Orca v020

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RepRap Orca v0.2

Release status: working

Orca02.jpg
Description
RepRap Orca v0.2
License
GPL v2
Author
Contributors
Based-on
Categories
CAD Models
External Link


Contents

Index


RepRap Orca is the latest 3D printer in development by http://mendel-parts.com and well in short:

a cheap, not too heavy, but still robust 3D printer, easy to transport (grab it on the front X-bar at the sides..) and optimized for 1.75mm filament.

It still has a Mendel build size, but is simpler/faster to build. (with experience and proper manual, probably in one afternoon).

For this 3D printer not much hardware is needed, but it is still stiff with short bars and belts etc.

It doesn't contain too many (or too big, too complex) plastic parts, so is capable of fast reproduction

(each Orca can easily print a new Orca each day..)

RepRap Orca v0.2 is a little bit experimental, I initially only spent six evenings on the whole design/printing prototype/building/testing etc..
plan was not to release yet and release maybe v0.4, however since me and many others around were so impressed, we decided to launch this product already quicker as expected.
But therefore alot of files are still a bit beta, meaning they can have weird tolerances etc, meaning: DONT LOOK AT THE DETAILS :P
(and dont send me emails why things are not 100% ok.. I know that..)


Specifications


  • check videos for now.. but from what ive seen last few months, Orca can do anything a standard Mendel can do.

But it probably even goes beyond that, its better on shortterm (i dont know longterm yet) in quality (with same hotend)/max speed/skipping problems etc. However that depends very much on how perfect a printer is build/finetuned/experienced someone is..

Like our Mendel nr.1 (yes Kulitorum, that is still your machine running daily production here after more then probably 15months now! LOL) it is still printing very nice quality one of the best, even with those crappy parts..

So I guess its also a bit of luck and probably the energy and touch of the person who printed the plastic set for you as well.. (yes Adrian, your mendel (our Mendel nr.3 here) also is still printing great quality parts :) after probably 10-12months now..) happen to be those two Mendels from those two "godfathers" who perform greatest here. ;)
thanks again for all your inspiration.. and everyone else off course...

Benefits of this Design


  • fast & easy to build (build time: 4-16hours depending on experience/manual status/finetuning needed etc)
  • All plastics (incl extruder) can be printed in 15hours @ 50mm/s @ 0.32mm layers with 1.75mm filament
  • Plastics are small & simple shaped, (total weight for an Orca set incl extruder: 350 gram vs 900 gram for a standard Mendel)
  • only 4 simple cutting sizes for all threaded & smooth rod (in total: 10x330,7x400,2x500,2x265)
  • short bars (max 400mm)
  • short belts and simple routing/tensioning (3x 840/5mm wide or 1x 840/16mm wide cut in three)
  • less bolts, nuts etc
  • Very open frame
    • very nice while building/working on it, highly accessible
    • Printed Object good visible/accessible
    • Extruder simple & small & very good visible/accessible/
  • Smooth Z-axis & Z-axis moves down instead of up against gravity
  • Alot of the important dimensions are in the thick sheet
  • Footprint roughly 28x35cm (excl: studding sticking out & Y-cluster sticking out backward etc, since powersupplies can be put under that..)
  • Printsize roughly 200x200x130
  • Model is easy scalable
  • The extruder & hotend of Orca also fit (plugnplay with GEN6) on (standard) Mendel.
  • Cheap @ mendel-parts.com :P



Orca Electronics



We are also developing new electronics, in short: a very deluxe GEN6 with alot of addons/new features, like standalone printing from SD, multiple heated beds/extruders possible, smart acceleration and a Touchscreen (4,3") and alot more at a very competitive price..

The project is currently named "gen6 ultra" but will change, for now probably "Orca Electronics" ;)

But then newcomers will think the "Orca Electronics" are specific to the machine, and won't work with a Prusa, 1X2,
or This Week's Sexy Post-Prusa Mendel. :(
--Sebastien Bailard 20:49, 18 May 2011 (UTC)



Current naming status: Orca Electronics aka: GEN6 Ultra / GEN6++ / Camiel's 2nd Generation Electronics / Mendel-Parts electronics v2 / naming still unsure etc

NOTE: current Orca v0.2 uses standard GEN6 and doesnt come with the touchscreen electronics yet..
Orca will be sold with the new touchscreen electronics probably earliest end of September..

How to get Orca



For Orca complete kits:



For Orca parts:



How to build Orca


Orca02.jpg


The four stages:



Preparing


BOM


Bill of Materials / What do I need for this Orca v0.2?

  • Printed Plastics
  • Smooth Rod
  • Threaded Rod
  • Bolts, nuts & washers
  • Bearings
  • Belts
  • Electronics & opto's
  • Extruder parts
  • Heated bed parts
  • Motors
  • Thick & thin sheet
  • Power supplies


(? silicon sealant/cooling fan/cooling paste/kapton ?)

Printed Plastics


Printbed assy orca sm01.jpg

Printbed assy orca sm02.jpg

Printbed assy orca sm03.jpg

This is a smaller then mendel printbed size bed, this was/is temporary/beta but all three together should be all plastics (some parts are not 100% necessary, but this is all inclusive version, also including our new Orca extruder)

Untill we have sorted all the correct parts/assy names etc, this makes it possible for users to start already printing Orca plastics, without mixing up names with near future part file releases.


(oops.. I forgot to add the belt pullies, (since i print those FDM), but three nophead (standard mendel) belt pullies are used also)

Smooth Rod

  • 4x 330mm, 8mm diameter
  • 2x 400mm, 8mm diameter

tolerances: +/- 5mm is probably ok..


Threaded Rod

  • 6x 330mm, M8
  • 5x 400mm, M8
  • 2x 500mm, M8
  • 2x 265mm, M8

tolerances: +/- 5mm is probably ok..


Bolts, nuts & washers

  • this list is currently being finalised..


Bearings

  • 38x 624ZZ (40pc needed with geared Orca extruder)
  • 4x 608ZZ


Belts

  • 3x 840mm T5 synchroflex timing belt - 5mm width


Electronics & opto's

  • 1x Mendel-Parts GEN6 Electronics incl opto's (others should work too, however we cant give support on those (yet).

(this comes with the three opto's on cables and with wiring for the extruder (with a molex connector on one side, ferrules are used on the other side)

  • 1x USB A-B cable (recommended: 3mtr length (for convenience))

Extruder parts

  • 1x Mendel-Parts hotend v9 for 1.75mm with .35mm nozzle (recommended, but others should work too with some fitting/adapting probably)
  • 1x Mendel-parts hotend v9 heaterblock kit (will be including thermistor, heat resistor, cooling fan (+ extension cabling)
  • 1x hightemp heatshrink 2.4mm around 20cm (for use with ferrules, see below)
  • 2x ferrule of 0.5mm (connecting G550 thermistor)
  • 4x ferrule of 1.0mm (connecting heat resistor & extending hotend v9 cooling fan cables)
  • 1x Thermistor G550 (recommended for GEN6)
  • 1x Heat Resistor
  • Silicone sealant upto 300C (longterm 300C...) (for placing thermistor and heat resistor in heater block)
  • Kapton tape 13mm (for the insulation of thermistor G550 legs)
  • 4x springs for extruder
  • cooling fan 40x40mm
  • M4 brass insert piece with centerhole drilled out to 5.0/5.1mm for direct drive extruder (dont forget to remove grubscrew while drilling if you upgrade an old one).
Or alternatively with old version / Orca geared extruder, a standard m4 insert piece is used with M4 thread 
(in near future we will have an improved version and also in different materials etc.)


Heated bed parts

  • 4x 1.5 Ohm heater block is recommended for Orca 4mm printbed, ideal with a 90W 12-22V powersupply, 12V=53C, 14v=60C .. 22V = 110C
  • 4x printbed springs for orca 26Lx11
  • 1x cabling for in between heater blocks, around 50cm long at least 0.75mm
  • 1x PTFE sheet for use as strain relief (and optional under the springs)

optionally:

  • 1x Cooling paste upto 150C (can be used in between printbed and heater blocks for better heat transfer, however I have serious doubts in how necessary this is..)


Motors

  • 4x NEMA17 motors are needed for an Orca (preferable with 80cm cables), for the Orca extruder without gearing (latest version) high torque motors are necessary (and probably raising the potentiometer on the electronics too..)
All motor pullies now have grubscrews, but we still recommend to file a small flat side on the motorshaft, dont forget to use tape to protect the motor or use clay around the shaft. 
(I use wide insulation tape with a hole in it that fits the motor shaft tightly then there is a good seal and no metal swarfs are drawn in the motor (its magnetic..))


Power supplies


  • 1x min. 60W 12V power supply for GEN6 electronics
  • 1x min. 60W 12-18V power supply for PLA heated bed or min. 90W 12-22V for PLA & ABS heated bed


We use two seperate powersupplies currently with our printers, it's more flexible and a good desktop adapter / powersupply (not ATX etc) with >150W is pretty expensive.
The heated bed powersupply sets the bed temperature by voltage currently to keep things simple..
If the default Orca (4x 1.5 Ohm) heater blocks are used approx.: 12V=54C / 14V = 61C / 22V = 110C etc.

Thick & thin sheet

Orca v0.2 Thick sheet

  • 3mm Aluminium (4pc - total area needed roughly: 80x80mm)
    • 4x ORCA_2102_BEARING_SUPPORT_PLATE

Orca02-thick-sheet-3mm.jpg


  • 4mm Aluminium (15pc - total area needed roughly: 300x550mm)
    • 1x ORCA_2001_Z_FLOOR
    • 2x ORCA_2101_Z-SUPPORT-PLATE
    • 2x ORCA_3104_YZ_DRIVE_PLATE
    • 2x ORCA_3105_YZ-SIDE-PLATE
    • 2x ORCA_3107_Y_FRAME_ENDPLATE
    • 1x ORCA_3111_Y_MOTOR_PLATE
    • 1x ORCA_3201_Y_FROG
    • 1x ORCA_3301_PRINTBED
    • 1x ORCA_4002_X-MOTOR-PLATE
    • 1x ORCA_5001_EXTRUDER_BASE_PLATE
    • 1x ORCA_5002_EXTRUDER_MOTOR_PLATE

Orca02-thick-sheet-4mm.jpg


  • 6mm POM (1pc - total area needed roughly: 94x365mm)
    • 1x ORCA_6001_MAINBOARD

Orca02-thick-sheet-6mm.jpg


Orca v0.2 Thin sheet

  • 1mm Aluminium
    • 3x optoflag (same as mendel v2, but they probably need to be cut shorter)


notes:

The circuitboard holder also adds a bit of extra stiffness for x-direction of frame, however I've also printed without one..

Aluminium is strong & lightweight and a long-lasting material, however if you are one of those "wood-freaks", it should also work in wood..

maybe a little strengthening/adapting is necessary but I dont see big issues there.


Required Tools

You will need a "standard" toolbox to build an Orca. That includes, but is not limited to:

  • Metric allen key / hex wrench set - (2,5mm = M3 (and countersunk M4 bolts) / 3mm = M4)
  • (Combination) Wrench set - (5,5mm = M3 & 7mm = M4 & 10mm = M6 & 13mm = M8)
  • Dikes/needle-nose pliers/small vice grips.
  • Measuring device, preferably a set of calipers or a decent ruler
  • Scissors
  • Wire stripper
  • Small files &/or a dremel
  • Drill & common bit sizes
  • Countersunk drill (we will probably pre-countersunk Orca v0.2 thick sheet, however this is unsure yet..)
  • side cutters
  • Multimeter for checking powersupply connection, plus/minus
  • Soldering iron and associated consumables (solder, sponge, wick, etc) for the heated bed.
 Mendel-Parts.com GEN6 Electronics & opto's & motors are plugnplay out of the box, no soldering required for those.


Mechanical construction

Overview

General assembly info/tips. Explanation of Orca axes, concept etc


CAD Files

STP/IGES/STL/DXF/PDF/JPG etc

see STL-printbeds for now for first STL files


eDrawings & PDF sheets




eDrawings

eDrawing full Orca v0.2


PDF sheets

We are currently working on a first version of a (one-day-to-be-)professional assembly manual with exploded views/BOM's etc, just like an Ikea manual.. first version will be released end June/early July.



-- NOTE: THESE DRAWINGS CAN CONTAIN (SMALL) ERRORS AT THE MOMENT
we will post comments this weekend on what is incorrect
and these drawings are far from finished (and more will be added)
however that will take a few more weeks probably
well better something then nothing..



Step 1: Frame assembly



Z support right


Orca02 2100 z-support-right01.jpg

Frame right


Orca02 1100 frame-right01.jpg
Orca02 1100 frame-right02.jpg
Orca02 1100 frame-right03.jpg
Orca02 1100 frame-right04.jpg
Orca02 1100 frame-right05.jpg

Z support left


Orca02 2200 z-support-left01.jpg

Frame left


Orca02 1200 frame-left01.jpg

Frame


Orca02 1000 frame01.jpg
Orca02 1000 frame02.jpg

Step 2: Z-cluster assembly


Z Axis


Orca02 2300 z-axis01.jpg

Z corner pulley


Orca02 2050 z-corner-pulley01.jpg

Z cluster


Orca02 2000 z-cluster01.jpg
Orca02 2000 z-cluster02.jpg
Orca02 2000 z-cluster03.jpg
Orca02 2000 z-cluster04.jpg


Step 3: Y-cluster assembly


Y motor plate


Orca02 3110 y-motor-plate01.jpg
Orca02 3110 y-motor-plate02.jpg

Y belt support


Orca02 3120 y-belt-support01.jpg

Y bar clamp


Orca02 3130 y-bar-clamp01.jpg

Y vert drive right


Orca02 3160 y-vert-drive-right01.jpg

Y conn front


Orca02 3170 y-conn-front01.jpg

Y conn rear


Orca02 3180 y-conn-rear01.jpg

Y Frame


Orca02 3100 y-frame01.jpg
Orca02 3100 y-frame02.jpg

Y bearing 180 & 360


Orca02 3203 y-bearing-360-B.jpg
Orca02 3204 y-bearing-360-A.jpg
Orca02 3210 y-bearing-180.jpg
Orca02 3220 y-bearing-360.jpg

Y cluster


Orca02 3200 y-frog01.jpg
Orca02 3300 printbed01.jpg
Orca02 3000 y-cluster01.jpg
Orca02 3000 y-cluster02.jpg
Orca02 3000 y-cluster03.jpg

Step 4: Placing YZ-cluster


Orca02 4060 xz-bar-clamp01.jpg

Orca02 0000-placing-yz-cluster01.jpg
Orca02 0000-placing-yz-cluster02.jpg

Step 5: X-cluster assembly



Orca02 4050 x-belt-support01.jpg

Orca02 4100 x-motor-plate01.jpg
Orca02 4100 x-motor-plate02.jpg

Step 6: Extruder & hotend assembly




Step 7: Electronics assembly


Orca02 6000 electronics01.jpg



//dont forget optoflags...

//option to build with some plastics less and with cable ties & "stelringen" instead)




Wiring & Electronics



Step 1: Fitting Electronics


For now see: GEN6 reprap wiki

Step 2: Fitting Opto's



Step 3: Powersupplies



Step 4: Cable ties



Step 5: (optional) Cooling fan



Firmware & print software



Firmware software


Arduino0018

  • Download & Installation
  • using arduino0018
  • Edit/download firmware and upload new firmware to GEN6



Print software


Repsnapper v352

  • Download & Installation
  • Using the print software
  • Test printer



How to use Orca



General usage


  • Safety
  • powersupplies
  • emergency button
  • manual Z adjust
  • Transportation



Software setup


  • Advanced printing (+skeinforge)
  • finetuning firmware



maintenance of machine


  • Cleaning
  • Lubrication



Problem solving


  • Extruder
  • Filament
  • Heated bed
  • Electronics
  • Power
  • USB/PC
  • Frame
  • X-cluster
  • Y-cluster
  • Z-cluster



Images


3D CAD screendumps

Orca v0.2 Orca v0.2

Orca v0.2 Orca v0.2

Orca v0.2 Orca v0.2

Orca v0.2

High-res photos


coming hopefully this weekend (if I (or others here) find a bit of time..

Videos


  • <videoflash type="youtube">VKCQ5vk_2fo</videoflash>
    Orca nr 4 printing Orca nr 5 (18-5-2011)


more videos can be found in our youtube channel: more videos on youtube

Status

  • Version 0.2, May 2011 a prototype serie of 12pc has been made/build and in June production start of first 100pc v0.2 after some delay, because of last minute new extruder and new hotend v9 for Orca (whole extruder and hotend also fit Mendel plug n play if you have Gen6..)



  • Version 0.1, April 21, 2011, is the first prototype


Version 0.2


  • more info soon



Version 0.1

  • Some weekend in January, 2011 : The first basic concept has been drawn
  • Some weekend in April, 2011: After on hold for some months, I've finished first files, printing the parts, building it.. and being amazed about it, even without any thick sheet (yet) its very solid... and it will be probably one printbed to print (excl extruder). So suddenly I start to realise that this printer is better then anything around atm (for the given selling price, since it will be cheap) and still has very high stifness and the shortest belts I've seen around (700/840/840mm) For those wo dont know, price of a 1380mm belt is around 2x the price of a 840mm and also long belts give alot more issues... Also the parts are very good printable/symmetric/etc and we are designing it all to have standard size bolts etc.. (alot of people dont know, but for example m4x35 is more expensive then m4x40.. so we focused also on using only a few standard sizes widely avaible etc.

(finally my many years of being a 3D CAD Engineer at a major product development office comes in use for the RepRap world...)


Calendar


PRESENT

July 2011

  • early July - first Orca manual (exploded views/BOM's in pdf) is planned for early July
  • early July - Thick sheet files will be released (PDF/DXF)
  • early July - The single printed part & assembly files of orca v0.2 will be released (STL/STEP/IGES)
  • 11-24 July - Orca build party @ Barcelona, (Camiel might be there himself a few days)
  • mid July - first Orca electronics (basic) prototype testing is scheduled for mid July
  • end July - production should be expanded with another 3 or more Orca's


so plan is to have in total for our production line by the end of July: 6-8 Orca's, 10-11 Mendels & 2 UP's, getting close to 20 printers :)

and another plan is that I (Camiel) will go to Barcelona for few days helping out and Ill go with a van and print new orca's on the road..
That plan (printing on the road) has been in my head for many months, and is prepared already..
Eindhoven (NL) to Barcelona (ES) is around 14hours.. so I should be able to print on each Orca a new Orca set while driving.
And Ill go with probably 3-5 Orca's printing while driving.
"Replicating on the move" or what is the term there..
"Dont drink and drive! Print and fly!" :)


PAST (who cares about that part, this world is going way too fast to look back..)

June 2011

  • Orca printbed stl files are online
  • first production serie of 100pc of Orca v0.2 thick and thin sheet has arrived
  • Three Orca's are in our production line now (beside the Mendels), printing three new Orca sets daily



May 2011:

  • first, very successful, Orca workshop held @ mendel-parts
  • Orca was exposed on an exhibition @ TAC / Eindhoven, more info/pictures soon



Users


Camiel Gubbels is the lead developer/engineer/tester/supplier for this 3D printer.
Camiel's webshop is: Mendel-Parts.com

He's often (when he has freetime.. so lately rarely) in the IRC channel, if you need to ask a question.


FAQ

Q: Why is this new printer called "Orca"

A: someone in IRC kept misreading my Orsa (project codename) or well maybe on purpose not sure.. (Orsa = bear in Italian, since it looks a bit like a sitting bear (back in January... ), also Orca sounds better in English then Orsa.