater or maybe use a toaster or toaster oven heater. Or make your own heating element with a transformer and some Nichrome wire. Just a few ideas from a cheapskate

Yes the sides that are opposite are taped together and cut so they are exactly the same and holes are drilled in a drill press through both pieces so they are perfectly aligned. Fortunately I have access to a great fab shop where I work as a carpenter. I feel confident I can achieve good accuracy and precision from the finished frame. If not I may break down and pay for the laser cutting. Just hate to pay for something I can build myself.

A few progress photos. My parts are on order from robotdigg.com. But because of Chinese new year they won't ship until March. In the meantime I have been fabricating my frame More photos to follow...

Thanks, so an all metal hot end is a worthwhile upgrade? I totally forgot to mention the slide blocks! I think the um slide block design is overcomplicated so I'll make a simpler one until I can print my own reptar or chopmeister blocks As for electronics I was planning to use arduino mega with RAMPS board and LCD controller and a4988 stepper drivers. I already have 5 stepper drivers and 3 NEMA 17 motors I'll borrow from a desktop cnc router I made From my research I I believe this board is compatible with marlin and cura? And has provisions for heated bed. I was wondering about power supply as I haven't come across as much documentation about it. I have already cut the panels for the frame to ultimaker specs but I may raise it up like you say and it will probably get a nice coat of whit paint. I plan to make videos and time lapse with my gopro ad I think the white will make a nice backdrop. And yes #5 I referring to the feeder you are correct this part will be more complicated that most of the others I think

I am starting the build of my first 3d printer. After researching (drooling) for months about 3d printers i knew i had to have one. of all the repraps and makerbots and deltas i researched the ultimaker v1 i believe to have the best design and highly reviewed so thats what im gonna build. a big draw to this design is how customizeable it is and id like to capitalize on that. i want to make a few popular upgrades from the start. i have a few mods in mind and would appreciate some suggestions and experiences with each mod. 1. Use GT2 belts and pulleys? 2. Direct drive x/y axis rods? (saves me having to buy 4 pulleys and 2 little belts, and i think simplifies things.) 3.All metal hotend, E3D or Pico type? ( heard mixed reviews about clogging with PLA?) 4. heated glass build plate 5. what is recomended extruder for bowden style? 6. 1.75mm or 3mm? (also some mixed reviews, some say 1.75 is better quality prints some say doesnt matter) any suggestions welcomed. i will be purchasing all of the components this week after making a few decisions about the above modifications. in the meantime ill be fabricating the plywood frame from the drawings provided by Ultimaker. I think the opensource mentality is great and should be encouraged