Just thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:
It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.
Thanks,
badspyro
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays, wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
Just thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
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To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.
The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).
Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays, wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to mask
PCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could mount
a dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC 
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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Yep, that was also on my mind… Dremels are wonderful tools, and it
wouldn’t be too hard to do - the basic structure would be motors
turning gears over a toothed track pushing along the supporting
aluminium rods as far as I would do it - simple, effective and easy to
fix, as well as being fairly easy to program I would hope…
Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to mask
PCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could mount
a dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything
from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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I made a note on the wiki suggesting the use of an Arduino rather than
a Beagle board, as I wonder whether this might be more cost effective?
Jon “The Nice Guy” Spriggs LPIC-1 Certified2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com:
Yep, that was also on my mind… Dremels are wonderful tools, and it
wouldn’t be too hard to do - the basic structure would be motors
turning gears over a toothed track pushing along the supporting
aluminium rods as far as I would do it - simple, effective and easy to
fix, as well as being fairly easy to program I would hope…Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to mask
PCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could mount
a dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything
from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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Aaron Oomlout’s design for a CNC Machine is pretty ace too, if you want something that’s desktop-sized and can hold a Dremel or pen: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/
Plus he’s usually about on Leeds hack days if you ever want to pick his brains :-)On 27 Jan 2010, at 10:30, Jon Spriggs wrote:
I made a note on the wiki suggesting the use of an Arduino rather than
a Beagle board, as I wonder whether this might be more cost effective?Jon “The Nice Guy” Spriggs LPIC-1 Certified
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com:
Yep, that was also on my mind… Dremels are wonderful tools, and it
wouldn’t be too hard to do - the basic structure would be motors
turning gears over a toothed track pushing along the supporting
aluminium rods as far as I would do it - simple, effective and easy to
fix, as well as being fairly easy to program I would hope…Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to mask
PCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could mount
a dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything
from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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A better option would be an mbed in my opinion, its faster than an arduino,
programed using C++ in an online IDE, and comes with ethernet & USB built
in.
-Bob2010/1/27 Jon Spriggs jon@spriggs.org.uk
I made a note on the wiki suggesting the use of an Arduino rather than
a Beagle board, as I wonder whether this might be more cost effective?Jon “The Nice Guy” Spriggs LPIC-1 Certified
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com:
Yep, that was also on my mind… Dremels are wonderful tools, and it
wouldn’t be too hard to do - the basic structure would be motors
turning gears over a toothed track pushing along the supporting
aluminium rods as far as I would do it - simple, effective and easy to
fix, as well as being fairly easy to program I would hope…Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to
maskPCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could
mounta dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything
from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and
justreplacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
–
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He wants to later run it as a networked server that would need no
specific drivers, which is why there is the batting around of some
fairly heavy processors and SBCs - after all, it will need a way to
take the raw file and then translate it into postscrypt for example.
Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:35 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
A better option would be an mbed in my opinion, its faster than an arduino,
programed using C++ in an online IDE, and comes with ethernet & USB built
in.-Bob
2010/1/27 Jon Spriggs jon@spriggs.org.ukI made a note on the wiki suggesting the use of an Arduino rather than
a Beagle board, as I wonder whether this might be more cost effective?Jon “The Nice Guy” Spriggs LPIC-1 Certified
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com:
Yep, that was also on my mind… Dremels are wonderful tools, and it
wouldn’t be too hard to do - the basic structure would be motors
turning gears over a toothed track pushing along the supporting
aluminium rods as far as I would do it - simple, effective and easy to
fix, as well as being fairly easy to program I would hope…Thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
I love the x-y idea, with a thin permanent marker you could use it to
mask
PCBs prior to etching. Heck, if you make it powerful enough you could
mount
a dremel flexi-extender on it and use it as a mini CNC
-Bob2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.com
To be honest, I’m working on corrupting the project into a bit more
than a printer - I’m trying to push the design a bit more X,Y axis
rather than linear, with the ability to swap out the printing head
for, say, a scalpel blade and a vertical servo to lift the blade and
push it down.The other thing is, with an open printer, you can print some far more
interesting inks and onto some far more interesting bits and pieces -
Inkjetting a design onto a laptop is just one of the possibilities, as
is the idea of a printed on temp-tattoo (less painful than the laser
cut brand that I’ve seen done).Also, there is the ultimate question - Why Not?
thanks,
badspyroOn Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Bob Clough parag0n@ivixor.net wrote:
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything
from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays,
wouldnt
it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and
just
replacing the electronics with homebrew?
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
-Bob
2010/1/27 Chris Hilliard badspyro@gmail.comJust thought I would make everyone aware of this interesting
project
that is starting up:It’s a project to develop an open source 2D printer, with a view to
further hacks to it later on.Thanks,
badspyro
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Hi badspyro,
This is an interesting idea, but i have to ask, why build everything from
the ground up? you can get a printer for literally <£10 nowadays.
The basic reason is because we don’t have any control over closed-
printer technology. Consider, a printer doesn’t literally cost £10.
What happens is that the physical costs are much greater and they make
money by selling ink cartridges at several times the cost of the
printer. In a few years manufacturers update the cartridges in
incompatible ways and since you can’t reproduce them (because they
don’t have an open design) you have to buy a new ‘£10’ printer. Of
course, your old computer doesn’t have any drivers for the new printer
so your new printer goes with the new cartridge and new computer.
It’s not merely built-in obsolescence, but enforced obsolescence - a
way of turning durable products into perishable goods. There’s costs
at all levels (including the environment), but it’s engineered so that
it economically benefits the people in control of the technology.
Which is not us.
Open Source Hardware versions of existing devices are not merely an
intellectual excercise, but a key building block if you want to retain
long-term control over technology.
I’d conclude that an open-source mechanical dot-matrix printer is
therefore a good objective. It’s a better alternative than an open-
source laser printer, because the technology is simpler - it stands a
better chance of becoming a product before those involved have become
bored or the project fragmented. Therefore xxx’s suggestion in
http://groups.google.com/group/hacman/msg/67c448eb84da57dc of using an
arduino is a good proposal - a dot-matrix printer doesn’t need a £100+
driver module, since even early laser printers were driven by slower
hardware (cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Y29Jyk7Ao).
Nevertheless, an open-source dot matrix printer has numerous hurdles.
A major hurdle is the solenoids needed on the print head, since off-
the-shelf solenoids are much bigger than even the ones used in early
80s dot matrix printers.
In view of this I would (at the risk of promoting even more project
fragmentation) suggest building an open development daisy-wheel
printer as a stepping stone to a dot-matrix printer. I did some
feasibility studies for a daisy wheel printer and figured it could be
done with about 20 parts. Daisywheels have a few advantages:
- Patents expired ages ago for daisywheels.
- Daisywheel molds can be build easily - as could the parts for the
rest of the printer. - We only need a single solenoid - to hammer a daisywheel character
onto the page. - We only need a single motor - I think a single motor can do the job
of both rotating the daisywheel; the x-axis print-head and ratcheting
the roller. - We certainly only need a humble arduino or dedicated avr for the
control electronics.
Anyway it’s just a thought.
now an open PLOTTER, i could get behind!
I suspect an open-development plotter is a bit more complex than a
daisywheel, but less so than a dot-matrix. The key differences are
that you’d need to support 2 motorised axes (daisywheel=1) and you’d
need to support raising and lowering a pen (or interchanging pens if
you want to support multiple pens).
-cheers from julz @P
I live a little outside of Manchester (by just a few thousand miles), and
I’m writing this almost five full years after the last post, and also it
appears that the project that this thread was started around died almost
immediately, so I’m not sure how eagerly this comment will be received.
But nonetheless, greetings from the future, and also (less excitingly)
from America! I found this thread because I did a Google search for
"arduino 2d printer", or something like that, and sadly, this is still one
of the most relevant results.
In response to Julz’s response to some of Bob Clough’s comments on the
original posting, I’d just like to say that, while I fully understand,
admire, and honor the motivation to build a working dot-matrix from nothing
stone knives and bearskins, I think there is also a great deal of value in
Bob’s proposal, which was stated as
“wouldnt it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform, and
just replacing the electronics with homebrew”
To paraphrase the poet, this idea is intriguing to me, and I would like to
subscribe to a newsletter about it.
I imagine (perhaps naively) that all inkjet printers are pretty much the
same on their insides. All of them perform the same few elementary
functions (up, down, left, right, squirt), and the only have the same few
sensors and actuators (motors and nozzles) inside them. The challenge lies
in replacing the brain and spinal cord of the printer (the printer driver
and firmware) with an Arduino and some custom programming. It would be an
incredible triumph for open hardware and the consumer if you could just:
- buy an off-the-shelf consumer printer,
- crack it open,
- solder some wires to a few components inside it,
- plug the other end of those wires into an Arduino,
- plug that Arduino into a PC,
- submit some form of document file to a program on the PC,
- which sends that document to the Arduino, at which time
- the Arduino takes control of the printer’s innards to print it.
I believe that this scenario would obviate many of the concerns that Julz
raised in his earlier comment. It would have the added benefit of Sticking
it to the Man somewhat. I mean, if printer manufacturers want to sell
their printers at a loss and make it up later on DRM’ed proprietary ink
cartridges at a 4000% markup, let them. Since our zombie printer tech
wouldn’t care where its ink comes from, the corporations would either have
to start charging what things actually cost (which would be great), or
they’d go out of business (presumably to be replaced by someone who WOULD
charge what things actually cost, which, again, would be great).
Mind you, all of this is well beyond my level of expertise. But in my life
I’ve seen some incredible things done by hackers that make this seem
downright trivial. I have to wonder why there’s not more interest in this.
Thanks for listening… assuming that any of you are still alive. : )
I am speaking from the distant past. I felt a disturbance in the time
vortex that compelled me to scratch this message into a stone slate.
Greetings to you in this unknown place “America”. The time vortex commmends
and is excited by your zombie posting.
I did some experiments with an atmel (basically an arduino) a few years
ago. I was able to control the head and the paper feeder by completely
removing the electronics and replacing them with my experimental innards.
It was simple enough as the motors are all standard steppers with encoders
built in.
There was also a guy called SpriteTm that hacked up a cartridge interface.
http://spritesmods.com/?art=inker&page=2
Glue the two together:- 2d printer.
Honestly though, it is surely of little value?
Barry Carter
| http://www.Openbiped.org/ - 3D Printed 1:1 scale humanoid robot!
| http://www.headFUZZ.co.uk/ - Robotics Projects
| http://www.OpenServo.org/ - Full featured servo upgradeOn 7 January 2015 at 18:29, Doug Digdag dougdigdag@gmail.com wrote:
I live a little outside of Manchester (by just a few thousand miles), and
I’m writing this almost five full years after the last post, and also it
appears that the project that this thread was started around died almost
immediately, so I’m not sure how eagerly this comment will be received.
But nonetheless, greetings from the future, and also (less excitingly) from
America! I found this thread because I did a Google search for “arduino 2d
printer”, or something like that, and sadly, this is still one of the most
relevant results.In response to Julz’s response to some of Bob Clough’s comments on the
original posting, I’d just like to say that, while I fully understand,
admire, and honor the motivation to build a working dot-matrix from nothing
stone knives and bearskins, I think there is also a great deal of value in
Bob’s proposal, which was stated as“wouldnt it be worth basing the hardware on a cheap, existing platform,
and just replacing the electronics with homebrew”To paraphrase the poet, this idea is intriguing to me, and I would like to
subscribe to a newsletter about it.I imagine (perhaps naively) that all inkjet printers are pretty much the
same on their insides. All of them perform the same few elementary
functions (up, down, left, right, squirt), and the only have the same few
sensors and actuators (motors and nozzles) inside them. The challenge lies
in replacing the brain and spinal cord of the printer (the printer driver
and firmware) with an Arduino and some custom programming. It would be an
incredible triumph for open hardware and the consumer if you could just:
- buy an off-the-shelf consumer printer,
- crack it open,
- solder some wires to a few components inside it,
- plug the other end of those wires into an Arduino,
- plug that Arduino into a PC,
- submit some form of document file to a program on the PC,
- which sends that document to the Arduino, at which time
- the Arduino takes control of the printer’s innards to print it.
I believe that this scenario would obviate many of the concerns that Julz
raised in his earlier comment. It would have the added benefit of Sticking
it to the Man somewhat. I mean, if printer manufacturers want to sell
their printers at a loss and make it up later on DRM’ed proprietary ink
cartridges at a 4000% markup, let them. Since our zombie printer tech
wouldn’t care where its ink comes from, the corporations would either have
to start charging what things actually cost (which would be great), or
they’d go out of business (presumably to be replaced by someone who WOULD
charge what things actually cost, which, again, would be great).Mind you, all of this is well beyond my level of expertise. But in my
life I’ve seen some incredible things done by hackers that make this seem
downright trivial. I have to wonder why there’s not more interest in this.Thanks for listening… assuming that any of you are still alive. : )
–
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