After many life changes, from when I decided I wanted to build a Herculien, the time is finally here. I have bought and sold two houses. I have divorced and been single and am now remarried. I have changed and added jobs and titles, moved many states away from where and when I decided I wanted a ginormous scale printer. I have added and thrown away complete hobbies… So now, after literal YEARS of floundering and wishing, I am now, at last, beginning my build of the Herculien.
Great to see it moving along. Don’t want to rush these things
Joking aside, I am happy to see another printer begin its life. Let me know of anything I can do to help. It’s been a long time since I updated the project. So if you make any changes that seem important, or once you get configurations setup based on modern firmware, I would love to push them to the github.
Holy schnikeys but this thing is big.
It’s taking me awhile, because life, but I am making progress. This frame is solidly designed and I’m excited about the quality that’ll impart to my prints. I hope to mod in the future, but I’m finally building a stock Herculien. Solid platform, Eric.
Every time I post a progress photo, I jinx myself. Usually another year goes by. 6 years, I think, is when i started this thing. I still think this is an awesome large format design and I see great things for it. Just gotta stay the course! Consequence of having too many hobbies, I suppose.
So- long read ahead with random musings: my apologies.Tightening the belts is an interesting time, eh? When I decided to use the low profile cross gantry parts, I didn’t realize how close my tolerances would need to be. I’ve got a delta printer, which is fast, but not altogether dimensionally accurate and I’ve got a resin printer with the same issue. Finally got the resin printer dialed in enough with some engineering goo to get the correct tooth profile strong enough to grip the belts for tightening and no pull-out. More of a delicate balance, I suppose, because I never enclosed my delta, so all my parts are a mixture of PLA or resin. My plan is to print everything again on the herculien out of PETG or ABS, that way I can have a machine that’s not only dimensionally accurate, but also heat resistant. A printer this big, I may want to print nylon down the line. Lol, “Printer, print thyself”.
It may have something to do with the amount of tightening I’m doing too. I’m tightening enough so I can pluck the belts and tension them accurately to each other by sound and I wonder if it’s too much. Not Picollo tight, more like a tuba, I guess.
My question here for you guys is what’s your range for tightness and how are you ensuring repeatability on both axes without binding? I learned that the pulleys definitely need to be loose while tightening, but what are some other tips, if any?
Start out with them not overly tight. I used to run crazy tight belts… But found i could be run substantially looser with similar accuracy and acceleration. You can always add tension as things break in.
Well, I saw this video and it helped me out a lot. I watched it before, years ago, but it has pertinance at this stage. I’ve got the belts all tensioned equally, and even though they needn’t be SUPER tight, they’ve been tuned by ear, nonetheless. I’m sure they’ll wear in to a lower, more natural tension down the road. Eric- I know you were looking forward to where i planned to take your design, current technology-wise, but for now, I spent very good money on an Asteeg 5 and a Viki 2. I know smoothieware might be in a v2 iteration, but I’m excited to deal with the simplicity I have in my hands. In the future, I feel this size printer is ripe for possibilities in tool-head changing, but for the time being, I’m just excited to use a v6 and a volcano. The Herculien is super solid, and I love how it’s a nearly over-engineered platform, because any modifications I make in the future will not detract from its bulletproof-ness. In the future, I think Duet will probably be the way to go, but for now, I’m going the Lien Herculien route. It’s not out of any reverence(although let’s give credit where credit is due), it’s out of respect for a starting point that I can grow and learn from. That’s the most significant commodity, to me. Learning. Learning from others’ viewpoints and design intent. Learning from others’ failures and triumphs.
Anyhow, here’s the most recent picture. I found a magnetic PEI coated build plate that was the exact dimensions of the heat spreader, so no glass for now. I built a stand with wheels. Because my shop is small, EVERYTHING gets wheels. It is a great help when every single large piece of equipment can be moved to a different spot, depending on the project. Really helps with cleaning up chips and dust from various material, too.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to note that the majority of the tasks needed for completion are now wiring and electronics. Great place to be, after all of this time.
Still working on this! Life gets in the way sometimes. Still making good inroads on wiring. I just want to do it right.
Hey, has anyone ever thought about just using double sided tape and any type of clear poly plastic film stuck to the outside to enclose these machines?
Mine is already enclosed, but if someone wanted to toy around with enclosing their rig, this is a cheap and temporary solution. Eustathios, herculien. Most of the works are already inside the frame already. Might work on a voron too.
