Few updates on the #FB2020 design. I’m now running 12mm rods and bearings on the Z. It’s basically taken out all the slop in the Z Axis. 12mm may be a little overkill, but overkill is better than only just enough. Especially when you have a Z of 275mm like on the FB2020 + (pictured).
I’ve also added an enclosure for the RAMPS to aid cooling and hide the electronics. The image isn’t the current version as I derped and didn’t leave enough space for the LCD header and forgot to add access to the reset button. That’s on the printer now and will be fitted later.
I’ve also put together a kit for a friend who is currently running PLA prints at 120mm/s base speed quite happily. The FB2020 he has is actually his first printer and from what I gathered, he’s damn impressed with it. I basically gave him the parts with the fiddly bits pre-assembled and provided him with default slicing profiles for Matter Control and I had him running off decent prints within a few hours of it being built. I think I may be on to a winner here.
Finally! A few of my biggest concerns was the z axis. Next is the y axis. It should be 10mm to manage the side loads of the x. (this is a big issue on the i3 variants). Since it doesn’t move, it can be scaled up with little impact to the weight of the moving mass.
@Stephanie_A The Z had always been a concern. The Plus needed it badly. I have actually been batting the idea of 10mm on X & Y around my head as I need to redesign both the extruder carriage and the Y carriers. The Carriage needs to be made so it’s easier to mount the hot end and to implement a belt tensioning system and the Carriers need to be redesigned due to the way they’re printed causing possible delamination, so it would make sense at that point to upgrade the rods.
I know that it’d increase the moving mass, but I don’t thing it’d be detrimentally so.
If it’s worth engineering, it’s worth over-engineering (at least a little bit).
I’ve learned that everything is a spring, the hard part is figuring how much spring you can live with.
@Mark_Fuller boing… yeah, I’ve been watching the FB2020 + and I can see the inertia, half due to it being on thick neoprene pads to dampen the noise amplification of the IKEA table it’s on but it makes it quite obvious on sharp direction changes. I think I’m going to go with my favorite way of engineering things: There’s no such thing as overkill, only underdead…
I am making the carriers on mine 3 piece, with 4 screws on each side clamping the rods and bearings into place. I’m sure it will be insanely solid with no room for delamination.
I’m working on at least 4 printer designs right now, I just can’t decide which I want to build first.
@Stephanie_A - I’d be interested to see the design when it’s done.
