Didn’t see this posted yet so feel free to delete if it’s a dupe.
I’ve been considering a mill for just this purpose (printing pcb’s) but this looks like a much nicer solution (at least quieter and less mess).
Looking closely, it seems like the process could pretty readily be adapted to an existing Reprap (they used a Cupcake from some experiments themselves). It would come down to mounting & controlling inkjet cartridges (someone had a nice open source driver for these) and filling them with the appropriate chemicals (silver nitrate and ascorbic acid).
Hmm I wonder if it’s any better than a silver trace-repairing pen on a plotter? I’d be interested in more details on their cartridges and inks but I doubt they’ll release them! Is it too much to expect crowd funded projects to be open software / hardware?
Hey @Liam_Jackson , I had similar questions about the inks and it turns out they are just using silver nitrate and ascorbic acid, which are both pretty easy to come by.
I also asked them if they plan to open source the design and they intend to do what they can (I’m not sure if that means there are parts they can’t, or if they just don’t want to commit to the work of publishing everything).
@Jason_Gullickson but why not use a multi-cartridge printer that’s been junked and modify the x axis? if you find cartridges that are fairly easy to syringe refill. That may be the way to go. Definitely change the controller but most of hardware would be reuseable and if you only intend to use thin fabric or paper it may be ideal close to as is depending on the printer’s mechanics
I have a few of inkshield-style cartridges, I was going to use it in experimentation of inkjetting over 3d printed parts to give multi coloured prints. Don’t need the shield because the drive electronics are fairly easy, but mine doesn’t fit in the provided stls (must be same interface, different cartridge package) so I need to brush up on cad skills to design a holder. I wonder how the print head would hold up to the chemicals involved?
