[geeks] Fun building a 3D printer

[Bill Bradford]

About a month ago, I ordered a Printrbot Jr. kit:

http://printrbot.com/shop/printrbot-jr/

It shipped a week later, got here a week after that, and has been
sitting in my liiving room waiting for me to find time to start the
build process.  I finally got around to that on Saturday evening.

Done! (mostly) - about 6-8 hours total over the course of two days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/sets/72157634422913792/

Got it talking to the PC, where I can move the axis (axes?) and run the
extruder/heat up the "hot end" printhead.

I was short two screws/bolts, so I've got some of those (and a bunch
of other "little stuff" that I'll need eventually) on the way; right
now the extruder assembly is just zip-tied to the Y-axis arm so I
don't want to print with that config.

In addition, the generic laptop power supply they send with the kit is
rather shit, so I've got an ATX 4-pin 12V cable extension on the way so
I can just run the whole thing straight off a spare ATX power supply.

I got one of the very last kits sent out before Printrbot switched to
injection-molded gears for the extruder (versus laser-cut wood).  I put
in a trouble ticket on Saturday and they've shipping me a set for free.

Had a hell of a lot of fun with the primary build.  Looking forward to
tweaking it and getting it going, and then printing mods and
improvements!

I also have a Printrbot Simple on order; they should start shipping in a
week or two: http://printrbot.com/product-category/simple-2/

Nothing but good things to say about Brook Drumm (owner/founder of
Printrbot), his products, and their customer service and responsiveness
on Twitter, email, etc.  Recommended.

Bill

-- 
Bill Bradford
Houston, Texas USA