Heaven help me - I've just bought a delta kit :-)

[curious aardvark]

not going to be quick - each corner piece is now up to about 5 hours printing. 127gms.
so i can get 7 and a bit from a reel of filament.
If I take infill from 25% to 20% - I can get 8.
(quick slice) plus looks good.
I'll do that for the rest :-)

Took me a while to get the settings right for a perfect print.
Ended up with 75mm/s, 0.3 layer, 5% for first layer and a fair bit of smoosh.
Fan off till layer 3, 210 print temp and 50c bed temp.

They're almost edge to edge on the print bed. Big solid suckers.
Sticking with the flashforge red, which does have a very slight tendency to warp at the edges on large prints.
2 got scrapped and 2 I could file enough to get a very tight fit (mallet job).
last night's, with the above settings, was perfect :-)
Just started another one with the remnants of the previous roll of filament - not sure if there's enough. Chancing it anyway :-)
even if I don't get full height, as long as the bolt holes are there, should be enough for a test fitting.

Given how tight the sockets are for the horizontal struts and how solid the bolts hold them. There actually isn't any point in the strut nuts at the sides as well.

Once I've got 3 good ones I'll check I've enlarged them enough. And if not - start again lol

[curious aardvark]

so put most of the frame together for the first time last night.
I'm beginning to think building a printer I have to stand on a chair to do the electronics - maybe wasn't such a good idea after all :-)

bigbastardframe_261x600.jpg

And then this happened:

iwantout_686x600.jpg

Still got two crosspieces to go. Annoyingly it snapped as I was unscrewing. The thread is cut.
Hoping either my mate or the aluminium engineering firm I do work for, can drill it out.
But it's hardened steel. Not sure how well it'll drill.

These things are sent to try us :-)

[curious aardvark]

Marked out and drilled prinbed today. Then decided might as well attach printbite. Keeps it safe and flat. I'll wait to attach the silicon heatpad till I'm messing about with the board and motors and the like. Keep it protected till I need it.

printbitedplate_561x480.jpg

Corner piece with belt pulley and prototype carriage - purely for getting wheel spacing correct.

cornerpiecepullerprotariage_301x480.jpg

Not really a desktop printer ;-)

notreallyadesktop_171x480.jpg

I know what you're thinking. 'Those bolt holes don't line up with the grooves in the struts.
Nope, were never meant to.
The bed will be mounted on 5mm bolts, that will be spring loaded and attached to very solid bases that will bolt directly into the struts.
This will give me more versatility in levelling and should keep the plastic mounts cool even with very long print runs (which is what this monster is for).

Right off to design feet :-)

OH yeah, ordered 5 metres of 3mm bungee cord for a different project and then thought. That would be ideal for suspending the flying extruder. As it's not rubber, shouldn't rot and will be real easy to attach. Figure push measured amount through 2.5mm hole, and fix in place with small cable tie.

[mjf55]

That some big b*... What are the dimensions? Sorry to see the broken tap. Did you get it out yet? Are you using oil when threading?

[curious aardvark]

Oil ? Nobody mentioned oil to me - bugger :-(
makes sense, but dave never mentioned it - it's all his threading kit, so it must be his fault lol
He knows I don't do much metal working.
Guess that's the difference between brute strength and ignorance and brute strength and proper practice. Unfortunately I was using the former.

I will oil in future lol
Got lithium grease and 3 in-1 oil in here with me. Just never occured to me.

The vertical struts are 1.5 metres tall, the frame struts 420mm
aluminium bed is 380mm diameter, printbite 350mm.
I figure I'll get at least 1.2 metres printable height.

Currently making feet from sienoc flexible pla. Essentially identical to polyflex - but half the price !
prints great from Alexa.
25mm/s print speed for flexible filament on a bowden tube :-)
Plus you can run the first layer at 100% - so actually prints stuff pretty quick.

Got to do one at a time though, one thing flexible pla is really really good at is stringing. Can't be avoided so you try not to give it the chance.

I reckon this stuff is what spiderman's webbing is made of :-)

I'm going to drop into my aluminium engineering mates tomorrow and see what they can do. Hoping they'll drill it out and offer to finish the threading as well. Fingers crossed :-)

[mjf55]

Best if they can finish it. Maybe a pint or two at the pub. Anyway, cutting oil, go slow, and back out often to clear debris. More oil. I don't do it often, but that's what works for me. Excited to see you working on it again. Definitely not DESKTOP.
I'm ready to try some flex filament.
Do you worry about moisture in your filament? Do anything to remedy it?

Can't say enough good things about PrintBite. I still smile when the print just pops off. Thanks for that pointer.

[curious aardvark]

alas I showed darren and he said 'you need an engineering firm for that'.
Apparently even though it says engineering in their frim title - they don't have any of the right gear.
Don't even have a clamp for their pillar drill that will hold it in place.
His idea was a centre punch and a big hammer.
So I passed :-)

So I think I might, knock the bit off that's sticking out of the hole with a hammer and figure out some way to clamp it so i can have a go with my pillar drill (change it to it's slowest speed) and a titanium nitride coated drill bit.
Logical - to my way of thinking - would be to start with a very small drill and work my way up.
Failing that, every time I see these things on a shopping channel I'm tempted to buy them: https://www.drillallsales.com/
probably not as good as they claim. But I only want it for the one job :-)
Bugger it - bought a 4.5mm bit. If I hurt it, they say they'll send me another one. So we'll see :-)
Figure at £5.99 it's worth a punt. Cheaper than postage would be on another strut anyway.

I reckon I can clamp the strut in my workbench and put the drill on that with the head offset .
Should be fun lol
I'll have another go at cleaning the aluminium out of the grooves of the other two threading bits and use oil :-)

Oh yeah my big laser engraver arrived yesterday. 30x40cm. Has a sort of user manual, but no build instructions or links to software, instructions etc.

On the postiive side. There was no customs form or value on the parcel, so no import tax. I think it's been shipped to the uk in a container, massively undervalued and then delivered with hermes - a budget uk delivery firm who clearly don't ask daft questions like: 'you pay import tax on this? '.
So that's good :-)
Did find a build video on youtube which looks like the same kit. Very strange way of using the belts to move stuff. Not something I would ever have worked out for myself in a million years.

What I really need is work, running out of money :-(
I do have a shed full of tropical hardwood (that's not an exaggeration) and a bunch of woodworking gear. So custom engraved plaques, mats coasters etc are definitely in the future.

[mjf55]

I hope you get some work. Need that money to pay essentials, then a few toys. Are you skilled in woodworking, kool if you are. Good money in that. Also consider cabinet making.
Back to the broken tap. Consider reverse left hand drills bits. They will provide some torque to help remove the tap as you are drilling. Yes, you instinct is correct. Start with making a small flat spot on the break as close to the center as you can. Then take a sharp punch to make a small indentation to hold the drill bit from wondering. Then us a small bit to drill a hole and work you way up. Use that cutting oil to keep your bit sharp. If you use easy-outs, be careful as that have a habit of snapping also. Good luck.

[curious aardvark]

3mm bungee cord arrived today.
Going to be perfect for the suspended extruder.

I still don't know why it needs to be elasticated. But as every suspended large delta I've seen has an extrduer suspended by elasticat material. I guess it's been tested and proven a good idea.

Even more reason I think to beef up the belts as th extruer bouncing around has to put extra stress on the carriages and belts.
You'd think anyway.

Currently waiting for 50 tennis balls to arrive so I can go test my new slinging target.
Also invented a tennis ball picker upperer.
The flexible tennis ball valve was printed with flexible pla on the he3d k200.
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1523898343

Think the flexbile socket brackets were done partly on the he3d and partly on the flashforge before it got ill.

[mjf55]

So CA, how is your BB going? We need a progress report. ;-)