Moving part

What are the cons of moving the part with a fixed extruder?

Part would move in X, Y and Z directions.

Considering 6-8 inches in each direction.

Thanks

Nick

Movement in two axes is relatively straightforward to implement; movement in all three becomes much more complex. There are printers that move the bed in Y and Z and I know of at least one that moves in X and Y. That being said, the Kossel moves the head in X, Y and Z. It has an issue with movement if the print head gets too heavy - hence why it tends to use bowden extruders. If you flipped the Kossel upside down and swapped head for bed, you'd end up with a bed that moves in all three axes, but you'd have significant engineering problems to overcome in terms of delivering enough power to move the bed and engineering enough stability to get quality prints at any reasonable speed.

You'd also b have a much larger footprint.

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Would not move all three directions at same time.

Normal X and Y together while Z independently increments the height.

Just wandering if moving the part causes problems with the print.

Quote
ntar827
Just wandering if moving the part causes problems with the print.

Theoretically, no, it doesn't have to. But the same physics that work against moving the an extruder/hotend assembly work against moving the bed/printed part. The larger/heavier the object is, the more force is required to rapidly move the part around. Now you can reduce the force requirements by moving it slower but then your print speeds go down. Things likes oscillations and ghosting still remain possible so in the end you haven't really gained anything.

Also, moving the bed requires 2x the bed width and depth if you have a fixed extruder and aren't going with a delta style printer.. This can lead to additional mechanical complexities in whatever mechanism you use to slide as you have to use longer rods/rails/whatever which are more prone to bending if not properly supported, or if you go with a beefier size, makes the assembly heavier.