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3D Printing News Briefs, April 23, 2022: Business, Bioprinting, & More
World’s Largest Concrete 3D Printing Facility Opened by GE Renewable Energy
7 3D Printed Veggie Meats Rebuilding the Meat Industry
3D Printing News Briefs, April 23, 2022: Business, Bioprinting, & More
World’s Largest Concrete 3D Printing Facility Opened by GE Renewable Energy
7 3D Printed Veggie Meats Rebuilding the Meat Industry
3D printing and toys often immediately brings to mind the quintessential plastic product often replicated, and often enjoyed by children all over the world on a daily basis: the Lego. Not just for kids, you may be well aware that the uses for these colorful blocks extends far beyond child’s play.
And while there has been a number of other Lego 3D printers on the market, from the build-your-own arena where one 3D printer we reported on previously is actually made from Legos specifically for, of course, the noble task of only printing Legos, to the more homespun DIY 3D printer experiments that are fairly easy to assemble, there’s certainly room on the block for a new design.
Definitely not a toy itself, the LEGO 3d printer can actually pump out some credible 3D models for you. Built on the premise of a Prusa i3 rework printer, this machine is paired with Nema 17 stepper motors. It’s built with the ubiquitous plastic squares that leave children delighted–and parents in pain, infamously shouting expletives as they step on them in the dark of night. While most Lego printers employ servos, this build design worked very well with stepper motors.
From Instructables member, Gosse Adema, we’re able to follow assembly of this X, Y and Z axis machine featuring a default Lego brick of 4 by 2 studs at 32 x 16 x 9.6 mm for a solid base. Pointing out that he does not use any Mindstorms products from LEGO, and employs the stepper motors rather than servos, Gosse Adema says this is not a 100 percent Lego machine.
For software, he enjoyed using Marlin for the Atmega 2560 and Pronterface on a laptop to control the machine. It features a heated print bed that reaches temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius.
As for materials, here is a basic list of what you are looking at. (Adema also recommends using m3 x 15 bolts for connecting the steppers to the LEGO.)
Once you’ve built the base, you will want to:
For the electronics, see step 7 where Adema refers you to several different resources like RepRap www.reprap.org for assembly. Once electronics are ready, it’s time for testing of:
Adema notes that you’ll also want to make a note of the fact that before installing the Marlin software to the printer, you will need to make changes to the printer and the configuration which should then allow you to proceed.
“My first print had some problems with the amount of filament but everything worked,” stated Adema. “The main problem was the difference in filament settings and extruder nozzle. This was caused by the Pronterface settings.”
He did have to adjust settings due to the filament and nozzle size. For calibration, Adema once again sends you to RepRap, but as an addendum gives you special instructions on PID-tuning. See here for the special commands required.
“Although the printer needs to be further calibrated everything is working properly,” said Adema. “I probably need to alter the filament settings.”
“By ensuring that all axes move smoothly, no steps are skipped by the stepper motors. This was one of the problems during the first print,” says Adema, stating that he plans to keep working on his 3D printing skills, as well as updating his Instructable for the LEGO 3d printer.
Is this a 3D printer you are interested in building? Have you incorporated Legos into any of your 3D printing activities or builds? Discuss in the Lego 3D Printer forum over at 3DPB.com.
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3D Printing News Briefs, April 23, 2022: Business, Bioprinting, & More
World’s Largest Concrete 3D Printing Facility Opened by GE Renewable Energy
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