The printer kit is the Velleman k8200. (this is a copy of the original 3drag)
So when it arrived I was eager to get it built and printing. So join me on my journey as I build this kit and print.
I will be updating this post with photos of prints I have made ect...
So the day began with YODEL delivering my package
Opening the box i was like a child on Christmas day.
All the goodies inside, all the parts and pieces all labelled.
So I got out the iPad and loaded up the manual and began to build.
Mounting the stepper and belt.
Base frame built and X-axis & Y-axis mounted.
Z-axis supports mounted
Z-axis mounted
Heated Print Bed and Extruder mounted.
All wiring done and ready to go.
I didn't take any photos of the wiring process because I was ""in the zone"" in all fairness I just wanted to get the thing up and running.
First heatup.
First Print.
Second print was a iPhone 5 case found on the Web.
Sadly before the print could finish I ran out of PLA.
The PLA I had ordered didn't arrive with the k8200 like it should have. I did however get it the next day and have since received a £20 gift voucher for the inconvenience
OK so the print quality at first was not good.
I have since messed with settings and changed bits and pieces and it now prints beautifully as you will see in the photos to follow.
OK so since then I have printed and made a few changes to the k8200.
Here are just a few.
My first design and print was a holder for the power brick for the printer.
After that I decided that I could print a spool holder.
I had a look on thingiverse but decided to make my own since I needed practice on designing items.
Here it is been printed.
And here it is finished.
And installed
My next idea was to have a external fan to cool the breakout board.
I needed a way to control this fan so I created a small switch box.
During the design I only added room for two switches.
My plan was for one switch to control the fan and another to control some LED's that I will be fitting later.
But then I wondered about having a switch to turn the power on and off to the breakout board. So I added another switch.
I then read somewhere about controlling the printer using a Raspberry Pi.
Lucky for me I had a spare Raspberry Pi sat in the man cave doing nothing so I added another switch.
So I now had a design for a four way switch box.
So I printed it... Mounted the switches, and wired it all up. (at this point I didn't have the LED's they were on order from eBay)
At this point I was well happy with the printer.
The only issue I had was that the heated print bed took about 10 minuets to warm up to 50'c.
The maximum temperature that I could get it up to was about 68'c.
So I got looking into how I could run the heated print bed from external power.
Now the k8200 gives out a voltage of 15.4v to the print bed. Under load this dropped to 13.2v.
This drop in voltage was enough that when printing the heat bed temperature would drop from 50'c down to around 38'c
So I got myself a 19.4v power supply from my parts bin and a 12v to 24v relay.
The relay coil accepted voltages from 12v to 24v
The relay switch accepted voltages from 5v up-to 100v
So I wired the relay coil up to the output of the breakout board for the heat bed.
Then wired the relay switch up-to the 19.4v then to the heated print bed.
The heated print bed now warms up to 50'c in about 4 minuets.
The Maximum temperature I can now go is unknown as I didn't dare go higher than 80'c
Here is a simple drawing of how I wired it up.
Now every time the printer turns on the heated print bed it turns on the relay switch allowing current to flow from the 19.4v to the heated print bed.
I also included a couple of fall-back resistors to the circuit.
Using this method is simple and easy. I was planning to use a Arduino to control the heated print bed but I would have had to use the Arduino to monitor the temperature ect.
This way is easy because the software still monitors the temperature and heated print bed.
So I now had another power brick to make brackets for, and also had a small box to make to house the relay switch.
Here are the results.
And the small box to hold the relay switch.
So now im happy with how the printer works and looks.
OK so above I have told you what I printed for the 3D Printer.
So here is what I have been working on for the CNC Machine.
This little unit houses a arduino nano with a wireless transceiver/receiver, a 16 button keypad, and a 71.5mm x 40mm backlit LCD.
The CNC Machine has a arduino mega connected with a transceiver/receiver which sends and receives data too and from the arduino nano.
This is still a work in progress so updates will come soon... But for now... enjoy...
OK I had some spare time and decided to hook up the LED lights.
Here are a few shots.
