December Update and Redirection of Build Plan

This will be a large update, mainly changes to the design and build:

• Controller board will be Smoothieboard 5XC with additional stepper drivers
• Why? Smoothieboard works with current reprap hosts, 3d printer G-code, has Delta auto-calibration, is in a single kit, and is very easy to configure without learning Linux
• This means I am no longer pursuing the Beaglebone Black - CRAMPS + CRAMP3 setup
• 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 will be the control panel
• This will replace the 9" resistive touch panel to control the board
• I can now use octoprint and print2peer etc to operate the machine
• As of now I'll need to wire up more stepper drivers to operate the 3d printer to use multiple filaments
• The E3D has problems with retracting out that far making clogging a huge issue because of stringiness, so I must combat that problems so only 2 extruders for now
• Belts will not run in the channel but rather behind the extrusions out of sight
• The extrusions now will be 2020 V-slot build or 2040 V-slot Wolfstock derivative

That's all for now!

3D Printer Update!

It's been a long time since an update, nearly a month. Lots of information to add:

Heated Chamber Printed Frame:

What do we want in a frame piece for a delta printer or rather any printer subjected to high heat?

- High glass transition Temperature

-High strength

-Low warp to keep our frame as accurate as possible

I've come across a few materials such as:

-ABS: It's strong, comes in various colors, higher Tg temperature at 100C usually, cheap, requires heated bed, can warp and crack if temperature isn't maintained, prints at ~230C

-Taulman Tritan: Also strong, comes in a clear color, new material, Tg rated at 110C, not very cheap for 1kg 

-Polycarbonate: One of the strongest materials available to FDM printing, used in bulletproofing applications, extremely hydroscopic and will be completely unprintable if left out even for 24 hours in a fairly humid environment, requires extremely high printing temperatures, 260C the lowest admissible print temperature @30mm/s. 100mm/s + requires 300+C temperature in an all metal hotend with a thermocouple, is only available in clear, and has the highest Tg of any material I've seen at 150C

-PC-ABS: An combination of ABS and PC to give you the positives of PC while trying to make it easier to print like ABS, Protopasta offers it in natural or black, in between cost of ABS and PC at $48 for 750g, can warp if not careful and is still very hydroscopic, but less so than pure PC. Has a Tg of 135C, prints at 260C-280C, requires an all metal hot end, but not a thermocouple

Also, PC, PC-ABS, and ABS also release significant fumes, PC and PC-ABS, in particular release a lot of fine particles in the air which can irritate respiratory tracts and eyes after a period of time.

Always printed in a ventilated area.

I personally, will probably use PC-ABS as it fits the my needs the most and I doubt my heated chamber will come even close to that Tg, but I believe it's better to over-engineer than engineer just enough.

PC-ABS is easier to print than pure PC, but offers very high glass transition temp @ 135C, is offered in black and is reasonable at $48 for 750g of filament

Heated Chamber Plan:

The plan is to print the frame pieces in ABS first and thus set up the Heated Chamber and then reprint all the frame pieces in PC-ABS if I see that the chamber temps get too high.

Some parts must be printed PC-ABS such as the Effector, the Hotend mount, the Heated Lamp cover and the X-bracing

I will use a STC-1000 controller (popular, and cheap temperature controller used in Homebrewing) to control the IR Lamp.

New Upgrades and Revision Updates

-Creating an addon board CRAMP3, for CRAMPS controller board which allows for 3 extra stepper drivers.

-6 total Extruders for multi-color, multi material printing

-STC-1000 Temperature Controller

-Nozzle cleaner (Toothbrush Bristles)

-Watercooled E3DV6 using a 25mm Water Jacket cooler made for R/C Boats

-9" Touchscreen mounted on the top face of the printer instead of the bottom

-Lego-base Spool Holder for 6 filaments spools

-Dual magnetic latches to hold onto the Polycarbonate Panels,

Auto-Calibration is not readily available in LinuxCNC and so I will hold off on using FSRs for Auto-calibration at this time.

Once I switch to LinuxCNC, Slic3r will be my slicer of choice due to the multi-extruder capability of Slic3r not available in other slicers such as Cura.

That's all for now!

Using ABS and PLA Supports

Short update for now:

I have been designing all of my parts and that has eaten up a lot of my time. More refinements as they come along.

I recently came across some data that has shown that PLA dissolves completely in NaOH. The example video recommended a ultrasonic cleaner at 60-80C. However, they start at around $300 dollars. Too pricey for me unfortunately, and unwieldy in size. I want to make my printer as multi-functional as possible.

I needed a heating element that could heat up a large beaker to at least 60C, and it dawned on me that my heated bed 400mm in diameter easily heats up past 110C which is more than enough. Next, I needed something that could agitate the solution and most commonly, chemistry labs use magnetic stirrers. From what I have researched in the D-I-Y community is that most people use computer fans connected up to a potentiometer. luckily enough, because my printer will be using a fan controller to control various fans, I can easily dedicate one to variably control my magnetic stirrer.

This opens many opportunities as I no longer have to rely on HIPS for soluble support and can use regular printing PLA. This increases the amount of colors I can use at any point in time and leaves prints extremely clean.

Will update the printer again very soon.

Progress Update #1

Progress Update on the MK-X:


          Instead of the Smoothieboard since it has not been available for sale for quite a while, I came across someone selling fully assembled CRAMPS board and so I was able to purchase one before he ran out. I will, thus be using LinuxCNC, with a BeagleBone Black Rev.C.

Major Revisions as follows:

• Toolheads:
• E3DV6
• L-Cheapo Laser Cutter
• Bowden Syringe Extruder (60mL Luer Lock Syringe)
• Dremel CNC tool
• Pen/Pencil Tool holder
• Triple-material Extruder through a single hotend
• 3x NEMA17 Stepper Motor, all using a gripstruder extruder
• 3x PTFE tubes all connect to a three-way manifold into a hotend
• Requires 6x total M5 Pushfits
• 3x M5 Pushfits will be connected into the ceiling of the Extruder
• Quick-release screw for the M5 pushfits so that the pushfits can remain strong to the manifold
• 3d printed purging Silo for transitions between filament changes
• Syringe Extruder
• Bowden connection piece with filament acting as a plunger
• Removing screw from Manifold and screws into Syringe Extruder for simplicity and maximize use of extruders
• Designing a triple syringe Extruder
• Onboard 3D Printer Controller
• CRAMPS V2.2
• BeagleBone Black Rev.C
• 6x DRV8825 Stepper Drivers
• 7" Resistive Touchscreen
• 7-port powered USB hub for wifi dongle, touchscreen driver connection, usb drives, Webcam, keyboard and mouse
• The entire controller will be outside of the build chamber
• NFC card built into the interface
• Using LinuxCNC "Gscreen" GUI
• L-Cheapo Laser Engraver
• A 2-watt laser attachment that is already purchased and can be used easily
• The creator only has a few leftovers, so I might have to make my own if he runs out
• Heated Enclosure
• 250 Watt Heater Lightbulb
• Lamp Socket Reflector with a 8ft cable
• Should be able to bring the Chamber up to 50C
• 400mm Round Boro Glass
• 400mm Round 12V Silicone Heater Bed from Aliexpress
• 20" x 36" Acrylic Panel for the front sealed with a rubber grommet upon closing
• magnetic latch to close the panel
• The other 2 sides will be covered with Foam Insulation, to insulate heat as well as sound
• The exterior will be covered in a matte black spray paint
• The Case Panels will help form the X-cross bracing and the MK-X Name

      The top portion of the printer will be an inverted pyramidal shape with the the lightbulb at it's peak. The M5 Pushfits will be attached to a 3d printed screw and that will screw into the ceiling. The top portion of the printer will have cork insulated walls to protect the dremel, and the Extruders. The Printer will hold 3 spools of filament at one time. On one side of the printer, there will be an activated carbon filter 140mm fan to filter the smells and vapors from the laser engraving as well as printing in ABS. The filaments will ride on a universal 608zz bearing spool holder to allow for different brands to mounted on very easily.

That's all for now!

Short Post today, been working on a 3D model of the prototype

Continued Progress on the MKX (project codename)

Reiterating the Tools available to the MKX:

• 3D printing Hotend (Jhead/E3DV6) 

•  Universal Paste Extruder - (Silicone, Chocolate, Frosting, Batter, Clay) 

•  Logitech C920 Webcam - (Serves to monitor prints via Octoprint, and as a 3D scanner)

•  Laser Engraver from DVD-RW computer Drive (Requires TO-18 5.6 laser diode case) 

•  Automated Putty Knife to remove finished prints. 

•  Pen/Pencil Holder

 On the Misumi 2020 frame, the vertical carriage will be 608 bearings inside of 608 Bearing Covers as well as the 608 for the vertical motion idler pulleys.

Controller board at this moment will be: Smoothieboard running Smoothieware.
I chose the X5 Smoothieboard because I require the 2nd extruder for the paste extrusion to push and retract the syringe. Smoothieboard seems much simpler than using Machinekit and LinuxCNC. It also can work with octoprint which is a must for me.

Speaking of Octoprint, I will use the beaglebone black to use Octoprint while offloading the Slicing from Cura to my private cloud as well as 3D photogrammetry. CloudScan and CloudSlicer. The BBB will require a usb hub to connect to the Smoothieboard as well as a wifi dongle.

I am still deciding the bed size, whether or not to use a mirror or a boroscillate glass sheet which are more expensive.

As a peripheral, Adding a LED ring underneath the base would be a nice addition to notify you of the temperature states.

That's all for now!

Automatic Tool Changer R&D

After doing some more R&D on the tool changing, perhaps there's a better way to change a toolhead than simply prying it off via plastic at the tool holder location, especially if the magnets are supposed to be strong to hold something as precise as a hotend. 

I came across a maglock and thought about its application here. Creating a fail-safe magnetic lock would be perfect for this situation(disengages when power is cut). 

At first, I thought a toroid with an air gap would work since its circular by design, but the magnetic field wouldn't apply very well here. 

So back to the basic, tried and true solenoid with a hollow (soft iron) core. As an example it would look like 

DGdo6.png

  
which should work. 

This would be located on the effector side. The effector would have the solenoid slightly recessed, with raised plastic notches every 5-10mm or so to help prevent rotational forces against the tool, specifically something as precise as the hotend. On the tool end side, there would be an evenly distributed pieces of metal to "lock" into the recesses. 

the basic magnetic force equation for a solenoid is: 

F = (N*I)2 μ0 A / (2 g2) 

N being # of turns of wire (will probably be 22-26 gauge wire) 
I = Current flowing through 
μ0 =  4π×10-7 
A = Area 
g = gap between core and wire 

I am not sure of the precise mathematical equation to deal with a hollow core material compared to that of a typical solid core, it is logically less permeable and therefore weaker. 

1.) I am unsure of any effects the magnetic field will have on the hot end as it will be in the direct center of it. I am using a jhead with a brass nozzle and ptfe. How that compares to something more complicated as having a E3D hotend which is (aluminum?) inside of a hollow iron core (target core material at this time due to low cost) is beyond my scope of E and M physics off the top of my head. 

2.) To control the attach/detach, it is possible to use a non-pwm fan input which are 12V. Does anyone know the current limits on the fan inputs for Ramps?

3.) Too many variables to determine ideal current load at this time. How much force required to keep hotend attached while moving at high speed and printing in the Z direction? Maximum current load for the solenoid? How many N turns of wire? Wire Gauge? Experimentation Required. 

4.) An alternate method is to use the 2nd extruder input (RAMPS 1.4)  to power the electromagnet, but I am trying to avoid that as that seems like quite a waste of an extruder slot, but it is available. 


Ideally, a script from Repetier Host / macro button from Pronterface would direct the tool to the tool holder mounted in the vertical space of the delta printer ( might as well use as much as we can right since deltas waste so much empty vertical height). Fan input would turn off, electromagnet would disengage and move to another discrete point to pick up a new tool.

Possible reconsiderations on MK-X upgrades

Currently building my 750/360mm Kossel Mini and am reconsidering the super scaled up size of the 1000mm/485mm MK-X whether or not to really use all of that space. The original plan was to use dual upper frames and then add additional space up on top to completely have a seamless extruder motor and filament spool holder.

Instead perhaps I will integrate the storage space within the 1000mm build system.


Interestingly enough, I discovered the Griffin printer and will use some of the great designs from that system

-Griffin Extruder
-Griffin Belt Tensioner
-Losi ball joint + Garden Stakes for diagonal arms
-Modified Griffin dual upper rail concept
-Griffin Vertical Carriage

This idea will combine with the SeemeCNC's Rostock Max v2 design of the belt running through the channels to reduce the loss of the build platform with the additional belts running above and below the frame itself.

The biggest change to the MK-X system is a revamp of the electronics governing the system as a whole. The Mega2560 is pushed to the limits with basic delta movements. As for future proofing, I will be switching over to the 1GB Beaglebone Black Rev.C (if it remains current)
as well as the Replicape. For simple usage, I will also be including the Manga Screen in the system

That's all the changes for now!

Continuing Upgrades on the MK-X

Instead of using MDF boards as the base, I will probably use old computer case panels cut with a dremel to fit the base and the top of the printer for a cleaner, sturdier aesthetic.

For the acrylic panes to cover the sides of the printer, I will include a window's seal to increase insulation.

For now, that are all the possible upgrades.

MK-XH

         The next iteration in the Mega Kossel X line down the road is the H version for Hexapod. This machine is extremely experimental, and considered to be bleeding edge. Instead of a standard Delta 3D printer with 3 columns and 3 carriages that use delta kinematics to keep the effector level for prints. The hexapod instead uses 6 columns and 6 carriages each one controlling one of the 6 diagonal rods attached to the effector. This allows for the effector to be be controlled by pitch,yaw and roll. This means that the effector and its attachment can now print at angles and over uneven surfaces.

         To create this machine, new software and a new mechanical set up is required. 3 more stepper motors, 3 more GT2 belts and a controller board that can utilize LinuxCNC as well as completely revamped corner brackets to hold the machine together. I have high hopes for this machine one day, but software needs to catch up first.

Pellet Bowden Extruder System for Delta printers

There hasn't been too much recent research in direct pellet Bowden drive and this may be a missed opportunity. Specifically for delta printers, I feel like we aren't maximizing the vertical space that deltas have which consumer Cartesian machines do not.

Cartesian machines typically use direct drive extruders while 99% of deltas use a Bowden system. Research in direct filament extruders from pellets have proven to be far too large, heavy and unwieldy to use with retraction issues.

To install a filament extruder to a Bowden system in a machine such as an ultimaker takes considerable modification above the system and is seemingly impossible to mount on the frame itself staying within frame dimensions.

However, I believe we can utilize the space above the effector and stay within reasonable dimensional constraints for larger delta machines.

The most common filament extruder today is the Lyman filament extruder which the designs can be found on thingiverse. It's large, heavy, and a horizontal extruder.

There was research done with makibox ramen pellet extruder last seen Q4 of 2012 loading pellets in a linear fashion, but nothing has come to fruition.

The current hot end design is well established and wide spread and thus keeping that in place for the Bowden Is essential for ease of adoption at this time.

With that being said, the focus of current filament extruders is speed to be spooled up. This mean very long auger screws are used to transport as many pellets to the heated orifice as possible. This requires very high torque from a windshield wiper usually. 

I hope to replace this long auger screw with a much shorter one pushing less pellets through as we do not need filament delivered that quickly ( only a theory, research and experimentation required) or just a standard screw. This would imply less necessary torque, so that we can possibly use a geared stepper to drive the rotation. This is an important note that we are using this motor.

Using a stepper motor allows us to directly integrate control to already established controller boards as a second extruder. However with this current design theory, retraction is not possible as pellets are continually fed down to the heating end of the filament extruder. This means our current standard extruder will probably be necessary to control retraction and extrusion to the printing hot end. With the filament extruder motor being seen as a second extruder. I theorize that we may be able to synchronize both extruders. One to stop filament production and the other for retraction.

Hopper -> screw driven by stepper motor -> Heating element -> 1.75mm diameter die -> Extrusion (cooled?) -> filament detector via mechanical endstop switch -> Main extruder -> bowden tube -> hotend

More research and experimentation is necessary in:

-If stepper motor is a viable replacement to the windshield motor
-Temp of plastic extrusion and how soft/ solid the plastic immediately after pellet to filament extrusion point
-Whether or not cooling is necessary prior to main extruder to retain rigid shape, if so, how much cooling? Direct fan cooling, tube directed blower fan across the the extruded filament
-Temp of hot end required to print the fresh filament as the filament will be soft/warm/hot?


This could very well lead to developments in directing masterbatch pellets to allow for full color printing. As I continue my research and development, this may very well fail or not, but I would really like just to facilitate discussion about this topic.

First Post

The very first post of my 3D printing research and experimentation blog. Here, I will further document my research and experiments for FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) specializing in the alternate builds of 3D printer, mainly the Delta-style printer.

As for my delta printer, I am in the process of building my MK-X0 (Mega Kossel X Zero) derived from Johann Rochell's Kossel Mini design. How it differs from the basic design:

• 1000mm tall extrusions / 485mm horizontal 20/20 black anodized extrusions
• Wheel carriages (possibly rails)
• Custom effector
• Griffin 3D printer Diagonal Rods
• Automated Tool Changing via tool magnetic mounts on the effector
• Vertical cross bracing 500mm 20/20 black anodized extrusions
• Tool Mounts on the X-braces
• Multi-Cylindrical Tool (Pencil, Pen, X-acto Knife, Sharpie)
• Wood Burner tool
• PCB engraver
• Experimental: Pellet Bowden Tube Drive
• Heated Build Chamber
• Acrylic Enclosure (Experimental: adjustable oven bag only within print volume) [M X K branding on the acrylic enclosure]
• Out of filament detector
• Built-in Octopi 
• NFC tag Octoprint
• Led lights mounted to the ceiling
• Extruder and filament roll built into top of printer
• FSR Bed Leveling
• Local and Remote on/off switch
• Astroyn Dampers
• 400mm Boroscillate Glass
• Cork/Acrylic heat insulation for the build plate
• Sound Insulation
• Magnetic Build plate
• 15MP Webcam to monitor prints via Octoprint / Photogrammetry on the effector
• Experimental: Using a turntable under the glass print bed and laser in conjunction with webcam for scanning capabilities built in.

Other Technical Specs:

• 16-tooth Pulley for Torque
• 1/16 Microstepping
• RAMPS 1.4 (Possibly Azteeg X5 in the future)
• GADGETS3D LCD screen
• 650 Watt ATX PSU
• NEMA17 86-oz. in holding Torque
• Extrusions are from Misumi
• MK-V J-Head .4mm
• 1.75 Filament
• 350mm x 435mm print area