Hello all, New user here, both to the forum and somewhat to 3d printing itself. Even so, ive decided to jump right into the deep end. Or perhaps right OFF the deep end, lol. I am currently building a large format 3d printer (900 mm z, 700 x 700 mm x/y), with ball screws on all axis's. The z uses linear ball bearing guides while the x and y utilize linear rails, and the frame is a combination of 30/30 and 30/60 extrusion. Anyway, my issue isn't the mechanical end of things. I dont foresee any issues making a mechanically sound machine. Im not so sure about the electrical/ 3d printing specific components though. I dont know much about these things as far as quality, ease of usage, etc. So whatever I end up using needs to have detailed instructions somewhere as far as setup, programming, software installation, whatever else. Things I need to pick out: Power supply Hot end Heated bed system Control board Stepper drivers (If the control board doesn't have them integrated) Stepper Motors Anyways, what I was hoping for in joining this forum was help in selecting this stuff and getting it all working together. I plan on having the frame/platform/rails/rails complete and aligned in the next 2 weeks or so, so its about time to turn some focus on this end of things. Even better, does anyone know of any 3d printer gurus located in northern Oregon/ southern Washington? Someone who wants to help build a big printer on someone elses dollar? Lee
Starting off with the hotend, I was seriously considering E3D's Titan Aqua. Pros: -Integrated extruder -Water cooing will be quieter -Higher temps easier (heat escaping past the heatbreak quickly removed). I hope to be able to print in polycarb, so the hotend will be operating in a heated chamber. -E3d seems to be a quality brand in the 3d printing world? Cons: -Price -Not sure what else? So any thoughts, experience, opinions here?
Hello Lee, welcome to OpenBuilds! Looks like a great Build you have going on here and I look forward to following along. To give my opinion based on the experiences I have had with many 3D printer builds. I would say that you are using a lot of high priced components for your first 3d printer build. I would suggest using V-Slot directly as your linear rail system. Its affordable as well as modular so you can build large with out a large up cost and there are many popular machines on the market today that are using it doing amazing prints. This also allows others who may not be able to affordable these costly components the opportunity to build and modify the design as well.Working together is one of the things here that makes the OpenBuilds community so great. The other thing I will share is ho tends. Get the right one E3D does have the best and I would not go another route. The single most frustrating thing about 3D printing for me at least has always been failed hot ends. These guys know their stuff and can lead you in the right direction. Just let them know what your doing and see what they suggest. I also prefer the direct drive system verses the bowen simply had too much trouble wit them. Heated chamber is a great idea and using V-Slot as your frame allows to you to both have the linear rail as well as the frame for bolting on the poly carb sheets for the heated chamber. These are just some some ideas put out there for consideration. No matter what direction you choose the main thing to keep in mind is to enjoy and have fun with the build, learning all you can along the way to help others do the same someday! Have fun
Thanks for the input. I will have to stick with the 30/60 extrusion though, just cuz its what i have on hand already. Im going to get a good days work in on it tomorrow, i will try to get some photos when im done. I think im ready to order a control board. Can I get any suggestions as to what I should go with? As it stands right now, I need to drive 2 steppers for the Z, and one stepper on the X and Y. 3 of the steppers I plan to use are nema 23, 425oz-in, 2.8A, to be used to drive the heaviest parts of the assembly. (Again, on hand from a previous potential project) I also need to pick out one more motor. Anyways, removing considerations such as vibration dampening between stepper and frame, what is a good control board to use and achieve quite operation? Or am i going to need to use a drivers for each stepper, which are then controlled by a board?
Well, maybe a different tract, if nobody has any control boards to recommend..... Has anyone built a 3d printer on this forum? What control board did you use, and could it be programmed to control a different printer such as mine? (Different steps per axis, basically) Anyone at all?
I think the reason no one is really popping up with a board recommendation is that its a touchy subject with lots of tiny groups of fanboys (; that can get touchy! There's Marlin fans, there's Duet fans, there's Chinesium-low-cost-but-time-wasted fans, and then there's the rest - Different steps per mm is easy, every 3D printer firmware allows you to change that! Unless you have something very esoteric, pretty much any of todays firmwares will do. But to be honest they all do about the same thing so I'd look at the hardware. For your 2.8A motors I would avoid any onboard drivers, go for something cheap and simple where you can wire external drivers (like DQ542MA Stepper Motor Driver)
Well, I have the frame assembled, rails mounted, and 1 of 3 ball screw systems in place. I think ima get a Smoothieboard. Any opinions on that?
