Home Made 3D Printer

[Pirate88179]

Tommy:

That looks really good to me.  I can't believe you built this for that price range.

Very well done.

Bill

[TommeyLeeReed]

Thanks Bill,

Mark, the  at90usb1286 board has drivers built in.

The problem was Marlin config settings of stepper speeds...

Tom

[MarkE]

Thanks Bill,

Mark, the  at90usb1286 board has drivers built in.

The problem was Marlin config settings of stepper speeds...

Tom

Tom thanks.  The drivers on that board are Allegro A4982s which are 2A rated, although the board does not heat sink the drivers.  I am very pleased with the step motor drivers from Allegro.  TI has some interesting offerings and they go to 1/32 step.  But it is tough to get a motor where 1/32 steps are accurate enough to be useful, and I think that the Allegro parts are a bit better thought out.

[TommeyLeeReed]

Hi Mark,

Yeah, this board should will do the job, I added the cooling fan to the board because of this reason of having no heat sinks also.

It seems like a better choice then arduino and ramps, but if a driver stops working, then that could be a problem in the future.

Tom

[MarkE]

Hi Mark,

Yeah, this board should will do the job, I added the cooling fan to the board because of this reason of having no heat sinks also.

It seems like a better choice then arduino and ramps, but if a driver stops working, then that could be a problem in the future.

Tom

The fan sounds like a good idea.  I am of the mind that either:  Drivers should be extremely robust, and/or they should be field serviceable.  If only those Polulu RepRap boards and their clones had a little more space for heat sinks then they would be very useful in that regard.  As they are I would not put more than about an amp through them.  It's hard to beat the five for $15.00. price.  I can't even buy the A4988 chips that they use for the $3.00 assembled price.