Just Showing Off My Printer

Fantastic looking machine. Please post some more on this. We would love to see some video and some prints. I am seriously considering a build like this.
Can you elaborate on the belt drive and why it looks so complex?
Why do you need a self leveling bed if driven by lead screws on steppers?
Robert
Here's a better picture of the drive belts.
20161224_190214_zpssm8nmbfy.jpg

There are a few advantages to my routing.
1) it keeps the steppers off the moving part of the axis. Less weight and momentum to move around.
2) there are actually 2 separate belts that connect to the y axis mounts. This provides even force on both sides of the rail so I don't get any skew on the cross bar.

I'd like to add the self leveling so that if I put different media to print on (glass sheet, tape strips, ect) I don't have to readjust the z level limit switch. It'll just do it automatically. It also will adjust for the table being out of square for whatever reason.

I'll be happy to get videos of everything once i have everything reassembled. But for now, this is the current state:
20161224_190224_zpsclqrkvx8.jpg


FYI: the CAD model imports great into Fusion 360.
fantastic, thanks for letting me know.


Also, fun story I went to update my firmware to add the second extruder today, and arduino wouldn't connect to the board. decided to try installing an older version of arduino. Well turns out when you reinstall arduino you have to remove the older version. Would have been fine, but my backup sketches were in the arduino folder. Soooo when it uninstalled the old arduino it deleted my backup files. So I get the pleasure of re configuring every thing. Just an excuse to tune it better!
 
well i had backups, they just happen to be located in folders that the installation of the new arduino deleted as it uninstalled the old version. Lesson learned, and i keep them in a completely separate folder now, lol.
 
This is great. I'm torn between building my own printer or just buying something like a Makerbot for my first attempt. It seems pretty formidable just mastering the software. Any advice?
I still can't figure out the routing of those belts. It looks like an Escher drawing!
What is the cylinder next to the printer?
R
 
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Yeah, it's hard to get a picture of all the belts in one shot. Maybe this will help:

Y axis. Drive wheel is circled and the termination of the belts is pointed too. Belts is the grey lines, there are 2 for the y axis.
Ybelt_zps9x8dihzm.jpg

X axis: annotations are the same.
Xbelt_zpsc3whnrxx.jpg

That cylinder is my plastic injection molder

As for the software I'm not an expert by any means, lol. So marlin is the name of the firmware that runs on my arduino. You use arduino to edit everything.
 
Got it now. Crazy. Is the plastic injector used with the printer somehow or coincidentally pictured? I assume your printer uses filament?
Robert
 
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Hey Robert,
It's a pure coincidence. The printer runs on standard 1.75mm filliment. That said, I keep all my failed prints as I can grind them up and use them in the injection molder! recycling at it's best, lol.
 
I note you said that the heat bed is ac mains powered. Is that mains voltage? 110volts ac?
Also the extruder it appears tob be mounted on them gantry, have you considered a Bowden type with the mass of the drive mounted remotely. It greatly reduces the moving mass of both the x and y axis.
Thoughts?
 
I note you said that the heat bed is ac mains powered. Is that mains voltage? 110volts ac?
Also the extruder it appears tob be mounted on them gantry, have you considered a Bowden type with the mass of the drive mounted remotely. It greatly reduces the moving mass of both the x and y axis.
Thoughts?
Yes sir, the bed heater is 110VAC run thru a solid state relay.

I considered a bowden set-up, but I've heard they have a real hard with the softer and more flexible materials. They are also a lot harder to tune for oozing and the retraction settings. Ultimately I want a reliable printer, and I thin direct drive is the way to go. And besides, with the linear bearings I can zip the head around at 1200mm/sec with a single head with decent acceleration. I'm working on the second extruder head now, so we'll see how it goes with the added mass.

20170108_150319_zpsr84fzc6w.jpg
 
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