Welcome! Log In Create A New Profile

Advanced

large scale 3d printer

Posted by navyatejadir 
large scale 3d printer
February 03, 2017 04:51AM
hello,
I'm new to 3d printing, so i started on building a large 3d printer(900*900*1000) for couple of months. I used T slot aluminium extrusions for the frame, 5 Nema 23 stepper motors (2 for Y, 2 for Z and 1 for X) and a4988 step stick drivers for the steppers,so far. Now, I don't have any idea regarding the current and software, just going by the tutorials found on Youtube and several forums. I would need a lot of specifics on whether i can use mega 2560 r3?, how many heat beds do i need? (I have access to customising it for the whole print bed). I have everything except for the heat bed and Arduino board, please, help me out I no nothing about resistance, wattage, and anything to current, i'll post the picture of mine further.
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 03, 2017 09:17AM
That's very ambitious for a first printer build.

What is the specification of your Nema 23 motors, in particular the rated current and inductance? It's unlikely that your stepstick drivers will be able to drive them at anything like the required voltage and current.

You may find this page helpful: [duet3d.com]. It's written for the Duet range of electronics, so if you are using A4988 stepsticks then the maximum motor current you can use is around 1.5A (with good forced air cooling of the drivers). If you are plugging the drivers into a RAMPS, most RAMPS boards are suitable for 12V operation only unless you replace the capacitors and provide a separate 5V supply for the Arduino.



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].
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 04, 2017 02:52AM
What will the z-stepper have to move ? The bed or the XY-gantry?
If you plan to lift a 900x900mm bed, the NEMA23 motors that could be run by stepstick drivers on a 12V Ramps are not strong enough.
Even worse, the bed will either be very expensive or not_flat_at_all. You'd need a firmware that handles this unevenness.

I'd look for a RADDS/ Arduino Due controller and dc42 newest firmware with bed height correction ( bed-mapping )
I recommend RADDS, because it doesn't come with onboard drivers and you'd have to use external drivers anyway.
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 04, 2017 05:29AM
Quote
o_lampe
... because it doesn't come with onboard drivers and you'd have to use external drivers anyway.

The TMC2660 drivers on the Duet WiFi can drive Nema 23 motors directly, if the motors are chosen to have an appropriate current rating. But the OP hasn't told us the current rating of his motors yet.



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].
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 04, 2017 10:15AM
Most people have issues with a 200x200 bed. Good luck for a first time build unless you have a mountain of money to back this up.
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 07:46AM
the XY gantry I don't find it comfortable to move the bed
Re: dc42
February 07, 2017 07:50AM
10kgmotor.pdf please check the attachment for specifications of my motors
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 07:57AM
I can get arduino due, do you think it can contain enough for maximum current and please guys I have zero knowledge about current. Please, help me out with the calibration and is mega2560 efficient? which step drivers should i consider?
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 08:01AM
what do you mean by "(with good forced air cooling of the drivers)"?
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 07, 2017 08:16AM
can you tell me what the issues would be regarding the bed?
Re: dc42
February 07, 2017 08:18AM
Quote
navyatejadir
[attachment 90112 10kgmotor.pdf] please check the attachment for specifications of my motors

The electrical specifications given there are inconsistent:

Quote

Voltage per phase 3.3V
Current per phase 1.0A
Resistance per phase 6.0 ohms

At least one of those must be wrong.

Although the current per phase (if 1.0A is correct) is low enough for all common stepper driver types, the inductance per phase (28mH) is very high. This means that you won't be able to run them very fast unless you use a high supply voltage. So operation on 12V will be out, and even with 24V power (as is commonly used on all but the smallest 3D printers) you probably won't be able to get enough speed. The page at [duet3d.com] shows you how to work out the supply voltage you need for a given target speed.

So I think you need to either use external drivers and a relatively high voltage power supply to them, or you need to choose different motors.

Quote

what do you mean by "(with good forced air cooling of the drivers)"?

I mean a fan blowing a lot of cool air over and under them.



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].
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 08:21AM
do you think I can use only 3 motors for my project according to the specifications of my motors i have provided you with?
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 08:32AM
Quote
navyatejadir
do you think I can use only 3 motors for my project according to the specifications of my motors i have provided you with?

That's impossible to answer without knowing more about your design. Does the bed move? If so, along what axis, how heavy is it, and what is the drive mechanism?

If I had to build a printer of that size, I would use a fixed bed and a gantry that moves in the Z direction. Then either 4 stepper motors to raise the gantry in order to keep things mechanically simple (but this needs some extra firmware to keep the motors in sync when you cycle the power), or one motor driving 4 leadscrews through 2 or 4 belts. For the gantry itself, there are the usual Cartesian, CoreXY and HBot designs.

Before you go too much further, I suggest you ask yourself two questions:

1. Am I being too ambitious for a first 3D printer build?

2. If I finish this printer, how long will it take to print an object that is large enough to need a printer this big?



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].
Re: o_lampe
February 07, 2017 06:38PM
Arduino Due /Mega2560 just processor boards
Your board with motor drivers and heater control would handle voltage / power
(ie RAMPS)

Suggest you research 3d printer controllers?

Perhaps you should look at what parts are available 900 x 900 bed heater -- non-existant or very custom $$$$

What size support for 900mm travel? What rail size? Timing belt / leadscrew?

see
[forums.reprap.org]

An Almost Reliable, High Precision, 3D Printer: Son of MegaMax
[www.instructables.com]

Quote
navyatejadir
I can get arduino due, do you think it can contain enough for maximum current and please guys I have zero knowledge about current. Please, help me out with the calibration and is mega2560 efficient? which step drivers should i consider?

confused smiley
Re: dc42
February 08, 2017 12:15AM
Before you go too much further, I suggest you ask yourself two questions:

1. Am I being too ambitious for a first 3D printer build?

2. If I finish this printer, how long will it take to print an object that is large enough to need a printer this big?[/quote]



Do you think its highly unlikely that I'm ever going to complete it without too much wastage of money? And i will post you my design.
Re: dc42
February 08, 2017 12:26AM
I only want to move the XY gantry, not the heat bed and look at the link i've posted below, mine is exactly the same but its little bit smaller. What would you suggest?



[www.youtube.com]
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 08, 2017 02:43AM
I found this for the build i've been trying to. I could get the customised heat bed for 1 connection and I need specifications about its voltage or can use multiple pcbs?
Attachments:
open | download - F650U80I4J6T26X.MEDIUM.jpg (85 KB)
Re: dc42
February 08, 2017 03:02AM
Quote
navyatejadir
Do you think its highly unlikely that I'm ever going to complete it without too much wastage of money? And i will post you my design.
I think it is very unlikely that you will get a working machine done.
I am designing and building printers for a few years now and even building with standard sized components the problems you run into are numerous. Upscaling doesn't work, big printers need to be designed differently from the ground up. If you have a lot of experience as a mechanical engineer that would be a big plus, but even then the missing experience from 3D printing would make this a long drawn out slow death project.
The best advice i can give is to start by building a common machine (i3 or anything else well documented) from scratch. It is not very expensive and will show you where you stand with your skills. Also if you have it working it is a great tool to manufacture parts for the next, bigger, printer. You gain experience and a valueable tool regardless if the big printer works in the end or not and if you fail to make the small one work you know that you saved a lot of money and sweat winking smiley


[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 09, 2017 01:03AM
Okay,then what size would be better to start with?
Re: large scale 3d printer
February 09, 2017 02:45AM
Most printers feature a 200mmx200mm printbed since these are readily and cheaply available heated or unheated. This is a size where you can easily use small linear rails or 8mm rods to bridge the distance and 20mm aluminum profiles are sufficient to create a rigid frame. At that size you can use cheap NEMA 17 motors and cheap drivers. Also you can find a lot of proven solutions for printers at that size if you don't know how to resolve things yourself.


[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login