Fab Lab Workday 4/3/2024

Attending:

• Dave Miller
• John Holmes
• Colin Heagler
• Steve Owens
• Gemma Blackburn
• James Lancaster
• Aaron Norton

Vacuum Former

James has rewired the vacuum former to make it safer. The machine works well and we did a demonstration during the meeting.

Laser Cutters

Discussed laser cutter maintenance and the need to keep up with weekly maintenance tasks. Maintenance logs have been updated, and a separate one will each be placed in a clipboard on Mario and Luigi. Colin suggested putting magnets on the clipboards to keep them on the side of the machines.

3D Printers

The new Prusa MK4 has arrived and will become Prusa 5 in Fab Lab. Paul Shackleford, Christian Kindle, Steve Owens, and Gemma Blackburn assembled the machine and it’s working great! Dave has received the Raspberry Pi 4b and power supply for it. We still need an SD card and a USB A-type C cable (plenty lying around).

We still need to configure the RPi for Octoprint and network the machine, which will involve IT. Also need to configure PrusaSlicer in Fab Lab and on the laptops for the MK4. Hopefully this won’t take more than a couple of weeks.

Several people have worked on the Ultimaker2 recently (including Paul Crawshaw, Steve Saner, Steve Owens, James Lancaster, and Gemma Blackburn) and, after some TLC and a new PT100 sensor, it seems to be running okay now. It still needs to be tweaked and tested and the bed needs leveled. For now, it can be operated with any laptop using Pronterface. PrusaSlicer in Fab Lab still has a profile to slice files for it. Once the bed leveling is done and it prints successfully, it will be available for members again.

Had some more discussion about building enclosures for the 3D printers – a continuation of the previous discussion. Colin said he might be able to get a piece of acrylic for the front of the enclosure from work.* We’ll sketch out a more detailed plan soon and move ahead with one double-wide enclosure to start.

Need to investigate a spare parts list for the MK4, similar to the other Prusas. Gemma will send Dave a list. We also need some additional dabber bottles for isopropyl alcohol.

Foam Cutter

Gemma messaged Tom McGuire about repairing the foam cutter. Tom said he would bring some wire and take a look at it.*

Fab Lab sign

Some discussion about Kim Burton’s Fab Lab sign idea from the forum. Facilities is fine with the sign (per Wes and Steve) as long as it doesn’t need power. We looked for the best place to put the sign, and just to the right of the doors, above the cabinet would work best. Because the doors slide over that area, the sign depth will be limited to 0.5”.

Make & Take

Brief discussion of a make-and-take day in Fab Lab, possibly on Saturday, May 4th – with a Star Wars theme. Gemma will talk to Kim about this.

Work Time!

Dave, James, Steve, and Colin worked on Mario and Luigi, completing regular maintenance tasks.

Gemma, Aaron, and John worked on two of the Prusas, completing regular maintenance tasks. The other two will be done during 3D Printer Group.

Updates: 4/7/24

• Colin delivered the acrylic later that week.

• Tom came in on 4/6 to repair the foam cutter. He will contact Kip to discuss some of the updates that were done in 2022 and get it operational again.