Frame material - Slotted Angle

I'm tempted to do a complete rebuild on my CTC Replicator clone but I can't really justify much of a budget and 2020 or 3030 is expensive in the UK.

What I can get hold of easily and cheaply is slotted angle, you may know if as Dexion, do you know if any RepRaps have been made using it as a frame?

It's strong, rigid if assembled correctly and quite easy to adjust but down side is that it looks like crap.


Atb aamcle

I'm sure that it would look right at home on my basement shelves.

I can't say that I know of any offhand that use it for a frame, but for the most part, I can't see why not. The material should lend itself well to holding motors, bearings and other parts securely, and it ought to be more than strong enough.

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MBot3D Printer
MakerBot clone Kit from Amazon
Added heated bed.

Leadscrew self-built printer (in progress)
Duet Wifi, Precision Piezo parts

I think your main issue will be getting it square, otherwise once in place it should work quite well I'd think.

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Co-creator of the Zesty Nimble, worlds lightest direct drive extruder.
[zesty.tech]

You can make a cube out of "slotted angle" and it should not look like a crap it should look like lego.
You will be fighting twisting forces so.

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https://piper3dprinters.com

These are indeed perfectly suitable to build a rigid frame easily for cheap. To make it square is no big deal.
Although they don't resist torsion much, this is easy to counter due to the possibility to make rigid joints with just bolts and nuts, build the frame as a triangular lattice. Far better than round tubes for example where you need special couplings most of the time fragile and that fail to prevent tube rotation thus defeating the tube advantages.
Look at all the cranes, bridges, power line pylons .... made with riveted, bolted L shaped beam !

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"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

Dexion has many holes, so you can easily stabilize the structure by connecting it into triangles.

For the look, you could paint the Dexion parts black (.e.g. paint spray) and add some nice coloured printed 3d parts.
Or you have a favorite soccer team/football ... and choose those colors.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2018 06:07PM by JoergS5.