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Show idea/question? Combined 3d printer, CNC router (& laser cutter?)

Former Member

Hello people,

 

There's this idea in my head that keeps popping up:

 

Al these 3d printers, CNC's and laser cutters are (as far as I can tell) for the most part the same hardware.

And the axis and stepper motors do not come cheap.

Wouldn't it be awesome to combine these machines (if possible)?

By perhaps changing the extruder for a dremel/CNC head (or laser)?

 

If it's possible I would call it the Cerberus image (or Two Face in case the laser doesn't work out).

 

If it's not possible I would like to know why, so I can let it rest image

 

Thanks in advance for reading and possibly responding.

Parents

  • This idea comes up quite often. Usually someone attaches a 3D printing extruder to their CNC machine. I warn folks it won't work well but its one of those things you have to do for yourself to believe. It doesn't work well, which is why you rarely see it. In the case of CNC machines with 3D extruders what you usually find is the person gave up on it because although it worked it ran so slow it took several days to print something you can print on a proper 3D printer in a few hours.

     

    I know these guys are working on a similar idea but I personally doubt the 3D part of it will work well enough. http://www.qu-bd.com/blog/

     

    3D printers need speed. Lots of speed. In order to print something within a reasonable time frame. Even at high speeds it can still take quite a while to print something. I usually print close to 100mm/sec and am building a new printer that will hit around 260mm/s. To achive those speeds you need something that can move that fast. We use a combination of motors + gears + belts to give us the needed speeds.

     

    With a CNC machine you need, as was mentioned above, torque. Cutting requires a lot of torque in order to make a consistent cut. So belts are not found on CNC machines. They are usually direct drive against ACME threaded rod of some kind of ball screw or similar type of highly accurate, high torque drive mechanism.

     

    I could go on. I understand the desire, one machine to meet all your goals. The problem is you would end up with one machine that can do three things not very well, or get three machines that do what they need to do very well. The old saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" does come from somewhere.

     

    As far as Ben doing this in an episode. I don't know. This would be very expensive, the laser tube plus power supply is $1K alone and that's for a cheap Chineese one. Plus Ben really, really, dislikes combo systems. I see him cringe every time he gets a request for combo game systems. I suspect he would feel similarly about this.

     

    -- Chris

Reply

  • This idea comes up quite often. Usually someone attaches a 3D printing extruder to their CNC machine. I warn folks it won't work well but its one of those things you have to do for yourself to believe. It doesn't work well, which is why you rarely see it. In the case of CNC machines with 3D extruders what you usually find is the person gave up on it because although it worked it ran so slow it took several days to print something you can print on a proper 3D printer in a few hours.

     

    I know these guys are working on a similar idea but I personally doubt the 3D part of it will work well enough. http://www.qu-bd.com/blog/

     

    3D printers need speed. Lots of speed. In order to print something within a reasonable time frame. Even at high speeds it can still take quite a while to print something. I usually print close to 100mm/sec and am building a new printer that will hit around 260mm/s. To achive those speeds you need something that can move that fast. We use a combination of motors + gears + belts to give us the needed speeds.

     

    With a CNC machine you need, as was mentioned above, torque. Cutting requires a lot of torque in order to make a consistent cut. So belts are not found on CNC machines. They are usually direct drive against ACME threaded rod of some kind of ball screw or similar type of highly accurate, high torque drive mechanism.

     

    I could go on. I understand the desire, one machine to meet all your goals. The problem is you would end up with one machine that can do three things not very well, or get three machines that do what they need to do very well. The old saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" does come from somewhere.

     

    As far as Ben doing this in an episode. I don't know. This would be very expensive, the laser tube plus power supply is $1K alone and that's for a cheap Chineese one. Plus Ben really, really, dislikes combo systems. I see him cringe every time he gets a request for combo game systems. I suspect he would feel similarly about this.

     

    -- Chris

Children
  • in reply to ckraft

    Your point for Ben not wanting to do this is probably right.

    Such a shame but I guess we all want Ben to turn our ideas into cool projects.

     

    So the problem with the printer/CNC combo is that the motors are to slow.

    Isn't there a way to solve this with motors with variable speeds/gearbox? (Sorry if this is a stupid question, somewhat of an electronics n00b).

     

    From the reactions the concensus seems to indeed be pretty well summed up in "Jack of all trades, master of none".

  • in reply to ckraft

    hi this is anuj from India i have a gerber cnc router cutting machine ..i wontit to convert as a laser and 3d printer with router can u tel me how can do this in my machine

    and wher can i get the parts for laser and 3d print