I have been in the 3D printing world for about 10 years. At first I started building my own 3D printer using a wooden (MDF) frame and drawer conductors. And I wrote my own software for controlling the electronics. Next to that I wrote a Python program to send GCODE to the controller board. Everything worked fine as a plotter but then I needed to build the print-head. As I did not own a lathe this was a big problem.
In 2010 I bought a DIY version of the Prusa I2. With a Megatronics control board. It was made from M8 threaded rods and printed parts. It was one of the first available 3D printers. I learned a lot from working with this printer. A big disadvantage was the build height. You could not print anything higher as about 12 CM with this printer. The reason was that when the print finished the extruder moved to the left and at that height would bounce against the threaded rods. If you want more information of the origin of the 3D printers look at this site: https://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap
Afther 5 years in 2015 I bought a DIY delta printer called a Beagle. Made by Reprapworld. This was an enormous improvement over the Prusa I2 as it was more stable and had a large building height. It took me about two weeks to build. The Beagle printed with far more detail as the Prusa did. And I used it a lot. However there were some annoying things about this printer. Callibration of a Delta printer is a real pain. The belts got sloppy because they are more used as with a cartesian printer. And there was a cooling problem resulting in the printer stopping at some times. This all resulted in having to tune the printer for an half hour to an hour before I could get to serious printing.
Now we are again 5 years further and I decided to buy a new printer. Because I am one of the first customers of the Dutch Reprapworld company they lended me a CR20. My old printer was not working anymore and I was waiting for the new CR10 pro. After some research I opted for a Creality CR20 pro. And boy oh boy the technique has evolved a lot in these 5 years.
The Creality comes as a 2 part kit. A horizontal frame and a vertical frame. This makes shipping more convenient as the box can be of a reasonable size. Building the printer is 20 minutes work. Unpacking . Putting the frames together requires 4 screws to be fastened and then you need to connect the wiring which is documented well and each wire as marked. You can not go wrong.
Besides that everything needed is included. There are wrenches, allen-keys, tweezers, a paint scraper and even a spare nozzle and a nozzle cleaner. There is even an SD card included and a card reader. The SD card contains a manual, a slicer and examples ready to print.
You can have this printer up and running in half an hour. Without getting to technical: the printer has a heated bed, auto-bed-leveling and a nice display.
The print quality is more as excellent. The printer printed a nut and bolt that fitted without any sanding, filing or whatever. Ready to use when the printer was finished. The screw in the middle and the circle with the upright point on the left are printed Makedo clones. Makedo is a system designed for kids to make all kinds of objects from cardboard which you screw to eachother. That is where the sharp point for is, to pierce the cardboard. The printed point is so hard that you can pierce three layers of cardboard effortless.
Here is another example. It is a model from Thingiverse and it is a demonstration of Tensegrity. The small transparant blobs is where the parts were glued for extra strength. I am now experimenting with glueing PLA and have a nice solution for that. but that is for another story.
Another advantage is the magnetic bed. The adhesion is excellent. You can pull the bed from the printer and bend it. The printed objects come loose without effort. Nevertheless I still use a glass bed which makes the bottom of the print even smoother. When I need that I just put the glass on top of the original bed.
Overall after two weeks of printing I am more as pleased. Callibration is a piece of cake and done within 2 minutes. The quality is outstanding. And until now I have not one print going wrong. Quite a difference with my previous printers.
For those of you who like looking at the specs:
- Printing size 220 x 220 x 250 mm
- Precision +/- 0.1 mm (thats one-tenth millimeter layers !!!)
- Maximum nozzle temperature 250 degrees C
- Maximum bed temperature 110 degrees C
- Filament 1.75mm
- Suitable for: PLA, ABS, TPU, PET
- Power consumption: 270 Watt
- Works with all popular slicers like Cura, Repetier etc.
Put it to use
Well there is a corona crisis going on and I decided to try to do my bit to help fighting the virus. So I gathered some friends who also have 3D printers and we started to print ear-savers for our local hospitals. I wrote about this in the first entry in May on this blog.
So now we have printed more. We delivered 160 pcs to the IJsselland Hospital, then 50 pieces to the Haga hospital and the last delivery was 170 pieces to the Sint Franciscus Gasthuis. We are doing this for free. No charges for the hospitals.
So have fun, and stay safe
Luc