I got a question for a project that I am thinking of starting.
I want to build a 3D printer which uses a pen. Out of some computer dvd drives. And I was wondering if I could build it WITHOUT an arduino. if u know if I can and where I can find the instructions for it. Please put the link in the comments.
Also could I use a motherboard from a computer for it instead or would I need something else
To be honest, you’re probably not going to get a ton of responses to this. This is a super open and nebulous question. There’s tons of open ended questions like “what pen”, “what kind of drives”, etc. And more than likely you’re not going to find a ready made tutorial that does exactly what you want.
You need some way to write binary values to stepper driver pins. If you want to use a laptop/desktop type device, you’ll want to put some sort of usb->gpio device on it to control the steppers. It won’t work as well as an arduino though due to non-realtime nature of the OS running on the laptop/desktop.
@Justin_Nesselrotte using dvd drives from a computer and using a regular ball point pen
So it’s not a 3d printer? Just 3 axis?
It would be more of a printer than a 3D printer because you are just drawing not using additive manufacturing with ink. You can use raspberry pi to do it instead of arduino. It sounds like a cool idea though and I hope you can get it built!
You can run Marlin on a Raspberry Pi. I’m working on a tiny, mostly printed machine for schools that runs on a Pi Zero Wifi.
The script linked above is not mine and I have not tested it yet.
Uh, I know that some people like to get really thin Z layers, but making an object out of ink… will take forever.
Unless you’re talking about a plotter. For architectural drawings.
@Francis_Lee he’s essentially making a 2D printer/plotter.
Why are you wanting to avoid using arduino? It’s cheap, easy, and fairly ubiquitous
@Ngarewyrd_Shurasae that’s what I’m wondering also
The motherboard thing is easy though: Beaglebone. Replicape!
@Ngarewyrd_Shurasae @Nicholas_Ramsay I was wondering as well but wasn’t gonna question it. The Pi Zero Wifi is a bit cheaper than an Arduino and is seems like this project is using low cost or scrap parts. Still it’s only an extra $7 for the Uno.