Author Topic: low volume custom pcb enclosure  (Read 14131 times)

joelucid

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #15 on: February 02, 2017, 10:05:33 AM »
I can only warn everybody here to exercise extreme restraint as you look at these pictures. You might otherwise quickly end up purchasing a Prusa i3 even if you never intended to own a printer. That's what happened to me anyway ...  :D

perky

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2017, 10:26:00 AM »
Getting a 3D printer is on my list of things to do at some point, any feedback on them is very useful to me -)
Mark.

Felix

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2017, 12:49:55 PM »
Getting a 3D printer is on my list of things to do at some point, any feedback on them is very useful to me -)
Mark.

Me too, thats why i asked!!  ;D
Just looked at their page, the prusa i3 mkii looks great, and has good score on 3dhubs, not sure how important it is to have dual extruder (it doesn't, maybe a nice to have for printing toys?).

ChemE

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2017, 01:04:31 PM »
Damn you all, now I really want one too!

Felix

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2017, 01:27:06 PM »
Sorry this is turning into a Prusa i3 mkii review :P
But never mind about multi extruder, looks like prusa i3 is light years ahead of multi extruder printers. Check out 4 color printing with 1 extruder!!!
Now I really want one  :'(


perky

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2017, 01:42:37 PM »
Nice! This almosts warrants a separate enclosures and 3D printing section on the forum, I think quite a few will be interested in this stuff.
Mark.

ChemE

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2017, 01:44:21 PM »
Nice! This almosts warrants a separate enclosures and 3D printing section on the forum, I think quite a few will be interested in this stuff.
Mark.

This is a very good idea actually.  I second the motion.

Felix

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2017, 03:07:12 PM »
This is a very good idea actually.  I second the motion.

Ok, not against that but how should this be called?
There is the Projects forum already, an inclusive bucket for all Moteino and generic/3rd party based projects that anyone can share.

executivul

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2017, 04:53:08 PM »
Take care guys before taking a leap of faith and ordering a 3D Printer :)
Give your self a few weeks to watch YT videos and reviews, decide on a model, shall it be ready to print or a kit, a generic Chinese kit is cheaper but you have to print upgrades as soon as you buy it, some ready to print models go in the 3 zero price range and spare parts cost an arm and a leg.
I own a Prusa I3 clone which I hate, now I want a larger print size, Tevo BlackWidow is a good option with larger print size but still has the moving bed with it's inherent problems and limitations, but for $500... Or you could go for a Delta, but get a good one with linear rails. Or you could wait a month or two until the Chinese start mass producing corexy designs :)

After the printer you'll want a laser cutter, so prepare to get a K40, an air-assist head, a small compressor, a Smoothieboard and upgraded exhaust fan. To cut the brushed steel looking plastics and acrylic cases and windows...

The last tool of course will be the CNC, a 3040 or 6040 but the one with ball screws, doesn't matter it's for old parallel port, you can rig up a grbl controller in no time using any 328p and start milling your own pcbs, for low production it beats up etching, mill and drill at the same time, from design to produced board in less than 30 minutes, great, but you'll need some vacuum cleaner to take care of the carcinogenic fiberglass dust, and that vacuum cleaner should vent outside, but it will get clogged with dust, so you need a cyclone dust separator and the Oneida Dust Deputy is too damn hard and expensive to get in your part of the world and you decide to print one instead BUT the damn printer is too small and you're back to square one.

PS. any resemblance to my life story is purely intentional  8)

LE. made a few days ago a serial gateway for BananaPi: ProMini+Level shifter+3.3V reg module+RFM69HW
« Last Edit: February 02, 2017, 04:58:51 PM by executivul »

TomWS

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2017, 11:04:29 PM »
Fascinating!  @executivul, I went in the exact opposite direction!  Being a woodworker geek, I built a CNC router which worked well, but didn't have the resolution I needed for gears and hubs and such. And it wouldn't do aluminum

I then went to an 'inexpensive' laser cutter/engraver and spent another 75% and a lot of time getting it 'useful' and have actually made some useful, attractive, and interesting things.

Finally, this past holiday, I was somehow drawn into 3D printing and 'gave' a 3D printer to my family.  All were sort of, uh, interested/grateful, until I showed them some stuff we could do with it.  So far, I and two daughters are coming up with a host of things to make.  My wife is surprised by what we've done, and that, alone, is a major accomplishment! 

Net: I've done interesting things with all three of the devices you've mentioned, but I have never felt so 'liberated' as I feel with a 3D printer.  Literally, if I can envision it, I can now make it.  Just the other day, as I was struggling to try to decide what torque a motor I needed to operate at to control a shutoff valve, I realized that I didn't have an adapter that allowed my small torque wrench to operate the large nut on the valve.  Easy peasy as we say in 3D printing world - I simply printed one and, an hour later (including design, conversion, print time) I had my adapter and measured the torque.  It would have taken me that long to drive to the nearest store that wouldn't have even had the adapter I needed!

Call me a zealot, I'll 'fess up.  But I'm astounded at how much I've used this little device...  But I will also admit to being the 'drug pusher' that Joe has fallen prey to...

Tom
PS: to Felix, a 'fabrication' kind of category might be a good thing!

ChemE

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #25 on: February 03, 2017, 12:55:14 AM »
Ok, not against that but how should this be called?
There is the Projects forum already, an inclusive bucket for all Moteino and generic/3rd party based projects that anyone can share.

The projects subforum has so many stickys now that things already get buried there.

PS: to Felix, a 'fabrication' kind of category might be a good thing!

I think 'Fabrication' or '3D Printing' would be a good name.  Seems like this would be different from projects in that what will live here is more like code than showing off a project since anyone could download a design/gcode and make one on their printer.

ChemE

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #26 on: February 03, 2017, 12:59:11 AM »
...but you'll need some vacuum cleaner to take care of the carcinogenic fiberglass dust, and that vacuum cleaner should vent outside, but it will get clogged with dust, so you need a cyclone dust separator and the Oneida Dust Deputy is too damn hard and expensive to get in your part of the world and you decide to print one instead BUT the damn printer is too small and you're back to square one.

http://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm

Try making a Thien separator and run it on a shop vac.  A well made one will prevent all but perhaps 1 cup of fine "flour" from getting to a shop vac even when sucking up 55 gallons of coarse/fine chips and dust.

executivul

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #27 on: February 03, 2017, 01:21:52 AM »
I guess a subforum "Additional tools" with main topics: printers, cnc, lasers, soldering, measuring would be nice.

@ChemE endless battle of cyclon vs thien. Cyclon is easier to buy or print. Thien is easier to build in a large wood shop. I live in a flat unfortunately. Besides the visible fine dust (flour) they miss ALL invisible (deadly if <3um) dust. So a single air circuit vacuum is better than double circuit which almost all shop vacs have and cross contaminate. And it must vent outside! I don't trust hepa.

ChemE

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #28 on: February 03, 2017, 02:21:47 AM »
@ChemE endless battle of cyclon vs thien. Cyclon is easier to buy or print. Thien is easier to build in a large wood shop. I live in a flat unfortunately. Besides the visible fine dust (flour) they miss ALL invisible (deadly if <3um) dust. So a single air circuit vacuum is better than double circuit which almost all shop vacs have and cross contaminate. And it must vent outside! I don't trust hepa.

Decently off topic now but I went with this upgrade for my dust collector: https://wynnenv.com/products-page/product-category/35a274nano-cartridge-kit/

99.999% of dust trapped at 0.5um.

WhiteHare

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Re: low volume custom pcb enclosure
« Reply #29 on: February 03, 2017, 06:55:27 AM »
Not to mention that if you want to collect it all at the source you need a humongous vacuum motor (probably at least 2HP), and to go with it you probably need a new 220v dedicated electric circuit.  Before you know it that modest little CNC has a gargantuan contraption to go with it. 

Still, I agree the allure is pretty strong.  If only it could produce the tiny traces needed for SMD parts....