April Week 2 Update
Apr 10, 2013 | Comments
Well another week and we’re one step closer to getting our 3D printer up and running.
Last week the RAMPS (RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield) 1.3 kit arrived and I was really keen to get the 3D printer up and running as soon as possible. So Saturday morning I took it upon myself to get started on the assembly. Everything was going well until I soldered something in the wrong place. It wasn’t until I cross reference with a photo that I realised my mistake. A bit disheartened, I downed tools and decided to call it a day. Still, it was good progress.
Tonight Si helped me undo that mistake. With a bit of flux and skill I was soon re-armed with a hot soldering iron and a reel of solder. Despite difficulties with the instructions from the RepRap wiki (which are inaccurate and unreachable again), completing the rest of the soldering was fairly straightforward, especially with Si in close proximity.
Tom came down with the new chassis/case which had been machined only minutes before using an industrial scale CNC wood router and got to work assembling it, however due to lack of an 8mm drill bit wasn’t able to finish it so got stuck in with something else. Don’t worry, I’ll bring the drill bit down next week.
Instead Tom decided to recruit Steve and DanR for the Arduino software. Unfortunately we ran out of time to get the software sorted, but we’re not far off now before it all comes together. Fingers crossed for next week. Time to start learning how to use SketchUp. What are you going to print?
In the midst of all of this, our two youngest members were getting stuck in with a soldering iron and their Maplin electronics kits and before the night was over we had a robot dancing around the hackspace floor.
See you next week!
Update
Apr 3, 2013 | Comments
We’re back after a good Easter, even though everyone was feeling a bit lethargic. Probably due to too much self indulgence, but none the less, we persevered.
Tom borrowed my TP-Link WR703N (imported from China) to have a toy with to see how well it would do connecting from a house with fibre broadband to one that can’t get broadband at all. The answer, after updating to the English firmware, is OK, but due to the lack of external aerial, not great. Still, worth a shot.
We’re getting a bit closer with the 3D printer now. We’ve had the motors turning using an arduino and a h-bridge, we’ve ordered the RAMPS kit and enough A4988 Pololu Stepper Motor Drivers as well as the extruder. They are in the post so I expect to have them by the weekend.
Our most recent flatcap wearing member came down with his sound system in preparation for the Critical Mass Stoke-on-Trent, I’d already mentioned it to DanW so he soon found himself up to his eyes in wires. Suffice to say, it’s much louder than it was before. Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world.
John brought down his radio controlled helicopter which Tom couldn’t wait to get his hands on… and then hack, of course. I’m not sure where it ended up, but I think it flies slightly to the left now. Excellent. Perhaps we’ll mount a camera and control it by an arduino once it’s fixed, who knows…
Of course, it wouldn’t be a hackspace without injury! Well you know what they say, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and it would seem that you use a sharp tool without drawing blood now and again. Luckily DanR was on hand with his trusty first aid kit. Safety first guys, safety first.
We finished off with a very quick meeting. The change from weekly donations to monthly for regular members went ahead OK. We’re also now working on a “pay what you want” basis, similar to Nottingham Hackspace, but most people seemed to put in a tenner, which was excellent.
There’s a few things we want to get sorted internally to ensure the continuity of the hackspace, such as separation from the downstairs unit, additional key holders and our own security system. This will form the basis for more benefits for members such as flexible opening times, with 35ltr project boxes for regular members to follow.
Update
Mar 13, 2013 | Comments
Hi all,
To begin with we weren’t sure who was coming down, but it was a good turn out.
It’s great to see people helping each other with various projects, there’s a great sense of community building up from the group, which is fantastic. So thanks for everyone who came down. You guys really make it what it is.
Supplies!
Coffee, Milk and Sugar needed replenishing so now we’ve got enough for quite some time, so come down and have a brew with us! 🙂
Thanks to Kate who redid my “prototype”, we’ve now got our binary “Brew Board” setup so, if you’re getting a round in for your fellow hackers, you know their default choice without having to risk distracting them while holding a hot soldering iron or getting hands on with an angle grinder.
Nobody wants more than one sugar though right?
After blowing up a power supply that Si had carefully worked on for most of a previous session, Dave, Jib, DanR and myself worked on a few more desktop power supply units that we could utilise for powering an array of projects that we’re working on. We’ve now got a good few of these ready to be used.
We’re building up quite a collection of small screens now. DanR took to task on them trying to figure out how to not only power them on, but get a video feed from a Raspberry Pi.
Not quite there yet, but hopefully we’ll have a Raspberry Pi demo setup in the next few sessions.
Will brought down some Roomba robot vacuum cleaners. One which he intends to turn into some kind of Raspberry Pi powered death bot, or perhaps a roaming hackspace video streaming bot (we’re not sure yet) and perhaps even more oddly the other for actual vacuum cleaning… Who would have thought?
The electronic components arrived!
Si brought down our order and got a home for them mounted on the wall.
Perhaps now we can actually start building some prototype boards and using our Arduinos.
Having said that, a few guys were already getting stuck in with their own components and circuits which was great to see.
The hackspace is very quickly becoming a hive of activity, which is brilliant.
Dave brought down his DIY vacuum former and some plastic to try, so we set to work heating up the plastic enough so it was tacky, then placing it over the Dyson powered vacuum bed hoping that it would take the shape of the moulds we had to hand.
Unfortunately the puny Dyson wasn’t powerful enough and we’re not sure we got the plastic hot enough, yet we persevered by getting a much larger, industrial sized vacuum and a heat gun to double up the heating process.
This seemed to work much better, so with a bit of tweaking we should have a fully functional “vacformer” kit ready to go.
However, unfortunately the Dyson has been relegated back to regular vacuum cleaning.
Amongst all the chaos, heroically Tom continued to work on the 3D printer, recruiting one or two of us now and again to be grips. By the end of the night the X/Y axis was actually looking like it was coming together nicely.
The hackspace is coming together nicely now, we all got a lot done last night. There was a great buzz.
For those of your interested, due to the success of the night we’ll be opening on Saturday from 10am, so if you struggle to make Tuesday nights now’s your chance to come down and say hello!
See you on Saturday!
Update
Mar 6, 2013 | Comments
Hi all,
We started off tonight where we left off on Saturday…
I began setting up the printers Dave had dropped off on the computers. Sure only 2D printers, but essential for the space. Now we have a colour laser and black laser setup on the network. This means we can now get some simple documents, such as signs, notices, forms, flyers all printed off on-site using our own resources.
Kate set to work doing the artwork for our entrance wall, which is now sporting the official “Potteries Hackspace” logo. A much more welcoming message than the arrow we had before, I’m sure you’ll agree. Perhaps next we’ll put a “Do Not Be On Fire” graphic…
Si go to work on the PSUs, converting them into desktop power supplies. Doing what he does best with a soldering iron. Once we’ve figured out a standard connector I’m sure this will be the first of a few to come! We’ll definitely need these as our breadboards and components turn up next week.
Tom and DanW got hands on with an angle grinder, cutting the steel bars to length for the 3D printer. “It cuts like butter” says Tom after comparing it to cutting with a hacksaw which was blunted in the process. Just the hot end, extruder and electronics to go now. Hopefully we’ll have the stepper drivers sorted and we’ll actually see some motors moving next week.
Before we left, we all hung around having a brew and a chat, discussing things from 3D printers, to wood burners, to space (the final frontier). The guys quite liked the idea of getting a vacuum former setup using an old hover and the idea of sourcing a wood turning lathe. However, the question of whether we’d need three-phase power came into play and also flood plans so we have an idea where to put it.
Although we didn’t even get around to playing with the Raspberry Pi (again), Dave did bring a few neat little screens down, so I am hoping to have a play with those next time.
However we have really made some great progress in the space now, so watch this space!
95
Mar 5, 2013 | Comments
Just what we need for our 3D printer a machine that makes cheap 3D printer filament 🙂