Opinions on this printer?

Hi guys,

I've been looking at building a new printer and wanted to go with a CoreXY build. I've been looking at some proven designs and I found this Eclips3D model on youtube, I understand he isn't selling them yet but it seems like he has the parts all figured out and finished. So I was wondering what you guys thought of this design and if you guys see flaws in his design that I didn't see.
To me it looks like pretty solid design with 10mm rods an 20x20 extrusions. In his videos he explains why he choose certain ways of constructing things and it just seems like it's a well thought out design.

What do you guys think? Or are there other designs that I should look into?

He also 3d models (inventor) on his site.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2015 01:25PM by Tom114.

In my opinion is only the best printer kit you can actually buy.

The printer is very good in almost all aspect: is all aluminium, very robust corexy mechanism, 32 bit board, e3d, big heated bed size, dampers, led, etc... In relation to the other DIY models is main vantage is the corexy mechanism, is almost all made of aluminium and a lot better that having an printed one.

some disadvantages: there is no LCD, restricted to smoothie firmware, do not have an commercial aspect.

Is the same person that have developed the 3up printer, very good hbot printer. [www.thingiverse.com]

When i was developing my printer this person have help me a lot in my design, is know is stuff..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2015 01:43PM by filipeCampos.

It looks very nice.

But do you have access to a workshop that can fabricate the metal parts? Otherwise you will probably be better off with Filipe's design. As he says, his is much like it, just with much more printed parts. He has a very long thread here in the forum.

If you are comfortable working with wood then you may also consider the smartcore printer.

It would be easier to provide inputs if you compose a list like:

* What kind of equipment do you have access to (3d printer?, CNC?, laser cutter?, wood workshop?, metal workshop?, awesome makerspace?)

* What kind of money are you willing to spend

* Do you plan to continue expanding on your printer - Like, would you like to add two colour option later, or will you make your printer according to the drawing and be happy?


Taking my last bullet as an example - The Eclipse3D would be awesome as a platform for future own-development because it is so "Lego' ish" (modular) in its construction - The Smartcore less so.

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But do you have access to a workshop that can fabricate the metal parts? Otherwise you will probably be better off with Filipe's design. As he says, his is much like it, just with much more printed parts. He has a very long thread here in the forum.

If you are comfortable working with wood then you may also consider the smartcore printer.

It would be easier to provide inputs if you compose a list like:

* What kind of equipment do you have access to (3d printer?, CNC?, laser cutter?, wood workshop?, metal workshop?, awesome makerspace?)

At home I have a P3steel where I can print parts and a small workbench where i can do woodwork and some light construction work on metal .
I was hoping I could use the CNC at school but I doubt it as I haven't worked with it yet. Finding a company here that will do it for not too much will also be hard to find I think so that could be a problem. I was also thinking of just printing those parts with CarbonFil but I don't know if that would work.

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* What kind of money are you willing to spend

This will be an upgrade from my p3steel which produces nice prints but is just very limited in upgrades, cable management etc. As it's only an upgrade I am going to re-use alot of those components. I think around 200 euros would be my limit, I already looked at the BOM and that should be more then enough.

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* Do you plan to continue expanding on your printer - Like, would you like to add two colour option later, or will you make your printer according to the drawing and be happy?


Taking my last bullet as an example - The Eclipse3D would be awesome as a platform for future own-development because it is so "Lego' ish" (modular) in its construction - The Smartcore less so.

The entire reason I will build a new printer is because the p3steel just never felt finished, there was always something that was bothering me but that I couldn't fix because of the frame which is not really modifiable (is that a word?).


I also looked at Filipes design and it looks like a great alternative although I still think the Eclips3D looks a bit more polished. but yeah, the CNC parts will be a problem.

The eclips3d is a better printer in relation of the g&c printer but is cost is far superior. The total cost of the eclips3d is arround 800 euro and the g&c is 500 euro.
I give you an simple exemple, the bed struture of the eclips3d will be something like 180 euro.

You will spend a lot more of 200 euro if you go with an all aluminium printer like the eclips3d.

With this money an good option is the smartcore.

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filipeCampos
The eclips3d is a better printer in relation of the g&c printer but is cost is far superior. The total cost of the eclips3d is arround 800 euro and the g&c is 500 euro.
I give you an simple exemple, the bed struture of the eclips3d will be something like 180 euro.

You will spend a lot more of 200 euro if you go with an all aluminium printer like the eclips3d.

With this money an good option is the smartcore.

The smartcore doesn't really look like a big upgrade to the p3steel. I will definitely look at the G&C printer, as I said I do have alot of (spare) parts already, so I will take a look at the BOM to see what the final costs would be.

Funny, because this is something i have already done before. My first printer was an prusa i3 steel printer.
Initially i have the same idea, use the material of the prusa to build the new one (g&c printer).

After some thinking i have decided not to reuse the material of the prusa i3 and to buy all new material.
I think at the end i have done the correct decision, i have done this wasy because of two reasons:
1) I need to have an second functional printer to build the new one. Is difficult to print all the pieces of the new printer at the first try.
2) after the new printer is build you can sell the prusa, at the end is an cheaper solution. If you reuse the pruse material you will have a lot of material (prusa structure, rodds, bed structure, etc..) that is not easy to sell and do not have utility to you. I have sell my prusa at 80% of is original cost, only lost 20% of my initial money.

if i remember correctly the total cost of building the g&c reusing the prusa material was between 250 to 300€.

Hi guys,

I followed the Eclipse's creator since the start on youtube.
I respect a lot this man and his work.
Through, it seems to me that guy includes basics upgrades from step to step.
To me, his printer is still in development. And the man is still in skills learning.
Watch all the videos from the early ones and make up your mind.
The machine abilities needs to be improoved, IMHO.
I get at last comparable results with a calibrated cartesian printer.
I expect more from a CoreXY printer.
But I still follow the Eclips, because it's a promising printer I guess.

Aluminium frame is not the holly graal. Steel frames are not either.
MDF frames, if they're thick enough, have a lot of interesting properties.
MDF is heavy and pretty stiff. Through, it does not transmit vibrations easily.

I don't own any SmartRapCore, but I've seen several running.
They work much better as I thought. And belive me, they're quick !
They are pretty simple to be builded, and can be very cheap to get.
That's why the two last printer at my fablab's are SmartRapCores.

That's why I agree with filipeCampos, at reasonable price, it's the CoreXY machine you want to get.

++JM

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filipeCampos
Funny, because this is something i have already done before. My first printer was an prusa i3 steel printer.
Initially i have the same idea, use the material of the prusa to build the new one (g&c printer).

After some thinking i have decided not to reuse the material of the prusa i3 and to buy all new material.
I think at the end i have done the correct decision, i have done this wasy because of two reasons:
1) I need to have an second functional printer to build the new one. Is difficult to print all the pieces of the new printer at the first try.
2) after the new printer is build you can sell the prusa, at the end is an cheaper solution. If you reuse the pruse material you will have a lot of material (prusa structure, rodds, bed structure, etc..) that is not easy to sell and do not have utility to you. I have sell my prusa at 80% of is original cost, only lost 20% of my initial money.

if i remember correctly the total cost of building the g&c reusing the prusa material was between 250 to 300€.

250-300 euros sounds about the same as what I calculated. But building and eventually selling the prusa sounds like a good option.

So would the G&C design be the best option if I would be willing to spend a bit more money?

The g&c printer was designed to be cheap without compromise the print quality, so it use lots of cheap components and is not the best corexy printer out there. The eclips3D is very similar in design but with better components.

You have lots of options:
- You can sell your printer first and buy the complete kit of the eclips3d printer. I think is not selling in Europe.
- Use you printer to build an DIY model and then sell the prusa. I think the smartcore was the best cost/quality in this case. The main vantage of the smartcore is the cheap and rigid frame, not the best looking one but is very effective.
- You can reuse your prusa to build the new one. In this case the g&c printer is an good choice because both prusa and g&c have many common components.

You need to make an search for corexy printer in thingiverse.com, there are lots of great designs.
But at the end i think you must decide for yourself what your are looking in an printer and what will be the best design for you.
The only good advice i can give you is to choose an printer that was the most features your are looking and if possible there is someone that will give you support.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2015 01:09PM by filipeCampos.

I had almost decided on the G&C printer when I came across the Sparkcube v1.1 printer. Also looks really solid with 10mm smooth rods instead of 8mm. But all the discussion about it is in german, I understand a bit of german but it doesn't read very nice. So what do you guys think of this design?

[forums.reprap.org]
[forums.reprap.org]

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2015 07:30AM by Tom114.

Hi,

There are several printer with this name, one version is using an simple cube structure made by aluminium extrution and other with an aluminum box.
The one made with only extrution bars i do not like, the overall structure appear to be a little too weak. Not sure who they have connected the aluminium bars. From the photo i do not see any connectors, i think they have made some holes in the bares and used one screw for each connection. If this was done this way, then is not a solid solution.

But, the box version look to be way better... check the box there are selling:
[sparklab-shop.de]

Have you already checked the cbot? this is an very good printer, robust, compact and clean design.
[www.thingiverse.com]
[openbuilds.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2015 09:19AM by filipeCampos.

I was actually looking at the extrusion one, like this one and I was planning on using these brackets anyway for the extra stability.

I did check the C-bot, those wheels are very expensive though and pretty hard to find (in stock).

For sure the use of this brackets is a good idea, i have the same one and they are easy to install and secure very well the bars. You are trying to build an cheap printer, but do not go to cheap on the structure. the rigidity of the structure is an important factor for the final quality of the print.

In most case the 8mm rods will work just fine, 10mm are only necessary for big printer or if you have an heavy carriage (that have 2 direct extruder and 2 hotend). If you printer will have an 20x20cm print area, them you can save some money using the 8mm. Or you can have an mix, use 10mm in the Y axis and 8mm on the X axis.

My only concerns about this printer is the main structure. But if you use this aluminum brackets and build the printer small then you will have no problems.
All the printers you have asked for some type of opinion use the same basic concept and are similar in design.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2015 10:47AM by filipeCampos.