CAD - repositioned parts, figured out frame

Today (and yesterday) I did a lot of repositioning parts and trying to figure out how the frame's gonna look. It's hard keeping in mind PSU wiring throughout all of it, but I think I have a good general idea. I'm using 4040 extrusions for stability, and nice big connecting pieces.

I must have repositioned that stupid power inlet ten thousand times, but I like where it is now. I've decided not to do dual z motors, simply because I didn't realize that I have to do a pretty big belt-gear ratio to keep the axis from falling, and those big gears are expensive.

Here you can see how I think the motors will be placed, but that may change. Another thing that I may change is the custom toolhead PCB. I like the idea, and I like USB-PD, but it'd just be much easier to use the wires I already have, save a few bucks with the PD cord, and just to get a regular gyro instead. I can still route the wires together using a wire cable sleeve.

(also im on vacation, so I have a lot less time to work on this :/ probably won't finish by november, but i guess that's alright.)

Guess what! More cad

Today I added the RPi zero 2 w to the design, repositioned some stuff, added 2040 aluminum extrusions instead of 2020, added the motor, the pulley, the bearing, and semi-redid the belt-attachy-to-printhead bit. I accidentally did all this originally using 20T pulleys, when I'd intended to use 16T, so I had to redo all that :sob:

Anyways here's some pics

It's been fairly slow lately... I really have to step it up to finish before November tariffs kick in. Wish me luck.

More research and CAD

The past few days I've been kinda slacking.... I worked a bit more on CAD and did a bunch of research of different unimportant things. I went down a whole 1.5 hr rabbit hole about 3D printer beds. Originally I'd planned to use the bed from the Bambu Lab A1 Mini, but propriety parts are SO EXPENSIVE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

anyways, next i researched silicone bed heaters (that didn't turn out), 150mm beds (that didn't work either), and finally landed on a cheap PCB bed heater :D

but images are worth a thousand words so here's 2000 words

CFD #4 and began toolhead PCB

First I did the fourth CFD run:

Then I began to work on the toolhead PCB. I found out that USB-PD can carry up to 240W, which is great! Plenty for the hotend and everything.

Besides that, I did a little bit of CAD on the printhead, smoothing some stuff out and making it look nicer. I'm pretty pleased with how quickly I'm getting this thing done! I only hope that I get the PCBWay sponsorship...

Printhead CAD: Attached Belts, Finished(?) Ducts

Today I was fairly productive, and at this rate I think I can finish the printhead in two or so days! After receiving advice from @Evan Le, I've significantly widened the part cooling ducts, as 5020 fans have very little static pressure.

Additionally, I've added the belt attachy thingies, and I'm fairly confident in them. The belt wraps around a 3D printed part (reinforced by a screw) inside the printhead itself, curves in on itself, and meshes with itself as it comes back out to prevent it from slipping out.

I've also added an area that I could put the toolhead pcb, which I plan to put a gyro on.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to CFD test the new ducts... tomorrow!

More CFD Tests

Today I ran a few more CFD tests, with some CAD in between!

CFD Run #1

Here I tried to get the airflow to flow more directly towards the spot right beneath the nozzle, without limiting it too much.

Here you can see the ducts are directing the air too far upwards, so it's effectively cooling the nozzle and making the hotend work harder instead of cooling the actual print.

CFD Run #2

I've angled the duct outputs downwards slightly in the hopes that it'll deflect the airflow towards beneath the nozzle

Much better

I'm going to leave it at this for now, as I'm fairly satisfied with how it looks. Apart from that, I did more printhead CAD!

I love the logo and I love how compact and nice the whole thing works. I've switched back to a linear rail, at least for the X-axis, as it's cheaper than getting two rods and two LM8LUU bearings. For Y axis I'm still a bit undecided as to whether I should get dual MGN12H's, an MGW9 (a wider linear rod) or two linear rods. I may end up doing dual linear rods just cuz of budget, but we'll see.

I plan to put a toolhead PCB on the back, with a USB-C output like the Bambu A1 Mini has! Yippee

More printhead CAD and first CFD run

Today I cadded a bunch more on the printhead! I'm quite happy with my work, and I managed to get a ton of stuff done with connecting the fans and stuff. I made some quick fan ducts and ran a CFD test to see what they look like (spoiler: not good, but I was expecting that). Tomorrow I'll fix the ducts and run some more CFDs!

More Printhead CAD

Today I did a bunch of CAD! I locked in and was able to get a ton of stuff done. I arranged all my printhead parts in a way I think will work really well, and began to make the 3D printed parts. I've decided to put the ABL probe (CR Touch) in the front, which is fairly unusual, but the idea is that it lets me keep the hotend and extruder as close to the X-axis linear rods as possible to minimize the effects of linear bearing play and to distribute the weight better. In moving the CR Touch, I had to mount the heat creep fan at a 45 degree angle, but I think it looks cool so I like it. Finally, moving the probe gives me more room to put a possible toolhead PCB.

Last but not least, I huddled with Gabriel (@gbtsui) and gave him some tips and tricks on how to make a printer, cuz he's making his first CoreXY! Fun stuff.

Began CAD

Today I started to CAD the toolhead a bit. I did a bit more research, but I think I'm gonna get started on the printhead just to make sure I'm not forgetting anything or something like that. I'm using the ProtoExtruder 2.0, the Peopoly Magneto X Lancer Melt Zone standard hotend, dual 5020 part cooling fans, a 4010 heat creep fan, a CRTouch probe, and possibly linear rails, but I may have to switch to rods for budget problems.

Researched parts

For the past little while, I've been researching parts and exactly what I need to make a truly beginner-friendly yet super fast printer. My ideal with this printer is a bedslinger with Bambu Lab ease-of-use and CoreXY speeds. Of course, a DIY printer can't really get as easy to make as a Bambu Lab, due to the lack of custom parts, etc. But I'm sure going to try.

Essentially, what I'm aiming for is a printer I can sell. Again because I don't have access to bulk manufactured parts from a dedicated factory I'm not going to be able to sell it cheaper than say a Bambu Lab A1 Mini, but if I'm able to pull this off, people will be buying a fully open-source, super fast version of it.

Anyways, I've researched a bunch so far, and for the most part I'm proud of what I've found. As of right now, I'm dreadfully overbudget, but that might be because I put way too much into aluminum extrusions. I hope to get sponsored by LDO and PCBWay, and possibly Polymaker or BigTreeTech to cut down on out-of-pocket costs. I spent way too long trying to research a CPAP cooling system, when I didn't realize that they cost at least $70. That being out of my budget, I think I've decided to use dual 5020 fans instead. We'll see how it turns out!