This is a how-to as to build a 3d printer yourself. The diy kits on the internet with the plastic parts and threaded rods do not charme me al lot because I like rigidity. So I started with making a rigid frame of 18mm MDF. This is going to be a CNC machine that is multi-purpose, could also be used as a mill, engraver or lasercutter if desired.
Most of the parts and materials can be bought on the internet. The electronics from China are really cheap. The linear slides are not though. The software is open source so can't be a problem.
In order to get the needed precission, some of the parts are casted with PU resin. The molds are machined with my CNC mill, so the holes are precise in place.
The materials
What materials amongst others do you need:
- A Mega2560 microcontroller board, bought from Ebay <10$.
- A ramps 1.4 board + 4 steppperdrivers A4988 including heatsinks
- 4 Steppermotors I decided on Nema17 2.3A types
- A display that includes a cardreader, this enables the printer to be stand alone.
- sliding rails with slides for the X-Y-Z motion. I decided on some heavyer 12mm linear slides for Y and Z.
- Trapezoid threaded 8mm rods and nuts for the X-Y-Z movement
- Couplers that connect motor axis 5mm with the spindles 8mm
- two components PU resin for the mold of some parts
- MDF for the frame 18mm, for the molds 4mm and for supports 8mm
- a lot of screws, threaded rods m3 m4 m5 and nuts
- raspberry PI and a wifi stick to get the printer online
- An extruder / print head
- A heated bed
BUILDING IT
update 01 oct. 2014. Today I received my Mega2560 board, installed a driver and had it programmed and running with a LED-blink testprogramm in less then 10 minutes.
update 03 oct. 2014. I tested the Mega2560+RAMPS 1.4 with old steppers from an inkjetprinter. It works! see video
update 11 oct. 2014. Finally I received some critical items for the mechanics, now I can start working on the Y-movement.
update 04 nov. 2014. The Y-axis works now and I am making progress on the X/Z.
update 12 feb. 2015. So far everything works fine. I received the extruder and now I am working on the x-axis and support for the extruder. The printer can now be controlled over the network with the help of a raspberry pi.
update 20 feb. 2015: The x-axis is working fine. The extruder has been mounted and now I can start to finish the project.
update 24 feb. 2015: I guided the wires from th x-support through wire drag chains down to the ramps board. The chains should prevent the wires from bending to much.
update 6 march 2015: The heated bed has been mounted and all systems have been tested and calibrated. I'm almost there....
update 11 march 2015: Today I made my first test print, it works! Now I can start printing some usefull parts to help with the leveling of the heated bed.
update 15 march 2015: I succesfully printed 4 thumbwheels for the printer itself, and an eggcup to see if it works properly. Apart from some minor issues the printer works fine although somewhat slow. I am going to investigate how to make it faster.
Conclusion so far: This whole project means a whole lot of hand- and brainwork. You need many skills (IT, mechatronics, carpenter, electronics, mechanic, fitter) to be able to finish this. And a lot of patience......
update 14 april 2015. I installed a 24Volt supply and TB6600 stepperdrivers for the x- and y-axis. These are much faster, the printer now can work on a high speed.
update 01 april 2016: Driving with threaded rods implies a struggle to get the desired speed. So I decided to reconstruct into belt drive.
REVISION
update 11 april 2016: The reconsruction into belt drive was succesfull. The printing speed has dramatically increased. See the latest video..
update 12 april 2016: I changed the stepper resolution from 1/8 to 1/16. This reduced the noise drasticly so now the printer runs very smooth without too much noise.
CONCLUSION
This was not a simple project. The original intention to build a multi-functional device was not feasible. The
necessary strength in the drive of the axles is at the expense of speed. Printing with a low speed costs too much time. So i have an in some aspects oversized machine, considerable heavy.
I am happy though that i have oversized stepper drivers at 24Volt, because i can print at very hight speed with them. For simple shapes this can be very efficient. In this respect, the weight of the machine can seems an advantage otherwise it could shake as a result of the inertia of the movements.
