I am wondering if anyone knows a 3D printer that have a larger print area, like 12"x12".

Mine does. See the link in my sig, below.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I have a delta with print area more than 300mm diameter, see link in my signature.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I built a gMax that has a 400 x 400mm Print Area



I've made a BOM and also have the whole thing drawn in solidworks (the model is a bit different to the printer now, im currently printing the new parts to rebuild it).

I just need to find a heatbed to suit. Preferably mains powered if anyone knows of any.

Alex

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2015 11:38AM by xelad.

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xelad
I just need to find a heatbed to suit. Preferably mains powered if anyone knows of any.

Alex

These people [www.aliexpress.com] will make a silicone heater to your size, voltage and power specifications. You will need a flat aluminium plate to stick it on, preferably an aluminium tooling plate to be sure it is flat enough.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I have a big sheet of 12mm thick Lexan (polycarbonate) that i was going to recess into on my CNC machine for it. Thanks for the link i will message them right now!

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xelad
I have a big sheet of 12mm thick Lexan (polycarbonate) that i was going to recess into on my CNC machine for it. Thanks for the link i will message them right now!

I can't imagine that you can make a heated bed out of polycarbonate. Like all plastics it is a bad conductor of heat, and even if it doesn't actually melt, the temperature gradient across it will make it warp.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

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dc42

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xelad
I have a big sheet of 12mm thick Lexan (polycarbonate) that i was going to recess into on my CNC machine for it. Thanks for the link i will message them right now!

I can't imagine that you can make a heated bed out of polycarbonate. Like all plastics it is a bad conductor of heat, and even if it doesn't actually melt, the temperature gradient across it will make it warp.

Nope i think you should do some reading on Lexan beds

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xelad

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dc42

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xelad
I have a big sheet of 12mm thick Lexan (polycarbonate) that i was going to recess into on my CNC machine for it. Thanks for the link i will message them right now!

I can't imagine that you can make a heated bed out of polycarbonate. Like all plastics it is a bad conductor of heat, and even if it doesn't actually melt, the temperature gradient across it will make it warp.

Nope i think you should do some reading on Lexan beds

OK, so I did a little reading on using Lexan as a bed material. The references I found were about using a relatively thin sheet of Lexan on a stiff bed support. So I still think using a thick sheet of Lexan and putting a heater on the back of it is probably not going to work. OTOH a thick sheet of Lexan might work well as a cold bed surface, or as a bed surface in a heated chamber.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Ooops sorry, i havn't explained myself very well. I am using the Lexan as my bed base, as you say 12mm is very thick and hopefully it will stop the heat from deforming my bed carriage parts, the silicone heaters will be set in the face of the Lexan, and then glass on top. Sorry about that haha.

OK, I think I understand. Bear in mind that the back surface of a silicone heater has bumps and ridges on it, for example where the wires connect. So I really think you would be better off doing what I do:

- Over-sized (by 15mm at each edge) aluminium bed plate to attach the silicone header to and spread the heat, supported by pillars around the periphery

- Silicone heater attached to the underside, using the self-adhesive sheet that is on it when you buy it. The adhesive is very strong and is heat-resistant.

- Cork sheet under the silicone heater for insulation

- Aluminium foil glued on top of the cork sheet to help reflect heat back

- Ordinary float glass on top of the aluminium (no need for borosilicate because you are using an heat spreader).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2015 12:18PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Yes that was a problem on my current bed system in which i am using 2 smaller silicone heaters, at work i have 2 CNC machines that i use to recess for the wires and thermistor. I have ordered a 450 x 450mm 240V 1500W Heater from that link that you posted, so thanks for that. It is so cheap too! In the UK i couldn't find any heaters that size and voltage, if i did find something similar they were £300+, this has cost me £40... So hopefully in 7 days it will be here!

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dc42

- Cork sheet under the silicone heater for insulation

- Aluminium foil glued on top of the cork sheet to help reflect heat back

What is the max temperature you can use with cork insulation? Can it handle long print times at 130c if you're printing polycarbonate?

I'm considering using .5" to 1" of PIR under the bed, but still need to investigate a little more to make sure it can handle the temperature for long periods.

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etfrench

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dc42

- Cork sheet under the silicone heater for insulation

- Aluminium foil glued on top of the cork sheet to help reflect heat back

What is the max temperature you can use with cork insulation? Can it handle long print times at 130c if you're printing polycarbonate?

I'm considering using .5" to 1" of PIR under the bed, but still need to investigate a little more to make sure it can handle the temperature for long periods.

Have a look on google but im sure that will be fine, i thought it didnt start to char until about 300c.

PIR can handle the temperature but it will warp due to the temperature differential between the heated and unheated sides. I have used 1" PIR with the foil peeled off. Maybe leaving the foil on it will reduce the tendency to warp.

You can print directly on unheated PIR with the foil peeled off. ABS sticks well. You won't need a bed heater or even a leveling system. Just bury the extruder nozzle about a mm into the foam for the first layer and print on a raft. See: [vimeo.com]

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

dc42 where do you get your aluminium bed plates?

Iv got a 250mm diameter delta printer with the glass sat straight on top of a silicone heater.
If i measure the temperature at a few locations there is typically a 5 or 10 deg variation which i think an aluminium heat spreader would reduce.

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Andy1989
dc42 where do you get your aluminium bed plates?

Iv got a 250mm diameter delta printer with the glass sat straight on top of a silicone heater.
If i measure the temperature at a few locations there is typically a 5 or 10 deg variation which i think an aluminium heat spreader would reduce.

I got mine here [www.ebay.co.uk].

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

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Andy1989
dc42 where do you get your aluminium bed plates?

Iv got a 250mm diameter delta printer with the glass sat straight on top of a silicone heater.
If i measure the temperature at a few locations there is typically a 5 or 10 deg variation which i think an aluminium heat spreader would reduce.

Try Aluminium Disc

If you want to make sure it is absolutely flat and you are willing to cut it to shape yourself then some ECOCast plate is preferable see EcoCast plate I got a square and just cut it to a triangular shape (just took 2 corner's off) with a jigsaw.

Doug (not DC42)

Thanks Doug,

I really like look of the ECOCast stuff. Its a lot cheaper than I expected too!

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Andy1989
Thanks Doug,

I really like look of the ECOCast stuff. Its a lot cheaper than I expected too!

It's really good actually I have a 400x400 piece of 6mm on my Delta and am about to order another piece for the smaller high accuracy delta that I am building and that will be a 280x280 piece of 5mm and it is just over £13 + Vat and p&p (that's the killer so try and group it with some other sheet if you can.

Unless of course you are close enough to collect in person I am not unfortunately living on the outskirts of Sheffield.

Doug

You can have just about as big as a print area as you want. You just have to install the bigger bed, and the longer rods to allow full movement over that bed. After that, you can just configure the size of your bed in your firmware.

Hi,

Maybe it's not as simple as that.
You cannot scale up one single component.
If you want a 24" moving bed on 8mm smooth rods, there will be issues.
Enlarging a surface area is enlarging weight.
Weight matters on guides, structures and mecanics.
Maybe you will need a better chassis and more power.

++JM

Get rid of the rods and use V Wheel & Rails.

i'm almost done building a printer with a 50x43x45 inch printing volume, since i don't have the kind of money to buy a big rap or a 3dp.

you can see a picture of it attached.

That is a HUGE printer. Any other details on what your plans are for the rest of it? Sounds very interesting and looks pretty dang good so far.

the picture is a week old, i already have the platform on it, so far i dry tested the z and the y axis. after playing with the settings a bit, got them to scale. currently working on the x axis and the bed heating, then it's time for calibrating.

here is a fresh pic, platform (z) and y axis working.

Please keep posting progress, this is very interesting. Do you have a thread dedicated to this build? If not, maybe you should start one.

hi n8bot, i do not have a dedicated thread of any kind, but i thought i should post a few pictures of my work to give you and others an idea.
been working on it for 1 1/2 years now, as i said above, i'm working on the x axis and have just had my first setback after all that work, namely, the extruder carriage i designed and had cnc-ed in china, proved to be too fragile for my 2 pound all metal dual extruder, due to design flaw.
so right now i'm back to the drawing board, autocad that is, and just about to finish a new carriage assembly which will hopefully be strong enough for the job.
since i posted the last picture a few days back, i finished insulating the platform with 1 inch of cork sheets glued together, and added two layers of aluminum foil on it. don't have pictures yet, will post when i get a chance.
going back to the dedicated thread, i see most folks here are interested in small to medium size 3d printers (by medium i mean something like 3-400 mm each direction) so i'm not sure how a printer the size of mine would help them, because scaling medium size printers to larger sizes is not always straightforward as some would want us to believe.

@cheaptrick2

scaling up a moving printer bed invites trouble. I never understood why someone would want to make a moving part bigger, inertial forces are proportional to the mass of said moving part.
if you want to work with larger beds, you might want to consider a minimal motion and take advantage of using gravity. for instance, if you hang your bed on vertical lead screws and use 'inverted z', your platform will go down (and only down) during printing, by small increments, and only after the layer in construction is finished, the platform will go down for the next layer.
thus, you ensure minimal movement, inertial forces are laughable, not to mention you do away with backlash, since gravity and the weight of the platform and printed object keep the nut tight against the lead screw thread.
on top of that, designing a large moving bed means enlarging the overall dimensions of the printer frame, that bed needs room along its moving axis in order to be able to deploy properly during printing. let the smaller parts do the hard job of moving back and forth, and keep the heavy parts, such as the bed, to a minimal movement. the only time a bed such as I described above would move fast would be when homing on z for the next print job, which is done with the bed empty.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2015 03:29AM by val c..