My First Attempts Digging Into 3D Printing

3 D printing device:

After a long time of thinking around I think I'm trough with it! => Means .. I want one !

So I decided to slowly start with my version of the machanics.
( Thats the part of the job I mostly feel safe and home).
Could someway be a bit "overkill" ( not really REPRAP SPIRIT like
but thats my personal favour ( use the best parts for your builts as
long as you get them cheaply!

Next is about the mechanics part of the target specification.

Structure and global spec
Box dimensions max 400x400x400 mm
Print size 200x200x200 mm ( 8litres)
Moving bed ( x axis)
Moving bridge ( y axis)
Moving gantry ( z axis)
All axis solved using ball light rail systems ( cheap shot on ebay)

Motors / Axis
Moving bed/ Nema 23 timing belt / 2x MGN 15CH / 2 waggon per rail ( medium friction medium load / High Speed )
Moving bridge Nema 17 timing belt / 1 waggon per rail / 1 waggon per rail( low load/ low friction/ high speed )
Moving gantry 2x Nema 17 Tread rod ( Trapezoid or Ball Thread) / 3 waggon per rail( high load/ high friction/ low Speed)
2x Bowden Extruders 2x Nema17 1:6 geared

Printhead
2x Hotends ( brass)
2x (Peek) Insulators (and mounting positions
2x Bowden 2x4 (PTFE)
2x Links (Brass)


For the following posts I'll try to document my steps as a kind of video logg.

Generally spoken: I'm not new to CNC, but to 3 D printing - so please feel free to place compliments, constructives, as critizism - I definitely will need some hints on my way ( what is - to be honest- the main reason for me to join this community) !

As - I think Churchill said- ... a clever man doesn't claim to make all misstakes himselve ... he will let others a chance to do some, too.


Thats for the start - looking forwart to your commands ( and please excuse my bad english - just practizing).

Hansjoerg

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 04:24PM by Optimist.

The first steps :

For the first steps I decided to go for the printhead

I can setup the head separately and afterwards try to get some ABS string from our professonal FDM machíne at the job for trial!

Here ist the first chapter in thevideologg

Video 1 is about the making of the nozzle for the hotend!

[www.youtube.com]

Resistorblock will also be made from brass and afterwards soldered to the nozzle

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 05:04PM by Optimist.

Hi Hansjoerg,

very cool project! I guess you've read a lot about 3D-Printing and have done your homework already, but if yout want to solder the Heatblock to the nozzle, it would be a good idea to use brazing alloy and hard solder it.
How will you build the heat -barrier?
After about 1 year of reading the forum, the wiki and some blogs i'm about to build a printer myself too. I'm lokking forward to see more of your video-blog and your very fine machinery you have!

Best regards

--- Lars ---

PS: Your name and the slight accent in your video makes me guess you'r german. If so, you could join '#reprap.de' or '##garagelab' on IRC and we could swap ideas....

Hi Lars!

Yepp I'm from the South - West of Germany - 80 Km away from Lake Constance ( at the rim of the Black Forrest) ...

I thought not to solder but to clamp the heat block (as tin is not that good in heat conductivity) to the 5.85 mm Diameter directly over the nozzle. I have chosen the larger diameter at this Point not to collapse the 0.5 - 0.6 mm core stockmaterial of the thread minus the center hole by the clamping.

I 'll try to insulate the nozzle head from the PEEK / PTFE part, just by section area of the Brass nozzle ( tread area) - as little as possible so the main heat flux is going with the material as with the air by moving the nozzle ( forced convection)! If this measures would not pay out I alternatively can use a fan or do a heat barrier or similar! - At the first I'll try to go as light as possible!

About the forum change ... As you have already recognized, my English -lets say - has some potential to go better - so if you would not mind to stay here - I'd like to practize a lot more (as the possibility to join one of the English lessons offered at the Job goes always straight contra the time they do want us to do other things - As e.g. (English spoken) telcons with Asia or similar things ( paradoxon ) ... Perhaps I have the possibility to join a course in November but till then I want to take any chance to prepare for that !

You are currently busy with a 3D printer , too? - Have a built thread ?

Good Luck with your built!

Hansjoerg

Quote
Optimist
80 Km away from Lake Constance ( at the rim of the Black Forrest) ...

Ahhh, Bodensee is beautiful this time of year

---

Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Hi Hansjoerg,

i don't have (yet) a build-blog, but i will make one. Today i've built the proof of concept for my hotend. It's NOT a masterpiece of craftmanship, but i don't have fancy machines (only a drillpress) and it's only a proof of concept. Tomorrow i will make the real nozzle and test if it works.
Here is a picture of my 'proof of concept' ...


Best regards

---- Lars ----

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2013 07:27PM by tanis.

Hi Bob ... yes I also like the Bodensee very much - but this sommer seems to be one of the hottest in my life ( I do not remember that I felt about 39 ° C here around - global warming sucks!!!

Lars - nice hotend - Looks like you have at least a lathe!!! I also was just equiped with what my Job allowed me to use for private purposis !
but decided to build my own machines using this posibilities!!!

Hansjoerg,

Nope, i've only a drillpress, no lathe, It was a pain in the a** to drill a somewhat centered hole in the threaded rod, but aber 3 tries it worked. My drill broke as i tried to make a spare rod, but that's ok... i've to order some new drills anyway.
The attachment shows how i drill the hole .... (not much fun, but it worked). To cut down the rod in the middle section i used a file and the drillpress again.... sorry, i've no pictures of that

best regards

--- Lars ---

Hmm Lars - you know that you could by brass tube 3mm on 5mm and about 2mm on 3 mm in modellers store and DIY?.. since you would solder the fittings for the insulation to the tube!!

Im recently busy with my strucutral design -

Target is a mobile prototyper in a case - but Im still not sure which way to go ... I'd prefer bowden principle and 1.75 Filament but I'm not sure - Extruder on carriage would be so much easier to structure ... but so much slower!

Hansjoerg,

yes i know that i could get brasstube with the right dimensions (i already have some), but for a fullmetal hotend brass isn't the right material.
Today i learned a lot about the erros one can make trying to design a hotend ! The good thing is the hotend worked, but it needs active cooling. The 3 small fins are not enough to get rid of the heat if not active cooled by a fan.
The bad thing i broke the hotend.... the heatbarrier is kind of 'fragile' ... while trying to remove the nozzle i broke the hotend.
So, back to sqaure one....

A friend of mine prints with an extuder on the carrige up to 280 mm/s while producing very decent prints. What speeds are you aiming for?

Hi Lars!

Bad for your hot end

yours finally worked!

Mine ist is still not finished!
Will have to buy some 10mm peek from the Job and additionally some PTFE Rod the peek will get a PTFE inlay and afterwards will be bored to final Diameter (2mm) the front side of the peek will get a M4 thread the backside a M8 in between the PTFE tube the M8 will get a short steel fitting to adapt the PTFE bowden to it ... in the first Ill try to get it working without a single fan but as I'd like to ride 0.3mm nozzle Diameter I'm not sure that I can get rid of the heat just by the dispensed material... However - developing fans is someway my business and so I think that I'm able to get a working solution with or without a fan!!

About speed ... still not sure what I can reach as my target is a double extrusion head going for supporting structures of PLA and part structures of ABS ( the PLA will be dissolved by NaOH afterwards) but I try to put all switches in direction of speed ( Extruder to save weight ... 0.5Nm Motors to have max acceleration possible in the given space!

My recent speeds are about 1500mm/min cut in Aluminium alloy


This one is just 1.2m/min...

[www.youtube.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2013 05:30PM by Optimist.

hmm.... you talk about mm/min.... for milling 1500 m/min is very fast! For printing we talk about mm/sec .... 280mm/sec are 16800mm/min..... you won't get your Mill to do that speed (although printing is a much slower process....)

I think for my DIY router the 1500mm/min is quite ok ... I could go more but am not able to cut under oil or with spray cooling so I have to accept this limitations! WIth a good cooling system I probably reach 1800mm/min ... of course ist not that fast as printing speed!

But it is very precise on small dimensions ( at 50mm/ min with 0.3mm bit).... The brass parts are 9.8mm in diameter and the thread holes are M0.5 !

... for speeds - I have a 20+ years old Isel-Gantry with halfstep-drivers and 5mm/turn spindles ... I'm driving it for milling with max. 1m/min, for laser-cutting/engraving with max. 2m/min (only 33.3mm/s!) and it can drive up to 4m/min, but then the shaking/vibrating of the mechanics is visible in the cut or laser-trace.

Actually I'm awaiting a newer Isel-controller with 1/256 microstepping at max. 200kHz for replacing the old half-step controller and another servo-driven CNC-mill, that should be able of much higher speeds ... will test it with the laser to see, what's possible max.

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

JUst have an ELte Spindle running about 24000 rpm - would like to have a Lehmann spindle but would not have the Environment to run it!

but 20kEuro to 30 K Euro are much money!!

... you can check for refurbished Jäger-spindles - should be much cheaper:
[www.alfredjaeger.de]

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

THey are new about 80000. WHatI would like regarding the lhmann - they use airbearings - s the bearing is regenerative and the possible speeds in respect to the useful life are much higher

... search in Peters CNC-Ecke with "jäger spindel preis" - some of them are buying Jäger-spindles with 60k rpm for around 2k€

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Including the Inverter??? ... (I'll take a look!)

Here is another little progress on the Z axis threads

[www.youtube.com]

Part 3 is about the Printers Cardridges ( PLA and ABS - SRY - I have recently some issues with the Premiere elements upload on Youtube- ( the flickers within the movie are not real)

[www.youtube.com]

Regarding the clip quality issues I thought to add some good old pictures...

Yepp Guys! _ Yesterday I got my RAMPS and steppers. After a little bit too long night and some sheets of dibond and outdoor panel board

]


You can see the lower Tray of the Unit carrying the printing cardridges -PLA and ABS; RAMPS ; Powersupply and extruders as the control unit ( in the Background)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2013 11:47AM by Optimist.

Now there is another little step forward - although - due to the functional density ( all " gears" must fit together ) it is a great effort...

X Axis ( the belt is still missing but Homing is able to be simulated) is working so far ...

Today I did the first half of cabeling .. , the heatbarriers; coupling for the bowden on the Extruder side and finished the connector plate..

regardng the DSUB connectors ... I chose the " good ones" ... rated up to 5 A / contact!

Yep . strucutred the y axis.... Waggon included ( carries 2 Fans with guide and muzzle and as soon as I have cut the Interface both the nozzles....


So far for today now I need some treaded bolts to keep all together and to assemble the stepper and the belt + pulley to the strucutre



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2013 01:39PM by Optimist.

Took me several days ... sorry about the delay but now I have the raw strucutre finished .. just the spindles and the reference for Z axis are left

Is this some kind of custom made version of a Prusa i3? What is that white Material.

Looks like you know what your doing though. Is it printing now>?

Rory