TheHebs' #BigDelta Build Thread

I finished the build of my #BigDelta a few weeks ago and I feel that there isnt much documentation or build photos etc... for it, so I figure its time someone changed that.

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***Notes/Facts About the #BigDelta***

This delta was primarily designed by Thews (Justin Edwards).

The best resource for this printer is the #bigdelta channel on IRC (freenode).

This is a relatively large delta, with 1.5M 4040 verticals, 500mm 2040 horizontals, and 500mm arm length. My total build volume is around 450mm x 867mm.

Total cost was around $900USD

This thing is fast... I am running 300 travels and 5000 accel, and other than a few retract issues I need to iron out, I can print 100+mm/s with complex objects without issue...

One thing to note about my particular build, is that I built it upside down... Most delta builds (including most builds of this same #bigdelta) are built with motors and electronics at the bottom. I found myself flipping the printer over every time I wanted to play with electronics etc... during the build. I thought long and hard and decided that there isnt any negative to mounting motors and electronics at the top, and there were a lot of positives:
---I find it easier to work on things at the top, than being in the floor in the fetal position.
---You will run SIGNIFICANTLY less wire this way. The only wire that you have to run up the 1.5M verticals is the mains power to the PSU. The other big delta guys were having to run their endstop, hotend, hotend fan, parts fan, z probe, and extruder wires the length of the vertical
---You dont have to remove the bed to access the electronics. In conventional builds, you have to remove the bed to access anything, which could skew your leveling and delta calibration meaning you may have to re-g32 every time you tweak something.
---Better weight distribution. I feel like having some weight at the top helps cancel out vibration and frame movement

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***Links and Resources***

GitHub: [github.com]

My BOM: [docs.google.com]

Full Album of Build Pics: [goo.gl]
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***Shoutouts***

Obviously Thews for the initial design, and lots of advice and wisdom

All the guys in the #BigDelta channel for holding my hand just enough, also providing various tools and part designs: s0up, Dumle29, LoH, TTN, VonKarmen, Lizards, Sidewalker, Sphetz, BrokenDreams

The #smoothieware dudes: wolfmanjm, arthur-, triffidhunter, for answering all my newb smoothieware questions

#reprap dudes: ccecil, dan_k, reifsnyderb thanks for the sick hotend and helping me troubleshoot the issues I had (word to the wise, dont use AS5 in the thermistor hole... ask me how i know...)
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***Current Status***

The printer is pretty much complete and working extremely well. I will probably add a graphics controller which I will design a mount for eventually. I will also be designing some other small bits like a Pi mount, filament guides, and a camera mount with led's.

I have PLA and Wood dialed in pretty well at moderate speeds. I need to tweak retraction for 100+ speeds. I also started TPU for the first time today (10/16/2016) and actually had really good success printing a benchy.
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***General Photos***











Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2016 12:18AM by TheHebs.

***Printed Parts***

All parts were printed on my road dog baja i3 kit (with lots of custom designed mods). Most were printed around .25 layer height, 40 mm/s, 3 tops and bottoms, 60 infill, at 205C/65C.

Total print time was 98.98 hours, I used 1,465 grams of filament, and total cost was $33.70. (See the bottom of my BOM for a break down)

I recommend using the chopped slots as they are easier to print and easier to assemble. I printed everything in hatchbox blue PLA, other than the effector which was printed in Atomic Blue ABS.



**Carriages**







**Vertices**





**Effector**





**Extruder** (had issues with the overhangs on the wings, but they are just for the silicone tubing to grip to, so it actually helps)





**Complete**





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 02:27PM by TheHebs.

**Frame Construction**

I first drilled and tapped all of the extrusions to M5.









I then pre installed all of the vertex bolts and T-Nuts. Note: I used the pre install nuts on the horizontals, and the openbuilds (very important) post nuts on the verticalts.



I then built the top and bottom triangles.













I used a 2x4 block and a dead blow to hammer the 4040 verticals into one of the triangles. I used some little bent needle nosed pliers to align the post install T-nuts



I then used the same technique to install the other triangle. NOTE: You will want to install your carriages (see assembly below) before installing the other triangle.





Once everything is flush, snug all of the bolts down.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 03:16PM by TheHebs.

**Carriage Assembly ** - The carriage assembly is pretty straight forward.











Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 02:45PM by TheHebs.

**Rod Assembly**


*Notes:
The printer uses 18" traxxas rod kits (see BOM). Thews designed a jig to do all 6 rods at once, but I figured it wouldnt be as accurate as glueing 1 or 3 at a time. I remixed a 1 and 3 rod jig. I highly recommend using the single rod jig and taking your time to do 1 at a time. This will ensure that they are all exactly the same length. I did the first 3 in one batch, and I had one rod that was slightly longer, and one that was slightly shorter. This gave me an OCD twitch, but I think it will be ok... I did the second batch 1 at a time.

Link to Glue Jig Files: [www.thingiverse.com]

Link to Drill Jig Files: [cad.onshape.com]
Note: Get the "Rod End Drill Clamp"

*Instructions:

Screw the rod ends onto the grub screws



Print the drill jigs (you will be drilling 6 rods. You can print 2 and switch them out, or print 12 like I did, and assemble and drill them all at once)



Use m3 screws and nuts to assemble the jigs



Insert the jigs onto the ends and clamp them down.



Measure how far the rod threads are and mark your drill bit with tape. Measure the rod end threads, and drill slightly overbore.



Use something to prop the rods up vertically and glue the ends into 1 side of the rods using 5 minute epoxy.








Print the rod glue jigs and install m5 bolts and t-nuts.





Install the left side jig and tighten. Install the right but leave it loose until you test fit a rod.



Use one rod to test fit the rod end into the jigs. I recommend leaving a very small amount of gap between the end of the rod, and the lip of the rod end. This will leave enough wiggle room in case one of the rods is longer or shorter.



Organize your rods so that you can quickly apply the epoxy into the rod and on rod end threads, and assemble and insert into the jig.



Apply epoxy and insert the rods into the jig. I used a ratchet driver without a pit to firmly seat the rod ends into the jig.







Take the rod end balls and place them on a hard flat surface and use a driver without a bit to press the rods onto the balls.









Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 11:37PM by TheHebs.

**Electronics and Wiring**

I decided to go with the AZteeg X5 Mini V3. I wanted to use TMC2100's (silent step sticks) and I wanted to use smoothieware, but I didnt want to deal with the little daughter boards etc...



I spent a little time designing a mount for it. I ended up adding a spot for a buck converter because I am using a 24 psu, but running 12v fans, etc... I also wanted more than 2 PWM controlled slots, so I jerry rigged a little "3d printed PCB" to jump the PWM grounds over to my 12v converted power. This gave me 3 pin headers to provider 5 pairs of pins each for 12v always on, 12v fan 1 control, and 12v fan 2 control.

In short, I ran my mains from the c14 plug (see below) and through the hole in the foot (see below) and into the center channel of the 4040 vertical. I then ran it up to one of my cable organizers (see below), and to the PSU. Then the rest of the wires are just leads using JST connectors from amazon (see BOM), which I routed and secured with my cable management pieces.

Link to azteeg vslot mounts: [www.thingiverse.com]















I also designed some little 40mm fan mounts keep the drivers cool.



I designed a PSU mount: [www.thingiverse.com]



I also designed an IEC320/C14 Plug Mount: [www.thingiverse.com]





I designed some little cable management pieces that let me wind up excess motor wire etc... and zip tie it snug: [www.thingiverse.com]










Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 03:42PM by TheHebs.

**Feet **

If you couldnt tell already, I am pretty OCD with my builds. I wanted to hide as much wiring as I could. In order to gain access to the center channels of the 4040 verticals to run my mains wire, I designed some little feet. The feet allow access to all channels: [www.thingiverse.com]

I also wanted the feet to reduce the surface area contact with he ground, because the printer will be on carpet. When I had the flat triangle bottom on the carpet, it would bounce around. The feet helped a great deal but there was still some bounce so I designed some spikes that just attach to the end of the feet. The frame is now very solid, even on carpet. Note: If I were to run it on a hard surface, I would remove the spikes and use sorbothane on the feet.











Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 03:49PM by TheHebs.

**Extruder**

I tried to use Thews' sextruder with only PTFE, but the ptfe rotated and the tatsu gear destroyed it... So for right now I am using s0up's sextruder v2: [cad.onshape.com]

Note: Get the "Body" file. I added a variable so that you can adjust the ptfe hole diameter.

So far this extruder has been working extremely well for me. Once I get a metal tube for the liner of Thews' extruder I will probably switch.

Here is a video that Sphetz made for the assembly of s0up's sextruder/ flying extruder: [www.youtube.com]





I used PTC fittings (see BOM) from amazon



I used a tatsu v2 extruder gear which is extremely nice. One thing to note is to get it to line up in s0up's extruder, I had to install it backwards:



The extruder is suspended with silicone tubing (See bom) from the little wings on the body, and one that is zip tied to the motor. The other ends zip tie to the carriages







Note: With this extruder, I am able to reduce the bowden tube length to around 8", which lets me run 1mm or less of retraction.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 03:59PM by TheHebs.

**Effector/Hotend/Z Probe**

I am using a version of Thews' effector that was remixed by Dumle29, which has spots for magnets which are used to hold Dumle's Z probe mount.I am using an authentic Jhead Mk8 (thanks reifsnyderb). I used JST connectors to the parts blower fan, hotend fan, and one for z probe so that I can easily replace anything when I need to.

Link to "Latest Big Delta Effector", "Microswitch Mount Plate": [cad.onshape.com]
Note: Both the effector and switch mount have variables so that ou can adjust the magnet dimmensions.















Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 04:09PM by TheHebs.

**Bed**

Most of us #BigDelta guys use an 18" glass table top (see bom) from amazon. It would require around 900 watts to heat it, so most of us use no heat. For bed adheasion we use glueall. I personally mix about 100ml of glueall/water at a 70%(water)/30%(glueall) ratio. I then put the bed on a level surface, apply the glueall in the middle and work it towards the outside with my finger, adding more ass needed, until there is a nice even layer. It takes about 24 hours to dry, but once it is dried, it is a glass-like surface that has extremely good bed adheasion, but also lets go. The only draw backs is that its a bit of a PITA to reapply, and you can easily damage the glue job if you arent careful and gouge the glue-job with the hotend.

I use little sorbothane disks between the glass and the 2040's. (see bom)





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 11:44PM by TheHebs.

**post claimed for issues that I have had**

**Prints**

After a couple retraction an extrusion test prints, I printed this marvin, and I was already impressed...



I thought this one looked cool and sh owed the consistency of the printer.



Here is a benchy in hatchbox wood PLA at 60 mm/s:



Here is a wood benchy again at 100 mm/s. Other than some slight retraction tuning, it was almost flawless.



I printed Imperial Storm Trooper Mickey and Minnie for my 2 year old daughter. This was the first complex print (other than benchy's etc...) that I did, and I thought they turned out really well. I did mess up and had minnie rotated backwards so the seams are running up the front instead of the back, but oh well.


















Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2016 04:30PM by TheHebs.

Nice build, very neat. I like the upside down idea with the electronics at the top, which works particularly well if it's going to stand on the floor.

Nice prints.

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Impressive! I like what you did with your wiring. Any plans to enclose?

---

M8K-X Quintuple Delta Printer (as in Make X)
E3D V6 Kraken + Syringe Extruder
Automatic Tool Change Mechanism (Kelvin Kinematic Mount) (WIP)
Auto-Filament Changer
Heated Chamber
Watercooled Components
380mm Printbite surface
Duet V.8.5. + DueX4
Recirculating Air Filtration
Sealed Filament Storage

Follow along with my trial and tribulations
www.m8kx.wordpress.com

Nice, but I have some reservation about this specific design with plastic corner and gt2 6mm for that size of a printer if you plan to upgrade it later ( that what we do here,upgrade all the time or switch to another build, building a 3d printer is addictive ) you must look into replacing all plastic part with metal and use 9mm belts. They dont sell some prefab for 40X40 corner but some design can be adapt to work on those ( mine for example, made of L shape 1/2 aluminum is one of them)

But unless you trying to sell it at 2500$ like this dude tried in reddit 3d pritning for the same exact printer saying nothing can be build better, I wont be a bitch about it

Also that BOM exclude the Duet in the electronics parts option...The very best firmware for delta ( ReprapFirmware) its a shame.

PS: Next time you cutting or drilling into carbon, go outside where your children dont play to do that and wear glove and a mask or if inside go gently over a wet surface not with power tool ( if you can), this stuff is very bad for lung and if you get some bits entering your skin they wont come out and keep pushing inside your flesh. I say that because on your picture there a lot of black mark and stuffs on your table if its carbon mess its scare me a little.

Quote
3DRapidClone
Impressive! I like what you did with your wiring. Any plans to enclose?

Thanks. Possibly but i doubt it. Its mostly my PLA/TPU printer. IT would require over 900 watts to heat this bed.

Quote
GroupB
Nice, but I have some reservation about this specific design with plastic corner and gt2 6mm for that size of a printer if you plan to upgrade it later ( that what we do here,upgrade all the time or switch to another build, building a 3d printer is addictive ) you must look into replacing all plastic part with metal and use 9mm belts. They dont sell some prefab for 40X40 corner but some design can be adapt to work on those ( mine for example, made of L shape 1/2 aluminum is one of them)

But unless you trying to sell it at 2500$ like this dude tried in reddit 3d pritning for the same exact printer saying nothing can be build better, I wont be a bitch about it

Also that BOM exclude the Duet in the electronics parts option...The very best firmware for delta ( ReprapFirmware) its a shame.

PS: Next time you cutting or drilling into carbon, go outside where your children dont play to do that and wear glove and a mask or if inside go gently over a wet surface not with power tool ( if you can), this stuff is very bad for lung and if you get some bits entering your skin they wont come out and keep pushing inside your flesh. I say that because on your picture there a lot of black mark and stuffs on your table if its carbon mess its scare me a little.

The plastic corners are fine, and I think my prints speak for themselves.

Im not trying to sell this printer. Do you have a link for the one that is for sale? I think I might know him...

As for drilling the carbon, I did it out in the garage on the work bench.

Quote
TheHebs

Quote
3DRapidClone
Impressive! I like what you did with your wiring. Any plans to enclose?

Thanks. Possibly but i doubt it. Its mostly my PLA/TPU printer. IT would require over 900 watts to heat this bed.

900W is no problem if you use an AC mains voltage silicone heater. However, for a 450mm diameter bed, I reckon 650W would be more than enough.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
TheHebs

Quote
GroupB
Nice, but I have some reservation about this specific design with plastic corner and gt2 6mm for that size of a printer if you plan to upgrade it later ( that what we do here,upgrade all the time or switch to another build, building a 3d printer is addictive ) you must look into replacing all plastic part with metal and use 9mm belts. They dont sell some prefab for 40X40 corner but some design can be adapt to work on those ( mine for example, made of L shape 1/2 aluminum is one of them)

But unless you trying to sell it at 2500$ like this dude tried in reddit 3d pritning for the same exact printer saying nothing can be build better, I wont be a bitch about it

Also that BOM exclude the Duet in the electronics parts option...The very best firmware for delta ( ReprapFirmware) its a shame.

PS: Next time you cutting or drilling into carbon, go outside where your children dont play to do that and wear glove and a mask or if inside go gently over a wet surface not with power tool ( if you can), this stuff is very bad for lung and if you get some bits entering your skin they wont come out and keep pushing inside your flesh. I say that because on your picture there a lot of black mark and stuffs on your table if its carbon mess its scare me a little.

The plastic corners are fine, and I think my prints speak for themselves.

Im not trying to sell this printer. Do you have a link for the one that is for sale? I think I might know him...

As for drilling the carbon, I did it out in the garage on the work bench.

I do not have the link simply because the poster remove it after some ppl point out the ridicule price he was asking for a used printer and his claim about crazy speed and that there is not much that can be build better...Off course as a delta owner it was my duty to point out his flaw in the design after this bs statement and list many thing that can be build better so he remove it.

As you know its not because its bigger that you can ask a ridicule price, delta scale easy for a couple more lenght of extrusion and belts, the price should reflect the quality of the part used and the design, not the size.

I think his name was dmez or something like that.

Btw its not to critize your printer, you did not claim your is the best like he did, we all know there always someone somewhere that do thing (or design) better. The perfect printer just dont exist, we all have flaw somewhere whatever the design.

Quote
GroupB

Quote
TheHebs

Quote
GroupB
Nice, but I have some reservation about this specific design with plastic corner and gt2 6mm for that size of a printer if you plan to upgrade it later ( that what we do here,upgrade all the time or switch to another build, building a 3d printer is addictive ) you must look into replacing all plastic part with metal and use 9mm belts. They dont sell some prefab for 40X40 corner but some design can be adapt to work on those ( mine for example, made of L shape 1/2 aluminum is one of them)

But unless you trying to sell it at 2500$ like this dude tried in reddit 3d pritning for the same exact printer saying nothing can be build better, I wont be a bitch about it

Also that BOM exclude the Duet in the electronics parts option...The very best firmware for delta ( ReprapFirmware) its a shame.

PS: Next time you cutting or drilling into carbon, go outside where your children dont play to do that and wear glove and a mask or if inside go gently over a wet surface not with power tool ( if you can), this stuff is very bad for lung and if you get some bits entering your skin they wont come out and keep pushing inside your flesh. I say that because on your picture there a lot of black mark and stuffs on your table if its carbon mess its scare me a little.

The plastic corners are fine, and I think my prints speak for themselves.

Im not trying to sell this printer. Do you have a link for the one that is for sale? I think I might know him...

As for drilling the carbon, I did it out in the garage on the work bench.

I do not have the link simply because the poster remove it after some ppl point out the ridicule price he was asking for a used printer and his claim about crazy speed and that there is not much that can be build better...Off course as a delta owner it was my duty to point out his flaw in the design after this bs statement and list many thing that can be build better so he remove it.

As you know its not because its bigger that you can ask a ridicule price, delta scale easy for a couple more lenght of extrusion and belts, the price should reflect the quality of the part used and the design, not the size.

I think his name was dmez or something like that.

Btw its not to critize your printer, you did not claim your is the best like he did, we all know there always someone somewhere that do thing (or design) better. The perfect printer just dont exist, we all have flaw somewhere whatever the design.

Is that it?

[www.ebay.com]

I bet it is. He built it poorly. His corners cracked because the printer he printed them with wasnt calibrated and had poor layer adhesion, so he epoxy'd them

He was saking 2500 + 500 shipping... I told him as soon as I saw his post that hes asking too much.

I will say that this printer design is absolutely amazing for the money. I built mine for under $900 USD, and it has premium materials (4040's, authentic jhead mk8, nice tmc2100's, azteeg x5 mini, lots of nice openbuilds hardware, etc...). It does have plastic vertices, but they are extremely bulky and rigid, and as long as layer adhesion is good, you use lots of infill, and several shells, then they work great. Metal verts would be nice, sure, but you will pay a whole hell of a lot more for them which puts this printer out of the realm that it was meant to be in. This is meant to be a large format printer, that prints extremely fast and precisely, for under $1000, and it is definitely that... However, as with any build... you have to have good craftsmanship and ingenuity to have a well-running printer.

I am running 18000 mm/min accel, and 300 mm/s travels, and I generally print complex objects very well at 80 mm/s (70% outters) no problem, and I honestly could go much faster.

Well this is horses for courses. I built my large delta using metal everything and whilst it does print well, the difference between it, and my kossel mini in terms of print quality is perhaps 30-40% better, despite it costing at least £1000 to build, and obviously many, many hours of my time. Plastic corners can work fine if they are printed well and of suitable size and quality. That being said Chinese versions of aluminium corners that I am using were reasonable to buy and are very much up to the job.

The machine shown above on ebay would at a certain price be a reasonable kit of parts that could be rebuilt into a really nice machine but it has unfinished project written all over it. I suspect whoever built it took on a machine like this without spending enough time or money, or having accumulated the expertise or patience to built it well. I would not have jumped into building a large delta as my first printer, it would have been a very frustrating experience.

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Quote
DjDemonD
Well this is horses for courses. I built my large delta using metal everything and whilst it does print well, the difference between it, and my kossel mini in terms of print quality is perhaps 30-40% better, despite it costing at least £1000 to build, and obviously many, many hours of my time. Plastic corners can work fine if they are printed well and of suitable size and quality. That being said Chinese versions of aluminium corners that I am using were reasonable to buy and are very much up to the job.

The machine shown above on ebay would at a certain price be a reasonable kit of parts that could be rebuilt into a really nice machine but it has unfinished project written all over it. I suspect whoever built it took on a machine like this without spending enough time or money, or having accumulated the expertise or patience to built it well. I would not have jumped into building a large delta as my first printer, it would have been a very frustrating experience.

Yea this was his first build. He couldnt even get a wanhoa duplicator i3 working right... He sent that back and started building the delta. You hit nail on head. He didnt put the time and patience into it, and now he regrets building it, thus selling it...

I think its a shame because if you start steadily and build up your knowledge and skills then you can get an immense amount of fun, satisfaction and beautiful parts from reprap style 3D printing. But as I have said to people in the forum asking where they should start, if you haven't got an engineering or electronics background build a decent kit that's known to work and will contain all the parts etc... then move on to something more ambitious like a self sourced machine to someone else's design or your own design. I'm sure some can jump straight in at the deep end, but if you don't swim good - you sink.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2016 05:24PM by DjDemonD.

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Quote
DjDemonD
I think its a shame because if you start steadily and build up your knowledge and skills then you can get an immense amount of fun, satisfaction and beautiful parts from reprap style 3D printing. But as I have said to people in the forum asking where they should start, if you haven't got an engineering or electronics background build a decent kit that's known to work and will contain all the parts etc... then move on to something more ambitious like a self sourced kit or your won design. I'm sure some can jump straight in at the deep end, but if you don't swim good - you sink.

Yea I started with an i3 kit from ebay 2 years ago at fathers day. I struggled pretty hard at first, but learned so much. I was still very much into reprap and design etc... 2 years later so I went for the big delta. I would definitely agree that its not a great build for a first timer, but its really pretty simple.

Honestly, the calibration etc... is where the learning curve lies.

Definitely, deltas are the perfect example of something relatively easy to build but extremely difficult to calibrate and achieve high quality, consistency and reliability from, at least until you've got a feel for how the platform works.

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

That him but he drop the price quite a bit.

If you study enough and plan well a first build delta can be done, I did it, first printer ever was my delta but I spend lot of time into the assembly makeing sure every thing was straight and well adjusted. The result was an easy calibration, then thight the belts more , fix some quick firmware problem and it was good to go. Really the best advice I give to people is do not rush it, take your time.

I have been printing a lot of tpu (over 5kg since I built this thing) lately, and I noticed some spool pull layer inconsistencies, so I designed an on-board spool setup.

You can get the files for the arms and loc-line ball mount in my big delta mods onshape documents: [cad.onshape.com]

You can get the little 8mm bearing/rod adapters and filament guide here: [www.thingiverse.com]

I am also using rowokii's parametric universal spool holders (the little center hubs): [www.thingiverse.com]
















Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2016 02:08AM by TheHebs.

One project I have been working on is a design for a TPU "aero pod" for a racing drone frame manufacturing company. Heres a sample of one I printed using an m600 to change from red to black, to match the motors on my drone.