big

Just a wee bit indeed.

Disclaimer: I don't know much about 3D printing. I *have* done traditional (subtractive) machining before, on a CNC lathe and CNC mill.

The only thing I wonder about with this rig is how well the vertical rails will stay at 90.0 degrees to the base at high Z axis. In other words, with the head on the gantry moving back and forth, working on the top of a tall print, I *think* the vertical rails might tend to rock back and forth a little bit, kind of like an upside-down pendulum. In the right-hand picture, it'd be the vertical rails moving left and right, from the camera's perspective, at the top ends of the rails. You'd get the higher Z layers of your print displaced a little bit in either X or Y as you go up.

You need most of the length of the vertical rails clear so the gantry rollers can go up and down. If you could bolt on a brace to the very top of the vertical rail and run it down at an angle to the far end of the base rail, that might help keep the vertical rails vertical. I don't think it would take very much - something on the order of 15 mm square aluminum tubing, or even 15 mm angle aluminum, would probably be enough. The only drawback is that at the top, the angled brace would probably keep the gantry from moving all the way to the current maximum Z - the gantry would hit the brace. I guess you could add a horizontal piece to the top of the vertical rails, maybe 200 mm long, and bolt the angle braces to the ends of that.

I am thinking exactly the same idea. I do plan to add some additional diagonal supports going from the top to back of the base eventually but they are surprisingly stiff for my needs already. I seen some kits that do that but of course that would be way too small for my wild setup. Besides, they would be simple to make anyway. So that should take care of the jiggling if they becomes turn up to be too much of a problem. Frankly a little artifacts on the layers wouldn't bother me too much as I would do some surface finishing like sanding and putting on coats of paint anyway.

There is plenty of clearance on the backside of the top rail. I can even attach a brace from the center as the extruder sit to the side and leaves plenty of space there. I could also sacrifice a little of the height if needed as I probably never need the extreme length. Another idea I have is just to box it in with some angled braces. Probably a bit overkill. But it would make it easier to make an insulated enclosure that helps keep some material like ABS and Nylon from warping during print. Just add some panels inside the box rails. I have some 80/20 rails that I could use.

My workplace has a CNC machine and I have designed dozens of parts to be made on it. It is indeed a different mindset when modeling something for CNC vs. 3D printing. When I want something to be machined, I have to make sure it is possible to make in the first place based on the tooling we have. I often ask the machinist if something is even feasible and get any suggestions to make things easier to do. I love the feedback I get and try to use them in my designs as much as possible. Some engineers at work seems to come up with these "magical" designs that are very difficult to make for no good reason. They usually don't want or appreciate feedback from the "lowly" machinist as they are the "know everything" types. I pity the poor machinist sometimes. It would drive me crazy to no end if I had to machine those "perfect" projects.

When it comes to 3D Print design, I have to keep a different set of limitations in mind. Sharp inside corners are super easy but I try to limit overhangs to minimize the use of supports. I can get away with supports on the vast majority of the time. I rather put more material on gussets and the like than using the same amount of material on the supports that gets torn off and thrown away.

By the way, I do have one of those all-in-one manual milling/lathe machines at home. I used it a few times here and there like that prop gun I modified a few years ago. Good for stronger parts and all that. But the 3D printer is so nice for quick parts especially if I need a bunch of them. Awesome for spacers, brackets, mounts, etc. Also great for rapid prototyping too. I made a few "proof of concepts" before getting the final part machined. Save a lot of headaches in the long run.

Sounds like you have it under control. I just happened to see your post on the front page, so I decided to chime in - free advice and worth every penny! :)

When I was doing the CNC machining (mid-00s), I actually scrapped a very very early 3D printer my employer had bought. It might have been a 3DSystems, but I don't remember for sure. It was about the size of a chest freezer. If I remember right, it was a gantry design like your Ender. They hadn't quite settled on "raw material as a filament" yet; I *think* you bought cubes/blocks of the raw material, chucked the blocks in a tank or hopper, and then the machine melted it and sent it through a pump and nozzle. The boss told me that it clogged up constantly and it was hard to get it to complete even a small part. Somebody there was interested in the jackscrew and stepper motor assemblies, so I saved those, but the rest of it got recycled.

The CNC equipment I used was from Haas. I would design the parts in SolidWorks (which worked pretty well) and then get them ready for the mill/lathe in Esprit (which was a piece of [censored]). There were a couple of super nerds there that would write raw G-code directly and load it straight into the lathe or mill. There were lots of steps and it wasn't as smooth as it is now with a modern 3D printer, but I could see the beginnings of "draw it on the computer, push a button, and the part you drew comes out" happening.

I highly encourage you to keep on talking to the machinist when designing parts. Sometimes some simple thing that you can do will save a lot of time or make a much better part.

Also, if you haven't already read them, check out Carroll Smith's books on race car design, especially Engineer to Win and Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and Plumbing (which is kind of an updated version of Engineer to Win). These books were written in the 80s and early 90s, so some things have moved on*, but steel and aluminum still work pretty much like they always have.

*At one point, he refers to a machine as a "tape-controlled mill", from back when CNC mills operated on *punched paper tape*. :D

I am an engineer myself (I choose electrical even though I could have gone mechanical. It was a tossup.), so I know what I don't know what I am doing sort of thing. But I like playing around with these crazy ideas as this crazy dragon tend to do. A little bit of experimentation never hurts anything... well, except for that Big Bang incident but we don't talk about that. Not in polite company anyway.

Too bad that early printer got scrapped. Just needed a modern style hot end and filament system. Knowing me, I would probably try to convert it to some sort of a router or etching machine if I happened to get my paws on such a machine back then. I love tinkering with parts.

My only regret is not getting my printer earlier. Been so much fun (and a learning experience) with it that I wished I pulled the trigger and got one sooner. Oh well, better late than never I guess.

I feel that the biggest breakthrough in 3D printing is when they get the metal printing models cheap enough for the hobbyist market. Then things would really explode. I can see how it would take over a lot of the manufacturing. And with all those model repositories, one could make almost anything. Hopefully it'll happen in a half of a decade or so (or even less). Seems like the pace of advancement is accelerating by the moment. It is going to be a wild ride indeed. I can't wait.

I remember reading a bunch of race car related books back in the day like Smokey Yunick's book and the like from the local libraries. Smokey did some "interesting" things back then.

G-code is still being used in all kinds of stuff including 3D printing. Must be quite adaptable to last this long. Either that or someone didn't come up with something better. I guess if it works, even if just barely, it works.

Ender 3 gang ayo ayo!

Be all Ender all.

Yeah, pretty basic but very expandable especially it is all open source and all the data is available on the net. I have big plans for it... big plans I say I say.

I've been printing on an Ender 3 Pro for a few months now and I'm totally satisfied.

Protip: esun Pla+ filament

We in the pew pew community use it for pew pews, but in general it prints so incredibly smooth and strong, I'd use it for just about anything.

I got mine late last year but I have really started using it this year. Already made several spools of prints, many of my own design. I generally use whatever PLA I can get my paws on but i have tried PETG, which was tricky to get it to stick to the bed until I figured it out. PETG does have a habit of warping at the bottom edges. Going to play around with it some more.

I also got some ABS and TPU but I haven't messed with those as of yet. I want to get a dehydrator before I crack those open.

Most of my prints have been more functional so I tend to skew the settings for speed and strength. I do plan on making some medallions in the future so I am going to tune it for finer printing, especially after I add those extra bracing just to shore it up some more. I got a bunch of the T-nuts that fits in the rail slots that will make it easier to add the struts and gussets. I have tons of scrap metal to fashion the reinforcing bars and the like.

But I am not going to do it until I print my horns. I don't need ultimate quality for those and I want it get them done before con season starts. But I need to recompile and flash the new firmware before I can print over the stock size. Hopefully I can get it done by this weekend.

PETG is really good when you can get it to work. It's a little more flexible, but it's really strong and looks really nice.

I been playing around with it. I already used up a 1 kg spool of the stuff and I found some settings that seems to work well enough. I am saving the rest of my stash for when I need the higher heat tolerance. Otherwise I'll stick to PLA as it is a little bit easier to work with and cheaper to boot.

I heard from several places that PETG is hard for paint to adhere, but this one site that claims it is super easy. I have some test prints that I would like to try it out to be sure. If it works, then I'll do my set of horns in it as it can flex without snapping a little more than PLA so it should be more durable, but only if the paint sticks.

One thing I've heard that is nice for petg is using a clear coat resin paint to seal up the gaps from layers and it apparently looks really nice. I don't print for aesthetics so I don't know, but it might be worth looking into.

i am going to do some tests once I print something in PETG again. One issue with PETG is that it tends to absorb moisture. The spool I been using was already showing some surface artifacts before I used it all up. I have another sealed spool that I don't want to crack open until I get a dehydrator.

I want to eventually try Nylon but that is even worse when it comes to sucking moisture from the air as well as warping issue. There is a carbon filled version that is much easier to print but even more expensive. Nylon is great for super strong parts so I'll probably going to try it sometime in the hopefully not too distant future if and when it gets cheaper.

As for the gaps, I used several coats of primer and paint on those fangs I printed. I also gave them a nice glossy coat to give them that "wet" look (check them out in my "Pearly Whites" submission juts a few submissions down in my gallery). The are fairly small compared to my future horns so the parts are very stuff. The horns, however, will have a bit more flex in them. I am concerned that the paint would chip and flake off especially when I go wild in the raves at cons.

But I do have a plan. I want to fill the hollow inside with some sort of low expanding spray foam. I figure that would stiffen it up enough to help the paint from cracking. I want to keep it light as possible so a thin coat of resin is probably all I can get away with. Maybe add some reinforcement like fiberglass or some other fibers like carbon on the inside is another idea. I don't fiberglass work before and it is a pain and messy. But it could be an option. I'll try the foam first. What is nice about 3D prints is that I can always whip up a fresh set if I mess up the ones I am experimenting with.

Before you start getting into new materials make sure to research the limitations of your printer. The Ender 3 can only print so hot before you have to start upgrading heat bearing components, and even then ya gotta modify the software to even allow it to reach hotter temperatures. Nylon is not a material that a stock ender 3 can print. Also I may be wrong but I believe nylon is a lot like ABS in that it needs an enclosure to print in, and uh... You've, uh, kinda made that a daunting task in and of itself with your upgrade..! Also, any carbon fiber filament will need a steady supply of hardened steel nozzles since the carbon strands mixed in with the material is literally harder than steel so it'll scratch and wear them down fast.

As far as keeping your spools dry, nothing beats a few silica gel packets and the original box it came in. I got one of those external dehumidifier/scale spool holders and they're nice, but make sure your printer is oriented to take advantage of one. I had to cut a hole into the side of my enclosure to make use of it.

Yeah, I am well aware of the limitations. That is where the mods comes in, both now and sometime in the future when I need them. As for carbon impregnated materials, I already used ESD safe PLA in the plast, which have carbon nanotubes in it. I got a harden nozzle for it too. It actually prints nicer than regular PLA though I had to cranked the temps a little to get it to stick to the bed better and the hotend for the finish I desired at the time. The anti-static filament had a nice flat finish as opposed to glossy surface of the usual black PLA. Too bad the ESD stuff costs something like five times than the regular, non-carbon type. But is worth it for items I make for work that would cost many many times that if I had to get it machined. Of course the company pays for the raw materials. But the cost savings over the traditional method is a big advantage for the things that is suitable for 3D printing.

We do have a couple of printers at work but that is not always available, either someone using them or down for maintenance. I use mine not only to get the prints done but making parts is good to learn from. I am getting the feel of my machine for PLA and somewhat for PETG. I want to start branching materials to broaden my experience.

The group I am working in is considering their own printer instead on relying on the ones across the building. They are so cheap these days that they might as well. I paid like $170US for my Ender 3 Pro on sale late last year. Quite a bargain especially comparing to what you can get even just a few years ago. The rapid pace of progress is great.

I also want to get a hold of a resin printer as they have their own pluses and minuses. Those have been coming down in price as well. But for now, I am going to concentrate on my Ender. It is going to be an wild adventure for sure.

For the filaments, I do keep them closed in plastic bins with the packets. But I still want to get the dehydrator one day, particularly when I march into the more exotic materials. I already notice some issues with the PETG with slight surface marks as the spools gets older. So I am avoiding breaking open the PETG until I really need to use it until I get that dehydrator.

Back of my head "Is this gonna be stable?
Other side "It's like testing explosives, gotta experiment to find out"
*physically steps back*

Not too bad for the "small" prints I been making. I figure I'll need some bracing once I get to the taller prints. We shall see, we shall see.

I think making tall prints on this device is VERY bad idea. Better assemble CoreXY machine.

Yeah, the moving bed not good the higher I go with it swinging back and forth like that. If I ever go that high, I'll slow down the print speed. Hopefully Cura (or some other slicer) would allow slowing down the bed the higher it goes. But it'll be awhile before I even get to that. Right now, I just need it to get to at least 350 once I change the firmware. I hope to get that done this weekend as I need to flash the bootloader with an Arduino type device and then upload the modded firmware through the USB cable. A bit of a hassle with the controller board this machine came with but I done similar stuff in the pass. Been awhile so I have to relearn a few stuff.

I'm just a crazy dragon doing crazy things after all. Hopefully I won't melt the earth's core... this time.

good thing you can print supports as it goes.
Can't wait to see what else you use it for. 750mm is quite deep, I mean tall. -..^

I can print a whole... um, tail, yeah.

I probably never go that high but it is nice to know I could if needed once I finish with the mod. Can you imaging nearly 30" of horns. I gonna need a bigger spool, heh.