Folger Tech Kossel Delta 2020 Full 3D Printer Kit w/Auto-Level

just got my parts from [www.robotdigg.com]. That was fast shipping.

[www.flickr.com]

I also got the corner brackets from RobotDigg. However the top ones are unlike the ones that came with the Folger Tech. They don't have the cone shaped structure to hold the belt pulley or the tension screw hole. So far I haven't been able to find any references to what parts are need to make them work. The bottoms look perfect. I've emailed RobotDigg to ask about them.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 09:56PM by newline.

After having the printer for 2 months, here is my experience.

The printer took about 1 month to arrive and for the most part, everything was there. I had an issue with one of the linear bearings (difficult to slide) that was replace after a conversation with John. It took me about 20 hours to complete the build.

I've made a few modifications/additions:
- Added a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B running OctoPrint This is very awesome as I now have a web interface to control and monitor the printer (including video)
- Logitech Webcam C170 (for use with OctoPrint)
- Greg Wade extruder (completely fixed slipping problems). I got it from this guy on ebay who gave great service.
- Bought a bunch of these on ebay so I could mount more stuff to the 80/20 (I tried to buy them from Folger tech but no luck)
- Ditched the auto level and replaced the bed mounts with springs and some screw (seemed to me that the bed wasn't changing level between print jobs)
- Added a fan shroud and a better fan (maybe too good as I seem to print at higher temps)
- Added a $50 tablet that I mounted to the printer for management
- I run Slic3r ver 1.2.6 (beta) which supports direct uploads to OctoPrint (still buggy but works for the most part)

I have not printer with many filament types. PLA works great. I've tried PETT and that didn't go very well (the nozzle is supposed to be .5mm or bigger).

Overall, I think the printer does a great job. The quality of the prints seems very good to me (my wife uses a new Cubify at school and they compare very well). One comment I would make is that the printers are priced too low. Ok, sounds nutty but I would much prefer to pay a bit more to have all the parts arrive on time and have better service (it appears the price keeps going down and people's frustration is going up).

Happy Printing

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newline
I also got the corner brackets from RobotDigg. However the top ones are unlike the ones that came with the Folger Tech. They don't have the cone shaped structure to hold the belt pulley or the tension screw hole. So far I haven't been able to find any references to what parts are need to make them work. The bottoms look perfect. I've emailed RobotDigg to ask about them.

I am trying to get some pictures or instructions from robotDigg, i will post if i get any.

Nice find on the RobotDig corners... I just ordered some. I'm convinced these are necessary parts, at least for the bottum corners with the motor mounts. The motors themselves do get warm but that coupled with the tension of the belt pulling up on the pully can cause this problem:
The pic maybe isnt that clear but, you can see how the angle of the motor has changed from the warped corner and how the belt is now riding funny on the pully. Had to re-tension the belt a few times which of course is just putting more tension on the corner.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 01:31AM by Flish.

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gaddcasey1

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newline
I also got the corner brackets from RobotDigg. However the top ones are unlike the ones that came with the Folger Tech. They don't have the cone shaped structure to hold the belt pulley or the tension screw hole. So far I haven't been able to find any references to what parts are need to make them work. The bottoms look perfect. I've emailed RobotDigg to ask about them.

I am trying to get some pictures or instructions from robotDigg, i will post if i get any.

I heard back from Derek @ robotdigg... "I am afraid we use a corner idler."
I haven't heard back yet on where to get them or how much.

Sure wish the robotdigg web store had said that this was required, or at least had a picture that showed it

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newline
I heard back from Derek @ robotdigg... "I am afraid we use a corner idler."
I haven't heard back yet on where to get them or how much.

Sure wish the robotdigg web store had said that this was required, or at least had a picture that showed it

In that image it looks as though the idler rides on bearings which I assume are pressed into the aluminum (I see no other way of affixing them in the image).

Have you measured the holes? My bet is you could find the bearings that fit the aluminum and mount your own shaft and bearings instead of their idler. I would avoid their idler because the flanges are almost guaranteed not to align with where your belt will want to ride (I could be wrong though), this will cause the belt to slowly shave itself away on the flange, over time causing the belt to fail.

My fix would be to fit the bearings into the aluminum (bearings will probably be 608 or 624 or something else common in the reprap world). Get a bolt long enough and large enough to match the ID of the bearing, and throw a stack of bearings on the bolt so that no matter where the belt wants to ride it will be on smooth bearing, no gaps, no flanges, no problems.

The two holes next to the idle make me think the whole assembly could be held in with a plate that is not shown (rather than press-fit bearings). If you go the idler route I would ask more questions about how it is held in place (additional hardware/parts).

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jculver09

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newline
I heard back from Derek @ robotdigg... "I am afraid we use a corner idler."
I haven't heard back yet on where to get them or how much.

Sure wish the robotdigg web store had said that this was required, or at least had a picture that showed it

In that image it looks as though the idler rides on bearings which I assume are pressed into the aluminum (I see no other way of affixing them in the image).

Have you measured the holes? My bet is you could find the bearings that fit the aluminum and mount your own shaft and bearings instead of their idler. I would avoid their idler because the flanges are almost guaranteed not to align with where your belt will want to ride (I could be wrong though), this will cause the belt to slowly shave itself away on the flange, over time causing the belt to fail.

My fix would be to fit the bearings into the aluminum (bearings will probably be 608 or 624 or something else common in the reprap world). Get a bolt long enough and large enough to match the ID of the bearing, and throw a stack of bearings on the bolt so that no matter where the belt wants to ride it will be on smooth bearing, no gaps, no flanges, no problems.

The two holes next to the idle make me think the whole assembly could be held in with a plate that is not shown (rather than press-fit bearings). If you go the idler route I would ask more questions about how it is held in place (additional hardware/parts).

The holes are 10mm

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newline

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gaddcasey1

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newline
I also got the corner brackets from RobotDigg. However the top ones are unlike the ones that came with the Folger Tech. They don't have the cone shaped structure to hold the belt pulley or the tension screw hole. So far I haven't been able to find any references to what parts are need to make them work. The bottoms look perfect. I've emailed RobotDigg to ask about them.

I am trying to get some pictures or instructions from robotDigg, i will post if i get any.

I heard back from Derek @ robotdigg... "I am afraid we use a corner idler."
I haven't heard back yet on where to get them or how much.

Sure wish the robotdigg web store had said that this was required, or at least had a picture that showed it

Playing with some parts I think i have a solution. I was able to use an axle from an rc car, 4 flange bearings, 1/4 spacer, and a 1/2 spacer.

here is a pic, need to find some better fitting metal spacers. [flic.kr]

You could print some spacers or cut off the those mound shaped parts from the existing corner for spacers. Just a thought...

What color did everybody get? I ordered black but seeing the above pic of the blue I'm kinda digging it.

Anybody order any of the other parts? the carriges don't seem to need to be aluminum...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 03:37AM by Flish.

Find an 8mm bore 20t pulley and add bearings inside the pulley. Just like the Kossel pro guys do.
Kossel prp reprap version.

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Flish
You could print some spacers or cut off the those mound shaped parts from the existing corner for spacers. Just a thought...

What color did everybody get? I ordered black but seeing the above pic of the blue I'm kinda digging it.

Anybody order any of the other parts? the carriges don't seem to need to be aluminum...

My plan was to use the plastic ones from Folgertech for the top-part, at least to begin with, the aluminium-ones don't have the screw for belt-tension either...

I was very close to ordering the aluminium extruder as well, but I decided to hold off on that for the time being.

Hey all! Started my build last night - following the manually as close as possible except I cut my rods down to 200mm for a total length of 250mm. I'm not 100% of where to place the carriages. From what I saw in this forum earlier, a 250mm rod length pushes the height right up to the top although we'll have to see.

In addition, the build manual is a little confusing about jumper placement on the RAMPS board. I get the microstep jumpers and I get the auto level servo but I putting the jumper at the pins marked in the attached photo with the blue arrow isn't clear. Any help?

Finally, I don't know if it's my slide rails or the tension on my belts but each of the axis seems more difficult to move by hand than it should. I could be missing something or it might not be as bad as it seems.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 10:26AM by Mylation.

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Flish
You could print some spacers or cut off the those mound shaped parts from the existing corner for spacers. Just a thought...

What color did everybody get? I ordered black but seeing the above pic of the blue I'm kinda digging it.

Anybody order any of the other parts? the carriges don't seem to need to be aluminum...

I ordered the carrige and effector too. my printed parts where bad. i was not asked about color and some of my parts are blue and some are black

I ordered 5 of theese: "GeeTech StepStick DRV8825" and got them today, However I noticed that they had a slightly different pinout
than the steppers that came with the kit, see pic:


I assume that M0-M2 corresponds to MS1-MS3 and that FLT is the same as VDD, BUT the pins named 2A and 1B has switched places, and looking at the RAMPS thoose pins corresponds to the connectors for the motors so I should be good by just switching place on the cables for the motors right?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 11:11AM by Koenig.

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Koenig
I ordered 5 of theese: "GeeTech StepStick DRV8825" and got them today, However I noticed that they had a slightly different pinout
than the steppers that came with the kit, see pic:

I assume that M0-M2 corresponds to MS1-MS3 and that FLT is the same as VDD, BUT the pins named 2A and 1B has switched places, and looking at the RAMPS thoose pins corresponds to the connectors for the motors so I should be good by just switching place on the cables for the motors right?

They are a direct replacement for the a4988 drivers; however, your 16 step will be 32 step with the jumpers in the current place. From what I have seen, most only use the 8825 in the x and y axis, not the e or z.

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thevisad
They are a direct replacement for the a4988 drivers; however, your 16 step will be 32 step with the jumpers in the current place.

Are you really sure?
looking at this: [www.geeetech.com]
I get the sense A and B corresponds to the two phases of the motor, and thus switching 1B and 2A will make the motor not do what it is supposed to...?

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Mylation
Hey all! Started my build last night - following the manually as close as possible except I cut my rods down to 200mm for a total length of 250mm. I'm not 100% of where to place the carriages. From what I saw in this forum earlier, a 250mm rod length pushes the height right up to the top although we'll have to see.

In addition, the build manual is a little confusing about jumper placement on the RAMPS board. I get the microstep jumpers and I get the auto level servo but I putting the jumper at the pins marked in the attached photo with the blue arrow isn't clear. Any help?

Finally, I don't know if it's my slide rails or the tension on my belts but each of the axis seems more difficult to move by hand than it should. I could be missing something or it might not be as bad as it seems.

Nothing goes where the blue arrow is, that connector and the small 2 x 4 pin one next to it are used for either the lcd screen ( both the 2 x 20 and the 2 x 4 ) or the sd card ( 2 x 4 only ).

If you have just assembled your printer, your bearings have manufacturers gunk in them. There are multiple ways of addressing this issue, all of them involve using a cleaner/lube to smooth out the bearings. I used MP5 Pro gun oil, designed for premium lubrication of moving parts. I spent time using a q-tip and swabbing out the rails of all the junk. After that, I just drip a few drops down the rail from the top and allow the printer to do the work. My bearings are perfectly silent now, the loudest thing on it is the extruder fan.

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Koenig

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thevisad
They are a direct replacement for the a4988 drivers; however, your 16 step will be 32 step with the jumpers in the current place.

Are you really sure?
looking at this: [www.geeetech.com]
I get the sense A and B corresponds to the two phases of the motor, and thus switching 1B and 2A will make the motor not do what it is supposed to...?

Yes, I am positive http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?94,164010

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thevisad

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Koenig

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thevisad
They are a direct replacement for the a4988 drivers; however, your 16 step will be 32 step with the jumpers in the current place.

Are you really sure?
looking at this: [www.geeetech.com]
I get the sense A and B corresponds to the two phases of the motor, and thus switching 1B and 2A will make the motor not do what it is supposed to...?

Yes, I am positive http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?94,164010

Yes, it seems they decided to revise their pin-naming a little.

I recently bought this folger tech kossel 2020 and assembled it according to the manual and set up firmware too. When I attempt to print the xyz motors will bring down the extruder 1mm from bed, then after a minute or so the extruder will slide off the bed, hit the bed and make tons of noise. It's completely stuck so I diconnect and power off.

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hedgehogsmoker
I recently bought this folger tech kossel 2020 and assembled it according to the manual and set up firmware too. When I attempt to print the xyz motors will bring down the extruder 1mm from bed, then after a minute or so the extruder will slide off the bed, hit the bed and make tons of noise. It's completely stuck so I diconnect and power off.

Go through process again to calibrate it, pay special attention to NOT put an offset on your x/y/z bed location.

Pay attention to the rails while you're printing. If they aren't running smooth the belt will skip and the head won't be where the Arduino thinks it is. WD40 to clean, gun oil or silicone to lube.

Do you mean where it says -1.4 offset. Should I put 0? These instructions are unclear.

Auto level works fine . It's just when I print.

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hedgehogsmoker
Do you mean where it says -1.4 offset. Should I put 0? These instructions are unclear.

The instructions could be a little clearer in that part, but no, I am referring to your software itself. There is an offset for the center of the bed location, it will try to go off the bed in that location, if set incorrectly. http://puu.sh/hCJCE/6f670d4f26.png

Make sure to restart from scratch if you make any drastic changes ( greater then .2 mm ) to the bed height. Reset the firmware to 253.9 and move through the calibration one step at a time.

I'll try this and see if It fixes the problem. thank you

Here is an accurate video of what occurs [youtu.be]

I just emailed RobotDigg using there contact form and asked where to find the corner idler for their kossel metal corners and they said they would ship them to me next week for free!!

Well it's been two days since I got my kit. All the hardware is screwed together and I didn't blow it up when I adjusted the drivers. I am concerned still about adjusting the height because I put it at the maximum possible not knowing the precise place to put the rails with 250mm rods. I ended up having EXACTLY the number of T nuts that I needed which was disappointing because I was hoping to have at least 2 extra for mounting my screen - I guess I'll have to PRINT something!