Parts arrived!

The long awaited pulleys and shoulder screws have arrived! These will form the basis for the H-gantry XY system. I chose to go with shoulder screws and toothed pulleys to reduce vibration and noise within the system.

I've also made the decision to switch from my current Wade's geared extruder to Airtripper's Bowden extruder v3 based on reports of excellent performance. Since the airtripper extruder is direct drive, its stepper motor will have high torque requirements--the creator recommends no less than 5.5kg-cm. Luckily the Kysan motors I have on hand are up to the task!

While reading about Airtripper's Bowden extruder, I came across an interesting comparison of the direct drive gears. Definitely worth a read if you're considering a direct drive extruder!

3D Printer Buildlog #2

Progress continues! The frame has been completely welded, drilled, tapped, and primed. Getting everything square and aligned as no easy task, but the effort appears to have paid off! The linear rails were installed for test fitting and they slide smoothly. Application of a light oil should make things even better.

 

While working on the frame I also filled out some more of the design details. This included the design of a new hotend mount such that the hotend could be mounted to the small linear slide. It's based in part off of the E3D bowden mount I had designed for my Printrbot LC. However, this version can fit TWO E3D hotends side-by-side for dual printing. I'm still not fully satisfied by the design and may revisit it later to add wire routing options as well as adding a mount point for an auto leveling probe.

 



Moving forward, there's still quite a bit of work. I've already purchased the last of the "hard to get" materials, which should arrive by next week. My next goal is to get the H-gantry operating. Before that can fully happen, I need to build up some of the external shell. This includes a base below the printer for the electronics to hide in, the side paneling, and the motor mounts. Once the H-gantry works I just have to get the Z axis built, and then the major mechanics are finished!