Today I completed the first real project since completing the SumPod 3D printer. I had it print out 8 self designed brackets and attached them to a shelf made from MDF.  The system works quite well and now I can move ahead and make use of them.

If you want to know more visit my 3D printer website

For the last few weeks I have been concentrating on building a 3d Printer kit. During this time I have learn't a lot about soldering and electonics (in a very small scale!) and now have a fully working 3d printer.

The Sumpod is at the cheaper end of the scale in terms of purchase price but it is a well designed kit. The main body is made from MDF and is produced using a CNC router. It is very sturdy and will mill MDF with a Dremel 4000 attached to the top axis.

And now I have it working in its main function, 3d printing. it is quite amazing to see it produce a full useable hard plastic gear. Something I would find very time consuming if I wanted to machine one. A video below will explain better than my words.

So now the build and debugging is out the way I can start to use it. Mainly for patterns for casting and little fittings/ items for the Grandchildren (Have a new grandson to add to the minx that is Freya!)

Promised to make a handle for a fellow SumPod builder. here it is:-

Well, I have been focussing on A kitchen for my Granddaughter Freya, then completing the building of a 3D printer/router/engarving machine I bought as a kit. If you want to know more then visit my other website http://3d-printer-kit.com/?p=332

I am particularly pleased with its milling/routing abilities as I wanted a way to create mdf parts for patterns when I cast in aluminium. I have today managed my first MDF part. Its for a two extruder adaption I am working on to get the 3D plastic printing side working.

A couple of pictures for you.....

Just a brief note to wish you all a happy new year. I will be reviewing 2011 soon and hope 2012 will be better for time spent in the workshop! Fingers, knees and toes crossed!

I finished off the part I promised to make for someone and its a good job its just prototype, because I did not account well enough for a skim finish to loose he  4 jaw chuck marks. However it should be good enough to prove whether it will work! I have ordered some 304 stainless steel bar 16mm square so the next one will be much less effort!

The pictures below show the project in more detail.

Well since the last set of spinal injections I have been able to get back into the workshops, but the priority was a woodwork project for my granddaughter, Freya namely a kitchen! As soon as that was finished (last week) it was starting on the build of my SUMPOD 3D printer kit which has been both enjoyable as well as testing. Its not yet completed but it will be a tremendous additional facility for my model engineering hobby. The first and main reason I wanted to participate in this relatively new and exciting hobby (which I believe will have a massive impact on society) was to print plastic parts that I could then use for patterns when I cast aluminum. However the SUMPOD offers much, much more.

Due it its substantial build and the quality of the parts, it can be used for cnc work. A Dremel bracket is included in the kit with future additions such as a drag knife, and the ability to machine foams/wood and the like. Like all new and developmental products, modifications to improve performance are a natural progression.

Richard (the designer and owner of SUMPOD) became aware of my model engineering and asked me if I would be prepared to make a prototype of a new part in stainless steel? Being pleased to get back to metal work I readily agreed so a couple of days ago Richard sent me a Google sketch of the part he needed. I then redrew the part using Alibre CAD and sent it back to Richard just to make sure it was ok. With one modification (placing the grub screw on the same plane as the two mounting holes) I made a start.

Now the initial problem was that I only had a large diameter bar (from the local scrap yard) so the first job was to cut a more manageable slice off before cutting it again until I had  a manageable piece to mill into a 15mm square by 16 long block

Tomorrow I will chuck it in a 4 jaw chuck, centre it then turn down one end before drilling 3 different holes. I will update the article after finishing it off tomorrow. We will then see if the prototype works!

Nice to be back to metal shavings though!

Well I have at last something to add to the websites! Whilst waiting for some medical treatment I bought a second hand electric motor from a scrapped mobility scooter. I want to incorporate the frame the motor came in (to suit the rear suspension I have designed) and that means making some stub axles as well as making a method to secure the rear wheels to the axle.

I decided to use the keyway cut on the existing axle the motor is secured too and will broach a matching keyway in the stub axle. Onto the new extension (made in stainless steel) a brass bush is fitted to suit the wheels I have bought. Again a keyway between the stub axle and the brass wheel bush (including cutting one in the plastic wheel) should ensure no slippage. A through bolt will secure the wheel, its bush and the stainless steel stub axle to the existing drive shaft. A plastic cover will hide the bolt (I hope to print these in ABS with the 3D printer I have bought)and have either Freya's initials or full name on each.

I do not have a broaching tool but another model engineer, Hugh, also in Brixham, has recently bought a 2 ton arbor press and set of broaches so he very kindly has said I may use his. I am looking for a set of plans for a similar design to that supplied by Hemingways, but being tight don't want to buy the kit.........if you know of a set then please email me.

Here are a few pictures to make more sense of the work done over the last two days, I must say its great to be back into the workshop though...it seems like a lifetime ago since I was last out there. One problem encountered though was a blot on my accident record! I lifted my full face safety mask to check progress and got a couple of fine pieces of brass in my eye! Stupid boy, but a visit to our cottage hospital in Brixham soon had me checked over and some eye cream to administer for 3 days. What a fool!

So I am typing this one eyed.......great to be back though!

Unfortunately I have not been well enough to get out into the workshop for some months but the last series of spinal injections seem to be working so I need to make hay whilst the sun shines as it were. Sorry I have not been very productive recently..........

As an aside, if anyone knows where a set of plans for a keyway/broaching tool (similar the the Hemingway kit are please email me. Many thanks.

Mike

Whilst frustratingly (been 3 or 4 months now!) laid up and not able to get back to either my metal workshop or the relatively new (and separate wooden shed 'wood' workshop)I have been researching 3D printing and I must admit is is mind blowing what it can do and how it will affect all of our lives! Yes I believe its impact on all of us will be dramatic.

At the hobby level there is a thriving home build printing world with several embryonic new companies and individuals involved. There are also some major players in the commercial sector already saving massive mounts of money with prototyping. Its not just plastics though with the big boy's. Oh no, they even print in metal! Some of the complex mathematical shapes drawn on CAD programs are printing in metal and would be if not impossible to machine, would be prohibitively expensive. There are a couple of video's below that will illustrate some of what I mean but I want to concentrate on what uses I will put my kit to when it arrives in early October (fingers crossed).

Metal printing!....yes printed!

How about printing a working ball bearing? well here is an example......

Finally how about an adjustable spanner that works and no assembly! Straight from the printer.

There are two main uses I see for me in the first instance, one to create patterns for casting aluminum and secondly, printing parts for use in their own right. The plastic filament at present for the home use is either PLA (based on sugar starch) which is recommended for the casting use, or ABS which is the same plastic used in Lego bricks.

Whilst waiting for the kit to arrive I have made several drawings in Alibre 3D CAD of items to printout. These are saved as STL files which are then imported into a great piece of free software called ReplicatorG which cleverly converts the model into slices and then converts that to the GCode required by the printer.

One of the first items I want to printout is a holder for my Proxxon precision drill/grinder and this will then allow me to have a small capacity CNC facility. Exciting times.

If you want to know more about 3D printing the visit my new website http://www.3d-printer-kit.com where I will cover both he build and also experience using the printer.