Bienvenue à OpenBuilds. À noter que la grande majorité des conversations sont en anglais, mais il y a quelques francophones de cachés ici et la. Bonne année 2015 !
Welcome to OpenBuilds @gerard989 Nice job on the 3D printed plates. Looking forward to seeing them in action.
Wow! That will be great if it works. You will set bells ringing in the CNC world. I don't know anything about 3D printing really, so have no idea of the strength of the model, however, if there is a possibility of it flexing, then may I suggest, if possible, the insertion, or inclusion, of some thin stainless still rods running from top to bottom. Obviously where they won't be in the way. Just a thought. Gray
Don't go overboard, it is a simple machine, it will not be as strong as a conventional CNC but for a start it will satisfy me. I just ordered the wheels and rails, the tests will not happen before January. I have plenty of time to model the Z axis for the motor mount and attach the lead screw.
Not to go off on a tangent, how does one program an inclusion in a 3D printer ? The bars would have to lay flat and not stick out more than a layer (that's thin as heck, no ?) so they won't get in way of printer's head. Or can one program the printer to go around obstacles ? If so, would one print a 'gutter' (probably half the depth of inclusion to drop or snap it in without messing up alignment) and then carefully print around and over it to eventually 'swallow' it whole ? As it relates to CNC routing/milling - showing I'm still green, how would one also control the generated g-code to mill/route things in a specific order ? The latest release of SketchUcam mentions using layering and ordering them as needed to work areas with 'specific' tool. I'll have to play with this ability and the generation of 3D g-code soon enough. Off to my build/resource, so I don't "pollute" this build with my learning. I guess one would have a program generate in segments and manually link them for finished g-code before sending to his/her machine to mill, router or 3D print accordingly ... Easier said then done (for me at this stage).
You know me Serge, always off on a "tangent", was off on one just before Christmas, weather was good! Like I said, I know nothing as far as 3D printing goes, and I'm sure anything I may suggest, has already been tried and tested long ago by smart 3D guys. Saying that, how about laminating, thin sheets of aluminium, with lots of slots in them, layered in a 3D printed gantry plate. Is it possible, and would that increase strength? Probably Bovine Scatology, but just a thought. Gray
Is that just like an expression to refer to a bicycle or a motorcycle (using tangential wheels, blabla ...) or are you riding one of these on those sunny days : As for the aluminum (or anything else) strengthened 3D printing, anything is possible. It's more a question of being worth the trouble ... errr ... effort, or, more important, the cost. It would be a good way to get rid of the scrap metal though : bury it in 3D printed parts. Maybe just use the carbon fibre laced filament from Proto-Pasta (see KickStarter here). Only 144$us for a 2 kg spool of 1.75 mm, plus shipping (about, what, 4x cost of regular filament?) with a dual extruder or filament swapping while printing, strategic use of the 'CF' filament should add strength where needed (?) Proto-Pasta is also about to come out with a stainless steel laced filament ... Some say 2015 will be the year for all that is 3D printing. But are we now leaning to 3D printing specifics (or theories) rather than a CNC router/mill build ...
Have you seen the more recent filaments, some with likes of 20% carbon fiber ? Should help make the 3D printed parts much stronger/resistant. Although the cost might climb ...
I don't know, because the only plastic that I tried is ABS, not even the PLA. But considering the price of the carbon fiber, there is also the nylon that I will try later, it requires a higher heating temperature. I will publish the plans that have been modeled with OpenSCAD. The plates are parameterizable and they have by default 8mm thick. I printed a plate for a test with only 40% of ABS plastic filling and it seems pretty stiff. Gerard.
I think someone had mentioned at one point, somewhere, maybe not here in OB forums, to make sure to have edges, including that of holes and any other openings, be made extra thick (more 'fill') while the rest can be 'lighter'. (How many commas can one have in one sentence ?!) Then again, I should take a peak at your design as you might already have done that given the 'pretty stiff' results. Just a passing thought ...