Juan's 3D Printer

Hey everyone!

I started this project awhile ago, but figured I would share what I currently have going.

I became interested in building one of these while surfing around during lunch. I saw so many people had already tackled it, and posted their information that I felt confident I could find answers as I went along. First thing I did was download the Solidworks model, and took a look at what was in there:



I have access to the machines I need to make my own parts, so I started with the simple things first. I machined these out of white Delrin we had laying around:



The Solidworks model is in Metric. Metric hardware is pretty expensive, so I started converting a few things. I purchased 5/8-16 allthread from MSC Direct, along with some nuts and washers:



And that brought me to this:

I didn't like all the nuts required to get the frame square. Whenever I took this apart and reassembled it, it took forever to get things back to the way they were.

The first thing I did was make up these spanners to set the width. We had this hard anodized aluminum on the rack, so I turned three pieces down to 9.25" and then drilled and tapped for bolts we had on hand:



I also didn't like the nuts used to adjust the side triangles, so I got this 5/8" aluminum tubing from the hardware store. It's a low grade aluminum, but it's not structural...it just sets the distance between the three corners. I turned them all down on the lathe to 290mm



The frame is much more square now. I can put it together on our granite block, tighten all the nuts and nothing rocks or tips. It's also much easier to take apart and reassemble. I told my cat about all the benefits, and she lifted her leg and farted in it's general direction

The next thing I wanted to get going was the Y-Axis.

We had this 3/8" stainless rod at work. This is where I really started to stray from the Solidworks model that I downloaded. Once I chose to use these rods, all of the Metric dimensions were gone (more of that to come later):



I machined these parts from the white Delrin we had laying around:



I didn't like all the nuts that were required to align these rods in the original model. I had a lot of the aluminum tube left over from the sides, so I turned some more down on the lathe. Everything is biased to the left side:



My SuperCat Roxie was of course on hand to help me out with putting it together:

These are the stepper motors that I'll be using. We had a bunch at work.





We also had these lead screws, so I'm using them instead of belts and pulleys. I also machined up the mounts for them from the white Delrin we had.





Here it is mounted to the top:

Some shots of the Y-Axis mounts. Made from the 1" White Delrin I had.



Installed:



The back side gets a 1/4" bearing:



The front gets one of the Stepper motors I had:



The leadscrew was one I had at work. My boss said I could use it for this project.



So far the cat still approves:

This is actually one of the first parts I made from the Solidworks assembly I downloaded. If I had to do it all over again, this part would be the first thing I would change, but since I had it made I decided to go with it. This was made from some smoked polycarb we had laying around:




Before I get into the bearings, here is how the Y-Axis connects. First is the leadscrew nut. I machined it down to .5" and drilled and tapped two 8-32 holes through:



I needed a way to adjust the nut vertically, so I made this mount real quick last Saturday. It was from some scrap Delrin we had.





Finally it bolts to the Y-Axis tray and the nut bolts to it. (in this picture, everything is upside down).

The original design used a roller bearing on the top and bottom of the y-axis rods. I started looking into using LM8UU linear bearings but the cost was too high. I already had the 3/8" rods which were free, and converting over to 8MM hardware would have cost just under $200.

I found some skate bearings on Amazon...30 for just under $20 shipped. One thing I didn't think about until after they arrived was the cost of the hardware. Metric hardware is much more expensive here, and all I could find quickly was stainless. The hardware cost me more than the bearings




The delrin blocks are slotted so I can adjust the table up and down on each corner. The set screws are to help hold things in place while I tighten down the M4 bolts.



The original plan was to have a bearing on top and bottom with a third on the side to keep things tracking straight. This wasn't working out since the bearing OD was a bit bigger than I thought. I decided to ditch the bottom bearings, and look around for some smaller bearings to mount on an angle. I found these 1/4" bearings at work and I made some mounts for them.




I can't remember why I didn't put them on a bit more of an angle...I think there was some kind of interference problems. Anyway, they still hold great and the table is not easy to pop off of the rails. It's also super smooth, so I'm happy with it for now. If I had gone with a different Y table design like I said in an earlier post, I could have made this setup a bit nicer, but for now it will do.

So I actually spent some time on this tonight, and thought I'd give a quick update on the Z. The lead screws we had laying around, but I had to work with the leadscrew nuts that came with them. I was also working with the bearings that I had purchased earlier. I'm showing the Z guides in the first picture, but I'll get to them later.



These are the nuts I had to work with. I just machined in a square for the boss to fit into:

Also I forgot to post this earlier, but here is a quick video of my Y-Axis running. I'm using an Arduino Uno to run an EZ Driver with a joystick:


[www.youtube.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2014 10:36AM by C*H*U*D.

I spent some more time downstairs tonight. The 5/16-18 all-thread I had on top was too short, so I picked up another on the way home.

My original plan was to have the Z-axis guide rods inboard of the leadscrews, but I figured I could get a bit more X travel if they were outboard. Luckily the stainless rods I had were long enough for the change.







I've never owned anything that I've had to take apart and reassemble as many times as I have with this printer.

I'm taking Friday the 31st off from work and heading up to the Lulzbot Open House. I'm pretty excited to go since I want to use their extruder.

I was able to head up to see the Lulzbot crew last week. It was pretty cool, but I was hoping to buy an extruder and that was not to be. Their printer farm was pretty impressive though:



I have my electronics now. It's a basic Arduino Mega with a standard RAMPS board.

Forget the price, but I'll look it up and edit this:



This board was one of the second things I made. It needed some changes but it still worked:

Free:





I made this during lunch today. It's the X-Axis motor mount. I'll make a mirror of it next week for the bearing:







"Super Shop Cat Roxie" wasn't very impressed with my lunchtime endeavors.


She felt it needed a bit more "Savoir Faire".


I need a less-French cat.

Quote
C*H*U*D
I was able to head up to see the Lulzbot crew last week. It was pretty cool, but I was hoping to buy an extruder and that was not to be.

What extruder did you want to buy?

Thanks,

-Jeff

Quote
jebba

Quote
C*H*U*D
I was able to head up to see the Lulzbot crew last week. It was pretty cool, but I was hoping to buy an extruder and that was not to be.

What extruder did you want to buy?

Thanks,

-Jeff

I meant to say hotend. I plan to buy the Budashnozzle eventually. I missed the Cyber Monday sale by a day, but recently started following Lulzbot on Twitter so I don't miss anything else :-)

My Birthday is at the end of the month, and I've asked my girlfriend for the nozzle so I'll have to wait and see if she gets it for me. In the meantime, I want to get everything moving so it's ready to go.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2014 11:28AM by C*H*U*D.

I would have liked to continue this thread here, but it doesn't seem to be very active. If anyone finds this and would like to know how it turns out, I have re-started it here:


http://www.3dprintforums.com/diy-3d-printer-machines/diy-3d-printer-machine-mechanics/599-scrap-build.html

Thanks for looking!