Thing-O-Matic 4-Axis Stepper Extruder (Q41859)

It's clear from the RepG source code and firmwares on git that Makerbot is just about to release a MK6 extruder, which will be stepper-driven on the 4th axis of the Thing-O-Matic. You can stay ahead of the curve by getting in now! Driving your stepper from the axis gives you control as fine as you'd possibly like. In addition, it's a great way to get around the problems some people (me!) have had with the Thing-O-Matic extruder controller's motor port; it's not used in this build (although I /think/ the firmware wants a cooling fan for the stepper motor on that port now, I'm still investigating). The video of me testing the extruder after hooking it all up is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fegRf_M_GBk Here's an earlier video from my bench-test before putting it all back together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2OBWO2ooWE PLEASE NOTE: If you want to build this and use it, YOU *MUST* USE THE LATEST REPG AND FIRMWARE! This is BLEEDING EDGE development; in fact I can guarantee you the files below are already technically out of date. Also I can't accept any responsibility for the firmware files below; if they ruin your machine, don't come crying to me. If you want to do it right, get the firmware from the git repo and compile it yourself. It's not hard.!