Intro Post - completely green

Hello,
My name is Steve, I live in Akron Ohio and looking to build my first open-source 3D printer. I am a current student looking to get finished with my bachelors in Electronic Engineering Technology. I have done intro AutoCAD classes through school and would like to continue into SolidWorks and more.
Anyways im here to learn more about what hardware and software to make a 3D printer. Im looking just to make small things to make my life simpler and prototype parts for cars (in-which is a huge hobby in my life). I would also like to give back to anyone in my community once I have made one by helping people with prints for their creations etc.
Well im going to explore the forum any tips or tricks you would like to give me for a head start, much appreciated.
Thank You

Hey Steve, welcome to the forum. You will find this is a great little community, growing every day. You will also find that once you have a 3D printer you will become addicted :) Happened to me last year lol. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have learned a ton over the last year or so thanks to this forum and would be happy to share anything.

Thank you Larry for the welcome.

I guess I first need to look into the materials of what im building. I was thinking of using a glass or maybe even a mirror for the printing surface (not sure how well mirror would take heat but would be good to see the head better if problems arise). I hear a lot of chatter about 3d printers catching fire, I would assume its do to faulty wiring or heating of the head? So would utilizing a copper plate and using a liquid cooled cpu system keep the head at a maintained temperature (could add a temperature sensor and target or fail-safe temps in the programming). I have access to a Makerbot Replicator 2x at my school and they are not currently charging students to use it. So I would like to make a layout soon and build list and take advantage of this service.

When i get time im going to explore this forum and some stickies but i currently type this from school and im on the move LOL!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FreshDA9

Thank you Larry for the welcome.

I guess I first need to look into the materials of what im building. I was thinking of using a glass or maybe even a mirror for the printing surface (not sure how well mirror would take heat but would be good to see the head better if problems arise). I hear a lot of chatter about 3d printers catching fire, I would assume its do to faulty wiring or heating of the head? So would utilizing a copper plate and using a liquid cooled cpu system keep the head at a maintained temperature (could add a temperature sensor and target or fail-safe temps in the programming). I have access to a Makerbot Replicator 2x at my school and they are not currently charging students to use it. So I would like to make a layout soon and build list and take advantage of this service.


When i get time im going to explore this forum and some stickies but i currently type this from school and im on the move LOL!

---

Hi Fresh, Welcome,

Mirror = bad idea, you will find it as you said cracking from heat.
Glass, must be Pyrex / Boroscilliate to withstand that heat.

3D printers do not generally catch fire, or not that I am aware of from here and many other printing forums, it often happens from incorrect assembly, lack of insulation etc or general electronic fault but I am yet to see that actually set fire to the machine. The only time I've seen it is when someone forced it, and did not use a cooling fan. Fans essential. If a hot end runs without cooling, yes it will cook itself and most likely the wiring attached. Most firmware is designed to shut it all down when you get to a critical temperature also (by default around 275c)

People are leaving these things printing for 10.. 20..30 hours at a time and they are not catching fire so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

CPU liquid cooling and copper piping would be the same as it is in a PC, purely for show. You can achieve relevant cooling with a heatsink and a fan.

Use the one you have free access to. Pull it apart, break it, fix it... its a tax write off anyway for a school, if you can't fix it just blame the janitor and they'll buy a new one :)

Thanks for the info Geoff. What machine are you using, or did you make your own?

I understand PC maybe only for show but in the car industry an air cooled motor hasnt been made in a production vehicle in years. So being said water cooling should be better heat transferring then a typical heat sink. But I would like to know more about cooling and having a safe machine to print for a 30hr period without worry.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FreshDA9

Thanks for the info Geoff. What machine are you using, or did you make your own?

I understand PC maybe only for show but in the car industry an air cooled motor hasnt been made in a production vehicle in years. So being said water cooling should be better heat transferring then a typical heat sink. But I would like to know more about cooling and having a safe machine to print for a 30hr period without worry.

---

I think the tough part will simply be mounting it all, I haven't seen a CPU liquid cooler with a small enough head for the CPU that I could see fitting, but hey there is probably one out there. ideally one that is not much wider than a CPU itself.

I think it would work ok, but the only thing I would be re-inforcing is all the flexing, as your head is going to move alot along with the cooling tubes and headstock, whereas in a PC they are fairly tame and never move around.