Building a 3D printer out of Hp G85 Office jet printers

Ink-jet printers are great source material for 3D printers. With the parts you list, I might also look at a Delta-format printer (Rostock, Kossel, 3DR, etc). That way, you only need four steppers (three for the composite axis traverse, one for the extruder). So long as you match the three, control should be fairly simple and you can use the rails and belts together with a framework support of any type (many parts of printers can be used here). They are also fun to watch print, since they are so "busy" with all three steppers moving for any planar traverse, and have the advantage of much higher speed Z-axis traverse than Cartesian format printers. Good luck with this, though!

Kirk

thank you Kalani!

i have access to a plastics fabrication shop and lots of plastic so i will most likely be building the entire thing out of pvc or Centra material...

as for other information what could i use to drive the steppers?

i was thinking about using a arduino dev board and a Ramps Sheild poped on top

like here:

http://youtu.be/z0h2Uf6XGLs?t=3m15s

other than that i still need to find out about the hot end and the Z axis... (the screw mostly)

i want to use 2 steppers to drive the Z axis... just to keep things clean

one for the y one for the x

X axis moves the hot end

y axis moves the print bed...

That sounds like a Cartesian-format layout (take a look at the Mendel or Prusa i3) and definitely the Arduino MEGA + RAMPS is a good way to go. Most of the other common boards (RAMBO, etc) are just combined variations of the Arduino+RAMPS functionality. You should be about to source the Arduino MEGA for around $35-40 USD and the RAMPS as a kit around $35 USD on EBay, You would also need the stepper motor drivers (I like the Pololu A4988 or something like it, due to the ability to handle higher current than some off-brands), 1 controller per stepper or a higher current-carrying version if you want to slave dual Z-steppers from the same controller. That will require some interesting management to split off the drivers (split the driver output before the controller, you just need +1 controller and careful balancing of both motors pushing the screw). There are a wide range of options in terms of extruders and hot ends (I have never had a J-head fail at the start, but many like to fabricate their own).

Make sure to let others follow your path through the various challenges you will encounter in this build!

Kirk

Like Kirk stated, the arduino + ramps combo just can't be beat.  I use that combo on all my printers and have purchased them on ebay or through http://www.lulzbot.com/.  The j-head is a great hotend but I have also used the budaschnozzle from lulzbot with great success.

Nate

So which arduino and RAMPS combo should I use... Like I said in my original post I have no experience with arduinos... So I know Nothing about which I should use

I would say just from looking at the RepRap wiki you will probably want to get your hands on an Arduino Mega and a RAMPS board.

For your Arduino  you will need the Mega 2560 or some sort of clone like the Tosduino Mega 2560(http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=products/tosduino-mega-2560).  As far as the ramps goes you will want the Ramps 1.4 as this is the newest iteration(http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=RAMPS-1.4-Assembled-wo-Wires-or-Connectors).  Don't forget you will need a stepper driver for each motor and by the looks of your drawing that would be 5 motors(2 z-axis, 1 x-axis, 1 y-axis, 1 extruder).  For the x and y axis this is typically driven by a belt and pulley system were the z axis has threaded rods an each side of the x axis carriage.  You might be able to find the parts cheaper on ebay than the 2 links I have posted as I was just trying to show you want to get.

Nate

Thank you Nate that was the information i was looking for... i actually have most of the components for this design... the main part was the mega board and the ramps i i belive i can get ahold of the drivers for about $15 and the acme screw with the nuts for about $60 and that will cover both sides... Mentlegen i believe we have a $300 3d printer! although the fact that i can build the frame for pretty much nothing but time that is helpful...

I also want to mention is, don't forget to start looking at the software side of the printer.  What firmware you will use on the board.  What slicing and computer/interface software will be used.  I will give you my advice  on these but still do your own research.  For the firmware I would go with Marlin and slicing would be Slic3r and interface would be Printrun.

Nate

thank you nate! im gonna start looking in to those frimwares now

i think i got one of my my friends interested so he is gonna take care of the arduino part of it...

Always a great idea to bring in others with expertise that compliments your own. Your design itself looks much like many of the various Mendel-etc variations. Because you have access to a plastics shop for manipulating the frame components, you can be more artistic in your expression than most - http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7184941946_938a349924_z.jpg is a good example of what someone with Plexiglass and some LEDs has done to improve the "curb appeal" of their Mendel variation. Be creative and make a bold statement with your design!

Kirk

at this point i want to see if i can get the thing working ... once that happens and im more familliar then ill do some more artistic stuff XD

at this point i want to see if i can get the thing working ... once that happens and im more familliar then ill do some more artistic stuff XD