Hello everybody
Today I want to present my 70x70x40 MPCNC-Printer build.
My Interest in 3D-printing started in January 2016, I found a cheap little 3D printer on a local auction. It was a M3D printer. It’s a very small and slow printer, but for me it was the perfect entry into the world of 3D printing. I started printing small parts, mostly decorative things. One day searching thingiverse, I found the MPCNC. I started reading and collecting information about the build. Searched for parts and made some test prints. After some time I knew that a CNC wasn’t possible. I couldn’t print the rigid middle joiner. But a new and bigger 3D-printer was possible, all parts fitted into the printing area of a M3D, so I started printing end of February 2016.
The printing was a pain… Usually the parts came out fine, but it took a very, very long time. One part took over 24h (and I mostly ignored the recommendations for infill, most parts at 40% in M3D settings = ~20% Slicer infill)
But after 2 months I finished all parts. The long printing time gave me the opportunity to order all parts I needed from china. So the assembly begun. The first problem was, that the 25mm conduit didn’t really fit my IE parts. I had to sand down every part… After that everything went fine. At the end of June the machine was assembled. Wiring was a mess and everything was a temporary fix, but printing was possible. So I started to clean up everything. First the cable management. Somewhere in the Internet I saw someone using LAN cables to drive the motors. So I copied this Idea. In addition I wanted to use cable chains. I used Autodesk Inventor to draw some mounting plates for the chain and printed them with my MPCNC.
After that I started with the cases for the display and the ramps board. I uses some aluminum and shaped a case for the Ramps board and the LCD.
At the end of august the printer was in the current state. I hadn’t a lot of time since then to continue the build… unfortunately. But I did some research on software.
Feature list:
- Printing area of approximately 40x40x25cm (16x16x10 Inch)
- All old parts (first generation MPCNC)
- Everything top mounted (LCD, ramps, Power supply)
- Cable chains, changeable LAN-cables for stepper motors
- LED illumination
- Control panel with LCD & switches for Light, Power and emergency Stop
- Print bed is height adjustable and on springs (four screws to set height of every corner, also useful when you accidentally crash the print head into the bed)
- Rigidity Improved
Future plans:
- Reprint & update some parts
- Better fixation of the belt
- Print fan (designed and waiting to be printed)
- End stops for home positioning
- Auto Z calibration
- Raspberry Pi to remote control the printer
- Webcam to remote watch the printer
- Heated bed
- Second print head for water soluble support material
(- Maybe laser/cutter upgrade) - and a lot of other things I forgot
Problems to solve:
- Not all bearings touch, but prints turn out fine. I think, I have to reprint the rollerF and some other parts to get everything to work as intended.
- Steppers make an awful noise when not moving…
- Sometimes I had some level shift… still investigating…
If someone has a nice Idea for a Z calibration please leave a comment. Has someone used the BLTouch sensor? Also I would like to use water soluble support material, is this possible with the repetier/Slicer software? Did someone try this?
A big thanks goes to vicious1 for this awesome and well-engineered design. And also for his help getting older versions of the parts. Also big thanks to the community, which was always friendly and helpful.
