Given time, '3D printing a 3D printer' also seems possible.īut leaving prospects aside, what hobbyists and makers care more about are still desktop 3D printers - what types there are, how fast they print, and how much they cost. One moment we are discussing making small toys to entertain children, and the next second we see news that a 3D printer has built a concrete building that can withstand an 8-magnitude earthquake. Search for: Follow Andrew's Blog – Blogo De Andreo on WordPress.3D printing technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. I just need to print them out to see if they will work. The second is a simple right angle slotted mount for y-axis that has a belt drive. The first one is a snug mount that shapely fits around a motor and has built in t-slot mounts intended for the z axis lead screws. My next step is to print out some motor mounts. I’ve had fun these last few weeks by printing out working 80/20 linear bearing CAD models into working plastic prototypes. My main design criteria are: as close to a 2ft x 2ft build area as possible (maximizing build area vs machine footprint), using 1″ 10 series 80/20 t-slot extruded aluminum, minimizing unneeded parts by using t-slot linear bearings (real aluminum ones and 3d printed working replicas), and trying to just have a simple design by default. I’ve been steadily making good progress piece by piece, step by step. Mainly because they are fantastically built machines, but also because they are produced by a company here in my own town! Plus they have a philosophical commitment to open source which i love.Īnyway, building off of my original post in 2011, I’m designing from scratch a 2ft x 2ft 3d printer.

The pre-made model i would buy is the Lulzbot mini.

Eventually i’d love to just purchase a nice one, but i’d also like to build my own (besides i already have most of the parts and mine would be bigger too).

One of my newly resurrected projects is my ambition to deign and build my own functional 3d printer.

T slot linear bearing 3d model