Finally, the wait is over! The first SuperPacks are here!! Everything you need to make a MakerGear Plastruder.
Finally, the wait is over! The first SuperPacks are here!! Everything you need to make a MakerGear Plastruder.
The v2 PEEK/PTFE hybrid insulator is currently in testing. This design is based on the results of the v1 torture testing discussed in previous posts. Overall the v1 hybrid held up quite well to the abuse. And even though the PTFE insert in v1 was partially threaded and held in place by - M6 barrel threads, friction and the acyrlic pieces securely fastened across top of the insulator - I found a scenario where it was still possible for the PTFE insert to expand out of the top of the insulator. I'll get into the details of that scenario in a follow-up post. More importantly, the v2 hybrid addresses the issue by inserting a 3/8" by 10mm PEEK plug into the top of the insulator and secures it with two M3 set screws. The PEEK plug seals the insulator and allows no room for the PTFE to expand.
v2 Hybrid dimensions
Overall length - 40mm (same as v1)
PEEK is drilled 3/8" to 30mm
20mm 3/8" PTFE insert (threaded M6 for 10mm)
10mm 3/8" PEEK plug (secured with set screws)
Filament opening 3.35mm with beveled entry
This time the MakerGear Plastruder with a hybrid PEEK/PTFE insulator (forgot to mention the hybrid in the previous post) was heated to 220C with a combination of ABS and PLA in the barrel. That mix was allowed to bake for a couple of hours and was then cooled. Once cool the filament drive motor was turned on and PLA filament was rammed, full-speed, into the cold barrel. The acrylic creaked and moaned from the pressure but the acrylic didn’t break. I backed out the PLA and rammed it in two more times – I kept the motor running each time until some kind of failure occured. Each time the acrylic creaked and strugged but ultimately the filament stripped. I then heated the barrel to 200C and printed this pulley (broadcast live on uStream) using PLA 4042D at 60mm/s. After the pulley printed I took the Plastruder apart to see if their was any damage. I replaced a cracked insulator retainer and found the idler wheel had been pushed to the side of the bearing – that means the pinch wheel was barely getting a grip on the PLA filament while the pulley was printing.
If you have any suggestions for testing the durability of the hybrid, please let me know.
I’m always looking for ways to evaluate the fitness of our plastruder designs. Today I let the plastruder sit at full operating temp (200C for the green PLA 4042D) for two and half hours. It just sat there oozing PLA while I took a nap! Then, upon awakening, I clicked on Build and set it loose to print this 80mm x 80mm x 50mm monster block (a 3.5 hour print job). The filament drive is just the plain old 2 RPM DC motor with the aluminum pulley – nothing fancy. I think the nozzle is a 0.4mm but it may be 0.35mm. And, the temp for the heated build platform was set to 50C.
After 3 hours and 21 minutes the 80mm x 80mm x 50mm block finished – no issues. And, the dimensions of the actual object were just about spot-on: X = 80mm, Z (minus the raft) = 50mm, only Y is a little under at 79.5mm. Does this qualify for the longest print in the mBot HOF (not sure what standard configuration settings mean)?
These objects – Mendel Vertex, Nema23 Extruder Mount and Ninja Cookie Cutter – were printed using a MG 0.35mm Plastruder and Upgraded HBP v1.0 at 60mm/s on this bot. The vertex and extruder mount each took about an hour to print but I didn’t to get the time for the cookie cutter. I’ll be repeating these tests using different nozzles and configurations. The objective is to find and remove the bottlenecks…
Also, we’re finally set up to broadcast on uStream. We’ll tweet when we’re running these tests in case you’d like to join in.
Next up is a Cupcake ready Stepper Extruder…
We get a lot of requests for a complete set of Plastruder parts. The SuperPack will be available soon and include:
0.50 mm, 0.40mm or 0.35mm BigHead nozzle (your choice)
Brass heater barrel
PEEK insulator (for ABS)
Hybrid PEEK/PTFE insulator (for PLA)
Threaded pinch wheel pulley (in photo)
Fully Assembled HeatCore – reusable ceramic Plastruder heater
Modular Thermistor kit (100k thermistor, PTFE sleeves, Molex connectors & hook-up wires)
3/16" laser cut acrylic insulator retainers
3/16" laser cut acrylic idler wheel
GrooveMount (washerless) laser cut acrylic mount
Roll of Kapton tape
Many other useful items
And, just to geek it up even more – we’ll include multiple types of insulation so that you can customize the the appearance of your Plastruder.
The price for the SuperPack will be around $100
