Ok can anyone give me some detail about the prusa i3? My question is can you make the table longer and or taller by adding longer motor guides? And re locating the switch of ither axis? I feel so dumb not knowing anything about this…as for the software I’m LOST I tried to make my own 3d build file I got close but I’m still lost… I’m wanting to take a 2D image and make it 3d … I don’t want to just use other people’s creations that’s not fun…
Essentially, yes. One of the advantages of the design is that you can simply make the bed longer to print larger objects.
Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that. You’ll need to source a bigger bed, for one. Plus change the machine size in the firmware/software. But all said and done, it isn’t too difficult.
mark i been using xbox 360 Supplys for ham radio for some years i have 4 ran in parallel with a potentiometer also convert the old ATX to supplys also. i just feel really stupid not knowing this stuff… i been fooling around with E-Drawings and AutoDesk123… any other good Converting software out there?? from 2D to 3D also is there anyway to Say Scan an image on a Scanner and then input it an save it as a STL or other 3D formats? maybe im just making this harder then it should be.
I’ll bet one of the trickier aspects of converting something like a Prusa clone to a longer bed is to find a longer bed that will be planar over the entire extended length. Everything I’ve seen about flat plates suggest that aluminum would be a good choice. If properly supported, I’d expect that 0.50 inch thick may be sufficient for a three foot length. Arbitrary dimensions of 12" x 36" x 1/2" for cast aluminum tooling plate:
https://www.midweststeelsupply.com/store/castaluminumplateatp5
results in a surprisingly good price of just under eighty american dollars.
Consider if you are going to use belts and bearings/bushings on rails, or lead screws of some form and determine the expense there, but your idea may be valid.
On the software side, something like Craftware (Simplify3d clone?) should be configurable to take in the long bed.
Regarding the question about a 2d drawing, there are quite a few solutions. I’ve used OpenSCAD, imported the image and used linear_extrude() to create a model, while other posts to the many forums suggest software such as TinkerCAD would work.
When you ask about scanning an image on a scanner, I’d guess you mean a flat drawing and my answer above applies there as well, although you may have to convert the drawing from bitmap (raster) to vector in order to import and extrude it. That stuff is easy and intuitive.
I think your long skinny 3d printer build project has merit and should be good fun. If you decide to buy a Prusa clone as the backbone, aim for one that uses metal frame, not acrylic. The acrylic ones are on the flexible side and you don’t need that with a thirty-six inch long bed!
To summarize other responses, sliding bed designs just don’t scale up well. There’s too much mass moving when you move the table that way, you either have to lower performance or accept lower quality parts, meaning ringing and loss of part definition. And your machine has to be twice as long as the bed length for working space. It can work, it can be done, I just cringe when I see people do that.
@Jeff_DeMaagd
I’ll bet that’s for sure. The aluminum plate I referenced weighs in at about 18 pounds. Getting a motor to move that at a reasonable speed without complications would be challenging.
Cool deal guys thank you for the input yes this is more a new fun thing I want to try I mean 180$ an print my own Christmas ornaments sure why not lol maybe make my next wife a plastic ring instead of real stones.
Just for the fun of 3d printing, you could get away with a steel frame Prusa clone. Christmas ornaments are a popular build and jewelry fits in the same category. If you find you have a talent for making jewelry, use burn-out filament, create a piece and have a local jeweler cast it into “the real thing” using gold, silver or even nickel. There’s a lot of pleasure in so many areas of 3d printing.