I think that was a compliment

I think so....

Anyway, I do plan to build it some day.  I have all the parts already, I even assembled the hardware (frame, gantry, rods, etc, just no electronics) at one time, but needed the space for other things, so I put it away for another day.

3D printing and scanning are not my only hobbies, and all of them are fighting for a chunk of my spare time. 

And as you get older you find that time simply flies by, and you never seem to find the time to do everything you want to do.

But, I'm always doing stuff like that. Put a few months into some cool idea, maybe even build a successful prototype then get distracted by some other exciting new idea.

Creative people get bored easy. We need bean counters and production specialists to take our ideas and turn them out as actual products because we are off dinking with something else. 

I did however revisit the Solidworks model for an alternate extruder. 

I've been eying the new Cyclops, I do like the idea of a dual extruder with a single nozzle output.  So I did some revisions to my model to reflect that.  So I revised the "X" carriage to accept the Cyclops hot end, as well as the extruder mechanisms themselves.

Here is a rendering of this alternate version.

@osmanharac     I would love to see the speed with the ballscrews.
The ballscrew is a lot slower than a belt.  A GT2-20 sprocket, provides 40mm travel/rotation.  My ballscrews move 5mm /rotation, so they're about 1/8 the speed of a belt drive at the same RPM.  Increasing the RPM's (to match the belt speed) will lead to a decrease in torque (& holding torque).  However the ballscrews have their own holding torque, so the motor will not have to work as hard. 

All things considered, I think I should be able to drive them at 80-100 mm/sec with good performance, and near perfect repeatability.

Nothing at the moment,  I got my nwe Printrbot Simple and I've been playing with that for the last week or so. 

I'll get back to the printer when I return from my vacation in a couple of weeks.  I got most of the parts already, including the stuff from RobotDigg. 

Most of the printable parts are printed, and next up is cutting the smooth and threaded rods to length.

I'll finish it ... sooner or later.

Looks promising.
I wish I have time and resources to start something like this.
did you have a chance to finish this project?
I would love to see the speed with the ballscrews.
thanks

I'll get back to the printer when I return from my vacation in a couple of weeks.  I got most of the parts already, including the stuff from RobotDigg. 

Most of the printable parts are printed, and next up is cutting the smooth and threaded rods to length.

I'll finish it ... sooner or later.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mega2560-R3-4x- … 1059517985

I bought stuff from him before (and so have others on this forum) and his product is good and reasonably priced.  Here is a link to a RAMS with 4 steppers and a graphics LCD screen.  You can buy additional steppers from him for only $4.

As for "knockoffs",  technically, all these are some kind of knockoff, as they are open source hardware, so anyone can make them.  The only "branded" component if you want to call it that would be the Arduino board.  If you want the real deal, then you'll pay a bit of a premium for the Arduino branded board.  But I don't think there's such a thing as an "original/official RAMPS board.

BTW, I have a couple of these, both Arduino and a Mega 2560 clone, there's virtually no difference between them, and both work flawlessly.

I already have a RAMPS on my SD3 and I'm familiar with it, so I'll go with that.  It supports dual extruders, GCode controlled fans and an LCD, so I'm good with it.

I do like the Viki LCD but I think it's just to expensive for what it is, I can get a graphic LCD controller with SD card support for less than $20.

AS for the RAMBO, I looked at it before, but it too is nearly twice the cost of a RAMPS, and I'm also skiddish about the integrated steppers.  I've had problems with steppers before and with removable ones it's easy to just swap the bad one out.  So I think I'll stick with the RAMPS.

It make sense. I had to replace a step driver on my Sang. Where do you buy the RAMPS? I found some but I am not sure if those are knockoffs.

I do like the Viki LCD but I think it's just to expensive for what it is, I can get a graphic LCD controller with SD card support for less than $20.

AS for the RAMBO, I looked at it before, but it too is nearly twice the cost of a RAMPS, and I'm also skiddish about the integrated steppers.  I've had problems with steppers before and with removable ones it's easy to just swap the bad one out.  So I think I'll stick with the RAMPS.

Yeah, I'll be getting a RAMPS, but for the moment I'll do a single extruder version. 

If the printer turns out to work OK, then I'll convert it to dual extruders.  At least the electronics will be ready for it, and it will only be a matter of redesigning the print head and the extruder motor brackets.

Did you consider the RAMBo board? I like this board and you can add also a Viki controller.

https://ultimachine.com/rambo

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2013/01/10 … dthursday/

CB

All looks lovely. Nice work!
The face-to-face extruders are cute - can you still get in there if you strip the filament?

I should be able to get in there OK, but I'm not entirely sure.  I can always move them further apart if I need to.  I'm printing another extruder right now, So as soon as I can install it on the frame, I'll find out how close or how far I need to mount them

You may have already noticed that I printed some corner pieces to be mounted on the inside faces, similar to what you had mentioned earlier.  It helps keep the frame square in all directions and add extra strength.

BTW, thanks again for the grooved bearing idea.  Here is a picture showing the bearing installed.

Update.  It would appear I need about 1/2-3/4" or so between the extruders to be able to get my fingers in there.