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Okay, SEMI-practical depending on your needs---and freaking cool.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/16 ... f=category


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzwaVQaQgmI[/youtube]

Brian (TrickLaser) and I were scheming about a Rostock with no base that could just print on a glass table or something like that. That idea could be adapted into something kind of like this.

Not practical? I see it working right now for a real application? Seems practical to me?

Nylocke wrote:Not practical? I see it working right now for a real application? Seems practical to me?

okay, My apologies. Didn't mean to offend you or anyone else with a need to prototype giant prints.

You didn't offend me, I just failed to see how a larger build height being demonstrated wasn't practical.

I thought the support features were cool. As the height of your prints increase the lever forces can topple your print, so he added arms you can wind thin strings onto and thread them through the print as its going. The threads are thin enough you can just pull them out when done. Pretty smart.

I had thought about adding longer / larger almunimum or steel extrusions to the rostock max to achieve something like this, it would require someone with some time to re design all of the MDF melamine housing though.

TFMike wrote:I had thought about adding longer / larger almunimum or steel extrusions to the rostock max to achieve something like this, it would require someone with some time to re design all of the MDF melamine housing though.

Apparently it's somewhat easy, just need Longer extrusions, belts and wires. Granted it's not that tall.

http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... ion#p64123

Did a part fall over at 1:28? Hard to tell if that was a failure; anyway, it doesn't seem to have set them back much even if it was.

TFMike wrote:I had thought about adding longer / larger almunimum or steel extrusions to the rostock max to achieve something like this, it would require someone with some time to re design all of the MDF melamine housing though.

The z-height of a delta printer is independent from the x-y positioning, so if you had extrusions JUST long enough to position all around the build surface and had a separate z-axis that raised or lowered the whole contraption you'd be all set.

KAS wrote:

TFMike wrote:I had thought about adding longer / larger almunimum or steel extrusions to the rostock max to achieve something like this, it would require someone with some time to re design all of the MDF melamine housing though.

Apparently it's somewhat easy, just need Longer extrusions, belts and wires. Granted it's not that tall.

http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... ion#p64123

I meant using larger extrusions, like 40 mm instead of 25.4 or whatever they use stock, and using steel instead of aluminum.

gotcha, in that case I wouldn't use melamine and just design something all metal.

KAS wrote:gotcha, in that case I wouldn't use melamine and just design something all metal.

Had thought about that too, something rugged like the printrbot simple metal would be awesome, but costly. I think redroverred's idea would be the most practical. I wonder how hard it would be to retrofit a custom rostock with stubby legs onto one of these dutch z unlimited contraptions.

redoverred wrote:

TFMike wrote:I had thought about adding longer / larger almunimum or steel extrusions to the rostock max to achieve something like this, it would require someone with some time to re design all of the MDF melamine housing though.

The z-height of a delta printer is independent from the x-y positioning, so if you had extrusions JUST long enough to position all around the build surface and had a separate z-axis that raised or lowered the whole contraption you'd be all set.

That'd be interesting from a calibration standpoint.

Nylocke wrote:That'd be interesting from a calibration standpoint.

Not so much. Set the z-axis (mechanism to move the whole frame up and down) to zero and then use regular delta calibration on the short delta tower (the frame section) to calibrate. You simply have to program the delta kinematics to only move the nozzle at the z-zero height for the delta section and the z-level kinematics go straight to the special z-axis. It would be pretty much as "simple" as it is now, but the hard part is to remove all flexibility from the frame and z-axis sections so when you raise the delta portion of the printer it moves the whole thing the same amount without a lot of flex.