EXTENDABLE 3D PRINTER

Hello everyone
My name is Alex,i am working on my new 3D Printing Invention and that is a printer which can change size towards the customer needs , the smallest size is 200x200 then v2 is 200x400 and v3 is 400x400 printing size so its very big. And the best thing all this versions are one PRINTER so you can just extend and reduce how you want . Heated Bed Plate included,2 extruders,and battery. As well there will be plugins for CAD Programs such as SolidWorks, 3Ds Max, Inventor ETC.
Check out this Facebook page and i would really like to share more information with you so i can make this printer better .
TRUST ME YOU WILL LIKE THE IDEA!
[www.facebook.com]...

Novel idea, I must admit.

Where's the Z Axis?

Thank you for the feedback!
Z Axis will come after it ,version 2.
Check out some of the parts ready for testing,its the frame of the printer.

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Alex Tomic

CEO | X-PRO, LLC

Arlington, VA 22206

Cell: +1 571-970-7343

www.x-professionals.com

I commend your effort, but the problem i see ist that you have to spec the rails for the longest distance possible, which makes the printer bulky, heavy and expensive when at it's smallest. Are you planning on replaceable parts or parts that truely extend?

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

een thinking about that myself, starting with the motors,power supply, board with the largest size in mind, it comes down to changing the rails, frame and print bed. Comes down to a direct or bowden extruder. I thinkg it would be easier to do with a bowden was thinking of a smaller start size 100x100, should make it fast at the small size, if less torque means less heat.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2016 06:10PM by Raider.

@Srek,thanks for your feedback!
Yes we are working on easily extendable parts,most of them will be custom specially for our printer,as well trying to make them as small as possible!

@Raider, thanks for the feedback!
Yes all this are challanges,which we are solving right now and trust me,we are doing well!

Hello Everyone ,i been away for a while working on the printer.
So here are images and videos with updates.
As well there will be one more thing ,integrated upgrade kit for scanner inside the printer.
[www.facebook.com]
Thank you !

Looks like its developing. How much deflection do you calculate/estimate you will get in the rods when fully extended?

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Uh... how do the bearings feel about the sudden change of guide rail diameter?

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

Hello Guys!

@DjDemonD , very low deflection which we will cover with software bed leveling ,but would not affect on 3D Printing.
@the_digital_dentist, this was interesting challenge and still it is,we made a custom bearing as you can see which is adjusting to that changing of size. Working perfectly till now!

Thank you!

Please check out new promo video for the printer and website. 

[www.facebook.com]
[www.expandable3dprint.com]
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Thank you!

I see the website/boilerplate looks very tidy, but no video...do you have a real video or is it just cg?
Expanding both ways seems even more unbelievable.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2016 05:45PM by MechaBits.

@Mecha, thank you, its very basic website and video should be there,did you scroll down, are you on mobile or computer?
Its a promo video, here is a link for same video on facebook [www.facebook.com] ,

Thank you

Forum doenst not allow me to post a video link, just go to facebook.com/expandable3dprinter page and you should see it.

This looks like a solution in search of a problem.

I am glad that you like our idea.

If you could make the large version and keep that stiff, that would be a job well done, but then to squish it all into a smaller cube...where do the cables go? how does the printbed expand/shrink? or is it always large?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2016 07:15AM by MechaBits.

The spring force of the o-rings against the balls has to keep the extruder carriage and the whole X axis "floating". That would would require a lot of force and that force is created by the o-ring pressing against the balls, which are trying to roll along the guide rail (friction of o-ring against balls). At the guide rail diameter transition the o-ring suddenly has to expand which will create a large bump in the force required to move the bearing along the rail. You have multiple o-rings in each of the bearings, so this change will occur 4 or 5 times at each passing of the diameter transition. Such large changes in driving force are commonly referred to as "binding" and tend to cause motors to skip steps, etc., and commonly create all sorts of ugly artifacts in prints. Smooth guide rails, quality bearings, and careful alignment are normally used in an effort to eliminate such binding.

Have you actually built one of these and printed with it yet? It would be very interesting to see a close up photos of a print in which the extruder and or Y axis traveled over one of the guide rail diameter changes while printing. It would be equally interesting to see video, and more specifically to hear the sound it makes at those transitions, while it's printing.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

Thanks for the feedback ! We will keep you posted , and publish new update soon.
As you know ,when we are creating something new,there is a lots of work and testing . So we are aware of all that challenges which we will have with O rings and force.

I don't believe in those bearings for a moment. The balls in a traditional (read, well understood, known to actually work) bearing don't rotate in place, they roll along the rod and then re-circulate through a channel away from the rod. Holding the balls in place and then pressing on them with a high friction o-ring is going to be a disaster.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2016 11:51AM by JamesK.

As a mechanical engineer thinking about almost any of the details of making this collapsing 3D printer, building something that works at all would be monumentally complex. Building one that works well, even more so. And then at what cost? And to what end? To save someone (sometimes) 8" of desk space? I'm afraid this is one I'll believe only when I see the sample prints.

Have you thought about something like this?

Say the largest diameter of the guide rail is 12mm
Use bronze bushings that have an id of 12mm
Fillet the edge of the id

These are the bushings mounted in whatever carriage

Then the next step down, say the guide rail is 10mm
Put a separate bronze bushing whose id is 10mm, and leave it on that section
But it's od is 12mm
Fillet the edge of the od

See where I'm going with this, while on the larger section the carriage runs with the 12mm bushings
When it moves to the 10mm section, that bushing slides on top of the the 10mm one

The only thing you'd have to worry about is keeping the 10mm bearing at the transition point when not in use.
Which could possibly be done by using a flanged bushing and some type tension like elastic string or something.
This would also keep the bushings from separating when on the 10mm section, the movement one direction from the belt, and the elastic on the other direction.

Looking at your prototype thus far, you're going to want to expand from a side, not from the middle. Minimize the transitions you have.
It'd also allow you to try it the way I described, in the event you find your original plan doesn't work as well as thought.

You can also see that in the extended mode, one of the ends isn't straight. Looks to be because both rods aren't extended perfectly equal. How would you plan to prevent that from happening?

But tolerances would have to be perfect. And how do you plan on center drilling a long length of smooth rod. It won't be easy since you'll want hardened rods. Also preferably chrome plated. Unless you also polish the drilled inside of the larger rods, they'll leave wear on the outer of the smaller ones eventually and cause problems.

Edit: Ok, looks like you can get hollow linear shafts that are hardened and chrome plated from Mitsumi for not so bad a price. But they don't appear to be polished or plated on the inside. So It'd still affect the outer of whatever shaft went inside.

Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2016 01:42PM by FA-MAS.

Good luck.
Not sure why someone would want a printer like this?
Buy a big printer if you need it.

I have doubts about this concept ever working well. You're throwing away several basic concepts of mechanics and economics. A variable size printer has to cost more than a fixed size printer because you'll need all sorts of special parts to make it work. Special parts cost more than off-the-shelf stuff, and you need many more of them. Print quality depends on frame rigidity and smooth motion. With this concept you're pretty much guaranteed to have neither.

Like others here, I'm not sure who needs a printer that can change size. Yes, you'll be the first to produce one (if you can make it work), but ? Of all the "firsts" you could do with a 3D printer how did this particular thing come up? I would think there would be a bigger market for a printer that dispenses beer while you watch it print (and no, I would not use hollow guide rails to store the beer until it is dispensed...). THAT would be a 3D printing first! Imagine the video you could produce- the machine prints a beer mug, then dispenses beer into the mug! You'd sell a million of them!

Kickstarter is full of slickly edited videos of things that can't/don't work. The problem is that people (both the kickstarter project people and the people who see the videos) think that video editing skills translate to mechanical engineering skills. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.

I suggest that you take a hiatus from making pretty CAD renderings, slick web sites, and video editing, and focus on mechanical design and producing a working prototype.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

Literally couldn't have put it better myself.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Can't release on kickstarter with only CG images, Indigogo not so fussy.

Thank you guys for feedback, any feedback is good feedback even the bad one!
We will keep you posted.

It's another printer that fixes a problem no one has, since I've never seen someone say or post "I wish my 3d printer expanded like a dining room table."

The expansion should be automated and not require a bed change.
[youtu.be]

Hi man,


I have to agree with some of the guys, i don't see why you would want the printer to expand.
You have to solve problems that shouldn't be a problem.

I think it would be better to focus on a 400x400 printer.

Can you tell me what you think is the advantage of such design?

Sorry if i sound negative, it looks pretty cool.

What about an under the table printer, xy rising on z, and when parked it just looks like a modern table.