Gina

Been playing around with the bits and it is possible to arrange all the parts with direct drive and having the extruder mounted on the X carriage though I still think there are advantages to Bowden feed. I have ordered a couple of 1.75mm Bowden adapters for the E3d Titan Extruder (I shall want two when I do a dual hotend arrangement).

Here are a couple of photos showing roughly the arrangement of hotend, cooler with fan and part cooler fan and air duct. You have to imagine the X carriage frame

Transparent natural PETG looks ideal for lampshades or globes so I'm thinking of making some new light fittings for my living room - but not with moon features They take far too long to print!

Yes, seems fine. Been looking into a number of options for this printer. I might try Bowden feed again, it wasn't successful with my home made extruder but may be better with the E3D Titan Extruder. I'm considering putting the extruder on the middle of the back of the Z carriage (XY frame) which not only makes for much less weight to move in the XY plane but also better balances the weight distribution on the Z carriage.

I've found and ordered some aluminium bar 25mm x 15mm x 100mm which should do nicely for either single or dual extrusion. Cut down, of course.

I'm looking at what Thingiverse has to offer and if I don't find anything I shall design my own. Later... Think I've found one that will do the job I think it will need a new X carriage though - I shall print one based on the design for my Mini printer.

I shall want to add a part cooling fan and air duct for printing PLA since this would considerably reduce heating costs for objects where PLA would be adequate.

Nope.

I have 3mm filament stock as well as 1.75mm and an advantage of 3mm is that the water block could simply have an M6 hole right through as the 3mm heatbreak is M6 and I have an M6 threaded Bowden coupler with suitable PTFE tubing and a 3mm Bowden adapter for the E3D Titan extruder. That's apart from the waterways of course.

I could print a teapot But although the hotend will be used at up to 300°C I don't envisage it producing boiling water! It could, of course but...

I guess the most obvious printer to try this on would be my Giant which wants the fastest extrusion for printing very large objects. My Titan printer has an enclosure which can be heated so that is also a contender for water cooling. Of course, there is nothing other than a relatively small cost to prevent my using water cooling on both. High speed is a feature of the Titan too. The Titan is currently working satisfactorily whereas the Giant in in the final stages of construction.

Decided to go for 24v straightaway so will be putting the 24v 60W cartridge in the heat block and have a new 24v radial fan and 3D printed air-duct/bracket to clip onto the filament cooler to provide the better cooling needed with the higher power heater. Have started the wiring up.

Water pump delivered today and the tubing will go on the inlet and outlet connections with a little effort but it does mean that they are very unlikely to come off I'm thinking I might go with a single nozzle to test the principle. This will make for a much simpler system and take less time and effort to make. I would like to try this out as soon as I can.

I've found an aluminium bar ½" x ¾" x 4" in my 3D parts drawer that I must have bought when I was thinking of making my own hotend blocks before. That will take the threaded holes for the heatbreaks and Bowden couplers. I also have a 1½" x 3mm aluminium bar that I could mill out for waterways. I also have some rubber sheeting that was left over from roofing the observatory to use as a gasket. Either another aluminium plate or 3D printed back panel with short pipes to take the water pipes. I should be able to get the nozzles about 15mm apart or maybe even less.

A pair of Kraken heatbreaks would cost £24 which seems a lot for a couple of simple turned parts. HERE is the engineering drawing. I have a Chinese clone small lathe but doubt that would be up to turning stainless steel but I can try. A plain part to go into the cooling block would make for a simpler block. M6 SS bolts would simply need a groove cut between thread and plain shank and a hole drilled through the middle.

First thoughts for a dual nozzle cooler block. To cater for standard heatbreaks the block will have M7 for 1.75mm filament or M6 for 3mm, threaded holes for the heatbreaks. On the top side these will be opened up and tapped to 10mm for Bowden couplers (I also have M6 threaded 3mm Bowden couplers). In order to enable the heater blocks (either V6 or Volcano) to be screwed onto the heatbreaks the cooler block needs to be divided up into three parts - two carrying the heatbreaks and another the cooling waterways and tube connectors (not shown in the diagrams below). An external structural could be used to hold the three parts together. The separate heatbreak blocks would also allow for moving up or down to level the nozzles. The system used by the E3D Kraken might better but would need either Kraken heatbreaks or specially made ones from stainless steel.

Although I already have water cooling kit that I used for astro, it's a bit big for hotend cooling so I've been accumulating parts for a lightweight version more suitable for this project. Anself Ultra-quiet Mini DC12V Micro Brushless Water Oil Pump Submersible Water Pump Aquarium Fountain Pond Pump 240L/H 5W Lift 3M This runs off 12v and therefore is easily controlled from the 3D printer control electronics and it is quiet and smaller than my previous one. Can be used submerged or not. 2m Clear Translucent Food Grade Silicone Tubing Milk Hose Beer Pipe Soft Rubber I've got the 5mm bore and 7mm OD and two lots giving 4m which should be more than enough. Aluminum Computer PC Radiator Water Cooler Cooling For CPU LED Heatsink 80mm Possible heat exchanger. There are also Chinese suppliers a few pounds cheaper. Any old container as a reservoir. With a large enough container and particularly a metal one, a radiator may not be necessary. With a metal one I could add one of the spare CPU coolers I have Or maybe use a finned heatsink in the water with CPU cooler outside. 3D printed pipe connectors.

Some water cooling examples :- E3D produce some water cooled 3D printer items which look rather nice but at a cost :- Titan Aqua (combined extruder & hotend Kraken (hotend) OPAM (One-Piece All-Metal) Water-Cooled Hot End Launches on Indiegogo and a DIY version :- Water Cool a 3D Printer Nozzle for Cheap and Easy!

Having played with water cooling for astro cameras and seen this applied to 3D printers instead of fan and fins for cooling hotends but at high cost, I though I would like to try myself. I have reasonable DIY skills Some filament types benefit from a heated chamber and warm air is not so good for cooling. This is one example where water cooling is particularly beneficial. Another benefit should be reduced weight for the X carriage permitting faster acceleration and deceleration for fast printing.

This globe has been printed in natural transparent PETG and I think it's too transparent to show the surface features so I plan to print it in a different filament. Something more opaque such as white PLA or ABS. It seemed that a transparent material was the way to go but in reality, it wasn't Here it is with light shining through from behind. I have increased the contrast of the photo to bring out the texture.

More pics as print progressed.

At the two thirds point now (it says). Still going fine

Bridged the gap and no drooping. Overhang Threshold was set at 95% and shows how well PETG copes with overhangs. This is the base of the globe - bottom when installed in the clock.