rickmellor wrote:I'm not sure if a complete shopping lists exists, but here's an attempt for you based off my rig:
Mechanicals: http://goo.gl/JR2OqK
Controller (add four drivers, the Helios bed and an epcos thermistor on that page): http://goo.gl/nsvPyH
Three limit switches: http://goo.gl/FfxA6c (you can get cheaper ones if you want, but you want this size)
Power supply: http://goo.gl/hYuHCh (I modified mine so only the +12v + GND lines are attached and the enable pin is always closed)
Glass plate for bed: http://goo.gl/nbrTnO (3/16" thick works fine)
Thermal epoxy: http://goo.gl/jBGDn2 (for installing the thermistor in the heated bed)
Extruder / hotend: http://goo.gl/zwoRg2 (this is controversial but mine is great AFTER I did the PTFE mod, others including Bart like theirs just with the spring tension mod)
Filament: http://goo.gl/enyH0q
Then lots of wires, solder, zip ties, etc. to hook everything up. I have molex connectors on everything and spent two days wiring it up. You can get by just fine with less effort ... up to you.
-Rick
cvoinescu wrote:Many people run their setup on 12 V, and it's the de facto standard for 3-D printers. I think the only reason for this is historical: in the beginning, many people used a PC power supply, so it had to be 12 V. I am going against the entrenched tradition when recommending 24 V, but it's based on comments from many people who struggled to get their RAMPS etc. to deliver 10-12 A to the heated bed with a reasonable voltage drop. At 24 V, you need to switch and deliver only 5-6 A, which means less voltage drop on the wires, and much less heating of the MOSFET. As for the motors, the drivers can take up to 30-35 V (more for the DRV8825-based modules); they don't heat up more with 24 V, but they work better. Please note that the drivers are current-limited: you set them to deliver the rated current for your motor (typically 1-2 A), and they'll never put out more than that, even though they're supplied with 24 V and your motor's voltage rating is 2.5 V or so. However, having a higher voltage power supply allows more torque at high speeds, and a higher top speed, all with the same driver and the same motor. The only downside of using 24 V is that you'll need a 12 V supply for the fans, or harder to find 24 V fans. A DC-DC converter that takes 24 V and puts out 12 V at 3 A (which could power two dozen fans) costs a few bucks on eBay.
Stepper motors will never run too fast. They simply don't work that way. They step exactly when commanded by the firmware, and a step is always the same size (most commonly one two-hundredth of a revolution, or 1.8 degrees), regardless of the supply voltage. If you send more step pulses per second, the motor will spin faster, but always in sync with the pulses, up to a point where the motor can no longer keep up and stalls. With a higher supply voltage, it simply stalls at a higher speed, so you can configure your firmware to allow faster moves.
The Azteeg X3 integrates an Arduino Mega 2560-like controller and RAPMS-like electronics into one board. The same firmware works with both the Azteeg X3 and the RAPMS 1.4 -- in fact, if memory serves me, the pins are exactly the same, so you set up your firmware as if you had a RAMPS board.
About the QU-BD: people mod it simply because, as shipped, it does not work. It does not work with PLA at all, and often not with ABS either. You may hear reports of success with unmodified QU-BD extruders, but always with ABS, or for a very qualified definition of success. It is still very attractive because it's very cheap, but then bricks are cheap too and they don't extrude either, unless heavily modified...
I warmly recommend the J-Head hot end and the Greg's Wade Reloaded extruder because they work as they are, from the first try, with zero headaches. They may not be the cheapest, lightest, smallest and most elegant, but I think reliability trumps that. They definitely aren't the only good solution, but they're what worked for me as a beginner.
JLG wrote:Okay, so if I understand properly, the only reason for not using 24v is because it can't get enough Amperage to the heatbed, and you'd need a 24v hotend and heatbed? Would a suitable fix be to use a transistor or relay to allow the Arduino to switch a hard-wired 24v line from the PSU into the heatbed?
JLG wrote:I think I'll go with the hotend and extruder you recommend, unless there is something that will produced higher quality prints. As I mention, I'd be interested in looking for quality.
JLG wrote:As for the Azteeg X3 3DP Reprap Controller, it's just an upgraded / integrated RAMPS 1.4? So are there any instructions somewhere on how to wire the components into this?
JLG wrote:And as for slicers, which have you found to be the best?
JLG wrote:A technical question about G-code, how does it work? Is it a series of movements for the controller to send to the stepper motors? Or is it turning the model into a 3-dimensional array of points that the controller interprets and then tells the motors what to do?
JLG wrote:PS - I'm grateful for all of your technical advice, thank you very much!
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