Well it has been over 1 year and 3 months since my last post so I guess I win the title of the Worst RepRap Blogger in the World. I will post here a quick update and add additional entries on different topics over the next month (or so smiley).

Since my last blog entry (April 10th 2010) a lot has happened.

My first print occurred on July 26, 2010 (using the RepRap Host to generate gcode) and it took me until the end of December 2010 until I was getting the quality that I wanted (using Skeinforge to generate the gcode).

I have gone through a number of hot ends and now have a reliable design (from Stoffel15).

I added a Mendel print light by placing a very bright 15 LED bar on the back of the Mendel circuit board plate wired directly to the +12v power supply such that the light is always on when the Mendel has power.

I went through a couple of different filament mounts until I found the one I am currently using which is a combination of SIMPLE SPOOL HOLDER FOR MENDEL and Yet another dispenser for filament spools (Use only the Wheel.stl file).

Just last weekend I posted my design for a Mendel Filament Guide which is my current solution to being able to feed the filament without rubbing against the threaded bar. It is actually based on the frame vertex although you wouldn’t necessarily realize it by looking at the brackets.

I am currently using a 0.5mm nozzle and printing at a layer height of 0.375mm. I have accumulated a huge box of printed objects over the last 6 months some of which you can see in my Thingiverse MADE page. I am currently printing exclusively in PLA and currently have 12 different colors!

My next two big changes are to add the heated bed plus an LCD and Keypad. For BOTH of these projects I now have all the needed components I just need to do the work of putting it together. O.K. – the LCD/Keypad support will also require some firmware changes but it will be worth it to be able to use the Mendel stand-alone.