3D Printer 2017 Plans

I got quite into 3D printing in 2016 after fixing up a borrowed Bits From Bytes printer, then going on to build my own Prusa i3 from scratch.

It's been an enjoyable project that has taken a few upgrades to improve print quality:-

• A properly copper etched heated bed as I need >100C and my original could barely make it over 50C.
• An E3D V6 as my cheap MK8 seemed to jam at the drop of a hat with ABS.
• Updating X and Y axes with DRV8825 stepper drivers, to give me 1/32 stepping rather than 1/16 (and not because I blew the existing A4988s up).
• Watching streaming video of a print from work via Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint on Docker.
• Watching the stepper motor temperatures on the Raspberry Pi via multiple DS18B20 one-wire thermometers.

There's plenty to do to improve things even more. My list for 2017 so far:-

• Fit the printer inside the enclosure I've built.

• Fit a heat lamp in the enclosure so I can control the air temperature to improve layer adhesion of my ABS prints.
• Fit and test the inductive sensor so I no longer have to bother with Z calibration!

• Control the hot end fan and controller fan from the Raspberry Pi so the printer is automatically quiet when not printing.
• Control some RGB LEDs from the Raspberry Pi to improve the time-lapse video capture.
• Add a second E3D V6 so I can print with a water-soluble support material.

Posted Mon 02 Jan '17 in 3D Printing