Build A Laser 3D Printer Stereo Lithography at Ho

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Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home

by RobHopeless on November 8, 2011 Table of Contents Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Materials, Tools and Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Y Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: X Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Assemble X and Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4 5 7 8 9
Step 5: Z Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Step 6: Finish the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Step 7: Stepper Driver Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Step 8: Laser Driver Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Step 9: Limit Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Step 10: Wire it all up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Step 11: Software Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Step 12: Laser and Iris Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Step 13: Print Something! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Step 14: Wrap up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Laser-3D-Printer-Stereolithography-at-Ho/
Author:RobHopeless
RobHopeless.com Check out my other projects at http://www.robhopeless.com/
Intro: Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home

Here is how to make a Stereolithography 3D Printer. It is still a bit of a work in progress but so far it is working pretty well. This is mainly an experiment which started as a Delta Robot Stereolithography Printer but ended as a more traditional Cartesian Stereolithography Printer. "I'll be honest, we're throwing science at the walls here to see what sticks. No idea what it'll do." - Cave Johnson
Stereolithography (SL or SLA from Stereolithography Apparatus) is an additive manufacturing process using a vat of liquid UV-curable photopolymer "resin" and a UV laser to build parts one layer at a time. On each layer, the laser beam traces a cross-section pattern of the part onto the surface of the liquid resin. Exposure to the UV laser light cures, solidifies the pattern traced on the resin and adheres it to the layer below. I have wanted a 3D Printer for a while now and there are some very reasonably priced kits available like the Makerbot , Ultimaker and the RepRap project. I could have just bought a kit and started printing things but at the time I had not seen great resolution or print quality from those. I started looking around at the other 3D printing technologies and found SLA made some amazing quality prints, so I decided to try making my own. Since I started this a while back those projects have come a long way and they can make some beautiful prints now. There are also people working on a UV resin and DLP projector 3D printer which is showing promise. I decided to enter this in the Epilog Challenge Contest because I could really use a laser cutter :-) I also have some ideas how to redesign this project, for creation on a laser cutter. I wouldn't mind making kits for people if I had one. Something to keep in mind is the current cost of commercially available UV/Visible resins. 1 Liter is about $200 - $250 so compared to ABS or PLA for the plastic extrusion printers it is about 4 - 5 times more as far as I can tell. There are other types of resin that are cheaper but I do not know how well they will work. Since I wasn't really sure if this was going to be a viable method of creating 3D objects, this was a fairly cheap and quickly designed project. I have a small Taig CNC Mill for cutting metal so the custom parts are made of scrap aluminum I had laying around. You can probably use wood and maybe even hand cut the parts if you are careful. This project is Open Source Hardware .
Image Notes 1. It just crawled out of the resin vat.
Step 1: Materials, Tools and Safety

This is a list of the parts I used. General Parts 3 - 16" x 171/2" x 3/4" Plywood for the back and sides of the case 2 - 16" x 16" x 3/4" Plywood for the top and bottom of the case 24 - #6 x 3" wood screws and washers 4 - Rubber Stoppers 1 7/8" x 1 3/4" 4 - 1/4-20 x 2 1/2" Bolts 8 - 1/4-20 Nuts and washers 1 - 4" x 4" x 1/4" Black Acetal sheet (Delrin) 1 - 1 Liter Beaker Linear Rail and Blocks from Automation Overstock 4 - AG Linear Rail 15mm x 200mm 2 - 15mm Bearing Block, 2 Bolt Flange 2 - 15mm Bearing Block, 4 Bolt Flange Electronics Parts from Sparkfun and others 6 - microswitches with roller 3 - ROB-09238 Stepper Motors 3 - EasyDriver Stepper Drivers (Pololu drivers should work too) 3 - Polarized Connectors 4-Pin housing 3 - Polarized Connectors 4-Pin Header 2 - 6 pin female headers 2 - DC Barrel Jack Adapters - Female 1 - Sanguino (Arduino Mega would work too with code modifications) 1 - 5V FTDI USB Cable 1 - Omron G5V-1 Relay 1 - LD33V 3.3V Voltage Regulator 2 - 9V 500ma or higher Power Supplies (could use one but they are cheap) 1 - 12V - 24V 2000ma or higher Power Supply (for Stepper Motors) 1 - TIP120 Transistor 1 - 1K Resistor 1 - Protection Diode such as 1N4148 2 - 2 pin screw terminals Various Male and female .1" headers, wire and protoboard big enough to fit everything Leadscrew from McMaster-Carr 1 - 1018 Carbon Steel Precision Acme Threaded Rod, 1/4"-16 Size, 3' Length Leadnuts from DumpsterCNC
3 - Acme 1/4"-16 (1 Start) Leadnuts Square flange 4 hole 3 - Acme 1/4"-16 (1 Start) Couplers 5mm Bore Laser parts from Aixiz 1 - Aixiz blue laser glass lens 1 - Aixiz 405nm violet laser 20mW 1 - Iris Diaphragm, Zero Aperture, 21mm Outer Diameter from Edmund Optics The UV/Visible light cure resin from Ellsworth Adhesives 1 - liter Dymax 3099 Ultra Light-Weld Adhesive or 1 - liter Loctite 3105 Light Cure Adhesive Tools Needed Drill and various bits Drill Press JigSaw 4-40 tap Access to a CNC Mill Gorilla glue or similar Long clamps Hacksaw Files Safety Laser Safety Goggles such as these . They must protect against 405nm light to be effective. Well ventilated area, don't inhale the vapors from the resin or those produced when curing.
Step 2: Y Axis
A couple of notes before you begin. The bearing blocks come with a piece of plastic where the rail goes, this holds the bearings in place. Do not take it out. When putting the bearing block on the rail just push the plastic piece out with the rail. If you have to take the block off the rail push the rail out with the piece of plastic lining it up the way it came. Some of the pictures have bearings for support on the end of the Acme rods, I found that they were not needed due to the short length of the rod. If the assembly order doesn't work right or you have questions about anything let me know and I will modify the instructable to include the changes. Please use laser safety goggles for 405nm lasers. This laser is strong enough to cause permanent eye damage. Cut all the parts on the mill. The part drawings are attached as dxf files and the sketchup file is there also. Drill holes in the stepper mount flanges and the edge of the Acme nut block. See image notes above. Insert the Acme nut into the mounting block and mark the holes. Drill them out and tap them with a 4-40 tap or drill them larger and use machine screws long enough to go through and a nut to hold them. See the drawing above for how to cut out the top part of the case.
Image Notes 1. Stepper mount flange. Drill holes that fit the screws you use to mount to the top board. I used #6 machine screws. 2. Drill and tap with 4-40, or similar size tap.
Image Notes 1. Not really needed. 2. Not really needed. 3. Drill holes here.
Image Notes 1. You can cut two of the mounts for the stepper or just use a piece of angle aluminum for the back support.
Image Notes 1. Click on the i in this corner to see the full size version. Image Notes 1. Mark, drill and tap with 4-40 or use longer screws and nuts to attach.
File Downloads
UVLPrinter.skp (1 MB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'UVLPrinter.skp']
XY - Laser Mount 12.7mm.dxf (181 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'XY - Laser Mount 12.7mm.dxf']
XY - Main Beam 9.8mm.dxf (151 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'XY - Main Beam 9.8mm.dxf']
XY - Stepper Mount One 12.7mm.dxf (154 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'XY - Stepper Mount One 12.7mm.dxf']
XY - Stepper Mount Two 12.7mm.dxf (154 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'XY - Stepper Mount Two 12.7mm.dxf']
Z - Arm 9.8mm.dxf (152 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Z - Arm 9.8mm.dxf']
Z - Bracket 12.7mm.dxf (154 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Z - Bracket 12.7mm.dxf']
Z - Plate 6.8mm Delrin.dxf (151 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Z - Plate 6.8mm Delrin.dxf']
3D Printer - Model.dxf (1 MB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to '3D Printer - Model.dxf']
XY - Main Beam Acme Rod Mount 12.7mm.dxf (149 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'XY - Main Beam Acme Rod Mount 12.7mm.dxf']
3D Laser Printer DXF files.zip (190 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to '3D Laser Printer DXF files.zip']
Step 3: X Axis
Mark, drill and tap with a 6-32 tap the bottom of the stepper mount. Attach the stepper mount to the bottom plate with 6-32 machine screws. Attach the stepper to the stepper mount. My stepper used M3 screws. Mount the linear rail to the bottom plate using 4-40 screws and nuts. Drill holes in the laser mount flanges and mount to a 2 hole bearing block. (I know it shows a 4 hole block in the pictures you should use a 2 hole block.)
Image Notes 1. Drill holes in the laser mount block flanges. Then mark, drill and tap the holes for the ACME nut. 2. Mark the holes in the bottom of the stepper mount then drill and tap with 6-32 tap.
Step 4: Assemble X and Y

First put the rails into the two bearing blocks making sure to push the plastic bearing retainer out with the rails. Then screw the plate to the two bearing blocks. Check to make sure the rails are parallel by measuring the distance apart at both ends of the rails. Then check that they are square to the plate. If they are not parallel then loosen the screws and adjust until they are and then tighten. Once the assembly is adjusted set it on the top piece of the case and then mount the stepper. Screw the Acme rod into the nut and the coupler then attach to the stepper. Once everything is lined up mark and drill the holes for the rails to attach to the top piece of the case. Attach with machine screws, nuts and washers on the outside of the board.
Image Notes 1. Mounting screws, washers and nuts for the rails. 2. Mounting screws, washers and nuts for the rails. 3. Mounting screws for the stepper. 4. Ignore these.
Step 5: Z Axis
Drill the flange holes in the Z arm mount. Drill and tap 4-40 holes in the end of the arm mount by the slot. See the picture below. The arm should fit into the slot and stick out a little past the end. Cut a short piece of 1/8" thick 2" x 1" aluminum and drill holes to match the ones in the end of the arm mount. Then place the arm into the slot and screw the aluminum on to clamp the arm in place. See the pictures above if you need clarification. In the bottom piece of the case use a jigsaw to cut out the hole for the Z axis stepper. To mount the stepper to the case bottom you can see the picture above but that was actually kind of hard to line up right. You could find a single piece of aluminum that is wide enough to cut a hole that matches the raised circle area on the stepper. Once it is cut you can mark and drill the holes for the stepper and then holes to mount to the case. To mount the circle platform onto the arm just drill and tap with 4-40 tap the bottom of the arm then drill a hole in the platform and mount with a screw.
Image Notes 1. Drill the flange holes.
Image Notes 1. The arm should stick out a little past the end of the arm mount so that the arm can be clamped in place where needed.
Image Notes 1. The arm should be a little deeper than the slot cut into the mount so drill and tap 2 holes in the mount and then just it just clamps into the slot.
Image Notes 1. Drill and tap the bottom of the arm then drill the platform and attach.
Step 6: Finish the Box

Clamp the box together as shown and make sure everything is as square as you can make it. Then drill holes following the pictures above and screw together with wood screws and washers. You can use store bought leveling feet or just make some with a stopper, bolt, 2 washers and 2 nuts. Follow the pictures above. Just drill into the stopper far enough to fit the head of the bolt then drill holes in the bottom of the case. Use a bullseye bubble level to level the case by placing it in the center of the bottom then turn the bottom nut on each foot to get the case level. Cut three 9" (about 228mm) lengths of ACME rod. File the ends so that the threads are formed well enough to thread into the ACME nuts. You may have to use a small triangle file to form the threads back to a usable shape. Once the case is assembled you can attach the Z axis linear rail to the back of the case. First assemble the whole Z Axis including the linear rail, the ACME rod and the ACME coupler. slide the coupler onto the stepper shaft. The rail should be flush with the back of the case, if not then you may need to adjust the position of the Z stepper. Position the rail about where it is in the pictures above and mark the 4 sides. Take the Z assembly back out. Measure the rail from the end to the center of the first hole then the space between the other holes and mark lines across the outline of the rail on the back of the case. Find the center of your marks on the back of the case and draw a line down. Where the lines cross drill holes to mount the Z axis rail and then mount it. Drill a hole in the top big enough for the 4 pin connectors on the steppers to go though.
Image Notes 1. Drill a hole in the top big enough for the 4 pin connectors on the steppers to go though.
Image Notes 1. Drill 3 holes a little smaller than your wood screws along each edge. 2. Drill 3 holes a little smaller than your wood screws along each edge.
Image Notes 1. Click on the i in this corner to see the full size version.
Step 7: Stepper Driver Board

I may design a proper circuit board for all this but since I was designing as I went this was the most flexible setup for me. Hopefully the drawings and pictures make sense, let me know if clarification is needed. This was my first use of Fritzing so it's not as pretty as I could probably make. The Fritzing file is attached below. Start by soldering the polarized 4 pin connectors into the Easydriver boards on top. Then solder the male header pins into the other holes on the Easydrivers on the bottom*. *One thing I should have done is put the header pins marked MS1 and MS2 on the top so it was easy to jumper them to ground or solder up some headers on the protoboard for jumpers. I ended up wanting to change the microstepping from the default of 8th step microstepping. I have added these jumpers to the drawings now. Once you have the male headers soldered, cut the female ones to match then put them on the male pins and place them in the protoboard spaced out with enough room to work. Solder the screw terminal to one end then wire up it up to each of the headers for the Pwr In on the Easydrivers. Mark + and - on the screw terminal. I used a 10 pin header and ribbon cable to pass the 6 step and direction pins and ground to the Sanguino. you could just put a regular header row to pass the signals straight to the Sanguino. Dont forget to connect the ground from the different boards together. The wire colors for the coil pairs in my steppers are yellow+blue and green+red. Verify your stepper coil pairs by following these instructions . Solder the female polarized headers to the stepper wires using the pairs you verified for your steppers. The drawings show headers for the microstepping selection. I am using half steps for the X and Y axis and it is working pretty well. To use half stepping put a jumper on the ms2 pin to ground.
Image Notes 1. I used a red marker to mark the layout for spacing.
Image Notes 1. Step and Direction pins. 2. Stepper power in.
Image Notes 1. Ground from 12V - 24V to drive the steppers. 2. 12V - 24V in to drive the steppers. 3. Make sure to connect the stepper power supply ground to the rest of the boards ground. 4. Step and Direction pins running to the next board.
File Downloads
UVLPrinter.fz (696 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'UVLPrinter.fz']
Step 8: Laser Driver Board

There is most likely a better way to do this but I am not an Electrical Engineer, the parts I used were on hand. This setup has worked fine for me for hours of printing so far. The drawings below are a little different than what I have wired but should work. You could also put this all on one board, this was the biggest board I had on hand. The Laser driver board takes 9V from a wall wart power supply to drive the relay and the LD33V 3.3V Voltage Regulator that powers the laser. The TIP120 transistor switches the relay which switches the ground of the laser to turn it on or off.
Image Notes 1. TIP120 or similar transistor 2. Omron G5V-1 9V Relay 3. LD33V 3.3V Voltage Regulator or similar 4. 9V Power supply 5. Ground pins for the limit switches. 6. Laser control pin and ground to Sanguino 7. 1N4148 Diode or similar 8. 3.3V output to laser.
Image Notes 1. Step and Direction pins from the stepper driver board. 2. Tip120 transistor 3. Ground for the limit switches 4. 3.3V voltage regulator 5. header for the laser 6. Protection diode 7. 1K resistor 8. relay 9. I'm using 9V in since the relay is rated for that.
Image Notes 1. Step and Direction pins 2. Ground 3. Ground for the limit switches 4. Ground 5. 9V 6. Step and Direction pins
Image Notes 1. Laser signal pin from the sanguino on the left and ground on the right. 2. ground wire from the stepper board 3. laser power 4. 3.3V from the voltage regulator 5. ground from the laser is switched by the relay 6. 9V in from the power supply to the 3.3V regulator 7. 9V to the relay 8. tip120 connects or disconnects the relay's ground depending on the singnal from the Sanguino
Image Notes 1. DO NOT connect or disconnect these with the power on or it will fry the Easydriver. 2. Laser 3. 9V Power Supply 4. 12V - 24V power supply 5. Step and Dir pins to the Sanguino 6. Laser pin and ground to the Sanguino 7. Ground for the limit switches 8. This cable just moves the Step and Dir pins to the other board.
Step 9: Limit Switches

The limit switches keep the controller from accidentally moving too far in one direction. They can also be used to home the machine and tell it where to start from. Solder wire to the NC and common pins on each switch. Put a little dab of gorilla glue on the switch then place it so the bearing block with hit the switch before going too far. A 1/2" in from the end of the rail is fine. Tape them in place, making sure they make good contact to the wood. The X axis ones were glued to the aluminum plate and it worked fine. If you have switches with holes for mounting you can drill and mount them that way. I couldn't find screws small enough for the mounting holes on the ones I had. Run the wires up and out the hole for wires in the top of the case. I tacked them in place with wire staples. Solder all of the common side switch wires into a 6 pin female header. Then solder the NC side wires to another 6 pin female header.
Image Notes 1. The X Axis switches will have to be in front of the mounting screws far enough for the leads to not touch.
Step 10: Wire it all up

Mount the boards to the top of the case with screws or nonconductive double sided foam tape. *Do not plug any power in before you connect the steppers. Connecting or disconnecting the steppers while power in on to the stepper drivers will fry the driver board. Connect the the steppers to the Easydrivers. Connect the laser to the 3.3V header for it on the laser board. Connect the ground for the limit switches and then the signal to digital pins on the Sanguino. I used 17-22. Connect the Step and Dir pins to the Sanguino. I used 2-7. Connect the laser pin to the Sanguino. I used pin 23. Make sure ground from the laser board and the stepper board are both connected to ground on the Sanguino. Connect all the power supplies. 9V for the laser board, 9V for the Sanguino and 12V - 24V for the Stepper board. I connect all of these to a power strip to control them all at once. You could wire a header on the laser board and then connect it to the Vin pin on the Sanguino to power it from there if you want. Connect the the 5V USB FTDI cable to the Sanguino. It is marked with the wire colors. If using an Arduino Mega just use a regular USB cable.
Image Notes 1. 9V power supply 2. 12V - 24V power supply 3. 7V-12V power supply. The Mega automatically detects external power, the Sanguino needs the ext jumper or switch set. 4. Limit switches 5. The laser. No, really it is a laser.
Image Notes 1. DO NOT connect or disconnect these with the power on or it will fry the Easydriver. 2. Laser 3. 9V Power Supply 4. 12V - 24V power supply 5. Step and Dir pins to the Sanguino 6. Laser pin and ground to the Sanguino 7. Ground for the limit switches 8. This cable just moves the Step and Dir pins to the other board.
Step 11: Software Setup

Download and install the Arduino IDE and install it. If using a Sanguino see this page for the rest of the setup. Download and install Replicatorg and install it. Download the file UVLPrinter.zip below and extract it to your Arduino Sketchbook folder or just open UVLPrinter.pde wherever you extract it from. It contains a modified version of the Sprinter firmware . Open the pins.h tab and change any pins that you may have connected differently than my setup. The step and dir pins should be easy to find, the MIN_PIN and MAX_PIN for each axis are the top and bottom limit switches. Anything with a -1 is not used. Everything else should be easy to figure out. #define X_STEP_PIN 6 #define X_DIR_PIN 7 #define X_MIN_PIN 19 #define X_MAX_PIN 20 If you are using anything other than half stepping you will need to go into the configuration.h tab and change the following line. float axis_steps_per_unit[] = {251.971678, 252.4475, 1007.87402,700}; //Half Step The information needed to figure this out is the 16 Turns per inch on the Acme rod, the 200 steps per turn of the stepper and the microstepping. If using 1/8th stepping then take the 200 steps of the stepper times 8 to get 1600 steps. The calculation for figuring out the steps per mm for 8th stepping is: 1 inch is 25.4mm so 25.4 / 16 TPI = 1.5875 mm per turn
1.5875 mm / 1600 steps = .0009921875 mm per step 1 mm / .0009921875 mm per step = 1007.87402 steps per mm So for 8th stepping you would put 1007.87402 for each axis like this: float axis_steps_per_unit[] = {1007.87402, 1007.87402, 1007.87402,700}; // 1/8th Step The following lines are for configuring the max speed the steppers will try to move at. I start to loose steps past 400 and the Z axis doesn't need to go faster than 200. Test out your setup and change if needed. float max_feedrate[] = {400, 400, 200, 500000}; float homing_feedrate[] = {400,400,200}; Once you have made any changes needed you can verify and upload the code to the Sanguino. To setup Replicatorg copy the file uvlprinter.xml into the machines folder in the replicatorg folder. Start Replicatorg and click on the Machine menu then Driver and choose UV Laser Printer. Set the serial port to the one you are using. On the GCode menu and Choose GCode Generator choose Skeinforge (40). Go to File then Examples and pick any of them. then press the Generate Gcode button. Press the duplicate button and Name it UV3D or whatever you want. Select that profile and click the Locate button. It will open a folder with the settings for this profile. Click cancel on the GCode Generator window. Copy everything from the UV3D .1mm.zip file into this folder replacing what is there. You should be configured with the basic settings for running the printer.
File Downloads
uvlprinter.xml (1 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'uvlprinter.xml']
end.gcode (166 bytes) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'end.gcode']
replace.csv (30 bytes) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'replace.csv']
start.gcode (243 bytes) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'start.gcode']
UV3D .1mm.zip (41 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'UV3D .1mm.zip']
UVLPrinter.zip (68 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'UVLPrinter.zip']
Step 12: Laser and Iris Mount

Place the laser in the slot for it and tack in place with dabs of hot glue on each side. Put on Laser Safety goggles now. To turn on and off the laser, open Replicatorg and connect to the printer. Click the control panel and then toggle the checkbox for Valve. Move the Z axis down to about the level where you will fill the beaker. I usually fill it to about 500ml unless I am printing something tall. Turn the lens in the laser until the dot is a small as it can go, there is a point where it will get small then big again, try to get it as small as possible. Slide the iris into the slot for it and line it up with the laser. Center the iris by turning the laser on and moving the iris around. Close the iris slowly and watch the dot get dimmer until it almost disappears then open it up just a little bit so the dot is small and not too bright. Once you have it lined up carefully tack it in place with hot glue. There is probably a better way to do this with set screws or something else but I haven't spent the time to redesign it yet. You will have to adjust the iris and laser focus if you change the build height. I have not come up with an easy calibration system yet. I will update this if I do. Right now I adjust the iris and print something and see how well the layer thickness and line width worked.
Image Notes 1. Laser goes here 2. Iris goes here.
Image Notes 1. Make sure the wire doesn't rub on anything. Tack it with hot glue or tape it to the mount as a stress relief.
Step 13: Print Something!

Using the 1 Liter beaker that I have the print area is about an 85mm circle by about 100mm tall. You can adjust the build area size in the uvlprinter.xml file if needed. To use Replicatorg there is already an excellent How To at Makerbot's wiki . To set the Z height on this machine pour the resin into the beaker up to the height that you set the laser at. Use the control panel in replicatorg to move the Z platform down into the resin to coat the platform then back up to just above the surface of the resin. Set all the axises to 0 then close the control panel and print. The Z axis lowers into the resin then raises and waits a few seconds after each layer is printed. The commercial printers use a wiper to wipe a precise amount of resin across the part but that would have made the design much more complicated. This process isn't perfect but so far seems to work alright. I have only done a little bit of work with coloring the resin so far. What I have tested so far is using Castin' Craft pigments and dyes and they seem to work.
Image Notes 1. View through the Laser goggles.
Image Notes 1. It just crawled out of the resin vat.
Step 14: Wrap up

So, there it is. It works, but should you build one? Well that depends on what you want to get out of building/buying a 3D printer. If you just want to print 3D things for cheap then no, I wouldn't build one. Get a Makerbot or an Ultimaker or build a RepRap. If you want to tinker and possibly get some amazing prints and don't mind that they cost a bit more to print than the others then go for it. I would love to have some other people testing and thinking up new ways to tweak this. As for cost of building the machine, I think I spent about $600 - $800 for everything. Less than the extruder printers but the material cost is about 4-5 times more so it's not really the economy option. There are also other ways to print with UV cured resins, like using a DLP projector to show images for long enough to cure a layer. There is one person that has made one that seems to work well but it looks like it is closed source and going to be expensive when he starts selling it. There is also a Yahoo group called diy_3d_printing_and_fabrication with people sharing their DLP based builds and resin tests. You should have used a laser galvanometer (galvo)! Sounds great, if you find one accurate enough for under a few hundred dollars let me know! Just for fun, the picture above shows most of the bad prints I've made so far. I probably missed something so let me know if you have questions and I will get to them as soon as I can. Thanks for reading.
Image Notes 1. This was actually made with the Delta Robot version of this. Don't ask... 2. This was actually made with the Delta Robot version of this. Don't ask... 3. Not curing enough, the layers floated away. 4. Going too fast for the steppers to handle, it started missing steps. 5. No clue what happened to this... 6. Adjusting settings in skeinforge can make for some interesting prints.
Related Instructables
XY-Plotter by bdeakyne
Craft Technology Lab, CU Boulder by hypergami
How to Make a Three Axis CNC Machine (Cheaply and Easily) by oomlout
open-source CNC project by frits297
OPENSOURCE NEMA 17 MOTOR MOUNT by CNCSnap
x (Photos) by CNCSnap
Comments
35 comments Add Comment
dizingof says:
Well done ! - this will start the revolution ! ;) Thanks.
Nov 14, 2011. 10:52 AM REPLY
gossumx says:
Nov 14, 2011. 10:53 AM REPLY I agree. This is definitely something that could get big. Especially if you made kits for it. I suggest checking out www.kickstarter.com/ Basically you post your ideas for a project and put the amount that it would cost to get that project kickstarted, then people fund your project. Depending on how much they fund, they can get anything from a thank you email to a custom version of your product. But they only get that if your funding goal is met within the necessary time frame. If it's not met, then you aren't required to do anything, and the money is automatically returned to the funder. No this isn't an advertisement. I've just been drooling over the idea of owning a 3d printer for a long time, but like you, I've been put off from buying one by having to choose between buying an incredibly expensive machine, or settling for a low quality finished product that I'm ultimately just disappointed with. If you could get a funding started to get kits fabricated in semi bulk quantities to sell, then I would be the first one to fund your project. (If I make it in time, my internet is preeetty crappy.)
RobHopeless says:
Nov 14, 2011. 9:19 PM REPLY I've been thinking about a redesign that could be kitted and address a few things with the current build. Kickstarter would be a good way to do that. Or if I win the laser cutter. ;-)
jeanyes says:
Nov 17, 2011. 10:14 AM REPLY If you don't win the laser but would like to have some parts cut I'd be happy to cut some for you free of charge. Hopefully you are located in the US? I live in Dallas, TX. I own an Epilog Legend 36EXT... A friend of mine and I have been toying with the idea of building an SLS machine but adding an even level of powder for each pass would be a challenge. I like the idea of adapting what you've done to my existing laser much better. If the resin source from India at $12/ltr is true then this could really explode!
RobHopeless says:
Thanks, that would be awesome.
Nov 17, 2011. 11:42 AM REPLY
The resin price is the big problem, there are many UV cure resins, the main differences are the light cure wavelength, how quickly they cure at a given intensity and how viscous they are. I would suspect the one from India mentioned below cures slowly and not well at 405nm but anything that cheap would be worth trying out.
htbeef says:
Nov 17, 2011. 10:28 AM REPLY Example of how to reduce the number of custom components (items that need to be fabricated) and replace them with stock components (items purchased with no need for modification).
htbeef says:
Maybe an image that people can actually read....
Nov 17, 2011. 10:39 AM REPLY
htbeef says:
What the heck? Where is the image I attached....
Nov 17, 2011. 10:33 AM REPLY
htbeef says:
This looks like a very interesting project.
Nov 17, 2011. 9:06 AM REPLY
I don't know how to provide this info without it sounding like an advertisement, so it's just going to sound like an ad. Misumi (full disclosure, I work for them) sells many of the components that you use in your design (like lead screws, linear guides, plates, motor brackets, couplings, radial bearings in housings, angular bearings in housings, shaft supports, hardware, etc). The thing that most of you makers out there will find useful is that there are no minimum order quantities with Misumi (this includes springs, washers, spacers, screws, bolts, and nuts) and you can order everything online with a credit card (no distributors, they deal directly with the customer). Also, cad models are available for the vast majority of the parts they sell. I only bring this up because you list automation-overstock as a source for some of your parts and you were also talking about setting up a kit. Seeing as the stock of components at an overstock website can not be guaranteed, Misumi could be a nice potential source for your components. There are also components in the catalog that you could use to redesign your assembly, effectively taking custom components (components that you need to make) and replace them with stock components (components that you can simply buy). Misumi has an entire catalog devoted to assembly automation (with many parts you would never expect to find in a catalog). Just to give you an idea on prices, the closest linear guides to what you have would be 16mm tall and 190mm long. For the 2 hole block sets (rail and block, part number SEBS16-190), the price would be $50.71 and for the 4 hole block sets (rail and block, part number SEB16-190), the price would be $57.73. Smaller sizes are available (8, 10, and 13mm overall heights) that would be cheaper. Volume discount rates start at quantities of 4 and greater. Sorry for the ad, but I didn't write this to try to sell Misumi products. I wrote this because many people probably don't even know that this source of assembly automation components exists and is available to the "home tinkerer". This catalog can really help out the home builder who doesn't have access to advanced fabrication techniques available to them.
RobHopeless says:
Thanks for the info, I was not aware of Misumi. The prices for the rails and blocks seem very reasonable.
Nov 17, 2011. 10:05 AM REPLY
elabz says:
Nov 15, 2011. 9:49 AM REPLY This is a fascinating project! I'm glad I came across it today. I think my time sitting on the sidelines of 3D printing may be coming to an end :) Regarding focusing of the laser: I also have to deal with focusing quite a bit with my DIY laser cutter and I 100% agree it's not easy. However, the way you focus it depends on what you're trying to get from the beam. If you're trying to get the maximum concentration of energy in the tiniest of spots and you're trying to judge the focus visually, the smallest, hottest spot does not mean the smallest dot of light you see. Because of the design of AixiZ lens (for collimating, not for focusing) to get to the tiniest hottest spot you have to go past the visually smallest dot (unscrew the lens further out of the housing). It sounds counterintuitive but even though the overall size of the light dot becomes larger, the center of it - the part with the most energy - keeps getting smaller. There's a lot of splatter around the center, and the splatter itself it very bright and it masks the actual true hottest center beam. I honestly don't know how to focus it just by eye. Since I deal with a tad more powerful laser diodes (160-200mW), they are starting to burn a piece of thin light-colored paper (white wouldn't work, I use light blue) I put on the base of the machine. So, I keep adjusting the focus by looking at the width of the cut in the piece of paper until it becomes hard to see (~0.1mm). Like I said before, all the while the overall size of the light spot becomes larger and larger which at first makes little sense until you realize that most of what you're seeing is just lost light - splatter. The actual beam is so small you can't really see it, you can only see its burning effect on the paper. All of this has to be done in THE HIGHEST OPTICAL DENSITY SAFETY GLASSES YOU CAN FIND!!! Anyhow, sorry about the long comment. My question actually was: what characteristics of the beam you are looking for in terms of UV curing: intensity or uniform exposure? Because if that's intensity you're after, the overall spot will actually become larger. But maybe you can then turn the speed up a bit? I'd be very interested in learning your take on the UV curing.
RobHopeless says:
Thanks for the great info, I will see how it applies to this setup.
Nov 15, 2011. 6:15 PM REPLY
So far I've found that the 20mW 405nm laser I am using is too powerful for the max speed I can run at with this setup. If I redesign this I would make it able to go much faster if it can keep the resolution close to this. The main problem I have seen is balancing the width and depth of cure against speed. I don't know a ton about lasers so I don't know if there is a better way to do this but using the iris in front of the laser seems to work fairly well for cutting down the power and scatter. I have found that the scatter was often enough to not fully cure but to start to cure where it hits. Mostly what I have done so far is adjust the laser and iris then print a sample and measure it and either adjust the laser or the settings to fit.
bfarms says:
Have you considered using a spatial filter to reduce or eliminate the spatter?
Nov 17, 2011. 9:10 AM REPLY
It's basically a tiny pin hole that you put in the path of the beam, the center of the laser beam goes through the hole and the spatter is stopped behind.
RobHopeless says:
Nov 17, 2011. 10:02 AM REPLY I am no laser expert by far but I think that is what the iris diaphragm in my setup is doing, at least in part. It also cuts back the intensity of the laser. I will have to look into it some more. Thanks for the info.
elabz says:
Nov 15, 2011. 10:56 AM REPLY Thanks, Rob! So, my guess is that if 20mW laser diode is too powerful then we are not talking intensity but rather just the size of the spot. So, I think you still want to focus if with the iris fully open, then close it to cut the splatter off. Also looks like the lower the iris the better except of course you don't want the resin getting on it accidentally. I also wonder if using PWM to control laser intensity might work. You'll need a different laser driver though, a one that has a TTL input. Since you're talking about very low power laser, there's a ton of cheap, ready-made constant current drivers with TTL control that can fill the need - most are made very small to fit inside a high-power laser pointer. The only issue I see with PWM is that in low duty cycles (less than 50%) the laser will be off most of the time but it's still moving, so there could possibly be areas that get skipped. Well, some food for thought, anyhow. Thanks again!
dizingof says:
Nov 15, 2011. 8:16 PM REPLY Guys you have got to see this *25 years old video* by the inventor of Stereolithography i stumbled upon a minute ago - it looks EXACTLY like Rob's UV laser printer ! Amazing :) Check out: The speed the of the X-Y ! .. The low-viscosity of the resin ! The blue dye ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyUPSYynywM
RobHopeless says:
Wow, that is cool. At least I have the basics right... :-) Great find, thanks.
Nov 15, 2011. 8:25 PM REPLY
robot19 says:
I love this project, I just wish I had the time and money to build this. Great job you have my vote!
Nov 17, 2011. 8:54 AM REPLY
jalvarado-3 says:
Good work, if this goes mainstream, I think gamers like me are gonna make figurines for days.
Nov 17, 2011. 8:21 AM REPLY
cspacone says:
Excellent work!
Nov 17, 2011. 1:10 AM REPLY
arupbsk says:
Here in India, UV curable polymer resins cost Rs600/ltr only. (~12$)
Nov 16, 2011. 9:58 PM REPLY
gabdab says:
Do you have a link ? Also check this 'How laser sintering works' for an alternative approach : http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/11/how-laser-sintering-works.html
Nov 17, 2011. 12:48 AM REPLY
gabdab says:
Great stuff. I see the light curing plastic too expensive , is there a cheaper alternative available, anyone ? The UV/Visible light cure resin from Ellsworth Adhesives 1 - liter Dymax 3099 Ultra Light-Weld Adhesive or 1 - liter Loctite 3105 Light Cure Adhesive ~240 $ * 1 lt ..
Nov 16, 2011. 8:27 PM REPLY
Edgar says:
Got you a vote, this one, hope you'll win that Epilog =D
Nov 16, 2011. 7:57 AM REPLY
RobHopeless says:
Great, Thanks!
Nov 16, 2011. 8:39 AM REPLY
jlamarche says:
Nov 15, 2011. 6:00 PM REPLY This is amazing! I've been wanting a low-cost, high resolution 3D printer for some time. I just wish I had access to a CNC machine. I would definitely throw in on a Kickstarter project if you do one. A kit with the custom parts would be awesome. Couple of quick questions: It looked like from the source code that this machine is capable of a resolution of .1mm? How difficult would it be to increase that resolution even higher? Would is just mean more precise step motors, or would it require a different laser and/or other parts to be swapped for different ones?
RobHopeless says:
If I had a laser cutter I would have kits ready really soon.... ;-)
Nov 15, 2011. 7:36 PM REPLY
The steppers move .0079 mm per step if using full steps and 1/8 stepping is .00099 mm so the resolution of the x,y and z axes is very good. Increasing the resolution is mainly dependent on the laser spot size, speed it moves and laser power. The laser is the limiting factor really, the faster you go the less it will cure so the layer thickness can be less. I just need to spend some time tweaking to see what it can really do. I have to say that .1mm is really smooth. I still need to get a macro lens so I can get some better close up shots of the prints.
jlamarche says:
Wow, thanks for the info. I hope you find a way to offer kits using KickStarter or some other option.
Nov 15, 2011. 8:18 PM REPLY
With stepper motors that precise, it looks like the potential here is nearly unlimited. I wonder if there's any way to get the resin cost down. Not that that would discourage me if you made kits, because most of what I want to make is very small (which is why I'm interested in the high resolution), but for larger adoption, a cheaper resin would be a big win. I'm curious, are you aware of this project? http://3dhomemade.blogspot.com/ He looks to be using the same process, so maybe there's an opportunity for learning from each other. Anyway, thanks again for all your hard work. This is an insanely cool thing you've done and I'm glad you shared.
RobHopeless says:
Nov 15, 2011. 8:38 PM REPLY I am aware of that project but it looks like Junior has gone closed source and stopped sharing info from his DLP build. There are others working on the same basic build though so there may be many options soon. Thanks.
chylld says:
very nice work! feel free to upload your print of the vica sculpture to my Thingiverse page :)
Nov 15, 2011. 7:04 PM REPLY
RobHopeless says:
It's been there for about 5 days. :-) Great object to print by the way, thanks!
Nov 15, 2011. 7:14 PM REPLY
chylld says:
haha the one print I decided not to look at ended up being the most awesome! you're more than welcome, keep up the awesome work.
Nov 15, 2011. 7:17 PM REPLY
jeff-o says:
Nov 14, 2011. 6:37 PM REPLY This looks very promising! I've seen only a handful of other DIY stereolithography rigs out there, so it's nice to see someone working on this.
DJJules says:
Excellent project! I am in process of building a CNC router but what I learn from that, I can apply to these machines. Good Job! Jules
Nov 14, 2011. 3:31 PM REPLY
hafsteinn says:
nice!
Nov 14, 2011. 12:34 PM REPLY

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Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home

RobHopeless.com Check out my other projects at http://www.robhopeless.com/

Intro: Build a Laser 3D Printer - Stereolithography at Home

Image Notes 1. It just crawled out of the resin vat.

Step 1: Materials, Tools and Safety

Step 4: Assemble X and Y

Image Notes 1. Drill the flange holes.

Step 6: Finish the Box

Step 7: Stepper Driver Board

Image Notes 1. Step and Direction pins. 2. Stepper power in.

Step 8: Laser Driver Board

Step 9: Limit Switches

Step 10: Wire it all up

Step 11: Software Setup

Step 12: Laser and Iris Mount

Image Notes 1. Laser goes here 2. Iris goes here.

Step 13: Print Something!

Image Notes 1. View through the Laser goggles.

Image Notes 1. It just crawled out of the resin vat.

Step 14: Wrap up

Craft Technology Lab, CU Boulder by hypergami

open-source CNC project by frits297

OPENSOURCE NEMA 17 MOTOR MOUNT by CNCSnap

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