Plan to 'Keep It Working' or Idle Time Manufacturing

[Jack Coats]

It was in the days before RepRap and Makerbot, but I had the idea to
have a small, but automated injection molding machine. Then generate
a simple Lego knockoff of their 2x6 or 2x8 building block. If it was
of simple and cheap enough, the idea was to build it and let it run.
Making barrels of blocks.

Then sell the 'standard blocks' by the pound on eBay or wherever.
Probably see how they fit to fill up a postal mailing box (Priority
Mail) and package them that way. Or in pails for flea market sales.

If made with RepRap type machine and an automated build platform, they
would make great 'samples' for trade shows, flea markets, or donating
by the barrel to local kids shelters or schools.

I like the idea of using 'old designs' as the legalities of patents
are out of the way, 'everyone' knows what they are and how to deal
with them, so there are no unreasonable liability issues with being a
'me-too' manufacturer. Just don't label them Lego.

If someone uses my brainstorm, send me a pail for me to play with, and
let me know you used my idea. It will help my ego if nothing else :)

With flexible manufacturing, like Reprap, using something like that
could be a good way to use otherwise un-productive time. Especially
if you could sell them for more than the incremental cost of
manufacture, but not let it get in the way of 'paid production'. But
you need to have an automated build platform that can automatically
empty, to allow the next thing to be built.

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Do you have ideas for 'idle time manufacturing'? Just to consume
otherwise unprofitable machine time.

[Adan Akerman]

That's a fun idea. Just identify something, anything that you can keep cranking away on and be able to sell eventually.

Has anyone worked on an ABP for a replicator? Or was that abandoned for leveling reasons? I can imagine it being very challenging.

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[Steven Castoe]

I got a fairly undeveloped project its pretty much.a snowplow mounted to the extruder

In order for this to work Im thinking all prints would have to use a raft.

I'll digg up my models

[Jack Coats]

Automated build platform thoughts...

Take a look at the Makerbot automatic build platform. It is basically
a belt (Kapron reinforced?) that can be moved at the end of a build,
over a fairly small radius on the 'empty the platform' end, to help
the parts come off the platform. It is just another motor to drive at
the 'end of a build'. It could even just be triggered to run for
30sec or whatever it takes at the end of a build after the hot-end had
been retracted.

So as to not add any more complexity to the electronics, having it run
the platform by running the hot-end into a switch on the edge of the
build platform to trigger it might be an option, so it is up to the
programmer (or modifier of g-code) to trigger it by running into the
switch.

Another was is on the g-code interpreter arduino, just get it to
recognize another M command, to just run a motor for x-seconds.

Just some thoughts.

[Whosawhatsis]

You don't need a new command for that as long as you have a free FET channel for a fan or something (the fan can just be wired to run constantly). Just use the regular command to turn the fan (or whatever) on, then a delay, then turn it off.

I like the idea of mounting an endstop-type switch to activate it mechanically more, though. I think I've seen someone use this method to activate a camera for time-lapse photography with the X/Y position the same in each frame.