Building a 3D printer from scratch…

[Jesper]

The Wanhao should be a decent copy of the prusa i3. Have you seen the review by makers muse? else here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzhttJ1h5OY eeeew and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-2b_51nl3o

Have you seen the new Turnigy mini fabrikator 1.5? I just had to buy one. Its so tiny and cheap. And if my girlfriend react badly on me buying er third 3d printer i can just pas it on to my little nephew for his birthday. 🙂

[billyd]

with respect to the original post I think it’s probably cheapest to buy one off the shelf and modify it. When you buy the parts separately they will be a lot more expensive, not to mention shipping costs.

I want to buy a makergear m2 kit and then mod it but the kits are currently unavailable.

[GAntonjo]

Is this any use for you?

Printrbot Big-E Barebones Kit

[donnyb]

A little pricey for what you get. Lol no extruder power supply, lead screws belts. , That rounds out to be worth about to be around a hundred bucks or 150.00

[billyd]

@donnyb I was thinking the same thing. They don’t include the rails either. 1000 bucks for a box of screws a few clamps, some steppers and 3d printer board. You’re right about 150 to 200. 5x markup Good work if you can find it lol.

[donnyb]

I been working on a larger printer. I chose this one on thingaverse. Most of what I’m doing is virtually the same. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756841

With the exception of enlarging to 500mm. So far the frame is sturdy and the printed parts are ridged. Only problem is banggood is out of stock on the 400mm lead screws. So I’m waiting and working on the other printed parts. I’ll put up a photo soon.

[donnyb]

I had to resize it and crop it. Lol

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[Terje]

Get the 500mm instead and cut it to size? The Z axis is the most forgiving to enlarge anyway 🙂

[donnyb]

I bought 8 meters of the extrusion. And to get 16 pcs. I had to cut them in half. Sold in 1 meter pcs. My z axis will be shorter less than 400 mm well i hope. Lol
Otherwise I’ll have to trim off the top. I think I’ll be lucky to get a 300 mm print area. SSo far the prices art that bad compare to a kit. I found the mini fabrikator driver board is a mks-base v1.3. That’s the same as my 3d printer board. And it can do 12 to 24 volts. I may be shooting for 12v parts are easier to get. Haven’t gotten the heated bed. they are pretty pricey.

[Jesper]

@donnyb If you aren’t thinking of buying a lead screw with anti backlash nut, you should definitly be sure to buy and extra nut so you can make an anti backlash contraption. This kind of leadscrews are notoriously know to have crappy nut with bad tolerances.

Btw. if you dont wanna wait for banggood you should just buy it from aliexpress: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-RepRap-3D-Printer-THSL-300-8D-8mm-Lead-Screw-Dia-8mm-Lead-2mm-Length-300mm/32331000236.html?spm=2114.10010108.100010.1.34NbfV

Jesper

[Jesper]

If i was buying a z-axis around 300mm it would definitely be something like this:
330mm ballscrew
400mm ballscrew

[Jesper]

Looks like the price for a leadscrew with a anti backlash is about the same as a ballscrew… GO ballscrew 🙂

[donnyb]

@ Terje I should have done that. Lol But if I cancel the order might be another month or better before I see anything. That’s the down fall of china. Everything here is just plain expensive.

As for the ball screw. Looks like a good idea but I already built the printed parts. From the center of the lead screws and the reinforcement rods is 17mm.

I may redesign it later.

[donnyb]

Well its in a working condition. it actually prints better than my kit. I had to settle for 300mm x 300mm heat bed. till I can get a nice piece of aluminum. my print area is 275x275x275.

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[billyd]

Nice job Donnyb looks great.

I’ve heard of people printing on aluminum. Are these polished or just stock plate? I would think you’d have to machine the surface to make sure it’s flat enough. But I wonder what kind of surface finish is best? Do you need anything on the aluminum (e.g. hairspray) or does the plastic stick well to the bare aluminum?

[Author]

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