Hello all,
Thanks to everyone that has posted in this form. I have learned a lot. I am attempting to build my first 3D printer based on the Prusa I3 Rework and have some questions for everyone here. I currently live in Central AB, Canada. In the middle of Edmonton and Calgary so kinda in the center of a black hole when it comes to shipping stuff for cheap. I have decided to source as much as I can locally. Cost is not a major factor right now because I want quality out of my printer. I have spend almost 3 months + doing research on Youtube, forms and such. I do apologize for the randomness and length of this post. I am also planing on using 24v for the heated bed and the extruder hot end. I will also be using Direct drive for my filament. This is how my brain works.
Question 1: I have seen a lot about using P3Steel and but to reduce cost,
is using aluminum a bad idea? I have a dedicated workbench that this will sit on that will never move by my hand. I have a local machining shop that I am asking for a quote to have them cut out the I3 rework frame.
Do I need to up the thickness of the material to say 8 mm instead of 6 mm? I have also seen some people with the solid frame under the printer made out of metal to help stabilize it, and I have no problem screwing the frame from under the work bench into the ABS printed parts.
Question 2: I would like to use the RAMBo control board as I have some concerns over the RAMPS and other boards out there.
This video was the best review I could find about this board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PHExxK8lLg
My biggest concern is and consideration for using this board is the fact that there is a
REMOVABLE fuse attached on the board.
Am I paranoid about not shorting out my board or is this a preferred thing among 3d printer owners?
I have heard bad things about the RAMPS boards and the fuses they use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJn6FuWOv4. I would like to use the Marlin firmware because of the amount of users and support that is available. The Smoothieboard interests me but because of the firmware I am shying away from it. The BeagleBone Black and Replicape add more hardware and functionality then I want with this printer. Yes having a Linux OS would be nice, but it is over kill for my needs at this time.
Is there another board that I should be looking at? I want to have a standalone controller for controlling my printer without having to purchase a Ardunio Mega. (I want to save that for my robot that gets me a beer out of the fridge, side project, hence the reason why I am building a 3D Printer to print out my parts for it)
Question 3: I would like to use Optical End stops over mechanical because over time I can see the metal end stop switch bend and cause false readings.
Is there a manufacture / source that people prefer ? Again I ask if i am paranoid or not.
Question 4: Threaded Rods - following the
wiki for the Prusa I3 rework it calls for them to be used but after extensive reading, it looks like I should abandoned them but I am unsure what I should use in their place. This also means that the axis holders and drive line will have to be modified.
What has worked for everyone in the past and what are you using currently?
Question 5: Linear bearings - I have priced out from a local supplier the LM8UU's from SKF and they came back with over $500 for 15 of them. I am not happy with the cost but high quality has its price. I have heard that the ones from Ebay will be ok but after a few years, they need to be replaced. I fully understand mechanical wear and tear but I would prefer not having to replace them after a few years.
Again am I going off the deep end on this?
Question 6: Bearings in general - I have decided to go with rubber shielded bearings to keep out any contaminants.
Good or bad idea?
Question 7: Smooth Rods - I understand that there are precision rods that should be used for this as suggested by multiple people but trying to source these can be slightly costly. 3 supplies in Red Deer told me they could not get metric smooth rods. AES Industrial can get them but it will be more then standard rod size. I could get them from Ebay / Amazon but I have read many reviews about them not being straight and causing issues. This is why I went local on sourcing these.
Good or bad idea?
Question 8: Power supply - I would like to re-purpose an ATX PC power supply because of being able to completely shutdown the high power components using the control wire. Other then the amount of power (24V) for the heated bed and the hot end on the extruder (24v heater),
is there any other consideration I should have when doing this?
Question 8: GT2 belts - I plan on using these belts in my build with a 2 mm pitch.
Is this the best one to use or is the MXL better to use?
Question 9: 20T vs 16T GT2 Timing Belt Aluminum Drive Pulley. I would like to use the 20T drive pulley just because it has more teeth to make contact with the belt and should reduce slippage I believe, or
am I way off ? I was thinking about getting these machined at the local CNC shop but the cost online is reasonable.
Question 10: Heated Bed using a heater mat - I am planing on using a heated mat (24v) with 3M sticking it to a plate of aluminum with a thermister wired to the control board. The reason for this is based off the video listed
here. I want an even heat distribution and do not want sag in the middle of my print bed.
Am I way off on my thinking?
Question 11: E3D v6 Print head - I have heard good things and my only question is
I want to print PLA and NingaFlex in the same print without having to switch in and out without stopping eg. Printing a rubberized cellphone case in NingaFlex, then print abs for the back cover. I see the Cyclops does this but
Has anyone used or are using it? for now I will go with the single E3D v6 print head.
Question 12:
What do you do with your failed prints? I have found a series of videos that has me excited to take on this
next project. I believe that all my failed prints and over-shots should be able to be recycled into reusable filament.
Question 13: Motors - Nema 17 motors are what I am seeing people use but
how do you tell the correct stepping they use?
Thank you again for taking the time to read this.