Does anyone use Prusa i3 frames made of alupanel/alucomb/dibond etc? How does it work?Any advices?
I have a Prusa i3 in Acril glas, for more info Google to DX Extreme (China) and download the construction file “Heacent Prusa i3”
I made mine with plywood, handcut, dremelled, routed, sanded (not as good as acrylic, or yours, but it prints withouth fails so far), but the nuts and bolts could use some loctite bond (for better rigidity, minimize nuts opening by sheer vibrations), some dampers could come in handy or mount it on a piece of plywood for vibration that might occurs, since mine was afterall plywood, I use those locking nuts that grips to…plywood, use some pva white glue for added strength,aluminum could use some tribond, or some glue for engine blocks to secure flat, small surface parts (the one they used on engine blocks, heat resistant), I rebuild motorcycles from time to time, and those proper adhesive for metals works wonders, I use them all the time (and sometimes even use cyanoacrylate/power glues for nuts and bolts on body parts)
I use an aluminum composite Y sled in a prusa i3 variant. It’s very lightweight and reasonably rigid. I’m quite happy with it.
For your frame, 2020 t-slot is the way to go in my opinion. Misumi will cut it to length and cheap t-nuts can be found on aliexpress.
I use it only for platform for heated bed. Its ok material.better then acrylic,worst then steel/alu
I own a bq Prusa i3 Hephestos. It has a Metal fram (I think Aluminium but I am not sure as it seems to be heavier). It is very rigid after screwing whole printer onto a plate.
If its 3 mm thick is steel,if 6 mm then alu.
I asked you about it because this alupanel is 3mm thick.
If you’re just asking about the material, dibond works pretty well for these types of machines. I have a dibond mendel that’s older and it still puts out great prints.
@Taylor_Landry do you have m90 wi th aluminium profiles ?
No. Just a dibond mendel90. Dibond frame and printed parts in ABS.
Thanks for info !
Aluminum composite panel is an excellent material. It’s particuarly a good value in UK/Europe where aluminum sheet is much more expensive in the US. It cuts well with a CNC router, something like an OX or Shapeoko. The new Crawlbot should be able to cut it well. I use a Shopbot, 4 flute downcut tooling though I don’t have the speeds handy.