As many members know the 3d printers we have at the space are a few years old, and a few of us have machines at home which are equal in capabilities for not much.
So thinking that it would be nice to improve the 3d printing capabilities of the space. However wondering what other members would like to see in an improved printer. For example:
Would you like to see a new printer with an larger build area
Multi extruder printer that can handle different materials (support)/colour printer would be an better option.
Would auto levelling be a nice addition
Personally a multi extruder printer would offer a nice upgrade however want to know what other members think. As depending on the feed back I may run a pledge drive to either build a new core x/y printer from scratch or to go with a prebuilt printer. At the moment just want to get thoughts together from people
The only downside to it on mine was one of the PCB traces on the power supply was a bit thin and got overloaded
(leading to me replacing a couple of caps and the trace with a thick wire after it went bang)
I get the feeling the speed is a lot faster than the one in the space
Autoleveling
Typically with Delta’s you do 2 kind of autoleveling
G32 - this tries to work out if the bed or any of the pillars are tilted at an angle to compensate
G29 - traditional mesh bed level autoleveling
Bed
I don’t necessarily propose we use PEI for a space printer as I remember Greg mentioning that the current bed is setup for low maintenance which is fair enough.
the anycubic comes with one of those black stickers by default
Although the setup I’ve currently got involves some printed magnet holders which pull down on a sheet of sprint steel (which can be removed / bent to pop off a print)
with some PEI on top
although you could have multiple different beds that just pop on and off with different materials on
(the magnet holders are designed to hold the magnets a little bit away from the bed to avoid over heating)
Multiple filaments
I’m not sure if multiple filaments is possible with this one since it is bowden
but I have printed a multiple spool holder for the top which is nice since it uses bearings for smooth running
A custom version of this (the original is designed for a smaller printer)
Upgrades
replacement fan shroud
bottom cover
cable holder
extruder clip
extruder hand wheel
rod damper springs
guide for flexible filament
I haven’t gotten around to pinting this one yet but a belt tensioner
There’s also a large bunch of others I need to get back to printing including something to hold the duet board in place / LCD etc.
The other option is that the mendle max could be repaird to behave better. Basically we have pa problem with a screw coming constantly loose.
As the MendleMax is unused I propose the following upgrades.
First we repair the problematic bolt. Then we modify the prinder to have a vertical x axis https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2523337 where the files will need modifying so the x axis is able to support prusia i3 style mounts.
In total the upgrade would end up costing: £154.53 with the initial parts. However with that we would upgrade the Mendel Max to have the following capabilities:
Dual Extrudes for colours and materials (We can use PVA support material)
Auto levelling. So no having to worrie about the printer needing levelling