Here is my completed R1 Clone

I decided to make a clone...
It started with a handful of old/spare parts I had laying around coupled with the fact that I wanted to play with dual extrusion and also wanted to print a prototype object while production objects were being printed.

I present to you: Robolicious




Parts I had:

• Set of Z-axis steppers, couplers, rods, and nuts from my Z-axis upgrade (I did the @Marquis Johnson route)
• RAMPS from a replaced printer (Bricked the Mega, thought the RAMPS was toast as well, repaired)
• Hexagon hotends from my E3D V6 upgrades
• Heated bed from one we replaced due to a chip dead center
• MicroSD slot from my XXL controller upgrade
• Smooth rods from replaced set that has minor wear from bad LM8UU's

Ended up buying a few steppers, a power supply, and $30 worth of metric hardware.

I printed all of the plastic parts, all if the green and blue (blue due to broken stabalizer and out of green) are in ABS printed on my home R1. The red chassis base was sliced along the strengthening "fins" in 9 pieces and printed on my work R1 with the Volcano hotend in PLA. I then welded the pieces back together using stubs of PLA chucked into a dremel. I still need to slice and print the top. The middle plate was laser cut on our Epilog Fusion using 3 scraps of acrylic stacked together.




I still need to get the correct sized power switch, a better RAMPS cooling fan, and some more bed magnets.

It prints just as nice as the stock R1 did, a bit of tweaking left to do to get rid of the lashing in the Greg's Wade.

My next step is to swap the carriage with @Mike Kelly modular carriage I have printed. I am waiting to get another steppers, controller, RRD fan controller, and Bowden tubing/couplers. I also am trying (and miserably failing) to model a plate for that carriage to allow 1 direct drive and 1 bowden so I can do flexible materials mixed with traditional materials (like semi-flex infused RC tires)

A shoutout to @Mike Kelly for the complete design files.

 

Very nice Josh. I've been looking for a spare case for making another Robo since I have all the other parts. It will be nice to have one stock and one I can play with. Might have to look at going your route with just printing it all. Are you going to do a top cover or just go without?

 

Going to do the top cover, already have it sliced, just needing to wait for more plastic. The top will take a bit more than 2 spools and over 100 hours!

EDIT:
Worth mentioning, the cooling slots along the back were accidentally printed with support, and did not make it, so I have a large rectangle opening in the back until I slice it and print just a "cover"
The dremel welding took a few hours, but came out acceptable and quite strong (welded both sides)
I had to tap the RAMPS mounting holes and had to file the "clips' that hold the power supply, but other than that, everything lined up nicely.

 

Thank you! (the IMG HTML was acting up on me)

 

I saw the new Prussa I3 Mk2, looks like their production machines are built using printed parts.
I couldn't imaging the time and cost of printing a chassis full sized without slicing....

 

Glad I stuck with this.
During printing of the parts, I had a few failures, and even now, the Y-axis ends are warped a bit, and the bed magnets are just glued on to the ends (holes were too warped, and in fact, I only have 3 magnets, a nut is holding the 4th corner for now)
I was getting frustrated when the stacked LM8UUs on one side of the X axis kept binding on the rod, but I kept going.

Towards completion, I saw RoBo selling refurbed R1+s for $500, and I really thought about it, but I figured I was under $200 into this one and just about done.

Frustration struck again when a few things didnt line up, like the nuts I bought just spin in the Y-axis belt holders, but I managed to get them held in place. I was "throwing my nuts" on the first homing until I realized I accidentally unplugged the Z-axis limit switches (Marlin should have a sanity check on that IMHO...) And I just about gave up when the Z stepper driver wouldnt stop whining, but a bit of tweaking and it works. Now I can be one of the few who can say they have built their own printer.

 

how many rolls did it take to print the base? I have actually been thinking about using aluminum sheets and machining them and welding for the base, but printing would be easier...maybe not as fun though. I do have an aluminum plate for the center plate to attach all the components to.

 

Took a little more than a roll, I use cheap $20 HatchBox 1KG spools from Amazon, never had a problem with their plastic.

 

Hatchbox is all I have been using as well. So for about $60 and some time I can have the whole shell. Better than eBay trolling forever. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Not a problem, let me know if you want my sliced STLs

 

Impressive! Robolicious - better trade mark it quick

 

Great project, Josh. Everyone at Robo HQ is impressed.

 

Finally got the top done

 

Josh, this looks really good. Really shows perseverance. How many rolls of filament did you use for the top and bottom of the case?

 

Bottom was almost 2 full rolls, the top was about the same. The top ended up being just shy of 1800 grams.
It printed its own top.

So far it is working great. I reprinted the Y-axis ends in PLA as the ABS ones warped no matter how much hairspray/tape/ABS juice/etc I put down on the bed, they are just that long. I will put the PLA ends on as soon as I get more magnets.

The Greg's Wade will be replaced soon with the Mike Kelly modular carriage with dual bowden's as soon as I do the Z-axis upgrade (that way I have 2 steppers to use, and still have the original Greg's Wade as a drop-in spare).

As you can sort of see, the gears have a white haze, but it appears that is just where the teeth mesh together. I dipped everything in MEK, so I am not sure if that is some sort of film left over or what, but there has not been an increase in lashing, and it still runs great.

I am soldering up a pair of switches today for lighting. I have a pair of cold cathode blue tubes as a "night light" and a strip of white LEDs for setup and daytime.