January-21-2020
In order to save material, we did a few tests with our 3D printer.
When we first printed it, we printed the parts horizontally with support material. This is not only a waste of resources, it is also relatively expensive to remove the support material from the workpiece. In addition, the surface was very stepped, which would involve a lot of grinding work.
So we tried to print the parts upright. The surface is much better, but it always fell over when printing. So we built thin retaining walls into the construction, the contact surface to the workpeace is kept as small as possible.
On the whole, the retaining walls are easy to break off. Of course, there is a bit of work to be done here too, but the effort is limited. (Video)
Lyn and I met alone on a dark and cold day in December to get the devilish machine to produce the main bracket. The result is impressive, but it took a lot of sweat and time.
Today we made abatements to the corresponding holes on the drill press. "Along the way", our hell machine made the arm that moves the head.
After we finished all the printed parts, the big moment came: Exit success! (Video) We are on the right track, the goal, completion by Christmas, seems within reach.