Tag Archives: 3D Printed

DGT-3000 Raspberry Pi Connector

PicoChess is a software developed by Jean-Francois Romang that brings several chess engines to a DGT board and allow full control via the second queen (i.e. no cpmputer required!. It works with a Raspberry Pi and a DGT-3000 chess clock. DGT offers an all-in-one solution (DGT-3000 with a Raspi) for £280. The DGT-3000 alone sells £50, so quite an up-mark for a £28 Pi! Based on the work others have done, I developed a board that allows you to connect a Raspberry Pi to the DGT-3000 without too much hassle. You need a soldering iron for the power cable (from the Pi to the DGT-3000). The solution consists of the following components: A DGT-3000 Raspberry Pi (a Raspi 3 will work best with the PicoChess engines, though a Zero W cor an older Pi can be used as well) The connector cable (Pi-Hat with molex and power connector for the clock) a 5-pin Molex connector cable A Case that serves as a base for the clock and houses the Pi and the connector board You remove the small board that holds the 3.5mm connector and instead the board will be connected directly to the RasPi via USB (I added a magnetic USB-C connector to easily hook up the board and the RasPi. Just to clarify: After this conversion, you will no longer have the 3.5mm connector (and a little hole on the side of your DGt-3000). Layout of the molex connector: This is the layout of the board that connects the RasPi with the mainboard of the DGT-3000.…

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Micron 3DP Metal Extruder

Adding an all-metal extruder to a Prusa i3. The Wade extruder on my i3 started to slip and not enough filament was extruded, so the prints started to look flakier and flakier. I checked the extruder, refurbished the hobbled bolt, but the problem came quickly back. Only once I increased temperature to over 230C (for PLA!) it completed prints – of course the result looked like roasted marshmallows. So I ordered a new J-Head hot end (0.4mm) and a new all-metal extruder. Price on ebay was $175 plus $20 shipping. Quite steep, but I have no regrets! Build quality is excellent and the Nema 11 stepper has plenty of power thanks to the gearbox (at first, I used same driver setting as for my Wade extruder’s Nema 17 and subsequently the stepper would become very hot. Adjusting the reference voltage of the driver board to 0.45V solved the problem). I had to print a new mount to fit the extruder. That was a bit of a challenge, given I own only one 3D printer, and that one was broken. I managed to get one decent print: enough to mount hold the new extruder in place. Once I had the printer re-adjusted (M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E1333.33), the first task was to print a better mount. Result is attached below.   Not sure if it’s the new extruder or the recalibration of the machine (incl. resetting x and z end stops), but now I am finally able to print straight onto glass (using a watered down…

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3D printed Nema 23 mount

Print you own Nema 23 motor mount. A low cost alternative to aluminium mounts and more accurate than most wooden constructions. Nema motor mounts are usually quite expensive. The quality of the mount does very little to a CNC machine’s accuracy. So I decided to print one. It raises the motor about 2mm above ground. My motors fit snug into the mount hole. The mount is relatively sturdy. I had a bit trouble with warping, since my heated bed didn’t work properly. Thickness of the base can be increased to improve rigidness. For the particular machine I built, 2 mm was al I could afford. Nema23-Mount.skp Nema23Mount.stl  

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