Outfit 3D Printer

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Outfit 3D Printer

Postby iamwill » Sat Nov 30, 2013 6:06 am

Well, I am in a awkward position where I now find myself living in a tower in Japan and no longer have a garage to work on the laser cutter. Luckily, I haven't purchased and of the electronics (controllers, laser, power supply, etc). I have all of the framing, motors, bolts, nuts, etc.. I have already assembled the frame and have the pulley's and motors in place. This is where my crossroads is...

I want to build both a laser cutter and a 3D printer, but since I am not able to work on the laser at this time (working with everything indoors with 2 kids doesn't sound safe or fun, and exhausting fumes isn't going to be an easy task), I was going to use the frame of Bart's laser to outfit everything for a 3D printer. (temporary until I get back to the states and can continue the building of the laser. In this case, I can take the RAMPS controller card out and build my 3D printer using it).

My question is: Can I just get a RAMPS kit, mount the heat bed and configure the 3D printer to operate in the Buildlog laser cutter frame?

I know there are going to be some modifications that I will need to make, overall, I can't see this being an awkward project... just a big frame for a 3D printer. I can install limit switches so that the X and Y axis don't shift past the heatbed.

Just a thought, and wanted to make sure that I don't overlook anything.
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Re: Outfit 3D Printer

Postby TLHarrell » Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:43 pm

Crossing purposes of machines isn't usually a good idea.

Laser:
X Axis: extremely fast and lightweight
Y Axis: moderate speed
Z Axis: low accuracy, low resolution lift platform, may shift around when adjusting

3D Printer:
X Axis: fast, able to carry extruder and motor(s)
Y Axis: fast
Z Axis: high accuracy, high resolution, low tolerance of shifting around

Some of these variables will be ok, some will become a massive headache. This is only considering the mechanical part of it. The electronics and how to route wiring and everything around the machine will also be a lot different than the laser.
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Re: Outfit 3D Printer

Postby mattrsch » Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:00 pm

The major problem you will see is in the Z travel. The 2.x has no provisions to maintain a straight up and down lifting motion. It is probably sufficiently accurate in the z direction, but the x-y wobble as it transverses up and down is substantial as designed. This isn't a problem for the laser since the table doesn't move during cutting operations, but it would make for some pretty ugly prints if you don't constrain it a little better.

The effective gearing on a 2.x for X and Y are the same as on an ORD bot, so you should be fine there. I would assume Y is heavier than the ORD bot though, so you may need to limit the acceleration somewhat.
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Re: Outfit 3D Printer

Postby iamwill » Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:48 am

Thanks guys. I will look into building ORDbot or purchasing an open source solution. I appreciate the help.
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