Nick, A Wanhao i3Plus, and yes, it’s a fantastic new manufacturing ‘additive’ process. I’m sure as new materials are added by suppliers then everyone will embrace the concept. I chose the Rhino because its very well made and a mature product with good support and a good sized community. Probably not the biggest print bed on the market but very easy to use.
Paul, the whole thing took a week – but that was mainly due to other things such as wife, kids, life needing attention. They were the ones screaming for mercy!!! Probably three full days but nothing compared to the time i’d need to acquire, learn, perform lathe/metal work skills!
Yes, high infill levels and ‘thick’ walls. A small price to pay for the rigidity and the extra benefit of being able to drill, file, sand, tap, etc. See below.
Version 1 finished, fitted and optics, as per PG’s configuration, ready to assemble tomorrow. SimSpec seems to suggest a resolution of above 2,300 for the config below. (If I’m inputting/reading SimSpec correctly). Tee only ‘upgrades’ being metal interfaces.
Version 2, in ABS, printing now and almost complete with all the optics,etc assembled for several more configs to stretch the design. I know I’m running before walking but its fun. The higher gratings, larger lenses etc within the same physical config (body machined to accept greater grating rotation, etc) when input to SimSpec suggest resolution from 5,000 all the way up to 9,000+ but that requires an almost fixed config. Lots of drawbacks but I just want to see what happens. Beamsplitters instead of guiding mirrors, etc.
I can test transparency, thermal expansion and general stability along with mechanics for the two materials.
And I have a working calibration unit for Neon needs mounting. I have a strong suspicion that I’ll be able to fit tungsten and Relco bulbs too. The parts bin gets bigger but a least I can print more parts bins…
