Split bar clamp

A bit of a setback tonight. My last barclamp split.

The bar clamps hold bars at right angles to each other. They have a hole at right angles to a hook. The hook goes on one bar while the other bar slides through the hole. Pretty simple and a fairly small piece - one of the printed components of the printer.

I did notice that some of the bar clamps are not of great quality with some fairly rough edges but, since they are doing a fairly simple job, I didn't feel it mattered.

There are six of these in all and I was just inserting a smooth rod into the hole (oo err) when I noticed a crack and that the rod slid in rather too easily. I took it off again, flexed it slightly to get a better look at the crack, and the whole thing split in half. It has split "along the grain". In other words, between two of the layers that these things are made up of. If it hadn't split while I was building it probably would have as soon as any stress was applied.

Anyway, I'm calling it a night again. Here's some more pictures.

One broken bar clamp

Frame so far. The broken bar clamp is supposed to attach the vertical rod on the right hand side to the threaded rod going across the middle of the base.

In that last picture the frame looks a bit skew. I don't think it is bit I'll take a closer look next time.

My next step with the bar clamp is to see if anyone has a spare. Failing that, I'll try and glue it.

Main frame built

A minor milestone but I've built the main frame. This is basically a load of threaded rods bolted to printed plastic apexes. Should have been easier but I got a little confused with the motor and idler assemblies. Once I found some pictures to show how they fit on I decided they don't actually need to go on yet and I'll probably do that next.

In the meantime, I'm going to take it easy tonight as I had a bad night last night and need the sleep. Not good to be attempting to follow instructions on not enough sleep.

Anyway, here it is.

See how the light glints off it in all its shiny glory?

Over and out.

The start of 3D printing (for me)

Start of a new project and time to resurrect my old blog. I thought about starting a new one but, as this one hasn't been used for ages I may as well use it.

My new project is to build an open source 3D printer. The TVRRUG version of the Prusa (minor modifications).

I got the parts last weekend and I have to confess I haven't started building it yet. However, I have cleared a workspace in the garage and laid out the parts ready to start building:

The main reason I haven't started building yet is that I am doing a lot of reading of instructions and blogs on the subject as well as getting the right tools for the job. I could rush into it but I want to do it right and not end up badly breaking something as I have a tendency to do.

I intend to post my progress along with photos and video where appropriate. I have no idea how long it will take, life being what it is at the moment, but I'm in no rush.