Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

My frame is in the mail as of yesterday, and I have my workplace all cleared off! This will be fun...

All progress photos, updates, and questions will be in this thread. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Nice!

What other parts are going into it? i.e. control board, extruder, hotend, etc.

I'm looking at using a duet for the controller board, as I have now had two Smoothie boards crap out on me, leading me to doubt their quality. As far as an extruder goes, I'm going to use either my Prometheus V2, or I may buy an E3D V6, I'm not really sure yet. My goal would be to easily swap between hot ends. As far as the actual extruder goes, I'm partial to the B'struder, so I will end up using that with my geared stepper. I am using the new ball arms from seemecnc and an onyx rev 7 along with an aluminum heat spreader. Well I have heard great things about it, I don't think I'm ready to bite the bullet on PEI just yet, I want to get the system working using parts that I am comfortable with, or already used before I do stuff like that so I can rule out any errors, as I have never used Pei as a bed surface before. Additionally, I am probably going to build an upside-down version where I put the stepper Motors and control board up top, but I will still probably keep the PSU located in the bottom. I am planning on running on auxiliary piece of aluminum Extrusion between two of the towers, not for anything structural but the support things like a camera, lights, fans, etc. that I can clamp or attach on to it. I would not normally do this, but I happen to have some aluminum Extrusion lying around anyways, so might as well put it to good use. Let me know if there's anything I didn't mention, I think I covered it all!
EDIT: evidently I did not cover it all , I just remembered I forgot to mention I have octoprint running on a spare laptop that will be controlling it

If I may make some suggestions, I would advise you to look at 713 maker's parts. If you combine his effector and mount with Seeme ball ends, it's very easy to swap the entire effector platform (Including part cooling, ETC) in only a few minutes, and it supports the E3D, Prometheus, Seeme stock hotend, and Chimera/Cyclops hotends.

I would also go with a 24V supply to the bed in the base, switched via SSR, so that you need very minimal wiring down to the base, namely the power from the main supply up, and the 2 pairs of signal wires down (Bed thermistor and SSR switching).

I can understand somewhat wanting to eliminate new variables, but PEI is very useful for bed adhesion, and if you aren't planning on some form of auto-calibration with the Duet, you're wasting time.

Suggestions are always welcome!

Yes, I have seen his parts and they are very nice, potentially a future upgrade later along the line. I would be more interested in trying to develop something myself, however. Purely for the fun of it.

I had thought about a 24v supply, it makes a lot of sense, but it must have slipped my mind when I developed the final parts list. Is there a general recommended one? I am also planning on running a tube of some sort from the top to bottom so I can fit as many wirres as possible going from the top to the base, though less are always preferred.

Yes I am most certainly planning on auto-calibration (one of the main reasons to pick the duet). I have this probe built:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:161753

Oooh shiny

Just did a quick non-committal assembly, no thread Locker or anything to get a feel for how it would look and how it fits together. I am blown away by the quality of the frame, Brian you have really outdone yourself. More to follow soon!

Xenocrates wrote: I would also go with a 24V supply to the bed in the base, switched via SSR, so that you need very minimal wiring down to the base, namely the power from the main supply up, and the 2 pairs of signal wires down (Bed thermistor and SSR switching).

Would one like this work?
https://www.amazon.com/SMAKN%C2%AE-24V1 ... ds=24v+psu

Unfortunately, No. It has insufficient amperage to drive the bed at 24Vs. You need to look for a 20-25 amp supply for 24 volts. I personally bought an SE-600-24 Meanwell supply, which was about 3.5X the price of that one you linked. I would currently suggest it, as it's the lowest priced supply with the amperage you need from Mouser. I don't particularly trust Amazon for these types of products, nor Ebay, as both have been known to have bad listings, including outright fraudulent ones, and none of the 3 units on Amazon that meet the needs of the bed have any reviews. One is also only 20$ cheaper than the Meanwell one, and none are really brands I recognize or trust. But I'll link them anyways, in case you want to risk it to save ~40$ (and the shipping)

https://www.amazon.com/NeeKeons-110V-24 ... 01HY3YV28/
https://www.amazon.com/PowerSupply-ZT-S ... 01DMA7Q1A/
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Regula ... 018TH0DQG/

Now, if you get this one here, I have a design for caps for each end that allow it to have all the contacts shielded, and not interfere with venting, while letting you have an IEC connector, a switch, and 1IN strain relief for the output on it. If you're interested in that, let me know.

If I'd realized those were available so reasonably I would have gone with them. I've gotten three generic ones off eBay. The first one has been great and is still going on the Mendel. The second one got wired up on the Rostock and lasted less than five minutes before complete failure. The replacement wound up being dimensionally different enough that my cover design for the first two didn't work on it.

Not sure if it's of interest to you, but I've been building my covers with an open box exposing only the voltage adjustment screw so it can be adjusted without taking the cover off. That's what doomed my replacement generic unit, but the Meanwells should be consistent enough you could do it if you were so motivated. I like turning mine down to 20V to keep things under the ampacity of 12-gauge wire, so I have to do some fiddling during setup.

Update: Everything else is ordered! I ended up not going with the 24v power supply as of this time, but I will be putting an SCR between the duet and HBP as well as the hotend, just for an added layer of protection. This week I will be using my local maker-space's printer to print some items like feet to mount it upside down, etc. Will update when progress is made!

what happened to your original Rostock... it's... been gutted and left to rot


also, I'd reconsider skipping the 24v.... especially for a high end build.... I mean, you're gonna really aprreciate when a 30min wait for the heat bead to war up to 100c turns into a 5-10 minute wait....

If the circuit is designed to support 24V from the outset and the power supply isn't so heavily integrated into the machine that excessive disassembly would be required to upgrade it later, I can understand saving the c-note until the machine is up and running.

Qdeathstar wrote:what happened to your original Rostock... it's... been gutted and left to rot

Not to rot, but to be re-incarnated as this new printer! I just haven't finished gettign everything useful out of it (mainly steppers and bearings)

IMBoring25 wrote:If the circuit is designed to support 24V from the outset and the power supply isn't so heavily integrated into the machine that excessive disassembly would be required to upgrade it later, I can understand saving the c-note until the machine is up and running.

Yes, I wholly agree, and that is the main reason for me not including it at this time.

Qdeathstar wrote:also, I'd reconsider skipping the 24v.... especially for a high end build.... I mean, you're gonna really aprreciate when a 30min wait for the heat bead to war up to 100c turns into a 5-10 minute wait....

A valid point as well, and one I agree with. However, at this point, I need a machine that works. I do not have infinitely deep pockets, so I will be putting off both a 24v PSU and an enclosure until October (Birthday month + some other cash coming in). I wanted to keep this build around $500-$600

On another note, things have begun arriving! Looking forward to putting this thing together! Additionally, I am going with scre terminals to connect most of the wiring (these ones) as to leave it adaptable and easy to modify and test new things. Yes I considered Jassper's YJ pad, but for the quantity and price the ones in the link can't be beat, as I need them in multiple locations.

Thanks for the pictures and we anticipate many more!
These are the cat's meow and I loving reading the new builds from users such as yourself.

How large will the bed be? The most practical way to heat a large fixed bed is to use an AC mains voltage silicone heater switched by a DC-AC SSR. Then you can drive everything else using a 24V 5A power supply. This is what I have in my Kossel. See my blog for more details and pics.

Eaglezsoar wrote:Thanks for the pictures and we anticipate many more!
These are the cat's meow and I loving reading the new builds from users such as yourself.

Thanks! I love doing these builds

dc42 wrote:How large will the bed be? The most practical way to heat a large fixed bed is to use an AC mains voltage silicone heater switched by a DC-AC SSR. Then you can drive everything else using a 24V 5A power supply. This is what I have in my Kossel. See my blog for more details and pics.

That's a great idea, and something I would implement if starting from scratch. I am reusing the onyx rev7 from my original rostock, running it off 12v now with plans for 24v later. It is 280mm workable diameter.

Okay, question. Does the reprap discount GLCD work with the duet? I can't find anything conclusive either way.

No it does not. Currently, PanelDue is the only panel that works with Duet. There is work being done to support another panel (not sure which) but I wouldn't hold your breath.

mhackney wrote:No it does not. Currently, PanelDue is the only panel that works with Duet. There is work being done to support another panel (not sure which) but I wouldn't hold your breath.

That sucks, Ill just have to find a use for mine somewhere else. Possibly for temp control of the enclosure when I get around to doing that.

713maker's parts are nice.
I also have an aluminum platform available for the SeeMeCNC ball-joints...
http://www.tricklaser.com/Aluminum-plat ... ALU-BJ.htm
yes, a Prometheus hot end fits down through center.

+1 on the PEI and 24 volt psu.
I prefer using TWO meanwell psu's, one 12 volt and one 24 volt just for bed.
ebay has inexpensive "LED Driver" power supplies that work fine.
~*Brian

Xenocrates wrote:If I may make some suggestions, I would advise you to look at 713 maker's parts. If you combine his effector and mount with Seeme ball ends, it's very easy to swap the entire effector platform (Including part cooling, ETC) in only a few minutes, and it supports the E3D, Prometheus, Seeme stock hotend, and Chimera/Cyclops hotends.

I would also go with a 24V supply to the bed in the base, switched via SSR, so that you need very minimal wiring down to the base, namely the power from the main supply up, and the 2 pairs of signal wires down (Bed thermistor and SSR switching).

I can understand somewhat wanting to eliminate new variables, but PEI is very useful for bed adhesion, and if you aren't planning on some form of auto-calibration with the Duet, you're wasting time.

TheRealRocketBurns wrote:Just did a quick non-committal assembly, no thread Locker or anything to get a feel for how it would look and how it fits together. I am blown away by the quality of the frame, Brian you have really outdone yourself. More to follow soon!

Thank you.
~*Brian

you don't need thread locker.

bvandiepenbos wrote:you don't need thread locker.

That's cool, any particular reason why?

Also more build pics later tonight!

one thing to note on the 24v power: cooling fans. Be sure those are 24v.

bob64 wrote:one thing to note on the 24v power: cooling fans. Be sure those are 24v.

I think most of us that use a 24v supply, run it with a dc/dc converter for the 12v devices. I personally only use the 24v for the heated bed. Everything else is stepped down to 12v.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Nextrox-Converte ... 1472641189