When we first entered 3d printing we started off quickly printing many and many objects. Slowly our printer started to die down once the printer began acting up. Our current printer the Robox rbx1 became the most pain in the ass printer we saw online. Everything was due to the proprietary software and the lack of 3rd party parts.

We started to try and simplify remote access by using Teamviewer and even went as far as to buy a CEL Root SD card. The CEL Root was even worse than our current methods. This is when we finally had it. We wanted an open source printer with a decent bed, 3rd party parts, and Octoprint support.

Together me and my team came up with the list of hobby printers under $2000. We’ll get a decent filament printer now and a small resin printer later.

I won’t be able to finish my wrist brace project for a while. These instructions are very rough because they’re not actually finished. 

Post in comments if anything needs clarification.

Scanning

requirements:

• Windows
• Kinect (with power adapter)
• beefy CPU or an NVidia GPU (with CUDA drivers)
• Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0
• Skanect software
• an assistant
• a small open area

Here’s the Skanect guide I watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cKb3oEM47E

Keep your filament dry! Filament used for 3d printers will absorb moisture from the air and damp filament prints very poorly. With Buffalo’s high humidity and our printer being run in a basement, we absolutely need a dry box for our spools. We ordered parts ahead of time, slammed this box together in an afternoon, and then baked our spools to rid them of moisture.

We’re using a large plastic bin for storage, teflon tubing to run from the box to the printer, and pneumatic connectors to ensure the filament feeds smoothly into the tubing without snagging. A large pack of silica gel keeps the box dry over time. Our basement also has an additional air dehumidifier that we keep at 50% to prevent mold growing on our wood/mdf surfaces.

Supplies:

• Sterilite Air Tight Bin, fits about 8-10 reels. (Amazon)
• 5-10 Meters of PTFE Teflon Tube OD 4mm ID 2mm (Amazon)
• M5 Lock Nuts, 1 per reel (Amazon)
• 5mm Male Thread 4mm Push in Joint Pneumatic Connector, 2x per reel (Amazon)
• Scrap Wood Strip
• 608ZZ Bearings, 4x per reel (Amazon)
• DRY&DRY Silica Gel Desiccant Packet, Rechargeable (Amazon)

Tools:

• Power Drill
• 5mm or 3/16" Drill Bit
• 1/4" Drill bit or larger
• Sander/Sandpaper (optional)
• Rubber Mallet, Optional but makes it easier to fit bearings
• Oven

3D Prints

• Filament Spool Roller - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2185015

Here’s my primary project, a phone case gamepad. This has been on the backburner for a while and I’m finally going full steam on it. Major milestones will be posted here on the blog. For the week by week details follow my HackADay.io project. All project information will be open source and posted on Github.

This is a custom 3D printed wrist brace that I’m working on. I wear wrist braces to sleep for RSI / carpal tunnel but they’re not ideal. The fabric construction is hot, sweaty, and not supportive around the knuckle area of the hand. The velcro is noisy, sticks to bedding and lint, and is wearing out over time. I want something rigid, breathable, and quiet.

The design was inspired by this 3D printed cast I saw online. I scanned my arm with a Kinect using the Skanect program, then edited the model in Blender to make the brace. My plan a two-piece clamshell, probably held by o-rings or similar. I may add a hinge in the future.