Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

Hi, I am planning on getting a 3D printer for various uses - mostly making prototypes and 1-off parts for hobbies and inventions.

The rostock max v2 looks like #1 on my list of choices at this time.

I have a couple questions about the delta bots - It looks like they all use belt drive to move the arms up and down. Had anyone tried using lead screws? It seems like they should be more ridig - less bouncy. Or is expense the big problem there?

I see there are options to add a second head to the rostock max. Is that pretty useful? easy? (flashing firmware is easy for me, so is mechanical stuff)

Are there ways to print things from the thingyverse ?

Would enclosing the print area help to keep it heated? Is that even desireable?

I see fans added on print heads. Wouldn't a hose with a a jet of compressed air (a pretty low pressure seems like it would be fine) do better because it can be aimed precisely at the filament and would not add much mass to the head?

Anyway, I have lots of ideas and I want to start seeing them take place.

Tonkabot wrote:Hi, I am planning on getting a 3D printer for various uses - mostly making prototypes and 1-off parts for hobbies and inventions.

The rostock max v2 looks like #1 on my list of choices at this time.

I have a couple questions about the delta bots - It looks like they all use belt drive to move the arms up and down. Had anyone tried using lead screws? It seems like they should be more ridig - less bouncy. Or is expense the big problem there?

I see there are options to add a second head to the rostock max. Is that pretty useful? easy? (flashing firmware is easy for me, so is mechanical stuff)

Are there ways to print things from the thingyverse ?

Would enclosing the print area help to keep it heated? Is that even desireable?

I see fans added on print heads. Wouldn't a hose with a a jet of compressed air (a pretty low pressure seems like it would be fine) do better because it can be aimed precisely at the filament and would not add much mass to the head?

Anyway, I have lots of ideas and I want to start seeing them take place.

Welcome to the forum!
Lets try to answer some of your questions.
The belts have better resolution and move the Axis much faster than a lead screw could ever hope to move.
Adding a second extruder is well documented on this forum but basically entails downloading from Thingiverse an adapter that mounts to the Rostock
effector and holds the two Extruders (hotends) after that comes setting up the firmware to alow them to work.
Using a site:forum.seemecnc.com dual extruders in your browser has Google search the forum for dual extuders where you can read how to set them up.

Printing things from Thingiverse is fairly easy, you download the STL file then user a slicer like Slic3r to slice the STL and generate the GCode that use then
send to the printer via a computer using Repetier Host or an SD card that plugs into the LCD that you see on the front of the Rostocks.
The cooling fans work well enough to cool the PLA, you don't need to use compressed air and you try to keep the moving platform as light as possible.
Compressed air would be extreme overkill.

You can download the assembly manual for the Rostock Max V1 at: http://www.geneb.org/rostock-max/Rostoc ... -Guide.pdf

The manual for Rostock Max V2 is work in progress but you can get it here: http://www.geneb.org/rmaxv2/Rostock-MAX ... -Guide.pdf
We are here to help and I hope I answered most of your questions. You will love the V2 of the Rostock Max.

eaglez;

wouldn't the lead screw have a higher resolution? for every revolution of the gear head on the stepper, that would be divided by the TPI of the lead screw.
on a belt, it would be the length around the perimeter of the gear.

I accept I can be wrong on this, if so, can you help me with why? Of course there is backlash.

Speed... Yea!

Thanks!

neurascenic wrote:eaglez;

wouldn't the lead screw have a higher resolution? for every revolution of the gear head on the stepper, that would be divided by the TPI of the lead screw.
on a belt, it would be the length around the perimeter of the gear.

I accept I can be wrong on this, if so, can you help me with why? Of course there is backlash.

Speed... Yea!

Thanks!

The Orion is capable of resolution as high as 0.05mm, I am not sure about the resolution of a Lead Screw driven axis but I do know the Deltas will
kick it's ass as far as the speed of the axis movements. Why are we discussing this anyway? This forum consists of happy Delta printer users and
the word cartesian means some sort of well to us. We are quite happy with our Deltas from SeemeCNC because of speed, positional accuracy and the
ability to make some great prints. If you want to discuss printers made with lead screws perhaps you should give the Makerbutt forum a try.

Eaglezsoar wrote:

neurascenic wrote:eaglez;

wouldn't the lead screw have a higher resolution? for every revolution of the gear head on the stepper, that would be divided by the TPI of the lead screw.
on a belt, it would be the length around the perimeter of the gear.

I accept I can be wrong on this, if so, can you help me with why? Of course there is backlash.

Speed... Yea!

Thanks!

The Orion is capable of resolution as high as 0.05mm, I am not sure about the resolution of a Lead Screw driven axis but I do know the Deltas will
kick it's ass as far as the speed of the axis movements. Why are we discussing this anyway? This forum consists of happy Delta printer users and
the word cartesian means some sort of well to us. We are quite happy with our Deltas from SeemeCNC because of speed, positional accuracy and the
ability to make some great prints. If you want to discuss printers made with lead screws perhaps you should give the Makerbutt forum a try.

No no... Deltas only for me... though I did see here a delta that used lead screws. and yea, it was very slow. I suppose though, if the backlash would be taken care of, an increased resolution at the expense of speed could fit certain needs. Not mine, as I have (I think) other ways around that, even in PLA.

I am the original poster, and I am looking forward to getting the Max v2. I actually talked my GF out of buying me a makerbot replicator 2x a couple weeks ago - saying I hadn't done enough research yet.

My question about leadscrews (or even ballscrews) would be in the context of a delta robot, just my non-delta experience thinking that the belts would not be as rigid as a screw.
I have lots of experience with steppers, servos (real servos, not model airplane servos), and linear actuators. I am pretty sure that a leadscrew or ballscrew will have finer resolution than belts, and they have zero backlash nuts. Maybe not as fast as belts, though with big enough steppers or servos I am pretty sure they would be able to move faster than you could extrude which seems like it would be fast enough.
Clearly the delta printers I have seen are moving faster when not extruding, but my impression is that your going to have some ideal extruding speed which even those XY machines can handle.

I am a Noob on the delta machines and 3d printing, but I have a mill and lathe so I do have some experience in making stuff, and designing and building systems with motion control.

Welcome Tonka. About 18 months ago, I was asking the same questions you were, and a Makerbot was one of the printers I was considering Fast forward and the printer I chose over the Makerbot was a disaster, ended up complaining about it for 6 months and finally ditched it.
I did more research, really loved what I'd heard about the delta style printers and we decided to get a Rostock. Have been VERY happy with it ever since!

I think you're right about lead screws providing higher resolution, and you could probably build a leadscrew delta printer with improved accuracy.
Here's what I think you'd probably lose though:
- Cost effectiveness. Currently the Rostock Max is way up there with cost per cm^2 of build platform. The cheapskate bearings and belts are pretty damn cheap.
- Quiet operation. I could be mistaken, but I think with large ballscrews replacing the xyz towers would be jolly loud.
- Easy maintenance. Currently I only have to keep an eye on belt tension... No lube or adjustment of backlash etc associated with leadscrews.

Then again, I had a cartesian printer with ballscrews all around, and I was less impressed with it's acuraccy than my stock Rostock, which has the added benefit of awesome speed.

This is pretty much theorycrafting right now, but because of the way the delta arms work, it's not relying on each arm having killer accuracy - each arm works in concert with the other two to provide the xy location. In a traditional cartesian system, the Y accuracy is entirely dependent on a single Y leadscrew, and it's accuracy alone.
I think you would improve accuracy, yes, but not as much of an improvement as you might think.

Again theorycrafting is all this is, but I enjoy it, so continue!

I am confused about the SD card - does the MAX V2 run stand-alone from an SD card? I see a line that says 'SD-card ready', but I am not sure what they mean. I saw a schematic of the RAMBO 1.something (1.1? maybe not the 1.2) and I did not see an SD card on the board.

Tonkabot wrote:I am confused about the SD card - does the MAX V2 run stand-alone from an SD card? I see a line that says 'SD-card ready', but I am not sure what they mean. I saw a schematic of the RAMBO 1.something (1.1? maybe not the 1.2) and I did not see an SD card on the board.

The SD card fits into the LCD display that you see on the front of the printer. There is a slot on the side of it.

Well, I placed my order for the Rostock Max 2 yesterday. I can't wait until it gets here.

Cool! I think you'll be pretty happy - I especially love the space surrounding the hot-end. You can really get your arms into and around your build platform.