Build your own 3d printer is not such complicated.
There are some few steps to think about:
- Design
- Movement
- Electronics
- Software
Design
There are a lot of 3d printers, each one has pros and cons.
For making it easier, the designs could be reduced to 2: Closed box like a makerbot or open box like a prusa. I have build a closed box, because it looks more rigid, and will reduce the noises.
Before desing anything, we need to define which type of move the printer will have, for example, a core-xy, which I think it give us a good printing speed, but the construction of this structure is a little bit more difficult than a separated axes. Other option is a delta printer, but I think the structure is even more difficult. Finally I decided to build a classic cartesian printer, it looks easier to build…
After the decision of which type of movement our printer will have, we need to define how the extrusion will be, if we will put a direct drive extrusion, or a bowden extrusion. I decided to use the bowden extrusion to avoid putting more weight to the carriage.
Also, the kind of movement in the Z axis must be defined. In my case, I give the bed movement, because I want to build a hardware automatic calibration in the z axis.
Now it is time to design in 3D. I use SolidEdge student, its easy to create simple parts. First we need the measures, how big the printer will be, after that, we must put all components inside.
During the design process, I changed my mind several timer to make it easier to build. Finally I got this configuration:
– 4 motors in the Z axis, to be able to make a hw leveler
– 2 motors in the Y axis to ensure simetrical movement
– 1 motor in X axis (I don’t need more)
– 1 motor for the bowden extrusion attached in the case
During the design, I has to decide which kind of endstops I were going to use, due to positioning it on the machine.
While I was designing it with solid edge, I also was building it to check everything. After mounting the axes, I installed marlin in the rapms + arduino mega to check the axis movements.
When I supposed everything was ready, I order in a local laser cut shop to build the metal sheets.
The first printing attemp. Connected the arduino to a raspberry pi with octoprint.
Finally, I closed the faces, ordered the wiring and put everything under the bed, as the motors give me 40mm of height, the space is enough to keep all the components.
One of the cons I have notices, is that I use lead screws on all axes, the acceleration and the speed of the movements is not the best.
The pros are significantly noticeable, every hardware is bought in local stores and is cheap and easy to found. The joints and other parts were made with my brother-in-law 3d printer, so it can be printed at any time. The electronical components as arduino, ramps, sensors, etc were bought from aliexpress and are very common items.
Finally the best thing is that the printer can me modified, adding new functionalities, like building a new carriage for supporting a laser engraver, the same with a mini drill for milling, etc
Github
krotos3d/Marlin/src at master ยท cumal/krotos3d (github.com)
Here you have the repository where I saved the documents about my printer.
