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A project log for TOME - Portable 3D Printer

Portable and self contained FDM 3D printer designed to be the ideal tool for field hospitals short on supplies and nomadic engineers alike.

philip-ian-haasnootPhilip Ian Haasnoot 07/11/2014 at 09:280 Comments

So my self-imposed deadline of ordering Shapeways parts for the Z and X axis by 7/11 looks like it will be met! There is still clearly a ton of design work to be done, but I'll be purchasing the spectra line pulleys and Z-axis carriage to get a full side operational and run some preliminary testing. 

There have been a few comments about injection molding in relation to this project. To be clear the parts WILL be injection molded if we choose to do a kickstarter, they are being 3D printed currently to expedite the build process. I have personally designed 34 injection molds to date, some of which were complex multi-part molds with collapsing internal mandrels (Worked in electronics packaging for a well known corp). Low run production is quite accessible for hobbyists in relation to injection molding, a Morgan press [ http://www.morganindustriesinc.com/ ] can provide more than enough pressure and injection volume to produce any of the parts for the TOME, I believe Techshop is equipped with a similar injection molding machine. We will be utilizing professional injection molding equipment with molds produced on our CNC machinery.

Here you can see the Z-axis clamshell complete, I'm happy with the current design and I'll be reproducing this on the opposing side with a few tweaks to fit the Y-axis control hardware. I hope to begin work on the Y-axis gantry in order to clarify the design intent and validity. I have received several comments about the potential problems with a cantilever design but I am confident the FEA will support my current design. I will post the results for the FEA study when it is complete. 

I still need to draw up the anti-backlash nut holder, but this is a simply part that can be FDM printed without degrading performance of the piece. 

Corey was able to get most of the Z-axis hardware machined, just waiting on two metric drills to properly size the coupler holes for our stepper motors. Should have a prototype Z-axis running soon!

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