A compact, high-precision and silent 3D printer

There are many requirements for 3D printers. Especially if they are to be used at the workplace. Protoworx UG has taken up these challenges and developed a compact, quiet and precise 3D printer.

The installation space of the device is 120mm x 100mm x approx. 120mm (W/D/H). The perfect interaction of electronics and mechanics allows a resolution of 1,280 steps per millimeter on X and Y and up to 64,000 steps per millimeter on the Z-axis. The specially developed Merlin Mini Hotend weighs only 4.6g and can be used with a nozzle diameter of 0.2mm. The printer can process almost all common plastic filaments, regardless of manufacturer.

It is a compact, portable high-precision Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer. The device is based on a xyz gantry robot from igus. The 3D printer produces a workpiece by fusing plastic layer by layer. The goal was to develop a 3D printer that can produce small workpieces with high precision and speed at a low purchase price. To enable high-precision 3D printing, linear movements of the axes without play are necessary. By using the room linear robot from igus with its drylin rails and bearing housings with corresponding bearing foils, it was possible to achieve play-free guidance of the axes that can easily withstand even long-lasting, rapid loads and movements, thus enabling fast, high-precision 3D printing. The ribbon cables on the heating bed and the extruder are also constantly exposed to these movements and must therefore be guided with as little load as possible. The ribbon cables could be guided gently by using igus Energy Chains. This prevents cable breakage and reduces cable wear to a minimum

In addition, the 3D printer operates almost silently on the basis of the room portal, which makes it possible to use the device in the immediate working environment, e.g. on a desk.

Gantry Planner