Back in July I posted about my 3D printer project, and now, after working on it on and off, it is technically “printing”, but still needs some hardware and software refinements to start producing more accurate objects – the idea is to keep making the printer more accurate and precise by making its own parts needed to do so. Since the project is now almost complete (although, being an engineer, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say it’s 100% complete), here’s a photographic summary of what I used and how I built it.
The X-Y translator consists of two rods salvaged off an old lawn mower, two old skateboard wheels with bearings, an aluminum plate, a hose clamp, some scrap steel, and a fancy E3D all-metal hotend. The design was inspired by the SLS Wax Printer on the RepRap website. The two rods are held down with a loop of fishing line (from a spool of fishing line found on a beach), and the rods are currently coupled to the motors via tape, zip ties, and some plastic notebook cover material.
I am having some issues with the couplings (who would have thought?), so I have some other quick-fix ideas to try out.
The X and Y motors rest and slide on PVC (scrap from a previous project).
Two nuts held down with tape work as the endstops for the X and Y axes – when the metal rod rolls into them, the circuit is completed, letting the program know the axis is home.
The Z-axis is an inkjet printer slide salvaged off a printer that was going to be thrown out. It’s stabilized with wood shims, fishing line, and turnbuckles. All wood (shims and structural) was salvaged scrap wood.
A 3D-printed Bowden extruder purchased off eBay is used as the filament extruder.
I tried to design the electronics as much from scratch as possible to get a better understanding of everything and get better at soldering.
Here’s the wiring diagram: WiringRev1
The Repetier firmware and software are used for programming and control.
Overall, this has been a fun and educational project that’s challenged my abilities to make use of what I have. All the parts, including shipping, filament, and parts that I bought and then didn’t use cost about $430 (this also excludes parts that I already had or had salvaged). I’ll try to post more updates as I work to get the print quality improved.
If ___________, then venture. 