The HaMendel, My High-Z printer

My name is Mike Hamende (pronounced HAM-END) and this is my printer inspired by the Mendel. If you put them together you get the HaMendel. My first printer was a prusa mendel however, there were several drawbacks that drove me to design my own printer. First of all I was limited to a 70mm Z height due to interference of my extruder and the top of the frame, interference also prevented me from being able to use the full range of my x axis. This design eliminated both of those problems and more.

The printer is capable of printing objects 200mm tall and it uses 12mm smooth rods that ensure Z axis stiffness which eliminates all z wobble. I'm using 10-24 threaded rod for the z-axis lead screws to further reduce the lateral stress induced on the z axis by non-linear lead screws. The x-axis rod ends also have a spring loaded anti-backlash nut for the z axis lead screws.

The x axis uses standard 8mm smooth rods spaced 58mm apart to increase the carriage torsional stiffness about the x axis. I now have full range of motion across the entire printing surface edge to edge. The x axis smooth rods are clamped rather than interference fit to give greater stiffness.

The Z and Y motors are mounted beneath the bottom plate to clean up the look and reduce the over all complexity.

The y carriage also has a screw driven belt tensioner.

The top and bottom plates were machined from 3/8" HDPE on my CNC router, the y axis plate is 1/4" HDPE.

The 4 'A' frame members are 8mm threaded rod like the Prusa but because of the two plate construction the frame is much sturdier and easier to assemble.

The enclosure that the printer sits on houses the electronics and power supply and is made of 1/8" HDPE.

I'm really happy with the way the printer turned out and it performs very well so far.

I would like to distribute the files but I'm not sure of the best way/place to do it. I'm open to suggestions.

I hope you like it.

Mike

Hi Mike, Nice work!

Have you considered uploading the files to Thingiverse? Or perhaps to a github repository, if you plan on developing the printer design further.

Cheers,
Gary

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garyhodgson.com/reprap | reprap.development-tracker.info | thingtracker.net

I don't think I'll really be developing the printer much further, other than some small modifications. I wasn't sure if thingiverse was the appropriate place to put the printer but I think it will do.

Thanks.

Nice job! I think 12 mm is the way to go. I'm looking to cobble together my own and I'm going with 12 mm, hopefully I'll be as successful as you were!

Where did you source your 12 mm precision rods, misumi?

I got 12mm O1 precision drill rod from mcmaster and cut it with a hack saw. Although the straightness tolerance is unrated it will come exceptionally straight. You can also go with A2 drill rod which I believe is rated for 0.005" over 1ft for straightness but is more expensive. Keep in mind these are not stainless and have the potential to rust. As long as you clean them with wd40 before installing them and then oil your linear bearings with white lithium grease, rust should never be a problem. I've use O1 for lots of things and I've never seen any rust.