Building a Large Format 3D Printer

Building a Large Format 3D Printer - Part 5: Upgrades!

Рет қаралды 280,013

Күн бұрын

Part 5 of this massive printer build includes an enclosure, closed-loop motors, and electronics upgrades!
Files, Parts, and Info: www.drdflo.com/LF3DP.html
Large Format Printer Playlist: • Large Format 3D Printe...
D-Flo's Amazon Store: www.amazon.com/shop/dr.d-flo
📷 Follow Dr. D-Flo on the Gram: / dr.dflo
Part 5 is packed with serious upgrades and creative 3D prints. The build volume is enclosed with plasma cut sheet metal, CNC milled components, and topped with a massive ABS hat - 3D printed of course! Inevitably there were some issues and expensive mishaps as Dr. D-Flo attempted to print with ABS pellets, a material notorious for warping. But active chamber heating, a new pellet vibrator upgrade, closed-loop stepper motors, and CAN expansion boards vastly increased the reliability of this printer.
Table of Contents:
00:00 - Introduction
01:56 - Battery Backup
02:32 - Motor Brakes
04:02 - Motor Encoders
05:72 - Installing Motors
06:31 - CAN Expansion Boards
11:59 - Closed-Loop Tuning
14:11 - GD Print 1
15:45 - Vibrator
20:22 - GD Print 2
24:23 - Enclosure
30:58 - Hat
#massive #additivemanufacturing #3dprinting

Пікірлер: 428

@DrDFlo Жыл бұрын

Thank you everyone for your patience and support over the past 7 months. I wrote a blog post about my steps after graduating if you are curious about what I have been up to: www.drdflo.com/pages/Blog/Blog-post-23-1.html

@paint4pain Жыл бұрын

I asked the injection molding press specialist at work about jamming, he says the easiest solution is to get "quenched" feed stock instead of cut pellets, they are like little bals or lentil shaped and they jam way less than cylinders. His second is solution would have been an agitator rod inside the hopper. Our presses dont have any agitation in the feed hopper but we do have separate colorant hoppers that use a small (3/8" diameter) metering auger to control the flow.

@DrDFlo Жыл бұрын

@@paint4pain Excellent suggestions! When I am at bench with the vibrator, the pellets that I am using are underwater or quenched pelletized (round shape) and they still have a tendency to bridge. I believe this is a limitation of my small, by industrial standards, MDPH2 extruder. Its feed throat is too close to the diameter of the pellets. However, the abs pellets were strand cut (cylinders) and I had to have the vibrator running more often, so the geometry of the pellets definitely plays a role.

@mururoa7024 Жыл бұрын

Try ASA. Same pros as ABS but less of the cons, especially the off-gassing.

@Jeralddoerr Жыл бұрын

Love your videos but I was just trying to set my (bell) notification and your Channel will not allow me because it's marked for kids??? I'm assuming you know this? I'm not sure if you have a setting on or KZfaq just sets this for your channel automatically? I have probably 100+ subscriptions and yours seems to be the only one set like this. (we) I can't get any notifications if you post a new video..?

@unknownvalor9755 Жыл бұрын

I think there is a strong market for any printer that can print body parts for classic cars. You need that rear panel? no problem here's one made of carbon fiber. You need a rare deck lid for a 69 Mangusta ? Here's a carbon fiber replacement.

@PhatPhinx Жыл бұрын

happy this series hasnt ended

@user-zj2mb3sp3x Жыл бұрын

Heads up, when you crimp on your RJ-11(applies for RJ-45 as well) the cables jacket needs to be inside of the jack as well, such that when you crimp the connector, it actually pinches on to the cables jacket which then holds the wire in place, and acts as a strain relief. With how you currently crimped all of your RJ-11's there is no strain relief so if the cable gets snagged, it will damage your connections.

@bobbiac Жыл бұрын

It won't fit. He's using cat5. In order to include the jacket in rj12 6p6c he would have to use silver satin Edit spelling

@agbhargihad7325 Жыл бұрын

You are so smrt.

@acorgiwithacrown467 Жыл бұрын

@@bobbiac Really shouldn't have used RJ-11, RJ-45 is just plain better.

@AJMansfield1 Жыл бұрын

@@acorgiwithacrown467 The duet 3 expansions boards only have RJ12 6p6c connectors on them. If he attached 8p8c RJ45 connectors they wouldn't fit in the sockets he's trying to connect..

@acorgiwithacrown467 Жыл бұрын

@@AJMansfield1 I meant the manufacturers, obviously he didn't have a choice...

@willbusler Жыл бұрын

Some large parts that are made on injection molding machines use a blend of PC & ABS together, around 5% Polycarbonate to 95% ABS. It gives the parts better dimensional stability. I wonder if that is something that would work help with your ABS issues. Awesome video though, keep up the good work.

@woodworker3856 Жыл бұрын

This video beautifully showcased the difficulties in scaling up 3D printing technology. Extruding, bed heating and enclosure heating are so much more difficult at this size. Thanks for sharing real-world mistakes instead of hiding them and just showing successes. It made the video so much more enjoyable and relatable.

@drewberrynews3875 Жыл бұрын

I agree with woodworker. Thanks for showing us both the upgrades and the pitfalls as it is encouraging to see your strategy for overcoming the obstacles. Great content here. I'd love to own one of these eventually but that price point eeesh. I'm sure it could pay for itself fairly quickly once the kinks are worked out.

@raudy6563 Жыл бұрын

just as a warning, benchys are extremely top-heavy, so if you try to float it it will instantly tip over. youll need to modify it if you want to make it rideable

@__lasevix_ Жыл бұрын

Like increasing the fill % on the first layers?

@nathanielmoore87 Жыл бұрын

Flat bottomed hull doesn't help either...

@thedude7726 Жыл бұрын

Just add weight in the bottom. Ill stop a benchie, add lead shot and resume print , then they float

@marcuspagel Жыл бұрын

By far the best series on youtube. Worth the 7 month wait.

@dn275 Жыл бұрын

This is an amazing series and I'm learning a ton from this project. You do a great job with not only your project updates but also with your demonstrations. This project is a huge undertaking and I appreciate that you share the problems you encountered and walk us through how you solve them. Not enough people are willing to share failure! Some people assume things have to be perfect or else it wasn't worth it and that's simply not the case. This project and this entire video series is absolutely worth it.

@mildlemon7866 Жыл бұрын

Yeah, glad to see you back! 😊👍

@DrDFlo Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad to finally be back!

@chrisliddiard725 Жыл бұрын

About the vibrator you've placed on a timer, you could have a simple light/motion sensor to sense when the pellet flow stops, and then trigger the vibration. You would need a small reservoir of pellets so that when the flow stops there are still pellets available for the print head. BTW have you thought of hosting this printer on Twitch? Just a thought, but the metal bed on which the glass sits might benefit from a temperature probe, thermal insulation, or its own heater. this way you can prepare the glass for that first layer of the print.

@aequanimus63247 Жыл бұрын

Congrats on the new job! You are an excellent teacher and brilliant engineer. I'm sure you'll do well in your new profession. I loved watching pretty much every series you've ever done and have always learned something new. I especially love how you showcase the problems that you've encountered along the way. That's what real engineering is all about. Best of luck man.

@julienboucaron9780 Жыл бұрын

Warping force is quiet something on such large printer. Fiber reinforced ABS is less prone to warping and it enables stiffer parts, probably a good option. PLA-ABS blend may be an alternative too, but lower temperature.

@wikedawsom Жыл бұрын

Congratulations on getting your dream job, Prof. D-Flo! Looking forward to the next status update on this project and anything else you have cooking up

@4thfrom7 Жыл бұрын

Words cannot describe how excited I was when I saw you added a new part to this series. My favourite KZfaq project, currently. And congratulations on the teaching position!

@blacknovella Жыл бұрын

i love these long format videos.. really sucks it takes so long between videos. Keep up the great work. Congratulations on your new gig.

@sokauo Жыл бұрын

This guy print his own DESK!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much to document and film your insane builds, it is full of critical informations and problems solving techniques, you are awsome!

@marijuanas Жыл бұрын

Insanely impressive build, thanks for filming it all for us!

@ryans600 Жыл бұрын

You are really going for the gold with this printer. It's amazing to see such dedication and passion for a project. Keep it up!

@isofilmy Жыл бұрын

This has been an exceptionally well made series. The complexity of the printer and the added work of filming and editing it all are really impressive. 👍🏻 I work in automation but I'm not an engineer. I've learnt a lot about the axis and motors I hear the engineers talking about. Thanks

@polygorg Жыл бұрын

Hey, id like to mention that a HEPA filter will *not* help much with the chemical fumes that ABS produces when heated. you need some sort of chemical filter, its best to have Activated Charcoal filters.

@bigwendigo2253 Жыл бұрын

He said his filters are carbon filters…

@Domieboy Жыл бұрын

This is an amazing video. So much effort, and so thoroughly explained. I understood everything. I also learned so much. Just hearing u tackle minor printing problems, taught me 2 more troubleshoots I definitely needed to know. Good work, and thank you.

@mauricecartondetournai5341 Жыл бұрын

Imaging having 100k and doing a project like that big respect

@RobertLBarnard Жыл бұрын

Impressive how quickly you're dialing in on massive PLA parts. Amazing!

@iopfarmer Жыл бұрын

I am very impressed by the work you do on this project. Keep going please!

@bulletproofpepper2 Жыл бұрын

Stunning and awesome! Thanks for sharing your incredible work. Worth the wait. You do you it will be epic.

@davidriley7659 Жыл бұрын

Love the project. On my 3d printer, I was having issues with I consistent bed heat, so I used some adhesive foam to insulate the underside of the bed. This meant only one side was losing heat.

@antonsemenyura5337 Жыл бұрын

oh mate, delightful video! Wish you good luck conquering issues and improving your build! Thanks for uploads!

@danmurphy5660 Жыл бұрын

This build is epic, thanks for bringing us all along for the ride man.

@sierraecho884 Жыл бұрын

This is awesome for furniture and structural parts, also stuff like surfboards and boxes and what not, pretty cool.

@simonl7784 Жыл бұрын

ASA warps less than ABS but still warps alot. I print in a heated chamber at 60c but the bigger you go, the more challenging it will be. Keep it up. Cheers.

@graffskater2Rogue Жыл бұрын

Your content is amazing. Super inspiring to watch you build this printer

@olivierbergeron4873 Жыл бұрын

I love your motivation in this project it is very inspiring! Thank you!

@TrashPandaPirate Жыл бұрын

Congrats on the new job, im envious of your students. Ive learned alot from this build series alone

@just_bright Жыл бұрын

Congrats man! You are such an inspiration and will be an AMAZING professor. Wow!

@jaunpaulvictor1 Жыл бұрын

Wow, this project has turned out so amazing, epic work!🔥

@motionsick Жыл бұрын

You are a total maniac D-flo. This is awesome can't wait to see the boat.

@PeterMaenke Жыл бұрын

You put a lot of thought into everything, and present it very well. Great work.

@jessebarker3602 Жыл бұрын

i feel like little electric motor might be better than air fed fallet unjammer, if you have a power outage im guessing the compressor isnt ran by your battery system. this machine is an awesome feat of engineering! great work

@foldionepapyrus3441 Жыл бұрын

Compressors usually have airtanks, so they effectively come with a built in UPS - I frequently just fill my airtank and then turn the compressor off as the tank holds enough pressure for the tool I'm using today. And with the pellet feed needing lots of air if memory serves he almost certainly has a larger air tank on his that will be able to keep that vibrator running for a good long time (if the electrical controls are actually functional).

@psygonzo7974 Жыл бұрын

I love this project so much, great work and video

@OddsandEndsMachining Жыл бұрын

Love the video, can’t wait to see more projects on the milling machine though.

@karlh6692 Жыл бұрын

That is a really complicated way to avoid the simple mechanical modification of counterweights for the gantry. Yay for the new job :)

@Dennis_5618 Жыл бұрын

Glad to see a new video of you! Have been eagerly waiting for this one :)

@BrianKimminau Жыл бұрын

You are awesome! Thank you for this content!

@Big3dprinter Жыл бұрын

Love the pneumatic agitator great idea.

@johnsherby9130 Жыл бұрын

super cool stuff and super high quality content, love it

@csongorvarga Жыл бұрын

Very nice, next time make sure the grey cable jacket goes into the RJ11 plug, so you know only clamp on the inside wires but the jacket as well.

@ryanfoss6243 7 ай бұрын

This is amazing!

@TheGrowOp Жыл бұрын

The pallet of pellets behind you cracks me up. I see where my hobby obsession is headed :0

@prabhuorion9202 Жыл бұрын

Wow impressive built

@yellowcrescent Жыл бұрын

Awesome job as usual, and congrats on your professorship. Wondering if a big piece of ~1" Garolite with a segmented aluminum subframe would be preferable (albeit much more expensive)? Would recommend re-crimping your RJ-11 connectors -- the connector should be pinching on the outer sheathing of the cable to hold it in place so that you aren't relying on the tiny copper contacts for physical support (I usually leave about 5 to 8 mm of wire after the sheath, and you can usually message things into place).

@ionstorm66 Жыл бұрын

Are you saying to use the garolite for the bed?

@benkress3406 Жыл бұрын

Garolite is a brand name for g10 which is commonly used in knife handles and is much cheaper

@onesimpleclik Жыл бұрын

super impressive stuff! that printer is a beast

@kosielemmer Жыл бұрын

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Entertaining and educational and envy inducing.

@funnyvidstiktoks3377 Жыл бұрын

Love how happy you are with your final products

@migyololol Жыл бұрын

Found your channel at the right time

@bj97301 Жыл бұрын

Love the video. Nice work!

@1234MrShane Жыл бұрын

awesome work man good luck with the new job

@GordLamb Жыл бұрын

Man you do beautiful work.

@CrispyJohnsonYT Жыл бұрын

always worth the wait!

@mrbiznessguy Жыл бұрын

you're a pioneer. thank you.

@bot-sk8mt Жыл бұрын

your content is just on another level

@berinslaptop Жыл бұрын

With ABS You really should be setting up a heat exchanger system. simple radiator setup on the out air, and pass with a simple pump to an other radiator setup on the IN air with maybe a heater. I would also suggest some Foam panel to the bottom of the build below the machine on the floor inside the footprint of the base. AS well it is also a good idea to have a good insulation blanket setup to the bottom of the the build plate. The last thing I would suggest is having 5 or more thermal sensors touching the build plate. And have that setup to the heating control unit or maybe a custom one. That way if the build plate cools too much in an area putting a lot of stress on the glass, it can be compensated for.

@foam27 Жыл бұрын

His "little hairs" on the model are the size of my filament ;D You go Flo!

@dadjake Жыл бұрын

Again, amazing project. You're seriously taking on professional machines like the ones from MassiveIT for just 25k; In a professional environment, that'd be a steal. Als ocongrats on getting hired as a professor, that's super cool

@rexxx927 Жыл бұрын

all this time taking the vibes out and you add a impact hammer to the head basically super brave and interesting at same time but maybe counter intuitive but 100% interesting Cheers to that and your build

@michaeltalaganis6518 Жыл бұрын

Great job on the video! Love seeing these projects. Keep up the amazing work. You should try some ASA if you can find the pellets. Way less noxious than abs.

@ElizabethGreene Жыл бұрын

Around the 24-minute mark I started giggling uncontrollably. Those "You wouldn't download a car" video clips *may* have underestimated me. :)

@markoantesic4362 Жыл бұрын

Hi, I have a lot of experience printing ABS. You are going about the air filtration the wrong way. You should return the air to the printer. Ether move the entire fan / filter into the chamber or get an inline carbon filter that is has hose connection on both sides (for dirty and clean air) so you can pipe in the air back into the enclosure. That way you will not produce drafts from a big fans pulling out the dirty air and pulling cold air into the printer. Careful about acid washed carbon, as reintroducing the air that has been filtered with acid washed carbon will corrode your printer. Also be careful with fan and filter sizing. That fans looks like its in the 700-900 m^3/h flow rate. I have something similar (for whole room filtration) but my filter is about 4x the size. I think it was something like 45 kg of carbon. The problem is that a given surface area of the filter can only support "some" amount of air flow. If you blow to much/fast the VOC particles don't get the time to be caught be the activated carbon.

@DrDFlo Жыл бұрын

Excellent. Thank you for this advice 👍👍

@TommyTheCat_05 Жыл бұрын

i do really think that adding in the smaller failiars you have experienced more often would be helpful to teach the small things about engineering that a lot of people might not know, its all part of the prosses

@time-alling Жыл бұрын

You inspired me to build my own 900*900*900mm printer

@gregkeenan6489 Жыл бұрын

Good Information, thank you.

@seigisama9139 Жыл бұрын

As someone who worked as an industrial mechanic in extrusion based industry for a decade, I can confidently tell you that the pneumatic vibrator, while functional, will wear out quickly. The cleanliness and dryness of the air you're feeding it will determine how quickly. Not only are they noisy, but compressed air is also expensive to continue making. The muffler will slowly clog with dust and gunk until it barely works, Requiring you to either remove or replace it. I suggest you switch to a solenoid based vibrator, or redesign the feed throat to include a small, motor-driven agitator.

@luuksta1027 Жыл бұрын

Funny how now the icon of 3D printer calibration is seen as the end poduct 😂. Nice job, keep it going!

@dc42duet3d Жыл бұрын

Very nice! Regarding the glass bed plate, you probably don't need to use borosilicate. It's not heat by itself that causes glass to crack, it's differential expansion. If the bed heating is reasonably uniform and the aluminium plate spreads the heat well enough, then there won't be enough differential expansion to cause cracking. I have used 4mm float glass bed plates (on smaller printers of course!) on top of 6mm aluminium at up to 120C. Don't be tempted to use toughened (tempered) glass, because the tempering process typically causes it to warp.

@seangreenhalgh7961 Жыл бұрын

Hey just a thought, why not use a piezo sensor in the throat of the pellet receiver to detect falling pellets and if it doesn’t detect any pellets (I.e. it’s jammed) then use the vibrator. This would have a second advantage to pause the print of pellets weren’t flowing and can act as a “filament out” sensor?

@ImageSC Жыл бұрын

One thing I was thinking while you were printing, was would the glass experience fracturing or some type of thermal stress. Turns out it would. So why not go for a g10/FR4 sheet. Forgot what size your bed was, but they do make 4 ft × 8 ft sheets of varying thickness. As for trying to keep the print more stable for more warp prone objects, why not add some type of heater element close to the nozzle that aims down at the print and gives it less chance of a thermal variance and lift off while the nozzle travels. The forced hot air is great to keep the ambient temperature in the enclosure stable, but what about the ground, is there anything below to keep the ground from acting like a heat sink or sponge. If not, could some type of thermal and fire resistant material assist in maintaining a stable environment for the print and bed?

@DrDFlo Жыл бұрын

Yes this is a great idea. If I break my second glass sheet I will go the g10/FR4 route. Honestly, I didn't know that 4x8ft sheets were readily available - similar price to glass as well. Thank you for your comments!

@RioasPlays Жыл бұрын

The sound of those seven motors running drives my ears insane 😂

@johngriffin618 Жыл бұрын

I have the same issues printing ABS on my large (lol not compared to yours) 3D printer, I recently did a 14x14x20" print of a blower housing, and warping was the big issue. I DO have a thermal camera, and I monitored the internal temp and found even though I have a heated chamber, most of the heat was accumulating on the top. I am currently designing a recirculating fan that sucks from the top and distributes below. Using Taulman 910HDT for anything on the inside of the chamber, and the walls are insulated. I am also running a Duet3HC mainboard, but none of the fancy motors like yours although your video is very temping to make me want to build a nice CoreXY with a very high chamber temp.

@berinslaptop Жыл бұрын

Something else that may help a lot is adding long low power squirl cage fans. like 2-4" diam. 3' long type. You can mount them on the 4 sides blowing down. This will make an air current blowing down hot air on all sides and welling up in the center. That should force a more even and constant temp inside.

@ZettabyteGamer Жыл бұрын

Been waiting for this!

@PMcDFPV Жыл бұрын

Worst case, you have made a wonderful baby raptor enclosure for when dinos do come back..... :D

@georgeventions Жыл бұрын

This is just non stop genious. I never 3d printed yet.

@q2lamer Жыл бұрын

Great projects cheerings from germany its really awesome !!!!!!!!

@quinnobi42 Жыл бұрын

I think that even with the enclosure, the large build volume will have trouble staying heated properly for ABS and other warp-happy plastics. The enclosure itself isn't insulated, so there will be a lot of heat loss through the enclosure walls. I think it might be necessary to have some additional, reasonably powerful heaters in the enclosure. Simple oil room heaters might work well enough.

@averagejoe9040 Жыл бұрын

One problem with active heating, you also need active cooling on your motors or they'll over heat.

@pbplayerjim Жыл бұрын

I'm using a much smaller mahor pallet extruder on my build. I got a couple stuck pellets on some of my tests. I'll have to try and agitator, but I'll probably go with something electrical.

@0Jameswood0 Жыл бұрын

Nice setup!, have you got a heat exchanger changer for the 3d printer ventilation system. it would help you recover a large amount of heat and stop draing in cold air from the garage door. Plus with some thin aluminum sheet you should be able to print up heat exchanger box.

@ollie1505 Жыл бұрын

I’m studying engineering at Warwick uni and we have something just like this in our engineering build space!

@jakeengland1430 Жыл бұрын

Right serious question here. Why didnt you just lay a blanket over the top of the printer to allow for the hot air to be trapped whilst printing the enclosure top.

@ellatimestwo Жыл бұрын

With this printer setup, you could theoretically slice the object in a way to do multiple layers in one area before moving to a new spot to print. It should also reduce stringing as well.

@kyleo1236 Жыл бұрын

I've found that if you print ABS without an enclosure it's best to increase speed, acceleration and heat. The idea is to minimize the temperature gradient over the whole print. The faster you print the less the model can cool down. Increase the temperature does 2 things, allows the molten filament to keep up with the increased speed and increases layer adhesion in the corners where the print head slows down.

@TheDodo1111100 Жыл бұрын

The printer is great and all but those white adidas 4D-s are looking amazing

@StopandStare. Жыл бұрын

Wheat flour machines have an engenius for similar kind of problem (pallet jamming) you should look into it its just a metal piece to control the flow of wheat grains i think they are in similar size to pallets

@ffoska Жыл бұрын

I've seen some machines using compressed air to make the grains 'liquidy', loosen them up and keep them unjammed.

@StopandStare. Жыл бұрын

@@ffoska yup that should work really nicely.

@jacylight1610 Жыл бұрын

I have those same couplers on my printer on the duel z there are awsome great choice

@jwish29 Жыл бұрын

Could you do a video on the designing of this piece? or something like it? Curious how to keep certain features while letting the software figure out the rest. Great video as always.

@kanaka2010 Жыл бұрын

One thing that might work for the pneumatic vibrator is to have a break-beam sensor. Put it in the exit. Set it to shut off if a detection of pellets are there, when the beam is detected for more than 1 sec, it sees it as a jam, then switches on thevibratory. This could be more effective as it's not turning on and off at set intervals, rather only when a jam is detected. Just a thought

@JamStph Жыл бұрын

A small suggestion on the vibrator would be to place a flow control on it. If you can slow it down a bit and still have enough vibration to keep the resin flowing, you can shave some of the operating costs off of the machine. I use them on all of my equipment that we use vibrators on, it tends to lengthen the life of the vibrator as well.

@mandrakejake Жыл бұрын

I like your solution to the bridging issue, but have you considered using a screw auger to feed pellets? It would vibrate much less!

@bigwendigo2253 Жыл бұрын

I like this idea more than using the compressor vibrator! I was wondering if the vibrations like he’s using affects printing at this size.

@bermchasin 11 ай бұрын

congrats on the dream job!

@FrankGraffagnino Жыл бұрын

i love your videos... and i really love how you show your problems and how you are working through them... there is only one thing that I hope you can improve... especially before you go be a professor at a university... and that is saying the word "exspecially" instead of "especially"!!!! :)