It is pla, going to do a few more test prints to get it dialed in more. What is an acceptable deviation on PLA, or should it be spot on?

 

Thanks keith, that was my next question if the config file only used whole numbers, or if decimals worked. That cube was with .3 layer heights. Have been printing a few more and have tweaked to get better results. I will print another cube or two to get closer to size, but i am within .1 right now.

I am running a 20 tooth on the motor and 40 tooth on the rods for the z axis, to give me a 2:1 drive.

 

Thanks for everything Keith. I just bought a load of wire so i can ditch most of the 16ga that i used from the home store, it is a little large for most of the printer parts. Also designing a pcb holder to integrate into the case. Should be able to wire it pretty cleanly after that. I think i am sitting right at $1000 right now all in, maybe a little bit more.

Will be down for a couple of days now, got a clog in my extruded and managed to break the barrel or whatever it is called between the heating block and the body. Ordered some spares and a 2nd extruder to have a spare on hand.

I have actually been quite amazed with the quality of prints that it has been churning out with some of the ghetto rigging i have done to get it working to start. It is difficult to get a printer going without having one to start with. Attached are a couple pictures of an end stop bracket for my Y axis. Printed at a .2 layer height at 60mm/s w/ 80mm/s infill and 200mm/s moves. There is still much improvement to be made, but i am satisfied with it for now.

Few more items on the list to design and print. Endstop brackets, extruder mount w/ fans, belt tensioner (probably the most important, getting some skipping if I excede 200mm/s moves, which I should probably just be happy with moves that fast).

 

Sorry it has been so long since updating. Have been working a ton and had some downtime due to broken parts. Got it working again today.

Adam the rattling you were hearing was the shroud for the fan on my extruder. Also i am using a 1810mm belt. It is part 6R51M905060 from http://www.sdp-si.com

I have made quite a few modifications in solidworks that i need to get printed out. Once i figure out if all of those work i will try to export it all.

 

Quite a few updates since my last post. I got it all working with off the shelf parts, but was not satisfied with the quality of prints that i was getting and the reliability of the machine. I have spent quite a bit of time designing and printing new parts to replace the bought ones. So it is possible and with enough tweaking i'm sure it would create great quality prints.

I did not achieve my desired print volume for many reasons (knew during the design phase it was probably not going to happen). I am sitting at 330x310x350 currently. With a little more to tweak in X & Y with some new part designs eventually. But i am happy with it for now. I also decided to locate my spool inside the cube so that is a limiting factor now (could pick up 30mm with a change in that immediately) but i like it in there and it works well.

I started with a bowden setup but was very disapointed with the leaking and over extrusion (had 700mm of tube). For this size of printer it just didn't work. I tried up to 10mm of retraction with not much gain in print quality. So i decided to sacrifice some speed for a better print quality and went direct drive. I am trying a couple different sizes of motors to find the happy medium between weight and torque. Using one that is only 20mm thick right now (13in/lb), it works most of the time but there are some skipped steps. Have a slightly larger one on the way.

I also added some print bite and it is hands down the best modification i have made to the printer so far. ABS is now extremely easy to print with (with no warping).

I have attached a zip file with all of the parts in solidworks along with the .igs that you requested sonya. Let me know if they don't work for some reason. One change i have made that is not reflected in the CAD files is there are 4 wheels on all of the gantry plates. I tried 3 on the Y gantry, but was getting some twisting in the gantry (some was caused by a bad tensioner design that has been redone). But, i did add 4 wheels before that and it fixed the problem.

Added a few pictures below of its current state.

Jezter, funny you bring that up. I did have my Z drive belt break a couple weeks back so i had to replace it. It was fairly simple, removed the front 2 bed bolts and like David said lift up the pillow blocks and slide it under. But after doing that, i will be designing some mounts for the lower pillow blocks so that the pulley will be located on the bottom. Making belt changes much easier by only having the remove the bolts on the front of the bed.

Next is to add the plexi enclosure, i will be doing that soon. Otherwise i run it several hours most days and it works very well. Have put close to 3 rolls of filament through it so far.

Still have not been able to sit down and put together a BOM but it is on my to do list.