How to Create Cheap 3D Printer from Your Old DVD Driver?
0This may sounds weird but the idea behind it is very simple. Do you have some old DVD drivers at home? Then you have almost all the hardware component to build your own cheap 3D printer.
The idea of building DIY 3D printer or 3D printing a 3D printer is common and many implementation for it has be published to the Internet such as the RipRap 3D printers and self-assembly printers. However, this one make it even more easier by giving the chance to anyone to build a low cost 3D printer with out any mechanical or engineering knowledge.
All you need to do is to follow the steps presented in the Instructables website.
The 3D printer consists of two type of parts; the non-printed parts and the 3D printed parts. The non-printed parts include the following:
- Base piece
- Motors
- Linear robs
- Ribbon cables
- Driver board
The parts can be extracted from any DVD driver you have in home. You may need more than one driver to get the correct number of parts. The other parts are the 3D printed parts, which include:
- X Axis
- Y Axis
- Z Axis
- Bed mount
- Z assembly stilts (two parts)
- Z stilts connection robs (two parts)
- Motor mount pins
- Stabilizer piece
- Pen mount Z piece
The STL files for that these parts are available in the tutorial link above. All you need is to download these files and 3D print it. If you do not have a 3D printer available in the area where you live, you can just use any of the online 3D printing services such as 3D Hubs or Shapeways. These websites allows you to upload the STL file and the do the 3D printing process and send the printed parts to your door steps. In order to assembly the above components, you need to have screwdriver and hot glue gun. The final look for the 3D printer should be like below and can be loaded with 3D printing materials such as plastic filaments:
The assembled 3D printer
The 3D printer motor cables
The 3D printing bed
The 3D printer STL files
One common advice that is share in the 3D printing community is that you need to know you own printer in order to get the best result out of it and overcome it technical problems. Understanding how the Fused Deposition Modeling work can help many designers and engineer to solve the printer problems and even 3D print their own printer in a very low cost. For example, you can replace the broken parts or even enhance the printer performance by adding modifications to the current 3D printer design.
Unlike many designers feel that the 3D printing technology is out of their hands, the above example shows that the 3D printer can be made easily if we have the proper knowledge. These initiations can help broader the implementation of the 3D technology in design business.
