RapMan's first creation :D

The plastic filament I ordered from Vik Olliver for the RapMan arrived today.

Sooooo tomorrow morning (Friday 15th of January) at 09:30 we're going to be doing the first build at work in Petone.

Let me know if anyone wants to drop in and take a look.

RapMan's Hello World!

Today the incredible machine printed it's first ever test part :-D (the white squiggles on the build table)

Apart from a bit of a feed issue that you can see in the centre of the build table the machine seems to work OK.

I'll be taking the machine into work on monday if anyone wants to see it.

Time to order some ABS filament so we can start making stuff :-D

It's Alive MWAHAHA

Yesterday I finished the construction of the extruder assembly.

I have now finished off the wiring and installed the extruder into the machine.

The machine is warming up for it's first test print :-D

Time to evict the spider and do some work :-D

I've been neglecting to work on the RapMan a bit lately. As the photo above (woohoo macro lens) shows a baby orb web spider who decided that the machine looked like a nice place to build a home.

Once the spider was safely relocated to the outside world I started on the wiring:

Both the X and Y axes are now connected to the controller PCB, It makes cool whirry noises now :-D

Belts and a Build Surface

Yesterday I fitted the drive belts that transmit the drive from the stepper motors to the X and Y axes.

Also fitted is the build table (clear plastic plate in the middle) which is moved by the Z axis. When the machine is running, parts are printed onto the build table layer by layer.

The Z axis lowers the build table by about 0.1mm after each layer of the part is completed.

Tomorrow: Starting on the wiring and the construction of the plastic extruder. Smoke testing is rapidly approaching :-D

Slidey Stuff

The RapMan kit is now fitted with both X and Y axes.

Other items of interest:
The Y axis motor and drive shaft.
The Carrier for the extruder, mounted on the X axis.

Signs of Movement

Yesterday (Yes WORK on Christmas day) I got the X and Y axis slides installed.

Installation of the bars that the linear bearings run on took much use of the eyechrometer. This is due to the bars needing to be perfectly parallel.

The beast is starting to get quite heavy... I may not be photographing it on the deck soon.

Due to the design of the clamping parts things keep slipping around from time to time. If the fastenings are tightened any more the magic CLICK comes out of the acrylic and I'm delayed by another 12 hours waiting for glue to dry. Hopefully it will stay square enough while building parts.