Josiah’s Ord Bot Hadron Project

Josiah’s Ord Bot Hadron Project

Ord Bot 3D Printer
The Ord Bot 3D Printer Mechanical Platform
by Bart Dring of Pumping Station One

Besides the RepRap Mendel that the space is putting together, I’m putting together an ORD Bot Hadron, the larger brother of the ORD Bot Quantum. It took me a long time to decide between this and SeeMeCNC’s RostockMax. The first beta tester, Jeremy, brought an ORD Bot Quantum to Make Lehigh Valley quite awhile and showed off its impressive qualities.

In many basic ways, this is a simplified version of the RepRap based on MakerSlide and without the interest in being able to print as much of the printer as possible. I’m interested in comparing the time of assembly and results with the RepRap. It seems generally agreed that both printers are capable of equal quality. The typical Mendel may require more regular maintenance than an Ord Bot and require more effort to get well calibrated. The rigidity of the MakerSlide makes for a more stable platform.

The Ord Bot design is strictly a mechanical platform. Most kits only include the mechanical platform and steppers to get it moving. The come in various stages of assembly. The kit I purchased was from Automation Technologies, Inc.

Once I had the platform I had to decide what electronics and extruder I wanted to use. I’m going with Panucatt’s X3 and heated bed for the electronics. My extruder choice is the brand new SeeMeCNC EZstruder extruder. (I’m sure to regret going with the bleeding edge, but its just so flexible.) I still need to pick up a hot end. I’ll probably go with the J-Head when they come back in stock. I understand they usually are stocked at hotends.com on Friday afternoons at noon and are gone over the weekend.

I’m rather partial to the aesthetics of the Ord Bot over the RepRap also. The nice blue anodized aluminum and sleek smooth lines are nice. The ability to hide the cables inside the MakerSlide is also a great plus and the ability to expand it rather simply with just bigger or smaller pieces of makerslide is another notable feature.

My daughter and I will be chronicling our build in a Build Log and BuildLog.net with a picture album on Google+ and more static documentation in a wiki page at MakeLV’s wiki.

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