Build Log #26 - Some updates, BOM sneak peak

My only success with blue PLA. How sad.

After many hours battling with the QU-BD's MBE extruder, I decided to call it quits in trying to get the Blue PLA to work. The heat creep is the main culprit which is causing all the jams and I'm sure of it. The jam happens right at the top of heat break on the ss filament barrel (top as in near the anodized aluminum heat sink). The heat break failed to stop the heat from spreading and the heat sink isn't pulling heat away fast enough to stop the PLA from swelling. To test this, I had a fan duct blowing air directly at the heat break and the PLA extrudes without any jams. Thought about mounting a heat sink right at the heat break but the filament barrel is just too damn short to be workable. Until I can figure out a way to draw the extra heat from the filament barrel, the blue PLA will unfortunately be shelved until further notice.

Heat Cartridge

I've taken the extruder apart so many times, I lost count and busted my heat cartridge at the same time. The wires snapped off and out of all places, right at the base. Couldn't solder it back together since the solder wouldn't stay on the wires so I resorted in using fire cement. It looks horrible. RIP.

Drill rods

The drill rods finally came and after running a few LM8UU bearings through them, they perform just as well as chrome plated linear rods. Saved $30 and can get some extra length out of it.

Cutting the drill rods

Cut them in half to make things simple. I could even expand the print area if I wanted to.

wrong head

Purchased the wrong M3 x 25mm bolts for the Y Carriage. Instead of a button head style, I got the flat head  version by accident. Oh well, time to make another order.

My next bot coming together. I'm going to gut the first bot's electronics for the second build. Planning on putting together an assembly guide so it's a good time to take a lot of pics during the build process.

Finally finished the BOM. I feel like an excel pro after tweaking it so many times. Here's a sneak peak of what it looks like. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArlpE-ua0QRhdHFvZ0J2MTRaY0w5c2VDbmw0TDJyTHc&usp=sharing