Its been some time since I've had time to do a blog. As some of you may of noticed i haven't been active on the 3d printing forum but am starting to get some free time and trying to get back into things. So last time i wrote a blog i was adding some upgrades to my oldest sons 3d printer. So far we've upgraded to:
- Igus Pillow Block on the all axis - http://www.igus.com/wpck/3766/igubal_Stehlager
- 3d printed ACME pillow block set and carriage- http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:22760
- Brass nuts for z-axis - McMaster-Carr
- ACME 3/8"-12 threaded rod - McMaster-Carr
- Hal Endstop - http://reprap.org/wiki/Hall-%CE%98
I also am in the process of moving away from the tradition 8bit controller(Arduino Mega & Ramps) to the Beagle Bone Black and CRAMPS shield. The firmware that would be used is MachineKit which is a branch of LinuxCNC
- MchineKit - Machinekit • Moves. Controls. Things.
- LinuxCNC - LinuxCNC.org
I also want to mention that I'm really excited that the folks over at SmoothieBoard are in the process of finalizing the design on their new Smoothieboard V2 Pro. Here is a link to Arthur Wolf Google+ page with the design. https://plus.google.com/+ArthurWolf/posts/MEPqaThEaRq?cfem=1&pid=6109126620310037906&oid=111270782037537707264
Another thing i would like to showcase is the new 3d modeling software called OnShape https://www.onshape.com/.
I was asked to be part of the beta team and must say its an impressive piece of software. A little while back some of the folks from Solidworks broke off and started OnShape. Its a could based modeling tool that has both free and paid licensing options. Most would think that since its free they must limited some feature. WELL that is not the case with Onshape. The only difference is that the free version is limited to 5 active drawings. Since its founders came from Solidworks it has the same look and feel as Solidworks. I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to get into modeling.
Look for more to come once i start digging into MachineKit and HAL file setup. Thanks For Reading!