looking for a good 3d printer

[Ross77]

Ok so Im coming to the conclusion that I will have to build one as Id probably end up rebuilding whatever I can buy.

If i was going to buy one I think the Wanhao I3 plus looks the best as it is 24v and touch screen, that said people still upgrade the extruder and have to brace the gantry to improve stability.

Ive had a dig around and I have all the mechanical bits to make a 500x300x200 machine. x and y belt driven and z on 4mm pitch lead screws. seems a no brainer as then I can get the best electrics to make it work.

Probably go for a 24v system and 32bit controller to get the best resolution

E3d aero extruder and hot end looks good quality and light weight

Any recommendations for the contoller and heat bed?

[Desertboy]

I'd look at a rapsiberry pi solution, cheap as chips and can add 4" colour touch screen for a £10

As for 24v
The difference you will notice giving the nema's 24v is not like with nema 23's lol, you'll get 30% more torque but in the real world it will make almost no difference.

But the heated bed you will notice the difference I would just get a cheap mk3 aluminium heated bed, they work well at 24v and heat up in less than 2 mins, at 12v it can take over 10 mins! If you're only printing PLA I find at 12v the bed will heat to 60c in a couple of mins but to get to 110c at 12v takes forever! So 24v makes much more difference when printing ABS.

[A_Camera]

I'd look at a rapsiberry pi solution, cheap as chips and can add 4" colour touch screen for a £10

As for 24v
The difference you will notice giving the nema's 24v is not like with nema 23's lol, you'll get 30% more torque but in the real world it will make almost no difference.

But the heated bed you will notice the difference I would just get a cheap mk3 aluminium heated bed, they work well at 24v and heat up in less than 2 mins, at 12v it can take over 10 mins! If you're only printing PLA I find at 12v the bed will heat to 60c in a couple of mins but to get to 110c at 12v takes forever! So 24v makes much more difference when printing ABS.

The higher voltage on the steppers is mainly for speed not the torque. I think it makes a difference there.

[magicniner]

I've just upgraded to a Mk3 bed on a 12v printer and although it's not quick it's not as slow as some have experienced.
The Mk3 bed has two 12v heater circuits, connect them in parallel and it runs on 12v, connect them in series and it runs on 24v but in either case each circuit only gets 12v, for heating the problem is not the voltage it's the voltage drop experienced with inadequate power supplies often shipped with basic 12v machines.
I am planning to upgrade a separate bed heater PSU with a torroidal transformer, a rectifier, a bit of smoothing and a DC-DC solid state relay.
I have a larger format 3D printer build in the pipeline for which I've decided to use 240v Silicone heater pads using a solid state relay to interface with the control board's standard heater output.

[Desertboy]

The higher voltage on the steppers is mainly for speed not the torque. I think it makes a difference there.

I run my printer at 24v I never noticed a difference in print speed when I upgraded from 12v but I did notice the heated bed, maybe it makes more a difference with a 32bit controller (I modded a ramps board to 24v)

The nema's do seem a little quieter at 24v.

[Ross77]

I'd look at a rapsiberry pi solution, cheap as chips and can add 4" colour touch screen for a £10

Ive been looking for the Pi but cant find many options, Any specific ones you know of?

As for 24v, The difference you will notice giving the nema's 24v is not like with nema 23's lol, you'll get 30% more torque but in the real world it will make almost no difference.

if i make the machine then the motors will be nema 23-24s, might have to go for separate drives any way.

I like the look of the Duet as its all in one but could be an issue if a section stops working. At least separates can be replaced

[Desertboy]

Ive been looking for the Pi but cant find many options, Any specific ones you know of?


if i make the machine then the motors will be nema 23-24s, might have to go for separate drives any way.

I like the look of the Duet as its all in one but could be an issue if a section stops working. At least separates can be replaced

Nema 23's for a 3d printer unless it's crazy over sized is probably too much like you don't want to use nema 34's on smaller routers, I built my printer with 0.44nm nema 17's (This is at the high end) £10 each from Uk seller and they can whip along at a very fast rate I run my machine a lot slower than I could because I only print occasionally so print time is irrelevant to me and I've found slower speeds are more forgiving.

I only print ABS which is a lot more hassle than PLA which is a joy in comparison.

[Zeeflyboy]

nema23 I would also say are overkill for pretty much any 3d printer, except maybe if you are lifting a fairly heavy solid bed - I could see the Z-axis benefiting there. If you have spare nema23's lying around anyway then of course no reason not to use them.

I was actually toying with the idea of a servo driven 3d printer using small 100w servos or similar for X and Y, could be a fun experiment if I can find some cheap enough.

[Zeeflyboy]

Ive been looking for the Pi but cant find many options, Any specific ones you know of?


if i make the machine then the motors will be nema 23-24s, might have to go for separate drives any way.

I like the look of the Duet as its all in one but could be an issue if a section stops working. At least separates can be replaced

I use a raspberry pi with the official 7" touchscreen and octoprint as my printer's control interface. Very neat solution - also allows a webcam feed and remote access.

astroprint is another good print server, I think they are adding easier touchscreen support. Less technical than octoprint but looks easy to use and well presented.

[Ross77]

Nema 23's for a 3d printer unless it's crazy over sized is probably too much like you don't want to use nema 34's on smaller routers

Yes, sorry I meant to say for the z-axis, I have a pair of complete slide/lead screw assemblies. the x,y will be belt driven so plenty fast enough.

I use a raspberry pi with the official 7" touchscreen and octoprint as my printer's control interface. Very neat solution - also allows a webcam feed and remote access.

Is the PI just running the printers driver or does it control the steppers and heating mosfets direct?

guessing i will still need a duet or RAMPs with the PI