I’m working on building a fairly large printer that will have a print area of 12in x 12in x 18in. I was wondering if anyone had any draw backs to having such a large printer besides very long prints for larger objects. The frame I have here is 27 inches tall and about 18 inches square. I plan to add some top and bottom support bars to help with it wiggling.
If it’s the Ingentis/Ultimaker style, no big downsides I can see! You’re not going so big as to need a 12mm rod upgrade. As far as the wiggling you’re worried about, I don’t see it happening in such a scale that it’s going to really screw things up.
Any warping of the frame will result in prints that aren’t true about halfway through the print. The long side would be most susceptible, so it’s good to have that be the vertical axis.
Ya i was going with a 8mm smooth rod still. It will be kind of like a ingentis but I’m changing some stuff. Also trying to minimize the number of plastic parts i have on the printer
Ya @Gene_Jordan_GeekTink
I can see what your saying maybe think of a way to put some cross beams in or something
You’re doing the same thing I’m doing…My frame’s dimensions are 26Hx17x18.5, Partially due to a math error, partially due to a science experiment.
Nice @Mike_Miller
I’m building my printer backwards in solidworks with the size of print area that i want. Ive been modeling up all my parts so that i hopefully don’t miss anything and get the right print area that i want
Don’t use 8mm on anything spanning more than 9 or so inches. It will sag, and you won’t be happy about it.
Crud i already bought some gears and bearings that are 8mm hmmm have to think about this one now
It might be OK for now, but the spans we’re using them at already are a bit overkill. If you’re looking at a 18 inch span where the rods are supported, there will likely be issues.
I’m not in final design yet the frame i made is a little over kill while i figure out the rest of the parts. My bed is only 12 inches so Ill try and make span closer to the bed size thanks for the input @ThantiK
If you’re using at least 20mm extrusions, you should be fine at that size.
I built an XY stage about that size out of 15mm open beam and it was difficult to get it rigid enough.
Cost prohibited maybe…unless u have lots of cash to blow along with 3d material usage if the plan is to make large items that is why u only see desktop size kits and products…dashboards and engines are still expensive rapid prototypes… it looks to be a fun project just do it have fun exploring.
If you already have 8mm bore parts, you could get 10mm shafts turned down to 8mm at the ends.
@Jerkimer_James not particularly cost prohibitive; linear shafts belts and extrusions are the only things that get bigger really and they are all cheap apart from a 300mm square heat pad that will set you back 30-40 bucks.
Love the frame layout. especially the way you square the top and bottom
errm, you should add “X” cross struts to the frame. it stops the wobbling. or if you have thin plywood, that will do as well, panel up the sides, top n bottom. front is open for access. front corners add in “triangular” piece to stiffen
@3roomlab has a very good point. Enclosing the frame will stiffen it up incredibly.
@D_Rob yep. Looks like a good frame design learned it from someone very experienced
@3roomlab and @ThantiK I have been thinking about making it a closed system was thinking about using some lexan so i could still see in.
Please consider 12mm rods, they are way better than 8mm in precision, saggyness etc, they are not as expensive as people may think if you search ebay or other Chinese online shops (alibaba etc), the 12mm bearings also seem to fit much tighter than 8mm ones too. I am just finishing an upgrade to a Rostock to 12mm rods and the difference is worth every penny