Pocket Printer Upgrade - hybrid roller slides

thingiverse

Introducing a printer that's portable yet not pocket-sized, the designer focused on two main constraints for its creation. Firstly, the high mass motors and extruder are stationary, allowing smooth, high-speed printing while only the print bed moves, keeping forces on slides low. This also enables dual extruders on a lightweight printer. Secondly, all integrated slides use PLA bearing surfaces running on extrusions for self-containment and ease of assembly. Key features include power supply onboard, robustness, and top-quality prints. The printer's dimensions are 120mm W x 100mm D x 65mm H (expandable with longer extrusions), and a video demonstration is available at http://youtu.be/lAwCmbKS-yQ. The designer has experimented with vertical printing, showcasing its versatility. The printer's controller features an SD card reader and click encoder for added convenience. It can be used with a coil of filament anywhere with the printer, making it highly portable. Printed in PLA, this lightweight design requires careful drilling and tapping of small parts, preferably using a drill press. The sliding surfaces need to fit well without excessive friction, and a light film of silicone lube is recommended for smooth operation. Updated versions of the slides have been introduced with a hybrid roller system that's easy to print and assemble while maintaining low friction and high precision. The designer has provided an exploded view drawing and bill of materials (BOM) for ease of assembly, along with zipped folders containing STL files and the entire Inventor project. However, limit switch and power supply mounts are not included in the package. To ensure smooth operation, a lightweight stepper motor has been added for the x-axis, and Misumi belts and pulleys have been upgraded for enhanced performance. The designer continuously updates the design for improvements, with recent changes including a hybrid roller slide system, addition of a lightweight stepper motor for the x-axis, and upgrading to Misumi belts and pulleys. An exploded view drawing of the hybrid roller slide is available on the website, along with a BOM on the exploded view drawing.