Can 3D printers print upside down?

I want to have a mill and a 3D printer in one device.
SO I want to put an extruder and a spindle on the same z axis in such way that one will be facing up and one will be facing down.
Since milling produces dust, I want to have a mill face down and a 3D printer head face up...
There will be two tables: one would be a table for milling and another one will be a heat bed for 3D printing.

IS this a good idea?

ive seen it done on a delta robot. as long as the filament sticks to the bed i dont see the problem.

Thanks.
Maybe I will have a mill up side down so filings fall down. But than I will have to clean the machine between modes of operation.

Yes it can be done. There are several videos on YouTube showing it. I have seen the Lulzbot do it from several different people

this shows a reprap mendel printing upside down YouTube

Any advantage to printing upside down?...apart from bolting the reprap to the ceiling

Attaching a head for printing and a milling head so they point in opposite directions.

I think start right side up first, then after you get the hang of 3d printing convert it to do upside down. trust me you wont want to be troubleshooting the thing while its up side down.

One upside down advantage: less or perhaps no ooze. I have wanted to try it, but on a standard prusa the way the x ends mount to the z rods is a bit problematic.

for those thinking about printing 3d objects in space.

one thing to think about since convection currents do not work in space, air will always stay in the same place as there is little effect of gravity. so everything, including motors, and electronics will need fans to allow cooling. Also power supplies will need fans as well such as a laptop supply.


Nozzle heater will specifically need cooling to help regulate the temperature. I would image that air that does not move becomes quite an insulator.

also since the mechanism that eliminates most of z axis backlash is gravity, you will need to install the compression springs in the z axis.


this would make an excellent discussion.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 10:39PM by jamesdanielv.

How about installing fan and creating a small wind current. This is how they remove feces from rat cages in the International Space Station. Rats don't like strong winds so the wind is only gentle enough to move the substance out of the cage...

What about cooling everything by making coolant passages through all parts of the printer that need cooling and using liquid antifreeze substance to deliver excess heat to the outside?

that probably could work, but it would be cheaper to have a fan at each device. areas such as electronics and extruder would need air flow over entire part, because thermal conductivity over the entire part is not suffice to reduce temps.