Sunday, September 9, 2012

Rostock 3D with improved extruder

I made yet another change the the Rostock. I have been using a wades extruder but the high ratio between the gears had been causing some issues. Although it had a lot of torque, it is a bit slow to respond to the big retracts needed for retractions through the bowden tube. Because it need such long retractions and such a hi ratio, retractions would take over 1 second causing pauses as the head waited for the retract.
So I created a new set of gears that have a much closer ratio (almost 1:1).
The response is much much fast now and it has improved print quality too.
here is a little video. Nothing too special but its printing a complicated print and the extrudes start and stop exactly where required even the little drops:
The camera really seems to be sensitive to the noises from the printer. this video makes it sound like its making a racket but its actually nowhere near as harsh as it sounds here.
 

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21 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 12, 2012 at 1:11 AM

    What retraction setting are you using btw?

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  2. UnknownSeptember 12, 2012 at 2:27 PM

    7mm Retraction @ 110mm/s

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  3. BASSeptember 13, 2012 at 12:52 PM

    Well, congratulations. You worked through a protype design making your own desin changes along the way and from the first have a very handsome and lately adeptly printing machine. You are a 2012 citizen.

    I'm still a wanna be. My Rostock is sorta taking shape. I've 400mm rods and concerned I may have been too tight with pocket and now too tight on space. :(

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    1. UnknownSeptember 13, 2012 at 2:08 PM

      Hi Bas,
      Hmm 400 mm rods will be pretty limiting height wise Taking into account the overheads of the frame and the Effector rods, you would end up with a very low print area. I am only guessing but it would be less than 100mm high fer sure
      Bill D

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  4. HenrySeptember 14, 2012 at 8:49 AM

    Billy,

    Great job! I am all new to this 3D printing, but eager to build my own Rostock. However, the more I read about it, the more confusing it all gets. So, I think it is better to start building and learn on the way. Now that yours is kind of in a final stage, could you share your BOM with us (Johann's is incomplete and it seems you made some interesting improvements)?

    Thanks in advance,

    Henry

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    Replies
    1. UnknownSeptember 18, 2012 at 6:19 PM

      Hi Henry,
      I am flat out at work at the moment so I dont have time to compile a BOM. Sorry about that.
      I wont get a break until the end of the month. I will try then.
      If you can be a little patient it may pay to wait for the final version of the rostock (they are referring to it as Rostock 2)
      I think it will be infinately better than the current design as it will be more adjustable, to get alignment of the bits spot on.


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    2. UnknownSeptember 18, 2012 at 6:23 PM

      Hi Henry,
      I am flat out at work at the moment so I dont have time to compile a BOM. Sorry about that.
      I wont get a break until the end of the month. I will try then.
      If you can be a little patient it may pay to wait for the final version of the rostock (they are referring to it as Rostock 2)
      I think it will be infinately better than the current design as it will be more adjustable, to get alignment of the bits spot on.


      Delete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2012 at 10:03 AM

    BILLY-
    THANKS FOR THE BLOG! I FIND MYSELF CHECKING ON IT EVERY DAY! SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE POSTING ANYTHING ABOUT THE ROSTOCK. COULD YOU POST A FEW MORE PICTURES OF ELECTRONICS, END STOPS, AND SOFTWARE YOU ARE USING? THANKS

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    Replies
    1. UnknownSeptember 18, 2012 at 6:23 PM

      Hi,
      I am busy with work at the moment and having a little break from the printer stuff. Stress at work is bad enough without stress at home hehe.
      In regards to the electronics I am not sure what you are after. It uses a standard Ramps 1.4 board.
      Since the latest firmware the bottom endstops are no Longer required which mean you only need one set of endstops. This opens up the rostock to other boards other than Ramps now like the Gen6 etc that only support one set of stops.
      The firmware is a specific version of Marlin which yu can find if you go to the Thingiverse rostock page that is mentioned in the header of my blog.
      Regards
      Bill D

      Delete
  6. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2012 at 12:52 AM

    I'm using exactly what you are, I'd just like to double check wiring and end stop setups. Also if you had changed any of the code for improved definition. Thanks

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  7. UnknownSeptember 19, 2012 at 7:41 AM

    I made no special modifications as such. The software is stock standard.
    I did twist the belts so that the smooth back part of the belt runs over the rollers at the top rather than the teeth.
    I mounted the electronics on the side rather than underneath as I prefer the better airflow and I can more easily check things like heat sink temps etc.
    The positioning of my Extruder under the top to reduce the lenght of the bowden tube? Weather this makes any real diff to the print quality remains to be proven, but it is a convenient spot. I have 6 rolls of filament stored on the top and having the extruder in the middle below, gives a very trouble free feed.

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  8. MrJeffSeptember 26, 2012 at 6:05 AM

    Hi,
    Nice job with your Rostock printer. iam quite new to the rostock 3d printer, i did work on "traditional XYZ" Printers, but what are the mayor pros and cons of the rostock compaired to the standers one that you have come across?

    I want to build my own rostock printer because it looks wayyyyy awesomer then the standerd ones :P

    keep doing the great work ;)

    -Jeff

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    1. UnknownSeptember 26, 2012 at 7:26 AM

      Hi Mr Jeff,
      Overall I found it easy to build. The biggest drawbacks with this type of printer are:
      - Adjustements and Jigging. It is much easier to correct issues in the standard design as you can isolate each axis and adjust separately. With a delta printer the callibration is easy as they all have to be set to the same value, but isolating any issues is much harder. I have a problem at the moment where round items are not perfectly round in X/Y. I have checked that all the rods are precicely the same length but that is not the issue. It is most likely that either one of my vertical axis is either in slightly the wrong location or the angle is off. But there is no easy way to work out which one. I am currently dismantling the thing and trying to make some sort of jig that will allow me to ensure everything is in the right spot.

      Bill D

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    2. UnknownOctober 2, 2012 at 12:42 AM

      There should be a way to plot or print a design that would isolate the issues. You should post your problem to the Rostock google group .

      Delete
    3. UnknownOctober 10, 2012 at 6:00 PM

      Yeah I have considered removing the extruder and putting the pn holder back in but at the moment I am far to busy at work so that wont happen for a while now. I did dismantle it and reassemble just to make sure everything is in the right place and is the same length. No Change. I will have to wait until I have more time

      Delete
  9. Eric DaviesNovember 5, 2012 at 1:59 PM

    Would getting everything lined up properly be easier if you had used 3 sections of v-rail rather than 6 vertical rods?

    Amazing to watch the video of your printer in action, it's like something from a futuristic movie.

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    1. UnknownNovember 8, 2012 at 6:54 PM

      I think it would help if the locations of the axis were more adjustable. But one of the more difficult parts of this build is determining if everything is in exactly the right place. With traditional designs its just a matter of squaring everything to 90 degrees but with a delta the angles and the distance from the centre must be perfect or it will not work.
      On a standard design it does not matter much if your X or Y axis are wider or narrower than they should be as long as they are square. But with a delta everything must be in exactly the right position or the math does not work.

      Delete
  10. smolkdNovember 25, 2012 at 2:32 AM

    Could you post your gears on thingiverse?

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    1. UnknownFebruary 6, 2013 at 7:38 PM

      Hi
      I used the parametric gear generator : http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6544
      I used 26 teeth for the Gear1 and 37 for the Gear2.
      I hope this helps.

      Delete
  11. UnknownFebruary 5, 2013 at 9:07 AM

    Hi Bill,

    would you be able to share with us your gears/extruder setup on thingiverse? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownFebruary 6, 2013 at 7:38 PM

      Hi
      I used the parametric gear generator : http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6544
      I used 26 teeth for the Gear1 and 37 for the Gear2.
      I hope this helps.

      Delete

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