A Beginners Questions... Only a Few.

Hello to all. I have been browsing this forum and many corners of the 3D printing world looking for some answers to some questions regarding the construction of a 3D printer. To start : As I want to build a printer but have no access to one I cannot get printed parts. I have access to a laser cutter but it is a: at college and B: it is the school holidays. No go there and the laser has a hard time getting through 6mm MDF for some reason(it is a universal laser not a foreign type so unclear why it is not working on 6mm). So a repstrap it is. I have a lathe and dad has a mill so a hot end is not a problem. Wiring up through circuit board circuits for drivers etc is not a problem as dad does electronics as a hobby. So this leads nicely onto my first question (it may seem crazy given what I said dad does as a hobby but it is still valid): Why does there seem to be a complete lack of control board circuits for 3D printers that do not use a: surface mount electronics or b my real grumble: Pololu driver boards? I have to say apart from a thermistor for the hot end at home we would have all the components to make the stepper drivers and control board etc. If someone has a link to the circuits for the stepper drivers, controllers and other necessary circuitry to control a 3D printer and can pass the link onto me I would be most grateful. Second question : how good are nichrome wire hot ends? As we do not have any wound resistors of the right types I found the nichrome wire designs which we do have some of. I was wondering if they are good enough to make a start? I do no have much money at all to spend on this so it is a matter of scraping the bottom of the bowl to build the printer. So any input on this area would be appreciated. Buying from overseas or in country is not much of an option due to time constraints(my holidays finish it 10 days and they are the time when I am at home the most) so I have to make do with what I have. Third question: What are drawer slides like as linear guides? Or can I get away with wood with a notch cut out on smooth rod till I print PLA bushings? Last question till I get the printer fully going and have a bit of experience to be able to progress onto making my on filament(Because I can and am stubborn enough to persist till I get the result I want. Also it is cheaper to order in x KG of resin pellets vs buying reels) where is the best place to get the cheapest filament(I am in NZ so $1 NZD = $0.70 USD ) that is still decent quality? Shipping is a big thing as well as being in an isolated corner of the globe can hike shipping prices up. I will probably bite the bullet and get some local for beginning testing but from then on ?? Sorry for the rambling but I have a rather interesting set of resource, geological location etc circumstances. Any help will be appreciated. You can keep all errors that you find in this.

As a fellow kiwi i'm ashamed of your lack breaks in the above post!!! its to hard to read!

"I want to build a printer but have no access to one I cannot get printed parts"
not true, there are many of us in New Zealand and there are commercial services also.. And maker spaces..

re laser cutter, really not needed for most printers.... Also there are maker spaces around the place with laser cutters.

"Why does there seem to be a complete lack of control board circuits for 3D printers that do not use a: surface mount electronics or b my real grumble: Pololu driver boards?"

untrue, or are you grumbling that they use pololu boards? as you can use drv8825's or wire in any stepper controller that takes standard step, and direction lines.

non surface mount boards (mostly)
see [reprap.org] you can make the 1.3 which is all threw hole)
see [reprap.org] (ok uses a surface mount ftdi chip)
see [reprap.org] or the older [reprap.org]
and there are others

The main reason its all surface mount is they are much cheaper to produce, in the case of pololu modules on the main board gives much better thermal dissipation

" If someone has a link to the circuits for the stepper drivers, controllers and other necessary circuitry to control a 3D printer"
Full diagrams are available on most of the above links

nichrome wire hot ends are fine, most now use a heater cartage not a resistor
Only issue I found is getting insulated nichrome wire in NZ... Couldn’t find any. (was a few years ago when I tried)

"What are drawer slides like as linear guides" extremely primitive....


General comments.
You will not have a working printer in 10 days, I will guarantee it!
There is a lot more to a hot end that a bit of brass with a hole in it... I strongly recommend you get a decent known to work hot end, or you will have a nightmare of jams and blockages.
Building your own stepper driver is a fools errand when pololu modules and the like are plentiful (just search for reprap on trademe.co.nz)
You really need at least 1/8th micro stepping...

Building the printer is only 1/3rd of the process... you need to configure and calibrate it and learn the software systems

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 05:32AM by Dust.

Sorry about the breaks it just came out. Also it is good to see another kiwi here.
In terms of the maker spaces I have not been able to find any in my area.
With the drivers from looking round the places that all the various controllers use Pololu boards it seems that they are used for a specific reason. But thanks for clearing that up anyway(Also sorry for the grump over that).
I am sure that dad will have drivers the same as or similar to those you stated.
I am also aware that I will not have a printer going in ten days, though as it is my holidays I will be able to put a fair chunk of work in uninterrupted by college.
With the hot end I am aware that it is not just a piece of brass with a hole in it. That is why I am thankful to have the lathe to make a resemble quality hot end with resources to hand(very little in the way of material though, just enough to make a hot end). Also I have some nichrome wire to hand from dad. Why he has it(no idea why) but I will be able to use it.
So if the drawer slides are primitive I assume that 4 blocks of wood with a v cut out will be worse.
Will that be enough though to print out some PLA linear bearings to any quality and slowly go from there?
Any Idea of where/who to go/to talk to about getting printed parts for a low price? Not trade me as those prices do seem to quickly go up and I need to save for the filament and getting some better motors($25- $30 nz for a single motor from local suppliers!).
To add to the fun as I do not have quite the funds for a set of NIMA motors I have to make do with what I have again.
Which means that none are NIMA 17 size and are all different. Although there are pairs that would be suitable for the Z axis.

Overall I need a good challenge and something to make as that is my nature. I can tell you once I get started it would take a lot to stop me from getting a 3D printer going.

Pololu boards are used because they are cheap and available... and work reasonably well
you can even make your own see [reprap.org] (though last I looked they wouldn’t export the chips unless they where already on a product!)
Once again surface mount, as well almost everything is now.

slide draws will work, as long as there is not to much slop in directions its not meant to move in

(I started with this btw, [reprap.org] , not recommended, 36 hours+ for one medium sized piece)


What area are you in, and ask in the new zealand section of the forum [forums.reprap.org]

Some will print you parts as long as you play it forward (ie when you can print a free set for someone else later on)

yea new zealand prices suck, and waiting for shipping sucks... thats what you get for living in the ass hole of the planet (just my opinion)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 06:26PM by Dust.

Len Browns area(makes sense to a kiwi) is where I am to be more geographically accurate.
I was wondering about the drivers even though they are cheap as I said we(Dad and I) have the stuff to make drivers (albeit not surface mounted chips) so why spend money on stuff
you already have? In terms of paying it forward I have a mate who wants to do 3D printing as well so I can pass on the favour by printing him a set of parts which I know he would be grateful for.
We both want to also start racing mini-quads so a printer would help there. Also as I am a model engineer(In training) I can always print out
patterns for casting. That would be a great boon as it means I can put a design together in the evening
before turning in and print it out over night. I will have to see then about the linear guides as if I can get some small
printed parts it would make it much easier than tracking down Drawer slides of the right sort at a resemble price. I am wondering though what is the wear like on the PLA bushings vs linear bearings? is it an acceptable trade of life expectancy with hand increase in print quality?
Where can I also get reliable NIMA motors that do not go up into $100+ dollars for a set?
Thanks for the help, I will put a post in the NZ section.

Living in an isolated corner of the globe has it's advantages - you get to live in NZ

To answer some of your questions:

You have [www.makershop.co.nz]

Also AliExpress has a ton of 3D printer stuff available if you want to scratch build a printer.
My advise is don't get a cheap knock-off hot-end and an alloy heated bed is better than a PCB type (I know I have used both)

If you are really on a budget then look for old ink-jet printers, they have smooth rods and stepper motors in them

I've always wanted to build this design from wired1 who is a Kiwi - [www.thingiverse.com]

Cheers
Steve (Kiwi living in Canada)

Thanks for the suggestions, I have been looking at using old printers but need to get dad to get some off trade me.
The hot end is not a problem as I should be able to put together a decent one(have a small workshop although not many materials). I think I will get some old printers and go that route.
Thanks for the help and I hope to be printing in a month or two.