my thoughts trash can
It is now since several weeks that my Firepick has already started working as a 3D printer.
There are some (expected) issues with calibration that i had not yet time to solve, this make a bit difficult to print large objects as the head does not move on a perfect flat plane but goes down when moving away from bed center point.
Right now it is working with an Arduino mega/ramp and the modified Marlin firmware from https://github.com/firepick-delta/Marlin
(thanks to Juha, from the FirePick Google group ) I got the printed plastic parts.
after a minor cleanup of the captitive nuts seats. here is part of the delta mechanism assembled:
Then it is the turn of the three arms secured to the bearing using nuts and washers. I used nilock nuts to prevent them from untightening
A simple solution for feets: they are 19mm round soft plastic feets, sold in group of 8 for around 2€, and are used to be fitted in chair legs to dampen noise caused by moving them. With a bit of work an M5 bolt does fit nicely. I added a large washer to spread the weight evenly on the feet and prevent it to be ruined by the alu profile’s sharp edges.
Now it is time to wait for some other pieces to arrive, the most important being steppers and angle brackets.
And here we are 🙂
let’s start building my FPD-032 beginning with Plates: bottom, Delta Motor and Top plates.
They are milled from 5mm Polycarbonate (lexan) sheet.
I’m working toward having it working as 3D printer as soon as possible so that i can start to develop the rest of functionalities.
I’m going to use RC ball joints and 5mm carbon fiber tubes with a m3 threaded rod epoxy’ed inside.
Having the need to build both a pick&place and a 3D printer I stumbled upon http://firepick1.github.io/
Right now i’m in the planning purchasing phase.
More details as soon as i start with the building phase.