3D Printer
This page contains a few projects and descriptions of hobbies from high school. I will be revisiting the button pusher project at some point in the future.
This bucket of bolts, which masquerades as a well-designed 3D printer, is a less-than-satisfactory fabrication machine that I bully into rendering acceptable parts by the liberal application of work, fiddling, and Elmer's glue. It's design is unfathomably deficient, and I unfortunately pre-ordered this machine before anyone had reviewed it. It uses a belt-driven Z-axis, which decreases resolution and stability, requiring an ungainly counterweight and an unnecessary motor as well. The printer has extreme sensitivity to temperature, and it idiotically draws extruder cooling air directly from the heated bed. It requires a very specific setup to counteract the extruder's tendency for expansion and jamming of filament. The vibrant blue piece on the head is a part that I had to design in order to replace the terrible original version that was prone to failure. Also, it needed 12 ounces of lead weight to maintain proper balance, and I had to grind down part of the frame to achieve a fit.
Because of its unruly nature and finicky performance, I have had to acquire a good deal of experience in the areas of CNC control systems and 3D printer operation. For a supposedly introductory printer, the learning curve on this machine was steeper than a rational function.
Because of its unruly nature and finicky performance, I have had to acquire a good deal of experience in the areas of CNC control systems and 3D printer operation. For a supposedly introductory printer, the learning curve on this machine was steeper than a rational function.