Hypercube 300 - Core XY 3D printer scratch build

Logan321

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 9, 2003
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I've owned my Flsun Prusa i3 clone for a few months now, and know enough about 3d printing to start a scratch build. I've seen quite a few different designs out there but the corexy design seems like a solid system.

I've ordered a bunch of parts from China and will eventually salvage the controller, motors and some 2020 extrusion from the flsun to complete the HC300.

There's about 40 pieces to print as well so while I'm getting those finished I should start seeing some of the orders come in.


Here's the design of the specific printer I'm making.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2517628
 
20180707_153342.jpg I brought home some prebent aluminum from work and will be using it to make a box to house the electronics, wiring and power supply. The extra piece across the front is to create the clearance for a LCD display, power and lighting rocker switches, and two 80mm fans.

Today I cut, drilled and attached the aluminum plate to the extrusions, and started printing parts for the eventual assembly.
 
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Looking good man! Keep us posted.
Will do. Lots of waiting for parts, is where I'm at now. I'm designing a 2:1 reduction, dual belt, single motor z axis system at the moment. I'll post more when I've got something to show for it. ;) I might try to adapt a magnetic dual parking extruder carrier system for it as well.
 
Screws, hammer nuts, y axis 8mm ss rods, x axis carbon fiber rods and assisted other parts arrived this week. I've got the frame partially assembled. I'll have some pics tonight.
 
20180712_182707.jpg Built the frame, installed the X/Y axis rods and motor mounts. I'm still waiting on a 128x64 LCD screen before I design and print the front plate. It'll have 2x 80mm fans, screen, and switches for power and lighting.
 
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I redesigned the electrical box today using a piece of aluminum I bent to almost 45 degrees using a jury rigged brake and then beating it with a hammer. Then I gave them a etching primer coat.

I created some prototype face plates for the display and two 80mm fans. I'm still considering options for mounting. They may attach directly to the 2020 extrusion with a printed clip. I have to either move or source different switches though, they're too deep to fit between the extrusion and the face plate.
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I think I can use the existing switches, they'll just have to be adjusted to avoid the 2020 horizontal bar. I've got a clip designed for the front panel but it's a bit overkill. I'll probably remove most of the bulk and it should still be solid enough.
 
I thought a long time about doing a hypercube evo, but ended up getting a Tevo Little Monster instead as I wanted a delta for a change of pace. Nice looking build, and you're definitely making it your own.
 
Parts are still trickling in. Unfortunately many of the linchpin pieces seem to be delayed, like the bed extrusions and the idler bearings. Once those arrive I can assemble the xy system and the z platform and heatbed.
 
Designed the brackets to support the front panel, finished tweaking a few things and printed the first one to test the fit. Seems like it'll work. Printing the other 3 now.
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New faceplate with switches moved to the right side so they don't block the SD card slot, and moved apart to clear the extrusion. I need to reprint the fan grills as the size isn't quite right, but it's closer.
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I found a mounting plate I liked for the MKS Rev L 1.0 I'll be using for the main controller, so I made a matching set for the dual mosfets for the future dual hotend (maybe) and for the larger mosfet for the heated bed. The MKS plate is printing now, I'll have to print the other two tomorrow.
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I decided to just buy new stepper motors instead of salvaging the ones from my other printer. I might turn the old one into a mini size one instead, or a laser engraver or something else. Either way I'll need the motors.

I got sleeved motor cables and started the cable hiding process.
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Ultibots has inexpensive .9 degree steppers in their web store if you don't want to wait on AliExpress shipping. Got mine in three days.
 
Ultibots has inexpensive .9 degree steppers in their web store if you don't want to wait on AliExpress shipping. Got mine in three days.

I just got a set of 3 from amazon. 17HS4401. 1.8 degree is fine. I'm not building anything that needs the additional accuracy.
 
Since I'm still waiting for parts, I figured I'd work on the lighting. I had some 24V led strip left over from work, so I got some 90 degree mounting strips, modeled and printed some brackets, ran a wire down the frame and plugged it in to test. Works well, I think. :)
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A little more progress today. Printed a frame for my 12/5V transformer and fan breakout board, laid out the component locations in the bottom plate, drilled in the power cord socket, cut and drilled the side plates that support the top. A few more holes and I'm ready to paint.

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Finally got the extrusion pieces I ordered a month ago, cut to length, and assembled the hotbed frame and adjusted the z rods for smooth sliding up and down. Waiting on bearings, belts, and the control board, then I can start testing.
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I got notice I'm getting the controller board today! At least I can get the firmware prepared and test the steppers and heated bed this weekend. Still waiting on bearings before I can install the belts though.
 
Mounted the controller to the riser bracket, installed the X and Y tmc2130 stepper drivers (after soldering on a single pin for the end stop detection), installed the Z and Extruder A4988 stepper drivers, and built a wiring harness to connect to the Aux3 header. Tomorrow I'll start looking at firmware. Fun times.
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I've made some progress, got the firmware installed, the motors tested, worked out a few kinks so far. Also colour coded the motor cables with shrink wrap. To do: mount the heated bed to the z frame, mount the extruder, run the wiring neatly and finish the cover for the electronics section. Some final tweaking and it should be operational.

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Finally have everything together enough to to some basic tests. Bed heats to 75C in about 3 minutes, to 110C in about 8. Hot end heats to 240C in about a minute. Current print area is 200x300x250mm. I've got a 300mm x 300mm bed ordered, with cork and pei. Couple minor snags, the z sensor I'm using detects only 2mm above aluminum, so with the pei sheet on the current heated bed it's really close to the print. I've ordered a Precision Piezo sensor and controller, and I'll replace the z sensor in a few weeks when it arrives. I still have to finish the plate that covers the top of the printer electrical enclosure, should be able to get that cut, painted and installed today.
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I read the TMC stepper drivers have an issue that they can self destruct when usb power is applied to the board, but no main power. Since I leave my current 3D printer usb plugged into my server, that wasn't going to work for me. So I installed schotsky diodes between VIO and VM. The red is a bit of stripped wire jacket to protect against shorts. The two on the left are TMC 2208s, they'll go in my other printer eventually. I want to make sure this one is running before I mess with it. The two on the right are TMC 2130s, they're controlling the x/y motors.
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To simplify the elecrical wiring to the printer head, I created a prototype breakout board and used cat6 24ga stranded cable for the wiring. It carries the heater block, thermistor, heatsink fan, parts cooling fan, and z endstop inductive sensor wiring.
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It works, but I'm not super happy with it, so I've ordered some USB 3.1 breakout boards (one male, one female) and a 6ft usb3.0 extension cable with 22ga wire. I'll need an extra wire for the 5V going to the piezo sensor anyway.
 
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Great work, I love that you're making parts in another printer.
 
Great work, I love that you're making parts in another printer.
It would add a lot of expense to get all the parts printed through a service. There's places that sell printed part kits for building certain types, but it takes some of the fun out of a scratch build. I think even a 100mm cube printer could make everything for this one except the LCD cover, but it would take longer.

An update: I finished cutting, sanding, priming and painting the two cover panels for the electrical section. I still need to drill and tap, and install thumb screws for the center section. The front and back pieces will be more permanently attached (covers the AC voltage connection at the back)

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