Welcome to the 3D Printhead (aka. homemaker) Wiki.
If you have not figured out what is going on here, we are trying to document all the information needed to turn a CNC Milling machine into a CNC Milling / 3D Print machine.
The theory here is that research is performed (possibly using the Forum) and then documented here.
Who are we?
We are hobbyists who realize that a combination milling machine + 3D printer has far more versatility than a milling machine or 3D Printer alone. We also realize the cost savings in simply combining the two concepts! If you already own and use a milling machine, this should be an easy upgrade. (Famous last words.)
Think of the possibilities. You can use the mill to cut off the supports on the plastic, or perhaps you can cleverly mill aluminum base and a plastic cover for a circuit board (which btw we should be able to also etch or otherwise print with the proper extruder...)
Instead of focusing on the X / Y / Z axis, lets focus on printheads and software. The X, Y, and Z movements of a CNC milling machine are already an exact science, so I am not sure why fab@home and others don't start with that and simply add a printhead. (I love fab@home, btw, but I am willing to bet that I get much more accuracy with my 3D printer / milling machine than most fab@home users will achieve for the next several generations of fab@home.)
We have literally dozens of ideas. Join in, see if you can beat me to the development of my 3D Milling machine / Printer, and post what you know on this wiki and in the forums! I can only work a few hours at night and on weekends...
Subtopics of this site.
3D Free Software - What software do we have to work with that is not going to cost us an arm and a leg??? How does it join together into a final product, and what is missing?
3D Printheads - Research on 3D Printer heads - how many different designs can we come up with to do everything from print circuit boards and plastic covers to printing chocolate cakes?
3D Milling Machines - I have a Sherline CNC mill which I feel is ideal to this, however, I feel that whatever we come up with should be applicable to anyone's milling machine. (My first 3D Printhead will be Sherline specific, unfortunately. Sorry.)
Inputs - There are a dozen ways to get 3D models that we can print. Did you know Google has a huge repository of models, and I know some ways to get them to dxf and then gcode.
3D Printers - What are people doing with 3D printers? Did someone say a researcher in California is trying to use 3D printers to build houses???
Ideas - I have way too many ideas to explore right now, so perhaps someone else will be interested in some of them???
Article To-Do List
Add navigational pictures and other diagrams.