Gathering information for DIY Large Printer build - any help much appreciated!

[MystiqueEngineer]

Had to edit this post 4 times due to the problem you were describing. All paragraphs etc gets mashed into one big cluster of words. Really annoying.
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The best controller depends on your needs. If a simple atmega based board fits your needs, just use that. No sense in using a sledge to swat a fly. As for servos, there are some servo which can be driven with a step/dir signal just like stepper motor drivers, so your control board can treat them the same. Making your own arduino controller to control a servo using step/dir isn't worth it unless you're very familiar with control loops and tuning them. Also, servos aren't necessarily quieter, I'm not sure what's convinced you of that. The noise people typically associate with steppers is more an artefact of the stepper drivers commonly used in 3D printers. If you want servos the cheapest option I can think of is a mechaduino, which is a NEMA17 fitted with an encoder and arduino to provide closed loop feedback, this can be run with a step/dir signal from the control board like a regular stepper.

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I was thinking about getting the Duet Wifi or a Smoothieboard. I guess they both would do the trick - so I'll just see what I end up with.
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When it comes to the step/dir compatible servos, could you give me a link to an example? I've tried to find some, but without luck.
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When it comes to the sound I want to get away from; I'll admit my prejudice is based on other 3D printers (My China kit in particular). But even the Stratasys we have at work (apparently a very expensive printer according to my superior) is noisy as hell. It's a pretty noticeable motor sound from it - a sound I have never heard from servos. Therefore my presumption that servos in most cases should be quieter. But of course, AC/DC or Brushed vs. brushless is also a factor. I was thinking going for a AC brushless servo. Also, the videos I've seen of guys converting to servo-drive on their 3D printers seem to gain quite amazingly low noise levels.
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I was thinking of going for something like this; https://www.ebay.com/itm/JMC-100W-0-...gAAOSwAbpdZNwc
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I'm starting to think making my own Arduino controller is my only shot to make it work with something like that though. I came across something called ServoStrap here the other day, and it seems to be exactly what I need. I just need to play around with it for a bit, and see what I can make of it. I'll have to build a test-bench of similar controls first though.
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ServoStrap: https://github.com/danithebest91/ServoStrap
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It recently came to my attention that we have quite knowledgeable contacts on the subject through my employer. A collage of mine will introduce me when possible - so maybe I can get some help from that end on how to attack this.
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The O-Drive control board is another option, it lets you use a regular RC brushless motor, mount an encoder to it and drive it like a servo. This is a bit more pricey but the motors can be a lot more powerful and a lot faster for the same form factor, but a 3D printer won't really be going fast enough to take advantage of that. On the flip side brushless RC motors have pretty weak holding torque, not that it really matters for a 3D printer.

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I definitely see the potential in this for a lot of hobbyists, but I would rather put the extra money into a propper servo with encoder. Thanks a lot tho, I am sure I can put that to good use in other projects.
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Final suggestion; don't make it that big. Even industrial machines don't really go that big. Even with a heated chamber you'll get distortion and warping. Not to mention with a build chamber that size you're looking at print times upwards of a week or even more, the chances of nothing going wrong during such a long print are small. What are you even going to print that large? Plastic parts, especially 3D prints, at that size are probably too weak to be useful.

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I don't have any specific parts that needs to be that big. However, I am planning to have quick exchangeable extruders, so I can switch materials, and nozzle sizes faster. This includes a Volcano setup with 1mm or 1.2mm nozzles. I've never printed with these before, but I presume they would make it easier to build large things with less warping. For example a chassis or larger constructions. For the most part regarding the size, I want a big build area for printing large series of different parts at once. Print times doesn't really worry me, but I agree on the increased chances of something going wrong. I am willing to try nevertheless. Thanks a lot for your input!
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