Going faster is a non issue. Extruder motors, even geared ones, are running no where near their top speed when extruding, there's plenty of headroom to go faster. That and I'm wanting a small, light extruder so a thicker motor is out of the question. A 20 mm motor doesn't appear to have enough torque to extrude on its own, or at least I haven't seen anyone try.by Trakyan - Reprappers
Added gearing does increase your torque which is an issue when going fast or when using smaller motors. 20 mm nema 17s cant really keep up at 100+ mm/s on their own, they click and lose steps. Even thicker ~40 mm motors click at higher speed, so gearing is useful for the torque it provides. That being said, good point about the resolution, and I'll keep it in mind. As for the dual drive gear, itby Trakyan - Reprappers
What particular part, sorry? I don'f understand your answerby Trakyan - Reprappers
I don't know what someone may choose to set their acceleration settings to. And like I said it may effect bed leveling if you do it stupid fast. On a moving bed it can cause vibrations in the print due to sudden, juddery movements of the bed. But you're right, acceleration over 1G isn't very likely.by Trakyan - Reprappers
Hey guys, again just wanting an opinion from people, several in this case. I'm not going to get into bowden vs direct drive because that's another conversation and they both have their own fairly obvious purposes and advantages in terms of moving mass and more control over extrusion. There isn't much to choose when it comes to extruders, but there are still some things to choose. First, geared oby Trakyan - Reprappers
Hi All, Some of you may have heard of or seen the GUS Simpson printer from a couple of years ago. Personally I think it's awesome. However it suffered from some issues. I'm currently working on a revision of the GUS, trying to fix or improve anything I can think of. Just wanted to start a thread here for anyone who wanted to collaborate, suggest ideas or improvements, or point out where I've doby Trakyan - General New Machines Topics
Just as a note, FDM with metals won't work as it does with plastics. I recall someone trying something similar with solder, but the solder turned into a blobby line rather than the line you'd get from plastics. Metals don't have the same plastic state thermoplastics have in between molten liquid and solid, so they don't leave an extruded line behind so much as a puddle/droplets. That being said iby Trakyan - Developers
Fair point, Most of my prints are significantly longer in either the x or y axis, rather than being square, I suppose the simpson geometry lends itself to this as you have your incircle of the triangle as a sort of standard shape, then the three peaks each give you a little more room in that direction. Currently the bed is the same size as the standard Simpson, ithas a diameter of 250 for the trby Trakyan - Reprappers
Gravity only stops backlash for accelerations under 1 G, above that you can get backlash, it's why I mentioned that movements are small and slow. It's not a super noticeable thing but it can allow faster z hops which can shorten print time a little. That being said, the z axis doesn't move much so this wont be a big change, it may not even be noticeable or there may be other limiting factors. Zby Trakyan - Reprappers
Correct me if I'm wrong but deltas suffer from calibration issues too? It's hard to calibrate any one axis individually as three motors contribute to that motion. I guess angles are harder to measure accurately in comparison to linear distance moved by carriages along the towers but some Pythagoras makes it easier. I think the real issue most people have with them is the big cantilever createdby Trakyan - Polar Machines, SCARA, Robot Arms
QuoteDust 40micron round... Its a silly question, as it depends on your application, what your trying to print. Image from if your interested I'm talking hobbyists, there is variation in peoples needs, but there is also common ground, hence why certain sizes have become super common. Clearly ~200mm cube is common, because it's a good size for the markey. But how many people have even come cby Trakyan - Reprappers
Just wanted to get a few opinions. I'm designing a printer that I'll be releasing at some point, and I wanted some opinions on what a minimum build volume would be. I know most people would jump and say a ~200 mm cube, but when was the last time you used all of that build area? Most of the stuff I've printed would fit in a ~100 mm cube, and usually the z height goes mostly unused. The size isby Trakyan - Reprappers
I'd be keen. Depending on when/where it is I may be able to fit it around work and stuff. I'd love to see some other people from CHCH and what they're up to with reprap.by Trakyan - New Zealand RepRap User Group
Fair point, however he's building a core XY and the Z axis here shouldn't suffer from the see saw effect. Good to know, I'd never considered the weight of the hot end and extruder shifting having a 'see saw' effect on my I3 style set up. That said, for this 'see saw', doesn't the extruder+hot end always have a greater torque than the x axis drive motor regardless of position? At worst, both haveby Trakyan - Reprappers
It's mostly a cost thing. Lead screws are cheaper, ball screws are (arguably better) more expensive. As for some more specifics as to what the performance differences are between them, lead screws are less efficient and have more friction. This means a couple of things. -You need more motor torque to move them (not a big issue, NEMA 17 can handle that) -There is more wear (you'll need to replacby Trakyan - Reprappers
Hey guys, I've been looking around for a place to get cable spools/drums/reels, the ones used on spectra line driven printers that mount to a motor shaft. Despite my best efforts and days of searching, I've only found fishing reels and one source for the spools (I'd like to have more than one as this sources has a 'limited quantity') Am I using the wrong search terms or are these things a precby Trakyan - Reprappers
It will use three unique bolts. One length M8, one length M4, one length M3. Obviously there will be more than three bolts but there will only be 3 unique bolts, so three part numbers. Each one will require its respective bolt and washer. I find washers nessecary as its easy to drive the bolt head into or through the shell of a 3d printed part without themby Trakyan - Reprappers
Sorry about the double post, can a mod delete this? I tried posting earlier but it kept blocking it as spam and i didnt think it went through.by Trakyan - Reprappers
I'm working on a new machine and wanted some second opinions. What do you guys think is 'too many' in terms of number of unique nuts and bolt used to assemble a 3d printer, from the average joe's perspective when building a kit. Too few and you end up using parts that arent ideal for a particular assembly, too many and it becomes a mess to manage. Any ideas for a magic number? Currently my designby Trakyan - Reprappers
Hey guys, I'm currently designing a printer and would like some opinions on a matter. Is it best to minimize the number of (different) parts, or to use different parts where they are most suitable. For instance, designing a new printer I could make all the bolts M3, since that is the only 'nessecary' size, since that's what the motors are mounted with. Idlers, bearings etc all come in sizes toby Trakyan - General New Machines Topics
Hey guys, I'm currently designing a printer and would like some opinions on a matter. Is it best to minimize the number of (different) parts, or to use different parts where they are most suitable. For instance, designing a new printer I could make all the bolts M3, since that is the only 'nessecary' size, since that's what the motors are mounted with. Idlers, bearings etc all come in sizes toby Trakyan - Reprappers
Thanks for all the info guys, I'm working on a dirt cheap repstrap for educational purposes, to the point where I'd like to see if I can cheap out even on microswitches and the extra wiring. Deltas are simple to construct (especially in terms of their z axis movement) but I've heard calibration can be difficult or tedious. Other than that can anyone point me in the direction of some GUS simpsonby Trakyan - Delta Machines
Hi, I've been wondering for a while about auto calibration and leveling on deltas. Would it be possible to calibrate/auto level a delta using only a bed sensor or does it NEED endstops at the top of the rails? On a side note, is there any publicly available firmware for rotary deltas like the gus or printers similar to the ones in the videos below. Are there any pages on the reprap wiki withby Trakyan - Delta Machines
Hey guys, I'm aware of belts and threaded rods but are there any other common or not so common linear motion systems that are more 3d printable? I'm toying around new ideas for reprap designs. So far I'm aware of threaded rods belts rack and pinion Of these only rack and pinion can be 3d printed to a decent standard as far as I'm aware. Any other types of systems such as the Simpson reprap wby Trakyan - General New Machines Topics
I'm trying to avoid scavenging since that's not an option if I want to supply a class of students with this. A few updates are that I'm planning to use a delta design rather than cartesian since z can be a bit simpler (moving a whole bed or extruder assembly can require a more complex mechanical assembly or more parts on a Cartesian system). Personally I've never been the biggest fan of deltas bby Trakyan - Reprappers
Hi guys, I'm new to the forum here. Well I've had a 3d printer for a while and I like design and tinkering, so this led me here. To be honest the idea of a reprap seemed silly and I thought there are just better ways to manufacture a 3d printer, but eventually the idea grew on me and I wanted to design one myself. Off the bat, the printer I'm wanting to design is NOT going to be a super accuratby Trakyan - Reprappers