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Never take anything written on the web as gospel.  A lesson I just had to relearn when sourcing parts for RAMPS.

The BOM on the REPRAP wiki for Ramps 1.4 is not quite correct in all instances, for instance the package information of some of the capacitors, notably the 100uF electrolytics.  The package indicated is 0605, where it should have been Type D aluminium electrolytic.  No wonder nobody wanted (or could) help me with those caps.  To add insult, when I finally got some caps, I was supplied Type E, which is about 2mm too large, and the headers will not fit on my Ramps board with these fitted.

New caps ordered today.  Communica has stock, but once again I have to take a reel of 1000 pieces at close to R3000.  RS got the deal, again.  Should arrive next week Monday.  Besides, that same reel would be less expensive at RS!  Talk about warped perspectives.

I will document the RAMPS build with a proper BOM for South Africa, and photos of the process.

Life has once again interrupted fast progress, but this does not mean everything has ground to a halt!  I finally found a company in Gauteng that can supply us with the hard to find PTFE (Teflon) tubing needed to fashion the Bowden couplings required to reduce weight on the hot-end even more.

Chemical & Industrial Plastics http://www.ptfeplastics.com/  in Benoni specialises in Teflon, and can do almost anything teflon you can think of… including the elusive Teflon tubing.  They do small quantities, and they are affordable too!

 

I have a couple of extra RAMPS 1.4 boards on my hands.  I decided to make a couple more in order to bring unit cost down, and I can share with anyone interested for about R150 each.

These are very well made double sided surface mount boards, and will save you the tooling cost normally associated with a small board run.

I only have a few to share, so if interested leave a comment here.  You do not have to leave your email address in the massage body (think spammers…) I can get it from the email address you enter in its own field when you post.

Hope this helps somebody getting started as well!

NB: These are the BARE boards, nothing component wise on it yet.  I am waiting for a couple of caps from RS for the build. and it it goes well I may have a couple built up that I could sell as well.  Just need to fill my needs first 😉

I have finally started building Morgan again, and this time opted for Mini Morgan.  It will be a fully functional 3D printer with a build volume similar to that of a Reprap Prusa Mendel.

1. I want Morgan (Full) to be printable on Mendel in order to comply with the RepRap philosophy.  I would love for somebody printing Morgan on a Mendel that was built from parts printed on a Darwin 😉
2. The smaller model will make the many changes that lies ahead more affordable
3. It has a better chance of fitting on my desk

Morgan Mini will now have the following features:

• Fully enclosed build area
• Separate internal electronics enclosure
• heated build platform / build environment
• Single tool-head (FDM)
• Footprint of Approximately 300 x 450 x 300mm
• x-y system will be an articulated arm
• z will be Ultimaker / Replicator style Build platform.
• RAMPS with a twist (TBA) as electronics platform
• All “vitamins” will be easily obtainable and non exotic materials

At release time, Morgan builders in South-Africa should be able to be up and printing in a week from starting.  A list of reliable suppliers will be included, and bespoke components will be available here.

My aim is to have Morgan (Full) running by November 2012.

I gave in and got myself two Pololu stepper drivers from Micro…  At least I will be able to test the operation of my RAMPS board.

More info on the SMT soldering effort soon.

Interestingly, one or more of the resistors I ordered is classified as “Hazardous” and now my shipment will take up to 3 weeks to be delivered.

Mmmm…

The Step sticks will be (substantially) delayed.

What do we learn from this?  Do NOT use 0402 resistors in designs if you can help it.  They do look very cute, and are very inexpensive in bulk, but almost impossible to get in hobby quantities.  Lesson learned.

Development, specifically prototyping can be expensive, but in some instances it just becomes ridiculous.  Went to Communica today to get most of the components I need to assemble my electronics.  Got most of it, but not any 0402 type SMT resistors.  Why?  Because they are ONLY sold in 10k reels.  Absolutely no exceptions.

Great.  Nice work Communica.

Next player, RS components.  I found everything I needed, in moderate quantities, surprisingly not too much more expensive, and it will be available in 4-6 working days.

Minor stumbling block, but nothing serious 😉

At least I will have everything I need to assemble the RAMPS main shield board.  More Later.

I just got the quote back from the prototypers…

…

I now know why I have to build this thing as soon as possible.

This is going to be a slight spanner in the works – nothing new though.  It is almost a year since I decided that I would like to build myself a 3D printer, and in real terms I am still not a whole lot further than I was then.  I had time to work through some ideas, with a lot of plans scrapped before even attempting to build.

The thing is, I will soon have electronics.  I have the motors, belts, pulleys, microswithes galore, power supplies, and the wooden extruder I made a year ago.  No going back now, with or without the printed bits I needed.

Still have to say I am very surprised at the quote I got for 3D printing the STL for the experimental hinge.  It is designed to be strong with the least amount of plastic, and would not have taken excessively long to print.  This is probably one of the main reasons why there is so little R&D happening in my country.

The People @ Circuitboard Manufacturing CC in Hennopspark did a very nice job.  These stepsticks are very tiny…  It would have been a suicide mission to try and make these myself.  DIY just would not cut it here.

Now just to source the components… time to set up a combined BOM