I found the v-slot system recently and watched a lot of the videos posted on youtube. The belt and pinion system looked really slick and it got me wondering if it would work for the vertical system of a Delta printer. Is the weight of the drive motor too much to maintain accuracy? Most machines use a pretty small shuttle attached to a belt or line but the pinion system looks more positive to me if it can maintain position with the added. weight. I don't know much about the subject but have been gathering all the information I can. Thanks for any input.
I think the main concern would be how to stop the assembly from falling when power or motor control stops. With the motors enabled and right nema size I couldn't see any issues and feel you would get greater control compared to a floppy belt driving a sled. I am green to 3D printing so really this is just my 2cents I do like the look of the Delta style printers but still have not made up my mind
Don't build a delta as your first 3D printer. They do look cool though My understanding is that you need a whole mess of custom 3D printed parts... carbon fiber rods, super-tough string, etc. But yeah actually with a v-slot you could have integrated supports with the wheels and belts all on the same piece. You're onto something there. I don't think the weight of a 3D print-head is significant when suspended by 3 belts so it wouldn't stretch much. I don't think it would be wise to attach the motor to the carriage and have it lifting it's own weight.
Agreed about the first printers. I've been looking for a while and form the sounds of things delta's are a lot harder to trouble shoot. But yeah, they are very intreaging. The weight of the motor, since it has to move up and down, is very possibly an issue but I had never seen the belt and pinion set up and I thought it looked very slick. I had kinda put building my own printer out of my head but the v-slot product and all the attachments have me re-considering. All of the printers in my price range are still rather fiddly and if I did it myself and had problems I've not one else to blame.
Ya, I have been thinkin' about the same idea too. Seeing the slickness of the vslot belt & pinion system, would it be possible to build up a 3D printer - similar in design of the Printrbot Simple or Printrbot Plus. (www.printrbot.com) and all its related electronics, with minimal printed plastic pieces, except for the extruder mounts. I think the NEMA should be able to handle the weight, since the belt system riding on the vslots are so smooth. Am new to the whole world of 3D printing... waiting for my Printrbot Simple kit to arrive & start work on it. Anyone up for the challenge to design a slick vslot belt&pinion version ? ;-)
I don't see any reason it wouldn't work with a standard style printer. The weight issue is in theory still present but in a different way. What ever axis you put the extruder on will have double the weight since, more or less, instead of just the stepper for the extruder moving (as in the simple) you also have stepper for that axis attached to it. That is a lot of mass to try and stop so it may add wobble to the print or be limited to a very slow prints speed (speed being a low priority in my book but is something other strive for). I think it would need to be less of a printrbot style and more of purisa i3 type. The simple already has some issues with sag when the extruder is fully extended on its arm. Definitely worth playing around with though. I think you can pretty much build a 3d printer with belts and vslot from openbuilds and from what I've been looking at. The bukito 3d printer basicly did just that but useses an alternate belt system.
