3D Printer - Working Area 40x40x40cm

I made three videos which show you step by step assembly of 3d printer. Videos will give you a good overview, but most important information are in the next steps.

Frame materials:

- Aluminium profiles 20x20x2 mm
- Aluminium sheet 3mm
- Linear Rail Shafts 12mm
- Linear Shaft Bearings 12mm
- A lot of Screws, Nuts and Washers
- Stepper Motor Mounts

Drive components:

- Stepper Motors Nema 17
- Timing Belts GT2 6mm
- GT2 Timing Pulleys
- Screw Rods

Electronic:

- Arduino Mega 2560
- Ramps 1.4
- Stepstick A4988
- LCD 12864
- Power Supply
- Heated Bed
- Heater Block
- Endstops
- Thermistors
- A lot of Wires

Tools:

- Cnc Machine or 3D Printer
- Belt Sander
- Angle Grinder
- Drill
- Sandpaper
- Screws drivers
- Soldering Iron
- Pliers

Before I started making my printer I thought about different solutions and I made 3D project in Autodesk Inventor, it gave me a good overview on the whole machine. Dimensions of all parts you can download below.

Frame is made of aluminium profiles 20x20x2 mm. I thought about v-slot profiles, they are easier to connect but much more expensive. To the other elements I used aluminium flat bars 40x10mm, 40x8mm, 30x10mm and aluminium sheet 3mm. First, I cut all profiles(20x20) to the desired length and improved the edges on belt sander. Next I milled all parts. After milling I removed the holding tabs, improved edges, drilled holes and made threads.

Connect aluminium profiles (585mm and 620mm length) with corner connectors using screws. Remember about the angle of 90 degrees ! Cut the linear rail shafts to 620mm. Screw Y shafts holder to the frame. Put in linear bearings to the bearings holder and put them on shafts. Next screw the bed bottom to the bearings holder. This is a platform for the bed.

Connect aluminium profiles (560mm vertical and 585mm horizontal ) using corner connectors. Screw the Z bottom shaft holders. Connect 2 pieces of the frame with the Z mount plates. Still remember about 90 degree. Cut the shafts to 588mm and connect them with the Z bottom and top holders. To strengthen construction, screw the aluminium angle profiles from top to the bottom.

Screw bearings to the X Plates and put them in the Z axis. Remember about a bearing holder+nut one of each side. Cut the shafts to 624mm. Connect bearings with X Bearings Holder and screw them to the X Plate Extruder.

Now frame and axis are ready :)

Screw motor holders to the frame. Y axis holder was too high. So, I cut few millimeters from the top. Screw the motors to the holders and endstops to the frame. Triggers are made of steel and aluminium. Z axis trigger is adjustable. Timing belt connectors are made of steel and aluminium too. Next screw the gears, pulley wheels and timing belts. To the Z axis I used M6 threaded rods but only for test. I'll change them to 8 mm threaded rod with trapezoidal thread. Nuts are made of teflon.

To make adjustable bed I used screws and hard springs. Top bed is connected to aluminium profiles and bottom bed. I didn't' had a that big aluminium sheet. So, bed is little to small but still work perfect :) On the top of the bed is 4 mm glass. Glass shapes are rounded with sandpaper. Extruder and hotend are made of aluminium. They are connected with teflon pipe.

This step is not necessary but is good for your machine. The construction is little flexible when you put on force. To reduce it I welded simple platform with steel profiles.

The brain of the printer is Arduino Mega 2560 with Marlin software. To arduino are connected Ramps 1.4 shield and LCD 12864 Smart Controller. To power the printer I used a ATX power supply (very cheap and quite). But if printer works with 4 heated beds my old atx isn't enough. To power the 4 heated bed I used a power supply from old server station. To control which bed will be turned off or on, I made small control panel (schematic below). If I need use more than 2 beds, I have to turn on biggest power supply(a lot of noise). Of course you can power everything from 1 power supply, but I got my power supplies for free and this solution is good for me becouse I mostly use 1 heated bed. On the bottom of the heated bed is a cork board to keep maximum heat. In the rar file is Marlin program with my settings, but they aren't final (works good but can better).

Before machine was completely finished, I printed a hotend holder, fan holder, z axis threaded rod holder, smart controller enclosure and filament spool holder.

3D Printer is completely finished :)

Just heat the nozzle and print something !

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Thomas Workshop Youtube Channe

l If you have any questions, please leave a comment below :)