FrankenBot Build is basically complete, behold the stepUP! It’s mostly a hodge-podge of leftover aluminum extrusion, pulleys, shafts, and bearings; electronics; and donated hardware. Constructed with hand-machined aluminum parts and parts it printed itself. Specs: Printing Area: 220mm x 230mm x 205mm, though travel area is slightly larger Hotend: E3D Lite6 Kindly donated by @Tim_Elmore and Filastruder Extruder: PrintrBot AluExtruder V1 donated by @Brook_Drumm Heated Bed: 220W Silicone heater on a pocket-milled 1/4" aluminum tooling plate w/ manual 3-point leveling Linear Guides: 12mm hardened chrome-plated linear shafts donated by @Brook_Drumm Linear Motion Hardware: GT2 Timing Belts (100 steps/mm) for XY, TR10x2 leadscrew turned down for an 8mm coupler for Z Frame: 20mm Aluminum Extrusions, some donated by @MISUMI_USA Power Supply: EVGA 430W ATX PSU with PS-ON control by firmware Controller: Old Azteeg X3 (the PrintrBoard had to go in a Simple in need) Drivers: DRV8825 w/ software current control, 1/16 microstepping, 1/32 for E-Axis User Interface: Custom, based off of Panelolu 2 Firmware: Modified version of Repetier v0.92 $wAg: Automatic RGB LED color control based on printer status
I still have a bit more work to do with the software–still have to add a menu for manual LED color control and possibly a bed-leveling wizard. I also need to fix some of the LCD electronics as I’m getting some pretty bad ground loops. An enclosure is in the works too.
Excited to get this machine up!
Looks good but also feels like a lot of empty space next to the bed. Any reason you choose not to put the controller / power supply on either side of the plate rather than outside the frame?
Keep an eye on the X belt, you’re violating the minimum bend radius for backside bending pretty bad. (GT2 is supposed to have something like 25mm diameter pulleys for reverse bends.) Might work fine, or it may break eventually.
Thanks for the positive feedback everyone! @John-Paul_Hopman , Definitely true–spacial efficiency is not a highlight of this build. I chose to keep the electronics to the side of the machine mainly to make enclosing the machine easier, to separate the hot “printing area” from the cool “electronics area”, and also simply aesthetic reasons. Other than that, there isn’t really any reason I kept the electronics outside the machine @Ryan_Carlyle , thanks for the tip; I don’t have too much faith in that belt already because it’s a pretty thin belt (noticeably thinner than the one that came with the Printrbot Starter kit). I’ll keep the bend radius in mind for future builds
@Griffin_Paquette , I know they are a bit more cumbersome, but maybe the SC-series linear carriages would work for you (SC12UU, SCS8UU, stuff like that)? They are LM series bearings press fit into extruded aluminum housings with bolt holes–may be worth checking them out
