BrundleFab - a powder thermal fusion printer

Powder and inkjet printing
ezrec
Posts: 112
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:31 pm

Re: BrundleFab - a powder thermal fusion printer

Post by ezrec »

I've updated my http://reprap.org/wiki/BrundleFab page with my new sheet aluminum layer head build.

I'm still waiting on the ceramic halogen lamp sockets and I2C thermopile, but in the meantime wanted to show off my 3-hour build.

(Well, it took about 16 hours of measuring and design work in OpenSCAD first, but the actual build only took 3 hours).

For utlra-light load bearing parts, such as my layerhead, cheap aluminum door signs ($2 USD at an office or hardware supply store) are a great way to make quick parts.

You can cut the stuff with household scissors, and with some knowledge of folding techniques, can be made relatively stiff for its thickness (0.010")

Hopefully I won't get too much thermal warp once I turn on the halogen, but if I do I can always rivet on an aluminum flat or two.
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dragonator
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Re: BrundleFab - a powder thermal fusion printer

Post by dragonator »

Neat way of building parts. I never really considered aluminium door signs (nor did I know of their existence) but 0.25mm (0.01") aluminium should be strong enough if the design is right. I don't know if $2 is a bit much for the thickness and surface area, but it is more available than most sources I know of. Lets hope it can handle the heat.

Thermopile was my first thought as well. I am curious to see just how accurate the powder temperature can ber regulated with sensors in place.
ezrec
Posts: 112
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:31 pm

Re: BrundleFab - a powder thermal fusion printer

Post by ezrec »

Potato chipping, as I understand it, is only an effect on the top few mm of the powder layer.

So why heat the whole chamber?

By using the sensor and halogen light to regulate the top powder temperature, I hope to be able to get enclosed thermal chamber results in an open air environment.

Sugar loses heat very slowly, so it should be a good medium for these experiments.
evomotors
Posts: 62
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:33 pm

Re: BrundleFab - a powder thermal fusion printer

Post by evomotors »

It could be interesting to try to use laser instead of halogen light bulb to fuse the powder. I wonder if anyone tried to do so.
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