re-use auto flywheels for a polar printer?

I was looking at this video of an experimental polar 3d printer and was struck by how similar the parts were to a flywheel from any internal combustion engine. I had an idea to mount a flywheel on a tapered bearing, then mount the starter cog on a stepper to rotate the flywheel. it might even be possible to use a second flywheel as in the video with another starter cog poking up through the center of the flywheel hole.

obviously a smaller flywheel for the upper and a larger for the lower. I know some will complain about cost of machining steel but flywheels have no flex like a scara arm would, and there's no need to use belts.

I'd like to hear some criticisms, would the mass of the flywheels make the steppers skip, would there be some play between the teeth which would ruin the print.

[www.youtube.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2020 05:42AM by gipetto.

Flywheels are 1) made to move heavy mechanical loads without precision and 2) very heavy.

Both can be problems for 3D printers. The lack of precision will have detrimental effect on print quality. Any time you put gears in the drive mechanism of a 3D printer, the quality of the gears will have a direct effect on the print quality attainable. High mass means high inertia which means controlling the motion will be difficult, again resulting in poor print quality unless you keep the speed very low.

OTOH, if you're planning on printing with clay or using the mechanism for some other purpose that doesn't require high resolution like a sand table, it might work OK.

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

Thanks for the input. I know that an experimental setup wouldn't be expected to have great accuracy compared to an off the shelf product. I like to discuss these ideas even though they will likely lead nowhere as it helps me to avoid making bad decisions.