Trick Laser MAX METAL Build

[forrie]

The new idlers look great!

On a side note, have the first batch shipped yet? Especially too an eager Australian?

[Mac The Knife]

I received my notification this past Monday,,,,, I'll be receiving my Metal this Friday.

[ccavanaugh]

FYI,

Working on the housing for the electronics assembly. The original CAD model I had for the Smoothieboard was not correct and there just wasn't enough room for the supplied connectors. I should have something in the next day or two. It works just fine with the Rambo as-is. It's going to grow a bit in the vertical. I have my new Smoothieboard in hand, but waited and ordered mating board connectors for the steppers and end-stops so I don't have to adapt or rewire vs. the Rambo.

[forrie]

I received my notification this past Monday,,,,, I'll be receiving my Metal this Friday.

Awww dang it... I guess I must have been #7 to order, because I didn'the get a notification.

[bvandiepenbos]

The new idlers look great!

On a side note, have the first batch shipped yet? Especially too an eager Australian?

Yes, yours was all packaged today but missed the post office cutoff time. So it will go out tomorrow.

[forrie]

Yes, yours was all packaged today but missed the post office cutoff time. So it will go out tomorrow.

Yippie!! Thanks Brian.

[Mac The Knife]

My box arrived today,,, Thanks Brian, and CCavanaugh for allowing us to HiJack his thread

[forrie]

I'm looking forward to all the new threads popping up as people receive their frames!

[[email protected]]

Looks great. Just ordered one.

[Eaglezsoar]

Thanks to Brian I have also received my frame!
Now I have something to do for sure!

[Eaglezsoar]

Significant progress this weekend.

The electronics housing as designed needs some tweaks. I need to deepen the housing about a 1/4" to clear the LCD controller.

When assembling, reclaim the 4-40 t-nuts from the v1 skates or the plate the heated bed threads into and install those into the underside of the snowflake. You can then use 1/2" 4-40 screws to secure the heated bed.

20150412_091658.jpg

20150412_123640.jpg

20150412_090114.jpg

If you make these changes please include the updated files to your collection.
Quite a lot of files on your Github and I truly appreciate that you shared them with all of us.

[Thinker]

Not looking to hijack ccavanaugh's thread. I figured since everyone was reading this thread I would add my 2 cents... I just received my frame and wanted to share my first impression. I have to say that Brian's work is excellent! I saw the first frames at MRRF and was impressed. What I received seems even better. (packed extremely well,clean,no burrs,scratches, very solid...) I'm really looking forward to putting it together!

[Mac The Knife]

I'm thinking a kit of just three of the cross braces, and idler system would make a huge difference on a stock printer, eliminating the melamine up top.

[Thinker]

I'm thinking a kit of just three of the cross braces, and idler system would make a huge difference on a stock printer, eliminating the melamine up top.

Mac,

I'm sure it would make it more ridged but I would think it would be difficult to make sure it was "squared" up without the guide pins that come on the metal max towers. I would also guess that once you saw how ridged the top could be you would want to remove all of the melamine.

I suppose it would allow you to do incremental improvements working towards a full metal frame. I know our hobby is an expensive one and sometimes it's hard to justify laying all the money out at once....

[Mac The Knife]

I'm thinking a kit of just three of the cross braces, and idler system would make a huge difference on a stock printer, eliminating the melamine up top.

Mac,

I'm sure it would make it more ridged but I would think it would be difficult to make sure it was "squared" up without the guide pins that come on the metal max towers. I would also guess that once you saw how ridged the top could be you would want to remove all of the melamine.

I suppose it would allow you to do incremental improvements working towards a full metal frame. I know our hobby is an expensive one and sometimes it's hard to justify laying all the money out at once....

Already got my frame, and am leaning heavily towards building a complete printer, instead of stripping the other one. As for being difficult to square up the towers, Brian did a helluva job on these, and with a little patience, it would square up easy.

[ccavanaugh]

Significant progress this weekend.

The electronics housing as designed needs some tweaks. I need to deepen the housing about a 1/4" to clear the LCD controller.

When assembling, reclaim the 4-40 t-nuts from the v1 skates or the plate the heated bed threads into and install those into the underside of the snowflake. You can then use 1/2" 4-40 screws to secure the heated bed.

20150412_091658.jpg

20150412_123640.jpg

20150412_090114.jpg

If you make these changes please include the updated files to your collection.
Quite a lot of files on your Github and I truly appreciate that you shared them with all of us.

The latest files including STEP files are now available. I'm gearing up to print the latest housing for the smoothieboard. The files should be good but have not been tested yet.

[ccavanaugh]

An update on the build...

The MAX METAL is now printing it's own parts! I've got about 12 hours print time on it. I'm still using the 1/8 stepping Rambo until it completes the prints for the revised electronics housing for the Smoothieboard.

I was hoping the stock EzStruder had enough guts to feed the Prometheus, but no such luck. I suspected it might be an issue, but wishful thinking did not help. It's okay with certain PLA and ABS filaments, but some PLAs take more extrusion force.

It was going to take the addition of a geared stepper motor or a new geared extruder. I went with an alternate geared extruder design based around a Greg Wades design. I've been using this on my bowden Ordbot + Prometheus for over 400 hours without a single hiccup. I have changed the gearing so it's not as heavily reduced. I get about 430 steps/mm at 1/16 stepping. I machined the hobbed bolt myself, but a "standard" should work.

I also created an alternate spool holder bracket to combine the extruder mount as well. If anyone is interested in the extruder, I will make the files available.

Back side

Front Side

Hobbed Bolt

Also, based on measurements with a thermocouple, I've increased the current going to the axis motors. The frame is acting like a massive heat sink allowing the motors to be driven harder.

I'm trying black Inland PLA for the first time and getting good results. The self printed parts will be in black and maybe gray.

[forrie]

Woo hoo...my frame has made it safe and sound to the other side of the world. Just in time for the start of my vacation from work. Took me nearly 1/2 hour to unpackage it all...beautifully wrapped!

[ccavanaugh]

Woo hoo...my frame has made it safe and sound to the other side of the world. Just in time for the start of my vacation from work. Took me nearly 1/2 hour to unpackage it all...beautifully wrapped!

Awesome! Are you going to base the build of the parts I designed or are you designing your own?

[forrie]

I'll probably use many of your parts (if it works why reinvent the wheel!), but I have a few other ideas I want to work in (top, base, fsr). I'll post them all once I get it figured out. I suck at CAD but this should be a fun learning experience...and I have a month off from work to figure it all out.

[ccavanaugh]

Sounds good. I've been toying around with the idea of the fsr approach for automatic leveling. I do not believe you will need it for error correcting.

[Eaglezsoar]

I'll probably use many of your parts (if it works why reinvent the wheel!), but I have a few other ideas I want to work in (top, base, fsr). I'll post them all once I get it figured out. I suck at CAD but this should be a fun learning experience...and I have a month off from work to figure it all out.

Thanks for offering to post what you come up with. That's one of the things I love about the users on this forum, everyone is wiling to share.

[plasma]

Well, it took me about 2 weeks but finally I have one hell of a printer. I can't say thank you enough to the people that helped me get this delta all set up. People like Brian from Trick Laser. Who always strives for perfection through simplicity in the products he creates, whether as upgrades to existing printers or as new inventions. Brian for the frame and all your upgrades, thanks.

ccavanaugh Thank you very much for all your hard work for the designs you posted for the Max Metal. I know how much time and effort it took to get everything in sync. By sharing them and keeping it open source you have helped people like me, with little CAD knowledge to build this project. I was able to use most of the files you created and posted. So thank you.

The build was a lot of fun, much more fun then my first one. Maybe its because I didn't feel like a total noob unlike the first time around. The printer runs much more quieter then the donor Max v2 and the printed results are out of this world for me in comparison.

So once again Thanks and Happy printing.

[bvandiepenbos]

Thank you plasma for your feedback. It makes me happy that it is working well. You made my day.

[bvandiepenbos]

Here is a little peek at something else I have been working on.
I laser cut the design mockup from wood over a year ago... just could not stand it any longer, had to make some aluminum chips this weekend just for fun. Now to find the time to test it out on my MAX.