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Going Gigantic


Gina

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This blog is for a discussion about designing and possibly building ever bigger 3D printers.

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Gina

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Room sized 3D printer :- https://toms3d.org/2017/12/11/building-a-hangprinter/

3D printers really fascinate me.  Been thinking about that "hang printer".  I think my workshop, when it's cleared out and "re-furnished" could be used for one of these :D Apart from the rather complex geometry, I can't see many problems.  But I wouldn't want to be limited to PLA and would therefore want a heated print bed.  It's difficult to see any way of producing a very large heated bed without spending a small fortune though a 600mm square one would not be out of the question.

300x300mm Square Silicone Rubber Heater Pad w/ thermistor 220V 300W  Four of those would be affordable at £136.
6mm Aluminium 5083 Sheet Plate blanks profiles ANY SIZE CUSTOM CUT Free shipping  600mm square costs £113
10mm Aluminium 5083 Sheet Plate blanks profiles ANY SIZE CUSTOM CUT   600mm square costs £175 inc. carriage.  6mm might be alright but 10mm would be better.

My 3D printers would be roughly doubling printing area with each model :D :-

    Mini  200mm square = 40,000 sq mm  (Reference)
    Titan 300mm square = 90,000 sq mm  (80,000)
    Giant 400mm square = 160,000 sq mm  (160,000)
    Hang 600mm square = 360,000 sq mm  (320,000)

 
Edited by Gina
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That is a fascinating design (hang printer), I'm surprised he is able to get rigidity in the system to keep precision in the printing.

 

 

Jim

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Amazing. Probably not the most accurate printer out there but those huge vases don't look too bad.

I wonder what the electricity bill would be if you had a room sized heated bed ? 

I guess you would have to get your own made if you wanted a large heated bed (not really meaning room sized but say 1000 x 1000 mm), after all they are really only a circuit board, just need to be very flat, which of course gets much more difficult with size.

 

Steve

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My bed heaters are silicone rubber with fibreglass reinforcement enclosing Nichrome wire (I presume) also including a thermistor in the middle.  They have a self adhesive layer to attach to the plate of the bed.  They are very flexible and sit right up against the plate.  In the smaller two of my 3D printers the plate is 3mm borosilicate glass and in the Giant it's aluminium 500x500x5mm.  The heater pad is 400mm square and 1200W mains powered.  That'll keep the room warm :D  For a bigger heated print bed you could use multiple silicone heater pads but the price escalates.

I too am surprised he gets rigidity though the fishing line cord doesn't stretch.  I use that cord in all my printers now and find it very good.  But the slightest breeze would deflect the cord I would have thought.  Also, wires and filament to the extruder are liable to deflect the extruder sideways.

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That's what I was thinking Gina, it's the lateral loads that I thought would be the problem in maintaining the precision in the location of the printer head - but he must have found a way to make it work to a satisfactory level at least.  I wonder, could an oversized heated bed be more easily made from something akin to a large radiator?  Easy enough to make a large surface area radiator, but maybe the temperature would not get high enough - just a thought.  In any respect he has a fascinating design for sure.

Jim

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On 1/31/2018 at 21:10, Gina said:

My bed heaters are silicone rubber with fibreglass reinforcement enclosing Nichrome wire (I presume) also including a thermistor in the middle.  They have a self adhesive layer to attach to the plate of the bed.  They are very flexible and sit right up against the plate.  In the smaller two of my 3D printers the plate is 3mm borosilicate glass and in the Giant it's aluminium 500x500x5mm.  The heater pad is 400mm square and 1200W mains powered.  That'll keep the room warm :D  For a bigger heated print bed you could use multiple silicone heater pads but the price escalates.

I too am surprised he gets rigidity though the fishing line cord doesn't stretch.  I use that cord in all my printers now and find it very good.  But the slightest breeze would deflect the cord I would have thought.  Also, wires and filament to the extruder are liable to deflect the extruder sideways.

Thanks for the info very interesting.

I bet your electricity company loves you with heated beds that size :happy11:. You certainly are into some interesting stuff.

Steve

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