Morgan 0 has been doing a lot of printing recently.  I have noticed a slight problem with some of the higher prints, to do with bed levelling.  Due to the fact that the arms will flex a bit at longer distances from the shaft, the bed is levelled tilted slightly to the front of the machine.  For the prints I have been doing to date, this has no consequence, but it does skew the print ever so slightly.

In the interest of perfection I have embarked on a quest to remove this problem, and the released files have stronger arms, that will resist the sag.  It just occurred to me that there is something more that can be done, and I started with incorporating automatic bed level correction in the firmware.  It look very promising, and will effectively negate any inconsistencies in the arm movements.  Bed levelling will now be a two step process, in which the bed is levelled to be squared to the linear rails, and then using a simple levelling routine, program the offset.

It is lookup table based in order to save processor time during printing, and it will be saved to the EEPROM on the Mega using M500

More details later.

Check out the menu for the link to the guide:

Assembly guide

If you like Morgan, get me a coffee, or a beer.  If you love Morgan, get me a roll of filament…

Making Morgan has been a lot of fun.  I do not expect anything, but if you love it, and use it, drop me a couple of bucks in the Donation box to the right. Help me pay for the material to keep developing Morgan and its offspring into one of the default Reprap machines of the world.

Yes!  The source is finally released!   Get it here: https://github.com/qharley/Morgan.git

The complete BOM and initial build instructions will go live in the next days…

In the mean time you can start printing: The printed BOM is as follows:

• 4x 01
• 4x 02
• 1x 03
• 1x 04
• 1x 05
• 1x 06
• 1x 07
• 1x 08
• 1x 09
• 1x 10
• 1x 11
• 1x 12
• 2x 13
• 3x 15
• 1x 16
• 1x 17
• 1x 18
• 1x 19
• 1x 20
• 1x 21
• 2x 22 (If you use the Alpen SDS drill bit leadscrew only)
• 1x 23
• 2x cap_2
• 1x of each of the Ecktruder parts
• 1x thumb_knob
• 2x tightening cone

Just a small note to let everybody know the Morgan release is still on the cards…

Have been really busy with “real” work, and is currently swamped with paperwork relating that work.

Let’s have a online release party!  I will release the Morgan plans one week from now, Tuesday 14 May 2013 at the h4h meet, and online.

This past week I did manage to update and tweak a few parts, allowing the option to use any size linear Z guide rails and LMxUU bearings.  I will release STL’s for 8mm and 12mm.  You can choose how much you want to spend…

Let me get back to work

This past week has unfortunately been another busy time at Real Work (TM)

So, in order to get to my printing tasks and broken promises, I installed BotQueue – Software by Zach Smith (Hoeken). I also registered on-line ( www.botqueue.com )

What a pleasure!  I basically set up my bots, uploaded the config files for slicer, uploaded the STL plates for printing, and sent it on its way.  Morgan is now busy printing all the time, without me having to fiddle with the controls, or trying to remember what is supposed to be printed next.  The only time it is not printing is while it is waiting for me to clear the build plate, and pass the build for the next part to load.  I can upload parts from anywhere, and even reprint old jobs with the press of a button.  You can also add parts by sending the links to it.

Another cool feature is that it supports webcams, allowing me to keep an eye on things remotely, and be able to stop an errand print if needs be.

I did suffer a breakdown on the Ecksbot, but a few new belts and new x-idler/motor pieces should sort it out.  Those parts are already in the Morgan queue…

Clocked 13hr of printing since 21:00 last night.

Thanks Hoeken!