New RepRap Design: Your Thoughts Please

Hey Reprappers,

I have been working on a new RepRap Design and wanted to get your thoughts before going forward.

[www.youmake-3d.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2014 08:33AM by yoUmake-3d.

As much as I like the design, there is no reason to post this topic in two different forums. I have removed the other topic to keep it clean.

This forum seemed to be more appropriate.

Your printer looks very nice, I would say, just start using it, the technique for driving the X and Y is proven to work very well. Aesthetically speaking, I could encourage you to use different plastics to print your parts, to make it look even more 'steampunkey'. But those copper pipes are definately something I haven't seen before. Let us know how it works out. Oh, and why is the stepper motor on the top-left so far away from the frame?

---

http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Thank you, yes I am new to the forum. The 2 post were mistake. I was going for a steam punk look. Also, the steppers are sticking out, however, I believed the advantage of having it as a direct drive (stepper attached directly to the drive-rod would reduce any backlash in the x-y. That was the idea behind it. I could have put them closer in however the need for another belt in the system would be needed. This would increase backlash correct?

I will take your advise and use diffent color plasitcs on the revision assembly. Thank you Ohmarinus

The use of copper is a nice touch; would look awesome with Bronzefill printed parts, but that's an aesthetic judgement.

But it looks like the build platform is lacking stability and would be difficult to level. Have you done extensive printing with it yet?

DonaldJ, Thanks for the Bronzefill color idea. I have made some adjustments to the buildplate. Basically, I just added a second platform that sits about an inch higher than the first with a 4-adjustment points (one at each corner of the actual build plate.) The plate is fairly stable. I am using 080 AL and may make this a bit thicker in the final model to reduce material flex at the edges.

I am hooking up the Ramps 1.4 tonight. Thanks for the comments, I hope to see the quality soon.

Anyone have any idea if using a direct drive setup (having the stepper directly attached to the drive rods) makes a difference with backlash?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2014 03:12PM by yoUmake-3d.

Per DonaldJ's concern, having the build plate balanced between those 2 lead screws presents a lot of general stability issues for the build platform. If there are other means of support than the lead screws that I just can't see from the picture, ignore my concerns.

Looks cool. I am curious about the strength of the frame versus extruded alluminum frames though. Or is extruded alluminum just a cheaper choice than copper?

Pretty much anything other than precious metals or high end alloys are going to be cheaper than copper these days......

I've found some pretty simple aluminium extrusions at the local hardware store, they don't have fancy guides for nuts and bolts to be put in, but to be honest, it looks like I could rebuilt my old 3D-printer with the extrusions. They are just square hollow extrusions and U-extrusions. The Square-Hollow ones seem to make the most sense as they are very stable and have very thick walls.

But it doesn't matter, copper is a nice experimental material, and that's what counts the most

---

http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Very original man. I like it. I think Donaldj is right. Build plate will be flexing and putting harsh wear on the lead screw nuts. Maybe (4) lead screws. On my Prusa i3 I'm adding a 4th linear bearing ( 3 in kit ) to eliminate flexing on 2 corners of my build plate making leveling a pain. Nice job though. That's a lot of work. Hope it prints great for you.

My few cents:

Bronzefill sounds annoying. I bet standard ABS or PLA would work with copper-colored spraypaint and maybe a light coat of black or brown.

How stable is that Z motor? It looks like it could use some more plastic...

I love the idea of smooth rods doubling as torsion rods. How does it play with the bushings or bearings? Seems like linear bearings wouldn't like that sort of rotation.

Is the Z guided just by those two rods? Are there supports underneath? Are they both threaded or is the back one smooth? Having seen plenty of cantilevered beds, it seems like it would work with just two rods but you'd want tall supports to make a broad triangle.

Love the Steampunk look, but not sure about the X and Y motor system. Normally that syle they have the the head driven by one of the belts. I will keep an eye out, I want to see what the printhead carriage looks like.