Build Log #36 - New Kid on the Block!

Been helping a fellow reprapper in getting his 3DPrintMi up and running. Not only that, he's literally the first person to build my machine! 

Congratulation Luisimomaximo!

Luisimomaximo 3DPrintMi

It's an odd but awesome feeling that the 3DPrintMi resides somewhere other than my room. Looks great!

The 3DPrintMi Plus is done! The E3D Hotend is working way better than the QU-BD with no sign of blockage with PLA *knock on wood*. Still have to try using ABS but I don't see why it wouldn't work. The forced convection really helps in minimizing heat creep. Further testing is still needed but I'm feeling pretty confident with the E3D. The Direct Drive is also working without any hiccups but I'm keeping an eye on the filament in case it starts buckling. 

Introducing 3DPrintMi Plus!

Ready to be clamped down

Extruding 1.75mm PLA.

Hoping the filament won't buckle here. I should just add a cylinder in the next revision to guide it the hotend. 

Build Log #35 - Bigger bed, New Direct Drive extruder

Got a few pictures to upload. I had to re-print the Y carriage leg extenders 3 times since they were undersized. My mock CAD drawing of my 200mm x 200mm hot bed was off by a few mm since I was going off by the dimension I gathered off the internet.

Tearing down the 3DPrintMi. The small hotbed will be transferred to my new 3DPrintMi which is being built at the hackerspace, Ideas to Things.

Leg extenders easily snaps right in. 

Leg extenders

Leg extenders on and ready to be fastened. I had to drill out the extra holes. 

Fastened with M3 x 18mm screws. 

Didn't add that much weight which is good. Aiming to keep the Y Carriage as light as possible.

For the past few weeks, I've been developing a new direct drive extruder. As I convert my 3DPrintMi to a bigger bed, it was also time to try a new hotend, the all metal E3D. It's a well designed hotend and it's been getting a lot of positive reviews.  At first, I was going to use a Wade Extruder but it's a bit overkill for a 1.75mm setup. It's too top heavy for my taste even though it served me well on my Printrbot.  I really like the lever mod on my QU-BD and I want to continue using that feature. The CAD drawings of the E3D was incredibly useful during the development. Open Source FTW. 

Features on this this Direct Drive:

• Can be mounted on any X Carriage with a Wade mount (50mm center to center)
• Nema17 motor is positioned parallel to the X axis, suitable for Vertical X configuration.
• Can utilize any lever mods readily available on Thingiverse.
• Compact design gives it a low center of mass.
• Direct drive extruder is separate from the hotend mount, can easily swap hotend mounts with different groove mounts.

3 Part assembly. Also printed out another lever mod by MickB. 

Extruder motor mount with lever mod.

Hotend mount with clamp. This one was designed with the 1.75mm E3D ver 4.1 groove mount

Assembled together

Mock assembly with the hotend and X carriage. 

Just need to wire it up and test it out.


I will release the files as soon as I finish testing direct drive extruder. May be done by the end of this week hopefully!