Tag: Brook Drumm

printrbot GO – suitcase belts and signature panel

Since before I even owned the GO! (v.1), I had a vision in my mind about turning it into a steampunk steamer trunk kinda thing, and critical to that vision were suitcase belts. I can't imagine  a single feature (well, in addition to darkly stained wood) that says "olde timey" like leather belts up the sides of a piece of a luggage, so I knew I needed to get something like that working for me at some point. I got held up for some time on the idea of finding straps that were actually designed Read more [...]

printrbot GO – automatic tram correction (“bed leveling”)

I've been putting off this post thinking that I wanted to "perfect" my setup before making it more public, but I haven't had all that much time to work on it lately and my vision for where I want to go with the hardware has escalated considerably (vaguely hinted at at the end of the post), so I decided to go ahead and write it up for now in the hopes of encouraging others to explore this route. It's a very hot topic in the 3d printing world these days so hopefully my experiences with this particular Read more [...]

printrbot GO – i take back all the nasty things i said about Oldham couplers

Oldham couplers, if you're reading this, it wasn't your fault. It was mine.  I didn't understand you.  You were perfect. Will you ever forgive me? So while deeply lost in thought about completely redesigning the gantry for the GO v.1 and agonizing over what kind of couplers really are best for my bot, a helpful chap on Google+ (+Joe Spanier) said, "Oldham couplers HAVE to have thrust bearings... to work correctly." Of course this makes sense.  Oldham couplers are only designed to transmit Read more [...]

printrbot GO – i take back all the nice things i said about Oldham couplers

Ok, it's time to man up and say I was wrong.  Soo wrong. The intial test prints after installing my cheapie Oldham couplers were glorious.  They represented such a dramatic improvement over my previous prints as far as Z wobble goes that I was convinced that I'd found the be-all-end-all solution for Z wobble.  I'd been using them for about a week when I started to notice some strange Z artifacts creeping back into my prints however.  The layers were shifting along the Y axis as before, but Read more [...]

The New Printrbot GO v2 – family

For those of you who aren't tired of hearing me say it, I'm still claiming to be the only owner of an original Printrbot GO (outside of insiders that is - Brook, Ben and maybe one other person at Printrbot have one that I know about). Shortly after I purchased mine, the model was discontinued in fact and Brook said when he pulled it that he planned to refine the design and come out with a v2.  Well, it finally happened. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyyzDeJ2piY Brook started with the Read more [...]

printrbot GO – spoilers and ground effects

I am really not a "pimp my ride" kind of guy.  On the contrary, I lean vastly more in the direction of form follows function and ornamentation is a crime in general, but somehow this project has me stretching my sensibilities in addition to my fabrication skills.  This is a lengthy, navel gazing exploration of that process. You have been warned. So when I put the bot back together after staining it, I had deeply mixed feelings about it. I wasn't thrilled with the color or consistency of the stain, Read more [...]

printrbot GO – first print

So the wiring was a little kludged together but I didn't have the patience to wait for the wiring solution Brook told me he'd put together for me, so I hacked something together to get the thing up and running using some bits from Radio Shack. I was pretty sure that the power supply which came with the bot would be underpowered for the heated bed, at least for ABS type temperatures, so after getting a tip from Brook that an X-box 360 PSU might work (the original version puts out 203 watts) Read more [...]

printrbot GO – the box (part two)

So I've gotten totally out of sync between the building and the writing.  I guess that's what happens when you obsess over one and neglect the other, so let me try to catch up a little bit. There were a few critical pieces missing from the kit as received.  Most critically, the Z couplers were nowhere to be found.  These are the pieces that connect the shafts on the motors for the Z axis to the threaded rods that move the entire X assembly (and extruder) up and down.  Essentially, you Read more [...]

printrbot GO – the box (part one)

So with the X axis assembly, um, assembled... it's time to start putting the box together.  For the top and the bottom, it seems that Brook recommends wood glue.  I can't say for sure I won't do that later, but for now I've decided instead to beef up the attachments using countersunk screws and nuts instead. You see, there are a few places where you absolutely need countersunk screws and don't have them.  The panel in the bottom of the drawer that will expose the Y axis belt securing bits and Read more [...]

printrbot GO – Y assembly

Sometimes we do things that are foolish.  While it may indeed be a good idea to bevel some of the exterior edges on the GO, it was decidedly not a good idea to spend a lot of time and effort on this before actually assembling the thing.  Birch ply wood is a great material for an assembly such as this because it is inexpensive and can be easily brought to shape on a laser cutter.  It does not however hold up particularly well to detailing and the size of the wood screws and the perilously-close-to-the-edge Read more [...]