Raspberry Pi 4 Experimental Resin 3D Printer -- Episode 414

Tiny resin based 3D printers may be all the rage now, but size matter sometimes, and how these printers operate does not scale up well. Clem has an Idea to circumvent these technical limitations with a ground breaking giant 4k Resin 3D printer! Utilizing 2 Raspberry Pis (4 & 3B+) he sets out to prove that FEP foil can be replaced with a specialized liquid, making the LCD-masking technique viable for large format 3D printers!

Supplemental Content:

A lot of parts for the mechanics were salvaged from this project: Episode 359: Make Your Own CNC Pyrography Wood Burner
The heatsinks were covered in-depth in this video: Episode 399: Candle-Powered Robot
The main board for the giant 3D printer is the MAYER MOVES Dev Kit showcased in this episode: Episode 410: MacPro G5 Cheese Grater with Raspberry Pi 4
Click here to get the complete MAYER MOVES Motor Control Dev Kit

Bill of Material:

Product Name	Manufacturer	Quantity	Buy Kit
Raspberry pi 4B	Raspberry-PI	1	Buy Now
Raspberry p3B /3B+	Raspberry-PI	1	Buy Now
PRO SIGNAL Audio / Video Cable Assembly, HDMI A Plug to Micro HDMI D Plug, 6.6 ft, 2 m, Black	PRO SIGNAL	1	Buy Now
CARLO GAVAZZI Solid State Relay, SPST-NO, 25 A, 280 VAC, Panel, Screw, Zero Crossing	CARLO GAVAZZI	1	Buy Now
RASPBERRY-PI Daughter Board, Raspberry Pi 7" Touch Screen Display, 10 Finger Capacitive Touch	RASPBERRY-PI	1	Buy Now
MEAN WELL AC/DC Enclosed Power Supply (PSU), ITE, 1 Outputs, 100.8 W, 36 V, 2.8 A	MEAN WELL	1	Buy Now
MEAN WELL AC/DC Enclosed Power Supply (PSU), ITE, 1 Outputs, 50.4 W, 12 V, 4.2 A	MEAN WELL	1	Buy Now
MULTICOMP Axial Fan, 12 V, DC, 60 mm, 33.05 dBA, 18.84 cu.ft/min	MULTICOMP	3	Buy Now
MEAN WELL AC/DC Enclosed Power Supply (PSU), ITE, 1 Outputs, 15 W, 5 V, 3 A	MEAN WELL	2	Buy Now
TRINAMIC Evaluation Board, TMC2209 SilentStepStick, 2-Phase Motor Driver	TRINAMIC	1	Buy Now
NANOTEC Stepper Motor, High Torque, DC, 0.5 N-m, 1.8 A, Two Phase, 1.75 ohm, 3.3 mH	NANOTEC	1	Buy Now
OMRON Microswitch, Snap Action, Hinge Roller Lever, SPDT, Solder, 5 A	OMRON	1	Buy Now

Additional Parts:

Product Name
4k instore Display Monitor 28“
Aluminium Extrusion for the Frame
PMMA-XT for the Vat
PMMA/Acrylic for the Case
3D printing filament for all the printed parts
UV LEDs and heatsinks

Attachments:

ResinPrinter_Resources.zip

Rasperry Pi4 Resin 3d Experimental Printer

element14 Presents | About Clem | Project Videos

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celcius1 over 5 years ago

Hi Clem,

Sorry for posting in an older project of yours, but whilst I was posting on your latest project I had a light bulb moment, as I do work with Telecommunications in my day job, I recently did some fibre optic work for a few clients and used field terminated connectors, sorry for the long intro but I'm getting to the point, these field terminated connectors use an INDEX MATCHING GEL so to match the glass fibre to the polished glass in the connector.

So the idea I have is, if you can source the index matching gel used in field terminated fibre optic SC or SC-A connectors, its designed to have the same index as glass, and being a gel, its denser than the resin, and the index gel only needs to be a thin layer.

So that would be the best stuff to use. But I don't know why I did not think of it before, but thanks to having a recent client getting fibre optic work done, it came to mind again. But the difficult part is sourcing the index matching gel.

Regards
Paul

Edit: did a quick search and found this https://www.fiberinstrumentsales.com/fis-matching-gel-4-oz.html
and this https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=354
and this TechOptics - Index Matching Gels
and this https://www.newport.com/f/index-matching-fluid

even found this
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mayermakes over 5 years ago in reply to celcius1

I'm always happy about comments on older posts as it keeps them relevant and I often go back to those projects.
You are right!
I have heard of such gels before but no way to source them it didn't even seem that our local Fibre companies use it.

I'm currently working on the version. Two of this 3d printer and have some ideas that might eliminate the need for a specialized liquid.
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celcius1 over 5 years ago in reply to mayermakes

If you want I can speak to my local supplier, and see if they can source the index matching gel, and get back to you with a price.

My contact at the supplier is always willing to help me out with fibre optic's as he owes me a favour or two
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celcius1 over 5 years ago in reply to mayermakes

If you want I can speak to my local supplier, and see if they can source the index matching gel, and get back to you with a price.

My contact at the supplier is always willing to help me out with fibre optic's as he owes me a favour or two
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