Quote Originally Posted by Davemorl View Post
I havent got round to it yet due to work and other commitments but my idea was to fabricate and weld the 4 sides separately. Then once it was all completely welded mill them flat and the mating surfaces for each side square and the bolt them together either threaded or nuts whatever works.Then once all 4 sides where bolted together make an aluminium carriage frame for the extruder to run on trying to keep it as light weight as possible without losing ridgitidy. Maybe even cnc mill a honeycomb pattern into a solid aluminium bar?! The options are endless and I think the rigidity would allow faster printing to a certain level without inducing vibrations to the print. I would expect the print quality to be far superior to any budget made frame?
Except for how noise and vibrations just love to travel through metal. Plastic has a dampening affect akin to rubber in the world of NVH. And a metal frame needs to have a medium between the rods/rails and the frame and also as feet under the frame. Or even with the silent drivers running in the most advanced form of stealthchop available will still be noisy. Because as rigid as metal can be, it also loves to carry vibrations. Just a thought for some of you young'n builders to consider. I personally love a quiet machine. However because the linear rails bolt directly to my aluminum extrusion, my Multi Widow is still louder than it was with the rubber v wheels on the aluminum extrusion. Metal is great. But it is far from the be all - end all of building materials especially for something as light duty as these 3d printers. Let us all always remember, metal structures that aren't dampened suck. They make noise and in most applications live a shortened life. For CNC we want all metal because we need strength and also because CNC equipment doesn't live in a person's home. And noise levels in a shop are always a secondary concern. I am just saying the best things in life are purpose built and thought through. All metal construction just sounds like an uncontrollable noisy mess to me.