There are two main methods for 3D printing large things. You can either create lots of small 3D prints and glue them together, or you can use a larger 3D printer. [Emily the Engineer] went the latter route by making her Ender 3 a full 10 feet tall.
<img data-attachment-id="620818" data-permalink="https://hackaday.com/2023/09/29/10-foot-high-3d-printer-based-on-ender-3/i-made-my-3d-printer-10ft-tall-7-15-screenshot/" data-orig-file="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png" data-orig-size="1920,1080" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="I Made My 3D Printer 10ft Tall 7-15 screenshot" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
The best Doug Dimmadome hat we’ve seen in a long time. If you don’t know, Doug Dimmadome is the owner of Dimmsdale Dimmadome.
” data-medium-file=”https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png?w= 400″ data-large-file=”https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png?w =800″ decoding=”async” class=”wp-image-620818 size-medium” src=”https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer -10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png?w=400″ alt=”” width=”400″ height=”225″ srcset=”https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/ 09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png 1920w, https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D -Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png?resize=250,141 250w, https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft- Tall-7-15-screenshot.png?resize=400,225 400W, https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7- 15 -screenshot.png?resize=800,450 800w, https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/I-Made-My-3D-Printer-10ft-Tall-7-15-screenshot.png ? resize=1536,864 1536w” size=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px”/>The best Doug Dimmadome hat we’ve seen in a long time, printed on the 10ft Ender 3. If you Don’t know him, Doug Dimmadome is the owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome.
The Ender 3’s modular design made this feat easy from the start. The printer was simply dismantled and longer aluminum profiles were screwed on in its place. New wheels were resin printed via Onshape to run along the new profiles, which had a slightly different profile than the original parts. Cabling was also a hurdle, with the 10-foot printer requiring much longer cables than the basic Ender 3.
An early attempt to get the Z axis to work with a very long threaded rod failed. Instead, a belt-driven setup was installed, based on existing work converting Ender 3 to belt drive. After a firmware mod and some cabling issues were resolved, the printer was ready for its first attempt at high-speed printing. Amazingly, the printer managed to print at full height, although the wobbling of the tall, narrow print caused some print quality issues. The frame and base were then expanded and some braces were installed to increase stability, allowing the printer to produce taller parts with decent quality.
While few of us would need a 10-foot-tall Ender 3, it’s easy to see the value of expanding your printer’s build volume with a few simple mods. [Emily] I just took it to the extreme, and that’s commendable. Video after the break.
