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A project log for Arcus-3D-C1 - Cable 3D printer

3D printable, Open Source Hardware, tripod kinematics, cable driven 3D printer

daren-schwenkeDaren Schwenke 11/18/2017 at 00:150 Comments

Got the machine leveled enough to try something.

I wanted to see if I could do some wood burning with the print head.  I could do it without having the extruder finalized and it would tell me how good the leveling was.

It made some nice scratches in the wood, but no burning actually happened.  I guess 300C is too cold.  It also pointed out I had swapped two of my axis so prints were backwards in the X direction.

I tried a little more down-force and I could see the print head start to lag behind the intended position.  The cables were stretching.  Granted I was dragging the print head through wood so not really a realistic printing scenario, but it got me thinking.

I believe having the nozzle hanging significantly below the attachment point of the cables is not the best arrangement.  I'm losing some vertical build area in that way too.

Raising it up will result in an overall larger footprint for the end effector which will mean parts printed "one at a time" will need to be further apart but I can live with that.

It's also a lot more complicated shape as the v6 J-head I'm using will now be inside the end effector so the push rod U joint will need to span it.  I'll also need to make the fan cowling part of the end effector.  

It can be done though.

So I'm doing it.  WIP

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