TH Morgan is now out and working. What to do…
Thomas needs a wife… Lilian Vaughan Morgan was the real life spouse of TH Morgan, and as it turns out, was a geneticist in her own right.
What would you like in Lilian? I have my own ideas… like to hear yours!
Lilian needs to be an ever cleaner, simpler version of Morgan – with more than one print head. Real life Lilian was a geneticist as well as a mother, and managed her famous husband’s affairs so that he could focus only on his work. Our Lilian is a real multitasker!
I really liked the worm screw drive that Ryan used on his Morgan. That has some potential for using completely printed drive parts, even the drive shaft itself.
There would have to be some other weight at the bottom to help with vibration, though.
I think so,lol.
BUT there is one thing I have to point out that it have to use some grease or something like that,to make the worm gears(screws)move(rotate),without greasing, the worm gear can’t move(at least this is my experience)
Anyway, a printable way is a really good idea.
-I like the thread-less lead screw idea discussed a while back.
-A larger printing bed. Maybe make the print bed a half circle to make full use of the range of movement of the SCARA arms for maxumum available print area
I’m a fan of the box frame prusa: http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3#Box_Style_Frame
One of the things I like about the Morgan is the use of wood for a lot of the structure. Plywood is also a common material which is DIY friendly.
While I love the idea of worm gears or regular involute gears driving the “axis” I reckon it could introduce some problems with backlash and concentricity. Filament would probably be the best substitute for belts.
Why did you have to start this when I’m not even done with my big Morgan Q… Must keep focus…
Why do the geese fly south and back north again…
Don’t worry – At my current tempo I will probably be done with the first draft of Lilan by Feb next year. In the mean time I am building some more TH Morgans for my botfarm. They just work…
I would like to see the ability to lengthen the Z axis and also some way to move the X/Y drive wheels up to the upper platform where the Z axis motor sits.
Like all spouses, she should empower her partner and grant it new capabilities. Morgan operates using a parallelogram on one side of the axis to define the polar ray’s length. If this were converted to be symmetrical on the other side of the axis, a slight modification of the control electronics could drive multiple hot ends/extruders to allow the simultaneous creation of two (if symmetrical across a single plane) or four (if mirrored across both X and Y axis) of the same object simultaneously. Using a 2-axis mirror, switches could provide power to the additional set (hot end, extruder motor, and build plate), allowing the user to build 1, 2, 3 or 4 copies in a single print cycle. Very useful in 3D printer farms used for mass RepRap production, etc.
A bilaterally-symetrical version of Lilan should work using the basic Morgan design by extending the segments near the axis the other way (towards the “back” of the current design)and putting a second build plate on that side as well. The framework and extruder motors would need to be moved out to the sides to allow the same Z-axis control to move both build plates at one time using the same motor. The X- and Y-axis movements would be controlled by the same motors already in place with no changes needed more than perhaps more powerful motors/power controllers.
A quadralateral system would require a different bracing to retain the axis pipe path, a four-point suspended framework around it, and linkages that would extend the current system along two paths instead of one. That would be more complex to allow the same minimum ray length without the quad axis extensions interacting as they are drawn inwards together.
A few general concepts:
1) Rather than toothed belts, I would consider using Spectra braided fishing line like the Tantillus, Kossell and 3DR 3D printers. This would reduce your parts cost slightly and also reduce the mass being moved on each step’s increment.
2) Have you considered gearing the steps of the Z-axis along a vertical path like a single element of the Rostock? The growing object’s mass might be too great for this, causing the Z-axis to slip without gearing down the ratio to get more torque for each step.
3) If you moved one of the two X/Y-axis rotors to the top of the device, you might be able to reduce the parts count and assembly steps for the concentric axis assembly.
LOVE the MORGAN, looking forward to the LILAN!
Because they can!
Lots of ideas so far! Some mutually exclusive, and some that I considered myself…
Great stuff. Will go through it tonight.
I like all of the above ideas! Have you looked at the wally? Maybe a hybrid…
Nicholas and I are pooling resources in order to design the ACL machine to challenge all that went before it… That is one of the aspects of Open Hardware that I adore!
Lillian will definitely draw some elements from Wally.
Now it is just a matter of ordering all the ideas into an efficient, but good looking and reliable machine.