Well it’s been over a month since my last blog entry and I have managed to accomplish quite a bit with the help of several individuals.
After unsuccessfully trying to obtain the Mendel RP parts I made contact with Hans Reiner Ott (Holzwurm in the RepRap forums) who is self employed and has a workshop near Hamburg, Germany.
He had started to do a wooden Mendel and his first pieces looked very nice (posted in the German User Group). He was already assisting some others and he said that making a few extra copies was no problem so I received my first delivery of Mendel parts made out of MDF.
While Reiner was figuring out how to simplify the Y-axis to be able to create it with wood and plastic I was contacted by Stefan Maurer (RepRapParts) and asked if I still needed RP parts (which of course I did). So, since Holzwurm was already working on how to create Y-axis parts RepRapParts started making RP parts for the X-axis. Several days later he was ready to ship the parts. As soon as I received them I constructed my Mendel X-axis.
Motor and 360 Bearing:
Extruder sled:
Idler and 180 Bearing:
Around the same time as RepRapParts I had contact with Markus Amsler who offered to create the necessary RP gears for the motors and Z-axis for only the cost of shipping. He has made this offer to the RepRap community because he has successfully built a wooden Mendel and this was a serious stumbling block to his progress. So I arranged to get two sets: one for myself (rhmorrison) and one for Holzwurm. I sent Reiner his set and had also had sent to him a complete set of bearings for his Mendel.
Then Reiner let me know that it would be a while with the Y-axis parts because he was going to have a busy week and he wouldn’t be mad if I got Stefan to also make the Y-axis parts. So the deal was made and yesterday I received the Y-axis parts and immediately assembled it.
Reiner already had the Z-axis parts created (before he started on the Y-axis) and wanted to send them to me but his wife drove around with the package in her car for a couple of days so Reiner decided to wait to send the Z-axis parts until he received the belt splitter jigs that he is receiving from another German RepRapper. These parts I am waiting for to be able to complete the mechanical construction of the Mendel Cartesian Robot.
I also received notification from the customs office that they are holding a package for me. This is two Wade Nema17 geared extruders that was shipped on March 19, 2010 by RustySpoon1121 (see his offer in the forums)! So I will try to pick this up on Monday, April 12, 2010 and I can then assemble two extruders: one for me; the other for Reiner (his will have everything except the motor, he has enough of those).
So what’s next on the schedule – while waiting for the Z-axis parts and the belt splitter jig that I desperately need I can modify the electronics (change from MakerBot to RepRap design) and possibly do some initial hardware tests. Before I can send Reiner his extruder I must fully test it to make sure that it extrudes without any problems.
That’s all Folks!
Hi Robert,
It has really come together well for you, and from your Picasa photos you are now producing objects of excellent print quality. I hope you do continue to update your blog as I’m finding the little insights people provide into their own unique RepRap journeys invaluable.
Regards,
No.6
http://numbersixreprap.blogspot.com/