So this looks interesting. Gets the mind thinking, but it is a good concept to test fit a printed board before going through the etching and cutting process.

http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Prin ... uit-Board/

That is cool

Very cute! Homemade conductive paint sounds like something everyone's bag-of-tricks should have, even if printed boards don't pan out cause you can't use solder near PLA. Anyone find the recipe?

I'm sure printed boards will have a place, but for many projects I think I can beat the construction time with pre-etched prototyping copperclad. Heres pics: http://diylab.atwebpages.com/OscProto.htm

I also noticed the "Cyclone-PCB-factory" design in the OpenSCAD gallery. It suggests that copperclad can be milled on a small machine based on the 50-cent 8mm slides many 3D-printers use.

--John Hodges

It seemed to imply the conductive paint was store bought. I think I have heard it used before, but have not looked for it. Seen it on a couple of other projects too.

I need to still check out that other library as well.

Thanks!

Randy

Is there a standard for replaceable print "heads", sounds like something that would be a really cool idea. A standard physical shape with mechanical adjustments + standard electronic pinout and connector. That way you can print PLA, snap out + change the head and print cake icing.

That is an interesting idea. Would be good to change between PLA / ABS / Nylon etc.

Randy

Thanks Randy,

I started looking at getting my own 3D printer, I see many really cool ideas, but one that keeps puzzling me is that there are just wires hanging out there from the print head. I keep thinking that over time these wires will break. So then I was thinking about getting one of those flexible circuit boards, like the kinds that used to be in dot matrix printers, and that is where the socket idea came from...

Have you or anyone else seen a 3d printer setup with a flexible circuit board? Or is it just not that big of a deal?

I would think a standard breadboard would be a good way to teach kids circuits. They are easy to hook up and easy to change.

But if you want them to make more permanent circuits, you could print out some larger boards that have trace channels that are separated by wider walls so that it is easier to fill them without overflow and then no sanding would be necessary.

Like most water based paints, when put on thick, the Cupro-Cote paint dries on the outside first and leaves the inside gummy for many hours. You really do have to wait overnight for the components to be held fast.

Another possibility you could consider, would be to draw a schematic on a piece of paper or cardboard and have them fill in the lines with paint and and then glue in components where the symbols are. This paint is very conductive and even a thin flat painted line is very conductive. It does dry faster on paper

It also sticks well to almost anything. You could draw a schematic on a piece of Plexiglas and they could fill in the lines and make transparent circuits.