The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #75, on January 21st, 2013, 08:51 AM »
Quote from Jeff Nading on January 21st, 2013, 06:43 AM
Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on January 20th, 2013, 09:44 PM
Quote
I'm liking the LCD and remote SD card idea.:cool:  Im not sure on the endstops, i think it would only stop the one axis from going any further during a print.  Are you using Marlin for your sketch?  That is what I plan on switching to.

Nate
yes Marlin. but the delta hacked version... lol
Quote
Russ, the end stops are just for each individual stepper, one will not shut the machine down or stop the other steppers. All the end stops are for is to give the software a reference as to a home position and a starting point. To, be careful with the stepper drives, not connected to the steppers they could burn out really quick. So it would be best to have everything connected before you power anything up.
I thought about it.. lol but decided to go for it anyway... i think it will be ok...

on the end stops. if one is hit while its running what happens? ( homing yes. that i know) stops just that drive and it crashes or what?

 i want a "stop all" switch for the bed... so i will need to configure something i guess... ( i could series all the end stops together i guess)
Russ, where ever the home switch/end stop switch/opto/hall effect [same] is located, is where the stepper will travel for home position, the steppers will not touch that end stop again unless you tell it to go to home position in the control software, each stepper will need to see a home position, first is x then y then z, these connections go directly into the ramps board and cannot be wired in series. You would need three separate/more switches wired in series for a kill /emergency stop switch system, connected to interrupted main power feed. Normally there would be just one switch used for this function and it's just a manual over ride, which the operator would have to trip.  The end stops would be mounted stationary, so there is no possibility of the mechanism hitting a stop switch while printing, If the endstop is moving then it will never find proper home position. I would wire the printer using the wiring diagram i sent you. then you will be fine.:D
Ok yeah, that's what I thought. I will figure something out... We got the source code... ;)

Thanks, ~Russ

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #76, on February 2nd, 2013, 04:15 AM »Last edited on February 2nd, 2013, 04:47 AM by ~Russ/Rwg42985
alright well with the craziness and the no sleep i maned to get Farly far.

starting where we left off... lets go with the extrude motor... everything worked well. along with the extended shaft... some photos:

[attachment=3150]
[attachment=3151]
[attachment=3152]
[attachment=3153]
[attachment=3154]
[attachment=3155]

now.. lets jump to me end stops...

here is the deal... the new software dose not call for end stops at the bottom... but... i had a way around it so both directions would trip the same end stop... :)

so here is the small plastic parts that hold the magnets... its too bad i havd to make these... could have just printed them :)

this is the start piece before i cut it. but after i made the slots

[attachment=3156]

here are the parts cut and hols drilled
[attachment=3157]
[attachment=3158]


with magnets:
[attachment=3159]
[attachment=3160]
are you getting it yet???

let me give you a clue:

[attachment=3161]

not yet?

ok lets move on to the end stops...

i had extra so i just used it to make the holders: ( to bad i could not just print it out... :( )

here is the parts:
[attachment=3162]
[attachment=3163]
[attachment=3164]

you can see the groves i cut for the magnet holder worked well for the solder points sticking out...

[attachment=3165]

and all put together

[attachment=3166]
yeah now do you get how the end stops work? no? OK lets move on...

here is the end stops all the way down...

[attachment=3167]

and all the way up ( home)

[attachment=3168]

yep that's right... seance its attached to the belt it can stop ether direction... :) yeah using that hat rack... :)

the small slots fit in the slot of the belt so the zipties just hold it on the belt and the slots hold it from slipping around...

ok now what...

lets move on to the belt tension. first yes those ends don't tighten down i can not even get the belts tight with no movement... lo0l keep braking the ends off like this :
3 so far...

[attachment=3169]
and this:
[attachment=3170]

yeah i ended up drilling holes in the brackets on all of them so if any more brake Ziptie it is...

i took the top and end effector ( with bearings)  off completely as i had to put on my belt tension device...

now i started to build these things that held the 2 bases apart... so it was more crap in the way till i had a crazy idea... so simple so simple... spend days and hrs trying to make and install some other crap till...:

[attachment=3171]
[attachment=3172]

yeah easy as that... lol oh well KISS and i was KISSING my tail in circles... wish i would have installed them before i put the ends on but oh well... more braking the top brackets when i took it off...

so that's finished...

now off to the heated bed...

at first i wanted to put end stops... ( head crash)  but changed my mined.  i did however make this and the switches would have been under the base. the bottom bolt would push down if the bed was hit. but very sensitive switches would have been needed... so i decided that i would add it later if i wanted it... so hope it don't crash...

here is the first installment:
i happen to have these threaded 3M things i took out of hard dives... ( i keep everything!!!!)
[attachment=3173]

used the lathe to cut off the one extended side: (top)
[attachment=3174]

and the bottom one i trilled out to act like a bushing... so the bolt could push down if the head crashed...

[attachment=3175]
[attachment=3176]

it worked well when the "head"  would hit anywhere.. all switches would have been at each bolt ( 4 total) any switch would detect the head crash...

but scraped the idea... lol

and here is the finial result:
[attachment=3177]

the middle bushing is threaded and the top also so i can level the bed... by turning the bushing... and tightening the top screw:


[attachment=3178]
[attachment=3179]

you can see its extremely straight and has some support as the bushings are about 1/2" or more round...:

[attachment=3180]

you may be asking what the clear plate is... its plastic. i wanted to keep the heat off the base plate. so i have a fan under the plate in the base that will keep the plastic cool and the air in the middle will act as a insulator... :)

the base looks like this:
[attachment=3182]

took those end stop parts, cut them up...  and im going to use them to keep the linear slide rails straight... i found out that this will take most of the vibrations away. its a 3 point system now... so its fairly sturdy.

[attachment=3183]

maid 3 vertical plates and a third base to make the bottom and this is where the electronics will be...

[attachment=3184]
[attachment=3186]

here is with out the heat bed...
[attachment=3185]

i will post more a another day... more to show no time to post it...

:) ~Russ

Jeff Nading

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #77, on February 2nd, 2013, 05:18 AM »
That's what I like to see, innovation, ingenuity and just plain common since. Very good Russ, I think you have a home run with that base plate, he he.:cool::D:P  

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #82, on February 3rd, 2013, 06:08 AM »
Quote from firepinto on February 3rd, 2013, 05:15 AM
Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on February 3rd, 2013, 04:11 AM
Quote from Dog-One on February 3rd, 2013, 12:17 AM
I still have to wonder what it is he has in mind to print.  That thing looks like you print decorative lamps with it being so tall.
Ah Man, now they know what I'm up to. Lol " Russ's decorative lamps shop" lol

~Russ
Each with a built in EPG. :D
Hahaha

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #83, on February 10th, 2013, 02:25 AM »Last edited on February 10th, 2013, 02:38 AM by ~Russ/Rwg42985
well... where did we leave off...

lets see. i guess the ramps...

mounding the ramps/ arduino:

as normal i was able to find some small stand off's and some old rubber things i cut to make washers to keep things from shorting... :

[attachment=3226]
[attachment=3227]

i did clip the extended pins off in one spot... was afraid of them hitting... :

[attachment=3228]

and mounted:

[attachment=3229]
worked well just happen to find some bolts just the right size with the washers i made... ( old hard drive parts...)

now for the LCD Display.  this is also the user interface and SD card reader slot...

some plastic brackets I milled... man i would love to have just printed theses...  

[attachment=3230]

test fit:

[attachment=3231]

mounts:

[attachment=3232]

mounted:

[attachment=3233]

SD card access...

[attachment=3234]
[attachment=3235]

and LCD all done:

[attachment=3236]

well... it looks like we are ready for the power supply.
now I'm not using all the extra stuff on theses motors but i did add a lot of fans so after looking at the 20 or so computers i have laying around... i found this one:

[attachment=3237]

here are the specs:
[attachment=3238]

that's:
12v 16A
5V 15A

This is a little 280W PS and it really cranks out the amps... all the rest of the supply's i was going to use were under 9A on the 12v side... and there were a lot bigger...

so i know from past experience that pin 14 will get you a power on when shorted to ground...

one of my old videos:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Qb5ZmekNM

 so...

[attachment=3239]
cutt that bugger off!!

and you bet... Custom... off with the rest of those useless wires... ! lol

[attachment=3240]

all i had was some snips at the moment so...:

[attachment=3241]

now i calculated the amperage required for the wiresize and came up with:

10AWG for the 11A side ( rated for 15 amps max)
and 14AWG for the 5A side.
those are both 12V

now if you dont know, you can run most any 12V PC fan under voltage so a good 5V makes for a good fan speed to keep things cool with out the crazy WHAAAAAAAA max fan speed...

so the 5V side was also 14AWG...

here you can see the RE-Wire. there is also an extra ground and free wire for the Power supply on switch...

[attachment=3242]

so 10WAG 12V +&-
14AWG 12V +&-
14AWG 5V +&-
and Ground and power on wire 16AWG...

This was a newer dell and there all "quick change" so there is no mounting and i forgot to drill holes when i had it apart... so i used the old slots s a bolt holder:

[attachment=3243]

i did cut a small slot in the bolt to get it to fit... but this way it did not turn either...
i counter sunk the holes on the other side and mounted it on...

[attachment=3244]

so in the last photo you can see the fans all plunged in...  for the fans i made a terminal  strip and 2 places for hard wires...

[attachment=3245]
[attachment=3246]

and plugged all the fans in... those ribbon cables are for the LCD and card reader... there just tucked under the terminal strip. the strip is mounted on stand offs as well...

[attachment=3247]

ok... wow now where getting some where!!!

oh how about this fan... this is not a cooling fan but a cooler fan... must be fun to be so cool... lol :

[attachment=3248]

oh, so i mounted the extruded on the bottom side... kinda an odd place but it fits well...

[attachment=3249]

the feed tube just goes up the base.

[attachment=3250]

i will make a guide to get the plastic down there. will end up mounting the plastic spool on the back... on the upright...

got the LCD and power to the Ramps board... it was a bit of a challenge to get those wires in those tinny spots but i did not trim anything off. the 10AWG wire did fit...  :

[attachment=3252]

oh and i could not wait to power this thing on and here how loud the fans are so holding the wires together.. :

[attachment=3251]
fans were just the right speed... could not hear them run but a lot of air moving...
Don't forget i already downloaded the software so its alive with an Err! lol :

[attachment=3253]

Then i added a power switch:

[attachment=3254]

I used a 75ohm resister and the 5V rail to power the LED.

so now what... well i wanted to make the entire thing so i could take the bottom base off and get to the wires so here is the base. and the base is a table... lol i had got a bunch of them from my past employer... i did not have any wood big enough that was flat enough so ... i cut up a table. lol here is the base with out the "sides". you can see the old side table strips on top... i pulled them off the cut up table...

[attachment=3255]

so my dad is the master at wood working... so he had the formica glue.. i gave it to him and he fixed me up...

[attachment=3256]

now that's pro baby!

[attachment=3257]

so its a little mini table complete with sides and all... lol this will keep it all nice and stuff... thanks dad! your the best!

well there is more... lets post that next... this one is getting long...

~Russ

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #84, on February 10th, 2013, 03:13 AM »Last edited on February 10th, 2013, 03:28 AM by ~Russ/Rwg42985
continuing on...

back to the hot end... i stated in the past that i had some ideas to cool the hot end... here is what i came up with...

theses are the pieces i had made along with the other bracket i had made that holds the hot end.

[attachment=3258]

this was a brass fitting... i cut the end off and cut a slot for the wires to come through.  
[attachment=3259]

here is some new holes in the top plate i cut for the new brass part i made.:

[attachment=3260]

and it fits like this:

[attachment=3281]

now you may be asking whats up with that.. well it acts as 2 things. one the pipe threads act as cooling fins. and the space between acts as an insulator to keep the hot end at a steady temp but still allowing the rest of the stiff to be cooled...:

you can see its not touching the brass fitting...

[attachment=3261]

and the new AL standoffs...

[attachment=3262]

ok... good job Russ but whats going to cool this thing? well this:

[attachment=3263]

ok but what is that? lol

its this:
[attachment=3264]

lol that's a 3/8 copper line i cut down the middle and formed to fit over the brass fitting "fins"

after i formed it and sliver soldered it to the fitting it looked like this:

[attachment=3265]
[attachment=3267]
[attachment=3266]
[attachment=3268]

still don't understand... this may help:

[attachment=3269]

yep that's a mini squirrel cage fan... with a custom exit port...
[attachment=3270]

this came out of a different PS from a slim Dell PC... :)
some specs:

[attachment=3271]

still don't get it?

ok ok... here check it:

hot end installed...

[attachment=3274]
[attachment=3273]
[attachment=3272]

and here is the fan install:
[attachment=3275]

yep the black hose is hot end cooling... :)

[attachment=3276]

so this allowed me to get rid of the fan... did not want to mount it on the end...

 [attachment=3277]

lol

so instead of adding another fan for the extruder motor... i just decided to add a short copper line to get that extra air moving past the motor... looks kind of steam punk like! lol


[attachment=3279]
[attachment=3278]

good stuff... lol

now i will say that the black hose i used is extremely flexible but not quite enough... it wants to pull the hot end around... so i will need to find even a more flexible tube... that stuff is like extremely rubbery but i need like a rubber band type of hose... so that will be replaced some time.. but it works for now...

The air is not moving extremely fast but its just enough to keep moving air past the hot end insulator fitting... it should keep things just cool enough but with out a fan on the end... i don't think a fan would last long on there... it will be  whipping around fast!!! the fan is connected to 12v and it not extremely loud...

so here is as it stands... with its cool table top base and all... lol :

[attachment=3280]

its been a crazy adventure this far... and now I'm about 30 wires and 8 holes away from done..l :)

then testing can begin! yeah!!!!!

some soldering and heat shrink... motors, end stops, hot-end/hotplate and thermal's and I'm done!!  to bad I'm not home... i would have it done in a hart beat!! oh well that's working for a living is-int it...

so good by for a bit! more when its all complete!

~Russ


firepinto

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #85, on February 10th, 2013, 07:37 AM »
Awesome!  So many things I like I don't know where to start. lol The LCD mount is sweet!  If you really want more steam punk, wrap a coil of some copper tubing around that stepper motor and blow the air through it. :D  I'd definitely find a softer hose for the hot end cooling tube.  Any pulling on the extruder shows up in the print quality fairly easy.  

Hmm just had an idea, copper coil steam heated bed?... nahhh:D

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #91, on February 15th, 2013, 04:56 AM »Last edited on February 15th, 2013, 05:22 AM by ~Russ/Rwg42985
short and sweet update:

took me wires used a drill and wound them all up so i don't need to cover them... they stay where i put them...

looked like this:
[attachment=3294]

and after the wrap up... :
[attachment=3295]

could have used just a bit more in places... :

[attachment=3296]


NOTE on the end stops... i used some recycled fan leads for the end stops and the wires were not the same... make sure you look at the placemnt of the wores... the one on the left is what the fan was. i had to pop the leads out and make it match the ramps...: (could have been bad! lol)

[attachment=3297]

now.. at some point i will be covering up all the sides of this rig... so i wanted front access to the Arduino... so i used some recycled goods and made a short extension... the usb is just a cable and the usb-a is out of an old printer... :

[attachment=3298]

used a small copper piece to "clamp" the cord in place...

[attachment=3299]

cut a hole square... ( that was fun...) :

[attachment=3300]

installed:

[attachment=3301]

[attachment=3302]

[attachment=3303]

here is the wires as it is now... most all except hot end and thermal for it...  

[attachment=3304]

i did manage to get it going with a lot of playing around... had to set the endstops TRUE in the software as there backwards... i could not get my thermistors to work correctly... don't know why. so i changed the min to to 0 and went on... any ideas why its not working?? its correctly set for the type of thermistor im using... so i don't know whats up with that...

here is a clip:

[attachment=3305]

ok so i took off the hot ens to do some drawing... just with the prienterface with installed pin holder...

[attachment=3306]

with no calibration this thing is crazy on the spot... loving it!! it was nice and square too. i think my bed is not level yet so i need to do that. you can see the fading on the drawing...

[attachment=3307]

ok so i got to run... more later...

still work to do before its done but its working so far... lov it.! !!! !! !!! so excited! lol

~Russ

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #94, on February 20th, 2013, 12:26 AM »
Quote from Jeff Nading on February 15th, 2013, 07:03 AM
Very nice Russ, what firmware and software are you using?
hacked version of Marlin-deltabot.
 sketchup ( export to stl) ,kisslicer, and prenterface.

so far so good... it has a lot of slop in the joints... i will need to do something there... but even for that its working well. i guess... lol

~Russ



~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #96, on February 20th, 2013, 01:25 AM »Last edited on February 20th, 2013, 01:39 AM by ~Russ/Rwg42985
well I'm almost there now.

buildig the filament dispenser... "get yourself a real filament dispenser" lol  recommended by Nate... lol

here are some parts that hold the Teflon tube and guide the filament in to the extruder motor: ( love the tig welder at work... :) )

this is some 4M nuts and scrap stuff... i use a bearing as guide as it has nice polished tool steel and flows nicely.

[attachment=3326]
[attachment=3327]
[attachment=3328]

in my past days i collected a lot of label printing stuff... old stuff from label makers and dispensing machines...

so i used what i had to make a despising jig that would have a "clutch" after playing with stuff i decided to used a "slip clutch" witch is not really a clutch but rather just some friction on the spool via compression...

here's the set up ( again all recycled stuff...)

this is 2 aluminum plates, the plates already had the black slip on ring but i had to machine the inner AL parts and drill and tap them for set screws. there is a 1/2" SS shaft and some kind of slip on bushing made out of some type of plastic.... was from a label maker...

[attachment=3329]
[attachment=3330]
[attachment=3331]
[attachment=3332]

there is a shaft collar so the spool stays tight. i need to add a spring or something still to keep tension on the spool.

here you can see the "clutch" its some kind of felt or cloth. ( it came from the original label maker i took apart...)  

[attachment=3333]

i just rubs agenst the 2 AL plates to act as a clutch... simple and easy. just so the filament dose not un-spool...

[attachment=3334]

fits like this:

[attachment=3335]

after it is mounted:

[attachment=3336]
[attachment=3337]

the first guide is movable and can be adjusted as its just a shaft collar... installed on an extra 1/2" SS shaft...

[attachment=3338]
[attachment=3339]

i left it all shafts extra long so i can cut some off after i find out what types and kinds of filament spools i may be getting...

  I used some " elevator bolts" to hold the SS shafts on... this way on the other side there flat... no nut on that side. the shafts are taped...

looks good so far... missing bottom base in this photo...:

[attachment=3340]

i did however get to draw some stuff and test some stuff out. ran 2 print jobs with no filament or hotend to see how it would react.

however over time the one belt got really tight and was faulting the driver Bord... so after get it all set up with the hot end i will dry run it again... those drivers are touchy! i had to loosen the belt...

here is a drawing:

[attachment=3341]

this was fairly small...

and of coarse... i have got to make my wife something! lol

 [attachment=3342]

this was about 4" tall or so...

i did get some latex tubing and it will be my "air line" for the hot end... that stuff is supper flexible... :) photos of that later...

only thing left is the 4 wires going to the hot end, level the bed, fix the thermistors not reading correctly ( i think one was bad more testing needed after the hot end is installed), play with adjustments on the motor stepper drivers more, install small fan for ramps drivers. and finish small details.

i need to know how to calibrate the size of the object? lets say i want a 1" circle and it prints a 1.025" circle... how do i fix that??? i think it is where the gearing is ( in the program) ... but want to make sure...

ok last post will be final first print. :)

~Russ

~Russ

RE: The Adventure Of Building A Delta 3D Printer ~Russ
« Reply #98, on February 21st, 2013, 01:35 AM »
Quote from Dog-One on February 21st, 2013, 12:10 AM
Really looks good Russ.  Curious how many hours you have into its construction so far...?
to Manny but not near as Manny as i thought i would...  i bring small stuff to work and muck around when i can... but the rest i have been doing between organizing the basement... i would say i have had about 6-8 hrs a week for the last 6 weeks... i would have had it done in about 2 weeks if i had all the parts and time to work on it... lol have not had any time off work so its been hard to spend any time on it. family has been my priority lately... momma's ankle is still trashed. so its been hard on us all... praying it dose not get any worse... she is having a hard time... it was all purple and stuff last week and she did not even do anything... we have know idea whats wrong with it and the doc can only guess as we cant do xray's or other... not with that babby in there... :)

~Russ