DIY 3d printer drawings pdf. Why this Prusa i3 based printer

Actually, the very idea of ​​assembling a printer on my own arose about a year ago after reading an article on the wiki about RepRap printers. Having never assembled anything more complex than computer cases before, it was difficult to appreciate the complexity of the work ahead. But, flipping through the pages further, I discovered that all the diagrams, drawings and instructions were present, and moreover, even in Russian.

A little later, it turned out that all the components stood together like a ready-made printer and the mood dropped greatly (Oh, those Moscow resellers), but China came to the rescue with its ultra-cheap electronics and electromechanical components. In a fit of joy, I ordered a set of RAMPS 1.4 electronics (as the easiest to use according to reviews), 5 stepper motors of the nema 17 type (the holding torque should be at least 1.5 kg/cm, but I took as much as 4 kg/cm), 2 meters of drive belt size t2.5 with two aluminum pulleys of 20 teeth each, as well as a heating platform (mk2a is the most common), you also need to remember to take 12 linear bearings lm8uu. I spent a little more than 13 thousand rubles on everything, which, you see, is somewhat less than even self-assembly kits in stores.

After 2 months of waiting

Over these months, I managed to meet several interesting people on the forum, one of whom kindly printed parts for my printer on his Replicator2 (I chose the Prusa Mendel i2 design because of its low cost and ease of assembly). By the way, the accuracy of manufacturing the parts has little effect and, in principle, they can be made even from spoons; I personally made some of the parts for the frame from thick plywood. The big problem was finding guide shafts, which cost from 600 rubles per meter (hardened and durable, i.e. excess strength), but a solution was found on the market: ordinary stainless steel rods with a diameter of 8 mm fit perfectly (you only need 3 meters, just like what to cut is written on Wiki), also 6 meters of M8 studs and 6 bearings 608 (Like in rollerblades and skateboards). You can use anything from 400W 12-19V as a power supply. Having picked up the last package from the post office (I won’t talk about our post office, everyone already knows everything. Broken and crumpled boxes, waiting, lost notices), I realized that there was a lot of work to do.

The first damn thing is lumpy

It was decided to make the most difficult (as it turned out later) part myself, namely the hotend or nozzle. My advice: if you don't have a lathe and don't know the ins and outs of making hotends, don't take it on. A lot of time and money was spent, but the nozzle was ready (thanks to sites and forums). By the way, as it turned out, the ready-made solution costs 1,500 rubles and that’s half what I spent on my hotend. (If someone still decides, I advise you to make the nozzle replaceable, and not to use resistors from the store as a heater; order a ceramic 12V 40W from China).

Assembling the frame and connecting the electronics according to the instructions is not difficult, but it takes a long time due to fiddling with more than 50 nuts and screws.

The easiest part was over, the longest part lay ahead: setup. The electronics are based on Arduino, so no one should have any problems. Actually, you need to configure the number of steps in the firmware on all axes and on the extruder, also configure the limit sensors, calibrate the height and horizontality of the platform, and select the correct thermistors. By the way, I started printing with ABS plastic without a heating platform on the legendary Blue Scotch. Important: ABS cannot be printed without a heating platform, because the part will inevitably deform when cooling and all edges will bend upward.

Childish delight and awareness of how much there is to solve.

Work on mistakes

First of all, I screwed on the heating platform, which gave such an amazing result the first time:

Nothing comes off or bends even on parts of this size. But there were also disadvantages: the blue tape remained on the parts and had to be re-glued each time. Plus, the resistors burned out regularly once a week and a heater was ordered from China.
The printing was going well, everything seemed to be fine, but I wanted more. I sat down at the editor and a couple of days later I came up with a project for a new printer, bigger, taller, more solid. The frame was made of thick plywood, the parts were printed, everything was going well, but after putting everything together, it turned out that the guides were not parallel, etc., etc., and as a result the project was abandoned.

The failure did not allow me to sleep peacefully and for many days I thought about the need for a new design. There were a lot of ideas, some were implemented, but as it happens, there are mistakes, so I won’t dwell on this for long.

The muse was the third generation Prusa Mendel printer with a plywood frame (The correct reading is not “prusa”, but “pryusha”, because this is the Czech guy Josef Pryusha). A laser cutting machine and AutoCAD were just at hand. Long evenings in front of the monitor, 3 different versions.

There were some printed parts, but there were much fewer of them: only 3 carriages and 3 end switch holders.

Printing all parts took about 9 hours. At that time, I cut plywood (Buy plywood for cutting in stores, because in the markets it is full of knots that do not cut through normally) and assembled the first version of the frame.

The bet was made on the height, it was a little more than half a meter, which gave a working area with a height of 420 mm, it is unlikely that you will find a similar one.

At first I used a 3mm rod due to its cheapness, but to feed it into the extruder you need to use a gearbox. The printing is not bad, but the feed bolt sometimes gets clogged and the extruder itself turns out to be large.

As a result, it was decided to switch to a rod with a smaller diameter, 1.75mm (fortunately, there are now a lot of manufacturers) with a small extruder without a gearbox and with greater feeding accuracy.

I advise everyone to immediately print with 1.75 rod, because it is really more convenient. 3mm is an archaism from the times of using a welding rod.

Ideal car

Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, but I can say that this is a completely finished product, which, if desired, you can repeat yourself. The printer is neither ultra-precise nor printing speed. This is a regular printer at the level of the same Prusa i3, it’s just higher and more convenient. I would like to say that any printer can be configured so that it will be no worse than purchased monsters with a price tag of 100,000, for which you will spend no more than 15,000 rubles. Forums and blogs are full of various information, China delivers anything for ridiculous money, so why not do it yourself?

*a couple of photos latest version:

(adapter included).

ORDER

It seemed to me too expensive to purchase original boards. It is also not possible to save much on soldering, according to calculations. Accordingly, I placed an order on e-bay. At the same time, he was well aware that the boards could turn out to be of very mediocre quality. I took a risk! Three weeks of waiting, and the boards are in my hands.

TESTING

First of all, out of habit, the boards underwent a thorough visual inspection. The first one I came across was the Arduino MEGA 2560 R3 ATmega2560. It turned out to be of very acceptable quality.
Behind it is RAMPS 1.4. And here is a huge disappointment - the contacts of the power connector are heavily oxidized (even rusted).

At high currents, leaving such a disgrace seemed wrong to me!!! I had to carefully unsolder the connector. In the photo it is blue. And solder a similar one found in the bins (green in the photo). Advice for those who encounter this ambush - before desoldering the connector body, it is better to “saw through” it with side cutters. The contact pads of the board, and the conductors, are made quite well. The board successfully survived the “repair”. Before washing, I looked at the rations again. As a result, I discovered that there were a large number of solder balls around the pin contacts. I soaked the board in alcohol for 20 minutes and rinsed it well...


Then I tried to connect the power board to the controller. It's done! But with great difficulty. Firstly, the mating connectors do not match well:(. Secondly, the housing of the controller’s power connector rested against the “leg” of the power connector of the power board (pictured on the right) - I had to bite the “leg” with side cutters!


After installing the power board, I began installing the stepper motor driver boards. The overall dimensions of these boards turned out to be too large and the boards interfered with each other!!! I had to work with a file. While I was grinding the contours, the radiators fell off :)... Either I’m just unlucky, or it’s not clear what these radiators were installed on! I had to glue them in place with heat transfer glue..


After “pleasant torment” with the power board, I ended up with an interface board in my hands. But here a defect was discovered, which, after turning on the power, could lead to collapse! The indicator was soldered without installing stands and using a short connector. As a result, the LCD panel housing shorted the contacts of the incoming connector!!!


On a good note, it would be a good idea to re-solder the indicator. But due to lack of time to search for a high connector, PLS decided to temporarily install a folded sheet of paper (pictured).
After I corrected all the jambs, I connected to the USB port - there was no flash with pops! So it's time to upload the firmware.
I settled on the Marlin project. To my delight, the sources are perfectly commented out... Customizing custom firmware is done by turning on/off the necessary descriptions in the source code. We configure, compile, flash, turn on.


The program started. But due to the lack of a temperature sensor, it stopped at an error (at the bottom of the display). I found a suitable temperature sensor and installed it. The controller is fully operational - “Mendel is ready”. It's time to connect the drives and test the connection to the computer. You can see how to select stepper drives. My project used those shown in the photo below.

Having made sure that the electronic components of the board are operational, we concentrate on assembling the printer body...

ELECTRONICS PLACEMENT

The body is assembled! Let's start scattering the electronics... If everything with the case was quite transparent, then we had to think thoroughly about the placement of electronic components. Having looked through a large number of instructions for assembling such printers, I was struck by the lack of information in them on how to place the electronics and, no less important, how to pull the wires. I didn’t want to leave it to chance and hang wires indiscriminately. Free dangling of wires can lead to the most unpredictable consequences.

POWER SUPPLY AND CONTROL BOARDS

The power supply, as in most similar devices, is located on the right side post of the frame. I made the mounting holes in place, measuring the location of the PSU mounting holes. Here I want to note that I came across a fairly successful power supply. Power 250W in a relatively small package.


The assembly of circuit boards was placed on the left side rack. On all boards, the mounting holes are so closely spaced that the conductors are even under the screw head. For this reason, I had to cut stands and washers for attaching the boards from the silicone hose. To speed up the process, I used a regular adjustable wrench. I clamped the hose in it, pulled it out to the required length and cut it with a craft knife.


To mark it, I had to disassemble the assembly. Next, ARDUINO marked and drilled mounting holes on the board. Then I installed the ARDUINO board on the screws in the center of the board (there will be no access to them in the assembly).

After that, I installed the RAMPS board and secured the remaining screws through silicone posts and washers.


In order to safely extend the power wires (12V) from the power supply, the wire from the Y, Z axis motor and the Y axis limit switch to the board assembly, I previously placed ordinary construction cable channels on threaded rods.

ZERO POSITION SENSORS

It's time to install “zero” limit switches. When choosing an option for mounting the limit switch board, I settled on the part. The design seemed very convenient to me and I did not check it on models. But in fact, it turned out that it is suitable exclusively for the Z axis. I installed it on the Z axis. As an axis limit sensor, I used a stainless steel strip glued with a glue gun as shown in the photo.

Next, I had to rack my brains for a long time about how to install the limit switches on the Y and X axes. With the Y axis it turned out to be easier - I managed to adapt a holder that was installed on the Z axis. I secured it with ties to the threaded rod. I also used a thin stainless steel strip as a sensor. In this option, it is not possible to adjust the trigger position of the limit switch (determined by the length of the sensor itself).


But I had to tinker with installing the limit switch X! To begin with, I made an adapter from PCB.
Then I made M3 mounting holes in the DRIVE HOLDER, installed the limit switch and adjusted its position. The sensor was again made from a strip of stainless steel, which was screwed to the bottom of the EXTRUDER HOLDER (it can be glued with a glue gun).

TABLE HEATER

Before installing the heater board (hereinafter simply the heater), I spent a long time wondering how to run the cable channel. Having studied the design of similar printers, I realized that the “harness” of wires from the table was made quite unsuccessfully everywhere due to touching the frame parts. In my version, I excluded this point (it will be visible in the photographs below).
First of all, I applied heat shrink to both ends of the prepared cable channel. In my opinion, heat shrinkage gives rigidity to the cable channel. One end was secured to the table holder using zip ties as shown in the photo.


After receiving the heater board, I did not inspect it in detail. But before installation, I decided to carefully inspect the quality of the wire installation. The result of the inspection was the decision to re-solder the wires - the wires had obvious breaks in the cores and were poorly tinned... In a situation where movement of the table is expected and, as a result, possible bends at the soldering point, a high-quality connection is necessary!

I unsoldered the wires, cut off the damaged tails and, after warming them up well, tinned them. It is necessary to warm up so that the wire becomes tinned not only in the stripped area, but also under the braid. I soldered the wires into place and washed off the remaining flux well with alcohol.
Next I moved on to installing the table temperature sensor. At this stage, it is important to carefully solder the wires (in my case it is MGTF) and mold the leads without damaging the case. The sensor is installed in a hole in the center of the heater and secured with strips of Kapton tape. At this stage, it is necessary to check that the sensor does not protrude beyond the level of the heater board and that the terminals are securely secured with tape without short circuits.

Then I ran the wires from the temperature sensor into the installed cable channel and installed the heater board in place. It turned out to be more convenient to run the heater wires into the cable channel on the side as shown in the photo.


It's time to collect the wires coming from the extruder into a “pile”. This knot did not pose any particular difficulties. The only thing is that I didn’t initially run the wires for the fan! But with my extruder I will need as many as two fans. I will talk about this in the article “WORKING ON ERRORS.” It is possible to secure the cable channel very conveniently as shown in the photographs. When fastening according to the proposed scheme, you will not need to drill additional holes...

I secured the cable ducts to the left pillar. At this stage you will need to tinker with the drill. You can see how everything is secured in the photos below.

The last photo clearly shows how the cable channel of the table is located. As I said earlier, I managed to place it in such a way that it did not touch the printer parts when the table moved. The same can be said about the remaining cable channels.

All the wires are in place - you can start connecting them to the board. It took a little patience and attention to get everything connected exactly as shown in the diagram above! The only point that does not coincide with the diagram is the use of optical position sensors. One more line needs to be taken into account - the sensor's power supply (the board has a contact on the same connector).
All wires are in place - you can move on to the printer.

ASSEMBLY KIT

A complete set of electronics is available in the online store at the link http://www.zdvstore.ru/prusa-electronic/.
The kit includes a controller board containing firmware that takes into account all the features described in my articles. By installing this set of electronics, you will immediately start the printer...

QUALITY OF SPARE PARTS WITH ALIEXPRESS (ADDITION FROM 04/01/2016)

After visiting my online store, I am often asked the question about the “overpriced” electronics on its counter! I'm ready to answer this question.

When I bought electronics for my first printer, I got quite good copies (with the exception of the RAMPs power board :). The secondary purchase of a small batch of components horrified me!!!

And for over a year now I have been trying to find a good electronics supplier in China. I was never able to find the right product for the right price.

To be honest, only the Arduino MEGA 2560 R3 ATmega2560 and the MK2B DUAL POWER table heater arrive in proper form, with rare exceptions. With the rest of the boards it’s just a TROUBLE! This is especially true for RAMPs v1.4 boards and DRV8825 stepper motor drivers. Depending on the seller, approximately the following products are received:

The most common problem is an unwashed board with a huge amount of solder smeared on the solder mask ;(. The next problem is that lately they have started putting connectors with steel-colored contacts on boards. These contacts don’t even “want” to be tinned! I’m not talking about normal soldering of contacts. This especially applies to stepper motor drivers. Then there are all sorts of “jokes”, starting with inverted connectors (pictured above:) and ending with incorrectly soldered potentiometers on indicator boards.

In a word, it takes me a long time to clean the solder, solder the connectors, fix the jambs and wash the boards!

I hope that I gave an exhaustive answer to the question :)!?

RELEASE OF RAMPS BOARDS (ADDITION FROM 04/01/2016)

Since it takes an insane amount of time to restore boards, I decided to manufacture some of the electronics in Russia. At first (until I find suppliers), the printed circuit boards themselves will be from China, but since May 2016 they will be domestic.

The first to go will be RAMPs v1.4 power boards in two modifications. The difference is in the fuses installed at the power input. One board has self-healing ones, the other one has fusible ones.

In addition, I have already purchased a batch of transistors with an open channel resistance 5 times less than those installed on the original boards, and a dissipation power of 300 W.

Also, for those who like to tinker with a soldering iron, in May 2016 kits for assembling power boards of both modifications will be available :).

Follow the announcements on the website and online store!!!

Obviously, the higher the quantity in the manufactured batch, the lower the cost and, accordingly, the final cost. For this reason, I will be glad to accept orders for the production of RAMPs v1.4 power boards from those who sell spare parts for 3D printers - call, write...

HOW RAMPS DIE WITH ALIEXPRESS (ADDITION FROM 04/27/2016)

At the beginning of the article it is described how I resoldered the defective power connectors on the RAMPs board. Let me remind you that these were connectors for connecting the heating elements of the hotheads and the table. The power input connector seemed quite decent to me :).

A little over a year has passed... And... At the most “opportune” moment, during the printing of an urgent order, the temperature protection of the firmware is triggered! The printer stops in the middle of the part...

A detailed inspection revealed a burnt-out input power connector.

Despite the fact that there is a 9-amp fuse on the board (there should be an 11-amp fuse), the connector contact burned out. I had to kill time for resoldering. In place of the burnt-out connector, I installed a similar one from DEGSON and again went into battle.

As it turned out, there are a huge number of body modifications. You can easily verify this on the RepRap WiKi pages. Before the final choice, we had to set the following tasks - to minimize the number of parts printed on a 3D printer and to make the body from inexpensive materials that are available in our country. The choice fell on Reprap Prusa i3. This option, it seemed to me, has a fairly high structural strength of the body of the future machine. But the author’s website offers a set made of MDF. I decided to try to implement the idea from 6mm thick dibond. After rummaging around the net, I finally got hold of the drawings. Before ordering, I built 3D models of all the parts and tried to assemble them. To my bewilderment, I discovered that not all the parts fit together properly.

CASE UPGRADES

Since this happened, I spent the entire next week reworking the drawings of the parts. The parts were made taking into account laser cutting. To make a prototype, I decided to make holes for joining larger panels just in case of a fire emergency. I also found the table holder to be quite flimsy. For this reason, we had to make it a little more massive. Since I don’t have the opportunity to print plastic parts myself, before sending the frame parts for production, it was decided to check their compatibility with the printed parts that were selected.

You can see what happened in the figure above. The assembly is drawn - you can start purchasing the material.

SEARCHING FOR MATERIAL

At this stage of work, my first disappointment awaited me! I spent three days calling suppliers. But I couldn’t find the planned dibond with a thickness of 6mm - either it’s “out of season” or they don’t carry that thickness. I had to think about switching to another material. The choice fell on polystyrene and monolithic polycarbonate. Both positions also turned out to be difficult to reach... At the same time, polycarbonate turned out to be more suitable in terms of strength. But also more expensive. In the end, with great difficulty, I managed to buy a sheet of white polystyrene 6mm. And again I had to go back to the computer to edit the drawings. Since sheet polystyrene has a glossy surface only on one side, I expanded the list of parts - instead of some two identical parts, I had to make two mirror images. In order for the glossy surface to be on the outside.

PRODUCTION

The search engine returned a huge bunch of laser cutting companies. But only a few were ready to take on the task of cutting polystyrene. And these units did not want to deal with my small order! A vicious circle - in order to order a large batch, you need to make a prototype. And the prototype contains too little cutting... After going through my old suppliers, I finally managed to persuade the laser specialists to try cutting my parts. There was a whole sea of ​​joy... And as it turned out, it was in vain! After a week of trying, I still couldn’t find the cutting mode - either the edge melted or I got a literally wavy cut line. As a result, having lost all hope of making my kit with a laser, I turned to a CNC milling machine. At the same time, I clearly understood that the cutter on the internal corners would definitely leave radii, which would then have to be “destroyed” by hand. I sent the order and was plunged into a long wait...

ASSEMBLY OF THE FRAME

A joyful day has come - I took my parts.

Cut with a cutter with a diameter of 2mm. As you can see in the photo below, there are roundings left on the inner corners.

I took up a craft knife and a file and started processing. As soon as everything was finalized, I immediately began assembling the frame. All parts fit together without difficulty. True, at this stage there were some mistakes - while I was screwing on the right rack, I was too lazy to tighten the left one with a screw. And by an absurd accident, it fell out of the grooves of the frame, fell on the table, then on the floor. And, of course, a small piece broke off.


It’s not pleasant, but as they say, “for the better.” If it breaks, it means the place is thin. In the next edition I will make changes to the drawing. In the meantime, I placed the fragment on the glue and continued. The photo below shows the assembled frame.

In general, everything worked out... After assembling the frame, we proceed to the base. This involves more painstaking and careful work.
First, screw three table guides onto the back of the table holder. For a more secure fixation, I used self-locking nuts. At this stage, the main thing is not to firmly fix the guides - it is necessary to leave the possibility of a slight displacement in order to install the bearings on the shafts without distortion. We fasten the Y-axis belt clamp.
Next, we put the table holder on the shafts, fix the shafts in the “BASE CORNERS”, install and fix the M8 studs.

After the left and right guides are assembled, we put on the transverse studs and mark their fixation on the corners with nuts - do not tighten them all the way!

It must be fixed in place. Alternately install the base into the grooves of the frame on both sides, fix the nuts. This will allow you to check that the base is not distorted and symmetrically install the pin attached to the side panels (clearly visible in the pictures below).

We insert two bearings into each “SHANK HOUSING UNDER 625ZZ”. There are only two of them. We attach one of the resulting parts to the “Y-AXIS SHANK HOLDER”, the second to the “X-AXIS SHANK HOUSING”. At the same time, the stops for the bearings seemed unnecessary to me. They are too large in diameter and interfere with the free rotation of the bearings. For this reason I cut them off.

After the base is assembled, we first attach it to the body. You should not tighten the nuts too much at this stage. After installing the table heater and extruder, you will need to check the position of the table...
I don’t think it’s worth dwelling on the installation of guides for the X and Z axes. Everything is extremely simple here! The only thing is that to connect the motors to the M5 stud, I used a silicone hose of suitable diameter and ties (I saved a little on specialized adapters).
As soon as I finished with the X and Z axes and guides, I immediately installed the carriage and decided to check how the extruder assembly would move. It turned out that the extruder holder was clinging to the printer frame.


You will have to make a spacer between the carriage and the extruder holder. I cut it from the same polystyrene 6mm. With it, nothing interferes with the movement of the node...
Now you can start assembling the extruder. First of all, we install the 608ZZ bearing on the axle, cut from the remains of the guide shafts. Then the resulting assembly is placed in the “WIRE FIXER”.

After this, the assembly of the entire extruder proceeded according to plan. But another mistake from the supplier intervened. I was too lazy to make the axial bolt of the structure myself and decided to order it on ebay. The seller promised that the distance from the bolt head to the notches would be 25mm. In fact, it turned out to be almost two mm smaller and the notches did not coincide with the hole for the wire! But this is even better... Because, as it seemed to me, it is very difficult to regulate the position of the notches in the extruder if they are “rigidly” placed relative to the bolt head. It was decided to cut off the head and cut an M8 thread.


Now I screwed a nut with a nylon insert onto the longer thread and installed the axle in the “BIG WHEEL” of the extruder. I assembled the extruder and noticed how much it was necessary to “move” the serifs. I disassembled the structure, tightened the nut with the nylon insert, thereby adjusting the position of the notches. Assembled the extruder.

The figure below clearly shows how the positions of the hole for the wire and the serifs are aligned. At the same time, I didn’t have to fence the “beads” with washers. This axis design seemed more suitable and easier to adjust.


It's time to tighten the X and Y axis belts... The design is starting to take on a finished look.

I decided to add them to eliminate “unnecessary” movements of the Z axes! I also didn't like that the M5 stud in the basic design doesn't lock into place at the top. I use a miniature bearing to allow the axle to rotate freely while keeping it in place.


The body is assembled! Let's start placement.

WORKING ON DISADVANTAGES

After working with the printer for quite a long time, shortcomings in the structure of its frame were revealed.
1) Due to the lack of mechanical connection between the two Z guide axes, the frame made of polystyrene does not have sufficient rigidity. This is noticeable when one of the Z axes of the printer is touched strongly.
2) At high temperatures of the heated table, it was clearly noticeable how significantly the corners of the table holder sagged on the side of one bearing. Where the two bearings are located, the deflections were insignificant.
Taking into account the points listed above, I finalized the frame details:

As can be seen from the figures, the following additions have been made:
— the axle holder has become a single piece;
— added corners connecting the axle holder and frame;
— an additional place for attaching the side pillar to the frame has been added;
— the side pillars became more massive, which allowed the structure to become more stable (previously the frame constantly collapsed until the axles were installed);
— the holder of the heated table is equipped with an additional bearing.

FRAME ASSEMBLY KIT

In February, in my online store (I am now actively working on its creation) kits for assembling a frame made of transparent acrylic (2200 rubles), white polystyrene (2200 rubles) and MDF (1500 rubles) will be available. a budget option). While I'm working on an online store, send applications to: Email [email protected]. All three types of frames are available.
The set consists of the following parts:
01. FRAME v1.0 (FRAME) 1pc.
02. SIDE PANEL v1.0 (SIDE PANEL) 2 pcs.
03. Z-MOTOR HOLDER v1.0 (Z-MOTOR HOLDER) 2 pcs.
04. FIXING CORNER OF Z-MOTOR HOLDER v1.0 (ENGINE HOLDER CORNER) 4pcs.
05. AXIS HOLDER v1.0 (AXIS HOLDER) 1 pc.
06. HEATED BED MOUNT v1.0 (HEATED TABLE HOLDER) 1 pc.
07. FIXING CORNER OF AXIS HOLDER v1.0 (Z AXIS HOLDER CORNER) 2 pcs.
You can compare the appearance from the photographs below.

FRAME FROM MDF PANEL

Initially, I was somewhat skeptical about making a frame from MDF. But I decided to try. As a result, doubts were dispelled... The assembled frame made of this material turned out to be quite durable and, in my opinion, if used carefully, it could well become the basis for a 3D printer. The parts were cut with a laser. For this reason, the edge has a striking dark appearance. MDF is the cheapest of the materials presented to your consideration. Yes, and it is processed at a fairly high speed. This allowed us to obtain the lowest cost and, accordingly, the final price.


There are, of course, disadvantages. The main disadvantage is the low wear resistance of MDF. In other words, numerous assembly and disassembly of the frame is undesirable (the guide pins can be damaged) and careful use is required.

Also, when assembling a frame from MDF, washers (reinforced if possible) are desirable to increase the clamping area. Which will make the design a little more expensive.

FRAME MADE OF TRANSPARENT ACRYLIC (Plexiglass)

Before choosing the material for the frame of my first printer, I knew that acrylic was much easier to laser cut than polystyrene. I was convinced of this in practice. The main advantage, I believe, is the almost perfect edge and the fact that at the time of cutting there is no need to remove the protective film from the acrylic sheet. This allows you to keep the parts more “fresh” for the assembly stage.


The only disadvantage I can think of is that parts can be damaged during assembly (tightening screws). But this happens in rare cases when the clamping force is excessive. My assembly went smoothly :)! But there is a possibility, unlike polystyrene. And this must be remembered...

It seemed to me that the frame assembled from acrylic parts is a little stronger than the polystyrene frame - it bends less when forces are applied in different directions.

Ivan Zarubin

IT specialist, DIY startup.

I will not describe all the benefits and all the possibilities of 3D printing, I will simply say that it is a very useful thing in everyday life. It’s sometimes nice to realize that you yourself can create various objects and repair equipment that uses plastic mechanisms, various gears, fasteners...

I would like to immediately clarify why you should not buy a cheap Chinese printer for 15 thousand rubles.

As a rule, they come with acrylic or plywood cases; printing parts with such a printer will turn into a constant struggle with the rigidity of the case, calibrations and other events that will overshadow the beauty of owning a printer.

Acrylic and wooden frames are very flexible and light; when printing at high speeds, they seriously wobble, due to which the quality of the final parts leaves much to be desired.

Owners of such frames often collect various amplifiers/seals and constantly make changes to the design, thereby killing their time and mood to do printing rather than modifying the printer.

The steel frame will give you the opportunity to enjoy creating parts rather than struggling with the printer.

By following my little guide, you won't over-order and burn your first set of electronics like I did. Although this is not so scary: the cost of parts and spare parts for this printer is cheap.

The guide is intended mainly for beginners; 3D printing gurus will most likely not find anything new here. But those who would like to join, after assembling such a kit, will clearly understand what’s what. It does not require special skills or tools, just a soldering iron, a set of screwdrivers and hexagons.

The cost of components is current as of January 2017.

We order parts

1. The basis for the printer is the frame; the stronger and heavier it is, the better. A heavy and strong frame will not wobble when printing at higher speeds, and the quality of the parts will remain acceptable.

Cost: 4,900 rubles per piece.

The frame comes with all necessary fasteners. The guys put in plenty of screws and nuts.

2. Guide shafts and M5 studs. Threaded rods and guide shafts are not included with the frame, although they are in the picture.

• Polished shafts come in a set of 6 pieces.

Cost: 2,850 rubles per set.

Perhaps you can find it cheaper. If you are looking, be sure to choose polished ones, otherwise all the jambs of the shafts will affect the details and overall quality.

• M5 studs must be purchased in pairs.

Cost: 200 rubles per piece.

These are, in fact, ordinary studs that can be purchased at a hardware store. The main thing is that they are as even as possible. It’s easy to check: you need to put the pin on the glass and roll it along the glass; the better it rolls, the smoother the pin. The shafts are checked accordingly.

In general, we don’t need anything else from this store, because there is a wild markup on the same thing that can be purchased from the Chinese.

Cost of the set: 1,045 rubles.

RAMPS 1.4 - expansion board for Arduino. It is to this that all electronics are connected, and motor drivers are inserted into it. She is responsible for the entire power part of the printer. There are no brains in it, there is nothing to burn or break in it, you don’t need to take a spare one.

Arduino Mega 2560 R3 is the brain of our printer, onto which we will upload the firmware. I advise you to take a spare one: due to inexperience, it is easy to burn it, for example, by inserting the stepper motor driver incorrectly or by mixing up the polarity when connecting the limit switch. Many people struggle with this, myself included. So that you don’t have to wait weeks for a new one, take at least one more right away.

A4988 stepper drivers are responsible for the operation of the motors; it is advisable to purchase another set of spare ones. They have a construction resistor, do not twist it, it may already be set to the required current!

• Spare Arduino MEGA R3.

Cost: 679 rubles per piece.

• Spare A4988 Stepper Motor Drivers. I advise you to additionally take a spare set of 4 pieces.

Cost: 48 rubles per piece.

Cost: 75 rubles per piece.

It is necessary to protect our Arduino. It has its own step-down regulator from 12 V to 5 V, but it is extremely capricious, gets very hot and dies quickly.

Cost of the set: 2,490 rubles.

There are 5 pieces in the set, we only need 4. You can look for a set of four, but I took the whole set, let there be one spare. It will be possible to upgrade it and make a second extruder to print supports with a second extruder or two-color parts.

Cost of the set: 769 rubles.

This kit contains everything you need for this printer.

Cost: 501 rubles per piece.

In its back there is a card reader into which you will later insert a memory card with models for printing. You can take one spare: if you connect some element incorrectly, then most likely the display will die first.

If you plan to connect the printer directly to your computer and print from the computer, then the screen is not necessary at all; you can print without it. But, as practice has shown, it is more convenient to print from an SD card: the printer is not connected to the computer in any way, you can put it even in another room without fear that the computer will freeze or you will accidentally turn it off in the middle of printing.

Cost: 1,493 rubles per piece.

This power supply is a little larger in size than what it should be, but it fits in without much difficulty, and it has plenty of power to spare.

Cost: 448 rubles per piece.

Required for printing with ABS plastic. For printing PLA and other types of plastic that do not shrink when cooled, you can print without heating the platform, but a table is required; glass is placed on it.

Cost: 99 rubles per piece.

Cost: 2,795 rubles per piece.

This extruder is a direct extruder, that is, the plastic feeding mechanism is located directly in front of its heating element. I advise you to take just this one, it will allow you to print with all types of plastic without much effort. The kit contains everything you need.

Cost: 124 rubles per piece.

Actually, it is necessary for blowing PLA and other slowly hardening types of plastic.

Cost: 204 rubles per piece.

Very necessary. A larger cooler will significantly reduce the noise from the printer.

Cost: 17 rubles per piece.

If clogged, it is easier to change the nozzles than to clean them. Pay attention to the diameter of the hole. Alternatively, you can select different diameters and choose for yourself. I preferred to stop at 0.3 mm; the quality of the resulting parts with such a nozzle is enough for me. If quality does not play a special role, take a wider nozzle, for example 0.4 mm. Printing will be much faster, but the layers will be more noticeable. Take several at once.

Cost: 31 rubles per piece.

It is very easy to break off, be careful. You don’t have to take a drill: it’s easier, as I wrote above, to get spare nozzles and change them. They cost pennies, but they clog extremely rarely - when using normal plastic and having a filter, which is what you will print first.

Cost: 56 rubles per piece.

There are 5 pieces in the set, 4 are used for the table, one spring is used for the X-axis limiter.

The assembly process is quite fascinating and is somewhat reminiscent of assembling a Soviet metal construction set.

We assemble everything according to the instructions except for the following points

In paragraph 1.1, at the very end, where the end supports are attached, we do not install 625z bearings - however, we did not order them. We leave the lead screws in “free floating” in the top position, this will save us from the effect of the so-called wobbling.

In paragraph 1.4 in the picture there is a black spacer. It is not included with the frame; instead there are plastic bushings, we use them.

In paragraph 1.6, we attach the Y-axis limit switch holder not to the back, but to the front wall of the printer. If this is not done, the parts will be printed as mirror images. No matter how I tried to overcome this in the firmware, I could not.

To do this, you need to resolder the terminal on the back of the board:

In paragraph 2.4 we have a different extruder, but it is attached in exactly the same way. This requires long bolts; we take them from the table adjustment kit (18th position in the list). The frame kit does not come with the long bolts that are available at local stores.

In paragraph 2.6, we begin assembling our “sandwich” from Arduino and RAMPS and will immediately make a very important modification, which is rarely written about in manuals, but which is nevertheless very important for the further smooth operation of the printer.

We need to decouple our Arduino from the power that comes from the RAMPS board. To do this, unsolder or cut off the diode from the RAMPS board.

We solder the voltage regulator to the power input, which we set in advance to 5 V, simultaneously desoldering the standard power socket. We glue the regulator to someone who is more convenient, I glued it to the back wall of the Arduino itself.

I soldered the power from the power supply to the RAMPS separately to the legs to leave a free terminal for connecting other devices.

Before starting, we check that nothing is stuck anywhere, the carriage moves to the limiter and back without obstacles. At first everything will move slowly, but over time the bearings will rub in and everything will go smoothly. Don't forget to lubricate the guides and studs. I lubricate with silicone grease.

Let's check again that there is no short circuit anywhere, the stepper motor drivers are installed correctly according to the instructions, otherwise both the screen and the Arduino will burn out. The limiters also need to be installed with the correct polarity, otherwise the voltage regulator on the Arduino will burn out.

Preparation for use

If everything is connected correctly, you can proceed to the next operating instructions.

Useful materials on some parameters of our firmware

• My configured and working version of the firmware for this printer and extruder. It is slightly calibrated to fit the parts we ordered.

We upload the firmware via the Arduino IDE 1.0.6, select Auto Home on the printer screen, and make sure that the limit switches are connected correctly and the steppers have the correct polarity. If it moves in the opposite direction, simply turn the terminal on the motor 180 degrees. If after starting to move you hear a nasty squeak, this is the squeak of the stepper drivers. It is necessary to tighten the trimming resistor on them according to the instructions.

I advise you to start printing from PLA plastic: it is not capricious and sticks well to blue tape, which is sold in construction stores.

I use plastic from Bestfilament. I took REC companies, but I didn’t like how the layers lay down. There are also a sea of ​​different brands and types of plastic: from rubber to “wooden”, from transparent to metallized... Another company that I recommend is Filamentarno. They have amazing colors and a great proprietary type of plastic with excellent properties.

I print with ABS and HIPS plastic on Kapton tape coated with regular glue stick from the office supply store. This method is good because there is no smell. There are many others different ways increasing the adhesion of the part to the table, you will learn about this yourself through trial and error. Everything is achieved through experience, and everyone chooses their own method.

Why this Prusa i3 based printer?

1. The printer is “omnivorous”. You can print with any available types of plastic and flexible rods. Today, the market for various types of plastic is quite developed; there is no such need to have a closed box.
2. The printer is easy to assemble, configure and maintain. Even a child can tinker with it.
3. Reliable enough.
4. Accordingly, a sea of ​​information about its configuration and modernization is distributed on the Internet.
5. Suitable for upgrade. You can order a second extruder or an extruder with two print heads, replace linear bearings with caprolon or copper bushings, thereby increasing print quality.
6. Affordable.

Filament filter

I printed a mount for the E3D V6 extruder, I printed for some time with this extruder with Bowden feed. But I returned back to MK10.

I purchased this upgrade; in the future we will print with two plastics.

I insulated the table for faster heating: a backing with a reflective foil layer and an adhesive base. In two layers.

I made the backlight from LED strip. At some point I got tired of turning on the light to control the print. In the future, I plan to mount the camera and connect it to a Raspberry Pi printer for remote monitoring and sending models for printing without juggling the flash drive.

If you have children, this construction set will be very useful and interesting. It won’t be difficult to introduce children to this trend; they themselves will enjoy printing various toys, construction sets and smart robots for themselves.

By the way, children's technology parks are now being actively opened across the country, where children are taught new technologies, including modeling and 3D printing. Having such a printer at home will be very useful for an enthusiastic child.

If I had such a thing as a child, my happiness would know no bounds, and if we add to this various motors, Arduino, sensors and modules, I would probably be absolutely blown away by the possibilities that would open up before me. Instead, we melted plastic from old toys and lead from batteries found in the trash.

I wish everyone who decides to repeat it a successful assembly and quick arrival of the ordered goods. :)

Thank you for your attention, if you have any questions, please ask.

A very useful Russian-language resource where you will find any information in this area:

A 3D printer is a device that can print or create three-dimensional images.

Modern industrial models work on a specialized plastic material (the developers have taught the devices to work with all types of plastics), which is applied to the mold and gradually creates a three-dimensional model. In this case, the device can work on any “ink”.

What will we talk about:

How it works

The principle of creating an object can also actually be different - from milling to applying plastic material in the form of a given shape in layers. Already now there are large construction models that “print” houses from concrete, and there are also sensational rumors about an attempt to print living organs on a printer.

In this case, you can “go down to Earth” and make with your own hands a suitable model for crafts, design or other applied purposes. So, let’s assemble a 3D printer with our own hands – how long can it take? It all depends on the time allocated, on the instructions, in general, assembly takes a maximum of a few days, the device is placed on a small table.

Preparing for assembly

Let's start by assembling the H BOT 3D printer with our own hands - we are talking about an accessible assembly methodology, including diagrams and even videos. As a result, the device will help you make small three-dimensional figures.

This device can greatly help in modeling, design or furniture production, as well as if it is made simply for interest and household chores. In the end, you can simply sell such a thing and make money on it.

Technologies used in industrial assembly:

• laser pixel-by-pixel application of a plastic substance;
• laser sintering of plastic;
• jet, squeezing heated plastic onto the mold.

At first glance, the third method is the most accessible, but again the question remains of implementing such equipment, which in practice consists of a number of metal guides that position the print head. In fact, you can make a device that prints flowers on pastries or cakes, taking into account the specifics of creating such confectionery products. At the same time, it will have common elements and design in common with a device that prints from plastic.

What you will need:

• sensors that will read the characteristics of the applied substance; in the case of plastic, we are talking about temperature measurements in the extruder nozzle and the table where the molding takes place;
• stepper motors with a microstepping function, which will position the print head (there is a ready-made H bot kit);
• end sensors that monitor the accuracy of movement and compliance with the coordinate system;
• thermistors;
• heating elements for printed matter.

If you'll be printing pastries from dough or cream, depending on the composition and consistency of the pastry, you may need to heat or cool the material and stir it to keep the print pliable. There can be many variations on the theme, but we are considering the general case of creating a 3D printed device. For training, you can use DIY kits, H bot and step-by-step instructions - the so-called Rewrap 3D, designed specifically for self-assembly. They work mainly on the basis of acrylic, with the help of which they produce various figures or plastic parts.

We choose the best from existing experience

So, let’s assemble a 3D printer with our own hands. Only Kulibin engineers can afford to make it from individual components, for example, sensors and stepper motors. For most people, bringing such a task to life, even with a project, is not a feasible idea. However, you can go the other way and use ready-made modules, from which a finished device is obtained. We hope the general principle of assembly is already clear.

All that remains is to select ready-made modules that can be used in self-assembly of such a device (pictured):

• The design is a body assembled from individual parts made according to drawings from laser-cut plywood. An example can be found at UltiMaker Original (we offer step by step instructions in English in PDF as a slide presentation, 109 pages in total). You can start working by making a table for a 3D printer.

• The best and most accurate positioning frame (also called high-speed kinematics) is H BOT. It is commercially available and is a ready-made rail frame that provides an excellent base for positioning the nozzle on the rail mechanism. H BOT was first shown in a device from Replicator 5, an analogue is MakerBot.

As electronics in self-assembled models, RAMPS 1.4 with MARLIN firmware showed itself to be excellent.

Extruder MK8, a little modification is required, but it is quite possible even for inexperienced craftsmen; E3D V6, which is optimized with a heat tube, is used as a hotend (thermal heater for acrylic).

As a basis, experience shows that semi-industrial models Signum Thingiverse, as well as ZAV, which can be found on the Roboforum, are best suited.

Case frames are already available for sale, but they can be made according to your own drawings, which are compiled according to a visual example. At their base you can see more than one 3D printer assembled by yourself.

Final parameters of a homemade 3D printer

1. The dimensions of the workpiece are 20*20*20 cm.
2. Material – any plastic with a thread diameter of 1.6-1.9 mm;
3. Printing speed – 200 mm/s, high-speed material feed.

Some important additions to the step-by-step instructions

• It is necessary to insulate the stepper motors and install cooling on them;
• To get a thermal chamber, we assemble the structure with glass. This is especially true when installing a second extruder in order to increase printing speed and create more complex shapes.
• You can also borrow the positive and well-known experience of Chinese makeblock developers on the i3 platform - we are talking about a proprietary frame available for sale. To control from a computer, an arduino mega 2560+ ramps with printrun software is used, which can be freely downloaded.

What is Arduino MEGA 2560? This is a microcontroller based on ATmega2560. It includes everything necessary to control a peripheral device such as a 3D printer. Arduino is a rather complex device for inexperienced users, which, however, can be easily understood if necessary. You can use the recommended microcontroller RAMPS 1.4. For assembly, we recommend assembling PDF files shown above.