In 2011 I became interested in 3D printing. Being able to design and print objects was (and still is) an amazing concept to me. After reading more into it I decided to buy a Makerbot Thing-o-Matic 3D printer kit, which was the go-to 3D printer kit for hobbyists at the time.
A couple years later I ran into the limitations of the Thing-o-Matic printer and I wanted a 3D printer that was more rigid and had a bigger build volume. Instead of buying an off-the-shelf printer I decided to try to build something better on my own. I liked the versatility and features of Makerbeams (10×10 aluminium extrusion), so I chose to build the frame of the printer out of those.
In this article I will share some details and pictures of the 3D printer. While building the printer was a great learning experience, I don’t recommend anyone to go down the same route as I did and build a 3D printer out of Makerbeams. Aside from not being that rigid, they also are not very cost effective compared to 20×20 or 30×30 extrusion.
The 3D printer.
The printer went through many iterations (as can be seen by the various colors of plastic used in the printer) and I have experimented with several motion systems during that time. In the end I ended up settling on the CoreXY motion system.
The CoreXY motion system.
In short, the CoreXY motion system allows the stepper motors, which are generally the largest part of inertia in a 3D printer, to remain stationary. As a result larger accelerations and faster printing are possible.
Further details and pictures of the 3D printer are shown below.
Image Gallery
The top view of the printer.
The spool holder. I found two 8 mm rods on skateboard bearings to be the best solution for an easy to use, low friction spool holder that accepts a wide range of spool sizes.
The Z-stage pulley blocks. Each contains two LM08UU linear bearings.
The corner pulleys of the coreXY kinematics.
The timing belt crossover point. I used GT2 timing belts for all axes.
The right Y-axis carriage that routes the timing belts to the X-carriage.
The lightweight extruder carriage with the geared extruder that extrudes the plastic. One benefit of using a geared extruder is that it provides more torque than a non-geared extruder, and therefore a smaller and lighter motor can be used. Another benefit is that the extruder is able to extrude plastic at a higher resolution, allowing for smoother printing at lower layer heights where less plastic is extruded.
The Z-probe that probes the print bed height at various points. The probe data is used to compensate for an uneven print bed. This makes sticking the first layer to the print bed a lot easier.
A side view of the extruder carriage. Visible are the thin pancake stepper motor and the squirrel cage fan that provides the air that cools the extruded plastic.
A close-up of the extruder nozzle with the wide fan duct that channels the air from the fan to the nozzle.
The filament gets fed to the extruder through the white PTFE (a low friction material) tube.
Two small clamps have been placed on the PTFE tube that guides to filament to the extruder. The clamps restrict the tube’s motion up or down but allow the tube to freely rotate inside of a larger hole. This way the PTFE tube can follow the direction of the extruder carriage without binding and creating extra friction.
The emergency shutdown button that saved the printer from damage on multiple occasions.
The wiring on the back of the power supply.
The bottom side of the printer where all the electronics are housed.
The Smoothieboard controller board that drives the 3D printer.
The custom circuit boards responsible for driving the LED strips, driving the Z-probe servo and for providing power to the Raspberry Pi.
The stepper motor, pulleys and long timing belt that drive the front and back Z-stage leadscrews. The advantage of driving both leadscrews with a single motor and belt is that the two leadscrews never end up out of sync.
One of the blocks that the Z-stage rests on. Visible under the black clamp is one of the thrust bearings that I used to support the Z-stage. I found that thrust bearings are key to eliminating the Z-wobble/artifacts commonly found in 3D prints.
The back of the camera along with the Raspberry Pi that it is hooked up to. The Raspberry Pi has the Octoprint web interface installed in order to be able to remotely operate the 3D printer.
A finished print inside the 3D printer.
A time-lapse of the printer in action.
Technical specifications
Kinematics: CoreXY Extruder: E3D Titan Electronics: Smoothieboard, Raspberry Pi for wireless control & camera Build volume: 200 mm x 200 mm x 280 mm (~ 8″ x 8″ x 11″ ) Other: Z-Probe
If you find this article useful, please share it or leave a comment. I love to hear your feedback and questions!
Hi.
I’m interested of building an core xy myself. This project looks just like a thing I need. I have a few questions tho.
Could you mount a bigger heatbed to the same frame or you would need a bigger frame also?
And did you use 10×10 makerbeam or makerbeam xl?
I’m worried if 10×10 will be enough to make it rigid.
Really interested of any cad and stl files if you would share them.
Best
I recommend going with something thicker/stiffer than the 10×10 Makerbeam that I used, especially if you want to go bigger. This printer already pushes the limit on the rigidity of the Makerbeams.
I don’t have CAD or up to date STL files available, but if you want I can send you the .blend (Blender) file of the design. Just let me know.
At the moment I am building a new 3D printer that is bigger and more rigid. If you are interested you can follow the progress here.
I will put the .stl files of that printer on Thingiverse once it is finished, but I do not have an ETA for that.
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Hi.
I’m interested of building an core xy myself. This project looks just like a thing I need. I have a few questions tho.
Could you mount a bigger heatbed to the same frame or you would need a bigger frame also?
And did you use 10×10 makerbeam or makerbeam xl?
I’m worried if 10×10 will be enough to make it rigid.
Really interested of any cad and stl files if you would share them.
Best
Hey Ricky!
thank you for your interest.
I recommend going with something thicker/stiffer than the 10×10 Makerbeam that I used, especially if you want to go bigger. This printer already pushes the limit on the rigidity of the Makerbeams.
I don’t have CAD or up to date STL files available, but if you want I can send you the .blend (Blender) file of the design. Just let me know.
At the moment I am building a new 3D printer that is bigger and more rigid. If you are interested you can follow the progress here.
I will put the .stl files of that printer on Thingiverse once it is finished, but I do not have an ETA for that.