MK-X Delta

Hey guys, working on a new Delta, printer, a variant on the Kossel, an evolution of sorts. I started working on C-beam based printer ,but it became unwieldy, expensive, and required a chamber to print it properly due to the size of the prints. The mechanical frame is based on RobotDigg's aluminum kossel 2020 corners because nothing I can print will match up to the squareness or strength of aluminum corners.

My additional parts attach onto the base frame to allow for concealed wiring, proper mounts of leds, pan/tilt webcam, X-bracing, sound and thermal insulation for the heated chamber w/ mag door, integrated tool holder in the interior for effector tool changing, mounts for a recirculating filter, integrated solution mixer, etc.

The motor mount attachment comes with an optional a base extension that raises the entire frame by 60mm for more space beneath.

It will use a Kraken hotend and a tri-counterweight system for a floating extruder dual-hobbed system. The effector is cherry-pi spectra derived. (3rd derivative perhaps? haha)

Everything will be spec'd out and the files all released since the community has helped me a lot when I first got started.

I'll update this periodically as this is a build-log, you can also follow along at Research and Experimentation

Everything is modular so you can include everything or not use extra add ons such as the solution mixer if you don't want to without loss of core functionality. No tape, no zipties.

Here are some pics!

[postimg.org]

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[postimg.org]

I'll keep you guys updated!

[imgur.com] Here's a link to all the images I'll upload of this build log. So far I printed an beta version of my carriage mount, Kraken effector and Frame Crossmounts. Forgive the picture quality, and the print quality (Slic3r was misbehaving)





First up, is a Cherry Pi IIIS 2nd derivative spring carriage:

I hate zip ties for anything other than tidying up wires for aesthetic reasons. This carriage is going to have an optional cover plate, but that's excess and will come later. I also always had trouble tightening up my belts on my Kossel and wanted a simple belt tension system where I didn't have to hold a belt extremely taut and then quickly ziptie it. This is what I'm working towards.No loops here, The belt goes through the top belt gripper, and there is a screw that travels left to right tightening the belt even further. There is almost an identical piece to the top belt gripper (not pictured), forgot it somewhere. This bottom piece has a peg that fits , snug into the slot so that it does not rotate in the XY plane (perspective looking down directly on the Z-axis from picture's pov), but can travel in the Y direction. The bottom belt also mounts in the same manner as the top. A fairly long M3 screw enters from above and goes through the bottom belt gripper into a nut insert. This way, you can easily turn the m3 screw and tighten or loosen the belt as you see fit.





Spring Effector Kraken Effector mount Alpha prototype



This one has a few kinks to work out, this is an old design, and has been edited since then. The auto-tool changer stuff is going so far back its not even on a back burner, its off in a corner cooling. Till then, Just a screw mounted hotend style. This raises the Kraken so that the block itself is flush with the bottom of the effector plate. I have V6 heater blocks which don't fit in the same manner as the V5 heater blocks so they are positioned at different angles. There are slots on either side that allow for the wiring to pass through. The effector was designed to raise the Kraken up for 2 reasons, to gain back 20mm of printing height, as well as bringing the bowden tubes higher up. I am running quad dual-hobbed pulley extruders in a float configuration above the hotend which is pretty wide. This allows me to shorten the bowden tube as the arms widen up further up the rod allowing for clearance of the extruder setup.



MKX Crossmount



This is a 20mm tall cross mount, designed so you can stack multiple to strengthen if you want to. I only have a profile view of it, but its not flush to the extrusion. It is brought out 15mm because many people use build plates that extend past the plates and it gives me clearance so that the effector doesn't hit the cross arms. They are also M5 holes. It's designed so that it syncs up with the rest of the MK-X design, but I made it so you can just toss it onto nearly any 2020 delta for some extra strength. You just need to print 2 pieces then print 2 more but just mirrored. There is also a connector in the center of the X for extra mounting( tool change, pan and tilt cam, pick and place, etc) Coming soon...

[jkl3dprinting.blogspot.com]



tape attached















PEI plate installed! ( not trimmed)








Here are the center X-beam connectors. They attach on either side and has some leeway built into its design if you don't insert them perfectly symmetrical on every side because you can always slide them in further. It uses 16 M4 10mm screws - same as the ones used for the aluminum corners from RobotDigg. In the center, there are 2 M5 screw holes 1) for tighter compression of the X-brace and 2.) for additional mounting of tool holders/pan and tilt cameras.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 11:59PM by 3DRapidClone.

Looks very interesting!

I checked and could not find - can you tell which liner rails you used, and where you got them, how much? Do they slide very easily?
I'm thinking of upgrading.

Thanks!

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My printer: Raptosaur - Large Format Delta - [www.paulwanamaker.wordpress.com]
Can you answer questions about Calibration, Printing issues, Mechanics? Write it up and improve the Wiki!

[www.robotdigg.com]

Hi Paul, I got my linear rails from RobotDigg for $72. Reputable place, though awkward buying method. Shipping was around $58, so I packed it with as much as possible. It runs smooth and come very oiled.

Thanks, that puts me on the right track.
I will need to do some more searching, as I need 1 meter length.

If you contact Derek, he can get them in custom sizes!

blog
A few updates, been away designing and printing some prototypes:



This is optional base extension. It goes underneath the main frame and gives another 60mm of height so that all of your electronics can fit + storage of allen wrenches and what not. The circle is for wiring which is concealed by insulation and the mount has a hole in the center( hard to see because it's white) that you can feed the wires out of.





This is the MK-X frame extension mount, It adds 40mm on either side for insulation and just a bit of extra space for those who have plates that extend just slightly beyond the extrusions. It also has mounting holes and magnetic slots on the other side for the metal plate exterior that can be taken off quickly to access wiring.




Here they are stacked:







The accompanying top piece:


It also has an optional mount for the top frame extension for more electronics etc.



Extruder:





This is a slightly modified Airtripper for short mounting holes, you'll see why shortly. Still working on the dual hobbed , coming soon.....








This is the Floating extruder base (slightly old design, there has been significant new design changes within the past hour). It has a top piece as well, but I didn't print it yet. It's designed so that it is oriented short side is facing you and has minimal amount of bowden bending for the kraken. I haven't installed it yet, but my rough guess, the bowden tube from the top of the heatsink to the E3DV6 bowden couplers is around 100mm. All wiring and watercooling tubes fit through the center. It is also designed to house 4 flat watercooling blocks if you see fit.





Pan and Tilt Camera







Pan and tilt camera, uses 2 micro servos and the top piece mounts to the X-brace with 1 M5 screw. Side panel for second servo not shown.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2015 01:37AM by 3DRapidClone.

How have you attached your rails to your profile?
I just got some from robotdigg and the screw holes seem to be M3.5, which are easy enough to buy, but I have no idea where to get M3.5 t-nuts

Quote
asbo
How have you attached your rails to your profile?
I just got some from robotdigg and the screw holes seem to be M3.5, which are easy enough to buy, but I have no idea where to get M3.5 t-nuts

They are for M3 hardware I have just got my 3rd set from Robotdigg and must say I quite like them.

Doug

Doug's correct! I'm still working on this project, but someone I knew rush requested a large kossel built and I ended up using this printer for it. So I need to rebuy quite a few parts. A few things are still up in the air, like whether or not to use V-slot wheels or linear rails. The 600mm linear rails I bought actually ended up being too short for maximal print volume. I'll get back on it really soon

Quote
3DRapidClone
Doug's correct! I'm still working on this project, but someone I knew rush requested a large kossel built and I ended up using this printer for it. So I need to rebuy quite a few parts. A few things are still up in the air, like whether or not to use V-slot wheels or linear rails. The 600mm linear rails I bought actually ended up being too short for maximal print volume. I'll get back on it really soon

If you contact RobotDigg they can supply rails at almost any length you want.

Doug

M3 screws are really loose in mine, is it like that on yours too?

Quote
asbo
M3 screws are really loose in mine, is it like that on yours too?

How much side to side movement do you have when all the screws are all installed, but slightly loose? The max you could have is about .5mm or about 0.0573° over 500mm. You can make a fixture to hold the rails in place while fastening them. It just needs to register against the side of the extrusion and the side of the rail.

I made 500mm long t-nuts to secure my rails which guaranteed they were lined up with the extrusions.

Quote
etfrench

Quote
asbo
M3 screws are really loose in mine, is it like that on yours too?

How much side to side movement do you have when all the screws are all installed, but slightly loose? The max you could have is about .5mm or about 0.0573° over 500mm. You can make a fixture to hold the rails in place while fastening them. It just needs to register against the side of the extrusion and the side of the rail.

I made 500mm long t-nuts to secure my rails which guaranteed they were lined up with the extrusions.

I haven't actually got any M3 t-nuts so I've not tried fitting them yet. The data sheets I've found say they are M3.5, example, example. So its all a bit confusing. I think I'll get some M3 t-nuts and then if they are too loose I can get an M3.5 tap and make them a little bigger.

I've just realised one of those data sheets says to use M3x8mm, stupid me

Wow it's been a long time since I've updated this thing. Life got busy, but updates upon updates are here. My blog will go into more detail of the iterations, but these are the most up to date ones so that this post isn't forever long.

First up:
-Duet V.8.5. + DueX4 expansion connector
-No more Linear Rails, now it's V-Slot 20x20 with V-wheels, the linear rails at 600mm were too short and were used to built another delta printer
-No more PEI or glass, instead I'll be using a 16" Mic-6 aluminum plate with Printbite which works with David Crocker's Dual IR sensor
-Stepper motors have been replaced by 400 step motors for better resolution
-The horizontal extrusions have been replaced by 500mm 2060 extrusions
-500mm carbon fiber rods for the arms
-Effector has been redesigned with Maxwell Kinematic coupling system
-Carriage and the belt tensioner has also been completely redone as well.

Going to skip the intermediary iterations:
NEW CARRIAGE:
-Arm width increased to 80mm because it was necessary to mount the kraken and because of stability
-Belt tensioner now slides directly in the center.
-It has trapezoid stabilizers and screws through the carriage
-+1 for simplicity



EFFECTOR
-Effector has been redesigned
-arm spacing is now 80mm
-has inserts for Nd magnets
-Has mounting holes for the maxwell kinematic coupling


Maxwell Kinematic Coupling
-The first 6 iterations
-The latest iteration has a steeper angle which lowers the load capacity, but increases the stability. The last was not stable enough for my taste.
-Two screw mounts were added instead of one because it was unbalanced at one and thickness was increased for sturdiness.
-Uses a Split Vee coupling design.


KRAKEN MOUNT
-10mm metal spheres are used for the kinematic coupling


Demo of magnets
-As the effector was designed to have Nd magnet inserts, the magnets themselves are placed closed to the bottom of the effector. This gives the bottom of the effector a magnetic feature
-This will be used to mount the LED Ring/Fanblower/Dual IR sensor/ Hotend Shroud.
-Just a demo to show the strength of the magnet. Using all three in conjunction is actually quite powerful.


Kossel main attachment Extender
-Complete redesign from the initial one
-Saved plastic, new design allows for wiring to go down below the printer itself
-No more offset hole
-Easier to print
-Extenders attach to the main attachment which allows more flexibility for other users with varying sizes
-With a Kraken and a 400mm bed, and crossframe bracing, requires the arm to increase drastically (100mm)
-Extenders not pictured yet.



More stuff to come pretty soon.