The cycle is complete! Borrowed a friend’s anet a8, built an MPCNC, used MPCNC to cut the MP3DP. Now I can return the printer!
Pretty standard stuff across to board. 0.5" plywood frame, 0.5" MDF base, mini rambo, titan aero, and other misc parts from Ryan’s store. It was a great exercise in getting speeds dialed in for various materials. The only thing that’s different about this build is that I milled the y speed plate out 0.125 inch aluminum. The 1/8" aluminum y speed plate weighs approximately ~120g which is about twice as heavy as the same part cut out of 0.25" MDF (62g). For reference, the full y plate cut from 0.25" MDF would weigh in at roughly 220g.
The very first print came on near spot on with ~0.1mm error on a 20mm test cube. This has been a breeze compared to modifying and tweaking the A8 to produce decent prints.
For anyone else using the Titan Aero - did you have to cut or purchase a spacer such that the pinion for the gear drive on the extruder could be spaced properly? I ended up printing a 2mm spacer with PLA but wonder if it won’t warp over time given that it’s smack dab up against the heat sink.
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Obligatory… Don’t mind the missing stack. It was broken off on purpose
But in all seriousness, I’ll build an enclosure for the 3dp and then work on dust collection for the cnc. I’ve also got a dual end stop kit lying around that would be nice to have installed for some of the work I’ve been doing.
Then, just maybe, I’ll get around to making useful things with all of these machines.
I ended up needing to print a 2mm spacer to get the clearance that I needed between the pinion gear and the face of the stepper: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1472259
I wonder if making that spacer out of PLA is a bad idea. Seems like it’s too close to the hot bits of the extruder given the relatively low melting point of PLA. Time will tell, I suppose.
I have the regular e3d v6/titan extruder, which doesn’t have the heat sink up there, and I needed a spacer like that. I ended up building it into my mount for the X axis. I think you’ve got two things on your side. First, PLA gets soft before it melts, and the pressure will be trying to keep it in place. It’s fighting compression, not tension. Secondly, the heat sink is supposed to remain cool enough to cool the PLA down enough to be rigid for the extruder to get a good grip, so it’s designed to be lower than the plastic temperature, I would think.
If it fails, print it again in PETG, and report back here :).
I think you’re right here. I’ve got maybe 10 hours of printing out of the machine so far with no issues. I’ll resist the urge to add a heavier metal plate or full metal mount, at least for the time being.
It might just be my build but I don’t think I’ll be able to get a full 220mm X travel without using a “pancake” extruder motor (I’ve got one on the way though). The butt of the full size stepper makes contact with the X assembly prior to reaching the end of the bed.
Milled and printed enclosure for the milled and printed 3d printer, anyone? The top of the enclosure lifts off for easy access to the printer for maintenance. Oh, and don’t mind the hacked together spool holder. I think the power supply and rambo might need to be moved outside of the enclosure at some point but that’s a project for another day.
