Glass tower delta

Scalable low cost delta printer with a 4mm window glass structure to enclose the printing area
for a heated chamber. Want to be able to print ABS without de-lamination and lifting from bed problems.
The glass held in place by 6 x 5mm bolts and 20 mm T sections glued at the corners with silicone.
One or two glass panels free to slide at the front.
Top and bottom - 16 mm builders board.

Glass towers - two 35 mm x 4mm window glass sheets joined with silicone with 60 degree angle between them.
Plastic glider with 4mm ptfe tube spacers between plastic glider and glass towers,
lubricated with Wynn's Winflon ptfe superlube(available at motor spares shops)
The towers can be replaced with aluminium extrusions if you do not want to use the glass towers.

Heated bed made from 600x600 ceramic tile cut to a hexagon as the base. The heater pad is an aluminium plate with
6 x ptc ceramic heaters(120 degrees C) stuck to it with motor exhaust putty and later with oogoo that was made from
micro glass balloons and builders silicone.(I had the micro balloons from a previous project and used it as thermal insulation)
375 mm diameter printing area (glass bed 420 mm diameter)
Height of the heated bed can be adjusted underneath the printer

Braided fishing line driven system - tension can be adjusted underneath printer
The extruder is suspended by 3 cables and counterweight system from the alternate corners at the top
A short feeding tube connects the filament feeder and the hotend.
I use a all metal hotend with water cooling and a .75mm nozzle in the hotend.
The position of the hotend can be adjusted on any one of the 3 holding bolts on the effector.
For the arms I use a system promoted by Tim Jacobsen [www.youtube.com]
I modified it a bit and use stainless steel pop rivets(2 mm shaft) as the balls and seat of the arms.
The seats are filled with epoxy and after it hardened I made the ball shape(half ball deep) with a dremel tool fitted with a ball cutter bit.
The arms are 2mm ID stainless tubes that I use to make the hotends(I had to buy a kilogram of it from the Aliexpress)
The line in between the arms is Spectra fishing line with a fairly strong spring in the middle.

The electronics and motors are at the top separated from the heated chamber - A fan sucks air in at the top center and
the air leaves the compartment above the motors, cooling electronics and motors at the same time.

It is a work in progress

For the short term I need to work on a design to adjust the bottom and top of each of the towers in two directions.
Maybe lexan in the place of glass sides to reduce the weight of the printer.(will depend on the price)
Heat measurement inside the chamber and adding more heaters to heat the space quicker.


Possible problems
Stretching of the braided fishing line in the heated chamber
Binding of the gliders
Creep in the ABS parts used inside the chamber.
Printing parts to big to remove without effort.






More pictures on my website

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You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]

Xabbax, the first time to write to you and have inspired me in their creations as hotend who already mounted and running but for now being cooled hood then I'll take my chances with the cooling water, the extruder filament also plans on delta have you done now quite liked but wanted to ask the weight of this structure and the quality of parts made stands compared to its previous. Hugs.

Looks nice! I enclosed my printer in a case made of Lexan and wood. It doesn't add much weight, but to make the entire setup more stable, it is all attached to a table via bolts. Is yours attached via bolts to the table? If it is not attached to the table do the weights keep it stable, or if it is attached to the table are the weights used just to counteract any rocking that occurs? A question that I have is during higher print speeds do the weights sway? Another cool addition you may want to experiment with is an air scrubber made out of charcoal equipped with a fan. I put one in mine to get rid of the smell. When I print, I cannot smell anything.

For heaters, I got myself 2 electronics space heaters and four 50w load resistors. My plan was to have them be inside of the heat chamber, but if I ever get around to rigging them up, they will be in a separate box with fans blowing the hot air into the the box on 3 sides for uniform heating. I control the temp with a simple temperature controlled that has a probe on it.

Here's a link to mine:

[thefabforums.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 09:56AM by Wildcard.

Quote
rsenas
the weight of this structure and the quality of parts made stands compared to its previous. Hugs.

It is a heavy structure with the six 900x300 glass panes, the ceramic tile and the 2 boards at the top and the bottom. Prints are better but the best is that I do not get lift of corners of big parts

---

You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]

Quote
Wildcard
Looks nice! I enclosed my printer in a case made of Lexan and wood. It doesn't add much weight, but to make the entire setup more stable, it is all attached to a table via bolts. Is yours attached via bolts to the table? If it is not attached to the table do the weights keep it stable, or if it is attached to the table are the weights used just to counteract any rocking that occurs? A question that I have is during higher print speeds do the weights sway? Another cool addition you may want to experiment with is an air scrubber made out of charcoal equipped with a fan. I put one in mine to get rid of the smell. When I print, I cannot smell anything.

For heaters, I got myself 2 electronics space heaters and four 50w load resistors. My plan was to have them be inside of the heat chamber, but if I ever get around to rigging them up, they will be in a separate box with fans blowing the hot air into the the box on 3 sides for uniform heating. I control the temp with a simple temperature controlled that has a probe on it.

Here's a link to mine:

[thefabforums.com]

I like your idea of an air scrubber. Will add it to my list of things to do.

The printer is basically a hexagonal box with a wooden top , 6 glass panes as the sides and a wooden bottom. They are all bolted together with 6x 5 mm bolts on the inside of the corners to form a box that is stable in any direction including the rotation. The glass corners are held together with silicone and the aluminium T.

The weights move up and down as the extruder moves sideways while printing. The sideways swinging of the extruder is limited by the 3 directional cables. Even with quick infill where the hotend oscillate a lot the extruder does not follow the hotend oscillations

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You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]

Oh I see, that is a very innovative design. I checked out your blog, is there any video?

Another idea for the towers may be the traditional 2 rods per tower of the Kossel but instead of steel use 2 glass tubes ( neon light tubes of various sizes are available ) Print a glider with holes at the right places - insert 4mm ptfe tubing and two screws for fine tuning.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2014 07:37AM by Xabbax.

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You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]

@Xabbax

what is the size of the springs used between the rods ( diameter , wire diameter , length ) i am experimenting with a similar system on my 3dr and just nned to know what is a STRONG spring?

thanks

Quote
ekaggrat
@Xabbax

what is the size of the springs used between the rods ( diameter , wire diameter , length ) i am experimenting with a similar system on my 3dr and just nned to know what is a STRONG spring?
thanks

Springs:
diameter = 4 mm
wire diameter = 0.5 mm
length = 40 mm
length with rod arms in position = 80 mm

rod arm length = 400 mm rod diameter = 2.5 mm OD 2 mm ID with 2 mm steel rod in the stainless tube
distance between rods = 82.5 mm

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You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]