Hi!
I have this idea to build a printer using the ultimaker kinematics with the two crossing rods themselves as rollers in a rolamite. This way, I would only need two parallel spaced flat beams on each side of the frame to form the channels for the rolamite (stacked t-slot extrusions with one flat side would work). The rods would be driven by fishing line wrapped around one end. This way, i should be able to build a very smooth XY assembly using only four bushings in the print head.
Does anyone see any obvious problems with this? I will try to make a drawing later...

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 01:51AM by RaoulDuke.

How do you plan on driving this with the fishing line ? the rail will rotate as it travels and it will wind the line on the rod. Maybe a detailed drawing would help understand what you are thinking.

I did not bother to draw the rolamite ribbon, but I hope you get the idea. The fishing line wraps around the rod before going to an idler on the opposite side. It would probably help to wrap it around the rod again on the return path, but that would make the drawing more confusing. The idea is to rotate the rod using the fishing line, then the rolamite will convert the torque to linear motion.

Interesting idea. Are you going to build a prototype?

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

I have little time at the moment, but then i have a set of steppers and electronics lying around...

Damn, I just thought of an even simpler arrangement, only to find out someone beat me to it. Look here and here for more info. They both drive the rods directly though, adding the motors to the moving mass.