Endless 3D printing - DIY conveyor belt delta bed

[@TeachingTech]

Thanks for all of the feedback and great ideas. I still intend to keep it fairly simple for my printer but perhaps someone will remix the design to take it some place else?

[@98f5]

can u make it move back and forth on the belt axis to print bigger things?

[@marcusmarcusk830]

Now you just need to combine it with the FlSun V400.

[@techdiyer5290]

The best place to put cooling fans would be under those ejector prisms, and you might as well redesign those just to cool the part through the crack. :)

[@logan317b]

After seeing what the angled conveyer belts can do, I thought “Why not just have a flat conveyer bed for infinite prints?” You have done an amazing job at making that vision a reality

[@Maximum_Twang]

And now I finally have a use for my old delta. This is incredible dude. Love the work. Thank you so much.

[@MAGA_Patriot2024]

When you say "old delta", what specifically do you mean? The reason I ask is I have a qq-s pro delta down the basement, and I'm wondering if that would suffice for the build. Thanks! 👍🙂

[@skrimp9919]

@@MAGA_Patriot2024 I have a qq-s pro and while I don't think I would do this build personally, I do believe that'll work quite well with majority of the parts in this video.

[@stevesareyka8636]

Honestly this made me excited to save up for a new printer. I like this design as the drop down extruder style feels much more versatile.

[@Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig]

This might be the perfect use case for nonplanar slicing to make these machines capable of infinite prints as well

[@EGGSHL]

Ohhhh god i wish that was already possible

[@GomanDK]

..."-Simply because I can"! Do I just LOVE that expression? I must say that I just admire that attitude. Keep up that work, 'cause you're the best source of inspiration avalible , in my humble opinion.

[@JHenley01]

I run a small print farm so a belt printer like this has always been the holy grail for me. I built the PrintShift for the Prusa Mini and the issue I had was the flexibility of the belt allowed the parts to warp too much with PETG. I would guess this design would have the same issue. Hopefully that issue can be solved at some point. Great work though!

[@H3xx99]

You can look into the Enraged Rabbit Carrot Feeder (ERCF) multi material modification to solve the lack of filament problem. It's an expandable automatic filament feeding system that can be used to either change colors and materials automatically, or replace empty filament with a full roll.

[@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842]

Thanks for this one. I was thinking about building something like it some time ago, just a wee bit different. In my design, I wanted to print a part at a time and roll the belt over to a cooling area, continuing printing from the queue, but letting the last print stay untouched. This would, in theory, reduce the temperature on the recently printed part to something around room temperature and thus make it release from the belt without problems with stickyness or deformation (at least theoretically). In this design, you'll have a single bed heater, but only under the area to which the part is printed, but not on the lower or "souther" region. This will require a longer belt, but not a whole lot, but it'll let you print even faster, since you won't need much of a temperature drop before continuing on the next part(s). PS: These are all my own ideas and they are as of now, april 23th 00:00 CEST, released under open source.

[@L337f33t]

Adding the system from the Bamboo x1 carbon to watch the prints would be amazing! A belt printer with the ability to sense if a prints gone wrong would be amazing. It would take this printer to the next level!

[@Kah-Rah-Tay]

I started learning how to 3d print using this channel. There is just so much valuable information! Big thanks 😊

[@JoeSnow-yb8kx]

Dude this is amazing, I absolutely love delta printers and the concept (I say that as I've not yet used one) of belt printers but like you I dislike the 45 degree print angle, this is definitely going onto my to build list, thank you so much.

[@feliwein_cc]

fuck i've been wrapping my mind around a continuous printer for a couple months for now and reached to the conclusion that this if the better setup for speed and durability, super sharp man.

[@JonS]

This is fantastic work Michael, but you could improve it and make it truly endless for 80% of 3D printing use cases, by adding: 1. A camera photographs the part 2. Photo is posted on social media 3. Part is fed in to a chipper 4. Chips are fed in to a filament extruding machine 5. Recycled filament is fed back in to the printer Of course this wouldn't be useful for the other 20% of uses. Namely: 15% printing parts for printers, and 5% parts to give away to friends and family.

[@Mueller3D]

You just need to add a step 2.5: Based on Likes/Dislikes, direct part towards chipper or towards "keep" bin. You could use a servo with a guide bar at the end of the belt to send parts one way or the other.

[@deusexmachinareznov4975]

@@Mueller3D Crowd Sourced Quality Assurance

[@Theprofessor1212]

Comment of the century.

[@jimmym2719]

Wow 🤩 exactly fit my requirement. I want to try Delta and also prints overnight unattended this is perfect 👍 thanks for sharing such a well design and built. You are awesome Michael 💕

[@andymuzzo8568]

That’s awesome mate. You should call it the “Endless 3”

[@Coltography]

I would suggest a BRUSHED surface at the end as well as the exisisting ramps to pick up finer parts without introducing drag to the belt, kind of like the edges of an escalator! Also some big blowers that turn on during ejection would look so cool, kind of like a car wash at the end. LOVE the execution and idea!! Can't wait to see more of this.

[@markferrick10]

Very very kool. I like that you used a delta printer. I don't need this, but I WANT it. Thanks.

[@muddhaptab6347]

This is really tempting to build and addressed the main reasons I have resisted the urge to get a belt printer.

[@tannernewton8543]

I was googling to find inspiration for this exact idea!! Happy to see all the work is already done for me haha

[@scottm8285]

This is rad. I'd never need it, but I love the ingenuity. Great work!

[@EngineerAAJ]

I already wanted a delta, now I want it even more. awesome project man

[@GeorgeJFW]

Please continue to iterate and update this. Absolutely love this build I need to build my own!

[@Billybobble1]

Really impressive work Michael, you provide so much to this community, thank you.

[@zora_tech]

Amazing I really like Delta printers but because the firmware wasn't mature and after Core XY printers came out they are not very popular. Luckily Flsun is still making some new delta printers. Also I have found some videos of people making large deltas but they are hard to find. So seeing this video makes me really happy 😁

[@dev-debug]

I was considering adding a delta to my collection. I like to tinker so I may get one and give this a go. Your design seems well though out, very cool !

[@eulachonfish]

Thanks for sharing, great design. I'll consider adding this system to my CoreXY as it should work much the same as your delta, just with Z homing required after ejection. Being able to automate multiple part production without the 45 degree issue is a game changer.

[@Orgruk]

Yes, wow, looks very interesting. I'm glad people are doing these mods.

[@cafeandfeld]

Amazing work Michael thank you so much for sharing with the community much appreciated

[@paulg3336]

13:37 An alternative to using belt tension to achieve this , which is a game of diminishing returns, consider using vacuum to suck the belt to the bed. I have an automated microscope slide cover slipper that I service , the slides are held on the platern by vacuum. the vacuum is generated by a computer fan in a sealed enclosure that generates a small negative pressure and this is connected to the platern by tubing.

[@donrozwick7367]

Wow! this is awesome Michael.

[@derekkirkendall928]

Pretty smart! Nice design, thanks for sharing!

[@ivovass195]

Awesome project, props for the development efforts, well done. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work

[@milanpeeters6305]

Maybe making it so the printhead hovers over the print for a min or two with just the fan going after the print is finished before rotating the belt it would cool it down without you having to implement any new fans or coolers, also after every print maybe spin the print bed entirely so that the adhesión later is never printed on, for the rest I'm extremely impressed didn't even know anything outside of 45° printers were able to do this. Keep it up!

[@GarthClarkson]

Brilliant! As always a regular source of inspiration and ideas. Cheers.

[@ototheo2740]

Wouldn't lowering the ilders and slightly increasing the belt tension help with the slight wobble ? That way the belt should be somewhat pressed onto the bed

[@0LoneTech]

It would be partially tighter, but the curved plate sides mean only across the centerline. It would likely make it self track.

[@SeanTaffert]

Better to put a lifting mechanism under the build area and lift the plate up slightly while printing.

[@Matt-je5hn]

This is AWESOME stuff. Nice work!

[@techscout5710]

You could maybe introduce a slight vacuum below the belt (with holes in the aluminium plate) to increase the tension between the belt and the bed. I think fan(s) should have enough power for that purpose.

[@mgrabo1024]

I was just thinking about adding this same comment

[@andreasvareschi2216]

You could add 4 small adjustable rollers on top of each corner of the bed to add extra pressure on the belt in order to keep it squeezed against the bed underneath 👍 quite simple and worth a try in my opinion!

[@theoldpcguy]

Nice jacket, I was in Italy when the crash happened. The whole country was in mourning.

[@shenqiangshou]

very nice work! and thank you for open sourcing it!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Michael, that was brilliant. A MK3S version would be phenomenal 😉 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@davidcrook4814]

Don't have a 3D printer (yet) and don't understand a lot of the coding talk, but love videos like this for letting me know how much detailed info is available when I'm finally ready to get into it.

[@ryanward8117]

Very excited to try this project!

[@trevorconte8098]

That looks so cool

[@joemama142]

I would love to see this on the voron 2.4 with its flying gantry and stationary bed. There's even an extra pin available on the octopus mainboard for another stepper.

[@Ben-qh1ku]

That works really good,I call that a success. good job 👍

[@powerbelt3d]

Awesome work Michael!

[@The_Slyborg]

I always thought the reason why the 45deg was done was to avoid patent issues with the old makerbot IP. I used to gave one of those Auto build platforms about 10 yrs ago, shame it wasn't open source,

[@MarcelRobitaille]

Couldn't you make the eject macro make a full rotation of the belt to avoid the tape issue?

[@JohnMGibby]

Yeah, I though that also, but wondered if, over time, the belt surface might not perform the same due to using the same spot all the time to print to.

[@MarcelRobitaille]

@@JohnMGibby Rotate the belt so the tape is in a different spot under the printer to use up another section of belt? Don't always place your part in the center of the build plate?

[@ry7hym]

now this is my type of designing

[@CreatorOblivion]

Absolutely incredible work!!! Very well done!!

[@DarrenHughes-Hybrid]

Nice! This printer turned out very nice and impressive! A+++

[@makeupfix]

Super racer with this mod is super amazing!!!!!

[@martylawson1638]

Amazing work. Already in my folder of ideas for what printer I get next. Looks like Duet/Rep-Rap could do the ejection just as easily, though I think it doesn't have input-shaper auto-tuning yet. I think you could use an optical end-stop sensor to sense the tape on the print belt. (or a bit of retro-reflective tape applied to the belt) That way the "Eject" macro could do one full loop of the belt every time and avoid ever printing on the tape.

[@melvinfec]

Nice jacket for this weekend.

[@babylonfive]

Great work as usual.

[@Krmpfpks]

Nice mod and thanks for making it open source!

[@dankilmer9070]

Super cool! Thanks for all the effort :)

[@1stWorldProblemsSolved]

Using the printhead is the best method imo. Less shit to break...I've had this for 8 years now...lol.

[@henriquecechinel5310]

AWESOME! Congratulations!

[@JN2023]

There are ways to glue the belt removing the seem entirely (Siegling or Habasit method). Would also recommend an overhang where the belt protrudes and with a scraper on the underside of the belt under the overhang. Also easy to make an automatic mechanic belt tensioner (usually called bow tensioner).

[@bradleyswanson329]

one cool mod idea would be to put a blower fan inside of each part eject ramp to help the separation with thin parts. Also it would not be hard to set up a homing macro to detect the tape, this could be done with some magnetic tape or a little bump pushing a limit switch.

[@neilbradley5968]

I was thinking something similar. It would be easy to calculate or even measure the length of the belt and just change the eject distance to this value. But then you'd always be printing on the belt in the same place. 🤷‍♂

[@boojiecentoobie4272]

@@neilbradley5968 you could change the macro to randomly place it on the belt ( with the requirements of a certain distance from the tape).

[@FeAcebrofilina]

Nice Ayrton Senna's hood! Cheers from Brazil!

[@shaunmorrissey7313]

Superb work, love it

[@fmphotooffice5513]

Another excellent video.

[@TheNextDecade]

Wonderful mod! I have a suggestion for the front roller and removal point! I hear you say you wanted cooling, and something to prevent the skirts form getting sucked under.| I was thinking of a curved "finger" blade that sits 3-4mm under the initial curve of the roller that sits very close to the bed, but not quite touching it. The part is hollow in areas to allow cooling fans to be placed in, and at the peak of the finger blade are slots where cool air flows through, cooling the part as it starts to pass over. The pressurized air and body of the finger blade work like a squeegee to effectively cool the bottom of the part evenly and clean the part off the bed without fear of any of it getting pulled under the roller. Let me know if you're interested in this idea, I'd be happy to mock up a simple design to better show my idea if you'd like!

[@andyb7754]

Excellent Build!!!

[@weisnowhere]

Amazing work!

[@anthonysaffioti9048]

Beautiful mate. Top darts

[@ProtesttheAntagonist]

Is a conveyor belt here really a better solution than pushing up in a wave from the bottom of a springsteel sheet and then using something to push the print off the bed? Obviously that would he a little larger, but it comes with the MASSIVE advantage of printing on a top tier print surface rather than compromising your surface by needing it to be belt-able?

[@-AT-WALKER]

NICE BUILD!

[@finitfrog]

8:00 you could also use pcbway if you dont have a laser cutter or cnc machine

[@MrCubflyer]

I like that setup a lot Im looking for a printer that I can print boats in one part instead of having to print multiple parts and gluing them together. This looks like it would do that if I made a support at the end to keep the boat level for the whole print.

[@dailyprofitcenter]

Man, you people with your talents, skills and know-how make me sick! :)

[@crossthreaded6867]

Great project, thank you for sharing!

[@theheadone]

This is super cool! I may have to look into this :)

[@trinston13]

This is incredible

[@IvanStamenkovicSeemsIndie]

These whistles you printed are super super loud, I use them when I am on the protests usually :D

[@LarsPantsonFars]

Instead of using the tensioners to continually tighten and stretch the bed, would it be possible to use some low strength flexible magnets attached to the belt and the bed to hold it on the heated bed? Just a thought! Great build!

[@learnmakeforget7811]

magnets loos strength when heated up

[@boojiecentoobie4272]

I have an old Rostock Max V2 which I think I might do this to. I have rollers and a belt from a like new treadmill. Has anyone tried that material?

[@boojiecentoobie4272]

One trick to make belts auto track is to have rollers with a very slight bulge in the center. It seems counter intuitive but the belt will climb to ride on the bulge.

[@paulg3336]

If you want to increase the rate of those springs , shorten them by cutting ,and add a spacer to make up the length. A shorter spring (less coils) is stiffer

[@jhk22]

What I would give for you to sell an upgrade kit to the super racer! Amazing engineering work!

[@AnIdiotwithaSubaru]

If you're looking for a good cooling blower fan for getting parts off of that belt you should check out the Delta BCB1012GJ-01. You can usually find them for cheap from the usual places and they have both super high static pressure and airflow. They would be great for a large dual nozzle from above and below the bed/belt. Just be sure you get a clean/new one because people usually pull them from old dead NEATO robots and most of them i have received good/new shape but I did get one that was gross and full of dust.

[@sonosus]

Onshape now has a Frame feature that does exactly what that plugin does but built in.

[@RagingShrimp67]

Cool design, but What I really like about the 45 degree and custom slicing design is that you can get basically infinite Z height, which is not possible in this case. So this works for many small parts, but not for few long parts. Also on the 45 degrees you can print 1 part at a time so it's not necessarily causing failures in all prints if one fails.

[@MAGA_Patriot2024]

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but if you orient the model properly in the slicer, can't you just swap the infinite z for infinite y?

[@RagingShrimp67]

@@MAGA_Patriot2024 In theory yes, but it takes more than reorienting the model, you need to customize the slicer quite a bit, and I would also be worried with depositing plastic vertically rather than horizontally, I don't know enough to say whether it will work, and somehow affect layer fusion/failure rate.

[@MAGA_Patriot2024]

@@RagingShrimp67 I certainly see your point. 🙂 There is definitely the possibility of needing huge amounts of support material near the "top" of the model where none would be necessary previously. My purposes require large z models, so it looks like I have no choice but to go the 45° route. I appreciate your input though...thank you! 🙂👍

[@beauslim]

There will always be a little bit of movement because the belt is flexible and also has some give in the vertical. You can tune to an extent, but over-tensioning the conveyor will lead to damage to the belt and stress on bearings and the stepper. The simple solution is to print slower.

[@brezovprut4431]

Cooling fan with shroud at the front of the belt might be beneficial for easier part ejection. It would be cool to implement a new modular heatbed from Prusa to reduce warping/failures.

[@confusedtx5]

I've wanted to build a corexy printer for a while now. Given it's already a custom size, I think I could add this idea into it from the start without significantly affecting my build volume

[@grantbaxter554]

Great video and good job man

[@WhyIsItSoHardToMakeA]

Honestly I like how you can, in theory, make 2020 and other sizes of aluminum extrusions to whatever length you need. Obviously not the best print orientation but should be adequate for a desk frame depending on your filament and slice settings

[@JoeMalovich]

This is fantastic!

[@ricardo-iw9sq]

Wow, make an off the shelf kit so it works out the box with all the firmware and octoprint thingy and klipper me Bob, you will make a mint 👍👍👏👏.

[@FasutonemuMyoji]

Could you program the stepper controlled by your eject macro to just roll forward like 50-75% of the belt length and then backward by the same amount to restart in the same place so that you never print on the joining tape?

[@YourBuddyDinec]

Looks cool bro!

[@OldinMariner]

this might be a nice add-on to a Voron 2.4 also

[@Lucas_sGarage]

if I had to add something else, I would modify the macro in order that, every 2 prints the starting position was different (so the belt wares out evenly)

[@maagbrasil]

AMAZING VIDEO!

[@rafael.s]

Moonraker + Mainsail can also do print queues.

[@Manuel-yd7qc]

Hey really cool Video and Idea, i love to play arount with Belt pronters myselfe for a long time now but dint know where i could buy a beld. So that i now know you helped me so much an game me 2 new Ideas witch i will try thank you so much for that cool Idea and Video. ^^

[@danielsmullen3223]

Maybe you could modify your wedge shaped pieces at the end of the belt to have a small track to insert a wiper which actually runs up against the belt. That would possibly mitigate the need to have a fan at the end and would scrape off even the thinnest parts. I was also thinking if you really wanted to gild the lily you could use sponges moistened with solvent/isopropyl in addition to a wiper blade, because it would allow you to clean any gunk off and keep the belt pristine even during unattended operation. If you wanted to combine this with a sprayer towards the print area you could have a reliable way of automating the application and/or removal of bed adhesive. CNC machines have misters and sprayers that would be easy to incorporate into this kind of design, and given the tiny amount required they could spray modest amounts of solvent and be able to run for many hours. I would perhaps suggest the use of nonflammable solvents (e.g., simple green). The bed tape seems to be an unavoidable part of the belt design, but I wonder, is it possible to sew the belt together into an untensioned loop? If this is possible you could perhaps redesign one side of the tensioning assembly so you can make the belt removable? It might require a bit of a redesign for the frame, but it would surely make maintaining the belt assembly a lot easier over time.