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NanoLab

NanoLab

Made by: @Iluminum2
Repo link: https://github.com/Illuminum2/NanoLab
Total hours so far: 51.5

  • I have a 3D printer

Idea

A small and thus hopefully portable 3D printer that allows printing high quality models with a whole bunch of different materials, including ABS and ASA

Design


Goals

  • Cost(lower than ~300€ grant + Own Parts)
  • Quality(Best quality achievable within the budget)
  • Sacrifice speed for points above

Build Volume

  • 100(length)x100(width)x100-150(height) mm

Printable materials

  • PLA
  • PETG
  • TPU
  • ABS
  • ASA

Printer size

  • To be determined, as small as possible
  • Electronics contained in chassis, only exception can be PSU

Chassis

  • Clear(gray) aluminum extrusion
  • Sizes to be determined
  • Blind joints
  • Optionally angle brackets as well(if budget allows, probably unnecessary)
  • Electronics and print head at bottom, print bed above, upside down printing
  • Tinted translucent plastic cover(resin cast/print)
  • Printed bottom cover

Motion platform

  • CoreXY system
  • Dual linear rail y-axis mounted on extrusion
  • Mono linear rail x-axis mounted on y-axis linear rails, maybe aluminum extrusion support, but better would be CF plate reinforcement
  • Dual or mono linear rail z-axis on one extrusion(bed only mounted on one side)
  • 3d printed belt housing mounted on extrusion and linear rails
  • AB drives mounted on backside of aluminum square, gear ratio to be determined
  • Fiberglass core GT2 belts for XY mechanism, routed in extrusion if possible
  • Fiberglass or steel core GT2 belts for z-axis
  • Bowden extruder with PTFE Bowden tubes
  • 45° mounted hot end for improved space efficiency or Positron 90° hot end

Day 1 (Mar 14) 4.5h

I did general research, found a lot of useful guides and videos, and outlined the basic design idea. I also made a few sketches in my notebook to get a better idea of how everything should come together.

Day 2 (Mar 15) 8h

I did a lot more research, made a few more sketches, and tore down my 3D printers print head to get a better understanding of it. I also took a look at the Positron LT 3D model (a fork of the Positron V3). After a lot of consideration, I think I am going to go for a Bowden extruder setup and a 45° mounted hot end, but if the budget allows I want to get a Positron 90° bent hot end, but those are over 70$.

Day 3 (Mar 16) 8.5h

Today I did even more research on a whole bunch of areas, but mainly the tool head. After considering designing my own Proton-like 90° bent nozzle, I figured that it would be too complex, expensive and time consuming, but I’ll leave room for future upgrades in the design. I have most of the printer mapped out in sketches now, and I think I can start the CAD phase of this project soon. For the hotend, I plan to use a Deltaprintr Mini, even though it’s fairly expensive and it’s maximum operating temperature is only 270°, but I have a few modifications in mind to improve that. The hotend will be mounted at a 45° angle for better space efficiency, like I previously mentioned.

Day 4 (Mar 17) 1.5h

I couldn’t get much done today because we had 10 hours of school, but I found a few models of the hotend and the linear rails I want to use, and also started modeling the hotend mount. I also decided to attempt to use berd air cooling to try to keep my tool head as small as possible.

Day 5 (Mar 18) 5h

I lost a few of my sketches because my brother managed to spill water over them, but it gave me the opportunity to reconsider a few design decisions I had made, and I decided to simplify everything. My toolhead should only carry the hot end + cooling fan as well as ducts for the part cooling, for which the air will be supplied by a tube(berd air cooling). I experimented a bit with a part cooling duct shape similar to some momentum curtain designs, but I have yet to simulate if my design actually has any advantages.

Day 6 (Mar 19) 1h

I had 10 hous of school, and also have a math exam in two days, so I couldn’t work on this for that long. I just started searching 3D models for some other components, and thought a bit about how I can organze the electronics.

Day 7 (Mar 20) 1h

I did a bit of research on electronics and what main bord would be best for my use case in between the math studying.

Day 8 (Mar 21) 2h

I had another 10 hour school day, but I did some research into steppet motors and also did some work on my CAD designs.

Day 9 (Mar 22) 2h

So I was only able to start working on this after 9pm, so I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked, but I looked at some more control boards, and I also fixed a weird scaling issue and remodeled part of my tool head because I realized that the model of the hotend I had used was slightly off.

Day 10 (Mar 23) 5h

Today I got a lot of work done, mainly in 3D modeling, I also did some more sketches of components I need. Also I had to redesign my tool head yet again, for now I haven’t added part cooling, but because I am going for berd air cooling I should be able to simply add that by modifying my toolhead cover. I also noticed that I probably have to file off 0.5-1 mm of a part of the nozzle, because it will be mounted at 45°, and could otherwise interfere with the layers.

Day 11 (Mar 24) 1.5h

Had another 10 hour school day, and had to study for a test, so I wasn’t able to do too much, but I added a small cover for the hot end, and started working on other parts as well. I also started restructuring my project in Onshape.

Day 12 (Mar 25) 0.5h

Today I had another 10 hour school day today, and I also had to study for a test, so I was barely able to make any progress, just did little things here and there and also continued with restructuring all CAD files.

Day 13 (Mar 26) 3h

Made decent progress, restructuring the project took quite a bit longer than I expected, and I also finally got the planar mate on the linear rails to work. Somehow did even more sketches, and decided that I am going to mount my MGN12H linear rail on a Makerbeam XL 15x15 using T slot nuts, so any twist in the linear rail caused by the manufacturing process does not affect the print quality(hopefully). It should also simplify the mounting to the Y axis. The only downside is that it is going to be slightly thicker.

Day 14 (Mar 27) 3.5h

Got quite a bit of stuff done, finally pretty much finished the X axis(except for the belt clamps). Also watched a few videos about the Voron 2.4s belt routing, ideally I should be able to finish the Y axis tomorrow.

Day 15 (Mar 28) 1h

Another 10 hour friday, I couldn’t get alot of stuff done, but I realized that I can’t use the motors that I wanted to use, so I looked around and did more research, so I can finally get the belts on the Y and X axis done.

Day 16 (Mar 29) 2h

Well I had to do some other stuff today, so I couldn’t work on this for as long as I would have liked, I selected my belts(2GT fiberglass 6mm) and pulleys/idlers. I decided to go for a Nema 17 stepper, even though they are pretty big, but I am going to use a gear reduction anyways, which means it doesn’t matter that much(hard to explain why, will be visible in the final model).

Day 17 (Mar 30) 1h

Had to start working on my Apex proposal as well as study for a test, so not too much progress again, but I got started modeling the motor bracket that is going to hold my steppers, I also need to make sure I keep tolerances in mind with the gears.

Day 18 (Mar 31) 0.5h

Another 10h school day, and I also had to study for the test so I was barely able to get anything done, just worked on the motor mounting plate.