The RepRap firmware has the ability to read G-code files, the standard format for controlling CNC machine tools. Building the thermoplastic extruder needed to start building things using additive manufacture looks like being a lot of work (and more importantly time), and so the subtractive (milling) option seemed a bit less daunting. The possibilities are endless!Īs a stepping stone to building a full version of the RepStrap (the name given for a machine not built from self-generated parts, but designed to make the first generation of parts), I have built a 3-axis Cartesian robot from typewriter and inkjet printer parts, with the idea that I could attach a small drill to it in the meantime and use it to mill shapes from wood, plastic, maybe even aluminium. In theory it should be able to make almost any shape which can be imagined. When I read about this project I became very interested in its possibilities, particularly for artistic purposes. It is a sort of computer-controlled robot which squirts out hot plastic in a controlled way, building it up in layers to make a solid object. It’s a machine for which the eventual aim is to have it make copies of itself, which is of course quite a tall order. The RepRap project is a very exciting development in open-source hardware.
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