3D printer design ideas
Posted by Svdharma
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3D printer design ideas March 05, 2014 04:52AM |
I have some ideas about a new 3d printer design that I want to build, and I thought it would be good to discuss them here. I am pretty decent with CATIA and Solidworks but I have not been able to get my hands on a liscence yet so as soon as I do I will post some preliminary schematics. Also, I am on 24hr desk duty right now (I'm in the military) so please forgive me if I sound like a raving lunatic. Anyway, on to the good stuff:
Independant extruder head movement:
I see a lot of designs that incorperate multiple extruder heads with fixed offsets which are usually used to print different materials/colors or make multiple identicle prints simultaniously. Why not have multiple extruders with one or more idependant axes of movement. The simplest implementation I can think of would be a gantry style machine with with two leadscrews and linear bearings on the y axis, allowing one axis of independant movement. This would make it easy to avoid dragging idle extruders through the print. Also, if you where making multiple prints simultaniously, you could easily adjust the offset between the two extruders to allow for ideal model placement on the platen. If software where developed to fully exploit the idependant heads, you could even use both heads simultaniously on different parts of the same print.
This image illustrates the y axis of a gantry style machine with an indepandant print head and associated drive train on either side of the structural member that forms the top of the gantry.
Z axis ram:
Again this applies mostly to gantry style machines. If you could engineer a lightweight z axis ram allowing each print head to move independantly in the z axis without adding two much weight, you could make the whole machine very simple (whole gantry moves on y axis, extruder head and ram moves on x axis, and extruder moves on z axis via ram). This would have the advantage of allowing more independant movement between multiple extruder heads, and it could also make the z axis much more precise by eliminating slop, making it easier to print thinner layers.
This illustrates the y and z axes on a gantry style machine equipt with a z axis ram. Coordinate measuring machines often incorporate this style of ram. A simplistic hot end connected to a bowden extruder are included to illustrate the layout of the machine.
Glass machine superstructure:
Glass seems like a pretty poor material for a machine frame at first glance, but consider some of its advantages. Glass is very inexpensive compared to even mild steel or aluminum. It is also very easy to cut using hand tools, very strong given well polished edges, very stiff, and has an extremely low rate of thermal expansion. I can see a lot of places where laser cut plywood is used where laser or hand cut glass could be substituted without adding much cost but gaining much in the realm of thermal stability and stiffness. Obviously, glass has its own set of design considerations especially its susceptability to high frequency vibrations if not braced properly.
This image illustrates a simple machine susperstructure using four steel bars connecting two sheets of glass fastened using screws. This would be a very rigid structure with high thermal stability and relatively low cost. Obviously some thin padding (fiber washers?) would be needed in order to keep the glass from breaking and a little silicone on the washers would probably keep the components from shifting at all once the whole thing was aligned. Linear motion components and the build platen could all be mounted from the four steel beams provided. Please forgive the quality of my drawings. Ive been working for 30 hours straight.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2014 05:56AM by Svdharma.
Independant extruder head movement:
I see a lot of designs that incorperate multiple extruder heads with fixed offsets which are usually used to print different materials/colors or make multiple identicle prints simultaniously. Why not have multiple extruders with one or more idependant axes of movement. The simplest implementation I can think of would be a gantry style machine with with two leadscrews and linear bearings on the y axis, allowing one axis of independant movement. This would make it easy to avoid dragging idle extruders through the print. Also, if you where making multiple prints simultaniously, you could easily adjust the offset between the two extruders to allow for ideal model placement on the platen. If software where developed to fully exploit the idependant heads, you could even use both heads simultaniously on different parts of the same print.
This image illustrates the y axis of a gantry style machine with an indepandant print head and associated drive train on either side of the structural member that forms the top of the gantry.
Z axis ram:
Again this applies mostly to gantry style machines. If you could engineer a lightweight z axis ram allowing each print head to move independantly in the z axis without adding two much weight, you could make the whole machine very simple (whole gantry moves on y axis, extruder head and ram moves on x axis, and extruder moves on z axis via ram). This would have the advantage of allowing more independant movement between multiple extruder heads, and it could also make the z axis much more precise by eliminating slop, making it easier to print thinner layers.
This illustrates the y and z axes on a gantry style machine equipt with a z axis ram. Coordinate measuring machines often incorporate this style of ram. A simplistic hot end connected to a bowden extruder are included to illustrate the layout of the machine.
Glass machine superstructure:
Glass seems like a pretty poor material for a machine frame at first glance, but consider some of its advantages. Glass is very inexpensive compared to even mild steel or aluminum. It is also very easy to cut using hand tools, very strong given well polished edges, very stiff, and has an extremely low rate of thermal expansion. I can see a lot of places where laser cut plywood is used where laser or hand cut glass could be substituted without adding much cost but gaining much in the realm of thermal stability and stiffness. Obviously, glass has its own set of design considerations especially its susceptability to high frequency vibrations if not braced properly.
This image illustrates a simple machine susperstructure using four steel bars connecting two sheets of glass fastened using screws. This would be a very rigid structure with high thermal stability and relatively low cost. Obviously some thin padding (fiber washers?) would be needed in order to keep the glass from breaking and a little silicone on the washers would probably keep the components from shifting at all once the whole thing was aligned. Linear motion components and the build platen could all be mounted from the four steel beams provided. Please forgive the quality of my drawings. Ive been working for 30 hours straight.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2014 05:56AM by Svdharma.
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Re: 3D printer design ideas March 05, 2014 05:48AM |
Heres a picture from wikipedia of a coordinate measuring machine with a z axis ram. I like this layout for a 3d printer for a number of reasons. It maximizes build space, provides for accurate (slop free) z axis movement, and if the machine is well aligned to start with it should prevent bed leveling problems. I also think it would make a nice layout for a multipurpose machine, IE a machine that could also be a laser cutter, flatbed injet printer, light engraving machine, etc. Obviously the major drawback to this design is that it adds weight to be moved on all three axis, so minimizing the weight of the z axis is obviously an important consideration.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2014 05:50AM by Svdharma.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2014 05:50AM by Svdharma.
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