3D Printer drivers/motors

Kristaps-

Yes, you will need a stepper driver for the extruder.  The typical setup is a driver for each axis(x,y,z) and one for the extruder.  The z driver will drive 2 motors in the typical Cartesian style printer.  The Mega 2560/RAMPS 1.4 is a great setup.  One thing you might want to look at is the newer electronics that are using faster processors.  This is going to be the year in 3d printing that will make 8bit controllers a dying technology.  The smoothie board is a nice 32bit board.  I'm also starting to look at the BeagleBone Black and CRAMPS board but haven't had much time with it yet.  They are currently working on a updated version that is suppose to have support for the Edison.  If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Nate

Do you have to have 2 Z stepper motors or can you use one and link the other rod using a pully? Also, unfortunately, because this is going to be a budget build I can't really use any 32-bit boards which is a shame but I'll probably be looking into that in the future. Do you have any recommendations for a temp sensor which can go above 160C and don't require and external board?

Kristaps-

No you don't have to have 2 motors for the z-axis but caution you that having a heavy carriage will cause the motors to skip/miss steps.  What you might want to look at is converting the standard Wade's extruder (direct drive) to the Bowden.  This will lighten up the carriage as the bowden extruder moved the motor off the carriage.

As far as the temp sensor goes the typical thermistors used on extruders will allow you to go above 160C.  For example this is a common thermistor. http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Honeywell%20Sensing%20&%20Control%20PDFs/135-104LAG-J01.pdf

Nate

Here is the standard hookup of the thermistor(temp measure).  No extra board is needed.

I see, but wouldn't having a Bowden style extruder cause some timing issues or is the speed also controlled by the RAMPS board? Thanks for the thermistor! I'll try and find one that I could use in my build.

I was planning to have it go through an Ardunio so I could keep an eye on it and so when it reaches a certain temp, it shuts the supply and throws up some warning or light on the case. Edit - I was also planning to use PLA for my machine because I can't be bothered with ABS shrinking and deforming due to the wrong temp though I see how it's connected.

1 quick question, can the end stops be configured in the software instead of using buttons or does it have to use buttons to locate its end points?

You could negate the switches (Buttons) but then you would have to be 100% sure no one will EVER move the bed with it off, the software will never crash and the steppers will NEVER miss a step, you will always home it before powering off, I'm sure there are a few others  but you get the just

Not having the limit switches means that you cant auto home, auto cut off the drive if is goes wrong and runs off to and end of travel. For the mess that you would end up with without them, is it really worth it. They are your last ditched safety net

I would keep them if you can

Right. That doesn't sound fun. So, is there a way to make your own switches or do I have to order the special buttons for the RAMP board?

Kristaps,

You can make your own endstops if your ambitious but the mechanical versions are fairly cheap off ebay.  Here is a blog i did on endstops a while back. 3D Printer called "Buzz Lightyear" Part 2 Marlin Firmware Mechanical Endstops (Ramps)

Nate