3D Printer

AllHandsActive has two Makerbot Industries Cupcake series 3D Printers. The printers are both heavily modified from their original state so aside from the chasis saying Cupcake, refer to documentation shown below.

This bots history

This machine started as a Cupcake with Gen3 electronics and Gen3 Extruder. The extruder never worked right and became a hacked version of the DC extruder and a makergear hot end.

The X and Y axis were changed to be quieter and more accurate.

The DC extruder died during a 3D printing talk at Penguicon 2012. We discovered that we cannot easily source many of the parts we originally used and decided to build something that we could repair in the future. We decided on a Stepper extruder with 3MM filament feed as we had many pounds of it sitting around. We use Rob G's 5D firmware with a cable hack (similar to just using the 5D shield). The below settings may work for you if your bot took a similar upgrade path.

Things this bot has:

Gen3 Electronics (V2.x Steppers x 3, Motherboard RepRap v1.2, Extruder controller 2.2)
NEMA 17 Cork Gaskets - Cuts down on noise 
Extra Stepper driver for extruder (Makerbot V2.x) 
Ugly cable hack does this, looks like [1]
RobG's 5D firmware
MiseryPusher Extruder
Custom designed toolhead holder
Mendel X and Y low rider Axis
Relay mount kit
Relay board kit
MB Heated Build Platform
Makergear Groovemount insulator
Modular thermistor
Modular heater core
36MM Brass barrel
.35MM nozzle.
Kysan 13.6:1 Stepper Motor (the same that Makergear.com sells) 

How Do I run Creamcheese?

• Get ReplicatorG 0029 R2 (MUST BE THIS VERSION NOT NEWER!) - Google Code Listing
• Get the Creamcheese config files from here: Tyler's repository of cool stuff!
• Put the 5D Creamcheese Cupcake.xml file in your replicatorg machines directory
• Put the SF40-Cupcake-3mm-.35 folder in your sf_40_profiles folder. On linux this is in a hidden home folder directory (ex: /home/worman/.replicatorg/sf_40_profiles
• Start up replicatorg and pick machine type of Creamcheese Cupcake 3G 5D (RPM)
• In Replicatorg: GCode->GCode Generator pick Skeinforge 40 (Experimental)
• Use the following settings when you generate GCode...
  • Base Profile: SF40-Cupcake-3mm-.35 (if you put the config in the right place this will show up).
  • Raft: Your choice, on or off.
  • Support Material: Your choice, on or off
  • Use Print-O-Matic: YES!
  • POM-Settings-Object Infill: 30% (Less and you get a hollower object, more and it is more solid.)
  • POM-Settings-Layer Height (mm): 0.25 (Smaller and bot moves faster stretching the plastic, larger and it will tell you can it can't print thick layers because of nozzle size)
  • POM-Settings-Number of shells: 2 (How many solid outer layers you get)
  • POM-Settings-Feedrate (mm/s): 35 (Slower and prints take longer, faster and steppers can't keep up or jitter throws off your X and Y, feel free to experiment, tested with 35!)
  • POM-Plastic-Material type: ABS
  • POM-Plastic-Filament Diameter (mm): 2.94 (This should be an average thickness of the filament you feed in. It does vary by color and over lengths of filament. You might want to play with this when changing colors. Measure every 6 inches to a foot and average..)
  • POM-Extruder-Nozzle Diameter(mm) - .35
  • POM-Extruder-Drive Gear Diameter(mm) - 10.58

PRINT!
3D_Printer:Creamcheese:Config How we configured it, calculations included

Ox's bot

Gen4 Electronics
Extra Stepper driver for Mk6 Extruder
Mk6 Extruder
Acrylic Platform
.50MM Nozzle
MBI firmware.

Software:
Creamcheese - ReplicatorG Version 0029 R2. The bots will not work with anything later than 0029.
Ox's bot - Any version of ReplicatorG