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Printing Printers

Discussion in 'Projects' started by mark tomlinson, Jun 1, 2015.

  1. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Pictures of the electronics/sparky bits...

    Should look somewhat familiar, it is an Arduino mega and a RAMPS 1.4
    Running latest Marlin branch with some funky configuration.h settings.
    An added servo for the 'shutter' and the solitary stepper for the Z.

    20151207_201057.jpg 20151207_201107.jpg
     
    Mike Kelly likes this.
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    So a quick recap on the build plate and build vat. As mentioned previously we did not want to build the VAT ourselves (you totally could, but it is some thought/detail work required for sealing the vat). And then we were concerned about the steel build plate being incorrectly sized or leveled... So these two parts were sourced here:

    vat: http://www.muve3d.net/press/product/228/

    build plate: http://www.muve3d.net/press/product/aluminum-build-plate/

    The vat is slightly larger than the actual size of the aperture from the lower to upper cabinet. If we had put the projector angled we could have gotten a larger build area at the expense of extra bits (the mirrors to redirect the projector). We kept the projector directly aimed for simplicity, but using mirrors would not have been a huge complication, however it would have meant buying more parts since you would want to make sure they are of the correct size, quality, etc. for the job.
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Today we will be replacing the home-made plate with the purchased one on the Z axis arm. only the lower part (the actual build plate) needs swapping out.
     
  4. JustinRF

    JustinRF New Member

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    Any updates? I have been binge-reading posts on here and this one is quite interesting :p
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes. I should have pictures this weekend of the (hopefully) finished unit and example prints.

    We finally got it moved in out of the garage and all that is waiting is the build plate swap and hooking it back up to the computer. That really should not take long. It should have been done weeks ago, but ... holidays arrived and distractions came along.

    Since it is not, ahem!, small ... we had to make room for it in the house (which means figuring out where the Female Companion Unit is going to tolerate it).

    We had a MAME cabinet we got distracted building for someone for a Christmas present, but that is behind me now! Hopefully it is tested today, but worse case within the next couple.
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Last construction bit. New build plate ready for attachment. Epoxy drying for the screws (which are or will be spring loaded for making it exactly level).

    20151227_190629.jpg

    So the build plate and the build vat (glass box under the roll of painters tape) are the two parts of this we bought rather than build. You can see out original build plate in the back left (steel rather than aluminum) and I was not sure it was going to work right. You can see the aluminum one is much heavier gauge than the steel one. I will likely try it (the original) once we get the printer running just to see if it would work.
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Fired up for firing it up tomorrow.
    Checklist:

    -We have tested the software we are going to use with the projector.
    -We tested the RAMPS/Arduino with the software as well (to make sure it was driving the Z rod correctly).
    -Marlin source modified for correct Z steps/mm..
    -I have some black felt for covering the bottom sides.

    We just need to run the video cable and hook up the RAMPS/Arduino, bolt the top back on and fill up the maker juice bowl and start printing*



    *hopefully not cursing**
    **at least not much
     
    #87 mark tomlinson, Dec 27, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2015
  8. JustinRF

    JustinRF New Member

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    Haha, yep. You have to be on PAR with your PAR
    P
    artner
    Acceptance
    Rating

    Good luck with the RAMPS, you were having some trouble with that, eh? Also, what vat/reservoir did you use? I might look into doing something like this myself... Have you seen that $100 SLA printer that was on Kickstarter a little while ago? http://www.peachyprinter.com/ The kit is $100 and the full assembled is $400 in pre order. That should be interesting...
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    We finally got the RAMPS sorted with Marlin.
    We definitely have more than $400 in this one, but not like double that. Well, unless you count labor :)

    The reservoir we bought from :

    http://www.muve3d.net/

    As well as the build plate. The vat came in two varieties -- assembled and un-assembled ... I went with assembled :)

    It was not rocket science to assemble, but I didn't want to mess with it and it was an extra 20 bucks so... sold.

    P.S. the Mueve guys seem to have a nice DLP printer and the price is not stupid. Just a free plug since we did glom their spare parts LOL
     
    #89 mark tomlinson, Dec 27, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2015
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I would guess (I have the receipts, but am not looking at them yet) we have about $500 into this. Wood, paint, mechanical bits (lead screws) electronics (ramps, arduino, steppers, projector -- the projector is the big one).

    Most DLP printers are stupidly expensive so my goal was to get this in well under a $1000. We are safely there. I can see being able to do it for under $500, but it would take more practice :)

    The projector is the key bit at any rate since that controls your final resolution.

    (the mUVe 1.5 with a projector is $2,249.00-- ouch!)
     
    #90 mark tomlinson, Dec 27, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2015
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Update from today. Pictures tomorrow.
    So, software configured and cables run, side panels in place.

    Pronterface configured, used paper sheet to measure and size the build area. It will be 88mm x 127mm
    Not huge. Could be slightly larger, but that is the best focus point for the projector the way it is mounted.

    720p projector so resolution will be decent.

    Tested Z axis drive with software, up is up and down is down :)
    Looks like about the right distances.

    Build plate looks pretty level. It is maybe 1mm tilted from one end to the other, but the build plate is larger (almost double) the size of he print area so I think I can live with that deviation. We'll see. If it is too much I'll redo the arm. I do have some play with the spring-loaded corners to fine-tune that down some.

    When running pronterface with test pattern it looks good. Windows is PITA for 1st/2nd monitor stuff to the point where I had to use the NVidia control panel to make that happen... The issue is that pronterface only wants to use DISPLAY 1.

    We only have a couple of build issues left. (1) get the felt cover on the last side of the bottom (2) add a 12" fan to exhaust that bottom area. The projector generates a snootful of heat and that has to get sucked out.

    We should be ready for test printing tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest.
     
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Grrr.
    Forgot the home limit switch for the Z.
    Have the switch (from MAME cabinet spares) but I forgot to get a servo extension cable for it.
    Ordered one, will have it Wed.

    At any rate finished the fans and switch mounts as well as the felt covers for the sides.
    And going to make a cover (a deflector) for the fan to make sure light doesn't sneak back in that way. It is a cooler master fan and makes almost zero noise. Perfect for this application.
    The light switch is overkill for a 5v circuit :) It is what I had.

    20160104_134433.jpg 20160104_134424.jpg
     
  13. JustinRF

    JustinRF New Member

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    Looking good! PLEASE post a vid when you are done! I did not know you could use Pronterface with SLA
     
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Pronterface has some specific settings for DLP that the others do not. It is a totally different print process since it prints a layer at a time. CreationWorkshop is also supposed to be good for this, but we never could get it to actually work and it is in a rather poor state of support/development at present. I'd say if it works it is a much nicer UI. If it doesn't (or you prefer Pronterface) then Pronterface is the answer. Still waiting on a day off to get this sorted. The machine is mechanically and electrically complete now (home switch is done for the Z). We are ready to slice and test (and curse and tweak and redo I am sure).
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Z axis home switch landed and wired.
    Only end-stop needed :)
    Landed to same spot on the RAMPS that the Robo Z endstop goes to.

    20160115_170258.jpg
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The 4 screws on the build plate are the rest of the 'leveling'. Much the same state as the original Robo Beta for all of that.
    If it works, why mess with it :)

    I am sure we will level it and then loctite those screws...
     
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    So today we did manage to get it totally assembled and some basic testing.
    The Arduino Mega was flakey so I swapped it and that solved the intermittent connection issues.

    We are having some weirdness with WIndows 10 and multiple displays. For whatever reason no matter which monitor you make your primary (LCD or the Projector) when you say "make this my primary" the LCD becomes the secondary (extended) desktop <sigh>

    "Thanks, Bill"

    No worries we can get around that. For whatever reason Creation Workshop has decided that it will mostly work now. Go figure.
    It has menus for things like shutter control, but those are useless. We can just do it in the GCode.

    We just need to configure the startup, shutdown and layer-change GCode to deal with the "shutter".

    The server works well. When you send it the correct GCode it flips open 180 deg. and then you can command it to close when commanded to cover/uncover the projector as needed (just send it the appropriate GCode).

    Helps keep stray light out of the makerjuice.

    Limit switch works fine, homing the Z now works as expected. There is a slight side-to-side wobble on the build plate when changing directions. I am not to worried about it since when printing it will always be going in one direction and changes in direction will only occur pre/post actual printing.

    We are ready in the morning to start some test prints (and extra cursing over something new I am sure).
     
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    We will experiment with both Printerface and Creation Workshop to cover the gory details of both.
     
  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Initial testing.
    So we uncovered a design tweak day 1 :)
    See the picture:

    20160116_115733.jpg

    So the plate has this little twist to it when it moves up. When it moves down it flattens back out. Also it has issues sometimes moving up due to the weight of the arm on the threaded rod. Not always, but sometimes,

    So, to fix this we are adding a smooth rod same as the robo -- 8mm steel smooth rod, 406mm (same as the threaded rod we used). It will mount directly in front of the threaded rod and have LM8UU bearings when it passes through the arm and at the top (don't need bearings at the top, but that way the same bearing race we CAD up will work for both ends).

    This will not let the arm (and the plate) turn/twist while raising and lowering and will take some of the weight off of the threaded rod.

    Smooth rods ordered (should have them Monday) working with SolidWorks to create the bearing races now.

    On the software front CreationWorkshop seems to be actually working. Go FIgure. Biggest PITA was getting windows to use the secondary display (the real monitor*) for the desktop and the primary for build area (i.e the projector).

    *because pronterface and CreationWorkshop both want to use the primary monitor as the projector and@#$% Windows does too. If I hooked up a regular monitor the way the projector is I can make it work all day long as secondary, but as soon as the projector was hooked up Windows is all "Nope! That is the main screen now, bubba"
     
  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Printing the bearing Races (did one for sanity, last three here).
    Works perfectly on an LM8UU (which naturally fits the smooth rod)

    Smooth rod will be in tomorrow so ... back to work testing then :)
    Probably an extra 1/2 hour to add the rod in place.

    bearing race.jpg
     

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