The second Delta 3D Printer
In this article I would like to describe the construction of my second, somewhat larger Delta printer. The printer is based on the Kossel design and was adapted to our current needs.
Background
Until now I only had a modified Alfawise U10 available. This one had its advantages, for example the relatively large installation space of 400x400x500mm. Due to the design it was quite imprecise and required some modifications in the course of time. The open design of the U10 also made it difficult to print ABS with it. Another disadvantage in the construction of the U10 was the high weight of the moving printing bed, which does not allow high speeds and accelerations.
Therefore the desire arose to build a “big” Delta printer.
Printer specifications
- Printbed Diameter: 380mm, 350mm Print range
- Build Hight: 500mm in corners, 560mm in middle
- Overall height: 1,2m
- Filament: PLA,PETG, ABS, Flexibles
- Interfaces:
- USB-Support
- WIFI, Web Control, Control via Smartphone, HTTP and FTP File Upload
- Color Touch Screen Interface
- Single Extruder, upgradeable for Dual Extruder
- Smart Effector Z-Probe
Design Considerations
A printer of this size needs at least 2020 aluminium profiles to provide sufficient stability. I decided to use 2040 profiles with 1200mm length.
When choosing the heating mat I decided to use a 800W mat with 350mm diameter. This should be able to heat the 6mm aluminium plate to 110°C for ABS printing within a very short time. In this power class a 230V heating mat is definitely preferable to a 12V or 24V mat. Since the bed is not moving with a Delta printer, there is less risk of damaging the 230V line. The 230V heating mat can be easily controlled by a Zero-crossing SSR (Solid State Relay).
Since I have been very satisfied with the DuetWifi board, the decision was easy. The firmware of the board offers a very good web interface and probably the best support for Delta Kinematics. The features include for example: 3, 4, 6 or 7 factor auto calibration and clean and smooth delta movements thanks to the 32Bit processor.
On my first Delta printer, all the electronics were installed in the lower part of the machine (under the heating bed). Until now I was not satisfied with this because of the poor accessibility. Therefore this should be changed now. The whole electronics as well as the drives of the axes should be installed outside the installation space in the upper part of the machine.
