printrbot – ei8htohms

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 [...]

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 [...]

World Maker Faire New York 2013

It will perhaps not surprise you that I spent most of my time at Maker Faire ogling the various 3d printing displays. Although that is what I will focus on in this post AND these beasties have surely taken over huge chunks of land at Maker Faire in recent years (based on what I've been told, this was my first Maker Faire), there is a lot going on at Maker Faire that is NOT 3d printing related believe it or not and I'm sure that folks interested in just about anything geeky, hacky, oddball and Read more [...]

printrbot GO – 8 mm rods, GT2 belts, a belt tensioner and a cooling fan

So after my last round of functional but peripheral upgrades (getting all the tools into handy locations) I decided it was time to focus some time and effort on the printing performance of the bot (an idea that felt almost novel after all of the aesthetic mods I'd otherwise been consumed by recently). It was clear to me that the motion in the Z direction could use some refinement because the x-axis carriage seemed to wobble back and forth a little bit when raising or lowering the extruder manually. 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 – mirror printbed and stuff

After printing on an aluminum bed up to now (with an 8 x 8 Kapton square), I decided to install a mirror printbed I had purchased a while back. I had wrestled with the best printbed material for the GO for some time before giving up and deciding to try both. The GO being a mobile platform, it makes for some strong arguments in favor of aluminum. No matter how gingerly I secure a piece of glass inside the thing, a good knock when traveling could bring me seven years of bad luck. And there 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 [...]

printerbot GO – let there be X

I didn't take a lot of pictures while putting together the X axis assembly as it went mostly without incident and the documentation was pretty good and complete. A few comments about the unexpected however. This one hole for a wood screw seems to just be in the wrong place. It's on the left side of the X assembly and if I had planted the screw here, it would've just splintered the tab below it since the hole is basically directly over the edge of the material. It's worth noting a couple Read more [...]