PawPrint Delta 3D printer

thingiverse

INTRODUCTION:First, if you came here thinking you could build your own 3D printer cheaper than you could buy one, you need to wake yourself from that delusion. Decent 3D printers can be obtained pretty inexpensively these days and the bill of materials to build your own can be prohibitively expensive.For this reason, building your own 3D printer is kind of a lost art. For the most part it just doesn't make sense unless you really enjoy the challenge (like I do) and happen to have a bunch of the parts you need laying around unused in boxes (like I did). So if you're here to save a buck, go spend your money on one of the many excellent budget printers out there like the FLSun QQ-S, which I used to print many of the parts for this printer. But if you look at the bill of materials below and HAVE most of the stuff on the list, by all means, consider this a good project to pursue. Seriously, I HAD most of the parts I needed, but if I had to buy them, I could have bought 2 of those FLsuns with the money instead.SPECIFICATIONS:The PawPrint is a delta style 3D printer with a print area around 170mm in diameter to about 300mm tall. This is on the smaller side for Delta printers but is large enough for most things. Like most FDM 3D printers these days it uses 1.75mm diameter filament and, if you build it with a budget E3D V6 hot end like I did, should be good for PLA and maybe occasional PETG or other hotter filaments, but I'd not use those hotter ones a lot.I'm running Marlin on this printer and have included the configuration.h and configuration_adv.h files I used. They'll likely only provide a starting point for you, but hopefully they save you a bit of works. I probably went through 20 iterations to get to the final files.The "Logo.bmp" file is if you plan to use the TFT35-E3 display and want the printer logo to appear rather than the "BigtreeTech" logo. Just swap it out with the same named file in the theme you plan to use. You'll have to look up how to set up this display if you're not familiar.CREDITS:At it's core, the PawPrint is based on 3DPrintingTips Sculptr printer (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1444028). I built a Sculptr many years ago and enjoyed the process, but found that printer had many short comings. I've designed as many of those out of my printer as I could. Very little of the Sculptr remains in my design. Only the G2_Belt_Carriage part escaped unscathed. There's a little bit of the lower corners left in my design and the upper corners share some dimensions with the Sculptrs. But on the whole, I went back to the drawing board for most of this and relied on 3DPrintingTips design only as a source of inspiration.The Effector is straight from bobblejot's Rockstock Pro E3D and BLTouch Effector (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2498362) though I narrowed the overall width a bit because this is a smaller form factor printer. I also wanted the fan shroud to be a little shorter. And I added a "paw" to the front of the effector to stick with my theme. Bobblejot designed a good effector, however, and as I wanted to use arms from SeeMeCNC on this printer and bobblejot's design was made for those arms, it was a good fit.The aforementioned cat paw comes from Cntly's "Cat Paw" design (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3587878). Resized and reshaped as needed. Thanks, Cntly, you saved me some work there.Originally I designed this printer to use the Reprap Discount Full Graphic Smart Display and made a displaymount and modified the back piece from RC-CnC's display case here (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3032064). If you are making this and wish to use this type of display, you'll need additional case parts from RC-CnC's design as I do not include them here.Ultimately I went with a BigTreeTech TFT35-E3 display because I wanted touch screen capabilities. I designed my own angled displaymount piece, but used Thorinair's case (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4338722) to mount the display itself. Once again, if you use this display you'll have to go to Thorinair's page for the parts as I do not include them here.BILL OF MATERIALS Printed:At a minimum, expect to use two full 1kg rolls of filament for this. I used PETg but PLA should work for most of it. Probably not around the hot end, though.Print one of everything in this design with the following exceptions:Print 3 Carriage piecesPrint EITHER the DisplayMountReprap or DisplayMountTFT35 depending on your display choice.Print the DisplayBackReprap ONLY if you're going with the RepRap Full Graphic Smart Display Print 3 G2_Belt_Carriage piecesPrint EITHER the (PS_Base AND PS_Feet) pieces OR the (PS_Base_Corner AND PS_BaseSwitchWithFeet) pieces. Frankly, that latter combination will be easier to print with no supports.Print 2 Roof_XY piecesPrint 3 Top_3X pieces.BILL OF MATERIAL Non-Printed:Ok, here's where it can get really expensive. I HAD most of this laying around so I saved a lot there, but this is what I used and what you will need to have or buy:6 8mm x 500mm hardened steel rods. These are what the carriages will ride on. I think mine weren't quite that long, they may have been 450mm ones.3 2020 extrusions, 500mm long. If you use 450mm rods you'll end up cutting this extrusion down to length. The one used for the Z axis should be 40mm longer than the other two axis because it sticks out the top and forms the base of the filament mount.6 good LM8UU bearings. There are two ways to get good bearings. First you can buy six expensive bearings at around $8 each. Or you could buy a crap ton of cheap bearings at under a buck a piece, test them and only use the good ones. I ended up using a extra long and a regular one on each carriage. I had a ton of these bearings and found about 1 good one in every four when testing them.4 Nema 17 stepper motors. One for each axis and one for the extruder.A 30x10 regular fan for the filament cooling and 2 30x10 blower fans for part cooling.A 40x10 fan for case cooling (Optional)An extruder. I used an anycubit all metal one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0196B285I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) because I had one laying around. But use what you like.A circular heated bed about 170mm in diameter. I had one of these: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832697236455.html?src=google&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&albagn=888888&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&albcp=19623912707&albag=&trgt=&crea=en2251832697236455&netw=x&device=c&albpg=&albpd=en2251832697236455&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtOmsBhCnARIsAGPa5yZEYHjR5UbdN9JdNOP74a6URmNWjCb6Vw6URVDPouoUcmN8nB3o6mkaAsvxEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&aff_fcid=ac9b19a226f649009d88a93f962ec10f-1704644773914-06195-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=ac9b19a226f649009d88a93f962ec10f-1704644773914-06195-UneMJZVf&terminal_id=f3bbce56c109457cb132d657e42b20d6&afSmartRedirect=y&gatewayAdapt=glo2usaI have a 3mm thick by 180mm diameter borosilicate glass plate on top of my hot plate. Aliexpress sells these. I got mine off Amazon but they're no longer available there.An E3D V6 style hot end (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBXDJY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)A 32bit control board. This is where my attempt to build this dirt cheap failed. I HAD TWO 32 bit control boards laying around. Both were bad. I didn't discover this until I'd printed and assembled the printer, however, so I had to buy one. I chose the BTT SKR V3 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVTXT46?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) Both other 32 bit boards should work.4 Stepper drivers that work with your board. I went with EZ2209s, but you do you.A BL Touch probe. You'll have to extend the wires for this, so be prepared. The wires that come with it are a foot or two too short.Thermistors if your heated bed and hot end don't come with them.A 12v power supply. I used the one linked here, and the PS parts are sized for this: https://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Switching-Universal-Regulated-Transformer/dp/B01LATMSGS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9AHCZGQIVU7G&keywords=LH-360W&qid=1704645343&s=industrial&sprefix=lh-360w%2Cindustrial%2C95&sr=1-13 momentary end stop switches. The top corners have a "pocket" for these so maybe check the dimensions of that pocket before ordering these.3 Gt2 geared pulleys for the steppers. I used 16tooth ones, but 20s would work. Just be sure you set the Marlin code accordingly.GT2 bearings for the top (belt return) portion. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/3Dman-Toothless-Aluminum-Timing-Printer/dp/B07RV2T54M/ref=sr_1_4?crid=13F2TAX7G9RHI&keywords=GT2%2Bpulley&qid=1707020243&sprefix=gt2%2Bpulley%2Caps%2C109&sr=8-4&th=1SeeMeCnc's 178mm ball arm set: https://www.seemecnc.com/products/178mm-ball-cup-arm-set-of-6pcs?_pos=1&_sid=74ae10fa7&_ss=rBuy a mixed set of M3 nuts and screws. That's what I used to hold it together. I honestly didn't keep track of all the sizes I used but a good variety pack should cover you. Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Metric-Screws-Suitable-Printer-Assortment/dp/B0B51BFSWZ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=WWGTIKX97TJ6&keywords=m3%2Bscrew%2Bassortment&qid=1707020396&sprefix=M3%2BScrew%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1A RepRapFullGraphicDiscountSmartController OR a BTT TFT35-E3 display. Or use whatever display you want, just figure out how to mount it yourself.FINAL THOUGHTS:Should you decide to make this, please post a make. I like to see my designs come to life and frankly, with all the work you will have put in, you should show it off, even if only to me.If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm usually pretty good at getting back with answers to questions posted.