Delivery No.1 - Build blog of the first V1.0 Peachy Printer in the Wild

[MemorianX]

for the height adjustment something like this could be used
http://www.eyecareandcure.com/ECC-Pr...-Support-Stand

it might even be possible to automate with some gears and a motor

[Builder1]

A scissor jack would work great.
However, for the cost of the jack (or less!!!) you could have a stepper motor based Z-Axis system and have all your problems solved.
It's just not worth turbo-charging the dripper system.

[dezi]

couldn't you combine both?
that scissor jack table with a stepper motor instead of manual adjusting the hight?
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1077164
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:925556
I haven't checked what it would cost me to print it, but shouldn't be much more than 10-20€?
I think i will try to build a peachy after i have all my fdm printer working perfectly

[Builder1]

This would be worth it if you could get the scissor jack for cheap and adjust it manually during the print.

As soon as you start down the road of using a stepper motor (with stepper controller and Arduino), your 70% of the way to a proper motorized Z-Axis and the drip system becomes irrelevant. When I talk about a "proper Z-Axis" system, I'm referring to a system that will move the build plate ONLY once a layer is finished being printed. This is what you want. Now every layer gets printed and your not waiting for the resin level to "catch up" to the next layer.

[dezi]

Just use drip system as power switch maybe? So everytime a drip falls the motor gets power for a extremly low amount of time? Don't know if it could work

[Builder1]

I have a lot on the go these days so I'll be a bit briefer than usual. Feel free to ask questions !!
All images for this print are already uploaded to the usual place.

I used different settings for this print.
-100mm/s laser speed and 99% laser power

There are still some oddities with this print and they are exclusive to the laser speed being too fast. These settings still do not give enough time for this resin to cure properly. I will need to go back to the 80mm/s speed as that worked very well with the Peachy Test Library print.

You can also see in the software screenshot (Rook2 Results) at the bottom that there were ZERO Skipped Layers.

Most (all?) of the splits in the print were created when the print leaned over when I was draining the water. Getting the print to stand on it's own is really important.

Again, getting good prints comes down to centring the resolution of the printers' functionality. With Rook1, I was operating at the bottom end of the dripper's range. With this print, I'm operating at the top end of the laser's capability to solidly cure the resin while printing at a reasonable speed.

I plan on eventually getting some MakerJuice resin as I believe it's ideal settings are 100mm/s @65% laser power. That gives the opportunity to print at faster speeds if tight corners are not required (over 100mm/s you quickly start to lose the sharpness of corners).

[Builder1]

I spent last evening at the local Makerspace. I chatted with those there about the issues with the drip system and the Peachy in general. MANY ideas flowed back and forth. It was a great night !!

The one thing that struck me about all the conversation is that everyone wanted to keep the drip system. Why? Because of the crazy high Z resolution it enables. I STILL want a stepper based system where there is NO specified time span per layer and I believe that a similar or same resolution can be achieved. We will see.

What's apparent is that there's lots of room left in the dripper system!
I sat down and outlined a bunch of stuff around this today. Here it is for your enjoyment ;-)

Peachy Z-Axis Dripper Thoughts


Dripper Problems


Layer Draw Time
-Limited by time to cure resin
-Limited by speed of rising Z-Axis
Drip Speed slows over time
-As the water levels change in the two bottles, the siphon strength drops
Drip Spikes when raising drip bottle
-Placing objects under the bottle to raise it
Drop size inconsistent with drip speed
-Fast drops are smaller
-Slower drops are bigger
Wasted time on simple layers
-Drip speed must be low enough to allow printing the most complex layer. All other layers will have to wait for the resin level to finish filing before the next layer can start.

Dripper Advantages


Super Inexpensive
-Readably available parts
Simple
-No electronics required
Insanely thin Z layers (0.02mm)

Possible Improvements for the Dripper System


Build Container


Increasing the surface area of the build container will dampen (but not resolve) Drip Spikes(2) and increase Layer Draw Time(1)

A Look at Surface area change

2 Liter Pop bottle (4" diameter)
Area = Pi * R^2
Pop bottle area = (3.1415 * (10.16cm / 2) ^ 2)
= 81.07 cm^2

Glass cylinder I just happen to have ;-) (5 5/16" diameter)
Area = (3.1415 * (13.4cm / 2) ^ 2)
= 141.03 cm^2

That's 1.74 TIMES more surface area !! Quite a difference !!

Drip Bottle Lift

What's required is a way to SMOOTHLY lift the drip container to maintain / control drip speed.

Using a scissor jack (as mentioned on 3D Print board by Dezi) would allow the dripper bottle to be raised/lowered smoothly.
The jacks height may be an issue if it is too short.
Wasted time on simple layers could be reduced by raising the dripper bottle even more to speed up the layer. You just need to be aware of any complex layers coming up so that the drip speed is appropriately reduced for that layer. This would be a manual process.


I think that just these TWO changes could substantially improve the functionality of the Peachy printer !!

[CescoAiel]

I spent last evening at the local Makerspace. I chatted with those there about the issues with the drip system and the Peachy in general. MANY ideas flowed back and forth. It was a great night !!

The one thing that struck me about all the conversation is that everyone wanted to keep the drip system. Why? Because of the crazy high Z resolution it enables. I STILL want a stepper based system where there is NO specified time span per layer and I believe that a similar or same resolution can be achieved. We will see.

What's apparent is that there's lots of room left in the dripper system!
I sat down and outlined a bunch of stuff around this today. Here it is for your enjoyment ;-)

Peachy Z-Axis Dripper Thoughts


Dripper Problems


Layer Draw Time
-Limited by time to cure resin
-Limited by speed of rising Z-Axis
Drip Speed slows over time
-As the water levels change in the two bottles, the siphon strength drops
Drip Spikes when raising drip bottle
-Placing objects under the bottle to raise it
Drop size inconsistent with drip speed
-Fast drops are smaller
-Slower drops are bigger
Wasted time on simple layers
-Drip speed must be low enough to allow printing the most complex layer. All other layers will have to wait for the resin level to finish filing before the next layer can start.

Dripper Advantages


Super Inexpensive
-Readably available parts
Simple
-No electronics required
Insanely thin Z layers (0.02mm)

Possible Improvements for the Dripper System


Build Container


Increasing the surface area of the build container will dampen (but not resolve) Drip Spikes(2) and increase Layer Draw Time(1)

A Look at Surface area change

2 Liter Pop bottle (4" diameter)
Area = Pi * R^2
Pop bottle area = (3.1415 * (10.16cm / 2) ^ 2)
= 81.07 cm^2

Glass cylinder I just happen to have ;-) (5 5/16" diameter)
Area = (3.1415 * (13.4cm / 2) ^ 2)
= 141.03 cm^2

That's 1.74 TIMES more surface area !! Quite a difference !!

Drip Bottle Lift

What's required is a way to SMOOTHLY lift the drip container to maintain / control drip speed.

Using a scissor jack (as mentioned on 3D Print board by Dezi) would allow the dripper bottle to be raised/lowered smoothly.
The jacks height may be an issue if it is too short.
Wasted time on simple layers could be reduced by raising the dripper bottle even more to speed up the layer. You just need to be aware of any complex layers coming up so that the drip speed is appropriately reduced for that layer. This would be a manual process.


I think that just these TWO changes could substantially improve the functionality of the Peachy printer !!

A peristaltic pump would give the possibility to control the drips without losing the detail resolution the drip system provides, and it even gives the ability to withdraw and empty out the container at the end... (ie, let's say 5 pulses = 1um, after each layer i want to raise by 0.1mm -> send 500 pulses, resume printing)

[Builder1]

Can you find a printable version and post a link? I will find time to test it along side printing and testing the scissor jack.

J

[CescoAiel]

Can you find a printable version and post a link? I will find time to test it along side printing and testing the scissor jack.

J

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:454702
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1669172
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1467705
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8964
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:642192
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34669

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