How to make a 3D printer out of aluminum profile yourself?

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Not all beginner printers can afford to buy a new 3D printer. It is quite expensive. Also, you need to be sure that the model is suitable for the necessary tasks. It turns out that the only budget way to touch the world of 3D printing is to assemble a printer yourself.

Why make a 3D printer from a profile and what are the ways?

It is common to assemble a 3D printer yourself for the following reasons:

  • Reducing the cost of construction.Creating a more advanced device than those offered by the market.
  • Making a device for one’s own specific needs and requirements, if the printer is designed to perform specific highly specialized tasks.
  • The desire to express themselves. There are some people who make high-tech equipment just for fun. After that, they offer materials on creating a printer for the consideration of a large audience of those who wish to do so.
  • Self-made 3D printer requires a master to be deeply immersed in the principles of operation of such devices. You also need experience in working with components.

There are two options for constructing the device by yourself:

  • Using kits. Devices are provided to users in a disassembled form. Such kits usually have all the necessary fasteners and parts, if they are sold by the manufacturers of the 3D printer. Kits from independent projects may have either just the fixtures or just the parts for the body. Their cost is much lower and still allow the buyer to implement their creative ideas.
  • Self-design. This method is much more complicated. It is necessary to make a lot of calculations and analyze the characteristics of all components.
  • To save money, some craftsmen use frames of their own production. The most suitable material for this is aluminum.

Advantages of creating a 3D printer with your own hands from aluminum profile

The advantages of using an aluminum profile to make the device:

  1. Great strength with a relatively low weight.
  2. High ductility of aluminum, which allows you to dampen vibrations.
  3. Easy assembly. Only bolts and a T-nut are used for this purpose.
  4. Simple preparation. It is enough to cut the profile into pieces of the required length.
  5. Perfectly drilled and cut, the finished product can be easily disassembled and modernized.
  6. Due to the geometry of the profile it is possible to assemble a construction of high rigidity.
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How to make?

To make such an apparatus from a profile is simple enough if you follow the instructions. There are several ready-made projects with step-by-step instructions.

Project by Sergey Ivanchikov

This machine was made because of the need to prototype and create design 3D models. A large printing area was required. Store models turned out to be unsuitable in terms of technical characteristics and price.

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The author spent money and purchased electronics, rails, and bearings to make it. He took gear belts, shafts and motors from old conventional printers.

Also required were:

  • A Chinese equivalent MK7 extruder;
  • 5 A4988 motor drivers;
  • Arduino mega 2560;
  • Ramps 1.4;
  • Graphic LCD Controller.

For the assembly you will need:

  • screwdrivers (Phillips and flat);
  • soldering iron;
  • wrenches;
  • Metal hacksaw for cutting;

The assembly itself:

  • The frame was made from a special 31 × 30 × 3, 50 × 50 × 3, 50 × 20 × 2, and 40 × 40 × 3 mm structural aluminum profile.
  • The shafts with a cross section of 12 mm are removed from the printer from the Soviet times. They would be needed for the X and Z axes. In addition I had to buy an SBR12 shaft for the Y axis.
  • Three motors were taken from the old printer and an additional one was ordered from China. The Y axis requires 2 motors, the X axis 1 and the Y axis 1.
  • The table is made from a 340 × 320 mm sheet of aluminum. Its thickness should be 4 mm. In addition, the table has a 250 × 250 mm silicone heater. It produces 200 W of power at 12 V.
  • Once the assembly is complete, the Marlin firmware is installed and the first print is done to check the quality.

The pluses of this assembly are that the printer is cheap to make, reliable and practical. There are no minuses, as the device qualitatively performs all the tasks assigned to it.

H-Bot from profile pipe by NickSon

When the author decided to make such a device, he already had experience in assembling a CNC milling machine, though unsuccessfully. The construction of the machine did not have enough rigidity.

Based on previous experience, the author decided to make an H-Bot with a cube design so that the printer would have a stiffer frame. As the basis, a 30 × 30 mm aluminum profile tube with a wall thickness of 1.5 mm was chosen. For the table and beam we used a 20 × 20 mm tube. Of course, it is better to use aluminum profile, but it is much more expensive than a tube.

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The table is attached by means of two bolts. The fastening is carried out on four rails. Bolts are also needed to be able to adjust the height. Cylindrical shafts with a diameter of 12 mm were used as guides. Linear bearings were also needed.

Cardboard was used as an insulating material for the table. But it can only be used temporarily. In the future the author plans to replace the cardboard with mineral wool, which will be pressed to the table from below.

Both propellers are operated by a single motor. The force is transmitted by means of a belt. This makes the device more stable and easier to synchronize with the rotation of the propellers. This also makes the design cheaper.

To prevent axial play of the propellers, it is necessary to install bearings on both sides of the beam.

The author bought the table. He purchased a MKS MK3-220. This model is made of aluminum sheet metal and can run on 12V or 24V. Also a Titan extruder was used in the assembly.

It was necessary to buy these electronics:

  • MKS TFT 2.4 display;
  • RURAMPS4D;
  • Arduino Due.

The advantages of this model:

  • relatively inexpensive assembly;
  • ease of operation;
  • reliability.

There are no disadvantages, because the device performs all the tasks assigned to it.

The variant by Kick_2

The creator assembled the device on the basis of several other people’s projects. He used all of the most interesting ideas and solutions.

A 30 × 30 mm aluminum construction profile was brought from China. It can be easily upgraded if necessary and allows making a rigid construction.

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For X and Y axes 42BYGH47-401A motors were used. For the Z axis, a stepper motor with an 8mm multi-turn screw was installed.

Also electronics was bought:

  • 12V power supply;
  • Arduino 2560 with Ramps 1.4;
  • an extruder with a 0.4 mm nozzle;
  • card reader;
  • display.

The drive is made with a toothed belt. The table has a Heatbed MK2 Hot Plate. The author used a Soviet-made 100 kOhm thermistor to regulate the heating.

The advantages of this assembly are that the device is fairly quick to assemble and very easy to work with.

3D printer by the user bliser

From the very beginning, the author conceived the project so that the printer could be easily assembled by himself from the tools at hand. His toolkit consisted only of a grinder, drill, file, soldering iron, screwdriver, and rivet gun. But during planning it was decided that the printer should be made from parts that would be made to order.

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The following material was purchased:

  • polycarbonate with a thickness of 4 mm;
  • aluminum profile;
  • 15mm wide belts, pulleys and rollers.

The extruder is mounted so that it moves in a plane. The table moves along the Z axis. The movement is made by 1 motor via a ball screw gear.

An extraction system is also provided. It is made of a cooler and plumbing pipes.

The main advantages of the assembly are:

  • closed housing with exhaust system;
  • heating of the table from 220 V;
  • printing area – 25 to 30 cm;
  • easy maintenance;
  • possibility of improvement;
  • table with automatic leveling;
  • rails and ball screws.

The author believes that the product has the following disadvantages:

  • poor implementation of extraction – a strong smell of plastic during printing;
  • the weight of the device is more than 60 kg;
  • the device does not have grounding, and the table runs from 220 V;
  • there is a resonance during printing at 50 mm/s.

CoreXY on shafts with his own hands from the user Xedos

This is the author’s second project. The first one used a lot of plastic parts, so the construction was not strong enough. The new printer should be very reliable.

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To make it the author bought:

  • a stud with a length of 52 cm and a diameter of 6 mm;
  • M6 nuts with a plastic gasket;
  • aluminum profile 30 × 30 × 320 mm and 30 × 30 × 500 mm;
  • silumin corner;
  • profile crumbs.

Plastic cubes of own manufacture were also used.

Frame made of aluminum structural profile is assembled with the use of building angle, so that the angles were aligned with perfect accuracy. To ensure the required rigidity, a stud is passed inside the profile. Bars are inserted in all corners to make the connection.

The kinematics are assembled as follows:

  • Using the breadcrumbs, the rails and profile are fastened together.
  • After that the head is assembled.
  • On the X-axis the gantry should be fixed to the carriages.
  • The installation of the stepper motors is performed.
  • After the electric motors are mounted, the gears are installed.
  • The transfer belt must be tightened.
  • All elements are mounted on the profile.

The printer runs on these electronics:

  1. DRV8825 drivers;
  2. Nema17 motors;
  3. Arduino MEGA 2560;
  4. ramps 1.4;
  5. extruder – MK8;
  6. hotand – E3D V6;
  7. limit switches;
  8. LCD display 2004;
  9. card reader;
  10. power supply from 12V, 30A adapter;
  11. heated table – MK2.
  12. Marlin 1.0.2 firmware was used.

Advantages of the assembly:

  • great speed of operation;
  • excellent indices of strength and rigidity of the construction;
  • Due to the small length of the belts there is practically no noise;
  • the rails do not let the shafts sag and relieve them a little.

The disadvantages include:

  • during the working process, the carriages make loud noises when they move quickly;
  • for the assembly require dryers;
  • The large size of the device.

It is quite realistic to make your own 3D printer. This is confirmed by many enthusiasts. The best solution for the frame is to use an aluminum profile. It is relatively light and provides sufficient rigidity of the construction.

 

 

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