I've been a bit busy lately and mainly working on other people's projects, so I haven't had a lot to post lately, but I have been working on the R3 (RepRap Router) again.  My laser-strap prototype has taken up residence in the new CNC room at Hamerspace and is now sporting new endstops and tool mounts including a boom for its powerful little flex shaft spindle.  I got in a quick test of the tool mount and spindle last meeting and grabbed some video:

Here's some additional pics:

Next on my list of stuff I need to do for this prototype is to get the hold down system in place and mill the sacrificial top flat.  I plan on embedding some extruded aluminum T-slot that works with 1/4" hex bots into the MDF work surface like the bigger CNC setup at the space and using standard woodworking hold down clamps for now and maybe design some milled or 3D printed ones as the project progresses.

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I wish they would have recorded the last session we did rather than the first, because it seemed rather polished in comparison by the third time we had presented (and I need all the help looking like I know what I'm doing I can get)!

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Up on the MakerBot blog you can see the article running in 3D Artist magazine:
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/09/01/makerbot-in-3d-artist-magazine-issue-32/

It features a picture of the KC Fabricators local 3D printer operators group (I'm second in from the left) meeting at CCCKC. The pic was originally taken as an entry for one of MBI's challenges to see how many bot's (and their owners) we could get together for a meet up. Don't know who this David Neff guy that seems to be claiming copyright on our photo is though...

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I got the R3 prototype up and running for the event using a PC power supply and some RepRap V1.2 stepper drivers.  All the PCBs I ordered arrived about 2 weeks before the event, and with the exception of putting the parallel port on the opposite side of the break out board that I wanted it placed (it works fine, I just wasn't paying attention to the side it was mounted on when verifying the PCB), all the electronics worked first try.  I'll post some more info on this as I work on it and get the whole system running on 24V later on.  I've already nabbed the Z-axis off the R3 I demoed for another project, so it's currently non-functional again, but I've got the parts in for the second prototype that I'll be working on soon.  Hopefully I'll have more info and a full progress report in a few weeks.

Finally, Power Wheels racing!  I helped CCCKC build two cars for the PPPRS that we hosted and got to drive in the race portion.  We had one car that was a very stripped down lawn tracker and one that was half snapper riding mower, half electric scooter:

I particularly like the improvised petal, which is constructed from a couple 1"x4" wood blocks, a crude spring, a pair of shutter hinges, and some copper pipe clamps.  This one was reasonably fast, but got outclassed by the more experienced teams.  It might have done well in the endurance competition, had the rear wheel hub not been completely destroyed during the race while I was driving:

And here's a close up shot of the hub:

Both of our cars were in no shape to race at the end of the event, so I doubt we'll be going to Detroit to finish off the series.  Next year I think we'll be a lot better prepared by the time the series starts up again...

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Here's a sneak peek at the prototype of the laser cut version of the R3 platform with just about everything but the lead screws installed.  It's based off of the OpenSCAD models for the milled R3 parts with a few modifications, primarily to use T-slot construction rather than 1/4" threaded rod.  I experimented with match drilling as mentioned in the Mantis 9 build page and it yielded some very smooth motion on every axis of travel.  If all goes well, I should have my R3 prototype up and running for demos at the Kansas City Maker Faire June 25th and 26th along with my Makerbot, PE00001, in the 3D printer village section!

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