How to Make a Simple 3d Printer.
The microcontroller utilized in many 3D printers are based on the AVR household discovered in Arduino boards. While the open source firmware such as Marlin was established based upon the GRBL for CNC makers. The word "extruder" definitely is not brand-new to those chemical engineering trainees. For that reason, one can find out a lot about 3D printing from old innovations discovered in recycled electronic devices.Here I want to show you my effort in constructing an inexpensive and basic 3D printer. The objective is not to create a very 3D printer to take on the industrial designs, however rather discover how it works and has some enjoyable with it.
Action 1: Develop the X-axis Utilizing a Printer Head Assembly and Stepper Motor.
A basic 3D printer Has three axis, X, Y, Z, each managed by a stepper motor, plus the extruder controlled by a new stepper motor. Each measurement is made with linear actuators of different styles. Here I made the x-axis using a recycled HP Inkjet printer head assembly, which includes a motor, cog belt, the cartridge holder, and the metal arm. Sadly, the synchronous motors discovered in inkjet printers are mainly 2-wire motors (with optical tapes for placing) rather of the four wire steppers required for 3D printers. For that reason, I needed to discover a stepper motor with comparable size. How to Make a Simple 3d Printer.
The one I found in my scrap box was most likely from an old floppy. There are two issues I needed to resolve with this stepper motor. Initially, this stepper is a five wire unipolar stepper, which is various from the four wire bipolar stepper required for the 3D printer. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough that the electrical wiring is available on the stepper housing and I just detached the typical terminal makings it a six wire stepper. By neglecting the central two terminals, I successfully transformed it to a four wire bipolar stepper.
Keep in mind that the old hard disk most likely utilized high voltages. The resistance has to do with 160ohm for the electrical wiring, so I think using the 12V battery is okay which's exactly what I utilized.
The other issue was that the stepper had no cog wheel on it, so I needed to discover one from the HP printer that fits precisely, and I was fortunate in finding one. See the following video to obtain a concept how it works.
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Action 2: Check the X-axis Utilizing Easy Arduino Thingy.
As soon as I made the hardware adjustments, I wished to check it by moving the printer head backward and forward. I decide to utilize a little chip Attiny2313 which occurs to be around, and the L293D H-bridge which can deal with 600mA and as much as 36V. It is conceptually easy to turn a four wire stepper.
You merely switch on each wire in series. Nevertheless, my very first effort didn't exercise quickly since I had the L293D put in reverse on the breadboard. I am thankful it didn't harm it with the abuse. I utilized the Arduino software application and USBtinyISP to configure the Attiny2313 and now whatever works fine as displayed in the video. The next actions are:.- Develop the Y and Z axis. -Construct an extruder. How to Make a Simple 3d Printer.
- Get an ideal microcontroller (I might at first check it with GRBL on Atmega328), then attempt the Mega board with Ramp1.4 and Marlin, and so on- Adjust the 3D printer.- Print something and have some enjoyable.
Action 3: A Doubt About the 2-wire Vs. Stepper Motors.
When I initially saw the two wire motor in the inkjet printer, I was puzzled For a minute because I was anticipating to see a stepper. I changed the two wire motor with a stepper since that's exactly what everybody is utilizing for the 3D printers. Well, it ends up that there ready reasons that a two wire motor is employed in the inkjet printers.For something, it utilizes optical encoder strips to place exactly and with really great resolution. By contrast, the stepper motor is essentially an open loop system, suggesting you inform it to make an x variety of turns and you trust that it will do that as an outcome and no feedback required.
The other day I checked out a little bit more about this concern, and in reality, there is a conversation on Reprap about open vs. closed loop concerns for 3D printers. Exactly what I presume is that while steppers are traditional for 3D printers, it is not the only service or the very best service for that matter. How to Make a Simple 3d Printer.
Nevertheless, considering that optical encoders are a bit more intricate than the stepper motors (whether real or not ), let's only stick to the steppers in the meantime. Later on, I might revert to the original two wire motor with the optical encoder once I guide the motor controller and feedback. So do not get rid of the two wire motor and the optical strip yet.