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I have had this printer for over 3 years now. It has seen waves of reworks already and has most of the good parts to include a genuine E3D titan aero, MKS genL mainboard, TMC2208 drivers, MKS tft32 touchscreen, MKS wifi module, 0.9 degree stepper motors everywhere but Z, a 24v power supply with matched heaters, an aluminum bed with proximity switch, and Gates fiber reinforced belts. Here is what all of that looks like assembled together.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/PJcI0P.jpg
This printer is limited to a 200mm cube and so I want to chase precision. Making small things accurately. And the only parts I think I am going to add here are a SKR 1.4 Turbo mainboard and 4 or 5 LV8729 stepper drivers all run at 1/128 micro stepping. Past that I want to move all wires to the backside of the frame and design and print some pieces to reinforce or brace the smooth rods. So far I have this piece designed that I will print and mirror and print and install under the Z stepper motors to add support to the threaded rods under the smooth rods for Y. This will keep the top of the frame from flexing forward or the front of Y from shifting to either side. I have designed this part to be a tight fit on the threaded rods..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/mTJhuQ.png
I have decided I want to print these parts in translucent blue PETG. And that spool isn't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow. So for now I will just keep designing the parts. I also wish to do a similar thing with the displays as what I did with my Black Widow rework. It would be cool to have a similar look to my printers. Get my own style going. So I am mounting the displays down low and leaned back at 45 degrees. voltage display from the buck lm2596 step down converter on the left and tft32 touchscreen on the right. I am integrating the display mount and a 20mm tall brace for the lower Z rods into the same part. I still have to produce the design for the right side. Here is my design for the left.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/3McjGv.png
And here my tft32 mount with lower z smooth rod support for the RH of the machine.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/hIOHFY.png
Here are my frame supports printed and installed. I will reprint the part on the left before this is all said and done.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/vEdbq3.jpg
This PETG really likes to stick to the build surface. So much so that some prints break just trying to release from the bed. maybe .1mm higher on the z offset might stop this from happening.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/ix9a2v.jpg
The z motor and mount needs to come off the frame for my supports to go on so I don't get the luxury of re printing that LH support piece later. So I fixed it now before it all goes together.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/MSZXoE.jpg
I have got the frame back together with my new display mounts.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/xTAVgp.jpg
So I have made some more progress on this rework. And the new mainboards are in. SKR 1.4 TURBO. 32 bit controller run off a 24v power supply with 5 LV8729 stepper drivers. Oh man I cant wait to get all this together and wired.. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/OwB1k5.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/OtvBT8.jpg
They are perfect for each other.. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/921/aMpoDp.jpg
The titan aero on this printer is genuine E3D. And while it does have a 24v heater cartridge, it is a 40 watt part with the red wires. These heaters work fine. They have for a long time and never had a problem. However, E3D sells these high precision 30 watt cartridges with the green wires. And they still get up to the high temps just fine. Also I am installing a Micro Swiss plated 0.25mm nozzle.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/O70RhF.jpg
Well i got this thing all wired up and powered on. The only thing it is missing is a layer fan. I have the power wires for it ran and even have a few fans that i could use. I just need to design the part to mount it to. But for now, here is my new old GEEETech i3 pro B..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/GTP2c7.jpg
Just to recap this printer is a 350watt 24v power supply, an SKR 1.4 Turbo with 4 tmc2208 v3.0 stepper drivers, an MKS tft32 color touchscreen, buck lm2596 step down converter with voltage display, genuine E3D titan aero with high precision 30watt heater cartridge, a Micro swiss 0.25mm plated nozzle, 0.9 degree stepper motors everywhere but Z, gates pulleys and reinforced belts, an aluminum heat bed with NPN proximity switch for Z, and a Noctua 40mm fan for the extruder. I am very happy with how all this came out. And it really looks the part sitting next to my other printer rework..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/xBaXMz.jpg
I have a thingiverse going for these reworks here: https://www.thingiverse.com/AutoWiz/designs
Clean tmc2208 UART install thank you SKR 1.4 Turbo.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/XJXYKw.jpg
what did you do to the printbed ?
Looks like unheated acrylic - that can't be right ?
That's the gecko tek build surface. It works really well. I printed out a part cooling fan for this but havent got it working yet. Once it is working i will make another attempt at printing that iris box.
So I have been thinking and while everything is running good, I am just not happy with one of the solder connections I had to make to the underside of the TMC2208 v3.0 drivers to make them run in UART. I have had no problems with this, it is just that I had to solder it under a magnifying glass because it they are such tiny solder pads that need to be soldered. One of them the solder looks close to another soldered connection. Again everything works and well, I am just afraid it might one day short off. This paranoid fear has driven me to one more upgrade for this printer. 4 TMC2209 v1.2 drivers.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/KDyxz9.jpg I am extremely happy with these drivers in my other printer. Not only can they handle more power but they run cooler while doing it. Which means no active cooling needed. Or at least that is how I understand it. Nothing needs to be soldered for UART however these driver are capable of sensorless homing. My printer is already built and wired around end stops so I do not care for stallgaurd. So before I can plug these drivers into the SKR 1.4 Turbo mainboard I need to remove 1 pin from each stepper driver. This pin.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/3kDcWi.jpg Setup for these drivers from the tmc2208 already run in UART is painfully simple. And running UART on the SKR boards really allows for a clean appearance.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/LOwrn2.jpg
So 'Old Blue' here is now the workhorse that will make the parts to help me realize multi material printing from 2 angles. Currently This awesome machine is printing out a purge bucket I designed that will sit behind the screen on my MMU2S rig.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/EGrq7f.jpg After this I will load the black PETG and get busy on making the 3 mounts for them 3 titan extruders for the Diamond hotend rig. This is now my only single filament printer.
I switched back to the 0.4mm nozzle. 0.25mm is nice for extra fine detail but I am making functional parts and want strength. so 0.4mm nozzle and 0.3mm layer height. I am currently printing out a mount for the Diamond Hotend.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/amS9wp.jpg And this machine is now running Marlin 2.0.5.3
So I have been having this printer make parts for my Diamond Hotend build and I am happy with it so far. And the Diamond Hotend is really starting to look like a functional extruder.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/D6U0Xy.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/IAx9z8.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/Gn4Ko9.jpg
So S3D seems to make my printers run a little faster without me playing with any speed settings. Which is nice. But now I can see my extruder shaking all about as it jerks back and forth. I have all the smooth rods braced so well on this machine but this is going to stop me from printing any faster. I actually have the right solution already in my hands and ready to go in the form of the all metal titan aero mount I just removed from my 3 color mixing printer. It weighs a whole lot but man is it solid. So as soon as it is done printing this part for itself I get to tear this machine down one more time..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/BmPQSp.jpg
So changing the carriage to the all metal part turned out to be a project. But it is done and back together. And aside from a more rigid X and E axes I also added a filament runout sensor. This was easy because this machine is using a MKS TFT32 and it has a provision on the back for this sensor. No firmware changes needed. When this pin on the tft gets grounded it sends a pause command to the mainboard and beeps at you. Also i finally got the part cooling fan working. When i first installed the SKR 1.4 Turbo on this printer i accidentally had the part cooling fan connected with the polarity reversed. After that the 5015s fan was dead and the cnc fan pin on the mainboard always gets power. So I re assigned heater 1 to be the fan pin. And now everything on this machine works GREAT! And all that is left here is for me to explore octoprint so i can get some of them awesome octolapse videos up and going.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/VXpU4A.jpg
I did it CA. I finally printed out a functional Iris Box. And it works buttery smooth, too. But I cheated. I printed it at 150% scale..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/GSjUyo.jpg
And now that i am up and running with S3D i can easier follow these awesome quality and speed tutorials from the Teaching Tech youtube channel. Specifically these videos for tuning acceleration and junction deviation(jerk) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnvj6xCzikM . And for properly calibrating linear advance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3yK0lJ8TWM&t
well done !
iris boxes are great for keeping screws in as you never lose the lid :-)
What they mainly illustrate is that you have your retractions nailed !
which is about 80% of doing intricate or multiple part prints :-)
Now it's all about ramping the speed up :-)
I think I print the boxes at about 80% size, just for speed as much as anything else.
a 4 hour print - is a long one for me :-)
And i got it to print and work in standard size. So according to the process i followed i am printing at 150mm/s but i have the acceleration turned down But this box took 1.5hrs to print. The 150% green box took 5.5hrs to print but since the new calibration settings when i slice this box at 150% it says 3.5hrs. My printer moves faster but not blistering or mind boggling fast. I regret printing this out in black. It is hard to take a good picture of..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/TeIhgY.jpg
I made a short youtube video of this printer printing out a part for the 3 color mixing printer. Only a few minutes at the start of the print and just to show how fast this machine is now moving since i have tuned it for speed. It's not setting any records but it is definitely printing faster than it was. The method i followed was to first find out how fast my extruder can feed filament reliably and then set my speed to that and tune the acceleration and junction deviation or jerk settings to bring about the best quality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpZJzbA5TU
I found this lattice cube on thingiverse that calls itself a torture test so I tried it. This: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1850320 . And here are my results printed in PETG.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/ZtLwtG.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/s2Xwbg.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/NHerGb.jpg
Well this printer has been working great. Reliable as all get out. Great quality prints. Honestly I couldn't be happier. However, I bought this string of neopixels for my TronXY build and I had some extra so I thought I would apply them to this printer and also my 3 color mixing printer and just have neopixels on all my rigs. It is simple enough to setup and as stated I already have them so I drew up and printed out a mount/shroud to hang the LEDs up to and just behind the base of the filament spool..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/YBLWf1.jpg
Pleased with the install I went to connect my wires to the mainboard and that's when it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. This printer is running a SKR 1.4 Turbo. 120mhz. And I have an 168mhz running SKR Pro just sitting here that I am not using. I have 1 other printer with a SKR Pro and 2 with the 180mhz running Octopus. This right here is the slowest brain I have in a printer. This is my dumbest robot. Sooooo..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/JWHq53.jpg
Most of the connectors are just fine. Aside from the neopixels along with this I will add an extra stepper driver for a second Z and setup Dual Z Auto Align and get it on the latest Marlin 2.0.9.1.
Well alright. So the wiring is done and we just gotta get Marlin setup for this. This is a lot of mainboard for an i3.. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/qUz5lI.jpg Gonna be one sweet i3, thou. Dual Z auto align, UPS, 168mhz, 24v, genuine titan aero, 0.9 degree stepper motors, neopixels, filament runout sensor, wifi, touchscreen. Hopefully we will be back to printing by the end of today.
I made a few short videos quickly displaying some of the features available now with the mainboard I am running. First is the neopixels. This just shows the neopixel power on self test..
Neopixels on my i3 - YouTube
And this is a video that shows what having a separate Z stepper driver for each Z motor can do. Automatic leveling of the gantry in relation to the bed with G34..
Dual Z Auto Align Geeetech i3 Pro B - YouTube
that z auto align is pretty cool. :-)
what bed probe are you using ?
Or does it work with the sensorless homing ?
Also how many spare boards have you now got ?
I've got one of those cubes around somewhere.
Yours looks pretty good, mine was just to see how fast i caould print one, think it was a touch under 2 hours.
It's not as smooth as yours, but I doubt yours was printed at 150mm/s ;-)
Plus mine was pla - haven't played with petg on saffy.
Buty it'd look like a spiders web on alexa. petg prints well,m just a bit stringy. Fortunately the strings file off really easy.
I have a few SKR 1.4 Turbo's.
I have a TronXY mainboard with integrated drivers and touhscreen. Brand new. Never used. Still has wrap on the screen and plugs covering connectors
I have a BTT002 mainboard
I have plans for the BTT002. It is a mainboard specifically made to to be a direct upgrade to 32 bit for Prusa machines. It only has 4 stepper driver sockets but it has a very small form factor and it runs at the same 168mhz as the SKR Pro. So I was thinking about all my spare parts and I was thinking about building 'The Crane'
I have a 300x200 heat bed I was thinking about designing and printing a base to mount it sideways so it is only 200mm deep and 300mm wide. The base will mount the bed solid and mount the electronics under the bed along with 2 linear rails running the 300mm axis on the rear side and under the bed. Then building one arm to connect to the 2 rails and call that X. The arm will have Z on it and raise up the gantry that will move Y fore and aft.
This setup will be bowden only so there is no weight on the carriage and the good news there is I already have that part, too. A brand new TronXY hotend. Fully assembled and never used or even heated up.
BUT, I have promised myself I must finish my TronXY first.
So basically alarge prusa mini style machine ?
you do know that the only reason delta beds are round is because it's easier and gives the machine a smaller footprint.
But as long as your base is large enough and the arms are long enough (carbonfibre rod is cheap and comes in all thicknesses and lengths) - you can mount ANY shape bed on a delta.
just saying :-)
Also if the big bee is actually running you can print your own extrusion, bolt rails to it and it'll be as good as aluminium :-)
Hell you could print the base and frame uprights in a single piece if you wanted to.
Or two parts for extra height and rigidity.
Now that would be interesting.
magnetic couplers on the arms and effector (no clue why it's called that) for swap outability :-)
Or youi could build yet another I3 type machine. Come on it MUST be getting a bit boring by now ?
Quick diagram shows that a delta frame built for a 375mm circular base would print happily on a 200x300 rectangle.
And a base that size would easily fit on the big bee's bed :-)
Attachment 16881
A 2 part frame could give you around 700mm build height if you maxed it out.
A suspended extruder would work with existing kit.
Or one of the new all-in-one lightweight extruding hotends would be my choice. slice engineering do some nice all-in-ones in your price range.
Or https://www.amazon.com/Extruder-Extr...3377284&sr=8-9
Not that cheap, but if the frame is only costing about $50 in filament and three rails - it's in my budget :-)
Anyway, it's an idea :-)
Ya I want to play with one of them orbiter extruders. But this idea involves no money. I am thinking about a way to use my spare parts. And hopefully land with a printer I can sell for some cheese.
I have 4 neopixel leds left on the string from my other printers. Not much but I already have it along with extra 1000uf capacitors and 330ohm resistors so I can make a neopixel led and just maybe attach it to the hotend or its carriage.
I even have small lengths of PTFE tube and some capricorn. If my design only sees the hotend moving up and down the X then I likely even hae the right ptfe tube for my setup. I have a genuine titan aero and some titan clones I can mock up an extruder and the TronXY hotend.
Because the BTT002 uses them damn Prusa connectors on the mainboard I already hunted down all the stepper driver cables a long time ago and they are just sitting around. And I do have 4 stepper motors just sitting around. Only 1.8 degree but they are there.
I have plenty of pulleys and spare 6mm Gates fiber reinforced GT2 belt as well as other hardware.
I have a MKS tft32 v2.0 for a screen and a 500watt 24v power supply that came with the TronXY.
While the 300x200 aluminum heatbed is old and not exactly flat anymore, I can easily get a plate of glass for next to nothing.
I can build it, put Marlin 2.0.9.1 on it, get it printing nicely, sell it for as much as I can, and then share my designs on Thingiverse.
And my idea looks like this..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/JSbxof.jpg
And the Delta build will get all the electronics and extruders and hotend from Printalicious. Once you better explain to me this 2 part frame and 700mm build height.
so the extruder arm moves on a track and the bed stays still ?
I guess that's both simpler than moving the bed and potentially more complex to make the crane move exactly parellel to the bed.
Interesting. A bit like a cnc setup.
Okay I'll let you off - that's definitely an interesting project :-)
Um 'selling it' .
You are aware that you will have to build it, stop upgrading it, make it print and then sell it ?
Can you just finish a machine and let it go, without that 'one last tweak' ? ;-)
We'll have to see :-)
I'll do a quick model for what i was thinking about printing a delta frame complete in 2 pieces.
I literally cannot draw things in 2d. My brain just doesn't seem to workj that way.