3d printer

has anyone had any experience with building a 3d printer? If so, did you use a PLC and interface it with a servo controller? Interested in learning more about this and to be honest at the moment just starting to look at all the options. See where you can buy cheap DIY type kits.
Thanks

Yes and no, assembled a RepRapPro kit, not PLC controlled, but is controlled by my SCADA (Ignition)

thanks. at the moment trying to figure out if you was to purchase a 3d printer kit, how you would tell the motors which direction and what to actually print etc. have seen some software that claims to be able to take a Hass machine type drawing and guide the 3d printer extrusion head. Looks like i have a lot of reading to do.

Haven't done it for a while, and things change.

You create your 3D part in some software, I use FreeCad. From FreeCad I export the part to an .stl file. I pass the .stl file to a slicing program, Slic3r was my choice. The slicing program creates G-Code which is the code that tells the 3D printer what to do. G-Code is the same stuff that CNC machines use. Then there is a PCB that has firmware that takes the G-Code and uses it to tell the actual motors how far to move.

A Forum member has one that he prints brackets and mounts and special stuff for his panel shop with, in between delighting the kids with special Halloween costume components.

I'm working on a video right now for a celebration but it has the basic steps to print something on a 3D printer. See "rough" video below. Let me know if it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdHVulqwlT8

I have built a couple printers. My current one has a build volume of 300mm x 300mm x 500mm. Used Folgertech's FT5 platform to build on.

Use the diamond head extruder that can feed 3 different filaments at different ratios for some color variation.



Also use a heated bed as I mostly work with ABS plastics.



I use an auduino due with a RAMPS controller. Uses steppers with 1/32 stepping. I use 24VDC for everything which results in a lot more torque on motors and my heated bed is ready in about 2 minutes.



For firmware I use Marlin and for Slicing and printing I have been using Simpify3D.


I have made a few parts for friends. Mostly making enclosures for their drone electronics. I can do some really cool items. Just takes patience. Getting it calibrated can be a challege. You want a very solid frame that won't shake apart. Haven't had to make adjusted for a lot time.



I don't think many PLCs are fast enough for the motion calculations needed. At least the cheaper ones. It is probably a lot cheaper to use a deticated platform.

You really don't want to go cheap on it. My first one used a thread rod frame. Hard to align and always having to redo it after every few prints.



Few items I suggest, so with bowden tubing for filament feeding and all metal intenals for your extruder. Less slippage. This is an open loop control so it doesn't know if there are jams in the feeder. Can waste a lot of time and plastic.



But you can probably make a decent one for around $500. And it would be on par or better than the commercial ones for sell over $1500 at hobbyist stores. Also they can be very modular in design so you can upgrade it a little at a time as your learn.



I'll post pictures of mine later.

thanks for info. been under the weather so just now checking forum.
what we looking at experimenting with is a x,y,z type table that we may build out of aluminum.
From what I can tell a 3d printer that you can get kits for use Arduino and Ramp1.4 type boards and controls. Actually see a lot of youtube videos showing how to actually hook everything up and the software packages.
One that I got the most sense out of showed downloading what was called Marlin Firmware for RepRap 3D printers based on the Ardunio platform. Then opened a STL file with SLIC3r to generate G code and then streamed the G code to the Arunino using a software package called Pronterface.
Instead of actually using a extrusion head to feed filament what I am looking at doing is mounting a hot melt type extruder head from a floor mounted ball screw type extruder and when you start to print the pattern of glue, etc. the x,y,z table follow the path defined in the G code file. Not sure if I will ever get it built because of the weight of the glue nozzle head is about 5 lbs plus a hose from the tank that pellets are fed into and head and extruded out through the glue head. looks like if I could find a kit that used Nema 34 size stepper motors I might be able to get something going just to test a theory.
Will actually use a Allen Bradley PLC to feed material in etc that needs to have what I refer to as the 3D printer and start the application of the glue type material and once done exit that one and feed in more material. Anyone ever seen something like this done. Thanks

Maybe you can treat the glue and material as different extruders. Then you can feed them both at the same time. I have 3 extruders that do similiar and you could adjust it for best glue to material ratio.
Marlin supports this.

Thanks. Are you using filament or a external extruder and the the extruder head mounted in place of the filament head. What we are looking at is a floor mount type ball screw extruder that we actually purchased off ebay and I redid the control panel so we could use it to test some lamination projects.

TWControls said:

I'm working on a video right now for a celebration but it has the basic steps to print something on a 3D printer. See "rough" video below. Let me know if it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdHVulqwlT8

Click to expand...

Tim, saw your video. Good video, actually all of the videos you guys make are good. One of the reason why I have ordered some parts from you. Good price and great delivery.
Anyway you could post the actual parts you used to build your 3D printer. I am just starting to look into this and trying to locate a kit that has the nema 34 size motors and open source with the Arduino and be able to use something like Slicer or Pronterface etc. ( Dang you would almost think I know something) Of course when I get done, most likely will use a Micrologix 1400 plc just to remove and put now material in. One big difference is looking at mounting a floor pellet type extruder and run a hose and mount the extruder head in place of the filament extruder that I have seen with all of the DIY 3D printers on the internet.

irondesk40 said:

Thanks. Are you using filament or a external extruder and the the extruder head mounted in place of the filament head. What we are looking at is a floor mount type ball screw extruder that we actually purchased off ebay and I redid the control panel so we could use it to test some lamination projects.

Click to expand...

Here are a few pics of my setup. Wiring is a bit messy

Front View



Extruder - I have three 3mm ABS filaments feeding into common extruder so I can mix colors. You can also have seperate extruders for different materials.







Here is one of the extruder drives. Gear mechanism that is attached to a stepper motor. Filament is fed to extruder through tube. This reduces the mass on the x-axis for smoother movement.





Here is controller. It has 3 axis outputs and 3 extruder outputs. It attaches to a Arduino DUE which is below it.







This technology is used for a lot of different materials and similiar controllers and software can be used. It is just a matter of scaling it up and making the conversion factors in your firmware setup. It is really getting universal.



If you look up Cement 3D printers you will see quite a few interesting designs. I think it is a matter of making sure your steppers have enough current to handle the mass being moved around.


If you ever check reprap.org they have a forum that many designers have posted their designs.

Thanks to everyone. Lots of info.

You mentioned pellets and glue, what kind of resolution and feedrate are you trying to achieve with those materials? How large is your build area going to be?