Hi Folks

[Aaron Eiche]

I found out about this group through the DorkbotPDX list - I'm a big fan of 3D printing and I'd love to meet some other folks that have printers in Portland - I didn't know you were here!

I own a Cupcake that has many many upgrades and continues to disappoint me :) Stubborn as I am though, I continue to ignore the idea that I could just get a new printer and instead continue to wrestle with my cupcake on a rotating 4-6 month basis. With some help from a friend, I'm moving to a stepper-extruder and PrintrBoard to move away from ReplicatorG and Gen 3 electronics - hopefully that'll be happening in the next few weeks.

Any plans to get together and fill an unwitting meeting place with the unpleasant odor of melted ABS?

[Tom Frisch]

Hi Aaron, nice to meet you. I've got a mendel/prusa hybrid that a
friend and I have been mucking with for ages. It prints sporadically-
faster and more build area than a cupcake, but definitely a work in
progress. I'm trying to get it working consistently enough to print
out parts for a Mendel90, for which I have most of the vitamins, and
unassembled electronics.

-Tom

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Tom Frisch / t...@tom11.com / mobile: 503.473.2801 / www.tom11.com

[Chris Crewdson]

I have a Makerbot Replicator and have loved it.
I also have a Mendel that's not fully assembled...
If someone wants print work done, it's certainly not running 24/7 and
I'd just charge you plastic cost.

FYI, OMSI had their three Replicators out at the Maker Faire last
weekend, and all are working great. They should be available to the
public within a year (not sure what the actual schedule is), once the
Maker Center is set up at OMSI.

[Don Park]

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 1:29 PM, Chris Crewdson <chrisc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a Makerbot Replicator and have loved it.

> If someone wants print work done, it's certainly not running 24/7 and
> I'd just charge you plastic cost.

Thanks for the offer! I think its really valuable to provide the
opportunity to do small print jobs for those who dont have a printer.
A local web dev shop setup http://makerfactory.com/ for just that
purpose though it doesnt get much use because not many people with
printers know about it.

> FYI, OMSI had their three Replicators out at the Maker Faire last
> weekend, and all are working great. They should be available to the
> public within a year (not sure what the actual schedule is), once the
> Maker Center is set up at OMSI.

The Maker Center at OMSI was the most exciting news of the Faire!

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/09/mini_maker_faire_at_omsi_celeb.html
'The idea for a Maker Faire had been tossed around at OMSI for several
years, but it fast-tracked the event this spring when it was awarded a
$100,000 to create a Maker Center in the museum.'

Don

[Monty Goodson]

In addition to OMSI's Maker Center, I also learned at the Faire that the Multnomah Library system got a grant to make maker tools available for use.
They don't know exactly how this is going to work out yet, but plan to have Replicators available, and perhaps a laser cutter. They want to provide tools that "travel well" so they can rotate them around to the different branches. A laser cutter may not fit this requirement due to the ventilation requirement and fragility, but we should be seeing 3D printers at libraries soon!

Monty

[Chris Crewdson]

This is the same grant that OMSI got. They got it together as partners
in the Maker Center project.
At least one of the Replicators will be a mobile unit, but it's likely
the cutter will stay at OMSI.

[Dave Hayden]

On Sep 20, 2012, at 12:27 PM, Aaron Eiche wrote:

> I found out about this group through the DorkbotPDX list - I'm a big fan of 3D printing and I'd love to meet some other folks that have printers in Portland - I didn't know you were here!

Same story here!

I got a Printrbot a few months back and had a great time putting it together and getting it running, but haven't used it much at all. Mostly, because I don't really have any practical need for it nor much free time to mess around with it, but also it seems so touchy about temperature and the Sketchup-Slic3r-Pronterface toolchain doesn't run so smoothly.

So, what software are y'all using?

-Dave

[Chris Crewdson]

I have been using ReplicatorG, but I am trying out the new MakerWare
(http://www.makerbot.com/makerware/)

[Tom Frisch]

Currently I'm using Printrun/Pronterface for the printer driver,
Marlin for the firmware, and Slic3r for the slicing. Yesterday I
found enough time to get ubuntu running of a thumb drive, and
successfully got pronterface working, so I have an alternative way to
drive the printer.

Have you guys seen this new wood filament?
http://hackaday.com/2012/09/21/3d-printer-filament-made-of-wood/#more-85823

Crazy.

[David Jones]

Any Ultimaker's out there?  I've been running mine since beginning of this year with good results.

My software stack is a bit different than what you guys have mentioned.  Although I use printrun for the controller interface, I use KISSlicer or Cura for slicing.  It seems to me that the capabilities of the machines (be it Ultimaker or Replicator or whatever) exceed the capabilities of the software.  Every app slices your models differently!

Dave

[Ryan Gerrish]

Hi there! I"m a Rep 2 owner, and would be all for a meet up. Although, I quite like the smell of the melting PLA (mmmm, toasty corn!) so I'd want my own private room to avoid the ABS stink, ;)

On Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:27:58 PM UTC-7, Aaron Eiche wrote: