CARP Box 3D Printer

thingiverse

Human: (C)ompact (A)nd (R)eliable (P)rinter Is the full name of this 3D printer. For a better overview see the video: https://youtu.be/BRPLkTFa2w4 Compact, because it is only few centimeters taller than Prusa Mendel and has the same footprint, while it is capable to utilize 200x200x200mm print volume with dual head extrusion, carrying electronics, power supply and filament with it. Reliable as it is full metal design, free from cracking and melting plastic parts (although there may be some nonstructural printable parts in the future). It was designed with stress on lengthy prints of ABS and simplicity of usage. Basic description: I got idea of frames from Prusa i3 and its clones. Y axis base frame construction is similar to Printrbot, and I recently find out that same concept of Y axis base frame was already used in Wolfy printer one year ago. Similarly to first version of Wolfy, Z Axis frame is the case of whole printer. X axis has a separate frame installed vertically. Under the Y axis frame, there's hidden power supply (12V 240W for LED lights) and Arduino Mega 2560 with RAMPS electronics. Heatbed MK2b is used. Above the print area is placed spool holder. Carriage is compatible with one of Prusa Mendel, so most of the extruders will work in this printer too. Printer also has its own dual head, short distance, worm gear extruder, compatible with J-Head and E3D that's currently in stage of testing. Movement in X and Y axis is secured by GT2 or T2.5 timing belts; Z axis is done by two M5 threaded rods. Whole printer uses 8mm smooth rods, LM8UU bearings and Nema 17 stepper motors to ensure good accessibility of all required parts and high precision of prints. Endstops are mechanical for now. Optical endstops in X and Y axis will be tested as soon I get my hands on them. Same with proximity sensor in Z axes. Warning: All documentation is released as is. I'm not responsible for any damages or losses resulting from attempt to build or use this printer. Before building CARP Box, consider that construction of this printer requires a lot of hand work and approximately 3 days to complete the construction. ToDo: Detailed construction walkthrough will be finished soon. Current BoQ is made for prototype; final version needs revision that will be released with manual later. There's still no clear position for display with keyboard and SD card too. Laser cut parts: All the parts should be laser cut from 3mm and 4mm thick sheet aluminum. I don't recommend steel plates, as it will become very heavy. Dimensions in the blueprint are in milimeters; number of pieces is per description in the blueprint. Some holes need to be threaded or countersunk for screws. Choose if you'd like to use GT2 or T2.5 timing belt and cut only the right parts.