Second Set of Mendel Parts on eBay

Willow has recently completed it's second complete set of Mendel parts! This set was printed using Blue Translucent, UV Happy, UltiMachine PLA.

They are on eBay currently at a $76.00 bid and close on Nov 01, 2010 at 08:06:10 PDT.  I have cleaned them up some but have not reamed the holes.  They come with a certificate of lineage (for anyone tracking that) suitable for framing.  Check out the eBay listing for more information.

Makerbot Halloween Contest Winning Entry!

Just a quick shout out to my co-winner in the Makerbot Halloween contest PaSuTX with the very cool Bat Mobile.  My winning entry was my parametric spider web design.

I look forward to getting my glow-in-the-dark ABS and want to thank all the fine folks at Makerbot for the cool contest.

Leaking Heaters...

My current heater was working very well extruding PLA at 230C, which seems a little high but the parts are coming out nicely.  It had started leaking like many of the others I have seen with PTFE insulators.

Then it finally plugged up...  I tried cleaning it out without disassembling it, but this did not work.
I then disassembled the hotend to find the plug and remove it.  During this I discovered that the wood retainer I had been using was starting to char away.

So I began work on a new design that I had been thinking about for a while.  This is based on the BfB hotend that many people like but can be built with only a drill press, hacksaw, rotary tool (Dremel), and belt sander (I plan to post directions soon).

I also found an excellent source for bootlace ferrules.

You can buy these at craft stores in the jewelery section.  They are designed for crimping necklace cords and this bag cost $2.99.

So far I have done hand push tests and can easily push filament at 165°C.

Now I have to change out my x carriage for  larger one (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3594, which I already printed before my failure).

Black Light PLA - Call-out for Pictures

I have been playing with UltiMachine's UV glowing PLA for a while now and have made a variety of things.  Here are some pictures:

 

and the picture that was such a hit back in June:

Now that I have completed my first Mendel set, I think that next set I print and sell will be made from this PLA (A UV Glowing Mendel will be very cool...)

I even have a Moai necklace made with it for sale on etsy.

,

Are other people printing with this PLA?

Are there pictures?

Please leave comments with links

Willow's First Complete Mendel Offspring!

Willow has recently completed it's first complete set of Mendel parts!  It looks to have taken about 30 hrs to print (plus my load/unload time) and consumed just under 2 lb of UltiMachine Natural PLA.

They are on eBay starting with a $49.99 opening bid.  I have cleaned them up some but have not reamed the holes.  They come with a certificate of lineage (for anyone tracking that) suitable for framing.  Check out the eBay listing for more information.