Oshkosh 6x6 truck build

[AlwynTurner]

Love this build Rob, following along. You seem to be having many problems with your printer which worries me a bit as I have been thinking of buying one in the future- not sure if the hassle is worth the convenience? Alwyn

[wibblywobbly]

It's not the printer as such, its the fact that most printers run off Arduino boards, Its what controls the stepper motors and controls the temperature of the filament etc. 3D printers are in all honesty very simple devices, made up of very simple mechanics. The Arduino board is a very simple pc. There is a plug in board called a Ramps that sits on top of the Arduino, this allows you to just plug in the three stepper motors, three end stops (microswitches), the filament heater element, and the temperature thermostat. That's it, really simple stuff.

Bits do wear out, that includes the thermistor, the tiny glass bead that is next to the hot end to detect the temperature. It is sat in a 200c alloy block, so they tend to expire after a while. Cheap as chips to replace. Pennies.

The Arduino boards are either genuine Made In Italy ones, or Chinese copies. The genuine ones are around £30-40, the Chinese ones are £10-£20. Mine is a genuine one, but even that isn't immortal. The voltage regulator blew, but that is a common problem. I could buy a new VR for 28p and solder it on, they are easily available. I simply ordered a new board, and will get the old one repaired as that way I always have a spare.

The Ramps board is just an inactive board that takes the Arduino sockets and converts them into foolproof sockets for the 3D printer plugs. They are only around £10?

I use mine all the time now to make bits and pieces for modelling, and at £270 I am more than happy with it. It has become a hobby in its own right. I am thinking of getting another one, exactly the same one, as I am impressed with how well it prints when it is adjusted properly.

For anyone who wants to see if they can design and print 3D parts without the cash commitment, I would suggest using the 3D printer hub, its a network of local people who will print items at very good prices. That way you don't need to buy a printer, filament etc, just do the design, email it to one of them, and they print it.

https://www.3dhubs.com/

[HERMAN BIX]

The printer itself.................I reckon I could cope with.
The third-angle designs you all use..............THATS my show stopper.
Just how much computer literacy do you need to create the designs that the printer requires to be an effective tool ?
Calcs to scale, operating system software, the usual CAD stuff.........??

[AlwynTurner]

Thanks Rob, what model did you get and who from please? Thanks Alwyn

[AlwynTurner]

Hi Herman, the reason for my enthusiasm and interest is that Woz recommended OPENSCAD as I needed to produce the suspension and wheels for my BGC, and I downloaded it to my PC, designed the wheels and with Woz's help made them the correct size/shape, then went on and designed the rest of the suspension within about 2 days. I found it fairly easy as you can build up the design from separate objects and add/subtract them to see the effect. My advice is download it, look carefully at the tutorials, try it out, and get someone to print a couple of designs for you. It's fun! Alwyn

[HERMAN BIX]

I have dabbled in SOLIDWORKS, but it really needs a 'grunty' computer to do it justice.
I assume that there needs to be a moderate level of competence with CAD operating systems then to really get the printer to be a modeling magic-wand !

Sure would be good to be able to get a machine and an operating system in the same place to try out before shelling out eh.

[wibblywobbly]

Ok, a brief explanation.

During my working days I was in the IT trade. I started off being one of those junkies who bought the original home pc's, a Dragon 32 followed by an Atari 1024. There were no programs, I had to learn basic. As a result of this home hobbying I got dragged off my desk at work (I was quite happily managing a section at the time) to 'take a look' at what an IT contractor was doing behind some cupboards. I never went back to my desk. I ended up programming databases, and report writers. Then I was somehow the guru, and called upon to design systems, which led to me designing global systems. All along the way I was writing code in Excel and Word etc to do odd jobs around the business. No formal training at any point, I just 'understood'. Anyhow I got made redundant and went contracting. Walking into large corporate businesses and doing stuff for them, and then walking out when I got bored, or some manager didn't understand the difference between an employee and me, and going somewhere else.

So, when I looked at 3D printing, I looked the operating systems too. I downloaded and tried most of them, but Openscad was like HTML, what's called a descriptive language. You don't draw things on a screen, you tell the OS where you want something to be. The drawback is that it takes a bit of experimenting to understand how to get what you want, and constant adjustment of measurements to nudge parts together. Nothing I have done has ever been a whizz around the keyboard and there's the model, its constant changes and still learning news ways of doing things.

There are lots of Openscad sites and tutorials, but don't assume that the code you are seeing or the advice is 'the way to do it'. There is no perfect way in any programming. Ten programmers will solve the same problem ten different ways, and with varying degrees of success.

Openscad was as confusing as hell when I first ran it, but the latest version has a few tweaks that make it a bit easier. If you look at the menu, click under help, and select cheat, it opens a summary of all of the available commands. Click on any of them and it will take you directly to the source tutorial where you can see examples of code and output. I used to have to do this manually, but now its all right there at the click of a button.

Another little suggestion is to open a Shapeways account. Upload your model onto their site and their system will automatically analyse your design and tell you if it is ok to print. It will also generate 3D renders so you can see what it looks like.

A good place to start is You Tube, just search for Openscad, but don't get too confused by the geeks who are showing you how much they know, rather than the simplest way to do something.

[wibblywobbly]

Oops forgot. The printer I have is this one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-3D-Printe ... Sw8d9Uz~Oj

It comes as a kit. Took me about 8 hours to assemble. What I should have done when I ordered it was ask for pre-crimped molex plugs. If I had done that I would have saved myself no end of problems with poor connections. A cheaper way around the problem is to get a set of these, its about three times as much as you need, but spares are always useful.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321238031092? ... EBIDX%3AIT

[AlwynTurner]

Many thanks Rob, that is very reassuring. Now all I have to do is accumulate the readies where the better half won't spot it, and then get it delivered when she isn't here! Alwyn

[wibblywobbly]

Just tell her that you have bought her the latest automatic cake icer, she won't suspect a thing!