3D printer / laser plans for DIY and advices chosing a model (delta, cartesian, etc)

[sibianul]

Hello guys,

I really want to start building a printer, or buying a kit for a 3D printer but there are so many models I don't really know where to start.

I already own a large CNC (900x600x200mm working surface) with big NEMA34 8Nm motors, I could attach an extruder or a laser diode near the spindle but I don;t want to have this big cnc running for hours, when 3D printing or laser engraving, I want to have a different machine for those tasks, with smaller motors / drivers (less electricity to pay, less noise, etc...)

My main goals are :

1. Spend as little $$$ as possible, $400 maybe ?
2. Adding from the begging or after the 3D printer is created an laser diode to be able to engrave or cut soft materials (the maximum I can think will be engraving aluminium but maybe I won't get such a powerful diode, cutting 3mm ply for the begging will be ok )
3. Work surface should be around 30x30x30cm , maybe I can make some dimensions smaller the 30cm if the costs go high because of this
4. Probably I will get from the begging a good extruder that can use Nylon also (if it can print using Nylon, it will print without any issues with PLA, ABS, right ? )
5. I seen a smartphone phone holder, quite good looking but the 17 hours printed time to me sounds really really high, if it can print fast without spending alot more, than I'll go that way (120mm/s seems very high to me, I don't really know what hardware I'll need for Sailfish, but this should be one of the specs of the printer, capable to be drived by Sailfish - I just heard about this firmware, don't know nothing about it so far, but what I found, looks good)

I have some 20x80 OpenBUilds profiles, maybe you guys can recommend a printer that used those type of profiles as I already have them.

I seen a few photos like this bellow, maybe I'll go with Sailfish Firmware if it's that much better (it seems weird to me that the left models look quite bad, don't know why, I'm sure it's not entirely because of the other firmware's as only a few 3D prints I seen so far that bad)

IMG_0886_preview_featured.jpg

Any advice's to chose a good printer are welcome. Thank you.

PS. I don't mind tinkering with arduino and other related things, made myself a few projects with Arduino like Thermocouble with LCD screen, a Multi temperature sensor logger with SD card and RTC, to log the temperature from multiple places in my drone when flying in -15°C, a few drones (tricopter, quad and hexacopters), etc ..

[LuckyImperial]

Sibianul,

It sounds like you've done your research. I can start pointing you down the right direction but you have some limiting factors in your design request. Mainly the 120mm/s speed request.

First, you probably want to consider a Cartesian printer (MendelMax most likely). That's not to say that a delta won't work, but a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm capable delta is going to be quite tall and most likely require custom arms. Don't let me convince you though...there are some big delta's that have been done.

Also, in order to print Nylon/ABS/Polycarbonate/PET etc. you will need a 30cm x 30cm heated bed. Luckily they have them: http://www.amazon.com/approx-KEENOVO.../dp/B00V81ZI70. You'll need a solid state relay for Arduino control of that bed though.

As for the hot end, you are correct, an E3D V6 or E3D Lite6 are very capable. The V6 has no PTFE in it so it's good for 260C+, a bit more than what you need for nylon. The Lite6 does have PTFE and it's good for ~260c. Everyone says 245c for the Lite6 but PTFE has a Tm of 365C and doesn't really start deforming until around 260C. The Lite6 is what I would recommend. Also, check out Polymaker PC Plus. I don't really know how it compares to Nylon but I've been printing some very strong parts with it lately. Granted, it's more brittle than ABS and probably Nylon.

Second...a laser diode should be a relatively easy addition. I just saw this thread a couple down that may be of interest. You might have to make some custom GCode to trick the software into controlling the diode instead of a hot end, but I know that Repetier Firmware just introduced CNC/Laser Engraver support in 0.92.8. Check out the "Tools" tab here: http://www.repetier.com/firmware/v092/

If I'm not mistaken, Sailfish produced those results because it had acceleration control. In reality, nearly all firmware allows you to tweak your accelerations and jerk these days.

Back to the design though....120mm/s is going to be very hard if not impossible to achieve with a Cartesian printer, but a 30cm^3 build volume is going to result in a large Delta. If it were me...I would use those 20x80mm OpenBuild profiles to start fabbing up a solid MendelMax frame. You really should call and price out a UltiBots MendelMax before going full custom though. http://www.ultibots.com/ultimax-3d-p...iy-kit-deluxe/

[sibianul]

Sibianul,

It sounds like you've done your research. I can start pointing you down the right direction but you have some limiting factors in your design request. Mainly the 120mm/s speed request.

I seen Sailfish state the print ware made at 120mm/s, also for me this seems very high, his is not a deciding factor , maybe it's the least important one, mainly I want to have a 3D printer and a laser engraver / cutter. Feed speed can be less, no problem

First, you probably want to consider a Cartesian printer (MendelMax most likely). That's not to say that a delta won't work, but a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm capable delta is going to be quite tall and most likely require custom arms. Don't let me convince you though...there are some big delta's that have been done.

Also, in order to print Nylon/ABS/Polycarbonate/PET etc. you will need a 30cm x 30cm heated bed. Luckily they have them: http://www.amazon.com/approx-KEENOVO.../dp/B00V81ZI70. You'll need a solid state relay for Arduino control of that bed though.

About the working surface it's not necessary to have 30cm on all axis, but I want to have at least one axis that long, the Z can be 15 - 20 cm without bothering me too much. I can go as low as 300x200x150 .. but I'll prefer 300x300x200 at least.

Is this heated bed going to work for nylon? The material you stated, the nylon is the one it needs the highest temperature, right ? So if it's good for nylon it must be good for others too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/3D-Printer-H...AAAOSwNphWWhOg

Didn't knew the heated bet consumes so much energy, I seen 300 - 400w .. if the printer runs for many hours that will increase the electricity bill for sure I'm sure it wont be 400w continous, probably there will be only some spikes but I dont have any ideea how often .. anyway, it doesn't metter right now, it just seemed to me quite a high.

About the solid state relay, I have one almost exactly like that, the case is not transparent, but white and it's 30A .. btw I have a box full of all kinds of sensors and devices used around arduino world

Thank you for other advices, I will consider each one.

I don't know yet if any controller (hardware) can support a 3D printer and a Laser engraver on the same machine, all the controllers on the market have enough free pins to wire the laser, don't know if it's just one or more pins needed for the laser.