Hey guys, I'm aware of belts and threaded rods but are there any other common or not so common linear motion systems that are more 3d printable? I'm toying around new ideas for reprap designs.
So far I'm aware of
threaded rods
belts
rack and pinion
Of these only rack and pinion can be 3d printed to a decent standard as far as I'm aware.
Any other types of systems such as the Simpson reprap with it's gear arms, SCARA types etc I'd also be interested in hearing about.
I'd also like to ask people about their knowledge of hotends, what is the lowest power hotend you've come across (watts), for my purposes, if it hits 180/190 degrees it'll work. I've read some use ~40 watts but I'd like an opinion from someone who knows more than I do about how low could that power usage go and still print low temperature materials such as PLA (or anything lower temperature you can think of).
Thanks a bunch guys, I realize these are separate questions but I didn't think I should double thread.
EDIT: Also I remember the sarrus linkage but have been wondering if the relationship between angle of rotation and the linear distance moved is linear. In other words (like radial 3d printer systems, it there a greater error in some regions of movement than in at others, i.e. on a SCARA type, the distance moved by the extruder on the arm per degree of rotation is not the same near the center of the arc as opposed to the end).
